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stitching-in-time · 4 months ago

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Voyager rewatch s6 ep20: Good Shepherd

Voyager does a lower decks episode... again. And I don't think it needed to. While the Next Gen ep 'Lower Decks' did a beautiful job of respectfully portraying a group of junior officers with complex inner lives, and binding their stories up seamlessly with those of the main characters we know and love, this episode did not do either of those things. It came off rather condescending, and didn't even have a proper resolution.

I have a lot of issues with this one. While I generally like seeing little tidbits with background crewmembers, an entire episode feels like too much. Especially since they already did basically the same plot on Voyager already, way back in season 1, with the episode 'Learning Curve' where Tuvok struggled to train up and inspire a group of unenthusiastic former Maquis crewman. I liked that episode, despite it's focus on characters we never see again, because it helped flesh out the world of Voyager in the beginning of the show, and it was about the conflict of blending Starfleet and Maquis into one crew, which had been a central theme of those early seasons.

While Captain Janeway does have a main role here, and I do appreciate that they're trying to show what a good captain she is by taking an interest in even the lowest of lower deckers on her ship, I feel like by season six, it's coming in way too late in the game. It actually makes her look kind of negligent that she let them go on struggling the way they were for so long before she even noticed. It makes her look worse still when she refuses to consider alternatives that would be better for them, and the ship in general, instead insisting that they can do their jobs perfectly if they just believe in themselves. *eyeroll*

The story itself was weak- it was too predictable, especially since they already did this storyline in season 1 - obviously Janeway making these underperforming crewmen her project will inspire them with confidence and lead them to be happier and more productive members of the crew. But in this case, the crewman's personal conflicts were either glossed over, or way too easily resolved- getting taken over by an alien entity is a magical cure for hypochondria?! What?! That's so stupid. Just...what??

On top of that, the most obnoxious lower deck guy in this, in addition to being very unlikable, is incredibly rude and insubordinate to the Captain at every turn, yet she patiently lets him say whatever he wants, and it's like, no. that's not how Starfleet works. Crewman can't just insult superior officers and tell them their orders are stupid and refuse to do what they say. Like I get that Janeway is the friendly captain who wants to be approachable to her whole crew, but there's a line- people need to be checked when they're breaking the rules. Janeway even says in another episode that being the captain means she can't always be everyone's friend. No Starfleet captain would or should put up with that kind of disrespect, and I don't think they'd have written a character who behaved that way to Picard or Sisko without getting slapped down by them right away. Just because she's a woman doesn't mean she should have to take shit from any man in her crew.

I also didn't buy the obnoxious lower decker's change of heart at the end, where he suddenly decided to give a crap about everyone he'd just been insulting and try to help them- where did that come from?? It didn't feel earned at all. You have to see some sort of emotional journey to justify it, and he didn't have that. He was just bitch, bitch, bitch the whole time, then magically 'actually I'm going to help', out of nowhere. (Also I hope she threw him in the brig when they got back for kiling that creature. Like holy shit dude, who does that??)

But the worst thing about this is that it devoted yet more time to characters we don't know and won't see again. Meanwhile, our main characters are languishing on the shelf like disused toys. The regulars barely got one scene each, which is unfortunately all too common at this point. The scene they did give to Tom and B'Elanna wasn't even good, to boot. We didn't need another scene about the obnoxious guy, since we've already established that he's obnoxious in his scene with the captain, so having Tom go talk to him was pointless, unless they thought we really needed that little 'haha Tom is stupid' moment, when he doesn't understand the equations obnoxious guy is working on. Sure, Tom doesn't live and breath science the way most of the others do, but like, he graduated from the Academy with a degree in astrophysics, he's not stupid. They don't let you graduate just because of who your daddy is if you can't do the work- Starfleet officers actually have to be competent to do the job they're training for, because out on a starship, if your officers don't know their stuff, everybody dies. The way they try to make Tom into this dumbass manchild in the later seasons is so frustrating.

Having Tom chide B'Elanna about not caring about obnoxious guy, even as a joke, came off as jerky more than funny, and it doesn't even make sense- she already explained she tried giving him more work, but he likes being left alone on deck 15 to work on his own projects. Which honestly, is the right thing to do. Props to B'Elanna for actually meeting this guy where he is, and letting him go back to what works for him, rather than trying to shoehorn him into a mold he doesn't want to be in. That's actually showing good leadership skills. Janeway trying to help out the other two crewmen, whose biggest problem seemed to be anxiety, made sense, but the obnoxious guy was happy where he was, and meeting the requirements of his job. He didn't even want to be on a starship long term, so it's actually kind of jerky of Janeway to decide that everyone on board needs to have as much enthusiam for the Starfleet life as the bridge crew. It seems like a symptom of our very American brand of corporate capitalism to believe that everyone should be obsessed with their job and make it the center of their entire life.

Meanwhile, we get one huge bit of character development totally thrown away in one line- Tom, for some reason, feels the need to mess with B'Elanna by telling her, untruthfully, that he hit it off with obnoxious guy and invited him over to watch their TV. (This whole scene wasn't funny. If it had been about Tom being anxious about inexperienced crewman going on a mission on the Delta Flyer, that could have been funny, and in character, but whoever wrote this one doesn't seem to get him, or how to do comedy, at all.) Meanwhile, I'm like, hold up! Their TV? They moved in together?! That's kind of a big deal! That's a milestone in any relationship, and it's blithely glossed over like an afterthought. These are main characters for crying out loud! That should have been a major plotline of an episode! We should see how they arrived at that decision! We deserve to see the full journeys of the characters we've been with all these years, but no, we get little tidbits we have to excavate from the smallest throwaway lines. I guess only Seven and the Doctor matter anymore, and all the other characters can just go to hell, huh? Even guest characters we'll only see once deserve more focus than them, apparently. (Did Neelix even say more than one word in this scene? I don't think so! He's just thrown in to show that he's there. God forbid we have stories that are actually about our main crew anymore.)

But yeah, this ep was a washout for me. Whatever character development the lower deckers may have had doesn't matter, because we'll never see them again. They had that whole scene between Janeway and Celes, where Celes talks about how she feels deeply that she's not cut out for Starfleet life because the work is just not what her brain easily processes, (and after six years, I think she's the best judge of that) and how being a waitress in the mess hall would be a better job for her. It's played like a tragic scene, but like, why is that tragic?? Why couldn't she assist Neelix in the mess hall? Why couldn't she take charge of growing plants in the airponics bay? Why can't she just change to a job where she doesn't have to confront the numbers and algorithms that make her feel stupid and give her anxiety? Chakotay literally suggests that at the beginning of the episode, and Janeway is all 'we couldn't do that! They're not drones! We can't just deactivate them!' But how is it treating them like drones to let them choose jobs they like, and are better at?? (I guess if you're Janeway, and live and breathe science, not having a science job would seem like death to her.) But she's already treating them like drones by requiring everyone to do their original jobs, regardless of inclination or aptitude.

Janeway is a far more canny captain than they're giving her credit for here- she knows how to find positions that tailor to people's strengths. Neelix doesn't do science stuff, and he's an integral and valued member of the crew, why is it different for these crewman? They could have had a nice resolution for Celes, where Janeway agrees to help her find a new job that isn't STEM related, but no, they kept on the myopic track of 'everyone must love science or I have failed! she simply needs encouragement and she'll magically be better at the thing she's hated for six years!' There's no way one away mission will make Celes struggle less with math, so she didn't even get a resolution to the story we just wasted a whole episode on.

The idea that one mission can magically fix anyone is bad enough, but even if it could, I'm still not invested in them. And we never did find out what those creatures were, to boot. (And why was Seven allowed to audit every ship department? She's not even Starfleet! She has no interpersonal skills! Why does she get to tell experienced department heads how to do the jobs they've already been doing for years? That just makes no sense. Can the writers please stop shoehorning Seven into absolutely everything??)

One of the few interesting parts of this ep was getting to see parts of the ship we never see- going to deck 15 is very much like going from first class to steerage on the Titanic. It feels, well, like an actual ship. We never, ever see cramped, utilitarian areas like this on the Enterprise, which maybe doesn't even have a deck like this because it's the biggest and most luxorious ship in the fleet. You really get a sense that Voyager is a working ship with limited confines in this one, rather than a sort of endless maze of corridors and rooms that go on forever and reconfigure as needed, which it usually feels like in most eps.

But it also shows that life is very different, and not super exciting or glamorous, for the average crewman on regular starships, which is a little depressing, tbh. People complain about Harry Kim never getting a promotion, but at least he's a bridge officer, who gets to go on away missions and take command sometimes. Being a lower decker on Voyager seems like the ultimate purgatorial dead end job. (Which I always thought it must be, but to have it canonically confirmed is like, yikes.) I actually had never seen the first half of this ep before, where they show deck 15, and the crewmen having to share quarters with roommates. Seven damn years of that seems like a lot. Throw some enrichment into their enclosure! It's actually worse to know that some of the crew lives like this, and to not have the Captain, or anyone, be like- 'How can we make life more fun and rewarding for these people?' instead of just 'we must make them conform, and love their lives of endless toil!' Idk, the whole thing just had weird classist, corporate overtones to it, which is the total opposite of what Star Trek should be. And I hate that they're conflating realizing that something doesn't work for you, and deciding to change jobs, with failure. (Also, the score was weirdly cutesy in this ep- it felt kinda patronizing toward the lower deckers honestly. Usually you don't even notice scores in Trek eps, but this was conspiculously overdone and obtrusive.)

Tl;dr: Another episode that ignored our main characters in favor of one-off characters, whose character development didn't even feel authentic, and which will never pay off. It even managed to paint our main crew in a rather bad light as oblivious, privileged jerks, which it didn't need to do at all. Just not a great ep.

#star trek: voyager #voyager rewatch #rewatching star trek #star trek voyager #star trek

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yourbravestpigeon · 7 months ago

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“Star Trek is a whole Franchise nowadays”, Alberich explained to Catherine, sorting through the stack of DVDs in his lap. “There’re better things in the genre, but it’s a cult classic. We’ll start with the bad parts so you’ll see the high quality stuff when your prefrontal cortex is developed enough to appreciate it. What you need to know is-…”

The doorbell rang, twice in quick succession.

“Never mind”, he said, “There’s your mother. We’ll watch it next time.”

He got up, downed his glass because he didn’t trust Catherine around it, then walked to the front door. Irene was a little early, actually – it was a quarter to seven, but Alberich wasn’t complaining. This way he could still watch the show, just without someone crapping their pants on the stroke of every hour sitting next to him.

He opened the door and there was fucking Kai instead of Irene, purposefully glowering at him in a well-fitting suit.

“I’m here to pick up my daughter”, he announced, glancing over Alberich’s shoulder as if he expected the house to be secretly on fire.

“She’s still alive”, Alberich informed him and let Kai in. “We’ve done alright for ourselves.”

They entered the living room where Catherine thankfully hadn’t dived off the couch but was sitting peacefully, sucking on the corner of a DVD case. The sight of the little girl changed Kai’s icy features to immediate spring.

“There’s my princess”, he cooed, lifting her like a holy grail and peppering her belly with kisses. Catherine started giggling frantically at this, and Alberich had to admit she was fairly sweet with her baby tooth smile.

“Your princess shat her diaper quite a lot for a two hour stay”, he let Kai know. “Not sure if that’s normal or cause to see a doctor.”

“We know perfectly well when our daughter needs a doctor, thank you.”

“Righty roo”, he replied and hoped Catherine wouldn’t turn out as much of a bitch as her father. One look at the guy with his arrogant posture and arrogant face and arrogant clothing and nothing in his brain to warrant such hubris put Alberich at a constant loss how Irene, with her perfectly reasonable brain, had settled on this hack of a guy. Alberich had never met any of Irene’s exes, but he couldn’t believe Kai was the jackpot on the male market. That was, male and female market. No really, out of most people in the world Irene had settled for this-…

“We’ll be on our way”, Kai interrupted his mental voodoo-dolling. “Irene sends her regards.”

“Don’t forget the deer.” Alberich indicated the plushie Catherine had thrown across the room, and as Kai bent to pick it up his eyes fell on the paused image on the TV. He froze.

“Is that Pulp Fiction?”

“Don’t worry, we skipped the sex dungeon scene.”

“You watched Pulp Fiction with my daughter?!”

There was carefully controlled fury to the arrogant posture now, and the worshipping smile reserved for Catherine had been replaced by an approaching thunderstorm. Maybe that was what Irene liked about him; he was, in a way, fun to mess with.

“Kidding.” Alberich put on a reassuring smile. “It was still on from before she got here.”

Kai glared at him, though some of the murder left his eyes. “That’s not funny.”

“Not at all, no.”

Snatching his daughter’s backpack out of its corner Kai stalked towards the front door, holding a babbling Catherine close to his chest.

“Just one last question”, Alberich called after him.

“Yes?”

“What’s the deer’s name?”

Kai faced him as dignified as possible while holding a stuffed animal and a drooling toddler.

“It’s Lulu”, he said and shut the door with a bang.

“Dick”, Alberich mumbled. On the other side of the door Kai was having similar thoughts, only he didn’t voice them – he had a duty as a parent, after all. Still tense from the unpleasant exchange he slid his phone out and pressed the speed dial to Irene’s work phone. She’d had to hurry to the bookstore to sort out a butchered delivery, cutting their drinks after dinner short. It had still been a magical evening – every night with Irene was, and the thought of going back to their shared apartment filled him with the warmest kind of pride.

But first he checked Catherine for any kind of damage. He trusted Irene’s judgement on Alberich, he really did. But every minute he spent with her obnoxious biological father made him think how little the man deserved to be with their precious baby. He hoped Alberich got the dumb Russian research grant he’d mentioned at their last dinner, that way they’d be rid of him for at least a couple months. Sure, they’d have to find another babysitter– most of their friends were either very far away or very busy – but he’d rather leave Catherine with a stranger than her rude and uncultured pseudo grandpa. Or well, maybe not with a stranger, but with a… The more he thought about it the more he realized he didn’t want to leave Catherine alone at all. If it were feasible, he’d carry her in his arms all day long, hiding her bright eyes from the evils of the world. But alas, he was forced to let her go and trust, trust in life and in other people.

Apart from Irene, trusting was not his strong suit.

The call went to voicemail, so she was probably still knee-deep sorting out the mess. Charming visions filled Kai’s mind: him cooking a comforting dinner, him massaging Irene’s shoulders as she ranted about her night, her singing Catherine to sleep as he listened from the living room. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve this beautiful life.

After he’d verified that there were no cuts or bumps on Catherine’s body (Alberich’s apartment hadn’t been babyproofed at all) they set off, a cab carrying them through the night towards home.

#the invisible library #fanfiction #wonky au #part III #Kai #Alberich #Catherine

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kosi-annec · 11 months ago

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[HAIKYUU!!] Season 3 episode 8

Fuck 8-4 that's too big of a gap, they need to score the next points or else they're not gonna catch up..

Suga idk if it's smart to tell the enemy team your next plan, but it seems to piss tendo off lol

AAA NO ITS USHI AGAIN- OH nvm thx you for messing that up hskshk

No. 10 on field, let's go hinata! Get us them points back. Oh hey this background character (idk wat his name is) is doing pretty good.

AH OOF that's gotta hurt sheesh.. BUT KEEP GOING HINATA DON'T STOP- oh wow even TENDO was fooled by that. I gotta appreciate the fact that hinata was actually thinking before he spiked cuz he's not working w kage

wait hinata let himself get hit in the face ON PURPOSE?? I mean, if it keeps the ball up ig

"he shows no sign of the talent or intelligence of those other players" ouch, but true lmao

Ok you two (ushi & hinata) stop trying to assert dominance HSKSHS

Ngl kage just jumping up and down in the corner looked so silly

HINATA GET AN ICE PACK IF YOU CAN TASTE BLOOD, wat is with the karasuno boys getting hurt these past few matches, 2 have been sent to the nurse and now lil tangerine is technically bleeding just not externally

Nice Suga forcing him into a receive. Oh shit they're gonna do it again, oH THEY GOT THE POINT! Tendo was so caught up in trying to read em he didn't act

KAGEYAMA BACK ON FIELD LEZGO!! Pft- "better watch the back of your head, squirt" god i love the eng dub

All of this build up for kage's serve is either gonna end really cool or really bad. OK it went well- holy cRAP KAGE?? He was all the way from the back tf??? HOLY SHIT and we're back let's go!!!

hhh come on crows, they can't let shiratorizawa get any further ahead of them

Ok eita up on field. Wait he's also a setter? Ngl I don't remember. Yknow that's fair from eita ig, cuz everyone has eyes on ushi and ig tendo if only for his amazing blocking style, so it's nice to get that attention on you, if for a lil bit

FUCK- NOOO 12-9 they're getting too close to 15 for comfort..

YES BEST OLDER SISTER! These kinds of situations is exactly why there's cheer squads n shit. When the team is starting to feel down it's the audience's job to lift their spirits up, to let them know that someone believes in them

?? Is that a fucking anthem shiratorizawa's audience singing???

OK good save there tanaka, NOW JUST KEEP IT UP- omg OMG HINATA?? BLOCKED!? USHI!! holy crap LETZ GO THAT'S OUR TINY MIDDLE BLOCKER

Goshiki I thought you'd realize by now that no.10 ain't your average 1st year player, that tangerine is a monster

Aw kage basically telling kazuhito (finally learnt bg char's name) not to worry too much on how he plays

TADASHI GIVE US A GOOD SERVE! Yesss he's so confident in his abilities now, he's grown so much

CRAP nooo the crow's pinch server is out now- wait what?? OH goshiki touched the net. NVM THEN KEEP GOING TADASHI!!

Tbf kazuhito's the one that got hit and he's not used to the power behind ushi's spikes. aaAAA OK THAT'S OK BG GUY, you got a point that's all that matters right now

HSKHSJS OMG KAGE'S GROWN SO MUCH, he's literally adjusting himself to suit the spiker

YESSS the stress is getting to them, shiratorizawa's making mistakes, and by shiratorizawa i mean goshiki

Damn, that.. actually really sweet of ushi, cuz that man only says shit if he believes it, and goshiki needed that

GIVE US ANOTHER TADASHI- Ah fuck, and there goes the streak

FUCK, aaagh i thought he was gonna do a strong hit, ok so goshiki's not as reckless as i thought

14-13 COME ON KARASUNO!! YES OMG 14-14 JUST ONE MORE POINT, YOU GOT THIS CROWS

Ooh, old man flashback? Oof yeah that's the worse, where ppl deny you becuz you lack on something you don't have control over

Now back to present stress, JUST KEEP THE BALL UP CROWS! STOP HIS SPIKE- omg GOOD RECEIVE NOYA

I do find it interesting that the choice of music for this final point is not like hype or something loud, but more emotional and hopeful sounding. Idk im not a musician

FUCK NO! AHH they can't do another deuce again they HAVE to get the next 2 points..

Oh shit, coach?? Well, he's a man of few words, but those words are enough to light their fire again

Yachi?? wait- WAIT OMG IS HE BACK?? OMG TSUKI'S BACK!! THE CAVALRY IS HERE LEZGO

#sharing my brain juice #fandom talks #acessment #haikyuu!!

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amazon160 · 2 years ago

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My Opinion On The FNaF Movie ‼️‼️

I’ve got four perspectives for y’all, but they’re all my own opinion-

From a horror aspect:

This movie had a lot of potential. Emphasis on had. The first step to the past tense was going with the game designs for the animatronics. I applaud Jim Henson’s for the creation of these animatronics, but I feel like the designs could’ve been so much scarier. I know the majority thinks they’re scary in the game anyway, but even as a kid I never personally found their designs alone to be as creepy.

The second step was their eyes. I’m fine with the red and yellow eyes, don’t get me wrong, but again. Wasted potential. They could’ve been BANGER. Of course Blumhouse would have their reasons to stray away from the black eyes in the games, but I still stand by my opinion.

The third step relates to the eyes, too, because it’s actually how EXPRESSIVE the animatronics are. Again, applause for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. BUT. I feel like the more “lifeless” look the animatronics had going on fit them SO much better in most of the games.

Side note: that new footage of Bonnie behind Hank was so 😩👌✨

The fourth step was not as relative to the eyes, but just the whole film’s direction. You can tell by just the trailers alone that this will be leaning more towards the horror-comedy genre, WHICH I LOVE. It also means the horror will be toned down a bit. That’ll be disappointing to some people, but that means it’ll be enjoyed by more people and it could be perfect for a Halloween movie night.

From an outsider perspective:

The big takeaway I’m seeing from people is that this is a cheesy, campy horror movie. I think they are correct, and again, I appreciate it. I mean, haunted animatronics and Springtrap and all this stuff can be really scary, but the way Blumhouse is pulling it off, it’s a little more of a sillier concept.

I think this could be a really weird movie for some people, or it could be just the right amount of weird. We’ve got the core four, Golden Freddy, and Springbonnie/Springtrap. There were some old rumors of Puppet being in the movie, but I think these guys are enough. You’ve got the main victims as the core four, that fifth one for extra mystery, and the slasher. The final boss. That’s the perfect amount in my opinion.

The majority of people I’ve seen think this movie will be a good one to watch on Halloween weekend. There’s also a good number of people hyped, either from nostalgia or just from what’s been shown so far. And then there’s the minority that think it’ll be a dumpster fire.

From my perspective:

I want this to be what I think it is. The rating is perfect. The campiness is perfect. The horror is perfect. I came with very low expectations, but they have been raised a bit with this last trailer. There are some legitimately creepy shots (mostly just Bonnie behind Hank like HOLY CRAP) that I think will still get some good scares out of people. SO.

My hopes--that my expectations will be met. I want the animatronics and Willy to have good screen time, some movie lore on Golden Freddy, and Mike and Abby being wholesome.

My concerns--just the horror and cgi. The animatronics are very much revealed in the trailers, not shrouded in darkness like in the games. But the darkness was part of what made them scary in the original. I know Blumhouse spent much more than usual on this movie, so hopefully a chunk of that budget went to good cgi lol

CONCLUSION:

Scott said a while ago he’d finally seen a draft of the movie in full play and it came together beautifully. I can’t imagine having my creations being brought to life like that, it’s gotta be insane. If he’s happy with it, I’m happy with it

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf security breach #security breach #fnaf movie #the fnaf movie #blumhouse #halloween horror nights #THEY’RE AT UNIVERSAL #LETS GOOOOOO

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lxclerc · 2 years ago

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holy crap that oscar oneshot 'i've got you' was freaking amazing man.

you made my evening 20 times better with that one and it just showed up on my dash.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I really love it. I feel so warm inside and before I felt empty.

aww thank you so much! i'm so glad you liked it. it's purely self indulgent but i'm so happy so many of you guys found comfort in it the same way i did

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mashithamel · 3 months ago

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Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J Maas

I have learned that in order to get the full Nesta experience I will need to read the third book in the Crescent City series, so this will be my reading thread of the first book, House of Earth and Blood, in preparation 🧵:

* I’ve been enjoying a lot of werewolf/shifter romances, so not unhappy to see them, just a little surprised. Somehow they can talk in wolf form? And keep their clothes on? These are very important issues to address in shifter stories. I’ll be interested to see their leadership structure.

* I’m not loving Bryce right now? I can be a bit prudish but someone who smokes so much weed she goes to work still high, regularly stumbles around drunk, and uses other drugs to have a good night out is not a fun read on my end. I assume there is plenty of time for growth. (Spoiler alert: yeah, that’s pretty much the crux of the inciting event)

* Danika is interesting, even if she is also a drug-using party girl. How often does your college roommate wind up being a major celebrity badass warrior? She seems to do a lot to justify a work-hard, play-hard mentality.

* Of course, how often is your college budy an internationally onown assassin?

* And the social issues are interesting. The fact that citizenship is dependent on what value you offer, the humans are viewed as basically chattel, the war raging across the ocean but that hasn’t upset their lives much so far. There’s a lot of potential.

* Oh. Well this is awful 😳

* Aww, I liked Danika and Conner.

* The recording is horrible. I’d throw up too.

* They don’t let Bryce attend the Sailing. Damn. That’s very cold and horrible. The whole thing is awful.

* So, there’s a Fae Autumn King, with fire powers here. Interesting.

* It’s nice that even in a fantasy world the guys wear the traditional romance uniform of a black tshirt and jeans.

* I would like to have sorceress powers to turn people into animals (assuming I could undo it after they’d been appropriately humbled). It would be fun.

* Lehaba meeting Hunt was cute. He was very nice to her. I appreciated the frank and unembarassed discussion about how they are both slaves.

* “The Fae forged it in their home world” ~ Ruhn, regarding the Luna Horn. Ooo, Prythian? Hybern?

* “But the kristallos pinned Micah, ripped open his chest—” She nearly tripped over the curb, and whipped around to gape at him. “That was Micah?” Holy crap.

* “You’ve got a cabal of hot friends, and the moment one of you mates, the others fall like dominoes.” Heh. I appreciate a good meta moment about the romance genre.

* Apparently I have become a sucker for enemies to lovers. Bryce is way less annoying than Feyre, at this point at least.

* “Hunt is nice. And Prince Ruhn is nice. But Danika was never nice to me. Always biting and snarling. Or she ignored me.” I am a Lehabah supporter. I would be her friend. #FreeLehabah

* “She sometimes wondered about it: whose firstlight was powering her phone, or the stereo, or her coffee machine.” Are we going to wind up with a Monsters Inc. type plot??

* “Hunt’s fingers balled into fists. He’d been so wildly in love with Shahad, with the cause—had he been no better than this man?” Ok, introspection about past deeds and comparing yourself to a murderer with noble ideals but terrible methods, who you currently have sympathy for because you know exactly what type of torture he’s getting. This is promising!

* When are they going to look into Danika‘s mom? She does the scheduling, the scheduling was weird, they need to look at her. (This is so if the mom winds up being the main bad guy, or at least bad-guy-adjacent, I’ll look like I’m smart.) [Edited to add: I did kinda suspect the actual bad guy, and appreciated how everyone was kind of hot and cold on them—they were bad, sometimes terrible, but also could be good maybe, at least in comparison? It was a good set up, less obvious than Sabine.]

* “Quinlan silently conveyed to her, ‘I see you.’ And I like all of it. Right back at you, her half smile seemed to say.” Awww.

* 😢 I’m very sad now. There’s still a quarter of the book left, but Danika…

* Oh god. Crucifixtion. That’s a horrific way to go.

* Why does Maas seem to like writing about corpses hung on walls and left to rot? At least twice this has been a decorating feature of hers. 🤢

* “She would’t lose another friend. Especially not Hunt. Never Hunt. No matter what he had done, what and who he’d chosen, even if this was the last she would ever see of him…she wouldn’t let this happen. He could go to Hel afterward, but she would do this. For him.”

* I like that Bryce doesn’t believe him for a second when he tries to make out like she means nothing to him so she’ll stop trying to get him free.

* Maas also likes to populate her worlds with people with weak stomachs. Waaaay too much vomiting. A little here and there? Sure, it’ll show your hero’s depth of emotion. But there is a limit! Or there should be!

* I can totally ship Ruhn/Hypaxia. Or Hypaxia/Tharion.

* It’s always nice of the bad guy to spill way too many secrets before they kill you.

* Lehabah! 💔😢

* I love this tribute to her true father. “Hunt had never seen anyone assemble a gun without looking at it, running toward a target. As if she had done it a thousand times. She had, Hunt remebered. Bryce might have been fathered by the Autumn King, but she was Randall Silago’s daughter. And the legendary sharpshooter had taught her well.”

* How long does it take synth to do the bad stuff? I mean, how much time was Danika souped up and could have gone after him before…you know…

* She vacuums him up. I love it.

* I can see why Nesta and Bryce will get along. “There are children here!” Bryce screamed. “There are babies!”

* You should know that I have been yelling at everyone at the Summit to move since this whole thing started. If an angel had left right away, they’d be there by now, right??

* Fury giving orders to the Asteri as though they would obey her—either she has a enormous balls or her backstory just keeps getting more interesting.

* Ok, I’m crying now. “The onyx stone of the Bone Quarter glowed like a dark star.”

* "That's the point of it, Bryce. Of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that much more precious."

* I’m appreciating the sentiment and tone enough that I’m not even going to comment on how shocking asystole is useless. “What you waited to admit until I was almost dead, you fucking coward.” His lightening surged into her, sending her body arcing off the ground as he tried to jump-start her heart. He snarled in her ear, “Now come say it to my face.”

* I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed this one. It was gory and devastating, but so gripping and I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster. Why do people spend time ragging on the IC in ACOTAR when they could enjoy all of Nesta’s spiciness with some terrific characters and character growth?

* I am very much looking forward to the next one! I’ve gotten the audio version so I can listen to it again while I wait. Bryce is so much better than Feyre, Hunt is not nearly so smug as Rhysand. They both are very flawed, and those flaws negatively impact them, even as they eventually forgive themselves, each other, and actually grow. I’m sure it’s got critics, but I am so much less interested in ranting than I am in reading more, compared to ACOTAR. I can totally see Bryce and Nesta being friends and I look forward to it.

* But are the going to rescue the wraith from the bottom of the sea? That’s a horrific punishment. There are mer people—could they go down that far?

Bottom line: gonna listen to it on audio now, and bring on Book 2!

#paranormal romance?#romantasy?#house of earth and blood #sarah j maas #book review #crescent city

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themuseinthewoods · 4 months ago

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I love you match ups idea???? Sorry for the anon, I'm just really really shy when it comes to fictional ship things. If you're feeling up to it I think matches would be fun for about anything. um. I'll use the format the last person did if that works. eyes: brown, hair: brown., late 20s, average weight/build but I'm tall for a woman (especially if we're talking any historical media, I'd tower over a lot of guys lol). I'm a little withdrawn but I do love parties/socials/dances, as long as I can be on my own most of the day; I like literature and the arts, I work a desk job but I'm also a professional writer. Most of my outfits are inspired by 18th and 18th century menswear, or pre-raphealite style dresses.

Ok, who did I please? TWO ASKS IN ONE DAY??!!! I'm so freaking excited. Okay, I actually had to break out my fandom list for this one lol.

and it is totally fine that you chose to be anon, that is why I have the option.

buttt since you gave me creative liberty, I gonna match you with three guys from different fandom's!! trade off is their are less headcanons for each guy but feel free to request more if their is something you want me to expand on!

The first fandom I went with is: the Lord of the rings.... My personal favorite.

Ok, i know you said you were tall but there is one very specific person that came to mind for this and that is: Frodo Baggins!

not only would this sweet boy absolutely love to take you to all the hobbit parties, dances and social events you could wish for but he also knows a lot about literature and would love to not only exchange writing's with you but would give you excellent reading recommendations!

I think you and Frodo have a lot in common with the little withdrawn part and now you both have each other to keep company

will teach you Hobbit dances

omg, imagine the double dates with Sam and Rosie!

will build a home for you in the shire so you can be comfortable.

The second fandom is: Enola Holmes and I am matching you with the one and only Sherlock!

okay, so I do believe this takes place in one of those century's so lets say in this situation you're a friend of his mothers and he meets you on a visit

and holy shit

the great Sherlock Holmes fell in love.

not only do you disregard most tradition with your clothes but you are well read and appreciate art he's going to consult you on cases regarding art as a way of flirting and you will not change my mind

he'll bring you with him for all the events he is forced to attend loves how you dress up ngl and it makes him feel better that at least you, his darling will enjoy it when he shall not

might propose when he finds out you write because holy crap are you a rarity

The third and final fandom is Tombstone! And I am picking a controversial one here: Johnny Ringo!

ok, hear me out

Johnny not only proves to be a well read man, he is also a pretty smart one.

And lets be honest his usual crowd can be a little unappreciative of the Arts and of literature......oh, and you like to party?

He'll take you to them if you stay with him the whole time and let him keep you safe, but he is a very good dancer

when he has to leave he'll bring you books, writing supplies, new clothes that he "found"

this man is perfectly happy to sit by you or in the same room with you and do nothing but watch you work, you wouldn't know he was there except every time you look up, there's that love struck expression.

ok. again. TYSM for the request anon! you made my day, I really hope you like them <3

P.S. I am always up for requests, they make my day!

#fanfic #fandom #tombstone 1993 #lord of the rings #enola holmes #match ups open

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critical-quoter · 5 months ago

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Last Week's Reviews

Saving Paige - T. O. Smith ⭐️ 🫄🏼 This was confusing and not great. These people are in college. They are 18 years old. So why are they talking and acting like they're in their 30s? Dylan especially. I hate to break it to anyone, but a 15 year old is not "raising his daughter on his own." And I'm sorry, but the insta-love and wanting to be the father to Paige's unborn baby? An 18 year old wanting to do that? I just cannot.

The banter between the characters was childish. I feel like it was trying to be funny and missed the mark completely. And some of the stuff said when the characters fought, was just red flags all over the place. Let's not even mention the anger issues that Dylan both acknowledges and claims to only need his fists to deal with them. insert eye roll here

I like rede flags in my fictional characters but between the rage and the insta-love/love bombing that Dylan is doing, it's hard not to think about real life narcissistic men.

Corrupt - Penelope Douglas ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🎭 Excuse me, not an ounce of groveling. In fact, the other guys apologized more than Michael did.

The writing was good. The smut smutted. Michael is trash and Rika deserved better.

Monster's Temptation - C.R. Jane & Mila Young ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👹 This was less monster romance and more monster erotica. It's not bad, but if you're looking for romance and love and some plot, this is not the book for you.

It is what it is. But I'm not sure I'll continue because frankly, it didn't seem like most of the MMCs even really liked Blake beyond her being a sex toy. It got 3 stars. The writing isn't abysmal. I like these authors in general. I just wanted some actual feelings beyond lust. Does that make sense?

The One I Didn't See Coming - Piper Rayne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🧘🏼‍♀️ This was a sweet one for sure. Some of the side characters' behavior didn't make the most sense to me in regards to how they treated the mains: Briar and Emmett. I wouldn't say it seemed out of character, just that there really wasn't a reason beyond being an obstacle to the couple.

The writing is well done and the story progressed well with all plot points to do with Briar and Emmett neatly wrapped up in the end. No part of this book seemed to drag for me and I appreciate that at a little until 300 pages, it wasn't an insta-love situation either. The relationship moved at a decent pace and it was so good. I really like Briar and Emmett. No notes, no complaints on these main characters.

In the Details - Julia Wolf ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🏍️ So I really appreciated Clara getting the story she deserved after getting absolutely crapped on in Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife but honestly, her relationship with Jake was great up until they actually started having a relationship.

This was so full of mediocre to bad communication, trust issues without talking about it, and hypocritical expectations. The fact that Jake basically inserted himself into the relationship with Clara and her 3 year old daughter, but would not make room for Clara in his relationship with his 13 year old was just major ick. So he's had a bad dating experience in the past but he didn't even talk to his teenage daughter about Clara. He just kept his dating as a dirty secret basically. And let's not gloss over the fact that CLARA AND SAGE HAD ALREADY MET AND VIBED WELL TOGETHER.

I don't know. 3 stars because I like Julia Wolf's writing style. I took 2 stars away because I thought Jake was a douche-canoe.

Pucking Sweet - Emily Rath ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🏒 I think this may be my favorite in the series so far. Because holy crap, all these characters are perfect. Poppy is such a badass, truly. Just Southern sweetheart who's willing and able to bust balls, as long as it's not her family's. And then you have the our men. Lukas being the emotionally stunted prankster and Colton the perfect little simp.

The throuple's entire relationship was just so good. They had chemistry but not only that, they had believability. Lukas and Poppy made sense. Poppy and Colton made sense. Frankly, Lukas and Colton made the most sense. They were all just so good together.

Rath's writing is so good. You know there's gonna be banter, and fighting, and stress, but you just bask in it. The story isn't unpredictable by no means, but you just not-so-calmly wait for the shoe to drop. I mean, I teared up! I cackled out loud! I held my breath through frantic parts of it. This is one of my favorite reads for 2024 by a long shot.

Collide - Bal Khabra ⭐️⭐️ ⛸️ This was... pretty bad. Frankly, the book was 200 pages too long. The plot could have been wrapped up very nicely with 200 less pages of filler. It was in desperate need of editing in this case alone.

And Summer? My goodness, I have not come across a female main character that I disliked more. I see some of the comparisons to Iebreaker, and yeah, the stories are a lot alike. But where Icebreaker's Anastasia was driven and focused on her goals, Summer just came across as an emotionally stunted commitment-phobe that claimed she hated hockey because of the "neglect" her dad gave her but proceeded to do the same stuff to Aiden anyway. (That was a terribly written sentence but I'm not an author so sue me.)

Aiden was okay as a male main character. But he was also so bland. Like ugh. If I despised Summer, I felt utterly ambivalent towards Aiden. These characters had no real chemistry and honestly, I would place money that if they were real people, they would have been broken up/divorced loooooong before the epilogue.

2 stars was generous. I wanted to DNF this at around 30% because of how long it was to be honest.

The Predator - RuNyx ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🩸 The Predator is an unfortunate name but a great book. It just had chef's kiss old school fan fiction vibes and I was 100% here for it.

Morana proved that being a genius does not make you immune from doing the most dumb and reckless shit ever. Her reckless abandon for her own safety at times made her come across as badass but also, just frighteningly blasé about her survival. And mad does this really define a slow burn enemies to lovers. Morana and Tristan want and actively (on Morana's part) attempt each other's murder.

Tristan was… hot perfection. I would let him hold me at knife/gun point. No notes. No complaints. I just really love an emotionally stunted, hateful mafia man. It's like my jam. I'm excited for the sequel. The ending here was just glorious.

The Reaper - Runyx ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💀 I really was not expecting to enjoy this series as much as I am. Now, I'm honestly just upset that I put it on the back burner for so long. Morana and Tristan are just so good. And while I kind of predicted the plot twist, it was handled really well and I really liked it. Everything about this is what I want in a mafia romance. I'm not even upset that it's a serial plot line series. You get to see the progression of all the characters as the plot moves forward. And honestly, it's pretty great.

Unloved - Peyton Corinne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚 ARC review separate

The Wrong Quarterback - C. R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🏈 I am like the biggest fan of The Pucking Wrong series and I was so ready for Parker Davis's book because who wouldn't want Parkie-Poo's unhinged love story?

And don't get me wrong. I absolutely loved this. My only minor issues were that the characters were just too young and Parker wasn't unhinged enough. It just didn't feel like he did enough fucked up stuff. The Pucking Wrong series was just feral and compared to that, The Wrong Quarterback just kind of seemed tame. Not bad at all, just not what I was wanted.

That all being said. I really liked both Parker and Casey. They were pretty great characters and they fit great in the universe of dark sports romances that prior to this year, I didn't know I needed but now I definitely do. I'm also really excited for Jace's book coming next.

#book #books #booklr #book lover #literature #quote #novel #book quotes #reading #lit #bookish #booklover #book blog #books and reading #bookworm #book recommendations

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the-firebird69 · 9 months ago

Video

youtube

ELYSIUM | Max vs. Kruger, Final Battle Scene | Matt Damon Sci-fi Movie

I feel a little odd most of the time and they **** me back together as best they could I appreciate it and I've done some really stupid things I can see why Tommy F was having me do that no desert thing and he is real **** it does make sense and he shot at our friend 3 times my own father shot me it's about this AI stuff and see him in this movie I think he's a guy chavez who is with Timmy D and is doing it because our friend here is mentioning it and point he is torturing himself and we mean Trump of course what a filthy ****. Holy crap so the question is are the up on Jupiter or Saturn and is it the clams the clans and can they do it and he says Dave and Carol could do it well juice or their children the rest of them probably not even in giant form it would not take too long for them to succumb to the effects of gravity. There are others who would be able to withstand it for a while there's a certain hulk and they say it's all the Hulk but your brain will not do the same thing theirs does and it will not sustain your life but the hoax could do it on Saturn we do believe so and many other mutants who are large but not for too long it's really the Hulk and my husband and myself would stand the gravity of Saturn when it full size and Jupiter when the full size on the surface indefinitely. but no human being will. They're looking for data on studies that they did because if you juice up and soup yourself up a certain amount incorrectly you might be able to withstand it enough to go to the planet and into the core to escape the intense gravity of the surface otherwise you have to freeze yourself and thaw once you get inside.

Hera Zues

It is all accurate yes and even the part where Dave would have trouble on Saturn unless he doped properly and he would last about an hour he doesn't need that long and he wouldn't have in the past and he knew how to do it and he could pass through the gravity field and into lower gravity and it would be quick enough it take about 5 minutes and he'd have 55 minutes to spare and he'd be about 10,000 miles in and about 20,000 miles he'd feel better and when he's at a radius of the planet of about 300,000 miles so that would total 600,000 he'd be fine and his full size and height and if in shape so really he'd wanna go 100,000 miles further in to survive comfortably humans would have to go in almost to the core the radius would be about 70,000 miles and it'd be deep inside the planet so they said robots and that's what they're doing in the movie they're trying to get the data and they're trying to locate it and see if they'd had succeeded while they're doing it they're saying they did and they're building robots and a lot of people fall for it even though it's a cheesy trick and Timmy Doyle has to figure it out and for some reason he has to know it's because David Audent was his friend and lied to him quite often about everything and Dave Stager would if he weren't such a fool.

Thor Freya

i said hte last sentance

Hera

Olympus

#youtube

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fatexbound · 11 months ago

Text

Badass was such a high praise and truth be told, Yusuke wasn't the only one who told her that. Yosuke and her other friends from school had described her as such, including scary when she was pissed off.

Her fury knew no bounds, especially when her targets were bullies who had nothing better to do than make little kids' lives miserable until someone came to their rescue, strengthening her passion for justice.

"Wait... you wanna train me? Seriously?! I've never had a master before! That's so... awesome, holy crap!" She would've never pictured him as that kind of guy, so it was greatly appreciated, taking Chie by surprise.

"Alright, show me what you got! It's my day off, so I've got all the time in the world for ya! Let's go to Samegawa first- that's where I train! It's real peaceful with no interruptions and plenty of trees to kick!" She felt bad for hurting nature, though.

In a way she reminded him of himself when he started to emulate whatever he saw on television, but Bruce Lee? That man was a force of nature, most what Yusuke had emulated were things he’s seen in action movies and wrestling. So once she asked if he thought it was lame Yusuke shook his head ‘no’. It was far from what he thinks. ❝ 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬. ❞ A fighter needs to learn from somewhere after all.

“Not t’ mention ya said you’ve got your own moves too, that’s pretty badass. Whenever ya get a break from school ya gotta let me train you.” IF anything, Yusuke might have found his own apprentice..well he was probably on the young side to be LOOKING for an apprentice however, his mortality clock will be ticking a lot slower than anyone’s soo…when better to start than now?

“BUT only if ya wanna, I’ll train ya the way my late master did..cept I wouldn’t leave you naked to survive in the wilderness, but by the time ya come back I promise you’ll be breaking bricks with your forehead. Hell, if you want a demonstration t’ know it’s not all bullshit I can show you.”

#thuganomxcs #Carnivore Dragon ; Chie #Don't Stop Running | Post!P4 Chie #oh hell yeah let's gooo

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drawingsdrawingseverywhere · 7 years ago

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Trollhunters Dadswap AU part 22

Heimdrel is slain, The Bridge is destroyed, and what remains of The Witch’s forces on our side of the portal?

In which I have also given up on making these short and instead have decided to just go with the flow

Hey how’s it going guys good to be back now let’s see where were we

oh yes Toby being chased by a cat literally made of fire. That’s a thing. We follow canon up until the point Jim and Toby, fleeing the cat turn to the park where Strickler and Angor Rot are waiting with their trap.

“Now are you certain this is an Illuminaire?” Strickler pulls an artifact borrowed from the Galadrigal brothers out from under his cloak. “This will only work if it’s an Illuminaire.”

The Fiery Feline (ha ha) turns a corner and Jim points while taking the Amulet of Daylight out of his pocket.“You tell me!”

Angor Rot quickly grabs onto the boys and slowly backs away with Strickler in tow, no one breaking sight with the monster.

“oooooh dear. We have a problem” Strickler plucks a few knives from his cowl.

Jim doesn’t break his focus off of the very angry creature. “No don’t tell me. Let me guess. This isn’t an Illuminaire.”

“correct.”

“and that artifact is absolutely useless in this situation.”

“also correct.”

“great.”

Angor Rot draws his knife while Strickler tosses the item aside. He puts his arms out protectively in front of Jim and Toby. Toby pulls out his phone and starts taking pictures out of panic.

“This is an Infernal Hellheeti, Jim.”

“Well how was I supposed to know that?! It’s a fiery creature that came out of a rock! How many of those come out of rocks?!”

“about Eleven, thirteen if you include-”

“Look it’s either finish my algebra homework or research all countless magical creatures known to trollkind and which one do you think my mom would buy?”

“fair enough, Barbra did mention you’ve been struggling in that area.”

“can it be killed?” Angor Rot is already stepping forward to come between the Hellheeti and the boys.

“Go for it, bro! Give em a taste of the Shadow King!”

“wait what? Just what kind of talks are you and my mom having?”

“Nothing serious! Just idle chatting! She’s just concerned about your grades is all!”

“Uh guys??? kinda running out of Park to escape in!”

“Can I kill it?!” Angor Rot is standing in the front by this point. He’s ready to strike.

“YES” Jim and toby cry.

“Wait Angor don’t--!!!”

But it’s too late. Angor Rot was already on the attack. He strikes the Hellheeti with Skathe-Hrun, and then after a swift kick cuts it in half with his knife. The embers fall to the ground while Jim and Toby cheer. Angor Rot adjusts his grip on his knife before sheathing it.

moments later the embers burst back into life, forming 5 Hellheeti from the remnants of the first.

“As I was trying to say, attacking a Hellheeti will only make matters worse!”

our heroes are quickly surrounded. Jim looks to Strickler for advice.

“Well if we can’t fight it how do we stop it?!”

“The only way to stop a Hellheeti is douse it’s flames!”

“How do you do that?”

“The obvious answer is water but I didn’t exactly come prepared to be cornered by one Hellheeti let alone five!”

Toby notices something in his phone camera and points quickly. “would a fire hydrant do the trick?!”

Jim and Angor Rot exchange glances and nod. Angor Rot activates Skathe-Hrun with a roar, sending the Hellheeti pack backing up for a moment, and it’s a long enough pause to give him time to open a portal. Jim sees the other end appear by the Hydrant and races inside.

As Jim leaps into the portal he summons his armor. He uses this moment of weightlessness to just focus on coming out the other side, and he reenters reality with a bright flash. The Hellheeti are distracted by the flash, and Jim yells to get all their attention.

“hey!” he spins his sword and then challenges them with his hand. “Come and get some.”

The monsters charge at an intense speed, and if it wasn’t for Jim’s skill with the Sword of Daylight he wouldn’t have been able to cut the hydrant in time. It’s too late for the swarm of Hellheeti to stop before the majority of them are doused by the water. Jim finishes off the last one like he does in canon and it’s pretty dang awesome.

“go get some rest, you two. There’s a pop quiz tomorrow and I will not hear it if you try telling me you didn’t have time to study cause I know for a fact you did.”

“alright, you make sure Angor Rot gets back to the market before sunrise. It’ll be dawn soon!”

That morning Jim is hard at work at making breakfast for himself and his mom. With Bhaltair gone things have been nuts at the hospital. Barbra quickly makes a bowl of cereal and runs out, kissing Jim on the head on the way.

Jim voices his worries on the way to school with Toby.

“It’s a shame he’s such a good doctor,” Toby replies while biking circles around Jim. “Your mom actually got a bit of rest while he was around.”

“believe me Toby I would totally wish he’d come back if it meant my mom could get a well deserved break. but it’s for the best that he’s gone. I just wish it was possible to tell her why I’m worried.”

“why don’t you?”

“And end up in the crazy house?!”

“good point. Doesn’t help that you told Claire we’d get Enrique out of the Darklands.”

Jim rolls his eyes, “toby we’ve been over this! He’s stuck in the Darklands! I can’t just leave him there!”

“know what else is in the Darklands? Certain death!”

Things follow along with canon at this point up until Jim and Toby go to class. Claire pushes her chair back and turns to face them. They go through the same conversation up until Strickler enters the class.

“alright, everyone. Seats forward, pencil’s out. Today we will be having a pop quiz on the Roman Empire, and I expect each of you to do your best. Consider this for Extra Credit for the chapter.”

Class goes by smoothly and as Claire picks up her books Strickler calls to her over from his desk.

“Miss Nunez, a word if you please.”

The class clears out and Strickler stops Jim and Toby before they leave as well.

“Lake, Domzalski, you as well.”

He fiddles with his pen while the students approach his desk. Strickler waits until the door closes to speak.

“so... I thought it over, and it feel like it’s time you join us in Trollmarket, Claire.”

“Are you serious?” Claire steps closer. “when are we going? are we going now?”

Strickler raises his hand with a light chuckle. “calm down, calm down. You still have other classes to attend. We shall go together this afternoon after school. Jim and Toby will show you the way, and I shall meet you there.”

That afternoon, like Strickler said, the professor is waiting beneath the bridge.

“Everyone ready?”

Jim pulls the Horngazel out from his bag and hands it to Claire. She takes a deep breath.

“If it means getting some answers, I’m ready for anything.”

Strickler nods and turns to the canal wall, drawing a line for Claire to trace. Claire steps forward, and Strickler raises his hand.

“Just a moment, I feel it right to have no secrets between us.” In a flash Strickler is back in his true form and for a moment Claire freezes. “still ready to go on?”

Claire swallows hard and nods.

“I’m ready.”

“very good. Simply follow the mark I’ve drawn and we can be on our way.”

Claire is in awe as the portal opens and the staircase of Crystal appears. Before they can react she races down as fast as she can, taking in every sight as she goes on. Jim, Toby, and Strickler only catch up with her once she reaches the bottom steps. Strickler steps in front of her and stops her before she sees the market.

“now Miss Nunez, we must establish rules before you just go wherever you please! Trolls don’t take very kindly to humans. You must act with the utmost respect and tact while traversing this place!”

“whatever you say, sir,” Claire nods, directly after slipping past him to finally see the Market with her own eyes. She is, naturally, stunned. “it’s.... beautiful.”

“Welcome to Heartstone Trollmarket.” Claire takes Jim’s hand as he approaches, in moments pulling him down the steps as she talks about how lovely everything is.

“can I live down here?!”

Strickler is quick to intervene. “I don’t think that would be a good id-”

she’s gone in seconds.

“oh no”

Jim, Toby, and Strickler give chase in vain as Claire weaves through the crowd with glee, it’s not until she bumps into Angor Rot himself walking with AAARRRGGHH!!! that she comes to a stop.

“you! I remember you! You’re-”

“Angor Rot.”

Claire graciously bows. “I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life.”

Angor Rot returns the gesture, “it is I who should be thanking you for saving mine.”

As Strickler and the boys catch up with her, Claire and Angor are already deep in conversation while she looks AAARRRGGHH!!! over.

“Jim told me about how you both helped him slay Heimdrel, and how you caught him midair after he zapped a Tyreta Stalkling with lightning!”

Strickler glances over to Jim, “just how much have you told her...?”

“not much....?”

AAARRRGGHH!!! naturally starts to look uncomfortable after a bit of prodding, which is understandable considering his past, and Strickler gently directs Claire away.

“Ooookay, Claire I think you’ve had enough fun for one-”

and she’s off again.

“day.”

She turns a corner and Strickler and Angor Rot are instantly aware of what could go down. The trolls race after her in panic at this point.

“Nomura’s pottery shop! Is that where Toby got his Gnome? And where’s the Galadrigal Library? I have so many questions to ask Dictatious and Blinky!”

Claire gasps.

“Is that the troll pub?!”

Strickler and Angor Rot pass terrified glances to each other. It obviously is not long before Claire spots the Elder of Trollmarket, Vendel, in the middle of enjoying himself with a drink. By the time Strickler and Angor Rot enter, he has already spotted her. Both take a drink to brace themselves for this terrible situation. After taking a good look at Vendel’s face, Strickler takes two.

Vendel is obviously angry, especially when Claire tries to introduce herself and thank him for letting her into the market. Strickler can’t help but somewhat hide behind Angor Rot as Vendel let’s his anger out.

“I allowed the trollhunter here because he was chosen, and I allowed the chubby one in for emotional support! But now a third????”

Strickler tries to defend the decision when Claire suddenly introduces herself again, this time in troll.

Congrats to Claire for saving Strickler’s life this time.

with Vendel dealt with, and Claire free to go through the market, there’s one last place she wants to see. It’s a tough choice, but eventually the team agrees to let Claire see the vault, and by extension the remains of Kilahead bridge. Angor Rot opens it with a simple touch, and they walk quietly inside.

“this is as close as we can allow you to the Darklands, I’m afraid.”

Claire says her peace, sitting beside the Keystone and promising her brother they’d get him out somehow. With Claire satisfied, Strickler puts his hand on Toby’s shoulder.

“Toby, if you would be so kind to show Claire the Hero’s Forge, Jim and I have some things to discuss.”

Toby and Angor Rot lead Claire to the forge, where she quickly spots Bular hard at work.

“Is that Bular? Gunmar’s son?”

“In the flesh.... well... ya know.... stone flesh.”

Bular scratches at the metal covering on his face, mumbling to himself while he picks up stones and puts them in place on a statue. He is unnaturally silent while he works. Claire leans over towards Toby, while also trying to get a better look at his project.

“What’s that statue he’s working on?” her voice is barely over a whisper.

Bular is quick to respond, looking over his shoulder, “I do not make statues.”

Claire freezes as Bular fully turns to face them, remembering seeing him for the first time in the chilling dark of Jim’s Basement- eyes burning through the shadows. Bular waves a hand towards the figure before getting back to work.

“I am restoring my father to his former glory.”

“Took a while to track down all the stones,” Toby explains, “hate to be there when they gotta put Jim back together.”

awkward silence.

“okaaaaaaaaaay just grossed myself out.”

Claire watches Bular work a while longer.

“you guys train in an arena decorated with the remains of former Trollhunters? That is....... so awesome!”

Claire looked over to Angor Rot and Toby. “can we turn it on?”

Before they can stop her she’s already trying to find the controls.

Meanwhile Strickler is hard at work checking various maps and textbooks, while also helping Jim repair the vespa they built.

“so, Claire Nunez. You two are closer than I thought.”

“something wrong with her? You seemed just fine with bringing her here this morning.”

Strickler laughs, “I have nothing against Miss Nunez. She’s one of my best students, not counting you. Popular. Lovely. I can see why you care so deeply for her. You’d go to the ends of the Earth for her.”

Jim starts flipping through a book but almost drops it as Strickler continues

“or the Darklands.”

Jim laughs nervously. Strickler closes the lid to the Vespa and directs his attention to one of the books on the table.

“The heart can be a dangerous thing, Jim. It can lead you to places you shouldn’t go.”

“how did you-”

“figure it out? it wasn’t hard when you made it so easy. I swear on Deya’s Grace, Draal’s infatuation with Nomura was less obvious!”

“It’s her brother, Strickler, and I made her a promise! I can’t--”

“The biggest difference between you and Claire is that you are fully aware of the danger that lies in the Darklands! If you were to go alone you would undeniably be killed!”

Jim flips through a book only partially listening.

“Which is why I won’t allow you to go alone.”

“You said I have to answer every call, Strickler! Now I- wait... what?”

Strickler sits by Jim’s side, hand on his shoulder in a sign of support.

“Angor Rot and I have been discussing it along with Nomura. We know you’re going in there no matter what we say. As risky as going to the Darklands would be, if Claire’s brother is that important to you, he’s important to us. We are a team, and no decision you make is going to change that.”

Jim smiles to Strickler, who in return smiles back, when Nomura runs in with Angor Rot at her heels.

“Strickler!”

Both Jim and Strickler rise to their feet.

“What’s wrong? Are the children alright?”

Nomura grabs onto Strickler’s arm and begins leading them to the Forge with Jim and Angor Rot close behind.

“If we don’t hurry they wont be!”

Jim, Strickler, and Angor Rot race into the Forge to see it going absolutely haywire. Toby and Claire are dangling for their lives. Jim races forward and skids to a stop when he spots Bular also trapped on the Forge’s ever changing form.

“What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know!” Bular digs his claws into the stone as he tries skidding down and leaping onto another platform. “the fleshbags were looking at the Soothescrayer when it suddenly went nuts!”

“well can’t you turn it off?”

Bular jumps off the platform towards another only to be knocked back by a spinning axe. He digs his claws into the wood as he’s thrown about only to land on a different platform miles away from where he was trying to go.

“I would if this was something The Forge has done before!”

Angor Rot takes a few steps back to look at everything and points. “the Soothescrayer is still active.”

Stricker, Jim, and Angor Rot jump onto the Forge. “Jim, Angor and I will get Claire and Toby, you get to the Soothescrayer! There’s an emergency shut off switch in it’s mouth!”

Jim nods and starts climbing. There’s a long and hard climb as Angor Rot just barely catches Toby as he falls off of a spinning platform, and as Strickler leaps to catch Claire as she also begins to fall. Jim reaches the Scryer and reaches in just at that moment. He swings his sword into the floor and uses it as a pedestal to climb up and shut the machine off. Strickler catches Claire as the platform begins to settle down, He uses his own claws to slip down safely until the platform settles itself back to normal.

The eyes of the Soothescryer begins to glow intensely, and as Bular joins the others safely to the ground he is the only one who truly understands what’s happening.

There is a flash, and Jim is gone.

“JIM?!” Toby wiggles out of Angor Rot’s arms.

“he’s gone!”

“Not gone.” Claire and Toby spin around to Bular and Strickler. Strickler is staring wide eyed while Bular looks down to the kids. “He has been summoned.”

“Summoned?!” Claire grabs onto Strickler’s cape to make him look away from the Scryer to her. “what does he mean by SUMMONED?!”

Strickler slowly looks back up to the Soothescrayer, a glimmer of pride and surprise in his eyes. “He has been summoned by the elder council.”

Jim is covering his ears as the platform and the Scryer whirs to a stop. Opening his eyes, he looks around to see the Forge in a whole new light. Now it is covered in mist, and the faint glimmer of stars, and everything is glowing a mystical blue. He rises to his feet.

“h-hello?”

“he is but a child!” “a human!” “he is not worthy!”

voices whisper and hiss about him, and Jim finds himself drawing his blade in defense.

“So the boy appears to us at last.” A deep voice echoes in the empty space. “but are you worthy of this place?”

Before Jim can think a massive troll that appeared to be made of nothing more but mist is charging towards him, sword aimed to strike. Jim parries, and after a swing of his sword the troll vanishes into mist. In moments the troll reappears behind Jim, and on instinct Jim makes them vanish again. once more the troll appears, but with this swing the troll performs a maneuver that forces the Sword of Daylight out of Jim’s hand and into the hand of the troll before him.

With the sword at his throat, Jim realizes he can see this troll only has one eye, and he is wearing the same armor.

“how did you-” he begins, but the troll interrupts with an intensity Jim feels like he’s seen before.

“silence!” the troll’s eye narrows. “you stand before a grand council.”

Jim looks over to the statue yet to be placed in it’s spot in the Forge and it suddenly clicks. “Gunmar.... G-Gunmar the Black! The voice in my Amulet, that was you!”

“our amulet!” another voice hisses from the statues above.

a different voice speaks over the first. “We are the council of elder trollhunters!”

The Sword of Daylight vanishes out of Gunmar’s hand and back into Jim’s, and while Jim tries to process what is happening Gunmar subtly begins to circle him.

“does.... does this mean I’m dead?” Jim looks to Gunmar for an answer. “that’s what happened, isn’t it? The forge went haywire and it killed me!”

“You are still in the Forge, in a way,” Gunmar replies. The warlord raises a hand to present the ethereal land around them. “Welcome to The Void. A place in between worlds. Here the Trollhunter receives council from those who have fallen before them, should they be worthy of it.”

Jim watches quietly as Gunmar continues, “we have been watching you, waiting for the moment to arrive when we saw it fit to grant you entry to this place.”

“so the arena going nuts... that was you?”

Gunmar nods, arms folded behind his back and towering over Jim but listening nonetheless.

“and.... wait hang on did you say you’ve been watching me???”

Gunmar unfolds his arms and waves his hand, “we have seen everything. From your triumphs,”

at the wave of Gunmar’s hand suddenly a cloud of mist shoots out and creates an image before himself and Jim. Seen within is the moment Jim first struck through Heimdrel, and the aftermath as the tyrant faded into the unforgiving water below.

“and your failures”

another flash and the scene melts into the battle at the museum where Jim sees himself being forced to place the amulet into the bridge by Bhaltair- opening the portal and almost releasing The Witch.

“all the way down to your deceptions.”

one last movement and Jim sees himself from that morning, promising Claire they would get Enrique back.

Jim can’t help but feel guilt rise up into his throat. He can’t bring himself to face Gunmar as the troll speaks to him.

“we know what you’re up to, Jim Lake, and it will bring you nothing but your own destruction.”

Jim spins to face the troll now.

“We have to go. I promised. and isn’t it my duty to-”

Gunmar vanishes into mist and reappears directly in front of Jim. He growls furiously and is face to face to the surprised and scared Jim.

“Your duty, young trollhunter, is to maintain the balance between our world and your world above- to protect all life from the death The Witch, Argante, creates- not to release ancient evils in search of one human child!”

“but I-”

“Enough!” Gunmar turns from Jim and as he does another cloud of mist appears with a wave on Gunmar’s hand. “to be the Trollhunter is to be the only thing standing between this world and those who wish it harm. It is your sole mission to protect humankind and trollkind.”

within the mist reveals one of Gunmar’s own memories of training with Bular. With another wave of Gunmar’s hand, Jim now sees the moment in which he helped Bular out of the museum rubble to discover part of his face had been turned to stone.

“something you have already failed to do.”

Jim is quiet for a time as he stares at Bular’s shocked face. He looks to the ground before taking a deep and well needed breath.

“look, I’m not perfect. I’m not. And I know that he’s your son. Trust me he’s never let me forget it.” Jim looks up to Gunmar who is standing tall in reaction to Jim’s reply. “but Bular made that choice, and I would have done it for him if we were in opposite places. And you know what else? For spirits who have been watching everything I do, you seem to be purposefully ignoring all the good I’ve done.”

Gunmar doesn’t move an inch as Jim approaches him. Jim stands his ground as he looks up to the larger trollhunter and continues,

“and I’ve done it with my friends at my side, including your son! I’m sorry I don’t meet some unspoken standard you guys waited until I killed The Witch’s second-in-command to finally tell me, but there are a lot of things we’ve done together as a team!“

“he mocks us!” “he is a failure!” “do not let him speak further!” “The Amulet chose incorrectly!”

Jim gave the room a worried glance as the choir of furious voices began to cry out louder and louder, until Gunmar himself suddenly yelled to the council.

“We have given him our council, he has the right to speak!”

Gunmar turns to Jim and he lets out a somewhat heavy sigh.

“and as much as it pains me to see my own son sacrifice his eye as i did, I trust his decision to trust this boy. We shall let him speak.”

Back in the land of the living Strickler is doing his best to relieve Claire and Toby over their friend who just vanished out of thin air.

both are unconvinced.

“ok but the word ‘Void’ sounds pretty bad, Strickler!”

“Yeah! And when you say ghosts are we talking old and wise sage spirits or the kind that will suck out your soul just by looking at you?!”

“they will not take his soul! Merely, they will look into it. The Void exists to-”

Before Strickler can go on, Jim begins to re-materialize in the center of The Forge. Bular is the first to be at his side, helping him come back to reality and regain his senses.

“YOU’RE OK!” Toby goes down on one knee to kneel by Jim, Claire closely behind.

“so trolls and ghosts exist. What else are you going to tell me? Fairies next?”

Strickler scoffs. “Actually the Fairies lost their war to the pixies long ago- oh never mind that! Jim what did they say?”

Angor Rot and Bular help Jim to his feet.

“They say they wont stop us, Gunmar especially.”

Bular perks up, “what exactly wont they stop you from?”

Jim takes a deep breath once he’s finally back to his senses. This would be hard to explain.

“From going to The Darklands. But if we’re going in there, they say we’re not getting out alive without killing Argante.”

Strickler passes a sharp glance to Angor Rot and AAARRRGGHH!!! at the mentioning of The Witch’s true name, but then looks back to Jim.

“are you certain?”

“yeah. But guys, with Heimdrel out of the picture, Kilahead Bridge here in Trollmarket, and Bhaltair no where to found, maybe.... maybe we could actually have a chance.”

We then move on to a new place. Changelings sit in every chair and couch, conversing for each other as the Janus Order will soon be coming into order. Many are talking about their leader Bhaltair, and his continuous absence. Otto creeps in through the back door, tipping his hat down to obscure his face and just trying to slip back into an open seat. He is, of course, spotted before he gets very far.

“You there! Scaarbach! You’re practically Bhaltair’s right hand man at this point. You of all people would know where our wise and powerful leader is!”

Otto stutters, removing his hat and having a heard time explaining just what Bhaltair has been up to. He is cornered by a specific changeling, when suddenly the doors crash open.

"right behind you"

Bhaltair enters, soaking wet, and holding something bundled up in his hand."I'm surprised with you, Petrok. You seem irritated with me. why not voice your concerns for all of us to hear? I'm sure there are others in the order with the same thoughts."

The changeling clears his throat, worried. "th-the Bridge has been destroyed for months now. Why unite the changelings into an Order if we would be without the Head for ages on end? We've had no knowledge of your whereabouts except for what Otto has passed on to us."

Bhaltair shifts the bundled item in his hands slightly to more comfortable hold it. "hmmmm.... I see.... So you are curious as to what I've been up to all this time? am I right?"

"you could say that."

"or is it perhaps.... You don't think I should be leading if I'm never here to lead?"

The changeling backs away with a defensive hand raised when Bhaltiar locks eyes with them. "oh no not that at ALL, sir! I just.... a few of us are growing restless is all! Perhaps you could inform us just why this Order has been created?"

Bhaltair approaches, and the changeling goes to his knees already begging forgiveness. "Why so nervous, Petrok? Do you fear for your life now that you remember just what happens to those who question my leadership?"

"N-No sir! I just fear if we do not act soon, the boy will find us out, is all! I only wish to ensure victory for Argante!"

Bhaltair hums in thought and then lightly pats Petrok’s head. "I see! Well then I'm sure you wont mind if I tell her that you feel this way."

Before the Changeling can say anything else Bhaltair turns his attention to Otto "Scaarbach, with me. We shall tell Argante personally just what happened at the Bridge."

Otto nods and catches up to Bhaltair who is already leaving the room, taking a moment to glance at the changeling still on their knees and terrified out of their wits. As soon as they're out of earshot Otto turns his focus to Bhaltair.

"sir do you really think it's wise to-"

"I must speak with Argante immediately."

"Good news, I hope?"

Bhaltair's silence gives Otto the answer he needs.

Bhaltair opens the doors to a magically sealed room, and the moment he and Otto are passed the doors they close tightly behind them. Otto only watches as Bhaltair places the bundled up item on the floor before the faint but still present markings of a rune mirror Heimdrel made long ago. He unsheathes his sword cane and retraces the runes to reactivate the mirror. Argante comes into view as Bhaltair goes to one knee and bows his head.

"My Queen.... I bring you dire news...."

"speak, Jailer. Why is it you come to me alone when these matters should-"

"A thousand pardons for interrupting, my lady, but that is the news I bring."

Argante is silent as Bhaltair reaches for the bundled up item, he quietly unties the ropes and pulls off the cloth, bowing his head and presenting Heimdrel's Hook-shot for Argante to see. "Heimdrel.... has been felled by the Trollhunter and his allies."

"are you certain?"

"I was unable to come to his aid, and for that I beg your forgiveness, but yes. I saw the boy use the gifts you gave The Executioner against himself. The Sword of Daylight..." Bhaltair pauses, taking a moment to calm himself, "was forced through him, and the blessing of protection you placed over him brought forth his demise."

Argante's eyes narrow angrily.

"Rise, Bhaltair."

He obeys without hesitation, eyes locking with hers and holding on tightly to Heimdrel's hook-shot.

"This child has gone through great lengths to ruin our plans."

"agreed, my queen."

"Tell me what you intend to do to stop him"

Bhaltair doesn't even pause to think about it:

"My queen, already in Heimdrel's absence I have done much: All Changelings who can still fight, all but for Takato of whom I have not seen since the Bridge, have been gathered. I have begun calling us The Janus Order. Most stand ready to serve you, and I fully intend to sort out the weak in a few day's time. For some even sooner."

He respectfully bows his head and holds out a hand to her as he continues 'but without The Executioner my reach is severely crippled. I require aid in order to regain what had been lost from the battle."

“What would you ask of me, Bhaltair, to provide you with this advantage?"

Bhaltair looks up to her. "I would ask you to give me the power once given to my Champion brother. Give me this, and I swear to you I shall finish what he started."

Otto restrains himself from gasping. Argante's eye widen.

"You would have me take your soul, in exchange for the power Heimdrel once had?"

Bhaltair's grip tightens on the hook-shot "I would have you take every last shred of my being. And in doing so I vow I would personally tear him apart- limb by limb- as payment for what he has done to Heimdrel, and I also vow to personally deliver his head to you as a welcoming gift back to the world you so rightfully deserve."

there is a pause, by this point the hand holding onto the hook-shot is trembling from anger alone. Otto practically holds his breath as everything plays out

"tell me, Bhaltair, just how much does it anger you to know what the boy has done to our Executioner?"

Bhaltair lets out a growl, his face growing harsher the more he stands there. "far greater than any word could describe."

Argante leans in closer towards the mirror

"Tell me just how angry you are, Bhaltair, I want to see the fury in your eyes."

Bhaltair locks eyes with Argante, body trembling as he tries to maintain his composure, snarling from instinct, and tail swingling back and forth irritably. "I would reduce a million trollmarkets to rubble if it meant the honor of hunting him down, torturing him to his very last breaths, and then forcing him to watch as I did the very same to each and every one of his friends until he begged me for death."

Bhaltair leans in close to the mirror, until it almost feels as if they were face to face. "and then when he had nothing left? Nothing left to live or die for? Until he was nothing but a shell of the hero those underground fools have raised him up to be? even then I would not bring him the death he desired."

Otto places a hand on his throat, taking in a sharp breath as Argante laughs wickedly.

"you would see all this done?"

"without hesitation," Bhaltair's smile grows just as wicked as hers, "my queen."

"So see it done."

Argante snaps her fingers and instantly Bhaltair is doubling over onto the floor, arms around his waist and curling up in agony. Otto backs away to the door as Bhaltair's soul cascades out from his mouth and into a pool on the floor. It shines a bright red.

Bhaltair watches in some mixture of horror and shock as both he and Otto watch the soul shape itself into a red gemstone.

"unlike my usual bargains, the goal is more important to me than anything you could give me, Jailer. However my power to reach into that realm has waned. This is the last gift I can provide to you, unless of course you free me from this prison."

Bhaltair rises to his feet, taking the gemstone into his hands as he stands, he seems a little out of it at first but is quickly recovering.

"go now, my champion, do for me all that has been said and more. But first..."

Bhaltair looks back up to the mirror as Otto returns to his side, nervously wringing the edge of his hat that's now in his hands.

Argante's eyes narrow again with a dark and wicked glee.

"sort out the weak."

with that the last of the power fades from the mirror, and the runes fade off of the wall permanently.

Bhaltair takes a deep breath, holding the stone strongly in his hand as Otto looks up to him nervously. Bhaltair lets out an amused huff, tossing the stone in the air and catching it again, and looks down to Otto in return.

moments later back downstairs the remaining members of the Janus order have been all awaiting Bhaltair's return. Especially Petrok who spoke out against him earlier. As Bhaltair descends the steps with Otto shortly behind him, all rise to give him attention.

Bhaltair doesn't say a word to anyone until he approaches said terrified changeling.

no one says a word.

Bhaltair tsks when he gets close enough to see said changeling shaking from pure terror.

"come now Petrok, wont you look me in the eye?" as the changeling looks up Bhaltair gently places a hand on his shoulder "no no, with your true eyes"

all stand in silence as this changeling shifts back to his real form and locks eyes with Bhaltair. "I have good news for you, my boy."

Petrok seems to almost completely buy it.

"really?"

Bhaltair smiles and places his other hand on the changeling's other shoulder, letting out a quick laugh and nodding. "that I do"

Bhaltair's grip tightens on his shoulders.

"your death is gonna be quick"

in moments Bhaltair's hands become burning hot, and he grabs onto the changeling's head

there is a well placed camera shift as we see Otto and others wince in terror at the sound of melting stone. Bhaltair turns, wiping the lava off of his hands His eyes are burning red like fire and smoke is rising from his throat

"ANYONE ELSE QUESTION MY LEADERSHIP?" there is horrified silence "WELL?"

Bhaltair takes a deep breath as he shifts back to his human form and adjusts his suit while also brushing back his hair. "Good. Now, someone clean that up before he hardens into the carpet. If you'll excuse me, I have a trollhunter to kill."

#Trollhunters #Dadswap AU #IT'S FINALLY HERE #YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG IT'S TAKEN ME TO WRITE THIS ALL OUT #HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS BETTER APPRECIATE THIS

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fitzs-trained-monkey · 3 years ago

Text

A Study in Spite

(I don't own this gif.)

Word Count: 4,500

Warnings: Disrespect for parental authority? Is that a warning?

Summary: Protecting Mystic Falls from the vampire threat - that was your family's legacy. You'd just never thought you would actually have to fulfill it. But when the Original Family moves into your quiet little town everything changes. Suddenly your parents are attempting to fashion you into some sort of soldier, forcing you to fight in a supernatural war you never signed up for. The burden of your family's self imposed duty was one you would carry no longer. Now, how to go about telling your parents that? || Kol x fem!reader || Here lies my Masterlist ||

A/N: Another shorter one! It's kind of a prequel to Fine On My Own because I liked the concept so much, but you can view it however you want. If you guys like this, I do have a part two in my drafts but I won't post it unless someone asks. This was inspired by the song Sweet Talk by Saint Motel. Go listen to it!

🍟STORY BEGINS BELOW🍟

"Mom, I swear, if I do not get out of this house right now, I am going to go insane!" You stressed, swinging your weight around the banister as you descended the stairs.

Your mother paused her onion chopping to level you with a stern look. "Y/N/N, I know you're getting a little stir-crazy - we all are - but you can't afford to take pointless risks like this, sweetheart. Not with the Original Family still out there."

You rolled your eyes. "We're supposed to call them the Mikaelsons now, Mom," You said, your voice dripping with sarcasm. She shot you a warning look and you just shrugged, hopping onto a barstool. "Look, this is for my sanity. If you wanna talk about unnecessary risks, I recall you and dad forcing me to go to an original vampire hosted ball that I absolutely despised."

"We were invited, Y/N," Your mother reminded you, scoldingly. "As members of a founding family, it was our obligation to go. Now, I'm sure that… family -" She had to actually spit the word from between her teeth. "- won't be sticking around for much longer. Just a few more weeks, and we won't have to worry about you drawing any more unwanted attention." She resumed her onion chopping with a rather forced expression of calm.

"No, that was your obligation," You corrected. "Your's and Dad's. You're the ones who forced me to go to that stupid ball, so don't go spouting this crap like your paranoia is somehow my fault!"

Her slicing grew more agitated the longer you spoke until she finished the onion and the knife lodged itself in the cutting board. She looked up, exasperated. "You will not talk to me that way in this house, young lady!"

"Well it's not like you'll let me go outside!" You shouted, gesturing wildly. "I can't even step out onto the porch without you or dad spewing some crap about your stupid small town destiny fetish!"

Your mother narrowed her eyes. "I don't think I appreciate this new attitude of yours, missy," She ground out, coolly.

"Funny, cuz' Kol sure did," You muttered under your breath.

Her eyes shot open wide. "What was that?!"

"You heard me," You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest as you leaned back on your heels. "Kol frickin' Mikaelson likes my frickin' attitude! You know, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to give me a ride if I decided to sneak the frick-frack outta this prison!"

"Don't say his name, Y/N," Your mother hissed. She glanced around as if to make sure the guy wasn't listening.

"Why not? Is it a taboo? If I say it three times, is he gonna appear like Beetlejuice?"

"Y/N-"

"Kol Mikaelson. Kol Mikaelson. Kol Mikaelson!" You gasped in foux shock. "Holy crap mom, he's not a frickin' gypsy! Never woulda' seen that coming! Or maybe - and I just thought of this - he's got better things to do than stalk some small town teenager and her self-important parents?!"

"He's shown far too much interest in you already, Y/N," Your mother argued. "You have no idea what he's capable of - what his intentions are! You have no idea what a monster like that would do if it got a hold of you."

"The dude talked to me for all of five minutes and you're freaking out." You rolled your eyes with a huff. "He asked me to dance and we talked. That's it! You and dad need to chill the frick out."

"Well I think you need to gain a firmer grasp on the reality of your situation, sweetheart," She fired back, glowering. "That freak of nature could kill you in a heartbeat."

"The whole lot of 'em already agreed not to harm locals. What, you think they set the terms just to have the satisfaction of breaking them for no flipping reason?!"

"They're sadistic monsters! I wouldn't put anything past them!"

"Mom, they're a thousand years old - pretty sure the power trip of murdering small town nobodies is just about gone," You deadpanned.

"Too bad!" She exclaimed. "I'm not willing to risk your life on a 'pretty sure.' I will not let that thing hurt my daughter, or worse, turn you into something like him! If that means keeping you in this house until you're old enough to qualify for a senior citizen discount, then so be it! I won't let him hurt you!"

"Stop acting like this is about me!" You screamed. "You and dad don't give a crap about me! You haven't since this whole vampire thing started! All you care about is your stupid legacy and I'M SICK OF IT!"

You hopped off the barstool and made a mad dash for the door, snatching your headphones off the counter on your way out.

"Y/N? Y/N/N!" Your mother called after you. "No, Y/N/N! Don't-"

You slammed the front door shut behind you, cutting off any further protests from her. You were eighteen now - it was time she started respecting your choices. Taking off down the sidewalk at a brisk jog, you pulled your headphones on over your ears and your hood up over them just as it began to rain. Thunder shook the ground beneath your feet as you made your way into town. The only decent place to hang out was the grill, plus you were craving some fries so that was where you headed. Rain soaked through your jacket and into your bones after just a few minutes, sending shivers through your body as you hugged yourself tight.

After what seemed like hours, you reached your destination. You stepped through the door and instantly relaxed a bit, taking a moment to let the warmth trickle along your skin. You shed your jacket and hung it on the coat rack as quickly as you could, before heading straight for the grills' mostly decorative fireplace which was thankfully lit. You took your seat and ordered some fries, pleasantly surprised when they came just a moment later. Finally, you began to relax… but not for long.

A chuckle like a bubbling spring pierced the calm murmur that was the grill's ambient chatter, drawing a groan out of you on sheer instinct. You didn't have to turn around to know who - or rather what - the obnoxious voice belonged to. You see his snide smirk without even looking at him.

"Well, well, well…" Kol's silky accent drawled lazily from where he sat at the bar a few feet behind you. "Look who's finally decided to show her pretty little face. What's it been? Three - four days?"

"Hasn't been long enough, believe me," You tossed over your shoulder.

"No?" The gas fireplace's covering was glass and you watched his reflection get up and stalk toward you. "What a shame... You wound me Y/N, I thought we liked each other better than that."

"I'd like you a whole lot more if you learned how to back off," You snapped, rubbing your arms vigorously in an effort to warm up. You felt a pair of hands settle on your arms as Kol leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of your ear as he spoke.

"I don't think that's true at all," He whispered. He shrugged his jacket off and draped it over your shoulders in what you were sure was a practiced move, yet it still felt sincere somehow and you found yourself reddening. "I think you secretly enjoy the attention, darling. It's rough being the odd one out, isn't it?" He leaned away and you glared at him… but he wasn't wrong.

You only hesitated for a second. "I wouldn't know," You lied. "I'd say tell me all about it, but I honestly couldn't care less."

"Oh, that hurts!" Kol hissed, resting a mocking hand over his heart as he slid into a chair in front of you. "I see that sharp little tongue of yours is going unbridled tonight. What fun!" The freak chuckled and snatched a fry from your plate, grinning boyishly. It was such a sweet and playful expression that, for just a moment, you almost forgot he was a monster.

"Well it's a good thing you're enjoying it buddy, cuz you're gonna be the target of my particular brand of verbal abuse for the rest of the night," You announced, clicking your tongue and shooting him a very unenthusiastic wink. He just smirked at you, prompting your already fake smile to drop.

"I see," He hummed, stealing another fry. You glared at the offending hand. "Well, if that's the case, then may I ask what's got you in such an entertaining mood?"

"Sure," You replied, shrugging. "The answer's you."

Kol raised a brow, almost managing to look genuinely taken aback. "I've not spoken to you for more than two minutes," He pointed out. "Now, I may have a talent for rubbing people up the wrong way, but I've not yet managed to say something brash enough for a lass to be offended by it before she walked through the door."

You couldn't help but snicker at that. "If you ever do, you'll have to tell me what you said so I can steal it," You said, smirking. You shook your head. "Nah, this conversation's got nothing to do with it."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Surprise, surprise."

You smirked "Right? 'Cuz you're freaking annoying. Anywho, it's my parents that are the problem - all 'cuz of what you did the other night."

"What I did?" The boy parroted. (No, not boy - monster, freak, vampire. You needed to remember that.) He blinked. "I… don't recall doing anything… Not to you anyway. I supposed I danced with you, but last I checked, a simple dance was no criminal offence."

"It is it you're my parents," You grumbled, shoving a fry in your mouth. "I mean, you spoke to me, so…" You trailed off, shaking your head.

"Yes, I spoke to you." Kol nodded in acknowledgement. "But as I recall, you refused to answer a single one of my questions."

You shrugged. "If you can't say anything kind to someone, don't say anything at all, right?"

"All you did was insult me."

You smirked. "That I did."

He shook his head, laughing. Reaching for another fry off your plate, he grinned as you smacked his hand away. "Regardless, I don't think such a one-sided exchange can even be classified as a conversation." He leaned back in his seat, bracing one foot against the underside of the table like a child trying to see how far back they can tilt their chair before falling over backwards.

You raised a brow at his childish behavior and shrugged again. "Yeah, well apparently it's enough to warrant placing me on house arrest until I'm 85."

A sharp crack rang out against the tile floor as the front legs of his chair fell forward. He stared at you incredulously. "That's bloody mental."

"See? Now you're catching on." You smirked.

He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink which you were sure wasn't soda. "It was a bloody ball, for crying out loud! If your parents didn't want you to interact with anyone they should have simply forbid you from coming."

You made a rather impolite noise, grimacing. "You think I wanted to spend my night pretending to like people I find unbearable just so your family can flaunt its wealth? My parents forced me to come along." A look of realization crossed his face.

"Ah, so that's why you seemed so positively miserable." He nodded and shrugged. "Alright, so we danced and we talked. I still don't see why that would incite your imprisonment."

"I've got three words for ya'." You took a swig of soda and counted off on your fingers. "Small. Town. Paranoia."

The long, exaggerated sigh that left him next had the corners of your lips twitching up. If he wasn't a monster you could almost see yourself being this boy's friend.

"I know!" You continued and once the words started spilling out, you couldn't seem to stop them and for whatever reason, you didn't want to. "My parents wouldn't drop it for a day 'n a half, and now they won't let me leave the house for anything! You know, if it were actually my safety that they were so worried about, then I'd be okay with it. But it's not." Your voice broke a little and you bit your lip, directing your gaze into the grain of the table as if your glare could burn a hole through the wood.

So what if he knew? What did it matter? He could kill you in the blink of an eye anyway - using your insecurities to hurt your feelings was the least he could do. You needed someone to talk to, and if Kol didn't want to listen, he could get up and walk away.

But he didn't. He sat up in his chair and leaned forward, folding his arms across the table to show you he was listening. He didn't roll his eyes or write your words off as nothing more than the exaggerations of a teenage girl. Kol listened; he took you seriously, and nodded along, expressing infinitely more empathy than your parents claimed he was capable of.

"You think your parents don't care about you?" He wondered. The little lamp resting on the table between you switched on, prompted by the low light of the storm outside. Bathed in the lamp's warm light, his sharp, youthfully handsome features didn't seem so intimidating all of a sudden. Those chocolate eyes that had seemed so cutting and predatory just moments before, were now remarkably soft and open. Somewhere in your mind you recognized that such an illusion of humanity was nothing but a trick of the light, but for the moment, you couldn't find it in you to care.

"I know they don't," You admitted in a whisper. Your hands curled into fists beneath the table, your lips pressing into a thin line. "Every conversation ends in some argument about how I'm not living up to their expectations. My whole life has become about their stupid legacy, and I hate it!"

"You don't want to be their soldier," He surmised.

"Exactly! You exclaimed. "I mean, we get home from that stupid ball, and they don't even ask if I'm okay or apologize for putting me in danger! They kept asking me all these questions about you as if I'm some little spy, like I'd somehow know all your deepest darkest secrets after one Ed Sheeran song. So when I don't, they start freaking out, going on and on about how I endangered the family legacy for nothing. I spent that whole frickin' party scared out of my wits, but the only thing they do about it is lecture me about how irresponsible I am - how 'it's my destiny and privilege to defend the people of Mystic Falls from the jaws of evil'." You added on some sarcastic jazz hands with that and Kol snickered.

"Do they realize how stupid that sounds?"

"Tell me about it," You said, your lips curling into a scowl.

"I see." Kol nodded, his mouth pressing into a firm line. That concern on his face shouldn't have been there. "Believe it or not, I actually have a bit of experience with parents who force their will on their children."

"Yeah?" You wondered. You hadn't noticed the tears streaming down your face until then. You wiped them away. He nodded, but didn't seem keen to expand on that statement. "Got any advice then?"

Kol sent you a quizzical look. "You're asking me?"

"Must be desperate." You smiled wryly.

"Must be." He watched you for a moment and you simply waited for him to answer. Kol blinked, dragged a hand through his hair, and sighed. "Honestly, all I can say is to trust your instincts. If you feel in your heart that something is wrong for you, then stand by that feeling. Even if everyone is telling you that it's you who's wrong, or that you need to accept their will, just look them in the eyes and say no."

You blinked, startled by the intensity of his gaze and the honesty in his voice. Something in the way he looked at you made your cheeks flair with heat. That look in his eyes was strange, it was hungry yet gentle - needy but patient.

"That sounds like a great idea-" You narrowed your eyes. "- straight from the mouth of someone who takes his family's excessive wealth for granted. If I renounced my family's legacy, I might as well disown myself. I'd be living on the streets faster than you can say homeless."

"Maybe," He agreed. "However, I'd say that spending your life searching for happiness is quite a bit better than slowly wasting away in a town where you know you'll never find it."

'He's right ya' know,' A little voice in your head whispered. You knew he was, but you weren't quite ready to come to terms with that

"Huh." You shifted your focus to inspecting a particularly greasy fry. "I thought you'd be more interested in the part where I said my parents want me to function as a spy instead of my moral debate, but okay." It was deflection and he saw right through it yet he humored you anyway.

"Eh, I'm not worried." He waved a hand. "Your parents are fools if they think one song would be enough time for me to divulge even my most trivial secrets. Besides, I don't just give those up for free - I'd require at least dinner from you first."

You eyed him pointedly. "Dinner?"

Kol sent you that innocent, boyish grin again - shrugging. "I'd settle for coffee," He said, winking.

His blatant disregard was honestly inspiring. You raised a brow.

"Did you seriously just ask me out?"

The boy grinned. "I believe I did."

"You asked me out knowing that my parents think you are the physical manifestation of evil?" You raised a brow, cocking your head to the side. The boy nodded readily. "You know, they're convinced your aim is to enslave my mind so you can use me for my body and then kill me for sport." You wanted to see how he'd react to that.

He stilled for a moment, then rolled his eyes and grimaced, fixing his attention on straightening a pile of napkins. "How flattering, I see why you're so determined to hate me. For your information darling, I simply have far too much confidence in myself to take advantage of any woman that way." The slight curl of his lips as he carefully avoided your gaze belied the decency to be genuinely disgusted.

You frowned. Such a show of decency surprised you - he was supposed to be purely evil. Had your parents been wrong about him? Your thoughts were interrupted as the sudden upward tugging of Kol's perfect lips drew your attention.

"However…" His chocolate eyes, swimming with thinly veiled amusement, flicked up to meet your own. "I must admit that you look far too delectable for me to rule out the possibility of desiring just one little taste."

The smirk that crept across his face served as a reminder to you of the unholy creature he truly was. There was a monster hiding behind that angelic countenance. One tiny glimmer of decency didn't change that.

"Right." You chuckled but there was no humor in it. What had you been thinking, spilling your soul to something like him? He wasn't some cute boy, he was a blood sucking monster and he wasn't interested in you as a person. "You know what? I don't even know why I bothered talking to you." Rising from your seat, you shucked Kol's jacket off your shoulders, rolled it up, and tossed it on the table. A shame because it was so warm. Then you finished off your plate of fries and grabbed your soda, gave a mock salute, and turned for the door. "Adios and stay away from me, psycho," You tossed over your shoulder.

"Wait! Y/N, I was just kidding," He called out to you, sounding somewhat apologetic.

"And I'm the bloody queen of England." You didn't bother looking back as you sent him a thumbs up and headed towards the door.

You heard the squeal of his chair's legs as he pushed it out, getting up to follow you. "Oh, come now, love. Don't be like that!"

"Don't lie to my face then!" Your hood was still positively soaked, but you pulled it up over your head anyway before shoving the door open and stepping out into the pouring rain.

You hadn't expected him to follow you - not out into the absolute deluge going on but, clearly, you underestimated his determination.

"Alright, so I wasn't really kidding. I said that on purpose, you're right." He had to practically shout to be heard over the water streaming out of the heavens, but there he was - holding his leather jacket over his head for some cover as he jogged through the rain to catch up to you.

You didn't stop walking. "Yeah, yeah! You get a kick out of making people uncomfortable, Kol. I get it!"

"That's not it!" He shouted over the rain, stepping in front of you to block your way forward. He didn't have to use his supernatural speed - his legs were just a lot longer than yours.

"I don't care! Just leave me alone!" You tried to step around him, but he cut you off. You rolled your eyes, glancing at the leather jacket he still held over his head. "You're gonna ruin that," You said, hoping that might somehow convince him to go back inside.

"I'll get a new one." He just shrugged, there was already water streaming down his face despite the jacket. "Please, Y/N. Just hear me out?"

"Not like you're giving me much of a choice," You said dryly.

"I was serious about taking you to dinner… or for coffee," Kol promised. “ My intentions are sincere, darling. I just-” He sighed, muttering a curse under his breath. “I said something stupid, alright? Old habits die hard, but I shouldn't have said it the way I did and for that I'm sorry."

"You're… apologizing?" You raised a brow in disbelief.

"It physically pains me to do so, believe me, but yes," He chuckled. You didn't buy it - he was probably just trying to manipulate you. "And I'm not just saying that to try to manipulate you," He added.

"Then why?" You wondered, skeptical.

Kol simply laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, come on! If your parents are half as awful as you say, then just think about how much fun it would be to spite them." He said. Brushing strands of wet hair from his face, he grinned and took a step closer to you. Oddly enough, you didn't feel the need to move away. "Besides, I think you and I are a lot alike, darling. I'd like the chance to prove that, if you'll allow me."

You just stood there for a moment and watched him wordlessly. He seemed softer now and more genuine, but you couldn't tell whether any of it was real or if it was all simply an act. After a few more moments, you supposed the boy simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Please, love?" Kol pressed. "Just one date? Just one to spite your parents for being so paranoid and controlling! It'll be fun, I promise."

"Oh, yeah," You scoffed. "I'm sure it'll be fun - right up until it's my funeral."

"Come, come Y/N. There's no need to worry about that," He claimed. "I promised the mayor and my brother that I wouldn't kill any locals and, luckily for you, I keep my word."

"Funny how that promise doesn't guarantee that I'll be kept from all harm," You mused, sipping the last of your soda.

"Well, I suppose you'll simply have to take a risk -" His eyes flicked to where your free hand rested braced against your opposite arm and he reached out, trailing a gentle finger across your knuckles."- and see what happens."

You flinched on reflex at his touch - something he didn't fail to notice. To your surprise, however, he made no effort to mock you for it. Instead, he carefully took your hand in his and raised it to his lips, placing a soft kiss to the back just as he had a few nights before. There was something odd in his chocolate brown eyes as he held your gaze - a softness you could neither understand nor explain. It went against everything your parents had ever told you about monsters like him. Kol recognized that you were afraid of him, even going so far as to acknowledge the validity of that fear. He knew you hated him - that you'd been taught to hate him - yet, there was something in the way he looked at you that felt like an invitation; though, for what you couldn't say.

There was something so casual about it, and for a split second you almost believed he was just a normal boy asking you on a date. For a split second, you forgot that he was a one thousand year old mass murderer. For a split second, you could see yourself being that boy's friend… or maybe even something more.

But that second was over as swiftly as it had begun.

You threw your head back and laughed. "Man, what did I do to get your attention? I mean, really! What's got you so determined?"

Kol shrugged, but didn't let go of your hand. He laced your fingers together, holding your joined hands close to his chest, and smiled pleasantly. "Well, I've always liked pretty little things with sharp tongues and when I asked you to dance, you did nothing but insult me… repeatedly," He said. You snorted and tried to fight the smile that threatened to make itself known. "You're beautiful, intelligent, and quick witted. How could I fail to notice a creature like that? Honestly, I'm baffled as to how no one's snatched you up yet."

"My dad's shotgun tends to discourage anyone from trying," You supplied over the rain.

"Ah! Well, I'm not so easily discouraged!" Kol smirked. His thumb stroked over your knuckles absentmindedly and you enjoyed the sensation far more than you should have. "So, would you allow me to take you out to dinner sometime?"

"Nope." You shook your head. Kol's face fell. "But I'd let you buy me a cup of coffee tomorrow morning."

He froze, blinking, then a boyish grin made its way into his face as he bit his lip, nodding. "Coffee it is then… How does eight o'clock sound?"

"Sounds great," You admitted.

"Will I need to help you sneak out?" He wondered, eyes gleaming with mischief. "If you jump out your window, I promise I'll catch you," He offered, raising his brows quickly.

"Kol?"

"Hmm?"

"You're lucky I'm trusting you enough to get coffee. Don't push it."

"Understood."

Tagging: @yn-ymn-yln @r13mar @rootbeerfaygo @iiskittles16ii @fandomrulesall-blog @dark-night-sky-99 @railingsofsorrow @apolloroid @thatweirdoleigh @misswe03 @eat-cake @felinegrate @trikigirl271 Hey there, people of the internet! If you want on or off the tag list for this series and/or all my other works, just send me a DM to let me know! And if Tumblr won't let me tag you, I'll just send you a friendly DM reminder at your request. Thanks for reading!

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