#And of course for the lovely person who gave me the code I shall draw a little something

[the-mirror-sunflower-owo]

Did you manage to get a Toyhouse?

I did, yes!

For anyone who's interested, it's here.

[beautiful-bau-beau]

helloooo!! I have a Spencer request :) Could you write one where Spencer is injured (maybe like when he broke his leg or something like that) and he stays round yours and you look after him, help him shower, comfort him and stuff :)

Anonymous said to beautiful-bau-beau: could u do a soulmate au w spence where you feel the share pain with your soulmate, i think it would be interesting since spencer seems to be shot or nearly killed in almost every episode 

Sticks and Stones

fem!reader/Spencer Reid

masterlist

[Set in season 5 when Spencer gets shot in the leg but makes references to Maeve]

----

To the average eye flowers are soft, simple little things. They spark romance in the hearts of budding couples, they aid the grieving widows, their beauty inspires the masses in forms such as poetry and art. For some, flowers only caused distress.

Few were "fortunate" in the world to have soulmates. Once twelve years of age, a soul bound to another would feel the pain, to a lesser extent, as well as receive a flower at the sight of the intrusion. Small purple blooms grew at bruises, at a cut, the flowers would mimic the length and size. Any other type of pain was indicated by large, red blossoms. As each wound healed, the flowers would wilt and die.

You were among the many to few flowers as flimsy nuisances, only serving as reminders of the pain you had to go through.

Before turning twelve you often wondered if you had a soulmate. You had spent many days vividly imagining who your soulmate was, what he looked like, what he did for a living, choosing to ignore that if you indeed had one, a lifetime of pain was sure to follow.

Lifetime of pain indeed.

Your soulmate must have been a stuntman, a police officer, hell- even a lion tamer with the amount of pain he seemed to put you through. The occasional bruise and scrape seemed to hit you up until your early twenties, that's when the real pain began.

Every other day it seemed that you were doubled over, screaming in agony. You were an ugly vision of purple and red, but hell, it seemed to strike up a conversation with you and your patients.

You served as a private duty nurse, taking care of patients in the safety of their own home. You enjoyed the one-on-one with your patients, and it was decidedly better than working in a crowded hospital with a difficult schedule.

You had just finished a job working with an elderly woman, as her granddaughter had recently decided to move in with her to take care of her. It was a sad departure, but the job had finished and it was now time for you to find another patient in need.

You were employed through a small local medical office and received career requests through their office website.

One particular request caught your eye that morning from a Ms. Penelope Garcia. A friend of hers had recently been shot in the leg and needed to quickly recover before returning to his job.

You eyed your own leg, sighing heavily. It still seemed to throb harshly every once in a while.

A week ago, out of nowhere, an extreme pain radiated through your leg, causing you to drop what you were doing and scream. Thankfully you hadn't been on the job but the look of pity your neighbors gave you the next day felt just as awful. Every time you glanced at the offending appendage you could swear you saw another blossom grow.

"You and me both, buddy." You mumbled, picking up your phone. The job seemed simple enough, and hopefully you would be able to bond with this new patient by shared leg pain.

-

"You ordered a nurse for me?" Spencer hissed into his cell, turning to look over his shoulder. "I can take care of myself!" He eyed your figure, currently unpacking a medical bag. You had entered his apartment mere minutes ago, not understanding his confusion.

"Are you Spencer Reid?" You asked, greeting his wheel-chair bound figure. "I'm Y/n Y/l/n, the nurse your girlfriend Penelope ordered." You were met with a blank stare. "Is she uh.. here?"

"I'm going to have to make a phone call." Spencer blurted, wheeling himself inside. He left the door open so you took it upon yourself to enter.

"Spencer, I love you but are you listening to yourself right now?" Penelope replied, twirling a pen around her fingers. "You were shot a week ago, you're in a wheelchair. How are you going to shower? Replace your bandages? Sweets, this nurse will help you. And before you even have to ask I already checked and your insurance covers this!"

"Garcia-"

"I won't hear anything more about it as I know I'm right! Goodbye, dear!" A heavy sigh came from the man, and he placed his cellphone back in his pocket. He turned to look at you again, wheeling his way over to you.

"I apologize for earlier. I wasn't exactly informed that you would be coming here." He placed his hands on his lap, awkwardly.

"That's alright!" You chirped. " You’re low-risk so I won’t invade your space too much by staying overnight with you. I'm here to help with personal medical care, bathing, trimming nails, and making you comfortable.... as well as urinary and colostomy care." His eyes widened and you simply waved him off. "I get it. It's weird. But from what I read through of your medical reports, the bullet went clear through and you'll need a crutch in two weeks! At least you're not hooked up to a catheter?" You tried to joke. You were met with another simple stare.

"Let's uh, change your bandages, shall we?"

-

It had been a few days since you started working with Spencer. He was a nice man, a little awkward, and seemed to be more of an introvert, so you respected his space. He seemed to take to staying in bed, simply asking for books every once and awhile.

"There's no way you're able to read all these so quickly. You'd have to be superhuman..." You teased, bringing him a stack of his latest requests.

"I have an IQ of 187 and can read 20,000 words per minute." Spencer replied, catching your eye. He flushed under your surprised glance. "...Not to brag."

"Well... that'll do it." You set each book in your arm down, one by one, a particular title catching your eye. "The Narrative of John Smith?"

"Have you read it?" He asked, trying not to sound too eager. He hadn't originally pegged you for an Arthur Conan Doyle fan.

"Uh, no." You scratched behind your ear sheepishly. "But a few friends of mine have, they all highly recommend it. What do you think? Does it live up to all the hype?" Spencer opened his mouth but shut it almost immediately, causing your brows to furrow.

"I can't tell you what to read... it's just a very special book to me."

"Did someone special give you the book? Penelope?" Spencer let out a chuckle, hissing as he adjusted himself on his bed.

"Garcia is just a friend but you're correct, someone special gave me the book."

"A soulmate?" You asked, immediately regretting your choice of words. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. I'm just the nosy nurse that asks too many questions." You knew it was a sensitive topic for some, with or without the soulmate.

"No, it wasn't from a soulmate... but I wish she was." Spencer's voice grew soft. You felt as if you had stepped too far, intruded upon a fond memory.

"I do have one though." He continued, noticing your unease. "Sometimes I worry I imagined her but every once and awhile, I'll notice some flowers by my legs, the likely result of a cut from shaving or bruises." You let out a laugh, leaning against his door frame.

"I would love a low-risk soulmate like that. He must jump through flaming hula-hoops or something. I could make a decent living as a florist." You murmured.

"That's got to be tough." Spencer observed, noticing no flowers on your arm.

"I guess he's a lot like you." You lifted up your pant leg, crimson petals on display. "His reason can't be nearly as heroic as yours, though." Spencer couldn't suppress the smile that grew from the compliment.

"Well I guess you'll have to find him and ask."

"Well you're in the FBI right? Let's formulate a profile and find him so I can give him a piece of my mind. You in?" You teased.

"Sounds like a worthy use of all my newfound time." He let out a small huff of amusement, eyeing your figure. He appreciated how lighthearted and casual you were. He noticed the space you gave him and your little efforts to make the apartment easier to maneuver around. Although he hadn't seemed motivated at first, something told him he should get to know you more.

-

"Y/n?" Spencer asked, drawing your attention away from one of the books you had borrowed from his shelf. "Is there any way we can wash my hair?" He had procrastinated in asking, too embarrassed for whatever your plan was for showering.

"Of course! I could cut it too if you'd like." You offered, standing to wheel him into the bathroom.

"Are you saying you don't like my hair?" He faked an offended tone which he knew would make you laugh.

"I think your hair is beautiful, right at that perfect length before it gets too weird for any man to wear." You snorted. You moved him to a stool, not too difficult a feat as he was able to support the majority of his weight on his good leg. "Alright, the shirt has got to come off."

"Isn't against a code to try and seduce your patients?" Spencer teased. Since your conversation the other day he had grown to feel more comfortable with you and a friendship ensued. You took care when treating him and told stories of past patients. It was clear you loved what you did and cared for the people even more.

"Oh please. If I was seducing you, which I'm not, you'd know." You rolled your eyes, waiting for him to lift his arms before peeling his shirt off of him. He leaned back, long tresses falling into a pool in the sink.

He was extremely handsome, you couldn't deny it. His sharp cheekbones and jawline, his full and enticing lips, the way his hand flexed as he read.... you didn't notice any of that. You especially didn't notice how wonderfully intelligent he was, or how kind. Not at all.

Besides, it would never work. You both had your respective soulmates and he seemed to still be carrying a torch for the past relationship he was in. Not to mention the most important factor of all, he was your patient.

You carefully stepped around him to grab a large and small towel, snickering as you found a familiar design on one.

"Star Trek fan?" You asked, hanging the fabric on the shower rail and turning the tap on to warm water.

"Typically I'm not one for fiction but surprisingly there aren't that many scientific errors in Star Trek, especially considering how long ago it was made. There are certain improbabilities, but not that many outright errors, which make it so enjoyable to watch."

"Eh, I've only seen the film from 2009, and I was mostly paying attention to the deliciously handsome cast." You knew that would agitate him. "And not just for Chris Pine but Zachary Quinto as Spock? Oh, he is gorgeous, even if he is gay. Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, and not that I had a chance with him anyway." You laughed.

"Y/n, I am not one to comment on the education of another but you are seriously missing out! Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of the most influential series of it's time. the new film doesn't even have Data! Data, y/n, Data!" He grumbled as you washed his hair.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Next you're going to tell me that the 1996 Doctor Who movie is better than the series?" He opened his mouth when you raised your soapy hand. "Disregard that statement, I can't afford another argument, I'm already too emotional from our last one." You faked a sniffle.

"You know, most females I talk to don't watch Star Trek or Doctor Who."

"I'm just that amazing, I know." You sighed, moving to grab the washcloth and dousing it with water, handing it to Spencer so he could wash himself. You grabbed the Star Trek towel and started to dry Spencer's hair.                                           

"You're something alright." He retorted, drawing a gasp from you.

"I could have let you sit with greasy hair, you know!" Just for extra measure you rubbed his head a little harsher than before but miscalculated your aim, accidentally hitting your wrist against the marble sink.

Spencer felt pain radiate through his wrist and time seemed to slow. It suddenly seemed to dawn on him all at once. You experienced constant pain, pain he gave you because he was often injured on the job. Not to mention his gunshot wound on your leg and now the purple blossoms forming on his wrist.

 He wanted to shout, yell, jump up, wrap you in a hug. He had finally found his soulmate! However, he remained silent.

When you spoke about your soulmate the other day you seemed angry and forlorn at the amount of pain you had to endure. There was no doubt in his mind that if you knew he was your soulmate, you would walk right out of his life, but not before giving him a swift kick to the ass.

So he stayed quiet.

-

You weren’t sure what changed between you and Spencer. After the shower he mentioned he didn’t feel too well so you guided him to bed. Since then he stayed in his room, barely calling you to his side.

It was weird. If it was any other patient you would have paid no mind and kept to yourself but you thought you had made a connection with Spencer. You enjoyed the banter between you both and finding out your shared interests. It must have all been in your head. You brought yourself out of your thoughts to prepare Spencer’s tea. 

“Here you are!” You called, stepping into his room to hand him the mug. “I’m about to head out, do you need anything else?”

“No, thank you.” You stayed by the door, waiting to see if he would even spare you a glance. When he made no motion to move, you gave up, spinning on your heel to grab your purse and coat. 

“Ah!” You heard Spencer hiss from the other room before feeling a sharp sting on your tongue. Your hand came up to cover your mouth, brows knitting together in confusion. Was he…? Did he…? 

Spencer was your soulmate, he had to be. There was no possible way that him burning his mouth and your pain that followed were coincidences, right? Spencer was your soulmate! So why did you feel your heart drop into your stomach?

You shut the door, racing down the stairs and out of his apartment building, letting the cold air sweep over you. 

There was nothing special about you. You were just a simple nurse and he was your patient. Besides, how were you deserving of Spencer? You weren’t. 

He couldn’t find out, he just couldn’t.

-

You didn’t know if it was just because you knew that Spencer was your soulmate but the tension between the two of you was… palpable. 

“Hey!” You popped your head into his room, his figure jumping in surprise. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you!” You exclaimed.

“Hi?” He greeted, trying to seem calm. You were leaving tomorrow and he was panicking. The past few hours were spent debating about whether he should tell you that he was your soulmate. Could he really just let this opportunity pass by?

“I just wanted to know if you needed anything? I figured you probably ran out of books by now. Everytime I think you’ve reread all the books in your library I keep finding new ones.” You tried to joke. 

“I… Yes. Yes, please.” He mumbled, hiding his gaze. You sighed, wondering for the millionth time what you had done wrong to make him so distant and reclusive. 

“Alright, I’ll take the stack.” You bit your lip to keep from sighing once more, groaning as you picked up the books littered around the room. “God these are heavy.” You whispered under your breath, trying to waddle into the other room as you quickly realized you were losing your grip. It seemed as if it was too late, the pounds of literature falling on your feet.

Both you and Spencer let out a groan, heads snapping towards each other in surprise. 

“Did you- did you feel that?” You asked, even if you knew the answer.

“I did.” Spencer’s voice seemed small. “Y/n, I am so sorry.” You were taken aback, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“You’re sorry?” You questioned, pain forgotten as shame radiated through you. “Am I that bad of a soulmate?” You whispered, clenching your fist to keep tears from pricking your eyes.

“No! No, no, no!” He tried to sit up as straight as he could, internally cursing at how hurt you looked. “I only apologized because… I can’t help but feel like I disappointed you! I am an FBI agent, I’m always going to be in danger therefore putting you in danger. When you first mentioned your soulmate you seemed so… upset. I don’t know if I’ll ever truly be able to make you happy.” He admitted, the tips of his ears turning red as his gaze fell to his lap.

“Disappointed? Past-tense?” You cried. “Did you know about this?” He didn’t move.

“Well… I guess I can’t be angry with that.” You sighed. “I knew too. I just thought that… you wouldn’t want me. You still seemed so in love with whatever woman gave you that book. And out of my league. And my patient.” You let out a wry laugh, sitting on the edge of his bed. 

“Are you kidding me? You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever met. You make me laugh and you are so kind and caring. I am proud to be your soulmate.” He swallowed thickly.

“Spencer you are selfless. You dedicate your life every day to helping others. You are handsome, sweet, and hilarious.” You reached for his hand. “And I am so happy you turned out to be my soulmate.”

Your eyes finally met and before you knew it, your lips smashed against his. 

“I don’t know if you know this… but I happen to get injured on a lot of missions.” He uttered as you pulled apart. “So I have a feeling that I’ll need you around more often.”

“Well Doctor, I think you just might be right.” You giggled, drawing him in for another kiss. 

-----

Feedback is always appreciated!

[kickingitwithkirk]

Rain pt:I

Summary: After Supernaturals end Jensen’s life turned upside down. A year later an unexpected movie offer gives his career a second chance but it comes with an unexpected surprises.

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x OFC! Lili

Word Count: 1918

Warnings: cursing, nervous Jensen, drinking, mentions of Holocaust, mention of divorce 

A/N: This story has components from my favorite W. Somerset Maugham short Rain and Lace by Shirley Conran.

prologue

*no beta-all mistakes are mine

Jensen had been sitting in his manager's office for twenty minutes having arrived early. He wasn’t gonna chance missing this meeting and seriously wished he hadn’t drank that third cup of coffee ‘cause his leg was getting sore from the relentless bouncing between the caffeine and his nerves.

After making Jared swear not to say anything he gave him what he knew. Davis didn’t have a clue what the film was but Zimmer wanted to personally meet with him and the man didn't do face to face with anyone unless he had already decided about casting them.

Davis emphasized even if it's a small part, just being in a Zimmer film could, no, would reinvigorate his career, sending it in a whole new direction, he’d be seen as not just a sci-fi/horror genre actor but one whose name was bankable, maybe even capable of opening a movie.

Jensen jumped up when the office door opened as Davis walked in followed by an older, slightly built, elegantly dressed gentleman.

***

Eban Levi Zimmerman, who only went by Zimmer, was the decedent of two Holocaust refugee families, one from Austria, the other from Hungry. Both sets of his grandparents immigrated to Israel in the nineteen fifties, his mother and father were their middle children. They met and married in fifty-nine and he was born a year later.

He was their only child and dotted upon by all his family. From a young age he fell in love with the movies, his youth spent endlessly watching the greats of the silent era to the in fashion Cinema Italiano.

After graduating secondary school he was admitted into the NYC film school. Two years later he transferred to and graduated from USC film department.

He spent the next decade honing his craft as an assistant director for the likes of Spielberg, Scorsese, and Merchant before independently making his first film, a documentary on his family’s Holocaust experience.

It earned him an academy award nomination for best short documentary and soon studios were vying for him.

Zimmer’s directorial style had been compared to that of (One take Woody) W.S.van Dyke, bringing in his films on time and under budget.

His specialty was taking period pieces based on classic works and modernizing them with the gritty realism he learned under Scorsese. The studios learned years ago not to offer Zimmer big budget films with mindless, watered down scripts crafted for mass box office drawings only.

He was notorious for utilizing the difficult to pull off, long track shots, also learned under Scorsese. Many found this exasperating and exhausting to achieve.

A-list actors publicly pronounced they’d love the opportunity to be directed by him and some had been..but only once. He was always curtious but they learned the hard way he has absolutely no tolerance for a dialed in performance from his actors.

Behind the scenes they ended up cursing his name, becoming quickly disenchanted when they found that once in Zimmer’s domain, they would not be toadied or pampered, their whines catered to on his sets.

He also keeps an eye out for new talent, having cultivated his own small stable of actors utilizing them in most of his films as they had not only proved their mettle but earned his personal respect.

***

“Mr. Ackles, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Zimmer said sidestepping Davis and extending his hand, his grip stronger than he appeared surprising Jensen. “Sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

Zimmer softly humphs, waving a hand, “my father is sir, call me Zimmer,” he responds in a soft spoken accent more European than Israeli. “You’re taller than I thought, excellent. Of course, working alongside Mr. Padalecki would make most of us look short, I’m sure to appear as a midget next to him.”

Jensen chuckled, “Yeah, Jared has a lot of acreage. Please call me Jensen.”

“Won’t you have a seat…” Davis started and Zimmer gives him a do not interrupt me look.

“Jensen, would you please remove your hat and jacket.” He pulled off his ball cap and jacket as Zimmer walked slowly around him, sizing him up in an appreciable manner, “veuillez m’excuser,” and with his index finger poked at Jensen’s chest and abdomen.

“What the…” Jensen jerked in surprise as Zimmer smiled at him. “I’d appreciate it if you join me for lunch. I want to discuss the prospects of you joining my new project.” He turned walking out the office door without another word leaving the two men in shock.

“What’a you doing, waiting for an engraved invitation, move your ass!” Davis hissed at him.

Jensen grabbed his jacket and cap hurrying after Zimmer, suddenly feeling like a newbie chasing his big break instead of someone in the biz for over twenty years.

Zimmer was getting into his car as Jensen emerged from the building. Taking a deep breath to slow his heart rate and steady his nerves he climbed in the back of the limousine, sitting on the long seat on the other side of the limos bar. They drove in silence for a few minutes before pulling up to the Chateau Marmont.

Lunch turned out to be what in the fifties was termed a liquid lunch at the Bar Marmont. Zimmer orders a dirty martini with three olives and Jensen has a Chimay, figuring he better stick to something that wouldn’t muddle his brain today.

Zimmer takes a sip studying Jensen over the rim of the glass demonstrating his nervous tick with his tongue, slightly popping out between his lips licking at the bottom one but acting as if he’s not.

“You’re wondering why someone like me would contact you, am I not correct?”

Jensen fully licks his lips, “Honestly, yeah, I’m confused as hell. It’s not like we run in the same circles.”

“No, we certainly do not. I keep my eyes open for talent that has been, shall we say..overlooked, or in your case, underutilized. Casting picks up on your obvious qualities and misses the more subtle aspects.”

“Subtle aspects?”

“Yes, you’ve honed your obvious talents quite well. A long time ago Fellini told me a good director will only see the surface, a great one will seek out the untapped potential.” He paused to take sip, “I will admit I’m not a fan of your previous show but a close friend of mine is. I have always wondered why my friend had watched for years, what made your show so special. They told me to watch the nonverbal relationship between the Winchester brothers, how a glance, posture, a twitch even, expresses more than written words. I then saw it.”

“It?”

“I watched an episode with the deadly sins, the one with gluttony I believe, who found Dean hollow, it was the end that caught my attention, something in your expression when you were begging for help, I knew I found my Mr. Davidson.”

“Mr. Davidson.”

“Do you only parrot the end of sentences Jensen?” Zimmer teased, “Over a decade ago a spec script was being shopped around. It was an updated version of the 1928 silent film based on W. Somerset Maugham's short story Miss Thompson, which was severely edited due to objectionable moral content...language and reference to Davidson’s title as Reverend borrowed from the stage version. It’s rather amusing the censors found those things immoral considering the lifestyles in pre-code Hollywood.

This script was brought to my attention by a studio optioning it at the time. I agreed to direct if we came to terms on the stars. They were very specific about who they wanted to star, both are excellent actors but I believed they didn’t fit the roles and suggested two other leads. Well, long story short, it fell through.” Zimmer paused again to savor his drink, “I later found out someone had purchased the script and all rights to it produce it at a later date.” He stops to nibble on an olive.

“Preproduction is currently underway, the rest of the cast has been signed and I’m planning to start rehearsals in a few weeks. The only component missing is Davidson.” Zimmer pulls a script from his inner coat pocket and sits it on the table.

“There are two things I need you to consider before agreeing: you’ll have to lose a minimum of fifteen pounds, twenty five preferably, I have a nutritionist you can consult with to safely do it in the time since actual filming doesn’t start until October.”

Jensen never had to do extensive exercising to stay in his current shape but knew losing that much weight wouldn’t be easy with his solid build, “And the second?”

Zimmer tapped his slender fingers on the script a few times before opening it, “I am trusting your discretion if you say no not to discuss the scene you read,” he slid it across the table. Jensen picked it up and scanned through the script, reading the dialogue.

He shook his head and reread through it again slowly, paying closer attention to the directors notes. “Are you seriously shooting this?”

“Yes, this is my completed shooting script for the film. You’ve done some directing, that’s the reason I showed it to you. I wanted you to know what this part fully entails.” He retrieved the script placing it back into his inner coat pocket before picking up his martini glass studying Jensen over the rim again. “And before you ask, yes, the actress playing Sadie knows about the scene and I’m well aware this part is like nothing you’ve never done before.”

“I’m sorry but I really don’t get it, why me? I’ve done mostly television, what makes you believe I can pull off this role?”

“Instinct.” Zimmer clasped his hands together on top of the table and leaned towards him, “I don’t waste my time on anyone or anything I don’t have faith in Jensen.”

Zimmer reaches for his glass again, “Like I’ve stated, I see more in your acting abilities than you’ve tapped yet. You’ll be working with some of the best in the business, co-stars who will push you to reach for that extra bit. Say yes and I can help shape you into an actor who gets the coveted rolls most only dream of.” He finishes the last of his martini.

“I’m going to say this now, I’m not missing Christmas with my kids, I’ve already promised them I would be there, it's the first since my divorce. I also have to be in Toronto in early February.”

“I’ve cut out a week of rehearsals to compensate for the producer who insisted shutting down production from December twenty-third to January third. We are scheduled to wrap filming by the twenty-ninth, so there’s no conflict with your other commitments.”

Jensen mentally calculates actual filming time will be less than thirteen weeks, a tight shoot compared to some filming schedules.

Zimmer stares him straight in the eye, “I’ll apologize now for the time constraint, a decision such as this that will affect your career needs time to consider but unfortunately, I need a definitive answer by tonight.

Zimmer stood up, “Now, the driver will take you back to your management's offices. I have a currier waiting with a contract for you to look over, I’m sure you’ll find the terms more than applicable.” He extended his hand and Jensen got up to shake it, “I’m looking forward to working with you Jensen Ackles.”

tbc

Tagging: SPN @donnaintx​​​

Dean/Jensen: @flamencodiva​​​

Rain @stoneyggirl​​​

[abysslarchiving]

since i run kaeya on a physical dps build and do equip him with two pieces of bloodstained chivalry, i’m going to headcanon that the bloodstained knight was someone that he did idolise and base his fighting technique off. although, becoming more similar to the bloodstained knight as he got older made kaeya realise the story wasn’t all it was chalked up to be. becoming similar to the bloodstained knight meant having a price to pay.

kaeya’s multiplier is, objectively, one of the best in the game out of the sword users ( no, i will not be taking constructive criticism ). physical dps builds are recommended if you’d like some lovely numbers, and i thought wouldn’t it be fun to make use of how powerful kaeya’s attacks are when paid attention to. on top of that ! kaeya’s fighting style is not entirely from mondstadt. he is the only knight whose fighting style is named “ ceremonial bladework ” and not “ favonius bladework. “

when left in mondstadt, it was not only his father and diluc that compelled kaeya to become a knight of favonius, but the story of the bloodstained knight, which is a khaenri’ahn fairytale.

most likely rooted in truth, kaeya came to idolise this story and the knight the myth was most likely based of. 

this is the lore found on “ bloodstained final hour. ”

a timepiece once used by a knight. the liquid inside has dried up, rendering it useless.

deep in the abyss, where celestial bodies cast no light,

the bloodstained knight kept this timepiece, though time had lost all meaning.

at an end was the bloodstained knight's story, for he realised there was no place for him on this earth. he ventured into the fallen ancient kingdom, and died in battle in the monsters' lair. at the bottom of the world, he learned the origin of the monsters that destroyed the ancient kingdom.

" the ancient kingdom was wrongfully cursed, "

" turning its inhabitants into monsters. "

" the code of chivalry tolerates not such injustice. "

" if abyss be thy name, i pledge to you my loyalty. "

similarities to kaeya made me want to look into the other aspects of the bloodstained chivalry set.

a dried flower stained black with blood and now as hard as steel. probably some sort of a memento for its former master.

a common white flower given to the knight by a rescued damsel.

it is dried and hardened by the blood from all his bloodshed.

thanking him for his valour, the damsel offered a reward.

he turned down all she gave, save for a pure white flower.

" for a knight, chivalry is its own reward. "

"this flower shall be my medal. that is all I need."

he wore the flower upon his heart.

like his armour, it was stained as black as a winter's night.

like his heart, it was hardened like a tempered blade.

i thought that it was interesting how they compared this blood stained flower to a tempered blade, a winter’s knight, when kaeya is known as the frostblade, how he is known to use both words and weapons, to be warm and cold at the same time, how his innocence as a child was quite literally stained with blood as and ! his name means flower, so this would draw comparisons to a flower that was once innocent stained with blood, stained with war. i just think that a younger kaeya would be able to identify with the bloodstained knight because of such similar motifs.

a raven feather pinned to a knight's cape. countless bloodstains have dyed it pitch black.

One of the countless raven feathers stuck to the Bloodstained Knight.

For where there is blood, ravens shall follow.

In the end the bloodstained knight could no longer tell whether the blood that stained him was his own or that of his enemies.

eventually, on his long journey filled with bloodshed, he came to a realisation:

his path of so-called chivalry had turned him from the white knight he used to be into the monster he had now become.

his only followers were the ravens drawn to the bloodshed he left in his wake.

kaeya canonically sees himself as an antihero. he keeps others at bay, even those that he treasures. on top of that, his stance as someone who was planted in mondstadt, someone who has a role in a more ancient plot, has rendered him unable to make meaningful connections and i think that might also be because of the fear they might become hurt. add onto that that kaeya is khaenri’ahn, a so called “ sinner ” and someone who is still under the effects of the khaenri’ahn curse. he is a knight has ever reason to become a villain, why wouldn’t he understand the bloodstained knight’s story ?

the dark metallic vessel owned by the bloodstained knight. it’s exterior has been stained as black as the night by smoke and coagulated blood.

originally an exquisite silver goblet with gold engravings depicting the feats of a chivalrous knight.

but blood and smoke have stained the cup beyond recognition.

covered in blood, the knight who slayed demons returned from the scourged battlefield, only to find that those awaiting his rescue were nowhere to be found among the collapsed houses.

defeated, the bloodstained knight took the smoke-blackened goblet, and vowed to rid the world of monsters, of poverty, and of evil.

i couldn’t twist this into kaeya’s perspective at first but !! if you look at the “world” in the perspective of “khaenri’ah” then it does make a little more sense coming from that. kaeya, sacrificing the person who he’s become in order to rid khaenri’ah of monsters ? i can see it. i can see it so clearly.

the iron mask the knight used to conceal their identity. many have speculated about the face behind the mask.

a luxurious platinum mask that once belonged to a knight of noble birth.

the dark stains of dry blood are now a permanent part of its appearance.

as the bloodstained knight reached out to help a person in need after slaying the monster. the way she cowered in fear made the knight realise: He was now a monster himself. Tainted by the blood and cruelty of his drawn-out war.

"Shield me from the eyes."

"Of those I vowed to protect."

"And shield them the horrors I am bound to effect."

listen, i mean, c’mon, that knight of noble birth line ??? “ prince kaeya ? ” of course i’m going to latch onto that bit. also, the idea of a monstrous knight is one i love completely. kaeya, and the blood of those from khaenri’ah turning into monsters is already canon. but, kaeya’s shifty morality when it comes to sacrificing ideals for goals ? kaeya dealing with those he will hurt if he chooses khaenri’ah over mond ? kaeya who is already nonchalant about appearing like a bad guy in order to achieve results ? kaeya already has the makings of a monster with only common sense and compassion for those that he cares about holding him back, if you wanted to see it that way. i feel as if kaeya has a capacity for choosing either side, and reasons to protect both of them, so maybe he also sees the bloodstained knight as someone he doesn’t want to be like, even though he once idolised the story of a knight who would go so far to protect what he deemed was important.

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 7. Random thoughts.

Through some kind of mistake, Rem had completely accepted Subaru, but he knew all too well that the Subaru Natsuki she saw was an ideal far removed from the real thing. Compared with the man she envisioned in her mind, the cards that the real Subaru held were few in number, and poor in quality—

But he learned, now that he stood at the playing table, no one cared about his personal problems.

All anyone in his position could do was try to win with the cards he was dealt.

This is sign I think Subaru has grown a little bit, though he is still growing. It's not about him, and Ferris later seems like he's trying to drill that into him a bit more later when Subaru wants to help with the battle preparations. It's good that he wants to help but sometimes he's unintentionally making things too much about himself, just to ease his own feelings. There are places where he would be getting in the way if he tried to help and Subaru's learning to accept that; to be patient and give his services where he can actually be of use, not just to help himself feel better. And damn, does he put that new maturity to good use in the big battle.

Originally, these negotiations had been Rem’s appointed duty. He could easily imagine how being unable to divulge her task to Subaru and having to speak with Crusch day after day had whittled away at her spirit.

Subaru had continually rotted by himself while the future of the Emilia camp had been entrusted to her—she must have suffered under that burden.

He hoped that in some small way, this victory repaid the girl whose feelings had supported him for so long; if so, then for the moment, that was enough for Subaru to be happy.

I really like this part. Again, it's not all about Subaru. He's acknowledging how much Rem's had to deal with while he was having his breakdowns and indulgences during his prior loops, and how much she still did what she could to support him in spite of it all. We're getting a little more that she does have a life outside of just Subaru and a little more added on to why he feels he's been so selfish. It really feels like he is now doing this for her. It's not like Subaru was completely self-centered before but I imagine there were times, especially with Emilia, where he wanted to help, but he wanted to be the one to help. He wanted good things for her but part of him cared more that he was the one giving them to her, verses her just getting what she needs in general. It's like how he couldn't feel happy that Otto was in support of Emilia first time he met him, though of course that was when he was at one of his lowest points.

And, of course, I'm absolutely reveling in all the sweetness of Rem supporting Subaru through his negotiations. Even if it's just holding his hand and reminding him she's there, he clearly appreciates the strength and courage it's giving him. Obviously they're not a romantic couple but this is the kind of stuff I love to see in romantic relationships. Just the basic comfort and support they find in each other's presence.

“...If I am gone, will you remember me just as long?”

“...I don’t wanna answer that. It’s bad luck.”

Speaking with a voice of dismay, Subaru gave Rem’s forehead a little poke.

When he touched Rem’s forehead, she smiled with a happy expression, almost as if she’d received the reply she had been hoping for.

Given something I believe I've been spoiled on for what happens later in the story (after where the anime leaves off), this feels like a very cruel monkey's paw bit of foreshadowing.

“Subaru.”

“...What?”

“I am fine with being your second wife.”

They were words to make a man unwittingly halt in his tracks.

When Subaru, unable to resist, looked toward her, Rem made a face like that of an adorable puppy, seemingly wagging her tail as she awaited Subaru’s reply.

Oh, good grief, just how far is this girl gonna—?

“If Emilia-tan’s a very generous first wife...”

“Well then, when we get back you must convince Lady Emilia. I shall try hard as well.”

Rem clenched the hand not grasped into a fist, very animated as she spoke with a smile.

Speaking jokingly like that broke all the tension, driving home to Subaru how weak he was. He truly couldn’t hold a candle to the girl.

I'm...going to have to see where the story goes from here, and how truly joking/serious Rem was with that second wife line. Just to put it out there, I don't really have a good view of polygamy. I'm always going to think that, 1st wife or 2nd or 3rd or wherever, someone is always going to be treated like second best and second priority. What they're receiving doesn't feel like real love and that's not fair to them. The only way I can see myself supporting a polygamous marriage in this series is if it's made clear Emilia and Rem are attracted to each other as well as Subaru and want to bang. Then it at least becomes three people who love each other as opposed to just "the guy and his two prizes".

So, first time you read this part in the novels or watched it in the anime, was anyone else afraid of the White Whale not showing up where and when Subaru told everyone it would? Like the world would just want to gut punch him one more time and have everyone think he's a fraud? I remember I was.

One theory I have for why the witch's scent grows stronger, not just when Subaru RBD, but also when he tries to talk about RBD is that maybe the witch likes when he acknowledges her "gift" to him. But she's also quite screwed up and doesn't like it when he tries to "share" what's between them, thus why she punishes him or those around him for doing so.

In front, behind and up above, he saw yet another whale-shaped figure high in the sky, scattering mist all around.

—The infinite mouths of the three White Whales laughed together, drawing out the despair of men.

Subaru, Crusch, the soldiers, everyone, etc.

Though pests had interrupted it, the White Whale’s mission was to cover the world in mist. This, too, was the command of its instinct, and doing so was the purpose of the White Whale’s existence.

One thing I've enjoyed about the various light novel series I've been reading is that, compared to their anime, I get a better idea of various characters' and monsters' mentalities. The best example I could give would be the goblins in Goblin Slayer (that they are not mindless creatures; that they know EXACTLY what they're doing to people and they enjoy it) and this bit with the White Whale is another good one. It seeks to cover the world in its mist and thus destroy/consume/erase everything (maybe?) And it doesn't know why it seeks to do this. It just does, suggesting there is something else, possibly the one behind its creation, driving it.

It's also interesting that, to the White Whale, the witch's scent is described as foul, despite the stories that she's the one who created it. This brings to mind a couple different theories.

Satella didn't actually create the whale. Someone else, perhaps one of the other six witches did or one of the archbishops.

Satella did create the whale but maybe used one of the other witches to do it. Puck did mention something about Gluttony when he sensed the whale approaching in the last loop.

Satella REALLY cannot tell the difference between positive and negative emotions, even more so than we were already led to believe.

Kind of cruel of Rem to trick Subaru into thinking she was dying, but at least we do get Subaru's completely true feelings out in the open. Back to the polygamy matter, I don't have a problem with Subaru being indecisive between Emilia and Rem or being in love with them both. It's not just that they've done so much for him, in which case the relationship would feel just like how Emilia described, just the two of them repaying debts to each other. Both women have been a hugely positive influence on Subaru's life. They've impacted it for the better and helped push him into being more of a man he can live with being, and it works the other way around too. It would be hard to imagine his story without either of them in it. I feel the same way with Code Geass in regards to CC, Shirley, and Kallen in Lelouch's story. It was the only "harem" series I've ever watched where I had trouble saying who the MC should end up with, because all three were irreplaceable in his life and story. Take any of them out and it loses a lot. Emilia and Rem are a similar case.

As Rem looked back at Subaru, now beside her, large tears filled her blue eyes. It was not being left behind that she feared. No, what she feared more than anything was—

“When you are in distress, Subaru, I want to be the one offering my hand faster than anyone. When you hesitate along your path, I want to be the one pushing on your back. When you challenge something, I want to be at your side, stopping you from shaking. That is—that is all I wish for. So please...”

Again, more great parallels between Subaru and Rem, as this isn't dissimilar to what he wanted to do for Emilia.

Wilhelm might just be the biggest example of a tsundere I've ever seen. Married a woman he loved from the bottom of heart for what was assumedly a decent amount of time...never freaking told her "I love you" until he finally killed the beast that killed her.

As for Theresia, it's definitely a case of why context is so important. She never wanted to be the Sword Saint. She only did so because she found purpose in saving as many lives as she could with the insane power she had (the whole "great power, great responsibility" chestnut). If Wilhelm is strong enough to protect and save people, to where her absence would make no difference, then she doesn't have to be the Sword Saint anymore and can live the life she wants. It's what makes it an actual kindness vs. some chauvinistic BS. Probably helps too that she'd already helped put an end to a long war, so she wouldn't have been needed as much anyway.

“So it is said. The existence and origins of demon beasts are mysteries to us. Some propagate in the same manner as ordinary living creatures, but some suddenly appear out of nowhere like the White Whale. Though, properly speaking, the only exceptions on par with the White Whale are the Black Serpent and the Great Hare.”

Oh...I'm so not looking forward to meeting those two. After how much tragedy just the White Whale caused, what the f**k are those things going to do? My money would be that whatever it is, it will hurt Subaru quite horribly.

This book potentially answered a question I had in my last post. The Witch Cult is after Emilia because they see her as an impostor of the Witch of Envy, or at least so the characters in-story are speculating.

Not sure how many people here are fans of Rising of the Shield Hero but after this I kind of want to see the White Whale and the Spirit Tortoise duke it out. That sounds awesome. Mountain Turtle vs. Witch Fish.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gub735/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_7/

[mitchiemoo]

Close Up-Part 1 (Johnny Joestar x Reader)

Summary: You are an upcoming, young actress, starring in your first major film. For publicity, the studio suggests you begin a relationship with your co-star, British thespian Diego Brando. Reluctantly, you agree, and soon find yourself at odds with Johnny Joestar, former Hollywood star. After losing his career and the use of his legs, Johnny offers to help you achieve fame but cautions the price. Is it really the fame you want? Or something else?

Warnings: Explicit language

Word Count: 3,539

“Darling, I promise I’ll return. When I do, I will be a true gentleman, one worthy of your affection.” Diego’s eyes gazed intently into your own as he raised your hands to his lips and kissed them.

You gasped and stepped back in shock. “Oh, sir,” you said. “You needn’t earn my affection, for I have already given it to you. If I am to be the wife of a tailor, then so be it. Please stay.”

Diego rose to his feet and gripped your hands tighter. “No, I must go. I shall better myself to provide the life you deserve. My father was a cruel man, who worked my poor mother into an early grave. The day he died, I resolved to never become a monster like him.” His voice shook with emotion and you could hear the desperation in his voice. Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes, right on cue.

“They shall wed me to another man before you return. Search your heart, you know it to be true. What shall you do with your fortune then?”

A shout came from off stage. “Elena! Jonah is looking for you.”

Panic crossed Diego’s face as you snatched your hands from his grasp and turned away. “I’m sorry, I must leave now. Goodbye, Dorian.”

“Wait!” He called after you as you rushed off stage.

“Cut!”

You breathed a sigh of relief as the lights dimmed and the bell rang. It was hot. Oppressively so. Especially in your costume. Sweat soaked the back of your neck and the under layers of your dress stuck to your skin. No wonder Victorian women were so prone to fainting spells. The late 19th century dress you wore was exquisite and you admired yourself in the mirror while wearing it many times. But the skirts were extremely heavy and restricted your movements.

It was a relief when you plopped down on one of the prop couches scattered around the set. The ornate fan your character used in an earlier scene laid discarded on the spot next to you. You opened it and desperately fanned yourself.

“Would you like some water, miss?” One of the stagehands offered. You nodded and wiped at your teary eyes absentmindedly before you remembered you were wearing make-up. Oops. The stylist would not be happy with you.

“Good read today.” You looked up.

Your co-star, Diego Brando, stood in front of you, looking extremely disinterested. He had shed the dark blue coat he wore in the scene and rolled up the sleeves of his plain white button down. It looked like he barely broke a sweat. “Although, you should try to look more devastated. At least you didn’t forget your lines today.”

If he said that to you at the beginning of filming, you would’ve been fighting back tears. Now, you simply brushed it off. Diego Brando was a world-famous actor. He had been classically trained at the Royal Shakespeare Academy and performed in several critically acclaimed plays before his debut on the silver screen at age 19. Compared to him, you were nothing. This was your first major role and the extent of your training was reading Shakespeare aloud for your family as a child.

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” You said through gritted teeth, picking at the intricate golden embroidery on your dress. The stagehand you sent to find water returned and you immediately began gulping it down.

You were surprised when he sat down beside you. He sighed and ran a hand through his golden blond hair.

“Look,” he started. “There’s a fundraiser tonight at one of the local art galleries and the studio wants us to go together, as a couple.”

You choked.

“Wh-what?” you managed to sputter out.

Diego rolled his eyes. “Don’t get too excited, alright? You’re not my type and frankly, I’m not attracted to you in the slightest.” He continued. “The producers and studio executives think this is a good way to get publicity for the film and help our, err, your career.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. Normally you would be insulted by Diego’s words but if working with him had taught you anything about him, it was his strong sense of pride. Nobody was good enough for Diego Brando, not even himself. Especially unknown, amateur actresses like you.

“How does going out in public with you help me, exactly?” You asked.

“Don’t sound so ungrateful, love. Thousands of other girls would kill to be in your position.” He spat and waved his hand dismissively. “We get photographed together, the press makes a fuss about ‘Diego Brando’s mystery girl’, who she is, where she’s from. The public wants to see more of our chemistry and go see the movie. The film’s a success, you’ll be named one of Hollywood’s most promising newcomers and a few months later, we quietly ‘separate.’”

You looked down at the ice in your glass, quietly mulling over Diego’s proposition. All you had to do was pretend to fawn all over him at award shows and fancy parties, where other famous actors and directors were, and your movie would draw crowds of people? It was too good to be true. The only downside you could think of was spending more time with Diego. Your lip curled in distaste.

“How long would this arrangement last?” You asked, tentatively.

“About six months.” He replied. “Like I said, everybody benefits. You get a handsome bachelor, I get free publicity, and the studio makes a bunch of money. Do we have a deal?” He extended his hand and smirked. You hesitated. Six months for a fruitful career and a lifetime of success? What could go wrong?

You shook his hand and were surprised by how firm his grip was. “Deal.”

“Smart move, darling.”

The bell rang again, signaling the end of the break. Diego stood up and offered you his hand again. You set the fan and empty glass aside and he pulled you up from your seat. “My driver and I will pick you up at 7. Dress code is black tie and please, don’t be late.”

He turned on his heel to walk back onto set. As you followed, you couldn’t ignore the growing sense of trepidation brewing in your heart. What could go wrong?

-

Shortly after filming ended that day, you took a cab back to your apartment and inspected your closet. Diego specified black tie, which meant a full-length evening gown, gloves, and jewelry. You had a few nice dresses from the department store, three of them full length. Sure, they wouldn’t be as elegant or glamorous as the Dior, Chanel, and Balenciaga gowns you’d see tonight but that just gave you something else to strive for. Maybe next time you would be the one wearing Chanel and turning heads.

You drew a cool bath and scrubbed your face and hair free of make-up and styling products. Of course, you were going to have to reapply them later but for the moment, you felt very refreshed.

Before you left the set that day, you asked your stylist to recommend some good salons in the area. Your hair and make-up skills were limited so you opted to have it professionally done. Diego made it sound like there would be photographers everywhere and you wanted to look your best.

The gravity of your situation didn’t really register until you were sitting in the stylist’s chair and staring at yourself in the mirror, that visceral moment when suddenly every blemish and flaw seemed magnified. Your stylist was a talkative lady with pink hair, but you were only half listening to what she was saying. This arrangement was only temporary, you reasoned, and then you would be free of him. But deep down, you knew you would never really be free of him.

For the next six months, you would be “Diego Brando’s girlfriend” and after you separated, you’d still be known as “that girl who dated Diego Brando” or “Diego Brando’s ex.” You came to Hollywood to make a name for yourself, to be admired for your work, to be remembered as something greater than “so-and-so’s ex.” When you left your hometown to become an actress, you knew the risks, but the rewards were better than any opportunity available there. You were patient, auditioning for minor roles at first and building up your resume until you decided to audition for a few major parts. Just when it seemed like your hard work was paying off, you made a deal with the devil, disguised as a charming British thespian.

“What do you think?” The girl chirped, breaking you out of your thoughts.

She definitely did a nice job. You barely recognized yourself. The make-up was tastefully done and not nearly as caked on as your usual “stage face.” She pinned your hair up in an elegant up do, which brought special attention to your face and kept the back of your neck cool. You nodded approvingly, tipped her well and headed back to your apartment to finish getting ready.

-

As promised, a limousine pulled up to the front of your building at exactly seven o’clock. It seemed Diego was a punctual man and you had to admit he looked handsome in his gray, three-piece Armani suit. He greeted you curtly when you slid into the back with him and then immediately started dictating how the night would go.

“So, when we pull up to the gallery, there will be a lot of cameras flashing, alright? I get out first, then I help you out, like the gentleman I am.” Diego eyed you in your pale blue dress like a jeweler appraising a gemstone. “You look decent enough, I suppose. I’ll buy you the dress next time although they won’t really be paying attention to you.”

You frowned. “Isn’t that the whole point of this?”

“Relax, love, you have six months to catch their attention.” He crooned. “Just think of this as acting experience. If you want to be as big a star as me someday, you’ll have to get used to the flashing lights, invasive questions, and lack of personal space.”

You looked out the tinted windows at the passing streetlights. You imagined them as eyes peering into the dark leather interior, prying into your innermost thoughts. If what Diego said was true, when you were famous and in the public eye, every move you made was picked apart by paparazzi, who descended like a kettle of vultures. One wrong move and you’d be vilified. If something that was meant to stay private leaked out, there would be an outcry of scandal that could, depending on what it was, jeopardize your whole career.

Another thought suddenly crossed your mind. “Diego,” you said. “Are you going to kiss me?”

He tensed beside you. “Err, probably not. The most I’d do is hold your hand or put my arm around you like this while we’re sitting.” You felt his arm snake around the back of the seat. “Even in my real relationships, I don’t care for too many public displays of affection. I don’t think it’s very professional, really.”

You nodded thoughtfully. “I agree and I feel it’s ‘too soon’ in the relationship to do that. This is our first public event together, after all. Let’s leave them wanting.”

“What’re you thinking?”

“I’m thinking less is more. The press would go wild for a picture of us kissing, especially if we never do it.” You said. “Let’s fuel the fire and make them fan the flames.”

The glow of the passing streetlamps illuminated Diego’s face, casting it in shadow. A glint caught in his eye. “I like the way you think.”

The limousine jerked to a stop and suddenly you were very aware of your department store dress, hand-me down pearl necklace, and $70-dollar hair do. You swallowed and gripped at the small clutch purse you brought. Diego had told you what to do. Smile and look pretty, let him lead you to the door. The hardest part was getting inside. If this was the kind of fame you wanted, you couldn’t let the people and flashing lights overwhelm you.

Diego was a shrewd operator. Every movement he made was calculated and perfected, so it appeared seamless. For you, everything was a blur of faces and cameras and people shouting over each other. You were pretty sure you heard “Diego!” and “Who’s that?” over the commotion. This time, Diego’s firm grip was comforting, and you concentrated on the back of his blond head as he led you down the concrete path.

Your heels clicked on the white marble flooring of the entrance way and you breathed a sigh of relief. Diego let go of your hand and scanned the room. “That went well.” He said. You inspected your palms and saw little crescents indented in the skin. “Do you ever cut your fingernails? They’re like claws.”

“Oi, I clip my fingernails once a week like everyone else. They just grow fast is all.” Diego said defensively. “You have a death grip like a construction worker. Maybe you should’ve done that instead of acting.”

You rolled your eyes and looked around. The gallery was large and open with white marble floors lined with royal blue carpets, and cream-colored walls decorated by avant-garde paintings. A large set of double oak doors was at the end of the room. Fellow guests milled around the entryway in groups, but you didn’t see anyone you would recognize.

“What’s this fundraiser for, anyway?” You asked.

Diego shrugged. “No idea. I just got the invitation in the post and saw Steven Steel’s name on it. Figured it’d be a good excuse to dress up and eat fancy food with other rich people.” Your stomach growled when he mentioned food. The last thing you ate was a handful of blueberries and a soggy sandwich on set that afternoon. You were starving.

He offered you his arm, which you took, and led you through the double doors into the main showroom. You glanced around at the various tables along the floor and spotted several famous faces. The man with the tall silver-blond hair was French actor Jean-Pierre Polnareff and sitting next to him was the famous Egyptian magician Mohammed Avdol. At the table next to theirs was the famous British fashion model Lisa Lisa, impeccably poised and smoking a cigarette in a fancy holder. A few people turned in their seats to look at you and Diego as you passed.

“Ugh, look who’s at our table.” You heard Diego scoff.

You were shocked.

It was Johnny Joestar.

The Joestars were basically Hollywood royalty and Johnny was no exception. Dubbed “Joe Kid” by his fans, Johnny was the face of young Hollywood, an All-American country boy with cute dimples and a youthful face. He made a name for himself playing the righteous young cowboy protagonist in Western action films, the hero who saved the girl and brought justice to a lawless landscape. Everyone knew him and it seemed like his star would only grow brighter.

Until the accident happened.

It was about a year ago. The papers said Johnny was on a walk with his girlfriend one evening when a crazed fan came up from behind and shot him in the back. He lived, fortunately, but was paralyzed from the waist down and would need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The studio abruptly ended his contract and he hadn’t been seen or mentioned since.

“Joestar,” Diego hissed. He pulled out your chair and pushed you into the table before taking his place beside you. The three of you were the only ones there, so far, and Johnny sat across from you in his wheelchair. It struck you how different he looked in real life. His tousled blond hair reached his shoulders now and for someone known for his dimples, it seemed like a scowl was permanently etched on his face.

Johnny sneered. “Ugh, I should’a known you’d be here tonight, Diego. Never could resist an opportunity to boot lick.”

You knew Johnny and Diego had a history. They had been rivals, once, before Johnny’s accident. They competed for roles, awards, and the hearts of beautiful women. Diego held nothing but contempt for his former rival. He claimed Johnny didn’t have a shred of talent and used the Joestar name to get his roles instead of working hard to earn his fame, like he had. “I came from nothing” he was so fond of reminding you. The feeling was mutual, at least from what you read. Johnny once called Diego “a stuck-up prick who should go back to community theater.”

“Who invited you, anyway? I thought it was clear no one wanted you around since you lost your legs.” Diego said.

You bit your lip and looked down at your lap. Should you say something? Diego could be a heartless bastard, you knew that. Honestly, you felt for Johnny. This man had lost everything. What happened was an accident, he didn’t deserve to get shot, no matter how much the media tried to demonize him.

You gently touched his arm. “Diego, dear, be nice.” You implored, batting your eyelashes for effect. “Please, for me?”

Johnny narrowed eyes and turned his pale blue gaze towards you. They were much more intense in person and once again you were aware of how insignificant you were compared to people like him. “Who’s this?”

Diego looked at you with a simpering smile and draped his arm over the back of your chair, like you’d practiced in the limousine. “This is my new girlfriend.” He replied. “Jealous?”

Johnny regarded you for a moment. “Lemme guess, you’re his co-star? What’s your name?”

You told him and reached over to shake his hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Joestar. I’m a big fan of your work.”

You weren’t lying. If any singular actor inspired you to finally move to Hollywood and pursue your dream, it was him. Westerns were far from your favorite genre but if Johnny Joestar was starring in it, you’d drag your family to see it anyway. It was surreal for you to be so close to him.

He nodded politely and shook your hand. You were surprised by how rough and calloused his palms were. “You must be new. I’m not familiar with any of your roles.”

“Yes, this is my first major role. I was very excited when I found out I was going to be working with Diego Brando.” You said. “I’ve learned so much from him.”

“This movie is going to be a hit.” Diego cut in. “Darling, you’re such a captivating actress, everyone will adore you.”

“How long have you two been together?” Johnny asked.

“Two weeks.” Replied Diego.

Johnny went quiet for a moment, inspecting his fingernails intently. “I see,” he said. “Sleeping with Diego is a smart career move. Come up with it yourself?”

An indignant “what” was all you could manage as color bled across your cheeks.

Johnny wasn’t fazed at all. “Listen, I don’t much like lyin’ to people, so I’ll tell you this. When I look at you, I don’t see ‘star material.’ You got a decent figure and a marginally pretty face but nothing about you stands out. They don’t care how good your acting is, it’ll never be good enough for the kinda fame you want. You can be a good actress, but you’ll never be a star.”

You were fuming. Absolutely livid. Who did he think he was? He didn’t know you! He was just bitter. Jealous of the fact that you had a promising career when his ended prematurely. At first, you felt bad for him. Now? You couldn’t even look at him without seeing red.

“You’re better off this way, promise.” Johnny continued, though you could barely hear him over the thundering of your own heart in your ears. “Nobody in this town gives a shit about you when you stop making them money. They’ll turn you out on your back the minute you can’t be their ideal person. The price of fame isn’t worth it.”

You weren’t listening anymore. Any sympathy you had for Johnny and his situation was completely evaporated by the heat of your anger. Diego and the media were right. He was an asshole. Another person to prove wrong. Your movie would be a success. Over the next six months, you’d endear yourself to the public, charm the Hollywood elite and once you secured your place, he’d see how wrong he was.

“Oi mate, you can fuck off.” Diego interjected.

“Eat shit.”

You shot up from your chair and grabbed your purse off the table. “Excuse me, I’m going to the bathroom.” You said quietly, desperately trying to keep your voice from cracking. Your throat felt tight and tears gathered at the corners of your eyes as your emotions boiled over. At least the next time you needed to cry on command, you could think back on Johnny’s words, which still echoed inside your skull. They stung. A lot. And as you hurried through the maze of tables, all you could think about was how true they might be.

-

This is my first time posting on tumblr and I was really excited to share this! Hope you enjoyed it. My inbox is open so if you have any comments or feedback, I’d love to hear it. Even if you just want to chat, I’d love to get to know the community.

[chibimyumi]

Art Report – ‘Elisabeth 2019’ TOHO ACT 2

【Click here for Act 1 】

“Kitsch!”

Act 2 commenced, and the audience was greeted by the radiant presence of Yamazaki’s Lucheni. He was dressed as a merchant who sold souvenirs of the Imperial Family in light of the Hungarian coronation. Lucheni held a tray with merchandise, including mugs and plates with Elisabeth’s print on it. The luckiest people sitting at the very front were lucky enough to receive these gifts from Lucheni personally.

Lucheni warned the people that even though Elisabeth’s beauty was enough to literally enchant a nation into submission, one should not be fooled by her looks. Behind her beauty, a true egoist resided.

The Coronation

Lucheni lead us back into the 19th century, and finally the curtains rose. Franz I and Elisabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary, and the Hungarian people cheered. The King and Queen were lead on a chariot that gradually turned towards the audience. It weren’t normal horses that pulled the chariot, but Death Angels disguised as horses. The Death dancers’ dance was phenomenal. These Death Angels have always been one of my favourite parts about the Japanese version of ‘Elisabeth’. Sometimes they are minions of Der Tod, sometimes they are the noble guards. Furutod’s Death Angels did not seem sentient to me. The way they moved was so perfectly in sync with everything Furutod did, they felt more like the extension of his limbs, much like Sebas’ black miasma.

The one who held the reigns of the chariot was of course none other than Der Tod himself. Like he foretold Elisabeth in Act 1, her presence would lead Franz’ Empire into ruins. Who would be more suitable to steer the Royal chariot onto the path towards the Underworld than Der Tod himself?

Lord of the Leeeegs

Furutod sat very majestically at the front, and his leeegs just went on forever. According to Death Angel Okazaki Hiroki, once when he was dancing underneath the the chariot and he jumped up just a bit higher than otherwise. But his boss’ legs were too long, so the poor man bumped his head into Furutod’s solid heel. I heard that after that performance, Furukawa changed his pose, and sat with his legs to the side. ( ´艸｀)

“When I wish to Dance”

After the coronation, Elisabeth was full of confidence and declared her victory to Der Tod.

♪♬ E: I won, did I not? T: Victory is mine E: Mine. I made people acknowledge me T: The world shall move according to my whims, as I dictate E: It is for nobody’s sake but my own T: You did so for my sake. But you did indeed outwit your enemy and for now you triumph E: I was once made to dance like a marionette, but now I have paved my own path. Even on my own I shall dance, and only when I wish to, to the music of my choice. When I dance, even at the moment my life ends, I shall dance, before you and beyond your reach. ♪♬

Here, Elisabeth provoked Der Tod, at one point even extending her hand as she walked down the stairs. Der Tod got down on one knee and extended his hand, but Elisabeth retracted her own, and gave him a vindictive smile instead.

This was a very impressive scene, as well as the perfect execution of what Furukawa said in this interview: "As Death, I wish to provoke Elisabeth and give her the energy to live on in their game. I hope I will manage to communicate [on stage] how Death is an entity who gives Elisabeth life energy, except that the controls are ultimately in his hands.”

Indeed, just like Elisabeth’s line “it is for nobody’s sake but my own” and Der Tod’s reply: “you did so for my sake”, we see how these two characters stimulate each other to constantly play up their own games in outwitting the other. Perhaps Elisabeth might have given up before, but if she had, then she would have given Der Tod the satisfaction of having an easy victory. Perhaps she did not really want to live on for her own sake, perhaps she just wanted to prove to Der Tod she was better. If that were true, then Der Tod’s reply would indeed have rang very true.

Elisabeth was confident enough to not fall for Der Tod’s seductions anymore after his previous unsuccessful attempt in Act 1. She boldly swung the tail of her dress and pranced off stage.

Furutod had to reconsider his options now that seducing Sissi was out of the window. Luckily for Der Tod, the new option presented itself on a silver platter.

“Mama, Where are You?”

Enter child Rudolf who had been whipped and beaten into isolation from his mother.

♪♬ “Mama, where are you? Can you hear my voice? I am so cold, please hold me But everyone says that I am nothing but your burden And that I can’t be with you” ♪♬ - Child Rudolf

Rudolf had been pushed towards despair and insanity. His only company was a loaded pistol, and he even sung: “in order to test my courage, yesterday too I killed a cat.”

Der Tod knew that Rudolf would be his ultimate ace card to obtain his current favourite toy, and manifested before the child. Rudolf was startled, and asks: “who is this?” Furutod gave him a gentle smile and took the pistol from his hands, and replied in a soothing voice: “I am your friend.”

Furutod - The Shapeshifter

Furutod’s performance in the scene with child Rudolf was phenomenal to say the least. Though Der Tod had mostly been masculine-coded, once he manifested before Rudolf, he morphed into a willowy and feminine figure.

‘Death’ is understood differently by everyone. In the musical ‘Elisabeth’, Der Tod mostly shows himself in relation to suicidal persons. Suicidal tendency - when roughly translated -  is ‘yearning’ for death. We know explicitly that Rudolf yearned most for his mother, and thus we may understand that Furutod morphing into a motherly figure was him taking shape as the thing that Rudolf yearns for.

Through contrast, we also suddenly understand what Elisabeth had been yearning for. The way Furutod carried himself in front of Elisabeth was masculine and confident. Here we realise what Elisabeth longed for: namely a man who would respect her autonomy. She was very much in love with her husband at the beginning, but Franz’ spinelessness and lack of respect for her autonomy was quite a deal breaker.

On the other hand, ‘death’ is also ‘fear’ to most people. Elisabeth’s fear was to have her autonomy taken away. We did indeed also see how every time Furutod failed, it was because he crossed Elisabeth’s boundaries and scared her.

Please compare the following drawings of Furutod’s body language of when he is with Rudolf (at his most feminine) vs when he is at his most masculine (Dr. Seeburger** Will discuss later.)

Hyper Detailed Acting

Furukawa is famous for his hyper detailed acting, and he obviously paid the same attention for detail to playing Der Tod.

Rudolf rejoiced as he finally found someone, anyone at all, he could talk to, and continued his song at the bottom of the stage, while Furutod remained on the platform. Furutod’s eyes never left the child during the song. He was constantly fidgeting with the pistol, and it was very clear that he was carefully weighing all his options in getting Elisabeth.

Then, a glint appeared in Furutod’s eyes. As dictated by the script, Der Tod would point the pistol at Rudolf. All Der Tods I know of had pointed the mouth of the pistol at the child. Furutod however, aimed with the grip of the pistol instead.

Herewith, Furukawa brilliantly foreshadowed that Der Tod was not going to kill Rudolf, but instead make Rudolf commit suicide by shooting himself in the head.

The Madhouse

The madhouse was a very powerful scene. Elisabeth was a VERY clever woman who studied her history. She knew of her royal consort senpais that the being a woman in public eyes was a very hard job. She knew that queens like Marie Antoinette were hated for spending too much money, while other queens were criticised for not living up to the royal reputation by being too economical.

Elisabeth managed to find a perfect middle ground; she would spend a lot of money like a proper royalty, but she would spend it on education, hospitals, madhouses, and other such beneficial places. “Whaddya gonna say then, huh?”

Elisabeth would likewise pay personal visits to madhouses, showing her care. In the madhouse, she encountered a woman who thought she was the Empress herself; Windisch. Windisch glorified the Empress’ life, but to Elisabeth it was but a very sour parody of her miserable existence.

♪♬ “ If only I were really you The only thing about you that is chained is your body But your soul is free. That’s right, you’re free I have been fighting every war, but what did I win? All I won is solitude I can no longer stand this I feel like I am going mad I could walk on, but where am I headed to, I cannot see I cannot see anything” ♪♬

Madam Wolf and Madeleine

Despite Sissi’s inner torment, on the outside she was more successful than ever, and Sophiezilla hated how her son had become Sissi’s puppet instead of hers.

She blamed Sissi for having enchanted her son with her beauty, and was desperate to do something about it. She and her ministers had an idea. “An eye for an eye, a woman for a woman”. ♪♬

Sophie and her ministers arrange for a secret clandestine meeting between Franz and the most beautiful women of Austria. They invite Madam wolf to bring her girls. The most beautiful sex worker Madeleine - “the most ardent at her work, and carries an ‘occupational disease’“♪♬  - would be the one to enchant Franz instead

Franz was powerless against Madeleine’s charms and eagerness.

Dr. Seeburger

Sissi realised that the power she held was due to her beauty, and that the moment her beauty faded, so would her power. She maintained a spartan exercise- and diet-routine to maintain her small waist to the point of becoming anemic, and fainted.

Enter Dr. Seeburger. It was Der Tod of course (who probably punched the real doctor K.O., stole his clothes and shoved him into the broom closet).

Here Furutod was exceptionally manly; his voice was low and growly, and his movements big and difficult, as though he were an old man. Furutod here was so manly that in comparison, even his earlier masculine-coded behaviour seemed entirely gender neutral. I really, really love how Furutod was gender-fluid in performance. Why would ‘death’ have a gender anyway?

Dr. Seeburger sat down on the bench where Sissi was lying, manspreading his leeeeegs as he undid her corset and ribbon. (It was very creepy, but also sexy... not gonna lie...)

♪♬ T: Let me feel your pulse E: I am fine T: You have a light fever E: It’s normal T: How pale the colour of your face. The symptoms of that disease have started to show ♪♬ - Dr. Seeburger

“It is the French disease”

Sissi sprang up at Dr. Seeburger’s diagnosis, and claims it is impossible because she knew her husband to be many things, but not unfaithful.

♪♬ T: He too is but a mortal man E: He would never betray me T: And yet it is true E: If that is true , then I shall leave this palace! ♪♬  - Elisabeth

“No, I shall take my own life,” Sissi said, and Der Tod smirked and undid his disguise. Furutod didn’t waste another second to shed his ‘old skin’ and jumped onto the bench with swiftness previously unseen. “I have been waiting for this!”

♪♬ T: “Now is the time to welcome you to the the netherworld! Come with me, the one who truly loves you!“ E: No, wait! From now on I will shut my heart from him If he committed any sin, it means that I'll be free! T: Stop pretending, you bear no love for him The one you truly love is no one other than me! E: You're wrong! I will not dance with you yet” ♪♬

Again with renewed determination to live, Sissi successfully kept death at a distance.

Rudolf

Rudolf meanwhile had reached adulthood, but was never able to free himself from the Imperial family’s chains.

Miura Ryosuke’s (Joker) Rudolf was especially broken. Most other Rudolfs I have seen so far still had some battle spirit in them and truly believed they might succeed. Miuradolf however seemed to be convinced that everything would be in vain anyway, and was merely compelled to fight by external circumstances.

Rudolf strongly disagreed with his father’s way of ruling and was convinced that only joining the opposition and establishing a new Danube State would save the Habsburg rule. Franz warned his son that if he dared to become an ‘extremist’, he would take away his right of succession.

Rudolf was desperate, because on the one hand, the extremists (later the Nazis) did indeed have ideas that benefited the economy of Austria, but on the other hand, their extremist ideas were very hard to ignore. Rudolf sank to the floor.

Then, Furutod appeared again, literally helping Rudolf back onto his feet. When he asked Rudolf whether he still remembered him, he showed the pistol he took from him in his childhood before safely tucking it away again, as though saying: “I protected you back then, and now too I’ll protect you from harm.”

♪♬ T: The time of this long slumber has ended Do you still remember? That promise we made when you were just a child that when you need me I'll appear before you R: I would never forget a friend, it's just that I am... so consumed by fear that I am about to break T: I am now beside you! ♪♬

Rudolf was scared shitless and could only back away, but Furutod knelt down and caressed Rudolf when he was about to give up on the rebellion against his father.

♪♬ “Misfortune is drawing near, are you truly fine with looking on? Oh, my future Emperor.” ♪♬

Rudolf liked being addressed as Emperor alright, and quickly he scraped whatever energy he had left to stand up.

The Hungarian Rebellion

Under Rudolf (manipulated by Der Tod) the Hungarian revolution went smoothly. When the revolutionaries finally seemed to be reaching their goal, the Death Angels revealed the Imperial guards arrival at the scene. The Revolutionaries try to flee, but the Death Angels guided them towards the guards one by one. When Rudolf found a window for escape, Furutod spun him at his heel and showed him Elemer who was wounded, causing him to miss his only chance for escape.

Rudolf too was arrested and brought back to his father. His father was utterly disappointed and seemed determined to strip him of his succession right.

“Mama, You and I are like Mirror Reflections”

Rudolf was in despair, but fortunately his mother had just returned home since forever. Rudolf begged his mother to help him change the Emperor’s mind, but Sissi feared for her own skin, and rejected her son.

Most Rudolfs in this scene fell to their knees to beg Sissi ( like Kimura Tatsunari did ⇈ ), singing the song in a genuine plea. Miuradolf however was already beyond hope. He did not kneel, instead he remained standing and his own song seemed to lack any effort. It was like he knew his mother would reject him anyway, so why bother trying?

When Sissi rejected Miuradolf, he merely sighed and looked up. “Mama too abandons me...” in a tone of utter defeat.

Mayerling Incident

Now that Rudolf stopped seeing the point of living, Furutod appeared again.

“You wish to die?”

All Der Tods I have seen so far said the line “you wish to die?” either indifferently, or excitedly. Furutod however, spoke it in the SADDEST and most DISAPPOINTED tone ever! As though he could not believe the ‘ultimate key’ he selected was so spineless. As though he was disappointed that the son of the human he loved for her determination would give up so easily.

Furutod took a deep breath, and suddenly all enthusiasm in his eyes disappeared. The Death Angels appeared and ripped Rudolf’s jacket off. Furutod took out the pistol again, and the Mayerling dance started.

Furutod was mocking Rudolf, abusing his privilege of leeegs and aaaarms to keep the pistol outside Rudolf’s reach. He did so while wearing the most disappointed expression that had ever disgraced Furukawa’s face. It was as though Furutod was hoping that Rudolf would show a tenth of the vigour his mother did, and would try a bit harder to get that damn pistol.

But alas, all Rudolf did was basically begging Der Tod to stop the teasing. Miura’s performance was splendid, I’ve never seen any Rudolf as defeated before on stage. Furutod who suffered from ‘lethal apathy’ however, HATED it.

Der Tod stopped seeing the fun and just handed Miuradolf the pistol. Furutod was beyond cruel; he seemed to have concluded that if Miuradolf wanted to think himself as such a sad puppy, he’d let him. With pity in his eyes he caressed Rudolf’s cheek. When Miuradolf seemed somewhat uplifted to at least have affection from ‘his friend’, Furutod dropped his compassionate act, and made it a bit too clear to Rudolf that he was but ‘a boring nuisance’.

Miuradolf kissed Der Tod, but the latter did not even bother kissing him back.

Other Rudolfs - Kyoumoto and Kimura

I did not see the two other Rudolfs, but I heard that Kyoumoto’s Rudolf managed to anger Furutod so much, he bitchslapped him before kissing him at one point, and did not even bother looking at Rudolf as he blasted his own brains out.

Kimura’s Rudolf was apparently the only one who offered sufficiently much challenge/entertainment, and he was the one Furutod hated least.

Entertaining or not, Furutod still took Kimuradolf’s life as he really was nothing but a means to an end. I heard that as such, Kimuradolf was all the more hurt when his ‘friend’ appeared to have heartlessly used and betrayed him.

Kimuradolf was allegedly the only Rudolf Furutod bothered ‘seeing off’.

Rudolf’s Funeral

Sissi knew that if she had not rejected her son to save her own skin, then he might have been alive. She begged Furutod to take her life, and he seemed very content that he was about to win.

♪♬ “You took my son from me... Do not let me wait for any longer... do not let me suffer... I'll give it to you... take my life...! End my misery!” ♪♬ - Elisabeth

Furutod leaned in to kiss Sissi, but he saw that she merely longed for death only to escape life.

♪♬ “You do not really desire me!” ♪♬ - Der Tod

He was SO angry his face contorted and his hands were shaking! “How DARE you fool MOI!? I am the one to toy with people, NOT the other way around!”

Nightmare

After being a rejected by Sissi, Furutod had been behaving like a total baby. He had started a death orchestra where he plotted the death of one Habsburger after another. Franz found himself in this nightmare, where the Maestro - Furutod - stood on the platform, conducting the deaths of his family.

♪♬ F: Where is my Empress? T: Elisabeth belongs to me F: She is MY wife! Know some shame! T: But the one she desires is me F: I gave her everything I have T: And yet only I can give her the one thing she wants, freedom! F: I need to save my wife! T: But only I can truly save her F: If she had wanted you, she would already have been yours! ♪♬

Furutod was like: “enough. I’ll show you. I can take anything I want, I am mofo DEATH”. Here Furukawa raised his hand and ‘wiped’ his beautiful mask off his face, and revealed the monster underneath. (I fear that my art can’t really express how terrifying and GOOOOOD the symbolism was...)

♪♬ “Lucheni! Quick, come and take it!” ♪♬

Normally it is a bit hard for me to see how Elisabeth would go from rejection, denial and plain defeatism to ‘yes, I’m okay with dying!’. But now because Furutod had decided that the game is over, Elisabeth’s death was just everything abiding the law of nature.

Elisabeth’s Assassination

Furutod had sent Lucheni to assassinate Sissi. Lucheni merely walked up to her, stabbed the dagger he had received from the boss into Sissi’s torso. The historical Sissi’s corset was so tight that she did not even notice she had been stabbed, and walked on as though nothing happened.

In the musical, her assassination also happened quite matter-of-factly, except that this time, it is because Der Tod had decided he was not interested in the game anymore; so there was nothing anybody could do to stop him.

Sissi entered the Underworld again where Der Tod welcomed her.

♪♬ T: The time has come to welcome you to the nether world... E: Please take me with you, to the far away world of the dark to the place where my free soul can be at peace Both: If it is farewell to this sinking world anyway then embark on an eternal journey where time never ends E: I have cried, laughed, been disheartened and I have prayed There had been days where I tasted defeat in my senseless battle Regardless, I have entrusted my life to myself alone T:Regardless, you entrusted your life to me alone ♪♬

Furutod was the perfect prince charming again. Like he did before, he only guided Elisabeth with his finger tips, and gently caressed her hands. He let Elisabeth take the initiative of embracing and kissing him, and he kissed back very romantically.

When Elisabeth died and her body fell limp however, Furutod dropped his prince charming act. He transformed from lover to conqueror.

Furutod took Sissi’s body and rammed her into the grave, pinning her there like a bio-specimen🦋. Oh boy, was he happy.

The moment he had her however, he seemed to have lost interest again. The game was fun for as long as it lasted, but what next?

Never mind, he won, that’s what counted. Furutod turned to the audience, and struck a pose telling us that he is mofo ‘DEATH’. "If you’re interesting enough you might be able to avoid me, for a bit.  But don’t you think you can escape me.”

Then he retracted three fingers of the hand he had raised, and pointed at the audience. I personally could not see it as anything else but: “You’re next.”

“Later, maybe. No? Never.”

Like I said before in the report of Act 1, Furutod is easily the cruelest and the most skin crawling Der Tod I have ever seen.

He is like a little kid who’s spoiled beyond reason. But indeed, he is ‘death’. ‘Death’ is the biggest force of nature nobody can avoid, so it makes sense that Furutod never learned how to deal with rejection.

Concretely, Furutod’s mindset is: “Later, maybe. No? Never”.

The sketch below summarises the entire existence of Furutod and the musical ‘Elisabeth 2019′.

(Doll Marie-Antoinette and Mozart on the ground, as he throws old favourite doll Sissi away.)

[1-1snailxd-art]

The Perfect Ring

Summary: Sanders Sides oneshot inspired by this post. Virgil makes the perfect ring for Logan, and now he just needs to pull off the perfect proposal.

Genre: Alternate Universe

Rating: PG

Pairing: Analogical (with a hint of Royality)

Warnings: Mild anxiety, Cursing, implied bullying (nothing detailed)

@fander-pride-meetup Week 1: Relationships

Art is by me as well 💜🐌

Ao3 Link

*************

"Roman helped me with the design, I made the digital model and then worked with a couple of different professionals to actually make it"

 Virgil's voice sounded far away and Patton couldn't pry his eyes off the ring in his hands; still unable to believe his eyes as he shifted the ring so it resembled an astronomical sphere. The metal was covered in intricately designed carvings on the outer ring, while the inner rings had numbers and letters that he wasn't quite able to make out through his watery eyes.

 "What does it say?" Patton sniffed, handing the ring back to Virgil before reaching for the tissue Roman was offering him.

"It's nothing that important," Virgil shrugged as he carefully placed the ring back in its case. "They just represent places and dates."

"Don't act so modest," Roman whined and placed his arm around Patton and gestured grandly. "This emo in disguise made a whole code to record the time and date of firsts. We're talking first date, first hug, first kiss, first cuddle party."

Roman winked at Virgil as the young man shot him an annoyed look. Patton giggled and wiped away fresh tears; filled with pride at the effort Virgil had put into the ring.

"I'm absolutely positive that Logan will love it." Patton detangled himself from Roman and pulled out his phone to check his calendar. "So, when are you going to ask him? I need to make sure I'm not working so we can mee-"

"I'm not doing it publicly."

Patton's heart dropped slightly and Virgil shoved his hands deep into his jacket pockets as he saw the hurt enter his friends eyes.

"It's nothing personal, Pat. But..." Virgil took a deep breath before looking back up to meet Patton's baby blue eyes. "You know how Logan feels about public displays of affection and, lets be honest, I do not like drawing attention to myself."

"Don't worry, Patty-Bear," Roman grabbed Patton's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I helped Virgil plan this whole thing out. Picture it," Roman gestured wildly as his hands painted an imaginary image in the space in front of him. "Discovery channel playing on the TV; the two lovers have just finished Virgil's special Pasta Surprise; a batch of your Crofter's muffins, that we just dropped off, are warming in the oven. Then, Virgil CLIMBS onto the table and professes his love for the Book Worm..."

"Roman, no. Stop." Virgil's pleas were drowned out as his dramatic friend got increasingly louder and Patton giggled.

"... Virgil presents him with the ring of a life time and OF COURSE Logan has no other option but to accept. The black eyed romantic leaps off the table, with a spectacular super hero landing, and opens his arms to his lover who leaps into them..."

"Size difference makes that impossible." Virgil had his arms folded, suppressing a smile as Roman scooped Patton into his arms.

"... The victorious Prince of Nightmares carries his fiancé to their room, where they engage in intense s-"

"ROMAN!" Patton's voice and sudden stern look, silences Roman in his tracks. "Now, you know how Virgil feels about that talk."

Virgil shifted uncomfortably on his feet; reminded that his and Logan's views on romance and love were different to the general worlds view.

Roman made an offended noise and carefully set Patton back on his feet. "I am offended that you would judge me so. I was going to say snuggling, obviously." Roman pouted, folding his arms to emulate Virgil's own stance. "I'm not that insensitive. I understand my friends sexuality. You shredded my heart with that remark."

 Virgil sighed loudly and moved to put his arms around his two friends, shaking his head.

"I have no idea why I keep you two around."

"Because you love us," Patton teased and gave Virgil a quick peck on the cheek, causing them both to blush.

"Ok, ok, that will do." Roman moved to drape his arms over Patton's shoulders and pulled him away jokingly from Virgil. "You've already go your man. Stop pulling mine to the dark side."

"What can I say, Princey," Virgil smiled and winked at Patton, "I'm just irresistible."

 Patton lent heavily against Roman, pretending to faint. "Hurry, Ro! Take me away from here. His powers are too great for me to resist."

Scooping him up with ease, Roman carried Patton towards the door of the apartment.

"Fear not, my love. I shall save you." Looking over his shoulder Roman gave Virgil an encouraging smile. "Farewell, Sir Virgil. Until we meet again."

Patton blew Virgil a kiss before snuggling back into Roman's hold as the two left. As soon as the door was shut, Virgil set to work arranging the apartment and preparing for Logan's arrival.

 **************

 "Why didn't you tell me about Virgil's plans sooner?" Patton questioned, as the two drove back to their own place on the other side of town.

"Because we knew you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret. I love you, but you have no poker face what-so-ever."

Glancing briefly away from the road, Roman watched Patton open his mouth to argue before closing it and pouting. He knew the other too well, and neither could deny that there was no way in the world Patton would have survived the 6 months of planning. His heart was made of gold, but he couldn't keep a secret no matter how hard he tried.

 **************

 The scent of Virgil's Pasta Surprise greeted Logan as he entered the apartment and the weight of his day of work melted away. Coming down the small hall, their dinning table was all set for dinner and an animal documentary was playing on the TV. Virgil was no where in sight.

"Virge! I'm home!"

When no reply came, Logan placed his bag in the cupboard under the stairs and stepped into the kitchen to give dinner a quick stir on the stove. The low simmer was keeping the meal warm without signs of burning, but it was unlike Virgil to leave the kitchen unattended. There were so many potential dangers to leaving any kitchen appliance unsupervised, and as a result Virgil was generally very vigilant about keeping the kitchen under watch. 

"Virgil?" Logan called out again, a pang of worry in his stomach.

Working to remain calm, Logan ascended the stairs and scanned the study and bathroom before entering their bedroom. The house was utterly spotless; not a single item was out of place.

"Clearly Virgil spent his afternoon cleaning. So what could have possibly happened to him?"

 Logan froze as he heard a slight whimper. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sound, as he slowly moved over to the wardrobe door. Past experience had proved it to be a space Virgil retreated to when he was anxious about something. Logan quietly removed his jacket and shoes before opening the door; dropping down to crawl beneath the waterfall of hanging clothing and sitting next to his partner.

Virgil’s hoodie was pulled over his head, which rested on his curled up knees. Some would say it was a very childlike position, but for Virgil it was how he was most comfortable. No words were exchanged as Logan got comfortable; sitting close enough for Virgil to sense him without establishing physical contact. Reaching behind a small shoe rack, Logan produced a box of tissues and set it next to him before leaning back and waiting for Virgil to make his move.

By Logan's count, it was only 20 seconds before the black figure moved and lent against his shoulder. He handed Virgil a tissue and waited patiently, listening to the steadying breaths of the person he loved.

"Work or other?" Logan whispered as he gently encouraged Virgil to lay on his lap.

"Other." Virgil's voice was strained from crying; clearly he had been upset for a while.

"In your control or outside of it?" Pushing the hood back, Logan began fidgeting with Virgil's hair and kept his eyes straight ahead to avoid causing him further anxiety.

"A bit of both."

"Does it have anything to do with why the house is so clean?"

Virgil nodded and squeezed his eyes shut tight, begging the tears to stop. This wasn't what he and Roman had planned. Having a breakdown in the wardrobe was not on the list of romantic things to do that night.

 "Dinner smelt lovely when I got in the door." Virgil stiffened as Logan spoke; he had completely forgotten about the food on the stove. "No harm done. As per usual, you set it at the perfect temperature to avoid any burning."

Sitting up, Virgil grabbed a fresh tissue to wipe his eyes; giving Logan the full view of his glittery, black  streaked face. It became obvious that Virgil had planned something special for the night. He only ever pulled out the glittery, black eyeshadow for special occasions. Logan started compiling a mental list of possible announcements - a promotion at his work; an apprenticeship at the tech-company he had been trying to get into; perhaps he finally tracked down his missing Mother.

 "I should really go and finish dinner. I should never have left it alone." As Virgil stood, Logan reached up and grabbed his hand; anchoring him inside the wardrobe while he got to his feet.

"Dinner can wait, but I can not."

Logan dropped his hand and Virgil looked at him in confusion, "You can not wait for what?"

"For you to tell me what is going on." Virgil looked at the ground and whispered, "I can't. Not now. It ... It wasn't meant to be like this."

"Let me guess," Logan pulled Virgil into an embrace, and the other locked his arms tightly around Logan's middle as they slowly swayed to imaginary music. "You made a big plan to tell me something. Roman obviously had some kind of hand in it. You had the perfect vision for how the evening would go." Virgil nodded, his head leaning against his shoulder. "But something didn't quite work. You forgot an element and it seemed the whole night was going to be a disaster."

"It's like you can read my mind."

"Not at all. It is almost like I love you so much, that I have learnt exactly how your mind works." Virgil looked up at Logan to make a self-deprecating comment, but Logan continued; silencing the thought. "I love you so much, that I have learnt to read you like a book. I know what you love. I know what you hate. I know what makes you happy and what keeps you up at night. I love every part of you. The part that smiles. The part worries about how everyone else is feeling. I even love the part of you that wants to hide in a wardrobe. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love every part of you. So, trust me when I say, there is nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Virgil knew he was breathing, but he swore every organ in his body shut down. His heart swelled as he looked into Logan's brown eyes. They never faltered. He didn't look cross, upset or annoyed. He saw no pity or regret in them. The only emotions Virgil could find were love, admiration and caring. Logan never judged him. Never tired of pulling him out of his dark places. How was it even possible? The confident scientist and teacher, and the anxious wannabe. How were they even together?

 "So, are you ready to tell me?"

The quiet and comforting voice pulled Virgil back to the present. He never took his eyes off Logan as he reached into his jacket pocket, fingers silently prying open the box containing the ring.

"This wasn't how I planned to do this?"

"Perhaps a better way of seeing it, is that this is your way and the other way was Roman's."

Virgil laughed, "Actually, Roman's way was way more uncomfortable."

Logan's mind raced, still tossing up what Virgil was so anxious about telling him. He decided that the most logical option was to do with his family, which is why Virgil's next action left him stunned.

 "6 months ago we were laying in bed and you pulled me into your arms and said you would one day buy me a star. When I asked why, you said it was the only thing you could think of that would prove just how much you loved me. Honestly, I hated the idea. Not because I didn't appreciate the sentiment, partially because I didn't think I deserved it, but also because I thought I wouldn't be able to top that level of dedication."

Virgil pulled the metal sphere out of his pocket and looked down at it with a smile.

"Turns out, I think I can top a star. I want to give you the whole universe, Logan. Right in your hand." Virgil looked up and watched Logan's eyes widen as his fingers shifted the sphere into a flat ring. "Logan Berrin, will you marry me?"

 Jokes had always been made that Logan had no emotion. He use to joke about it himself. It was all a defence mechanism of course; school had been rather unkind to him prior to meeting Patton and Roman. He never would have expected that the person to crack his emotional walls would be Virgil. Quiet and reserved, Virgil. Accepting and trustworthy, Virgil. The black eyed boy who had served coffee in the old library. Virgil Sanders.

 Virgil anxiously fidgeted the ring back into a sphere, head slowly dropping as the silence extended. Then he saw it. The tears welling in Logan's eyes and the emotion rolling over his face as if someone had just hit play on his emotions.

Snapping the sphere back into a ring, Virgil held it out to Logan.

"So, Lo, will you marry me?"

"There is no fucking way I would ever say no."

 The kiss that followed was nothing like either of them had experienced before. Tears of joy streaked their faces, and eventually they separated long enough for Virgil to slip the ring onto Logan's finger before embracing again. They would have stayed in the wardrobe longer, had it not been for Virgil's stomach grumbling. Logan couldn't help but laugh as Virgil blushed and apologised for spoiling the moment.

"Well it's a good thing my fiancé already cooked dinner." Logan held his hand out to Virgil, "Care to join me downstairs?"

"Absolutely."

_____________________

What else have I done:

You Promised (oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death) 

Sides of a Hero (Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)

Libraries are for Meetings (ongoing WIP - Human/University au with Royality and developing Analogical. Slow burn and heavily focused on a grieving group of friends that Virgil slowly becomes a part of to better himself.)

The Shield to your Sword (WIP - A fantasy/magic au - Prinxiety (Royal Roman and orphan Virgil - they’ll admit to their love eventually), Virgil angst, non binary, healer Logan, *spoiler* Patton) 

Check out my other blog for random fandom reblogs and stuff @snail-giggles​

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #205: Shadow of the Claw!

March, 1981

"... And the CLAW shall inherit the Earth!” isn’t even what the villain plan is, come on, cover copy person.

Yellow Claw was going to have a bunch of kids, make them fight to the death, and then the super child was going to inherit the Earth.

The actual cover is neat though. I like how all the red draws attention to the center where red is not.

Yes, I am good at talk about art.

Anyway, last time on Avengers: a woman named Shu Han who had been brought to Yellow Claw’s island to be one of Yellow Claw’s many wives (despite being a genius physicist athlete and could honestly be a superhero in her own right with those skills) sent out a distress signal which was eventually received by the Avengers. A lot of goofy stuff happened, Vision got captured like a dingus, Wasp did none things, a cyborg slime kraken was fought, and eventually Yellow Claw was like ‘whaaaat Shu Han doesn’t love me? Fine, begone!’ and told the Avengers to gtfo his island so he can start living his harem anime protagonist self-insert fic and also take over the world.

Which brings us to now.

After his dingus-like capture, Vision needs to be recharged because photons are his sweet calories and he never diets.

In fact, weirdly, he’s hungrier than usual this time. Sixty-seven whole additional solar units more than usual hungrier.

I don’t know how much a solar unit is. Even as a ballpark. But Iron Man finds it noteworthy so I’m noting it.

Meanwhile, in the only one person sitting room, Wasp retcons some actual actions into the last issue so that her entire screentime wasn’t pointless.

Maybe I should learn to be more patient on multiple part stories.

No. No, its the comic writers who are wrong.

Anyway, while Wasp was spying on Yellow Claw, she noticed some weird equipment in the research lab, including a lot of tubes filled with odd, sparkly mist.

Unfortunately, that’s all she managed to see before Yellow Claw told the Avengers to gtfo his island.

Which leaves them without much they can do about Yellow Claw.

Sure, they suspect he’s up to something. Hell, Iron Man would even admit that they know he’s up to something.

But being able to prove it is a different matter. And since Yellow Claw’s island is in disputed waters, moving without proving could lead to political fallout.

Captain America: “Iron Man is right. If we had proof that the Yellow Claw poses a global threat, international law would allow us to investigate. But as it is, we don’t have a single, tangible clue to--”

And then Jarvis walks in and tells them that the Yellow Claw’s top assistant, Dr. William Liu, is here to speak with them.

The timing this man has. Outstanding.

They scan the man to make sure he’s not walking in with a bunch of laser guns stuffed down his pants and then let him in.

And Dr. Liu pleads for the Avengers to help him. Cap asks why they should help or even trust one of Yellow Claw’s men.

Dr. Liu: “I could no longer live with the horrible nature of the master’s plan! That is why I secretly left the island, hoping that my absence would go unnoticed until I could reach you, and tell you of-- AAAGGHH!”

He doesn’t get to finish his warning because his crotch suddenly explodes.

I don’t know how else to describe it.

Apparently Yellow Claw rigged his assistant to explode in case of treachery or just for funsies. A barely alive, crotch exploded apparently a cyborg all along Dr. Liu realizes that Yellow Claw must have remotely activated his destruct code.

He gives the Avengers some coordinates in Australia and begs them to stop Yellow Claw.

Dr. Liu: “... Y-you must stop... the Claw! Y-you’re the only hope for... the children...!”

And then he dies. And based on panels, it seems like his chest exploded more than his crotch. His pants are intact.

This was the proof the Avengers needed to act, so as soon as Dr. Liu’s body is carried away by ambulance, the Avengers prepare to leave.

But Jarvis finds a note on Vision’s door begging leave from the mission.

Vision: “I regret that I have not yet recuperated to the point where I may participate in Avengers’ activities. Please understand. I do not wish to be disturbed.”

What an oddly formal ‘I’m sick, don’t come in’ letter to pin to your door.

Iron Man is perplexed since he oversaw Vision’s recharge himself and the solar gas tank should be full. But Scarlet Witch says that Vision has his reasons to do things and they should just carry on without him.

So off they go in the Quinjet.

But as soon as they take off, Vision goes to take the second Quinjet.

Why, he’s not sick in his room at all!

Hours later, the Avengers arrive in Australia, of course passing over a kangaroo, or else how would we know its Australia?

And at the coordinates poor exploded Dr. Liu gave them, they find a cave. And in the cave they find a secret base where that sparkle gas Wasp saw being loaded onto three missiles.

Y’know. I think I gave Vision too much shit last time for his stealth fail. Because the Avengers as a whole get spotted while they’re scoping out the missile cave.

Black Panther needs to give them all some refresher learning.

MEANWHILE, though. Back at Yellow Claw’s island, Vision ditches his Quinjet and intangibles into Yellow Claw’s base.

When he reaches Yellow Claw’s throne slash harem room where Yellow Claw welcomes him back and asks him how the hell he discovered he had been tampered with.

Vision explains: 1) that he required extra power to recharge, 2) that he detected ultra-wave radiation being emitted from Dr. Liu when he blew up, 3) detected the same radiation from his own bad self. Thus he deduced that he had been altered to be an unwitting mole through which the Yellow Claw could spy on the Avengers and that the alteration was what was draining extra power.

Also why Vision ditched the Avengers and came here instead.

And it was all a very smart move up until it was a dumb one.

Yellow Claw was prepared that Vision might figure things out and show up again so the doorway had a Vision trapping trap installed in it and now Vision is trapped in the Vision trapping trap.

After all his ‘I’ve come alone to defeat you’ bravado, Vision can now only defiantly claim “the other Avengers will turn your dreams into dust!”

You Tried, Vision. You Tried.

But Yellow Claw isn’t done having been one step ahead of things yet.

See, he let Dr. Liu escape and warn the Avengers because based on the broken into vent he knew that Wasp had been in his base and probably saw enough to suspect something was up. The coordinates Dr. Liu gave the Avengers was a trap!

A trap of three strong mooks with really dumb names.

Bludgeoner, Transformer, and Compressor.

Guarantee these guys won’t be recurring.

Anyway. Iron Man and Jocasta repulsor and eyeeeeee beam at the three so Transformer can readily demonstrate why his name when he absorbs the energy and blasts it back at them.

And Bludgeoner and his big hammer hands bludgeon Wonder Man and Captain America.

And Compressor, why if you guessed that his big ol cheese grater hands compress the air between them to put the squeeze on anyone stuck between, ... wow. That’s a really good guess.

You’re good at comic books, friend!

Scarlet Witch uses a hex bolt to drop a stalactite on Compressor to free Beast but the fly swatter hands man crushes the rock and shoots the shrapnel back at Scarlet Witch.

And Wasp is as useless as she often is. Sigh.

Iron Man tries to swing behind Compressor and repulsor him but Compressor blasts air and sends Iron Man SKRRUURRUNCH into the cave dirt, carving up a furrow.

Sure, this has been only two pages but this is a bad showing against three dinguses with dumb names. I mean for crying out loud, a man named Compressor just bodied a guy called Iron Man.

Back at the Claw Cave... no, wait, that’s confusing. The Avengers are fighting in a cave. The Claw Condo? Back at the Claw Condo, Yellow Claw tells Vision that hey his friends are going to die gruesome and frankly embarrassing deaths but maybe Vision could eke out a little win for himself.

Claw has long platonically admired his construction and capabilities and with Dr. Liu exploded, he does need a new second-in-command.

To sweeten the pot, he’ll even explain his villainous plot because I’m sure we’ve all been wondering about that.

Yellow Claw: “You see, my line was created to rule this planet -- though mankind has stupidly resisted that inevitability. But now, despite the chemical concoctions that prolong my existence, I grow old. My years are numbered. And that is why I selected these women, exemplary in both body and mind, to assure a form of immortality.

For each shall bear me a son, and in time those sons shall fight each other to the death! The survivor, the fittest, shall then fulfill my fate by becoming supreme ruler of the Earth!

Though I swear, he’ll not be subjected to the same obstinacy, to the blind sense of human freedom that has frustrated me for these many decades!

For within those cryogenic storage banks is genetic material gathered from the world’s most physically and mentally perfect humans! And from that matter, my heir will create a new order, a new population, all raised to obey by a single edit: unswerving reverence to my son!”

Vision: There is a flaw to your logic, Claw. You seem to forget that there are already several billion people on this planet -- people who will never serve the likes of you.

Yellow Claw: Ah, once more you underestimate me. For at this very moment, the missiles at my Australian launch base are being readied for take-off. Once in orbit around the Earth, they will dock with my private spacecraft.

Then at my command, they will release a specially formulated vapor, one which will permeat the entire planetary atmosphere, rendering everyone on the globe -- except for those here in my closed-environment sanctuary -- irrevocably sterile!

With no children being born, the Earth will be barren in the space of a few generations -- barren save for the followers of the new Yellow Claw!”

Okay, so, credit where it’s due.

That’s a VERY evil plan.

Sterilize planet, replace humanity with genetically servile slave race, make babies fight to the death for the right to rule that whole shebang.

In terms of a dick move that's a major league one.

So when Yellow Claw asks if Vision will become his new number Liu, Vision answers: “Perhaps, miscreant. Perhaps I will join you... in hell!”

Yellow Claw isn’t too bothered by the refusal and even decides to let Vision have a front row seat to his plan being fulfilled.

And I don’t mean tying him to the front of one of the missiles.

I mean, Yellow Claw’s throne room launches from his base as a hot rod pink spaceship, sold separately.

Back at the Avengers fight, Wasp does a thing.

Honestly, its a pleasant surprise.

Her powerset of ‘be small, shoot tiny lasers’ not being much of a help, she thinks outside the box. She scoops some dirt from the cave floor and jams it into Bludgeoner’s arm joints to slow him down.

And then Wonder Man clocks him in the face. Who bludgeons the bludgeoners indeed.

It does go to show that a ‘useless’ power like Wasp’s can actually be very useful if you write her smart. A superhero team should be more than just big punches, more than just spectacular powers. Wasp has great combo potential for playing things strategic and that should be something the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are too.

Beast realizes that Wasp had a really good idea. The Avengers outnumber these three jokers so why not gang up on them with teamwork? Besides, they’re not working together in any way so the Avengers might as well.

So Beast grabs Transformer’s shield arm to leave him open for Jocasta to OPTIC BLAST!

And Cap throws his mighty shield to know Compressor’s arms apart so Iron Man can kick him in the face.

Which is impressive since Iron Man was flat on his ass in the immediately previous panel.

Apparently this was a gaffe caused by the pages being edited separately and the error not being caught before the book went to print.

As far as things go, not the worst error! I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out.

Anyway, in a fit of pique from his dumb name dudes losing the fight, Yellow Claw kliks a button. The goons join hands or whatever weapon they have passing for hands and then they blow up.

Yellow Claw: “It is done. It cost the lives of three worthy operatives but at last -- the Avengers are dead!”

Ah, villains. Always ready to flip the board if they start losing.

And with the Avengers totally dead for realsies no foolin’ Yellow Claw is free to launch his missiles full of sterility vapors.

Actually, he could do that by remote so I don’t know why he had to wait for the Avengers to be explode. He could have just launched the missiles while they were busy fighting.

Anyway.

With the Avengers dead I guess the book will be about- can’t think of a good one for that recurring goof. So yeah, the Avengers aren’t dead.

Scarlet Witch used her powers to shield the team just in the nick of time.

Captain America: “Thanks, Wanda. If you hadn’t cast that protective hex sphere around us just in time...!”

Scarlet Witch: “Don’t mention it, captain. I rather enjoy being alive myself!”

Although, I didn’t know she could just shield people with her powers like that. Unless she altered the probability that explosions hurt so that they didn’t. Yes, that sounds plausible.

The two flying members of the team, Iron Man and Wonder Man fly out of the cave after the missiles, still determined to save the days as heroes often do.

The missiles launch into orbit and then something really goofy happens.

I’ve been saying missiles because the comic has been saying missiles and I guess they are technically missiles. But if I asked you to imagine a supervillain launching some missiles full of a chemical weapon, would you imagine this?

When the missiles launch into orbit they link up with Yellow Claw’s hot rod pink spaceship.

When I first saw this, I thought: is he going to launch them again from his spaceship? A bit of an unnecessary additional step.

But no. That is not what is going on here.

The man is just super committed to his iconography. The missiles join the spaceship and then bend to make it clear its supposed to resemble a claw.

That’s the kind of goofy nonsense I’m here for.

Iron Man and Wonder Man show up, to Yellow Claw’s alarm, and try to attack the hot pink spaceship but bounce off uselessly. The thing is protected by a strong force field.

Yellow Claw probably goes ‘phew’ internally and gets on with his evil plan.

With the missiles bent, as missiles are known to do??, to resemble claws, they can begin to spray the sterility gas into the atmosphere.

Yellow Claw: “Soon, it will be over! When enough vapors are released to mingle with the entire atmosphere -- the shadow of the Claw shall cover the Earth!”

And with things looking grim, Vision decides that things are down to him. I mean he did go off alone and is now stuck inside the enemy’s spaceship. He’s in a good position to mess things up.

So stuck suspended in a trap, he increases his density and mass to his limit and beyond! One ton, two, further!

The energy bubble holding him gives way to his weight, allowing him to make contact with the deck of the ship. Adding his weight to that of the ship and throwing it out of orbit.

The ship will crash into Earth and at this point, it can’t be stopped.

Yellow Claw is fairly pissed.

He smashes the device holding Vision captive and then starts trying to kill him with his bare hands.

And he’s capable of hitting Vision when he’s intangible because he studied Vision while he was a prisoner, the first time he was a prisoner. And created circuity to his metal sleeves that lets him tangible the intangible.

And thus he tries to strangle Vision.

I’m not sure he needs to breathe. Probably why Yellow Claw is punching him instead in later panels.

Vision points out that this fight is fairly pointless and that Yellow Claw could be using this time to escape but Yellow Claw is determined that he get something accomplished today.

And then the ship crashes into the ocean.

A short time skip later and the Avengers have parked the Quinjet on the ocean (it buoyant) and are searching for the Vision.

How did they know the Vision was here? Didn’t they think he was recuperating back at the mansion?

Apparently another gaffe but one that could be handwaved. Earlier in the issue when the three dumbnames appeared, Yellow Claw appeared on a monitor to taunt the Avengers and Vision was visible behind him. Captain America even appears to be pointing at Vision like ‘hey I know that guy from work.’

So conceivably they knew he was with Yellow Claw when his ship crashed.

Iron Man gives up on searching the ocean, not being able to find the Vision in the water but Vision just peaces in from the sky. He intangible’d out the ship just before the crash. He’s totally fine.

Scarlet Witch: “I am glad that you are safe, my husband. And I’m glad that the danger has ended.”

Vision: “No, my love. Though it is true that the Yellow Claw is dead, that he will no longer plague us with his particular form of madness -- there are too many others like him, others who would rise to power by crushing the freedom that is every being’s birthright.

And as long as any of them remain unchallenged -- the danger will never end.”

With that, Vision sort of stares out across the ocean moodily. Because a true Avengers story ends with someone staring at something moodily.

And I dunno! Maybe it was the extended break from doing this liveblog but this two-parter wasn’t as bad as I dreaded.

Supposedly, part of the impetus of the story was to do a last hurrah story for Yellow Claw and then shove him under some furniture because his yellow peril character concept was growing increasingly awkward.

After one more story in Marvel Fanfare with Cap, Yellow Claw was shelved for nearly three decades.

And man launches sterility gas missiles into space to form a giant claw to make it so that his successor can repopulate the Earth with a new, freedom hating breed of humanity is pretty great as far as comic book nonsense goes.

Although, in retrospect, I’m realizing that this was basically the same plan the Sentinels that kidnapped Scarlet Witch had.

Sterilize the planet with Wanda’s magical uterus and then replace humanity with a genetically engineered kind that could not mutate.

Comic books are weird.

Next time: Human Torch guest stars. Everything is on fire.

Follow @essential-avengers or like or reblog or send me questions or tell me I’m doing an okay job or do nothing. There are many choices available. But I would appreciate feedback.

[jbuffyangel]

Blessed: Arrow 7x13 Review (Star City Slayer)

It may be difficult to form coherent thoughts right now because of all the screaming, but I shall do my level best fam because WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warning: gif explosion ahead.

Let’s dig in...

Olicity and Mia Smoak

OLIVER AND FELICITY ARE HAVING A BABY 

AND IT’S A GIRL

AND SHE GROWS UP TO BE KAT MCNAMARA FROM SHADOWHUNTERS

I AM DYING Y’ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE’VE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS DAY!!!!!!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!!

Of course, there are plenty of other things to discuss in the episode and we’ll get to it, but right now I want to bask. 

This reveal was EPIC. 

It actually exceeded my expectations because I didn’t think we’d get all the goodies all at once. “Star City Slayer” is basically my Christmas Wish List and Beth Schwartz just put delightful rainbow colored check marks after each request.  *falls to knees to worship Beth*

We knew Arrow was dropping a bomb because Kat McNamara gave us all a heads up in her promotional press tour for “Star City Slayer.” But it’s wasn’t just one bomb. It was several.

First, Felicity is alive which DUH. 

This reveal felt fairly perfunctory and it tells me the Arrow writers didn’t really expect us to believe Felicity was truly dead because, as I always say, they ain’t that crazy. You do not throw out the lightning in the bottle. You keep the lightning in the damn bottle for as long as you possibly can until she starts screaming to get out and you are absolutely forced to let her go otherwise you’ll be charged with kidnapping.

But was I laughing my ass off at all the antis who thought this was their year and Felicity was truly dead? You’re damn right I did. SUCK IT HATERS!!!!

Everything was revealed to us in the last three minutes of the show, which felt like the writers throwing a confetti and glitter bomb at us in a dark hole. 

AND I WILL TAKE IT. Please and thank you. 

We already had a mountain of evidence Mia is Olicity’s daughter, but there are extremely big hints throughout the episode telling us exactly where we are headed.

There is an absolutely beautiful transition from Felicity’s face in the darkness to Mia’s face.  In fact, Felicity’s face almost melts into the Mia’s, so it is pretty damn clear Gregory Smith (the director) is trying to draw a substantial connection. These kinds of shots are important guys. This is how Arrow Arrows. Transitions, cuts, focused shots – it’s all trying to tell the story visually. When Arrow cannot give us the answer directly then they will drop crumbs the size and weight of anvils.

Dinah and Zoe are using Felicity’s Archer program to find where she planted the bombs, but thus far haven’t been able to locate them. Roy believes Felicity could have hid the bombs in the old, but still secret, Team Arrow bunker. But of course we know two people who are already in the bunker!

Mia and JJ tranquilize everyone, tie them up, and begin the interrogations. I like these kids. They’re nifty.

Mia wants the codes to the Archer program from William so she can find Felicity. Nobody questions Mia’s ability to kick William’s ass, least of all William, so he doesn’t last long. He also wants Mia to stop hitting Zoe. Awww… this is the Arrow equivalent of these kids playing Legos together.

Mia tells William Felicity is alive. It’s unclear if Mia knows because she has actual proof or if this is more a gut feeling type of thing. Either way it’s significant. Felicity’s circle of trust is pretty limited in the future. If she trusts Mia then she is incredibly important to Felicity. The only other person Felicity has reached out to for help was William, her son, and she sent him to get Roy, the brother-in-law (I’m just calling it like I see it).  QUEEN FAMILY REUNION!!!!

This whole “Felicity is evil” angle is total crap too. Toss that nonsense out the window.

I think Felicity, Mia and JJ are trying to stop the destruction of Star City by infiltrating the Glade because Rene’s Chief of Staff is evil. Even if I’m wrong about plot points I am not wrong about Felicity being one of the good guys.

Mia can’t quite figure William out and the feeling is mutual. 

William not a vigilante like Zoe, but finds himself embroiled in this bomb plot.

The differences between the two aren’t difficult to see. Mia is street and William is luxury condos. William is tech and Mia is Krav Maga. William is gentle and Mia is punch first ask questions later. To say these two come from different worlds is an understatement and yet they find themselves circling around each other. 

She mistakes his interest in Felicity as romantic and we all gagged right along with William.

Mia’s reaction to Felicity being William’s step mother was a massive tell, which means Oliver isn’t the only one in the family with a terrible poker face.  

Source: plotbunnyshipper

It was similar to Mia’s reaction when William told her Felicity was dead. 

There is a person who cares under that hard exterior. There is someone who loves under all that pain. Sounds like someone else we know doesn’t it?

Oliver made his famous chili tonight, which is something the comic canon nuts have been after for years. But Arrow is going to put their spin on it. The comic canon folks will get their chili, but Oliver is making it for Felicity and William (and not LL like they want and ridiculously still believe they’ll get). It was two spicy for William, but Felicity was having seconds because SHE IS INCUBATING THEIR LOVE CHILD!!!!

Source:  lucyyh

Stan the Fan, who was fantastically creepy, put some kind of drug in the chili to paralyze Oliver, Felicity and William. They went to the hospital and Felicity commented on the “mountains of blood” staff took to confirm there were no lasting effect.

DID SHE SAY BLOOD TEST? 

I didn’t jump off the ground quite yet at this point. It was a fairly offhand remark from Felicity and I wasn’t sure if they’d reveal she was pregnant at the same time they confirmed Mia’s identity. I know I know. It makes complete sense to do it at the same time, but since when does Arrow ever make complete sense? I was being cautious.

And then all the bombs drop. 

Source:  oliverxfelicity

Felicity gets a call from the hospital regarding her blood test and SHE’S PREGNANT!  THIS IS WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTED!!!!

We immediately cut to the flash forwards.  Mia & JJ are fighting Dinah, Roy, Zoe and William. This is a fantastic fight sequence. It really feels like the old guard meeting the new. Roy gets the upper hand on JJ, but Mia gets the upper hand on Dinah. That’s my baby girl!!!!

William nervously holds a gun on Mia, but she’s cool as a cucumber. She knows he won’t shoot.  

And why? *saythewordssaythewordssaythewordssaythewords*

Source:  katie-mcgraths

BOOM!

BLACKSTAR IS MIA SMOAK!!!!!!

THAT’S DAMN RIGHT SHE IS!!!!!!!!!

My screaming went ultrasonic STG. 

It’s so much goodness all it once I almost hyperventilated. 

This reveal was like setting off fireworks in this dystopian nightmare world. 

I AM ALL IN ON THE FLASH FORWARDS.

Is it awful William and Mia don’t know each other? Of course it is. My heart is broken Oliver and Felicity didn’t get to live an idyllic life, raising their babies in peace, and the city is still a hot mess 20 years in the future. I wouldn’t have picked it as a storyline, but if I was writing this show then Olicity would’ve been married in Season 3 and we’d be on our second set of triplets by now.  

I don’t know how the family became splintered, but I am dying to find out. I want to see Felicity reunited with both her son and daughter. I want to know what the hell happened to Oliver. I absolutely want to see William and Mia’s relationship as brother and sister develop. It reminds me of the Season 1 between Oliver and Thea or more accurately Oliver and Emiko now. If everything is a mess in the future then at the very least I want to see the Queen family fighting to make it better. SIGN ME THE HELL UP!!!!!!

It’s not just about the Queen family either. Roy and Dinah officially confirm Connor Hawke is John Diggle’s boy JJ. Finally someone from present day recognizes these kids. 

It’s clearly been YEARS since Dinah or Roy have seen JJ. What the hell happened? Where is Diggle? (Thank you David Ramsey for confirming you’ll be in the flash forwards).  If JJ is working with Mia and Felicity then hopefully it means Diggle is as well.

“Star City Slayer’ felt like the birth of new OTA (William, Mia and JJ). Did you notice how JJ came running in as Mia interrogated William and Dinah, all protective and concerned for her? My ship is setting sail!

Kat McNamara said in her TVLine interview, “Beth has said they’re trying to combine the best qualities of Oliver and Felicity — his physical strength and her intellectual strength. “ 

And she is the best qualities.

Mia is the perfect blend of Oliver and Felicity. Everything we saw in the show was put there for a reason - the scotch,

the fight style, 

her reaction to Oliver’s documentary, 

her reaction to Felicity’s death, 

Mia’s intellectual smarts 

along with her street smarts. 

It was all to show Mia’s connection to her parents. We didn’t imagine anything family. This fandom called it right from the start.  

Let’s rewind a bit and go back to present day. I love how Felicity finds out she is pregnant. A blood test is irrefutable proof. Sure, pregnancy tests have come a long way, but you always get a blood test to confirm. I was happy to skip the whole “Is she sure?” trope.

It’s the perfect way for this child to happen.  I never thought this baby would be planned. Look at Oliver and Felicity’s lives! It’s going to be difficult to find “a good time” and Felicity is extremely pragmatic. I like how Mia’s arrival is unexpected. That’s life folks. If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans.

If you are screaming “But birth control!!!” lemme tell ya I know plenty of folks who have gotten pregnant on birth control. It would be easy to miss a step here or there given the craziness of Oliver and Felicity’s lives.  I am also of the opinion Oliver “The Sex God” Queen has super sperm.

Felicity is understandably stunned, but she instinctively puts her hand on her belly as she watches William being ushered away to Central City with his grandparents for a “normal life.” 

This is the life Oliver and Felicity chose, but it’s not the life their children chose. Felicity’s desire to protect William and her unborn child is completely understandable and what any mother would do. This news is unexpected and life changing, but Felicity’s hand over her belly shows her instantaneous love. Even though this child was unplanned it is already adored.

Source: olicitygifs

I’m not sure if the costume department specifically chose red on purpose, but Felicity finding out she’s pregnant dressed in a red sweater is a beautiful visual call back to Arrow 3x01 “The Calm.” 

This is the episode where the seeds of this future were sewn. Their dinner at the Italian restaurant didn’t meet the qualifications of a first date, even though it came with all the nerves, because Oliver and Felicity already knew each other really well.  They were already in love.

This was never about one date, a one night stand or even a fling. Oliver put those days behind him the minute he realized he loved Felicity Smoak. 

It was always about forever for him.

Oliver is not a man of many words and it’s difficult for him to talk about emotions or the past. But Oliver owed Felicity the truth after their “ruse” to stop Slade. She needed to know there were no lies in that “I love you.” 

Oliver tells Felicity how much she means to him and the life he dreams of having with her.  

Felicity waited two long years to hear everything Oliver said.

This is why their breakup was so painful. 

Oliver wasn’t just saying no to a relationship with Felicity. He was saying no to everything he dreamed. He was walking away from lazy days in bed, 

failed omelets, 

love ferns, 

brown bag lunches,

soufflés, 

ying yang kisses,

Christmas trees, 

vows in the park,

homework help,

video game wars,

breakfast for dinner, 

Thanksgiving,

and experimental cookies.

Oliver said no to a home, children and a love strong enough to build it all around.

Oliver could picture that life any time he looked at Felicity. He saw their children in her eyes. He knew exactly what he was giving up.  Oliver gave himself one moment to live that dream 

and love the children who would never be.

Anytime you think Oliver only loses I want you to think back to “The Calm.”  You think back to the beginning of the series and remember how far Oliver Queen has come. Remember everything he has built with his blood, sweat and tears. We’ve gone from a man who was emotionally cut off, suffering under the weight of his pain, because of his self hatred and guilt, 

to one who believes he deserves to be loved, fights with everything he has to hold on to love, and shines his light for the world to see.

The fans didn’t introduce the Olicity baby into the story. 

The writers did and they did it for a very specific reason. 

This has always been what Oliver is fighting for. Arrow is not just about saving Star City. It’s about saving Oliver Queen too. Felicity’s love and the family they will build together is his salvation. 

This family is everything Oliver dreamed of. It’s everything he believed he didn’t deserve. It’s everything he’s fought to earn. Love, family and purpose. This is what it means to be alive. From the moment Oliver stopped surviving and truly started living again, this is the promise he’s always been headed towards.

Mia is the fulfillment of that promise. 

She is the final piece to the puzzle.

Mia closes the loop around the life Robert and Moira Queen wanted for Oliver.  The life they died to give him.

Maybe the Queen family is broken and splintered in the flash forward, but they will be put back together. Don’t doubt it for a second. Arrow is mass array of broken pieces which will ultimately fit together to unveil the final image. Salvation for Oliver, Star City, his family and the team is all the same thing. It’s all connected. You don’t get one without the other.  Oliver will save his family just like they saved him. 

It’s also important to remember how far we’ve come as fans who love this romance. We were told constantly Olicity would never happen. The NOlicity haters, L*urivers and antis from every nook and cranny said everything we saw on screen was our imagination. There was never a chance for Olicity. The writers would never abandon comic book canon for a love story of their own creation.

And yet… they did. Felicity became the female lead. Olicity became the central romance of Arrow.  We didn’t imagine anything. Everything we saw was intentional. It was real. The smile was magic. 

Her belief made him believe. 

The lie was the truth. 

The kiss led to 

the sunset drive. 

Everything broken 

would be repaired. 

Shame 

would bring forgiveness.  

The bouquet 

promised the wedding.

And the dream 

would become a reality.

Oliver and Felicity are blessed, and we as fans, are blessed to have them as our OTP.

Olicity and William Clayton

Oy. What a couple of weeks with William. He still hasn’t coughed up a reason for his expulsion, so Oliver and Felicity play good cop/bad cop with him over breakfast. 

Is anyone surprised Oliver is the good cop? No. 

He wouldn’t have been on the damn boat banging his girlfriend’s sister if Robert and Moira Queen said no when he was two. The fact Oliver continually found himself in trouble with his parents is a clear indication whatever discipline the Queen’s used didn’t work. 

In fact, I remember Oliver having this fight with Moira in Season 1 over Thea. It’s a different story when it’s your kid, you’ve been in prison for several months and you just want bond with “Buddy.” Well, hike up the big boy pants and strap on those green tights Oliver. You’re a father now which means NO PANCAKES.

Felicity is the most adorable bad cop to ever walk the face of the earth, but her husband knows better than to question her benevolent rule. 

Bae is still Queen.  Felicity says one word and it’s see ya pancakes. 

Oliver even takes William’s knife and fork away. I died. He’s like a light switch she can flip on and off. Let’s see what else Felicity can make Oliver do!  Sounds like a good use of 45 minutes to me!

Source:  myhauntedblacksoul

I have to be honest if I was expelled, refused to explain why, copped an attitude and stormed out on my parents I would not live to tell the tale. Instead, I would be buried in the backyard next to our pet bunny Petunia. I had no desire to piss my parents off. I valued my life thank you very much.

William does unload on Oliver and its pretty friggin great. The attitude needs to go, but William makes some valid points. 

There’s been a lot of discussion about the “mistakes” Oliver has made and what he needs to do to be a better leader. I’m drawing a blank whenever this topic comes up around the Newbies because they are all awful and Oliver should’ve let them rot in Slabside.

However, the next phase of the Oliver Queen evolution is listening and his teachers are his wife and son. Keep your expectations low fam. Oliver is still a heterosexual male. There’s only so much listening he’s physically capable of doing.

William is cheesed off Oliver went to prison without discussing it with either Felicity or him (FACTS KIDDO), because his father does whatever the hell he wants to do (TRUE STORY). Simply because Oliver was heroically falling on the sword doesn’t erase his inability to ask for opinions. 

Oliver feels this is an unfair characterization, but we only need to look at Felicity’s face and to know William’s remarks are on target.

Source: olicitygifs

Felicity changes into her good cop hat and approaches William with Oliver’s world famous chili and a Rubik cube lesson. 

(FLASH FORWARD CALL BACK!)

Source: ebett 

Oliver acknowledges William’s right to be angry and apologizes. The kid has been through a lot in the last couple years, which is why Oliver wants to bring him home. 

It is at this point Samantha Clayton’s parents show up on Oliver and Felicity’s doorstep.  

That’s right folks! A ticked off William called Grandpa and Grandma to complain. Jeez William. This is how those awful Lifetime movies about custody battles begin. Put down the phone dude.

I’m laughing right now because I’m imagining calling my grandfather to complain about my parents. He would have reached through the telephone to bop me on the head. Then he would’ve said my parents were amazing, I’m the luckiest girl on the planet and I should apologize right the hell now. Then he would’ve sent me fifty bucks. My Papa was the best.

Grandma and Grandpa Clayton have a different approach. They want custody of William. Sigh. I’m not saying they don’t have a point. They didn’t know Oliver was the Green Arrow and the dude is convicted murderer. He just did time in a maximum security prison! Also, he knocked up their daughter and his Green Arrow activities are pretty much the reason she’s dead. So Oliver isn’t going to win the Claytons over anytime soon.

They may think it is an open and shut custody case, but WHERE THE HELL WERE THEY? 

There were plenty of times the Claytons could have intervened, but it takes William calling and complaining for these two to get off their asses? The kid was put into Witness Protection for god sake. Open and shut I think not.

Obviously, Oliver goes growly papa bear and tells them nobody is taking his son. Damn right. He didn’t even get that mad at the Claytons until they insulted Felicity’s ability to parent. I thought Oliver was gonna put an arrow in them. DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE WIFEY. HE WILL COME FOR YOUR LIFE AND A LIFE IS WHAT HE WILL TAKE.

I know William is going through stuff, but this is a really dick move. He knows Oliver and Felicity adore him and threatening a grandparent custody battle simply because he’s mad at Dad is completely inappropriate. Anyone can discipline this child at any time. I’ll wait.

Oliver finally finds his angry voice! 

There ya go big fella. It’s the same one you use to interrogate suspects, but with less torture.  And they say the hood didn’t prepare him to be a family man. Pfft.

Oliver and William basically have it out. 

As parent versus child fights go this is a pretty good one. Obviously, Oliver wants to have his son home and give him a normal life, but there is no normal when you are running around in green leather pants shooting arrows every night. 

Am I saying Oliver and Felicity should immediately ship William off to his grandparents? No. There’s a way to build the Queen family version of normal. They’ll do breakfast for dinner, but will occasionally be held hostage. It’s a give and take.

Parents have jobs where their lives are at risk every night. Do police officers ship their kids off to the grandparents? No. Do John and Lyla, who work for the least secret spy agency in the world, ship JJ off to Lyla’s parents? No. Zoe isn’t going anywhere. So why is William flipping his shit?

Source:  olivergifs

Because William lived ten years with his version of normal and that life was with Samantha. It was a life with no masks, kidnappers blowing up islands or incredibly dull mob bosses. As wrong as it was to keep Oliver out of William’s life, Samantha did insulate their son from all the crazy.

William’s mother died pretty recently and this child has adjusted to a lot. He meets his father, but loses his mother. He gets to live with his father and gains a step mother, but he has to move away from his friends, school, grandparents and city. Then, just when he’s adjusted, everything is torn away again. His father is sent to prison and he’s put into Witness Protection with his stepmother. I understand why William is having difficulty adjusting to the Green Arrow life.

Felicity broaches the subject, but even discussing letting William go tears Oliver apart. 

Source:  olicitygifs

Felicity thinks William is old enough to decide for himself what kind of life he wants to live. And right now that life is with his grandparents.  So Oliver lets him go.

Source:  thegayfleet

This is why I’m still mad with writers for killing Samantha. 

If the intent was to protect William from all the insanity of Oliver’s life then why kill his mother? Why bring back Raisa? Why send him off with the grandparents when William simply could be splitting time 50/50 with his mother in Central City? 

Samantha’s existence didn’t preclude Felicity from having a relationship with him. It would have been interesting to see Oliver, Felicity and Samantha co parent.

The only reason Arrow killed off Samantha was to make Oliver a full time father and for the whole father/son sin cycle to continue. Eh. That was never a good enough reason for me, but especially now because they are looking for an escape hatch to throw William out of.  If the endgame was always to route William back to Central City then they should have left his mother alone.

The argument Oliver and Felicity can’t provide William protection or a normal life, when they achieved those things all last season while living a pretty idyllic life, is a lot of nonsense.  Yes, I know Oliver went through a time in Season 6 when he hung up the hood, but Felicity was still on the team. And Oliver suited back up eventually. William could adjust to the new normal just like JJ and Zoe have.  Are JJ and Zoe getting shipped off to their grandparents? No.

It’s difficult to believe Oliver and Felicity willingly letting William go, even though I understand the kid’s frustration and anger. 

Oliver is right. William can’t call his grandparents for back up anytime he’s mad at his parents. But by letting him move to his grandparents, Oliver and Felicity are just reinforcing this behavior! The Queen family needs to learn to fight without someone packing up and moving.  

Perhaps, if we didn’t have the flash forwards we would see Oliver, Felicity and William work through this, but the writers want some distance between the three to sell the future storyline. I’m still not even sure this is the “abandonment” William is still bitching about 20 years from now, because guess what son? You left Oliver and Felicity! Not the other way around. It still boggles my mind Oliver and Felicity would allow this given how hard they fought to reunite their family this season.  

It seems a little ridiculous to me William peaces out after his dad is released from prison or Felicity being so willing to let him go.  William’s present day storyline feels slapped together with tape and glue. It flies in the face of everything this family established in Season 6 for the sake of the flash forwards. I’m having a very difficult time buying any kind of separation between William, Oliver and Felicity no matter how ticked off this kid is.

Of course, as William is walking out the door Felicity finds out she’s pregnant with his sister. I have no idea why William doesn’t know about Mia. I don’t think Oliver and Felicity said goodbye to him forever in “Star City Slayer” so there’s a lot of plot holes needing to be filled. I can’t even venture a guess and I really don’t want to. There’s too much information we don’t have and it feels like a fruitless endeavor. My plan is to wait and watch.

Curtis Holt

The Olicity baby wasn’t the only thing on my Christmas Wish List! Beth booted Curtis Holt off my show too !!!!!!!! YAHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Honestly, I felt a little bad for Echo because this was the least important development in the episode. The Olicity baby bomb blew him out of the water.

No, it doesn’t bother me he isn’t dead. I’m perfectly fine with Arrow shipping Curtis off to Washington D.C. for his dream job. I didn’t need him dead. I needed him GONE.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what route Arrow was going. He tells Diggle about the job in DC but then John, who is determined to piss me off at every turn this season, offers Curtis a bigger job at ARGUS. 

He’ll be in charge of their science division because what would we do without Curtis! HE IS SO VITAL. 

Dammit Diggle! You had one job! JUST LET HIM GO.

Curtis goes out into the field with the team to hunt the Star City Slayer and I felt certain we were headed into L*urel L*nce territory. She decided to suit up “one last time” before taking her DA job and then BAM! Arrow right to the gut.

Amazingly, Curtis makes it out relatively unscathed and he even saves Dinah’s life with one of his T-spheres. I think. I didn’t really care other than he wasn’t dead. I was too busy thinking, “Shit he better not take John up on the ARGUS job.” 

But I was prepared folks. As long as I got an Olicity baby I was prepared to deal with whatever other disappointments came my way.

But NOPE! Beth decided to be Santa Claus and give me allllllllll my goodies.

Curtis decides to take the job in DC. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The minute Curtis said it I went online to buy him 15 plane tickets – one for him and his 14 PhDs.

Of course, he gives full ownership of Helix back to Felicity. 

See this is why he needs to go. He acted so magnanimous - like it was his to give. Curtis gives Felicity some pompous talk about finding her purpose. OMG THIS GUY IS TOO MUCH. IT WAS HER COMPANY AND YOU ROAD ON HER COATTAILS. MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE HER “PURPOSE” BY NOW IF THE WRITERS WEREN’T CONSTANTLY SIDE LINING FELICITY TO GIVE YOUR USELESS ASS SOMETHING TO DO. Ugh. Is the plane here yet? I’m so done with this douche.

Anyways, what matters is Curtis Holt is GONE!!!!!!! 

And it looks like we’re full steam ahead on Smoak Technologies. 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

I don’t know why Arrow continually compartmentalizes Felicity. It seems to me she could be deputized and work with Team Arrow as Overwatch while creating Smoak Tech. Maybe that will happen, but for now it seems only one activity at the time. But at least her storyline won’t be stripped and ransacked to serve Curtis Fucking Holt anymore. WE CONTINUE TO BE BLESSED FANDOM. ALL MY PRAISE TO JESUS AND BETH SCHWARTZ.

Stan the Fan

Last, but certainly not least, “Star City Slayer” finally delivers a villain worth watching. Stan the Fan is back and is more creepy, diabolical and terrifying in one episode than Diaz was for a year and a half! 

Brendan Fletcher is a genius and the smartest move Arrow made was not killing him off at the end of the episode. WE WANT MORE STAN!

The back story even made sense. WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE? 

Stanley was abused and tortured by his parents until he finally killed them. Stanley’s older brother, who always tried to protect him, was horrified when he found out.  So, Stanley killed him too. Now he seeks out older brother types to look up to and endear himself to. Stanley tries to protect his new “big brother” just like his brother did for him. He kills anyone he believes are bad for the person he admires – friends and enemies alike.

Okaaaaay. My man Stan has some legit issues. 

Oliver: My teammates would never hurt you.

Stan: But they’re still bad for you!  Worse even because they don’t understand you.

Soooo… not for nothin’ but I found myself nodding along with Stan the Fan. 

He was making many of the same arguments many of us have made about the Newbies. 

Is Stanley wrong? Are we wrong? HELL NO THEY ARE THE WORST! Is it a little worrisome I’m agreeing with the psychopath? Well sure, but I think it’s find to agree with crazy people when they make sense.  Did Stan back into the right opinion via Insanity Street? Sure, but facts are facts no matter what route you choose.

I also completely understood his desire to hang out with the Queen family and make a new team just the four of them. I’ve had that dream myself. 

But let’s be clear - I’m not a crazy fan like Stan. I AM COMPLETELY RELAXED ABOUT OLIVER QUEEN!!!

Slicing Dinah’s throat was a step too far over the line though Stan my man. 

Source: arrowdaily

I just want her to take a job in Central City like Curtis moved to DC and bring Rene with her. Relocation would have been fine. You didn’t have to fricassee her vocal chords, bro.

I think the scariest movies are when you are physically restrained from defending yourself in any way. You can’t move or scream. The scariest Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is “Hush” and it remains one of the most terrifying hours of television I’ve ever seen. I’m still traumatized.

Obviously, Oliver can take Stan the Fan in a blink of an eye so the paralyzing drug really shifted the power dynamic. It made Stan a real threat not only to Oliver, but his whole family. 

Source:  plotbunnyshipper

It’s completely unnerving to listen to a powerless Oliver Queen trying to reason with Froot Loops. Stephen Amell always does such a great job with making his voice melodic like Oliver is trying to lull Stanley into submission.

But you can’t fix crazy Oliver! I love how the Queen family worked together to stop him. William slides the bottle, 

Felicity pisses Stanley off to get him to attack her, 

and Oliver takes him out in one shot. BAM! 

That’s how we do! It’s gonna be so great when all four members of the Queen family are reunited, kicking ass, taking names and saving the city together.

Stray Thoughts

Wait. So Bl*ck S*ren isn’t even IN the episode where Mia’s parentage is revealed. HAHAHAHAHA. Obviously, KC was on her honeymoon and that’s lovely, but it never ceases to amaze me how wrong her fans are. Just when I think they’ve hit a new low they reset the whole scale by digging even deeper into the Pit of Wrongness. Am I being petty? YA DAMN RIGHT I AM.

Ben Lewis’ scream when Dinah shoves William off the platform made me laugh until I cried.

Roy’s parkour made its triumphant return!

When my parents asked me to unpack the groceries it wasn’t a request I could refuse. My parents are lovely people, but next to Oliver they look like the Gestapo! Someone in the Arrow writer’s room needs to take a parenting class.

Felicity’s apartment security system is great and everything, but can’t she install a camera or something so they can see who the unidentified persons are? It’s called The Ring. Quite handy.

Loved the pink. Felicity was checking off all her signature colors. Source:  lucyyh

Dinah lost her Canary Cry. Since she was having trouble dealing with being an outed meta it’ll be interesting to see what her reaction is. She doesn’t need to be a meta human to be part of Team Arrow. Although, I think this gives Team Arrow more of a reason to occasionally reach out to Bl*ck S*ren. 

This was such a mom moment. Source: EBETT

This was such a dad moment. Source:  olivergifs

Followed by another mom moment.  Source:  olivergifs

The woman loves her man and his chili. Source: feilcityqueen

This is the zenith of my shipper life. I have reached the top of Everest. Time to take stock of my OTP journey.

One taught me patience

One taught me pain

One taught me love

Thanks to @callistawolf for the review title!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x13 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

[earlybirds-atla-au]

Hmmm, ok more prompts? I’m not sure if my Jet-equivalent one got eaten, but thoughts on that if you’re willing to share? Also, do they go to Omashu and meet Bumi? Also, how does Kyoshi go?

I’ll get to the Jet one, it’s very important! And idk about Kyoshi yet, but you just gave me an excuse for a snippet I’ve been dying to write, so thank you and enjoy!!!

~~~

The messenger hawk flew into Avatar Roku’s temple and proceeded to nip and screech at anyone who tried to retrieve the letter tucked into its harness until Fire Sage Kuzon showed up. Then the bird became the sweetest, most loving animal in all existence. This might have had something to do with the hippo-beef jerky Kuzon brought with him.

“Not to worry, not to worry,” he reassured young Initiate Shyu, who was nursing pecked fingers. “She’s a persnickety old thing. I know how to handle her. It’s a personal message anyway.” He took the bird and decided it was close enough to evening to retire early for the day. He brought the hawk to his private chambers, set her up with more meat, made a pot of tea, and turned his attention to the letter.

It was a perfectly innocuous thing. Plain, undecorated parchment, a yellow wax seal stamped with a pai sho tile design that, when broken, revealed a message so simple and rambling, anyone reading it would easily assume it was nothing more than a letter sent between two old friends.

They would be perfectly right. And also completely wrong.

Greetings and salutations, my dear Kuzon!

I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been some time since I last wrote - your last move in our latest game was fiendishly clever! I have spent some time puzzling over how best to combat it, and you’ll see I’ve decided to sacrifice one of my flowers. We shall see how it plays out!

Kuzon paused his reading to look at one of the other papers tucked into the letter - a drawing of a pai sho board, with the positions of the tiles in play noted. One of the lilies had, indeed, been left vulnerable out in the open.

Things are well with me. The remainder of Fluffy’s pregnancy went well and she gave birth last week to a darling little thing I’ve named Flopsy. He’s quite the rambunctious little scamp!

Kuzon could only imagine what kind of trouble a newborn gorilla-goat could get up to.

But aside from that, there isn’t much to report on my end. The most interesting thing to have happened lately is the Avatar’s return! I’m sure you already know about that, though, you devoted Fire Sage you! I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you were right there when the temple started glowing!

Kuzon had, indeed, been right there when the statue of Avatar Roku had started glowing. It had been terrifying, in a world-shattering kind of way that meant life had just taken an irrevocable turn for the weirder.

Couldn’t believe it myself when I heard the announcement! Who expects an Avatar to show up after all this time? I’m worried about how this will play out, but I will hope for the best.

Anyway, enough of that current events chit-chat, we’re too old to bother with that for long. So on an unrelated note, you’ll never guess who showed up for a visit the other day - our old friend Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis!

Kuzon choked on his tea. 

When he was done choking, he reread that sentence. 

Then he reread it again.

Then he decided to read the next sentence just to see if it cleared anything up.

I know, I wasn’t expecting it either, but you know how the old fellow was always full of surprises. I must admit I’m jealous - he’s remarkably well-preserved for his age. Hasn’t aged a day! I suppose the ladies are right when they say you should moisturize, haha.

Kuzon stared helplessly at that paragraph. Then he glanced back up at the lines about the Avatar’s return. Then he thought about the report from Prince Iroh that Fire Lord Azulon had shared, detailing how the Avatar had apparently been frozen in an ice berg. “Mother of Agni,” he breathed.

We had a grand old time catching up. Played some games, showed off some bending, the usual. The old fellow’s still as energetic as you or me - even more so, perhaps. And he’s just as determined to travel as ever! Fortunately he has three new friends to assist him in that. I have faith they’ll be taking care of him when he goes a-wandering. I told him you’ve been doing well, and he was glad to hear it, but he knows you may not have time for him to visit given all your work with the Fire Sages.

And of course, we played a few rounds of pai sho while he was here! Please find enclosed one of his more interesting games, which I plan to continue via letter. Please let me know if you have any opinions on strategy!

Kuzon found another illustration of a pai sho board. The pieces in play were a sky bison, a boat, and two lilies - water lilies? - all clustered together. The white dragon was prowling the board alongside the knotweed and another ship - fire signs, the princes? the navy? In the center of it all sat the white lotus tile, unaffected and unused as of yet.

And I suppose that’s all I have to write about for now. Looking forward to your response! Don’t be afraid to crush me in our game, haha. The sooner you win, the sooner I can try again!

Your friend,

Li

Kuzon put the letter down and stared at the window at the setting sun. There was so much information to process, so his brain latched onto something familiar - prayers, and thanks. Thanks be to Agni that he and Bumi had figured out a covert writing system years ago. Thanks be to Agni that a much younger Kuzon and Bumi had decided the risk was worth it and spent years writing each other under the guise of old friends, so that now no one would be suspicious with Kuzon’s correspondence. Thanks be to Agni that pai sho was so versatile both as a game and as a code. Thanks be to Agni that Aang was - 

That Aang was - 

Kuzon took a shaky breath. He’d given up hope so long ago. Everything he’d done in the last seventy years, he’d done for a memory. And now that remembrance was paying off, in ways he’d never dared to hope for.

To think, that when Avatar Roku’s statue had lit up last week, it had been Aang--

Kuzon reached for a piece of plain paper and an ink brush and got to work.

[vivalaskristie]

Chapter 4  Meanwhile, Back at the Palace

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Series Premise: Parallel, behind the scenes, Madeleine and Bastien

A/N: This is my first series, my first AU, because Madeleine and Bastien needed to smash.  I posted and then pulled it because it wasn’t quite right.  It’s still a work in progress.

Warnings for this series: The first sex scenes I’ve ever written, bad language, sneaking around, alcohol, general mischief and the occasional academic symposium.

Permatags:  @speedyoperarascalparty @burnsoslow @dcbbw @stopforamoment @emceesynonymroll

Chapter 1 Prelude

Chapter 2 Drinks on a Yacht

Chapter 3 A Dark and Stormy Night

Three months later, Bastien walked down to the track at the nearby high school, just after dusk. It was finally cooling off, and he was looking forward to having a run outside. The treadmill in the palace gym just wasn’t the same, and it never felt right to be in there with the nobles and courtiers anyway. Either they ignored him because of the differences in social stations, or they talked to him and most of the time he didn’t have a lot to contribute to the conversations.

He hopped the chain link fence around the track instead of using the gate 50 yards away. He dropped his towel on a bench, checked his shoes, and turned when he heard the sound of someone running behind him. It was her. Madeleine was here, and based on her flushed face and sweat-soaked shirt, she’d been here a while. She slowed for a couple of steps as she recognized him, but she hit her pace again almost immediately. He hadn’t seen her since the yacht. He’d watched her disembark and get into her limo and he figured that was the end of that story.

He jogged to the track and started his workout. She was about a third of the way around in front of him. As he warmed up, his pace increased. By the end of his 2nd lap, he was next to her. She had earbuds in, so there was no conversation. He matched her pace and they ran kind of together for a few laps, separated by a lane or two. She eventually slowed down as her run came to an end. He was aware of her stepping off the track finally, and she sat on the bench where his towel lay. He kept running. She remained on the bench, cooling off and drinking her water and scrolling on her phone. A couple of times he caught her watching him. A couple other times, she caught him watching her.

When he finished his final lap, he sat down beside her on the bench. 

“Hello Bastien,” she said, in that wonderful scratchy voice that he’d heard in his dreams for three months now. “It’s good to see you.”

“And you as well. Please accept my congratulations on your engagement,” he said. There was no point in ignoring the fact of her impending nuptials.

“Thank you,” she answered. “I figured you’d be on the bachelor party world tour with the rest of the boys.”

“Not this time. I’m taking a couple weeks off before we have to start implementing security measures for the wedding.“  

“Ah. So you’re not the one making sure that Leo and his American girlfriend aren’t discovered.”

Bastien was stunned. What did she know about Katie?  How did she know about Katie?  This was bad. Only Leo’s inner circle was supposed to be in that loop. Madeleine gave a low laugh when she saw his reaction. He looked at her, and his questions obviously showed on his face.

“Please. I’ve been playing this game for years. I pay attention. He never liked going to the States, until suddenly he liked going very much. And he’s a terrible liar.”

“And you’re still going through with the marriage?” Bastien asked. 

“Of course. I’m going to be the Queen. She’s a mistress. That’s nothing new for people in Leo’s position. He’ll get tired of her, replace her. My place is secure.” It was brave talk, but her tone didn’t match her words. She sounded like it had been rehearsed, like she’d been coached… 

“I see Adelaide’s been helping you come to terms,” he said coldly. She looked up sharply, her expression showing the hurt he heard in her voice. “I’m sorry. I overstepped.”

“Don’t be. You’re right. Mother has been making sure that I know that my duty is to remind Leo of his.”  

He took her hand. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to be Queen.”

“No. That’s not what I meant. What do you want your life to be?  Married in name and title only? That will be enough?” He wasn’t sure who the hell he thought he was, all of a sudden, asking the future Queen of the Realm about her personal thoughts on her marriage and future. He couldn’t help himself. Somebody needed to ask her, and nobody else seemed to be doing it.

She was still for a few seconds, considering her words carefully, and then she smiled. “Bastien, have you been reading fairy tales again?  You know how this works. Leo doesn’t love me. I don’t love him. But we can be good with each other, and good for Cordonia.”

“Well I guess you’ve got it all figured out..” His eyes were on her, and no humor showed on his face.

“I always have,” she said softly. “Shall we go back?”

They rose, and walked together, Madeleine a step ahead of him as dictated by royal protocol. They didn’t speak again until they were inside the palace gate. 

“Good night, Bastien.”

“Good night, Lady Mad.”

She blinked, remembering the note he left on the yacht and the hours they spent together. Her cheeks flushed, and he smiled faintly before he turned to walk away.

Later that evening, Madeleine was reading in the sitting room in her suite. Her quarters were well-appointed and positioned near enough to the Royal Family to establish her as one who belonged there. The balcony doors were open to allow the cool sea breeze to fill her rooms. Her phone buzzed. She picked it up to read the text:

You deserve better, Lady Mad.

She considered it for a moment, and then replied:

Yes, but Cordonia deserves the best

Within a minute her phone buzzed again in her hand. She smiled.

Can’t argue with any part of that.

She paused, wondering if she dared…

It’s certainly worth discussing further in person.

Bastien was lying on his bed as her last text flashed across his phone. As he read her words, heat filled his body. He’d been sure that their night together was a one-off, something that happens occasionally between nobles and palace staff but never lasts beyond a weekend. He stood up. Of course he was going to go to her. He pulled on dark clothes, something that wouldn’t draw attention if he were seen. He started to open his door and then shut it again. It wasn’t a good idea to just walk through the palace and show up at her suite. There was no way to explain that away. No, he’d need to take a different route.

He walked to his office and entered a code on the wall panel next to the bookshelf. The bookshelf swung open. He’d take the subway.

Fifteen minutes later, he was standing in a dimly lit narrow passage three floors above his own. I should warn her, he thought. 

Go to your dressing room. You’re going to hear a knock.

She’d set her phone down after he hadn’t replied to her insanely bold text. She’d been disappointed, but not surprised. What was he going to do, skulk around the palace for a booty call?  But now this was interesting. She stood up and walked through her bedroom to the dressing room. There was a single knock on the wall to her left. Before she could do anything, the wall became a door and Bastien was standing there.

The look on her face was priceless. “What…?”

“I thought it best to be discreet,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “May I come in?”  

She smiled and walked back to her sitting room. She closed her book after marking her page, put it on the side table, and gestured for him to sit next to her on the sofa. They sat half-facing each other. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting. Quiet evenings alone are rare around here.”

“No it’s fine. I was just reading. One of my mentors from school sent me his new book. He’s trying to get me to come back for my MPhil.”

His attention switched from the memory of the last time they were on a sofa to what she’d just revealed. She’d gone to Oxford, but he didn’t know much about what she’d done there. “Are you considering it?  What did you study?”

“History and Economics. My honors thesis was about how a small traditional monarchy in the European Union can leverage its strategic geography and outsized capital to become an equal partner in the global economy. I may go back at some point in the future, but I have things going on here right now.”

What the hell did she just say?  What just happened? He was riveted. 

“You did academic research about Cordonia’s economy.”

“I did. Nobody really had before, so it was a blank slate.”

His mouth was literally hanging open. She smiled, knowing she had just taken control of the situation back from him after his little “meet me in the closet” stunt.

“Well, you see Cordonia’s location on one of the most lucrative trade routes in Europe has benefited us for centuries. The coastline allowed us to build ports that were accessible and still protected.”  She stood up and began to pace in a circle as she talked. “We’ve had one of the most generous tax structures for imports and exports ever since the idea of tax structures for imports and exports was conceived.”  She looked at him and saw that she had his undivided attention. The heat of his gaze was unmistakable. Was he … was he turned on? She decided to just go with it. With a twist. “When we opened the casinos in the middle of the 19th century”– she pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a simple black bra–”we became the leading tourist destination for the new wealthy class of commoners. We welcomed their presence, and their money, like nobody else in Europe.”

Holy hell, what was she doing?

“Since then, Cordonia has been able to parlay its geopolitical position to its advantage through two world wars.”  She approached him and knelt between his outstretched legs, resting her hands on his thighs. “We took a risk not staying neutral like Switzerland, but it’s always been our international policy to do the right thing. Our well-chosen strategic alliances resulted in strong positions with much more powerful nations.”  She put her hand on his crotch and felt his erection. He looked like he was about to pass out. She stroked him with her finger.

“Today, we have one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world.”  She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, looking him straight in the eye. “My conclusion was that we could, and we should, do more.”  She pulled his cock out and appraised it with the same expression she wore as when she’d been talking about economics. “Don’t you agree?”

He swallowed and cleared his throat. “I do. I like more. More is amazing.”

She rose to her knees and licked the underside of his penis from base to tip. “I think so too.”  Her lips closed around the head of his cock and he groaned as she took him further into her mouth. She made a sound low in her throat that he felt all the way up his spine. He felt her nails rake over his balls as she slowly raised her head. She dipped again, not breaking the suction between her soft hot lips. Her free hand snaked up under his shirt and over his chest, then she ran it down the length of his body, down his side to his thigh before bringing it to clasp her other hand as it worked the base of his cock.

Bastien’s muscles clenched from head to toe. He was close, so close and he didn’t want it to end but it had to. He ran his hand over the back of her head, not pushing, just feeling her move against him, around him, all over him. And then he broke, letting loose in her mouth. She kept going, not slowing down until he was still. His eyes were closed, but he knew exactly where she was as she raised her head one last time and released him.

She folded her arms and rested them on his thigh, laying her cheek on her forearms. She watched him as he breathed deeply a few times.

“I hope my seminar didn’t put you to sleep,” she remarked with a sly grin. Bastien hooked his hand under her arm to bring her onto his lap. She settled in the circle of his embrace. “I don’t get the chance to talk shop very much lately."  He laughed softly.

"I have an entirely new respect for economic theory,” he said. “You really have a way of making it relatable."  She flushed, but not out of embarrassment over the topic or the blowjob, quite frankly. She knew she was good at both.

They sat like that for a while, talking about whatever came to mind. This wasn’t small talk, or the usual chatter that happened inside the palace. They both had to work at that, and neither enjoyed it. This was different and comfortable and easy.

The balcony doors were still open and the room grew chilly. She nestled in closer, unconsciously seeking his warmth. They kept talking.

"Would you like to stay?” she asked after an hour more. “Can you? Do you have to be somewhere?”

“Technically I’m on vacation. I can be wherever I choose. I can stay."  Bastien knew that this was happening on her terms, that every minute with her was stolen. He wasn’t about to leave if he had anything to say about it.

He stood up, lifting her with him. He carried her to the bedroom, leaning her toward the light switches so she could turn them off as he passed them. He set her on the bed, walked back out to close the balcony doors, and returned.

"Just in case we get loud,” he said and her smile became a laugh. He crossed over to her and kissed her. She pulled him down so he sat beside her, and he leaned in for more. They were already partially undressed–his pants were still undone and her shirt was in the other room. They slowly finished pulling each other’s clothes off, exploring with their hands and mouths.  He kissed a faint thin line that crossed her belly on the right side where her appendix had been removed while she lived in England. She found scars shaped like stars, from gunshot wounds he received during the attack that killed Drake’s father. He ran his finger across her apple tattoo, which he had seen in his mind every day since that night on the yacht.

“Talk,” he said with a laugh. She rolled her eyes and blushed.

“Before I left for university, I went on vacation with Hana and Olivia and Penelope. We were close in school, before all of this… whatever it is, palace nonsense became important and got between us. We were on Ibiza, doing the rich Eurotrash thing, and Olivia got this idea that we should all get tattoos.”

Bastien’s eyes widened. All four of them?! 

“Right. So we spent the day drinking and deciding what to get. It had to be meaningful, y'know?"  She laughed at the memory. "It was our version of a blood vow. Penelope was on probably her tenth appletini and she had this amazing idea:  we should get apples! The famous Cordonian Ruby! It was perfect! Hail Cordonia! We found a place that could take us all at once, and …” she pointed to her own apple on her abdomen.

Bastien’s expression was priceless. He looked about to burst.

“Go ahead, ask away.”

“Are they… are they all the same?  In the same, uh, location?” He was laughing now.

Madeleine slowly shook her head, smiling wickedly. “And that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Those were the last words they spoke for the rest of the night.

They slept late. Neither had anywhere to be the next day, so they lazed in bed, achy from the night’s adventures. They had gotten loud indeed. Bastien didn’t realize how badly he wanted to bite her, to grab her, to leave some sort of mark on her like an animal until he realized that he couldn’t. It was enough that she was covered in beard burn, some places more than others, he realized with no small amount of possessive pride.

Madeleine, however, had not hesitated to leave a trail of bites and scratches and handprints all over him. She knew that he’d been careful; she made up for it.

She rang for a late breakfast  while he was getting into the shower so it would be on the table when they got out. And it was. It was cold, but it was there.

Leo was scheduled to return late that night. Neither of them mentioned it, but as they filled the hours with sex and words and silence and even a nap tangled around each each other, they both knew they were racing the clock. They made love once more as the sun disappeared over the sea. Afterward, Bastien got dressed as she watched from the bed, uncovered and unconcerned by it.

He sat down and kissed her again, memorizing her taste and scent, and how she touched him as she leaned toward him. “Bye, Lady Mad”

“Goodbye, Bastien”

They didn’t speak of what would or wouldn’t happen next. It didn’t matter.

Chapter 5

[brainy-storm]

S414 - ‘EL MAYARAH’ HEALED MY HEART (2/2 aka Karadox Edition)

Well, hello, hello, ladies, gentleman and esteemed NBs. We are gathered here today to witness me, a karadox fan who is too deep, commentate on and (over)analyse the happenings of that delicious episode that is Supergirl 4x14 Stand and Deliver. In the proceeding post, I will be going through many, many frames. So hold on to your dashes cause this is gonna be a hecka long post. 

Warning: Again, LONG LONG post. 95 screenshots, guys. I recommend reading this on a computer. MUCH karadox. Including Brainy’s amazing speech, ofc . And the amazingness that was Kara Zor El. 

Now, my friends. Where to start? What’s this? You wanted to go to the hand holding? We shall get there in due time. For now let us go start earlier at the 7:11 timestamp that I have. In which Brainy gets given -

The Letter

This is Querl Dox aka Brainy. His eyebrows furrowed as one of their DEO targets was captured. I might say, he’s cautious about what this letter might be. Who knows? It could have been a threat that Menagerie or The Elite might have wanted to pass on.

Nah, it’s a note from Supergirl, and it made him smile.

I mean, it’s a very cute-looking note (I love Kara’s handwriting, mine’s a mess). She could’ve just written ‘from Supergirl’ but nah, gotta draw that logo in. Love it. Go Kara!

“Supergirl left us a present, and a note.” Brainy whips this note from behind his back. He can’t just bring the note normally. No, he’s gotta whip it out like ‘surprise b*tch’. He not only likes to show off in front of Kara, but also likes to show off in Kara’s stead.  

“Says: you’re welcome.” Brainy looks like he’s trying to return to a neutral expression here, but his tone didn’t quite hide his smugness. And throughout this scene he still looks like he wants to keep smirking.

Now, we know that Brainy’s on Kara’s side. He’s part of the super-friends, of course. I’m pretty sure that Brainy’s supposed to at least pretend he’s backing the DEO fully. But he can’t help himself from celebrating a victory for Supergirl. His loyalty is always towards Kara, and I like how they keep this consistent even if (well, especially) Kara’s not around.

Alright, now it’s time for Kara to finally interact properly with -

Brainy!

“Brainy!” says Kara. What does that mean? Nothing much, she just turned around when she saw heard the door open and saw Brainy. But after several episodes of no proper interaction, it’s nice to hear her say his name. Yeah, yeah, I squealed, this is how deprived we were.

And then, unprompted, immediately after saying his name, she walks over to stand next to him. Must...not...overanalyse...must....resist....can’t --- AIGHT look she moved next to him. Didn’t need to. Nia’s not moving. Brainy wasn’t talking to her yet. Might one say she subconsciously feels comfortable being next to Brainy?! MIGHT ONE --- okay fine, I’m reaching, I’ll stop. But go on. Rewatch the clip. 23:10 is the timestamp. 

Oh yes, this is probably why they wanted Kara to move. To get this angle specifically and reaffirm the #SpouseEnergy radiating of these two. Exasperated dad and amused mum. Look at it. Breathe it in. Rejoice.  

Oh, this is just to compliment Melisa Benoist and Jesse Rath, just cause they move super in sync here, almost like you’d see in a cartoon/anime and I just found it pleasing. Moving on.

Alright, the next screencap is where Brainy thinks he’ll never see his ring again and is understandably in a bit of a shock. He looks at Nia and then Kara, then back at J’onn. Kara looks down before looking at Brainy.

Okay, you get the point. If it looks like Kara’s getting closer to Brainy every screenshot, it’s just cause the camera angle is shifting, by the way. Although, if you watch the clip, she is shifting her weight back and forth between her feet, throughtout this whole moment, which I didn’t notice until taking these screenshots, which is some very nice subtle acting from Benoist.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the first time Kara has seen Brainy when he’s emotionally vulnerable (onscreen, at least lol). She wasn’t there when he was rattled by the hatred he got when his image inducer didn’t work (Alex was there). She didn’t see him cry and didn’t hear him talking about his tears of logic (Lena was there). And when he just lost his ring, she wasn’t really there either (Nia was there). Anyway, she and the others are visibly unhappy when Brainy is unhappy. Even as part of a group shot it’s nice to see it, finally. It only lasts a little while anyway, because Brainy swiftly changes the subject. 

It’s like an appetizer to the emotional main course we’re getting right after. For that moment when our beloved Brainy says -

El Mayarah - (IT’S GO TIME PEOPLE)

“Ah...yes, it’s the march today...will you all be joining?” He finishes that sentence, looking at Kara. Because we know who he wants to go most.  Ahem *cough, cough*.

@fairyroses pointed out that here, after J’onn has said he’ll be there and Brainy proceeds to say ‘Wonderful! ..Kara?’ That this might be the first time Brainy addresses Kara directly as ‘Kara’ when speaking to her. As in usually he’s like ‘Supergirl, we need to....’ etc. Which is strange considering we’ve been shown that he’s close enough to hang out and watch movies at the loft with her and Alex (pre-mind-wipe) but nope we haven’t had an onscreen ‘Kara’. I tried finding one to no avail. So this must be it, then. 

Also, look at that raised eye-brow right here. He’s so excited, bless.

‘Yes, I definitely think we should be there’ - 

‘HUZZAH’. -- Yep, Brainy is happy that they’re going. Look how excited he is.

With the same energy from 4x01 where Kara says ‘nice work, Brainy’. 

Okay, again, look how happy Brainy is. And he’s just looking at Kara with that smile. My actual heart eeeek.

And then his confusion when he realises that she didn’t mean that she was going to march with him. Complete confusion.

‘Uh..’

‘Kara...a..’ (SECOND KARA)

‘A word’ He looks shook the whole time.

He takes a while to actually start talking to her. He looks down again, back at her as if he’s about to start talking about then away again for a tiny moment. (also whoops got that screenshot mid when he’s licking his lips. Was an accident but...you’re welcome.) I wonder how many thought tracks he’s using to try and get the correct words to talk to Kara about this, because there seems to be some hesitation there.

‘I think it would mean a lot to have Supegirl march today’ - So more obviously I think Brainy says that as a sense that the aliens attending would feel more strengthened by her marching, and of course that everyone could see who Supergirl stood with. But of course, I think he also means this, as in personally, since this is the march, that he organised. 

“I wish I could, Brainy, but I think it’s more important for me to patrol. In case anything gets out of hand.”

Kara’s genuinely sorry here, and that glint on her glasses makes her seem even more remorseful (yay angles), and I like how she makes it clear that she wants to support Brainy and the march, but is putting her duty to protect as Supergirl first.

“They won’t. I am American Alien. Hash-tag, American Alien.”

So, Brainy didn’t feel the need to tell the others that he himself organised the march. I think he assumed they would all be up for going, without saying. He reveals this now, to reassure Kara that as the organiser, he would be able to keep things under control. I also like how confident he is here, with his ‘they won’t’. 

“You..you organised it?” - and now it’s Kara’s turn to be surprised. 

“When I lost my Legion ring, I realised how much I depended on it for strength and confidence. I thought it was what made me a hero.” Oooof there you go, there’s that vulnerability that Kara has not been shown to have seen before.  “But not having it these past few days made me see, it wasn’t the ring that gave me strength.” 

“It was fighting.” *breathe* “alongside all of you.” - @kara-querl mentioned that she thinks that Brainy wanted to just ‘alongside you’ at first, but changed his mind. Which I could totally believe. But I also think he might be remembering fighting as a Legionnaire back home as well. 

I think a reason why we didn’t see his realisation is that 1. well, airtime 2. He’s been showing that he gains strength from fighting alongside others over the past few episodes. That’s why he was so adamant on getting together a superhero team - trying to convince Nia to join them when the DEO fired Supergirl, and then being more eager about it after Alex’s mindwipe. Going to J’onn with money to try and get him to join their team. He wanted to gain their strength for Kara, but he also needed their strength too.

“helping to make the Earth a better place.” Oof and look at Kara’s face. I think she’s getting just as emotional over this as we are. I also love how she just listens to Brainy. She doesn’t interrupt or even try to, which is excellent. Pefect communication skills. 

“In times like this change won’t come from someone with a Ring, or a cape. It will only come when each one of us answers the call to stand up and be heard” Brainy is not asking for Supergirl, the symbol and is not going as Brainiac 5, the legionnaire. He wants them to go, purely as themselves.

“El Mayarah” - OKAY CUE ME LOSING MY SH*T RIGHT HERE. especially after making that post about wanting inside codes/jokes in Kryptonian for them, I’M   He uses Kryptonian, trying to convince her and not any old plain Kryptonian but her god dang House of El family motto. This is not about just trying to convince Supergirl, this is trying to convince Kara Zor El. 

So Kara has been listening carefully and holding eye contact with Brainy this whole time (thank you), and when he says ‘El Mayarah’ she looks down immediately. How long has it been since she’s been specifically an El? A while. And even though she loves being Kara Danvers, and that’s who she is with Alex right now, Alex doesn’t know the Kara who she first met, the one she first met as Kara Zor El. 

“Stronger together.” I love love love how he reiterates this 1. cause lol I’m sure a lot of viewers forgot what it meant 2. He just says the meaning again in the language of Earth, the one sh’es adopted, calls home, and is trying to protect. 

And here Brainy follows her eyeline when she looks down, coaxing it back up as he says ‘stronger together’. I’M SOFT.

He takes another breath and breaks eye-contact and looks away. Yup, that was a lot. A lot of emotion right there. He needs a break. I need a break.  [we’re just about to hit screenshot 40 WOW I do need a break]

I like how Kara’s still looking at him, nice. Thanks. Also Nia just streching in the background, not interuppting yet. Dad and Mum are having a Serious conversation, gotta keep busy and not make eye contact, duh.

“Just because we’re superheroes, doesn’t mean we forget who we are.” - Beautiful. What a beautiful speech. Brainy always seems to be there to help remind Kara of what’s important. 3x10 - with her as Kara Danvers, and now 4x14 with her as Kara Zor El. He’s there to support her not only as the hero, Supergirl, but all sides of herself, all sides of Kara. 

She takes a breath here, and I think she’s definitely conflicted . She follows with a , I’m sorry Brainy...the risk is too great.”

BRAINY DOES A LITTLE TINY SHAKE OF HIS HEAD. Like he has more eto say but is also still shocked. And then Nia says she’s ready.

(OKAY YOU GUYS TOOK SO LONG. CAN WE GO PLAY PATROL NOW? PLEASEEE?)

And here Brainy is still in disbelief and worried, like look at this face and oh my god  --- I took this screenshot and then just had to replay the clip - HE’S FIDDLING WITH HIS FINGER WHERE HIS LEGION RING USUALLY IS. THE THING HE DOES WHEN HE’s FEELING ANXIOUS. Lord help me, I’m done.

“Supergirl may be a symbol...” -- ooof they look so pretty there. 

“but more importantly, she’s a citizen of Earth. Like the rest of us”. And he does this little shoulder raise at ‘like the rest of us’...my heart. He’s trying to appeal to her as people who both are not from Earth, but call Earth their home. [sidenote: ohoho ARE YOU EXILED FROM COLU, HUH BRAINY? IS THAT REBOOT BACKSTORY,  I HEAR? sorry, moving on] 

Another long pause before the “Remember that” --- ahhh he still looks so soft, end me. 

NOPE. NOW I’M DONEKARA’S FACE AS SHE WATCHES HIM LEAVE. SHE’S SHAKEN BY THE SPEECH AND I THINK SAD THAT SHE’S LETTING BRAINY DOWN. AND HERSELF DOWN AS A CITIZEN OF EARTH. 

Phew. That was long. A long but beautiful secton. ALRIGHT. LET’S KEEP GOING, SHALL WE? LET’S HEAD OVER TO -

THE MARCH -- IT’S TIMEEE

“They’re not like you - you’re a superhero.” --- I’m starting here because I think it’s important that he doesn’t say ‘you’re Supergirl’ he says ‘you’re a superhero’, because Brainy’s whole speech’s bottom line was  “Just because we’re superheroes, doesn’t mean we forget who we are.” That they’re not just superheroes.

And I think here, she fully understands what Brainy meant.

“No, you’re wrong, I am just like them.” --- so in otherwords, she’s a superhero but more importantly she’s a Citizen of Earth, just like them. This episode is not just great for karadox but great for Kara’s character development because her identity as Supergirl was so at stake, that she’s put that above all else and now she remembers what she needs to be doing. I’M SO PROUD. Rip rewatching this part made me a bit teary wow what is this. KARA I LOVE YOU.

Hmm...is Brainy the first one to look up? MAYBE SO. im not sure but shh 

THERE SHE ISSS. SHE.

Everyone’s in awe.Also, Brainy’s fingers are steepled here, when they weren’t before. (Excitement? Perhaps? idk, hm) 

AWE I SAY. AWE.

“Supergirl.” HE’S HAPPY. LOOK AT THAT. LOOK AT HIM. AHHHH.

“It’s Kara Zor-El.” KARA ZOR EL OF THE HOUSE OF EL. WITH HER GOD DANG ROBES. ‘ In times like this change won’t come from someone with a Ring, or a cape.’ -- SO SHE CAME AS HERSELF. 

“Citizen of Earth” - Just to reiterate -- ‘ more importantly she’s a Citizen of Earth’. She says this. While maintaining eye contact with Brainy the whole time she lands and joins the march. His speech helped her make this decision directly, and she’s letting him know that it did. Her smile in this screenshot and the one above. HER SMILE. BLESS KARA.

And now J’onn says ‘nice to have you with us’ - and they automatically hold hands. Oof and my heart, Papa J’onn. The father figure we all deserve. And...ohhhhH...hmm see Brainy is still holding his hands in position and maybe they made him do that...

To make it clear that it wasn’t automatic. So that Kara has to offer her his hand. Look at her smile. He’s still just looking straight at her. ALSO LOL J’ONN IS LOOKING. HE SEES.

AHAHA LOOK AT BRAINY JUST STARING DOWN. ‘oh yes, I should...hold the hand’. And kara’s smile like ‘yes, yes, it’s okay’. AND LOOK J’ONN IS SMILING AGAIN AHA.  He  ships it is proud too. hmm I wonder if J’onn was secretly listening to their convo the whole time...or hm maybe Brainy voiced how he felt that Kara wasn’t coming to the march to J’onn before it started.  I gots to know

THERE

IT

IS.

alksdjaslkjdalsjdlaskdjlaksjd

wow wow wow wow wow 

STRONGER TOGETHER INDEED.

1. the alien march is stronger together

2. MY SHIP IS SO STRONGER TOGETHER BECAUSE THEY ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER TO BE THEIR BEST SELVES.

Brainy takes his hand and Kara tightens the hold on it. THANK YOu. THANK YOU.

See, the reason they gave this close up, I think,  is to

1.  reaffirm the themes of togetherness in this episode

2. FEED ME THAT GOOD KARADOX FOOD THAT I ORDERED.

Kara is just taking a breath here but lol I still laugh at how much it looks like the Distracted Boyfriend meme. 

“Thank you.” *turns to Kara* “Both”. So much direct eye contact this episode.

THIS IS THE PUREST OF SMILES. KARA. SMILING AT BRAINY THANKING HER. WHO IS HAPPY TO BE HERE TOGETHER IN THE MARCH. PURE. MY SHIP IS PURE.

And you can’t see it well, or much at all, until she turns but he was smiling too, even if it’s not that clear.

And off they go, to confront Lockwood at -

The Rally

A bottle is thrown over their heads.

“Stay peaceful! - Brainy. Kara is shaken, by the looks of it. And Brainy just instinctively holds his hand out to Kara this time.

Takes a moment after he holds her hand...then...

“Don’t stoop to his level.” - again, supporting each other. He takes her hand this time.

BLESS THIS EPISODE.

So here they’re looking at the people who were here supporting Lockwood and I love how Brainy just looks them straight on. Kara’s also maintaining eye contact in the face of aggression. 

The Fight

“Hologram!”

“Then where’s the real Manchester?”

Okay, so I just like how they can switch so quickly to get into the fight. Superhero mode starts exactly now. And just look how smoothly they go about it. I love them. 

So here, she says she’s gonna go find Hat.

“Hello, Hat, we meet again.”

*insert fightscene that you can see giffed by @fairyroses here http://fairyroses.tumblr.com/post/183443782018*

“You don’t need a ring, when you have friends.” Throwback to how he gets his strength from fighting alongside the team.

“So where are your friends now?” - jinxed yourself, mate.

Kara literally is only a blur in this scene. And lmao Brainy catches the hat, which I did not realise till I saw the gifset. I’ve included @fairyroses tags here because she says it all and I literally can’t take any credit for noticing this lol. Bless you.

“Nice work, Brainy.” - I am fed well with all the times she has said Brainy today. Compliments today too.

“Now get him to the DEO.” - LOOKING GOOD BRAINY.

“Then help me get as many of these people to safety as you can.” Menagerie was brought in my the team sans Brainy, and now Brainy and Kara are taking down Hat together. I like how she says then help me. Just another confirmation of yes, you are on my team, even if you’re going back to the DEO for a tiny bit for the delivery. Again, stronger together.

“And this was from the time me and your mum took down a villain named Hat together” - is not something that was said, but is going in my future headcanon, thanks.

And yep, that’s the beautoful end of the karadox interactions of this episode, time that I start -

Wrapping it Up

Shh, yes I have more to say, bear with me.

“I know that Supergirl and I have not been on the same page lately, but you know, seeing her out there in that march, hand in hand with everybody else,I was inspired.” - so  ‘I think it would mean a lot to have Supegirl march today’  ---- Turns out it also meant inspiring Alex to take action too. Brainy’s speech being the root of convincing Kara and Kara taking that stand. directly inspired by Brainy grabbing Kara’s hand that second time, kthx

“Yeah.” - Kara agrees, and then makes a funny joke about roughing Ben lockwood up lol. She did tho.

“No, *laughs* no, you know I followed my beliefs, not the rules..and it felt really good to take a moral stance.”

“Yeah, I think everyone at the march felt that way.” - Kara was glad to have gone to the march and she felt better for it. Oof look at that smile. Look at how good she thought the march was.

“It just goes to show to show, no matter who you are. Alien, human, superhero. Every action counts. And every voice matters.” ---- again, throwing back to Brainy’s speech. 

“In times like this change won’t come from someone with a Ring, or a cape.  It will only come when each one of us answers the call to stand up and be heard”. 

So everything ties together nicely, in -

THE END

Thanks for bearing with me, which I assume you have if you’re all the way down here. 

To summarise: 

Brainy and Kara make an excellent team and they both are each others’ strengths, and help each other grow. They are stronger together.

[mostthingskenobi]

WHEN OBI-WAN MARRIED SATINE

SUMMARY: Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Duchess of Mandalore decide to marry in secret. They meet in a secluded garden where a Force priestess conducts a private wedding.

Takes place immediately following the events in my fic The Secret Duke of Mandalore.

“Now,” the priestess spoke, “our hearts are prepared.” She took a step away from the couple and, using her cane, drew a line in the dust in front of Obi-Wan and Satine’s feet. “You have chosen not to make a public declaration. Only the Force will be your witness. This ceremony will unite your living energy; it will bind you through the Force for all time. Do you understand?”

——————–

AUTHOR NOTES:

This fic is brought to you by special request from an ask someone sent me a little while ago. They were inspired by the recent Obitine Wedding (watch James Arnold Taylor’s video of the special event here) that took place in Salt Lake and asked if I’d be willing to write my version of an Obitine wedding. I’ve always had this scene in my head ever since I first wrote The Secret Duke of Mandalore but I never planned on actually writing it down. Thanks to this ask, I’ve changed my mind.

I did a bunch of research and created my own version of a wedding. I referenced many cultures and customs, including ancient Celtic ceremonies, blood vows, oaths given by medieval knights, and Mandalorian vows / code of honor.

I know the Obitine wedding that took place in Salt Lake was a huge event. I have always imagined a tiny wedding for Obi-Wan and Satine.

A secret wedding :)

So, without further ado, here's my version of an Obitine wedding.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You might want to read my fic The Secret Duke of Mandalore before you read this. The wedding can stand alone, but it might be more meaningful for you if you read how they got engaged.

——————–

WHEN OBI-WAN MARRIED SATINE

They met in the garden at the same time the following evening, just as the sun came slanting through the low-hanging trees. Obi-Wan walked along the cobbled pathway, following it to the spot where he and Satine had arranged to meet with a Force priestess. The women were already waiting for him, the Duchess draped in a flowing burgundy cloak that trailed on the ground behind her. As he approached, Satine took the fabric and shifted it back over her shoulders revealing a white gown with a high lace neck and long ornate sleeves that ended in engraved silver vambraces.

Obi-Wan stepped forward and took her hands. “You look beautiful,” he said quietly, his chest growing tight with emotion as he realized how far they both had traveled, enduring a great many heartaches, to reach this moment in their lives.

“Thank you,” she said with a gentle smile. “You look very handsome.”

He glanced down at his usual Jedi attire. He hadn’t even removed his armor. “I’m sorry my clothes aren’t as fine as yours.”

“You’re perfect just as you are,” she said, giving his fingers a squeeze.

“Are we ready?” the priestess, an older woman with kind eyes, asked as she moved closer.

The Jedi and the Duchess nodded.

“Very well.” The priestess took their intertwined hands and cupped them in her own. “Let us begin with silence.”

Obi-Wan felt the Force come alive around him as he focused. He watched the sunlight play across Satine’s face. He felt the lovely evening breeze tousle his hair. He had peace in his heart for the first time in months. He concentrated on every detail, committing each sensation to memory; he never wanted to forget this moment, he never wanted to forget how Satine looked when she became his wife.

“Now,” the priestess spoke, “our hearts are prepared.” She took a step away from the couple and, using her cane, drew a line in the dust in front of Obi-Wan and Satine’s feet. “You have chosen not to make a public declaration. Only the Force will be your witness. This ceremony will unite your living energy; it will bind you through the Force for all time. Do you understand?”

The two nodded.

“In that case, Duchess, I ask that you please pledge your oath.”

Satine took a deep breath then looked into Obi-Wan’s eyes with unwavering conviction. She never thought she would need Mandalorian wedding vows; she had grown used to the idea that she would be a Duchess and never a wife, especially if she was forbidden from marrying the man she loved most. But as she gave her promise, she felt a deep connection with her people and her history. “Strength, honor, love, and loyalty I pledge to you until death. We are one whether we are together or apart.”

The priestess turned to Kenobi. “And you, Master Jedi, please pledge your oath.”

Obi-Wan had been at a loss when he first tried to come up with his vow. The Order forbid attachment and did not approve of marriage, therefore to pledge himself to Satine as a Jedi seemed wrong. He finally found comfort when he thought of Qui-Gon and how his Master had always held the Force in higher regard than the Code. Qui-Gon’s wisdom had once again shown Obi-Wan the way. He tightened his grip on Satine’s fingers. “All that I am is yours. My honor and my heart I place in your hands. In the name of the Force, I pledge my protection, my compassion, and my love to you for all time.”

“Master Kenobi,” the priestess said, “are you willing to take the traditional Mandalorian Blood Oath?”

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.

The priestess pulled a small dagger from a sheath on her hip as Satine helped Obi-Wan remove his gloves. Then both Jedi and Duchess held out their right hands palm up. The priestess scraped the blade across their skin, drawing a thin line of blood. Obi-Wan took Satine’s hand in his and pressed their bleeding palms together as the priestess wrapped a Mandalorian rushnyk around them, tying the fabric in a firm knot.

Once again cupping their hands in hers, the priestess spoke. “In the name of the Force that resides within us all, by the life that courses within Obi-Wan’s blood and the love that resides within his soul, does he take you Satine to his hand, his heart, and his spirit, to be his wife. To desire you and be desired by you without shame, for shame cannot exist in the purity of love. Obi-Wan, do you promise to love Satine wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where you shall meet, remember, and love again? Do you promise to respect Satine, her beliefs, her people, and her ways as you respect yourself?”

“I do.”

“In the name of the Force that resides within us all, by the life that courses within Satine’s blood and the love that resides within her soul, does she take you Obi-Wan to her hand, her heart, and her spirit, to be her husband. To desire you and be desired by you without shame, for shame cannot exist in the purity of love. Satine, do you promise to love Obi-Wan wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where you shall meet, remember, and love again? Do you promise to respect Obi-Wan, his beliefs, his people, and his ways as you respect yourself?”

“I do.”

The priestess unwrapped their hands and carefully folded up the rushnyk. “Do you have tokens to exchange?”

“Yes,” Satine said. She pulled a long chain from around her neck, and there at the end dangled her personal crest. “I give you this token as a sign of my love, so that I will reside near your heart. Wear it always.” Obi-Wan bowed so Satine could slide the chain over his head. She smoothed it down his tunic until the pendant lay perfectly in line with his heart.

He put his hand over hers for a moment, holding the pendant in place beneath their palms. “I will never be without it,” he promised.

“Master Kenobi, do you have a token for the Duchess?”

He pulled something from a pouch on his belt and held it up. A tiny green crystal glowed, wrapped in a simple metal setting hanging from a leather cord. “This kyber crystal belonged to Qui-Gon, then belonged to me after he died. It will protect you and connect you to the Force; I hope it will help you feel closer to me when I am far away.”

Tears welled up in Satine’s eyes at the mention of the Jedi Master she had grown to love all those years ago when she was a girl. “I wish he was here now,” she whispered as Obi-Wan slid the cord over her head.

“He is,” Obi-Wan said as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Understanding him, Satine touched a finger to Kenobi’s heart. “Always.”

They turned back to the priestess. “Now you are bound one to the other with a tie not easily broken,” she said. “Grow in wisdom and love. May your marriage be strong, may your love last in this life and beyond.” She reached out and, once again taking the couples’ hands in hers, gently pulled them forward, forcing them to step over the line she had drawn in the dust. “Your first step into a new world.” The priestess used her cane to scrape away the line she had drawn, completely erasing it. “You cannot step back. From this moment on you must move forward, together.” She smiled. “You are now husband and wife.”

Obi-Wan was beaming as he looked down at Satine. She gave a little croak as a tear escaped her lashes. He pulled her close, brushing the back of his fingers up her cheek. “Are these happy tears?” he asked quietly, his voice low and warm. She nodded, leaning into his touch. He hooked a finger under her chin and gently lifted her lips to his. He kissed her slowly, savoring his first embrace with his wife.

When they pulled apart they were both smiling, barely able to hold back their joyful tears. She cupped his face in her hands and he rested his forehead against hers. “I love you,” he whispered.

“And I love you,” she replied before kissing him again.

——————–

CLICK HERE TO READ IT ON ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN (AO3)

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER FICS

——————–

END NOTES

Just FYI, the Mandalorian blood oath is something I completely made up. If there is such a thing in canon or legends, I have no idea :)

For anyone who is interested, Satine's vow is based on the Mandalorian Code. Obi-Wan's vow is based on an oath ancient knights would give when they received knighthood within their Order.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT I THINK SATINE’S WEDDING DRESS WOULD LOOK LIKE

Thank you for reading!

Reblogs, likes, and comments are very welcome!

Much love!

[marta-bee]

A Scandal in East Anglia

(in which Marta tries to read "DANC" without shipper's goggles firmly in place, and only half succeeds)

Let's talk about Doyle's story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" (DANC). It's... quaint. By all measures it really shouldn't' work for this modern reader; its conflict relies too much on a sense of reputation and honor that's just not that accessible to me. The victim Elsie Cubbit is what the kids today would call "problematic" (when she's not entirely out of control over her own life, she's not exactly acting in a way that encourages my sympathy). There's not much of a mystery for the reader to solve because we don't have the evidence Holmes does until rather late in the story, and we don't even get the fun tension between Holmes and "official" detectives (a favorite part for me).

And yet, and yet. Somehow DANC manages to be charming. I love it.

Spoilers...

(If you’d like to read the original without being spoiled, you can read it here first. I’ll wait. But as I said, the things I love most about this story aren’t so plot-based.)

I'm going to basically give away the ending here: DANC ends with Hilton Cubbit, dead on his parlor floor with a bullet through his chest, and his wife Elsie suspected of putting him there.

A little context: About a year before his murder, Hilton Cubitt, a "simple Norfolk squire," had come to London to celebrate the Jubilee. He'd married and fallen deeply in love with an American woman, Elsie, had married her and taken her home to Norfolk. Shortly before their wedding, she confessed to him that she "[had] had some very disagreeable associations in [her] life" though she "had nothing that she need be personally ashamed of", and she insisted that before Hilton marry her he promise never to ask her about her past. He promised, so they were married and lived happily until the dancing men began to appear around their estate.

Hilton would be content not to pursue the matter for his own sake; he thinks the drawings are odd but unimportant (Holmes agrees at first). But Elsie is unnerved by them, and Hilton believes they're connected to her past. He can't question her directly about it; as he says, "A promise is a promise, Mr. Holmes. [...] But I am justified in taking my own line—and I will.”  

(Yes, this bothers me, too. By modern sensibilities, clearly it would have been better to break a promise than what comes after; and in any case, he's only adhering to the letter of the law here, if that.) 

But enter Holmes, stage right, pursued by bear. Hilton brings the drawings to Holmes who after some delay cracks the code and concludes they're connected those "very disagreeable associations" of Elsie's, confirmed by a telegram from some of those official detectives I mentioned above. But in the meantime, Hilton's own nerves are fraying at being kept in the dark, and where he at first seemed to trust her completely, more and more he pushes her about her past and tries to discover it on her own. He even suspects she might be meeting up with the mysterious picture-drawer, for all he unnerves her. Holmes figures out the truth behind the code too late, and though he races to Norfolk, by the time he's arrived he's left with Hilton Cubbit, dead on his parlor floor with a bullet through his chest, etc.

The Deduction Seduction

As I mentioned, this story really isn't about the mystery. The dancing men are a cypher, one figure for each letter, and the Chicago police should be embarrassed they weren't able to crack it years before. (Elsie is from America, and those disagreeable associates are Chicago criminals). The evidence Holmes uses to connect the code to the Chicago mobsters isn't presented to us until the denouement, so there's not much for the reader to solve; at most we could have the fun of working out the code. But if you know your Doyle story, you'll know they usually begin with a domestic moment, where Holmes deduces something about Watson. DANC is no exception.

“So, Watson,” said he, suddenly, “you do not propose to invest in South African securities?”

I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I was to Holmes’ curious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable.

“How on earth do you know that?” I asked.

He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand, and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes.

“Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback,” said he.

“I am.”

“I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect.”

“Why?”

“Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so absurdly simple.”

“I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind.”

“You see, my dear Watson”—he propped his test-tube in the rack, and began to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class—“it is not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor and each simple in itself. If, after doing so, one simply knocks out all the central inferences and presents one’s audience with the starting-point and the conclusion, one may produce a startling, though possibly a meretricious, effect. Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did not propose to invest your small capital in the goldfields.”

“I see no connection.”

“Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection. Here are the missing links of the very simple chain: 1. You had chalk between your left finger and thumb when you returned from the club last night. 2. You put chalk there when you play billiards to steady the cue. 3. You never play billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me, four weeks ago, that Thurston had an option on some South African property which would expire in a month, and which he desired you to share with him. 5. Your cheque-book is locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for the key. 6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner.”“How absurdly simple!” I cried.

“Quite so!” said he, a little nettled. “Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you."

.... at which point he hands Watson a copy of the dancing men, sent by Hilton Cubitt in advance of his first consultation with Holmes, and the proper story begins.

This particular deduction is fascinating on its own, though. Not because Holmes is being particularly clever (as Holmes points out the logic is plain once you see the intermediate steps), but because the details are so intimate. Holmes keeps Watson's checkbook in his desk drawer. Holmes knows Watson; he knows how he chalks up his billiards-cue and that he only shoots pool with Thurston. Maybe this is my own bias playing into it, but I'm really struggling to imagine Holmes actually going round to the pool-halls with Watson. More likely he's just observed all this, maybe asked a key question here and there, but put it all together because Watson matters.

Which gives that same frisson as BBC-Sherlock's side comment in A Scandal in Belgravia, that John is wrong to think he doesn't understand the biochemical processes of love, which of course means they've discussed it, and....

Yeah.

Holmes has been studying Watson so intently he just knows all this, and he's laying that bare to Watson, either because he wants Watson to know or he doesn't even think to stop himself, and I'm honestly not sure which tickles my fancy more.

I also can't quite get past the fact that Watson is keeping his checkbook in Holmes's desk-drawer. Remember that Watson is a published writer, and (depending on the timeline, which depends on which Jubilee you think this story is based around) quite possibly managing a successful medical practice. He certainly has a desk at Baker Street, and there's no real reason for its not to have its own locked drawer. It seems odd that a desk wouldn't have that. So either Watson has given up all pretense of keeping anything locked away from Holmes, or else Holmes is keeping the checkbook not so it can be locked up but so Watson himself doesn't have as easy access, because he's actively helping Watson manage his (their?) finances.

I did warn you at the top of this post: This is me trying not to let my shipper's goggles rule the day here, and failing.

Holmes & Watson vs Hilton & Elsie: The Parallels Continue

I'm actually hoping (a bit) that Watson has just given up the ghost on holding things back from Holmes because it feeds into a much larger point. There are a lot of parallels going on between Holmes and Watson (Holmes/Watson?) and that Cubitts, and even if without getting into the shipping questions, I think it helps to appreciate where and why the Cubitt relationship went wrong. Also why Holmes was able to both avenge Hilton and save Elsie from her own execution when the local constabulary was so ready to hang her. (Again, spoilers: it's not a brute application of reason.)

And really, there are a lot of parallels here. Hilton is a Norfolk squire, and Holmes (in "The Greek Interpreter") describes his own family as descending from country squires. And Holmes takes up rooms with Watson without knowing much about him. The Watsons are hardly as scandalous as Elsie's family, but they were hardly above reproach. Watson was living around layabout soldiers known for hard living and, if Holmes's deductions about his father's pocket watch in The Sign of Four are to be trusted, his brother wasted the family fortunes and was a drunkard beside. 

If Holmes was at all concerned about the "conventional" life of the country squire his ancestors enjoyed (he isn't), taking up with Watson is hardly prudent. In fact, I'd argue it's a move not unlike Hilton's marrying Elsie -something he fully admits is shocking: "You’ll think it very mad, Mr. Holmes, that a man of a good old family should marry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her past or of her people, but if you saw her and knew her, it would help you to understand."

The parallel ends here, though. Elsie has a real history of scandal in her history; she begs Hilton not to pry and he promises not to. With Watson's lesser scandal, Holmes can't help but see, and he really doesn't need to ask him for the details. But it's worth noting that while Hilton chafes against the restrictions Elsie put on him and does everything he can to find a loophole, eventually comes to question her faithfulness, Holmes recognizes there's such a thing as knowing too much. He treated Watson's pocket watch like a purely academic problem. He tries (not entirely successfully) to respect Watson's boundaries. 

Hilton and Elsie are both very aware of the Cubitt family. When Hilton tries to push Elsie for details about the mysterious message-drawer, she seems preoccupied with not bringing scandal down on his house. She's given up her past for the future she thinks he can provide. She tries to pay the message-writer off if he'll just leave using £1,000 of Hilton's money. (That’s a huge amount of money for the period!) Hilton, for his part, thinks about their relationship as a mad thing for someone in his situation, and when Elsie wants to leave Norfolk, he refuses. A wiser man might have trusted his wife understood the real dangers and taken some sort of trip, without pressing to know exactly why.

Holmes, on the other hand, is pointedly not living the conventional life of his country-squire ancestors. He is urbane, one might even add bohemian (without necessarily importing the sexual connotations that term implies, though equally without necessarily excluding them). Watson's less well-off and established background isn't a challenge precisely because he has little interest in a life Watson would not fit well with. That's not who he is, so he and Watson are allowed to just be.

Que Saber, Saber...

Reading DANC, I was strangely reminded of a vocabulary lesson from high school Spanish. If someone asked me where my roommate was, I might say something like No se exactamente, pero yo se que ella fue a la supermercado antes. (I don't know exactly, but I know she went to the supermarket earlier.) "Se" (the conjugated form of "saber") means know, as in how we know facts. It's tied to the Latin verb scire, from which we get science, scientific, etc. But if you asked me if I knew her well, I wouldn't say solo se un poco (I only  know a little, as in I only know a few things) - you're really asking if I'm familiar with her, which requires an entirely different word, something like solo la conozco un poco. That’s conocer, implying a familiarity more than factual knowledge.

When Holmes makes his deductions about Watson's finances, he's not just relying about observed facts about Watson; he's also pulling from his familiarity, the fact he knows him.

And the same thing happens with the Cubitts.

"Two [bullets] have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for."

“So it would seem,” said Holmes. “Perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window?”

He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a hole which had been drilled right through the lower window-sash, about an inch above the bottom.

“By George!” cried the inspector. “How ever did you see that?”

“Because I looked for it.”

“Wonderful!” said the country doctor. “You are certainly right, sir. Then a third shot has been fired, and therefore a third person must have been present. But who could that have been, and how could he have got away?”

“That is the problem which we are now about to solve,” said Sherlock Holmes. “You remember, Inspector Martin, when the servants said that on leaving their room they were at once conscious of a smell of powder, I remarked that the point was an extremely important one?”

“Yes, sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you.”

“It suggested that at the time of the firing, the window as well as the door of the room had been open. Otherwise the fumes of powder could not have been blown so rapidly through the house. A draught in the room was necessary for that. Both door and window were only open for a very short time, however.”

“How do you prove that?”

“Because the candle was not guttered.”

“Capital!” cried the inspector. “Capital!”

“Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of the tragedy, I conceived that there might have been a third person in the affair, who stood outside this opening and fired through it. Any shot directed at this person might hit the sash. I looked, and there, sure enough, was the bullet mark!”

Taken out of context, this reads like saber-knowledge. Holmes observes that the candle was not guttered. He suspects based on the fact that the household staff smelt gunpowder almost immediately (from an earlier discussion of the crimescene) that a draft blew it throughout the house. Ergo: a window was opened, but not for long. Elsie probably wouldn't have closed it just after her husband was shot, so a third person was probably present; and so forth. 

But this is Elsie. Holmes knows, conocer, her reasonably well. He's seen Hilton's devotion to her, and his trust. (Yes, a modern might go further, but most Victorian men would probably have been much less indulgent!) And he knows that strangers with relatively unknown pasts aren't necessarily tainted by them and that they have a right to keep some things to themselves without that making them suspicious. The Norfolk constabulary has identified two possible interpretations of the crime scene: either Hilton tried to murder Elsie then committed suicide, or Elsie successfully shot Hilton before turning the gun on herself. Neither fit the people Holmes has come to know so he finds a third option. He sees the bullet because he was looking.

Granted, Holmes has connected the cipher of the dancing men to a Chicago street gang and he knows a lot more about Elsie's past than Hilton does. But we the readers aren't privy to all that, and even with that, Holmes equally knows that Elsie has been sneaking around, that he husband suspected she was being unfaithful, that both of them had nearly reached the end of their emotional endurance between all the secrets and the strange events. Again, he knows this better than the local investigators. Logically, it's not such a great leap that one might have shot the other. Sometimes clients aren't unbiased even when they're not outright culpable; look at how the King of Bohemia presented his dealings with Irene Adler, for instance.

So there's a leap of faith, to borrow Kierkegaard's concept, an act of will more than knowledge, in believing that neither Hilton nor Elsie would act the way Inspector Martin thinks they did. When I first encountered Doyle's stories decades ago I tended to accept Holmes as more or less a cold reasoning machine, something I'm unlearning as a more adult reader, and this story seems to require that revised understanding. Because the Holmes who was so reticent to theorize before facts in A Study in Scarlet, who Watson famously described as a scientific instrument without grit on the lens in "A Scandal in Bohemia," might well investigate all the options but he wouldn't be looking to confirm a hypothesis based on emotional impression. 

But the Holmes I've come to love more deeply would, I think, particularly a Holmes growing more comfortable with his emotional intelligence in addition to his facility with actual facts. Here's hoping that's not my own act of will laying its thumb on the scales here.

~*~*~*~*~

I'll close by sharing a favorite scene, not from Doyle but from the Granada adaptation. Not because it's relevant, but because it's too endearing not to. Having arrested the true criminal, Watson asks Holmes how he drew him back to the scene of the crime, and Holmes shows him the note he used as bait, written out in the code of the dancing men -- giving them (and us) their own lovely moment of conocer, starting around the 2:15 mark. Enjoy!

[eternalloveheart]

Morality: God or man?

I started reading the book “What if the bible never existed” by Dr Kennedy. He explores the importance of the bible by its impact on the world. I am only a few chapters in so far just wanting to bring out my thoughts and the quotes I pulled that made me think. I am pretty much summarizing my take on the points of the first few chapters. I will be making more posts on this book with different points. I know this is a blog so I am not making this into some kind of academic essay just posting the aftermath of my reading.

God or man’s?

There are many reasons we cannot officially have a moral code without God. One main “reason you can’t have morality without religion is not that can’t draw up a common code of ethics. It is that without an external authority, most people will not follow it. Now, I will grant that the humanists have drawn up a code, and they have gotten some people to follow it” (Dr Kennedy, page 435).

Brute force

It seems one of the easiest successful ways to get people to conform to a set of moral rules is by religion. A main problem is being human we know that everyone is capable of just as much evil as us if not more with no true claim to some high ground. I have personally asked some atheists how one might go about ensuring morality with those who do not agree with them such as sociopaths who have no empathetic compass. I explained that religion has helped a sociopath namely David Wood turn from his murderous ways to live a life for God. I wait attentively for a response only to hear the atheist respond with the words “brute force”.

It is difficult to use of brute force as it often leads to tyranny and rebellions. I am taking a policing course where we overview policing history. History shows it only aggravates the people further when more force was involved such as military intervention. It went against the human desire for a decent amount of liberties and rights (which even a sociopath would desire). In the Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, Vol. 55 by J. L Lyman from the Northwest university of Law there is a review of historical mistakes using force against one’s citizens. In the journal it mentions the way the law enforcement was so hated it was inefficient in stopping crime which in turn had crime running more rampant. The journal states that “by 1828 one person in every three hundred and eighty-three was a criminal” in London. The method of “brute force” had worsened the situation as it never got to the core of the problem.

Reasoning

I assume not everyone would have immediately jumped to “brute force”. I think some may have even thought of just reasoning with people. I mean someone has to be able to convince if not through force or empathy that one should dogmatically follow a moral code. I do not just mean sociopaths I include anyone with opposing views of morality. I have to concede everyone has their own views of morality whether right or wrong.

In recent times “the president of the Yale University in a meeting of university professor and educators. He said that we need a new renaissance of education and morality in American colleges. You would think he would have been applauded. But he was booed! They hissed. They asked ‘Whose morality, professor, are you going to impose upon them?” He couldn’t answer the question (Dr. Kennedy, page 482). His ideas might have been the most perfect ideas in the world. It did not matter because no matter how perfect his moral is the human heart is just so full of its own evil. It will not listen to reasoning because it does not care for reasoning based upon their own moral reasoning.

So what if he got a chance to speak would anyone have listened? No one cares what anyone or any group claims is moral. “Charles Darwin knew this. He said it was a horrid thought to realize that all of his speech may have no more significance or meaning than the babbling of a monkey. He said, ‘Would anyone trust the conviction of a monkey’s mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?” (Dr. Kennedy, page 506).

It is a hard pill to swallow to admit only God is righteous enough, powerful enough, efficient enough, knowledgeable enough, loving enough and so on to sustain a moral code. God even offers this moral code yet again to those who have broken it with a renewing of his mercies.

Born in sin

So if God is so great why is not everyone just following Him? The heart being born in sin wants to refuse the law for himself and have the laws imposed on others. It is where hypocrisy and double standards arise. I mean having the mental capacity to measure fairness and justice while having fleshly overruling savagery sins.

“Huxley was the most prestigious evolutionary scientist in the world at the time. The interviewer asked him, “Why do you think that evolution caught on so quickly?” Huxley began, “We all jumped at The Origin [The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin] because . . .” Now if you ask a high school science class to finish that sentence, what do you think the students would say? They would say, “The reason we jumped at The Origin of Species was that the evidence amassed by Darwin was so intellectually compelling that scientific integrity required that we accept it as fact.” That is not what Huxley said. Rather, I heard him say, “[ I suppose the reason] we all jumped at The Origin [was] because the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores.” I almost fell out of my chair! What does that have to do with science? (Dr. Kennedy, page 692).

It seems like the same problem all over again with no one caring about absolute morality when they care too much for their own morality. This time it is different when we peak behind the veil. God makes a promise to those who seek Him diligently in Ezekiel. Ezekiel 36:26-28 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Change

Before we go any further we must consider historical ways people have tried to impose change in the human heart. I know not all have tried “brute” force or “reasoning”. I must admit some have tried changing the environment to help people flourish into their best selves with the hope of fostering perfect peaceful moral.

Many people have been convinced the heart can be changed apart from divine intervention with environmental remodeling. The communists thought they were going to create the “new communist man” without religion. Karl Marx the intellectual founder of communism found his ideas to be the key to solve the mankind’s predicament proclaiming this as the “true solution”. It is no wonder they prohibited ministers from preaching heaven when they had ushered it in prenatally. He thought man was pretty good inside just corrupted by his environmental structures. I have read some books on communism the dream does not pan out.

The communist plan instead of thriving the fruit of good people had made room for a greater evil as “Marxism did produce a new Communist man—a man so cruel that he could commit the most barbaric crimes against his fellow human beings without the slightest qualms of conscience. When we become aware of what took place in the ghastly labor camps, or gulags, we can understand the nature of the new Communist man, perhaps the cruelest man the world has ever seen” (Dr. Kenny, page 811).

“An example of Communist torture occurred just within the last few years. Two Christian women were being punished by the Chinese authorities for the “crime” of being a part of the unregistered house church movement. They were stripped naked, hung up by their thumbs with wires, and beaten unconscious with cattle prods. The system Marx helped create—based on a false paradigm, which was itself based on a false picture of man’s true nature—has probably caused more evil than any system known to man” (Dr. Kennedy, page 821).

In the West “we are told, the new man will be fashioned by psychology and psychiatry. Before you become too excited about that possibility, remember that of all of the professions in America, the highest level of suicide is found in psychiatrists. So if you are contemplating such an act, I don’t recommend that you go see one. He might decide to hold your hand and jump first” (Dr. Kennedy, page 854). I have run into some issues with psychologists lately as I have been told by numerous friends their psychologists think they are beyond help. I almost think that should be illegal to tell a patient because these vulnerable people will remember this every time they reach another low. I can see how a self-fulfilling prophesy could take into effect.

Testimonies

The bible has changed many lives for the better helping people turn a new leaf. It is because being born again is gives a person a new heart and spirit with new desires. God promises to give people a new heart so is there any evidence of this change?

The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead still has the power to change a person to this day. “No unbeliever could tell me why His words are as charged with power today as they were nineteen hundred years ago. Nor could scoffers explain how those pierced hands pulled human monsters with gnarled souls out of a hell of iniquity and overnight transformed them into steadfast, glorious heroes [of the cross]” (Dr. Kennedy, page 936).

Kwai

There is a movie called “The bridge over the River Kwai” based on the book called “Through the Valley of Kwai”. The author of the book had spoken to the chaplain man of Princeton University who had been part of British forces. He was the very man that had written “The bridge over the River of Kwai”. “He told [him], heartbrokenly, what Hollywood had done to the truth. Here is the real story of the bridge over the River Kwai. The captives had been reduced to savagery. They were starving. They were snapping for every crust of bread like animals. And then the British commander discovered in one of their backpacks a New Testament. He began to read it. As he read it, the wonder of the love of Christ began to fill his soul, and he surrendered his life to the Savior and called on Him for His grace and help. He was transformed. He began to read that New Testament to his men each day. One after another became transformed until virtually the entire camp was transformed by the gospel of Christ. These animal-like men began to save their crusts of bread to give to those who were weaker and sicker than they were” (Dr Kennedy, page 897).

Joad

It is often easy to believe mankind is mostly good when one is living safely in a first world country founded on Christian foundations (which is further elaborated in later chapters). “C. E. M. Joad was one of the great philosophers of England in this century. He was a brilliant intellect and a militant unbeliever. [...] Earlier he had thought that man was basically good and that, given the right conditions, we could create heaven on earth. But two devastating world wars and the threat of another one brought home to him the reality that man is sinful. The only solution to man’s sin, concluded this former skeptic, is the cross of Jesus Christ” (Dr. Kennedy, page 957).

David wood

Note: the pages may not be exact though they are within the range of the found text. It is harder to tell on the kindle app if it is the exact page number.