#I CONTROL LIFE & DEATH CONTRACTS [D.C.] ON EARTH

[harrelltut]

iLove BIG MAMI WATA’s Biblically Ancient [BABYLONIAN] FUTURISTIC 9 Ether... Interplanetary BLACK SOLAR SUN [SUL = SOUL] HELLENISM RENAISSANCE ERA RELIGIONS of SIRIUS 9 Ether ALUHUM ANUNNAGI CHRIST Spirituality Origins… iElectrophysiologically [iSpiritually] INVOKE DEEP [I.D.] IN:side ANU 9 Ether Hell Louisiana [LA]… We Generationally Operate & DYNASTICALLY [GOD] GOVERN… MILLIONS of AZTECAN Years Ahead [MAYA] of Lost 2022 [VI] America… Hallelujah & AMEN [HA = HARRELL] HOTEP!!!

MU:13

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 16

Warning, if it hasn’t been obvious in the movies there is Nazi symbolism within the First Order. I will expand on this much more throughout the story. If this is something that bothers you, please just exit the story. The author does not condone any Nazi ideals, this is just for fictional uses only.

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with some canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 16: An Uncomfortable Phone Call

Summary: There were also several missed calls from your mother and several texts asking if you were too busy to give your weekly scheduled phone call. You completely forgot about it, the last two days you barely had your wits about you. You sat on the loveseat and shot Kylo a looking while saying, “I need to call my parents, I missed my call with them yesterday.”

_______________________________________________________________________

You walked back to your chambers, you were getting used to being lead by Kylo now. You both changed into more comfortable clothing this time around. 

There was a knock on the door. This time instead of putting one his helmet he just granted permission to enter. General Hux entered with your phone in his hand. “I believe this is now fully modified so it will not need to be charged for the foreseeable future, I also installed software. Your phone is now a mini data pad,” said the general.

You got excited. “Will I still be able to make calls and texts?”

The general nodded and replied. “Now from anywhere in the galaxy. I also took the liberty of canceling your phone plan as you have no use for it with the upgrades.”

With this, you were a bit shocked but excited nonetheless. “Thank you, General Hux! I appreciate it.” With that, the general gave you a small smile, turned to Kylo and shared a small nod and left. 

“I suppose I should thank you too,” you said to Kylo. 

He just bashfully blushed and “You’re welcome.”

You opened your phone and saw that there was a new folder of apps on your phone titled First Order. You opened the folder and scanned through the apps, there was a messaging app, an app that had education documents, one that had schematics of the Steadfast, one that had a map of the galaxy, a food ordering one, a scheduling app, and official documents one. 

You then went over to your messaging app and saw that there were messages from Carter and Hayden asking when you when you can get together again. There were also several missed calls from your mother and several texts asking if you were too busy to give your weekly scheduled phone call. You completely forgot about it, the last two days you barely had your wits about you. You sat on the loveseat and shot Kylo a looking while saying, “I need to call my parents, I missed my call with them yesterday.”

As you said this there were several emotions that crossed his face in a matter of seconds, none of which you could exactly pinpoint. “Would you like me to leave,” he asked. His face was now one devoid of emotion, as was his tone. 

This confused you for a moment, wondering what just happened, “Actually, I was wondering if you would sit with me, speaking to them can be tense for me sometimes. Especially now, because I failed to call them yesterday. I also would like for you to help me figure out to explain this,” you say gesturing to between the two of you. “I don’t know what I can say to them, or my friends either.”

Kylo’s face again was a roulette of emotions. He nodded and sat next to you, “what did you already tell your friends?”

“I told them that you were a high ranking officer in the First Order. I didn’t know what you would allow me to say, so I thought that might be a good option to go with before telling them that you are the Supreme Leader.”

Kylo nodded at this, he chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment before responding, “I think that is what we should go with for now. No one on your planet actually knows what I look like. And the only people who know who you are to me are either First Order personnel or the government officials, who if they would like to keep their lives, will not speak of it.”

The death threat of the officials took you by surprise for a moment before you reminded yourself that he had choked the Russian Prime Minister earlier that day. The man sitting right next to you was still a mystery. He seemed to be gentle with you when you were alone, but he was someone to be feared the moment he had his helmet on. It scared you, but it also intrigued you. You know that some of knowing him would come naturally with time, but some of the layers you would probably have to work at pealing away. 

He could see the worried look that was etched across your face and he took your hand in his. You then just nodded and asked, “So I will tell them that you are a high ranking officer and that there were some complications to me being able to contact them yesterday?”

 Kylo just nodded, you could see in his eyes that there was a layer of worry. While his face wasn’t always expressive, his eyes were. They held all of his emotions in a swirl of deep brown, while his face at times was completely devoid of emotion. 

“Ok, just to let you know that my mother might be unhappy for a bit because I wasn’t able to call. She will also most likely talk a lot about my siblings and will probably control the conversation. You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to but I will put it on speaker for you so you can hear,” you told him. 

He just nodded in response before asking, “so she won’t be able to see me?”

“Not unless you want me to video chat her, but that is something I try to avoid at all costs. She either makes a comment about my appearance or if in the off chance one of my siblings is there she will just show off my nieces and nephews. So I would like to avoid that,” when you mentioned your mother criticizing your appearance Kylo glanced at you, his eyes quickly assessed your appearance and overall just looked confused. He just didn’t understand your mother. But he stayed silent and just nodded in response. 

You called your mother and set your phone on the coffee table in front of you, she picked up and immediately started to talk, “Y/N? Thank goodness, if you aren’t going to call the least you could do is text us. With this whole First Order thing, your father and I have been immensely worried you know. Hold on, I’ll get your father up here.” You could hear her call your father’s name in the background several times before informing you that the phone had been put on speaker. 

Your father started to speak, “You’ve registered, haven’t you? I’ve heard rumors about non-citizens trying to register out of the country and it hasn’t been good. Your mother and I registered this morning. As have your oldest brother and kids and your sister and her kids. (Second brother’s name) hasn’t registered yet. He’s a bit paranoid with it all, you know? Believes that this whole thing is World War Three in the making. But your oldest brother was offered a job with the First Order, to help set up public information squares all over the state, a big job too. The squares will have screens for public addresses and other things. They are a big deal you know.”

Before you could even respond your mother started to speak again, “Of course (oldest brother’s name) got a good contract with them. Your sister has also been apart of registering with her job at the county. She has said she prefers registering people verses dealing with the criminal court cases, but she says that there is a rumor going around that the First Order is evaluating our prison system and that it doesn’t sound good for law-abiding citizens. But then again they seem to be making big controlling policies. But you still haven’t explained why you weren’t able to call us. So tell us, why didn’t you call yesterday? You aren’t in trouble are you?”

Finally, they paused giving a chance for you to speak. Kylo’s body was tenser than normal sitting next to you. You briefly share eye contact before you responded, “No I’m not in trouble. I was able to register yesterday, but there was a slight hold up. I am matched to a high ranking First Order officer, and was flown out to D.C. I haven’t been able to call because I was just now given the opportunity to.”

You could hear your mother huff on the other side of the phone, “So, this Ben or is it Kylo I don’t even remember, is a high ranking officer? So I assume he will be taking you to god know’s where when this is all done with.” When your mother mentioned Ben’s name you could see Kylo visibly stiffen even more than he was already. His other hand that wasn’t holding yours balled up in a tightly clenched fist. You had yet to ask who Ben was to him, you had heeded Captain Canady’s advice to not mention it. 

“We haven’t discussed that yet mother, currently I am still getting to know him. But in the meantime, I am still going to be here on earth. But to answer your next question I will be going with him to wherever he gets stationed, yes. I do not plan on being separated from him,” you responded a bit hurt by her accusatory tone. Kylo was sitting right next to you, but he had yet to make it clear on if you were to tell her or acknowledge that he was he with you. 

“I see, so you match is wanting to be romantic than,” she asked again pausing so you could respond.

You glanced at Kylo, holding eye contact he nodded. You took this response as an answer to two questions. Her’s and the one that you had about acknowledged that he was even here. “Yes, so far he would like it to be a romantic match, but I only just met him yesterday. He has also been very busy with his duties so I haven’t spent much time with him,” that last part was a partial lie, he was very busy but he was making as much time as he could for you. 

Your father spoke next, “don’t tell him about (second oldest brother) and his worries. He doesn’t need betrayal from the family. But as for (oldest brother) can you see if he could have longer contact with the First Order. He mentioned that it was a good one, but he may be able to move up in ‘ranks’ if you put in a good word for him.”

You sat back for a moment. Your father really just told you to withhold possibly important information from Kylo, who was sitting right next to you and hearing it all anyways. And he had just asked you to put in a good word for your overachieving oldest brother, who if he did his work right would do just fine with the First Order. The same older brother who refused to help get you a job when you graduated from college. 

“I don’t know if I can do that. But I can tell you that (second oldest brother) should register as it is important for the safety of his family. I can tell you that the consequences of refusing to do so are grievous. Also, I have to take my and my match’s safety into account. If he refuses to get registered and is in hiding I will not and cannot protect him. It would have been better if you never even told me,” you were just not having any of their favoritism bullshit. Yes, Kylo was the Supreme Leader and could do whatever he wanted, but that beside the point. You were not going to lie to protect your brother if he was going to do something stupid. Yes, you loved him but you had just met Kylo and you didn’t know if this was something you could ask for.

Your mother just huffed in frustration, “well you could try. He is still going to register and follow all of the rules. He just doesn’t like them.”

“Good. It would be a good thing that you all do too.”

“Of course,” your dad responded.

“Drinking the Koolaid already,” your mother remarked. 

You honestly didn’t know how to respond to your parent’s antics. You weren’t surprised they were speaking to you this way. “I have to go now,” you said being exhausted with this phone call already. 

“Let us know when you can call again,” asked your dad.

“I don’t know when that will be, but I will call when I call,” you said. Kylo squeezed your hand. You said your goodbyes and you ended the call. 

You and Kylo both sat in silence before you shook your head trying to calm yourself and keep yourself from crying.

They hadn’t even really asked about him, they really only talked about your siblings, like always. You know you wouldn’t be able to tell them much but you had hoped they would have been at least happy for you. They know that you had been worried about your match the moment Ben’s name started to fade and when Kylo’s had appeared. They also knew you were worried when his name wasn’t in the database.

You felt Kylo’s arms wrap around you, he pulled you into his lap and buried his face in your hair. His large hand was rubbing circles into your back and the other was petting your hair. You were worked up emotionally. He started telling you that everything would be alright, that nothing bad was going to happen, and that he would keep you safe. You rested your head on his chest, his heartbeat sounded like the most beautiful symphony that you had ever heard. You were safe, you were cared for, you were protected. 

[occasionalfics]

worth my while // p. 2

main masterlist | thor masterlist | ko-fi | p. 1 | p. 3

Summary: After being banished from his home, Thor Odinson has stopped at nothing to prove himself worthy of his throne, title, and power.

After losing the love of your life, you turned to a power you didn’t understand.You know you shouldn’t get involved.

But how could you not?

Pairing: Thor x Reader (Hercules au…kind of…)

A/N: Me: *uses the same gif two chapters in a row*

also me: *sees a new pretty one* OOH YES LET’S CHANGE THINGS UP A BIT

Aaaaand here I go, stealing whole ideas straight outta Hercules. Oops ;) Let me know what y’all think, as usual 💖💖💖

Warnings: Violence, lots of angst, borderline abuse and definite manipulation, eventual smut, way too many feels, major character death (eventually). A little more harassment on Hades’ part this time around.

Words: 3,641

“You do understand how powerful Von Doom is, don’t you?” Hades asks the next day.

Just like you had at Captain America, you roll your eyes. “Listen, it’s not my fault, okay?” You watch as he paces the room, and think about the night before. “The Avengers showed up to bust the place for...God only knows what. Captain America gave me an ultimatum, I couldn’t refuse, so I walked out.”

Hades sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Babe,” he says, using the nickname you absolutely hate, “our hostile takeover isn’t proving to be very...ya know, hostile.” When he looks at you, you can see the flames behind his navy irises.

You’re in trouble.

You sit back against the couch and cross your arms. “We can use this,” you offer. You try not to imagine the lighting-laced eyes of the other Avenger as you go over your exact process from the night before. “You want to take out the Avengers. The Avengers attack Victor Von Doom, who you want to help take out the Avengers. Now he has a personal reason to do it.”

Hades pauses. He faces you, fingers on his chin as he scratches his stubble. And he stares long enough that you know you’re not totally off the hook - Hades isn’t known for his patience, after all - but he’s at least considering what you’ve said.

Then he chuckles once and shakes his head. “Oh, you sweet summer child,” he mutters, giving off gruff and insulting sounds as his brows raise. “You’ve got so much to learn. But you’re not wrong - we can use this.”

Just as Cerberus - one of them, anyway - comes marching into the room, straight to your lap, Hades picks up a remote from the table that serves as the only thing separating your bodies. He turns around and powers up the mounted television, and just like magic, there’s a news segment on discussing an upcoming Avengers celebration.

Celebration? You think. They destroy everything they touch. What are we supposed to be celebrating, exactly?

You’re one of those who had once sided with the U.N. and Tony Stark. You didn’t care for the billionaire - after working for Hades, you more or less hated every billionaire - but you did think that the so-called heroes needed to be held accountable for the destruction they left wherever they went.

This party, though, seems to be a celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Battle in Manhattan, which seems...so ridiculous to you. Why would you - or anyone - want to celebrate that? So what if six people saved the world from imminent danger? They’d still nearly let millions of people die or be injured in their messy attempt to kick alien ass.

Also, wasn’t the man behind that plan that Thunder Guy’s cousin or something?

More personally, however, the drunk driver that had killed Rick was drunk because his wife had perished in that battle. He’d been drunk every night since her funeral. The jury had taken his grief into account when they sentenced him to prison, giving him a light sentence instead of life behind bars.

You’re so busy letting your cold heart grow colder that you miss the point of the segment. Stark is interviewed, but you don’t listen. You almost know what’s going to happen anyway, so why bother giving it your attention now?

Hades waits until the segment ends, then puts the television on mute. He turns to you, puts the remote down, and actually comes around to sit on the table.

You lean even further back against the couch. Hades never gets this close unless he’s got a mission for you. Cerberus watches you both, head lifted from your lap as he whines.

A second Cerberus pads into the room, sitting politely on the floor between you.

“Sending me to that thing isn’t gonna get us Von Doom,” you tell Hades. You’ve gotten quite good at reading him since he’d cashed in his price for Rick’s life. You had to - the only other alternative was to let the formidable Lord of the Dead control your every move. Which he kind of did anyway, but at least you could keep up with him this way.

He shrugs, like that’s part of his plan. “Maybe not. But we can stir up some trouble.” His smirk is undeniably mischievous. But you know that’s the only way he operates.

You stare at him like a frustrated parent might at an indignant child. “And what good will that do us?”

Us you think, like I have any say in the matter. Like he’ll actually listen to me.

“If we can scatter them, cause a real scene at their own event, we might be able to attract more than just Von Doom. Better than Von Doom.” Hades nods at his own assumption, but you don’t like where this is going. Not one bit.

“Like who?” you counter. Von Doom is another billionaire. He has money, technology, and apparently, superhuman abilities of his own.

“Norman Osborn,” he replies without hesitation. “Otto Octavius. Wilson Fisk. The list goes on.”

You don’t even know who the last guy is. Still, you groan. “Osborn is an actual goblin, and Octavius is just a scientist. Plus, they can’t even handle themselves against that Spider-kid. You think they’ll be a match for the Avengers?”

You know you’re right, but either Hades doesn’t care or has deluded himself beyond the point of return.

Or, you dare think, that he can see beyond what you can. He is immortal, after all. He has to be right at least some of the time, you figure.

Maybe he sees this as a calculated risk he’s willing to take for the endgame.

Hades stands and starts to leave the room. He only stops to tell you, “United we stand…”

--

The event is really lovely, actually. Central Park is full of festivities from one corner to the next. There’s no way to do all of this in a day, you think, but as you watch people actually enjoy their existences again, you know no one cares.

So you stop caring about that, too.

You hear, about midday, that the Avengers will make an appearance in Sheep Meadow at some point later, so you decide to stick around that area for the day.

There are food vendors everywhere. All kinds of different food, too. Smells and sounds rule over the lawn, and for once, New York doesn’t feel like a death sentence. It feels like a place where people live - real people, civilians that have normal, superhero-free lives. It’s not really a place where aliens fall out of portals in the sky and threaten the status quo.

But sometime around 3, the Avengers show up, and suddenly New York is that place. Lightning Guy is living proof of that.

Your eyes find him just as easily as if you actually knew his name. You remember hearing...something about him, a few years back. Before the Manhattan attack.

He’d shown up somewhere West, claiming to be a Space Prince while he paraded around after an astrophysicist and her little team. Something had attacked there, too, but he’d defeated it. He had to, otherwise, he wouldn’t be standing across the lawn from you with his dangerous friends surrounding him.

Why he hadn’t gone home then, you couldn’t say. But he’s still here, on Earth, causing more and more damage to buildings and people and a way of life he only just acquainted himself with.

Tony Stark signs autographs. You only notice because you force yourself to stop looking at Lightning Guy. You watch Captain America, now without his stupid winged helmet, pose for a Charlie’s Angels picture with two women he probably doesn’t know. But they fawn over him once the picture is taken, and you roll your eyes.

Falcon and...the other birdman stand off behind the more well-known members of the team. You decide to go in for them, first.

“Some crowd,” you say as you sidle up next to Falcon.

He smiles down at you - a playful look, clearly intrigued by your approach - and nods. The other birdman doesn’t seem to care much, which works just as well for you.

“One of the bigger ones, believe it or not,” Falcon says to you, shrugging like it’s no big deal.

“And yet, you’re unattended to,” you say, attempting polite banter like you know Hades is expecting out of you. “‘S a shame. You’re one of my favorites.”

To be fair, he kind of is. He wasn’t around for the Battle of Manhattan. He did help take out that government facility in D.C. a while back, but you’d heard it’d been infiltrated by Nazis. So, for that, you forgive him.

Generally, he’s one of the lesser-known, newer members of the team. He seems much more approachable, much more amenable. And when he asks, his smirk growing by the second, “Oh, am I, now?” you can’t help but laugh a little at his enthusiasm.

It’s genuine laughter you’re feeling, for the first time since...everything. You know it because your stomach already hurts from just this little muscle contraction. The feeling is foreign and that is...somehow unfair.

But you manage to nod. “Those other guys are overstated,” you say with a shrug. “I like the ones that feel more like...us, you know?”

And he nods, too. “I do,” he says, and you believe him. You appreciate the gap in between his front teeth - it’s kind of adorable, truthfully - as he holds his hand out to you. “Sam Wilson.”

You place your hand in his, and he lifts it to his lips to place a chaste kiss on your knuckles. He’s quite the charmer.

“(Y/N),” you say back, forgoing the your surname because, really, does an Avenger need to know that? Even if he is one of the only ones you like? “And thank you for your service.” You’d read somewhere that he used to be in some branch of the military, so you let him take the compliment however he wants.

“‘Course,” he says. And then, after a beat, “I hope you’re enjoying such a lovely day.”

You know Hades would say to lay it on thick, here, to distract at least some part of the team. You try not to be too thick as you respond, “It’s much better now.”

But, of course, that’s when another person joins your group. You might be okay if it was just another fan asking Sam for an autograph or a picture or something, but no. You don’t have that kind of luck.

Lightning Guy steps up, clad in a plain shirt beneath an open plaid button-down and a pair of light jeans. Sans-armor, the guy is still huge and still looks like he’d be an absolute boulder in a fight. Formidable - that’s the best word you can come up with.

But there is something...a little more personable about his smile. You don’t let yourself fall for it, but you at least acknowledge it.

“Ah, (Y/N),” Sam says, “you know Thor, of course.”

Right you think. He’s the Norse God. You used to think he just borrowed the name, but then you’d seen an interview on the Today show one morning where he’d confirmed that he and the legend are one and the same. Now you remember.

“We’ve met, haven’t we?” Thor says, giving you a curious glance.

You wonder if you should tell him. You don’t really blame him for not recognizing you immediately - you’d only met the once, only for a few minutes, and under very different circumstances. You are now sans golden dress, sans glowing skin, and sans uncomfortable sandals.

But he is unforgettable. For more than one reason, more than just the fact that he’s an Avenger and a Space Prince.

It’s those eyes. Lightning Eyes, to match his power.

Working with Hades for so long has left the impression that you can tell a lot about people by their eyes. And Thor’s are...a dreamy, warm shade of blue that reminds of you storms.

“We have,” is all you say. You think giving too much away right now might cause problems down the line, and you have a distraction to be the cause of.

He holds his hand out, just like Sam did. You shake it, but he doesn’t kiss your knuckles like Sam did. His kind of charm is different - not showy in the same way, but still a little over the top. Everything about him is over the top, though.

Thor sizes you up as you pull your hand back. You ignore the pang of something that crawls up your fingers, passes your elbow, and stings your shoulder at the lack of contact.

“Oh, you have?” Sam asks, his smirk turning cocky as he raises a brow and turns to Thor.

It takes him a moment, but he must find something remarkably memorable in your face. His eyes widen and he almost takes a step closer before stopping himself. Then his brows drop and his expression turns colder, clouds filling his blue eyes with gray.

“You were the woman with Doom the other night,” he says.

Sam turns back to you, the glee on his face slowly fading. He was there that night - you saw him, briefly, on your way out, but he hadn’t thought to look in your direction then.

“I was.” You cross your arms and lean back a bit. “And I’ve been wondering why you and your friends burst in on my business.” You say it seriously, but not without tipping your head a little flirtatiously. You’re not angry - just curious, and, again, a distraction.

Briefly, you wonder when Hades is gonna put whatever his plan is into action.

“Saving the city, as we do,” Thor answers. He’s still a little put off, but now he’s just as coy as you are. You ignore the fact that you kind of like going toe-to-toe with someone that looks as intimidating as he does. “We were wondering what a lady, such as yourself, was doing with him.”

“I’m sure you were,” you say.

And now neither of you have given anything away. You almost know what the Avengers were called in for - it’s not like Victor Von Doom is known for being a safe man. But you’ve been trying to figure out exactly what was going on at that party that would require Captain America’s presence.

You’ve almost forgotten Sam is still beside you. Sam Wilson, Falcon, an actual hero and celebrity, and you’ve more or less pushed his existence into the back of your mind.

That is, until he clears his throat and steps between you and Thor, muttering, “I’m gonna let y’all have your moment I guess,” before moving on to stand with the rest of the team.

Thor won’t take his eyes off you, and you won’t take yours off him. You can feel your chest and neck heat up, but you don’t do anything to signify it’s happening to Thor. He can’t know. You won’t even admit to yourself that he’s the cause of the flush.

“You could’ve been hurt,” he says, unaffected. Not like someone that would actually care if you had been hurt, but just as a matter of fact.

You shrug. “I wasn’t. Like I said, I knew what I was doing.”

You can see in his eyes that he doesn’t believe you. They never do you think. But that’s why you’ve sworn off men.

Well, that and the whole Rick situation. But now’s not the time to dig that mess out of its grave.

Thor gives you a not-at-all-inconspicuous once-over, but his eyes settle on yours again. That’s new you think.

“You’re not quite like many Midgardian women I’ve met, I must admit.”

You lean on one hip, absolutely hating that kind of line. But because he’s still looking you in the eyes, and because you’re now too enthralled in this tête-à-tête, you let him explain himself.

One more thought for you to ignore: you’re breaking every single rule you’ve given yourself over the last few years in regards to attractive men.

“Most are far more forthcoming.”

At that, you laugh. Not because Thor’s wrong, but because he’s probably right. You can’t speak for everyone, but you know you’ve become a secretive, manipulative person. It’s not like you’ve had much of a choice, post-Rick’s Resurrection.

“Good for them,” you respond.

Something in his face changes - his expression flattens into confusion, but it doesn’t seem to be pointed at you anymore. It’s like he can hear something far off, that he knows something isn’t right.

You know it, too. And, truth be told, you’re glad Hades is finally barging in.

But just like your body craved Thor’s touch after he shook your hand, you need him to look at you again. The second his lightning eyes are focused on the shaking ground, on the direction from which the vibrations are coming from, you want to pull him back to you. Not as a distraction, but for you.

Instead, he lifts an arm and holds his palm outstretched, as if he’s waiting for something. The sky darkens, and the distant vibrations get closer as screams are heard from blocks away.

A blast of air shoots past you, cut off only when Thor’s meaty fist wraps around the handle of a large, heavy-looking hammer. It’s edges are slanted and the markings look Scandinavian if you have to guess.

A flash of lightning, and Thor is no longer in civilian clothes. Scaled armor shines down his arms. His chest is covered in a dark chestplate that match dark pants that do nothing to hide the curves of his calves. Not that you’re looking or anything. A long red cape billows as the wind picks up around the park and the skies fill with heavy, burdened clouds.

You don’t even have time to move. Thor is off, flying through the air toward whatever Monster Hades has conjured. You don’t want to see the fight - not really - but you can’t force yourself to turn away.

Sam shoots you a look as you stand, stoic and observant, but ultimately chooses his team over some weird chick he only met moments ago.

People all around you are running. A huge purple beast peaks through the park, shaking everything in its wake that it does not automatically destroy. It’s claws are as long as your body, it’s teeth as sharp as broken glass. It yells in a terrible, metallic noise that rings in your ears.

The Avengers go after it. Most of them do, anyway. War Machine, to your surprise, stays on the ground and helps corral people away. Black Widow does, too, especially when she gets a look at War Machine falling behind.

You take in the running, the screaming, the looks of utter terror. For a second only, you let yourself feel guilt.

Because in the next second, you back up. You turn around and walk right into a black suit with a silk navy pocket square sticking out of the blazer. Your thoughts automatically shut off as Hades put his arm around your shoulders, despite you having told him time and time again how much you hate him touching you.

He steps lightly but quickly, zooming past the crowd, around screaming people that you have to block out. You need to.

Hades lives for the Dead. He loves the sound of screaming humans. Loves the idea of disaster, because disaster almost always means more bodies to fill up his dark, twisted world.

But you are not a God of the Underworld. You are not a being of the Underworld at all - not in theory or practice. Even if the God of the Underworld owns your soul, even if he’s tethered you to his kingdom, you are still a human, and you cannot live with yourself if you idly watch people die, knowing it’s your fault.

You’re just about to head into another section of the park when Hades stops. He looks over his shoulder as you try to regain your footing - transporting via God isn’t always the easiest thing to put a human body through.

A crash of thunder. A roar louder than the rest - much more easily recognizable as a person, rather than a monster. Raindrops pelt at you, slowly but heavily.

Then, silence.

It lasts a beat before the murmuring. You turn around, too, and realize that Thor is no longer around. Every human being has stopped moving - even the purple Monster has stopped moving, though it looks much more satisfied than anyone else around you.

A woman screams. A child cries. Hades chuckles.

His favorite kind of soul is the immortal kind. You still have trouble grappling with that idea.

Lightning breaks out across the sky. The storm is suddenly furious, the wind coming so fast it could knock you down if you weren’t being held up by Hades.

And then the lightning springs from inside the Monster. Its yelling is cut off, as is its elongated neck from its head.

You step away from Hades to get a better look.

Thor stands on the decapitated corpse, hammer raised, innards hanging off of his limbs and armor. Even from your distance, you can see he’s breathing is labored.

The crowd cheers. You take another step forward, unable to help the smile that comes over you. There’s a warmth in your chest that you can only deny because you’re wearing a jacket over your t-shirt.

But before you can rush over to the Avengers, before you can celebrate with the other humans around you, Hades catches up to you. His hot hand rests on your shoulder, and just as quickly, he brings you back to the Underworld.

[truthbeetoldmedia]

Ain't I a Woman?: The Unbalanced Portrayal of Strong Women on 'The 100'

It must be said that women have come leaps and bounds as it relates to representation in popular media. I’ve seen more WOC, LGBTQA women and disabled women on my various screens in the past 3 years than I have in decades of TV viewership and that’s a wonderful thing. I will always celebrate the presence of more women, especially increasingly diverse women, in film and television. The traditionally male-dominated world of television is slowly opening the doors to allow for voices like my own to be heard, and audiences are overwhelmingly receptive. Obviously, we’ve not reached perfect equality, but we are seeing growth. Unfortunately, not all growth is good.

For all the positive changes we’ve seen there are strong reminders that, even as women become more than just housewives and child bearers, the men who control the writers’ rooms they come from don’t always understand what it means to be a strong woman. The forward movement of women in popular culture is sometimes at complete odds with the oftentimes unintentional reinforcement of outdated gender roles or the inability to allow women to be both strong and emotional, intelligent and soft, love interests and warriors, be sexual beings and not have that same sexuality used as a tool.  It feels like writers believe there is only one way a woman can be strong, and it often comes at a detriment to the characters and the women who watch them.

Today I want to tackle this issue as it affects one of my favorite shows: The 100. If you had to choose one (singular) amazing thing about this show, it’s just how many women there are (and have been) and how integral they are to the plot. The “Core Four” of the show (made up of Clarke Griffin, Raven Reyes, Octavia Blake and Bellamy Blake) is almost all women, the leaders of the opposing groups in each season are almost always women, the plot is almost always being driven by the actions of women.

At its core, The 100 is a show about women and what they are willing to do to ensure the safety of those they love and that’s a powerful message….when it’s done right, that is. The first season handled the dichotomy of womanhood almost perfectly. All of our women were placed in difficult situations that often required them to make decisions logically, but we were also shown the emotional impact of those decisions. The show even begins with a mother (Abby) making the decision to send her only child down to a possibly toxic Earth, because the alternative is certain death as opposed to a chance at a real life.

We follow Clarke and her big heart as she navigates the trials of leadership, made all the more complicated by her difficulty relating to a group of delinquents who won’t listen to her due to ingrained class differences to a safer space, as she tries to save a boy others would have left for dead (Jasper Jordan), as she learns more about the Grounders and their ways and reacts with horror at the thought of a child being forced into battle so young.

We see Raven’s love for Finn give her the determination to repair a dropship that’s a hundred years too old for safe use and hurtle through the skies to the ground and, later, love for herself allow her to walk away from her romantic relationship with Finn. We see Octavia, brimming with curiosity and wonder at her first taste of true freedom, eager to see all that the world has to offer but also finding a hidden ferocity within herself.

It’s not until the show’s second season that we begin to see issues with how women in positions of power are portrayed, and it’s all thanks to our closer look into the Grounder society. Grounder society, even more so than Arkadian, is extremely matriarchal. Women are in positions of leadership across the board and you’d think that’d be a good thing. Unfortunately for us, and the show, Grounderism is also rooted in heavily racist allegories.

The list of tropes The 100 shoehorns in as it relates to the Grounders is almost unparalleled by any other show with a “native” group. We deal with the “Badass Native”, wherein, because indigenous people just love going to war, they must all be badasses of some sort or other; the “Savage Native”, wherein the indigenous people immediately reject outsiders by violent and forceful methods; the “Proud Warrior Race Guy”, who seeks battle specifically because his culture teaches that war is the only way to earn true honor; the “Angry Black Woman”, characterized by a black woman who is — almost always — angry, and many more. They all mean that, when the Grounders actually start to have meaningful interactions with out main characters, they all come out worse as a result.

The change is most obvious in our lead character, Clarke Griffin, which makes sense. She remains emotionally vulnerable but capable of making the hard decisions, right up until the aftermath of Finn’s death. I’d like to note here — before we go any further — that I obviously expected making the decision to kill Finn to emotionally impact, and, yes, even devastate, Clarke. It’s a decision no one should have to make and one only Clarke can ever truly bear the weight of.

The problem is in the bad advice this show gives our heroine through one Lexa kom Trikru. At Finn’s funeral pyre, Lexa tells Clarke that true leadership is made possible only in remembering that “Love is weakness.” In all fairness to the show, it is initially presented as a bad ideology; her actions in allowing the bomb to fall on Ton D.C. were shown as horrifying to her mother and her choice to lie to Bellamy about Octavia’s safety is seen as the betrayal that it was and, ultimately, the plan that she concocted with Lexa failed. It’s not until Clarke is reunited with her friends and sees her mother, who she loves, being dragged to the draining table that the plan succeeds. But the lessons that Clarke learned in this season, namely “love is weakness,” and “I  bear it so they don’t have to” follow Clarke for seasons to come and continues a downward spiral for the show and for Clarke — and the other women — going forward.

Season 2 sets an ugly precedent that The 100 has had a hard time walking back from. Although our characters’ actions are almost always motivated by love for their family and friends, we are also continuously shown that that same love causes them to behave in irrational and sometimes harmful (to themselves and to others) ways. There is no bigger example of this than our main character’s actions over the course of Season 5. I suppose we should have expected this, should have seen it coming, because a large part of the hiatus between Seasons 4 and 5 was spent pushing the fact that Clarke was a “Mama Bear” now, which was apparently short form for “Now that Clarke has an adopted daughter she’ll lose all semblance of logic and reason because of the power of love!”

The lesson that The 100 continues to teach women everywhere is that, in order to be a good leader, logic and reason cannot coexist with love. Every single last one of our female leaders deals with this quandary and ultimately, every time they chose to prioritize love over logic and reason, they lose.

The pattern begins with Lexa in Season 3, choosing to turn her back on the traditions of her people, motivated by Clarke (who she loved). While Lexa isn’t killed because she’s a lesbian (there’s a complicated mix of contract obligations, plot lines to introduce and more that factored in there), we can’t deny that Lexa choosing to love Clarke (her enemy) and choosing to listen to Clarke’s advice over the traditions and desires of the people she was sworn to lead was a huge factor in her death.

It continues into Season 4 when Abby’s love for Clarke results in her destroying the radiation chamber before the Nightblood can be tested again — a solution that would have worked goes untested and results in her daughter being left with only one other companion on a barren Earth for six years. In Season 5, Clarke’s love for Madi results in her leaving her best friend to die, joining up with a serial killer, shocklashing her daughter and more.

Maybe I’m alone in feeling as if the show tells women that, if we want to be leaders, seen as strong and capable people, we can’t afford to have emotional attachments, but I don’t think I am. Woman are capable of being both emotional and good leaders, capable of loving people and also recognizing that sometimes you can’t always put the ones you love first, capable of compromise in the face of hard choices. We are strong because of our emotions, because of our humanity, not in spite of it.

Women deserve to be shown on screen as we are in life, and sometimes that means that the men who far too often run writers’ rooms need to step back and lead by listening. I promise the (mostly female) audience for your show will thank you for it.