#Guess who got rejected for disability allowance *again* and was only sent the rejection like 4 days ago

[transmandrake]

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[pl-panda]

Damienette arranged marriage: part 24

Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 part 14 part 15

part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21

Part 22

Part 23

Damienette arranged marriage: part 24

NEXT

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“Papa will help us on this one. And maybe we should call the cavalry from Gotham?”

“Relax Angel. We have two to one number advantage. We can deal with them.” Damian reassured her. 

‘Fine. We two weeks until we leave. It is decided then. In one week, we storm the Agreste Manor.”

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

The week passed by faster than anyone wanted. Marinette especially felt like it was all in such rush. It was overwhelming. After over two years of fighting hawkmoth they were finally about to put an end to his reign. That is if Tim’s assumptions were correct. It was still just a theory. Really solid one, but theory nonetheless. They did know Adrien was Chat Noir. This was without doubt. Nobody else could be him if what Tim gathered was correct. It’s amazing what you can figure in two months with good logic skills and enough hacking skill to have White House Coffee machine prepare a frappuccino with your face on it for a week. ‘Batboys’ had weirdest truth or dare in the whole world, Marinette decided. 

The raid was supposed to happen on saturday. This way they were sure that Adrien would be home and there would be little interruptions. Precisely on 10:20 A.M., the time when Adrien should be practicing his piano, Ladybug, Pink Tigress, Ryuko and Viperion walked to the front gate of the Agreste Manor. Marinette did ask her father to use Ox miraculous and help them, but he politely declined. Tom felt like the hero gig was not really for him. It was okay. Not everyone need to be on the front line. 

A camera eye popped out of the wall as soon as Ladybug pressed the bell. 

“Hi. I have an urgent matter with Mousier Agreste. It’s about his son.” She spoke. It was risky, but if he didn’t allow them to enter, he would only raise suspicion. It was a perfect trap. Small crowd already gathered in here and got curious. Rejecting Paris’ beloved heroes would be bad for image and much too suspicious. 

There was no answer, but the gate opened, letting the group in. As they walked, Ladybug and the others indeed noticed several automated defence turrets, now half-burried underground while disabled. They were probably loaded with rubber bullets, but how did this not violate gun regulations anyway was a surprise. 

Doors to the manor were opened by Gorilla, who then stepped aside and let them in. Nobody noticed three shadows jumping over the front yard. Gabriel was already waiting for them with Natalie by his side.

“Ladybug. What a surprising visit. Is something wrong?” He asked in a worried tone. 

“Yes. But I would prefer if we talked in somewhere more private.” Ladybug said, nudging her head toward atelier. 

“Of course. Nathalie. Go check on Adrien in the meantime.” The man motioned to his secretary and let group of colorful heroes to his private study. As the doors closed he turned to the heroes. “Now. What is this urgent matter you need to discuss.”

“Like I mentioned, it’s about your son Mousier.”

“Adrien?” Gabriel grasped. “Did something happen to him? Is he in trouble?!” If Ladybug didn’t know the man as Marinette and didn’t suspect him of being hawkmoth she would actually think he cared about his son. 

“Yes. He is in big big trouble.” Pink Tigress practically growled. Marinette wondered if it was the mask or was her mother always like that but she didn’t show it. 

“Tigress. Control your emotions.” Ryuko scolded the newest heroine, but it was obvious she was having hard time herself.

“Ladybug. What is this all about?!” Gabriel shouted. “I demand an explanation.” He recomposed himself and fixed his tie.

“Well… Your son… He… You see…” Suddenly, the confidence Ladybug usually showed disappeared.

“What our Bug is trying to say is that we believe your son is Chat Noir.” Viperion offered some help to the distressed heroine.

“And how is that bad? If what you say is true I am proud of my son and his accomplishments in defending Paris. His mother would surely be proud.” The designer defended his son while acting confused. Except Ladybug saw right through the scene. It was too much out of character for Gabriel Agreste to be real. This confirmed it. He was Hawkmoth. 

“Except Chat Noir switched sides. He is a traitor. That is why Tigress reacted like that. For some time, he is working with Hawkmoth.” Ladybug straightened up and looked in the eyes of man before her. 

“What?! Perpeterous! My son would never do such thing. He was always loyal to those he considered family.” 

“If you could please call him in here, I would be happy to discuss some things with him in your presence if that’s okay.” The girl in red gave a weak smile and nodded toward the intercom.

Gabriel reluctantly walked to it and pressed a button. “Nathalie. Could you please bring Adrien in here?”

It wasn’t long before the secretary and prodigal son entered the room.

“You wished to see me father?” Adrien started, but then he noticed several heroes standing in there. “Oh! Ladybug? I am honored to meet you again.” In the back, Ryuko was stopping Pink Tigress from attacking by holding hand in front of her. Viperion was doing the same for Dragon-themed hero.

“Adrien Agreste.” Ladybug started in stern tone. “As the Great Guardian of Miraculous I hereby renounce your right to the Ring of Black Cat. You are no longer a hero of Paris or part of the team.” She grabbed his hand and was about to pull the ring when he chuckled. 

“So that’s it my lady? After all this time together you would end it just like that?” There was something dark in his face. “Plagg! Darkclaws out!”

Suddenly a black Kwami was sucked out of his pocket and entered the ring. In a flash of green light he was now Chat Noir, except instead his bell was now silver and his face was twisted. His features were more catlike and when he smiled he had fangs. Hearing the commotion, Gorilla barged into the room through other doors. He looked confused at the situation. He didn’t even mother with the fact that the entrance was locked and he kept holding the doorknob 

“Guess there is no more hiding it Father.” Adrien said. It could very well refer to him being Chat Noir, but Gabriel understood the suggestion.

“Indeed son. Nooroo! Darkwings rise!” There was another flash of light and Hawkmoth joined the fray.

“Duusu! Spread my feathers!” Nathalie was transformed into Mayura with the help of her booch. Only no longer it was damaged so she was now able to fight in full strength. 

Hawkmoth hit the floor with his cane, opening a small hole from which flew a white butterfly. “You’ve made a mistake Ladybug. Engaging me in my own home was a stupid strategy.” He then charged new Akuma and sent it at the Gorilla, who was still holding the doorknob. It entered the damaged object and transformed him into smaller version of gorizilla. “Now the chances are more fair, don’t you think?” He grinned maliciously at her.

“No. I think they will be equal about… now!” She shouted and tossed her Yo-Yo. It zoomed right past surprised Hawkmoth and Shattered the window. Through it jumped Spoiler, Red Robin and Robin, all already in battle stance.

“Ah. I see you called different help from the states. I guess I should be worried now?” The mocking tone from the villain was never that good. Suddenly, the floor on the right side lowered slightly making a ramp. From there, walked a lines of robots. “You like it? I got it from my own friend in America.” He gloated. This was not good. They needed new plan.

“Spoiler, Robin, Red Robin! I need you to take care of the robots. Tigress! Get Mayura. Ryuko. You will go after hawkmoth. Viperion! Take the Akuma out and then help Ryuko!” Ladybug started shouting new battle plans.

“What about you?” 

“I will take care of Chat Noir.” She stated and lunged at the irritating cat, who just stood there the whole time with a grin on his face. 

Ladybug used her Yo-Yo to attach to the roof before smashing into Chat Noir leg-first. The cat was pushed back and she proceeded with continous assault, switching between Tossing her weapon at him and using some of the moves she learned from maman over the years. 

This was like a spark. Immediately after Ladybug’s charge, other heroes also attacked. The battle has begun. At least until there was an ear-piercing cry of pain that got everyone’s attention.

——————————————————————————————————–

Taglist (sorry if I missed you)@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 @dragonflyswing @silverwhiteraven @shamefullove @magic-miraculous @valeks-princess @heaven428 @mlbchaosqueen @winter-gardenflower @spicybelladonna @emo-elaine13 @vetilora @karukofox21 @my-name-is-michell  @sturchling @lokiifriggasonn @redscarlet95 @melicmusicmagic @interobanginyourmom @the-fusionist @razzledazzle247 @miss-mysterys-blog @darkthunder1589 @i-is-mysterious @catthhay @the-one-woman-army @zestyzealot @dahjokester @write-for-your-life2 @mermaidreject @peachedpocky @sassakitty @dahjokester @crazylittlemunchkin @novicevoice @justafanwarrior @eliza-bitch @schrodingers25 @tired-butterfly @toodaloo-kangaroo @redscarlet95 @miukiiu @sassakitty @corabeth11 @vixen-uchiha

[emma-nation]

Thinking Of You (Mona x MC Fanfiction) - Chapter 8

You said move on Where do I go? I guess second best Is all I will know

Summary: Years later, Allison has everything she wants, a brand-new internship as a doctor, a handsome boyfriend… but her first nightshift won’t go as expected…

Genre: Romance, Angst

Tag list: @zoe6111, @simsvetements, @mvrinettes, @whoinvitedalx, @scarlet-letter-a0114, @abunchofbadchoices, @kamilahmademedoit, @janurary, @talkinlikeateen, @eagle-one-1, @andreear17, @tia-bi, @monagf, @monahott, @fal-carrington, @crazzyplays, @honorablebicycle​, @teja-desai​ (let me know if you want to be tagged!)

Notes:

- English is not my first language, forgive me for any mistakes.

“Party, Allison?” Mr. Wheeler questioned. “This is how you intend to catch a serial killer? By taking her to a party?”

“Dad, first we need to get the seller,” she explained. “And what place is better than a party to catch a drug dealer?”

“I did not assigned you to the mission so you could hang out with her. You have a fiancé, don’t you remember? And besides, there will be alcohol, sex and...”

“We’re no longer teenagers, dad. We know what we’re doing, right Mona?”

Mona was not even paying attention. She was sitting on the couch, focused on Allison’s laptop. She wasn’t hearing a single word of the argument, she just kept a concentrated look on the screen, while she typed uninterrupted.

“What?” She finally asked. “In case the two of you haven’t noticed, I have an essay to finish.”

“You don’t have to worry about it,” Mr. Wheeler told. “Bring me more suspects, more evidence. This is what you’re supposed to be doing in college. Once the mission is over, you’re out.”

“Right, I forgot that wasn’t for people like me,” she scowled, closing the laptop. “Thanks for the reminder, Pops.”

Mona left to the bedroom, leaving Allison alone with her father.

“Dad, she has been so engaged with this college thing. Why did you have to ruin it?”

“I didn’t ruin anything, Allison. That’s the truth. They’re only allowing Mona there for the mission.”

“B-But can’t we arrange anything, after this is over? I mean, look at her essay. She’s so incredibly smart. All the teachers are commenting her performance in classes. It’s the first time I really see her finding pleasure in anything, other than... her past habits.”

“I’m sorry, honey. This isn’t my business and neither should be yours. She has made her own choices and there’s nothing we can’t do to change it.”

Allison went to check on Mona, but after the argument with Mr. Wheeler, she was no longer social or even accessible. She followed to the guest room, where she was supposed to have one final conversation with Griffin about their engagement. Though he was online, he took a long time to pick up the call.

“Allison, baby. Hey.”

“Hey Griffin,” she sighed. “Do you finally have a moment so we can speak? It has been days I’ve been trying to...”

“I’m sorry, I’m very busy right now. Yellow Fever epidemics. Too many patients to check.”

Another excuse. Allison rolled her eyes. It was almost like he knew what she was about to tell him.

“It’s only for a few minutes,” she insisted, losing her patience. “Come on, you had time to fly to Spain over the weekend, but you don’t have a minute for me?”

Griffin’s expression suddenly darkened.

“S-Spain? I’ve never been in Spain, Allison. I’m trapped here in this small village, without internet signal most of the time. Trust me, we barely have water to drink!”

“Well, your phone was displaying a different location a few days ago.”

“Oh...” he looked down for a moment, pensive. “I had to sell my old phone. That’s it, the new owner must have forgotten to disable my ID. Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem, now can we...”

A message of lost signal was displayed on her screen. Allison punched the keyboard, frustrated.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

----------

When Mona woke up in the morning, she was still in a bad mood because of the Detective, who was only using her to do the job he was unable to. Things only got worse when she had an accidental meeting with Allison. In the bathroom. When she had just finished. What lead them to be awkward around each other for the next hour.

"My bad," she was getting used to pronounce those words.

"There'd be no problem, Mona," Allison's cheeks went red again, "if you hadn't stared for so long."

"I was only appreciating the view. I hadn't seen it in a while, so..."

"No! Please, can we just forget it?"

"It'll be kinda hard, but I promise I'll try my best."

"Mona!" Allison's face was reaching a new shade of red.

"Consider it unseen," she spoke as Detective Wheeler arrived in the kitchen. "But I liked it," she whispered.

Allison's father interrupted them with another command. The University's basketball team would be hosting a 'Welcome Game', though Mona didn't have the smallest interest in attending, now she'd be forced to.

"Keep an eye on your suspect," he ordered, "and on this guy."

He showed the picture of a slender young male.

"He's the star of the team. Has been reported to be exhibiting abnormal behavior over the last few weeks. Watch who he speaks to, before and after the game."

She didn't have much work, as soon as they arrived in the University, the famous basketball star was casually chatting with Brian, who went back to his dorm carrying a small package.

"It'll be easier than I thought," Mona thought, snapping some pictures.

Later in class, she finished her lab experiment before any other students, so she took the time to search for places to take Allison after the game, as an apology for the morning incident.

"How do you even do that?" Her lab partner whined by her side.

His name was Leon, the leader of the RPG club, and only member too. He bonded with Mona for being rejected by the rest of their classmates as well. Later, they found out they had more in common than they could’ve imagined. He was in love with a med student, who was already committed to another guy.

"Using my brain?"

"I'm using mine, but it just... don't react!"

"Like this," Mona did all the procedure again, triggering the correct chemical reaction.

"B-But..." Leon stared at her in shock. “I followed all the instructions!”

"Now write your report, I'm not doing this for you either."

As they finished writing, they began to chat. She learned Leon had good computer skills, what could be useful at some point, in case they needed to hack Brian's phone to obtain proof.

"And how are things going with Allison?" He wanted to know.

"The same," she told, hopeless. "She hasn’t broke up with the douchebag yet. I guess I’ll just have to force him out of my way.”

"Are you bringing her to the game tonight?"

"Yes, I was kinda planning something special for after the game, but I don't really know what she likes."

"Bowling Alley," he suggested. "They have this fabulous milkshake and I've managed to achieve success with a couple of dates in there."

"Thanks for the tip."

---------

"So let's recap the plan," Allison said before they entered the stadium. "I'll seduce Brian, while you break into his dorm room and get pictures of the drugs."

"He's a bastard, Allison," Mona disagreed. "I couldn't let you do this alone. You're coming with me, I've assigned someone else to keep an eye on him. While he's distracted at the game, both of us will break into his dorm."

"D-Did you told someone else about the investigation? My dad said we should be as secretive as possible."

"We could use a hacker. Besides, Leon is like a fluffy unicorn. Loyal as a puppy."

Before they follow to the basketball game, Mona inhaled deeply, getting courage enough to ask.

"Hey Allison, would you like to do something after the game? Leon suggested we should go to the Bowling Alley, but he has been developing this stupid game, and... I don’t wanna go by myself."

She knew things didn't end well the last time they went out, but this time was different. Allison had clearly expressed she was no longer interested in keeping her engagement.

"No. Way." Allison frowned, scaring her a little. Then, her expression softened again. "You're not allowed to make such an effort yet, remember?"

"Oh, the doc's back," Mona smiled. "Anyways, he said they have a great milkshake. We don't really have to play it."

"So I'm definitely in!"

Leon was sitting in a strategic spot as combined between he and Mona. For her surprise, and displeasure, there was somebody else among the crowd, sitting in the VIP area, her father.

"What on earth is this guy doing here?" She angered. "He's clearly stalking me!"

Soon she got her answer. Before the game started, he was announced as the team's new sponsor. He looked at her and winked.

"I wish I could just go down there and pull this smirk out of his face!"

"Hey," Allison held her steady. "Focus! You said he's no threat. Let's stick to our plan."

Through his laptop, Leon sent her a message. Brian had arrived and was sitting only a few meters away, in the middle of a group of girls.

"We're good to go."

Leaving the stadium, they followed straight to the male dorm. The game was only getting started, what meant they'd have a decent amount of time to search for evidence.

"Do you have his room's number?" Allison asked.

"Yes," Mona answered. "It's right around the corner."

At the corridor, they bumped into another person. Krista. She was just leaving one of the rooms.

"Remember, Doug. Ezekiel 18:21 for our studies this week. See you there!"

"Hide me, please," Mona begged, but it was too late. She had been spotted.

"Mona, hi!" The girl greeted. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the game."

"I... uh... Leon, my classmate. He forgot his wallet in his dorm room. I came here to get it for him."

"And this is...?" She looked at Allison.

"Allison," Allison introduced herself. "You look strangely familiar, have we met before?"

"Hmmm, I don't think so."

"Yeah, I'm much older than you anyways."

"Hey Krista," Mona decided to mess up with her a little bit, as a payback for the other day. "I've decided to get rid of my sinful car. I'd like to purchase one exactly like yours, how much did you pay for it?"

"Good for you, Mona," she looked a little bit unsettled. "I don't know how much it costed, it was a gift from my godfather. Anyways, I should go now. I have an essay to finish."

With a satisfied look, Mona followed to Brian's room where she started picking the lock.

"Remember, your dad said I could do anything to obtain proof. Right?"

"Yes," Allison confirmed. "I'm your witness."

As the door opened, they both covered their noses.

"Ugh, it smells like rotten cheese," Allison commented.

The room was an extreme mess, it was hard to decide where to start looking for evidence. Mona started by Brian's computer, where Allison opened opened some drawers.

"No way I'm touching that pile of clothes in the corner of the room," she told. "It stinks like something died under it."

"It can't be more disgusting than that," Mona pointed to the computer screen. "He's ranking the freshmen girls and... I've got a 10, for the tough girl attitude?"

"Not even Brian could resist you, huh?"

"No one can, babe. No one."

There was nothing on his e-mail, except for Football Newsletter and party advertising. Mona sighed frustrated.

"If you were hiding your drugs, where would you hide them?"

"Under the mattress?"

"Good one," Mona lifted up the mattress a little bit, to find... romance books. "Really?"

"Come on, he deep down he must be a softie! So, in the closet maybe?" Allison suggested, but before they could even act, the door opened. Brian was back earlier than expected.

“What are you two doing in my room?!” He shouted. “I’m calling campus security, right now!”

----------

“Will you, bad boy?” Mona teased, in a intimidating manner. “Because I’m sure the last thing you want are the cops here, in your room. Am I right?”

“Oh, do you think a little thief like you? I’d like to see you prove, before I get your ass expelled from the university.”

Allison stood frozen, looking at them both. Mona had that look on her face, from when she was ready to get in a physical fight with someone. That would jeopardize the entire investigation, besides getting them both kicked out from university. Without thinking any longer, she made a decision. This is exactly what a brainless moron like Brian would like to see.

“Actually,” she removed her shirt off, revealing a lacy violet bra. “We were preparing you a surprise.”

“Excuse me?!” Brian asked, staring at her features.

“Mona told me about you and how irresistibly hot you are...” she pushed him onto the bed, climbing on top of him. “I’m sorry she isn’t good showing her feelings. I decided to give her a little hand.”

“P-Please, go ahead...”

Brian was smiling broadly. Allison winked to Mona, who was in extreme shock, inviting her to go along with her plan.

“What would you like us to do now, huh?” Allison asked him, in a seductive tone. “Anything you want.”

“M-Make out. The two of you. Please!”

Allison looked at Mona, to see if she consented. She was too dazed make a move or gave her any answer. Instead, she took a step ahead, cupping Allison’s face between her hands carefully, before placing a small kiss on her lips. Allison knew that wouldn’t be enough. Not for Brian, and especially for herself.

She pulled Mona by the waist, bringing her closer as possible and deepening the kiss. For a long time, she hadn’t felt so much pleasure in her life. The softness of Mona’s lips devouring hers, their tongues moving together, it all brought her that burning sensation she had been desiring for years. She wished that moment would never end, prolonging the kiss as much as she could, until they were both out of breath.

“Now, take off your clothes!” Brian ordered, bouncing in excitement.

“Let’s finish this...” Mona grabbed a pair of handcuffs from her pockets and restrained him on the bed post.

“Hell yeah, baby! It’s gonna get kinky here!”

“Where did you get those?” Allison asked curious.

“I stole from your father. I thought they could be useful at some point. Now go, finish searching his desk. I’ll check to the closet.”

“Wait...” Brian was confused. “What’s going on here? Are you guys cops?”

“Sort of,” Allison answered, irritated, “and if you open your mouth again, I’m going to gag you!”

Mona emerged from the closet, with the package she had previously seen Brian carrying in the morning.

“The party is over, bad boy.”

“No, please,” he begged as she unwrapped it. “D-Don’t tell anyone, I-I... I’ll pay you! My dad has a lot of money.”

“Oh shit,” Mona exclaimed, staring at the content. Allison approached, noticing some familiar blue pills.

“Really, Brian?” Allison tried to muffle a laugh. “We thought you were a drug dealer and you...”

“Can’t get it to work properly?” Mona completed, bursting into laughs.

“I have a medical condition, okay?! And if you ever tell this anyone, I’m going to kill you both!”

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.”

“As long as our secret is safe too. And stop harassing girls, I mean it.”

After uncuffing him, the three of them sat down to talk about their task and what had been going on. Brian assured he wasn’t involved in any kids of drug dealing and would warn them in case he noticed anything suspicious, as long as his big secret was safe.

“I felt bad for him in the end,” Allison said as they left the room.

“Yeah, me too. All this jerk act he plays is because he...” Mona started laughing again, “has issues down there.”

Suddenly loud screaming and a big commotion started coming from all places in the University. Mona and Allison’s phones started ringing at the same time. The basketball player had fallen unconscious in the middle of the game. He had been hospitalized in a life-threatening condition.

“Stay where you are,” Mr. Wheeler ordered through the phone. “We need to check his dorm for evidence.”

----------

The police wasn’t able to find anything at the young athlete’s dorm, every evidence had been professionally cleaned. Their only hope were the surveillance cameras footage, that could’ve been caught who last entered his room.

Mr. Wheeler asked them both to go home. There was nothing else for them to do in there. Mona remained silent inside her car, blaming herself for aiming at the wrong suspect. Allison insisted and they stopped at the Bowling Alley as planned.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she told Mona, as they shared a milkshake. “It happens all the time with my dad and he has been a high-skilled detective, for years.”

“I should’ve known better,” Mona shook her head in denial. “We’re dealing with an expert, Allison. A psychopath. They don’t usually show this dark side of them. We need to start aiming for someone more... normal.”

“Any suspects?”

“None yet, but I’ll be thinking about it.”

Allison let out a deep and weary sigh.

“Jeez, I never thought this could be so intense and emotional. Even if we were just faking all the time.”

There was something else that wouldn’t leave Mona’s mind. That kiss. Was it only part of the role or Allison had true intentions when she decided to go deeper into it?

“Were we faking all the time?” Mona asked.

Allison looked down, avoiding her gaze for a moment.

“Not at all,” she finally answered, biting her lower lip.

Mona approached her, lifting up her chin.

“Would you mind doing it again? Only to be sure it was real?”

Mona leaned forward, her lips only one breath away from Allison’s. She hesitated for a moment, then placed a hand on Mona’s chest and slightly pushed her away.

“Would you mind waiting only a little longer? I still need to break off my engagement. I feel bad for doing this to Griffin. While I no longer have feelings for him, we had an entire history together.”

“I’ve waited eight years,” Mona grinned. “What’s only a few more days, right?”

“Yeah,” Allison grabbed her hand, “until the weekend I’ll be free. I promise you.”

As soon as they got home, Detective Wheeler was already waiting for them with a scowl on his face. He advanced in Mona’s direction, pinning her against the wall.

“You! You’ve ruined my investigation!” He yelled. “I’ll assure you’ll get severely punished for that!”

“Dad!” Allison shouted, pushing him aside. “What are you saying? We followed the wrong lead, and so did you, multiple times!”

“Allison, she included a total stranger in the investigation. This kid named Leon. The security cameras’ footage is gone. Considering his computer skills, he’s our main suspect now.”

“L-Leon would never do that,” Mona argued, Allison could tell she was somehow scared. “I-I was in contact with him the whole time... he was sitting at the stadium, watching the game for us!”

“While he hacked into the security system and erased everything! Now, because of your irresponsibility, we’ll need to contact the company in charge of campus’ security and attempt to retrieve footage from their server. It’s going to take weeks! Do you have any idea of how many people will die until then?”

Mona stared at the open tab on the Detective’s laptop, the security company’s website and then she realized...

“Leon didn’t do it. This security system is 99,9% impossible to be hacked. And don’t worry. Until the weekend you’re getting your footage, Detective.”

“And how can you be so sure?”

“My mom developed this security system and trust me, you don’t wanna mess with her tech skills.”

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #68

UPDATE 68: Chess Metaphors and All That

Last time the Undersiders had gone to the meeting to discuss the Slaughterhouse Nine’s presence in Brockton Bay, but Hookwolf played dirty, painting the Undersiders and the Travelers as opportunists jerkasses who were taking over the city, taking advantage of the crisis. Ignored by everyone including Coil, all they could do was go away. Let’s continue.

Well as expected, nobody among the Undersiders is happy. Grue has been cursing all the way back to the shore. The Travelers were already at the shore, ready to leave. Will they confer before parting? They may want to talk about how Coil, uh, ‘bent us over and fucked us’, as Grue so succinctly put it. Quite the poet, Grue is.

“I dunno,” Tattletale answered.  “That might have been the only way for him to play things, with the way his power and operations work.”

Eh, I’d be more willing to believe that if it wasn’t for Coil’s surprise when the Undersiders tried to reject the proposal and wanted to stay. It seemed like he really hadn’t expected it. Despite his power and operations, he’s not some sort of omniscient person, there are things he won’t see coming.

You know, I wonder how many moles Coil has in different organizations and stuff. Trainwreck and...uh...that kid from the Wards are the ones I’m aware of that are alive right now. No idea who else may be a mole. Could he have one in the Protectorate? That would be rather cool, in some twisted way.

Doesn’t it make sense that he’d assist us by being one himself?  I get the impression he likes the control it affords him and the amount of information he can get this way.

And now he can control how much information you get about this topic. Well, surely he knows Tattletale will be able to get more through her cleverness and her power, but he’ll still try to give them only the information he thinks they should have. Knowing Worm and how badly things go, they’ll miss that little vital information that’d save them so much trouble, and that’ll fuel one or two arcs. If that happens, then I bet it’ll be something related to Jack Slash – he’s the big target here!

To avoid being left in the dark, the Travelers sent Genesis to spy on the meeting with a subtler form, and so did the Undersiders by leaving Imp behind – although that was unintentional. They didn’t notice she wasn’t with them until they were at the shore. Her power is both a blessing and a curse! The problem they have with Imp staying behind is that they don’t have a perfect guarantee Imp can spy and stay unnoticed.

Personally I think it’ll be okay. By sheer odds it’s possible someone among them will notice Imp, but even if someone does notice her, she won’t stay in their awareness. I remember a couple arcs ago Skitter was having problems remembering Imp’s presence, even after knowing Imp was around. I see no reason for something similar to happen here, if she’s discovered.

Of course, nobody in the Undersiders follow my train of thought, because mine has the benefit of being the reader of this story and therefore I’m privy to Skitter’s point of view which allowed me to think all that stuff, so...yeah, they’re rather worried! So much Grue tells Skitter to send bugs to make sure Imp will be okay.

“The bugs,” he said, “I could have told Genesis to stick around while you scouted, wait, no. Why send Imp if you have the bugs?”

They didn’t send her on purpose. She sure as heck stayed behind on purpose, that I’m sure about, but it wasn’t like everyone else knew except maybe Tattletale. Anyway, what he means here is that why didn’t Skitter use bugs instead of Imp to spy.

Riiiight, I don’t think Skitter had described before how her bugs’ senses felt. It’s so different to how humans use their senses.

It’s all black and white blotches, high-pitched squeals and bass throbs.

No wonder she can’t understand the bugs’ senses, and why touch is the only one that works. Even if their size is...much tinier than herself, in general the touch should be more or less the same, right? And now that she knows it’s possible for her brain to process the bugs’ complete information, she’ll try to improve her powers. Nice!

Since they have to wait for Imp and Genesis to return, why not to return to Ballistic’s HQ and discuss what they know? Maybe the Travelers will tell them Crawler paid a visit to Coil’s underground hideout. Unlikely, but I’m not ruling it out. Regent starts by informing he was visited, and that it was his sister who came to see him. Armsmaster was another, which is already public information.

“The, uh, sixth member of the Travelers is the next recruit, I guess,” Trickster admitted. “Crawler hit Coil’s place.”

Close enough. No details, but this is enough. All the Undersiders have to know is that Crawler hit Coil’s place. That’s it. Hookwolf is included in the list, and thanks to how bad Faultline’s crew looked, they guess they were another target. That leaves three candidates still unknown. No way they’ll find out Panacea was visited, Heckpuppy is keeping this as a secret but maybe someone will guess, and Purity...hm. Well if someone will find out, it’ll be at the meeting.

Nope, nobody guessed anything. Waiting time. Waiting without masks. They’re all together in the same situation, the pariahs of Brockton Bay.

“I was under the impression that the Slaughterhouse Nine were pretty much unbeatable.”

Not really. Honestly, it’s kind of surprising how beatable they are – individually, for the most part. The whole thing about having to look for new members proves it. Hatchet Face, the one that sounds kind of invincible thanks to its power disabling skill, died. All things considered it’s kind of amazing Jack Slash is still alive. He must be rather shrewd to stay alive for so long, with the entire world’s parahumans against him, so to say.

The only plan right now is that confronting them head on won’t work. Well, yeah, that’s a given.

Thing is, Dinah told us that our odds against these bastards aren’t good.  Our chances of winning are pretty low, and it’s pretty damn likely we’ll get killed if we confront them head on.

Even if there’s a moment where the odds aren’t too bad, surely it’ll be a fleeting moment, available for such a short amount of time it’s impossible they’ll know in time they can do something. The task of killing Jack Slash looks pretty difficult...although now I’m curious what Dinah would say if she was asked what are the odds Theo will succeed at Jack’s challenge. If only that could be asked, but alas, nobody can do that. Unless...unless Purity tells everyone at the meeting about it and Coil gets curious enough to ask. Would she? I’m not sure. Even if she did, I doubt Coil would put all their hopes in some kid’s luck in something that’ll take place in like two years.

I had barely finished that train of thought when this meeting takes a turn to directions I’m not sure where they’re going. Trickster is connecting a computer so Noelle – the gal in the vault – can talk to everyone here. Ah, could it be they’re going to show who Crawler was coming for? I don’t think we even have a description of her! Or what her power is. It must be powerful in its own way if it got the attention of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Trickster pressed a button on the keyboard and then turned to us, “Tattletale.  I’ll be as quick as I can.  Coil promised he’d get you to help us, but he’s taken his time introducing you to our group.  The cynic in me suspects there’s a reason, and the pessimist in me says that reason is that he’s already figured out what you’re going to tell us, and it isn’t going to be pretty.

I doubt Coil saw this coming too. Yeah, Trickster isn’t an idiot, and I’m sure even a blind person could know Coil’s hiding a thousand secrets. That said, if the reason why Coil isn’t doing anything is because he knows something the Travelers and/or Noelle won’t want to hear, well, then it must be something big, because the Travelers’ willingness to help relies on this, if I remember correctly. What’s up with this, Coil?

Once Tattletale is told to lie and pretend like she’s working on...whatever Coil should have told her to do, the connection is established. The physical description of Noelle does show she’s ill, and raises the possibility she’s being drugged – likely possibility. She’s kept in a vault; drugs can be another way to keep her subdued for who knows what reason. Must be pretty awful if Coil’s keeping her in a vault.

The lies go smoothly enough. Tattletale manages to be reassuring and says it’s...doable. Did she deduce what she’s supposed to be looking for? Wouldn’t be surprised if she did! Trickster cuts the conversation once he judged Tattletale had lied enough, and changes topics back to the theme of this arc. Slaughterhouse Nine, how to deal with them?

Wait, does she knows Crawler wanted to see her? That may be important for her to know.

“We need our old field commander’s brain on the Slaughterhouse Nine sitch.”

“A distraction would be nice,” Noelle smiled for the first time.

Field commander.  She used to be the leader of their group?  I wondered if I could dig up any information about her if I hunted far enough back.

Unlikely they’ll tell anything about Noelle, given the secrecy about her. But hey, Skitter, maybe you’ll have to rescue two people from Coil’s clutches instead of just one. It depends on what’s up with Noelle and why she’s in a vault, but if you can defeat Coil, then surely you can help Noelle with whatever she needs.

To illustrate how much power each member of the Slaughterhouse Nine has, Trickster uses chess metaphors.

“The way I see it, their leader is like the king in chess.  More raw power than a pawn, but in the end, he’s simultaneously the second weakest piece in the game and the one everything hinges on.  We take him down without getting massacred in the process, I think we win.”

How much range does Jack’s knives have, again? A lot, you say? A very powerful king piece, then. Anyway, while he’s the objective and all that, I’m starting to think his death may not stop anything. Bonesaw exists, she can do stuff with dying parahumans, and it seems she’s a devout follower of Jack. She could keep him alive with some disturbing surgery. Maybe getting rid of Bonesaw is necessary too.

“Right. Siberian’s like the queen.  She’s fast, mobile, one of the strongest physically, and the bitch of the matter is, she can’t be taken off the board, and she can’t be contained.  A special queen, if you will.  Physically she’s an unstoppable force and an immovable object any time she wants to be.”

It’s like someone glued the queen piece to the board and attached turrets to the head of the piece. You can’t expect an even match when she exists. Curse her invincibility power. Heckpuppy fidgets when the Siberian is mentioned, Skitter doesn’t seem to interpret it in any specific way.

“Then there’s Crawler, who visited us the other night.  Maybe not as fast or agile as Siberian, and he can be contained, but he can’t be taken off the board.  A special rook.”

...you know what? Aegis is someone I thought was pretty much invincible thanks to his regeneration power, and how any injuries, no matter how bad they were, could be healed rather quickly, yet he died. Crawler doesn’t work exactly the same, but maybe there’s a way to circumvent his regeneration power too? Also stop making up special pieces, Trickster, you’re reminding me of my middle school classmates when they played chess.

“Shatterbird and Burnscar are like bishops.  They’ve got mobility, reach, and they can bury you damn fast if you don’t have the right kind of cover.”

Burnscar seems a good place to start, when it’s about a confrontation. She seems somewhat agreeable as long as she’s not so upset she makes more and more fires. Shatterbird...yeah, no. Stay away from her. Her power is as versatile as Skitter’s, and it’d take very specific places to fight her without she having any glass around her. No way she’d let herself be trapped anywhere.

“What about Mannequin?  Another rook?”  I asked.

“I’d peg him a knight.  He’s more close range, but he’ll catch you from an oblique angle, maybe slip past whatever defences you think you have.”

Do the ventilation tubes count as an oblique angle? He wasn’t being very stealthy back then!

Since Regent knows Cherish, he should be able to assign a fitting piece for her.

“My sister. I don’t know if you could call her a third bishop or a knight.  Long range on her power, gets stronger as she gets closer.  Affects your emotions and as far as I’m aware, there’s no way to defend against it or to take cover.  If she decides she wants to hurt you or make you hurt yourself, she can find you and she’ll make it happen.”

And very spiteful, to boot. Spite is a powerful incentive to make stuff happen. I’d say she’s a knight, because she not only has long range, she also is clever enough to bypass natural defenses such as Hatchet Face’s nullifying power. And also because I refuse to imagine a third bishop. This really is back to my middle school chess matches, geez.

There’s no clear way on how to counter Cherish. There’s a vague plan about using Skitter’s own ranged power to attack her, but...I don’t really think it’ll work. By virtue of being on the Slaughterhouse Nine, Cherish needs to die, and I don’t think Skitter will start killing, no matter how much of a threat they are. Pluck eyes out, yes, murder, no.

Bonesaw is the last one who needs a piece assigned, but there’s none that fit. Allow me to give you a comparison, then! How about she’s the player! She’s not a mastermind or anything like that – yet – but she has some fearsome skills. She’ll fuse together a few chess pieces and make a monstrosity that can’t even stand up on the board. Hah! Okay, no, in a more serious comparison, she could move mere pawns to the other end of the board and turn them into a better piece. She also would try hard to keep Jack Slash safe, and he’s the king so...so yeah, the player may be a good enough equivalent!

On the side of the Undersiders and everyone else there are lots of pieces, with no cooperation with each other. So it’s like there are six or so different players on this side of the board, eh? They all have powers they can use well, and I’m sure with cooperation and skill they could do something good by using their combined expertise against their enemies when the time comes, but that’s a bit too much of a tall order. I don’t think the Travelers trust the Undersiders much, and there’s also Heckpuppy, who’s still hiding she was another person who was almost recruited. That shows lack of trust, or it could be a fierce independence that doesn’t want to yield to teamwork. It could be both.

“We know in advance, pretty much for a fact, that if any of us, Undersider or Traveler, try to fight these bastards, we’re going to lose, and we’ll lose hard.”

“Tattletale say that?” Noelle asked.

“Coil did,” Trickster answered.

Then there’s no room for argument. What I wonder is if there will ever be a chance to fight them. I mean...yeah! I as a reader can say there’s a 100% chance there is! Because no way the main characters won’t have an intense fight versus the current big villains of the story. But I’m curious what Dinah would say regarding the odds. Would she announce very high odds the Undersiders will fight the Slaughterhouse Nine at some point? Or would she say it’s very, very small odds and therefore when it happens it’ll be a surprise for the characters? I think any of those options would work!

It seems Noelle doesn’t know anything about Dinah. Not surprising Coil didn’t tell his other prisoner – even if she’s a willing prisoner to some extent – about Dinah.

The scenario Noelle puts is rather...dire. Their enemies are cheating, so either the Undersiders and Travelers Dream Team -- from now on called the Dream Team for convenience – cheat back, or don’t play the way they want you to play. The second option is their choice.  This will require some discussion, starting with defining what they want from their journey to Brockton Bay.

They want a ninth member, that’s clear already. They want to kill people and have fun, which is...well that’s to be expected, that’s what the Slaughterhouse Nine are known for. They want to be the predators, so...

“They want to be the predators, we make them prey,” Noelle said.  She was looking more animated again.

Iiiii don’t have the slightest idea how that will be possible, especially if only the Dream Team works on this.

The suggestion, following the chess metaphor this chapter has been centered on, is to change the game. I missed the part as to what equivalent non-metaphorical action should be made, unfortunately. Trickster suggests changing to Go, but that’s more fitting for the conquest of the city. Noelle, though...

“Shogi?” Noelle suggested.

Shogi.  I got her meaning almost immediately, and I wasn’t alone. Tattletale, the Travelers and I all looked at Regent.

Ah, I get it. I’m not knowledgeable about shogi, but if I remember correctly, you can use captured pieces as yours in some circumstances. Are they insinuating they’ll try to convince some of the Slaughterhouse Nine members to betray the group and work with the Dream Team? That’s...extremely risky. And maybe possible, but there won’t be many that’ll even consider it. Let’s see...

I’d say Burnscar is the one with the biggest odds of leaving the group. Aaaand...that’s it. I can’t think of anyone else. I suppose that it’s possible Cherish is another one who maybe could consider it, but she has her own plans and I doubt she’d leave them aside unless they’re doomed to fail, and it’ll be a while before it fails – because I’m sure it won’t work, it just will be some time before that particular plotline is done with.

My assessment of what shogi meant was kind of correct, just that instead of convincing and appealing to them to betray, they’ll use Regent’s power. Ah. Of course, how could I forget that. Jack and Bonesaw are targets everyone else will protect, the Siberian won’t work, Crawler and Mannequin are hard to contain, and Cherish is Regent’s sister, so that leaves Burnscar and Shatterbird. Well! It’d be great if they could control Shatterbird!

Genesis over there at Coil’s headquarters is waking up, and that means the meeting Hookwolf organized is over. Neat! Maybe next chapter they’ll say what everyone discussed over there. Better pick up Imp!

Trickster stays behind, Sundancer and Ballistic will accompany the Undersiders to pick up Imp. They coo over the ball of fluff Heckpuppy brought, and wonder why she had to bring it. The reply was that she brought him along because she had to get him used to her presence. That’s enough for Tattletale to realize what exactly the pup is, but there are more important matters to be worried about now.

Four of the Slaughterhouse Nine were stepping through the entrance of the parking garage.

...okay! This...happened sooner than I expected! It’s Jack, Bonesaw, the Siberian and Cherish. Are they coming to check on their two potential recruits?  That’ll have to be seen next chapter! Which will be...now! Onwards!

“This is not an exit.  Kudos for the reference,” Tattletale said.

It flew right over my head. I don’t have the slightest idea what the reference was.

Since fighting the Slaughterhouse Nine, even if they’re four members won’t work due to the Siberian’s invincible presence here, Skitter tries to think of alternatives. Fighting’s not an option, but maybe, she thinks, maybe they could run away through clever use of insects and Grue’s darkness.

“What’s this?” Cherish asked, cutting off my train of thought. “Someone thinks she’s had a clever idea.  A bit of hope and inspiration there.”

Okay, that’s clever of her, to deduce Skitter had potentially thought of something, based on the feelings of hope. Why would someone feel hope when facing the Slaughterhouse Nine? That must be her reasoning, I suppose.

Cherish, this isn’t the time to get pretentiously poetic, geez. Just point at Skitter and say ‘that one’ instead of saying an entire paragraph of smug nonsense. Jack has more patience than me, or maybe he likes when other Slaughterhouse Nine members ramble about their potential targets, and tells Skitter to not dare to do anything…foolish.

“The same goes for the rest of you, but I’m sure you know that.  One or two of you could kill me right now, I’m sure, but you’d die horribly for your trouble, and I doubt any of you are that suicidal.”

Did he know about the role he was going to play in the end of the world?  It might change his stance and self-assuredness.

He sure is lucky nobody here would be willing to put their own life in jeopardy to try to save the world. Or maaaaaaybe someone would if there was a guaranteed chance they’d succeed. Jack doesn’t seem to suspect at all he’ll end the world, I don’t know him that well yet, but I think if he knew, he’d be proud of that. I mean, unless he has standards of some sort and doesn’t want to end the world and everything’s an accident waiting to happen, which I doubt.

The reason why they’re here is because they want to say hi to the potential recruits. Aha, thought so. That’s why the Siberian and Cherish are here. Bonesaw tagged along because she wants to meet the possible new members of her family. Ah…she’s supposed to be around fifteen years old or so, right? Her behavior is quite unsettling. I think it’s because it’s befitting of someone younger. If that was intentional, which I think it is, then well done, Mr. Wildbow.

Ah, right, the tests. They’re here to give the candidates the tests. Bonesaw is saying she wants to be original – no doing the same she did with past candidates – and fair. Iiiii will take the part about fairness with some reluctance. Somehow I can’t take that seriously.

The cat’s out of the bag! Or maybe it’s the dog that’s out of the bag, as nonsensical as that is. Bonesaw wastes no time in outright saying who exactly are the candidates they came to visit.

I felt a chill. All at once, Bitch’s presence behind me felt ominous.  She’d been picked by the Nine, and even when asked, she hadn’t said a thing about it. Why?

I wouldn’t blame them for thinking Heckpuppy is considering to join them. I still think maybe she won’t, but there’s reasons for everyone else to feel uneasy.

I’m completely unsurprised Jack knew they were planning to kill them. The entire group must be used to that, right? And although they’re ruthless killers, they’re not stupid. They wouldn’t crash Hookwolf’s meeting for...what? One person over there? Since I think Labyrinth isn’t over there Hookwolf would be the only candidate around? Leaving that aside, at least this is a chance to find out more about the tests! This will be interesting!

Mannequin always asks candidates to alter themselves in a way that costs them something. Siberian waits until half the candidates have been discarded and then hunts the remainder.

‘Costs them something’ is a bit of a vague thing. Does that mean the candidate can pick by themselves what they’ll lose? And Mannequin judges if it was a worthy loss, perhaps? The Siberian is...well it’s rather straightforward. She’s an invincible attacker who can’t be stopped. She’ll catch the prey at some point and that can’t end well, can it.

“And if we fail?” Regent asked, “We die?”

“No, no,” Jack smiled.  “Nobody passes every test, and the punishment for failing a test is up to the individual who assigned it.  Sometimes death, yes.  Sometimes something different.  But it’s always worse.”

Sounds to me like if you fail the Siberian’s test you die. That’s the one test nobody can allow themselves to fail! Not that...failing any other would have good results...

Also! I dread to know what test Cherish’s going to make her brother go through. She’s having way too much fun ruining him. She’ll take the chance and pummel him into the ground metaphorically, I bet.

Regent asks what Cherish had to do in her tests, and says it’s just idle curiosity. Well then! I’m curious too! I hope they do answer that question!

They are! Alright! This will give an idea of what kind of thing to expect from them, what kind of experiences Regent and Heckpuppy will go through. I don’t think they can get help during them, but perhaps they can prepare? Anyway! Onwards! Reading bit by bit because it’s of a lot of interest.

She killed Hatchet Face.  Crawler took that as his test completed in advance, didn’t think of her as worth his time.

Crawler sounds like a hella passive-aggressive guy. Not exactly what I expected from the mutated regenerator that’s likely to not even be human anymore.

Little Bonesaw, for her test, designed a parasite that would stay in her system for forty-eight hours and strip her of her powers for as long as it remained.

So...that means Bonesaw is likely to use her powers to engineer something to use in her test. The possibilities are virtually limitless, in that case.

There’s something so gross about the thought of drinking blood...

Siberian went after her, starting on day two of Bonesaw’s parasitic infection.  Three days and three nights of cat and mouse. To her credit, she did very well. It came down to a hair.  Another ten minutes and Siberian might have caught her a third time.

That’s much longer than I thought it’d be! How do you hide for such a long time from somebody who’s pretty much guaranteed to catch you? Well, looks like there’s a limit of three attempts and that’s a bit better, but not that much. It’s more fun for the Siberian and more tension for the person being tested.

“Shatterbird likes the psychological tests, and she was in a hell of a mood after Cherish nominated herself for the team.  Our Cherie didn’t have five minutes to rest before Shatterbird drove her into a room and sealed her in.  No food, no light, barely any water.  The room was empty, but for one glass shard.  Always edging towards her, ready to prick, cut, slice and stab the second she stopped, the moment she tried to rest.”

...he says it’s psychological. Everything’s making it sound like it’s an endurance test, what with the shard following her and trying to catch her, but it’s my opinion that maybe the trick in this test is that there’s no glass shard. Cherish couldn’t see anything because there’s no light, and unless it’s going so fast it’s impossible to dodge it she wouldn’t hear it. I think it’s possible there wasn’t any danger all along, and Shatterbird pretty much forced Cherish to move constantly for a long while, always afraid she’d get stabbed anytime, never knowing where the glass may be coming from. That may be the point of that test.

Also, guess that confirms part of the reason why so many hate Cherish so much is because she was so arrogant as to force herself into the group, eh? Nobody invited her and that’s what’s ticking them off so much!

I shivered. Jack hadn’t said how long that lasted, but after three days and three nights without sleep, even a few hours like that would have been nightmarish.

What, did the Siberian never sleep either? Anyway, I don’t think there’ll be confirmation or anything, but it sounds to me like Shatterbird’s test was meant to last at the very least a couple days. Days of pure panic and frantically moving around with very little water and nourishment. It’s almost admirable Cherish is still sane.

There was a clue there, too.  Credit to Regent for getting Jack to let it slip. Shatterbird had more offensive range than Cherish, if she was able to trap the girl and use the shard without getting affected in retaliation.  It wasn’t much, but it was a tidbit of information, a piece for the puzzle.

Well that’s if there really was a piece of glass, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful and suppose she has quite a lot of range.

Burnscar’s test, she failed.  Afraid I’m not spoiling that one.  Doesn’t have the same impact if you know it’s coming.

I don’t have the slightest idea of what it could be. Maybe it was fire-related? But yeah, I can’t imagine what Burnscar’s test was – or what its punishment was.  Guess I’ll know for sure once she gives her test to Regent and/or Heckpuppy. Hey, what if that’s the best chance to capture and use her for the possible plan of having a puppet among them? Could be worth a try!

Mannequin and Jack’s tests were left. It was already mentioned Mannequin wants the candidates to modify themselves in some way, but it was never mentioned Cherish had anything strange on herself, back when she met Regent. I wonder what could it be...

It’s a tattoo. It may not sound impressive in concept, but that’s because what’s awful about the tattoo is what it represents. Before that, right, there’s this:

“She told the artists to make it so ugly she’d want to kill them.  If she didn’t, she promised to kill their loved ones and then kill them.  Took six artists in total.  Inspired.”

Wow, that’s...really cruel to everyone involved, Cherish included. She knew Mannequin wouldn’t tolerate it being half-assed, obviously, but she seriously made sure it’d be so horrible she’d hate it. Not horrible in terms of quality, of course, because the quality is amazing, the epithets surrounding the body of the tattoo are embossed and everything – painful process, I bet. It’s horrible in terms of concept. I can only imagine how unwillingly having that on you must feel. Good decision to put it on the back, at least. She won’t have to look at it.

It’d have been difficult to make a more harrowing experience, but Jack thinks he managed to do it. He makes her turn around and there on her front there’s another tattoo just as grotesque and awful as the one on her back. Well...he’s right. It must have been hard to do it once, and then she had to do it again.

“I made her do the other six tests all over again.”

Okay, I think for once I feel sorry for her.

“I even brought back Hatchet Face for Crawler’s test again!” Bonesaw grinned.  “No surprise attack that time.  That was one of the three tests she failed in round two, I was so proud of him!”

She failed three tests? Let’s see...can’t have been Bonesaw’s, because the parasite would have taken away her powers. Can’t be the Siberian’s because Cherish is alive right now. Can’t be Mannequin or Jack’s because, well, obvious reasons. That means she failed Shatterbird’s test? Somehow? I suppose the lose condition would be that the shard reached her? Maybe there was a shard, after all. And she must have failed Burnscar’s test again, so it’s not something that you can do better by trying again.

Seeing Cherish’s shoulders draw together, her expression darken as memories came to mind, the ugly tattoos that guaranteed she would never be able to leave this behind and get a completely fresh start, never have a boy look at her body and just be hungry for her… I had to look away.  I knew she was the worst sort of person, I just didn’t know how much of that came before the tests.

Well...she must have been a rather messed up person in the first place, what with wanting to get herself into the Slaughterhouse Nine and plot to make them gradually fall under her thrall, but these tests sure didn’t help make her any better.

“Well, sis,” Regent said, “I thought you were running headlong into a fate worse than death. I stand corrected.  You’re already there, and you did it to yourself.”

I hope she feels her plans are worth it, because otherwise she shot her own foot with a gun of the highest caliber possible. After all this either she tries to go all the way through with her plans, without reconsidering at all, or she breaks apart because of everything she did to herself just for nothing. Either way Cherish is likely to not end well at all.

Tattletale, true to her usual role in these confrontations, starts attempting her usual manipulations, taunting Cherish about her inability to get rid of anyone, hiding behind the Slaughterhouse Nine to do the hard work. Eh. Maybe she’s trying to get a grip on how much influence she already has on them. Jack doesn’t seem particularly interested, though, he does want to hear why Cherish is relying on them so much, even for something as simple as this. Cherish doesn’t take it well.

“Fuck that. You’re getting predictable, old man. You want to keep things amusing for yourself, you know you’re as smart as anyone else in the room, so you take the hard road so it won’t be too easy.  Why not have Siberian eat her?  Can’t you imagine the looks on her friend’s faces when they can’t do a thing to save her?  I bet it’d light a fire under their asses, rev them up for the tests.  Maybe they’ll even throw themselves headlong into it, to spare the rest.”

“Now who’s trying something?” Tattletale asked.  “She’s trying to manipulate you.”

No kidding she’s trying to manipulate them, that was painfully transparent. They’d have to be really dense to not notice it, and Jack is definitely not dense. No wonder she has to use her emotion manipulation powers to make others do what she wants, because she’d be downright awful at manipulating them otherwise.

Hoh! Just a moment later Tattletale decides to reveal Cherish’s plan. I thought it’d be like an arc or two before that was revealed to them!

“Do you know she’s playing a long con?  She’s setting you guys up, using her power to pull your strings and make you attached to her. Half a year to a year, she’ll probably have you wrapped around her little finger,” a slow smile spread across Tattletale’s face.

There we go, it’s out in the open. I doubt they’ll take kindly to such manipulations, and simply killing her won’t be enough. Heck, I doubt it’ll happen here. Something for an interlude, perhaps?

I was still wondering if it’d be for an interlude when something else happens...to Tattletale, that is. Skitter just got blood splashed on her, and I doubt Grue would be screaming ‘you bastard!’ if he had gutted Cherish right in front of them. I’m almost afraid of scrolling down a bit because whatever happened to Tattletale is bound to be unpleasant. I doubt she’s dead, but it’ll be bad nonetheless.

Jack cut from the edge of the mouth all the way to the back of her face, where the bones of the jaw connect, I think. Can be pretty bad, depending on how deep the cut was. If it tore the muscle, which I think is likely...well this is going to need a lot of medical attention. Mere stitches won’t solve this.

To stop any potential retaliation, the Siberian stands in front of Jack while he monologues about how he was looking forward to Cherish’s plans falling apart.

“Bonesaw and I even had a plan in mind.  I wanted to see what she did, how she worked around Siberian’s immunity to her power… then the safeguards Bonesaw implanted in us would have kicked in and released us from her thrall, and oh, the look on her face.  To have seen that would have been so very worth all the trouble.  And that girl just spoiled it all.”

You know, I bet they let her join the Slaughterhouse Nine just for that, just to see her despair. All of them even had safeguards. So this is why Jack was so upset, Tattletale ruined everything. I don’t know why it never crossed my mind Jack would see right through Cherish and take measures already.

Cherish is as good as dead. Or worse. My bet is that Bonesaw has plans already.

While Jack does all that, Skitter focuses on trying to aid Tattletale, without much success. It’s too much blood, Jack idly remarks she’ll die of blood loss before anyone can do anything. I certainly hope not! It’d be very out of the blue for one of the Undersiders to die right now. It would be a bad attempt to manipulate emotions in the reader, just as bad as Cherish’s manipulation attempts are. She’s not going to die.

Right, the purpose of Jack and pals coming to see the candidates was to warn them there were some measures the Slaughterhouse Nine would take to ensure the, uh, heroes they contacted will cooperate. It’s biological warfare. Courtesy of Bonesaw, most likely. Panacea’s not going to be in condition to help with this.

The warnings are that they should stick to bottled water for the time being. Since that means rainwater and the such isn’t an option, I suppose it’ll be airborne yet...transmittable only through liquids? Like the virus, germ or whatever needs water in order to be activated? The other warning is that Shatterbird will do what Shatterbird does, and make all glass and sand explode. Little more than half an hour for that. Skitter panics, immediately thinking she has to go warn everyone in her territory. I hope she’s not too far from there. Also a good thing she has a cellphone to call her dad with, right?

Right before the Slaughterhouse Nine leave, Tattletale makes another effort to try to get their attention. Talking’s not an option, she writes: ‘Deal’. Hm? ‘Game’.

“Tests. If there’s more than half of the candidates left at the end of the tests, we win.  You leave with volunteer?  You could leave with whoever wants to join.  But you leave.”

So...basically if five or more of the candidates survive – including Purity on that count, although maybe she doesn’t count -- the Slaughterhouse Nine get their new member and everyone can leave. That right? I think so. That’s not going to stop the end of the world, really. I’m...not sure what the end result of this will be, but hey, sounds interesting.

Since it’s a challenge, the Slaughterhouse Nine has to get something good out of this, too, even though...well, technically there’s no downside to this. It’s just a change in the routine, it doesn’t hinder them in any way. It’s pretty much a way to pique Jack’s curiosity, I think, that may be the intention here.

“It’s a challenge.  A game. Changing the routine.  We can do whatever we need to, to keep as many candidates alive as we can.  You guys… do what you do.  It keeps things interesting.”  My eyes fell on Bonesaw, “And maybe it keeps things fair?”

Let’s go with the very likely scenario both Heckpuppy and Regent survive. There’d need to be another three, at least. It’ll be really difficult to help Armsmaster and Panacea, the first because I doubt he’ll listen to Skitter if they even get in contact with him, and they don’t know about Panacea being another candidate. Noelle...that one will have to be left up to the Travelers. I don’t know if anyone would try to help Hookwolf, what after what he did to both the Travelers and the Undersiders. Labyrinth, uh, does her visit count as a nomination? If so, she may need help. Purity’s one they maaaaaaaybe could try to help, but I don’t know how willing she’d be to listen and let them help.

All in all, they may have to limit themselves to help Heckpuppy, Regent and Noelle and hope for the best.

Bonesaw is interested, Jack not so much, but they agree to talk it with the rest of the group. I hope they accept! This can be an interesting plotline, and I can’t wait to see what kind of tests they have planned. This is promising!

Tattletale tells Skitter to get going, to do what she wants to do, and Grue offers to call Coil to get a car. Not enough time for that, all Skitter can do is run and hope she gets in time. She doesn’t waste any time, she starts running and along the way takes out her cellphone to call Dad Hebert.

This phone number is currently out of service.  If you would like to leave a message…

Welp. Will she have to decide between her father and all the people in her territory? Most likely not. She can’t call Dad Hebert, but she can call Sierra and Charlotte, right? It’s less likely everyone in the territory will listen to them, but it’s worth a try. It’s not like there’s time for a plan B on that regard. That’s where the chapter ends, with Skitter realizing the urgency of the situation and running as fast as she can.

I’m stopping for today here. Once again Mr. Wildbow is going in directions I didn’t expect. Nice!

Next time: next update

[noctomania]

I know i complain a lot about this & i know i may not know everything but what i do know has just continued to piss me off.

I used to use this tumblr partially just to rb stuff but also to dump shit that was on my mind kinda like a livejournal (i used to have one). I liked having it out in the open so that if ppl out there were going through something similar they could see they weren't alone in experience or in having no idea of what to do. For the past few years every time i wanted to do that i had to second guess myself bc my stepmom thought it was ok to find my blog & creep on it without letting me know until she came across something she wasn't happy with. After she told me that, i tried to change as much in my privacy settings, short of deleting my blog entirely, to prevent her from snooping if she wasn't going to respect me. I still don't know if any of it worked. For all i know she could still be.

My mind is often plagued by the time I was reaching out to my parents when i was facing homelessness, like serious homelessness. Not the summer homelessness i had already been enduring for the 5yrs prior. I'm talking i couldn't get a full time job & was barely surviving on part time work at Marshall's for minimum wage & no benefits. Im talking i was lucky i had any savings left over after college bc most got ate up - literally. Im talking i worked through college to feed myself, PLUS was an RA to cover housing fees, plus a full time student. My first apartment i was living in a large closet. As a sublet. Paying twice as much rent as i should have been. And got robbed a half a months rent.

When i was already reaching out to social services i also reached out to my parents for advice. I said nothing about money nothing about moving onto their couch. Just guidance. They came back at me with "we can't help you". They made it seem like i was asking them to carry me. I felt at that point the only option i had with what experience i had was to run away back to school. Which meant literally doubling the debt i already had. The only reason i wasn't paying into the debt at the time was i was literally too poor to.

Going back to school was great i terms of i had money finally & got to move back to salem & afford living alone. But if you're running away TO school...you don't want to go to school you want to run away. I wasn't ready, i was just desperate. So the plan failed, i failed, i ran away again. I was exceptionally "lucky" this place had jobs open.

But what im on about tonight is the info i found about my parents & their money. Now mind you when i say my parents i mean my dad & his wife. My real mom been dead long time. SHE was poor. SHE raised my sister & i primarily alone. We had food bank & food stamps & free/reduced breakfast lunch & hand-me-downs from neighbors. That's how I grew up. So when my stepmom tried to deny that we grew up poor I cut her out of my life. Haven't spoken to her in years & only just spoke to my dad for first time in years my last birthday. I sadly regret taking the call bc it was just "when you gonna move your stuff out". After years of not talking. All he could think about was that. My stuff which mind you they stuffed into a corner of a mouse-infested garage so inevitably a lot of my stuff is now rat-nestings. They couldn't spare a single one of their several fuckin rooms IN THE HOUSE.

Tonight i was bored & thought what if i can look up info on how much they couldn't help me when i was broke. Turns out they make over 220k a yr, with AT MOST one employee besides themselves to pay (didn't even pay them enough imo) & pay thousands in property taxes for property they do literally nothing with & for a house with FIVE FUCKIN BEDROOMS AND THREE BATHROOMS FOR JUST THE TWO OF THEM TO LIVE THERE & NEVER INVITE ANYONE OVER BC THEY HATE COMPANY. That is their SECOND house mind you (last i checked with my dad they are looking at buying their third jfc). But they couldn't help their own child. And yes I understand running a private business costs money. I also understand that they don't get weekly checks, it's all depending on what cases they can get/win. They always acted like they had less money than they do though. Many years they worked out of the house so there was no extra rent to pay. I've been working in my current job for over 5yrs & I am just now finally making 35k/yr after many union fights.

I can't find it in my heart to forgive them. Had mom still been alive she would have stripped their small intestines right out of their ass for turning a cold shoulder. They didn't offer any advice or help when I asked except dad tell me to sign up for the military. Which goes to show how much they actually thought about me considering I am not allowed to join the military even if I wanted to bc I am transgender. I know for a fact bc i did still have to sign up for selective service when I applied for a loan for grad school & they sent a letter back rejecting me. But I still got to sign up for the debt 🥴 It was further disturbing considering my parents have always been very anti-military. It felt like a real "go fuck yourself" response & I've never been able to shake that or been able to properly explain to them how that felt. They don't get it & they don't care bc they think it's"good for me" or "builds character". I don't think either of them have ever faced the experience my sister & esp I have. Their standards seemed to revolve only around what they wanted me to do & not at all around what I need. But had the audacity to criticize politicians doing the same thing.

The work they do is great, & I'm proud of that. They've fought to provide social security & disability support to those who need it. But what sense does it make that you're more willing to help strangers than you are your own family?

They never even visited me up here. Not once.

I hate this country i hate my family i hate money i hate bullshit. All that i care about are cats/nature, food, & weed. Everything else is a waste of my patience. And i know there are ppl out there doing good things doing right by those they love, but that shit doesn't "heal" me like it does everyone else. Basic kindness shouldn't be such a commodity.

I've spent every year ive been working here saving as much money as I can without completely neglecting myself. I've had set backs primarily due to my health. But as far as i see it I am the only safety net i have at this point. I have no life. I don't even know how to have a life anymore. Quarantine didn't even phase me bc I already had no life to give up & still had to show up to work like regular.

It's no fuckin wonder ive had so much suicidal ideation over the years, I've nowhere I feel I can turn where i feel 100% trust.

AND I'M PRIVILEGED AF. I am white, I have a steady job & a union, I am making more money more consistently than I ever have before. Getting here has been hell & terrifying. Being shown that my parents really aren't there for me, finding out that I'm actually terribly alone in the world, & literally just having to double down on being my own best friend. It definitely ices the heart & cuts the elasticity of the tolerance.

Part of me really wants to just lay into them for this bullshit. But other part of me is like what for? If they would feel bad they should already. But they don't & won't. So I just gotta move on & ignore their calls.

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 4 Episodes, #2/13

2. 4x13 The Last Stand

Kuvira tears off her arm. Mako makes a Heroic Sacrifice and no one will heal him. Korra and Kuvira fight, until Korra freakin’ bends pure energy, rips apart the city, and demonstrates her growth in one quick spirit world conversation. Hasook fulfills his clarinetist destiny. We get the most ambiguous ending everrrrr.

You know, after going back through this whole season, I’m realizing that there were a lot of flaws with Book 4. A lot. It’s  not to the point where I feel this episode ranking as second highest is unearned, but it is making really wonder about “what would this have looked like had Bryke been given more time?”

The thing is, with this episode, the emotional beats are nearly perfect for Korra. And that’s really what matters, given that the show is...well...the legend of *her*. Even for most other characters, this conclusion was (dare I say it?) dramatically satisfying. Thematically satisfying, too.

But at the same time, what didn’t work is only more and more glaring with each revisit, and especially after thinking through it.

Kuvira is probably the hardest character to reconcile, because she’s the primary antagonist, and yet up until Korra dropped the “oh you’re an orphan” truth-bomb that explained ~~all~~ of Kuvira’s actions, there was every indication that her guiding motivation was much more about her perceived rejection by Suyin, or a desperation to prove her wrong, or a mentor’s fall from grace when an inherent hypocrisy was shown...

Honestly, from just the perspective of Kuvira’s arc, dismissing everything as “you were sad about your parents (who you never talked about once) leaving you with the creepy thought-policing matriarch and you didn’t want to ditch the EK in the same way” is almost insulting. Kuvira like...made compelling points in the Suyin-filtered flashback about why Su should accept Raiko and Tenzin’s offer, and it seemed to be coming from a place of pure pragmatism, not compensation for abandonment or a way of gaining control. Actually, she framed it about sharing prosperity:

Kuvira: Suyin, I know this isn't my place, but I think you should do this. Zaofu has always been a beacon of modern progress, and now you can share that with everyone.

Suyin: What would you have me do? March into Ba Sing Se with an army? We'd be seen as conquerors and greeted with nothing but war.

Kuvira: There are already wars. The Earth Queen nearly destroyed our nation. This is our opportunity to change things.

Also, fun fact: Suyin didn’t even tell Korra that Kuvira was an orphan; she barely even implied it.

Korra: How did things get so bad between you and Kuvira? I thought she was your protégé.

Suyin: She was more than that. She was like a daughter to me. I took her in when she was eight years old and nourished her talents. Kuvira was smart, a natural leader, and quickly rose through the ranks. I saw myself in her.

Like, this could have meant anything. Maybe she took her into her School of Metalbending Dancing and Narcissism. Maybe this is a nitpick, but it just amuses me if there was some version of this scene where Korra is like “it must have been so hard being an orphan,” and Kuvira goes, “...wtf my parents are FINE.”

Back the main point here, the difficulty in parsing out Kuvira’s guiding motivations and meaning of her own arc is not made better by the fact that her political position and military campaign were incredibly poorly defined. This is nothing new for Bryke, but with regard to this episode specifically, there’s still the question of why Kuvira was even interested in reclaiming UR land when she was supposedly just a technocrat that opposed the Earth Queen’s unjust rule, and had spent a painstaking amount of time laying down tracks to connect the two nations in what seemed like a cooperative measure and to truly bring the EK up to speed with the rest of the world. Was storming Republic City always her plan? Would she have been able to without the super laser that she didn’t know was being invented (Varrick was just looking for clean energy, remember)? After successfully taking Republic City, was she going to lock up every citizen there not of EK origin?

The general idea is that she was supposed to be earnestly committed to restoring stability in the Earth Kingdom, while also pushing forth innovation, and that when Korra pointed out how horrible and out-of-balance she was, it was a comeuppance and reality slap. I guess in this respect, the broader strokes make sense, but then there was so much that seemed so personally motivated, like...everything to do with Zaofu (she even made a point of saying “when I return I’ll be greeted with open arms), and then wrecking all of Republic City.

Even ignoring motivations, there’s logistics, because Kuvira’s disappearing army (and the disappearing United Forces) was still very much evident here, especially since mecha tank officers came clomping back into view at the end, and she needed to instruct them to stand-down. It kind of makes me giggle to think that Varrick powered down these suits, and the morons just lay on the ground helplessly until they were up and running again. But there were also all those ground troops and shit, so...

Oh yeah, and Raiko formally surrendered. There should have been an entire platoon sent to the island as soon as Kuvira realized Baatar had been captured while traveling there.

None of this is a specific issue to “The Last Stand,” but it does make the resolution feel a little...convenient. As though all these things were just dismissed and swept under the rug. This is best exemplified in Suyin’s line as a response to Kuvira’s apology, where she goes, “you’re going to answer for everything you’ve done!” Like, that didn’t even follow what Kuvira had said! Though there’s also a chance that this was a place-holder line they never bothered to change (or ran out of time to change). It’s not the only one with this vibe.

At the end of the day, Kuvira worked fine for Korra. But the way she had been scripted herself, there was really no telling how she’d react to a given situation until after the fact. I could have seen her, stirring from the rubble, having the same exact spirit world conversation with Korra, rather than running away to find Chekhov’s very literal gun. She trashed an entire fucking city and nearly died already just with Mega Maid’s explosion, after all.

Most of the other challenges of this episode have to do with the wrap party, because it was pretty clear that Bryke had a case of “we have X minutes to conclude all of this.” Enter bizarre conversation after bizarre conversation.

It’s not exactly a secret that I’m currently writing on a fic that tries to make sense of “why the hell does this wedding feel as though it is simultaneously the day after the fight, and two months down the road?” Word of God is that the wedding is 2 weeks later, which may or may not have been made up by Mike on the spot. But it’s just all so wonky. Korra is acting as though she hasn’t talked to anyone, Wu and Mako certainly haven’t seen each other since the evacuation, Tenzin only just talked to Raiko, and yet Zhurrick planned an entire wedding and somehow world leaders were able to travel to the still utterly destroyed city to enjoy it.

It’s WONKY, I’m telling you. The worst case offender?

This is a terrible fucking idea. I get that it’s a Y7 American show and we have to be pro ~~democracy~~ as a general concept, but the logistics behind it make no sense. I suppose in the context of Wu’s arc, him stepping aside because he doesn’t feel qualified is fitting. Granted, I thought the whole “you were calm during the evacuation and also badger moles like you” stuff was to show how he does have leadership potential, so long as he plays to his strengths and allows those more informed than him to take the lead on other matters. But I suppose we can say it was part of a bigger picture: Wu learning to be less of an entitled asshole. He pushed himself and stepped up when the world needed him to, but in the end “sometimes a good evacuation is its own reward.” Nice.

Now go and create a horrible panic by tossing the EK’s political and legal structures out the window!

The Mako/Korra conversation was a very nice endcap to Mako’s season-long arc, and the series long relationship between these two characters. They were incompatible as romantic partners, but Mako found meaning in their platonic friendship, looking to Korra as inspiration to be more selfless. It’s just nice. And it’s nice to see exes being nice and not jealous or still hurt or pining or whatnot. Nice.

That said, Wu’s role in Mako’s arc is a headscratcher. Mako definitely had an influence on him, but the other way around...I’ve got nothin’. Unless we consider Wuko a possibility, because IT IS THERE, DAMNIT. Except, I really don’t think Bryke meant for it to be there. Which means that Mako played a bit more of a supporting role for Wu than the other way around. Wu had diddly squat to do with Mako feeling inspired and self-sacrificial...that was a decision Mako reached inside Mega Maid as a result of watching a clip show about his relationship with Korra.

And yeah, let’s actually talk about that moment, because it was probably the second most emotional point of the episode. For those who don’t know, it’s also the point where I realized, at 5:50 in the morning, that I was going to start bawling in the middle of Planet Fitness if I stayed, so I cut that short and went home to finish out the episode.

It was touching, even if Bolin’s “This isn't the time to prove how awesome you are. I already know how awesome you are... you're awesome.” lines were incredibly odd. However... Looking back, this was probably the dumbest thing Mako could have done in this moment.

The weapon was disabled (he knew Su and Lin were taking care of that), and Korra was in the “head” having a fight to the death. There was no pressing need to power down Mega Maid at that point (Kuvira initiated lockdown as soon as they got in, actually), and the only thing he knew was that he could probably get it to explode. With everyone still inside. All things considered, how Mako didn’t just kill everyone inside the tank is beyond me. How Mako didn’t die is equally beyond me, cause dude got shot squarely in the chest. I mean yes, Bolin came back for him (where did he even dump the other bodies? The legs?), but Mako has a heart and stuff.

I don’t want to detract from the message of “Mako is an incredibly selfless hero,” but the logistics get in the way. It’s like Bryke wanted him to have this moment, but they didn’t take the time to figure out a realistic way it could unfold, so it just happened. Which is jarring, especially since this immediately followed Hiroshi’s sacrifice from the previous episode. Snaps for Mako, but 10 points from Brykendor for the contrivance.

Also as a side note: poor Bolin, this episode. I mean yes, he’s in a good place, and he got to marry Zhurrick (I can confirm: officiating a wedding is mad fun), but the dude didn’t even get a Conversation of Significance with anyone. Needless to say I’m going to be fixing that with my final chapter...

Let’s just round out the Krew then and discuss Asami. And I 👏👏don’t👏👏fucking👏👏know👏👏 what to do with her.  

I mean, you know what Asami means to me as a character at this point. And Korrasami. But going back through and watching this season, there’s a few things that are blindingly clear.

1. The scripting is bizarre. Not just for Asami—across the board. There are lines that feel outright unedited. For instance:

“When the queen fell, and everyone was asking you to help keep the Earth Kingdom from falling apart, all you wanted to do was hide in Zaofu, and let others deal with the consequences.”

It’s not as though lines like that don’t work, but it’s the kind of thing where if that were in fic I was beta-reading, I’d highlight “fell” and “falling” so the author would know to take out one of the repetitive phrases.

For characters with a lot of lines, the lack of polish can be overlooked, for the most part. For Asami, who had an incredibly limited screen presence during Book 4, things stick out.

2. Seychelle Gabriel’s voice acting was...different. It wasn’t bad, but some of her lines had a certain stilted quality to them. I’ve actually noticed that with just about every character in Book 4 that wasn’t Varrick or Bolin (that’s just John Michael Higgins and PJ Byrne falling back on their comedic chops), with a big exception in Korra. I sort of think Janet Varney didn’t settle into a consistent voice for her *until* Book 4, but that’s a whole other story, and yes, deeply subjective.

The best example I can point to for Gabriel is the way she delivers, “Thank you. I'm just glad I was able to forgive him.” It just had this awkwardness about it, and a good thing too, since I’m 95% certain that’s what spawned @progmanx’s entire fic, as well as my own views on her characterization (oh hey, we’re of one mind with that).

3. There really could have been more to Korrasami. Even with Russian TV restrictions. But I already talked about in my “Reunion” piece, so I won’t rehash here.

4. Asami’s scripting was pure *convenience*. I touch on it here for “Enemy at the Gates” and here for “Day of Colossus.” But it’s not really hard to recap.

Asami needs to open the lines of communication to her dad, so she does, and it is wonderfully, realistically hard on her. Then in a ridiculous scene, she spots a happy father and daughter, and decides she wants to work to forgive the man who tried to fucking kill her. We can assume she’s feeling conflicted about it because she snaps at Korra over it, but really, we have to just assume, because this shit is never talked about on-screen. Then Hiroshi pops in to save the day with his oddly specific technical knowledge of stuff he wasn’t working on. Then Asami tells him that she loves him before they go into a flying mecha suit to battle potentially to the death, and then Hiroshi dies.

And yes, I’ve talked a lot about what an internal character Asami is, so it would have just been odd if she suddenly started expositing on why she was feeling the way she did, but at the same time... When *did* she decide to forgive him? Was it just because he was willing to save the city? Does she even know if he’s changed his opinion of benders, or if he just regrets not having her in her life? Does she regret not seeing him sooner? Did she ever READ THOSE DAMN LETTERS?

So for her to sit her ass down next to Korra and say that she’s super sad but glad she forgave him... Well yeah, of course she’s sad. But she’d probably also be confused and conflicted and angry and guilty and a million other things just by how inherently fucked up this situation is. The last time she and her dad were in a mecha suit at the same time, he TRIED TO KILL HER. This isn’t hyperbole. He also saved the city from being destroyed *this time*, despite being the man who bombed it before. You see what I’m saying???

I think this is coming at a bad time, because I am working over and beyond to make sense of Asami’s headspace during this specific point in the story right now with ‘Half the Pieces’. I even gave her and Hiroshi another pai sho match so they could talk this shit over, and am kind of getting at the idea of her forgiving him as more of like, she really wants to have forgiven him and to have that closure after three years of incredible pain relating to him. But for what we got on our screens, it feels rushed, there’s just no other way around it. Rushed and simplified.

The most frustrating thing about Asami’s character is her wasted potential—the way they could have been using her as a foil to Korra so much sooner, the way her unique position as an industrialist went largely untouched, the way there is so much packed into her and given a little space, she will come and wallop you with a bag of feels (“you tainted our past and destroyed our future together”). 

Yes, she’s in a support role, and I’m not advocating her being foregrounded over anyone else on the Krew, and certainly not over Tenzin. But keep in mind, this was the season that gave a very complete and detailed arc to Varrick and Wu, while also pushing Kuvira & the Beifong Family Drama as the main tension. So excuse me for just a little annoyance with what could have been.

What *was* for Asami here was...fine. It’s not like I can’t remember what her conversation with Korra felt like the first time, or how could it felt that for once in her craptastic life, she was getting to be happy for a little. And for Korra too, realizing she had been disconnected for too long, realizing through her letters and the distance that she was in love, realizing she can take time for herself—it just all made for a beautiful moment, even if I do think that it felt a tad clipped. Given how much ground Bryke needed to cover here, it’s not shocking.

As a last note before I get to Korra and begin explaining why this episode is #2, I want to briefly touch on Tenzin. He was simply not a major player in this season, and I guess that’s fine. His relationship to Korra was in focus for Book 2, with her becoming *her own Avatar* at the end, and then his relationship to his daughter and the Air Nation at large was Book 3. I don’t feel like anything was incomplete with Tenzin here on a larger scale, though it was a notable decision. I wonder if Book 4 had been given another pass, would there have been a more imaginative way to utilize his character?

I think that may have detracted from the impact of his final conversation with Korra, too. Or maybe that’s why it almost felt like it had bizarrely romantic undertones for a second, because it was hard to have a handle on where *they* were at with how they related to each other. Also he said the phrase “big bumpy ride” so...

And that conversation was the most, “let’s wrap up this Y7 show yup yup” that fell victim to extremely unfortunate wording. The idea was to show that Korra had found meaning in what she had been through, harkening back to Katara’s remark that Aang “chose to find meaning in his suffering and eventually found peace.” What Katara did not say was that Aang NEEDED TO EXPERIENCE THE GENOCIDE TO FIND PEACE. Because who the hell would say something like that.

There are negative implications of Korra saying she “needed” to suffer to be more compassionate, especially since compassion was never a department she was lacking in before. However, as a result of what she went through her approaches to situations did change, and her “go-to” mode of operation, altered. We saw her trying to fight against the “old me” in Zaofu, and that was simply ineffective. In this final chapter, we saw her take action as she needed to, only to finally talk the antagonist down in the end. It wasn’t an increase in compassion, but it was a result of her empathizing over the fear of being vulnerable—a fear we’ve seen Korra struggle with since the start.

“I may not have been an orphan, but believe me, I understand what it feels like to be afraid. [Sits down so she is at eye level with Kuvira.] After I was poisoned, I would have done anything to feel in control.”

Look, there’s a wonderful narrative here, and it just...fell over itself on the way to our screens, and that’s unfortunate. Because it would have required so little to fix.

If you’ll allow myself and @progmanx to be hubristic here, we actually did rewrite this for my upcoming chapter (not finalized yet, but it will be something along these lines):

“I know I was in a pretty dark place after I was poisoned; all I wanted to do was feel like myself again. And I think it took seeing Kuvira being so angry and scared of letting everyone down, just like I used to be, for me to finally realize what I already knew: I can never just go back and to being that person again, and I don’t want to be. I’ve seen now what fear can do and what it can drive people to...what it drove me to do, even if it didn’t hurt as many people. That’s a part of me, and there’s no undoing it. I don’t think I want to undo it, either. Your mom told me that Aang found meaning in his suffering. I guess if I’ve found mine, that’s it. We’re all afraid sometimes, but that doesn’t make us weak. In fact, it’s what makes us stronger.”

It’s almost as if I like A Song of Ice and Fire, or something.

Would a more diverse writers’ room have resulted in a different end line? Who can say. But this at least demonstrates why a diversity of voices and a willingness to think through the implications (something Bryke aren’t incapable of) is helpful.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that #1 on this list is going to be “Korra Alone.” So I’m going to save fully gushing about Korra’s healing arc there. 

But what I will say is that “The Last Stand” brought the series to a thematically apt, and rather uplifting conclusion. The season was about balance, but you could just as easily say that the series was too. This also tapped into “light in the dark,” only Book 4 took the time to explore that darkness rather than blow by it.

Seeing Korra so...at peace, was truly remarkable. We’ve seen her so insecure at many points in the series, and it really was just heartening to watch her be so decisive, so proactive, and also so *effective*, even if that meant switching approaches on the fly or, idk, leaping in front of a giant cannon and ripping open a hole in the universe and by doing so being so impressive that there was an instantly humbling effect on the megalomaniacal dictator to the point where Korra was able to talk her down with words alone.

It kind of makes me laugh, thinking of some of the Discourse™ as the finale ended: that Korra was “neutered” or “tamed.” Yeah those are great adjectives to attach to someone who threw themselves in front of a firing spirit cannon on an instinct. What we saw is a deeply matured and strategic Korra.

Remember, she was the over-eager hero who was told that the world didn’t need her. Her narrative was never going to be “I saved the day therefore I am,” but rather “Who am I when I’m not saving the day, and does that matter?”

Yes.

As for Korra, the world’s most powerful bender/spiritual leader of the masses/ with her ancient wisdom and sheltered upbringing ending up with the wealthy nonbending driver of modern innovation from the world’s biggest metropolis, well... that’s just the perfect endcap to the all-subtle balance theme. Nice.

Edit: 4/11/2017:

This entire piece wound up a little more focused on negatives than I wanted, so please read this reblog commentary for clarification/a few more notes on what was really great here.

#13: 4x08 “Remembrances”

#12: 4x11 “Kuvira’s Gambit”

#11: 4x09 “Beyond the Wilds”

#10: 4x07 “Reunion”

#9: 4x06 The “Battle of Zaofu”

#8. 4x12 “Day of Colossus”

#7 4x01 “After All These Years”

#6 4x03 “The Coronation”

#5 4x04 “The Calling”

#4 4x05 “Enemy at the Gates”

#3 4x10 “Operation Beifong”

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

[mutantinthefamily]

career opportunities

I am not a client, a customer, nor a service user. I am not a shirker, a scrounger, a beggar, nor a thief. I am not a national insurance number, nor a blip on a screen. I paid my dues, never a penny short and proud to do so. I don't tug the forelock, but look my neighbour in the eye. I don't accept or seek charity. My name is Daniel Blake, I am a man, not a dog. As such, I demand my rights. I demand you treat me with respect. I, Daniel Blake, am a citizen, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you.

For those struggling with an illness that is fought beneath skin and sinew, that cannot be understood or accounted for by box ticking and that is invisible to the naked eye but is a constant weight upon your life. I am one of those people and have been rejected, humiliated and made to feel insignificant by the state in a time of need. ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is a film that confronts the raw reality of humanity and society in Britain. The film took me straight back to the uncomfortable chair in a blank room sitting across from a so-called ‘healthcare professional’, this one actually called himself a ‘Nurse’ but I doubt he had any medical expertise. This was my first encounter with the DWP. I didn’t qualify for ESA (employment support allowance) because I didn’t score high enough on the point system. My calf muscles weren't wasting away and I managed to catch the door as he let it slam in my face on the way out. I suppose I can understand why I didn’t get through the first time, I mean on the outside I looked like a normal, healthy 24 year old. How was a ‘healthcare professional’ supposed to know how hyper mobility and chronic fatigue affected the body. They are unpredictable, volatile and at times aggressive conditions. But they aren’t there to understand how you suffer, they just want to know whether you can piss by yourself and pick up a pound coin. I walked away feeling humiliated and degraded. 

The reason I applied for ESA was because I had to leave my job at Dr Martens as it was affecting my health and being over-flexible wasn’t flexible enough for my recent promotion. I was due to be demoted after being there for 3 years without more than a day off sick and a track record of top sales. I battled through the chaos of boxing day sales, busy Saturdays and delivery, reeling from the sickening pain in my body. I said yes even though I should have said no. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t at all bad for a retail job, I had gained a lot of fantastic friends, opportunities and memories. But in the end I wasn’t treated with the respect, care or understanding I deserved. No matter how many leaflets and printouts on EDS I took in, because I wasn’t crippled in a wheelchair or bandaged up to the eyeballs I was never taken seriously. This will be a scenario experienced by many, including those with a mental illness. What can’t be felt or seen will never be believed. We wear our cloaks of invisibility with shame and guilt because we don’t appear to be different. One day I can feel on top of the world and the next I can’t even stand or get out of bed.

Due to my state of unemployment and having being denied ESA, I had no other choice but to go on the dole, another humiliating ordeal as some of you will know. Every week having to apply for jobs that I wasn’t physically able to do, but I had to fill in my little book to show I was actively looking for work, gold star Bianca. The disability officer had no idea what to do with me apart from advise me to apply for ESA. Eventually I escaped from the clutches of the Job Centre and ceremoniously binned my little book. Through a friend I began working in the office at Clarks, but soon that too proved to be too much for my body. I was making myself worse because I had no other choice or support. 

I re-applied for ESA and by this point I had been prescribed Naproxen for the pain, a very very strong painkiller that sent me sideways. Needless to say it helped during my assessment as it demonstrated my inability to work, I could hardly string a sentence together never mind clap my hands like a monkey. I was awarded ESA. It made me understand that you have to demonstrate your worst day even if it shares the week with some good. 

In the meantime I had also applied for PIP (Personal Independence Payment) and faced another round of assessments. I have never been awarded PIP and continue to fight for the support it provides. I am not destitute and have the support of my family but I cannot rely on that, especially when having to pay for my own treatment and the small things that help me. My parents and I have worked hard and have contributed enough to at least get a bit back to take some of the pressure off. Each time that brown envelope lands on the doormat I fill with dread at the prospect of having to face another healthcare professional, another blank room and 20 minutes to prove myself worthy. I am made to feel as though I am making it up, that my pain isn’t really there, that I am not crippled with exhaustion or that some days I am unable to walk from one room to the next. The anxiety of having to go to the assessment perpetuates my symptoms and I am reduced to a dithering mess, but then I guess that is it what they want to see. However, it hasn't been enough as I can still wash my armpits by myself. My struggle for PIP will continue for as long as invisible and psychological illnesses are not recognised as satisfactory health conditions. 

At the beginning of the year when I was suffering the most with knee pain, I could hardly stand never mind walk. So I applied for a Blue Badge, which would also relieve some of the anxiety I harboured about going to places and not having anywhere to park nearby. It isn’t just the knee pain that incited this concern but also the Chronic Fatigue as I get very tired quickly and so I just don’t have the energy to be straying far. I was faced with yet another assessment. This time I felt like a puppet on strings, my knees rickety and unstable, as if the nuts and bolts would come loose any second. I was forced to walk a certain distance, which took me outside and paraded in front of a bus stop queue of people. They probably didn't even think twice but for me it was humiliating, my weaknesses on display. The pain in my knees didn’t enable me to go very far and I got my blue badge, which has been a saving grace. A relief for not just the physical stress of having to walk far, but also the emotional turmoil that is actually the most draining. I do get the odd look mostly by the older generation, because I know I don’t look obviously disabled. But as the old saying goes: you should never judge a book by its cover. 

Most recently I was summoned to attend another assessment for ESA, even though I had been put into the Support Group only 6 months before. My first appointment was cancelled 20 minutes before I was supposed to be there as my paperwork hadn't been received. You would think they would have known this earlier. I was re-scheduled and I was a wreck, I didn’t want to go through it again. So there I was sat in the oppressive waiting room, made to wait for 45 minutes; prolonging the torture. This time I was shocked to find that the assessor actually looked me in the eye, her concern seemed genuine and she agreed that there was no reason for me to be there. I spent the rest of the day asleep and in pain because I was so drained. 

Is it any wonder that people who suffer with Invisible and Mental Health conditions don’t come forward and ask for help when they have to fight so hard to prove it exists. To be made to feel doubtful of themselves and how they feel, to have to answer questions that don’t relate to their condition but will determine their fate. To be made to feel less of a human being just because they suffer with what others can’t see. I may be progressing with my mobility and pain, but the Chronic Fatigue still looms large and is probably the most dilapidating as there is no cure. I am slowly learning to manage the condition and need all the help I can get.  

I have now come to realise that the beaming smile and friendly concern is a pretence in order to lull you into a false sense of security. They don’t understand you and they don’t really care. How can they when they don’t even look you in the eye, the only spark in theirs is the reflection of the computer screen. I wonder if they have a recurring sound reel constantly revolving around in their heads conducted by the almighty ‘Decision Maker’. I have come to pity them rather than myself; to have to sit in those uncomfortable chairs in those blank room with air conditioning drying out their skin and asking the same questions over and over and over and over again. Soul destroying. So remember that the next time you are sat on the other side of the desk, show them your worst because they certainly don’t care about your best. A friend of mine who I met through the CFS Clinic, was refused ESA and took the DWP to court, and he won. He now gets encumbered PIP and ESA, so there is a silver lining if you are willing to fight.