#let's just say I had a years-long fear of zombies due to that game

[superfamiblog]

Hi there, I like your blog. What is the scariest/creepiest cutscene you've ever seen in an 8/16-bit video game?

There's no objective answer to this sort of question, but for 7-year-old me, there was no scene scarier than the one where the zombies kidnap you in Earthbound.

[supremeinlilac]

Into the light (I'll hold you)

Pairing: Coven!Cordelia Goode x Fem!Reader

Prompt: Slow dancing in the greenhouse.

Word Count: 2557

Warnings: Self doubt, angst.

A/n: Canon divergent, H*nk doesn't exist and Delia's acid attack never happened, although she has still had the Sight previously. Was saving this fic but fuck it, I'm posting it now😌

Halloween.

The night of eerie suspense and the lingering sense of being watched. You enjoyed the days festivities when you were younger, skipping excitedly door to door under a white sheet with your friends.

This Halloween would be your second at Miss Robichaux’s, the first you’d all gone out to a party and got a little too drunk, returning to an irritated Ms Goode. It had been the first time you’d kissed her, and she’d rejected you because of the state you’d been in.

Still, it was the night that had started the path of your relationship with the headmistress.

You loved Halloween.

This year, Fiona Goode, reigning Supreme, returned to the academy. You were instantly weary of her, due to the fact Delia never liked to bring her mother up in conversation of her past. When you’d overheard her telling your girlfriend that she was wasted potential in the school, a prickle of icy anger called the hair at the nape of your neck to stand rigid.

You and the rest of the witches had decided to stay in, watch films and play games. It wasn’t often that everyone could get together to celebrate an evening where witches were celebrated, so they wanted to make the most of the friendly atmosphere that surrounded them. It never lasted long in the coven.

Fiona went out to a bar, her witches hat crooked atop her head and you found yourself glaring at her as she left. The woman alit a flame inside you, one that easily spread and engulfed your powers, fire licking hotly at the tips of your fingers and threatened to overpower you.

Cordelia had stayed behind with you, much to her mother protest, to have a quiet night while the rest of the hubbub would be concentrated in the living room. You were both wrong to think that there’d be no disturbances.

The shattering of glass fractured the silence in your shared room with Cordelia. She’d been braiding your hair, an intimacy that the pair of you rarely found time to do together. She hummed the song you were sung as a child, a habit that she’d picked up in your time at the coven, the action now second nature. It no longer only served to soothe you, but now it brought her comfort too.

Her fingers stilled in your hair, head snapping to the door. You heard a couple of loud thuds and shouts, and then her hand was clutching yours protectively.

“Hey Cordelia?” You heard Queenie shout up the stairs, “you best look outside.”

She was off the bed like it had burned her, drawing the curtains back to show the slow advance of the people outside. You heard her shaky inhale, before she fisted her hands in her trousers and turned to you.

“It’s just the locals. Playing tricks on us, you know how Madison likes to irritate them the rest of the year. Lord knows we’re not the best neighbours,” her face looked serious but the waver in her voice betrayed her. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than you.

It had been a blur after that, shouting and running, and Cordelia slipped out of your grasp. You’d been fighting, had a kitchen knife pressed into your hand by, Zoe, maybe? No. It had been one of the other girls.

They wouldn’t die, those zombies, if that’s even what they were. You’d slashed at a part of them that they shouldn’t have been able to get back up from. Yet it did, limbs flailing and reaching spindly towards you.

Knocked to the ground, you think you must have passed out. But not before you’d seen Cordelia trying to defend the house, eyes furious and scared and dark.

You remembered the purr of the chainsaw, the splatter of blood. The silence that hung after.

The next day you found Cordelia sat at her usual bench in the greenhouse, frows furrowed in concentration as she mixed ingredients with the gentle crack of test tubes and vials. You could see the anguish behind hooded eyes, it was clear that she’d been restless last night, down here long past when everyone else slept.

You had seen her from your window as you’d been drawing the curtains the night before, standing over the pile of haphazardly thrown bodies of the zombies. You weren’t sure how long she’d spent there, not wanting to disturb her until now.

She’d also been absent at both breakfast and dinner, with the excuse of paperwork, but you could see through the thinly veiled lie. You brought her a sandwich and a yogurt, setting them down on a bench before pulling a chair up beside her to watch her work.

Cordelia could mix potions and restore plants without thinking, her craft a lovingly perfected dance in which he moved around the greenhouse with practised ease, plucking vials off the shelves and balancing glassware in steady hands.

Her hands shook. Slightly, almost unnoticeable was the small tremor but it indicated her unease. There was blood still crusted under her fingernails.

You softly coaxed her to put the glass down with fingers around her wrists, guiding her to look at you before lazily lacing your fingers together. She whispered a greeting with a small smile, almost as if she hadn’t registered your presence until you’d touched her.

“I feel like I failed everyone. My girls.” Her voice cracked languidly, eyes falling to where your hands joined on her lap, her nails scraping at your skin nervously. “How can I be headmistress when I cannot protect you all?”

“It’s not your job to do it all alone.” You reminded her gently, thumb brushing over whitened knuckles, following the dip and contour of her skin. “Cordelia.”

A single droplet of shimmering water does not sink a ship. A single cloud cannot shield the sun. A single parent could spend years doubting their worth, unaware that it takes a village to raise a child.

No single person can bear the weight of the world’s troubles without crumbling.

Not even Cordelia, whom you thought could harness the sun if she willed it, could do everything herself. It simply was an unrealistic expectation that her mother had used to weigh her down with.

“Look at me, baby. You are not alone, okay?”

When her head lifted slowly, the light caught the water in her eyelashes, diamond tears shimmering and rolling down the curve of reddened cheeks. You were quick to coo at her, hand coming to cradle her face so you could lean to kiss them away, salt on your tongue.

She shook her head, refusing to look at you and you felt hopeless, like a bystander on the site of an accident. As much as you tried to couldn’t get close enough to her to help, to comfort her as she needed. Running in a dream, tripping over a mere breath and wading through syrup as you tried to escape.

“I’m a failure.”

You found yourself shaking your head, the phantom of a protest falling from your lips, how could Cordelia think that.

“Everything that Fiona says is true.” She continued, head falling into her arms on the desk. Your hand rested on her back, a gentle reminder of the comfort you could give her if only she asked for it. If only she would accept it when you would give it to her anyway.

“I don’t belong here.” Whispered from under her hair which hid her.

Cordelia didn’t realise her own worth, and you wondered if anyone ever truly does.

Does the night sky know its beauty? Or does it envy the blue of the day? Does it wait for the sun to kiss its head and grant it eternity. The night sky is rich with light, if it would only look deep enough within itself to find it. Burning stars and planets reflecting the sun, a kaleidoscope of colour on an ebony canvas.

Cordelia would often look at pictures of her absent mother when she believed to be alone. She was secretly envious of Fiona’s effortless graceful command and hold that she had over the whole coven. She believed her own magical abilities to be inferior to that of the Supreme’s, but it was an unfair comparison, for a Supreme would always persist.

She thought that it meant hers weren’t strong enough, scared for eventualities like the previous night, that she would fail at the role of protector. But she hadn’t failed, she’d fought just like you and Zoe, and it was just the luck of the draw that Zoe’s fear would trigger her Power Negation.

But Cordelia held such raw natural, burning potential that you’d habitually find yourself staring as she practised spells. Eyes following the deft flow of her fingers as she’d manipulate movement. She’d had the second sight within her, so at least on a subconscious level she must know her power.

“You belong here. And look around you, look at this place. Yourgreenhouse.”

“You made it into what it’s become. It’s you.” You spoke, letting yourself spin to appreciate all the work she’d put into this place, into herself.

Cordelia lifted her head, hair falling from her eyes and crowning her face as she followed your gaze to the hanging planters, the glass vials. To the floor that she’d swept only days ago, leaves starting to litter the stone again.

She watched you run fingertips over the exposed brick on the wall, your attention solely on her work around you. She could see the adoration in the iris’ of your eyes, alight with your honesty. You gaze returning, always, to her as you walked to her.

Tentatively, you reached out for her. Was she yet ready to accept your help, your love as you wanted to give it to her?

Still unsure, Cordelia shied away from your comforting touch, head returning to her hands.

“You don’t have to live behind Fiona’s words anymore.” You whispered into her temple, as if straight into her mind.

Sometimes it is easier to live in the shadows than to confront those who cast them.

She’d spent her whole life cowering in Fiona’s shadow, growth and development stunted from the lack of light. Self-belief fractured into a gaping crack.

She’d been trapped, dark and alone with a mother figure who didn’t love her in a way she understood how to be loved. They both loved each other then, and ove each other now, but sometimes mere love isn’t enough. It isn’t consistent enough to be safe. You can love someone and still hurt them.

You had spent time working on her confidence, creeping back into the light and into herself again. Breaking down the thoughts that had grown to immobile threatening walls that only served to block the light more.

All it had taken was one night of Fiona being back for all that progress to retreat back to where they’d been hidden. Cordelia had urged you then to back away, to leave her and grow by yourself, that she was only holding you back.

But you gritted your teeth and grinned in the face of the devil. You weren’t scared of the dark. And you’d be damned if you were leaving it without your girlfriend. Even if you had to start right back at the beginning, you’d help her to heal.

“You could be the next Supreme.” You urged, pulling her head from where it rested on the table, forcing her to look in your eyes and see your honesty.

“Don’t say things that aren’t true.” She begged, vision hazed by tears.

“But it is true, Delia. You’re so powerful.” You pressed, eyes conveying your severity like your voice couldn’t. Willing her to believe.

You reached to brush the tears that clung to her eyelashes before they fell and stained her face. A lingering kiss to her lips, the feeling of her lower lip wobbling between your own. In that moment, you could feel her fragility.

You didn’t want to push further, knowing that she may never truly believe in her full potential like you did. Instead, you pushed yourself to feet and bounced in front of her. She looked up in confusion, eyes still full with tears that caught the light, and you wanted nothing more than to kiss them away again. They didn’t deserve to dampen her skin.

“Dance with me?” You asked, standing and offering a hand the way you’d so often seen in movies.

A shy smile formed on the headmistress’ lips, cheeks pink and the tips of her ears flushed as she allowed herself to be pulled from her seat. Into the shine of the moonlight, which shone beams of liquid silver through the glass onto the hard stone and the soft of Cordelia.

Your arms secured themselves around her waist while hers stroked the back of your neck. Moments like this made you wonder if perhaps the cliché’s people told you about love had been true. Maybe this could be forever. It always felt like forever when you were in her arms.

You swayed to phantom music, slow and deliberate, soft touches and kisses on bare shoulders. You felt like even a whisper would shatter the perfect peace you’d enveloped you both in, sending ripples of doubt over the sheer water and to Cordelia again.

The moon felt like perfect company in that moment, like a third person, watching and waiting. A witness to the silent change.

Cordelia pressed her forehead to yours, her fingers splayed through the hair at the back of your head, holding you close. You could see the depth of her eyes, searching for the lie in yours that wasn’t there to find. You truly believed that she was the next Supreme, she had to be.

“Say something.” She breathed, hand on your waist dancing under the hem of your top, cold fingers on warm skin.

“Like what?” You asked, pulling back momentarily so you could smile at her. The hand that was behind your head tucked hair behind your ear and brought your hand from her shoulder so she could press lips to your knuckles. The ridge of bone under the soft of her skin and then she was hugging you again.

“Anything, I just want to hear your voice.”

So you told her about yourself. Stories she’d never heard and memories you’d thought you’d forgotten. Whispers of your past shared with your future.

She nuzzled her chin into the crook of your neck and listened, breathing deep the smell of your perfume that clung, lingering to the collar of your clothes.

A laugh.

Rippling up your throat at reminiscing a memory, vibration muffled against her ear at your jaw, and Cordelia swore that she could feelyour emotions. Truly feel you, and she realised that you couldn’t lie to her. Couldn’t will yourself to say something untrue just to still the aching beat of her heart within her chest.

You couldn’t make yourself want to mend her. You didn’t want that. You wanted to help her heal. Heal from her past that held less joy and laughter than yours did.

You wanted to help her create memories of her own, just like this.

Slow dancing in the greenhouse.

Dancing in the dark under the glow of the patient moon.

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[dccomicsimagines]

Looks Don’t Mean Everything - Cyborg x Reader

Requested by Anon -  Do u think u could make an imagine with yj s3 for cyborg/victor stone where he thinks because of how he looks now reader won’t love him anymore?? Xxx btw love your work really is the best ❤️❤️❤️💯💯💯💋

Author’s Note - spoilers for first part of young justice season 3

***

Victor glanced down at his phone. His finger hovered over the call button. He willed himself to press it.

“Damn it,” he hissed before pushing the phone away.

“Victor Stone stares at Victor Stone’s phone as much as Brion Markov does with Brion Markov’s. What is Victor Stone trying to achieve?” Forager asked, looking up from his homework. The two were sitting on the patio at M’gann and Conner’s house. It had been three days since Victor’s life had changed forever.

“Nothing.” Victor laid his head on his arm. His hand slid down to his sweatshirt pocket to play with the broken ring. He was surprised to find he still had it. The computer in him buzzed, reminding him why he could never press that call button. You couldn’t see him like this. He was a monster now. You wouldn’t be safe around him if you could even accept him.

***

You clung to the ring that hung around your neck as you slipped past Star Labs guards and made your way toward Silas Stone’s lab. It took everything in you to keep calm. Vic probably was just busy or upset by his father and didn’t text you back. It was probably nothing.

However, the two of you hadn’t went a day without contact ever since you started dating. It had been three days. He wasn’t at his house or with his friends. You knew something was wrong, you could feel it in your gut. 

Dr. Stone was sitting at his desk, working away. You noticed how the lab seemed under construction. Clear plastic covered the windows and the doors. Maybe they remodeled recently? You knocked on the door frame. Silas looked up with a hopeful gaze before frowning when he saw you. There was no recognition in his face. You had only met him once since you started dating Vic three years ago.

“Who are you? And how did you get passed security?” Silas demanded once you stepped inside. 

“I’m (Y/N). Vic and I have been dating for three years.” You gave him an eye roll when he looked surprised. “And security let me in once I told them who I was and that I had to speak to you.” You walked up to his desk, glaring at him. “Where’s Victor?” 

Silas bit his lip, not meeting your eye. “I don’t know.” 

You had to purse your lips to keep from snarling in disgust. “He was coming to see you when you didn’t show up for his game. Now I haven’t heard from him in three days and nobody else has. So I ask again, where is Victor?” 

“You don’t understand. I don’t know where Victor is.” Silas looked pained. He pushed away from his computer to put his face in his hands. “I was working on something for the Justice League and there was an accident.” 

All the breath left your lungs. “Please don’t tell me he died and you didn’t inform anyone.” 

Silas dropped his hands from his face. His mouth twitched. “He did, but then I saved him.” Your mind immediately went to the worst. Vic as a zombie or maybe more like a Frankenstein. Silas kept talking about a Father Box and how it used technology to repair Victor’s body. You struggled to keep up with everything Silas explained. “He lost control, then some girl came through a boom tube and rebooted him.” Your eyes widened. “Victor went with her.” 

You rubbed your temples. A sour feeling settled in your stomach. “Okay, so there was an explosion and Vic was fatally injured. You then decided to use alien technology that even the Justice League doesn’t know enough about to heal him and you made him into this cyborg who almost killed you.” You frowned at Silas. He flinched. “Then you let Vic leave with some girl who came through a portal and haven’t heard from him since!” 

“Don’t take that tone with me,” Silas snapped. You glared at him and he sighed. The life seemed to drain out of him. You could see the love he had for Vic. Too bad Vic wasn’t here to see it. “I failed my son.” 

“Okay.” You held up your hands. Silas turned away from you to sit back down at his desk. “Let’s just focus on finding Vic. Do you have any idea where he is?” 

Silas shook his head. “I do not know.” He buried his face in his hands. You felt a wave of viciousness creep up inside. You wanted to scream at him for giving up. Vic had to be in so much pain, so confused. Your eyes burned with tears. You needed to find him and help him in anyway he needed you to.

“Well, ‘I don’t know’ doesn’t get us anywhere.” You stormed out of the room. Silas let you leave, wallowing in his self pity. You stopped in the hallway, leaning against the wall to gather your thoughts. Taking several deep breaths, you held in your fears, calming yourself until you figured out what to do next. 

***

“And here is the hallway to the UN Ambassadors’ offices,” the tour guide said, leading the group passed the high security corridor. You studied the area. Dread settled in your stomach. This was probably the craziness thing you had ever done, but for Vic, it was worth it. 

After you gathered yourself, you went back into Silas’ office and demanded he get in touch with the Justice League. He refused, saying he no longer had a relationship with them due to the accident with Victor. It was frustrating, but you didn’t give up. 

You figured the Justice League would know of the portal girl or at least could help you find Vic. Besides, it was the alien technology that they gave to Star Labs that caused all this. If anything, you might get a clue about Vic’s location at the very least. 

Thus, you pooled your savings and took a bus to New York City. Not getting any luck with the Justice League’s hotline or email, you decided to do the next best thing, find the Amazon or Atlantean ambassadors. The Justice League was headed by Wonder Woman and Aquaman. They could at least pass a message to them. Which was why you were at the UN.

The tour started back to the lobby. You slowed, dropping to the back of the group. They turned a corner and you stopped, waiting until they were down by the elevator. You peeked around the corner and only moved when the elevator doors were shut. 

Doing your best to stay calm and act like you belonged, you went back to the corridor where the offices were. Eventually, you found the Atlantean ambassador’s office at the end across from the Amazon ambassador’s. The door was shut and locked for the Amazon’s, but the Atlantean’s was slightly ajar.

Your heart pounded in your chest. You grabbed the ring on the chain around your neck for support. 

“Garth, you must tread carefully. Luthor will just tighten the restrictions he has over the League if you are not careful,” a voice said from inside. You peeked through the crack in the door to see two men inside. 

“Kaldur, trust me. I have been in this position long enough to understand the risks.” The other man moved in the room. You held your breath. “These surface dwellers are very complicated. I never thought they would be more political than Atlantis.” 

You raised your hand to knock, but stopped. Ice cold terror flowed through your veins, but you thought of Vic. He must be so scared, so confused. You needed to be there for him. 

However, before you could knock, the door swung open. You quickly put your hand down as both Atlanteans stared at you in surprise. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw one of the men was Aquaman. “Hi,” you squeaked. Blood rushed to your face.

“May I help you with something?” Garth asked. You recognized him as the Atlantean ambassador. 

“I...” You had to clear your throat. Suddenly, you didn’t know how to start. You rubbed the back of your head. “I need help finding my boyfriend, Victor Stone.” Both Atlanteans stared at you blankly. Your face threatened to burst into flames. “Let me explain.” And you did. To their credit, both of them listened without interrupting. 

“I am sorry for what happened,” Aquaman said softly after you finished. He closed the door behind you. “Currently, I do not know about Victor Stone’s whereabouts, but I have suspicions from what you told me.” 

You grinned at him, heart threatening to burst out of your chest. “Can you find him for me? Make sure he’s okay?” Studying Aquaman’s face, you swore you saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. Suspicion soured your stomach. Your smile fell slightly.

“Although with the accident he had, are you sure he wants to see you?” Garth asked, raising an eyebrow. “It seems like you both are very close. Why would he not contact you?”

The rest of your joy drained out of you like someone pulled the plug. “I don’t...maybe they wouldn’t let him or maybe he’s scared?” You bit your lip. It didn’t occur to you that Vic wouldn’t want you to see him. “Maybe he’s afraid his father would find him through me? I don’t know, but I just want to make sure he’s okay.” 

Aquaman nodded, not meeting your eye. You knew he wasn’t telling you something. “I will see what I can do.” He placed his hand on your shoulder as knock sounded on the door. Garth got to his feet and answered it, having a rather tense conversation with who was on the other side. “I will escort you out of the building.”

“Can I give you my number or something? You can let me know if you find out about Vic.” You stepped to the side to make him look you in the eye. 

“Of course.” He gave you a tight smile. You saw the hesitation in his eyes. However, you reached down to write down your information on a notepad on Garth’s desk. You handed it him. He took it rather nervously.

“Yes, our visitor is leaving now. I apologize for the misunderstanding,” Garth said, opening the door to reveal several security guards. You gave them a cheeky wave. They all glared you at the same time. You wondered if they were robots. 

Aquaman led you out of the office. You nodded to Garth, giving him a smile in thanks. He smiled back before arguing with the security guards. Aquaman was silent on the way out of the building. He left you at the entrance and you sat down on a bench outside to think. You knew he wasn’t telling you something, but what could that be? Your mind jumped to worse conclusions, but you calmed yourself. If the Justice League didn’t get back to you in a few days, you’ll just have to take drastic measures.

***

“Victor, can I talk to you?” M’gann asked as she appeared around the apple tree Victor was sitting against. He sighed. The computer in his head beeped. He tensed, fearing the Father Box would take control again. It didn’t and he relaxed. M’gann stopped beside him before sitting down.

He rested his head back against the tree to look up at the stars. His hand went into his pocket to play with his broken ring again. He missed you so much, he physically ached. 

“I received word that someone named (Y/N) (Y/L/N) is looking for you quite passionately.” M’gann crossed her arms, watching Victor’s reaction. Victor tensed. A wave of hope and horror washed over him.

“No, they can’t find me. They won’t understand what I’ve...what I’ve become.” His hands shook. “I’m this freak. They’ll see me and won’t love me anymore.” He closed his eyes. “They’ll give me back the ring.” 

“Ring?” M’gann blinked in surprise. Victor sighed, taking out his broken ring. “Oh.”

“Promise ring.” He smiled sadly. “Though, I would probably marry (Y/N) eventually, but we wanted to finish high school and college first. Of course, that doesn’t matter now. I won’t be able to do any of that looking like this.” 

M’gann cleared her throat, taking the broken ring from Victor. “(Y/N) called the Justice League hotline over a hundred times about you. They also broke into the UN building in New York City to try to get in contact with the Justice League.” M’gann smiled. “It worked. They want to know if you’re okay.”

Victor jumped to his feet. temper flaring. “No, I’m not! I’m a freak! This cyborg! I can’t ever see them again! They’ll think I’m a freak and I might hurt them!” He shook his head. “Tell them I died.” He walked off, shaking. The computer beeped dangerously in his head, reacting to his fast heartbeat. “Leave me alone.” 

M’gann watched him go helplessly. She looked down at Victor’s broken ring in her hand. “Alright then.” She got up and walked back to the house.

***

It took a week before you got a letter in the mail. You wondered how the Justice League had your address, but opened it regardless. Inside was Victor’s broken ring. 

Tears filled your eyes, but not of sorrow, only of rage. How dare they just send this to you? What does this even mean? Is Victor dead or did he just didn’t want to see you? 

Your hand squeezed the ring in your palm enough to leave an imprint. Drastic measures it was then.

***

A week after Halloween, Victor found himself out by the apple trees again. The vicious side of the Father Box gone for good. He wanted to see you, knowing at least he wouldn’t accidentally kill you, but he was still a freak.

Out of his misery, the computer in him picked up your voice coming from the house. He was on his feet in an instant. You couldn’t be here? How?

“Where is Victor Stone?” your voice echoed throughout the orchard. Victor found himself running toward your voice, stopping when he got to the back of the garage. He peeked around to see you and some man with no face wearing blue trench coat standing up to M’gann, Conner, Dick, and Artemis. His jaw dropped to the ground.

“Listen, I understand you are upset, but Victor Stone is not here,” Dick insisted, stepping closer to you. You backed away. The man with no face stepped in front of you.

“I think he is, Nightwing formerly Robin,” the man with no face said rather smugly. He turned to M’gann, Conner, and Artemis. “Miss Martian, Superboy, and Tigress formerly Artemis. By the way, it’s dumb to have your hero name be the same as your real one.” Artemis flinched. The man turned back to Dick. “Who are you kidding here?” 

Victor hid back behind the garage before you could see him. His heart threatened to burst. The computer analyzed the situation for the best plan of attack. He quickly shut it down. “Why is Victor Stone hiding? Victor Stone’s partner clearly wants to see Victor Stone.” Victor almost jumped out of his skin when he noticed Forager was suddenly beside him. Forager laughed at Victor’s surprise.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the intense confrontation caught his attention again. “I didn’t know you worked for money, Question,” Dick snapped. Victor peeked around the corner again with Forager. 

“I wasn’t hired for this,” the Question said calmly, looking at his fingernails even through he was wearing gloves. “I was contacted by this lovely young person who’s soulmate was taken from them by some hideous act caused the Justice League.” He rubbed his chin. “It made me wonder why the Justice League was trying to keep it quiet.” 

Suddenly, Victor found himself being pushed out into the open by Forager. “No, don’t...” His protest died when his eyes met yours. 

“Vic?” You pushed past the heroes to run to him. He flinched, but you crashed into him with a breath stealing hug. “It’s really you.” You kissed his lips passionately. Victor froze before melting into the kiss. 

Forager laughed. You pulled away from Victor to look at him. Your jaw dropped slightly. “Wow, you really did join a strange crowd, didn’t you?” You turned back to Victor, pulling down his hood to get a good look at him. Victor closed his eyes, preparing for your rejection.

Instead your hand traced the metal side of his face. “Please don’t.” He grabbed your wrist with his robotic arm. You hissed in pain. “Sorry.” He loosened his grip, opening his eyes. However, he was met with your accepting gaze. 

“You know I thought you would be more like Robotman from the Doom Patrol or something.” A laugh escaped your lips. Victor smiled, not realizing how much he missed your laugh. “But this is very cool.” Worry filled your eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m working on it.” He drank in your face. You looked tired. He probably caused that. “Better that you’re here. I’m sorry I didn’t call.” 

You slapped his arm. “Yeah, that sucked.” You hugged him again. “You scared me to death, you know.” 

“I know.” Guilt made his stomach twist dangerously. He noticed the ring was still on a chain around your neck. “You still have your ring?”

“Of course.” You pulled away to glare at him. “But you don’t have yours.” You pulled it out of your pocket. He stared at it, confused.

The Question and Dick were still arguing while the others watched. Forager clapped his hands, enjoying the show. 

“How do you have that? I gave it to M’g...” Victor looked over at M’gann. She glanced over to meet his gaze before quickly looking away. 

“Don’t worry about it.” You put your hand on Victor’s cheek, bringing his eyes back to you. A smile pulled at your lips. “I’ll yell at them for you. You know it scared me to death to get an envelope with just your ring inside.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t know they would do that.” Victor turned to kiss your palm. He took the ring from you. His eyes widened when he saw it was on a chain similar to yours. “You put it on a chain?” 

“Yeah, I figured you won’t lose it around your neck.” You laughed. “I mean it works for me.” You helped him put it on. 

“Aww, love,” Forager chuckled. “Forager likes Victor Stone’s (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” 

You eyed Forager curiously. Victor laughed for the first time since his accident. “I’ll introduce you.” You looked back at Victor with a big smile.

“I hope so.” You kissed his lips sweetly and Victor no longer felt like such a freak. If you could see him and love him still, he could do anything. 

[doctorofmagic]

Strange Academy #9 Review

It’s bonding time with two of the sweetest characters in this comic book!

We get started with Calvin’s nightmare with one of the many foster parents he had throughout the years. I don’t believe he has done it, but there’s something about his jacket. Hold that thought, more on that later.

Wanda and her terrible outfit wakes him up and says that Mr. Sheridan will cover the matter about dreams in Nocturnal Architecture: The Study of Dreams during the second semester. For those you who don’t know, she’s talking about Rick Sheridan, the Sleepwalker’s vessel. At this point, I’m not that excited about mentions because, as we know, Rintrah was also mentioned but never made an appearance. On the other hand, Dead Girl showed up last issue. We’ll have to wait and see. In case you’re interested, Stephen has met the dream entity once in Sleepwalker #7 (1991). Next, Wanda reveals that it’s Family Day at Strange Academy.

Both Calvin and Doyle are quite uncomfortable with the event. Calvin had issues with foster parents while Doyle is, well, Dormammu’s son. They’re not getting any parents or guardians. I can’t help but feel that Clea should be there, except freaking Waid erased her memories so she isn’t aware of Stephen or his little school. Clea would make such a lovely cousin. YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME, WAID. When will this nightmare end? I mean, at some point, Dormammu will knock on her rebel door and mention him, right? And she’s gonna be like: “Who?” But I digress, I’m sorry.

Next, we’re introduced to some of the parents/guardians. Emily’s mom is... something. I found her rivalry with Loki absolutely delightful. I checked “Gudrun” on Marvel database and found out she was Volstagg’s daughter? That would make Volstagg Iric and Alvi’s grandfather. So Loki wouldn’t be their original uncle. It was just a pet name. But hey, I’m not into Thor lore, so if anyone knows what’s going on here, I’d appreciate a little help.

BUT WAIT. Did I get it right? Does Zoe have a crush on Dessy? OTP CONFIRMED. Absolutely loved their relationship development. Zoe used to find Dessy a creep, keeping her zombie secret to herself, but Dessy showed her that it’s okay and learned a lot about human emotions and boundaries. It’s quite sweet. Magic lesbians!! And speaking of which... Lucky S’ym Illyana wasn’t around. She’d kick his ass for sure.

I have no reasons whatsoever to mention Stephen but I will because this is my blog and it’s devoted to Stephen. So yes, have a random panel with Stephen because I can. I love the fact that he spent the entire issue levitating like a diva he is. Delicious food.

Meanwhile, Calvin and Doyle decide to break into the storage room. Doyle is looking for a gift for Emily, which is SO sweet ugh even though it’s called the Rose of Despair, which is probably bad news. I love how they talk about vulnerability and how it’s such a normal thing, especially for male characters. Boys out there, do talk more about your feelings. It’s really important and only makes you even more beautiful. Also... He got all flustered again!!! He’s so sweet!!! And oh, is he in love!!

Calvin accidently activates the Lightning Gauntlets, hitting Doyle. He’s okay but they’re interrupted by Mindless Ones. We finally learn why Doyle is uneasy near them. He feels bad for what Dormammu did to them, and they can’t help but see Dormammu when Doyle is around, triggering memories and traumas even for mindless beings. It’s the very first time I’ve read about the traumatic experiences behind those creatures, which is great! It explains why they’re made out of pure anger and even Dormammu is afraid of them. I also loved to learn that Doyle is not like his father. He probably wants to change the Dark Dimension when his time to rule comes (that is, assuming Dormammu will let him, which I find hard to believe).

Doyle is overwhelmed by them, so Calvin unleashes the power of the monster in his jacket. For a moment, he loses control, but Doyle brings him back. And that’s a very interesting point.

I apologize in advance, I don’t know if someone told me this or I wrote it before, it’s been a very long time (and for that reason, please let me know in order to give due credits). But there’s this theory that Calvin’s monster is actually Mr. Misery, which makes SO MUCH sense. Remember when Mr. Misery embraced Stephen before his final fight with Empirikul? And when he possessed Wong? What was the difference? I’d say there are two important points. 1) it depends on the user and their willpower to resist Mr. Misery and 2) Mr. Misery’s size.

Let’s say, the more the pain, the bigger and stronger he gets. And he was reduced to a small portion at the end of v4.

Besides, Calvin’s jacket has eyes and it’s quite gooey. It’s very similar to Mr. Misery. Not to mention how he can get a hold of its user.

I can’t help but wonder if Calvin’s jacket is actually Mr. Misery hiding its true form in order to grow stronger through Calvin’s pain. Remember, he never had good parents, is victim of bullying and is usually alone. That kid knows pain. And that makes him the perfect victim for Mr. Misery. Thoughts on it, anyone?

Moving on... Doyle and Calvin share a bonding time, which is precious.

But they’re not free from the cheesy games!!

Emily’s mother beat a god and she’s lousy about it. Emily introduces them to her family and boi, is it mutual or what? She’s blushing too. I’m sorry but that’s another OTP.

Lastly, Stephen shows the campus to the parents while the kids are racing again. It says “to be continued”, which means the parents will stay a little longer, I suppose.

Overall, I loved their interactions and how young and fresh the children are, figuring out their feelings and fears. I’m so relieved Doyle is back. But they’re still doing dangerous things like sneaking without supervision. They should’ve learned from the last issue.

Well. It was not bad. I enjoyed it, even though the story didn’t move forward. A nice reading.

[lunarrwolf]

mini series coming soon!!

since you guys got me over 300 followers, i held up my end of my own deal and was finally able to think up the first of a 100% written series (social media included only when needed to build the story).

there will only be two for now but i want to get the sykkuno series a good ways in before bringing in new content like this! i’ve been a writer since middle school and have major writer’s block for a book i’m working on rn so i’m really excited about writing an actual story for lunarrwolf! these are the banners, very tiny synopses, and sneak peek excerpts for DAYWALKER!s and Siren Woods

s.h warning: siren woods will not be for the faint of heart as it will be put in the category of a psychological thriller. it will contain suspense, fear(s), anxiety and/or mentions of depression, isolation and swearing

d.w!s warning: this is an apocalyptic world w/o zombies. it will contain violence, anxiety, entrapment, fear(s) and swearing

disclaimer: i will do my absolutely best not to treat either of these as if they were actual novels. i plan on putting in comedic lines and scenes to lower any thriller/horror vibes from the stories, and not too go too far to avoid truly triggering myself or anyone else. warnings will only be issued in chapters that are going to actually include one or more of above the above. but if anyone who reads them in the future have issues do not feel like you need to keep reading.

-

DAYWALKER!s

a variety youtuber mini series

summary

ten creators find themselves amidst a city with an oddly familiar vibe, a weird yet intimidating apocalyptic appearance, and hundreds of strangers that feel the need to do nothing but fight their way through the city. even if that means to the death.

excerpt

“You’re all going to die, you know.. so you might as well give up now and let it take over.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

You blinked at the growl woven in with your friend’s deep voice, knowing for sure that if you were in an animation a sweat drop would be making its way down the side of your head. He hated confrontation more than anyone here but when it came to his friends, and being trapped in a place like this? Who knew what damage he would do to keep them safe.

The man ahead of the group did nothing but stand there with a mocking grin on his face. It was unnerving, and dare say almost bloodthirsty. There was no amount of sanity or free will from where you all stood just a couple of yards away, and just that thought alone chilled you to the core.

“Corpse.. maybe you shouldn’t.” You stated, stepping closer to him to lower the risk of the strange man hearing the second part. “I don’t like the looks of that guy even from over here. We’ve already had to deal with a ton of crazy shit since finding each other. We can’t risk losing our only real muscle of the group.”

Ignoring the offended voices of Sean and Ludwig, the man with the torn mask looked at you only when you put a hand on his shoulder. It took sharing glances and seeing head shakes from most of the others to have him loosen the fist his hand was already in. Standing up straight, you watched as he rolled his shoulders, jaw still clenched from the tension. Rae was taking advantage of the off putting interaction and explored the small area, so capturing everyone’s attention when Corpse relaxed a bit wasn’t hard. “It’s gonna be a tight fit but I think we can make it work.”

“Whoa.”

“Where did you learn how to hotwire a car?” Ethan questioned, being the first to make his way toward the beaten vehicle.

“Video games?” The brunette answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She hit the side of the driver door twice, motioning to the group. “Now get your asses in here before that guy decides to pull a Resident Evil zombie sprint on us.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sykkuno saluted, earning chuckles that were a rare sight since ending up here. The two of you didn’t waste time in calling the front seats beside Rae and Ethan, forcing everyone else to get in the back of the truck and make it work. No one could complain, though, seeing the circumstances you were all in.

It took a few seconds of revving the seemingly old engine before the machine began making its way. You could actually hear the ones in the back shift around to get in more comfortable positions for however long a ride it would be. The girl behind the wheel didn’t pay any mind to the stranger that watched her drive you all away, but you did. And even when he continued to shrink in distance and eventually disappeared, you knew his words would stay with you.

“You’re wasting your time! No one gets out of Mirror City!!”

Siren Woods

a variety youtuber mini series

summary

seven internet personalities find themselves in the middle of an old town myth as they take a break from their careers and head up towards a rural mountain area. among every spooky or jumpy experience with a horror game here and there, never did any of them think they’d end up in this situation.

excerpt

The fire crackled with a sense of release, almost as if this large flame represented the time everyone needed away from their jobs. After how crazy the media has become the past few weeks, you and your friends agreed that a trip towards a much lesser known area would do you all well. It was a teenagers on summer break scene where everyone was gathered around a campfire in the backyard of a lake house, telling stories to either amuse or scare each other. Seán and Ethan were the first to do so, tag teaming in a very dramatic reenactment of the first time they met in person, which of course had to be followed by your own scene with Y/F/N.

Time flew by and before you knew it, the sun was completely set and the darkest shade of navy possible was barely lit with a crescent moon and a few stars. The only real source of light was the fire, illuminating the six faces in an orange glow. Any laughter died down minutes ago, leaving a silence that was comfortable for everyone. “You guys want to hear a funny story?”

Squinting at the man sitting in the log across from you, you leaned forward, hands folded in your lap. “Funny haha or funny we might want to kill you after we hear it?”

“Uh..” Corpse met your gaze immediately, his mask somehow looking more eerie with the natural lighting. “Funny kind of hoping you won’t kill me, if I’m being honest.” He confirmed, leaning forward himself to warm up his hands while the rest of you debated on whether to let him tell it.

After a few minutes, and three overtaking two, he was allowed to do so. It was an old myth of the town you all resided in for the week; a Slenderman type of entity of the forest that the locals from dozens of years before chose to call Siren Head. The name stuck once old photos were found and set up in the small museum in the Common. He stood at forty feet tall, with two megaphones for heads and tangled wires for a torso. He had the ability to perfectly mimic broadcasts, conversations, sirens and screams, and had been said to only emit white noise if ever asleep. Speed nearly matched that of a cheetah and his strength was unbelievably high due to his size. Every sighting of said species had only been released by victims, and it was an urban tale that stood alive to this very day.

Rae was on the grass now, legs crossed one over the other as she tried to look at everyone at once. “Why the hell did we all come to a place called Siren Woods, then?!”

“Well.. the town looked really nice online, and it’s living up to that. And I thought siren meant more mermaid than a freaky Creepypasta-type thing.” Sykkuno could do nothing but respond with nerves showing through his face and every subtle movement of his body as he explained why he ended up agreeing with the destination.

“Yeah, I did too.” Y/F/N piped in, shrugging her innocence as you all began telling your sides. “Who doesn’t think of a mermaid when you hear the word siren?! That’s basically what they are.”

“I, for one, think we should find another place to stay.” Ethan spoke up.

Seán gaped at his longest friend in the group, “You don’t actually believe in that.”

“I’m not taking any chances, dude. Those people believe in that thing enough to build a whole section of the museum for it.”

You watched your friends go back and forth, some freaked out by the story but not believing it was real while the rest wanted to find a new vacation spot. “What do you think, Y/N?”

You turned to Corpse, blinking as the simple question processed in your mind. “I’m with Ethan on this.. even if that thing isn’t an actual being the belief here is hardcore.” Three faces lit up in relief while the roommate, Irishman, and faceless internet persona felt differently. “Let me finish..” you sighed, “Let’s stay another night but keep an extra cautious eye on Spencer and Luna. Animals have a sort of sixth sense, so if anything weird happens they’ll warn us. Deal?”

Y/F/N shared a glance with you, letting out a sigh of her own. “Suddenly I’m feeling a lot better that we brought our dogs instead of getting sitters.” She bent down to pet the canines laying between the logs, hoping if they did bark it would just be from a resident knocking on the door.

[viviae]

can you like. tell me a little about dragon age. seeing your posts about it has got me interested in playing but i have little to no clue what it actually is

Boy can I explain nonny <3 This is a bit long so strap in and im sorry

Dragon Age is (currently) a three game series composed of Dragon Age: Origins (PS3, Xbox 360/Xbox One, PC), Dragon Age: II (PS3, Xbox 360/Xbox One, PC), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4, Xbox One, PC) and its really unique because of its selling point that your actions impact the games as you progress. Like if you kill one character in one game they’ll stay dead through the rest of the series which makes you feel lived in the story and that your actions matter. Dragon Age is also an RPG so a roleplaying game kind of along the same lines of DnD where you get to make and play your own character. And yes there are romances and you can be gay.

The First Game of the series is Dragon Age: Origins where you choose from a selection of six unique (technically seven) origins or backgrounds for your character. You can be anywhere from a human noble or a Dalish elf, the unique elven culture in Dragon Age of nomadic clans dedicating to reclaiming their past. But eventually, from the events in your origin, you wind up a member of a secretive and elite order known as the Grey Wardens whose duty is to protect the world from the Blight.

The Blight is this spread of a horrible disease known as the Taint but is characterized by the presence of Darkspawn, a kind of zombie like creature who exists only to destroy the world. Grey Wardens take the heavy duty of protecting the world from the Blight, which have nearly wiped all of humanity multiple times, at all costs. And currently the country of Ferelden is under going a blight and due to events you wind up the only Grey Warden with your companion Alistair to save the world and reunite Ferelden which had fallen under a civil war.

Along Origins you meet many interesting characters. Alistair is your friendly co-warden who has a mysterious parentage that he hides under his happy go lucky attitude. In contrast to Alistair is the witch Morrigan who is your favorite goth swamp queen who would insult you and you thank her. In addition you meet your chaotic bi rogues Zevran and Leliana. Leliana is a nun who is on the run and hiding from a dark past and she is suspiciously good at murder. And Zevran is not at all hiding his aptitude for murder as an Assassin for hire who tried and failed to kill you but who can ignore that charming bastard?

Dragon Age II follows a much smaller story of a Ferelden refuge who had escaped from the Blight to the city of Kirkwall named Hawke. Unlike in origins where you get to pick your background 2 limits you to Hawke but fear not, Hawke is a loveable bastard and you can still customize them. Throughout DA2 you get to experience all the delights Kirkwall has to offer: Demons, crime, corrupt cops, and fighting your way to survive in this city and make a name for yourself.

Where Origins sets the stage for the world DA2 you are the actor in that play - literally the game is divided into 3 acts that take place over a span of 7 years. DA2′s main conflict is the argument of Mages vs Templars, as in DA’s lore while there are those who are born with magic they are forced to live in prisons policed by the Templar order and the church. You explore the more political arguments of; are the Templars right in their fears of magic as Kirkwall is filled to the brim with corrupt mages or do Mages deserve the chance to live and prove themselves freely from their prisons.

Your romancable companions in DA2 are all bisexuals as the true theme of DA2 is: be gay do crime. You have the foils of Anders: the runaway mage who fled from the prisons the mages are housed in and is determined to bring mages to freedom, and Fenris: the runaway escaped slave who curses magic for only inflicting pain and suffering in his life and wants his warnings to be heard about the dangers magic bring. In addition you also have Merrill, your cute but terrifying Dalish mage who would probably murder you with a cute smile and then go oops. And of course, my pirate wife Isabela, who lives a life free from commitment and is dedicated to the idea everyone should have a good time no matter the cost. Also while not romancable Hawke’s bff Varric deserves every ounce of praise he gets as never before has the energy of “two idiots sharing a braincell” ever been so well adapted.

Then finally we reach Inquisition. After the events of DA2 it triggers a full on war between the Mages and Templars that is destroying the land and causing severe damage that neither side can handle anymore. Desperate for an end to the conflict the Divine (err... fantasy pope) calls for a meeting on both sides... only for the entire thing to literally explode. Killing everyone present and causing a hole in the sky which now means demons are raining like cats and dogs you are the only one to survive. In Inquisition you can once again return to pick between unique backgrounds like in Origins but you don’t get to play through those backgrounds sadly.

You now possess something on your left hand which gives you the ability to patch up the hole in the sky that is pissing demons and due to being the only survivor everyone is incredibly confused about you. Eventually the Inquisition is formed around you, the character they are calling the Herald of Andraste (Andraste is fantasy Jesus) due to your ability to seal the holes. The mystery unfolds as over the course of the game you learn what caused the explosion, how you are connected, and what exactly the mark on your hand is.

DAI has the largest numbers of romance options so I’m gonna give a quick bullet point list for them all

Iron Bull (Pansexual, All Races): A Qunari (think Tiefling but big and beefy) mercenary who is far more clever than he lets on, as well as being the rope top dom of your dreams. Literally! Bull’s romance is a really healthy bdsm relationship if you are interested its very well done

Josephine (Bisexual, All Races): Your loveable ambassador and advisor for the inquisition. She is a workaholic noble who is a tried and true classic romance. Sweep her off her feet and duel for her hand all while navigating the nobility

Dorian (Gay, All Races): The flamboyant pariah rock star mage, he demands attention whenever he walks into the room. Although he wants to be all talk and no emotions make no mistake he is making puppy eyes at you the entire time and gets deeply offended if you say he is. Also not going to lie Dorian is the best piece of gay male rep in gaming history.

Cassandra (Male-only, all Races): Your stern warrior wife who is all serious no funny business... expect she is a bleeding heart romantic who reads horrible smut for fun. You wish to COURT HER?? I mean... if you want 👉👈 she won’t say no...

Blackwall (Female-only, All Races): Your weird dilf who wants desperately to prove himself every step of the way and help people. He is a constable for the Grey Wardens, but all the details on him seem murky... Ah well I’m sure its nothing, the Grey Wardens are a secretive order after all.

Sera (Lesbian, All Races): My wild child, monster chugging, beer guzzling, arrow shooting lesbian. Sera is here for a fun time and not a serious one, she’ll always make sure to keep you humble and ensure you aren’t getting to big for your breeches. 

Cullen (Female-Only, Human and Elf only): Cullen’s the Inquisition’s commander who oohh boy is steeped in a lot of trauma. Cullen’s actually a character you get to know through out the series and see just all the horrible nonsense he’s been through. But he is your tragic self loathing... he isn’t princely but he is your adorkable charming

Solas (Female-Only, Elf Only): The humble apostate who joins the Inquisition out of curiosity of the breech, he is an expert on what the hell is going on with that hole in the sky. However, he holds a wisdom that goes far deeper than your typical apostate. Smooth talking and refined he carries a heavy cloud over him.

I left out a lot and all the nonsense with books and what have you but this is the easiest overview of the series I can offer. It’s main selling points is the deep story and characters throughout the games. And of course who doesn’t love the ability to make and roleplay your own character as a bonus? The games are bit of a flawed gem and Origins in my ugly child but they are truly a delight if you are interested

[tlbodine]

The History & Evolution of Home Invasion Horror

Here’s my prediction: In the next couple of years, we’re going to be seeing a sudden surge of home invasion movies hit the market. For many of us, 2020 has been a year of extreme stress compounded by social isolation; venturing outside means being exposed to a deadly plague, after all. 

And while many people have already predicted that we’ll see an influx of pandemic and virus horrors (see my post on those: https://ko-fi.com/post/Pandemic-and-Pandemonium-Sickness-in-Horror-T6T21I201), I actually think a lot of us are going to be processing a different type of fear -- anxiety about what happens when your home, which is supposed to be a literal safe space, gets invaded. Because if you’re not safe in your own house...you’re not safe anywhere. 

Home invasion movies have been around a long time -- arguably as long as film, with 1909′s The Lonely Villa setting down the formula -- and they share many of the same roots as slasher films in the 1970s. But somewhere along the way, they separated off and became their own distinct subgenre with specific tropes, and it’s that separation and the stories that followed it that I want to focus on. 

The Origins of the Home Invasion Movie 

In order to really qualify as a home invasion movie, a film has to meet a few requirements:

The action must be contained entirely (or almost entirely) to a single location, usually a private residence (ie, the home) 

The perpetrator(s) must be humans, not supernatural entities (no ghosts, zombies, or vampires -- that’s a different set of tropes!) 

In most cases, the horror builds during a long siege between the invader and the home-dweller, including scenes of torture, capture, escape, traps, and so forth. 

To an extent, home invasion movies are truth in television. Although home invasions are relatively rare, and most break-ins occur when a family is away (the usual goal being to steal things, not torture and kill people), criminals do sometimes break into people’s homes, and homeowners are sometimes killed by them. 

In the 1960s and 70s, this certainly would have been at the forefront of people’s minds. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood detailed one such crime in lavish detail, and the account was soon turned into a film. Serial killers like the Boston Strangler, BTK Killer and the “Vampire of Sacramento” Richard Chase also made headlines for their murders, which often occurred inside the victim’s home. (Chase, famously, considered unlocked doors to be an invitation, which is one great reason to lock your doors). 

By the 1960s and 70s, too, people were more and more often beginning to live in cities and larger neighborhoods where they did not know their neighbors. Anxieties about being surrounded by strangers (and, let’s face it, racial anxieties rooted in newly-mixed, de-segregated neighborhoods) undoubtedly fueled fears about home invasion. 

Early Roots of the Home Invasion Genre

Home invasion plays a part in several crime thrillers and horror films in the 1950s and 60s, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder in 1954, but it’s more of a plot point than a genre. In these films, home invasion is a means to an end rather than a goal unto itself. 

We see some early hints of the home invasion formula show up in Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left in 1972. The film depicts a group of murderous thugs who, after torturing and killing two girls, seek refuge in the victim’s home and plot the deaths of the rest of the family. In 1974, the formula is refined with Bob Clark’s Black Christmas, which shows the one-by-one murder of members of a sorority house and chilling phone calls that come from inside the home. 

Even closer still is I Spit on Your Grave, directed by Meir Zarchi in 1978. Although it’s generally (and rightly) classified as a rape-revenge film, the first half of the movie -- where an author goes to a remote cabin and is targeted and brutally assaulted by a group of men -- hits all the same story beats as the modern home invasion story: isolation, mundane evil, acts of random violence, and protracted torture. 

Slumber Party Massacre, directed by Amy Holden Jones in 1982, also hits on both home invasion and slasher tropes. Although it is primarily a straightforward slasher featuring an escaped killer systematically killing teenagers (with a decidedly phallic weapon), the film also shows its victims teaming up and fighting back -- weaponizing their home against the killer. This becomes an important part of the genre in later years! 

In 1997, Funny Games, directed by Michael Haneke, provides a brutal but self-aware look at the genre. Created primarily as a condemnation of violent media, the film nevertheless succeeds as an unironic addition to the home invasion canon -- from its vulnerable, suffering family to the excruciating tension of its plot to the nihilistic, motive-free criminality of its villains, it may actually be the purest example of the home invasion movie. 

Home Invasions Gone Wrong 

Where things start to get interesting for the home invasion genre is 1991′s The People Under the Stairs, another Wes Craven film. Here the script is flipped: The hero is the would-be robber, breaking and entering into the home of some greedy rich landlords. But this plan swiftly goes sideways when the homeowners turn out to be even worse people than they’d first let on. 

This is, as far as I can tell, the origin of the home-invasion-gone-wrong subgenre, which has gained immense popularity recently -- due, perhaps, to a growing awareness of systemic issues, a differing view of poverty, and a viewership sympathetic to the plight of down-on-their-luck criminals discovering that rich homeowners are, indeed, very bad people. 

Home Invasion Film Explosion of the 2000s 

The home invasion genre really hit the ground running in the 2000s, due perhaps to post-911 anxieties about being attacked on our home turf (and increasing economic uneasiness in a recession-afflicted economy and a growing awareness of the Occupy movement and wealth inequality). We see a whole slew of these films crop up, each bringing a slightly different twist to the formula.

*  It’s also worth noting that the 2000s saw remakes of many well-known films in the genre, including Funny Games and Last House on the Left.  

In 2008, Bryan Bertino directed The Strangers, a straightforward home invasion involving one traumatized couple and three masked villains. By this point, we’re wholly removed from the early crime movie roots; these are not people breaking in for financial gain. Like the killers in Funny Games, the masked strangers lack motive and even identity; they are simply a force of evil, chaotic and senseless. 

The themes of “violence as a senseless, awful thing” are driven further home by Martyrs, another 2008 release, this one from French director Pascal Laugier. A revenge story turned into a home-invasion-gone-wrong, the film is noteworthy for its brutality and blunt nihilism. 

2009′s The Collector, directed by Marcus Dunstan, is another home-invasion-gone-wrong movie. Like Martyrs, it dovetails with the torture porn genre (another popular staple of the 2000s), but it has a lot more fun with it. The film follows a down-on-his-luck thief who breaks into a house only to encounter another home invader set on murdering the family that lives there. The cat-and-mouse games between the two -- which involve numerous traps and convoluted schemes -- are fun to watch (if you like blood and guts). 

In a similar vein, we see You’re Next in 2013, which starts off as a standard home invasion movie but takes a sharp twist when it’s revealed that one of the victims isn’t nearly as helpless as she appears. Director Adam Wingard helps to redefine the concept of “final girl” in this move in a way that has carried forward right into the next decade with no sign of stopping. 

2013 of course also introduced us to The Purge, a horror franchise created by James DeMonaco. If there was ever any doubt as to the economic anxieties at the root of the genre, they should be alleviated now -- The Purge is such a well-known franchise at this point that the term has entered our pop culture lexicon as a shorthand for revolution. 

Don’t Breathe, directed be Fede Alvarez in 2016, is one of the creepiest modern entries into the “failed home invasion” category, and one that (ha ha) breathed some new life into the genre. Much like The People Under the Stairs, it tells the story of some down-on-their-luck criminals getting in over their heads when they target the wrong man. However, there is not the same overt criticism of wealth inequality in this film; it’s a movie more interested in examining and inverting genre tropes than treading new thematic ground. The same is true of Hush that same year. Directed by Mike Flanagan, the film is most noteworthy for its deaf protagonist. 

But lest you start to think the home invasion genre had lost its thematic relevance, 2019 arrived with two hard-hitting, thoughtful films that dip their toes in these tropes: Jordan Peele’s Us and Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which both tackle themes of privilege in light of home invasion (albeit a nontraditional structure in Parasite -- its inclusion here is admittedly a bit of a stretch, but I think it falls so closely in the tradition of The People Under the Stairs that it deserves a spot on this list). 

What Does the Future Hold? 

I’m no oracle, so I can’t say for certain where the future of the home invasion genre might lead. But I do think we’re going to start seeing more of them in the next few years as a bunch of creative folks start working through our collective trauma. 

Income inequality, racial inequality, political unrest and systemic issues are all at the forefront of our minds (not to mention a deadly virus), and those themes are ripe for the picking in horror. 

I know that Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin at the End of the World has been optioned for film, so we might be seeing that soon -- and if so, it might just usher in a fresh wave of apocalypse-flavored home invasion stories. 

Like my content? You can support more of it by dropping me some money in my tip jar: https://www.ko-fi.com/post/Home-Invasion-Stories-A-History-R6R72RV7Y

[tripstaysnoided]

Flow Just Like Water

Story and writing-related transparency update and my many shames...

The Question on Everyone’s Mind

“Hey you haven’t updated No Stars over Uptown in almost a year...”

Hmm, I hate it when you’re right. (This section has been rewritten ad-nauseam to curb back the bitchiness by the way)

So back in early/mid 2018, the idea was to divorce Uptown from a person who influenced it (and myself) heavily. She was my most important audience member, the closest friend I ever had, and unfortunately someone who used her power to bully, ostracize, and hurt others with my help. I cut contact when the hurt + some self-awareness finally reached me. Apologies were made and I feel like my work will never be done with it, but there was still Uptown.

Between censored comments, entirely recasting Axel’s save, different plot threads, and a load of disclaimers, there was nothing that would scrub her influence from the story. There was no way to cleanly drop everything because of how deep her influence went. It disgusted me to look back at it, and I had to private the blog because I feared what it endorsed, even if just in the past.

I pulled back from that sims writing community. I had its main thread on the Official Forums removed too (I guess if that was a mystery to anyone). It was a surrender that I never wanted to do, but I had it in my mind that if I was gone, then she wouldn’t be there either. Uptown became this cursed item, and as I quietly retired it, I noticed that she went quieter too. Not gone, but enough to make me sleep easier at night and even occasionally say hello to old friends.

And I hope deep in my heart that no one else is getting hurt in my place, but now this is gonna haunt me all day huh!

The two paths forward...

1) Complete Uptown rewrite that I’ve been threatening everyone with all year. While it won’t ever be clean because I can’t undo time, I do have a sound outline for a story that is much more true to my actual vision and how I’ve evolved, with a few necessary boundaries in place that are going to be there for all stories moving forward: no more casting calls and no more collaborative efforts. I am not going to open myself up to this happening again, even if the people have changed.

2) Same as above, but I continue the original Uptown as a favor to loyal readers alongside the rewrite. I would try to put the effort into it that I initially did, but with no promises on an update schedule and no advertising. I did ask myself “is there Patreon but without pledging money, just the private posts function” but it could operate as part of a private forum, a members-only part of a website, etc.

Also readers of the original would be beholden to a rule of “don’t spoil the rewrite for new readers, c’mon guys”. I mean, not really, but it is a good courtesy to extend to people.

Priority on this isn’t high but you at least will see what is!

I will probably make the blog public again either way due to the many broken links on my Tumblr but we’ll see. There are other things to deal with as I shall list!

Where Life’s Been Regardless

Been spending more time with my grandpa every weekend. Life’s pretty good and he’s warming up to my dogs.

Shiny New Webbed Site

Cucumber Fields Forever is a site I own now. We have a full domain, cucumberfieldsforever.com, a blog with one post, and the framework needed to host stories the way I want to and still through WordPress. The functionality of likes, comments, and following should still be the same but you know...I’ll take feedback too...

The main blog still has an undefined purpose though I do have drafts sitting around about:

The maybe/maybe not hoax band that was on the Metal Archives and the history of Funeral Doom Metal.

The curious case of when Sims 4 babies get their genetics and my only collaboration (read: was talking about it with a friend and might quote her if needed, it’s actually a bit of a doozy)

Amazon.com’s fake dried udon noodles, an actual issue by the way.

Things I’m reading! (This’d be a monthly feature if so)

For the sake of unity, I am thinking of solutions for hosting old and shameful content there including Uptown and for the real fans in my followers feed, Eight Cicadas...a world I totally have plans for too (not really). I don’t want them to be front-and-center, and that’s why I mentioned forums/members-only content. I finally have that power! Maybe.

Ooooh but what are the costs? Not too much to handle, that’s what. 😉 (Like really, I don’t need any hand-wringing about this, I can manage my finances)

Project Queue (In Order of Confirmedness)

Outrun the Scythe: have you seen me post out-of-context Sims 3 pictures? Did you want more? Did you hope it was Linda in Custody? If the answers are yes, yes, and “meh, whatever you want”, then you’re in luck.

Outrun the Scythe is a Sims 3-based tale of a young gay man and his zombie grandma, as they are both offered separate roles of being the undying intermediaries between the world of humans and the influence of a race of space daemons. It’s pretty familiar if you’ve been following me pre-Uptown, taking some cues from stories I’ve kept under lock and key like Eight Cicadas, The Chains of Lyra, and the not-so-locked-up Ironstar Immortals (of which Outrun is just the direct sequel to sans any retconning...ah the smell of early 2013 and performative heterosexuality)

Ah, back to my roots.

It’s a hybrid of gameplay, story, and lore about my little race of daemons with a lot of my own idiosyncrasies that I’m not really ashamed of: basing it off a super-polarizing Sims 3 challenge from a site I moderate, using a lot of EA’s pre-made townies and their genes, lots of unnecessary posemaking, stupid references. It’s a comfort to have in my roster.

While the first few chapters are in the middle of revision, I have around six in the queue and will be making this public when I have ten. I’m guessing December then?

Undocumented Black Widow Challenge: I just did this for fun/forum kudos (yes, in fact I have joined many forums), there was going to be a short story but it was quickly becoming something against my code of ethics. I mean, sims die and all. (read: I had to choose between “heterosexual widow” and “widow with some same-sex marriages that still end in tragedy, reinforcing negative stereotypes to the public for the sake of me not getting bored and detached during gameplay” so there were no good choices. Except for her affair with the mailwoman, 10/10) I hope to finish this before October ends and get my medal on Boolprop, I’m pretty far through it all. I might upload the sims involved anyways. This is for TS4.

I mentioned it because it’s keeping me busy. But not for long!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Dipping my toes into that again! It’s not sims-related, just a tale of lesbians, nosy neighbors, a haunted beach house, and some light murder and kidnapping. And I actually got my brother to scout out locations for me this weekend. If there’s any demand, I can share chapters as the rough drafts are finished, especially for the sake of proofreading.

Not saying I’m publishable, but wouldn’t it be nice? Will keep me occupied for much of November.

Untitled “Dear Diary” Challenge: Tired of feeling left out of the fun on the Boolprop forums, their “Dear Diary” challenge was the one that appealed to me the most on first glance. Why? Probably once I found an idea that let it be set in the early/mid-2000′s to begin with and explore some interesting characters through diary entries (which I have mixed feelings on as a literary device but I think that’s just me saying “well I didn’t like Dracula”, yes you get bonus points for writing it like a diary)

Also writing is the one skill I’m good at across multiple games. Wanna hear me bitch about the cooking skill tree in TS4 or riding in TS3? I’ll spare you.

I guess I could have included “spending time on Boolprop with old and new friends” in where my life has been. It’s a nice lil community if also a place with its own idiosyncrasies as well. So it doesn’t feel like I’m promoting another community if/when I make a thread there for Outrun the Scythe, I want to have a couple chapters of this ready to go by Outrun’s release, though it’s not gonna be the highest priority compared to it nor as long because I think I can blast through the gameplay quickly.

This one will be played in TS4 due to it having the easiest writing skill/I dunno variety is the spice of life. And hopefully another December release.

Defunded or Forgotten?: Oh shit I actually released stuff in 2020 and told no one? I do have a “mortifying ordeal of being known” sinking feeling whenever I get a site hit because it’s not my best work (but good enough) and veered sharply into issues I may be over my head in, though I try to be a good noodle with research and listening. Maybe hiding is bad after all.

Being based off a very flawed and incomplete Sims 3 challenge I found in the annals of the Official Forums, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work just making sense of things. And I’m scared of working on reconstructing the house but I haven’t abandoned the project yet. The story has eight chapters so far and is pretty game-based with some additions here and there. Scared of how long it could be though!

Date for this unknown.

Untitled Sunlit Tides Decadynasty: another year-long abandoned TS3 project with a much stupider reason why. Last update was about Hua getting ready for her wedding, and I wanted to do some poses for a bait-and-switch wedding chapter because to put it mildly, her real one was an absolute disaster.

Blender decided to fuck up its interface again, I got discouraged (this probably does account for some of the Uptown delays too), and when I decided to plow forward, it was for other projects instead.

Meanwhile I played all the way to Gen 5′s teenhood and the only thing stopping me is time (it takes almost 30 minutes to load the file right now, though they’ll be looking at moving towns in a couple gens) and maybe fear of the Logic skill.

Date for this also unknown but it’s easy to pump out updates once I’m in the groove for it. My third heir had a difficult life so maybe I’m just trying to bury it.

Also I just noticed the view count there was really good and probably because I linked it here on Tumblr last year. Thank you so much guys. I can’t really fret over views on Carl’s forum these days thanks to the years-long death spiral pretty much every forum anywhere has been riding on. But it’s a nice surprise. And it’s an alright little challenge recap to read during your lunch break or whatever.

The Wawas

I figured I’d end on the real news everyone wants! Both the chihuahuas are a year and a half now and reached their adult size around a year ago. For the most part, they are happy and healthy dogs.

[symphonyofthewrite]

Inverted Recurrence

Fandom: Castlevania Symphony of the Night (but with the Netflix series characterizations)

Summary: It's been three hundred years since Alucard saw Trevor and Sypha. When he sees a version of them in the inverted coliseum...he just can't seem to win the fight against them.

So he loses. Over and over.

(The inverted coliseum boss fight from Symphony of the Night, but with the Netflix series characters)

Notes:  First of all, warning! (As evidenced by the summary) there will be swearing in this fic!

This is a fic for the game Symphony of the Night. However I used the characterizations of the characters from the Netflix series. (This is also why Grant is not present, even though he's present in the actual fight. I wanted to include him, especially because they took him out of the show...but because they took him out of the show, and because I have yet to play Dracula's Curse, I didn't feel like I could properly characterize him to have him in the scene.)

In case you've only watched the show, but are still interested in reading, I'll put a little summary of the things you need to know about the game in order to read in the replies!!

If you enjoyed this I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a comment and/or reblog! They make my week, and really help motive me to keep writing multi-chapter fics like this one!

I’ve also posted this on my general writing blog @antihero-writings if you want to check it out there!!

Chapter 1:

Alucard hit the ground of the save room…which happened to be the ceiling, breath and heartbeat crawling through his chest like fire ants.

“Well…fuck.”

******

Fire consumed the werewolves’ snarls, echoing through the stone hall, and he continued up the corridor without a glance back.

Alucard paused to think; count the rooms.

He wiped the blood off his sword—well, not his sword, that is to say, he still didn’t have his mother’s sword back from that dickhead, Death. Due to this, he was using one he had borrowed from one of those green skeletons upon its second death.

“Are you prepared?” he asked his fairy familiar. “If my thinking is correct we’re coming upon the main part of the coliseum. This could get”—he adjusted his grip on the sword and inclined his head to the side. “Interesting.”

She folded her arms and bowed. “I am prepared for whatever comes our way, Master Alucard.”

He grinned back. “Good.”

He marched forward, and, sure enough, the upside-down version of the coliseum center revealed itself. The same room where he had fought the Shaft-possessed-Richter in the right-side-up castle. The sconces spilled blue fire endlessly to the ground, fixed to columns that didn’t reach the ‘floor’, in a circle around an overthrown throne. A throne which held no one now, as if he were a gladiator in an upturned universe, a slave of the games, watched by an invisible sadistic god, hosting this for their own pleasure.

The doors shut themselves behind, and in front, of him with a loud thump, closing off his exits.

Yup. Interesting.

He stood on guard, aiming the sword at the pentagonal spinning coffins in the center of the room, his mind cycling through what might step out;

Let’s see, skeletons? Zombies? Ghosts? No it’d be something more advanced than that. Maybe a dragon would walk out? Or maybe he’d fight the embodiment of emperor Nero himself? That might be fun.

When their lids creaked forward and the first enemy stepped out it did not, in fact, have rotting skin, or a malevolent grin…It looked like a man.

A man with brown hair, blue eyes—one of which a scar fell across—sauntered over to Alucard, the Belmont crest gleaming on his chest.

Alucard froze, eyes widening.

The man groaned when he saw Alucard—but not in an undead way, more like a man who was annoyed—and, unlike many of the monsters, he spoke:

“Well if it isn’t the cockwart, Alucard.”

Alucard fought werewolves and demons, things that spit fire, things that turned him to stone, things that would eat his soul out if given the chance, and he didn’t even break a sweat. Not much could make his heart hammer these days.

But this—

“Trevor! What have I told you about speaking your mind?!” Alucard had been so focused on Trevor he hadn’t noticed the other enemy: a woman in blue smacked Trevor on the back of the head.

“Uhh that it’s what everyone should do it all the time?” he rubbed his head.

She pulled on his ear.

“Okay, okay! Easy on the moneymaker!”

Alucard’s eyes stayed open wide, as if he was afraid if he closed them they’d disappear and he’d remember he was dreaming. The golden irises oscillating beneath waves of memory, the sword at his side twitching.

“Master Alucard?” the fairy’s voice was muffled behind the sound of his heartbeat.

He fought reanimated flesh, and first-animated metal, he fought things straight out of books, things he wished were mere fantasy, and never once did he stand paralyzed.

But this…this made his blood thump cold and relentless in his ears. This made his heart start churning with questions, his head ache with memory. This made his throat tighten with sentimentality long forgotten.

The fairy couldn’t hear the words he breathed.

Three hundred years is a long time. Even if he spent most of it asleep, time has a way of weighing heavy on the chest.

They were arguing amongst themselves, while the fairy was asking him questions, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. As if he was beneath many tons of water, the pressure slowly crushing him.

Being immortal has never been the blessing humanity thought. Watching your friends, your family, die is hard enough, but when you know you won’t be joining them wherever they’re going for a long time, if at all, things get more complicated. The pain, then, isn’t just loss…it’s the knowledge of what you’ll never lose. Watching your friends die, while you, standing at their death bed, look the same as you did when you met them sixty years ago, like you’re taunting them, like you’re some cosmic joke… Watching them die, while you have millennia left to spend grieving, making new friends and watching them die too, just living… it isn’t exactly something you’d spend one of your three wishes on.

Sometimes he wished he was mortal. Human. That the blade and arrow would sting more, that words would mean more, that he’d remember the things his friends told long ago, under moonlit skies. He wished he could feel something, that he could feel fear and horror and hope. That the fight would pump in his veins. That he could grow old, and die, and wouldn’t have to live a thousand more lifetimes before death took him away. Sometimes he forgot how to appreciate life; they say death is what gives life meaning, after all.

Seeing his friends from centuries ago, his friends who he had argued with, played games with, laughed, cried with. Friends who he had watched die, who he had mourned, grieved long ago back again…

“What’s the matter?” Trevor put his hands on his hips, noticing that he was standing there dumbstruck. “Cat got your tongue?”

Alucard backed up on shaky legs, biting his lip until it bled.

He was twenty years old again. Twenty years old and they were in a snowy woods speaking of God, mothers, old books, and how lonely they all were, on their way to defeat Dracula for what they didn’t realize then was only the first time.

“Master Alucard!” the fairy fluttered in front of his face—how long had she been calling him? “What’s going on?!”

His lips were sealed shut; he couldn’t answer even if he wanted to. His eyes gravitated past her to the two behind her.

It had been so long. So long since those lonely nights. Since those sunny days. So long since he’d seen their faces. Heard their voices. Seeing, hearing, them now was like medicine after years of sickness, like sobriety after spending years drunk. Like reminding himself he hadn’t made them up after all—(because sometimes it felt like he had). So long…So long since he’d been with his friends. So long since he’d had friends.

“I did want to resolve our differences.” Sypha shrugged. “But, we’re going to have to show you what we really think of you now.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself. It was nice—well uh…it was something knowing you.”

“…What?” Alucard’s breath made clouds in these snowy woods.

Trevor glanced up at him, unspooling the morning star whip—the one that he had once used to fight the night hordes with together…or at least a version of it…it didn’t look quite right.

“It’s a real shame”—he said like it wasn’t much of a shame at all—“but…we do have to kill you now.”

“We have a reputation to keep.”

“You know, vampire slayers and all. Can’t have the son of Dracula walking around.”

Alucard had to keep his breath from catching on itself and tripping.

He backed up, turning to see Sypha holding out her hands in a combat posture.

He shut his eyes and shook his head quickly, clearing the snow from his eyes, reminding himself the woods were nothing but memory; he was here, in Dracula’s upside-down castle, fighting phantoms of his friends.

They’re not real, he told himself. They’re not your friends. Trevor and Sypha are gone. They’re just one of Dracula’s tricks. He’s using them to get to you.

He felt something wrap around his leg.

“Master Alucard!”

“It’s nothing personal.” Trevor spoke, “Except if you count the fact that we’d only do this to you...because you’re the worst.” He yanked on the whip and swung Alucard by his leg into the far wall at full force.

Sypha held up her arms beads of light before her fingers, then brought them together, making spikes of ice jut out from beneath the walls, stomping towards him.

He pried himself from the wall and jumped out of their way.

Trevor threw a cross at him—one made of bones—but it came back without finding its mark.

Before Sypha could send her jet of flame at him, Alucard burst forward, knocking her down.

“Attacking poor, innocent girls now? So that’s how you want to play it, huh?”

“Who are you calling ‘poor’ and ‘innocent’?!” Sypha crossed her arms, “I can handle myself thank you very much!”

“Oh—I—uh—I didn’t mean it like that!”

Sypha scowled at him.

It was like they walked straight out of his memory. …Were they really not real?

Trevor jumped up, raising his whip.

You don’t have to do this, Alucard wanted to reason with them.

But he knew. He knew this wasn’t them. They were only a shell. A reanimated memory. Empty. There was nothing in there to reason with.

Alucard blocked his attack with his shield, and crouched down, slicing his leg, knocking him down. But before he could send the sword through his chest, Sypha raised her arm and incased him in a block of ice.

The fairy broke him out, but this had given Trevor enough time to get up, throwing another bone cross. This time it knocked Alucard down.

Sypha floated before him, ready to blast him with fire. This time Alucard teleported, slashing Trevor in the back.

“You filthy vampire bastard.”

Why them?! He wanted to demand of Dracula, but that was all-too obvious.

Alucard disappeared in a column of gold, then reappeared, opening his cloak and sending fireballs towards Trevor, who extinguished them by swinging his whip.

He dodged Sypha’s ice spears, but Trevor took this opportunity to power up, and once Alucard was out of their way he began throwing continuous knives at him--which Alucard turned into a bat to avoid.

Sypha incased him in ice for the second time, returning him to human form. The fairy broke him out.

Before Sypha could cast her next spell Alucard turned into a wolf and bowled Trevor over, leaping into the air to bite Sypha’s leg—

But before his teeth clamped down on her leg something caught in his throat—something too close to sentiment—and he fell to the floor, himself again.

In the moment’s hesitation Trevor wrapped the whip around Alucard's neck.

His eyes glinted, and his mouth quirked up. “See you in hell.”

******

“Well if it isn’t the cockwart, Alucard,” Trevor grunted as he sauntered down from the wagon, smirking.

“If it isn’t the bastard, Trevor.”

Sypha ran up to the dhampir and put her arms around him.

“It’s so good to see you again Alucard!” She released him, putting a hand on his cheek and smiling. “You haven’t changed a bit!”

“Well being half-vampire does have its benefits.”

They turned to look at Trevor, who was hanging back, rubbing the back of his head.

Sypha put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at him. Trevor sighed.

“Good god, I never thought I’d say this but…” He looked at his feet. “I missed you. …You and your stupid, ugly face.”

"I have something to say to you as well.”

Alucard promptly flipped him off.

Trevor made a face, groaning, “I try to say one nice—”

Before they could blink Alucard had wrapped his arms around them, holding them so fast and so tight it nearly made them fall over.

“I missed you too. …You don’t even know how much.”

******

Alucard hit the floor of the save room—which happened to be the ceiling—at full force, the world returning like a punch to the face. Once he regained his senses, he coughed, balling his hands into fists before him, breath harsh in his throat, heavy on his chest.

“Well…fuck.”

“…Master Alucard?”

He didn’t want to talk to her. He didn’t want to talk to much of anyone. He didn’t even want to think. To be here at all, in this castle. He half wished this save room didn’t exist so he wouldn’t have to go back there and do it all over again.

She fluttered up knelt in front of him, brushing the hair from his eyes.

Those eyes flicked to her. Eyes often soft and warm…now full of cold fire.

“I hope it’s not rude of me to ask…Who were those people?”

He didn’t reply at first, dropping his gaze, letting his breath rise and fall like ocean waves ripping through him, filling his eyes with saltwater.

“…Nobody.” He murmured low.

“They…” She paused a moment, trying to figure out how to delicately phrase things, “didn’t seem like nobody.”

He sat up. “…They’re not real.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to quell the burgeoning headache. “Dracula’s just trying to fuck with me.”

“Oh, indeed, I understand that.”—He shot her a reproving glance, so she continued more delicately—“…But most of Dracula’s minions don’t look human…not to mention they don’t know you…It appears to me whoever they represent were important to you.”

He looked away. He didn't want to talk about this. Not now. Not with a creature who--however well meaning--could barely begin to understand the horrors of immortality.

“And…they did know you...right?”

He looked down to see her wringing her hands.

“What exactly are you getting at?”

“It’s just…”

It dawned on him and he smiled, shifting to his knees. “That I’m the son of Dracula.”

She opened her mouth to say something, her wings beating and stopping nervously, looking down.

“Well it is a rather strange thing for them to say isn’t it? I mean, it can’t possibly be true.”

He smirked. “What if it is?”

She fluttered up to him, examining his features closely, her mouth open the whole time.

“You are?!”

He lowered his face closer to hers so she could feel his breath, his fangs glinting, “You scared?”

“...Not scared, more confused. I mean how can Dracula have a son? And—”

He raised an eyebrow. “Would you like me to go into the details?”

“I don’t mean that!” She smacked him lightly. “I mean…How can you be his son?”

“Why can’t I be?”

“Well first of all you don’t look like him—”

“Oh? And how do you know what Dracula looks like? Have you met him?”

“Well…I…” Her eyes darted between him and the ground, apparently grappling with the idea that he knew quite well what Dracula looked like. “This castle is full of Dracula’s supporters… he seems quite persuasive.”

“I’m not sure I’d say that—over half of them are creatures without reason, or free will, enough to know, or care, who they’re following.”

“Still…he has no shortage of allies.”

“What’s your question?”

“…How are you not one of them?”

He smiled. “I like to think I have a little more sense of right and wrong than mindless beasts.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that! I just mean…you’re so kind. I wouldn’t think Dracula’s son—”

“I’m not only the son of Dracula.”

She paused, thinking, before looking up. “Your mother.” Her wings fluttered as she gained understanding, floating up to his face. “It was your mother, wasn’t it? That memory we saw. The Succubus. You said that your mother never said those things.”

“Yes, she said quite the opposite, in fact.”

She gave a sad smile. "...It sounds like you loved her very much."

He gave an almost imperceptible nod as he looked away.

"I'm...sorry that happened to her. That's ...awful. Humans can be brutes at times."

"Yes." He agreed softly, before adding, "But not always. And not all of them."

She paused herself, then began fluttering back and forth—the fairy version of pacing—trying to wrap her head around it all.

“Was she married to Dracula?”

“Yes.”

“Who was she?”

“Her name was Lisa… and she was mortal.”

“Did he love her?”

He smirked at the innocent and naïve question.

“Very much. ...Enough that he’d destroy the world for her.”

She paused, looking at the ground. “Is that why we must defeat him?”

He gave a small nod.

“It seems such a sad reason to have to kill him…for love.”

He looked off to the side, not saying anything.

“Come on.” He stood up. “It’s time for round two.”

******

Notes Cont.:

For the cartoon, I actually wrote this fic before I watched S3, so when I was trying to come up with memories for after S2 with Trevor and Sypha all I could think of was simply them arriving back at the castle. Then reading it after watching S3 I realized their reunion would probably go differently :'( ...I decided to keep it as-is because I really have no clue how that's gonna go in later seasons, and because I felt people might like reading about a nice version of them coming back to him anyways.

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 163

Chapter Summary -After the long and tedious road to her Ironman, Danielle begins to get back to normal, including acknowledging that she has neglected Tom in certain manners for the past few months.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

Copyright for the photo is the owners, not mine. All image rights belong to their owners

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1 @black-ninja-blade

Danielle and Tom left Tenby the next day at lunchtime, giving Danielle a chance to actually get some rest and recover from her sporting endeavours, Tom holding her to him and repeating, time and again, how proud he was of her for reaching a goal.

On their way back to London, they collected the dogs and brought everything to the house. Tom drove to give Danielle the rest she needed after the triathlon. When they got out of the car, he noticed her moving her shoulder and hissing. “It’s worse.”

“It’s utterly fucked now.” She confessed. “It will need weeks of rest and physio, I’d say. I don’t think I can even drive safely.”

Though grateful she was being honest, Tom felt annoyed that she had allowed it to get worse when she promised not to overdo it but hearing her acknowledge that she would tend to it properly now silenced his argument on that front. “If you need a lift there, let me know.”

“I will.” She gave a small smile and did what she could to bring in some of her belongings inside, but Tom refused to let her and shooed her in citing the dogs needing to be settled as the excuse.

*

The next few days continued with a pattern, Danielle going to physio for her arm, her working on paperwork for Safeguard and her own personal work projects and catching up on sleep.

It was a week after her return from Tenby, after she had another physio session on her arm and she was collecting some food from Sainsbury’s on her way back to the house because Tom was dealing with something work related when she paused and thought of an idea. Smiling to herself, she made a small plan.

Tom was exhausted. He had been dealing with some work that Marvel had asked of him for an upcoming piece of work they were considering for him, and more importantly, Loki. He was bound by contract to say nothing yet knew that should he and Danielle come to discuss it, she would not say anything. If she could hide the ending of Game of Thrones from even him, he knew he could depend on her to say nothing regarding his work. When he pulled into the driveway, all he could think about was sitting on the couch and resting for a while, or perhaps making it to the bedroom to do so if he managed to scrape the energy from somewhere to do that.

When he opened the front door, fear filled him.

The smell of good home cooking filled his nostrils, the scents of lemon, spice and garlic telling him that Danielle was cooking some form of a roast. When he entered the kitchen, he noted the oven had a tinfoil covered meat in it, with roast potatoes on a tray below it and the stove harbouring further foods. Looking around, Tom wondered where Danielle had gone before calculating dates in his head. Their second anniversary was just a fortnight away but they had agreed that they would go out to dinner that night, so he could not fathom what had prompted this evening’s feast.

“Tom?” He jumped slightly as he heard a voice from the back kitchen area. “Are you home?”

“Yes.”

“Oh good.” Danielle came back into the room and took something in a small pot out of the fridge before placing it on the stove, swapping it with some form of vegetable. “How was your day?”

“Good?” Tom looked at her. She was wearing a dress, for no apparent reason, in the house. She never did that. It was figure-hugging, slightly dipping at her cleavage and she was wearing makeup. His fear intensified. She was clearly on a different level to him regarding the significance of the evening and it scared him to wonder what he had forgotten.

“Tom?” He looked at her face again to see a notable look of concern on it. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I...What am I missing?” Rather than trying to pretend he knew what was going on and be found out later in the evening, Tom favoured being honest.

“Missing?”

“What event or occasion is this. Our anniversary is in two weeks so I cannot figure it out?”

Danielle laughed. “Do I need a reason to want to cook a nice dinner? I haven’t been allowed half of my favourite food in weeks and I know you are busy and tired so I thought it would be nice to make us something.”

“But...your clothes?”

“I saw this a few weeks ago and with the body alterations from my new training, I thought it would be nice. Was I wrong?” She looked at him worriedly. She rarely liked dresses and she seldom wore them, but this dress had made her feel as though her figure looked good and was excited to get it, but seeing Tom looked at it with uncertainty made her anxious that she had made a mistake.

“No, it’s gorgeous, I just...Why tonight?”

“Why not tonight?” She challenged. “If I am looking for events to wear certain clothes to, I may be waiting a while.”

Tom subconsciously nodded to her words. “I’m sorry, you’re right. You have every right to wear anything you want and you look incredible so I don’t know why I am causing you to feel as though you don’t. I’m sorry, I am ruining your nice evening. Please, forgive me.” He pulled her to him, noting the lovely smell of strawberries and coconut in her hair as he did. “You look incredible and the food smells sublime.”

“Part of me wanted to get a takeaway and stuff my face in the corner but I was thinking this is probably healthier and if I continue to eat okay will mean I will not have to be greased into a wedding dress when the time comes.”

Tom gave a disapproving growl at her ridiculing words. “To the best of my knowledge, you have never had to be greased into anything and I have seen pictures of you when you accuse yourself of being at what you deem your ‘biggest’ and it’s laughable. Also, if you did add a few pounds or even a few stone, I wouldn’t care because as long as you are healthy, I just care about you being happy.” He put his arms around her as he spoke before looking down, his pupils dilating at the sight his taller height bestowed him. “Though, I will never complain as to you wearing this dress.”

Danielle laughed as she noted his line of sight. “I can’t really say anything, you have long declared yourself a lover of breasts.”

“And yours are exquisite.” Her reaction was to lean up and kiss him, causing him to groan. “Dinner…” He reminded her.

“Another ten minutes.” Danielle pulled back as she spoke. “So get a shower to help you relax and when you come down, dinner will be served.”

“I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but with how wrecked I am, I will gladly accept it.” Tom kissed her again and went upstairs as Danielle let the dogs back in from a stint in the garden before readying the last of everything that was required for their dinner.

The meal was a pleasant affair, lighthearted and relaxed. Tom informed Danielle of some more Loki related work that Disney was considering. It was not finalised, but from what he gathered, both the Trickster and another character, of whom he was not made aware of, were getting their own mini-series if certain plans came to fruition.

“So that would be your beard gone?” Danielle asked.

“I would imagine so, yes.”

“Pity.”

“Good thing it can grow back,” Tom smirked, seeing the small smile she was trying to hide on her face. “Dare I ask, come the wedding, will you want me to have it?”

“I will want you to be comfortable and happy and so long as that does not include some naff Seventies mustard and brown suit and a “pervy uncle” moustache, I am not bothered how you look.”

Tom erupted in laughter at the image Danielle gave him with her words before looking at her and seeing the playful look on her face. “I missed this.”

“Missed what?”

“Your ridiculous playfulness. You were so tired from training and juggling us, work, the dogs, training and even helping Emma, you didn’t talk as much.”

“I sacrificed a lot for that achievement but I also forced you to sacrifice for it. Thank you for being so patient and staying by my side.” Danielle looked at him with sincerity, understanding more and more since she stopped her ridiculous training load, just how much she had sacrificed for that goal. She had known she would have to adjust her life for it, and many of the things she would have to cease or put to the side made sense. Late evening dinners out with friends, a social drink, her favourite unhealthy foods but everything really came to the fore when she looked at it now and one of the greatest things to be sacrificed was her time with Tom. She was a zombie from exhaustion more than once. She recalled him urging her to bed more often than her going at the same time as him fully awake. She did not always eat meals with him and she had all but become celebate in that time and to his due, Tom never once complained at her enforcing such a fate on him too. Danielle realised that the sacrifices she made were hers and for her goal but Tom did sacrifice things also, for her. She knew he would love to spend time with his friends comfortably in New York after the fashion show but he had chosen to rush back to her. She knew he also wanted them to go out for dinner like a normal couple more than once in that timeframe also, yet he never bothered her about it, because he wanted her to have the nutrients she needed. The early morning training sessions, the early morning starts for the practise races, everything, he did willingly, for her. Looking at his cerulean blues eyes, now almost permanently framed by his glasses, she saw the love she had for him returned to her with as great an intensity. “Thank you.”

The rest of the meal went well, both continuing to talk between healthy and comfortable silences. When at the end of it all, Tom began to try and stifle yawns, Danielle urged him to bed. “Only if you join me.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” She joked as she walked up the stairs ahead of him, the dogs having been dealt with for the evening. Danielle brushed her teeth and whatnot first before swapping out and allowing Tom to do what he required in the bathroom. While he was doing so, she took off her dress and began searching for her tattered old clothes she tended to wear in bed, since she had not planned to wear them but with Tom’s tiredness, she knew there would be no amourous fun for the evening.

“What…?” She turned to see Tom looked at her from across the room.

“What, Love?”

“You’re wearing the black underwear.”

“Yes?”

“Did you want to…?”

“What?” In all honesty, the lack of full sentences by Tom was confusing Danielle at this stage.

“You dressed sexily, cooked a nice dinner and wore these,” Tom explained as he walked towards her. “You planned on us having a romantic evening.”

“I did, and we did have a romantic evening, I thought.”

“But…” He looked at her breasts, which he noticed had decreased in size as a result of her tedious working out and diet, not by much, but they did not fill the cup as they had before. “You look incredible.”

“You took your glasses off.” She joked. Tom growled slightly and pulled her to him. “You’re tired, Love, we don’t have to do anything.”

“I want to.”

“You’re exhausted.”

“You’re sexy.” He silenced her next retort by kissing her gently nipping her lip as he urged her over to the bed, causing her to smile and do the same back to him, only tugging slightly as she did, knowing how much he adored that, pushing him so he was the one to fall on the bed in his t-shirt and boxers, which he had stripped to while she had been in the bathroom and straddled his hips. The shift in power, to her being on top made Tom moan as a small wave of excited pleasure surged through him, loving that she was taking control of the situation, her breasts in his hands, her crotch rubbing against his for friction, both loving the feeling. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry, never again.” She pulled at his t-shirt and let her hands slid over his chest, enjoying the feel of the slight bit of hair he had on his pecs.

Tom found himself conflicted. Partly because he wanted to control the situation, partly because he was loving how Danielle was controlling it.

When he tried to place his hands on her hips to turn them around for him to be on top, Danielle grinned and shook her head. “Not tonight.” She leant down and kissed him again. “Tonight, I am in charge.” She shirked down his body, toying with his nipples as she gently kissed and playfully nipped at the skin of his abdomen, loving the small line of hair that trailed from his navel down to his pubic region before sliding down his boxers and gently kissing the head of his hardened length, then finally, placing as much of him in her mouth as she could, using her saliva and enthusiastic tongue to moisten him. Inhaling deeply, she held her breath and took as much of him into her mouth as possible, gagging slightly as she reached the back of her throat, but forced her body to relax slightly before edging him in a little more.

“Elle.” Tom forced himself not to buck into her mouth, knowing she was already pushing herself to fit as much of him in as she could. “Fuck, so good.”

Slurping slightly and ensuring he was wet from her ministrations, she prowled over him again, giving Tom a chance to seize her face with his hand and encourage her forward to kiss him passionately. Whilst they kissed, Danielle slid Tom to her damp body and sank down onto him, throwing her head back and gasping as she felt him fill her, realising just how long it had been since they were intimate by how tight she felt.

For his part, Tom could not help the whine he made, Danielle’s body gripping tightly around him as he relished their having sex again after what felt like an eternity. At first, Danielle’s movements were slow and languid, but as she moved, Tom began to reach her most pleasurable point within her body as he slipped his fingers to just above where they were joined causing Danielle to gasp again as she moved with more purpose. Tom urged her to lean up slightly, meaning that she was not able to sit fully onto him, but rather than that causing them less pleasure, Tom urged Danielle’s hand to her clit before he gripped her hips and began to move her down as he leant up, their movements becoming sloppier as they both became more and more engrossed in the pleasure they were experiencing. Amongst it all, the crude noise of their bodies meeting became louder and all the more notable.

All too soon for Tom’s liking, he felt his gut tighten before he forced Danielle down until he was fully sheathed within her, groaning as his pleasure reached its peak. Above him, Danielle’s movements became less aggressive, knowing he would be sensitive from his release as she chased hers. With Tom’s fingers joining hers, Danielle felt herself get closer to her own orgasm.

“Come on, my beautiful Elle, I can feel how close you are,” Tom encouraged.

“Tom.” It was a plea as well as a whine, her body teetering on the edge of an orgasm. “I can’t…oh fuck!”

At the idea that she could not complete so close to her peak, Tom concentrated his thrusts back at the point in her he knew caused the most pleasure. It took all of a few seconds before Danielle’s body clamped around his and she gasped her release, her fingers, along with Toms, still rubbing and teasing her external nerves as Tom ensured to hit her internal ones in near a constant manner before gently urging her forward.

Before he could even attempt anything, Danielle placed her lips to his and moaned into the kiss. “I love you.”

“I happen to love you too, Miss Hughes.” He smiled with satisfaction.

Danielle could not help the snort of laughter she gave in return, loving the almost dopey grin he was giving as a result of his tiredness and orgasm. “I didn’t think you’d have the energy tonight.” She toyed with his hair as she spoke, loving how long it had become.

“After so long without you, I would have done an Ironman myself at the promise of getting to enjoy you once more.”

Danielle’ssmile fell slightly. “I’m sorry, I am so sorry that I caused you to have to endure the negative sides of that race with me. I thought, more than once that I was giving the air of disinterest. I wanted nothing more than to do this with you, but I was so tired so often.”

“I know. Don’t fret, Elle, I understand. It’s done now and we are on the road to more new and fun things in the future, which hopefully will not include being in your company for so long without sex.”

“It’s harder when we are both here and we don’t do it, I find you being away, or my being away, my brain just thinks, ‘Well, there’s no point in being horny, he’s not here’.”

Tom laughed at the silly voice she gave as her brain’s. “You are the most amazing woman,” he declared lovingly.

“I know, that’s why you want to marry me.” She gently allowed him to slip from her and curled up beside him. “And the reason I said yes was because I know a good man when I have one, and I am not letting you go.”

“I wasn’t going anywhere anyway.” Tom sighed as he felt his tiredness come to the fore once more, his body satisfied at finally having been fully sated once more.

[sage-nebula]

With the news of the sequel and Netflix broadcasting to me that they had put up the first two seasons of InuYasha, I decided to rewatch it (or at least the two seasons that Netflix has) for the hell of it. I’m watching it in English, both for nostalgia and because when I want to have it on in the background as I go to sleep or play Animal Crossing (and thus don’t want to have to pay enough attention to read subtitles), and while I don’t think I’m going to seek out the rest after I run through what Netflix has, I have to say that it’s mostly an enjoyable ride. That said, though I’m not finished yet (I’ve just started what Netflix calls season two; last episodes I watched introduced Rin and Kouga), I do have some Opinions™. I live tweeted a bit on Twitter when I first started watching, but I’ll summarize here as well:

— While I think the English dub is pretty good as far as English dubs go (and there’s one scene in particular that I think was definitely improved in the English dub), there are times when I wonder if it’s an awkward translation that makes the scene so hilarious or if the dialogue was really that bad in the original Japanese as well. The first notable instance comes in either the first or second episode; it’s when Madame Centipede (what kind of name, I ask you—) has Kagome pinned up against Inuyasha when he’s still pinned to the tree, and she (Madame Centipede) mentions that she heard that a half-demon was after the Sacred Jewel and that it must have been Inuyasha. Kagome then thinks to herself, “Half-demon? What is he . . .” And it’s like, don’t get me wrong, Kagome is smart. She’s adept at using her wits to get herself out of situations more often than not and is good at thinking on her feet. So I’m not pointing out this ridiculous dialogue to make fun of her intelligence, but rather to make fun of the writing, because—sis, the centipede demon literally just said what Inuyasha is. You literally just said what Inuyasha is. What do you think he is, if not a half-demon? There are plenty more instances like that sprinkled throughout the show as well, and it always makes for a good laugh and some eyeroll-laden commentary. (That no one but my dog hears, of course, but hey.)

— When I was a teenager watching InuYasha for the first time, I thought nothing of the fact that Kagome, also a teenager, was allowed to travel back to the feudal era for days or weeks at a time to fight demons with absolutely no qualms given by her family. Now, as a thirty-year-old adult, I am appalled. Like, her grandpa giving the OK on this I can believe, because he’s a super devout believer of all the tales and legends of the shrine, and plus he gets free medicine out of faking Kagome’s injuries and illnesses to get her out of school. But her mom? What is with Kagome’s mom? Why is she so okay with this? Why was she okay with Inuyasha bursting into her house to kidnap her daughter just because he had cute dog ears? Why is she okay with her barely fifteen-year-old daughter jumping down a well to go fight monsters, without ever knowing if she will come back alive? You would think she would put up a little resistance at least, but she doesn’t! She just cheerfully helps Kagome pack her backpack and then fixes up a bike for her to use in the modern day as well. You could argue that this is a typical thing in anime, that the Pokémon parents do it all the time, but in Pokémon it’s established lore that parents send their kids off into the wild at age ten to go battle and collect monsters. InuYasha is supposed to take place (at least in part) in modern day Japan, and Kagome’s mother just does not give even 1/300th of a fuck that her teenage daughter travels back to the warring states era and risks her life on the daily with no way of knowing if she’ll ever come back again. This, from the same woman who apparently won’t let Souta travel on the metro by himself (granted he’s 10, but like, traveling on the metro is significantly less dangerous than going to do battle with demons in the feudal era so the point stands). Again, I get that this was meant to be an adventure for the target demographic to imprint themselves onto, and so I’m not so upset at Kagome for wanting to leap into battle, but more appalled at her mother for cheerfully allowing this with no stress given (i.e. this is a Mrs Higurashi callout post). I haven’t watched Doctor Who in ages, but man, as an adult myself now, it makes me appreciate Jackie Tyler a hell of a lot more. 

(Putting the rest under a cut as it’s getting a bit long.)

— I was never deeply involved in the InuYasha fandom, but I do remember looking up stuff about it online Back in the Day (circa 2003) and I remember seeing a lot of hate for Kagome. Forum posts and fanfics that depicted her as being useless, as being weak, as being stupid, as being abusive to Inuyasha via the “sit” command. And honestly, while it’s entirely possible that the “sit” thing gets flanderized at some point in the anime (and perhaps the manga as well, though I haven’t read that), there’s really no basis for any of the rest of it. Even from the very start of the anime, it’s clear that Kagome is smart, competent, and capable. She knows how to hold her own. She knows exactly what to say to manipulate the Thunder Brothers into taking her to Inuyasha, thus saving herself from being devoured. She comes up with the idea to tie the crow demon’s foot to her arrow to make sure she hit it (which, yes, resulted in the Sacred Jewel shattering, but nonetheless she quickly figured out a way to get around her lack of archery skill). She was the one who figured out where the hair demon’s true skull was, the one to sneak up to try to get at it, the one to use an arrow to shatter it, and there are so, so many more examples like this. Even before she can sense jewel shards and becomes adept at archery, Kagome proves over and over again that she’s smart and capable of taking care of herself. And at least from what I’ve seen so far, she doesn’t really abuse the “sit” command—and even if she did overuse it, it still wouldn’t count as her “abusing” Inuyasha, because she doesn’t really have any power over him. Yeah, she can make him faceplant, but he could also snap her neck with one hand if he wanted, or else up and leave her completely. (And that, of course, is setting aside the fact that she doesn’t want to control, manipulate, or hurt him in the first place.) Kagome got a lot of undeserved, unwarranted flack, and the worst part is that it was all from the ship wars.

— But of course, she wasn’t the only one . . . there’s also the matter of Kikyo. Kikyo also got a lot of hate, if memory serves, from people who wanted Inuyasha to end up with Kagome (or else projected themselves onto Kagome and thus hated Kikyo for “getting in the way”), which in my opinion is rather silly since it’s pretty obvious from the jump that the endgame was always going to be Inuyasha/Kagome. Setting aside the fact that Kagome is the main character (because while the show might be called InuYasha, the story is really Kagome’s, kind of like how the game series is called The Legend of Zelda but you always play as Link instead), Kikyo’s . . . well . . . dead. Even after she’s “resurrected,” she’s still undead. Like it’s pretty clear that if she was still alive the story would be different, but she’s not. She’s dead, and the title character is not going to marry a zombie when her very alive reincarnation (that he also loves) is right there. So Inuyasha/Kagome shippers getting angry over Kikyo’s mere existence is just absurdly silly, because she was never a “threat.” She was just a tragedy.

With that said, I’ve noticed in the episodes I’ve watched that Kikyo’s characterization seems . . . inconsistent. Like there are moments where she acts far more antagonistically than she was even three seconds ago in an earlier scene, or that it would make sense for her to. I’ve done a bit of reading, and it seems that the anime prolonged her antagonistic behavior, likely to fuel the love triangle relationship melodrama (which I’ll get to in a second). This saddens me, because honestly Kikyo is one of my favorite characters. Her story is a tragedy not only because of how she was deceived and murdered at such a young age, but also because of how she was robbed of ever getting to live a normal life simply because of the power she was born with. She has a line in the most recent Kikyo episode I watched about how she is now “free to hate, free to love,” and that really stuck with me. Because due to the responsibility she bore with guarding the Sacred Jewel, she wasn’t even truly free to have real emotions. At the very least, she was never free to feel anything negative. She wasn’t free to want anything for herself, to have dreams, to feel frustration, anger, or true sadness. Her falling in love with Inuyasha weakened her protection for the Sacred Jewel. Even a usually positive emotion like love is something that was denied to her. Even when she was alive, Kikyo was not allowed to live. It’s only in undeath that she finally gets a taste of freedom, freedom that she knows cannot last, freedom that she has to borrow from the souls of the recently departed. Her story is heartbreaking and her character is fascinating, and I think she deserves so, so much more than what petty shipping drama granted her by the fandom and show alike.

— On that note, though . . . I have to say that I personally feel like the romance is the worst aspect of the show. Like again, I’m sure a lot of this has to do with the fact that I am now thirty and thus have long since dried up my well of tolerance for teenagers acting like teenagers when it comes to love triangles, but the constant wangst over the romance from the various characters is just so annoying. Kagome’s worst fear being Inuyasha and Kikyo being in love (and not, you know, people she loves dying?) to fuel the romance drama, Inuyasha having a spazz attack any time someone so much as mentions romance within fifty feet of Kagome, Kikyo being hyper concerned over whether or not Inuyasha and Kagome are dating instead of the myriad of other things going on with her . . . god, spare me. It weighs down the narrative by taking up screentime that could be filled with more interesting things (more on that in a minute) and, in my opinion, does a disservice to the characters, particularly the ladies. Like, Inuyasha being shrill and annoying is nothing new. It doesn’t really drag his character down when he’s always like that. (Not to say that I hate Inuyasha, because I don’t, but he is shrill and annoying all the same. It’s just how he is.) But while I like Kagome 90% of the time, I find myself wanting to claw my face off with how annoying she is whenever she goes into one of her “oh noes Inuyasha loves Kikyo and not me :’(” wangst fests. Likewise, I love Kikyo, but her being petty jealous over Kagome and Inuyasha possibly loving her (and moving on with her since she’s, you know, not dead), and especially that being used to amp up her antagonism and make her into more of a villain, saps away the interest she otherwise brings to scenes. Kikyo’s not interesting because she’s a member of a love triangle, she’s interesting because she’s a person who has only gained a chance to live through death and cursed rebirth. Kagome’s not a likable character because she wangsts over a boy who she likes, but because she’s a smart, capable, compassionate girl who can manage living in two eras of time at once. And while female characters are of course encouraged to have flaws and be as well-rounded as their male counterparts, saddling them with this petty romantic drama doesn’t count as a believable or well-written flaw, especially since you know the romance isn’t meant to be seen that way since it’s a core facet of the show. It’s just irritating.

On top of that, there is so much to like about InuYasha’s worldbuilding that it frustrates me that so much of the story is overshadowed by the romantic nonsense. One of the more recent episodes I watched is the one where they learn how the Sacred Jewel was made. The story about Midoriko and how she ripped the Sacred Jewel from her own chest during a fight with a demon was frigging fantastic. Not only is it cool that InuYasha has so many powerful women in its story, both past and present (which isn’t too surprising since it was written by a woman, but you know), but the original and immersive worldbuilding is really something to be admired. The fantasy version of feudal Japan that was created for the show has so many interesting elements, none of which feel out of place because they all build upon each other. There is a lot to like about InuYasha, and so it’s frustrating to me personally that the annoyingly written romance bullshit overshadows it. And building on that . . .

— I know I just said a couple paragraphs ago that it was obvious that Inuyasha/Kagome would be endgame from the jump, and I still stand by that. And on the surface, I don’t really have any problem with it aside from the issues I have with the romances in this show as a whole (such as how their love for each other started so early it felt like it came out of nowhere, but whatever). But I still do have an issue with Kagome deciding to live in the feudal era full time because . . . a.) then why did you bother trying to keep up with school, and b.) girl they don’t have indoor plumbing. They don’t have modern medicine, or showers, or convenient food, or the internet, or anything else. Girl what are you doing, deciding to live in warring states Japan full time for a boy, you are what, sixteen at the end of the series? Eighteen? GIRL. I know it’s meant to be ~a feudal fairy tale~ but it’s like . . . the idea of being stuck back in feudal/medieval times horrifies me. Like sis, if he says he loves you that much, make him prove it and live in the modern day full time. He can use a hat to hide his dog ears. He’s done it before. Honestly, Kagome, just:

And “choices” here includes the choice to go romping around feudal Japan fighting demons in nothing but your middle school uniform instead of something more practical, like lightweight armor (Sango could help you!) or at least a pair of pants. HONESTLY, KAGOME—

— On a more lighthearted note, I do enjoy most of the OST, though I have to say that I’ve been laughing at Naraku’s theme music for at least the last ten years and I don’t foresee that stopping any time soon because it is just the worst. Like every time Naraku’s theme music starts up I just imagine him in his bamboo costume, hunched over a tiny piano (like the one Schroeder has in Peanuts), just banging on the keys. Like it completely ruins any tension that Naraku should be instilling. That said, he does have some pretty good snark at times (at least in the English dub), but between his theme music and the fact that you just know it’s always going to be a fucking puppet when he shows up, it definitely takes the edge off his appearances. 

— Actually, back to the “I’m fine with Inuyasha/Kagome but I’m not fine with her being stuck in the feudal era forever” bit, a fanart I saw earlier tonight made me realize that I think it would have been better if Kagome had met Inuyasha’s reincarnation in her own era, and they ended up together. Like, okay, hear me out—

The entire reason why Inuyasha didn’t reincarnate before Kagome was pulled into the well the first time is because he never died. He thinks of himself as having been killed by Kikyo, but he wasn’t; he was just pinned to a tree and put into immortal sleep. But once Kagome goes back to the feudal era and frees him, she changes that. She essentially altered history, which in return would alter her own era, even if in only small ways. (Small ways which should undoubtedly pile up the more she does back in the feudal era, but nonetheless.) Provided Inuyasha isn’t given the immortality of a full demon or put into an immortal sleep at any other point in his future, then he should eventually die, long before Kagome’s time period rolls around. Thus, it would make perfect sense if his soul reincarnated as well. Imagine if, during one of her visits back to her own time, she happens to run into a teenage boy who looks startlingly like Inuyasha does in his human form. Of course, he goes by a different name, but he attends her school (when he feels like it) and she sees him around town, and somehow everyone acts as though he’s always been there . . . because to them, he has. Because Kagome altered time, and with it the memories of all those in Tokyo who would have reason to know him, except her since she was the one who inadvertently made the alteration. There is someone with Inuyasha’s reincarnated soul in her time period, and she feels herself drawn to him just as Inuyasha was drawn to her.

It could even be taken a step further, that perhaps at some point Inuyasha’s reincarnation follows her to the well for some reason or another, trips and falls with her, and goes back to the feudal era himself. The negative consequence of this would be that even more romance nonsense would ensue (perhaps with Inuyasha’s reincarnation traveling with Kikyo for a time? Which would be a shoe on the other foot for Inuyasha), but also it would give time for Kagome and Inuyasha’s reincarnation to get to know one another and grow closer, so that perhaps at the end of the series it would make sense for them to be together in the modern era—for everyone to be in their own time periods, but for the two souls that keep falling in love with each other no matter the era to finally get a happy ending this time.

I don’t know. It’s just a thought.

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for the moment anyway. It’s a fun little blast from the past but I doubt I’ll continue beyond what Netflix has, especially since I don’t want to have to sit through a billion episodes of repetitive filler, haha. But yeah, the characters are all pretty good most of the time, neither Kagome nor Kikyo deserve the hate they get, the romance melodrama is annoying, the worldbuilding and lore is really interesting, Naraku’s theme is narm as hell, and Kagome’s mother deserves a callout post so she can maybe learn to care about her daughter at least a little. And that’s that on that.

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 38 Review: Of Zombies and Men

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Full Synopses/Recaps: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

Damn, Jacques is hot in that scene! There. I just had to say that before starting this review.

Hello and welcome again to my Garden of Evil, which I have once again been neglecting. Long story short: the past month has been both terrifying (for what should be obvious reasons) and very, very busy, and I’ve been spending more of my free time offline than usual focusing on things like starting vegetables for my real-life garden. I don’t foresee things getting better for at least another month, so most likely either I won’t be very active or my muse will be more active than ever. If the latter, it may mean more reviews or it may mean more silliness like the Desmond Hall personality quiz from earlier this week. We shall see.

But, for right now, shall we jump into our exploration of Episode 38?

Wait! Quito didn’t leave the chandelier hanging on the table before!

The table (post-séance) from Episode 36, for comparison.

Another night has passed on Maljardin (as indicated by Jean Paul Desmond's change in clothing) and now someone has hung the chandelier on the side of the broken séance table where it wasn't in either of the previous two episodes. "Keeping this here as a souvenir, Jean Paul?" the Reverend Matthew Dawson, who is still wearing the same outfit as two episodes ago, asks.

"No, Reverend," Jean Paul corrects him, but forgets to tell him who put the chandelier back on the table and why. Instead, he tells him that there will be another séance.

Matt accuses him of playing with their lives and he responds with what sounds like a veiled threat: "Come now, Reverend, this is no game. Surely, superstitions and fears are not going to blacken your learned convictions. All of our days are numbered." Yes, Jean Paul's in pissy passive-aggressive mode and he will remain there for most of the next three weeks. This is one of the reasons why I prefer Jacques Eloi des Mondes. He may be THE DEVIL and he certainly has his own nasty, passive-aggressive side, but he doesn't go around glowering like his descendant and he takes himself less seriously. His death threats are also way funnier than Jean Paul’s. On top of that, he has that stunning cape that he once wore to the main island, which I miss horribly. I can’t see Jean Paul moping around on Maljardin while wearing that gorgeous number, which is a pity because it looked so good on him.

Just noticed while re-watching the episode that Matt has a pompadour now. I'm going to go ahead and guess the reason based on evidence from Episode 7: he's trying to level with the groovy swingers and keep up with what's happenin', but he's too square to realize the hairstyle he's adopted in his efforts to be happenin' is ten years out of date. (I’m sure I used at least two of these outdated slang terms incorrectly. Forgive me.)

Jean Paul lying to cover up Jacques’ attempted murder. Also, a pretty shot of Fox-C’s eyes!

To no viewers’ surprise, Jean Paul is planning on holding another séance, and another, and another, until he finally establishes contact with his late wife Erica. This angers Matt, who has been a loose cannon since Episode 35 and is due to fire again soon. “You forget the medium said death points only to me!” the lovesick, grieving billionaire shouts and storms away before Matt gets another chance to air his grievances against him.

We next see him in the crypt, telling Quito to have the table and the chandelier repaired ASAP. And then he gets a moment alone with Erica’s cryonics capsule and he says this interesting, cryptic aside:

Is he only saying that because of Jacques’ frequent possessions, or does he have another reason to mistrust himself? Lines like this one make me think that maybe Dan’s suspicions are correct and he did murder Erica.

Matt grows bored waiting for Jean Paul to return, so he visits Alison in the lab. Wearing a stylish blue labcoat, she is reading through Dr. Menkin’s notes on her sister Erica and confides in Matt about her despair that she has found so few of them.

Alison and Matt in the lab.

Their conversation in this scene is quite interesting. First, she reveals that Dr. Menkin has been researching cellular reconstruction and that, using his notes (especially the missing parts), it might actually be possible to bring Erica back to life. This means that there’s a chance that it was reasonable from an in-universe scientific standpoint--if still somewhat ethically questionable--for Jean Paul to freeze Erica.

Second, she denies Matt’s accusation that Jean Paul is treating them like chattel, replying, "What you forget is his love for Erica, his need for her is what drives him, not purposeful harm to others." Has she developed Stockholm Syndrome towards Jacques/Jean Paul during her time on the island? This line makes me wonder.

Their conversation drifts to Vangie’s accident, which reminds Alison to check on her! They find Vangie in the Great Hall, walking down the stairs in her Conjure Woman robes, her arms stretched out before her in standard zombie fashion. Because she isn’t watching where she’s going and is just staring blankly, Alison guides her down the stairs and onto the couch to prevent any further injuries. At the end of the scene, Quito comes to check on her and lets out a silent scream before covering his face: most likely as a subtle cue to new audience members that the silent servant in the earlier scene in the crypt is, like Vangie, a zombie.

Alison guiding Vangie to the couch.

But can we really compare Vangie’s state to Quito’s? In book canon, Quito was one of Jacques’ slaves, whom he killed and then had resurrected to punish Raxl for disobedience. The show canon never states how Quito became a zombie, but we do know that he is undead based on his lack of a pulse in Episode 33 and Jean Paul’s reference to “a soulless corpse” in Episode 16. Vangie, in contrast, is still alive, but behaves like a zombie (allegedly) because of a brain injury caused by the crashing chandelier. Oddly enough, her body language and behavior are more in line with a stereotypical Hollywood zombie than Quito, which makes me wonder how the hell she was able to put her Conjure Woman robes back on while in a cataleptic trance. (I bet it’s just another continuity error, like the chandelier hanging off the side of the table.)

There’s a brief scene here where Matt opens one of the cabinet drawers in the lab and pulls out one of Alison’s scalpels. I don’t understand why she doesn’t keep that drawer locked on such a dangerous island.

In his and Raxl’s bedroom, Quito mixes Vangie a potion using herbs from the island to attempt to bring her out of her catatonic state. He tastes the potion and nods as though to say, "Yes, it tastes right.” Even so, it doesn't appear to have any effect on him after he tastes it, which is strange. I don’t know how to interpret this scene. It could mean anything from “the antidote only works on living people” to “the antidote only works on people who were turned into zombies the way Vangie was (and Quito was not)” to “Quito drank this same potion years ago, and that’s why he can move around, think, and feel and isn’t stuck in a catatonic state like Vangie.”

The ambiguity makes this yet another unexplained plot point in a show overflowing with them, thanks to the change in writers and producer. I want to give Robert Costello and the team of writers who wrapped up Maljardin the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps they ignored this plot hole because Ian Martin’s notes were partially missing like Dr. Menkin’s, but most of the evidence suggests that they consciously chose to go in a different direction than the one that Martin originally intended. We know that, from Episode 30 onward, executive meddling forced him to change and rearrange events in his episodes. There is that one line from Episode 54 that reminds me of what I believe were his original intended revelations about Erica, but I suspect that I’m over-analyzing a line for which Cornelius Crane probably intended a different, less unusual interpretation than mine.

Anyway, while Quito is downstairs, Jean Paul and Jacques have this amusing exchange:

Jean Paul: "You were the disrupting influence at that séance." Jacques: "I? Do I resemble a part of the chandelier that came crashing down?"

I think you can guess where this leads. Jacques possesses him, and this time the resulting scene is the most deliciously evil one we’ve seen yet of his character:

Just after possession, zombie Vangie identifies Jacques as Lucifer, and he confirms this. Since the first episode, we have heard Raxl say repeatedly that Jacques Eloi des Mondes was THE DEVIL, but at last we have confirmation that Ian Martin’s Jacques is, even after the beginning of executive meddling.

“Devil he is. Devil he will remain till I can exorcise and destroy him,” she adds, still in a trance and still with her eyes fixed forward.

“But aren’t you finding him too powerful for all of us?” Jacques replies.

“In the end, it is we who will be too strong for him.”

“But you are already losing all the battles.” Jacques smirks and leans closer to Vangie, as my heart--and the hearts of half the original audience--skips a beat. “Look at you now, Vangie. Look at you now, able to talk only with me because, like Quito, you are living in his...half-world.” (Does this mean that Quito can speak to him, too, when they are alone and Jacques allows it?) “Who put you there?”

“Fear not. He cannot kill me. My death is ordained.”

“He hasn’t killed you,” Jacques grins. “Who knows? Maybe in your present state, you will be able to reach Erica.”

“I didn’t want to reach her for myself, but for you, Jean Paul.” (Why does she identify him as Jean Paul now, when she called him Lucifer a minute ago? Jacques hasn’t de-possessed Jean Paul yet.)

Quietly, Alison and Matt enter undetected, as she continues. “The demon Jacques Eloi des Mondes, his evil was at the table. It was his alien presence that destroyed the séance.”

She lies back down on the couch, Jacques yells her name and grabs her, and Alison breaks her silence. “Jean Paul!” she shouts, rushing over to Vangie. “Leave her be!” Jacques demands that she bring her out of the trance, but Alison says that she doesn’t know how. He shoots down her suggestion that she take her to the mainland for treatment.

“It’s mystifying to hear her talk as though you were that man, an ancestor three hundred years dead,” Matt comments, pointing to Jacques’ portrait.

“The islanders are very superstitious with strange fancies,” Jacques gaslights him. “You’re not joining that group, are you, Reverend?”

“I may join them, too,” says Alison.

“Perhaps you all need therapy, or some other kind of treatment,” Jacques says as the camera zooms into his face. He starts off with a fairly neutral Jean Paul expression--he’s been getting better at imitating his descendant--but then widens his eyes in that way only Jacques does. It's not quite Bissits Face™, but it is a very Jacques expression nonetheless.

After the commercial break, Matt asks for some clarification as to what he meant by treatment. “Relief of tension, as at a séance,” he responds with a smile.

Another argument about séances is about to erupt when Quito walks up holding a cup of his herbal remedy. Jacques identifies this as “a pinch of hope, a dash of witchcraft, a hint of prayer, as harmless as Quito himself is.” Surprisingly, despite knowing that this will take Vangie out of her trance, he lets Alison serve it to her.

When Vangie recovers, she, too, insists--also surprisingly--that they have another séance. “It’s Jean Paul Desmond himself who risks all,” she tells Matt when he accuses her of endangering the guests’ lives. Alison has Matt take her upstairs to rest while she heads to the lab to grab a tranquilizer.

Meanwhile, in the lab...

A secret door behind the cabinet opens and Jacques comes out, carrying more of Dr. Menkin’s notes. When he hears Alison’s footsteps, he shuts the door (but not all the way--oops!) and leaves them on the table. After a brief conversation about Vangie, he leaves through the lab’s main entrance and Alison flips excitedly through the newly discovered notes.

My favorite shot of Alison from this scene.

The Lost Episode summary for this episode from The Newport Daily News mentions the secret door--indicating that it appeared in the original script for the episode--but also that Vangie knows about it and that Jacques will leave her alone during the second séance if she keeps it secret. Another version of the summary from the Minneapolis Star (November 5, 1969) says that the hidden door leads to “a secret passageway,” begging the question of where Jacques has hidden the notes. It must be somewhere between the Great Hall and the lab, but where?

You know, I’m surprised that, for all Raxl and Quito’s searching for the conjure doll and the silver pin and Alison, Dan, and Matt’s searching for the missing cyanide, they haven’t found more of the château’s secret rooms and passages. It’s just as inexplicable as how Jacques still doesn’t know the location of the Temple of the Serpent after three hundred years, hours of spying on people in the crypt, and that failed investigation of it with Holly last episode--and the Temple’s entrance isn’t even well-hidden! On a show set on an absurdly cold tropical island with anachronistic period costumes, 20-year-olds who look 30 but get turned away from the bar without being carded, white Incas, a white voodoo priest and priestesses, and a man with an IQ of 187 knowingly placing a glass table beneath a loose chandelier--and that’s only listing what we’ve seen so far--this stretches my willing suspension of disbelief more than anything else.

Right at the end of the episode, we learn from Jacques that Jean Paul’s will to resist him has become stronger, making possession of him more difficult:

Does Jean Paul’s stronger will explain all the headache faces?

Coming up next: A piece of the Conjure Man’s message reminds Raxl of Jacques’ pirate ship, which gives us the perfect opportunity to explore Jacques’ former career.

{<- Previous: Episode 37   ||   Next: Episode 39 ->}

[another-sonic-blog]

The Dark Prince: Chapter Four: Believe In Him

"So you what you are saying is that you came from the future because something happened in our time that causes your future's destruction?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I am saying!"

Amy and Shadow looked at each other and then at the white boy in front of them. Excitement on his to eyes to finally have found someone who took interest in his mission.

"Sorry to inform you boy, but you are a few days too late," Shadow confirmed.

"What do mean?"

"G.U.N's Commander was found dead a few days ago. I was the one who found him."

"No, that's not possible. The Phamton Ruby sent me here on a specific time in which I can stop the tragedy. If he was dead, I would have been sent back to another time to try again...are you sure he is dead?"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

Amy felt Shadow's anger raise up as she found his voice more annoyed than usual. "Well, have you thought that maybe the dead of G.U.N's Commander is not really the cause of your future' destruction?", Amy jumped into the middle of the two boys to prevent anything else from happening.

"Well...it could be a possibility." Silver looked into the flames in front of him. Fire, the thing that reminded him the most about his future. Destruction, annihilation, fear. But this place wasn't like anything that reminded him of that.

"Silver...are you alright?"

"Yes... it's just that, this place is so quiet. It's been a long time."

"What happens in the future? , if I may ask."

"Everything was going well until a weird diseased began to spread. It was spread by touch, and whoever had it would become kinda like a zombie. They would only follow orders from the Superior."

"The Superior?" Shadow asked this time as he calmed down.

"Yes, he controls everyone but nobody knows how he or she looks like. He wears a mask whenever he shows up to do his "Public Speeches." Silver looked up to the stars above him and he wonders when was the last time he had seen a clear sky.

"How come you are the only one here then?"

"The Rebellion* of the future decided I was the best candidate to travel back in time... I am their last hope."

Shadow stood up from his place and walked around Silver's space. Silver knew what he was doing and so Amy. He was inspecting him as if to try and see if he was worthy.

"Really? You were their last hope?"

"You don't know what I am cable of", Silver reply as he stood up, he had gone through a lot of things and he wasn't gonna let anybody doubt him of his capabilities.

"One on one... just you and me on a fair fight."

Amy knew that Shadow wasn't the type to pick up fights just because. That was more like a thing Sonic would do but she knew that you can learn a lot from a person just by fighting with them. Shadow didn't want to know how strong he was, but if he was worthy of his trust.

Silver took a moment to look at Shadow, up and down and he just sighed as he went back to his seat next to Amy. "Sorry I don't fight with old people."

Shadow was ready to smack that kid on the head right then and there. But Amy's sudden comment interrupted his action.

"Oh, well technically Shadow is more 50 years old!"

"Amy!"

"That explains why he is so grumpy."

"I was time frozen! I didn't develop-mentally nor physically! I am still young!"

Amy has never seen Shadow fume so bad as to this moment. And to be honest it was actually kinda funny.

"That explains why you are so short then."

Ouch, that hurt.

Silver had won Amy's respect. She had to admit that he was pretty optimistic for someone whose future was destroyed. It must be horrible to live in a future where you see your friends being zombified and can't do anything about it.

Wait a second.

"Hey Silver...did the ones who have a diseased in your future... did they looked, I don't know... kinda metallic for you?" Amy interrupted the boys. Silver took a moment to look at her. "Yes... how did you know that?"

Click.

"Years ago, during the time of the Resistance, Dr. Eggman created a biological weapon. It was a disease that just by contact with it, the subject would be "zombified" on the moment. Their most stand out characteristic was their metallic fur."

"That's probably it then! I just have to find it the substance and destroy it!" Silver said with relieve in his voice as his course of the route was finally taken the right place.

"It's not as easy as that." Amy began. "We tried everything to destroy it, but nothing worked. We couldn't even find an antidote. So we decided to hide all the substance we found in a remote place. Somewhere no one knows about but...Tails."

"Tails? That fox boy?." Shadow said but he turned around to face a bush. He could swear he had heard something coming.

"Wait a moment. Tails? Fox? You are not talking about Tails Miles Prower right?" Silver looked at Amy then at Shadow who was still looking toward the woods.

"Yes, that one."

"I can't believe it, he is a legend! I would like to meet him very much!" Silver grabbed Amy's hand as to beg her, he looked like a small child which Amy found extremely cute.

"So as to right now, we should look for Tails and ask him where the substance is. I am almost sure that whoever wants to find it, is also somehow invoked with the death of the Commander, Amy."

"Wait, Amy?-" Silver wanted to continue but was terribly interrupted by an explosion on their bonfire.

Just like that, the three hedgehogs were surrounded by more than 15 G.U.N agents, all ready to take them out. Shadow was sure that he could recognize most of them if it wasn't that everyone was wearing something to cover their faces. Shadow was never really found to do that. All though if his supervisors would ask him to, due to safety reasons, he always denies it. But right now it wasn't the time to think about the past. If they decided to become his enemy, then he will fight like he always has.

Silver noticed how Amy made a hammer appeared out of thin air and he almost lost it. The inner fanboy in him took over.

"YOU ARE THAT AMY ROSE? YOU ARE THE LEADER OF LEADERS? GREAT HAMMER HOLDER AND EVIL SLAYER?! YOU ARE THE ONLY WHO WE ACTUALLY HAVE HISTORY RECORDS OF!"

And that when everyone attack.

"Wow the future really does like to blow out everything out of portions" that's what Amy wanted to say but was more worried about the G.U.N who was in front of him.

And then he wasn't.

He had flown out of the scene, landing on a three. Amy turned around to find Silver hold three soldiers on the air.

"WHAT KIND OF POWER IS THAT, ARE YOU CRAZY? PUT THEM DOWN!" Amy screamed at him as she rubbed towards him.

"Yes man!" Silver saluted Amy in a militia manner and as he did, he left all three soldiers land on each other, hurting themselves more than their target.

"We got no time for this!" Shadow grabbed Amy and picked her up. "Follow me!" He said to Silver and in a flash, Shadow was out of sight to him.

"WAIT I AM NOT AS FAST!!!" Silver used his psychokinesis on him to try and fly faster and although he could spot a black figure in the distance, it was still really hard to keep up, especially during night time.

If there was one thing Silver hated the most, was to be left behind.

"AAAHHHHH, FUC-"

.

.

.

Now what? They had ended up in somewhere that Shadow knew about. They had been running all night, for Shadow it wasn't a problem but he was starting to get worried as he hasn't seen any white figure following from behind. He stopped for a little to let Amy stretch her legs as well.

"Where are we heading to now?". Amy asked as she stretched.

"Pavlopetri. G.U.N's elite Mechanics team resides there. No doubt that fox boy is there."

Shadow then felt a presence coming. "Talking about boys." He turned around and there he was, Silver giving his last push to keep up with the black hedgehog.

"Don't ever. Do that. AGAIN." Silver threaten as he landed on his knees, he would kill for a cup of water and some food right now.

"If you can't keep up, then don't tag along. Don't worry we will save your future." Shadow walked away as he kept an eye on Amy who was helping Shadow to get up.

"No! I must do it myself!"

Silver stood by himself, refusing Amy's aid. Shadow had to admit that his boy reminded him of someone. He sighed, "We are 30 minutes away from Pavlopetri. If you still want the hero's job well...it waits for you over there."

Pavlopetri was one of the biggest city in Mobius. With more than 7 million in population, it was no wonder why G.U.N had decided to put one of their biggest team in the city. It was going to hard to get into the tower and the three hedgehogs knew that. Before going into the city they needed to make a plan. However, the best they could at the moment was to sit down on the outskirts of the city.

"I am going in," Shadow said as he stood up from the grass. The strong wind coming their way.

"But Shadow-"

"I am the only who knows how their system works. I am the best spy G.U.N has ever had. I am sure I can a couple of minutes to talk to Tails."

"But I want to meet him!", Silver whined. "Besides we are a team! We have to stick together."

"I run better solo." Shadow turned around and looked at Silver. At this point, Shadow wasn't playing any games.

"Well, I won't stay here and do nothing! I am coming with you whether you like it or not!" Silver stood up and smiled at Shadow, but what he got instead was a dark look.

"If complications happen, I might not be able to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself."

"I had many trained agents tell me those same words...must of them are dead now." Shadow looked at Silver's disappointed face and continued. "Your time to shine would come, don't pressure it."

"Its alright Silver, you can stay with me! Actually, I think I have an idea on how to keep us busy while Shadow is gone!", Amy said as she comforted him.

"So," Silver looked at Shadow one more time, "I have to stay and take care of Amy, uh?"

"No," Shadow gave him an empathetic look. "Amy is gonna stay here and take care of you."

"Wait, what?"

"Don't misunderstand the situation kid. I am not taking Amy with me because she is staying to take care of you."

Silver thought that that was more like it. Even if there was no clear record of what happened 200 years ago, the orphanage and the friends he made there would always talk about the Resistance Heros. Amy Rose, Resistance Captain, one the strongest. Rumors have it that her hammer is so powerful that her enemies would fear for their eyes whenever they encountered her. Of course, there were others like Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails Miles Prower, Knuckles the Edquina and Shadow the Hedgehog who later on would become the-

"Anyways, I should get going. I'll ask for information and leave as soon as I can. If I don't come back in two hours, then leave this place as soon as you can. Look for Rouge or Omega."

This time, Shadow looked at Amy. Wind blowing on through her quills, the lights of the city shining on her head. "Will you wait for me?"

"Always."

Shadow smiled and was about to take in for a run but stopped as soon as he felt Amy grabbed onto his arm. "Thank you, Mr. Angry."

"Don't thank me yet, Mrs. Angry.", Shadow smirked, and gently removed his arm out of her grasp.

"Um... am I interrupting something.?"

.

.

.

It had been ten minutes and Silver and Amy were only appreciating the fact that Shadow had left. "Well, I think we should start looking for some provisions, or something." Silver turned around and began to look at his surroundings.

"No, we are gonna do something better," Amy said.

"What do mean?"

"We are stealing a Chaos Emerald."

.

.

.

"Didn't your friend said to stay on the outskirts of the city?"

"If we get this Chaos Emerald, then it will be easier to travel around and for us to defend ourselves." Amy and Silver were currently on the air conducts of a top security area. Last time Amy checked, all seven Chaos Emeralds were placed in different locations around the world. One of them and the only one she knew its whereabouts was the green emerald that lied securely on the northern outskirts of the city of Pavlopetri. How did she know? During the time period of the war with Eggman when Sonic was presumed dead, Amy decided to embark on a solo adventure to find the Chaos Emeralds to help revive Sonic somehow. She found three and after the war, she gave them to G.U.N. to take care of them. As a thank you, G.U.N. gave her the location of them.

"I can't believe that the Chaos Emeralds are real. I would only hear stories about them when I was a kid." Silver added.

"How come you came back to the future if not by the Chaos Emeralds?" Amy asked as she tried to talk as low as she could.

"We used something my people called the Phantom Ruby... We inserted that into an old time machine, we didn't it was going to work. But it did and here I am."

Amy noticed a bright light coming from the end of the air conduct and headed towards it.

"Anyways, I don't see the point in getting the Chaos Emerald. Legend says that only descendants of the Dark King are able to control the power of Chaos. And of course Sonic the Hedgehog but he is just a children story."

Alright, Amy had to stop Silver on his tracks. " Does the future ever say anything accurate about the past?"

"Don't blame me! Before I was born, there was a period of time in which the Superior declared all history records as illegal and they were all burned into ashes. Teachers aren't even allowed to teach history." Silver whispered in hopes that Amy would be able to hear his voice.

"That sounds horrible...who ruled before the Superior took over?" Amy asked as she looked back to him. She was right in front of the ventilation door but waited for the last guard to leave the room.

"We don't know for sure. But people say that out the first ruler was The Dark King and after that, his descendants took over. Some say that the Superior killed all of his descendants during the Great War. But honestly, the only thing my people have ever know is as 'Leader' is The Superior."

Amy could see how Silver's voice had changed on perspective. She felt sorry for the boy, she held his hand to try and give him some type of comfort. "We will fix this Silver. I promise."

"You know," Silver began. "My people have the hope that one day, one of the descendants of the Dark King will come back and claim his rightful place as the King and with that, bring a new era of peace. I used to believe that when I was a kid, but eventually I lost hope on that ever happening. Instead, I wanted to become a hero and take the matter into my own hands."

"We won't fail."

Amy then opened the ventilation door with a kick. and landed softly thanks to Silver's psychokinesis.

"Oh, but by the way, "Amy added quickly as she walked towards the Chaos Emerald. You were right, Sonic the Hedgehog can use the power of the Chaos Emeralds. But so, can Shadow."

"WAIT A SECOND, ARE YOU SAYING THAT SONIC AND SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG ARE ACTUALLY REAL?!"

With that, the alarms went on. Amy didn't think much, as she was fast to break the glass in which the Green Chaos Emerald was inside of with her hammer.

"You really need to learn how to control yourself, you know that!"

Silver had to admit that she was right. But he couldn't control it, hearing that his childhood heroes were alive and actually real was too much for him to handle. He smiled as they both began to climb up the air conduct again.

What a great time to be alive.

.

.

.

It was pretty easy to enter the base. He had to admit that the lasers in the air conduit system was a nice touch but he honestly expected more of the 'elite' Mechanic Team. Maybe he was just getting too good on this.

But one thing Shadow couldn't do was to know where everything was. He knocked down one the G.U.N agents and took his uniform to go by unseen. After all, there was a lot of security cameras and if one of the officers were to see a black hedgehog with red stripes on the building, well... it will be pretty much end game for him.

"This new project we are working on is killing me." Shadow heard an employee say as he walked onto the employees' dining room. Firstly, to get information about the whereabouts of the yellow fox and secondly, to get a small cup of coffee.

"Tell me about it. I don't know what Mr.Prower is thinking to do what that travel machine." Said the employee to his coworker who was eating as well.

Shadow grabbed a plastic cup from the dispenser and waited for his black coffee to come out of the machine.

"You gotta admire him tho, spending all day on the F-5 must be a pain in the butt. I mean come on, he is the Mechanic's Team main director! You have a nice office on F-7, use it!"

Sometimes Shadow thought that his job was way too easy.

The black coffee came out of the machine successfully and he didn't hesitate even a second to take a big gulp out of the still boiling liquid. Just how he liked it.

He was about to walk out of the room but the two friends caught his attention. "Hey, you!"

Shadow turned around, hoping that he was covered enough to not show any indication that he was Shadow the Hedgehog.

"This is the dining room for the Mechanic's Team members ONLY... Agents are on F-2"

Shadow took a moment to look at the black wolf in front of him. His attire similar to the one Tails was so known for. Googles, boots, a belt around his waist that contained every key possible and of course that dirty look.

"I am sorry I just got transferred, I'll leave now." Shadow turned around to face the door just to once again to be interrupted on the act. "Transfer from where?"

"Capital Mobius."

"You are from the Capital? Oh, have you met Shadow the Hedgehog? I heard he is located there, he was the top spy until he switched sides and helped that pink hedgehog kill G.U.N

He wanted to just nod and keep going on his day. However, it had been a while since he had heard any news about G.U.N's current stance. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a little bit of conversation about the topic.

"I saw him a couple of times, he was always busy so I never talked to him."

"Maybe it was better that way, I always thought he was too edgy. Now it turns out he is crazy too...Don't surprise me too much actually."

This was going to be a long talk.

And it was.

Strangely enough, Shadow had made two friends that day. And he learned two important things. G.U.N had ordered all intelligence theme to work on a new project, a Time Machine and experiment a new-found rock, which they did not know anything about.

Also that Amy and he were now topping the list of the most wanted criminals by G.U.N.

But he already knew that.

Shadow jumped into the elevator and pressed F-5. While the elevator was going up, he thought of the first thing he would say to Tails. He knew that they didn't have the best relationship.

Right now, the best bet he could get is that the Rabbit girl had told him about their situation already. With that, earn his trust enough so he tells Shadow the information he needed.

He stepped out of the elevator and walked himself around the hallway. He looked left to right, trying to spot behind the glass doors the famous two tail boy. Weirdly enough, there were no other workers passing by the hallway. Shadow didn't give too much thought about and kept looking. A few minutes passed and finally, he found what was looking for.

Tails was looking diligently on something that Shadow couldn't tell what it was. Moving back and forth, reading papers, screwing nails again and again just to unscrew them and start again. He didn't notice Shadow's presence until he made himself known.

"We need to talk."

.

.

.

"I already have enough trouble as it is... now you are asking me to give the location of a biological weapon that doesn't exist?"

Tails closed with the key the door to the lab and went back to his seat, where he began writing again on a piece of paper.

"I know it's too much to ask, but you have to believe me when I say this is all for Amy." Shadow placed both of his hands down on the table, mask down to his chin to show that he was being serious about all of it.

"Your worst mistake has always been underestimating your enemy."

Tails then pointed at his ears and that when Shadow knew it. It was already odd enough that they didn't have security cameras around the room nor the halls, but one thing they had for sure was mini microphones, hidden in all over the building probably.

"I think I know how far I can go." Shadow tried playing it cool, as he saw Tails passing down the paper he was previously writing on before. A clear note was written on it:

"I pressed the button that's under the table to call G.U.N agents to come to this floor already. You have less than 2 minutes to get out. Sorry that I am not able to help you directly, but they have Cream, and I must finish this time machine as soon as possible so they can release her. If you really with Amy then tell her this:

"There's nothing we can do but watch"

Shadow looked up to Tails to let him known that he had understood. He folded the paper and made his personal mission to deliver it to Amy as soon as possible.

The only thing now was to get out of that place as soon as possible.

Piece of cake.

.

.

.

Shadow looked around and panicked as he didn't see a clue of Amy and Silver. Just where were they? He was close to starting screaming their names but soon approaching footsteps followed.

"Shadow! You are back!"

Amy run towards him and wanted to hug him but decided that right now it wasn't the time. They were being followed by G.U.N for stealing the Chaos Emerald and she still didn't know how to tell Shadow without him getting angry.

"Tails gave me this, he said you would know by reading this."

He handed over the letter to Amy and he gave a look to Silver. Who shakes nervously at the sight of him staring.

"I can't believe it! They have Cream!."

"We have to hurry up and decider who's behind all of this if you want her free. So remember, what did the fox boy meant by "There's nothing we can do but watch."

Amy handed over the paper to Silver who began reading while Amy was in deep thought. It was one of these days that he wished he had paid attention to ancient literature. Although he could understand Amy and her black friend, the writing system and grammar were a bit different from the one in the future. He thankfully could understand the message within.

"I got it!"

Silver and Shadow turned to face Amy as they waited for an answer.

"Tails told me that the first time I saw him after Sonic 'died'. It must be there somewhere."

"Where?"

"Well I don't remember exactly, it's been a long time but we have the Chaos Emerald! That should work right?"

"You have what?" Shadow said surprised.

"I'll explain later, we have to leave. I'll think of the place on my mind, Shadow you conduct the Chaos Control."

Amy could have sworn that she heard Silver's neck break in two at how hard he looked at Shadow.

"WAIT! HE'S THE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG?"

"All right, everyone grab into me," Shadow said as Amy handed him the green Chaos Emerald. Amy held his hand and Silver's as well.

"ARE YOU JUST TWO GOING TO IGNORE ME?"

"Chaos Control!"

.

.

.

The place was dusty and rusty, just liked Amy remember but older. The three hedgehogs successfully tele-transported to the place Amy was thinking of.

"This was Tails' first laboratory after we thought Sonic was dead, I came here to see how he was doing. Eggman had begun his attack on us and Tails just told me "There's nothing we can do but watch."

Shadow walked towards the big containers. And saw them carefully being stored and labeled as "extremely dangerous."

"So you began the resistance?" Silver asked still admiring the pink hedgehog. "Well, me and a red echidna I know."

"I found it, track Communication system, I'll be waiting."

Amy and Silver looked at each other then at Shadow, confused.

"Shadow, to who are you talking to?"

Amy's voice began to break, she didn't want to believe what her eyes were seeing.

"I think it is obvious enough...Chaos Control!"

.

.

.

Amy and Silver had lost track of time. The last thing they can remember was being knocked out by Shadow's Chaos Control.

Amy saw blurry at first, and let a few seconds pass to let her eyes adjust to the present darkness. Everything was just like before, but Shadow who was looking at the now tied up couple in front of them.

"So everything was a lie?"

Amy turned her head to look at Shadow, still not believing that the black hedgehog had indeed betrayed her.

"G.U.N needed the location of this forgotten biological weapon. We were aware that Tails was the only one who had that information, but we couldn't falsely accuse a G.U.N member of good reputation of murder. People would lose faith in us. So we trusted that in the right circumstances, Tails would eventually speak up about the location to someone he trusted...that's when you come into place."

Shadow then laid his back on the coldness of the metal wall, very close to the containers that had that very dangerous liquid inside of them.

"So, everything...from the very beginning...you wanting to help me, your kindness, everything was a lie?"

"I had a mission to complete, I am just doing my job."

"So, even the murder of the G.U.N's Commander...you planned everything,"

"Absolutely, all of that was fake...he is actually on his way over here to claim the containers."

Amy felt her throat going dry as all the tears were begging to let out. But right now it wasn't the time, she looked at Silver and checked if he had any serious injuries. He was breathing, his head down, at least the fact that he was alright made her feel calm.

"If you start crying, I'll end you."

Amy looked one more time at Shadow, she breathed and maybe right now it wasn't the perfect time to say it, but she did.

"I like you Shadow."

Shadow's eyes widen in surprise at the sudden confession. He waited for Amy to continue and she did.

"You kind acts, the way you worry about others, the way you make me feel when I am around you...All of that made me fall in love with you...but everything was a lie. And so, my love for you as well."

Shadow relaxed his hands and very confidently began to walk towards the pink hedgehog. For the first time in her life, Amy was afraid of Shadow.

He bent down in one knee and forcefully grabbed Amy's cheeks, making her look directly at his eyes. Her skin shivered by the contact, and Amy really thought that Shadow was about to steal a kiss from him. She closed her eyes waiting for it to happen...but it never did.

Instead, a dash of blue flew across the room. Amy could recognize those green eyes anywhere, and if looks could kill, Shadow would be dead by now.

There he was, the known world hero, the old blue friend...

Sonic the Hedgehog.

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Next Chapter: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/185967108465/the-dark-prince-chapter-five-fake-it-until-you

The Dark Prince: Chapter Five: Fake It Until You Make It

Previous Chapter: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/185966895240/let-amy-go-shadow-it-was-raining-heavily-in

The Dark Prince: Chapter Three: My Old Blue Friend

*The Rebellion is a group of people who haven't been "zombi-fed" in the future. They try their best to keep themselves isolated while they try to raise up an army to overthrow the Superior.  

A/N: wow almost 5K words!

[basementbeholden]

Trials of the Dead Ch:1

Visit {AO3} for a Non-Stylized version of this writing.

The anger of the entity grew white-hot in intensity. The Skies were nearly flooded by the shattered glass-like embers marking the “dawn” of something new. They all should have given up by now. Survivors and killers alike should have all Festered and a new batch should have been brought. It had truly never lasted this long. 

The entity decided a final mountain should be added to trials. It’s killers would be stronger in said wake but maybe the onslaughts would dull down the edges of such beasts and let them succumb to their short-comings. Maybe they’d all give in and be proper fuel for the nightmare realm it had created.

As the skies dimmed so did the fire, for the first time safety didn’t feel so safe. Jake sat in his tree with a flick the dim light from his lighter illuminated his face so as to be visible as he talked down. The first voice to pierce the silent dark-

“I’ve learned a lot here and I doubt I’m done learning, but I think that was a bad sign.” His voice quiet, eyes flicking about scanning the darkness.

“No damn shit Goblin-Boy.” Meg tried making light with a half-hearted smile but nonetheless worry consumed her. 

“Hush! The both of ya!” Bill snapped alert as Jake but more battle-worn he peered into the dark. 

Others frozen almost in fear or even wonder watching. Detective Tapp soon joined the watch. Then Quentin, Ash and Jeff. Quietly staring into a deep black abyss. It actually caught Adam’s eyes first, the photographer was good at catching minute details and soon saw a pair of eyes deep in the dark.

“We have eyes- Human height- shit..” A panicked whisper escaped him as he crept closer to the fire’s remains now near-embers it hardly glowed. 

Bill quickly took a defensive stance as with Tapp holding a flashlight at the ready. Jake took hold of a branch far too weak to carry his weight, hoping to rip it down and then jumped down off the tree, ripping the branch down with Far more clatter than he intended. 

In the moment the intensity changed and the noise startled not only those by the fire but also the thing they’d caught glimpse of. A silent moment dies with a garbled wail as the set of eyes turns into two into four into eight then twelve. All survivors now on their feet.

“SHIT!” Bill took a brief realization then quickly sprung to combat better than any man his age should be able to. Tapp and King followed suit Dwight began digging through bloodwebs to find something, anything that would help.

“Aha!” Dwight, nose bleeding cheered as he dug a small hatchet out of a now brackish charcoal-like patch in the ground that faded as soon as it sprung fourth. “David! Catch!” He shouted and both King turned around. David Tapp had learned long ago Dwight would usually always call him Mr. Tapp or detective. David quickly caught the new weapon wordlessly and began Properly bashing these hard to see attackers but if bill saw a threat so did he.

After about an hour of fighting the things it started to calm down, those with medical skills now stressed about the injuries to their team and what the hell the opponent was. Nothing fatal but still worrisome. 

“Everyone okay? You all still awake and with us?” Adam called out to the group. He was the louder of the two medical “professionals.” Though Claudette isn’t someone who lets you just walk all over her, she tends not to shout because she considers it a waste of breath. 

A few nods and some vague noises of agreement and Adam quickly moved to the next question. “So then, what the hell was all that?”

Before anyone else could make any guesses bill butted in. “What do you think that was kid? God Damn Zombies out here where it was already bad enough. Now we have this shit to deal with.” Bill sounded near out of breath but wouldn’t let it stop him from lighting another cigarette and taking a long puff. 

Even Jake and Jeff separated themselves from everyone else slightly to take a puff of something stress-relieving Ace quickly followed them as he had figured out long ago what Exactly they were smoking. He didn’t always partake but in this moment he figured as long as he didn’t overdo it he’d be able to keep going with a little less pain from his younger-years. 

As they settled and began removing bodies they noticed a few of their own missing. The fire bright once more conclusions were soon come to that trials had began again, though who knows how safe the fire really is anymore.

-------------------------

The usual routines now disturbed by this odd light-show a few killers who had made some semblance of a “living” if you could call it that, now watch from their places. More keen and aware than the survivors, the few who find companionship or friendliness in this harsh environment now face a similar foe but with much more composure.

Wraith, Trapper and Hillbilly find themselves fighting beside each other. Spirit, Nurse and Huntress find a similar coexistence. The legion gang fend for themselves alike Myers and Clown. Hag and Pig find a neutral ground and defend each other mostly for their own benefits while Plague finds herself comforted by these atrocities. 

The boys disposed of the zombies fairly quickly but it’s not so easy afterwards. Confusion ensues and a very curious Max can’t help but ask a million and four questions about these things. Philip being unable to talk and Evan having no answers leaves Max wandering the outskirts of their little dwelling looking for more of the things to beat and/or question. In a moment of frustration he finally asks:

“EVAN! Why’d these things come to us anyways? ‘Mean like, we killed ‘em too quick for ‘em to think we was actually smomethin’ they could beat!” Evan’s emotionless mask finally turned towards the curious one.

“Maybe we have something they want. Maybe Them Below sent them after us. I don’t fully know Max, were learning this together.” He sounded almost irritated, but that was usual. Exhaustion and irritation were commonplace for the behemoth. 

The girls had a little more trouble but only because they didn’t have everything at their disposal they normally did. It hurt for Sally and Rin to constantly enter the spirit world. Meanwhile Anna didn’t have near-infinite hatchets the entity allowed her to create and provided places in fairly easy access.

“I’d say that could have gone better.” Sally patted her dress down brushing off dirt and bits of dried blood.

“Better than we are not hurting.” Anna replied nearly out of breath. Picking her posture back up after making sure the little hovel she’d scrapped together wasn’t damaged.

“We must hope those do not come back to Haunt us.” Rin snickered just a little. “Or we might never see each other again!” her voice echoed out in anger. So quickly her curse messed with her mentality.

Legion dealt with it with bits of bickering between each knife stab.

“GET IT TOGETHER WE’RE NOT DYING TO THESE SHITS!” Frank barked.

“I am, Frank! Jeez calm your ass down were FINE.” Julie never once questioned her ability to fight and she wouldn’t start now.

“I am! i swear! You can’t just yell at me for nothing Frank!” Susie huffed, almost whining as she took an arm clean off one of the undead foes before them.

“I wish you all would shut up and just Keep Fighting.” Joey’s words almost hissed as he continued to take heads from spines.

Amanda and Lisa had probably the most trouble fighting though, Lisa wasn’t interested in the things whatsoever and Amanda just wanted to get back to tinkering on her traps.

“You know this doesn’t change that i despise your Death-Game.” Lisa’s comment made sure she was clear where she stood on all this. She never would have killed had it not been for what was done to her. Now she couldn’t escape it.

“Whatever just work with me here okay?” Amanda wanted to believe Lisa’s mentality was right but she didn’t dare defy Them. The spider deity was far too unforgiving for her to decide rebellion was a good idea.

Though others were alone they didn’t struggle much due to size or strength or even just strategy. Ghostface lingered around other killers hoping to lose anything following him until he could pick off a few and escape back to his solitude. 

The beginning had everyone on their toes but what was to come, no one could prepare for. The Entity was pissed and now all beneath them would suffer.

[choupetit]

GOT Recap:  A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Airdate: 4/21/19 ;  Season 8, Episode 2

Meep, things are really heating up on Game of Thrones!  Or rather, cooling down…oh heck, I don’t know what to do with all the Fire and Ice metaphors. Let’s just say, stuff is getting real and the latest installment of GOT  gave us one last moment to enjoy the fuzzy warm feels before next week’s huge battle against the Night King’s army begins.  This last episode was all about wish fulfillment and tying up loose ends for viewers – and I’m still a bit conflicted about how I feel about it all. But fear not, we’ll get into my two cents about it very soon.  Now, find a warm body to snuggle up to and get a toasty fire going, because the night is dark and full of manipulative story ploys.  Here’s my recap of:  “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

I Know What You Did Last Long Summer

We start things off with Jaime Lannister standing before a tribunal in the Great Hall at Winterfell, with Sansa Stark, Daenerys Targaryen, and Jon Snow seated at the VIP table. Dany shares that she and her brother grew up talking about what they would do to the man who murdered their father, once they captured him and reclaimed the Seven Kingdoms.  She points out that Cersei promised her an army, and instead has only sent one man with one hand.  Ouch, that smarts.  Jaime fills everybody in on Cersei’s plan: She isn’t sending any help. Rather, Queen Cersei has procured a hired army and is sending them to Winterfell to finish off whatever survivors are left after the impending war against the Dead.  She lied to them all – Jaime included – and he left her to come and join Jon and Dany’s battle for the living.  Daenerys casts a pointed gaze at Tyrion Lannister, who looks miserable. Ya done messed up, Ty!

Dany wonders how they can possibly trust Jaime. Tyrion sticks up for his brother, but is shot down by Daenerys who counters that perhaps this is an elaborate scheme for Jaime to assassinate her.  Sansa chimes in that Jamie can’t be trusted, and lists the crappy things he did to House Stark, including attacking Ned Stark back in Season 1.  When Jaime defends his actions saying it was during a time of war, and that he was protecting his family, Bran dryly states “The things we do for love.” Fear flickers in Jaime’s eyes.  Bran knows!  

Brienne of Tarth steps up and defends Jaime.  She tells Dany how she and Jaime were captured a few years back and he defended her when she was this close to getting raped – and lost his hand in the process. To Sansa, she says that it’s only due to Jaime’s honor in keeping his word to Catelyn Stark that Brienne was able to find and save Sansa from the sadistic Ramsay Bolton.  This is enough to change Sansa’s mind.  Dany seems peeved by Sansa’s about-face and asks Jon what he thinks.  Visibly still grappling with the bombshell about his parents, Jon doesn’t even look at Dany and simply states they need all the extra help they can get.  Dany allows Jaime to stay and fight with them, and they all rise.  Sansa huffs off and when Dany turns to Jon, he’s all “K gotta run, byeeee.” Ugh, you let a guy ride your dragon one time and then he gets all weird on you.  Brienne shoots Jaime a look that clearly states “Don’t make me regret sticking my neck out for you,” and Bran just stares at him.  Again.  Creepily.

Rebuffed by her lover, and fuming about Cersei’s deceipt, Dany is ripe to start throwing cell phones at her assistants.  She chews out Tyrion for being either in cahoots with Cersei, or a damn fool. When Tyrion tells her it’s the latter, she retorts “It’s not the first time,” and indicates his time may be up serving as Hand of the Queen.  Varys and Ser Jorah are all “Awwwwkward.”

Number 1 Crush

At the Winterfell forge, we see Gendry’s handiwork:  Tons and tons of spearheads and other weapons made of dragonglass are ready to be wielded. As Gendry works, Arya approaches and takes in all his hunky, sweaty manliness, then asks him about the weapon she requested.  “Yeah, I’ll get right on that after I make a few thousand more of these. Shouldn’t you be hanging out in the crypts anyway when the fighting begins?  It’s the safest place to be.” Arya questions why he thinks he’s qualified to fight – he’s just a blacksmith.  When he tells her he killed a few of the Dead and she wants to know what they’re like, his reply is “Really bad”. “How bad are we talking, dude?  What do they look like? How do they smell? When they change a toilet paper roll, do they do it the wrong way or the right way – and don’t you DARE say there isn’t a right way, Gendry!!” “Ok, fine, they’re like death, ok?” “Oh, cool, I know all about death!” Arya gives Gendry an impressive demo of her razor sharp knife throwing skills – it’s instant bonerville for Gendry.  “So…how about that weapon?” – “Yes, ma’am, coming right up!!” Ok, these two flirting is just too much. Arya is such a badass, I love it! And she deserves a little joy in her life.

Meanwhile, a very remorseful Jaime seeks out Bran by the Weirwood tree and apologizes for pushing him out the tower window all those years ago, rendering him a paraplegic. Jaime questions why Bran didn’t tell the others about this, and Bran tells him he can’t be much use in their fight if Bran lets his family murder Jaime.  “But aren’t you mad at me?” Let’s just break this down for you, dude: Bran ain’t mad at anybody.  He is so beyond all those petty human emotions, because OMG you guys are all about to be annihilated by ruthless ice zombies and Bran is trying to figure out how to stop it.  “Ok, so what happens after?” asks Jaime. Bran counters, “What makes you think there is an after?”

Oooh sidebar! Y’all I have been knee deep in GOT theories the past few weeks, and one of the theories I’m really into says that Jaime might be Azor Ahai (the Prince who was Promised) and plays a huge role in defeating the Night King.  There’s this whole prophecy about it in the books, and the High Valyerian words for “Gold” and “Hand” are very similar to the words “Lord” and “Light”. After this chat with Bran, I’m convinced Jaime is a key player in ending the Night King’s reign.

Later, Tyrion and Jaime walk around the courtyard, discussing the two queens.  Tyrion says how he truly believes Daenerys will be a great queen for the realm, and the two commiserate over how Cersei fooled them – the part about being pregnant is true, though.   Tyrion notes that Jaime has never been fooled by Cersei, he’s always loved her in spite of her miserable character.  When Tyrion remarks that they are likely going to die at Winterfell, he muses that at least Cersei won’t have the satisfaction of killing him.  Hey, maybe his dead corpse will go down to King’s Landing and tear her apart - but Jaime isn’t listening.  He is distracted by something else – or rather someone:  

Brienne of Tarth, is on the practice field, watching Podrick as he spars with another fighter.  Jaime shows up and chats with her about the impending battle. Brienne is weirded out by how nice Jaime is acting, because he’s always shown  his snarky side around her in the past.  He tells her he returned to Winterfell because we wants to serve under her command. She excuses herself.  Oh man! Brienne has been holding a torch for Jaime for so many seasons and he is finally sorta living up to the person she has seen in him all along: a good and honorable guy.  And he came to Winterfell to fight alongside her? Hubba hubba.  And yet…I don’t see anything romantic ever happening between these two, even though there is something there.  It just feels like he’s the super popular dude who’s had a lot of personal growth and really likes her and cares for her, but will never actually date her because she isn’t a supermodel.  Ya know what I mean?  Brienne is in the friend zone 4eva. Also, I think this whole exchange means Brienne ain’t long for this world – she’s probably going to sacrifice herself to save Jaime during the battle. Sorry, Bri Bri!  We love you, though!

A Matter of Trust

In Daenerys’s quarters, Ser Jorah takes a moment to tell her to take it easy on Tyrion.  He knows his Khaleesi is super pissed, but he advises her to see past Tyrion’s flub and keep him on as Hand of the Queen because he has a super big brain.  Coming from Jorah, this means a lot.  Then he offers another suggestion:  Make more of an effort with Sansa Stark.

In the great hall, Dany requests a heart to heart with Sansa Stark who also puts in a good word for Tyrion when Daenerys makes a snarky remark about not having faith in her advisors. Geez Louise, everybody is sticking up for Tyrion in this episode!  The conversation turns to Dany drawing comparisons between herself and Sansa as female leaders in a man’s world and then she’s all “Girls rule, yay!!!  So...why don’t you like me?” - “Honestly?  Because guys can do pretty dumb stuff for women and they’re easily manipulated. And you basically convinced Jon to give up his crown for you”  Dany’s all: “Ok, so, real talk? I was all about taking the Iron Throne, and then Jon pops up and tells me about these weird Snow Zombies coming to destroy us all, and I dropped everything to help him fight his war, so…who is being manipulated?”  [Personally, I think that’s a lame argument, because obviously the survival of mankind is still totally in your interest, Daenerys, because if they are all dead you don’t have anybody to rule, m’kay?]  Sansa  warms a bit to Dany, and tells her she should have thanked her when she arrived.  But just as Daenerys is cozying up to Sansa and holding her hands, Sansa takes things right back to business – God, I love her for it:   “So, Dany, riddle me this:  Let’s say we defeat the Night King and Cersei.  What happens next?” Dany’s face is a little perplexed “Um, I rule on the Iron Throne.  Obviously.” –“Yeah, but what about the North?  We took back our land and we swore we’d never give it back, so…what about the North?” This does not make Dany happy, and she looks about ready to lose it.  

Thankfully, however, their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of:  Theon Greyjoy and his men.  He fills them in on the successful rescue of Yara, and informs Queen Daenerys that Yara is reclaiming the Iron Isles for Dany.  He returned to fight for Winterfell – if they’ll have him.  Sansa’s eyes fill with tears and she rushes to embrace Theon.  It’s a very sweet moment but also, I’m immediately worried that the writers are going to try and make something romantic happen here.  Ew, not Theon. I’m just going to chalk this up to him and Sansa sharing a strong mutual survivor bond.  Also, my death prediction: Theon is sooo gonna die.  And they've been making Daenerys super unlikeable these past two episodes that it has me a little nervous they might off her, too.

In the courtyard, Davos is running a soup kitchen and gives a short pep talk to some of the men who have arrived.  Gilly is telling some girls how safe the crypts are – the safest place at Winterfell, actually.  You guys, make sure you write this down:  The crypts - where they keep all the dead bodies which have not been burned - are the safest place in Winterfell.   So if you have zero fighting skills, you really totally without a doubt need to head to the crypts where no dead bodies will suddenly come to life and attack you because the crypts are S-A-F-E, you got it?  

A little girl asks where she should go when the battle starts because she wants to fight, too. Gilly advises her to go to…you got it. The crypts. Le sigh.

A horn blows and Jon turns the corner to see who it is:  The Night’s Watch from Castle Black have arrived and as he goes to bro hug Dolorous Edd, he’s tackled by Thormund Giantsbane like an overjoyed Saint Bernard pup. Beric Dondarrion is there, too.  Yay, Jon’s happy to see them all and probably is even happier that he has more legit reasons to avoid Daenerys.  His friends inform him they met up at the Last Hearth - everybody was dead and gone.  It’s safe to assume anybody who hasn’t made it to Winterfell by now has been claimed by the Night King’s army.  Jon asks how long until the Dead will arrive and Thormund replies:  Just before sunrise. Also, Thormund would really like to know where Brienne is.  Oh me, oh my – will my Brienne, Jaime, Thormund troika dreams come true? Unlikely, but I do love Thormund’s interest in Brienne, if only for the comic relief it provides.

In the war room, all the important peeps have gathered to talk strategy.  The Night King’s army is too big, and they never tire, so Jon & Co. won’t be able to beat them in a straight fight.  Their best chance at survival is to kill the Night King – if they kill him, they kill his army.  But how? If he’s that important, the Night King won’t risk exposing himself – when they say this, I just imagine the Night King in a long trench coat.  Yeah, I’m mature.  Bran volunteers to be human bait, because the Night King is after him.  But why, Bran, why? We discover that the Night King’s ultimate goal is an endless night and he wants to wipe out all trace of men and their memories.  Bran is basically a human hard drive with the entire history of their world and the Night King wants to erase it all.  I don’t know…it’s kind of a weird reason to me.  I mean, if the Night King is gonna kill everybody anyway, why is it so important that he kill Bran first?  Sam waxes poetic about death and how when we die our memories are forgotten and we are forgotten, blah, blah, blah, but I still don’t get it.  What is the difference between wiping out all of mankind’s history and killing everybody vs. just wiping out mankind?  Wouldn’t wiping out mankind just, like...wipe out mankind and its history?  I don’t know folks.  Clue me in if you understand. Or is it just a matter of getting rid of any evidence on how to stop the Night King? In that case, just say so, Bran.

Anyhoo, Bran will wait for the Night King in the Godswood – he has a GPS tracking device on him, so the Night King always knows where he is.  His siblings are vehemently against it, but Theon volunteers to be there with his guys to help protect Bran.  Why do we think this is a better idea than Bran’s own family protecting him?  I mean, other than simply using this as a plot device for Theon to die while defending Bran and thus somehow redeem himself for all the shitty stuff he did to the Stark kids when they were younger? Obviously, I’m not a big fan of this scene.

Dany tells Tyrion he’ll have to wait in the crypts during the battle because: a) they are super safe and b) Dany needs his mind because her faith in him has been restored. Yeah, after hearing what everybody told her so far, she also polled 28 whores about his character and realized she shouldn’t fire him after all because he’s a good dude and actually really smart.  Except for when it comes to trusting his evil sister, whose superpower is stabbing people in the back, who has always hated him, and has never done anything in her life to prove herself trustworthy in his eyes.

Oh, and one more thing: They’ll need to have the dragons close by to save Bran if things go bad.  Not too close to give anything away.  Just close enough to probably be completely useless and get one more dragon killed.  M’kay? Sounds like a plan, team!  

As they wrap things up, Thormund points out the silver lining: They are all going to die, but at least they’ll die together.  He flashes a winning look at Brienne.  Jon hastily leaves, expertly avoiding Dany once again, and everybody except Bran and Tyrion exits the room.  Tyrion tells Bran he wants to hear all about his stories and they both settle in next to the fire.

One Last Waltz

And now…get ready for the showrunners to check off all your hopes and dreams for all your favorite characters so you can have one final lovely memory of them all alive before everything goes to hell:

In the courtyard, Grew Worm and Missandei share a special moment where they make plans for the future. Once Grey Worm has finished securing the throne for Daenerys, he’s gonna retire with Missandei and she can visit her home again.  And he’ll keep her and her peeps safe with his Unsullied pals as they live happily ever after. So…he’s gonna die, right?

On the ramparts, Jon and Sam hang together with Ghost nearby.  Yay, finally we see a direwolf again!  Sam asks Jon when he is going to fill Daenerys in on the revelation of Jon’s true parents.  Edd arrives and declares “And now our watch begins.” Gilly and little Sam will be in the crypts (wanna know why?) and Jon tells Sam he can go, too – to protect them – but Sam scoffs and asks his buds to give him some credit.  He was, after all the first of them to kill a white walker and discover other ways to defeat the Dead.  They take a moment to remember their fallen friends from the Night’s Watch and Edd grimly states “Last man left, burn the rest of us.”

In the Great Hall, Tyrion and Jaime sit by the fire and enjoy a cup of wine as they ponder how much they’ve changed since their last visit to Winterfell and Tyrion bemoans the perils of self betterment – gone are his days of excessive drinking and whoreing.

Brienne and Podrick arrive in the great hall – oh hai, guys!  They were looking for a place to warm up, and Jaime insists that they join him and his bro. Brienne agrees – obviously. Is she going to pass up the chance to be with her hunky unrequited love? Never.  Oh, and would you look at that!  Davos and Thormund pop in as well to join some theater in the round. Thormund regales them with a hilarious story of how he got the “Giantsbane” moniker. Truly, he is the shining star in this episode and certainly in this scene. I’m feeling extra manipulated by the show – now that we’re more emotionally invested in him, I’m 100% sure that he’ll be killed off next week.

Up on the ramparts, Arya sees the Hound and sits next to him.  They have a nice moment when she questions why he’s even here fighting with everybody.  “When is the last time you fought for anybody?”, she asks.  He replies gruffly, “I fought for you, didn’t I?” And that is the line that wins the night.  Awwwww, I love the Hound.  Then Beric Dondarrion shows up and ruins the moment.  He apologizes to Arya for the way they parted the last time they saw each other – ya know, when he sold out Gendry to Melisandre to do her voodoo magic.  When he starts talking about the Lord of Light, the Hound tells him to shut his trap and Arya is all “Peace out, I’m gonna find something better to do than spend my final hours with you old farts.”

Next, Arya whiles away the time with some archery practice when Gendry arrives with the weapon he’s fashioned for her.  It’s a spear and she gives it a whirl – not bad at all.  As she shows off her fancy spear twirling skills, Arya asks Gendry what Melisandre did to him after she took him, and he tells her about the blood magic.   She assumes (correctly) that Melisandre had sex with Gendry and suddenly Arya is grilling Gendry about all his past partners, presumably calculating her risk of contracting syphilis.  Apparently, Gendry’s number of former lovers is satisfactory and Arya reveals that if she’s going to die in the battle against the dead, she wants to at least know what sex feels like and they get. It. On.  Oh my stars!! I’m equal parts stoked that Arya and Gendry hooked up, and also intensely worried now that one of them will die – maybe even both of them. Gah!  I wish I wasn’t so traumatized by GOT to assume that any time a good moment happens, it will be yanked away, but such is the life of the Game of Thrones fan:  We can’t have nice things.

Call Me By Your Name

Back in the Great Hall, Tyrion remarks how all of the people in the room had at one point fought the Starks in one way or another, and now they are united in fighting together at Winterfell.  As Tyrion gives them all a verbal pat on the back for surviving so many battles, he accidentally calls Brienne “Ser” and corrects himself.  Thormund is confused that Brienne isn’t a knight, and she tells him women can’t be knights because sexist traditions are alive and well in Westeros. When Thormund tells her he’d make her a knight if he were king, Jaime points out that you don’t need a king to be knighted – another knight can do it. And so, with a little coaxing everybody encourages Brienne to get knighted.  She’s always wanted to be a knight and she accepts the honor with all the grace and reverence it warrants.  Ser Jaime Lannister taps her shoulders with his sword, reciting the words and at last proclaims her a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.  As the men in the room start a slow clap and cheer for her, Ser Brienne of Tarth rises with tears in her eyes and a luminous smile.  Oh God, she’s toast now!!!!

In the courtyard, Ser Jorah Mormont and his little cuz Lyanna Mormont argue.  He thinks she should go to the crypts –I really don’t want to say this, but I must…because they are the safest place to be—and Lyanna insists that she vowed to fight, and that’s precisely what she’ll do.  She wishes him well just as Samwell Tarly shows up. He presents his family’s sword to Ser Jorah.  It’s called Heartsbane and it’s made of Valyrian steel.  The sword is too heavy for Sam to wield himself.  He shares that Lord Commander Mormont – Jorah’s father – was a wonderful mentor who taught Sam to always do what’s right, and Sam would be honored for Jorah to have it.  Ser Jorah accepts the weapon, and then Sam has to go and say something like: “I’ll see you when the battle’s through.” F#$K!!!! So now Jorah’s gonna die?! I can’t take it, you guys!

Aaaand we’re back at the Great Hall, where the wine has run out and the karaoke portion of the night has begun.  Podrick, it turns out, has the voice of an angel and treats the group to a lovely and haunting melody.  It’s a perfect tune for a montage scene and we get one last glimpse of all the characters we’ve come to love as they have one last tender and bittersweet moment of togetherness.

In the ever-so-safe crypts, Jon stands at Lyanna’s coffin and statue, and Daenerys approaches. She asks who the statue is of, and Jon simply says “Lyanna Stark.” Dany knows the story of Lyanna’s abduction – she tells Jon that she grew up hearing such good things about her brother Rhaegar, who was known to be kind and decent, and yet, he raped Lyanna.  Jon corrects her “Oh, but he didn’t,” and all the details spill out.  Dany is shook by the revelation that Jon is actually Rhaegar’s legitimate son and asks how he knows this – she is not impressed by Jon’s sources and points out how convenient it is that his brother and best friend are the only people who can corroborate the story.  Her thoughts immediately go to the Iron Throne and the fact that Jon would have a better claim to it, if what he says is true. Before they can go into things further, a horn sounds: The Dead are here.  Jon and Dany give each other a look of agreement and both storm off – presumably to ride some dragons.

In the dark, a horse’s hoof stops in the snow and as the camera pans up, it reveals the Night King’s lieutenants all lined up in formation, ready for the attack, their gaze fixed upon Winterfell in the near distance.   Roll credits.

Holy moly so many people are gonna die next week, and I am losing my mind over here!  This episode was a lot of things, and while I feel like I got all the moments I technically wanted, I also feel weirdly placated by the writers for actually giving those moments to us viewers.   I’m not sure how true some of the actions were to the characters, and it seemed more like the last 20 minutes were purely catering to the audience’s wishes before the showrunners kill off all the people they shone a spotlight on in this episode. It’s hard to truly enjoy something when you feel like you’re being set up for a fall, ya know?  But overall, it was a fine episode to set up the epic battle next week.

The takeaways for me were: Jaime has an important role to play in ending the long night.  Dany’s whole worldview is going to have to be reconsidered unless of course she (or Jon) dies, making the whole “Who deserves the crown more?” a moot point.  Maybe she’ll even screw Jon over?  Tyrion will likely survive and I’m wondering if Bran shared something important with him during their chat.  That way, if Bran should perish, Tyrion will have some trump card of knowledge to share with the others.  Arya is probably toast – if not, then Gendry is. Brienne will die – for SURE!  Oh, and the crypts are the least safe place to be and some freaky deaky stuff is gonna happen down there next episode.

I would like to point out that we didn’t actually see the Night King standing outside Winterfell with his homies.  Like I mentioned earlier, I am reading so many different theories and one is that the Night King is splitting up his army, and he is heading straight to King’s Landing with his ice dragon to torch the city and turn its 1 million inhabitants into an army that nobody can match.  

Will all my death predictions come true?  Will the Night King fool us all and fly to Essos to kill the fire priestesses? Or will Melisandre suddenly pop up at the 11th hour to save the day?  Are there any other important theories I have yet to discover? I’m sure by next week we’ll know a lot more, and also be bawling our eyes out as Jaime tenderly holds a dying Brienne in his arms, who it turn holds a dying Thormund in hers.  It could happen, you guys.  I’ll see ya here next week for a grief group therapy session!

[uhhhhhhokay]

Shows With Good LGBT+ Rep

Now for starters, I’ll admit that I do not watch Riverdale. I tried it, didn’t like it, that’s basically it. The show does have LGBT rep (but not ace rep), I would never dismiss that, but they make sure to do the bare minimum. Based off the people I follow who are fans, scenes for the characters, more specifically Chonie (Cheryl x Toni), are either constantly deleted or they are nonexistent. 

They have romantic scenes together but not nearly as many as the rest of the leading cast. This matters because one of the girl in the relationship, Cheryl, is advertised as a main, but yet she’s treated as a side character, and Toni is given even less. From what I’ve heard of the show, they dedicate an immense amount of time to the pairings of the main characters, but this focus does not seem to apply to Cheryl and her relationship with Toni. This applies to them as individual characters and as a pairing, as I’ve heard that neither character get much screen time. 

I understand wanting representation and I understand wanting to support representation, but the point that I’m trying to make is that Riverdale is not the show to put your desire and need into because they will never give the proper treatment or storylines that these characters and relationships they deserve. You can still watch but just know that there are shows out there with much better rep. So I’m here today, writing this long essay that no one asked for, to inform you guys of LGBT+ rep that actually gets treated well by their writers and is given the screentime and love they deserve. 

Warning: Some of these shows have been cancelled. If they do not say they’ve been cancelled, then that either means the show is still going or that it ended on it’s own terms.

Also this list does not include shows with the bury your gays trope.

Feel free to add on! This list is mainly comprised of some of my favorites. I tried to very best on the descriptions but I am a tired student with little free time. 

#1: The Bold Type ~ Kat x Adena

Kat Edison, the head of the social media department of Scarlet magazine, meets Adena El-Amin, a proud Muslim lesbian photographer in episode one. The two bond and grow closer and closer, eventually causing the “out and proud hetero” Kat to question her sexuality and acknowledge her romantic feelings for Adena. Adena, as I said earlier, is a lesbian and Kat is bisexual. 

#2: Black Lightning ~ Anissa x Grace

Ah, the first black lesbian superhero! The second season is currently airing on Tuesday’s at 9pm on the CW. Being the daughter of the infamous vigilante Black Lighting has it’s unexpected perks, like having superpowers! The intelligent activist Anissa Pierce discovers her powers of super strength and decides to use them for good and defend her city under the name of Thunder.

Grace Choi was in a few episodes of season one, but her relationship status as girlfriends with Anissa in the comics assures us that she will be coming back and we will see her and Anissa’s relationship develop further.

#3: Doctor Who ~ Bill x Heather

Throughout all of time and space, these two manage to come back to each other. After being split up by an alien in ‘Pilot’, Heather comes back to Bill’s rescue in the season finale, kissing her and making her immortal, leaving the both of them to travel across the universe together. Their journey has sadly come to an end in the series, but it came to a spectacular and happy one!

#4: BBC Class ~ Charlie x Matteusz

Part of the Doctor Who universe comes Class, a teenage sci-fi drama that takes place in Shoreditch. Now, first I should say that this is one of my favorite shows and you don’t need to watch Doctor Who in order to watch it. It is its own separate show.

Charlie Smith, an alien prince from the planet Rhodia, comes to earth to escape the Shadowkin, the monsters that killed his race. Him and the only other survivor of his planet, Miss Quill, come to earth and are instructed by the Doctor to hide themselves as human. Charlie attends Coal Hill Academy while Quill teaches.

Once prom comes around, Charlie asks the Polish boy, Matteusz, to be his date. The prom is hijacked by the Shadowkin and it is revealed to Matteusz that Charlie is an alien, but he doesn’t mind because it does not change the way he feels about him. The two continue to date throughout the series whilst fighting off aliens with four of their friends and Miss Quill

This show has been cancelled, but audios have been made since then to fill in the gaps between episodes and there is a chance there might be more! Also there are three books!

#5: In The Flesh ~ Kieren x Simon

The dead have come back to life! Kieren and Simon are both PDS sufferers, meaning they have partially deceased syndrome, meaning that they died and were brought back to life. Series 1 is centered on Kieren Walker, a 18 year old boy who died back in 2009, who is adjusting to his new zombie life and dealing with the people who want him back in the ground.

In series 2, Simon is introduced as a part of an PDS activist who is fighting for equal treatment for PDS sufferers while trying to find the first risen to bring on the second rising. Connected by a mutual friend, Simon and Kieren are introduced to each other, and the two strike up a relationship which develops into something romantic.

#6: Faking It ~ Multiple Characters

In an attempt to gain popularity, Karma and Amy fake being lesbians, but after a kiss at the school’s prep rally, Amy realizes that she isn’t as straight as she thought she was. In fact, she is head over heels in love with her childhood best friend, Karma. She confides in the out and proud Shane about her feelings for Karma and asks for advice on how to get a girlfriend. This show, while not always perfect, is incredibly diverse. Amy is bisexual, Shane is gay, Lauren is intersex, and in season 3, Shane forms a crush on the new student, Noah, and after their first kiss Noah comes out as trans to Shane. 

The show was unfortunately cancelled after three seasons, leaving much of the story still left unsaid, but the show still has an enjoyable and satisfying ending, even if it wasn’t the ending the creator wanted. The creator’s ideal ending, had he been given the chance to write it, was that Karma would eventually realize that she herself is bisexual too. 

#7: Hit The Floor ~Multiple Characters

Jude x Zero

Junior sports agent Jude Kinkade brings basketball sports star Zero to LA on the promise to be a star. One night in a limo before Zero flies to an away game, Jude, to his surprise, kisses Zero. When Zero comes back, the two begin a friends with benefits relationship that develops into something deeper, and the two fall in love.

Lionel x Eve

Lionel’s sexuality has never been explicitly stated in the show. She had sex with many men and the majority of viewers assumed she was straight. That was until the cunning Eve came in. The two decide after a brief meeting to go and get drinks together which ends up with them having sex. Later, Lionel admits to Jude, that she has slept with many women before Eve. Their relationship is complicated and it’s much different from the other relationships on the show. 

Jude x Noah

Due to the show’s unexpected renewal and switch from VH1 to BET, not all actors returned. Adam Senn (Zero) did not want to return, but never fear, because the show’s creator wasn’t about to let the beautiful Jude Kinkade go to waste!

A year after his break up with Zero, Jude’s best friend Lionel takes him out for drinks in the hopes to find him a hunk and get him laid. Later that night, Jude and Noah meet, hook up, and move on with their lives. Until the next day when Jude sees Noah at the Devils arena and finds out that the two will be working together. 

Hit The Floor has not been renewed or cancelled.

#8: Wynonna Earp ~ Multiple Characters

Waverly x Nicole 

i’m sure many of you have heard of these two, but incase you haven’t, let me introduce you to Waverly and Nicole! Waverly, the younger sister to the Earp heir, and Nicole, a sheriff at the Purgatory police department, strike up a romantic relationship after Waverly ends things with her shitty boyfriend Champ. These two are so cute and are head over heels in love with each other. 

Jeremy x Robin

Jeremy is introduced in season 2 and Robin is introduced in season 3. After discovering a murder tree, Robin goes to the police station in search of help. Directed to Jeremy, Robin explains everything he saw, then the two go on a date to investigate the murder tree, and after that the two become boyfriends.

Warning: The show, while amazing with LGBT characters, does not treat their POC characters well. 

#11: Brooklyn Nine-Nine ~ Holt and Rosa

Raymond Holt is captain of the 99th precinct. He is married to his longtime partner Kevin, who often guest stars on the show, and the two of them are truly iconic. Holt has fought hard for gay rights in the police department since joined the force. As a out gay black man, Holt had to fight and work hard to get to his position as captain. 

Rosa Diaz is bisexual and she is played by a bisexual actress. Rosa is a secretive, hard, ruthless, and a soft bean of a character. She is one of the key characters to the Nine-Nine. She has yet to have a steady girlfriend but here’s to hoping that she will have one next season!

#10: BBC Cuffs ~ Multiple Characters

Jake x Simon

Don’t sleep with the enemy. New PC Officer, Jake Vickers, joins the police force and meets the well known and disliked solicitor, Simon Reddington. Despite the fact that they are on opposing sides that hate each other, the two begin dating. They try to keep their professional life out of their relationship to avoid conflict. But alas, that’s where the sweet angst comes in. 

Donna x Alison 

The time these two start dating it unclear, but when the show begins it is said that they’ve been together for a few years. They’ve been living happily together for quite some time. Donna is part of the main cast as a police officer and is given a lot of screen time in action. Alison is a side character who makes a few appearances throughout the show but her interactions with Donna are sweet, beautiful, and realistic. 

This show has been cancelled.

#11: Shadowhunters ~ Magnus x Alec

Ghaad, these two are the best. A gay shadowhunter and a bisexual warlock fall in love. Malec has good communication. Magnus and Alec have their own storyline and a storyline with each other, making them both equally important and have intimate/emotional scenes. The show also makes sure to tackle harmful bisexual stereotypes. (Thanks to @spicychipsdemon for helping me write this one.)

This show has been cancelled but it’s being given a special to wrap up the story.

#12: Superstore ~ Mateo x Jeff

An employee and district manager meet at the Cloud 9 store during a strike. Mateo is a out gay man and so is Jeff, the thing is that his cannot date the employees at the store so the two of them keep their relationship private from the other coworkers, because they would not be able to keep it a secret from Jeff’s boss. These two are actually really cute and they’re hilarious and underrated to be quite honest.

#15: Orphan Black ~ Multiple Characters

Besides the white girl dreads, these two are nice. They are the sci-fi couple that beat the shit out of the bury your gays trope. A clone and a woman who is assigned to look after that clone, uncoincidentally meet. What starts as an assignment is developed into something much deeper, leading Delphine to realize she’s bisexual. These two are happily living their life making crazy science with each other.

There are more LGBT characters in the show. There is a trans clone but unfortunately he is only in one episode. One of the main clones, Sarah is revealed to be bisexual in s4 and her foster brother Felix, a series regular, is gay. 

#16: Picnic at Hanging Rock ~ Multiple Characters 

Three schoolgirls and their governesses mysteriously disappear on Valentines Day in 1900 at the infamous Hanging Rock. This show, while slow in some areas, transformed the 1967 book written by Joan Lindsay. What was initially about the disappearance of three girls and the attempt to find them was changed into a six part series about the repression of sexuality and expression of young girls. Miranda, Irma, and Marion, are the three young women that go missing, and they are all lesbians. There are two more characters in the story: Mike and Albert. They had a close relationship in the book but the tv show made their relationship canonically romantic. 

The show does suffer in the sense that hetero couples that barely existed in the book get more screen time and make out sessions than they should. I included this show because character wise it’s so drastic from it’s original content and it ends up putting wayyyy more focus on the girls than the book did. It turned a simple plot into a meaningful story about gender roles and sexuality and three girls trying to break free of them and two boys falling in love and running away together. Not a perfect show, but damn if it didn’t do some things right. Still recommend.

This show is a miniseries. Unlike other series, it ends where the book ends.

#17: One Day At A Time ~ Elena x Syd

If you haven’t watched these two then I don’t know wtf you’re doing. This show is precious and they are precious and god just watch it already honestly. Elena is a lesbian and Syd is a non-binary lesbian. Once a criminal breaks loose and the two have to cancel their plans to go to comic con, the two are trapped in their home with the rest of their family. As the evening builds up, Elena finally gets the courage to kiss Syd.

#18: Crashing ~ Sam x Fred

This show and this relationship is f*cking wild and it’s amazing. The show surrounds a group of people who are guardians to an abandoned hospital and they live in it. Sam meets Fred on his birthday when the two are paired up for a scavenger hunt. They relationship is odd at first with Sam constantly flirting with Fred and blatantly ignoring his feelings for him. These feelings rise to the surface and force Sam to confront them when Fred gets a rich bf who wants them to move in together. 

This show has been cancelled. The show does not end with a cliffhanger. The show does end with Sam finally leaning in a kissing Fred. 

#19: Charmed (2018) ~ Mel x Niko

Now this show is only one episode in so who knows where this show and relationship will go but it’s off to a good start with having the Mel and Nico relationship as the only romantic relationship in the show so far. I did not pay attention to the advertising of this show but as far as I know the show kept this relationship under wraps as a happy surprise for it’s premiere. The pilot has it’s flaws but it is cute, and to me personally, it works for me better than the original. These two have been dating for a while. Nico is a detective while Mel is just finding out months after her mothers death that she is a witch. A lot is going on. The pilot was interesting enough to get me to continue. The sisters are amazing and I hope the writers keep this relationship up front. This show not only has a lesbian relationship as it’s main love story right now but the three sisters are all women of color. 

This show and the actresses have been facing a lot of racist backlash so any support to ensure a future seasons be amazing!

#20: The Halcyon ~ Toby x Adil

(Ayyyeeee I got to use my own gif go follow at @tlmedits please)

Honestly f*ck BBC for cancelling so many good shows with LGBT characters. The Halcyon is a tv show that takes place during the 1940′s. Now, unlike many other periodic shows, this one is diverse, including poc and gay characters in the cast and giving them good storylines. The Halycon hotel is own by the Hamilton family, and Toby is the youngest son. Adil is a bartender in the hotel lobby. One night, while Toby is hiding from a woman his mother had set him up with, he runs into Adil who then kisses him. The two the next day begin a relationship. 

As I mentioned before, this show was cancelled.