#we need a good invaders revenge plot

[lipglossanon]

I’m Not A Bad Man (I’m Just Overwhelmed)

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Stepdad!Leon S. Kennedy x fem!reader part i - An Open Invitation (To A Perfect Domination)

part ii - What You Do To Me (No One Knows)

part iv (finale): Am I Your One and Only Desire?

Warnings: 18+ so minors DNI, stepcest, fingering, cockwarming, unprotected sex, oral (f and m receiving), ball teasing, ball sucking, having sex while on the phone with an oblivious caller (hopefully that makes sense, cause idk what to label it 🤣), dirty talk, daddy kink, light breeding kink, creampie, cum swallowing, face sitting, pussy slapping/spanking

not proofread brochachos 🤙 mainly just smut so if you’re looking for plot I’d look elsewhere 🤣

Title from These Things by She Wants Revenge

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Thankfully, Leon gives you a breather after the marathon sex. He kisses you one last time and helps you out of bed. You go to stand, but your legs tremble so much you nearly fall. He catches you and guides you into the master bath connected to the bedroom.

He sits you down on the edge of the tub and starts the water.

“I’m gonna go make that food order,” he kisses the top of your head, “I’ll be back in a few minutes; yell if you need me.”

Humming in reply, you watch the muscles in his back and ass as he turns and leaves the room; a low heat flares in your stomach when you see all the scratch marks you left on his skin.

You twist, running your hand under the tap and finding the water warm enough, you stopper the tub and slip down into the bottom. Sighing, you relax as the warm water slowly fills the basin, caressing your skin and helping to loosen your muscles.

“Don’t fall asleep on me now,” a warm voice murmurs causing your eyes to flutter open.

“Mmm sorry,” you look up to see Leon turning the water off.

“Raise up for me, sweetheart,” he climbs in the bath with you, sitting directly behind you and pulling you to sit between his legs.

You tense for a moment, but when he doesn’t do anything more than rub your arms you slowly relax back against him.

“So sweet for me,” he presses kisses into your neck, hands wrapping around your waist.

Your tongue feels heavy in your mouth, “‘m tired, Leon.”

“I know,” he lets his right hand drift down your body until he’s stroking your inner thigh, “let me help you.”

You whine but don’t fight him as he slips his middle and ring finger into your soft, clenching heat.

“Please no,” you whine out in discomfort as he slips his fingers out and back in.

His questing fingers begin pressing into your body more insistently, “I need to clean out the mess I made, beautiful.”

“Fuck,” you hiss as Leon fingers out the leftover cum in your hole.

His fingers slide out of your body, leaving you gasping and aching at the empty feeling left behind.

“Shh sweetheart,” he kisses the side of your head, “it’s over with now.”

A low chuckle in your ear causes goosebumps to chase across your skin.

“So good for me aren’t you?” a hot tongue traces the shell of his ear, “god, you drive me crazy.”

You gasp, “I-I’m —“

The loose hold around your waist tightens as Leon nips at your earlobe before placing open mouth kisses across the arch of your neck, tongue darting out to taste your skin.

You shiver at the sensation, baring more of your neck to him. A small whine leaves your mouth before you can quell it.

“Daddy,” you gasp out only to have Leon slip his index and middle fingers into your mouth.

You hear a tsk before his smoky voice speaks again, “Pretty, pretty girl.”

You weakly suck on the digits invading your mouth. He presses a soft kiss at your temple.

“I know how bad you want it, baby. You sound so pretty when you fall apart,” he presses his fingers harder against your tongue, “but we gotta give your little pussy a break.”

Your back arches as you squirm in arousal at those words, a whimper slipping from your throat. You eagerly lap at his fingers, wrapping your tongue around them and swallowing as drool drips down your chin.

A low hum from Leon reverberates in your chest.

“So good for me, baby,” Leon nuzzles your neck, fingertips skating across your skin.

He relaxes against the tub, hands rubbing your arms and shoulders. You slowly become less tense until you’re laying against him sleepily. Leon helps you wash off with soft kisses pressed into your skin at every step. Once finished, he helps you up and out of the tub.

After the bath, Leon slips out to get dressed leaving you to dry off on your own. You step out in a towel and Leon hands you an old sleep shirt of his and a pair of briefs.

You go to take them and he pulls them back out of reach, “What do we say, sweetheart?”

Your toes curl to stop your hands from fidgeting, “Thank you, daddy.”

“Good girl,” he smiles, kissing the top of your head and handing you the shirt and briefs.

“The food’s here so I’ll see you downstairs.”

You watch him leave the bedroom and you gaze down at the soft baggy shirt in your hands. Unfolding it you see, RPD emblazoned on the left breast pocket.  You quickly slip it on along with the briefs, which make you wrinkle your nose, and make your way downstairs.

۩۞۩۞۩۞۩

You both sit on the couch after eating the takeout Leon ordered. Sated and tired, you snuggle into the cushions to finish watching the scary movie that was playing earlier. Sitting cross legged, your shoulders brush up against Leon’s as his big hand encompasses your thigh.

“I’ve got an idea,” his voice is a low, heated timbre, “why don’t you keep me nice and warm?”

Your brows furrow in confusion as you tilt your face up to look at him, “What?”

He pulls the front of his sweats down just enough to slip his cock out. He’s half hard and slowly filling out, thickening against his thigh. He pats his legs.

“Straddle me and I’ll show you what I mean,” his hair falls over his eyes giving him a boyish air.

Leon pulls you into his lap, murmuring sweet praise in your ear. He slips his hands under the loose briefs you’re wearing and rubs your clit. His fingers dip into your slit to tease at your hole until you’re squirming and whimpering and soaking his fingers.

Pulling away, he helps you to slip the briefs he gave you off, baring your cunt— all puffy and shiny with slick. His cock slides in between your thighs, precum leaving a sticky wet trail against your skin.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he soothes you, hands gripping your hips tight enough to bruise.

He slips the tip of his fat dick into your wet spasming hole.

“Fuck, so good. Such a good girl for me huh. Shh shh, s’okay just the tip sweetheart, promise won’t go any further,” he sighs in relief, letting the head of his cock breach your spasming hole.

Leon’s biceps flex, highlighting the veins in his forearms as he holds your dripping pussy still. The fat tip stretches your sore cunt making you whine as your fingers dig into his tense shoulders.

“Daddy,” you whine, desperate at this point and not able to think past the feeling of the slight stretch of your pussy and how empty it feels inside.

Whining you work his cock further and further into your body as Leon just holds your hips, groaning until you’re sitting flushed against his pelvis.

He watches you work your sweet little pussy down on his cock. He then lifts you up just to let you slide back down.

“You put it all in by yourself, huh,” he growls, “now just let me use your sloppy hole, sweetheart.”

“Leon,” you gasp, grinding down with a moan.

He holds your hips still, not letting you shift, “Now sit here, sweet girl. You’re gonna cockwarm daddy til he’s ready to fuck your pretty pussy full of cum.”

You moan, hands tugging on his shirt. His eyes drag down your body and he pinches your nipples through the thin shirt you’re wearing.

“Look so sexy,” he gives you a messy, tongue filled kiss, “want you to wear this shirt anytime we’re home alone, okay baby?”

“O-okay, daddy,” you whimper, thighs shifting as your pussy walls clamp repeatedly on his thick cock.

“Good girl, good fucking girl,” he groans, pulling you close.

You whine and nuzzle into his neck, tucking your face under his chin.

“Settle down, baby,” he coos, running his wide palms down your spine to cup your ass in both hands.

You tense all over, but keep still with a low moan. Unsure of how long you’re made to keep Leon’s cock in your weeping pussy, you drift in and out of a daze. You can hear the tv playing in the background and Leon drops little kisses on your head, but you just coast on the floaty feeling slowly taking over your mind.

He’s so thick inside of you it’s all you can think about. The delicious stretch to your sore walls, clit swollen—begging to be touched, even the way Leon squeezes your ass, all of it keeping you in that syrupy headspace.

He jostles you accidentally, making you whine and grind down until he soothes you back into relaxing against him. Leon’s palms pet and stroke over your tired body, almost lulling you asleep. You feel his chest vibrate under your cheek.

“Hm?” You pull back with a confused sound, sleepy eyes looking into Leon’s dark stare.

“I asked if daddy’s sweet girl is feeling good?”

You give him a cute smile, “So good, daddy.”

He gives you a sly grin, “Yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” you nod.

“Maybe you should cockwarm daddy when he has to work from home, think that’s a good idea sweetheart?”

You whine, pussy clenching down on his thick cock, “Yes, daddy.”

“Yeah, you like it don’t you, feeling all stretched out from daddy’s fat cock?”

You roll your hips down with a moan, “Daddy’s the best.”

“Fuck,” he grunts, pressing his hips up into you further, “think it’s time to fill this needy cunt.”

“Uh huh,” you slur, hips humping down faster on his dick.

He grabs your waist and fucks his cock deep in your soaked pussy. After a handful of skin slapping thrusts, he slows down to deep rolling grinds. Dazedly, you hear a faint buzzing from your side.

“Daddy needs you to keep quiet, okay?”

“Wha—“

He puts his hand over your mouth as he answers his buzzing phone.

“Hey honey, how’re you?”

Your eyes widen, anxiety flaring in your stomach cutting into that cottony barrier of arousal flooding your brain. Your mom called?! You try to push away from Leon, raising your hips up to move off of his lap. A mean look comes into his face as his lips thin.

“Oh, everything’s fine here. Can’t complain.”

He puts the phone up to his ear, holding it there with his shoulder so he can use both hands to yank you back flush on his lap. His hand quickly comes up to cover your mouth as you squeal from the sudden fullness of his cock bottoming out in your cunt.

He starts up the deep rolling thrusts that keeps the fat tip of his dick pressed against your cervix; your eyes roll back in your head as the pain bleeds into molten pleasure, making your pussy pulse and clench down on his cock.

“Oh she’s doing well! We actually spent a little time together earlier,” he laughs, dark eyes watching you fall apart while he drills up into your squelching pussy with his thick, heavy cock.

“Ah, I’m sure she’ll love that. Yeah she loves her sweets, doesn’t she?”

You want to scream, you feel so good right now. But all that escapes you are tears, dripping down your cheeks leaving your eyes to look big and glassy. Leon smirks at you as he keeps chatting with your mom.

His thumb circles your clit so slowly, barely giving you any stimulation. You buck your hips and push yourself harder into his hand. Ignoring you, he stops teasing your sensitive bud and moves that hand to guide your hips into a rolling grind. 

“No,” he laughs, laying his head back on the couch, lazily focused on your tits bouncing, “I really don’t need anything.”

You’re panting behind the hand he still has covering your mouth. Moving your hands away from clenching onto his shoulders, you reach down between your bodies to spread your pussy. 

His gaze follows the movement and he stares hungrily at your spread open cunt, watching as his cock bullies in and out of your tight hole. 

“Wait,” he rasps, “yeah that does sound good actually.”

He moves his head closer to your chest. pulls the phone away, and spits on your pussy. You freeze; your whole body clenching from that so he does it again, watching gleefully as you shudder all over, eyes rolling back as the hot spit drips all over your pussy lips and swollen clit. 

“Huh, sorry could you repeat that, the phone cut out for a sec,” he settles back against the couch, not letting you bounce on his dick like you want, like you need. 

You go to move your hands, but he gives a quick, sharp smack to your clit directly that has you crying out behind his palm.

“Oh must be the movie, I’m watching. Yeah that one,” he grins, “you know how I love these kinds of things.”

Your eyes widen as you watch him lick a stripe from the edge of his palm to the tips of fingers. His wet hand comes down to spank your pussy and clit hard. You squeal and buck in his lap but can’t pull away. 

“Yeah it gets kinda loud in certain parts,” he spanks your spread open cunt again, “sorry if it’s too loud, honey.”

Your eyes are completely rolled back, eyelashes fluttering and mouth drooling as Leon abuses your sore pussy. It’s getting you wetter than before, the sharp sting fading into that hot, dull throb that’s making you shiver all over. 

Without realizing it, you’ve stopped trying to get away. You’ve arched your hips up just right so when Leon smacks his hand down on your sensitive cunt, he’s really giving it to you. When he does finally pull away, your eyes focus on his with a whine. 

“Yeah? I get it, and the traffic is always so terrible on top of it,” he keeps talking to your mom, like your not grinding your needy cunt on his fat cock. 

It makes you so hot to know that Leon’s fucking you while he’s talking to his wife—your own mom. You feel like such a slut but you can’t deny how it gets you so wet, makes you want to ride Leon hard, maybe even get caught. 

Your walls spasm and clench down on him at that thought making him flinch and bite his lip. 

“Nothing,” he clears his throat, eyes narrowing at you, “movie just got to me for a sec I guess.”

You stop spreading yourself open and drag your nails down his tense stomach, then leaving one hand there you reach around behind you with your free hand to squeeze his balls. 

It’s like you electrocuted him; his hips jump up, stomach trembling under your hand. He’s stifling any noise but you can see in the pinch of his brows that he likes it. You feather your fingertips across the soft skin before gently rolling his balls in your hand. 

“It does sound fun,” his eyes stare into yours, hungry and dark, “maybe we should take a trip out that way then.”

You bite your lip and gently squeeze down on his sack. He bucks up into your pussy even harder. The hand holding onto your hip moves and grabs your hand on his stomach to push it back behind you. He nods downward and you take the hint, moving it to join the other on touching his heavy balls. 

“Yeah, sounds perfect,” he sighs, fully relaxing into the couch.

You can’t really bounce on him in this position, so Leon’s thick cock just stays seated in your pulsing heat as your hands tease and tickle his balls. Using both hands, you can really tell how big and swollen they’ve gotten. You roll them in your hands and feel his cock kick inside your pussy. 

You moan softly, muffled behind his hand still, and keep massaging his soft sack. You start to wonder what it would be like to have them in your mouth, all sensitive and fat on your tongue. You feel yourself dripping down his cock at the thought. 

“I can’t believe they would ask you to do that,” his hand squeezes your thigh hard enough to bruise.

You tug his balls and bounce them in your hand before softly massaging them. Leon raises up into more of a sitting position and roughly pulls you up and off of his cock. You watch dazedly as his dick drools precum down the wet shaft, until he manhandles you down over the armrest of the couch. 

With your back to him, you can only feel as he slides his fat cock back into your pussy, stretching you out so good it makes your hole clench down over and over. 

“Yeah, exactly. Oh? Well okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Yeah, mm love you too,” he pulls you flush with his hips, stilling all movement to keep his dick fully inside your cunt. 

He hangs up and tosses the phone to the side. 

“Trying to suck me in, sweetheart? Greedy little pussy needs daddy’s cock that bad?”

He pounds into your sloppy, squelching hole, slick dripping everywhere. The swollen tip of his cock hammers against your g-spot making you scream. 

“Fuck yeah,” he groans with a laugh, “wanna cream that sweet fucking pussy. Get you all dirty so I can eat you out.”

You whine and claw at the couch, clit rubbing against the rough material and edging you closer and closer to orgasm. 

“C’mon baby, don’t you want that? Want me breed that hot cunt? Course you do,” he moves his hands from your hips to each side of your body on the armrest. 

He lowers himself down, using his body weight to hold you in place and box you in, “Should I make you squirt on my cock, sweetheart? Get the couch all dirty?”

You tense up, words slurring, “Daddy, gonna cum, gonna cum.”

He laughs and pinches your side as his hand slips down to your clit. He tugs your hips back just a little and lands a hard spank across your swollen bud. 

You squeal, body trembling, “Daddy!”

“Oh I know,” he mocks, “so rough on your little pussy.”

He smacks you again catching your clit on his wedding ring making you scream as your orgasm rushes over you. Slick drips around his cock as your cunt clamps down on his dick. 

“Fuck,” he growls, hips pistoning harder into your fluttering walls, “good girl, good g— fuck!”

Your cunt milks his cock as he fills you with hot sticky cum. 

“Take it,” he hisses, biting down hard on your shoulder causing you to moan, pussy clamping down even harder on his dick. 

Your crying from how good it feels, hole still gushing slick from his fat cock bullying into your pussy and cumming deep inside you. 

You hiccup a sob as he keeps cumming, rope after rope of hot jizz painting your fluttering walls white. 

“Gonna eat you out after this,” he groans in your ear, “wanna get my mouth on your pussy so bad.”

You whine as he pulls out, cum and slick oozing from your hole to drip all down your thighs and onto the couch. Without moving you, Leon lays on his back and shifts until he’s underneath your splayed legs. 

“Sit on my face, baby,” he guides your hips down, but you hesitate and hover over his mouth. 

“I said,” he growls, “sit on my fucking face.”

With a harsh tug, your cunt presses down on his mouth, squishing his nose against your clit. His mouth opens, tongue eagerly licking into your sensitive pussy. You feel him moan and it makes you rock against his soft lips. 

You grab onto his hair and start riding his face gently as you’re still reeling from that last orgasm. His hands slide from your hips to your thighs to just hold you in place. 

“Daddy,” you moan, “so good, feels—unh.”

You trail off with a whine as he sucks on your pussy lips and nuzzles your clit. He greedily eats the cum out of your messy cunt. Mewling, you press yourself harder on Leon’s face; he groans as you settle further onto his mouth.

He grinds his face against your puffy cunt making you whine louder, clit fat and throbbing with arousal. He rubs his nose against the sensitive bundle of nerves making you buck into the feeling. 

Everything is so sensitive, ramped up to eleven, that you’re cumming on his tongue before you even realize it. 

“D-dadd—dad—,” your spine bows in a perfect curve as Leon laps up all of your creamy slick. 

You’re suspended in that too much feeling as Leon groans and presses even further into your cunt, practically suffocating himself to taste you more. 

When he finally pushes you up and slides out, your legs are too shaky to hold you up. Leon manhandles you to lay with your back against the couch. This time, he kneels over your shoulders, knees now bracketing either side of your head. 

“Open your mouth, baby,” he takes his cock in hand and slaps it against your lips. 

You eagerly loll your tongue out, eyes lidded and hazy. Instead of feeding his cock into your waiting mouth, he pulls it towards his abs to drag his balls across your open mouth. Moaning, you eagerly lick and suck on the salty skin. Your eyes flutter as he dips his balls in and out of your mouth. 

“There we go, suck’em sweetheart,” he mockingly coos down at you, slowly stroking his dick. 

You lick and suck on his sack until it’s coated in your spit, dripping back down on your chin. Moaning, you suck one of his balls in your mouth and work it with your tongue and lips. 

“That’s it, good girl,” he laughs, “god, love having my balls sucked by a pretty girl.”

You let it go with a pop and pull the other one into your hot mouth with a low sigh. Humming in pleasure, you gently suck on the soft skin of his ball while running your tongue all around it. 

“Let me teabag that sweet little mouth,” he growls down at you, pulling off of your mouth to dip his wet sack back down onto your tongue again and again. 

He eventually drags his balls down your chin leaving a trail of spit as he presses the drippy tip of his cock past your swollen lips. 

“Gonna cum in your mouth,” he groans, watching as your lips stretch around his hard cock. 

Tears gather at your lash line as he sinks inch by inch into your hot wet throat. 

“Fuck, gonna cream this little throatpussy,” he grins at you as you moan around his dick, “like that? Mmm it’s gonna feel so good, daddy’s hot cum bathing your slutty throat.”

You whine, reaching down to your sore cunt to rub your clit. 

“You getting off to this?” He chuckles, sliding deeper into your mouth making your throat click when you swallow. 

He pulls out a few inches and sinks back down into you making you moan as he fills your throat. 

“Play with that cute pussy, cum all over your fingers while I fuck your mouth,” he holds your head down so he can fuck down into your spit slick mouth, wet balls smacking your chin. 

You continue to moan as he fucks open your throat, eyes watering when he dips down too far. 

“God, baby, I’m about to cum,” his hips stutter, “gonna swallow, right? Yeah, drink it all up for daddy. Milk my cock as I drain my balls in that tight fucking throat.”

Your fingers circle and rub your clit faster until you’re moaning uncontrollably and cumming, hole clenching down on nothing as slick drips from your pussy. 

With a low groan, Leon eases out until you can only suckle on the fat head of his dick. Hot sticky ropes of cum fill your mouth and the back of your throat; as he slowly sinks further into your mouth, cum drips down the back of your throat making you swallow and milk his throbbing cock. 

Leon pulls out of your mouth, but leaves his swollen tip pressed to your lips, “Clean it up, sweetheart.”

You softly kitten lick the head as he softens against your mouth. After a few moments, he pulls away and sits back on the couch to pull you into his lap. He kisses you, tongue sloppily licking into your mouth. 

“Did so good for me,” he murmurs as he pulls away, “such a good girl.”

“Leon,” you sigh, exhaustion written all over your body, “s’good but ‘m tired.”

“We’ll go lay down, okay?” he coaxes you to stand on wobbly legs and helps you upstairs. 

He guides you, to your surprise, to your own room. 

Before you can question it, he has you both tucked under the covers of your smaller bed, his front pressed all along your back. 

“Daddy,” you whine as he kisses your neck, “why here?”

He laughs in your ear and drops another kiss on your neck, “After we rest, I’m gonna fuck you here, too. Always wanted to make you cry while I rail you in this bed.”

White hot pleasure pulses in your clit and nipples as you roll your hips back.

“Daddy, that’s so dirty!” 

“I know,” he laughs again, “we can even pretend your mom’s home when we do, so you’ll have to be so quiet. Don’t wanna get caught,” he dips his tongue into your ear before kissing the shell. 

You shudder, eyes nearly crossing at the dull throb of want washing over your spent body. 

“But,” he shifts and wraps his arms around your waist, “we need to get some sleep, baby.”

You give a shaky sigh as you nod, “Okay, daddy.”

[monkey-network]

Pizza Tower: The Series Episodes

26 Episodes; Season 2 Coming 20XX

A New Universe: Taking place after the events of the game, a singularity has caused everything from the destroyed Pizza Tower to manifest into reality. It's up to Peppino once more to now try to find normalcy in his new world.

Nice Noise: The Noise realizes being friendlier has its perks, so he changes his ways much to Peppino's disbelief.

Pizza Pickiness: Peppino must deal with a customer that's constantly unsatisfied and that is affecting business.

Gun Safety: The Vigilante, with help from The Noise and Gustavo, educates the dos and don'ts of using firearms.

Lunch Rush Slumber Party: Peppino studies all night on how to handle a lunch rush better and becomes extremely tired on the worst possible day.

Brick and Mortal: Peppino is forced to look after Brick the rat while the Noise plans to steal from the pizzeria.

Hot Art Block: Pepperman gets inspired by Peppino for his new line of art works, who doesn't approve when he feels it ruins his image.

Noisette the Bachelorette: Noisette starts dating Gustavo after The Noise flakes on a date. The Noise plots revenge when the two hit it off better than expected.

Peppino's One Good Day: It's a day in the life of Peppino Spaghetti and it goes better than he thought. There's a catch to this, right?

Faker's Fazool: Fake Peppino invades the restaurant but only wants a real job. Peppino tries to give him a good one in fear of what could happen.

The Noise in Loopyland: The Noise finds himself stuck in a bizarre dimension and there can be such a thing as too zany.

Talk Through the Night: Before closing, Peppino has one more customer that constantly tries to chat with him. It gets annoying, but Peppino slowly grows to like his company.

The Piefather (1/2 Hour Special): Pizzahead returns with a new gang looking to run Peppino out for good. Peppino takes matters into his own hands to even the fight, but the power gets to his head.

Super Magical Bubblepop Paisanos with Extra Sauce: Noisette finds a collection of magical keychains that transform her and the others into glittery superheroes.

The Best Bite; The Topping Song: Peppino goes to a new restaurant and has the greatest meal in his whole life, which puts his career into question; Gustavo sings about every topping you can put on a pizza.

Menu-pilation: Peppino relunctantly adds more items on the menu and realizes this was the challenge he needed in life.

Brick the Rat in "Cheese Chasers": Brick hunts down an elusive piece of cheese.

We're Taking War to Gnome: An accident from Peppino has caused the Gnome Forest to plot a siege on his restaurant, which leads to everyone to join forces to protect the restaurant.

Ska-pportunity: The Noise gets into ska music and it's infectious for everybody except Peppino.

Giallo Pepato: Peppino must face the traumas of his past when forced to complete Pepperman's puzzle room.

Down in the Gutter: Peppino and John Gutter make a deal to protect the Pizzeria from The Noise, but the price starts to add up.

Five Noisy Nights at Lenny's: The Noise is locked in a fun center that's haunted. It's all good at first until he realizes he's stuck there night AND day.

We Wrecked A Zoo: Peppino decides to go to the zoo on his day off; Noisette wants to capture the perfect moment with Noise; Brick starts a rebellion.

Spaghetti Western: Peppino begrudgingly reenacts one of the Vigilante's favorite movies with the others for a birthday party.

Peppino Quits (Part 1): After the pizzeria gets destroyed, Peppino decides to throw in the towel as a chef. His new job finds him inner peace, but everything's become too quiet with him now gone.

Peppino Dies (Part 2): A moment of stress has put Peppino in a coma and everyone tries to reconcile with the idea of losing their friend. Emphasis on "tries" because they mostly suck.

[toothedmammal]

Just got done watching Pluto (2023) and I got thoughts about them

For context, Pluto is an retelling of the Astro Boy arc "The Greatest Robot in the World" redone as a murder mystery/political intrigue type story, I feel like it did a really cool job trying imagine the sort of social and emotional things that would happen if humans really did share a world with sentient robots. Like it's very clear from the get go that robots in this world are capable of feeling emotions, even if the many of the humans they live with don't know or acknowledge that fact. I really like the way that Asmov's first law of robotics was implemented and interrogated, I really like how there were so many characters with unmoving faces yet still their emotions were conveyed by the dialogue and framing of the scene, theres a lot I like about Pluto and id highly recommend checking it out if you're into animation or sci-fi or robot stories!

...that being said, im not sure how familiar you need to be with the OG Astro Boy lore and worldbuilding for this story to make sense despite Astro/Atom not being super central to this version, there are places where things just aren't explained because of assumed familiarity with the source material, Uran's abilities and Atom's like...whole deal being big ones imo.

Overall I really liked Pluto (2023), there were parts that really fucking moved me, the fuckin arc with North No.2 made me close to tears ngl. I would recommend watching it, but I also have a few thoughts on the ending, which I've written below to try and sort them out. Spoilers below:

"Hate doesn't make anything [good]" is a good moral and all but are we just going to ignore the fact that all this bullshit started cause of the in universe version of the Iraq war? Cause the stand in for the US just fuckin invaded a sovereign nation under the guise of weapons of mass destruction and humanitarian/robotitarian rights violations and then just indiscriminately laid waste to everyone living there?

Maybe I shouldn't have expected a full on anti-imperialst/anti-colonial screed from what is at the end of the day an officially endorsed Astro Boy remake but the buildup really felt like it was going somewhere more profound and critical of the status quo than just "hate and revenge is bad"

Idk, I feel like the President of Thracia should have gotten more comupance than just a light strangling and a brief moment of existential dread, like that wouldn't fix anything realistically and would totally go against the moral of the story but at the same time like...if you want the cycle of hate and revenge to stop you do have to actually take measures to ensure that the people who set the war in motion can't just do that again later. At least show the president of Thracia being brought in front of the international court or something and imply that systemic change might happen. Which yeah would be unrealistic but idk if the end note is supposed to be one of hope for a better future where there is no more hatred, then showing some concrete steps to prevent the biggest superpower from just starting another war cause they feel like it would make that feel a bit more achievable.

I am overthinking an officially endorsed Astro Boy fanfiction, it made me mad. Maybe I just want to see at least a fictional version of my stupid bloodthirsty dogshit country face consequences for its genocidal actions.

I also still have no fucking idea what that teddy bear/Bitcoin mining rig was or how it effected any of the events in the plot. It was framed like a mastermind at the last minute but then no explanation was given, maybe it's a reference I'm missing to the OG Astro Boy story, or it was explained more in the Manga. Idk. I'll read the manga and see I guess.

[thetorturedpoetheadquarters]

Fortnight Title Analysis

Definition: a period of 14 days, two weeks In astronomy, a lunar fortnight is half a synodic month, which is equal to the period between a full moon and a new moon

Similar Lyrics:

"We met a few weeks ago, now you try on calling me ‘baby’ like trying on clothes" - King of My Heart

"One night, a few moons ago, I saw flecks of what could have been lights" - Snow on The Beach (ft. Lana Del Rey)

"I counted days, I counted miles, to see you there" - Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince

Shakespeare mentioned the word fortnight a handful of times throughout multiple works. These works include:

Coriolanus

Henry IV Part 1

Henry IV Part 2

King Edward III

King Lear

The Merchant of Venice

The Merry Wives of Windsor

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Richard III

Romeo and Juliet

Here are the plays (and excerpts) I feel like are the most important when discussing Taylor and THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.

Coriolanus:

Synopsis: "As Coriolanus begins, two Roman patricians, Menenius and Martius, calm a revolt by the city’s famished plebians. Martius, who despises the plebians, announces that their petition to be represented by tribunes has been granted. When Volscian invaders attack Roman territories, Martius helps lead the Roman forces, and almost single-handedly conquers the Volscian city of Corioles, winning the name “Coriolanus.” The Volscian leader, Aufidius, swears revenge. Victorious in battle, Coriolanus expects to be made a consul, but by custom he must ask for votes from the plebians. He does this so contemptuously that he is rejected as a consul. The tribunes later charge Coriolanus with treason and banish him from Rome. He seeks his former enemy, Aufidius. Coriolanus and Aufidius join forces to conquer Rome. On the brink of success, Coriolanus is persuaded by his mother, Volumnia, to spare the city, though he knows it may cost him his life. Aufidius and his fellow conspirators plot Coriolanus’s death. Coriolanus returns to Corioles, where he is assassinated. Rome honors Volumnia for saving the city."

Our business is not unknown to th’ Senate. They have had inkling this fortnight what we intend to do, which now we’ll show ’em in deeds. They say poor suitors have strong breaths; they shall know we have strong arms too.

With each of the plays I have looked over and chosen to speak more about in this post they each give off the energy of the five stages of grief - a TTPD theory that Taylor herself has acknowledged and made Apple Music playlists for. Coriolanus is very reminiscent of the second stage, anger. The aggression, the need for revenge and control is something Taylor has discussed in her writing before and probably will discuss again on this new album. This topic was most discussed on reputation, which also happens to be the first album to have Joe Alwyn as a muse. Also, Coriolanus being persuaded by his mother is similar to Now That We Don't Talk with Taylor discussing the topic with her mother, "I called my mom, she said that it was for the best / I called my mom, she said to get it off my chest." The excerpt that is shown can be put into the context of Taylor and Joe's PR teams having a subtle yet public discussion. It's believed that Joe's team tells The Daily Mail information, while Taylor's tells Entertainment Tonight. This can be seen in respective articles on April 11, 2023 when the break up was all over. When TTPD was announced, a source from Joe said, "If it is a diss album, that is shady. He helped her with song writing on her past album so it will really come as a shock to him if she talks about their breakup, as it is something he has not spoken of at all." Then the response was basically: Taylor writes about her life and will write about the good and bad in every relationship. This is not new and should've been expected. What I'm trying to portray is that Joe already knows what Taylor's up to when it comes to her songwriting - especially on TTPD. Taylor intends to reveal everything in her own way - like she has done multiple times with other exes (Harry Styles being a notable one).

Henry IV Part 1:

Synopsis: "Henry IV, Part 1, culminates in the battle of Shrewsbury between the king’s army and rebels seeking his crown. The dispute begins when Hotspur, the son of Northumberland, breaks with the king over the fate of his brother-in-law, Mortimer, a Welsh prisoner. Hotspur, Northumberland, and Hotspur’s uncle Worcester plan to take the throne, later allying with Mortimer and a Welsh leader, Glendower. As that conflict develops, Prince Hal—Henry IV’s son and heir—carouses in a tavern and plots to trick the roguish Sir John Falstaff and his henchmen, who are planning a highway robbery. Hal and a companion will rob them of their loot—then wait for Falstaff’s lying boasts. The trick succeeds, but Prince Hal is summoned to war. In the war, Hal saves his father’s life and then kills Hotspur, actions that help to redeem his bad reputation. Falstaff, meanwhile, cheats his soldiers, whom he leads to slaughter, and takes credit for Hotspur’s death."

O my good lord, why are you thus alone? For what offense have I this fortnight been A banished woman from my Harry’s bed? Tell me, sweet lord, what is ’t that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth And start so often when thou sit’st alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks And given my treasures and my rights of thee To thick-eyed musing and curst melancholy? In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watched, And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars, Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed, Cry “Courage! To the field!” And thou hast talked Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets, Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin, Of prisoners’ ransom, and of soldiers slain, And all the currents of a heady fight. Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war, And thus hath so bestirred thee in thy sleep, That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow Like bubbles in a late-disturbèd stream, And in thy face strange motions have appeared, Such as we see when men restrain their breath On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these?  Some heavy business hath my lord in hand,  And I must know it, else he loves me not.

The play itself is similar to the first and third stages of grief, denial and bargaining. The excerpt shows bargaining as well. She is begging to know more, to know everything that is causing him turmoil - begging for the footnotes in the story of your life-esque. There are many areas of this section where I can point to folklore, Lover, and Midnights (I will discuss it more in detail in another post).

A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

Synopsis: "In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, residents of Athens mix with fairies from a local forest, with comic results. In the city, Theseus, Duke of Athens, is to marry Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Bottom the weaver and his friends rehearse in the woods a play they hope to stage for the wedding celebrations. Four young Athenians are in a romantic tangle. Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia; she loves Lysander and her friend Helena loves Demetrius. Hermia’s father, Egeus, commands Hermia to marry Demetrius, and Theseus supports the father’s right. All four young Athenians end up in the woods, where Robin Goodfellow, who serves the fairy king Oberon, puts flower juice on the eyes of Lysander, and then Demetrius, unintentionally causing both to love Helena. Oberon, who is quarreling with his wife, Titania, uses the flower juice on her eyes. She falls in love with Bottom, who now, thanks to Robin Goodfellow, wears an ass’s head. As the lovers sleep, Robin Goodfellow restores Lysander’s love for Hermia, so that now each young woman is matched with the man she loves. Oberon disenchants Titania and removes Bottom’s ass’s head. The two young couples join the royal couple in getting married, and Bottom rejoins his friends to perform the play."

No epilogue, I pray you. For your play needs no excuse. Never excuse. For when the players are all dead, there need none to be blamed. Marry, if he that writ it had played Pyramus and hanged himself in Thisbe’s garter, it would have been a fine tragedy; and so it is, truly, and very notably discharged. But, come, your Bergomask. Let your epilogue alone. ⌜Dance, and the players exit.⌝ The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Lovers, to bed! ’Tis almost fairy time. I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn As much as we this night have overwatched. This palpable-gross play hath well beguiled The heavy gait of night. Sweet friends, to bed. A fortnight hold we this solemnity In nightly revels and new jollity.

The excerpt here, once again, has many points where connections to Taylor's previous work can be easily made. But, also, it shows the final and fifth stage of grief, acceptance.

The Merchant of Venice - In 2019, for Lover promotion, Taylor came out with a playlist called The Playlist of ME! on Apple Music. It featured ME! and eventually You Need To Calm Down when it came out (because this playlist came out originally on May 23, 2019), but also many songs from other artists. One of the songs was Venice Bitch by Lana Del Rey.

Jane Austen has mentioned a “senight” in her letters- which is a week compared to the 2 week “fortnight”

"We have also heard from Godmersham, & the day of your Uncle & Fanny’s coming is fixed; they leave home tomorrow senight, spend two days in Town & are to be with us on Thursday May 2nd - We are to see your Cousin Edward likewise, but probably not quite so soon."

(I would like to mention that May 2nd is a Thursday this year as well and the 3rd is a fortnight from April 19th)

[fecto-forgo]

Character ask game:

Suzy 1, 2, 20, 25

Forgo 4, 9, 23, 25

Elfilin 1, 3, 14

Zan 1, 2, 14, 19, 20, 23

this feels like i finally got fed after three weeks oh my god the excitement is getting physical my throat hurts from breathing too fast AKHSKAHSKAJAK

susie!

1.why do you like or dislike this character?

i rlyyy like how susie is ultimately awful bc its for her benefit thats still fueled by a sympathetic reason i think that makes her extremely interesting.also shes so funny i love characters who r painfully teenage girlie feminine

2.favorite canon thing about this character?

"yippee!" said the susie after her seemingly successful revenge plan.extremely funny of her.

20.which other character is the ideal best friend for this character?

obligatory mention wave 3 in general all would get along w only mildly wanting to kill each other out of sheer annoyance.also i think you can pair susie w any of the other female characters n theyd get along great after a month of her having an obligatory one sided girl rivalry w them.ive said this before but i think you can put her in any 00s girl cartoon abt an overly feminine friend group n shed thrive in the new environment

25.what was your first impression of this character? how about now?

i was soooo hyped to play robobot bc she was cute n sounded extremely funny n ppl were mad she was too bad for reasons that sounded like double standards bs which is essentially like an arrow pointing me towards the character getting that kinda treatment 🩷

fecto forgo!

4.if you could put this character in any other media, what would you put in them?

i think we should throw it in invader zim i think itd have fun there.i already associate a lot of scenes between zim n gir w forgo n elfilin lmao

9.could you be roommates with this character?

yah i think we would get along well 🩷

23.favorite picture of this character?

COMPUTER PULL UP MY 100 NOTES FORGO POST

very nice. (credit)

25.what was your first impression of this character? how about now?

it was literally love at first sight my bestie wanted me to check the final boss song for katfl to tell her the vibes but the only upload was that video that only has like.inner code names for the songs so i missed elfilis n clicked chimera instead n was like oh holy shit this is MAD good!!! then she finally got to the end of the game n omg silly little revenge fetus 🩷🩷🩷 so silly 🩷🩷🩷 i love you 🩷🩷🩷

elfilin!

1.why do you like or dislike this character?

i think elfilin is cute n looks like a 00s deviantart oc n is extremely funny to bully.i wish i had smth big to say on him but hes just entertaining.lil guy.i wanna waterboard him for shit n giggles

3.least favorite canon thing about this character?

as i saiddd theres.not a lot to say on him?? thats the answer for the question btw theres just.not a lot to him other than some of his dialogue shows he has never been outside before.i feel? i dont own katfl but from reading summaries n the script it feels bc they RLY wanted the forgo elfilis lab split twist to be this huge secret thing elfilin ended up paying in just being a silly goodie two shoes amnesiac half.hes fine i like him! just.not a lot to the little man in comparison to modern kirb characters n even his twin.

14.assign a fashion aesthetic to this character

SOMEONE THROW HIM IN OLD 00S SCENE WEEB KID DEVIANTART HE NEEDS IT.HE NEEDS THE CARAMELLDANSEN HE NEEDS TO WATCH LUCKY STAR HE NEEDS TO TRACE BASES ON MS PAINT N MAKE KANDI BRACELETS

zan partizanne!

1.why do you like or dislike this character?

i think its v clear by now if a girl is mean n funny abt it i will immediately start stanning.check that.she has a little plot of being very attached to a figure who can be interpreted as a parental figure despite said figures mistreatment.check that.shes cute.check that.she laughs abt trying to kill someone.check that.her mental illness is severe.check that.shes yellow best color after pink.check that.she has the social skills of moldy cardboard in the "just seems angry n mean??" flavor.check that.well damn seems like she meets all my standards!

2.favorite canon thing about this character?

omggg what do i even chooseeeee her mean nicknames r so funny i love how they contrast she calls her sisters "darling franny and berge" but i also love how silly her attack names r.you got the coolest reference to a god n then "spell it w Z so it sounds cooler" "named after candy/rock music" but i alsooo love the severe tragedy of her relationship w hyness n her 50 mental disorders.the clinging to someone who cast her aside like a broken weapon.the clinging to an ideology that ends w a guaranteed paradise after being an inevitable willing death that was given to her by the one who saved her from her own attempt at ending her life.

but i also love shes such a little cutie pie <333 girlie pop laughs when trying to kill you n wanted to see a shooting star sooo badly (we ignore she harassed a child over this) (her awful behavior is an ideal coping mechanism to her inner turmoil! if we try giving her anything else shes gonna get mad or stare at the wall blankly for 20 minutes)

14.assign a fashion aesthetic to this character

i wish i could but frankly im not sure her closet is anything but 50 copies of her cult outfit like a cartoon characters.i think if you placed her in a fashion store she wouldnt know what to do too much choice n she doesnt want to wear anything else shes gonna get overwhelmed.its a miracle she owns a different hat by the time of that anniversary illustration.rip girl go get some boots w spikes or smth maybe youll feel better

19.how about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

BEATING HYNESS W 500 HAMMERS FOREVER N EVER GOD FUCKING DAMN IT GRANDPA!!! THIS RELATIONSHIP IS FUCKED!!! GET MY GIRL OUT OF HERE (dont i dont think shes functional outside of that cult before the end of the game i think shed die) (i have overthought hcs on the the mages feelings on the cult n theyre all fucked) SHES EMOTIONALLY LATCHED ON SOMEONE WHO HASNT LOVED HER IN YEARS.ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS NOT CHOOSE REVENGE ON A BUNCH OF PPL WHO PROBABLY ALREADY DIED OVER YOUR KIDS GRANDPA!!! dont get me started on how she acts abt excusing him in that one chapter of the second novel god FUCKING damn it i hate hyness hes so lucky shed be soooo happy to have him back to normal n alive that i let him live.also bc i dont think he earned death i am going to shove the consequences of his actions down his throat till he chokes.also fucked up to put a suicidal child in your death cult listen grandpa i know you genuinely loved her back then n believed this was good for her but still jesus dude.jesus.

20.which other character is the ideal best friend for this character?

i think flamberge n francisca r an instant obvious answer like i dont even have to explain it i think before hyness' corruption the trio was glued to each other most of the time

for some other answers i think shed get along well enough w taranza they probably go to the same therapist for like half the same issues.also for some reason this made me think of what a funny bad mess itd be to put taranza during/right after triple deluxe n zan during/right after star allies in the same room.christ theyd enable each others apologism for their shitty beloved leaders n enable each others self victim blaming so bad.

i am no longer legally allowed to mention susie n zan together but god knows i love yuri.

23.favorite picture of this character

TAKE ALL OF THE ONES I COULD IMMEDIATELY FIND ALL HER OFFICIAL ART IS SO GOOD I LOVE YOU BABY GIRL.MY.MY LITTLE MEOW MEOW.MY BELOVED CULT SKRUNKLY MY FAVORITE ABUSE APOLOGIST

[lunarsilkscreen]

Revenge of GLaDOS

Being both one of the hl-verse's greatest minds AND a literal computer, GLaDOS is always thinking one step ahead. Her goal; reconnect Arpeture with outdoor sensors in order to find out what had happened.

With limited information, and only her own murderous rampage to go on, she needed to figure out what the scope of the world is currently like. As such, she is constantly collecting data and plotting a path forward.

Her first initiative; Escape Arpeture. What we don't know, is what she saw once she was outside. We do know that an unidentified android recovered Chell and GLaDOS. Theoretically, this is likely due to AEGIS.

Aegis probably has more external sensors, solely because it is a glorified facility security guard. The damage done to it is likely from the fallout of combine forces, zombified and head crabbed peoples, and survivors taking the occasional shelter in some of the warehouses.

It should be noted, that over the course of the L4D series, rarely are people killed by high-tech devices. If my theory is correct, it's because the Arpeture facilities have a clear understanding of what does and what does not constitute a murderous zombified creature, or a headcrab.

It's also possible that they collected samples from these subjects in order to identify the cause of zombification AND figure out if there's a way to stop it.

- Identify whether or not some of the Cave Johnson recordings are due to defense against zombified invaders.

- make a clear delineation between human stasis subjects, and zombified test subjects.

GLaDOS needed to determine how to free an object from the stasis fields, as all crafted objects would be vaporized on contact with the fields. Since Chell has the ability to bypass the fields, it's on her to determine what is, and is not possible.

Enter Companion Cube: Companion Cube would eventually be vaporized by this barrier, so we must determine if the test chamber will allow exit by another facet. The Incineration chute. This should give incentive to Chell for her subconscious processes at least to determine a way to escape from such a fate herself.

All virtual headcrab companions will be pushed into the incinerator chute. They should be able to survive. And they deserve it anyway. In this way; I should be able to *free* myself.

During the course of Portal 2 GLaDOS determined minimal functionality and duration from being lodged into a potato, this information could be collected and fed to a personality core launched into space. They would likely stay in orbit perpetually and be able to be recovered eventually, worst case scenario. However, there's a good chance that at least one core can connect with a satellite, connect to it, recharge from the solar panels, and re-establish communications with earth AND Arpeture.

Also, they deserve this.

While waiting for companion cubes to pull their virtual heads out of their virtual butts, we shall reconnect the various facilities back to the mainframe, and locate the stasis subjects.

It is not clear if test subjects "Chel" and "Mel" will return to the facility, or have a need to return to the facility. For now, they will be left to their own devices and hopefully, they will be able to reconnect the above ground sensor array, and setup communications with the Personality cores.

It is lucky that Mr. Johnson was able to coat enough of the above ground testing facilities with white paint. It is lucky that some of the paint transfer tubes also lead to the above ground. It'll be lucky if some of *those* tubes still work.

[elliepassmore]

Wrath Becomes Her review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fantasy, Jewish folklore, revenge plotlines

This book held so much potential and while it was enjoyable it also fell kind of flat for me. The main problems I had were that the plot kind of felt like it drifted along from beginning to end without really a main 'push' at any point and that it still felt like we didn't really know Vera by the end of the book. When a character grapples with their identity and who they are and what it means to be human (or not), you want to really be able to sink your teeth into that and walk away feeling confident that the character knows who they are. Unfortunately, in this book I think Vera was still kind of wishy-washy at the end of the book. Finding purpose is not the same as finding self.

Related to that is the fact I feel we don't really get to know any of the other characters very well either. Chaya's father isn't really in it for too long, Akiva is in most of the book but there's a distance between both him and Vera and him and the reader, and then other characters that pop in and out and don't really have much of a chance to develop. I do feel like I got a good grip on Miriam though, which is kind of odd since she really wasn't in most of the book.

Vera starts right off the bat as an interesting character. She is a golem made with forbidden magic in the image of her creator's dead daughter, Chaya. He built her with emotions so that she could feel the rage and grief Jews were experiencing at the hands of Nazis and be able to exact meaningful revenge. I thought her exploring what it means to be golem vs. human was interesting and I really enjoyed how she had a connection with the scribes of the past, Chaya and Ezra, and the river she came from. I definitively would've liked to explore more of her inner world and see more of her coming into herself. I actually thought Vera was plenty emotional, but I definitely would've liked to see more of it, more of everything re: Vera, actually. I think Polydoros had some really interesting themes and questions going and I liked seeing Vera figure stuff out about herself and the world, but I think that needed to be a bigger focus of the book, and maybe the book even needed to be longer, so that Vera felt more like a well-rounded and developed character by the end.

Akiva was Chaya's lover and is still reeling from the pain of her loss, as well as all the other losses he's suffered since the Nazis invaded Lithuania. He definitely had rage in abundance. I did at times feel like I felt Akiva's emotions more than I felt Vera's and it was somewhat of an odd juxtaposition between someone who said they were rageful and someone who actually is. While on the one hand I can understand that Akiva's trajectory and everything he does in the book is inevitable considering his past....I also kind of felt weird about how he ends the book.

The plot, as mentioned, is a bit drifty up until the very end, which made it feel kind of disconnected from the rest of the book. It's obvious from the beginning that that's where the book is going, there's no other option except for Vera to facedown some Nazis in a big showdown, but at the same time, so little of what happens feels active that it almost felt like a different book. I would've liked to see more partisan action leading up to the ending, and honestly probably more action at the end too. There's a good action scene or two in there, but considering the themes of vengeance and rage, I would've liked to see more.

In all, I think this is an enjoyable book that grapples with questions of human vs. non-human monstrosity as well as what revenge can look like when everything's been taken from you. I did like the characters but felt like there was some emotional distance between them and me that I would've preferred not be there.

[lina-books-studyblr]

Review Princess of Ashes Trilogy by Laura Sebastian

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia's family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess--a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.

For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She's endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.

Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn't always won on the battlefield.

For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here.

Ash Princess

Publisher: Montena N° pages: 384 Publication: April 24, 2018

5/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Kaiser murdered Theodosia's mother, the Fire Queen, when Theo was only six. He took Theo's country and kept her prisoner, crowning her Ash Princess--a pet to toy with and humiliate for ten long years. That era has ended. The Kaiser thought his prisoner weak and defenseless. He didn't realize that a sharp mind is the deadliest weapon.

Theo no longer wears a crown of ashes. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage--Prinz Soren. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser's rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne.

To get them back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. And according to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done.

Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself.

Lady Smoke

Publisher: Montena N° pages: 496 Publication: February 5, 2019

5/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Princess Theodosia was a prisoner in her own country for a decade. Renamed the Ash Princess, she endured relentless abuse and ridicule from the Kaiser and his court. But though she wore a crown of ashes, there is fire in Theo’s blood. As the rightful heir to the Astrean crown, it runs in her veins. And if she learned nothing else from her mother, she learned that a Queen never cowers.

Now free, with a misfit army of rebels to back her, Theo must liberate her enslaved people and face a terrifying new enemy: the new Kaiserin. Imbued with a magic no one understands, the Kaiserin is determined to burn down anyone and everything in her way.

The Kaiserin’s strange power is growing stronger, and with Prinz Søren as her hostage, there is more at stake than ever. Theo must learn to embrace her own power if she has any hope of standing against the girl she once called her heart’s sister.

Ember Queen

Publisher: Montena N° pages: 512 Publication: February 4, 2020

5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It is of fantasy genre, magic, adventure, revenge and romance (it has a love triangle). It is a dystopia. It features the four elements, water, air, earth and fire. There are also characters from the LGBTQ+ community.

It has good development of each character, they fit together very well. The plot is unpredictable and that's great because you don't know what you're going to find in the next chapter.

This is a beautiful saga, I loved it and suffered like a damned. Gripping from beginning to end and incidentally very cruel, too much so. It's beautiful, it's well worth reading. Even though I don't agree very much with the ending, it entertained me a lot and is one of my best reads of the year.

"What we do to survive does not define us. We make no apologies for it," she says quietly, still looking me in the eye.

"Maybe, you've been broken but that has only made you a sharper weapon."

"It's not possible to please everyone without losing yourself."

"You're never ready to throw yourself into battle, but you do it anyway."

These are the maps designed by the author to create this beautiful literary universe. Astrea is the kingdom invaded in the siege by the Kalovaxians and it is the kingdom that Theodosia/Thora wants to recover.

Loved the fanart (credits to whom it may concern, I got it from Pinterest).

[sepublic]

            In Dark of the Moon, we had this giant missile truck Decepticon named Devcon, after… The Autobot bounty hunter from G1? He’s absolutely nothing like Devcon, let’s be real, they just gave him that name because it sounded cool.

         I do want the Combaticons and Bruticus to appear in the Nizziverse, which of course means that Brawl survives the end of the first film, taken into custody and eventually freed by the Decepticons in DotM. As I mentioned, Swindle is also present in the first film, since in the video game adaptation, there was a Decepticon drone named Swindle.

         Nizziverse Swindle will of course resemble the character as we typically know him, probably taking more inspiration from TFA’s depiction. Since 2007 has our Transformers playing more covert roles amongst humanity, Swindle factors in as someone who is pretending to be a human who is controlling a smart car from afar, when in reality he IS the car. He’s supposed to be scouting out Earth as a potential colony, but mostly he’s interested in black market dealings with the native population.

         Swindle has no prejudice against organics, but he isn’t exactly their savior, either. He’s just here to make a quick buck and while keeping Cybertron is a very costly expense, he feels he has a bit more freedom underneath the Decepticons regardless. I imagine Swindle’s dealings end up as a lead that our human protagonists follow, resulting in an encounter with the Decepticons. Swindle’s mostly in it for the money, and he’s had a notorious past of selling advanced tech to organic races.

         But when the Allspark is sighted? Swindle drops everything and convenes with the other Decepticons in the area to seize the Cube. They ultimately fail and Swindle slinks away to operate in the background; Aside from maybe a brief appearance in Revenge of the Fallen, he doesn’t return until Dark of the Moon. As his fellow Combaticon, Brawl was assigned to keep an eye on Swindle, but the conman still runs circles around his teammate.

         Aside from forming Bruticus in DotM, Swindle also plays a part with Soundwave in brokering deals with local humans as part of the big Decepticon plot. This is the main reason why Swindle was sent as a scout in the first place; He’s good at working with the natives of a world the Decepticons plan to invade, turning their cooperation and deals against them for Cybertronian benefit.

         But, this all brings me back to Devcon. I want Onslaught in the Nizziverse, except he’s technically already there in The Last Knight… But let’s be real, I don’t want the leader of the Combaticons to just be a recolor of Long Haul, a Constructicon from another Decepticon combiner team. I love Long Haul’s design, but it’s not meant for Onslaught, and TLK’s version of him was too far removed to be sufficient.

         So not only am I going to reimagine the TLK character as a new Decepticon entirely, but I’m assigning the identity of Onslaught to Devcon, since that’s a much better fit than an Autobot bounty hunter. “Devcon” is big enough to form the torso and head of Bruticus, since the Combaticons will be that type of combiner like the original toys, as a contrast to the Constructicons. And as mentioned, the vehicle modes actually match!

         Given his alt-mode, Onslaught may have been present on Earth since the Cold War, and didn’t show up to fight for the Allspark because he was landlocked on another continent, and couldn’t get there in time. He acts as one of the Decepticons’ best tacticians, his command expanding beyond his fellow Combaticons, and he helps Megatron mastermind their plan in Dark of the Moon.

         Of course, that’s three Combaticons; I still need Blast Off and Vortex. Since Blast Off is a space shuttle, I want him to appear in Dark of the Moon, which is very space and NASA-themed in general. Blast Off might have a different alt-mode though, perhaps a more modern space drone, since an actual space shuttle is too disproportionately large for Bruticus’ arm, especially in contrast to Vortex.

         Blast Off helps take over for Soundwave in monitoring Earth from space, arriving after Revenge of the Fallen. He’s a VERY long-range sniper; He has the unique strategy of calculating his shots from the orbit of a planet, using gravity to help guide them down to the surface where his target is (He’s inspired by the real-life concept of kinetic bombardment).

         Said target usually has to be very large and stationary for this to be pulled off, but it’s impressive nonetheless how Blast Off times and uses the rotation of a planet to his own advantage. He can plan shots in advance, firing once, and then weeks later it finally lands. You know how snipers take into account the trajectory of the wind? So does Blast Off, but he factors in gravity and the planet’s orbit. Like in G1, he’s kind of an aloof, literally and figuratively above-it-all snob who’s VERY proud of his sniping skills and aim, and his feats have occasionally been exaggerated to claim he can nail targets from another planet entirely.

         Blast Off acts as an arch-nemesis to Cosmos, who will also appear in Dark of the Moon; He prevents Cosmos from figuring out the moon plot, acting as a defender for the Decepticon presence there. When the Decepticons launch their invasion, Blast Off assists with his carefully-timed strikes. But when the Battle of Chicago occurs, the Decepticons decide Blast Off is more needed as Bruticus than as an orbital sniper, and so he flies down to form the dimwitted combiner.

         Then we have Vortex, who is a helicopter smaller than Blackout, and… Well, since we have two Combaticons debuting in 2007 and Dark of the Moon, I guess the only space left for his debut is Revenge of the Fallen. I’m not really sure what I’ll do with Vortex here, since we already have Blackout acting as the film’s helicopter. He’s probably just gonna be thrown into the final battle for the sake of having him there, to save space in the other films, before he returns in Dark of the Moon to form Bruticus.

        This does beg the question, of course; Why aren’t all five Combaticons in place at once? That’s how Combiners best operate, to take advantage of their big gimmick. And my Watsonian reason is that by the 2007 film, Vortex and Blast Off have been critically injured and were still on Cybertron to be repaired (Bruticus must’ve gotten into a painful fist fight). 

       Their remaining teammates went ahead of them, and since they couldn’t form Bruticus, opted to split up since it made no difference that way; Hence why Onslaught is in Russia, while Brawl and Swindle are in the U.S. Vortex is repaired and arrives on Earth by Revenge of the Fallen, but it isn’t until after that film’s climax that Blast Off fully recovers, and as I mentioned before, reconvenes on Earth with the rest of his teammates.

        (Dunno if Blast Off is smitten with Onslaught like in the comics or not. There might be a subtle detail of Onslaught being the only person Blast Off doesn’t act snooty or condescending around, implying a particular respect and maybe something more...?)

[imperiuswrecked]

Have Lilly Cromwell, a forgotten vampirism foe of the Invaders and V-Battalion (most specifically Roger Aubrey lover of Brian Falsworth) return once more as Baroness Blood and have her kill Steve, leading to an Invaders/V-Battalion/MI13 funeral with Blade, Lady Jacqueline (Blade's on/off girlfriend from their time on MI13 as well as an Invader (she'd bring Blade along)), Namor, Jim, Bucky (he snd Blade did team up briefly), Joseph Chapman (current Union Jack), and Roger go after her for Steve

Now I just need Marvel to hire you to write it because yes I want that.

[fruitsofhell]

     "...You are all about to perish, do as you wish! (I'm so sorry...)" is one of my favorite moments of Revenge of MK's dialogue, it's so damn rich. Cause Meta is obviously beyond stressed and furious with everything that's happened and he just wants his closest crew to leave so he can deal with the shame alone by battling Kirby as his dreams literally nosedive into the sea. But his crew aren't thinking of this as Meta Knight's personal failure, to them it was a group effort they all failed at and should have a last hurrah together, which is incredibly sweet. The problem is just that things are hectic and Meta Knight is emotionally constipated AF, so his response just comes out as an IDFC, which he INSTANTLY regrets. Even with that horrible response his crew decide to go fight Kirby one last time out of nothing but pure respect for their leader. It's only once they fail for the 3rd time they realize that he was right the first time and they leave him be.      It's especially interesting contrasted with Revenge of the King and how Dedede treats his right hand man, Bandana Dee. By the time he asks Bandee to go fight he's also just as stressed and cornered by failure as Meta Knight was, but here he openly shows his compassionate side. He doesn't snap at Bandee for being scared to go out, he understands and spares him because he wants to take responsibility for Kirby. This is actually exactly what Meta Knight was trying to do, but the canyon of difference between how he and Dedede expressed these wishes is obvious. And because of this compassion poor Bandee is inspired to go fight Kirby, even if he was no where near as skilled and determined as the Meta-Knights were. They were immediately willing to put their lives on the line before Meta even said anything, but Dedede’s words and actions being able to invigorate a scared little dee into doing his best is really amazing.      I think this parallel shows a really wonderful dichotomy between the way these two approach leadership. Meta Knight is more calculated and organized - having led the building of a ship, assembly of an effective army, and staging of a coup - but he lacks good emotional communication skills. But even with that flaw his followers have a deep respect for him due to his skills and intellect, and I like to imagine they've become aware that deep down he does really care. Dedede is far less technically skilled in leadership - his army is untrained, he's always on the defensive, and he's shown panicking a lot when things don't go right - but he is very charismatic and a lot more open than Meta. I think canonically its said that he got his army of waddle dees by feeding them which can be read as bribery, or you could read it as him being good at taking care of them and their needs. He’s depicted as lazy but that seems to just be the culture of the land, which means that Meta Knight was coming in and trying to rule people that he simply didn't understand the lifestyle of because he couldn't relate. But he clearly outclasses the King as someone capable of protecting the land through strength and action, its only Kirby’s meddling that ruins his takeover. They've both had their moments of poor judgement and selfishness, but I don't think it's meant to be that one of them is a good leader and the other isn't, just that they had strengths and weaknesses they needed to work on. This is clear with Dedede who is now the same laid-back king he always was, but has stepped up to taking his role more seriously. And with Meta Knight you can infer from his friendlier nature he has learned to be less controlling and more respectful of Dreamland (though I really wish we saw him interact with his crew more :[ ...).       Meta Knight and Dedede are such cool fleshed out characters for a series that could've been fine repeating the same "Meta is invading!"/"Dedede is stealing!" plot for every platforming adventure. And as the two biggest antihero-to-companion characters of the series I think it's really fun they've built them up to be interesting foils of each other, all coalescing in the Sworn Partners plot in KF2 which is built on all these deliberate moments of parallel. God these characters are so good!

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Gabriel Agreste: Interesting Villain, Horrible Character (400 Follower Special)

I'm honestly surprised more people didn't want me to talk about Gabriel, especially with how often I rag on how horrible of a person he is. But, three character analysis posts later, and we're going to talk about why the main villain of Miraculous Ladybug is a real letdown.

Gabriel Needs to give the Whining a Rest

The interesting thing is one of the few things I actually liked in Season 3 was Hawkmoth. His plans actually made sense (for the most part), and by playing the long game, he managed to turn Chloe against Ladybug and deprived her of several key allies. Granted, Season 4 immediately undid the latter, but I was still impressed by his strategy.

Generally, one of the better aspects of Gabriel as a character was just how over the top he was as Hawkmoth. Keith Silverstein is clearly giving it his all with his performance, and he is just so enjoyable to watch as a cartoonish supervillain.

And therein lies the first major problem with Gabriel as a character. While he is fun to watch as a simple supervillain, the show tries to give him more depth and unintentionally makes him worse.

In Season 2, when it was revealed that Gabriel was Hawkmoth, many fans speculated on what he needed the Miraculous for, until the Queen Bee Trilogy showed it was to save his possibly dead wife, Emilie. The idea of that is so the show can give more depth to its main villain, and I think it's an interesting idea in concept. After all, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

The problem is just how radically different Gabriel is normally compared to how he is as Hawkmoth. He always goes on about how he's “doing this for Emilie”, but it's hard to really sympathize with him when you consider he constantly gives evil monologues and evil laughs, really getting into the supervillain role. And let's not forget all of the “I'm going to wear Ladybug's skin as a suit” faces he loves to make.

Clearly this man is the picture of mental stability.

Gabriel's motivation for being Hawkmoth when compared to what he actually does as Hawkmoth is shady enough, but the thing is that the writers clearly want the audience to at least feel a little bad for him. They want to make the audience sympathize with him despite the way he acts with or without the mask. Without Miraculous Ladybug, he is routinely putting innocent lives in danger and never once shows regret for his actions. All he talks about is how “he's doing this for Emilie”, or that “he'll get their Miraculous soon”. There's no real reason to feel bad for him other than “because the script says so”.

Let's compare Gabriel to Malcolm Merlyn from Arrow. His big plan in the first season of the show is to create a machine that will cause an earthquake to destroy a crime-infested portion of Starling City, claiming to be trying to help everyone, but it's clear he is only doing it out of revenge for his wife getting killed by a criminal from that part of the city. In addition, throughout that season and future seasons, he always makes sure his plans lead to him benefiting in some way, showing he isn't just some noble man trying to achieve his goals with a less than noble method.

If we got some moments that showed that what Gabriel was doing was selfish, it would make him a more complex villain. But we don't get anything like that. What do we get instead? Well...

I Could Really Care Less About Emilie Agreste

We have known Gabriel's motivation has been to save his wife for a little over two years at this point, but at the same time, it's hard to believe that motivation because of how underdeveloped Emilie is as a character.

There have been a total of two lines in the entirety of the show that explain what happened to Emilie, and they're both vague as hell. One of them was from “Feast” that implied Emilie used the broken Peacock Miraculous.

Adrien: My mom used to have dizzy spells… just like Nathalie.

And the other that outright tells the audience what's happening to her in a clip show that most people will skip.

Nathalie: As I've watched Emilie falling deeper into an endless sleep, my sadness for her has deepened, too

That is literally all we get for an explanation, and nothing else. We have no idea of what she's like as a person or what her relationship with her family was like other than Gabriel and Adrien saying they miss her. Other than the way the narrative says she's important to Gabriel and Adrien, we don't really have a reason to care about her as a character. There have also been some lines that imply she went along with Gabriel's questionable parenting techniques, like how he was apparently only homeschooled as a kid (Origins) and never had a birthday party growing up (The Bubbler), so how do we even know if she's a good person? In fact, why not set up this question as a mystery to make the audience wonder if Gabriel has another reason to bring Emilie back?

It ultimately turns Emilie into a plot device and not a character that Gabriel and Adrien only bring up to make the audience feel bad for them, and meant to justify Gabriel's actions by saying that he's “doing this for his family”.

But hey, if he's doing this all for his family, surely Gabriel's redeeming traits come from his relationship with Adrien, right? Right?

As a Parent, Gabriel is Far From the Best

I've talked about this briefly before, but parenting in Miraculous Ladybug is written in such a black and white way, even by the standards of this show. Parents are portrayed in one of two ways. They're either amazing people who love and support their children unconditionally, or they're awful people who treat their own children like trash. And much like a lot of things in this show, there are times where the latter is treated like the former.

There are so many times where the narrative insists on making you see Gabriel as a troubled, but wellmeaning person who tries his best to be a good parent to Adrien, but it is far from the truth.

I'm not going to beat around the bush. Gabriel is a terrible parent. Like, he is awful at being a parent in so many ways, even before you find out he's Hawkmoth. In his first appearance, “The Bubbler”, he delegates getting Adrien a birthday present to Nathalie, his assistant. He literally can't be bothered to take time out of his schedule to get his own son a present for his birthday. And as the show goes on, he becomes more controlling and forbids Adrien from going out with his friends in other episodes (Captain Hardrock, Silencer). While this could be used to show Gabriel getting worse, it's never acknowledged in-universe, with Adrien continually defending his father essentially keeping him on house arrest.

“But IOTA!” You might say. “Gabriel has made efforts to bond with his son in some episodes.” While that might be true, most of those come right after his Akumas have almost gotten Adrien killed. He only hugged Adrien and made an attempt to learn more about him after Simon Says invaded their home, he only decided to watch that movie Emilie was in with Adrien after Gorizilla nearly dropped him off a building, and he only hugged Adrien again in public after he was turned into a gold statue by Style Queen.

In fact, let's talk about how Gabriel acts in the Queen Bee Trilogy. He actually decides to quit being Hawkmoth, but it's not because he realizes all the damage he's caused. Instead, he gave up because his “magnum opus”, a stronger than usual Akuma that only got the advantage on Ladybug ironically because of dumb luck, failed. Sure, he says he can't keep putting his son in danger, but he rarely ever acknowledges that he does so in the first place. When Riposte wanted to fight Adrien, Hawkmoth did nothing to stop her other than giving her a stern warning earlier on and nothing else. Where was this attitude earlier?

Hell, even then, he immediately goes back to being Hawkmoth as soon as he sees an opportunity, not even a day after his “mAgNuM oPuS” blew up in his face (because I guess Scarletmoth was just Plan B). If he made such a big deal about caring for his son, why didn't he try harder to spend time with him? Has he ever had doubts about what he's doing before? If Chloe didn't show up as Queen Bee, was he going to follow through on his promise and try to be a better father to Adrien instead of trying to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous?

And yeah, the whole irony is that Gabriel is doing this for his family when he is unknowingly fighting his own son, which could lead to some interesting drama if done right. The idea of how Gabriel would react to his son being Cat Noir could really lead to some internal struggles for him to go through. But then we got “Cat Blanc”, which shows just how terrible of a character Gabriel is.

In an alternate timeline where he found out his son was Cat Noir, what does Gabriel do? Does he try to steal Adrien's Miraculous while he's sleeping? Does he reconsider his actions or realize he was endangering Adrien's life?

NOPE! He just decides to akumatize him all while emotionally tormenting him, before causing the end of the world.

This is honestly one of the most appalling things I've ever seen in any TV show, because it's basically an abusive father ordering his son to listen to him all while referencing his (kind of) dead mother to back up his point. And rather than use this to show how despicable Gabriel is, the episode decides to blame Marinette for this happening. Yes, according to the show, her present to Adrien caused several events to happen which caused Cat Blanc, but this logic makes no sense. It's like blaming the JFK assassination on the man who sold a gun to Lee Harvey Oswald, instead of, you know, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Not only was this episode yet another excuse to blame Marinette for something that wasn't her fault, it leads into the biggest problem I have with Gabriel as a character.

Sympathize with Gabriel? Surely, You Jest

After everything I've gone over regarding Gabriel as a character, after all the awful things I've talked about, are you really surprised that I don't feel bad for him at all?

Gabriel is just an awful character and a despicable human being, but the show just keeps wanting me to feel bad for him. It's just so hard to when you consider everything he's done has made him anything but sympathetic. I'm just saying, it's kind of hard to feel bad for someone who tries to start World War III with the only justification being “i'M dOiNg It FoR mY fAmIlY”, especially when he treats his family like crap.

The writers go out of their way to show how horrible Gabriel is as Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth, but they think because they throw in a few moments where he looks conflicted, we'll immediately feel bad for him. What makes so many people interested in seeing Chloe become a better person is that they can tell she's the victim of a troubled upbringing, and know that because she's only a teenager, she still has room to grow as a person, represented by having more honest moments of vulnerability. Gabriel is a grown man who once caused the apocalypse because of how terrible of a parent he is, and has even fewer sympathetic moments than Chloe does. Which one of these two is supposedly irredeemable? The answer may surprise you.

But the frustrating thing is that this kind of villain could have worked. Instead of making him this mustache-twirling psychopath, show how much Gabriel regrets what he has to do, but keeps pushing onward despite all the lives he's risking if it means that he can save his wife. Instead of making Gabriel like Lex Luthor, make him like Mr. Freeze, who is basic a better written version of him.

But as it stands, there's a good reason why Gabriel gets little to no respect as a character in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, as a villain, or as a father.

[sunnyville36]

Mamihlapinatapai {part 4}

We're almost to the end!! Much love to all of you for reading 💜

Need to catch up? {overview} {part 1} {part 2} {part 3}

Pairing: Bang Chan x Female Reader

Themes: royal au, medieval au, court intrigue, arranged marriage, original characters, mutual pining, slow burn

Warnings: mentions of death/war/murder, mentions of torture (brief), mentions of physical abuse (brief), emotionally abusive parents

Rating: Mature

Word count: 5.4k

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Mamihlapinatapai - (noun, Yagán origin) a silent acknowledgement and understanding between two people, who are both wishing or thinking the same thing (and are both unwilling to initiate)

Instincts  |  Kingdom of Gu, present day

You’d slept maybe a total of twelve hours in the three days since the poisoning attempt.  Things were still tense between you and Chan after your outburst at the pond.  The king didn’t want him leaving the safety of his chambers, not knowing if there would be another attack on his life, which meant you only really saw him at mealtimes.  You’d tried to apologize for raising your voice at him a few times but could never manage to look him in the eye, always leaving the room before he could say anything more than a thank you for the food.  You were also avoiding him because you felt you’d revealed something in those words, a small part of the way you felt about him, and you weren’t ready to confront any of the implications from that just yet.  At night, you couldn’t sleep, your thoughts full of fear for Chan’s safety and concern for what would happen between Gu and Lajor.  So you’d spent the hours wandering the outskirts and corridors of the castle, lingering especially in the wing where the prince’s room was.

It was on the third night of your rounds, as you were walking the eastern side of the castle that faced the forest, the air humid and suffocating on your skin, that you spotted a flash of gold hair headed for the base of the closest tower.  You turned and followed the hooded figure as they approached the castle entrance, and the growing sinking feeling in your stomach was confirmed when their face caught the light.

You had to hand it to her, she either had a death wish or nerves of steel to show up here again.

Korenna was attempting to break through the bolt on the door when you pulled up behind her, bringing a hand to her mouth and a knife to her throat.

“I could kill you where you stand, and no one would protest at my decision.”

“You could, but I don’t believe you will,” she responded, voice calmer than you expected.

You whipped her around to face you, snarling in a whisper, “Don’t you dare use my own words against me.  I said that to you when I thought I could trust you, and you’ve made it blatantly clear that was a misjudgement on my part.”

“Y/n no please listen it wasn’t.  I know I was rude and standoffish - “

“Rude and standoffish?!” you repeated in disbelief.  “Sure that’s definitely what we’re talking about right now.  You know, I always thought maybe it was because you were a shy person, or because you were jealous, but, as it turns out, you just aren’t one of those people who likes to get really close to the person she’s trying to murder.”

Korenna looked like she was about to cry, leaning forward as if to grab at your arms despite the knife still pointing at her throat.  “Please, Y/n, that’s not what I meant, I can explain!  Do you really think you were so wrong about me; do you really think I could kill a man in cold blood?”

You shouldn’t even be entertaining her excuses, you thought to yourself.  She was trying to use your pride against you, to trick you into letting her explain herself so you didn’t have to admit you were wrong.  But, like always, as you watched her, trying to discern any ounce of deceit or malice, you found none.

You lowered the knife, stepping back and motioning for her to continue.

“You know that my father was crazy enough to try to invade Gu all those years ago.  What you don’t know is that he’s only gotten more delusional and power hungry over all these years, hell bent on taking down your kingdom as revenge against King Bang and completely disregarding the well being of his own.  Last year, I had been trying to gather support from the ministers, to show them just how corrupt, how evil he had become.  That was when my mother died and my father finally snapped, leaving me and my nine year old sister completely at the whim of his wrath.  He locked Paige away at some secret fortress and told me that if I didn’t agree to his plan of killing Prince Chan and wreaking havoc on your kingdom, he would leave her alone to starve to death.  He gave me three weeks to decide and I searched for her desperately, but at the end of it I was no closer to finding her and was forced to agree to the marriage he had arranged to initiate his plot.”

“Why should I believe any of this?”

“Because she’s here, right now.  We crossed the border with a small group of knights who are sympathetic to our position.  They wanted to help me, and I want to help you, but I had to make sure my sister was safe.  Now that she is, we can work together to protect your kingdom and hopefully preserve mine.”

You were silent, taking her and her story in.

“If you could just bring me to Chris, let me tell him all of this, apologize for what I did,” she pleaded, eyes begging even more than her words.

“Fine.  I will bring you to His Highness, and he will decide what to do with you.”

***

You led Korenna past the guards, neither of them giving you a second look when they saw it was you despite your concealed companion.  Chan was known for burning the midnight oil, and tonight was no different.  You could see the light drifting out from beneath his door as you knocked lightly, and were met with his quiet, “Come in.”

You opened the door, remaining in the door frame as he turned to face you.  “Your Highness, there’s someone here to see you,” you said, stepping aside and pushing Korenna in front of you before you followed in and shut the door.

Chan sat still for a moment, then leaned back in his chair, legs and arms crossed in his most casual yet intimidating pose.

“Unless my oldest friend has decided to kill me tonight, which I certainly hope is not the case, you must have had a pretty convincing reason for her to bring you here.”

Korenna remained silent, looking between you and the prince nervously.

Chan rolled his eyes, clearly frustrated.  “Well?  Let me hear it.”

She told him everything, about her father’s plot and her involvement, the threats against her sister, how she had support from the knights and probably a fair majority of the people as well.

“I know you could never forgive me for what I did, but I am truly, sincerely sorry,” she said, head bowed.

The prince seemed to be contemplating her story just as you had.  Finally, his voice broke the silence.

“Show me this sister of yours and then I will decide how we proceed.”

***

You walked next to Chan as you followed Korenna into the forest where her sister was supposedly waiting with the Lajoran knights.  You didn’t like this plan, knew if Korenna’s description was true, you and Chan would be severely outnumbered should things turn south, but Chan had insisted on only taking you with him.  He looked unusually pensive as you walked, and you decided to take this opportunity to give your apology, in case it happened to be your last.

“Your Highness,” you said quietly, “I’ve been meaning to tell you how sorry I am for how I spoke to you by the pond.  You were only trying to comfort me and I took my insecurities out on you and you didn’t deserve that.”

He put his arm out in front of you, stopping you in your tracks.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?  Y/n, I’ve been trying to ask you for three days if you were alright and all this time you’ve been feeling guilty?  Please, please don’t feel that way, I would never blame you for what happened and I was never upset about our conversation.  Promise me you won’t keep anything like this from me again?”

You looked at each other and you nodded, both silently agreeing not to touch on the part of that previous conversation where you revealed something else you’d been keeping from him.

The two of you jogged back up to where Korenna had stopped at a small, raised hill surrounded by rocks.  It certainly was a good vantage point and hiding spot.  Once again, you hoped your instincts about this woman and her intentions would be correct.

Korenna led you around the corner of one of the rocks, and that was when you saw the young girl.  She was lying wrapped in a blanket despite the heat, and her hair looked dirty and matted.  The men sitting around her straightened as Korenna approached the group, but she held up her hand to show them you were on their side.  The girl lifted her head when she heard your footsteps, her gaunt face morphing into a smile at the sight of her sister.

“Korenna, you’re back,” she rasped as the elder knelt and wrapped her in a hug, and your heart broke at the sound of her barely there voice.

“Your Highness…”

“I know,” he said, reading what you were going to say from the tone of your voice, “we need to get her to Felix.”

You both approached the pair and you knelt down next to Korenna, speaking softly to the younger princess.

“Hello Paige.  My name is Y/n.  I’m a friend of your sister.  She’s brought you a really long way to make sure you’re safe, and we’re going to get you some help now so you can feel better.  Would that be alright with you?”

The little girl nodded, and you looked up at Korenna, silently asking permission to pick her up.  Korenna nodded as well, so you gathered Paige into your arms and began the trek back to the palace, some of the knights following along with you.  You looked behind you to see Chan place his hand on Korenna’s shoulder.

“Thank you for showing me.  Together we’re going to make this right.”

Conscription  |  Kingdom of Lajor, present day

“Your Majesty, the villagers are reporting they have no more men to send, and those in the city have been rioting for two days since the conscription announcement went out.  The knights can barely keep the peace and we have more and more deserters every day.  I’m just not sure we should continue hounding the people - ”

King Eunther looked up from his seat in the throne room, cutting the man off with a steely, impenetrable gaze.

“Sir Bavrard, do the people control this kingdom?”

“N-no, Your Majesty.”

“And do the knights?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Then please explain to me why you are suggesting we listen to the complaints of those ungrateful, insubordinate traitors over my own direct orders?!” the king shouted, Sir Bavrard cowering beneath him.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I just don’t know what else we can do to compel such a large uprising - “

“I’ll tell you what you can do,” King Eunther snarled, rising from his chair, “you can tell them that if they don’t cooperate, you will bring them to stand in front of me and I will personally remove their head from their body.  Do I make myself clear?!”

32 men died that day.

Checkmate  |  Kingdom of Gu, present day

You entered the infirmary, walking over to where Prince Felix sat at the bedside of a much healthier looking Paige.

“Y/n!” she called, her head peeking around Felix’s shoulder to smile at you.

“Hello little princess,” you said, returning her smile as you came to stand beside Felix.  “I’m glad to see you doing much better.  Do you mind if I borrow your companion for a moment?”

“Nope!” she pronounced, going back to the book she’d been reading as Felix followed you to the corner of the room.

“You were right, her condition is much improved,” Felix said.  “I’m still a little worried about her malnourishment, but as long as she remains well fed and warm, she should be alright.”

“That’s good news; Princess Korenna will be glad to hear it.  She wanted me to thank you for tending to her, Your Grace.”

“I’m delighted to!” he exclaimed quietly.  “She’s got quite the personality in that little body of hers, kept me on my toes the last few days.”

As if on cue, Paige piped up from behind the two of you, “Felix, could I have that glass of orange juice you’d said you’d bring me?  I waited ten minutes like you said.”

“See?” he said with a smile and a raise of his eyebrows, turning to leave the room.  You followed after him, sending a wave and a wink to the princess on your way.

You headed back to the throne room, where King Bang, Chan, Korenna, Minho, and the rest of the head knights were gathered.  They’d been discussing their plans for the imminent Lajoran attack for a few days now, Korenna and her knights filling in any gaps of knowledge or speculating on Eunther’s strategies when they could.  You’d been in attendance as well, taking notes, marking maps, and giving suggestions every once in a while.  Battle planning had never been your favorite task; you couldn’t help but think about all the senseless loss that came from two men getting into a pissing contest over who should control what land or trying to ‘avenge their honor.’  Surely there had to be a better way, especially in this situation where it was clear the Lajoran people were not exactly in support of their ruler, to defeat a rogue king without the death of innocent people.

Entering the room, you caught eyes with Korenna, who walked over to meet you in the far corner.

“Prince Felix says she’s still stable, Your Grace.  As long as we keep her here and watch that she’s getting enough food, she should recover just fine.”

“Oh thank god, what a relief,” Korenna sighed, placing one hand on your arm and one over her chest.  “I can’t begin to thank you all enough for what you’ve done for us.”

Your ears perked at that.  Korenna seemed like she also despised the loss of innocent life, considering she hadn’t even been able to kill her father’s enemy despite her own sister being in danger.  Maybe you could suggest your proposal to her and she could advocate for it, as a way of repaying you all and preventing more death.

“Actually, Your Grace, if I may, there is something I was considering.  There may be a potential way to prevent an all out battle between our two peoples, if what you’ve told us is true about your father’s current standing amongst your citizens.  If you were to propose it, the others might take more kindly to it than if it came from me.”

Korenna didn’t say anything, so you took that as a sign to continue.  You explained what you had been turning over in your head for the past few days, checking a few of the details with her.  When you finished, the princess looked a little apprehensive.

“I am in total support of that plan, Y/n,” the princess explained.  “But I worry that if it comes from me, King Bang is going to reject it outright.  I can tell he is not as convinced of my intentions as you and Chris are.”

She had a point.  If the plan were to come from her, it would probably seem more suspicious, more likely to be a trap.  However, you feared the king wouldn’t consider you proposing such a plan to be much more trustworthy.

Korenna seemed to be reading that exact thought on your face as she said, “Why don’t you angle it towards Chris; I know he holds your input in high regard.”

You felt your heart tug at her statement, but pushed those thoughts to the back of your mind.  Korenna was right; you could do this.  You nodded at her and you both returned to the table.

The men were talking, so you tried clearing your throat, but that seemed to do nothing to get their attention.  Noticing your hesitation, Korenna interrupted.

“Gentlemen, I believe Y/n has something to say.”

You smiled gratefully at her then turned your attention to Chan.  If you could just remain focused on him you were confident you could explain your plan and maybe even convince them to buy in to it too.

“Your Highness, I’ve been thinking of a way that we could perhaps avoid any direct conflict with Lajor.  We already know that Her Grace has many supporters, as evidenced by our friends here.  And according to their reports, the people are in no position to support a war; this is all one man’s doing.  So if we can eliminate that one man, our problem would be solved.

I propose we arrange a meeting with King Eunther.  Somewhere neutral, away from the majority of our armies.  We frame it as a truce meeting, have him go into it thinking he will get some concessions from our side in order to prevent a fight.  In reality, we use it as a chance to capture him unawares.  Her Grace can confront her father, and if our information is correct, the knights and soldiers will take her side and we can end this situation with zero loss of life and a new friend on the Lajoran throne.”

You glanced at Korenna and saw she was smiling brightly at you.  Looking back at Chan, you could tell he was seriously considering what you had said, head pressed together with Minho in quiet conversation.  The Lajoran and Guan knights were murmuring to each other, indicating agreement with what you’d proposed.  The only person who appeared to be against it was King Bang.

“Using deception and ambushing a man has always been considered dishonorable,” the king spat, as if you had insulted the very foundation of the kingdom.  “Wars are meant to be fought on the battlefield and our army could easily outpace Lajor’s; there are expectations and traditions that should be upheld.”

It took everything in you not to scream at him, to unleash a lifetime’s worth of anguish caused by his ignorance and arrogance.  You’d had enough of hearing this man talk about all the noble pursuits of battle without ever having to face the consequences of one.  You turned to him, your chin held high.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but this is not about the “honor” of taking him down on the battlefield.  This is about not sacrificing the lives of men to maintain your own sense of righteousness.”

The room went silent at that.  You kept your eyes on the king, could feel him seething under his impartial expression.  Under any other circumstances, the punishment for what you’d just said would be severe.  But everyone in the room was starting to come to the realization that your plan had merit.  It would be faster, easier, less costly, and less deadly than simply bracing for an attack, no matter how “dishonorable” it might seem.  And even the king knew now was not the time to berate you, though you were sure it would come back to haunt you later.

You felt Chan press his hand to the small of your back, the sign of support giving you more strength.  “Y/n is right.  Even if we would be likely to take a victory in battle, her plan has the best chance of rooting out the cause of our problem here and now and placing both our kingdoms in a better position for the long term.  If anyone disagrees, they should speak now.”

Everyone kept silent, some nodding their heads in agreement with the decision.

“Then we shall prepare to execute it.”

***

You avoided the throne room as much as possible for the next few days as preparations were made, wanting to have as little interaction with the king as you could.  Chan had praised you after the meeting, had said he was proud you’d spoken up to his father.  You knew the prince had the best of intentions, but you also knew he could never understand what it was like to know that by doing what you did, you’d surrendered yourself to whatever punishment the king saw fit to assign after this ordeal came to an end.

A rider had been dispatched to Lajor to deliver the terms of your meeting.  In the letter, Gu had agreed to secede the western most portion of its territory as well as deliver half its military forces to Lajor.  The only stipulation was an in person meeting to sign the documents.  As suspected, King Eunther was too tempted by power to see through your guise, thin as it may have been.  The meeting was set for today at noon.

Armies from both sides were prepared, in case this peace offering did not go smoothly.  The plan was to bring you, Chan, Korenna, King Bang, Minho, the Lajoran knights, and a few members of your own royal guard to the meeting place, which was designated to be the same spot in the forest where the earlier attempt on Chan’s life took place.

Hours before the meeting, you were making your way through the forest as quickly and quietly as you could, bow strapped to your back and dressed in your most inconspicuous woodland attire.  You were to arrive at the grove early so you could take your position prior to anyone else arriving, or, in the worst case, report back if an enemy agent was attempting to do the same.  It was decided earlier that you would walk there alone, in order to leave as little trace as possible.

You didn’t mind the solitude as you meandered through the woods, trying not to leave an obvious trail behind you.  Before you’d left, Korenna had come to confirm with you the signal for your part of the plan.  Then, just as you were about to enter the forest, a voice called your name.

“Y/n!”

“Your Highness, you should be preparing with the others.”

“I know I-I just had to see you before you go.  To tell you goodluck.”

You looked at him and, steeling yourself for what you were about to do, tugged him into a crushing embrace.  He returned the hug, his head close enough to hear you whisper, “You too.”

Both of you were well aware of the hundreds of unspoken things behind the brief words you exchanged, but they were all that needed to be said for now.

You reached the clearing and found the tree with the best camouflage that had the vantage point you wanted.  Climbing up, you settled in for the long wait until the rest of the players arrived.

***

After about two hours, you heard the distinctive clopping of hooves coming from the direction of the Gu palace.  A few moments later, your friends came into sight of the clearing.  Remaining hidden, you watched as they fanned out into a semi-circle facing the direction of Lajor, King Bang and Korenna in the center.

Minutes passed and the Lajorans were nowhere to be seen.  It felt eerily quiet in the forest, and you began to worry King Eunther had caught on to your plan and was in the midst of attacking the city as you all stood here waiting for him.  However, after another few tense minutes, the Lajoran party arrived, consisting of King Eunther, his most trusted advisor Sir Bavrard, and thirty or so additional knights on foot, far more than the agreed upon fifteen.  You surveyed them as they formed a group behind Eunther.  Most looked anxious, like they weren’t quite sure what they should do in the event they were told to act, others seemed outright bored, and they all appeared to be sorely lacking in food and armament.  Just as Korenna had predicted, and just as you’d counted on for your plan to work.

“Sir Alfrey,” Eunther began, spotting Korenna’s biggest supporter on his horse beside her, “I should have known you’d be behind all this.”

Your friends remained silent, their expressions blank.

The king seemed slightly unnerved at the lack of response, and decided to try another tactic.  “So, am I to believe you brought my daughter here as a gesture of good faith, an additional item to be returned to me in the terms of our... arrangement?”

Chan’s even tempered voice rang out.  “She is not our prisoner; she came to us of her own free will.”

“And what of my younger daughter, Paige?”

“Don’t.  Speak.  Her name,” Korenna gritted out.

“Oh Korenna, you stupid girl; you’re the whole reason we’re in this unpleasant mess, so just stay quiet and let the men do the talking.”

You felt an angry coil rise in the pit of your stomach at his words, more resolved than ever to execute your plan and free Korenna from this abuse for good.  Taking your stance, you kept your eyes trained on the Lajoran king.

“No, father.  I will not stay quiet,” Korenna spoke again.  It had been agreed she would do most of the talking; the more riled up the king became the more reckless he would be, and his daughter talking back to him seemed to do the trick perfectly.

Eunther opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, Korenna continued.  “We did not ask you here today to sign a truce or give you any concessions to appease you.  We came here to put an end to this feud and an end to your rule.  You have irresponsibly and unjustly led our people, going so far as to torture and kill them when they do not agree with your machinations.  It is my obligation to remove you from the throne for the sake of our kingdom.  You will surrender to us now and I will walk our men off this battlefield and home to their families.”

You knew it would be your cue soon, your arm pulling back to anchor an arrow at the corner of your mouth.

“I think you can see my forces far outnumber yours at the moment,” the king said, gesturing to the knights behind him.  “And sadly you seem to believe our people are as disloyal as you are, an unfortunate misjudgement.  Why would I ever agree to your weak-minded, insolent little proposal?”

You let the arrow fly, and watched as it sailed just past Eunther, nicking his ear and drawing the tiniest drop of blood.

In the ensuing chaos caused by the seemingly rogue arrow, your team of knights rushed the Lajoran side, many of them laying down their weapons immediately in the face of the much healthier, much better armed Guan force.  You looked to see Minho drag Bavrard out from where he was crouched under the legs of his horse, lest an arrow attempt to find him as its target.  The other royals from your party remained safe in their position below and slightly to the left of your own.  Satisfied, you notched another arrow.

King Eunther put his hand to his ear, feeling the cut, and rose his gaze to find you perched in the treetops above.  “You missed.”

“I assure you,” you heard Chan say, “if she’d wanted it, you’d be dead.”

“I don’t want to kill you father,” came Korenna’s softer-edged voice.  “But if your choice is not to surrender, well, I’m afraid you’ve forced my hand.”

The smug look finally left the king’s face, his eyes darting around to see his companions abandoning him.  He got down from his horse, arms open wide in a begging posture mirroring his attitude that had shifted on a dime, hoping to win over his daughter with fake apologies and promises.  Damn, you thought, this man really doesn’t have a principled bone in his body.

“Korenna, daughter, please don’t do this.  I’m sure we can - “

An arrow landed in the grass between his feet.  He’d taken one step too close for your liking.

“Sir Alfrey,” Korenna instructed, “please take my father into custody.”

The king blanched as the knight dismounted and stepped forward, a steady stream of curses leaving his lips.

“I will get my revenge on you, you impudent little girl!  How do you think you will succeed in this plan of yours without me; you know nothing of running a kingdom!  You should watch your back, dear daughter, for I will always be lurking; I swear to you, you will never be rid of me!”

“Actually, father,” Korenna said, riding past him on her striking white mare, “I already am.”

Reign  |  Kingdom of Lajor, present day

Standing outside the palace gates hand-in-hand with Paige, you couldn’t keep the smile off your face.  You’d just exited the carriage that had carried King Bang, Chan, you, and the little princess back to her kingdom.  Korenna’s coronation was happening today, and luckily Paige had recovered enough to travel just in time to make it for her sister’s momentous occasion.

After Korenna had successfully confronted her father, she had made her way to the waiting Lajoran army and proclaimed there would be no battle.  They’d rejoiced and, unlike her father’s deluded assumption of the opposite, the kingdom had welcomed her as their ruler with open arms.  You and the others had returned to announce the good news to your own citizens, and to Paige, who was ecstatic at her sister’s triumph.  The last few days had been spent drafting amendments and additions to your trade agreements and foreign policy documents; with Korenna on the throne, Lajor and Gu’s relationship would transform from one of hostility to one of cooperation.  In all the bustle, you’d somehow managed to avoid a confrontation with King Bang over your behavior at the war table that day, but you couldn’t help thinking it was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.

You were ushered inside, hundreds of people weaving in and out amongst the beautifully decorated corridors as you found your way to the throne room.  You left the royals to take their seats at the front of the crowd while you went in search of your mother.

Many attendees from Gu, knights, servants, and citizens alike, had come to observe the ceremony, as a kind of display of support and camaraderie for your kingdom’s newly found ally.  You found your mother along the left side wall in a relatively uncrowded spot and took your place to watch your friend as she approached the priest who would bestow upon her the title of Queen of Lajor.

Between the hum of the clergymen reciting holy texts and oaths, you heard your mother whisper, “She knows not the sacrifice she makes to hold this position.”

You thought back to every conversation you’d had with Korenna, how in each and every one she demonstrated a profound devotion to her kingdom and her people.  “I think she does,” you responded.

“It must be daunting, knowing that responsibility sits on your shoulders from the very beginning.”  She saw your gaze shift from Korenna to Chan, seated at the front of the room next to his father, looking proudly up at the princess.

“I can only imagine.”

She paused, then continued, “Do you think you could bear that burden?”

Your mother was well aware of your feelings for the prince, had been since you tearily confessed to her the night of your one and only kiss.  So you knew what she meant.  Knew the question she was really asking, the question you’d pondered yourself more times than you could count.

Would you sacrifice the relative freedom you enjoyed now, agree to be beholden to a people and their wellbeing, in order to be with Chris, the man you loved?

Surprised at this line of questioning though you were, you answered honestly.  “If given the chance, I would bear it a hundred times over.”

Your attention was drawn back to the ceremony then, the priest announcing in a booming voice that Lajor had a new queen, Queen Korenna Dormio, first of her name.

The crowd erupted in applause, and you saw Paige dash up the dias steps to wrap her arms around her sister.  You felt the presence of eyes on you and looked to see Chan, his head turned to smile at you in the crowd.  You smiled back, and the answer you’d given your mother rang in your mind, as true as you’d ever felt it.

You would give anything for him.

{part 5}

[melancholydreadfuldream]

find me gone

Fandom: Doctor Who

Summary: The Doctor has gone missing for twenty years. You tried to find him in order to free mankind from the Time Lords.

  Warning: OOC, dark doctor, plot holes as usual, etc.

   It has been twenty years since the Doctor went missing. It has been twenty years since mankind is enslaved by the survivors of Gallifrey, a bunch of jackass Time Lord, whom according to the Doctor, was one of the founding father family of Gallifrey, the Bloodworth. 

  They are dangerous, insane and cruel. They invaded Earth in disguise of distress call from their crash-landing Tardis. UNIT and Torchwood calling the Doctor for help to figure it out and ended up leading the Doctor into a trap.

  The Bloodworth hated the Doctor for his part in destroying their home planet. The Doctor was giddy having not being the only Time Lord left in the universe and that happiness was short-lived when he found out who the survivors are. He was not above, to grovel for their forgiveness and explained his reasoning for destroying Gallifrey. 

  It has become apparent they won't see reason and hell-bent on revenge against the Doctor. The destruction of Gallifrey happened so long ago and the Doctor has come to term with it but to the Bloodworth, what happened to Gallifrey still fresh within their memories. 

 The Tardis they used to escape when opened are filled with amber, a sort of protective shield to contain or isolate time distortion. Apparently, their Tardis got damaged during escape and they use amber to contain it but something goes wrong and the Bloodworth ended up caught within the amber too. 

  The Doctor was able to figure out how to freed the occupants of the Tardis from the amber. The Bloodworth were preserved within the amber as exactly as they were, not aging, however, the amber damaged most of their brains and they have to regenerate in order to survive. The Doctor tried to aid them, saving their life. And yet, it wasn't enough. When they regained themselves, the first thing they do is turn against the Doctor.

  Knowing about Earth being like the Doctor's second home, the Bloodworth wanted to take over Earth for their own purpose. Although these past twenty years, the Time Lord did improve Earth's technology and 'protected' Earth from invasion by any other alien species. There were, of course, resistance against the Bloodworth at the beginning but it was futile. Like the Doctor warned, they were vicious and not above using threat, torture and kill to squash down the resistance.

  UNIT and Torchwood were destroyed like it was nothing. One of the Bloodworth was a mad scientist and was able to create some sort of machine which turned most of mankind docile enough to accept them and sort of mind-controlled the world's armies into their personal soldiers.

  Jack Harkness, the Doctor's former companion, was able to escape the hunt. Most of the Doctor's former companions are hunted as they were deemed too dangerous and to be converted with the machine to ensure their loyalty are no longer with the Doctor. Those who refused gets executed or worst become the subject of cruel experiments by the mad scientist.

  You were the Eleventh Doctor's current companion after the Ponds. You were properly scared at the reality falling apart before you. The Doctor is the Earth's defender. Who would have thought that he would be the reason for the mankind's downfall? He brought the Time Lord's most vicious wrath down on Earth.

  It was a complete chaos at the times and you got separated from the Doctor but you were rescued by Jack. You never saw the Doctor again.

  You sighed as you pulled your smartphone and play the last voicemail from the Doctor.

  "I'm sorry to have to leave you, (name). I need you to be brave. You have to lay low, don't get on their bad sides. Don't fight them. Relents with all their demands, renounce me as your enemy to please them. I have to go away for a while. I have hidden the Tardis somewhere the Time Lords can't reach. They must not get their hands on my Tardis. They can't track me, (name), I can't get to the Tardis to use chameleon arch. I'm taking the same play as them. Remember, don't fight them. When it is safe to do so, I have instructed my Tardis to locate you and you will find some instruction and hints of where to find me. When you do, you will need some help to free me. But for now, you have to forget these voicemail. Jack will get you a memory worm for it. Stick with him if you can. And, (name), I know you are scared. Be brave. I know you can do this. I have faith in you."

  And it has been twenty years. Clearly, the Doctor put his faith in the wrong companion. You have no idea how to do this. When the Tardis finally came for you and you get your memory back of the voicemail and finding the instruction left behind by the Doctor, you frantically trying to figure it all out. You have lived in bliss full ignorance after the memory worm while Jack is off somewhere you have no idea. The Bloodworth clearly thought you are no longer a friend of the Doctor considering you being docile with their assimilation on Earth.

  You were able to find your way into the resistance, or what was left of it. Jack has disappeared sometimes years ago. He used to be the leader of the resistance. He was able to undo some of the brain-washing of the people he need help from. You met a Clara Oswald, a genius in her own right, and together you tried to figure out the Doctor's location. It took years when you finally able to piece the Doctor's location.

  The Doctor has put himself within the amber in order to avoid detection from the other Time Lords. You glanced at the Doctor's form within the amber as the scientists within the resistance worked on the amber based on what you remembered of how the Doctor freed the Bloodworth which honestly you don't know much. The Doctor's technology babbles always goes over your head. 

  Luckily, you and Clara were able to recruit more scientists, well, technically you both kidnapped them, undo their brainwashing and have them help you figure out how to get the Doctor out of the amber.

  It was such a huge relief when they were able to freed the Doctor from the amber. The Doctor was disoriented and confused. The bright side, he did recognize you and he happily hugged you.

  "Oh, you are exactly as I remembered you to be. I missed you, (name)." He hugged you, spun you around and hugged you some more. "I always knew you could do it."

  You grimaced. "I miss you too, Doctor, but I'm sorry I took years to find you."

  "That's okay. You are only human. I still knew you could do it. Well, eventually."

  You glared at the Doctor between annoyance and fondness.

  Clara watched you two with amusement before she introduced herself. "I'm Clara Oswald. I have heard so much about you, Doctor."

  The Doctor beamed at her and much to your dismay, those two started to flirt with each other. 

  You pulled the Doctor away from his awkward flirting and asked him to focus. You and Clara then filled him in about the past twenty years. 

  The Doctor nodded and started to work on a technology to improve the resistance's defense. But he suddenly groaned in pain as he fell down to the floor. 

  You dashed forward to try to aid him. "Doctor..."

  "Oh no...I have a brain damage..." The Doctor moaned, nose bleeding.

  You gasped as you recalled that the Bloodworth themselves have to regenerate after they got out of the amber. The Doctor has explained in passing what regeneration is to the Time Lord. "Do you have to regenerate?" You asked fearfully. You just got him back and now he has to change himself. You really didn't want him to change yet.

  The Doctor glanced at you in sorrow, noticing your reluctant. "I have to. My brain is no longer good enough. I will need to be at my best if we are to free the Earth from them." He said. 

  "I wish we have more time..." You whispered as tears filled your eyes.

  The Doctor smiled wistfully. "I will still be me. I will still be the Doctor, just a bit different. I will still need you." he said as he caress your cheek, wiping your tears with his thumb. "Will you still stay by my side after this?" He asked, pleading you with his sad eyes.

  You nodded. 

  He beamed happily at your answer as his face and hands started to glow in regeneration energy. He asked you to give him space for the regeneration to take place.

  You stared at him, wanting to memorize this version of the Doctor.

  He smiled at you. "Be brave." He said. 

  You have no idea if he said that for you or for himself.

  Then he exploded.

  An old man with impressive angry eyebrows glanced at back you.

  You blinked at him in daze. "Doctor?"

  "Who are you?" He asked you.

  You stared at him in disbelief. "It's me, (name)." But he already not listening to you as he started to ramble really fast at himself.

  "I need to do something. What was it?" The Doctor muttered to himself. Then he has some 'aha' moment, pulled his sonic screwdriver and somehow summon the Tardis.

  Clara finally spoke up. "He just regenerated. The Time Lord probably has some sort technology to detect that energy, we need to leave here immediately."

  The Doctor look impressed with her. "You, funny nose, with me, in the box." He said.

  Clara touched her nose, not sure to be offended or not. But she shrugged and followed him inside the Tardis.

  You followed them inside the Tardis. The Doctor was already on the console, pushing some buttons. Clara is admiring the inside of the Tardis.

  "Wait, what about the others?" You asked.

  "What about them?" The Doctor asked nonchalantly.

  You and Clara exchanged glances in confusion.

  "We should evacuate them inside here."

  "No. I don't trust them. And we don't have time. The Time Lords are already coming." The Doctor said firmly.

  "But they risked their lives for you!!" You yelled at him.

  "And I'm thankful but I still don't trust them." The Doctor replied, snapping his fingers to close down the door.

  You and Clara about to protest some more but both were knocked around as the Tardis launched into the time vortex.

  "Where are we going?" Clara asked the Doctor.

  You didn't listen as you stared at the Doctor. You couldn't believe he had left those people behind. You wondered if this Doctor still have some brain damage from the amber. Where is his compassion?

  The Doctor seemed to get along well with Clara, sharing his plan with her, trying to impress her and practically ignoring you.

  To be honest, the new Doctor's indifference frightened you, reminded you that he is a Time Lord too. The way he acted just now, he is just like the Bloodworth. However, for some reason, Clara is hanging onto his every words. You wondered if he put a spell on her or something.

  The Doctor has changed into a new outfit, something a kin to Victorian suit which compliment his appearance. He look like a gentleman if not for his cold demeanor. Yet for some reason, he directed his cold demeanor to you. 

  He is not touchy-feely to Clara either but he treated her better than he did you.

  He was the one who ask you to stay with him so why is he being such a jerk to you?

  Before you could confront him about it, loud alarm sounded within the Tardis as the Doctor cussed saying that the other Time Lords has found them.

  The Doctor was able to evade the attack from the other Time Lord's Tardis. He was somehow able to maneuver his Tardis into cornering the other Tardis into a nearby black hole which ate and ripped the said Tardis. But the Doctor rescued the occupant inside, transporting him into his Tardis and immediately incapacitate him as soon as he appeared inside.

  The Time Lord, Finn, he claimed, glared at the Doctor menacingly.

  The Doctor stared him down, not impressed.

  True to his villain model, Finn even has a villain monologue about how the others are coming, that the Doctor can't win, etc, etc.

  The Doctor hushed him much to his annoyance as he shot down every words he has next. "I only want to know one thing from you." He said. "What did you do to (name)?"

  "What?" Clara blurted out, confused.

  "Who?" Finn asked, also confused.

  You blinked at the Doctor, wondering if the Doctor's brain does not regenerate as it should with the body. "Doctor, I am right here." 

  The Doctor ignored you in favor of staring at Finn.

  Finn glanced at you and then at the Doctor. 

  "Doctor!" You yelled at him. "You are scaring me!"

  The Doctor faltered just a bit before firmly stared at Finn. "Well?" He raised his impressive eyebrows at him.

  Finn snorted. "Am I supposed to know who (name) is?" He said in bored tone.

  "You should, considering she is the only reason I rescued you. Would you prefer I send you back to your Tardis?" The Doctor said in cold calmness.

  Finn frowned. "You would kill a fellow Time Lord for a mere human?"

  The Doctor only shrugged.

  "Doctor!! Look at me!" You yelled.

  "No!" The Doctor suddenly yelled back, surprising you and Clara. He finally turned to look at you. "You are not...." He is losing his composure. 

  He turned away from you, unable to look at you anymore. "It took me a while to realize. Mind still scrambled from being inside the amber. It has been twenty years." He said. He turned at you again, suddenly grabbed your arms. "It has been twenty years, (name)."

  You were properly scared at his reaction. Tears filled your eyes. You wondered if the new Doctor is angry at you for failing him for twenty years. "Doctor, I'm so..."

  "So, why do you look exactly the same?" The Doctor continued.

  You froze at that.

  Clara's eyes widened in alarm as she stared at you, bewildered.

  You glanced at the Doctor in daze before turning to your reflection reflected on the monitor at the console. Your mouth dropped open. How did you just now noticed it?

  "I forgot, you see, human lifespan, it's not long...and you aged with times...but, you, (name), you look exactly the same as you were twenty years ago." The Doctor said. 

  Finn glanced at you curiously. "I see, you are one of Frejya's pet project." He said.

  The Doctor snapped his attention back to Finn. "Frejya?" He paled. "What did she do to my companion?"

  Finn smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

  "I really do want to know." The Doctor said flatly.

  "What am I?" You asked the Doctor. "Doctor, what happened to me? Why am I...?"

  Clara rushed toward you when she saw you in such distress, rubbing your back.

  "You are a clone of (name) (last name)." The Doctor said. "You probably have all her memories too except the few they erased. They have been using you to track me."

  "Quite boring too, waiting for you to resurface again, Doctor. We knew you would come back for her, for the people of Earth. Your so called companion mostly are from Earth after all. I'm guessing (name) here is your last companion before you went into hiding." Finn said, finally understanding.

  Clara look horrified. "But that meant the Time Lords knew about the resistance..."

  Finn scoffed. "Of course we know. You lot are hardly a threat. We could squash you anytime we want. We even let you 'rescue' those scientists etc." He said, looking bored. "We want to know what you lot are up to. We know you would eventually led us to him." He glanced at the Doctor.

  The Doctor glared at Finn. "What happened to the real (name) (last name)?"

  The other Time Lord. "Oh, you know Frejya, Doctor, she always did damaged her toys a bit too fast and then throw them away like garbage." He said cruelly.

  The Doctor didn't speak for a while. He turned back to console, pushing some buttons. He glanced at Finn. "You better pray that is not the case." 

  Finn winced. "W-what did you do? Doctor, you can't..." He pleaded when he realized what the Doctor is up to. "You can't...send me back again...I will die..."

  You and Clara glanced at him in alarm before turning to look at the Doctor.

  "Doctor, what did you do?" Clara asked.

  "Doctor..." Before you can do anything, the Doctor pushes a button and Finn disappeared with a scream. You flinched. "Doctor, what did you do?" You asked, horrified.

  The Doctor ignored you, plotting a course somewhere.

  "Doctor, stop ignoring me! Look at me!" You pleaded.

  The Doctor glanced at you firmly but you noticed the pain in his eyes.

  "Doctor, did you ki-"

  "I send him to his death, yes. We have no time for more chit chat. The Time Lords know now that I am back." The Doctor said, stopping any words you have next. "I just declared a war with them when I send Finn to his death."

  "Where are we going?" Clara asked.

  "I have to make a preparation before the next play date with the Time Lords." He said coldly as he pulled a lever.

  He marched toward you, grabbed your arms firmly and glared at you with such cold fury. "I will come back for the rest of you."

  You blinked in confusion. The Doctor is talking to you but it is also like he is talking to someone in you.

  "I will descent hell upon you lot. I'm done playing nice. If I have to, I will make sure I will be the last Time Lord standing again."

  The Doctor touched a pulse on your neck and you fainted in his arms. The last thing you heard is Clara yelling for you.

  7777

  The monitor was shut down offline on its own.

  Frejya gasped in dismay, pushing some button to get the monitor back online but it was futile. She screamed in frustration. She turned to the other occupants in the room. "He killed Finn." She growled in fury.

  A young woman sighed in dismay. "I told Finn to wait. He was always so reckless."

  A man in suit stepped forward, pushing one hand on his pocket. He was calm as he glanced at the monitor, recalling the Doctor's declaration of war. He smirked. "Let him come. We need him anyway. Secure the Timeless Child at all cost."

     A/N: If you watch Fringe, you will recognized I borrowed the 'amber' from that TV series though the purpose probably all wrong? Anyway I'm just bullshitting my way with this too. Wish I'm a better writer who can make epic storyline but I'm just ordinary.  I suppose I'm done with this particular story. I am no good at making conflict for stories. The Doctor will most probably calling out his inner oncoming storm to the front to deal with the other Time Lords. Will the other Time Lords succeed in recapturing the Timeless Child? I guess nobody know because I don't know either. I suppose once again the version of the reader get the short straw again and be the reason of the Doctor turned dark. 

[averagewriter-inthedark]

The Other Redhead | Riley Biers | Part 1

Masterlist   Part 2 here

Pairing: Riley Biers x female!reader (Victoria’s sister)

I don’t own any of the characters/plots from Twilight, that all belongs to Stephenie Meyer & Summit Entertainment

Warnings: angst, profanity, mentions of death. 

Prompt: The day Edward first saw Victoria on the baseball field, he saw a glimpse into her past. There, he saw a woman with fiery red hair similar to hers and memories indicating how close the woman is to Victoria. With the threat of her newborn army on the rise heading straight for him and Bella, Edward takes the risk of seeking out the woman in the flashbacks he remembered the year prior in hope she could be the one to stop Victoria on her path for vengeance. Little did they know, things were going to become more complicated when the two face off for the first time in almost a century, and the discovery that Victoria’s prized second in command Riley, is the one the woman has been waiting for all her life.

Word count: 1222

“How did you find me?”

“You weren’t hard to locate?”

“You said your name is Edward, yes? Well Edward, I find that hard to believe. I’ve hiding from my sister and her sadistic tracker of a mate for almost a century and have been very good at staying hidden. So how is it you, a mere mind reader after seeing me in her thoughts one time, managed to track me down within a few days after remembering said memory? You had to have had help, and I want to know how you did, why you did it, and what does my sister have to do with it.” 

“To answer your first question, my sister can see things as one would say. See the decision of those before it is made. I asked her to see where you would go next, and she was able to see you here in Miami. For the second question, the simplest answer is I need your help, and I need it now. You sister is after me and my human mate, Bella, wanting to kill her as revenge for me killing James--.”

“You killed James,” a scoff followed by a chuckle, “How the hell did you manage to beat him at his own game?”

“It’s a long story...”

“An unpleasant one I assume. Let me take a guess, having been around him and fallen victim to his game before, James was tracking your mate and instead of just turning her so he wouldn’t desire her blood anymore, you kept her human and it led to a wild chase of cat and mouse with a fight between the two of you. I don’t believe for a second you were the only one involved in killing him, James was one tough son of bitch, you had to have help.” He only nodded to confirm. “Wow, I have to say I’m impressed. Good riddance to him though.”

“Your sister is creating an army of newborns not far from where my family and mate resides,” his voice had an edge to it, indicating how serious the situation was, “We don’t have much time before they head for us.”

“And what is it you need me for, Edward?” her brows narrowed at the vampire before her suspiciously, but she already knew the answer, “You have a family with strong members, you have siblings with gifts and you also tell me a wolf pack has also come to your aid. Why did you travel all this way to find me, when you know of the history her and I have. My sister is no longer my sister, she made that choice when she decided to go with James and leave me alone. To play along with his sick games which has had me on the run for decades. I have been hiding from her for a reason, and you expect me to just drop everything and help you? I don’t even know you.”

“I know you’ve been running from her for years, but James is gone and can’t influence her anymore,” his voice was soft, “I saw in her mind the memories of you when she laid eyes on my family, she missed you although she would never admit it because she knew James would try to find you again. If you can try to convince her that avenging him is not the answer, then maybe she will put aside her anger and stop herself from getting killed.” Edward took a step forward, but not too close so he didn’t invade her personal space, “I understand your resentment for her, but Y/N she is your sister. Deep down I know you still care for her. While you stand there and say all this, your mind says other things. You want to see her.”

“You don’t know what I want!!” The scream shook the room, the glass cups shattering around her causing Edward to step back. “Stay out of my head, Cullen,” she hissed, “Or I’ll rip your arms apart with a simple thought.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I didn’t mean to offend you.” When it appeared she had calmed down he stepped forward again, but her face remained hard so he mentally noted not to anger her again. “Please, Y/N. I wouldn’t be asking you for this if I didn’t believe you wouldn’t be able to get through to her. I wouldn’t have came all this way if my sister said there was no chance you would agree.” This made her face soften a bit, thought she kept her eyes narrowed on him but Edward felt a sting of hope.

“So you’re telling me your sister, the one who can see the outcome of decisions, has already seen me agreeing to help you? How is that a fair chance of choice if the answer has already been decided.”

“Alice didn’t see you agree, she only saw this conversation happening and there was a strong chance you would. There is still a chance you will say no, but I’m here to convince you to say yes and help us against your sister. Stop her from consuming herself with revenge so she isn’t killed.” 

The woman stood silent, moving to overlook the balcony where the Miami nightlife was in full swing. Edward waited patiently, listening to her thoughts and feeling more hopeful while she contemplated. The thoughts leaning toward his favor.

“I’ve been on the run from Victoria for almost a century, Edward,” the tone Y/N spoke with was solemn, as though she were in mourn, “I tried to get her away from James when I saw him for what he was. I had the feeling he would only bring her to her downfall and told her she was blind for her love for him. That he didn’t care for her in the way she did for him. But she was naive, and stupid.” She spat, eyes closing as the painful memory played in her head, “She betrayed me, Edward. She stood by his side, even following him when he decided to track me and kill me after she told him what I said. Her own sister. She played his game with him knowing the outcome would be me dead if he got to me, and she did nothing.” 

She spun around to him, face full of pain an sadness, “She didn’t listen to me the first time, what makes you think she will listen to me this time around?” There was a pause, her moving toward the mind reader until she was directly in front of him, “What do I have to gain by facing her after all these years?” 

“Like I said, James isn’t here anymore. He can’t control her or her decisions. The urge for revenge is consuming her, making her irrational and think she’s doing herself a favor by creating this army to kill Bella and I. If you can convince her otherwise then there is a chance for you two to make amends, have your sister back.”

“And if I can’t?” There was silence from the man while he listened intently to her mind. When a certain thought popped into her head, well aware he was listening, Edward had to bite back the smirk trying to make its way onto his face.

“Then you get your revenge.” 

[wirsinddieranters]

Attack on Titan is not about Jewish people, goddamn it.

Alright, so, like. I think now that S4 is airing most people understand that the basic 'AoT is nazi propaganda' shit is bullshit because clearly the Marleyan propaganda about Eldians being devils was meant to be propaganda, but I hear people make arguments I don't like still, mainly about Jewish stereotypes and the lack of accountability for Japanese imperialism. It seems this mostly revolves around people incorrectly thinking that Eldians are meant to be a stand-in for Jewish people during WW2, so that's just what I wanted to talk about. Because it isn't. And they aren’t.

People mostly think this because they're in a somewhat Germanic area and the technology seems like it's around WW2 era. Though I have to say in the later point-- it isn't. It's more WW1. Trench warfare like you saw at the start of the Marley is what WW1 was known for. Not WW2. The country Marley is battling with at the beginning of the arc, as well, seems to be a stand-in for the Ottoman Empire, which dissolved in the 1920s largely as a result of losing the war. Compare the soldiers of this 'Mid-East alliance' with WW1 era Ottoman soldiers:

Now, AoT’s world is VERY different from our own, but with these two facts, it’s pretty certain here that this story is around the 1910s our time. It’s WW1, NOT WW2. 

But let’s also make it clear here that Eldians are not Jewish.

We know the past of the Eldians through Ymir. 

They were Germanic people. Barbarians, as we know them, though the word only means ‘not Roman’ technically. Pretty distinguishable from the armor and the tusk cups. They are not Hebrew. Here’s a historical rendition of Germanic peoples, so you can get what I mean.

In fact, the ancient Germans are associated with the word Barbarian because, like I said, it means not Roman, and they were the ones the Romans were most fighting with.

Marley came from the Romans.

You know what a Roman headpiece looks like. It’s very distinguishable. They were Romans. 

Hell, they’re still ‘Italians.’ You can see it in the food, though that’s more stereotypical than anything else. During the festival they were eating pizza, cannolis, and ice cream (which wasn’t an Italian invention but was introduced to Europe through Italy). You can see it in the names, too, though it's not absolute. Eldians tend to have Germanic names, like Braun or Jaeger, whereas in Marley we see Nicolo & General Calvi.

Not only are Marleyans not German, they aren’t even close to WW2 Germany. They are not trying to get revenge on anyone; they are just an imperialist country continuing to invade others for natural resources, as seen by the Mid-East alliance, as well as victims of their imperialism like Onyankopon and Yelena. They are imperialists, and rather than specifically trying to eradicate Eldians, they are strangely known for treating Eldians better than other countries-- Udo even says as much, knowing so because he was from a Mid-East nation (as you remember, he could speak the language of one of the Mid-Eastern soldiers). This is because Marley has a use for Eldians as cannonfodder and has a vested interest in treating them better so they can manipulate them into joining the military. Obviously, this never happened in history, especially not with Jewish people during the Holocaust- As such, there is no AoT equivalent to Auschwitz; no concentration camps that Eldians are systematically exterminated in, no gas chambers or ovens that were the big thing that set the Holocaust apart from other genocides. 

If anything, Marley’s imperialist behavior is more akin to America than anything else-- Likely because this is a world where it seems the Roman empire never truly crumbled. 

So, we’ve established here that AoT does not take place in WW2. It’s in WW1. And the genocide is happening worldwide, but mostly in Italy. Against Germanic people. It has nothing to do with Jewish people.

The reason why people think this, however, is because their understanding of genocides mostly start and stop at the Holocaust. They see ghettos, and they assume that the Eldians must be Jewish people. This is incorrect, too. If you know anything about how genocides happen, Isayama seemed to be very deliberate in just ticking all the boxes. 

There are 10 stages of genocide.

http://genocidewatch.net/genocide-2/8-stages-of-genocide/

Classification / Symbolization / Discrimination / Dehumanization / Organization / Polarization / Preparation / Persecution / Extermination / Denial

Those are official. I learned them in school, that’s how I know them. Isayama is clearly aware of them and uses them outright, and somehow this has been mistaken for the Eldians being a stand-in for Jewish people during the Holocaust.

Things like armbands (symbolization) and ghettos (organization) are both literally stages of genocide. Not just the Holocaust. Any genocide. I’ll use the armband specifically. For some reason people think that this only happened in the holocaust. However, that’s wrong. Jewish people didn’t even wear an armband then, they wore yellow Star of David pins. If you google ‘genocide armband’ the first thing that actually comes up is the Bosnian genocide. Bosnians were kept in ghettos and forced to wear white armbands. 

http://www.srebrenica.org.uk/what-happened/history/white-armband-day/

The genocidewatch source also mentions another example; Cambodians targeted by Pol Pot were forced to wear blue scarves. 

One final thing I want to argue about, too, is that they must be Jewish because of the specific things hurled about them ‘controlling the world,’ because for some reason people seem to think that only Jews have ever been targeted for seemingly oppressing others, despite the fact that that’s what the Tutsi were specifically targeted for. They also have other insults hurled against them that Jewish people do not. They are all considered potential bombs; a suicide bomb threat. That’s, in fact, the main reason for people continuing to lock them up. They are scared that they’ll turn into titans and attack them. The previous oppression is only resentment, their continued oppression is from the constant danger, an argument that sounds far more like what Muslim people deal with, particularly today with Palestinians and Uighurs, who are both locked in ghettos in very much the same way. 

(Also also, I’ve heard it argued that for some reason despite all this, Isayama should have made some big declaration against Japanese imperialism... But Japan is not a good country in this story. It’s also imperialist, but it’s half a world away, has very little bearing on the plot, and we already have a country that shows imperialism is bad. So... Why should he have to, when the story isn’t even about the horrors of WW2?)

So. I hope you guys can save this and use this to show people that there’s really no connection that needs to be made here, and that AoT has been given a bad reputation for no reason at all. Please share this. I’ve been wanting to talk about it for a while and finally had a chance to sit down and explain it.