#like this is exactly how manipulators worm their way in and trap people in abusive cycles

[sweetblossoms]

medium-warm take: genuinely concerned by all of you who didn't see anything hostile about mother goose's interaction with rapunzel (in particular the hug) from what i was watching, rapunzel was hostile from the moment tim was found alone in the kitchen, before tim even spoke. yes it was with sweet smiley words of course, but brennan was playing her as a masterful manipulator who uses charm and socializing as their weapon, something that explicitly told a couple of times leading up to this episode as rapunzel's whole schtick. tim could have found his way out of the hostility if he played his cards right, but the words weren't chosen correctly enough from the jump on ally's part watching ally fall for it in real time (with the whole 'oh she must not be a part of the plan bc of her answer to the metaphor question' 'oh i genuinely want to give her a hug' to then nobody figuring out she took the book in the hug), watching my own d20 viewing friend in real time going "aw i love rapunzel, she's just socially awkward from isolation!! why dont you trust her?", to now seeing all these posts and tags of "woahhh i wouldnt have expected rapunzel to have taken the book, i didnt think anything of that hug!!" genuinely concerns me on like, a psychological level this is how manipulators/emotionally abusive people act and speak. in our real life. this is how they take advantage of others, mentally, to get their way for their own schemes. there's many people like rapunzel and many conversations like the one she had with tim out there in our daily lives. very troubled and concerned seeing just how many people fell for it and thought nothing malicious of it

[swanqueensalad]

TRIGGERWARNING!

Without triggering anyone I wanna ask two things:

1) Was Cora ever physically abbussive towards Regina?

2) I know many ppl's head canon is that Leopold raped Regina again and again as his bride, but is that your headcanon too?

ok again TRIGGER WARNING for abuse & SA (and brief mention of suicide) for anyone reading/scrolling!

i'm going to just explain my personal interpretation of the show and these subjects, bc i find regina so interesting and heartbreaking. and i actually do think part of what makes regina so fascinating as a character is her relationship within the cycle of abuse and how yes, she was incredibly hurt and manipulated all her life, but she eventually managed to break free of it all and work to be better for her own child.

buckle up because i have a lot of feelings and this is probably going to be LONG

so, my thoughts on exactly what happened and why regina is as fucked up as she is:

so yeah, cora was a horrific parent. it's canon that she abused regina both emotionally and physically for practically all her life.

in practically her very first scene, we see cora using magic to hurt her eighteen year old daughter - to violently restrain her/drop her to the ground when she 'misbehaves' which pretty clearly says this is a woman who uses power and fear as a control tactic, and is not afraid of physically hurting regina.

and if this is what she was doing when regina is almost an adult, i think it's safe to assume she's been doing it since she was very young - regina's response 'please don't, i'll be good' is the conditioned response of a much younger child. everything about the way regina was written, her relationship with cora, and the way lana and the directors chose to play it screams abuse victim. she is hypervigilant - she jumps when people come close or make sudden noises. when she's choked with magic she immediately knows not to struggle or fight back. as a young girl, she is terrified of doing things wrong.

(also, when we get the flashback to actual 10 year old regina, cora says she can't help her because 'it needs to be someone who's magic has never hurt her')

while i think most of the time cora relied on magic to physically punish regina - knowing how much regina particularly hated it/was afraid of it - i think she was definitely not above slapping her for more minor infractions

beyond just physical abuse, cora was clearly emotionally distant and got regina to a place of being pretty touch-starved and desperate for affection. (lana and barbara play this so masterfully as well) we see her being constantly, nastily critical of everything her daughter does.

i think it's also implied in the regina rising book that cora was controlling/restrictive of regina's food to ensure she stayed thin/attractive which is just a whole other can of worms

as for leopold. please bear with me while i RANT:

nothing will ever make me more mad than the fact this man was never held accountable in the narrative for his role in regina's story and how absolutely fucking awful he was.

first of all, even before he meets regina, he is dodgy af. he supposedly genuinely loves cora, but throws her out immediately when he discovers her pregnancy without even asking her if it's true/discussing it. also, even in that flashback the man is visibly much older than cora and even more so than eva, who he actually does marry (although i do believe they came to truly love each other). so yeah he has a habit of Not Listening to women and not looking at women his own age

and then we get to regina. the eighteen year old daughter of his ex fiancee (younger even than the unborn child who cora carried when she was engaged to him)

yes i think he raped her. because powerful old men do not marry pretty eighteen year olds for the company. (also, if it was just so snow would have a mother figure, well, she already had her maid joanna. and if snow really wanted regina around that badly, leopold could have just brought her to court as a lady in waiting, a fitting role for a noblewoman, and more appropriate seeing as regina was only about eight years older than snow)

regina is visibly distressed by the proposal. she is panicked. she looks to her father to help. cora accepts the proposal for her. and leopold does not care. i think this tells u all u need to know about his views on consent

(also it all gets ickier when you remember leopold was attracted to cora, and regina is considered to look like cora did when she was younger)

leopold clearly had zero interest in regina as a person. he used her for arm candy for events, to make snow happy, and to keep his bed warm. (later, he invades her privacy so much regina counts on him reading her diary as a thoughtless and integral part of a plan, and locks her up for receiving a present from another man) and yet he is never treated as a villain or ever held accountable (besides regina killing him - good for her - but even then it's framed more as a way to villainise her for tricking sidney) and it makes me FURIOUS

i sometimes see the take that leopold might have stopped raping her towards the latter years of their marriage, but i disagree - i think maybe it did get fewer and farther between, but regina was still his wife who he only saw as serving a few purposes, and the way he is so possessive of her in 1x011 makes no sense otherwise, seeing as he was so uninterested in her in every other way

i do think a lot of regina's rage and vendetta against snow is because of this abuse too.

hear me out: in s1 especially, both snow and regina refer to snow as 'ruining her life'. because regina blamed her for everything that happened to her. not only did snow cause daniel's murder, it was her desire for regina as a mother that prompted leopold to marry her.

and this marriage was hell. and i think people don't realise how long it lasted either - snow went from a child to at least her late teens before regina killed leopold. regina was a traumatised young girl, grieving the love of her life, with no friends, no allies, nobody except the literal dark one who was grooming her for his own gain. (no wonder she clung to the brief sense of freedom and control his lessons offered. no wonder she nearly killed herself.)

and while regina suffered, she was forced to play with snow white every day, who was so spoiled, so loved, so happy, and had no idea of the life she had unwittingly trapped regina in.

so yeah, it's all pretty dark.

and it's for all these reasons i think ouat ended up shying away from many more regina backstory episodes centring on the time she was married/pre-evil queen years, because they were on abc after all, and i don't think they were really equipped to deal with the horrendousness of the story they'd created

but lana most certainly did her work becaue i think all of this nuance does show in her portrayal

and it all just makes regina's ending - the good queen, in her own name, safe and strong and loved, part of a true family, her bond with snow healed - so much more of a relief.

[mirinda03]

@leaflinerambles asked me for an essay so i complied

Here’s why c!tommy deserves better

Tommy Danger Kraken Careful Innit deserves better.

(All of this is about the characters btw. Sometimes i don't put c! Because honestly its a lot of putting that so just know that unless it says cc! I mean character)

Now, I know that can be a bit of a controversial take for.. some reason??? People may say that actually, he deserves to face the consequences of his actions and deserves to be punished.

. What the fuck.

That's a sixteen year old. That a teenager. He doesn't deserve to be 1. Abused 2. Traumatized 3. Manipulated 4. Used and 5. Taught a ‘lesson’ that i'm sure he’s been taught far fat too many times.

Tommy is a complex character. As we all know, he's regarded as the ‘protagonist’ of the dream smp or the ‘main character’. Now, of course, being the main character is a very subjective term and that is a whole other fucking essay that im not gonna get into right now—

BUT.

I do think in a way Tommy has been involved in a lot of the more.. main plots. From season one to season three.

And of course, with being the ‘main character’ (again, a purely subjective term because it depends on the point of view you watch) come a lot of things and a lot of trouble. Mainly, from our main ‘villain’ of the series.

C!Dream, the fucking bitch.

As we all know, c!Dream has had a weird obsession with c!Tommy since.. probably the beginning?

He liked to antagonize Tommy, but that wasn't exactly special. The man liked to antagonize everyone! He seemed to just want the most chaotic option, which of course ended with him antagonizing others often for his own entertainment.

I think, in a way, Dream always saw the smp as a game. His own little puppet show, where he could move the strings. He wanted complete control

But Tommy was more stubborn than the others. Tommy actively went against Dream from the start, like we see in the disc war. Or L’manberg, or during manberg, or new lmanb—

You get the idea.

Tommy never gave in, and Dream’s obsession grew.

So.. exile happened.

And like, i'm not sure what exactly dream was planning but i'm assuming he wanted to like.. ‘break’ tommy?? Make him more ‘compliant’ to his twisted game?

C!Tommy was, to put it simply, abused. No sugar coating, that was straight up abuse and gaslighting and manipulation. The burning his armor? Making sure no one got an invite? Keeping Tommy at low health? EVERYTHING??

That was all clear manipulation. Tommy.. went through a LOT in exile. It still affects him as we know. ‘Plain biomes, small holes, logstedshire’ among other things have been added to his list of stuff that sets him off.

(And also the waking up drowning?????)

And i know, Dream almost had tommy in his grasp. He almost broke him.

But Tommy resisted. Tommy pulled back at the last second, in that dirt tower. He was strong enough to realize what dream was doing was wrong an he ran from a toxic environment and situation and honestly? Good👏 for 👏 him 👏.

But the trauma stayed, in many ways. And even during the raccoonit arc, tommy didn't really.. get a chance to heal?

During the techno and tommy arc, tommy seemed to direct his hurt into lashing out at others. He got angry, he lashed out, and he hurt people. Even if im a tommy apologist, i can acknowledge that during his time of poor mental health he hurt other people and he had to apologize (and he did!! But im getting to that)

Now. I am.. very conflicted when it comes to techno and tommy’s relationship. I do believe that, somewhere deep inside, they both cared about each other. However, bias and fanon influence can get in the way so i'm not touching on that.

The one thing i'm saying? It wasn't exactly a healthy dynamic. And again, not saying anything because bias could get in the way, but Tommy realizing the error of his ways and realizing he HURT PEOPLE is such a huge milestone??

He took responsibility by joining tubbo again. He said how his trauma did not excuse shit and he acknowledged it and he tried to CHANGE.

Even when faced with people who exiled him, who shunned him or who weren't there to visit during exile, he decided to be better and he once again took the role of the troop rallier even when he KNEW how impossible the task would be. He SAW Techno’s wither skull vault. He knew it was a losing battle.

But he stayed strong. And he fought for L’Manberg, for the last reminder he had of Wilbur (and oh, wilbur and tommy’s relationship in canon is a whole other can of worms god—)

Just for it to get destroyed.

By his abuser, and two people he had trusted. People he RELIED on.

Blown, to the ground.

And then dream.

Dream saying their story isn't over. Their story would NEVER be over.

. Bone chilling. Genuinely so.

And still. He faced Dream. He faced his abuser, the person who in his own words ‘ruined him’ and he refused to back down.

He refused to let Tubbo die. He refused to lose.

And in the end, Dream was sent to jail. Retribution was sent!

.. right?

Wrong.

Because even after that, Tommy continues to be haunted by dream or by the literal CULTISTS trying to kill him.

And to top it all off, he gets fucking trapped in prison with his abuser surrounded by a bunch of triggers in a small cell. And have we mentioned how he's canonically claustrophobic?

Yeah.. that was bad.

One week. Trapped with his abuser.

And still, he stayed strong. Still, he refused to give in and stayed himself,

And what did he get for that?

Death.

Beaten to death by his abuser of all things.

And he was trapped in the void for two months. Two. Months.

But in the human world? It had only been days.

And he was so so shaken by it. He couldn't even touch other people, he couldn't take any damage, he was treated as a ghost by people, he was called a ‘science experiment’ and the one thing he wanted? Normality? It was taken away from his forever.

Again, by his abuser.

Hes a traumatized child soldier whos done plenty of wrong in his life, but he's also a kid who needs to heal and learn to have healthy relationships because one way or the other every healthy mentor figure in his life turned against him or got corrupted and now he feels alone and he DIED and he needs fucking therapy come on.

And we KNOW the dream isn't done. Far from it. We know dream will never, ever be done. He's too obsessed with the game, with his favorite toy to let the game end. To let the people rest

C!tommy is so broken and jaded and traumatized. But still, he chooses compassion. Despite the trauma, he refused to hurt his best friend. Despite it all, he refused to blow up him home. He stays true to himself and he stays strong and even when the world tries to mold him he doesn't break.

And believe me, the world tries to break him and mold him so many times. He’s been manipulated or used before by others, but he still keeps his attachments and he still keeps himself and i think thats fucking admirable.

So yeah. I wholeheartedly believe tommy deserves better as do the other members of bench trio because honestly they're also children and they all deserve to heal come ON.

But yeah thats the essay

[sirsparklepants]

On Abuse, Anger, and Control: Billy Hargrove

The next chapter of In a Day or Two opens with an explicit scene of child abuse. It’s been there from the initial outline. There are other scenes of abuse prior to this, but this is the first (and probably the only) one where it gets physical. I was working on it last night, and I had some Thoughts about how the Harringrove fandom as a whole deals with writing Billy’s canonical abuse.

Below the cut: explicit descriptions and discussion of child abuse, some mild criticism of fandom trends

Here’s the thing, so I don’t get a bunch of messages and replies questioning my bona fides: I’m the survivor of a childhood probably best described as “cartoonishly abusive”. I don’t talk about it a lot, not because I’m ashamed or whatever, but because it’s honestly so much ridiculous bullshit that I sound like a soap opera character. I definitely relate to Billy, but what’s depicted on the show I tend to see as comparatively mild on the “bad parenting” scale.

But I do relate to Billy. I see parallels in our upbringing. I want him to stop being such a fuckhead teenager and grow up to be a decent adult who left his past behind him, as much as I can. That’s really why I started reading Harringrove fic: no one in the fandom is shy about saying “yes, Billy’s a fuck, but probably a big chunk of it is that he’s an abused kid.” It’s a big part of his character, and even if authors understandably don’t want to deal with on-page abuse, I’ve read very few fics that don’t acknowledge this. Which is great, honestly, there’s a ton of fandoms that don’t do half as well. But I have noticed a trend that’s been niggling at me. A lot of stories paint Billy’s abuse as extremely, and only, physical. To an extent, that’s understandable - he is hit and shoved around in canon, and media and society in general tends to paint physical (or sexual, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms) abuse as the Most Serious Abuse There Is. I think it does a disservice to both Billy’s canon situation and many abuse survivors, though.

I don’t doubt that those authors are coming from a very good place. It’s fucking hard to get into the mindset of an abusive person so that their actions have internal consistency, whether you’re an abuse survivor or not. It can feel like you’re doing something wrong. It can be incredibly upsetting. It’s understandable to go for what’s been presented to you as the worst thing and leave it at that. The thing is, though, that for the most part? The actions of an abuser are not random. They’re very calculated to fulfill the abusers’ goal: keep their victim under their power. In my experience, physical abuse was just one tool my abusers used very judiciously to express their control over me. 

Yes, Neil does absolutely physically abuse Billy. That’s onscreen. It’s canon. It’s undeniable. But I seem to have taken away something different from that scene than a lot of other viewers. The physical abuse is bad, but the way his father acts? It’s an act of control, of expressing his power over his son. Billy is clearly physically larger and stronger than his father, but he never fights back. In my opinion, that’s because his father has somehow made resisting him seem useless or futile - either because he’s abused Billy from a young age, as we see in s3, or because he’s manipulated the situation so that if Billy does physically resist, he’ll be the one in legal trouble. He also only gets physical when it seems like Billy will do something he hasn’t mandated - go out and have fun. The thing that absolutely cements this for me, though, is how his father used Max.

I have four stepsisters who I love dearly. They’re my sisters as much as the ones I have who are blood related. However, we did not have the easiest relationship growing up, mostly because our parents manipulated us into seeing ourselves as extensions of my father’s first and second wives and therefore natural adversaries. They did this because if we stood together against them, their control would slip. And I see this very much in Billy’s relationship with Max. His father has placed him in a role of semi-parental responsibility to her, something Billy clearly resents. Max often defies his authority, and this clash between them serves to make their relationship bitter. Billy is a bucket of fried assholes to Max, clearly, and she doesn’t deserve it, but I don’t see his behavior towards her as coming entirely from himself. Given the fact that Neil uses Max as an excuse to push Billy around and make him cancel his plans, making Billy see Max as an extended instrument of his abuse, it’s pretty clear to me that Neil is driving a wedge between them on purpose.

Because here is the thing: as a child abuse survivor, you are counting down the days. High school graduation, college admissions, turning 18, that military recruitment date - as you get into your mid-teens, there’s something you see as an out. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a rope you’re holding onto with both hands. It’s something you absolutely are keeping secret from your abuser, or if they must know, it’s something you frame so it seems like their achievement, something you did because of them. Season 2 Billy is clearly fast approaching that date, whatever it is for him, and that date? It means he’s out from under Neil’s thumb. And being out of their control is the worst case scenario for abusers. If Max and Billy have an alliance against Neil, much more things can get done under his nose to try and get Billy out of that house. And Neil probably knows it.

To my mind, Neil is all about control. Even in his physical abuse scene, he slaps Billy and pushes him up against things - nothing likely to leave suspicious marks. Clearly he knows his son is often shirtless or otherwise unclothed. The type of physical abuse he engages in isn’t a loss of control on his part at all. He wants to make it seem like it is, like Billy made him lose control with his “bad” behavior, but he goes into Billy’s space, so that anything broken will be his. He uses his physicality, but only to an extent. He never crosses a line that would have anyone asking any questions. He doesn’t do anything “bad enough” that his watching wife, who clearly doesn’t approve, would feel she’s forced to intervene. (Although I have a whole essay on The Narrative Role Of Susan, that’s not for today.) And, most notably to me, he stays away from any windows. To me, these are all signs that Neil is perfectly in control, just choosing to make Billy believe he isn’t.

The other thing about Neil and that scene - he clearly wants to make Billy believe that he is at fault. That there’s some imaginary standard he can reach where his behavior will be satisfactory enough that he won’t suffer his father’s wrath. That, somehow, what Neil does to him are the consequences of Billy’s actions. In reality, of course, that’s just not true, but it is a classic abuse technique. If an abuse victim truly believes that what they’re trapped in is a no-win scenario, then most of the time, they figure what’s the point in trying, and stop engaging completely with what the abuser wants. And that kind of behavior is a loss to the abuser. So they have to make their victim believe that there is something they can do to “fix” things, therefore putting the onus of the abusive behavior on their shoulders as well. The fact that Neil talks about standards of behavior Billy is expected to meet - the classic “respect and responsibility” is proof to me that that’s what his intent is with that scene.

So, is the physical abuse Billy endures from his father horrible? Yes, absolutely, and no child should be treated like that. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s the symptom of something larger - the control his father tries to exert over many aspects of his life - rather than the absolute worst part of what he suffers. And when I see his abuse reduced in fiction to primarily the physical, it feels... like a reduction of what canon gives us. The Billy I see depicted in fic sometimes has experiences that I have trouble relating to at all, as opposed to the Billy onscreen.

And again, I understand why people depict his experiences that way. I’m not trying to be an asshole, just speaking to my personal experiences. But I’d like to see a little more truth in television, so to speak, about his abuse.

If you’re interested in writing more realistic abusive characters, a book I can’t recommend enough is Lundy Bancroft’s Why Does He Do That, a book written by a therapist who’s made a career of treating both abusers in the hopes of making them no longer abusers as well as domestic violence victims. It’s a difficult read, and intended as a self-help book for domestic violence survivors, but it digs deep into why exactly abusers act the way they do. It’s often available as a free pdf online - I’ve seen several links floating around on tumblr.

[terramythos]

TerraMythos' 2020 Reading Challenge - Book 1 of 26

Title: The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea (2018)

Author: Various (edited by Ellen Datlow)

Genre/Tags: Short Story Anthology, Horror (Various), Female Protagonist(s), LGBT Protagonist(s). 

Rating: 7/10 (note: this is an average of all the stories)

Date Began: 1/1/2020

Date Finished: 1/6/2020

I don’t usually read short story collections. But since I kicked off 2020 with a trip outside the US, I wanted something that could easily be picked up and read in short bursts. So I dove into a short story anthology @mistressofmuses gave me for Christmas. Since I was staying on the coast, this seemed like an appropriate choice. 

This anthology is a collection of 15 original horror stories by different authors, each somehow associated with the sea. Like any anthology, they were pretty hit or miss, but there were some I really enjoyed. Honorable mentions (scoring 8/10 or higher): 

Fodder’s Jig by Lee Thomas (9/10) 

The Whalers Song by Ray Cluley (9/10) 

A Ship of the South Wind by Bradley Denton (8/10) 

Broken Record by Stephen Graham Jones (8/10) 

A Moment Before Breaking by A. C. Wise (9/10) 

Sister, Dearest Sister, Let Me Show To You The Sea by Seanan McGuire (10/10) 

He Sings of Salt and Wormwood by Brian Hodge (10/10)

For a brief summary of all the stories and impression of each, see below the cut. These are in the order they appear and contain minor/implied spoilers.

1. Deadwater by Simon Bestwick - 4/10

Summary: A man living in a coastal tourist town is found dead by the shore. When her cop boyfriend rules it a suicide, the man's best friend Emily investigates the death on her own.

Thoughts: This one was very predictable. I'd figured out the "twist" and exactly how it would end by the half way point. It wasn’t super exciting and the writing just wasn't engaging for me. I did appreciate the occasional thematic callback and the whole thing about broken people needing to stick together, but there wasn’t enough of that in the actual story to sell me on it. 

2. Fodder’s Jig by Lee Thomas - 9/10 

Summary: Two men in their 60s fall in love with each other and try to form a life together. However, amid one’s rough divorce, a bizarre disease emerges that causes people to dance wildly and speak in tongues after exposure to the ocean. When one of the two men begins to exhibit symptoms of the disease, everything changes. Thoughts: Well done, creepy cosmic horror, and the ending was phenomenal. I loved that it was about two old gay dudes trying to find happiness late in life, struggling with manipulative family issues, and how all of it seamlessly blended with the horror. The prose was great too, and the zinger when you fully understand the title is... an experience. I thought it was interesting that the flashback scenes were in present tense and the current scenes were in past tense, but it sort of makes sense with the themes of the story.  

3. The Curious Allure of the Sea by Christopher Golden - 7/10 

Summary: A woman's father is lost at sea. To honor his memory, she tattoos herself with a strange symbol found in his abandoned boat. However, afterward, sea creatures and people alike find themselves drawn to her. Thoughts: It was moderately creepy. The part where Jenny burns off the tattoo (spoilers) was viscerally horrifying. Beyond that, it didn't stick out a whole lot. Sort of like a “wouldn’t that be fucked up?” Twilight Zone episode. 

4. The Tryal Attract by Terry Dowling - 5/10 

Summary:  After a conversation with his neighbor, a man agrees to spend several nights in the neighbor's house to commune with a talking human skull which he has recurring dreams about. 

Thoughts: The prose was good enough, but the actual horror element was sort of like one of those creepypastas that’s just unintentionally funny. It felt very Scooby Doo and I don’t think that was the intent. 

5. The Whalers Song by Ray Cluley - 9/10 

Summary: When a Norwegian whaling ship sinks after a catch, the small crew manages to escape. On shore, however, the eerie artifacts they find of old whaling ships are more than they bargained for.

Thoughts: Way way way eerie, and the prose was great; very stilted yet beautiful. There was an underlying theme of the past and present, which Cluley explores in multiple ways. It has a slow start but it pays off. One of the more haunting ones in the collection. 

6. A Ship of the South Wind by Bradley Denton - 8/10 

Summary: Three years after the Civil War, two Native Americans -- a boy named Charley and his uncle JoJim -- are accosted by a group of travelers in the plains of Kansas. They find that help comes from an unexpected source-- an eccentric, quasi-supernatural figure named Captain Thomas, whom JoJim met decades ago.

Thoughts: Honestly, setting a sea-themed horror story entirely in Kansas was a power move, but I think it worked. Did a great job building and maintaining tension. I loved the small details, like keeping the villains as "Red-beard" and "Black-beard" even after we learn their real names to keep things nautical. It's kind of like if No Country for Old Men crossed over with a pretty good episode of Goosebumps with some pseudo steampunk elements.

7. What My Mother Left Me by Alyssa Wong - 6/10 

Summary:  Following the death of her mother and breakup with her abusive boyfriend, Emma and her new girlfriend visit her mom's old beach house to collect her things. However, things get weird when they discover partially decomposed, yet still living fish along the shore.

Thoughts: I’m torn on this one. The writing was really good, but it felt like the story couldn’t decide between being a straight-up slasher flick or a deep, heartfelt exploration of family and surviving domestic abuse. I really felt like it needed to be longer, as both elements felt underdeveloped. 

8. Broken Record by Stephen Graham Jones - 8/10 

Summary: A man is trapped on a deserted island.

Thoughts:  I do not want to spoil the "twist" of this one but it's good and a fun scenario to imagine. Toed the line between humor and horror well.  

9. Saudade by Steve Rasnic Tem - 5/10 

Summary: A man agrees to go on a senior singles cruise at the behest of his daughters, but feels awkward and out of place. He is drawn to a bizarre woman who occasionally appears and causes something strange and unsettling to happen.

Thoughts: The writing is good, but Tem spends the bulk of the story focusing on protagonist Lee wandering a cruise ship and being sad about it. I loved the ending and its callback to an earlier, seemingly unrelated scene, but beyond that I feel there’s way more you can do with the inherent horror of a cruise ship. 

10. A Moment Before Breaking by A. C. Wise - 9/10 

Summary: While a little girl and her mother are immigrating to the United States, the ship they are on suddenly sinks. The girl is captured by cultists who perform a strange ritual, binding her to a creature called the prince of the sea.

Thoughts: I really dug this one-- it's just so weird. I loved how the narrative treated the shared body between Ana and the prince, and that we get to see Ana in various stages of her life. The prose was gorgeous. Definitely one of my favorites in the collection.

11. Sister, Dearest Sister, Let Me Show To You The Sea by Seanan McGuire - 10/10 

Summary: When her little sister drowns her in the tide pools by their Washington home, a teenage girl makes a deal with an eel-like entity of the sea to get her revenge. Thoughts: "Holy fucking shit" was pretty much all I could say when I finished this one. Visceral body horror at its finest, and I'm always a sucker for revenge. The prose was beautiful and horrid in the best way. I'm a big fan of the author already but this exceeded my expectations.

12. The Deep Sea Swell by John Langan - 3/10 

Summary: A couple is traveling by ship. One of the two, Susan, recalls a few supernatural stories their mutual friend Giorgio told them before she has her own supernatural encounter.

Thoughts: I found myself begging the author to press the enter key on his keyboard a few times. Beyond that, this was the first story that actually challenged my suspension of disbelief with what happens and how it relates to the main character. I didn't find the horror element very scary at all. There were some cool visuals but that's about all I got out of it. 

13. He Sings of Salt and Wormwood by Brian Hodge - 10/10 

Summary: During a deep sea diving exercise, a competitive surfer comes across an old, sunken yacht. He is horrified by the strange worm-like creatures devouring the wood. However, when he returns home to his wife, they begin to find strange, humanoid carvings every day on the Oregon coast. Thoughts: GOD was this good. Superb voice and writing, very creepy, and everything comes together so well in the ending. I felt an emotional connection to the love and longing between Danny and Gail, which is always hard to accomplish in a short story. Just a stellar read.

14. Shit Happens by Michael Marshall Smith - 3/10 

Summary: A higher-up from a tech conglomerate attends a company conference aboard a converted boat-hotel, but things go south when guests start to experience acute gastrointestinal distress. Thoughts: This gets like 3 points for making me genuinely laugh a few times and -7 points for everything else.

15. Haunt by Siobhan Carroll - 6/10 

Summary: In 1799, a cargo ship is troubled by a ghost ship on their trail. When the passengers and crew are stranded in the middle of the ocean, the dark pasts of the crew slowly come to light. Thoughts: The writing was good, the author clearly knows her shit, and I can admire what she is going for. However, the whole thing was just a bit too brutal and graphic for me, especially knowing that some of the things described were based on real events. I guess that was probably the point based on her author’s note, but I can’t recommend this as an entertaining read. 

[thesffcorner]

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Before we jump in I just want to say, I don’t critique out of hate; it’s love. That’s why it hurts more.

There were so many issues with this film, from basic storytelling to lore. I can’t decide if these issues stem from J K Rowling trying to retcon and reimagine her own world, or the studio mandating a more streamlined, marketable “universe” (yeah I haven’t missed that the logo has now changed to Wizarding World).

I think the best way to go through the characters, because conveniently the major issues are all tied to specific characters. So, starting with more minor grievances and working up to the big stuff; warning, SPOILERS ahead.

1. Too many characters (aka Jacob, Tina and Nagini have nothing to do): 

One of J K Rowling’s greatest strengths is creating memorable and interesting characters; one of her biggest flaws is making too many of them. In the Harry Potter books and by extension the films, this was mitigated by the audience experiencing everything through Harry’s perspective. Yes, there were tons of characters, but we always saw and met them through Harry’s eyes, and the story was narrowly focused on him and his journey.

The first Fantastic Beasts benefited from a much smaller cast, and a narrower focus; Newt was our lead and we experienced the conflict through his journey to retrieve his creatures, and most things that happen around him are just that: a coincidence.

Here, the cast has been expanded to the breaking point: not only do we follow Newt, Credence, Tina, Queenie and Jacob, but they are also fighting for screen time with newcomers Leta, Nagini, Thadeus, Kama, Dumbledore and Grindelwald, all of whom have much more substantial roles and tie much more closely to the main conflict, which is Grindelwald’s search for Credence.

As a result, not only does it feel like Newt has become a supporting role in his own film (we’ll get to that), but also, characters like Tina, Jacob and Nagini have nothing to do. Tina’s entire story is that she is sent to find Credence by the American Ministry, and is angry with Newt because she read in a tabloid magazine that Newt is engaged. Her bond to Credence, her desire to do good and prove herself are completely lost to the myriad of plot threads we have introduced. She also barely has any reaction to Queenie essentially eloping with Jacob and then joining Grindelwald (we’ll get to that too). What? Her sister just joined the wizarding equivalent of Hitler, and she has nothing to say? Really movie?

Nagini, is introduced, and then does nothing for the whole film. She bites the circus owner who abuses her and holds her captive, gets trapped in a wall by Mad Eye Moody (oh yeah, he’s in this too), follows Credence to La Perches and then gets abandoned by him. There is no real reason for her to follow him as long as she does, and we don’t really get any scenes deepening their relationship; all we learn about her is what someone else tells us about her (and that someone else is the abusive circus owner which is a whole other can of worms). Why was she necessary again? She does nothing, has no real purpose, and the only reason she’s at all sympathetic, likable, and has any character, is Claudia Kim’s excellent acting.

Jacob is the worst offender in that he is literary and completely irrelevant. His story was over in Fantastic Beasts; there was no need to drag him into this. Here, he gets jinxed and kidnapped by Queene to come to England and marry her, when he in reality doesn’t want to, because he is afraid that if Queenie is found out, she would get put in prison. As soon as his jinx is lifted, and he and Queenie have an argument during which he thinks she’s crazy (which obviously hurts her, since she can read minds) she decides to find her in Paris with Newt, and then spends the rest of the film doing absolutely nothing.

Since he can’t do any magic, he is unnecessary for all of those scenes, and he’s not even in any danger; no one points out he’s a no maj, no one questions why he’s there. They even go to a meeting of Grindelwald’s followers, most of them purebloods and no one even bats an eye that a muggle is between them. He doesn’t even really have any cute or funny scenes of doing something useful like punching someone out or kicking a door in like in the first film; he’s there to provide conflict and a reason for Queenie to be back, and someone to react to Newt and that’s all he is.

And since we are already talking about this, Nicholas Flamel. Why was he here? Who was the woman he was talking to in the book? Was that really necessary? Couldn’t we have a different character filling out that role, like say…  someone from the already bloated cast? Maybe Thaddeus and Newt working together, or a spell Tina knows, or maybe even Kama showing magic that isn’t used in Europe? Just a thought.

2. What they’ve done to Queenie is a crime

In the first film, Queenie is an incredibly endearing, sweet and kind character. She is pretty, bubbly, knows exactly how people perceive her and is generally very likable. I loved that she was an unabashedly girly character, who wasn’t career oriented or tomboyish and was still powerful, capable and smart. Her romance with Jacob was sweet and felt believable, and I thought the ending they got in Fantastic Beasts was deserved and conclusive.

In this film, Queenie is, well… unhinged. She jinxes Jacob and kidnaps him, and when he is reasonably upset with her (not even enough in my opinion) she takes what he thinks in the heat of the moment at face value and runs off. Why she decides to go after Tina in Paris, when supposedly they aren’t on speaking terms, I don’t know, but what I know even less, is how Grindelwald a) knew who she was, b) knew she was related to Tina, c) knew how to find her, in the middle of Paris and d) wanted her on his side to begin with.

I can maybe buy that Grindelwald somehow knew she was a Legitimans and wanted her for that purpose (though I always thought Legitimancy was something you could learn to do, not an inborn superpower, like an X-man) and I could also maybe buy that he knew who she was because he knew Tina was in Paris, and she’s an Auror, but was it always his plan to seduce Queenie to his side? Because as is, it just looks like she was randomly targeted by him, and randomly accepted.

Oh yeah, Queenie joins Grindelwald. Why? Because even though she knows Grindelwald is manipulating her, even though she knows he indiscriminately kills muggles, and knows he wouldn’t stand for a marriage between a pureblood witch and a muggle, she still falls for his whole wizards should live freely speech. And to make matters even more nonsensical, what pushes her over the edge, is actually a fight with Jacob who doesn’t want to (and literary can’t) cross into Grindelwald’s ring of fire. So she is joining Grindelwald so she can marry the man he loves… after she has a fight with him in which they break up? Makes sense!

This whole thing could have so easily been fixed if Queenie wasn’t completely crazy from the very start. What if instead of coming to England under duress, she and Jacob come to appeal the British Ministry to let them marry and then get denied? And throughout the course of the film Queenie gets more and more desperate as it becomes clear that Jacob will never be accepted among wizardkind? Or perhaps her friendship with Grindelwald’s French Henchwoman is actually developed to have her manipulate Queenie into believing Grindelwald truly is fighting for the freedom to love and marry? (You know something that ties with his character really well, but we will get to that, oh we will).

Instead we get this complete 180 turn with no motivation and now Queenie is part of the Nazis. I guess.

3. Credence is inconsequential in a film all about him (also that stupid reveal)

There were… issues with Credence in the first film. However here, he is basically a non-entity. How he survived being blown up by a dozen or so death curses is never explained; only that he is now in Paris with a traveling circus, supposedly coming to France to find his birth mother. How he got to the circus and how he learned to control the obscurus is also never explained or shown to us; by the time we learn of the circus and see Credence he is already escaping with Nagini.

The rest of his role in the film is trying to find his mother, thinking that he is the long lost Lestrange child, since him being a descendant of a powerful wizarding line is what has kept him alive that long. I understand his motivation to find out who he is and why his family abandoned him, but we are never really privy to how he actually feels and what he wants. There is a bit at the end before he joins Grindelwald where Nagini tells him Grindelwald knows where he came from but not who he is, and that would be a powerful line if we knew who he was. We don’t; even disregarding the change he went through between movies, we still know nothing about him other than being an abuse survivor and immensely powerful.

Another thing that I personally didn’t understand was, does Credence not know that Graves was Grindelwald? If no, then why is Grindelwald doing this breadcrumb trail to have Credence come to him instead of just showing up and telling him he knows who his real family is? If he does, then why on God’s green earth, would he go back to him? Did he conveniently forget how Greaves treated and manipulated him?

And let’s talk about that backstory. Supposedly, Credence is Dumbledore. Huh?

First off… how. Is he a step brother? There is no mention of a fourth Dumbledore sibling in the books, and even still by the time Credence could have been born, Albus’ father was already in Azkaban. The only possibility would be if he’s a half brother, but in that case, why would Kendra give him away? Even if this is the case, and he was possibly born right before Kendra died (when Albus was 17, and always away from home), he would only be a Dumbledore in name, not blood, so I’m not sure how the phoenix legend would apply to him. Even still the logistics of this working, with Kendra never leaving the house, make no sense, and even in terms of age, Credence appears to be at most 20, and Dumbledore is in his 40s. Also even if somehow Albus didn’t know that Kendra was pregnant, what about Aberforde? Ariane?

If Credence isn’t a brother then this whole reveal is even stupider and less impactful, because a long lost cousin is nowhere near as flashy or interesting as a long lost brother. More importantly, if this is the truth and Grindelwald isn’t just lying so he could manipulate Credence into killing Dumbledore… how does he know this? When did he learn it? He had no idea who Credence was when he was hunting for the obscurus as Greaves in New York! But if he is lying, then this film just wasted over 20 minutes of already bloated screen time, explaining a red herring. Which leads me to:

4. Grindelwald’s entire motivation

Hooo boy. Let’s get into it I guess.

First things first, I have to say I actually thought Johnny Depp was pretty good as Grindelwald. I would have still preferred to have Colin Farrell in the role, and I definitely don’t like supporting Johnny Depp, but I do have to give credit; he played the part convincingly, and seems to care about his role which is always a positive. He is a threatening presence and the way he manipulates and seduces the characters around him is believable and insidious. However, the actual character motivations are… muddled.

From what we know about Grindelwald in the books and the first film, he thinks muggles should be subjugated and/or exterminated, and wizards should rule. He sees muggles, half-bloods, muggle borns and anyone not of pure blood as subhuman and expandable, and his goal is to start a war between wizards and muggles. Unlike Voldemort, he has learned the art of PR and gives a decently convincing speech towards the end of the film, that I could see could reasonably sway more center leaning wizards to join his cause. I think too this is what they were trying to do with Queenie’s character; show how enticing his message could be to someone desperate precisely because of the laws the wizards have set to guide their society.

However, I am still not sure why he wants or needs Credence. He says in the film that his biggest threat is Dumbledore and he can’t kill Dumbledore because of a blood pact he made with him (we will get to it, I promise), so the only person who can kill him is apparently… Credence? Why? Credence is powerful yes, and he may be a Dumbledore, but he’s also not trained and has no experience in fighting, and it was shown in the first film that he can in fact be defeated or at least significantly slowed down with curses. Hell, that’s even shown in this film too with Mad Eye Moody! So what makes Grindelwald think Credence can take on Dumbledore and win? Moreover, Grindelwald knows that Dumbledore is afraid of him, so why would he even bother wasting time and resources on this? It’s just so unnecessary!

I’d also like to point out one things here. I was very afraid the film will completely gloss over the relationship Grindelwald has with Dumbledore, and for the most part it does. The representation is that very vague, blink and you’ll miss it type, that can be very easily plausibly denied; a line about them being closer than brothers here and a flashback of the blood pact in the Mirror of Erised there. Which is honestly a wasted opportunity, because how much more compelling would it be, if homosexuality, and possibly laws against it were actually explored? What if the wizarding community has laws against gay marriage and relationships as well as against muggle-wizard relationships? This would give such a more interesting and powerful reason for Queenie and Grindelwald to connect, and possibly another reason for Dumbledore and the Ministry to disagree on, but no. It’s just weak lip service, and it’s honestly disgraceful and insulting in an otherwise progressive series, in 2018.

5. The Blood Pact (and everything Dumbledore):

Let’s talk about the stupid ass blood pact. So, in the books, one of the most interesting and touching aspects about Dumbledore and Grindelwald was that Dumbledore was afraid of facing Grindelwald, not because he was afraid he’d lose, but because of the truth; Grindelwald possibly knew what happened the night Arianne died, that maybe it was Dumbledore’s own curse that killed her. He felt guilty that he failed to protect his siblings, disillusionment with Grindelwald and his cause, afraid of the truth and still very much in love with the man, in spite of everything.

In this film, it turns out that Dumbledore couldn’t fight Grindelwald because he apparently made a blood pact with him that they would never fight each other. Right.

This makes… no sense. In the books, the reason Grindelwald and Dumbledore split up, is because one of their fights escalates in a three way duel with Aberford, which ends up killing Arianne. So if they made this blood pact before the duel, then how did they fight? Obviously they were tossing around death curses so what… does this pact work, but only sometimes?

After the fight, Grindelwald fled, and Dumbledore hadn’t seen him until decades later, when their actual duel happened. He refused to seek Grindelwald out. In the flashbacks, they look like their teenage selves, so unless they made this pact right after Arianne died, which makes no sense, then how could they have fought? Arianne is even mentioned in the scene between Leta and Dumbledore, so we can naturally assume that that at least happened the way it did in the books.

My question is, why? Were love, fear, and guilt not compelling enough reasons? Do we really need another McGuffin that we will probably spend the next entire movie destroying?

Jude Law, like Depp gives an excellent performance, especially in the classroom scenes; he gives the character a warmth and vulnerability, while still maintaining his imposing nature and importance, something Michael Gambon never achieved. It genuinely upset me that his backstory got so brutally retconned, because just imagine how much more compelling Jude Law would be in the part, if he had all these conflicting emotions to work through, rather than just a magic bottle of blood that prevents him from fighting his ex.

6. Leta Lestrange’s wasted potential (and Yusuf’s too)

This one crosses the line from just poorly executed to YIKES. What hurts most, is that I was excited for this character. A Slytherin that is possibly not evil? Backstory on the Lestrange family? A female lead of color, and played by Zoe Kraviz to boot?

Then all we get is wasted potential.

The problem with Leta is that she is too good for this film. Her backstory is incredibly interesting, while at the same time being incredibly dark, even too dark for this series. She is the daughter of a white man who kidnapped and raped a Senegalese witch of great beauty and magical power, under the Imperius curse. The woman died giving birth to Leta, and her husband made their son, Yusuf Kama swear an unbreakable vow to kill what Lestrange loves most.

As Lestrange has no love for Leta, he remarries and has a son; the only thing in the world he loves. He sends Leta and the child to America, and while on the boat, Leta switches him out for a different child that ends up drowning in the shipwreck. The muggle child gets adopted as Credence Barebones.

While at Hogwarts Leta was hated and bullied, and she was only close to Newt. But now she’s marrying his brother? We are never really given any reason for this; none of the Hogwarts flashbacks include Thaddeus, and while I have no doubt he loves her, there is never doubt for the audience that she loves Newt; she reminisces about their school days, seeks him out at several points and the scene where she dies is cringe inducing. She yells I love you at both, and the audience is supposed to guess which one she’s talking to, as if that matters at all?

How she dies is honestly insulting; she doesn’t even do anything to Grindelwald. Her spell doesn’t appear to have any effect on him or the fire, so her sacrifice is completely pointless. And don’t give me the whole she lets the apparate when they clearly do it a while after she dies, and Grindelwald still attacks them anyway.

Why introduce this character only to kill her off? Was there really no other way to have the Scamander brothers bond? You had to kill a very interesting and unique female character to do it? This choice, made me angry. Leta and Yusuf deserve a better move than this, The latter is so underused, that outside of his exposition scene where he just tells the audience the entire Kama and Lestrange backstory, he spends the rest of the film either unconscious or being an obvious red herring. As for Leta, why doesn’t Grindelwald want her on his side? She is also the heir to an incredibly old pure bloodline and she’s clearly a capable witch. You are telling me Credence is worth blowing Paris up for, but Leta isn’t? Hogwash.

7. Newt Scamander is a supporting character in his own film

Do you remember a little series of films called the Hobbit? They also contained an endearing, soft male lead, a jovial tone, lots of interesting supporting characters and an underlying darkness that occasionally peered through the cracks? Do you remember how the second film of that series became increasingly bloated, by taking the focus away from Bilbo, and introducing all these characters and plotlines that were only tangentially related to him, and weighed down not just on the film’s runtime, but also its content? And then how the third film barely had anything to do with Bilbo, was a jumbled, overlong mess and relegated its lead character to nothing more than a book end? Yeah, I’m worried about that too.

I love Newt; Eddie Redmayne is excellent in the role, and makes even strange scenes endearing and lovable. Newt even gets some great scenes in this film, like him taming the zouwi, riding the kelpie, and any of the scenes he shares with Leta, Tina or Jacob. But my is he just completely superfluous to this film.

The reason he is even in Paris, is completely stupid; the ministry wants him to become an Auror. Why? Why would they even think he would be willing to kill an innocent man for them? Dumbledore having no one to trust but Newt? Also why? You are telling me truly that Newt Scamander, outsider, cooky naturalist and carer of magical creatures is capable of going against Grindelwald? Not to mention he has no real reason or motive to want to; if anything it was the Aurors that ‘killed’ Credence so his beef should be more with them, than Grindelwald. Until Grindelwald kills Leta (which let me remind you, is the end of the film), he has no motivation to want to even meet Grindelwald and in fact he doesn’t; his priority for over half the film, is finding Tina, not Credence or Grindelwald.

How is he supposed to fit in this historically famous duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald? The way they involve him at the end with the niffler is almost as bad as introducing a whole other character and killing them off, just to give your lead motivation to stop the villain.

The point of the matter is that these movies should have been an anthology. This particular story would have worked much better if Tina, or Thaddeus, or Credence or even Dumbledore were leads. Hell, you could still have Newt tag along, but he can’t be the central character in a conflict that has nothing to do with him. That’s why Battle of Five Armies was so jumbled, because in order for the film to make any sense, they had to relegate Bilbo to a secondary character since he spends most of the battle unconscious. I don’t want that to happen to Newt, but I’m afraid that’s where the filmmakers are going and it makes me sad.

I didn’t want to come down this hard on this film; I really did want to love it. And the parts that are good, are truly magical; it has some beautiful visuals, incredible and imaginative magic, and the actors are all excellent in roles of mostly likable characters. Unfortunately the universe has expanded to a breaking point, and it doesn’t seem like the filmmakers know how to juggle all the threads they have introduced. I haven’t even touched on unresolved plot threads from the first film that aren’t even addressed here. I just hope this isn’t a predictor of what to expect for the rest of the series because I remember a time, when J K Rowling was able to craft plots and characters that were spectacular, and not just marketable.

[kristencoded-blog]

The Set Up | Chatzy

Summary: Edward and Isabella try to solve their Jessica Jones dilemma Trigger warnings: Mentions of abuse, mentions of gaslighting, mentions of murder  Written by: @kristencoded​, @riddlesreformed​ Mentioned: @akawhiskeyy

Isabella: Isabella placed her mug down and clasped her hands together on the table. She and Edward had been exchanging pleasantries for a while, but there was an undercurrent of tension to the entire situation, and she didn't want to waste their time.

The thought of getting revenge on Jessica for what she had done and said, of showing her that she was wrong about everything, was oddly thrilling. It reminded her of when she and Edward had discussed testing Felicia. It made her heart race a little. But, of course, she didn't know exactly how they were going to get back at Jessica.

"I guess there's no point beating about the bush, Edward," she said, in a cold, business-like tone. "Honestly, Jessica Jones has been irritating me for weeks."

Edward: There was nothing Edward hated more than getting struck in the face. Especially when it was for no good reason. Ever since he became the Riddler, Eddie didn't allow that sort of abuse to go unpunished. He was beyond bothered by the blatant hatred she harboured for him. That woman had no right to judge him when she didn't even know him. No right to hit him and for that she would pay. He sipped on his tea and tried to ignore the soreness that settled in his jaw.

"You're right." He said, giving her a nod at her words. "I'm sorry you have to put up with her," He said softly. "But soon you won't have to. I can promise you that much."

Isabella: Even looking at the bruise on Edward's face made Isabella's jaw clench. She hadn't felt pain in years, but she sympathised with Edward. Jessica Jones had crossed a line. She had been toeing it ever since she had snatched Isabella's phone at the bar, but now she had crossed it.

Isabella gripped her mug tightly, careful not to break it. She had been far too lenient with the other woman. She had listened to her drunken ramblings, and offered her help, and politely asked her to stay out of their lives. But Jessica hadn't. Edward's quiet apology made her smile, though not as brightly as she would have done any other time.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Edward," she replied. This wasn’t his fault, after all.

There was no mistaking the threat that followed, and she was slightly surprised at how that affected her. She felt a jolt of excitement, but kept her cool, and stayed utterly still. She raised an eyebrow at him. Was he suggesting killing Jessica? As righteously furious as she was at what had happened, she didn't want the other woman dead. Jessica didn’t deserve to die for what she’d done. But she did deserve to pay.

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" she asked in a quiet voice, leaning forwards ever so slightly. If he proposed murder, she had another idea up her sleeve, but she wanted him to lead.

Edward: "Nothing yet, I need more information on her before I can start plotting something. She can't get away with hitting me, or toying with our relationship though," he said.

Edward had done horrible things to people in the fast. He had horrific impulses and deadly plans. He caused a small explosion that took away a man's left arm before for pushing him. He had electrocuted a woman for doing the same thing. No one was allowed to hit him like that. No one was allowed to publicly embarrass him.

Ed practically gave off steam he was so fired up. All this rage had been dormant for years and finally he was ready to release it on someone. "We can't let her just walk all over us."

Isabella: Where Edward's rage was fiery, and his every word burned with anger, Isabella's fury was glacial and restrained. Her anger at what Jessica had done, how she had infiltrated her life and slowly wormed her way to Edward, and assaulted him, was like ice in her veins. Her back was straight, and her shoulders were tense, and she felt very in control. Just like Jessica had told her she wasn't. Just like she was going to prove that she was.

Edward using plural pronouns made her skin tingle. ​Our relationship. Us​. He thought of them as a team. As equals. He had asked for her help, and her input. He hadn’t even asked. He had assumed immediately that they were going to work together on this. It was very flattering,

She took a sip of tea, and forced herself to focus on what was important. She and Edward were in this together. That was clear.

"She won't get away with it," she replied, in a matter-of-fact tone. She wanted to call attention to him referencing their relationship, but now wasn't the time. "If you need information, I can help there."

She smiled, but it wasn't her ordinary smile, which was sunny and genuinely happy, and made her whole face light up. There was no warmth in this smile. It was cold and triumphant. As Isabella spoke, the gears in her head turned, and pieces of a plan started to form. "She has shared a lot with me over these past few weeks. I know about her past."

Edward: "She has?" Edward looked positively intrigued with that statement. Isabella continued proving herself over and over again to him, and despite his anger for Jessica, he felt a warm fondness for the woman in front of him. She was a force. Intelligent – enough to keep up with him but not quite at his level. He respected and adored that. She was gorgeous as well.

"Isabella, do tell me what she's shared." He said, there was a flicker of light in his eyes. Wanting to know what she did. Wanting to use whatever information he could to destroy Jessica for what she has done.

Isabella: Edward was obviously interested, and the attention made Isabella glow with pride. She wanted to knock Jessica Jones off her moral pedestal, and show the other woman that she had chosen this. She had chosen Edward.

Jessica was living proof that Isabella had made the right choice in sparing Edward. Killing the guy who had hurt her had clearly damaged her, and Isabella met Edward's gaze and couldn't remember what it had been like to hate him in that all-consuming, festering, corrosive way. Now, all of her rage was directed at the woman who had dared to insult her by suggesting that she'd been controlled, who had the audacity to hit him. Isabella smiled, eager to share what she knew.

"Well, she's a murderer," she said. "She killed a man who she's made quite clear hurt her very badly in the past. I'd imagine we can gather information on her crime with little problems."

She took another drink, savouring his look of intrigue, basking in it, before putting her mug down and speaking again. "I think that's why she turned to alcohol. His death really weighs on her conscience. She was lying on the sidewalk, drunk, when I last saw her." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I think she's homeless, too, which may come in handy."

Edward: He leaned in a little closer, resting a hand on his chin and listening intently to what she had to say. Her start was a strong one.

She's a murderer.

Isabella stated and Ed perked right up at this latest development. A murderer she said. Well, there was tons of things he could do to her now. Tons of games and traps he could set up with that theme in mind. She thought she was all high and mighty but she killed just as Edward had. She wasn't so different from him at all.

Oh, did he ever want to torture her for believing she was better than he was. Edward was making a life for himself, he was moving on and redeeming himself to society and then she came with her high morals and smacked him right in the face with it. Now it was coming out that she was a hypocrite. She killed a man who hurt her and couldn't put it behind her. She couldn't better herself and be a productive member of society.

Ed just gleamed at the information he was being, his lips curving in a smile as he listened. "Oh, dear." He purred, "She comes up to use with her high morals and yet she is a killer herself. A killer without a home." He hummed. "Isabella... I can't believe people just tell you all of this. God you're... incredible. I bet that you can get information from anyone you please! With ease." What an asset she would be to the Riddler...

Isabella: Watching Edward think was a genuine privilege, and Isabella smiled as he took in her information. She didn't know the details of the murder, or what, exactly, this man had done to Jessica. But that didn't matter. That information could be easily accessed. Jessica would probably not be in the mood to spill anything else any time soon, but that could easily be rectified.

She was arrogant, so convinced that she was right about Edward, and that Isabella was stupid and easily manipulated, and controlled, and it would be easy to make Jessica think that she agreed with her. It would be sickening, to agree with Jessica, to grovel, but it might be necessary. However, she was getting ahead of herself. That wouldn't come until later, if at all.

There was a new cadence when Edward spoke, a chilling note that she had never heard before, and it sent a pleasant shiver down Isabella's spine. He was right, of course. Jessica Jones was a hypocrite, projecting her hatred of the man who had hurt onto Edward. They were nothing alike.

"Hypocrisy, thy name is Jessica Jones," Isabella replied, smiling.

She had to avert her gaze when he called her ​incredible​, to keep herself from blushing and smiling in a very unprofessional way. Incredible. Coming from anyone, that was a compliment, but coming from Edward? She had butterflies, and was relieved that she was able to stay so still, and keep her expression so passive, except for her warm smile.

"Oh my, thank you, Edward," she said, unable to keep the happiness out of her tone. But then, when she next spoke, it was cooler again, business-like. "The Court trained me very well. I'm very empathetic. But, of course, you already know that. And people tend to underestimate me a great deal."

There was a bitterness to her tone that surprised even her, and she blinked once, and tried to refocus. "I can get more information from Jessica, but I would have to lie about you. I'm sorry."

She reached out a hand, almost to take his, but she didn't want to be presumptuous, and stopped half way across the table. "She won't tell me anything now. I would need to make her think I'd distanced myself from you. Then she would open up."

Edward: "Yes," He said, reaching after she did and taking her hand. He saw her reaching hers out as an invitation for Ed to hold his. "It would be beneficial for us if she is to believe we are not in cahoots at all. Give it a little time to cool off and then go to her – crying, preferably. It would be easier to work against her if she trusts you.

You said this man was terrible to her? Probably an abuser? Dig up information on what he was like by speaking to her. I'll try and find files on him or any information at all, really. I want to get his voice down pact. A perfect imitation. We may not be able to hurt her that easily, but if he has this much impact on her I bet he'll be able to."

He smiled, almost cruelly at what he had in mind. They could bring this man back to life in her memory and torment her easily with him. Rub who she had killed right in her face so she knew that she was not the moral woman she wanted to believe she was. So she was reminded by what she had done.

Isabella: They were together on this. Holding Edward's hand like the affirmation that Jessica hadn't broken them, the way she'd planned to. She projected her own relationship with an abuser onto Isabella and Edward, and had judged Edward to some insane moral standard that didn't even allow him to defend himself.

As she thought of all the chances she'd given that woman, every offer to help her, Isabella felt the righteous anger freezing her veins again. She hated that she would have to lie, to play Jessica's game, but she could see a silver lining. It would be a fascinating character study. A chance to observe Jessica’s reactions to emotional stimuli in a controlled environment. And Isabella was a very adept liar, and she didn't often get to put that skill into practice.

"I might preface going to see her with a few concerning texts," she said. "To make her think I'm wavering, so it doesn’t come out of the blue for her. And then I can visit her and say that I've cut you off." She held his hand a little tighter when she spoke, to reassure him that she wouldn't dream of doing that.

"When I start at the S.C.P.D., I'll have easier access to records," she said, excitedly. "I'll see what I can find then, as well."

She met his gaze, steadily, genuinely awed by his plan. What would hurt Jessica Jones more than her abuser? "Oh, yes! Edward, you're a ​genius​! We can make her think he's come back from the dead! I’m proof that's possible, after all."

Edward: He was practically bursting with pride as she went on. What a beautiful plan they were concocting together. He never liked making plans with other people because well – they never fully understood the way his brain worked. They didn't like his riddles or his ideas. But she did, and she added to the idea. Giving it more life and depth.

She was the only person he could think of who he truly enjoyed working with and this was only a few minutes into their devilish plan. How was she such a perfect partner? Could he somehow convince her to join him on future endeavours if he ever did go back to crime? She would be so good at it.

She squeezed his hand and a little heat started on his cheeks. You're a genius. She said and his heart pounded a little quicker in his chest as he was realized by her.

He leaned a little closer to her across the table and gave her a bright smile. "How are you so perfect?" He asked her, his other hand – before he could really think about what he was doing – reaching out and cupping her cheek. "Yes, you can check the files at the S.C.P.D. I'm... glad you got your old job back, by the way... It'll be nice to work with you, again."

Isabella: ​How are you so perfect​? Isabella's breath caught in her throat at Edward's words. He thought she was perfect. Edward, whom she had always thought was arrogant and selfish, who she was notoriously difficult to impress, had called her perfect, and accepted her help, and praised her additions to their plan.

This was ​their​ plan. Plural. They worked together seamlessly, like they were two halves of a whole. How had she ever thought she could live without Edward? She had been pieces of two people, disconnected and fragmented, but orbiting her life around him was pulling her together again.

"I… I’ll look for them on my first day. I’ll make it my priority," she said, stuttering a little, still overcome that he’d called her perfect. When he put his hand on her face, her skin tingled, and she could feel his breath on her lips. "You are?" she asked, softly. She had been afraid that he would feel crowded, like she was walking into his territory. But he wanted her there? She could hardly believe it.

"I was worried you would feel that I was... invading. But Jim asked me and I just had to say yes." she said, stuttering a little, overcome that he’d called her perfect.  She smiled. "My first thought was of you, actually. That I would be working with you again. I’ve missed you, Edward." It seemed like the right time to say that, being so close to him, with her heart racing and his hand cupping her cheek.

Edward: There seemed to be a many ways Isabella made herself useful to him. Not only was she intelligent but she did have easier access to files, and she had a face people just trusted, and even made a name for herself as a trust-worthy person.

He wondered if she ever learnt how to fight. If she did, that would help immensely. Eddie was a punching bag of sorts to a lot of people and the skill had never interested him when say – he could learn yet another language in the time he would spend getting stronger. There were hireable henchman who could do that sort of thing and – Why was he even thinking about all of this? Was he not reformed?

... He would do this one thing. Torture Jessica, then he'd go back to the normal, bland life he had been fighting for, for five years.

She said she missed him and he lit up red like a Christmas Tree. "You did?" He whispered, "I missed you too... it's been lonely around the apartment since you've been gone. It almost made me wish I were still gravely injured so you can take care of me. I – I know it's... odd to wish sort of thing, but I – " He stammered. It was only so long before she got to him. Damn his awkwardness.

"In any case, I'm glad I'll be seeing you at work. Though for the time being, we shouldn't talk too much in public. We need to look as though we're drifting apart."

Isabella: Isabella's smile changed when Edward blushed. It became sunny, and genuinely happy, at the sight of him looking so endearingly awkward. He'd missed her too? He had wanted her living with him again?

"Of course I did," she replied, gently. His stammering was adorable, and it grounded her. Watching Edward getting flustered made her feel, oddly, less flustered, though his hand was on her cheek and he was looking at her like she was the only person in the whole world.

"You're right. We should avoid one another in public. But I don't want to not see you, Edward." She spoke in a rush, remembering what Jubilee and Harley had told her. She had to come clean. And he had missed her too, hadn't he?

She forced her tone to stay steady and matter-of-fact. "I don't mean to impose... And if you want to refuse, you can. Of course. But we will need to see one another, if we're going to work out the finer details of our plan." She met his gaze. "Perhaps I should move back in here? It makes sense to stay away from one another in public, to avoid suspicion, but we're still going to need to work out our next move. And that would be easier to do if I lived here."

Edward: It would be easier if they lived together, that was true. Their plot would come together more seamlessly if she was under the same roof as him. Not to mention there would be no records of phone calls or text messages that way.

"Yes," he said. He wanted her to live with him anyway. He missed having dinner with her or watching TV. He liked those moments they had shared together. She was a constant in his life. Her presence not only made things easier when he was weak but reminded him that Felicia and his breakup was not one he should be lingering over.

Felicia was no Jonathan Crane or Isabella Flynn. The two of them had intelligence he could respect. Whereas Felicia was street smart, she couldn't keep up sometimes in conversations with him. She wasn't a perfect match for him. But perhaps Isabella still was.

"I want you to stay with me. You can have the guest bedroom for the time being. It is... so wonderful to be working with you Isabella. And to be living with you." He squeezed her hand gently.

Isabella: Isabella had hoped that Edward would want her to move in, even if only to make planning easier, but to actually ​hear​ him say it was still a relief. She breathed out slowly, and couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Her life hadn't been the same at the condo. It wasn’t just because of her fight with 5. She hadn't moved in with the rest of the family, and she'd never felt at home there. Ever since she'd left Edward's house, she had wanted to come back. She'd gotten used to being with him, to their long hours just reading or watching movies. The condo had never really been her home.

For the time being. The unspoken implication in that phrase made her blush a little. As if her not sleeping in his bed wouldn’t be permanent. But this wasn’t the time to think about that. Even letting her mind wander in that direction was ridiculous.

"Thank you for agreeing to let me stay. I’m so glad," she said, softly, meeting his gaze. "I'll start moving out as soon as I can. And I'll text Jessica in a few days. Maybe tomorrow."

When he squeezed her hand, her breath caught in her throat. How ​dare​ Jessica Jones imply that Edward was a monster? That he was anything like the man Jessica had killed? How dare she suggest that Isabella wasn't in complete control? Well, they would show her. Together.

Isabella met his gaze and, when she spoke, her voice was cold and brimming with fury, but it wasn't aimed at him. "We'll teach her a lesson, Edward. It'll be my privilege to work with you."