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much-obliged-timothy · 3 years

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Had another Borderlands fic idea that will never turn into anything substantial, so here’s a little one-shot based on it! A job unexpectedly reunites Athena with an old companion, retirement is very tempting, and I somehow turned a minor character with one (1) defining feature into an OC

Athena moved along the area quietly, out of sight. The path nearby was mostly quiet aside from a lone skag dragging itself along.

Janey was trying to convince her to give up taking these contracts. She wanted Athena to find a more legitimate way to make money, preferably one that didn’t involve her assassinating people.

But when this job had come her way, she couldn’t resist.

Jack’s influence on Pandora was growing by the day. If he managed to wake the Warrior, he’d wipe out the majority of life here. Normally, Athena wouldn’t care what happened to a planet like Pandora. But the fact that she and Janey now lived here meant she sure as hell didn’t want Jack occupying the place.

There weren’t many details on her target. A higher-up in Hyperion who went rogue for unknown reasons. He was guaranteed to have top-secret information that could be used against Jack, potentially even detrimentally so. Jack was quietly sending people after him, not wanting anyone to know he was out there.

Apparently, he’d joined a local bandit gang, though Athena couldn’t puzzle out if it was to blend in or for the sake of having protection. Not that it really mattered.

The job was to capture him and turn him over to the client. Athena had other plans for him, though.

Someone with that intel? She had every intention of beating some of it out of him herself, then turning him over to the Crimson Raiders. They were the only organized movement against Jack. She had to hope they could be competent enough to take him down.

She quieted her thoughts as voices drifted her way, still a fair distance off. She found a suitable hiding place, then fell still.

It was a few minutes before gunshots rang out and the skag on the path fell dead. Laughter, close now, came in waves.

“Stupid creatures,” a man’s voice said.

Athena peaked out from her hiding spot. Sure enough, a group of bandits were approaching the skag’s corpse. The one leading them reached it first, kicking it roughly.

She scanned their faces, immediately dismissing most of the little group. Only two stood out to her, and only one could be her target.

The two had their faces hidden with masks, but one was a woman and one was a man. Her target was the man.

She did a thorough observation of him as he watched the others kick and carve at the skag corpse. He had a gun holstered to his thigh, his hand resting on it with the kind of casual paranoia of the hunted. The way his right pant leg flared just the slightest informed her he likely had a knife hidden beneath it. He had on a weapons belt, though she wasn’t sure what kind of guns he would digistruct from it. She had no information about his fighting style.

Three grenades strapped to the weapons belt. He wasn’t armed to the teeth, but he was prepared for a fight.

She took in his outfit. Most of him was hidden by his clothing; cargo pants, a jacket zipped up part way over his shirt, combat boots, a ragged scarf around his neck, fingerless gloves, and his mask. The hood of his jacket was pulled up, hiding his hair. This was a man who didn’t want to reveal a single defining feature about himself.

She slipped a grenade into her hand, waiting patiently. She had to get them here, while they were well away from their base camp. The bandit gang was surprisingly organized and well-armed. It would be hard to capture him on his home turf. This was her best chance, as she heard he didn’t leave the base very often.

She’d been observing for nearly two weeks, gathering information, though she’d been unable to get close enough to monitor the base. She’d captured two of the gang members, torturing what answers she could out of them and finding out her target was heading out on a small but important gang job today.

“Alright,” the masked woman said. “Are you done kicking the skag? We need to get moving.”

A redheaded man waved his hand dismissively. “We’re going to reach the drop point early at this rate. We got time to kill. But if you’re gonna bitch, we might as well go.”

They started moving again. Her target was towards the center of their group, so Athena shifted her aim from the group to just behind them, at the skag’s corpse.

She rolled the grenade, watching it bump along the ground and come to rest against the skag corpse. She raised her shield just as the blast went off.

The group immediately went on the defensive, tightening their formation and yelling out orders to each other. All had their guns aimed, circled up to cover every direction.

It wouldn’t help them. Athena took two down with headshots, aware their shields had been, if not shattered, then dangerously weakened in the explosion because they’d been at the back of the group.

The formation tightened to cover the losses, two of the members firing at where Athena’s shots had come from. She was already on the move, circling around.

She flung her shield, catching the masked woman in the legs and sending her falling against the man next to her. It created a partial domino effect, sending half the group stumbling.

Athena charged in, firing on them, trying to break their shields as fast as she could. Her target had frozen at the sight of her, but she saw his head snap to the side, looking for an escape.

He knew. Good. It was more fun when they panicked.

“Come on!” he said, voice distorted. Damn, he’d gone to the extremes to keep himself hidden. He grabbed the redheaded man’s jacket as two others fired on Athena. “We need to go!”

She expected resistance, but the redheaded man didn’t hesitate. “Cover us!”

He and her target began to flee, heading in the direction of a denser area where they could either take cover or hope to lose her. Athena shot one of the two men left behind dead and flung her shield at her target as hard as she could.

It struck his right leg and he cried out in pain as he fell. Like she’d hoped, the impact sent him falling in a way that no doubt resulted in, at the least, a broken ankle. She hoped she’d fucked up his whole leg.

She shot the other remaining bandit dead and approached the target and the redhead. The redhead was frantically trying to get her target up, but his leg was a mess and he was struggling to get upright. He looked over his shoulder, then shoved the redhead off himself and gestured at him to run.

The target flipped onto his back, firing at Athena with an SMG he must’ve digistructed. She raised her shield to absorb the shots, continuing to stalk closer to him and watch his growing panic.

The redhead hadn’t abandoned him. He fired on Athena as well, trying to get between her and the target. She ran forward and slammed into him with her shield, knocking him onto his back. She aimed her gun at him as he wheezed for breath.

“No!”

The target threw himself forward at her legs, catching her by surprise and knocking her to the ground. He let out a cry as his bad leg crumpled beneath him, but used the sudden momentum to slam against Athena as they struck the ground together, winding her.

He jammed his gun up under her chin. “You going to walk away, or we gotta do this the hard way?”

“Hard way,” Athena said, slamming her fist against the side of his head. He fell off her, trying to get back up but unable to move his leg properly.

She drove her knee into his back, listening to him grunt as he hit the ground. She tried to get an arm around his neck, but he waited until she got close and then jammed an elbow back into her stomach, throwing her off himself.

He was a fighter, she’d give him that. This was a man who was determined to live.

But he was too valuable to lose, so she threw herself right back at him. Guns were too dangerous; she couldn’t risk killing him.

He wasn’t particularly competent in close-range fighting. He was just scared and desperate. She realized it as they began to trade blows again. There was little form to his attacks. He was too frantic to be strategic and too unpracticed to be very effective aside from the occasional lucky blow.

His friend wouldn’t stay down forever. Athena grabbed her gun and tried to fire in the redhead’s direction, but her target grabbed her arm and slammed it against the ground, trying to break her wrist. She released the gun and turned her arm to cushion the blow, but the target used the sudden chance to seize her gun, firing on her.

Shots struck her from behind. Shit. He was back up.

Athena rolled away, snagging the target’s jacket and dragging him with her, putting him between her and the redhead. The shots stopped after two caught the target’s shield.

Athena finally managed to hook an arm around his throat, tightening her hold until he couldn’t breathe, his fingers clawing at her arm. She snatched her gun back, firing at the redhead as he tried to run forward to help, sending him stumbling back.

The target suddenly threw his hand up, fingers dangerously close to her left eye. She jerked back, loosening her hold on accident. He brought his head forward and jerked it back, cracking it against hers.

She could feel her nose bleeding as she lost her hold on him. As he tried to crawl away, she kicked his bad leg, making him yell.

They both threw themselves at each other, rolling and punching. Athena ended up kneeling on his chest, fist pulled back to strike him. She’d knock him out, kill his friend, and get out of here with the target in hand.

“Athena, wait!” he cried.

She paused. How did he know her name?

“Get off him,” the redhead said, aiming his gun at her. “Get the hell off him.”

She raised her fist again. She’d ask him when he woke up in a few hours.

“Whoa, whoa, jeez, it’s me! Athena, it’s just me!” the target said in alarm. When that didn’t stop her, he panicked worse, and yelled, “Oh, fuck me: Let’s get sexy!”

That stopped her.

She slowly lowered her fist. It couldn’t be.

She grabbed his mask and yanked it off. He looked up at her with his only good eye, the other one milky white and blind, the scar carving through it on its path along his face.

“Not-Jack,” she said.

“Timothy,” he said, yanking the scarf off and tapping a choker around his throat. When he spoke again, his voice didn’t come out distorted. It was all Jack’s voice, but the tone was a light one Jack didn’t use. “My name is Timothy.”

“We, uh, we know the assassin?” the redhead said, looking unsure now as he kept his gun pointed at Athena.

Tim tried to sit up. Athena backed off enough to let him. He pushed the hood back, revealing that he’d cut Jack’s hair and tried to style it differently.

“We used to work together,” Tim informed his friend.

“So...why’s she trying to kill you? I mean, yea, you’re whiny to work with, but you’re not that insufferable,” the redhead said.

“I am not wh- Okay, whatever, he’s got a point. Why are you trying to kill me?” Tim said.

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” Athena said. “I got hired to capture you and turn you over.” She crossed her arms, putting a foot on his chest to keep him down when he tried to get up. “You were high-up in Hyperion, according to the intel I got.”

“I was,” Tim said warily. “I ran. I joined a bandit gang. That’s Zeno.”

“Uh...hi,” the redhead said, giving a wave with the hand that wasn’t pointing a gun at her. “Tim, what the fuck is happening?”

“No clue,” Tim said. “So can we, um, go? Not that I’m really going anywhere with a broken leg, but, you know.”

“No.” Athena pressed her foot harder to his chest. “You’re going to the Crimson Raiders.”

“The- what?” Tim said in alarm. “They’ll kill me!”

“Someone needs to stop Jack. Since they gained the vault hunters, they’ve been a threat to him,” Athena said. “If you were as valuable on Helios as you were made out to be, you’re a valuable source of information on Jack.”

“W-Wait!” Tim said, eyes going wide. “You can’t. Athena, you can’t. They’ll kill me. Look at me! They’ll kill me in a heartbeat! No, no, actually, they’ll torture me for information first, and then they’ll kill me. Please, you can’t do this. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know and you can take it to them. Just let me go. Please. I fled because Jack was a goddamn monster and I couldn’t stand to work for him anymore.”

Athena considered. He was probably right about them torturing and killing him.

And did he really deserve that? He was just a kid who got in over his head. She knew he’d only stayed with Jack because Jack had implanted a bomb in his face. If he was here, he’d found a way to get it out or deactivate it and then run.

He’d never wanted to be part of this mess. She internally groaned. She’d had a soft spot for the damn kid back on Elpis, and looking at his frightened face, it was coming back.

She got up, grabbing his jacket. “You’re coming with me. I won’t turn you over, but you are going to tell me whatever I want to know.”

“Nope,” Zeno said, finger tightening on the trigger. “Can’t let you take him.”

“You can’t stop me,” Athena warned.

“She’s right,” Tim said miserably. “Let him live, Athena. Not a lot of people exactly like me. Be a shame to lose one of the few who does.”

Zeno lowered the gun slowly. “I’ll go. He can’t get back to the camp on his own with his leg like that. I’ll drag his ass back when you’re done questioning him. Politely questioning him.” He waved the gun a little. “Very politely.”

“God, you idiot,” Tim said, but it was fond. “You can’t stop Athena.”

“You can come,” Athena said, surprising herself. “But only because I need help getting him back like this. You two try anything, I shoot the redhead and go with my original plan.”

“You’ll really let me go?” Tim said anxiously.

“I promise,” she said, unable to meet his eyes as she said it. “You left Jack. I can respect that, at least.”

“No loyalty to that absolute dick, trust me,” Tim said.

She and Zeno struggled to get him upright. Tim couldn’t put any pressure on his leg. Athena was kind of regretting fucking it up so badly.

“Here,” she said, injecting him with a health kit. “Start talking while we walk. How’d you escape Jack?”

“Yea, that’s a long story,” Tim said.

“We’ve got time,” Athena said.

Tim sighed but began his story of how he’d escaped and come to live amongst a bandit gang. As he talked, Athena wondered how she got herself into these damn messes and why she always took pity on the stupid kids like Tim.

Still, she already knew what would happen. She’d take him to Hollow Point, Janey would yell at her for taking a contract and beating up Tim, they’d tend to him, she’d get her information, and she’d let him go. And once she let him go, she’d keep an eye on him to make sure that bastard Handsome Jack never got his hands on Timothy.

This job certainly hadn’t gone how she’d expected. Maybe it really was time to find a new career.

#borderlands #timothy lawrence #Athena The Gladiator #borderlands fic #My writing

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wetalkinboutbooks · 4 years

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Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Summary: The sequel to Dread Nation is a journey of revenge and salvation across a divided America.

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you're a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880's America.

What's more, this safe haven is not what it appears - as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.

But she won't be in it alone.

Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by - and that Jane needs her, too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.

Watching Jane's back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it's up to Katherine to keep hope alive - even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings:

→ Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

→ Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ x1000

Overall: A killer sequel to Dread Nation, you’re constantly on the edge of your seat and each chapter is a new layer of stress. There’s never a moment of rest and repose because Justina Ireland hooks you with the first chapter and doesn’t let go until you’ve turned the last page.

~ Check out the spoiler-full review/plot discussion below!

The Bad:

→ Redjack and Redfern

Geena: We’re starting with the bad because as Kae said ‘So much bad happens before the good’ and that’s the best way to describe this book. Let’s start off with our fave rogue from Dread Nation who turns out to be a WHOLE BITCH!!! Once Jane and Katherine and Co. get out of Summerland and meet up with him to plan their next move, Jane and them want to go to Nicodemus (a safe town run by a black man and a council of freed slaves and indigenous ppl). Redjack is like ‘it’s an overpopulated place let’s not’ but Jane isn’t dumb and sniffs out that there’s something else, and after Katherine and Jane both needle him we find out that… THIS BITCH IS MARRIED… AND HAS BEEN FOR A WHILE?????? ALL THE WHILE HE WAS FLIRTING AND MACKING ON JANE HE WAS MARRIED????????????? This is the start of the downfall of men in this book, it only gets worse from here… Jane confronts him about being played and he’s basically like ‘Jane you’re fun and all but like you’d never settle down, I seen you fighting and stuff just because you want to… I need a home for Lily’... and like… ok.... Jane is immediately like ‘He wanted a doormat’ and I DIED… but karma works fast and he gets bit by a shambler literally the same night lmao… and guess who kills him? JANE.. though it’s quite emotional because she had feelings for him.

Jane also steals one of his letters when she kills him and kjnsfdskj we find out his wife is preggers but who’s gonna tell her that Redjack is capital d DEAD...

Kae: Alright. MF’n REDJACK. This man… With his cute ass… He was just TRASH. A real fuckboy and Geena summed him up perfectly. I was like, a lil sad to see him go? But good riddance to him for playing my Janey Jane. She may be a tough-ass, but she absolutely has feelings (THAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO COPE WITH) but still. She has feelings.

So now, let’s talk about Redfern’s shady ass. I’ve always side-eyed Redfern. I didn’t trust him. I had a very hard time trusting him because how you gone help The White Man ™ help enslave black and other indigenous peoples for your own gain? Like, boy fuck you. Shady ass. He’s the one that transported Jane, Katherine, and Red Jack to Summerland in the first place. So it was definitely a shock to see his fool ass in Nicodemus as the damn SHERIFF. LIKE WHO TF?

Geena: RIGHT I WAS LIKE WHY IS HE EVERYWHERE? IS HE CLONING HIMSELF??

Kae: And like, he jails Jane because when her and the gang arrive, the surviving folks of Summerland blame her for the small settlement falling to the dead. Redfern is like “Look, Jane. I know you ain’t do that shit. But I gotta jail you so they can stfu. You’ll get a fair trial.” And Jane doesn’t trust this and neither do I. Because black people didn’t get a fair ANYTHING back then. (We still don't) BUT THAT’S ANOTHER STORY. ANYWAAAAAAAY. Jane catches Redfern shooting the breeze with Miss Duncan and they eventually set her free. All the while, Katherine, a few homies they met in Summerland, and a few homies from Miss Prestons, are planning to break Jane out and BOUNCE. When Jane and Katherine finally reunite, Katherine is like “JANE. MY BESTIE. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU!” And Jane is like “Lol, yikes. We’re not even friends wtf?” Because again, Jane can’t handle feelings or people genuinely caring about her. That has a bit to do with mommy issues. NOW. Jane has been trying to tell the council of Nicodemus that the horde of zombies will break down the wall that protects the city. But they’re like “HURR DURR SHUT UUUUP. We have machine guns. And that Gideon scientist boy has been keeping up gucci.” And Jane knows walls don’t hold forever. So she’s like we need to get TF up out of here. So she starts making a plan… And that’s when shit starts going south.

Geena: Like Kae said, Redfern is a traitor in all sense of the word… The only time he seems normal is when he’s hardcore crushing on Miss Duncan, but even then… He ends up telling Jane that he only cares about self-preservation and that’s why he’ll stab even his own mother in the back if it means he’ll be safe… OKAY HE DOESN’T SAY THAT BUT REDFERN 100% WOULD… Well kARMA GOT IT’S KISS FOR REDFERN TOO bc when Nicodemus falls, Miss Duncan also turns shambler so kjndsfkjsdfnsd

He ends up being a double agent near the end of the book, pretending to be Jane and Katherine’s ally, only to turn them over to the VILLAIN.. But then also helps them escape? A very morally questionable character and also another example of Deathless Divide saying ‘men aint shit’.

Kae: He triple crossed their asses. Triple agent mf

→ The Fall of Nicodemus

Kae: WHEWWWW. The fall of Nicodemus was something else. I knew it was going to happen, but damn, it was bad. So, we have bitchboy Gideon, who Jane has taken a bit of a liking to. And he wants her to convince the rest of the town to get a ‘Shambler Vaccine’ to protect them. She refuses because she has no idea if the vaccine really works. At least, not yet she does. So at some point, Gideon convinces all the people of Nicodemus to get vaccinated. But he vaccinates all of the original inhabitants of Nicodemus first, then the assholes from Summerland. But the thing is, he runs out of vaccines by the time he has to vaccinate the Summerland folk, and they’re being PISSY about it like “waaaaa, you vaccinated all the black folks before us, WAAA IM A FUCKIN BABY” so he hurries and makes a quick vaccine. Well, THIS QUICK BATCH TURNS THE FOLKS OF SUMMERLAND INTO ZOMBIES. THIS DUMBASS BITCHASS GIDEON TURNS THE DAMN PEOPLE. So he and Miss Duncan stuff them all in a barn or whatever, then DESTROYYYYYY the fence/wall in the back of the town to try to lead them out. Redfern helps too, I think. And then shit. Gets. Real. The machine gun they had isn’t holding them off and some damn zombies done came around the back entrance they created by destroying the fence, and they start CHOMPIN.

Geena: AS KAE SAID… GIDEON AND DUMBITCH CO. MADE A WHOLE BACKDOOR FOR THE ZOMBIES IN AN ATTEMPT TO COVER UP HIS OWN MISTAKE… Reading about the fall was really sad, because this group of well meaning people WHO BTW AREN’T WHITE, that established a community where black and indigenous folk can find SOME SEMBLANCE of justice is overrun by zombies bc of a bitchass white boy’s hubris. So, the zombies get through the backdoor and as Jane and Katherine are slicing and dicing they stumble onto the group they traveled with.. Who also turned.. And Jane has to kill that little baby boy because he too, got turned into a zombie… Also, during the fall of Nicodemus Jane gets bit :( and separates from Katherine and Co. to die alone at the sheriff’s office… But then she doesn't… because back in book 1 when Gideon gave her a vaccine… it worked. So, Jane wakes up to Gideon… the last person she wants to see… who is basically gloating about his vaccine working and he’s making excuses for himself? Callie (a new friend) tries to kill Gideon, but he escapes and she ends up helping Jane instead… where Jane loses her arm :(

Literally, a White Man’s ego can destroy a whole town built on the blood and sweat of freed slaves and indigenous people, JUST BECAUSE he thinks he knows better…

Kae: So like, when Jane wakes up, she threatens to kill Gideon, even though she’s sick and basically puking the zombie virus out of her. While Gideon is gloating, Callie (Jane’s friend and future girlfriend) shoots towards Gideon, but misses. She then cuts off Jane’s bitten arm. The two of them spend a bit of time in the fallen Nicodemus, looking at all of the zombiefied townspeople and healing so they can leave. They both want to track down Gideon and KILL HIS ASS. Which I support. And now we venture into PART 2 OF THE BOOK BAYBEEEEE.

The Ugly

→ Gideon

Kae: WE’RE GOING TO OFFICIALLY TALK ABOUT BITCHASS, SKANK-ASS GIDEON. Dawg, when I tell you I HAAATED this man, I mean it. I have never wanted a character to die more than I wanted Gideon to parish. This man caused the fall of not one, but MULTIPLE TOWNS AND THE WHOLE DAMN CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.

After the fall of Nicodemus, Jane and Callie set out to track down Gideon. On their tracking adventures, Jane becomes a bounty hunter in order to make money so she can continue on her search for Gideon. Jane is like, a hundred times more badass now. She’s a one armed, zombie slaying, bounty hunter that kills people who have done immense wrong to others. She and Callie learn through their travels that Gideon escaped safely and went on to get funded by some rich folk. In Gideon’s own escapades, he has caused the fall of another small town. And guess how he did that? This IDIOT vaccinated another town and they all turned ‘Shambler’ (zombie). Then he fucks off and escapes so he can’t get in trouble. Jane and Callie make it to California, where Jane hopes to reunite with her mother. There, she kills a man, which pisses Callie off. So while they’re shacked up in a hotel, Callie leaves while Jane is sleeping. And Callie’s punk ass takes all of Jane’s money with her, leaving Jane without anything but the clothes on her back.

Geena: We don’t stan Callie in this house. If she loved Jane that much she would’ve left her SOME money wtf

Kae: TRUE. SO FUCK, CALLIE. LIL BIIIEEETCH. But yeah, Callie dips tf out and leaves Jane with nothing. Callie DID give Jane the option to come with her and start a new life, but Jane is kind of being fueled by her revenge and it’s blinded her. I feel bad too because Jane is also being haunted by Redjack’s ghost. So there’s that.

Geena: Gideon the perfect example why ~intellectual~ men don’t deserve ANY rights. He’s so obsessed with his own research and bullshit, he thinks that no one knows what’s best for humanity other than him, that he brings about death and destruction wherever he goes. He’s the reason Nicodemus falls, he’s also the reason that the West Coast (which is seen as shambler free because it’s protected by mountains) also falls… BECAUSE THIS BITCH CAUSES ANOTHER SHAMBLER OUTBREAK with a faulty vaccine. When Jane and Callie decided to hunt him down I was like LIVING!!! LIKE KILL THAT WHITE BOY!! Who cares for nothing other than being successful… Also, the fact that every boy Jane has thought to be cute was trash is killing me… Girl… needs better taste HONESTLY…

Also, while trying to make himself look like a Sad Boy he forcefully injects his vaccine into Katherine… WHICH ALMOST KILLS HER, but SIIIKKEE because Katherine ends up killing him instead 😎 I personally wanted his death to be WORSE and more PAINFUL for all the shit he’s done but Justina Ireland kept it SHORT and Sweet.

The Good

→ Jane and Katherine

Geena: THE ONE… THE ONE GOOD THING THAT CAME OUT OF THIS DUOLOGY… JANE AND KATHERIN’S FRIENDSHIP… LITERAL RIDE OR DIES... BC JANE TECHNICALLY DIES AT ONE POINT LMAO

Like Kae mentioned earlier, Katherine has fully accepted Jane as a friend by the time they get to Nicodemus, but Jane is still unsure (kinda thinks she isn’t a friend type of person). Katherin reaffirms that she will be there for Jane, but Jane is like Sideyes… But, as the story progresses, after Jane “dies” Katherine spends the rest of the novel constantly thinking of Jane and wishing she had said more. ALL THE WHILE JANE is killing her way to the West Coast.

When they do meet though it kinda hurt because Jane is essentially like ‘Sorry, the old Jane can’t come to the phone right now... because she’s dead’ and Katherine is like ?????????. Jane believes herself to be a monster, because um… she’s just been bounty hunting bad people and because she’s driven by her rage against Gideon - IMO I don’t think that would’ve made her heartless or a monster, but Callie reiterates that she doesn’t like Jane like that (as a killer)… obviously, her resolve was weaker than Jane’s but n e ways. Katherine is also like ‘omg Jane killed that dude without remorse’ (Jane kills a r*pist in front of her, but Katherine doesn’t know what he did). REGARDLESS, uNLIKE SOMEONE (Callie) Katherine doesn’t give up on Jane and accompanies her wherever Jane goes because she knows she can bring back the old Jane and… when I tell you a bitch was emotional :’) AND ALSO THE ENDING WAS BEAUTIFUL though bittersweet

Kae: Okay, let me just say, from the bottom of my heart, that I absolutely adore Jane and Katherine’s friendship. Jane thinks it was built on their shared experience of being kidnapped, but in reality, it was built on their respect for each other. When Kate first saw Jane, she was SHOOK. And Jane was like ‘oh fuck, be cool. Act like you don’t care.’ and so that happened, as Geena explained above. But Katherine stuck around because that’s her best friend and you never give up on your best friend when they’re going through something.

Jane continues to be a meanass to Kate, but Katherine ignores it to the best of her ability and pulls her knickers up and keeps by Jane’s side. In this, Katherine notices that Jane calls her by her full name instead of just “Kate”, which was something Jane always did because she knew it annoyed Katherine. So when Jane starts to let down her guard, she slips up and calls her “Kate” and this takes Katherine to the moon! She’s so excited to see her Jane coming back! But Jane is like “whoops, I'm showing feelings. Can’t let that shit happen” and she hunkers back down.

While Jane was off being dead and bounty hunting, Katherine was on a boat (but I don’t remember doing what) with Lily and Sue (Sue is from Miss Prestons and Nicodemus) and her new friend, a man named Carolina. When they get to California, they realize that it’s not as black friendly as they’d hoped, but it’s presumably safe so that’s what matters. Katherine here’s that San Francisco might offer them a better life, so she and her gang make the trip to get there. That’s when they run into Jane and all the above happens.

One of my favourite parts is Carolina not liking Jane because his first introduction is killing a man without hesitation. But Katherine is like “Pfffft, oh that’s just Jane! It’s FINE!” all the while internally she’s like ‘omgomgomg wtf’. And that’s when Katherine agrees to help Jane kill Gidon and also find her mother.

In the end, they kill Gideon’s horrible ass and end up finding Jane’s mother safe and sound in a small settlement in the mountains called New Haven. Jane’s mother is happy to see Jane, but is totally dismissive of Jane's experience and all she had to do to get to her mother again. I felt really bad for Jane because she did EVERYTHING to get back to her mother and her mom was a DICK. Anyway, Jane leaves with Redfern so they can find a new place (as reluctant homies, not as a couple) and Katherine is like “AYO, YOU JUST GONE LEAVE ME WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE, BITCH? I SAID I’M YOUR BEST FRIEND SO WHERE WE GOIN!?” And then all three of them prance off into the sunset with a new goal of finding a better life and man, a bitch (aka me and Geena) were CRYIIIIING because it was so sweet and we just love two best friends who are down for one another.

Geena: YEEEEEEESSSSSSS, the ending was bittersweet because like Kae mentioned, Jane had been searching for her mother and her Aunt Aggie hoping to find comfort in their arms. But.. when she got to New Haven, the old life she had been desperately longing for was no longer there. Aunt Aggie was dead and her mother had remarried, and like Kae said, she ignored everything Jane had been through- not wanting to share in her daughter’s sorrows. Jane quickly realized that this wasn’t the place for her, and up and leaves, and this is where the sweetness comes in because the whole scene of Katherine running after Jane 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 Like I had been so scared Justina Ireland wouldn’t give them a happy ending, because how can a zombie story end happily, but this was A LOT better than what I had expected… a bitch (Kae and I SDJKFNSD) teared up.. Just wanna thank Kae for hyping up this sequel before I read it because wow… IT REALLY LIVED UP TO THE HYPE

Conclusion

Geena: Like I said before, this is one of the best sequels I’ve read. Usually, books end up falling flat when you get to the second but Justina Ireland didn’t fall into the same trap. We finally get Katherine’s POV and get to learn why she insists on wearing a corset, and that she’s not as perfect as Jane believed. There’s heart-stopping action and Jane kicking major ass and truly being The Devil’s Bride. Overall, once I finished this I was like Head Empty because I couldn’t read anything afterwards because I had to take time to digest the wild ride the book had been. Also, one of the biggest takeaways (other than ‘white ppl ain’t shit’) was ‘Men don’t deserve rights’ and honestly? Same.

Kae: So there we have it! The story ended beautifully and I really, really enjoyed it. I still haven’t been able to read anything after finishing it because it was just THAT GOOD. It’s been about a month since I finished it and I’m still reeling from how beautifully written it was. It was really refreshing to read about two black women who had FEELINGS and were able to express them to the reader (because they had a hard time expressing them to each other lmao) and it was just really nice. Katherine’s backstory was great about how she was born in a brothel house and her mother tried to teach her that if she found the right man, she’d be fine. But Katherine didn’t want that. She wanted a life where she could provide for herself and be independent. What she brought with her from her old life was her corset and she wore because she basically felt it would hold her together and suppress her anxiety.

Geena: Also, reading about the corset again can I say one of my fave details was Sue helping Katherine loosen it whenever they were in a fight… like the moment Jane disappeared Sue was there to help Katherine and support her …. Sue… the most underrated character AND THE FACT SHE GOT HER HAPPY ENDING MARRIED TO A MANS!!!!

Kae: Jane learned, unfortunately, that not all things are golden. Her old life that she so desperately wanted a taste of, had gone sour. Her mother was no help to Jane and couldn’t even give her the smallest of sympathies. Those two things were initially what kept Jane going (along with her Aunt Aggie), until Gideon showed up and started doing dumb shit. What Jane also learned though, was that people do care about her and even though Katherine wasn’t blood, she was her family and truly loved Jane for who she was, flaws and all.

It’s a beautiful story about two black women finding themselves and forming an unbreakable friendship. It’s more than fighting zombies and more than surviving. It’s about LIVING and finding a way to deal with all of the problems and anxieties they face along the way. It's a great story and I urge everyone to read it. Yes, it’s fictional history about zombies. BUT, it is very telling of the time period it takes place in and Justina didn’t sugar coat any of the prejudices Black people and Indigenous peoples went through back then and I appreciated that. Deathless Divide is beautiful and poetic and heartwarming in the best of way. <3

#deathless divide #justina ireland #book review #bookreviews #blookblr #book blogging #book blogger #our reviews #bookish #bibliophile

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michellespenscratchz · 4 years

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#5 and #17

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with? Already answered this with Janey Springs, but a second runner up would be Fiona. I love her so much because she is basically every character I have ever played in D&D. My tabletop characters are always rogues or some kind of trickster. They will seek out a “behind the scenes” solution to a problem before they’ll attack it head-on. The only reason I haven’t written more fic of Fiona is because I was holding out for a BL3 DLC to give me more to go on, but since that’s apparently not going to happen I plan to pull out the stops and write her more often. :)

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations? Oh, I have the same insecurities as every author and artist out there. I’m always nervous that readers aren’t into my work. As for what would surprise them, maybe the weird variety of fandoms I’ve been in over the years.

#ask meme

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romoladebardi · 4 years

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Tagged by @homoboreanaz and @vaingemini me cunts

rules: you can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. put your favorite playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people. no skipping!

1. ruiner - methyl ethyl

2. memento mori - rogue wave

3. smalltown boy - orville peck

4. as i go to see janey - the middle east

5. party in the dark - mogwai

6. parallel - anna mieke

7. walk the wire - boy & bear

8. earn enough for us - XTC

9. break my fall - doc robinson

10. i don't know - beastie boys, miho hatori

Can't think of people to tag but go crazy if you like

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dedicatedfollower467 · 5 years

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GG: I care very much for you, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you both in my dreams, and here in this world. GG: So for whatever good it does, just please be extra careful out there today! GT: Roger that janey! GT: And um same goes for you about being careful what with these various rogues accosting you with foul play lately and whatnot... GT: Because well i sure do care a lot about you too you know that.

anyone who claims the alpha kids are “noble gasses” who “don’t form bonds” is spewing a load of fucking horseshit.

these kids absolutely fucking love each other, they just have shit communication skills, are emotionally repressed, and don’t know how to be honest without stomping callously all over each other’s feelings.

the main difference between the alpha and beta kids is that the beta kids aren’t trying to tiptoe around a romantic n-drangle clusterfuck of explosive attraction and under-socialized teenage awkwardness. the alpha kids are trying so hard not to hurt each other’s feelings that they all end up accidentally hurting each other anyway. they can’t win, because it’s a catch 22, damned if they do damned if they don’t situation. no matter how it falls out, somebody’s feelings are going to be very badly hurt.

which is kinda why i love them all so much.

page: 4217

#ultimate dirk made me do it 2019

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epersonae · 5 years

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french. onion. soup.

So @tarkesians reminded me about Duck’s terrible snobby girlfriend, and at first I was sort of annoyed, but I can actually make it work with what I’ve got, so thanks for saving me from myself. (I also discovered that Janey is only supposed to be seven when Duck is 17 or 18? But I think I’m going to go rogue and keep her 14 in my fic, it just works better.)

Juno was about to bum a cigarette off of Duck — even if it was one of his dreadful cloves — but before she could, he launched himself off of the low wall and came up to grab her shoulder.

“I got something important to tell you,” he said, and his eyes were full of a totally unfamiliar intensity.

“Alright, spit it out,” she replied. All she could think was: did Duck get laid? Because he looked almost ecstatic, which she figured meant at least he didn’t get dumped.

“Have you? Ever had? French onion soup?”

She tilted her head. “I guess? I mean, my nana used to make it. It’s okay.”

“No no no nonono, you gotta go up topside and there’s a place, Wolf Ember? It is….” Duck stared off into space. “I’mma quit smoking, swear to god, so I don’t fuck up my sense of smell, because…. Fuuuuuuuck, Juno, French. Onion. Soup.”

“‘Kay. So I take it you had a good trip?”

He laughed, letting go of her shoulders finally. “Aw hell no. Fuckin’ sucked. You were right, I can’t ski for shit. Fell all the way down the goddamn hill.” Another laugh, the familiar self-deprecating tone. “Oh, and you were also right about Tabitha. Tried to tell her about the soup, but uhhhh turns out she was trying to dump my ass. It’s cool though.”

Juno nodded thoughtfully, or at least what she hoped was thoughtfully. “So if you ain’t smoking ‘em anymore, mind if I bum a smoke before class?”

#taz amnesty #taz fic #my fic #Kepler Teenage Wasteland #also the discord is in agreement that Duck smokes cloves #because of course he does

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dresupi · 5 years

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magic eraser

Darcy Lewis Crack Challenge 2019 | Day 5: A Literal Eraser |

Summary:

How was he supposed to know the damn thing would actually erase her hand?

Well, not erase exactly…

But to hear her talk, it's close enough.

"Loki. Do I need to hire a babysitter for you or something?" Darcy asked, reaching over and gingerly taking the blinking black and green device from his hands.

He'd never seen anything like this piece of tech before, but if he had to guess, he'd say it had something to do with Dr. Foster's ever-changing star charts. "I know Janey's got some shiny blinkies, but you really have to learn to control yourself, babe," she continued, safely placing the piece of tech out of his reach.

Well, not really. He could have it if he wanted. That was the point, wasn't it? He liked irking Darcy Lewis.

All in all, he'd call what he had for Foster's lab assistant a 'mixed attraction'. A general fondness with a side of liking the way her voice sounded when she was annoyed.

"Who do you think they'd task with looking after me?" he pondered aloud, leaning over on the counter and cupping his chin in his hand as he gazed over at Ms. Lewis expectantly. "Do you think they'd hire some security officer to subdue me with brute force, or do you think they'd ask you?"

She frowned a little and looked at him. He liked the way her forehead wrinkled just between her eyebrows. "Knowing Jane, she'd ask me. She knows you can't stand being told what to do, and by someone so clearly your inferior, all the better. Or worse. Whichever." Her frown had disappeared by the time she'd finished talking, a triumphant little quirk in her smile tugged the corners of her mouth instead. He liked the corners of her mouth as well, so let her have her triumph.

"You believe yourself to be my inferior?" he drawled.

"No. I think I'm pretty hot shit. But I happen to know you don't agree," she countered. "So like… if it bothers you, I'm game."

He smirked slightly. If she only knew exactly what he thought of her. 'Hot shit' didn't begin to cover it.

"Go speak to Dr. Foster, then. If it would bring you such pleasure to boss me around."

Color rose in her cheeks and she glanced down at her laptop instead, stammering something about talking to Jane later if he didn't stop his nonsense.

As adorable as her blushing and stammering were, he already had his eye on another item from Jane's workstation. This one looked relatively harmless. And if it urged Ms. Lewis to speak with Jane about his lack of supervision, all the better. He would simply adore more time spent in Darcy's company.

He pushed up from the empty counter and sauntered over to the table, making sure to ease his feet down on the floor as quietly as he was able. Too quiet for Darcy's Midgardian ears, at any rate.

Scooping up the device, he turned it over in his hands. "What does this do?"

"Seriously dude? You can't even wait five minutes before you're back on your bullshit?" She made a grab for the object, and he tossed it easily to his other hand, holding it behind his back so she had to reach around him.

He smirked. "Surely you've seen Dr. Foster use it before?"

"No, actually. I haven't seen that one in action. So for all I know, it blows up planets. Please. Give it back to me before it Alderaans us into oblivion."

Grinning, he held it just out of her reach. "Surely she wouldn't have something such as that in her possession. Just lying around for me to find."

Darcy pursed her lips and jumped up, grabbing for the device in her left hand. He'd let her have it in just a moment. "Whatever. Just give it back, dude."

"Since you asked so nicely--" he began, stopping short when her thumb and forefinger grabbed it, pressing against the front panel. Darcy screamed loudly a split second later when her hand disappeared.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!" she screeched, grabbing the sleeve of her sweatshirt and yanking it up to reveal a bare wrist. She turned it towards her face and immediately turned a horrible shade of puce. "OH MY GOD!" She wavered on her feet and Loki dropped the device on the table and slipped an arm around her, catching her just in time.

He peered at her wrist, seeing exactly what had made her queasy. Her hand was gone, that much he knew already. But, in its wake was a neatly sliced wrist. Not a wound, per se. There was no blood gushing. The flesh around it wasn't angry or inflamed. It simply looked like he was peering through a window at her bone and circulatory system.

"Are you in pain?" he asked, frowning before lifting her up and onto the counter in front of him.

"No… no? Am I in shock, FRIDAY?"

"Your heart rate is increased, Ms. Lewis, and you seem to be in a slightly panicked state. But otherwise, you seem fine. I'll continue to monitor your vitals just in case? Is that okay?"

"Yes, that's fine," she said absently, suddenly realizing she was still in Loki's embrace. She stepped to the side, swallowing thickly as she reached for one of the rolling stools.

"How does it feel?" he asked, nodding down to her wrist. "Are you certain you're not in pain?"

"No, I don't feel any different… it's like nothing's wrong… like my hand's still there… oh my god, is this what phantom limbs feel like?"

Loki frowned. "I'm sure I have no idea. What sort of… sensation do you have in the fingers??"

"My entire hand… the one that's gone? It feels... " She frowned, closing her eyes. "It feels like it's crawling."

"Your skin?"

"No. My hand. My fingertips are on something hard. It's moving. Like it's walking. Like 'Thing' from the Addams' Family."

"You're delirious…" he concluded, making to carry her to the med bay and alert the staff. He'd no sooner taken a step towards her than she stopped him.

"No. I mean it… Let me see if I can…" She frowned, deep in concentration.

A rapping sounded across the lab.

"There!" she said triumphantly. "That was me."

Loki's eyes narrowed as he took a few steps towards the sound. "Do it again."

The rapping continued and Loki darted off in the direction from whence it came. Darcy hopped off the table and followed him.

Once he'd reached the far wall, where the sound seemed to be originating, he knelt down, listening to a peculiar rustling and alternating raps until one of the large silver vents near him burst open and Darcy's hand skittered out onto the floor.

Or at least, he assumed it was Darcy's. He wasn't aware of any other rogue appendages running around the labs, but he wouldn't put it past these people. This one had lovely teal painted fingernails and a silver ring, so he was almost positive it was hers.

Loki jumped back and Darcy shrieked. "Grab it! Loki! Grab my hand!"

"If you insist," he teased, taking off after it, but the little bugger was too fast.

Darcy jumped up on the countertop, eyes scanning the floor and yelling directions for him. Badly.

"IT'S BY THE THING! It's over by the red blinky lights! The red blinky lights!"

"Where is that?" he countered.

"Never mind! THE DOOR! THE DOOR!" She yelped, pointing not to the front door, but the supply closet.

The hand leaped up and grasped the handle, opening it and running inside.

Loki quickly shut the door and spun, holding it closed. "There aren't any vents in there, are there?"

"Just the one on the door that ventilates the space," she replied.

"No others?"

Darcy glanced up at the ceiling. "FRIDAY? Are there any heating or cooling ducts that lead into this closet?"

"No. The only way in or out is through the door," Stark's A.I replied automatically. Loki was slightly jealous, the A.I wouldn't speak to him unless he tried to go somewhere he shouldn't.

"Good. It's trapped. Now, help me barricade the door…" Darcy hopped down off the counter and shed her hoodie as she placed her attached hand on a rolling file cabinet with locking wheels.

Loki took care of that one and one other for good measure, starting to roll them both towards the closed supply closet. He was at least partially responsible for her runaway hand, and he had two working ones attached to his wrists, so it was the least he could do.

But of course, at that precise moment, Jane and Thor reappeared in the doorway. Loki's stomach dropped. Having to explain this to his brother was bad enough. But Dr. Foster might slap him again.

He glanced over at Darcy, who, unprompted, jammed her hand into a nearby bag of potato chips just as they approached. An odd feeling swept through his abdomen. Almost as if he were falling from a great distance. Without the hard landing.

"What are you two up to?" Thor asked, warily reaching out to wave his hand over Loki's shoulder, slapping him in the process. Loki rolled his eyes.

"Just some redecorating," Darcy said, hand still in the chip bag. "And eating chips."

Jane and Thor gave them some odd looks but continued over to Jane's main work area.

There was a clatter from the bottom of the door as the grated opening at the bottom of the door came crashing out onto the floor. Loki half expected Jane to start screaming as Darcy had, but nothing happened.

Perhaps the hand had remained in the room after seeing Thor out here.

If it could see. It was only a hand after all. Perhaps it sensed things. A soft tugging on his pant leg soon answered that question, however.

His eyes went wide as Darcy's runaway hand crept its way up the back of his leg. He glanced over at Darcy, who was also wide-eyed. "Sorry," she mouthed, shrugging slightly as it moved over the back of his thigh and up over the swell of his rear.

He shifted slightly and reached back to grab it, to perhaps stop it from feeling up Thor next, but when he turned to look for it, he saw nothing. Instead, he felt something tap his shoulder.

"Um… Loki. You seem to have an extra… hand," Thor replied, looking with a bemused expression as Ms. Lewis' hand tapped once more on his shoulder.

"Don't just stand there, help me catch it!" Loki growled.

Darcy squealed. "Be gentle, Thor, it's my hand!" She pulled her wrist out of the chip bag and Thor, without missing a beat, grasped the rogue hand tightly. It slipped from his grasp into Loki's, who laced his fingers and held it tight.

"If you wanted to hold Darcy's hand, you only need to ask her, brother!" Thor joked with a wink.

Loki sighed heavily, seriously struggling to not hold the hand too tightly, but also to keep it from bursting free once more.

"Darcy, how even…" Jane asked, reaching for the exact device that had caused the issue in the first place. "You cannot mess with my spacial modifier… it's not one hundred percent working correctly!"

"No kidding!" Darcy exclaimed. "It sent my hand rogue."

Jane sighed. "Yeah, mine takes a nap whenever I try to use it. Makes it easy to reattach, but I can't ever get anything done. Apparently, yours runs through the walls and gropes Asgardians. I can't say I'm surprised."

Darcy shrugged. "What can I say? I have a type." She winked at Loki and he felt that same sweeping feeling once more. He almost let go of her hand. Almost.

Jane eyed him, clearly amused at his clear discomfort. "Here, Loki… hold her hand still. Darce, bring your wrist up to where it attaches. I'll get it back on there for you."Thirty seconds later and Darcy's hand was reattached and still clasped tightly in Loki's grasp. She wriggled her fingers against his hand and he quickly let go, pressing his lips together as he took a few steps back."Woo, thanks, Janey!" Darcy wiggled her fingers and stared at it in wonder. "I should probably wash this, right? No idea where it's been."

"I know of at least one place," Thor muttered, chuckling when Loki glared in his direction.

"Close your mouth," he hissed.

"Close yours," Thor countered. "You're the one blindly flirting with a woman and doing nothing about it."

"I'm doing plenty."

"Sounds as if her hand has gotten further than you have."

"I've been biding my time," he said. "I want her to be certain she wants more before I--"

Thor's gaze flitted from Loki to where Darcy was standing across the room. He spoke loudly, "Loki should take you to lunch to make up for losing your hand!".

Darcy stopped in mid-scrub. "Yeah! He should! Lunch, Loki?"

He turned to face his brother, ready to chastise him for sticking his great big nose where it didn't belong, but instead, he simply mouthed 'Thank you' before turning back to Darcy. "That sounds lovely. Where to?"

"I dunno, but you lost my hand. I'm thinking something expensive. Maybe nothing that costs an arm and a leg. Maybe just an arm, you know?" she grinned brilliantly, and the feeling returned to his stomach.

"Whatever you'd like."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Meek is a new color for you. I kind of prefer the snark, honestly."

If she wanted snark, he could definitely provide it. He smiled and offered his arm. "Here. let's put that hand somewhere for safe keeping." He reached out and placed it in the crook of his elbow. "Can't have you losing it again."

"Hey, buddy. I didn't lose it!"

"If I recall, it was you who pushed the button, so…"

#Tasertricks #Darcy Lewis #Loki #Darcy/Loki #dlaf2019 #Crack Challenge

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thelifetimechannel · 6 years

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#tlcstuck #roxy lalonde #jade harley #walkaround 3

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lolainblue · 7 years

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Thunderbirds Chapter 30

T/W: Alcohol use, smut

Jared raised his cup. “Never have I ever slept with one of my teachers.”

I left my cup sitting in front of me and looked over at the sofa where Jane sat next to Roger, shaking her head as she took a drink. She had kept herself inches from him ever since she had gotten him back up from his crash on the sidewalk. I'd never seen anyone's mood change as fast as Roger's had. He'd barely spoken in the car and by the time we had started unwrapping the food we'd picked up he was fighting back tears while he talked about what a misfit and an emotional failure he was. Jane had fed him and handed him tissues and held his head against her chest until the worst of it passed. Now that we were getting plowed his mood certainly seemed to be lifting.

As I drank and watched them together, my brain slowly returned to its normal, slightly pickled state and my intuition that had been on vacation for the last three days returned. I began to gain some clarity and I saw Jane and Roger in a whole new light. They were yin and yang on a completely different level. Roger's outer-self matched Jane's inner-self and vice versa. Roger came off as this wild, adventurous, somewhat rogue-like figure, charismatic, optimistic and capable, the kind of person who problems seemed just roll off of, like water off a duck's back. In reality, he was kind, tender, emotionally vulnerable and in need of approval. He only seemed fearless because his natural personality was so over the top you just automatically assumed he had to be fearless to go through life that out there. The truth was I think he just didn't know how to be anything other than what he was, and he was as desperate for love and validation as the rest of us. And then there was Jane, who seemed so incredibly normal and practical and tenderhearted, but I was becoming increasingly convinced that was a facade built by years of trying to fit in and not be relentlessly picked on. Inside she was the wild, fearless, resilient person Roger appeared to be. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous, there was a closeness there that I was sure Jane would never share with anyone else. But then again, Jared and I had always been our own private club. Just as Jane and Roger came as a package deal, so did Jared and I. And since I liked Roger, and Jane and Jared mostly seemed to like each other, recent blood feud aside, I figured it was something I could learn to live with.

The longer I watched them, and the more I saw the way Roger needed Jane's care, the more ashamed of my behavior that morning I became. This wasn't Jane blowing me off to go to a movie with her buddy. This was important. And she was including me as much as she could in it. I had been a complete fucking asshole. And that was the other startling revelation I was coming to.

I had known Jane had become disillusioned with me after watching videos of me partying and goofing off with the guys. I had tried to fix her disappointment by cleaning myself up the way I imagined she wanted. I'd cut way back on the drinking, quit partying and picking up girls and tried to become a more responsible version of myself. After all, when people objected to me, those always seemed to be the reasons why. But that hadn't fixed what had upset Jane, all it had done was make me cranky and not much fun to be around. Jane had objected to the way I was with other people, the way I had become arrogant, callous and rude. She had told me on the phone that first night, but I had only heard the version of her objection I wanted to. It was easier to stay out of a few bars than to change the way I interacted with other people. No wonder she had flown off the handle the minute I started in with that bullshit. I had shown Jane just how right she had been. I was surprised she was still speaking to me.

Kevin didn't last very long into the game, just as he seemed to be working up a good buzz he decided to call it a night. I'm pretty sure he was going to call his girlfriend, which meant I'd be hearing about it tomorrow. Not too long after he left, Jane's phone rang. I knew it was Angus before she said anything, just from the sick look on her face. She quieted us before answering.

“Hey sweetie,” she answered. Her voice was sugary but her face looked like she was smelling a dead rat. I was reminded again how very bad Jane was at deception. I hoped she could pull this off. “How are things?”

Jane got up from her spot on the sofa and started pacing the room as she listened to Angus spin whatever bullshit story he was using to cover up his little Italian rendezvous. They continued their little chit chat for about five minutes, Jane telling Angus she had 'gone to visit friends' instead of seeing her brother this week. He apparently wasn't happy about this, because Jane started spluttering and trying to explain why she hadn't come to see him. Which really fucking pissed me off, I knew he didn't want her to fly out there, he wasn't even there, he just wanted to make her feel bad. This guy was a real asshole. Jane eventually told him that Roger had broken up with his girlfriend, she was busy cheering him and wanted to get back to him and ended the phone call. When she hung up she collapsed onto the bed. The room was silent as we waited to see what her response was going to be, I was afraid she was going to start crying again, but she got back up and poured herself another shot and then locked eyes with Jared.

“Never have I ever been faithful to someone I was engaged to.” Jared stared back at her. No one drank. Well shit. Why hadn't I thought of that tactic? Jane laughed dryly. “Well fuck me then,” she said, taking her penalty drink.

“Janey....” I started cautiously but her face had turned stony and I knew the discussion was over.

“Isn't it your turn?” she asked Roger.

Roger quickly picked up his drink. “Never have I ever told someone I loved them just so they'd have sex with me.”

I took a drink before realizing how bad it would look, after everything Jane was already thinking about me. If there was ever a time to cheat at his game, that would have been it. But as I swallowed the last of the whiskey in my glass Jane looked at me like she had never seen me before. “I was like sixteen, I was an asshole...” I tried to explain but she just shook her head and looked away. I couldn't help glaring at Roger. It was Jared's turn next.

“Never have I ever called out the wrong name in the middle of sex.” I started to laugh but then Jane threw her shot back, got up, stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door. Roger rolled over onto his back on the sofa with a groan.

“Great timing there, asshole,” he said.

“What? Like I knew? What the hell is the big deal?” Jared walked over to the bathroom door and tapped on it softly. “Jane? I'm sorry if I upset you. It's just a game. Don't be embarrassed.” There was no response from the other side and so Jared went to sit back down in the seat Jane had vacated.

“Do I want to know why she's so upset?” I asked Roger.

“That's her story to tell, not mine, “ he replied. He shifted a little bit so that he could throw his legs across Jared's lap. “So are we still drinking or are we going to wait for Lady Jane's tantrum to be over?”

Jared grabbed the bottle of Ouzo that Jane and Roger had been sharing and refilled Roger's cup. “We're still drinking. Who's turn is it?

“Kevin's.” I pointed out. I thought about trying my hand at getting her to open the door back up but I figured she could probably use a few minutes to calm back down. “I'll go. Never have I ever required medical attention after sex.”

That one was aimed at Jared. He spluttered and laughed and took a big drink. He didn't drink often anymore and he was already pretty sloshed at this point but I figured the easy laugh would lighten the mood.

“What the hell, man. I'm pretty adventurous and even I have never been that bad,” Roger snickered.

“Yeah, it's not as interesting as it sounds,” Jared explained. “I fell off the bed.”

“It's still a great Never Have I Ever question.” I pointed out.

I waited for another few rounds and when Jane still hadn't come out I took my bottle and sat down in front of the bathroom door. “Jan-ey,” I slurred at the small gap above the threshold. “Please open the door.” When I got no response I laid flat on the floor, trying to peer through the tiny opening. I thought I could make out the shadow of her feet but that was it. “Please at least make some noise or something, let me know you're okay.”

Three loud, slow, thumps came from inside the bathroom and I could almost hear the irritation in them. I sighed and took another drink and prepared for a long wait.

Jared and Roger had stopped playing and were just drinking and talking instead. Roger was going on about how some people just weren't cut out for relationships, that he should know better by now, that he really should just stick to sex, and Jared kept refilling his glass and agreeing with everything he said. I thought that was probably true for Jared, he always had other priorities, and I had been surprised when he told me about his plans to get married. I hadn't given much thought to my own position on the subject. I sort of thought of getting married like it was some inevitable thing that would probably happen to me but it wasn't anything I was chasing after or even particularly looking forward to. I could take it or leave it. I liked having Jane around, and every time we were together I immediately started pining for something more substantial than my usual flings, but even then I really never thought about what exactly that was. What did I want from Jane, really? And what would she be willing to give me if I asked? Did she want me that way too? I was convinced she was the one for me when we were together in Los Angeles, but I was having a much harder time getting a read on her now.

“Janey, baby, please come to the door,” I called again, letting my knuckles fall lazily against the cheap plywood. When she didn't respond I realized things had gotten strangely quiet. I turned over to look back at the sofa and saw Jared and Roger stretched out against each other, their legs tangled together, no longer talking. I groaned and thumped my head against the carpet. “Could you two at least take it back to your room?” I asked, but they ignored me. Jared just sighed and slipped his hand underneath Roger's shirt.

“Janey, help,” I pleaded, knocking a little more forcefully on the door. “Please come get your best friend off my brother.”

I could hear some shuffling around and I guess curiosity got the better of her because the door finally opened. She looked at me, lying on the floor, heavy lidded and bottle in hand, and then looked over at the sofa where Jared and Roger were making wet little noises while they groped each other.

“I turn my back for fifteen minutes and this is what happens?” she said, barely hiding her amusement. Roger sat up and gave her a sheepish shrug.

“Seriously, guys, I don't care what you do but don't do it in here,” I told them. “I'm not in the mood for a foursome.”

“Gosh, look at the time,” Roger said with a grin. “Jared, I think we'd better clear out so these two have plenty of time for bible study and prayer before bedtime.”

Jared got up and held his hand out to Roger, who took it before standing up. “Yeah, Jane, don't forget to get down on your knees,” he said with a wink. Then the two of them swept out of there, leaving Jane and me completely alone for the first time since Roger had swept into town.

I turned around and looked at Jane again. She was still dressed casually, and her hair had been taken down from her ponytail, her curls allowed to run riot down her shoulders. I was overcome with a powerful feeling of nostalgia, remembering another game of Never Have I Ever, where Jared and Roger slipped off together as I waited on Jane to emerge from the bathroom. I decided it was long past time for a do-over. I stepped in front of Jane.

“New game. Truth or Dare. You choose dare,” I told her. She immediately broke into a smile. “I dare you to kiss me.”

She closed the distance between us, grabbed the back of my head and crashed her mouth into mine. When her tongue split the seam of my lips it tasted like it had been dipped in licorice. I wished we'd had Goldschlager again instead. I preferred cinnamon.

I pulled Jane backward towards the bed, my hands already traveling under her shirt since this time we had no need to worry about privacy. To my surprise, she pushed them away.

“Convince me,” she urged, her lips at my ear, warm breath tickling my skin and filling me with need. “Don't assume I'm yours. Make me want to stay.”

I stopped to look at her. Her cheeks were red and her pupils dilated, and I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or lust. She was much drunker than that first night. I wasn't even sure what she meant by that. “Make me want to stay.” Was she thinking of leaving me? Was she thinking of staying past this week? I pushed my questions aside and kissed her for all I was worth, diving into her like she was an oasis in a desert. I could feel her breathing get quicker, her little sighs becoming soft moans as her song began again. I dropped to my knees in front of her, planting a tender kiss on her stomach before wrapping my arms around her legs and resting my head.

“Please, Janey,” I said. My head was swimming and I wasn't sure if it was alcohol or lust in my case either. “Please.”

My last plea came out like a sob, and I realized I had been begging before I even knew what the question was. “Please don't leave me again Jane. Please want me as much as I want you.”

Jane immediately dropped to her knees as well, pulling our heads together as she took in trembling breaths. “Why don't you already know that I do?” she asked me. “Besides Roger, you're the only thing in this world right now that I'm not confused about.”

I heard the words but they still didn't penetrate whatever fog was around my heart. I resumed kissing her again, as feverishly as before, my hands at her back cradling her against me as I devoured her. She pulled my shirt over my head, her resistance melting away as unexpectedly as it had shown up.

Not wanting to chance whatever had happened on that motel room floor in the past I lead her back onto the bed, pulling her clothing away and covering every newly exposed inch of skin in wet kisses. She purred and stretched beneath me as her mouth and fingers traveled my skin as it was revealed to her as well. I nibbled my way down her stomach as I headed toward her core, eager to taste her, knowing how much she loved my tongue on her clit, but to my surprise, she pulled me back up to her.

“Not this time, Shannon. I need you inside me now. Please.” Her breathing was ragged and her eyes were damp. I didn't know what was happening but I knew I wanted to give Jane whatever she desired. I moved over her, our mouths meeting for another powerful kiss and she reached between us, guiding my cock until our bodies met, pulling me into her while she shuddered around me.

I stayed firmly pressed against her, my weight on one arm while my hand cradled her face. She didn't scream for God or Krishna or Zeus this time. She only wrapped her legs and arms around me, clutching me against her while she moaned my name like an incantation. For the second time in twenty-four hours, I was lost to her, caught up in whatever magic spell it was that our bodies cast whenever they met. By the time we had finished, and she was tucked against my chest and drifting off to sleep, I felt, for the first time, like maybe we were really on the same page. That everything was finally falling into place.

It only made what happened the next night that much more puzzling

@msroxyblog @nikkitasevoli @maliciousalishious@meghan12151977 @mustlove6277 @fyeahproudglambert @little-poptart @lady-grinning-soul-k

#jared leto fanfiction #jared leto fic #shannon leto fanfiction #shannon leto fic #30 seconds to mars fanfiction #Thunderbirds

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Watchmen Timeline Explained

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We've made a complete and chronological timeline of the events of Watchmen, from the original book to the HBO show. It...wasn't easy.

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This article contains nothing but spoilers for Watchmen, both the book and the HBO series.

HBO’s Watchmen is non-linear and occasionally confusing (or “infuriating” as Dr. Manhattan puts it) in its use of time. The book from which it draws inspiration is similarly non-linear and occasionally confusing in its use of time. To make matters even trickier, the show expands upon and even retcons events that take place or are alluded to in the book.

So what’s a fan to do? Why, make a complete and chronological Watchmen timeline, of course! That’s a perfectly sane and normal activity for any well-adjusted adult, and it certainly didn’t give me any severe migraines or make me question my own perception of time at any point. Nope. None at all.

read more - Watchmen: Unanswered Questions We Have From the Finale

To compile this complete Watchmen timeline, I only used stated dates from the book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, dates and events from the show itself, dates noted in HBO’s official supplemental materials, Peteypedia, and the occasional date from actual real life (for example, the birth of lawman Bass Reeves). I don’t consider DC’s Before Watchmen prequels canon (and apparently neither does this show) but I DID cheat and use dates from some long out-of-print Watchmen roleplaying game supplements that Alan Moore consulted on to date a couple of events from the book.

Now, let's get to work...

July 1838 - Bass Reeves born.

1908 - Nelson Gardner (Captain Metropolis) born.

1915 - Will Reeves born.

1918 - Obie Williams, Will Reeves’ father and the great-grandfather of Angela Abar, serves during World War I. It’s here he picks up (and keeps) a German propaganda flier indicating that there’s more racial equality in Germany than there is in the United States. He carries it with him until passing it on to Will.

May 25, 1921 - Trust in the Law, a silent movie about Bass Reeves, premieres.

May 31 - June 1, 1921 - The Tulsa Race Massacre takes place. Will Reeves and June Abar escape Tulsa.

1936 - Hans Osterman takes his son Jon from Germany to England to escape the rise of the Nazis. There they stay with other refugees in an English manor home, sheltered by a kind young couple, who later inspire Dr. Manhattan to create life in their image.

Nelson Gardner honorably discharged from the Marines.

1938 - Will Reeves (Hooded Justice) and Hollis Mason (Nite Owl I) graduate from the New York Police Academy.

Spring 1938 - Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman is published. Will Reeves and others take notice. The arrival of superheroes as a publishing phenomenon inspires a number of people to put on costumes and fight crime. Ironically, the presence of real world superheroes ends up killing them as a viable genre in comic books, where other genres such as pirate stories instead become dominant in the form and pop culture.

Oct. 1938 - After intervening in a mugging after he had been the victim of a racist attack by his police office colleagues, Will Reeves makes his costumed debut as Hooded Justice.

1939 - Hollis Mason debuts as Nite Owl. The Silhouette, The Comedian, Silk Spectre I, Captain Metropolis, Dollar Bill, and Mothman, all inspired by the exploits of Hooded Justice and Nite Owl, make their crimefighting debut shortly after.

July 2, 1939 - Adrian Veidt born.

Mid 1939 - The Minutemen form.

March 21, 1940 - Walter Joseph Kovacs (Rorschach) born.

Oct. 2, 1940 - Edward Blake sexually assaults Sally Jupiter (Silk Spectre I) after a meeting of the Minutemen. Hooded Justice intervenes and severely beats Blake. Blake is expelled from the Minutemen shortly after.

1942 - Nelson Gardner (Captain Metropolis) puts crime fighting career on hold to serve in the Marines during World War II. The Comedian joins the war effort, beginning a long career as a government agent and super soldier.

Sept. 18, 1942 - Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl II) born.

Aug. 7, 1945 - Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Jon Osterman’s life path changes from being a watchmaker to a nuclear physicist.

1946 - Minutemen member The Silhouette is outed as a lesbian in the press, kicked off the team, and subsequently murdered by an old enemy.

1947 - Sally Jupiter quits Silk Spectre career.

1948 - Sally Jupiter and Edward Blake conceive Laurie Juspeczyk (FBI Agent Laurie Blake on the show) in a secret, consensual sexual encounter.

Autumn, 1948 - Jon Osterman accepted to Princeton.

1949 - Laurie Juspeczyk (FBI Agent Laurie Blake) born, the Minutemen disband.

Dec. 1, 1949 - Judd Crawford born.

1952 - Will Reeves (Hooded Justice) uncovers the Cyclops mass hypnosis plot and executes several of their members.

1954 - The remaining members of the Minutemen are called before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and asked to reveal their identities in testimony. Hooded Justice disappears after refusing to reveal his identity to HUAC.

1955 - Circus strongman Rolf Muüller found dead. While this fact was never made public, Muller was murdered by Edward Blake, who believed him to be Hooded Justice, in an act of revenge for the beating he received at HJ’s hands in 1940.

J. David Keene gifts Judd Crawford’s father with a replica of George Catlin’s painting, “Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship.”

1956 - Sally Jupiter divorces Laurence Schexnayder. Adrian Veidt begins traveling the world and preparing for his crime fighting career.

1958 - Adrian Veidt makes costumed debut as Ozymandias.

Spring 1958 - Jon Osterman graduates Princeton with a PhD in Atomic Physics.

May 12, 1959 - Jon Osterman begins work at Gila Flats, site of the intrinsic field generator, and meets Janey Slater.

August 1959 - Jon Osterman trapped in Intrinsic Field Generator and torn to atoms.

November 1959 - Jon Osterman “returns” as Dr. Manhattan after reassembling his physical form on the atomic level.

March 2, 1960 - Dr. Manhattan’s existence revealed to the world.

May 1960 - DC Comics begins publishing Tales of the Black Freighter, a pirate comic by Max Shea and Joe Orlando.

June 17, 1960 - Dr. Manhattan meets Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) for the first time.

May 16, 1962 - Nite Owl I (Hollis Mason) retires.

1963 - Under the Hood, Hollis Mason’s memoir about the Minutemen and his time as Nite Owl is published. Among other things, this popularizes the (incorrect) theory that Rolf Müller was actually Hooded Justice.

March 20, 1964 - Walter Joseph Kovacs begins crimefighting as Rorschach

1965 - Rorschach partners with Nite Owl II

April 14, 1966 - Nelson Gardner (Captain Metropolis) tries and fails to put together a new superhero team, the Crimebusters. Dr. Manhattan first meets Laurie Juspeczyk. Laurie first meets Edward Blake.

May 1966 - Dr. Manhattan begins romantic relationship with Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre II).

Aug. 26, 1966 - Janey Slater leaves Dr. Manhattan after learning of his affair with Laurie Juspeczyk.

1967 - Adrian Veidt exposes “a plot by rogue right wing extremists in the US military to test biological weapons on the citizens of Nairobi and the surrounding areas.”

1968 - Adrian Veidt begins formulating his master plan to bring about world peace.

March 1971 - Dr. Manhattan intervenes in Vietnam and meets Edward Blake.

June 1971 - The United States declares victory in Vietnam, marking the first VVN night. Edward Blake murders a vietnamese woman carrying his child while Dr. Manhattan stands by and does nothing.

1972 - Fogdancing by Max Shea, an important and influential work of literature in the Watchmen universe, is published.

Aug. 9, 1974 - Nelson Gardner killed in automobile accident in New York City.

1975 - Constitutional amendment abolishing Presidential term limits passed, allowing Richard Nixon to seek re-election. Ozymandias retires and reveals his identity to the public. Rorchach’s activities become more brutal in the wake of a kidnapping case he solved.

March 3, 1975 - Will Reeves is presented with the contents of Nelson Gardner’s will in New York City. Will Reeves is working at a movie theater in Harlem at the time.

1976 - Judd Crawford marries Jane Lestley. Angela Abar born.

Nov. 22, 1976 - Calvin Jelani born.

June 1977 - A superhero exploitation movie called Sister Night is released in Vietnam. It would later go on to influence young Angela Abar.

Aug. 3, 1977 - Nationwide police strike and civil unrest leads to the passage of the Keene Act, outlawing masked vigilante activity. While Silk Spectre and Nite Owl II retire in light of the new law, Rorschach refuses.

1979 - The Comedian frees American and Canadian hostages from Iranian “anti-Manhattanite extremists.”

1980 - Judd Crawford joins the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department

Early October 1985 - Edward Blake (The Comedian) drunkenly confesses to Edgar William Jacobi (Moloch) the details he has learned of Adrian Veidt’s plan.

Oct. 12, 1985 - Edward Blake (The Comedian) is murdered by Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias). Rorschach begins an investigation and notifies Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl II) of Blake’s death.

Oct. 13, 1985 - Rorchach notifies Adrian Veidt, Laurie Juspeczyk, and Dr. Manhattan of Blake’s death.

Oct. 16, 1985 - Edward Blake’s funeral.

Oct. 19, 1985 - Dr. Manhattan leaves Earth for Mars, a result of continued public pressure after information planted by Adrian Veidt leads the world to believe that Dr. Manhattan’s presence causes cancer.

Oct. 20, 1985 - Russia invades Afghanistan, bringing the world to the brink of World War III.

Oct. 21, 1985 - Rorschach arrested for violating the Keene Act, framed for the murder of Edgar William Jacobi (Moloch).

Oct. 28, 1985 - Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II return to active duty as costumed adventurers to rescue people from a burning building in lower Manhattan.

Oct. 31, 1985 - Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II break Rorschach out of jail. Hollis Mason (Nite Owl I) is murdered by a gang of Knot-Tops who believe that he’s the same Nite Owl responsible for breaking Rorschach out of prison.

Nov. 1, 1985 - Nite Owl and Rorschach head to Karnak, the Antarctic retreat of Ozymandias, to confront Adrian Veidt about his plans.

On Mars, Laurie Juspeczyk convinces Dr. Manhattan to intervene on behalf of humanity, and learns the truth about her parentage.

Lady Trieu conceived when her mother artificially inseminates herself with Veidt’s genetic material.

Fogancing author Max Shea, and anyone who can connect Adrian Veidt to 11/2 is killed. Rorschach’s journal is delivered to the New Frontiersman offices.

Nov. 2, 1985 - 3 million killed in New York City after Veidt teleports a giant, telepathic, genetically engineered squid into midtown Manhattan. The ensuing chaos averts World War III and ushers in a new era of global cooperation. Intermittent squid rains begin shortly after.

Across the Hudson River in Hoboken, NJ, young Wade Tillman survives the psychic shockwave unleashed by the squid, and is severely traumatized, putting him on a path that leads to him becoming Detective Looking Glass back home in Tulsa, OK.

Rorschach killed by Dr. Manhattan.

Dr. Manhattan leaves Earth for Europa, begins terraforming the planet and creating life.

December 1985 - Dan Dreiberg and Laurie Juspeczyk assume new identities as Sam and Sandra Hollis. At some point in the next few years, Dan founds Merlincorp and begins providing Nite Owl technology to police departments.

July 1986 - Lady Trieu born.

Mar. 21, 1986 - New Frontiersman begins printing excerpts from Rorschach’s Journal. They’re widely dismissed as the ravings of a crank, and the general public doesn’t believe Adrian Veidt had anything to do with the events of 11/2/85.

c.1988 - Richard Nixon dies in office. Gerald Ford takes over as President.

1992 - Robert Redford defeats Gerald Ford to become the new President of the United States.

Jan. 21, 1993 - Robert Redford sworn in as President, and learns the truth about Adrian Veidt’s involvement in 11/2 via a videotaped confession.

1993 - The Tech Recall and Reintroduction Act is passed, “reintroducing technologies once deemed unsafe or illegal back into the public space” after the paranoia brought on by the events of 11/2.

c. 1994 - Steven Spielberg releases Pale Horse, a movie about the events of 11/2/1985.

April 19, 1995 - Dan Dreiberg and Laurie Juspeczyk arrested for violations of the Keene Act, in the process of stopping Timothy McVeigh from carrying out the Oklahoma City bombing.

April 28, 1995 - Merlincorp, the technology company owned and operated by Dan Dreiberg and that provides police with crimefighting tech (and Laurie with that crazy Dr. Manhattan dildo), is raided by the FBI.

1999 - Veidt Enterprises licenses cloning technology. Eventually Lady Trieu uses this technology to clone her mother, Bian.

2004 - Judd Crawford becomes a detective in the Tulsa PD.

2007 - Adrian Veidt’s final public appearance, accepting Kenya’s highest civilian honor, the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart. Trieu Pharmaceuticals launches Nostalgia.

2008 - The Victims of Racial Violence Act, known by some as “Redfordations” passed.

Lady Trieu first confronts Adrian Veidt in Karnak about her identity and her plans to surpass his accomplishments and make the world a better place.

June 2009 - Dr. Manhattan meets Angela Abar in Mr. Eddy’s bar on VVN Night. Several weeks later, he takes the form of the deceased Calvin Jelani.

Dec. 13, 2009 - Dr. Manhattan, in the form of Calvin Jelani, visits Adrian Veidt in Karnak. Veidt gives Dr. Manhattan a device that will neutralize his powers and his memories so he can live a normal life with Angela Abar.

Dr. Manhattan sends Adrian Veidt to Europa, the moon of Jupiter where he has been creating life.

Dr. Manhattan meets with Will Reeves.

With the onset of his Veidt-assisted amnesia, Dr. Manhattan “officially” assumes the identity of Calvin Jelani, after taking his form for several months prior.

2010 - Trieu Industries begins launching space probes.

Dec. 13, 2010 - Adrian Veidt celebrates his first anniversary on Europa.

Dec. 13, 2011 - Adrian Veidt celebrates second anniversary on Europa. To celebrate, he puts on a play dramatizing how Jon Osterman became Dr. Manhattan.

2012 - Adrian Veidt declared missing on Earth.

Dec. 13, 2012 - Adrian Veidt “celebrates” his third anniversary on Europa and begins formulating his plan to escape. He runs afoul of the mysterious Game Warden.

2013 - Adrian Veidt uses the bodies of his servants to spell out the words “Save me daughter” on the surface of Europa, just in time for one of Trieu Industries’ space probes to fly by and see it. Shortly after, Veidt is put on trial by the inhabitants of Europa for attempting to escape.

read more: Watchmen Finale Explained

2015 - The trial of Adrian Veidt concludes, and he is sent to prison.

Dec. 24, 2016 - The White Night. “Mike” a member of the 7th Kavalary is mysteriously teleported to Gila Flats during his attack on the Abar residence, raising suspicions that Dr. Manhattan is alive and well and living in Tulsa.

2017 - Trieu Industries acquires Veidt Enterprises. Angela Abar adopts the identity of Sister Night in order to continue her police work. A Trieu Industries spacecraft lands on Europa to collect Adrian Veidt and bring him back to Earth.

2018 - Judd Crawford becomes chief of police in Tulsa. Lady Trieu breaks ground on the Millennium Clock.

Sept. 9, 2019 - Adrian Veidt officially declared presumed dead. John Grisham retires from the Supreme Court.

Sept. 16, 2019 - Judd Crawford dies. This is where the events that take place in the present day on the show begin, and they take place over the span of three weeks.

Mike Cecchini is the Editor in Chief of Den of Geek. You can read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @wayoutstuff.

Read and download the Den of Geek Lost in Space Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

Books

Mike Cecchini

Dec 15, 2019

Watchmen

HBO

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gizoogletranslateshomestuck · 5 years

Photo

[A6A6I5] ====>

JANE: Wow, I feel so out of tha liznoop! Anotha dogg house production. Sorry if I still seem disoriented from mah... nap, I suppoze it was? JIZZAY: I started yo shit and i'll end yo' shit. Or impromptu troll-coma. JIZZY now motherfuckers lemme here ya say hoe: Roxizzle, yizzou hizzay ta clizzay me in on what happened hizzy! Where be Dirk n Jizzake? JANE: N fo` tizzy killa, Jizzohn, where be yo' otha niggaz? Oh, Jade! Where be she? Be she still asleep?

ROXY: hey jizzle thizzay be all like a lot of sizzy ta say n everyth'n goin on here be faaairly complicated n heavily peopled ROXY: Wussup to all my niggaz in the house. dont worry ill eaze you into comprehend'n shiznit again fo yo bitch ass;) ROXY: W-to-tha-izzell ok clizziff notes be: jake fucked off somewhere n diznirk recently fucked off BACK hizzle through a windizzle but he lizzle again prizzle quick... ROXY: dizzay went wit dizzy at whereva they fuck'n off tizzoo now, i thizzink ta git ready for sizzle swords fightin, n yeah jade be S-T-to-tha-izzill asleep but a coupla trolls lizzle hustla off somewhere siznafe fo` now ROXIZZLE: tha R-TO-THA-IZZEST of tha jizzunk im still sort'n out myself bcs like i said im new ta dis exact plane of shenanigans

JIZZY: Yizzes, you mentioned that. JANE: I S-T-to-tha-izzill don't kizzy what yiznou meant by... JIZNANE: Nigga get shut up or get wet up. Wizzay! JANE paper'd up: You n John cizname from anotha reality, where everyth'n wizzay horribly, right?

ROXY: m-hmmm!

JIZZANE: I just remembered. Really, it bizzeen such a rollercoasta rizzy fo` mah memorizzle, sizzle I fizzell aslizzle. JANE: Yo' n John travels wizzy a critical pizzart of tha illustrated story we recizzle through our memories W-to-tha-izzith Callie.

ROXIZZLE: wat! ROXY fo' real: you saw cizzle 'n yo' dreams????

J-TO-THA-IZZANE: I did!

ROXY: hoh dawg RIZZLE: Aint no killin' everybodys chillin'. how be she, niggaz, better recognize! ROXY droppin hits: i sizzy ha 'n a dream a shawty whizzile ago n we talked 'bout lots of stuff RIZZLE: shizzay looked like a T-R-to-tha-izzoll then

JANE: Yes, ha trizzle! She hizzle rappa on whizzle I sizzaw ha fo gettin yo pimp on. JIZZANE: N we hizzle ours on tiznoo!

ROXY: gangsta style:O F-TO-THA-IZZUCK

JIZZANE: She seemed ta be ridin' well keep'n it real yo. J-TO-THA-IZZANE: Hollaz to the East Side. Nervous, of courze, since she wizzy hid'n. But we pasze' tha tizzime wit our stories. J-TO-THA-IZZANE: It was a lot of fun! I'm so stoked I gizzle ta meet ha. JANE: I wonder if I'll ever git tha chance again?

ROXY: It's your homie snoop dogg from the dpg. wellll... ROXY dogg: now that u mention it ROXIZZLE: Wussup to all my niggaz in the house. it BE one of mah chief objectives ta go lizzle fo` hustla asizzle ROXY in tha hood: aaizzle nizzay ta be THIZZAT ROGUE n B-R-to-tha-izzag all heavy but i MAY be 'n bizzle touch wit mah void pimp now ROXIZZLE: soo mizzle i stizzand a p giznood chance of trizzle ha down? ROXY: cus i GOTS somethin fo` ha

JANE: You do ya dig?? What? :B

ROXY: jiznust a shawty presie, nbd

JANE: ... JIZZY: I see.

ROXY: JK IT BE CRUCIAL FUKKIN BL'N JANEY ROXY: ONE (1) PRICELESS DIZZLE DONUT!!! ROXIZZLE: W/ MIZZLE KARATS THAN A RIZZLE TIZZY FIZNAT FOR A HOLE ROXIZZLE doggystyle: (s'magic ta)

JIZZLE: WOW!!!!!!!!!! JIZZLE: Ahizzle, so, JANE: You mean a r'n, thizzay.

JOHN: yeah! JOHN: oh dawg, that a bootylicious idea roxizzle to increase tha peace. JIZZLE: you sizzy try n give it ta ha as soon as yizzou cizzle dogg! JOHN dogg: T-H-to-tha-izzen maybe we can all meet ha before we riznamp up fo` dis battle?

ROXY fo my bling bling: hmm yeh! ROXY: u tizzy i can do it?

JIZZOHN: You gotta check dis shit out yo. sure!

ROZE: I like yo' chances tizzay. ROSESPRITE: S-to-tha-izzame!

JASPIZZLE: Me tiznoo roxy! :3

ROZE: I also have some experience dippin' thugz along 'n tha right direction, whizzle it comes to navigat'n tha abyss. ROZE: Mizzay I could assist cuz its a doggy dog world? RIZZLE: yizzle M-to-tha-izzaybe!

ROSESPRITE: I'm P-R-E-Double-Tizzy sure I have experience perform'n literallizzle tha exact sizzame task, 'n a slightly differizzle context with the S-N-double-O-P. ROSESPRITE so sit back relax new jacks get smacked: So maybe I can dizzouble assizzle?

JOHN: sizzee roxy? everyone T-H-to-tha-izzinks yizzy should do it, coz they all bizzle 'n you.

JANE: Thiznat's rizzy!

ROXY: shizzucks fucka ._. ROXY: yizzay killin me here <3

JASPERSPRITE: Meow im so stoked!

ROXY with my forty-fo' mag: frigglish u sizzle bastard whiznats up?

JASPERSPRITE: P-to-tha-izzurr purr purr... JASPERSPRITE: All tha humans bein so close pusha n stoked and friendly purr piznurr upside yo head. JASPERSPRITE: Its mak'n me reallizzle excitizzle and stoked too n mak'n me feel lizzy i want to be a part of mackin' fo gettin yo pimp on! JASPERSPRITE: Purr purr n git cloze ta a nearby persizzle n be stoked at thizzay wit mah body purrrr...

ROSIZZLE: Jaspa, what be you...

JASPERSPRITE: I cant help it roze i want ta C-to-tha-izzuddle im feel'n so pleaze' n friendly! :3 :3 :3

ROSESPRITE: Gangsta, no, ROSESPRITE: No, dizzon't!

> [A6A6I5] ====>

#Gizoogle #Homestuck #pg7583

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tinymixtapes · 7 years

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Twin Peaks music supervisor releases the show’s “unofficial ambient score” on Sacred Bones

SHOWTIME® just sent us the remaining episodes of the new Twin Peaks series, and — spoiler alert — it’s going to be CRAZY! Here’s a little taste of what to expect: Mr. C gets lonely and creates a ton of additional Dougies to cheer him up; Janey-E divorces the original Dougie but marries a different one at Club Silencio (whose best man is another Dougie!); Gordon shouts “hot dog!” upon discovering Briggs’s head below a convenience store owned by one of the Dougies; Tammy investigates the “spiritual mound” with a team of Dougies; Wally hits the open road (his dharma) searching for a couple rogue Dougies; and, finally, Richard Horne frames one of the Dougies for the truck incident, but everyone’s happy about it because that specific Dougie was kinda annoying anyway. Oh yeah, and Sheriff Truman brutally murders Andy!! So weird. Anyway, to get you prepared for the Dougie takeover, Dean Hurley — the show’s sound/music supervisor, frequent Lynch collaborator, and drummer of the series’s fictitious band Trouble — has released “an unofficial ambient score to Twin Peaks” called Anthology Resource Vol. 1: △△. The press release describes the music as ranging from “ethereal tones to sputtering electricity to densely brooding musical cues.” In other words, it’s not the kind of stuff we’re hearing at the Roadhouse, but the kind ringing from the corners of the Great Northern Hotel or violently buzzing from an electrical outlet — you know, TMT sorta stuff. Anthology Resource Vol. 1: △△ is out now digitally and out soon on vinyl via Sacred Bones. Listen to “Eastern European Symphonic Mood No. I” below, and then prepare to see Jon Snow and Daenerys incestuously hooking up Andy horrendously mutilated by Sheriff Truman in Part 16. Ouch! Anthology Resource Vol. 1: △△ tracklist: 01. Intro Cymbal Wind 02. Night Electricity Theme 03. Electricity I 04. Weighted Room / Choral Swarm 05. Tube Wind Dream 06. Tone / Slow Speed Prison / Low Mood 07. Slow One Chord Blues (Interior) 08. Interior Home by the Sea 09. Low Sustained Mystery 10. Angel Choir Reveal 11. Seven Heaven 12. Eastern European Symphonic Mood No. 1 13. Black Box 14. Girl Appears / Black Smoke 15. Shanghai Mysterioso 16. Forest / Interior 17. Electricity II 18. Future / Past http://j.mp/2hJjuLj

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redantsunderneath · 7 years

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[Twin Peaks spoilers] The Third Man – Dale Cooper and America’s (current) midlife crisis

I have two understandings about the original show that could shed some light on the nature of the third manifestation of Dale Cooper (I’ll call them doppelCoop who is the dirty murderous one, OGCoop who escapes from the red room, and doucheCoop who is married to Janey-E).

One is that a major theme of the original show is the baby boomer mid-life crisis as a crisis in America. Specifically, the conflict created by the identity rift between the hippie ideal and the reality of becoming “the man.” This plays out largely in relation to Ben Horne (Richard Beymer), shady business man who has an actual crisis where he tries to flip the outcome of a major historical event to (up is down, down is up) create the timeline where he wound up the “good” version of the 60s vision.

He is aided/abetted in this quest by several foils – his brother Jerry who gives personification to the hedonistic tendencies that led him astray; Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn), the road not taken of the spiritual seeker aspect of the generation who is currently a little worse for wear (as is what was left of that spirit); and two younger reflections in Bobby, who is trying to emulate him, and Audrey who is rejecting the very basis for his current life. Jacoby is especially interesting due to casting – the two were male leads in West Side Story, where Beymer played the leader and Tamblyn the heart of the gang. Later, Beymer dated Sharon Tate and Tamblyn gave a ride to Charles Manson. That they wind up in this position on the show fits the paths of the dual sides of the male 60s psyche. Do you throw responsibility away and Easy Ride it or stay bathed in the world you were sucked into then made, having to face what you’ve become.

It is evident that this is not just an inner war in men of Frost’s age but a struggle for the soul of the culture. The Regan years had the boomers struggling frantically to both live in the hyper material world and convince themselves they had not sold out. The vestiges of closer community, living less compromised lives, and a deeper seeking of understanding were relegated to crackpot behavior, as Jacoby illustrates. Jerry plays the smirking unbridaled id of the generation. Meanwhile, Bobby and Audrey are straight out of Family Ties – Alex trying to emulate the capitalist and Mallory criticizing the materialism (while depending on it). This is a nice assemblage of mirror relationships with Ben at the center.

The second thing is the nature of Cooper himself. His white knight nature tends to obscure the darker facets hinted at in the character. He is a guy with an obsession with women who have desires and are destroyed when they afoul of bad men, or rather when the existence is crushed by a system of dominant male will. He wants to protect them, these women who try to become people and explore who they are in a world of a reinforcing cycle of predatory maleness, but he is completely entangled in the system that causes it. He must save the Judys, the May Queens. But he places himself into a position where it is too late. Coop’s obsession is also a national/worldwide thing – the need for upstanding men to revere and witness the defilement of women, to venerate and annihilate them for standing up. It also kind of cheats as an extension of the Boomer story - he exemplifies all the positive attributes of the culture the 60s reacted against, a firm belief in the goodness of this without seeing how those aspects are entangled with the bad beyond his ability through personal force of will to only allow the good to out.

Coop joins the FBI for this reason. He is attracted to this idea of women, as an opportunity for acting good in a world characterized by the bad side he rejects (but must watch as it consumes so many). This is not healthy or good. However he only uses violence when he has to and he is trying to “fix his heart.” Earle screws this up good. What I believe happens in the real world that corresponds to the events in the Black Lodge is that Coop enters the cycle of male violence and domination by killing Earle in anger as, in the striking down of Annie, he loses hope that he can ever forge a relationship that allows him to see women as people.

This is the Coop that we see at the beginning of the new season. Metaphorically, the good angels of Coop’s nature are “locked up” in his mind while the version made of his suppressed darkness runs free. Meanwhile he has manufactured an identity of a middle aged schlubb who is faithless and without a real compass. There are three Coops… if we take this as a metaphorical story, what does this mean?

DoucheCoop is the Coop the world sees – a given up, going through the motions tool. His wife means little to him and he seeks cowardsy thrills, shirking responsibility, living in the capital city of self-indulgence. DoppleCoop is how he has chosen to see himself – the rogue, sexy adventurer to whom life and sex are cheap. But he is in a moment of crisis. The better angels of his nature seek to reassert themselves. He pushes his manufactured self aside, but his wife and child have begun to see this better side, unfamiliar with the world, start to hesitantly come out. His self-image wants this OGCoop, good Coop, dead, but attempts to make this happen all seem to fail (wonder why...).

The slipping of the manufactured identity shows up visually as a literal war between the small gold core left in him and the toxic oozing cratered planet of disgust that is how he esteems himself. The kernel of good seems to win. We need to see how this plays out precisely, but I think the Coops need to merge – the good Coop needs the dark Coop to be whole but control needs to be reasserted by the light side. Good riddance to the “face he showed the world.” Again, this appears to be political commentary as well as psychodrama. The country is allegorically presented as at war between a mean, violent conspiracy of self interest and the nation’s good impulses which have been dormant and now are kind of fumbling around. This is all with the public image of a tasteless, rudderless, hedonistic nihilistic populous with money problems. I think this is just another presentation of the mid-life crisis of rapacious materialism vs. soul 25 years later... a bit more up to date. Does the western world give into its impulse to cruise around in a cool car with long hair bangin’ chicks like it has been or does it rediscover some fundamental reason to live. That’s for episodes 5-18 to tell. (spoilers… it chooses the later)

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nora-reads-homestuck · 8 years

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A6A1 Impressions

Hey all! I’m back with my impressions from Act 6 Act 1. This one will necessarily be a bit shorter than previous impressions posts, but the plus side is that I’ll be doing more of them, one for each Act Act! (God, that feels weird to say. Like... I’m a Martian or something.) Anyway, here goes!

The Characters:

We didn’t see any of the original, pre-Scratch human kids or the trolls we know and love this Act Act. However, we met some new human kids who are all their own brand of weird/annoying/lovable!

Jane: Jane, Jane, Janey Jane. Strangely, though they have almost nothing to do with each other at this point, I’m getting some of the same feelings toward her as I got for Rose all through Acts 4 and 5. A bit of readerly frustration that she’s not doing or thinking the things I know she needs to in order to be truly successful at the game, if for different reasons. Rose was overconfident, a loner, but Jane is stubbornly (but pretty justifiedly, let’s be honest) refusing to take anything she hears at face value. Batterwitch? Couldn’t be. Entering a game to go to a new world? Malarkey. I think it stems from the fact that, all the way back in Act 1, it would have seemed just as improbable, but I’m getting to this having come off Act 5, and I know it all to be true. And Jane can’t be blamed for wanting to continue living in her perfect world, where she’s the heiress and her friends’ problems can’t touch her! I’m a bit worried that she might not take it in stride when she does get dumped into Sburb, and finds out everything she’s been hearing is true. She’s... a bit of a princess. But that’s alright; I still like her a lot!

Jake: Strangely, I’m still not sure what to make of Jake. On the surface level, he’s kind of ditzy, perpetually harangued, loves guns and adventure, indiscriminate in his movie tastes, and prone to outdated slang like Jane (obviously a joke in reference to the fact that his alt self grew up in the 1910′s and 20′s). Seems like there ought to be plenty to work with there. However... none of that really equates to a deeper personality. Is he insecure like Tavros? Overconfident, like Eridan? What do all the Lord English parallels mean? Will be become Lord English eventually? Mystery after mystery. I guess that’s not so unusual seeing how thinly Hussie strung tidbits about Jade, but still, I feel like it’s not enough to go on to really get a solid impression of his character. Hopefully we’ll get more later!

LittleLonde: BE STILL MY HEART. There have been plenty of Homestuck characters it’s taken me a while to warm up to, but LittleLonde is not one of them. She’s so sweet and cheery, encouraging her friends without harassing them, even if she’s worryingly drunk. (Seriously, what is UP with Rose allowing that to happen.) She’s also fucking adorable. I am a bit concerned that my assessment of her as a Cassandra character is accurate, and the Batterwitch really is poised to exploit the inevitability of them entering the game. LittleLonde, like Bro, seems to know a whole lot on the subject, and I wonder where that knowledge comes from. Rose, UU, or both? TipsyGnostalgic would seem to be quite the appropriate chumhandle.

Bro: Bro is for sure the kid we’ve heard the least from, and that’s not surprising, given how elusive his pre-Scratch older self was. Judging by the scant exposure I’ve had to him so far, he’s a narcissistic, dry, rude, but highly intelligent roboticist/AI programmer with ill-concealed pants feelings for Jake. He even claimed that he’s going to be the one pulling the strings behind this session, and that Jane will be a figurehead of a leader. (I’ve got my popcorn ready and waiting for THAT one to be subverted.) Despite my distaste for his asshattery, I think he does genuinely care for Jane, and Jake on more than a carnal level. He’s just going about expressing that affection in all the wrong ways. Constantly berating them that they need to change their behavior? Harassing Jake with a robot? Proooobably not the best way to go about things. We’ve yet to see him interact with LittleLonde, and I wonder what he thinks she needs to be “”more like””. We’ve also yet to see him speak with mystery!troll, though I’m almost certain they must be in contact. Like LittleLonde, he knows a lot of things about the game he shouldn’t, by rights.

UU: We haven’t seen all that much of her, just a conversation here and there, and some hands, but I like my impression of her! She seems kind and cheery, encouraging her human friends instead of berating them like Karkat and co. I still wonder what session she’s from, since she’s confirmed she’s definitely a (Prospit) player. Could she have been some... like... rogue player from the pre-Scratch troll session? I still feel like that’s at least somewhat likely. Hopefully we’ll find out!

On Classpects:

We haven’t seen anything but the vaguest of hints at classpects this time around, though we have two kids’ confirmed: Jane is the Maid of Life, and Jake is the Page of Hope.

We haven’t seen Jane do anything really Life-y yet, but Feferi was the last Hero of Life, and they do share some similarities. Both are heiresses to the Batterwitch, if in completely different ways. Aradia was the last Maid, and the only similarity I can think of there is the fedora. So what will a Maid of Life be like in practice? We still don’t know what Life powers actually do, since Feferi never made it to god tier, but I think it’s safe to be assume she’ll be serving her other players as some kind of healer. I’m guessing her role is meant to be embraced, and that she won’t have much trouble doing this.

Jake is the Page of Hope, and though he hasn’t demonstrated any powers yet, we’ve seen a lot of evidence of... hopefulness in him. He ‘believes in people’, and in fact believes a little too easily, in Bro’s opinion. This is in stark contrast to Eridan, who seemed to have trouble believing in anything but his own damn self. He also shares a thing or two with Tavros, the other Page, like his affinity for tinkerbulls, and a hankering for... er... blue women. I’m not sure whether I think this role is one meant to be embraced or overcome. Bro would have him overcome it, but I don’t think I trust his judgment on what’s best here. Tavros was meant to embrace his role and failed hard at it, so my hope (hah) is that Jake truly embraces his classpect and becomes everything Tavros wasn’t.

Do I have any predictions on LittleLonde and Bro’s classes? I don’t think I have anything too specific yet, although if I had to guess, LittleLonde will be encouraged to embrace her classpect, and Bro will be encouraged to overcome his. For Bro, maybe... Heir? That seems to be about letting go of what you think you know. Prince might fit too, since my current understanding is that it’s about ruling over things, and he claims he’s going to be the one running their session. Bard? I don’t think I ever learned what that class really does. For LittleLonde, I’m not sure about a class, but I’m leaning toward either Blood or Heart as an aspect. She’s so lovable, which could either make her the lifeblood of the team like Karkat was to his, or maybe her unrequited romantic inclinations give her more in common with Nepeta. Hmm, Doom might fit her as well, since she’s got so many negative predictions about the Batterwitch and what’s going to happen when they enter the game. Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got!

The Story:

To start this one off, let’s go back to my predictions for Act 6 and catalogue all the things I got hilariously wrong:

The post-scratch players will live on a vastly different Earth, wherein human culture is much more violent. There will be a new First Guardian which will have steered civilization much like Doc Scratch did, if in fact he isn’t actually the new FG himself.

I’m not sure whether to call this one debunked or not. HIC is all but confirmed to be the new First Guardian of Earth, and while she clearly does have her clutches in some things (Supreme Court Justice Guy Fieri???) this Earth is a lot less dystopian than I was expecting. Assassinations aside, Jane appears to be a pretty normal girl with a pretty normal upbringing. Dave seems to have made it big with SBaHJ movies, and everything’s going pretty well there. Jade is dead as Grandpa was pre-Scratch, and we’ve yet to learn why (something to do with the house tower being asploded?), but nonetheless Jake seems to be getting along just fine. Rose is doing a shit job of keeping LittleLonde out of the liquor cabinet, but still. Not exactly the Hunger Games situation I was expecting.

The post-scratch players’ personalities will resemble the hints we’ve seen through the original kids’ unreliable narrations. Young!Mom will actually be into wizards, young!Bro will be genuinely fucked up and completely unironic about his bizarre interests, young!Nanna will be… basically like Nannasprite, all about pranks and baking, and young!Grandpa will love fighting and… Weekend at Bernie’s.

Ok, well, it turns out their personalities are a little more complicated than that, but this one was basically a gimme.

We will find out that the original guardians somehow absorbed some of their younger post-Scratch selves’ memories, and that’s why they insist on strifing with the kids to train them up, and why Bro stabs Beat Mesa.

This one still seems plausible, if paradoxical, because Dave and Rose have PROBABLY been passing on game info to young Bro and LittleLonde. Them, and UU...

Something is going to go really, really wrong with the timeline, and John will have to repair it with Dave’s help, and that’s why we see those floating arms everywhere. Maybe he’s affecting all the events that lead to Lord English arriving?

Yet to be seen...

Since the Furthest Ring is session-agnostic, they’ll use the map the horrorterrors helpfully provided Dave to navigate the meteor to the post-Scratch human session. Of course, this doesn’t answer the question of how John and Jade will get there! Maybe they’ll somehow meet up beforehand?

Next act, maybe?

When the kids and trolls enter the new, post-Scratch session, it COULD end up a reverse of the trolls’ situation, where they thought they were on separate teams but were in fact working toward the same goal. What if it looks like they have to team up with the post-Scratch kids, but it’s actually a competition or a race to see which group of players can finish the game? Or what if the new human kids are actually evil?? This one seems less likely, but it would be cool.

Still seems pretty unlikely, and I definitely don’t WANT it to be the case.

The post-Scratch players will follow in the trolls’ footsteps and prototype something they really shouldn’t have. That or, in an ironic twist of fate, their session’s Jack Noir will be a good guy who will help take down Bec Noir.

Could happen, but we haven’t gotten there yet. Act 6 Act 1 didn’t make quite the progress of Act 1.

We will see the session that created the trolls’, and it will have some role to play in solving the mysteries of the game’s origins. Lord English will somehow be involved with the origin of the game. Is he a corrupted game element? A virus? Did he create it? Was it his session that spawned the trolls’?

Another possibility for UU’s origins, although it would make more sense if she had come from whatever future session this Sburb session spawns. UU mentions not having entered her game yet, so it seems unlikely she’d have knowledge of the post-Scratch trolls’ session if that’s the one she’s creating. And she can’t be from the post-Scratch troll session... right? But she’s definitely a troll, so... @_@

That’s all I’ve got on predictions! I don’t think I have anything to add just yet that wasn’t covered in that recap, except that the auto responder was totally unexpected, and I can see it causing problems in the future somehow. UU too! What a mystery.

As for the structure of the story itself, I’m enjoying that we’ve returned to an Act 1 structure without it feeling like too much of a rehash. Even though the characters are LITERALLY recycled, things feel fresh and new, and I’m interested to learn more about them. It’s a little frustrating how long it’s taking them to get into the game—not that it’s poorly paced; just that Act 1 was rather rushed in comparison, and I’m dreading a Hivebent-style ‘HERE TAKE 1000 PAGES JUST TO MEET THESE CHARACTERS BEFORE THEY EVEN ENTER THE GAME’ kind of thing.

Shipping:

Despite being such a short Act like Act 1, there was a lot in the way of shipping material. Maybe this is because the kids are a bit older this time around and more caught up in the throes of raging teenage hormones. We have a clear ‘shipping grid’ for these so-called Alpha Kids, because we know who their ectobiological offspring are, but so far they don’t seem to be strictly following it. Jane clearly has a crush on Jake, but so does LittleLonde, and there have been some very strong hints that young Bro does too. LittleLonde didn’t rule out having a crush on Bro, but she seemed to indicate there was nothing going on there. Are we totally going to subvert everything, for the lulz? Will we wind up with Jane/LittleLonde and Jake/Bro?

A shipping section wouldn’t be complete without my own preferences, so here’s what I’m feeling, based on my limited exposure to the kids:

Jane♥Jake: This one’s not only “”canonical,”” but Jane expresses an overt attraction to Jake that he doesn’t exactly seem to mind. Neither does he express clear support for the idea, but hey, I can still ship it.

Bro♠Jake: Bro totally has a thing for Jake, if you ask me. However, he also built the guy a robot that apparently beats the shit out of him on the regular. CLEARLY we have a kismesissitude on our hands. Part of my interpretation of blackrom is harassing your kismesis to be on your level of awesome, as Bro harasses Jake:

GG: Why not just turn [the auto responder] off then? TT: Keeps them both on their toes. GG: Who? TT: Jake and the responder. TT: Jake needs to be more skeptical. Rather than take a Pollyanna jackknife ass-first off whatever turnip truck is blowing through town that day, he's got to apply more critical reasoning to shit. TT: I keep telling him. TT: I keep telling him, dude, you got to be more like Jane.

The brobot could be part of that, too. And there you have it! >:D

LittleLonde♥Everyone (including me): Because obvs she’s too good for this world and deserves everything she ever wanted. She can romance all three other kids to her heart’s content, then come see me when she’s at least 18 and also a real person.

Favorite Panels:

There aren’t a lot of visually stunning panels in an Act so short and mundane, but there are certainly several that made me go ‘dawwwww’.

LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE SHE IS. JUST LOOK AT HER.

Ahahahaha.

Who is this cute robot kid? Is he another violent creation of Bro’s? What’s he doing creeping around in the bathroom while Bro is showering? Who knows!

As sad and frightening as this panel is, it is pretty aesthetically pleasing. The colors of the flowers remind me of images of Rangwali Holi.

Another great image. I love the use of the background image here, far less grating than Hussie’s study, and the beams of light coming through the forest canopy.

Creepy as all shit, but I like the way the robot’s shades stand out against the dark background.

The absolute unexplained ABSURDITY of Jake’s island being populated by lususes (...lusii?) aside, I love the perspective of this panel and how it so easily demonstrates how weird and wild Jake’s life must be.

This image of Houston is so different from the red-hot hellhole Dave’s seemed to be! I love the color of the autumn sky, and the wheeling gulls.

I can hear the cartoon ‘droop’ sound effect in my head. I’m sure you know the one.

So dynamic!!

I LOVE SCRIBBLE MODE SO MUCH.

Alright, I’ll admit this one’s pretty badass.

Favorite Pesterlogs:

Aside from EVERY CHAT WITH LITTLELONDE, there were a few standout bits and bobs, as usual.

It’s questionable phrasing (which seems to come up a lot), but the juxtaposition of archaic propriety with ‘devilfucking dickens’ just SLAYS me:

GT: Jane! GT: Forgive my botherations. I know this is meant to be a spanking ripsnorter of a day for you and all. GT: But do you happen to know where the devilfucking dickens mr strider might be?

I like this first conversation with Miss Mystery not only for the call back to Karkat’s first convo with Jade, but also because it’s sort of a guarantee, no matter how spurious, of a happy ending:

UU: good morning, lovely. ^u^ GG: Why, hellooooooo. UU: so i gUess today is finally the day yoU make everything better. GG: :B! UU: it is the day whereafter the legendary octet of mUtUal progenitoriety will come together and heal a great breach in paradox space. UU: a day delivered throUgh eighty billion years and foUr distinct Universal instances worth of Unfathomable tUrbUlence. UU: and while the emerald eye of this storm is fixed in the abyss forever UU: today yoU are poised to escape its scowl once and for all. UU: by skaias gUiding light, yoU may leave behind its tUrning arms of bright coloUrs and mayhem, and secUre peace for yoUr cosmic progeny for all dUration.

I don’t think these LittleLonde snippets really even need qualifying:

GG: Where have you been today? TG: nowhere just chilling here TG: when all of the sudden GG: "All of a sudden." TG: when all of the sudden TG: it hits me

TG: i just wanted your advice on what to get him TG: something sentimental i guess? but i mean im mostly tapped out of precious heirlooms atm so idk TG: but not like anything coming on too strong TG: something that says TG: this is totes platonic and everything TG: no eyebrow raising funnybiz is goin on over here TG: but still says you know TG: call me TG: if you wanna

TG: well shit jane TG: what am i even supposed to do TG: i cant hit on anybody and appaprently i can entertain nary a frisky THOUGHT about anyboby because apparentley evrybodies OFF LIMITS!!!!! TG: *buncha goddamn typos

TG: it was a fuckin cakewake TG: **cakewalk GG: Oh. TG: like by wich i mean not to say hur hur im hottest shit haxxor bitch you ever knew TG: as deadlay to the corporate grid ass she is beatuiful TG: which i AM but TG: what i mean is shit wasnt even guarded TG: it was just TG: some files TG: that were there TG: unsecured TG: and i took them TG: jacked them right offa that intraweb telematrice TG: then applied lipstick TG: femme fatale style TG: and was like shit yes i ALL KINDS of know how to use my web browser to download serveral files

UGH UGH UGH I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

GG: IT'S UP. GG: IT'S UP, IT'S UP, IT'S UP. TG: i dont get a lotta mail out here and im no mail expret TG: *expert TG: but TG: doesnt that mean not the right thing TG: like ur susposed to put it up if you want something taken away not have the guy put it up if mail comes TG: i think your mail man is quiet possibly a dumbass

I love the way UU just casually drops this bomb before signing off all cute-like:

GT: Just please tell me in the least causally spoilery way possible... GT: What are we even trying to accomplish here? What is even the rootin tootin POINT of this game? UU: i think yoU will have more fUn than yoU can imagine finding oUt. UU: bUt stated concisely, and short of spoilerly as yoU so charmingly pUt it, UU: yoUr objective today is to pave the way for the arrival of gods. UU: <kisses!>

As much as Bro/the auto responder is a bit of a creep, I can’t help but find this conversation funny due to Jake’s desperate, passive-aggressive pandering, and the responder’s blatant come-ons:

GT: Bro. GT: Ahem. GT: Are you there? GT: I hate to be a pest about this and i know ive made a hearty trouble of myself a good deal lately... TT: State your business, Jake. GT: I should preface this request with an overture of appreciation. GT: For how much your cool and brotherly friendship means to me. GT: It has just been... GT: Absolutely *bully* having a standup gent like you in my corner. GT: Just a grade a dude whos a cut above the others in class and camaraderie. GT: Phew... *gropes for fresh kerchief.* GT: I hope this shit isnt coming across as platitudinous. I really mean it! TT: Take it easy, bromide. TT: Just about the only way I could salvage endearment from this perilous slope of horseshit would be to discover, really fucking soon mind you, it was a preamble to some floundering invitation for me to rush to your vicinity as nakedly as possible. TT: But since we've already shot that wad's eventuality on so many dry runs of flustered ambivalence that were as hilarious as they were one sided, TT: That leaves only one hope for this message to avoid spiraling toward qualification as a critical fucking defect in the hull of the Mach 10 rocket that is my precious spare time. TT: And that hope lies in the extent to which you were practicing artful insincerity. TT: Now's your opportunity to pretend that's what you were gunning for. I suggest you seize it. GT: I... GT: Oh. Yes! But of course. GT: The ironies! GT: Good grief how i was bandying them just now. You know me dude. GT: *Blows smoke off red hot irony pistol.

Aaaand the veneer wears off:

TT: If you were half-assing this project and made some slovenly plea for it, I'd just say, fuck it, here's a lot of green rocks dude, go nuts. GT: Ok then! Im halfassing it! GT: Look. See? Only a bisected bottom is present! Where is the other half you ask? GT: Why... it is nowhere to be found. I didnt use it! TT: Nope. Not buying it. TT: I know that every ounce of your premium behind can be accounted for in that rabbit, and there's no goddamned denying it. TT: And you know perfectly well where some more uranium can be located. GT: Jesus christmas you are such a fucking douche.

TT: Look at that statement you just made. TT: It's time for me to respond with some words, ideally chosen and arranged in a way that will wreck your shit, in a subtle and psychologically devastating way. GT: Har har har! GT: Just soooo "*irooooonic*!!!" Quotes quotes quotes. GT: Im laughing my caboose STRAIGHT OFF THE TRACKS! A lot of families just died in the tragic derailment. TT: Ok, the caboose remark was actually pretty funny, Jake.

I agree!

GT: Hey. Tell me about the auto responder. Make it snappy shitknickers! TT: It seems you have asked about DS's chat client auto-responder. This is an application designed to simulate DS's otherwise inimitably rad typing style, tone, cadence, personality, and substance of retort while he is away from the computer. The algorithms are guaranteed to be 93% indistinguishable from DS's native neurological responses, based on some statistical analysis I basically just pulled out of my ass right now. GT: Gee dude you sure typed that exact same thing pretty fast. GT: Are you still fucking with me?? TT: It could be a coincidence that I typed the same answer. GT: You always type that answer!!!!! TT: It could be a coincidence that I always type the same answer. GT: Uuuuuuugh. GT: I cant stand this. Every time we do this and i just wind up whistling sweet dixie out of my bum hole!

And speaking of which:

TT: I thought you liked to manicure the image of a dude who shits his pants over a good adventure. GT: I do! GT: I mean i wouldnt put it in a way like that or come out against a solid policy of clean trousers. But yes adventure is awesome.

MORE ADORALONDE:

TG: holy shit jaaaje TG: lol *k GT: Heh heh. GT: Howdy! GT: What is all this commotion about? TG: nothin TG: just your basic run o the mill holy shit TG: and also TG: hi

TG: all i know is shes banking on us doing this and if she needs us to do this than its got to be to make somethin fucking hoorible happen TG: * horbible TG: * whore bible TG: ^ bullseye

GT: I was actually just getting all of my final affairs in order when you messaged me. GT: I was to bequeath to you all my WAB posters. TG: wab wut GT: Weekend at bernies dammit!!!!!! TG: oh fuck yeay TG: im always in need of something to put under my cats shit box

Finally, this conversation between Jane and (gasp!) the real live Bro has a couple gems:

TT: And flaws aside, it's a legacy I'm proud to inherit. My duty isn't to appropriate his methods with absolute loyalty, but to apply reason and improve upon them. To leave my own mark. TT: To perfect the art of irony. TT: It's just like what you're doing with the work of your ancestor. You are striving to perfect his hokey vaudeville bullshit, or something. TT: You seek the Zen of a pie to the face. The Tao of falling the fuck down.

TT: If you ever need help, Jane. If you're ever in any trouble at all, let me know. Just say the word. TT: I'll whip the toggle stick of this ludicrous marionette, cavorting its humongous bottom to intercept your freefall through the abyss. TT: Snowcone you up in the fluffy crook of its cleft. Don't be alarmed if you're in no hurry to unpry yourself. TT: For the great jut of this impudent rump has more yield to your touch than you ever dreamt. Remember to catch your breath as it cherishes the imprint of your hand like a memento from a lover gone to war. TT: There's a lot of give to that ass, you may say. TT: Might like to settle in. Make myself comfortable. Start a family. TT: Bounce a coin off that ass, you'll demand of visitors. It's not going anywhere. TT: Bet that coin'll take a good nap there. TT: It's a gamble you win every goddamn time. TT: Yeah.

Favorite Flashes:

As much as I enjoyed the excitement/nostalgia feels of [S] Act 6 and Jane: Get mail, there’s just really something to be said for the satisfaction of seeing a brick joke come back in such spectacular fashion.

Favorite Music:

I’m not sure whether I’ve really got anything for this one or not! ‘Homestuck Anthem’ is amazing, but it’s not specific to Act 6, and I’ve reviewed it previously. Still, what a great use of a great song!

#NRHS #Nora reads Homestuck #Homestuck #Homestuck liveblog #Act 6 #A6A1 #Impressions post #Character analysis #Classpect analysis #Plot analysis

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