#I guess the hate women goggles are blinding

[vitos-ordination-song]

There’s so many fans of The Deuce who hate Abby for 1) being an activist and feminist 2) not sacrificing her life goals for poor Vincent 🙄 Sorry I didn’t care that his whiny ass wanted a family with her, move on or shut up. Seriously.

[ladyanput]

Ah lee lee, my favourite internet cousin I need a fic saltier than the Dead Sea Alya salt (in the Daminette universe uwu) maybe at a high school reunion? Or seeing the couple on TV OR she accuses marinette of sleeping with Damian just to get jumpstart her career (she says this on Twitter) and a lot of people are like ‘hmmm ok, sure honey’

I'm in the mood for salt tonight, so let's work on this one, from my favourite cousin.

---

A high school reunion was always an interesting affair. Some people didn't show up because they hated high school, thinking it's hell incarnate and never want to revisit it again. Some go just to catch up and see how old friends are doing.

But, honestly, most go and show off how successful they are in life, trying to be the best amongst their peers.

At least, that was the case, many noticed, for Miss Bustier's former class. Many people who had been in the same year at them stared as they entered, greeting their former classmates loudly and bragging about their accomplishments.

But anyone could see most of them were blowing smoke. They all knew the stories from forever ago, it had been a running gag for many of the students at DuPont.

Lila Rossi told someone that she'd get you in contact with someone in the industry to planned on entering, when you heard nothing, she'd feign that they were busy or some bullshit like that, then when you didn't get the job or internship because you didn't bother even applying, thanks to you being gullible enough to believe Lila's lies, she'd go about convincing you that the company or whatever was too blind to see how amazing you were, and that you deserved better.

It was a cycle. And it was hilarious because now most of that former class were at low end jobs. Kim wasn't the Olympic swimmer he had dreamt of being; instead he taught swimming lessons at the local pool. Max never became the scientific genius he thought he would be, no,he worked at the school as a tech teacher. Most of that class were in the same scenario, save for the people who hadn't listened to Lila's bullshit. Juleka was a famous model, her wife Rose was the lead spokesperson in a field dedicating to taking care of and curing sick children. Nathaniel and his husband Marc had a bestselling comic book series.

Even Nino made a decent living, working as a DJ and a an upcoming director.

When Lila arrived along with Alya in a stretch limousine, everyone watching pitifully as Lila's followers from high school quickly grovelled to her, as she went on about marrying Damian Wayne, everyone knowing he had a wife, but the wedding had been so private, rarely anyone knew who she was.

"My dearest Dami would be here, but he's away in Japan right now, an important contract for Wayne Enterprises needed some of his expertise." Lila went on to say. She had her signature hair style still, making many grimace at the sight of it.

"But you promise that I can still interview him,right?" Alya spoke up, the past ten years having been the hardest on her. She had gained weight, mostly around her middle. She was squinting, as she had abandoned her glasses, due to Lila saying real reporters never wore glasses, as many people found people without them more appealing, there for more willing for an interview, but Alya couldn't afford contacts, so she was stubborn with being basically blind. And she dyed her hair blonde.

Enough said.

But there was one person they were eagerly waiting to see. And when she arrived, she didn't disappoint in the least.

Marinette strode into the gymnasium, looking as stunning as she always had been. Her dark hair had been grown out, framing her beautiful face, her trim body clad in a dress of pale pink, one of the newest designs from her latest fashion line.

And the man on her arm made many men and women stare in envy. Tall, dark, handsome, he reminded them all of a dark prince, with his muscular build and piercing green eyes.

"Is that Marinette?" Someone asked rather loudly, drawing everyone's attention from Lila's wildest tale and to the lovely designer as she strode in with her husband.

"Marinette, how was Taiwan?" Juleka spoke up, smiling as she and Rose strode over to greet the couple, Nino, Marc, and Nathaniel quickly joining them.

"It was lovely. I'd like to thank you again, for being able to model for me last week, you were a lifesaver." Marinette giggled softly, pulling Juleka in a tight hug.

Alya crossed her arms, scowling as practically everyone swarmed Marinette and the man she came with. She couldn't help but feel envious at the sight of Marinette, looking so beautiful and well put together.

Lila wasn't doing much better, wishing with every fiber of her being that she was basking in that attention.

"Who is this with you, Marinette?" Alya strode up, her hand always slipping into her purse, reaching for her cell phone. "A man you had to blackmail into marrying you? I feel sorry for him."

"... Is she serious?" Marc's brows shot up, sharing a bewildered look with his husband.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Damian, Damian Wayne." Damian smiled cooly towards Alya and Lila, his eyes narrowing a fraction. "You must be the undesirables my wife had to deal with during her time here, aren't you?"

"... Nice try, Marinette. Seriously? Hiring a guy to pretend to be Damian Wayne? You're so pathetic, Lila is married to Damian, if you bothered even to check your facts." Alya snorted, crossing her arms as she glared at Mari, scowling again. "You've ruined enough lives already, you ruined mine and Nino's relationship, so you can just fuck off and go home. No one wants you here."

Damian stepped forward, cold fury written clearly on his face, but Marinette's gentle touch on his shoulder stopped him. She merely put on a kind smile and stepped around her husband.

"You're still believing her lies, Alya? All of you still are? That's pretty pathetic, if I'm being honest." Mari's smile sharpened a bit as she crossed her arms, her blue eyes alight with fire. A fire no one had known was there. "You're the biggest hypocrite I know, Alya, as you've never checked a fact in your life. You tend to jump to conclusions before getting all of the facts in the first place. That's what ruined your relationships, I didn't think of you once for the past ten years."

"You don't need to talk to Alya like that, Marinette! You're still the biggest bully ever!" Lila sobbed, wiping away her tears. "Wait until my Damibear hears about this! We'll sue, ruin that tacky brand of yours."

"Highly unlikely." Damian stepped forward, his expression morphing into one of cool calm. Then a smirk twitched his lips. "At least I know who has been throwing around my name to get into places, or to get things for free. My lawyers will love to take care of the messes you've been causing me and my family."

"I beg your pardon?!" Lila felt the blood drain from her face, but she teared up, sniffling, desperate to keep her façade. "Damian, you've been cheating on me with Marinette, I was just trying to help you save face!"

"Oh give it up, Lie-la, no one is buying your bullshit." Chloé strode in, her hands gripping Kagami's and Luka's as they entered. She gave the liar a haughty look, diamonds dangling at her ears and her neck. "Except for Alya. But she must have one good barbed tongue, if you keep letting her kiss your ass and such for all of these years."

"Chloé! You fu-" Alya's face went red and she and Lila began advancing on the trio, but no one noticed as Rose 'spillt' her drink, causing both girls to slip and go stumbling. Juleka stuck out an elegant leg and Lila went tumbling back into the punch bowl, toppling it all over herself. The screech she let out was so satisfying.

Nino pretended to grab hold of Alya to steady her, but her hands 'slipped' from his grasp and she was sent falling onto the food table. A bit of revenge for her destroying his DJ equipment seven years ago, after their break up.

"I guess coming here wasn't a waste of our time afterall." Damian's rare smile appeared as he took his wife's hand and kissed her knuckles.

"I agree." Marinette giggled, ignoring the screaming coming from Alya and Lila. Instead, she turned to her friends. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, we're meeting Adrien and Tim after this, would you guys wanna join us for dinner at our home here in Paris?"

Alya felt hot tears of frustration as she glared at the blurry Marinette, grinding her teeth. That couldn't be Damian Wayne, Marinette couldn't be married to him! Because... Because that would have meant Lila had been lying. Lying about Marinette, lying about Nino cheating on her with multiple men and women, lying about Alya's chances with New York Times.

And Lila wouldn't lie to her, she just couldn't!

Alya felt the hot tears steam down her cheeks as Marinette and Damian walked off with their friends, looking so... So happy.

Something that she hadn't felt in such a long time.

Taglist:

Permanent: @vixen-uchiha @ravennightingaleandavatempus @2sunchild2 @crazylittlemunchkin @bee-wrecker @souleateralicestein @loysydark @kceedraws @realrandomposts @alienjoyful @f0xylegs

Salt: @virgil-is-a-cutie @sidessunnybumblebee @persephonebutkore @18-fandoms-unite-08 @suzen23smith @luciferge @theelventhgod @noirdots @space--butterflies @ghostglaceon @magicalfirebird @goggles-mcgee @chocolate1721 @minightrose @bookcrazybby @cupcakeandkisses @mewwitch

[danwhobrowses]

Why ‘The Karate Kid Part II’ Deserves More Respect

So guess what film I finished watching today? Of course, the Karate Kid franchise is considered iconic mainly for its first entry; Wax on Wax off, Skeleton fights, Sweep the Leg and the Crane Kick all cemented its legacy that allowed Cobra Kai to also be such a success. But imagine my shock when the approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Part II is 45% - 21% lower than the Jaden Smith ‘The Karate Kung Fu Kid’ version (and Part III is scored 15%, which is also super harsh but hard to debate outside of the magnificence of Terry Silver). Originally this was just gonna be a general post of how much I enjoyed retreading Part II, but upon seeing that score I had to give it my ‘Deserves More Respect’ posts.

It is an off-chance, but if you haven’t watched this film there will be spoilers within, I encourage you to watch it before reading, and maybe watch it again if you have so it’s fresh in the mind

Let’s start with a controversial point shall we? There are several parts where Part II is actually better than the original. Now I know! There’s a lot about the original which is iconic, but nostalgia does blind you to other shortcomings and while it’s easy to sell the first part because of its mystique, a sequel has the added pressure of rising above and developing on old and new themes set by the predecessor. The Premise In case you decided against refreshing your memory. Karate Kid Part II starts with a recap of Part I, a bit of content that was meant to be Part I’s final scene (in the script, not for filming) and then a timeskip. Ali with an i is gone - brutally dumping Daniel for some Football Player before Senior Prom and after crashing his car, Daniel’s mother is in Fresno for work and Miyagi has received a letter from his home Okinawa in news of his father’s fading health. The stage is set for Daniel and the audience to learn more about the iconic Mr. Miyagi and the life he left behind. Okay, so there is bad in this film Part II deserves respect, but it’s not perfect. It definitely gets messy near the end with Daniel’s antagonist Chozen, he mainly took beats from Johnny Lawrence in physically confronting Daniel when he could with a bunch of no-named goons and he fought pretty similarly to Johnny in catch counters and leg strikes. The opening recap did take a lot of time too, while the ending remained somewhat abrupt having just beaten up Chozen to embrace Kumiko (who had a delayed recovery after being punched once). While not bad, a fair amount of retreaded content felt like downgrades of the original; Chozen and Sato lacked the charisma of Johnny and Kreese, the crane kick was far more impressive than the drum technique and the Tournament setting was grander than the O-Bon festival. But, there are Iconic Moments in this film too Part I may have the Crane Kick and the Skeletons and the Training and Sweep the Leg. But people may forget that Part II had awesome moments too.

Like Daniel chopping through 6 Sheets of Ice! If that isn’t one hell of a power play I don’t know what is. It is a moment genuinely impressive in and outside of the 80s cheese universe of Karate Kid, and it gets referenced in Season 2 of Cobra Kai.

Also referenced in Season 2 is Miyagi vs Kreese. While this is the intended ending for Part I, it certainly acted better at the start of Part II, especially given that is foreshadows the situation Daniel finds himself in at the end of the movie. This moment is equally iconic as it completely encapsulates the character of both senseis - Kreese the confident brute brought to a sniveling mouse when size and power failed him and Miyagi the cool-headed and vastly more intelligent fighter still with the cheeky prankster lightness to him as he honks the scared shitless Kreese on the nose. Perfect.

While I did want to cite the Tea Ceremony as well I think the more iconic moment for Part II had to be Miyagi chopping the log during the storm. The storm itself is a very well-done scene which unmasks several characters in the face of adversity. True tension, worry and stakes are sold as the village are in danger of the cruel whims of nature, an act which is all too real for Sato when the house he’s in collapses on him in the calm before his scheduled deathmatch with Miyagi. Not only is this again some great foreshadowing by the rule of three (Daniel asking if Miyagi can chop a log like Sato is doing with a banner and then Miyagi and Sato meeting and seeing Sato fail to chop a log) it proves a pivotal point where Sato turns from aggrieved antagonist to repenting ally. A great show of power and friendship as Miyagi metaphorically breaks the rift between their friendship that weighs Sato down. Okay, we hear you, but how is it better? I do have to preface that I do still love Part I, I have to because in pointing out where Part II is better I have to pick at Part I’s faults. While the ending is messy Part II definitely has much better pacing, until the skeletons scene Part I doesn’t really pick up because it has to set up, Part II while it does recap doesn’t need to worry about it. Giving Miyagi the main plot was definitely Part II’s strongest suit. Part I profited from Miyagi being the ‘mysterious old teacher’ but learning a lot more about his humanity and history was engrossing and it allowed positive development for Miyagi and Daniel, especially their bond as a surrogate father and son when Daniel personally goes out of his way to support Miyagi on a very personal matter. The main characters maintain their charm as well, still a lovely array of life lessons in Part II more than just finding balance, Miyagi teaches Daniel through words and action on taking time to breathe, to refocus when imbalanced, to forgive rather than to harbour hate, mercy, selflessness and humbleness

“never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.” - Mr. Miyagi

The scenes involving Miyagi and his father were some of the most deep and emotive of the series up until Cobra Kai, some still haven’t been topped such as Miyagi’s dad’s first words to his son or when Daniel talked about when his father died.  And say what you will about Chozen, he does have a lot of Johnny vibes but a lot of the character we believed was Johnny due to nostalgia goggles was more fitting of Chozen’s manner. The story did a great job in making sure Chozen was always an asshole, at times Johnny did at least display honour and grace but Chozen was always sore about stuff and quick to claim dishonour even when he was in the wrong. Contrary to Johnny it’s more about his family than it is about a girl, which allowed a lot more freedom in the plot. Whether you felt Elizabeth Shue’s Ali with an i was prettier than Tamlyn Tomita’s Kumiko is up to personal preference, but the messy-haired Kumiko definitely had a slightly improved presence in Part II than Ali did, with actual focus on her own feelings outside of attraction to Daniel, her ambition to become a dancer directly linking to the O-Bon Festival - which in turn related to the Drum technique - as well as the delicately beautiful Tea Ceremony scene and actually contributing to the final fight (granted Ali wouldn’t be allowed to). Also Daniel didn’t try to eat her face which is a general improvement to the romantic subplot, extra applause has to go to Tomita here too because this was legitimately her first role - Shue had her second so that’s impressive too - and both women had good careers going forward. The increased stakes definitely worked in the favour of Part II as well, as sequel culture is forced to do, but by moving to Okinawa (actually filmed in Hawaii) we opened the door to better suit Miyagi’s world while keeping Daniel the fish out of water. I can’t speak too much for appropriation because there is still kinda some ‘white saviour’ undertones but I didn’t feel like Japan was treated negatively in this light, its culture of the O-Bon Festival and the Tea Ceremony was treated with the utmost respect and explained without pandering, the flute music had definitely stepped up its game for the soundtrack as did the imagery. Can also appreciate that Daniel does go for the Crane kick when fighting Chozen but is parried. Added hat tip has to go to costuming too. A lot of costumes would have to have distinct Kamon such as Sato’s twin fish and Miyagi’s bonsai on a lot of their clothing

Between Sato and Miyagi the colours of their clothes often code their emotions towards each other, with Sato usually in grey and Miyagi in white or cream, when Sato and Miyagi prepare for death they are in black and when Sato wants forgiveness he moves to a lighter shade. While Part I also used black and white to differ Johnny and Daniel, Part II put Chozen and Daniel in the more Japanese-themed Red and Blue. While both men wear red, blue and whites at time, Chozen’s clothes almost devolve from the white he debuts in as his darker side comes out before flat out embracing yellow after his chance to prove his honour in the storm is refused (and he’s in white then), while Daniel often moves to Red or red tones even in his blue shirt. Kumiko also moves from white to blue, sometimes even purple, in set up to the final fight to have the primary colours stand out in the colourful crowd of the O-Bon festival, but even in the blue Kumiko had red to pair her connection with Daniel. Also her Yukata at the festival is just stunning, the Great Wave off Kanagawa print is a nice touch.

Anything else we should know? It might not be much else about the film itself I can tell you, but I do appreciate something I’m starting to call ‘The Rocky Connection’ when it comes to Karate Kid. Like Part I’s ‘You’re the Best (Around)’ was shortlisted for Rocky III, Part II’s song ‘Glory of Love’ was shortlisted for Rocky IV’s theme, losing to ‘Hearts on Fire’, Bill Conti also chose to score this film instead of Rocky IV. I like to pair this with Daniel’s Rocky-esque character, he has that same kind of swagger but a lot more naive and childlike. Martin Kove also gets a nod because those bleeding hands were legit, he had an accident on-set and the footage was kept for the final cut. Tamlyn Tomita wasn’t the only film debut for Part II, B.D. Wong of...well, several famous roles including but not limited to Shang in the animated Mulan, Dr. Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise, Hugo Strange in Gotham and many more, also had his debut here in a minor speaking role when he’s handing out flyers for the dance party to Kumiko and Daniel before the Ice Chopping Scene. So, why does it deserve respect A film that adds to a beloved character in a respectful fashion without having really any god awful moments does not deserve a 4.5/10 rating. It may not have as emphatic an ending or as great a villain but it has a captivating plot and a good pace, better stakes and much more emotionally driven and responsive scenes. A lot of effort and dedication went into this film to explore new dimensions of the main characters in a fashion which was enjoyable and at times heartwarming. And characters are given human moments, even Miyagi confesses himself not to be perfect and it keeps each character grounded. Even to this day parts of Part II are remembered fondly rather than the campness that Part III had outside of Terry Silver and his magnificent ponytail, the fondness also continues to reflect in Cobra Kai with homages and fan theories of Daniel going to Okinawa again and even re-encountering Chozen. Not to mention it grossed $113m on a $13m budget and got nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar (losing to Top Gun) Part II was a good and enjoyable film which deserves far more credit than to be rated this low, for that it deserves respect.

[dangerously-human]

Here’s one for your character ask ... how about Morse? (An easy one, right? ;) )

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang Have you seen. Those cheekbones. And. The giant, sad-puppy eyes! The curls, especially when they get messy! And that smirk DOES THINGS to me.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff I mean, obviously

best quality: Morse is passionate and creative; he’ll look at something from an angle no one has considered before, and pursue that as far as it will go. 

worst quality: Morse has… several unfortunate qualities, lol. Most of which make him more lovable anyway, and all of which contribute to what makes him an interesting character. If I had to pick one, I’d say his almost pathological need to fit things into boxes, to treat everything like a puzzle with a definite solution. His black-and-white thinking is a social detriment for sure, and means he struggles intensely with the shades of gray involved in policework (particularly as the seasons, and the complexity of station politics, progress). Once he’s made up his mind on a case, it’s difficult to get him to budge, regardless of what new evidence comes to light. And it’s how this rigidity interplays with how he treats people that really gets him in trouble. People tend to be all one thing or the other in Morse’s mind, which means he swings toward hero worship or complete and utter disdain with very little in-between (though he develops that skill a little more as time goes on; think about how he’s willing to - tentatively - give Thursday a chance in S6 even when the rest of his bunch isn’t ready to trust him yet). It’s part of the reason for his barbs directed at Joan, I think: she doesn’t fit into an easy box, and he really doesn’t know what to do with her. It’s also the source of his blind spot when it comes to pretty women in general, and how he lets himself be deluded by female suspects more than once.

ship them with: Mostly (and emphatically) Joan. I recognize they’d be a disaster together, though frankly, I think that’s probably part of the appeal. I genuinely think they bring out a side to each other (both for better and, at times, for worse) that no one else does, and if they could just put their egos and stubbornness aside for a second... But I’m also onboard the “everybody is a little bit in love with Morse” train, and I’ve read fics for ships I thought I’d hate and ended up really liking, so I could probably be persuaded to wear ship goggles for anything.

brotp them with: Obviously Thursday, if one can count “brotp” as “practically family.” So very much DeBryn, and also Strange, and okay, the Cowley Station Boys, yessss. And Joan, I’m putting that plug in too - they’re good as friends! And TREWLOVE, I needed more of that relationship and I’m so sad she’s gone now.

needs to stay away from: His own head, at least for a break sometimes. And alcohol. Boy, you gotta slow down or you’ll need a new liver by forty. Also, pretty lady murder suspects.

misc. thoughts: I have. So many. I love Morse. I love how brilliant and sassy and emotional and inventive and brave and determined and angsty and self-righteous and wallow-y and tender and fiercely loving and loyal and fragile and intellectual and headstrong and all-around sharp (in every sense of the word) he is. He’s intense, and that’s a simultaneous strength and detriment. His character development is written on such a heartachingly believable trajectory. Remembering that the story is always told through his eyes makes sense out of some of the oddities, and I guess it helps to focus on that adage, that everyone is the hero of their own story. Morse sees himself as a tragic hero, and a reluctant one. I don’t exactly headcanon Morse as autistic, but I relate to his constant sense of “otherness,” of not quite fitting no matter where he goes, of constantly trying to piece together the puzzle. Like me, he’s curious both in the sense of trying to learn and dig into everything, and in the sense of being perpetually odd and at odds with his surroundings. I like seeing a character who lives in his own head, yet makes an actively positive difference in the world around him. I just really, really love Endeavour Morse, okay; he’s a complicated, funky little dude, and I doubt I could ever get tired of trying to analyze him as a character and the way he relates to others!

[citruspeel]

GoT S8E5: It’s ‘disappointing’, and I like it that way? [SPOILERS]

If you’re looking for the classic victorious story, well, GoT isn’t it.

A lot of people are hating on S8 right now because it ‘turned’ on a lot of characters. They say it’s disappointing, the worst finale ever, etc. But as I sat staring at the credits, after Arya rides away, all I could think of was ‘...this is what I’ve been waiting for.’

-

My dad was in shock. My sister-in-law was near crying. But deep inside me was a current of agreement. I wasn’t completely satisfied, but yes, a lot of what happened last ep were things I had been waiting for. Daenerys turning dark, Jaime saving Cersei. A lot of people have been expecting perfect poetic happy endings, and again, Game of Thrones stripped everything away. Classic GRRM. Classic GoT. It’s Ned getting beheaded all over again.

My main reactions on plot points:

Daenerys going dark - I like how they handled Dany trying to keep her composure, trying to stay calm while the bells were ringing. But her anger still just fueled her to unleash her wrath. It’s a human reaction. But at the same time, she -still- could’ve stopped after air-raiding once or twice after the surrender. But she didn’t, and she even went after civilians. People are saying that it’s such a waste that the writers did this to Daenerys’s character, but most of these people had been blinded by Dany’s ‘savior’ approach during the first seasons. They weren’t able to see just how much destruction she is capable of. She’s attractive in the big picture but that’s it - once you see her in action, there’s no going back.

Varys’s death - Liked his exchange with Tyrion. ‘I hope I deserve this.’ He did his duty fair and square for me. Warned Dany, she didn’t listen, then he did what was good for the realm. Then she burned him.

Grey Worm’s attack - Can’t blame him. Anger and revenge. To the people saying D&D are portraying women in such a bad light because Dany and Cersei are women in positions of power and are going off the rails because of their emotions, Grey Worm is a male example. Jon back in the Battle of the Bastards is an example. So let’s take some goggles off.

Jaime’s downfall - We all don’t want this. You know what, instinctively, the first time I watched s8e4, I got that Jaime’s attachment to Cersei was near visceral, that he can’t escape it. That even if he does want genuine, light and carefree happiness, he wasn’t made for it. Hearing about Cersei and her impending doom just brought back this unhealthy connection and he knew deep in his core he had to do something. He loved Brienne, but his connection to Cersei was too great to ignore. And his sins were too grave for him to be happy. But I read meta. Some defenses. And I fooled myself to thinking ‘Jaime will kill Cersei and be with Brienne’ for a happy ending. But this is GRRM, GoT. While I don’t like it at all, I knew Jaime going back to Cersei was inescapable. I didn’t want it to happen, but I...*HEAVY SIGH* understood.

Cersei’s death - I wanted her death to be worse. More agony. Let her die -alone-. But...again, I *HEAVY SIGH* I understand.

Northmen vs Lannisters - I near-wished that upon hearing Dany’s dragon roaring, they’d mutually agree that she was their opponent, but no.

Sapochnik’s direction - with this ep, it’s another showcase of his battle camera tricks. I still like his ‘follow a character’ style to really get a feel of what it is like to be in a battle. I just wanted grander shots, I suppose, of the more intimate moments. A long shot of Jaime and Cersei against the crumbling keep. A wider shot of the stairs during Cleganebowl. Some negative space that would really make you concentrate on what was happening emotionally. But I still liked it.

Music - Ramin’s use of electric guitar was new and appreciated! And that soft music when Jaime and Cersei go. A+.

Tyrion - I guess he’s the ‘little brother’ in Cersei’s prophecy.

Jon is usual Jon. Following this, TargBowl it is.

So, verdict: GoT isn’t your usual good vs evil story. It takes on the nitty gritty of reality, uses unexpected twists and turns, and features the horrors of actual battle and war. So I get it that people are disappointed. But it’s this very focus on the horrors of war and the human heart in conflict that made me like the episode a lot.

(Also Jonsa take: Jon will confront Sansa next episode about tattling and a discussion/confession might take place???)

[angieschiffahoi]

Reasons why Terminator Dark Fate is a worthy sequel of T2

It wrapped up a stale story and respected its predecessor’s finale

Skynet is dead, long live Skynet. Yes, there is no fate and Sarah was able to kill Skynet, but Skynet wasn’t a product of only its time nor an incident made by rogues: Skynet was a warning of what would become of people if they were too arrogant. It’s a tale of hybris. Men get too self-reliant and create something that will bring about their downfall: they become God, but by becoming God they commit a sin so big, they will need Jesus Christ (John Connor or James Cameron, if you will) to save themselves. I mean, if you don’t see the correlation between the Virgin Mary and Sarah Connor (Sarah is also the wife of Abraham, the quintessential mother in the Bible), y’all are blind (she gets inseminated by an “angel” sent to protect her, by her own son, ergo God). Terminator Dark Fate didn’t become woke, it did what T2 started to do, it de-christianized its message for a wider audience (Hollywood doesn’t pander to white christian americans anymore in 2019, go figure). In both movies, Sarah isn’t the Virgin Mary anymore, she’s the mentor, she takes action and she changes her own future and that of billions of people: she becomes the saviour. In the sequel to TDF she obviously was supposed to be the mentor to the new saviour. By killing John, it gave the story back to Sarah and a new hope for the future, taking out some of those harmful tropes where women are only good to “birth” the father of the resistance and not be them. John Connor was never a character you were going to be satisfied with, because he’s an ideal. You liked the teen version, because he was a rebel-ish punk who did everything he wanted, had a motorcycle and a pet robot. You were never going to like the gritty future version of a man destroyed by everything and also he was never supposed to become that. All of Sarah’s struggles the moment she found out she was pregnant were to protect her son from that future. Hadn’t they killed him off in 1999, he would’ve just been a 45 year old drunk - that’s where his character was going after defeating Skynet. 

It isn’t contraddictory to have another AI replace Skynet. 

Skynet and Legion are a cautionary tale, they are false gods, Frankenstein’s creature and the devil. It’s not repetitive, it’s not something that can be prevented in full, because humanity IS on that path. Humanity wants to play God and Sarah and John’s effort to stop Skynet was silent, it was secret (despite Sarah’s efforts to have people believe her, nobody did). Do you really think it would be so difficult to imagine another company, working on a similar project, at the same time in the late 90s - early 2000s? The only weak point is the implication that Legion would occupy terminators and the same tactics as Skynet, but I’m guessing if Sarah has been killing Terminators in the past for 30 years, Legion could’ve “read” something about it and developed itself to fit the past or got inspired, I don’t know. It’s not that far-fetched to have another AI use the same tactics. 

It introduced a new scary terminator, who is perfect for 2020

The Rev-9, like its predecessors, is an inflitration model (and that’s the only reason they cast a latin actor) who is built to hunt the same way the first two were, but it does it better: because 2020 is a scary time. The T-800 had to look on a phone book and kill three Sarah Connor before getting to the right one. This one? It needs a working internet connection. 

Also, to all of you saying that politics should stay out of movies, 

- the T-800 was an intimidating male hunting a defenseless woman

- the T-1000 was a cop hunting a supposed “crazy woman and criminal” 

- the Rev-9 is an immigration officer hunting a defenseless immigrant. 

not that hard to spot the similarities. 

It answered the question “what happens to terminators when they fulfill their purpose?” 

Arnie is old and that’s what made it so much more believable for me. 

People keep using this quote from The Terminator to say how terrible writing and what a huge plot hole it was to make the T-800 a dad:  “That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with...it doesn't feel pity of remorse or fear...and it absolutely will not stop.Ever. Until you are dead.”

Here’s a few reasons why their reasoning is biased:

First, off screen reason: this is the first movie, Cameron had no idea what would become of its own sequels. He hadn’t predicted Arnold would have such a following and I’m sure a re-programmed Terminator wasn’t in its plans. The first movie was about the horror of the terminator, we weren’t supposed to feel anything for it but fear, because its purpose was to scare us and nothing else. 

Second, in-character reason: Kyle Reese is a soldier in the future. He has only seen these machines kill and maim and knows that, just because this one has skin and hair and muscle on its endo-skeleton, it isn’t less machine than the ones he has been fighting all of his life. He only knows this one’s worse: because he has a single purpose. 

Third, non canon reason: Cameron from TSCC. Nobody was offended when she started to develop feelings for John in that series, why is everyone so offended by Carl now? Yeah. But it’s not canon, so let’s go to the last reason. 

Fourth, canon, on-screen, in-character reason: THE WHOLE EFFING MOVIE YOU LOVE SO MUCH. Terminator 2 is all about the differences between the T-1000 and the T-800. Yes, it was re-programmed, but it wasn’t programmed to get attached to John, to learn from him, to almost act as a surrogate father, to give him a sign of their relationship as he was lowered to his death. It has been established machines can feel. Even the Rev-9, who’s still fully on mission, has a personality, the same way Patrick’s was. They exist, therfore they are. They have their own thoughts, their own doubts and that means they can develop a conscience and get attached. Carl says he doesn’t love his family the way a human would and it shows, the same way the T-800 from T2 didn’t love John like a Kyle Reese would have. 

It gave us a new found family dynamic and used old tropes to tell new stories

Dani, Grace and Sarah have an amazing dynamic. Adding Carl to the mix was a bonus, because it created tension, but at the same time it gave us back that soft T-800 everyone of us fell in love with at 10-13 years old.

It did what TFA tried to do but better, imho. Star Wars fans were starved and when Disney made that movie, it still was considered a good producer of excellent content (now, not so much). TDF was produced by a variety of studios, because nobody wanted to take full responsibility after the disaster that was Genysis (and who could blame them?). Nobody praised TFA for its attempt to start a new saga, re-using ANH’s storyline with new characters and then build from there a new story, but it’s because they didn’t do it right. TFA doesn’t give you time to care about the characters, it’s a messy introduction of what could’ve been a very good trilogy if only they tried harder. 

TDF, in my opinion, did try harder. It gave us a simple hunter-hunted storyline, where all of the cast is in the same place at the same time. This way, you can care about the development of their relationships. You care about Grace and Dani, not because the movie told you to, but because you can see Grace’s affection and ammiration from the very first scenes and, by the end, you see the affection Dani has for this stranger who’s sole purpose it taking care of her, when she’s so used to be the one to take care of others (see the first few scenes with her brother and father). You care about Dani and Sarah, because the whole movie builds up to the mentor storyline without telling you. You care about Carl and Sarah, because of all the build up from past movies, but also because of the little things (”I’m never f* calling you Carl” to calling him just that a few scenes later or Sarah calling out the Rev-9 by telling it, “we’re not machines”). Everything it did, it did without telling us what to feel and that’s rare in a world where franchises are constantly telling you who you should like and why, instead of writing a good story and letting you figure it out by yourself. 

-----

It is not by far a perfect movie. Having 3 producing companies and six writers didn’t help, the same way it didn’t help that Tim Miller was basically ghost-directing for the ever-too-busy James Cameron. 

It could have been better in many ways: firstly, by using smaller scenes and a smaller budget and maybe a little less CGI and a little more practical effects. It was too ambitous and fans hadn’t yet forgiven this franchise for Genysis, because fans are butthurt babies who only want things to be they way they want them (I hated Genysis, don’t get me wrong, but I decided if this movie was going to be worth it once they said it wouldn’t be a sequel and watched a couple of trailers, it isn’t that hard). Another reason it bombed, beside the active boycotting, was the close to absent promotion except for a couple of lines. 

Anyway, this messy post is just to explain the reasoning why I believe it is a worthy sequel and, in my opinion, without the nostalgia goggles on and taking out of the equation the “originality” factor, I dare say it’s perfectly on par with The Terminator. 

[goldstonegolem64]

Book 1 Chapter 27  Out on the town

Jay starred at Isara his head still resting on his shoulder. “ Ok” He said going back to sleep

Isara looked at the sleeping man walked over to him and grabbed the collar of his armor “ Come on hero we have work to do”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmKdjRhoy4 

Jay was tired as he was pulled out of his resting place. He stretched and hearing his joints popping. He looked toward the bed  where the brothers were sleeping with the covers half off of them . he walked over to them and pulled the blanket over them. Then he took his pain meds before leaving the room leaving his helmet behind on the bed. An walked with Isara out of the hospital he was staying at  into the early morning sunrise 

“  welcome to haven. How do you like it ?” Isara asked as she was walked toward her jeep opened the driver seat door and unlocked the rest of the car

“ Well it’s a pretty cool place and thanks for letting us in” Jay said following behind her entering the passenger seat

“ No problem kid. It’s was an easy choice to make . it’s my job to keep people safe from the queen and her court and thanks for bring those kids here we’ve trying to get then here for the past month. they kept running from my men any time they so them. i think it’s because my husbanded is a ten foot tall batman with a gruff voice an could rip a man in two or the fact that Me and most of my are galra” She said as she started up the engine 

“ yeah this is the first time scent I lifted home that I’ve meet a friendly galra “ Jay said as he looked at her and notice her ear was missing some parts and she had serval scars across her face  

“ So what your story kid “She asked

“Well I’m from a mining town call gale wind in the north east sector of the city of iron oath, Which is a mostly galra community so I spent most of my childhood getting into fights. My mom is human an she was a boxer which really helped me when I got into fight. My dad is Altean an is a florist .I’m the youngest of five.I have three and one sister. At the age of ten my mom die in a car crash .it lost my left arm in the same crash. I bought a cargo ship at twenty one. An about two weeks ago I found a giant metal dragon after I helped my friend Adam. Then I met Adam’s husband Shiro his little brother Keith, three random kids named Lance McClain, Hunk Garnet and Pidge holt. Found The missing niece to the crowed queen of atlea and a ancient super weapon .Fought a giant robeast .  Then we freed a balmare. Fought another robeast. I adopted a kid named Fitz. The castle I now called home tried to kill me. Then me and my crew had to save the Princess from Galra central commanded and now I’m here. An I think the meds are kicking in “ He said as he pulled out the bottle the nurse gave to him lasted night because in no other circumstance would he have told a random person his life story.

“ Can’t handle your pain killers kid” Isara said with a smile as she watched the young man tell hid tail

“ No I can’t. Pain meds tend to Enhance my already bad habit of rambling when I’m either stressed , excited  or tired”  He said as he tossed the bottle in to the back of the car” Please don’t tell anyone what I told you please”

“Don’t worry kid I won’t . So your a hybrid Altean huh. I thought the empire wiped your kind out ten thousand years ago” She said 

“ yeah they tried but failed So enough about me how about you what lead you down the path of queen slaying in the first place?” 

“  Well my story being on ravies nine my home world . I was about twelve to thirteen when the bugs showed up. My family left the planet before it got bad because my mom  was a fleet commander. But I hated that fact we left hundred of thousands of people to die.So when I was old enough me and my boyfriend now husband Boleslaw joined the Queen slayers and after fifty years of working my ass off and killing  some Red queens I was voted leader and now were here.”  She said as she parked next to another district door. She got out  an walked to a member of her team that was guarding the door control.

   Jay got out of the car an looked toward the man and saw him wearing  light Weight armor with a old tattered cloak with a color scheme of green and brown.  welding a heavy duty plasma rifle. Then he turned to see a women wear the same thing but instead of a cloak it was duster and was wielding what looked like a shot gun He would ask about that later. There was one thing that he notice between the two guards they were both Galra he tell by their height, eye color and their ears were similar to Sendak’s .But more specifically they were hybrids. The one Isara was taking to had some avian features like the crest on his head, His arms had  feathers going up to his shoulder and his eyes did that weird bird of prey thing where the iris shrank with it focused onto something.an the girl was Snake like .He could tell because her upper body was humanoid and her lower both was just a tail. She turned her head to look at him and she stuck out her fork tongue out a him and wave to him. He waved back  as the door to an airfield.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7TPvJjwhFI

 ”Ok Isara when we were being let in I saw that the snake girl was holding something that didn’t look like a blaster at all what is it?”

“ First the snake girl as a name it’s Helbrum and what she had was a slug thrower” She replied 

“ A slug thrower?” Jay took a few seconds before pulling out his revolver “ is it something like this?” he asked just hold in his hand

“Dose it shoot high speed metal projectiles caused by super heating a highly explosion black powder ?”   She asked he wanting to see his responds  

“Yes “ he replied

“Then you have yourself a slug thrower kid. “ She said walking towards a parked ship

Jay looked around the area. He saw people walking from hanger to hanger carrying box of supplies. others were Doing drills or shooting at target. Some were just sitting on the ground or on crates resting before a what he guessed was Isara’s plan . He also watched as troop transports  moving out of the airfield through the door he had entered  in from.

“  Hey Isara where are those troops going?” HE asked curiously as the door closed

“ They’re going out to find some of those bugs while there a sleeping so don’t have to worry about being invaded during the night.”  she said as she entered the build that was the current hq of the slayers. Jay followed behind her. the two walked in silence for a few minutes toward a room . the two enter a meeting room with several people already there sitting around a table.

“.  Sorry I’m late I had to find this guy” She said pointing towards jay

“Hi I’m Jay by the way” He stood there just waving extremely unnerved by the three of the four people sitting there. they all were wearing very similar armor as Isara but with different symbols on them. He guessed were their ranks and one of the was just were a lab coat.   Two of them he had seen their races before. The first ne was one of Ace’s people. But unlike Ace who was about the same size of a normal person and looked like a domestic breed of dog which breed Jay couldn’t tell because he had nothing but pet fish of lizards his whole life. But this guy was a straight up a wolf with the body structure of bane with bright yellow eyes and with half of his jaw made of metal. The other was a lanky ferret like man with a wield beck like mouth his hair color was olive and green. he had multiple arms .But some of his arms were gone and he was blinded in one eye. He had seen one of his people before when he had first joined Shiro and the others but that one was a bright orange. Another person was basically a huge turtle women. Her arms and face covered in scars She looked at him with the most cold dead eye Starr that sent chill up his spine

“    Hello kid my name is Grieve head of scouting  division .Good to see you made it here safely”  the wolf man said in a calm voice.

“ I’m Rippley. Nice to meet you kid  I’m the head of the air squad”   the ferret man said 

“I am Shell razor the bold head of the mech unit” the women said 

“ Really?’ Jay asked not wanting to sound rude but was just a little suspect of the name

“ Yes that is my really name. I worked really hard to gain the title of the bold.So please show some respect ”  She said 

“  Ok Shell razor the bold I’m sorry“ Jay said as he bowed to her .His marks glowing a bright red in embarrassment 

the room erupted in laughter 

“Come on Shell stop messing with the kid he looks like he’s going to explode from embarrassment”   Isara said laughing still “ come on Jay take a seat”

“Alright come Sit here kid” Shell said pointing to the chair between her and the last person in the room 

Jay sat down next to Shell and the last person who was not paying any attraction toward him or any thing that just accord rounded them.they were just writing down something onto their data pad. They had teal skin, with Green hair and weirdly yellow colored horns. they were wearing very thick goggles that covering their eyes and a jump suit being covered by the lab coat.Jay couldn't’ tell if this person was a guy or a girl . But that didn’t matter to him at the moment because he was reading what was on the data pad and saw plans for new cybernetic for Ripley an other crew mates and the biology of the bugs  .

“ If your trying to read my work please ask and don’t hover over my shoulder like you alway do please shell? “ They asked in a tone of voice that reminded him of Pidge as they turned towards him and raised their goggles to reveal  pitch black eyes with  bright orange irises. a look of surprise came across their face” Oh your not Shell” they said as a slight blush of embarrassment can across their face at the mistake 

Jay’s marks started to glow ever so slightly do to this persons beautiful eye and cute face.

“Welcome back to the real world kid” Ripley said

“ Yeah this is Jay” Shell said laughing a bit and sapping jay on the back

“Oh Your her pilot” they said as they grabbed his Face and turned it from side to looking at his marks.” What are you I’ve never seen a being like you before?” She asked as she opened Jay’s mouth and looked at his razor sharp teeth “  then they started to pull on his checks and stretched them to there limit.” What are you boy and how can your skin do this tell me your secrets. Tell me what do you eat you beautifully weird  piece of nature”  They asked as a look of wonder and excitement on their face. 

“Well first please ask next time you want to grab my face. Secondly my diet is made up of mostly made up of fish, crustaceans ,fruits and food goo . Seeing as cows , pigs and chicks are hard to raise on a planet with no nature organic life on it that isn’t trapped in a dome. Third off I’m human altean hybrid. Forth being Altean means I can  stretch and change my body to blend in with people of other races making us great spies, Assassins, explores and diplomats. Also  Came I please have your name “   He asked with his face marks were glowing a bright red

Isara an the others know what was going to happen next and they were all trying to hold back there laugher

“ Oh Sorry I’m Ezra. commander of the science division. Also aren’t Alteans supposed to be extinction. Wait are you the last of your kind is that why your a hybrid. I could start up that cloning project  I have been working. Wait do you already have a mate Because if you don’t I could help as I work on the cloning ” Ezra said as their face and body became more feminine as a blush creeped across her face. “or do you prefer a male partner” They asked as their body became more maculate

Jay’s skin changed from his normal light tan to a deep beat red as he starred at the person in front of him. it didn’t help that the others were laughing their asses off. As Ezra’ s face was a deep shad of blue . Also what didn’t help was the fact Ezra was clearly shorter then him and was a bit rounded in the stomach which made them more attractive the longer he starred at them. Lucky for him the door to the room opened and a ten foot tall man who looked like a mixture between  goliath from gargoyles and manbat from bat batman walked into the room  wear the same armor as everyone in here with something on his shoulder. 

“ Hello honey you just missed it” Isara said as she wiped a tear from her eyes 

The big man had a look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked to the two then he realized what he had missed an then laugher erupted from him”  Ha ha ha Ezra Scared this poor boy”  He said as he slammed the body on his shoulder onto the table. then he walked over to Jay and place a massive hand on his shoulder “ I am Boleslaw second in command of the slayers and the husband of the lovely Isara. It is nice to meet you pilot of giant metal dragon lady. an do not worry about what erza had done. the face grabbing ,the mouth opening and the question about your people’s life style is just their way of saying hello to ever new person and race they meet” he said in a very thick Russian accent    

“ Do they also ask them to mate ?” Jay asked as he starred at the monster of a man then to Isara who was about the same size as him and wonder how she was alive and he wonder how this to meet 

Boleslaw looked at Ezra then to jay then back Ezra who had their head down  on the table in an embarrassment. ”Ezra my friend you can do better then this boy”

“ I know but this one is altean an the pilot of Valkyrie and I want to see what he can do. An yes I might have jumped the gun on the whole lets have kids to save your race with out even asking if there were other  and then I brought up the cloning project.An he’s kinda cute.”  Ezra began to ramble 

Jay didn’t know if he should be insulted by Boleslaw or to be happy with the fact someone found him cute. But he was more interested in the body on the table. it was the bug that tried to kill him yesterday but it had a hole in it’s chest and it’s horns were missing “ I would hate to be that guy but why did you bring that thing here?” he asked

“ Yes love why did you bring a king here” Isara asked just starring at the body

“ Oh yes I found this one by the entrains that you gave to this one “ he point to jay “ And  found it along with dozen of dead bugs all of them had died of asphyxiation. My I ask boy did you do this “ Boleslaw asked as everyone looked toward him . Isara ,grieve, Ripley,Boleslaw and Shell were just looking at him like this was a normal day while Ezra was just looking a the bug on the table with a look of pure joy has they were just cutting into this bug.

Jay thought for a few seconds thinking about saying he was the one who had kill all the bug but that was a lie he couldn’t keep up.” No that wasn’t me .The one who kill all those bugs was one of the two boys I brought in with me. His name is Usamu he has extremely powerful psychic  abilities that almost killed me along with the big guy here” He said  a little unsure that anyone would believe him

“So a child killed hundreds of bug with just his mind .Why don’t we just use him to wipe out the hive” Grieve said a little sarcastically not entirely believing a kid was that powerful

“  Because a kid of his age and body weight would most likely die if they using his full power.”   Ezra said as they removed an eye from the king 

“Also I refuse to use a child as a weapon no matter how strong their powers may or may not be.besides We have a giant metal dragon, over six hundred well armed Slayers, Several dozen gunship, twenty mechs equipped with heavy plasma cannons and a purge bomb. So we do to need a super power kill to do are job anyway were the queen slayer.but when that kid is older and has been control of his power I might give him a job offer . For right now let the kid have a childhood for now ” Isara said as she was setting up a map of the city and pushed the body off the table .”Ripley you can start when you want”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7TPvJjwhFI

“ Ok boys, girl and Ezra. We have a three or four  days till the queen wake up and we have about eighty miles of bug between us and the hive.” ripley pointed to a massive mountain covered  in a red webbing and is surround by bugs standing guard on the south side of the city. “ an we have to find away to get the ion bomb “

“the purge bomb” Shell said cutting Ripley off

“THE ION BOMB!!! We need to get this to the hive before the queen wakes up fully And we need to get the civilians off world before we do it .But here’s the problem there are over two thousand and the hail Mary can only hold about a third of them  even if we leave all are equipment here. And with the master of none and the valiant war lord off handling other red queens on E.R -6 and Amon we need another ship to help evacuation . So jay that is where you and your friend val come in. since late night she as been using are long range comms trying to connoted your friend. Also we need you to carry the ION bomb to the hive see as we need to make it bigger to kill this queens see as it’s bigger then anyone we have face before.”  ripley said he then spent the next hour explaining to jay the mission and how they need to destroy the city to make sure none of the bugs escaped the blast

“ Ok but what was stopping you from making multiply trips to the close colonized system .what was your original plan before I got here and why didn’t you just bomb it from orbit?”  He asked

“First the hail Mary’s warp engines are down so it would take us six mouths to get anywhere . Two are original plan was to collapse it’s own hive on it then fire enough heavy plasma round into it till we feel like it’s enough which is still are best plan but it will level the colony. three it’s shell is made out of osmium which is one of the dentists metals in the universe and this planet has a high level of gases though not fatal to people it is highly explosive when exposed to high levels of ions” Grieve said 

“ Well with everything said and done and the plan is set .Jay Ezra will take you to Val if you want or you can go to the hospital it’s your choice “ Isara said 

“I want to see Val then I will head back to the hospital. So Ezra please lead the way.” He said as he walked toward the door

“ oh yeah later tonight the people here are has a festival to just keep up there morale. Bring those two kid with you they might like it  and there will be a feast while it’s going on ” Ripley said as he was leaving the room as well

“ok i’ll be there “ Jay said as they left the room 

“Hey while up “ Ezra said running after him. the door opened to reveal jay leaning against a wall. Ok now follow me”

The two walk out of the ship and toward the hangers .as they walked Jay notice that most of the people here as Isara said earlier were mostly galra.Some were pure blood others were hybrids and there were other races mixed in. it was nice to see there are other places in the universe like Mar out there. then he looked towards Ezra “  So are we going to take about what happened back there”

Ezra sighed deeply and turned back to their neutral form”  Sorry about jumping the gun back there. I just got real excited when I heard that your altean an then I asked if you were the last of your kind and before you could give me an answer I asked if you wanted to be cloned or if you wanted to mate with me. Then I pried into your sex life and made you really uncomfortable. An then” they started to ramble but jay cut them off

“It’s alright to be honest I found it to be funny mostly in embarrassing .But funny none the less.“ Jay said as his marks started to glow a faint red

 A faint smile appeared on their face“ So what do you when your not being a paladin any hoboes an inters then.?”

“ Well I’m into robotic an cybernetic . The hoboes are tinkering, Gardening mainly do to my dad owning a flower shop and I started to learn how to cook from my friend hunk . An I have a kid back on the castle that I’m taking care of and i’m thinking about take both Bastion and Usamu with me when this is all said an done but I don’t think princess Allura will approve. So what do you do as head of the science division? “He asked

“well beside making better weapons for the troops. I also work on ways to kill the bug fast while learning how different environments change the hive and the Queen and her court. as well as learning about ancient tech and races that’s why I got excited when I hear you were Altean and saw the Valkyrie. But to answer my question from before Are you the last of your kind. Do you have a mate and do you prefer guys or girl as a partner just in case you don’t have ammate?” ezra asked

”  Here are my answers No, No and I really don’t care about what my partner is gender wise because I just want some one to love.”  He replied as his mark started to glow a little brighter.

As they walked toward a hanger Val’s voice came out of it “ I though you had a thing for that Nyma girl or was I just seeing things?”. She asked

“Well She and rolo Are a couple now and I found that out before the recuse mission. they started date after the alfor incident.” Jay said as he walkng to the hanger 

“good for them. They deserve each other ” She said 

He saw Val with a couple of people on her removing mud and repairing her wings an buffering out dents. She also had cable plugged into her head leading towards  a computer set up. “So have you found the others yet my metal friend?” He asked as he walked toward the computer

“Sadly no but were are on the other end of the universe so it will take a little more time for me to find them. So go and explore this city and have fun you need it after everything that has appeared the passed two days” She said as her chest opened and Jay’s speeder 

“ Ok then just tell me when you find them” Jay said as he got on the speeder

“ I will my pilot.”

“Alright Hey Ezra do you want to tag along?”

“ Sorry I still have a lot of work to do. But I will see you at the festival tonight right ?” they asked as a blush appeared on their face.

“ Yeah I will but I will have two kids with me “ he replied

“ that’s ok I just want to keep taking to you about stuff I also want to take about cybernetics and Altean biology and this is the first time someone didn’t just run away when I jumped the gun so it’s new.” their said with a smile

“Ok it’s a date then see later to night “ He said as he drove the speeder out of the hanger

“ yeah it’s a date” Ezra said with a grim on their face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aat2hwglybs

Jay had a smile on his face as he drove out of the airfield and towards the hospital.He had just got a date, A date with some he just met  But hey that how his parents met maybe it would work for him. He had rolled up to the  hospital which was actually  just a apartment build repurposed .As he walk through the front door one of the nurses stopped him     

“Oh mister Sorin  the two boy you brought in are doing well and the room you are staying in you can return to after tonights festival and any night you remain here as requested by Lady Isara. “ the nurse said

“ thank you for the info and have a nice day” He said as he walked to his room   and opened the door and found the brother just sit on the bed watching a movie he guess the nurses had put on to keep them happy “Hey you two how are you holding up?” He asked 

“ were fine it’s just boring here” Bastions said with his arm in a sling

“ Yeah where did you go Jay?’ Usamu asked with jay’s helmet on.

“ Well I was taking to Isara and the other who are in charge of this place and I found out there is a festival tonight along with other things. But do you two want to go to it?”  He asked

“ Yes “the two boys said in unisons

“ ok let’s go get some breakfast and some new clothes for all. Because we all look like hell “ He said looking at all three of them He had blueish yellow blue blood covering his armor . Bastion’s clothes was cover in dried blood and Usman’s clothes just looked dirty 

“ ok Mr. Jay come on Usamu” Bastion said pausing the movie and hoped of the bed 

“Ok Brother” Usamu follow his brother then he walked up to jay “ Uh Mr.Jay can I ride on your shoulder while we go shopping?” He asked 

“Alright hop on little bubby “ Jay said as he crotched down so Usamu could get on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5xjXxEsLxY

The three  walked out of the apartment hospital and into the busy streets of haven. Luckily for them The card He and beau Been using to steal Gac from the empire worked her and had tripled the funds they had after the balmera. they bought New clothes toys junk food and a Game console.They then walked from district to district each one being set up for the festival  that was in haven’s safe zone. one was another residential district full of people. Another was a farming district and the last was a entertainment district by a what Jay guessed was a huge salt water river full of Parks, play grounds, arcades and a indoor amusement park. The three spent the next few hours have fun. Jay wished the other were here to enjoy this with him. But there was no point in worrying about them now. Right now he need to worry about the two Boys he had save but He still worried about the other. 

Later the three had founded a belt restaurant 

“Hey Mr. jay what can we eat here ?” Usamu asked

“I don’t Care eat what you want I have the money so go wild” Jay replied

“Awesome thank”  Usamu said as he started grabbing random plates and eating

“ Hey Jay when this is all said and done what’s going to happen to us” Bastions asked. Worried that all this Happiness was going to disappear the moment the bugs were gone 

“Well I’m going to take both of you with me When this is all over” jay said as he grabbed a plate of fish and started eating it

Bastion’s eyes widened as he hear that and his eye started to water and he hugged Jay” Thank you” He said

“No problem kid” Jay said as he started to eat another piece of fish 

“Hey what’ s going on with you two?’ Usamu said

“ Nothing Kid your brother is just Hugging me “

“Yeah I’m Just thanking Jay for all the kind things he has done.” Bastion said

“ Ok “ Usamu said as he continued to stuff his face with food

After they were done eating they doubled back to their apartment to just watch movies and played the console jay also told the boys about Fitz . a few hour later the three boys started to get dress for the festival they were wearing a rode that looked like A monsuke. Each one was a different color. Jay’s was a light green, Bastion’s was a dark blue and Usamu’s was a violet 

“So Mr.Jay that are we going to do at the festival” Usamu’s said

“Well were just going to walk around play more games and enjoy life “ Jay said as a knocking on the door appeared. Jay walked over to the door” Oh yeah were going to have someone else with us their name is” Jay opened the door To See Ezra Wearing a dark orange kimono , A pair of glasses their hair was tied into a bun and with out all the grease and blood on their face he saw that Ezra had yellow freckles across their face.

“Hi Jay You look great “ Ezra said with a bright smile on their face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o51oqNteWSo

Jay took a few more seconds to just look at the beautiful being in front of him then he spoke” Yeah you too” Jay said with a sharp tooth half smile

The two starred at each other for a few second before jay felt a weight climbing up his back and Usamu appeared piggy backing on Jay”  Hi i’m Usamu. Who are you”

“Oh I’m Ezra head of the science division of the slayers and I guess the other boy just standing there behind you two is bastion “  Ezra said waving to him

“Yeah i’m bastion are we going now” He asked

“Yes bastion lets go ” Jay said 

The four walked toward the festival. The street were alive with life there were lanterns in the air, people were Singing and dance throughout the streets. music was blasting and fireworks were exploding in the air Jay then notice that there was a particle barrier that cover the whole of Haven. As Jay was looking around he saw Slayers and civilians have the time of their live like nothing bad was about to happen. This was the one time in the passed two weeks he had felt a complete calmness it was nice.

Jay an Ezra talked about robotic as they watched  Bastion and Usamu were just running from stal to stall playing games and buying food. there was one stall jay saw that caught his eye. it was a shooting game with a giant stuffed  turtle as a prize he want that turtle. Ezra took notice of Jay starring at the turtle 

“Hey Jay do you want that stuffed animal?’ their asked smiling

“ Yeah but I don’t to ruin the date by carrying huge stuffed turtle “ He said a little sheepishly 

“ it won’ t” they said as they walked to the stall “ how much dose it costed to play” they asked the stall runner 

“Ten Gac” He said as Ezra slammed ten Gac on the table “the rules are simple shot ten targets and win a prize”  

“ Easy enough “ they said as they picked up one of the toy guns on the table 

“Yeah but this is a carnival game so it’ s not going to be-” Jay was cut off by the sounds of the stall winning chime went off a few second after it started. Jay starred at Ezra who was just hold the turtle in there hand 

“yeah but I’ve been doing these  games for the last mouth so I know what I’m doing” Ezra said handing Jay the stuffed animal 

Jay had the biggest smile on his face. As he hugged the stuffed turtle 

So time later Jay and Ezra were back in the airfield to watch a fireworks show. While Bastion ,Usamu and some other kid that were there. Jay turned to look at Ezra and notice that they were resting on his shoulder and holding on to his arm his heart shipped when he saw this. Jay wished that this moment could last for ever and he wished Fitz was here to enjoy this show

“Your starring” Ezra said as they were still watch the fireworks then they turned to face him

“Sorry Your just more interesting to watch right now “ He said 

“ that was cheese ”Ezra replied laughing a little

“ I know My dad said that when he met my mom so I wanted to see how it work. Did it work” He laughed as well

“ No but it was a cute line. But that line dose deserve a reward just for trying”  They leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek 

“ Jay marks explode with light illuminating the area the two were sitting in. Jay was going to lean down to return the favor. Only to be intruded By val calling him on his phone 

“ Yes Val “   Jay said annoy as he answered his phone  

“ Sorry to interrupted your date  but I have connotated the other they will be here soon  Val said 

“ oh that’s good to know just tell when they get here. I’m in the middle of something important “ He said as he hung up the phone before she could answer. He felt a little rude but he was on a date and his friend are alive ,”So where were we?” He asked Ezra with a sly smile on his face

“ You were about to kiss me before your partner called telling you your friend were on there way”Ezra said 

“ Ah yes let me get back to that “ Jay leaned down to finish what he start only to be interrupted again by a loud Alarm and by a even louder crashing sound the world shacking. Then a huge booming roar 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnDZeAYKXxo&t=164s

“What the hell is going on?” Jay asked as he watch as people were running into other districts as slayer were running in different directions and gun ships were taking to the sky   

“ the queen Is up “ Ezra said as they got up and started running toward the hail Mary

“I though we had a few day before that ?”   Jay yell as he ran toward the hanger that house as val ran out toward him

“ I guess we were wrong” Ezra yelled 

“ Great Just great Bastion Usamu stay with Ezra” 

“ Ok Mr. Jay “ Bastion yelled as he grabbed his little brothers hand and followed Ezra

Jay hopped in to Val’ s mouth and ran into the cock pit .He heard Isara’s voice over the comm “Alright boy and girl we were wrong on the time She was waking up So we need to hold out. Jay when are your friend getting here?” Isara asked

“A few minutes from now” Jay replied as The Valkyrie took to the sky and followed behind the gunships. the particle barrier dropped to let Her out and what he saw was terrifying When it came to height The Valkyrie was One hundred an fifty feet tall Voltron was Three hundred and seventy feet tall. This thing was About fifty feet taller then Valkyrie. The queen walked on four massive spider like legs it’ s tail was a mile long with a set of pincers at the end of it .It’s upper body was humanoid like most of it’s court it had six Thick arms covered in bright red shimmering stone like material just like the rest of it’s body it’s head remined him of a xenomorph with a huge crested on the back of it’s head with four horns in the front that curved upward to look just like a crown\

“ Alright hold this thing off until Jay’s friend get here Now GIVE IT HELL” Isara yell

[enrinkari]

Love is a Scien...tist

Notes: UM. I haven’t written a damn thing in 8ish years so. I’M SORRY THIS IS SO ROUGH AND PROBABLY NOT IN CHARACTER AT ALL I JUST REALLY WANTED TO WRITE orz But yeah. Also near the end you’ll see I have a specific HC for Flug. :x Um. Please don’t hate on this or me too much thank you.

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

Dr. Flug was glad he had made his last will and testament out before going into Black Hat’s office, because he knew what he was about to tell his boss was going to be the thing that actually drove Black Hat over the edge to kill him.

And he was right.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMEONE ORDERED YOU OFF OUR WEBSITE?! HOW DID YOU EVEN GET ON THERE?!” the demon roared at his quivering employee, fire erupting behind him.

“I-I-I don’t know s-s-sir! I d-d-didn’t put m-m-m-myself t-t-there!”

“YOU’RE NOT TRYING TO LEAVE, ARE YOU FLUG?” Black Hat basically flew in a rage across the room to pick Flug up by his shirt and get right up in his face, with Black Hat’s face turning more monstrous by the second.

“N-N-N-N-NO SIR I WOULD N-N-N-N-NEVER!” yelped Dr. Flug, trying to sink as far away as he could. He started to see his life flash before his eyes before the scene was interrupted by laughter. “Ohohoho someone actually wanted you, doctor?!”

Both Black Hat and Dr. Flug looked up to see Demencia hanging off the ceiling, looking down at them with a huge grin on her face. “I can’t believe it! Who would want a weakling like you?! Ahahahaha!”

“Demencia, do you have something to do with this?” Black Hat dropped Flug on the ground and crossed his arms. Demencia dropped off the ceiling and landed on her feet right in front of him.

“I just thought we could get some alone time, Bon-Bon~,” she said, voice dripping with infatuation. “To get to know each other better, hehehe.”

“But h-h-how did you do it?” Dr. Flug asked, standing up off the floor. “Only I have access to the website. And, y-y-you don’t know how to do a-a-anything on it.”

“What like it was hard?” she giggled. “I paid 5.0.5. in treats to distract you while you were adding new things and then just copy and pasted what you had already done! The hardest part was trying to come up with nice things to say to try to get you ordered!”

Both Flug and Black Hat had to admit that for Demencia, that was a pretty good plan. “Okay, but did you forget you still have orders to fill from your little video stunt a few weeks back? Including one that you are supposed to be at right now?” Black Hat growled. Demencia blinked a few times, thinking. She then laughed nervously and ran out of Black Hat’s office, seeming to remember her job. Black Hat put his face in his hand, sighing. “I will never understand how ANYTHING gets done around here...”

“S-s-sir, about the order...” Flug barely spoke loud enough to be heard. He had a guess that Black Hat was less angry about the whole thing, but still knew one wrong word and it was over for him. “S-should I cancel it?”

“Hmm. How much did you actually go for, Doctor?” Black Hat looked at him, unamused but without the anger from just a few minutes ago. “And for how long were you ‘rented’ for?”

“Ummm, o-only for a day, Black Hat sir.” Flug dug thru his pockets to find the printed order form. Finding it, he took it out and looked at it. “And...um...” He let out a small gasp. “Um...They paid extra for me to be there tomorrow...”

“Well, how MUCH DOCTOR? MY PATIENCE WITH THIS IS WEARING VERY VERY THIN.”

“S-s-s-sorry sir! Um... A...million...dollars?”

Black Hat was quiet for just a few seconds as he let this knowledge settle in the air. A smile then started to form on his face. “Well, well. Maybe I should have told you to rent yourself out sooner, Flug.”

“Y-you actually want me to g-g-go?” Flug was not expecting this.

“It’s only for a day, Flug. Plus, this will be good for you!” Black Hat put his arm around Flug, smiling even bigger. “You need a day out, plus you can you this to check out another villain’s operations and see just how good you have it here.” He then put his arm around Flug’s neck to lightly start choking him. “But if you even think for one second about not coming back...”

“N-n-n-never s-s-sir!” Flug gasped. “I o-o-o-only s-s-serve y-y-you!”

“Good.” Black Hat released Flug and turned his back to him. “Now go back and get ready. I expect nothing but good things from you tomorrow Doctor.”

“Y-y-yes sir Black Hat sir!” With that Flug ran out of the office. He needed to pack not only basic equipment, but protection to keep himself safe, because he just “forgot” to tell Black Hat who placed the order, and hoped Black Hat wouldn’t find out until he was already gone for the day.

It just so happened that it wasn’t until the next morning, after Flug had been gone a few hours, that Black Hat even thought about who was paying so much for his scientist. It was weird of Flug to not tell him. He told 5.0.5 to bring him the order form, and when he saw who it was his slammed his desk so hard he broke it and the floor beneath it. “IT. WAS. HER?!?!?! FUCK!!!” He then stormed out of his office, on his way to his generous client.

~~~

Yup. Flug was still going to die, just out of...how grossed out he was. He stood outside the gate of what, on the outside, looked like a normal, if unusually large and pink, factory. But it was really the headquarters of a villain that, like Black Hat, also sold items to others, but her items were available to the public, and made them do her bidding, all while making her money. Her and Black Hat had a heated rivalry, which made this whole thing suspicious to Flug, but he had always wanted to see how she made people mind controlled, and maybe while he was here he could “borrow” a few samples to use for his own inventions. Sighing, he pressed the button he assumed buzzed the guard station to let him in. He immediately became flushed as it gave off a moaning noise in a women’s voice. “I hate her I hate her I hate her,” he grumbled. The gate then opened, and he walked in towards the factory.

What couldn’t be seen from the outside was that there were mini gardens all over the outside, with beautiful flowers and places to sit and just enjoy it all. It was making Flug more uncomfortable by the second. He was so busy looking around he didn’t see her floating to him until it was too late.

“Fluggy-pooooooo!” He glanced up just in time for his head to be smothered in breasts as she hugged him. “I was getting worried you wouldn’t show!!!”

Flug, even more flustered than before, quickly pulled himself from her grasp and back up a few steps. “Hello, Aphro-die-tea.” He looked her over to see what...revealing outfit she had on today while mentally going over what he knew about her.

Aphro-die-tea; named after the Greek goddess of love. Blue eyes, long blonde hair, 5′ 7″, 36E cup which she swears is real, weight and age unknown. Sells love based items to ‘help people achieve true love’ but often has heinous consequences. Also uses her voluptuous figure to get what she wants. Wearing her most common outfit today: a red bikini armor and red heels, which were custom made to allow her to float up to 6 inches in the air. Also carries a gold staff with her everywhere.

Aphro giggled. “Oh Fluggy-poo, do sound happier to be here. I’m paying a pretty penny to get you to visit little ol’ me.”

“Why did you want me to come over here, anyways?” Flug asking, eyes narrowed. “Don’t you hate the Black Hat Organization?”

She giggled again. “Oh no sweetie. I hate Black Hat, sure, but I do understand that he’s running a business, which is STRESSFUL. It’s a wonder my skin is still as smooth as it is!” She smiled sweetly at Flug and he could feel his heart skip a beat. “No, I don’t hate you, Fluggy. In fact, I need your help with something my own group of scientists can’t figure out. If they can’t figure it out, then you’re the only person who can.”

“Well, I am the world’s greatest evil scientist... Heck, the world’s greatest scientist period!” Flug nodded at Aphro. “I will require a tour of the factory tho, so I know exactly what all I am dealing with.”

She hugged him again, and for the 2nd time in his life Flug’s face was covered in breasts. “OH I KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU FLUGGY!!!”

Once again Flug pulled away from her. I can’t fall for her flirting tactics, he reminded himself. Just focus on getting in, stealing samples, and getting back to Black Hat. Yes, just think of Black Hat.  “Well let’s go on a tour!” Aphro exclaimed with glee, grabbing Flug’s hand and pulling him behind her.

~~~

He tried hard to not show it, but Flug was impressed with how Aphro ran her business. She had hired (or brainwashed?) conventional attractive women to work for her, and there was a tight efficiency to everything. Imagine if we had someone besides just me working at BHO, he thought. Maybe I could actually get some rest. She had her current top seller on the assembly line today. “Love Goggles! Get the object of your affections to put these on and you’ll be the only one they see. Of course, if they try to take the goggles off, they’ll go blind, but if they don’t want to look at you why should they be allowed to look at others?” Aphro took a finished pair off the line and handed them to Flug. “A gift for you, Fluggy-poo. Maybe they could replace your current goggles?” She laughed at her own joke and kept floating forward. Flug shuddered and put the goggles in his pocket. At least he didn’t have to steal these. He was curious at how they worked, and was already thinking of ways to turn them into a product they could sell.

Aphro guided him to what appeared to be a cafeteria. “Are you hungry Fluggy? It’s lunch time and I have the BEST chefs here. Healthy food that tastes delicious? That’s a real scientific breakthrough.”

“N-no, I um... had a big breakfast before I got here,” Flug lied. He couldn’t risk eating anywhere except in private. “But I am thirsty, so maybe a water with a straw?”

“Oh nonono you HAVE to have some green tea! It’ll help you relax and feel more at ease around here! I can tell you’re still so tense!” Aphro lightly hit the bottom of her staff on the ground and one of the caferteria workers ran over. “A kale smoothie for me, and a green tea with a straw for our guest, please.” The worker nodded and run off to get the drinks. “Come Fluggy, let’s sit and talk for a few.” She floated over to a table and sat down, motioning Flug to sit next her. Instead, he sat in front of her across the table, causing her to pout a little. “What, don’t you like me Fluggy?”

“At best I have a neutral opinion of you Aphro,” Flug replied matter-of-factly. Which is why he was surprised when Aphro laughed at his reply.

“Well at least you’re honest to me. I respect that.” She brushed her hair behind her shoulders and looked off to the side. “I must ask, tho, why were you up for rent on the website? Black Hat tired of you already?”

“Of course not,” Flug answered hastily. At least if he is he hasn’t shown it yet. “It was a prank by other one of our... employees.”

“Oh, Demencia?” Aphro closed her eyes and laughed lightly. “I gotta admire that girl. She really loves your boss. I’ve tried selling my products to her but it was a no go.” She sighed. “Guess she’s smarter than your average lizard/human hybrid.”

I’M GONNA KILL DEMENCIA I COULD HAVE HAD APHRO’S ITEMS ALREADY AAAAAAAAA. “Yeah well thanks to her, I’m here,” he grumbled, before quickly adding. “Um, no offense!”

Aphro opened her eyes and looked at Flug, smiling. “No, I get it Doctor. This isn’t your ideal day, so I do thank you for keeping my order and coming over.” At this time, the worker came over and delivered their drinks and ran back to her post. Flug and Aphro drank in awkward silence.

“Um, I do actually enjoy this tea, so, um, thanks for suggesting it,” Flug finally said, trying to break the silence.

“Oh I KNEW you would like it!” Aphro said happily. She got a sly look on her face. “Tho I don’t know why you need a straw. You could just take off your bag...”

“Nope. We’re not doing this,” Flug said monotone. “I have not, and will not, take this bag off for anyone.”

“Not even Black Hat?” Aphro questioned, leaning forward. The question caught Flug off guard. Would he? He imagined he’d have to if he wanted to keep his job - or his life. But Black Hat had never asked him to since he’d been hired. Why was that? Probably because he didn’t care. Flug was so wrapped up in this hypothetical that he almost didn’t notice Aphro was moving her staff to slowly lift up his bag until she accidentally dropped it. With that he quickly jumped up and pulled a laser gun out of his jacket, pointing at her. Almost as fast was every one else in the cafeteria pointing various guns at Flug.

“I told you Aphro. NO ONE.” Flug growled.

Aphro just stared at him. “I have never had someone point a weapon at me with so much malice, Doctor.” She picked up her staff and got up, floating over to Flug, who kept the gun pointed at her. “And honestly, I think I’ve found a new kink,” she whispered to him. She then giggled and ordered her workers to drop their weapons. “It’s okay ladies. It’s my fault. I disrespected our guest. I’m sorry Fluggy.”

Flug, a tad flustered by what she had whispered to him, slowly put his weapon back. “Apology accepted. Now can we just get to the lab so I can do what I came here to do? I don’t want to be gone too much longer or Black Hat might get mad.” Really, he just wanted to leave, but he knew he HAD to get into the lab.

~~

Ever since they left the cafeteria Flug had been feeling uneasy; like he was being followed, tho it was still just Aphro and him. He guessed it was because they were nearing her lab and he always felt like this in his lab. Black Hat had a habit of just appearing, so he never felt at ease. Trying to shake the feeling - and failing - he noticed that the way to the lab was dimly lit and difficult to navigate. “Um, can’t afford to light back here?” he asked, laughing nervously.

“Unlike your employer, I value my scientists and have it like this to make it hard for people to find where they are going,” she replied with a hint of hatred in her voice. “I’ve had one too many close calls between fellow villains and hero-types who say what I’m doing is ‘wrong’ and ‘illegal’. Plus the only way into the lab is with my staff, so I can keep constant watch on who goes there and what they do while there.”

“Wow. I didn’t think you took what you’ve got going so seriously, Aphro.”

“Why, is that a compliment from you Flug? I’m honored.” She smiled at him, but he could tell she was forcing it. What’s got her so pissed? Just a few minutes ago she was laughing at me! I hate women. Suddenly she stopped in front of a wall. “We’re here!”

“Where? There’s no door.”

“Didn’t I just say it only opens with my staff? Pay attention Doctor.” She slammed the bottom of her staff into the floor, and a pin pad appeared on the wall. “And of course a secret code only I know, just in case someone steals my staff.” Flug tried to watch her type in the code, but she just giggled. “Don’t even think about it Fluggy. I change it after every lab visit.”

“Wasn’t thinking about it anyways Aphro,” Flug lied. That uneasy feeling got especially strong for a second then went back to normal. However, Flug all forgot about it when the door opened and he finally walked into the lab.

For one, it was huge. At least double the size of his back at HQ, and his lab wasn’t small by any standards. It was in almost immaculate condition, fully stocked with everything an evil scientist could want or need. There where sections of the lab dedicated to different areas of science and research, with notes and blueprints lining the walls. He looked at one table and recognized the machine near it. “Hey, that’s our Medusa device! How did you get that?! I know you didn’t pay for one...”

“Oh, I’m just ‘borrowing’ it from one of your clients,” she said, sounding a bit nervous. “I just wanna see how it works Fluggy-pooooooo.”

“Fine, but I’m billing you for one. Now what is it you need me to do?” This was becoming more and more of a headache for him, and the uneasy feeling wasn’t going away either.

“Of course! Over here!” She started to float towards the very back corner of the huge lab. “My girls are bright, but we ran across this equation while researching, and we can’t figure it out. But you are the ‘world’s greatest scientist’ so it should be a piece of cake for you.”

“Where are your ‘girls’ anyways?” It seemed weird to Flug that in this huge lab, there was no one else but them two.

“I figured you wouldn’t want distractions while working, Fluggy.” She quickly floated behind him and put her arms around him. “Besides me, of course,” she whispered.

“P-p-please stop that Aphro, it won’t work on me,” he stammered, pulling her off him. She just giggled and sped ahead to the table. “Here’s your work table Fluggy! Sit down while I go get the equation!”

Flug sat down at the table and waited as Aphro disappeared from sight. “At least this is almost over,” he mumbled to himself. While he was amazed by the lab, he missed his lab. He missed 505 helping him. He even missed Black Hat when comparing him to Aphro. “Heh, that’s how you know I’m messed up. I’d rather be screamed at than have someone be kind to me.” He could have sworn he saw his shadow move on its own briefly, but before he could even think about it again, Aphro came back into view.

“Sorry! I forgot where I put it!” she yelled, waving a piece of paper in the air. She stopped beside the sitting Flug. “I got it tho. Here you go Fluggy-poo. Good luck!” She laid the paper down on the table and moved behind him.

“A scientist like me doesn’t need luck,” he said confidently, turning to look at the paper. He blinked a few times, caught off guard. Instead of the complex equation he was expecting, it was a crude drawing of Aphro flipping him off. “What the -” he started before gasping in pain as a needle went in his back. He collapsed on the table, unable to move.

“Oh Doctor, you silly thing, did you really think I was in need of your help?” Aphro’s voice, now laced with vemon, said. Flug tried to look at her, but he was starting to black out. “You pathetic man. Now go to sleep, Doctor. We have an important date when you wake back up.” Flug tried one more time to get up, but it was impossible. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m sorry Black Hat, sir.... were his last thoughts before he lost consciousness.

Aphro waited a few seconds to make sure he was out before celebrating. “Ahahahaha I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT WORKED!” She kicked her feet in the air. “I got the dumb scientist! And soon I’ll be rid of that stupid organization he works for! Ahahaha!”

“Do you really think so, Aphro-Die-Tea?” a voice growled, and she turned in surprised.

“B-Black Hat?! When did you get here? HOW did you get here?!” she frowned, holding her staff close to her. “You shouldn’t have been able to get in here.”

“Aphro, do you really think you can stop me when I put any effort into anything?” he said, ice in his tone. “Your security is lax at best, and I didn’t have to try hard to find you. I just stayed in my doctor’s shadow. Literally.” He started to smile, showing his teeth. “By the way, I said MY doctor. Not yours. I will be taking him back now, and allowing you to live only because I do not have the time to waste on you.”

He narrowed his eyes when she started to laugh. “Oh Hatty, I think you’ll so realize that Fluggy-poo here is now completely devoted to me.” She snapped her fingers and Flug’s body stood straight up. His eyes were blank, however. “Fluggy, baby, attack.”

Black Hat had about half a second to wonder what was happening before having to dodge a shot from Flug’s laser gun. “Flug, what the hell are you doing?!” he hissed, before dodging another shot.

“I told you Hatty, he’s mine now! Flug, stop.” Flug stopped shooting at Black Hat and put the weapon down. “I injected him with a version of one of our products that makes the person you give it to listen to only you and love you forever.” She put her arms around Flug. “Of course, Flug’s version has no love involved, but I still think it works well enough. Don’t you Hatty?”

Black Hat frowned. Fucking Flug, getting himself into this mess. Now he was going to have to kill him. The thought of that made him feel something he wasn’t used to. Quickly shaking that feeling away, he hissed again and shot a tentacle at Aphro. Maybe killing her would break the control. He had to stop it suddenly tho when she moved Flug in front of her for protection, the tentacle stopping an inch from Flug’s chest.

“Oh my god. You care about him, don’t you?” Aphro taunted. “I cannot believe this. Black Hat caring about someone?!”

“I don’t care about him, I care about money, and for that I need him, you slut,” Black Hat growled back.

“Whatever. I was going to send him back to you like this, but since you’re here I can end it now.” She smiled like a maniac. “Fluggy, take Black Hat’s life.”

Flug pulled out a surgical knife from a pocket and cut into the tentacle in front of him, causing Black Hat to let out a yelp and draw it back. Flug then launched himself at his boss, trying to stab him. Black Hat easily blocked or dodged his attacks, but wasn’t doing much more. He was trying to figure out how to get out of this without having to find a new scientist. So he wasn’t paying attention to Aphro until she started to attack him as well with her staff.

“ＥＮＯＵＧＨ,” he howled, eight tentacles shooting from his body, pushing both Flug and Aphro away. He was starting to turn more monsterous; teeth were larger and sharper, his eyes glowing red, body becoming larger. “Ｉ ＷＩＬＬ ＮＯＴ ＴＯＬＥＲＡＴＥ ＴＨＩＳ ＡＮＹ ＬＯＮＧＥＲ. ＰＬＡＹ ＴＩＭＥ ＩＳ ＯＶＥＲ.” One of the tentacles picked up Flug, who was trying to get up off the floor, and slammed him against the wall, knocking him out. The other seven went straight for Aphro, who pressed a button on her staff and was surrounded by a force field before they could get her. Black Hat sent even more tentacles at her, slamming them against her force field.

“W-w-what are you?!” she screamed, grimacing, trying to hide her fear.

“Ｉ ＡＭ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＡＴ. ＡＮＤ Ｉ ＡＭ ＡＮＧＲＹ.” With a primal roar, he slammed all the tentacles down on her force field one more time, finally knocking it out and sending her straight into the ground. He slowly walked over to her. It looked like the force of his attack had knocked her heels offline, as well as breaking one of her legs. She was struggling to get up on her other leg, with no luck. “ＮＯＷ. ＡＲＥ ＹＯＵ ＲＥＡＤＹ ＴＯ ＡＰＨＲＯ－ＤＩＥ－ＴＯＤＡＹ？” he asked, wrapping a tentacle around her and pulling her right up to his face, his acid spit dripping on her.

“P-Please, Hatty, don’t. I’m sorry. I learned my lesson!” Aphro begged between sobs of both pain and fear. “I’ll do anything!”

“ＡＮＹＴＨＩＮＧ？” Black Hat smiled and shifted back into his more human form, tho still held Aphro near him. “I was hoping you would say that. I will let you live, if you agree to be...acquired by the Black Hat Organization.” He gave a chuckle. “You can still run the day to day operations, of course. But you will serve me, and will do whatever I tell you to do. Do we have a business deal?” His smile got wider and more sinister.

“Like I have a fucking choice,” Aphro replied. “Deal, deal!”

“Good choice.” He dropped her, recalling the tentacle, then turned to where Flug laid. He walked over and gently picked him up. Besides being out cold, it looked like he didn’t have any other serious injuries. “Oh, Aphro, one more thing. How do I get my scientist back to normal?” he asked without looking at her.

“You can’t,” she said quietly, close to passing out herself due to pain. “The way the serum works is the person is under control until either they fulfill what the person wants them to do, or by a kiss from the one they love romantically.” She let out a small laugh before coughing. “So unless you let him kill you, I guess you’re out of a scientist.” She started to smile, but instead her eyes went wide and she started to cough and choke on her own blood. Black Hat had sent a tentacle straight thru her stomach.

“Aphro, I want you to remember this pain. Because if I can’t figure out a way to snap Flug out of this mind control, I will be back to inflict pain that is a thousand times worse.” He turned his head to look at her, eyes glowing red. “No matter where you are. I will find you, and make you wish you had never been born.” He looked forward and walked away, recalling the tentacle. As it left Aphro’s body, it left a sticky substance that healed the wounds it had caused. Aphro coughed up a little more blood before passing out.

~~

Black Hat frowned. It had been two days since he had brought Flug back, and he hadn’t been able to figure out how to break Aphro’s mind control. He currently had Flug in a makeshift cage in the lab. He had to keep him in it, or else Flug would try to attack him. “Well, you got any ideas, 505?” he asked, sighing. The bear was at least able to get close to Flug without being attack, but Flug didn’t react to him either. 505 jut looked at Black Hat and made sad bear noises.

“Flug, why did you get yourself into this mess? Why didn’t you just tell me who you were going to?! WHY DID YOU HIDE THIS FROM ME?!?!” Black Hat punched the wall, making a hole in it. He was angry Flug hid the info from him, but he was some other feeling he couldn’t place. It made him feel weird, like sick. He didn’t like it. “Ugh, Aphro said he’d either have to kill me, or get kissed by the one he, gags, loves.” He tapped his foot thinking. “Hmmm. 505. Go contact Demencia and tell her to get back here ASAP. If you have to, lie and say I miss her or some shit.” The bear, which had hid when Black Hat punched the wall, gave a quick “Awroo” and ran out of the lab.

Maybe Flug had feelings for Demencia. Maybe that would work. Black Hat growled. Demencia wouldn’t be back for days tho. He couldn’t have Flug stay like for this for that long. He walked up to the cage, but stayed out of Flug’s reach. Flug instantly tried hitting the demon. Black Hat sighed again. With a flick of his hand he locked the door to the lab. He didn’t want 505 to come in and see what was about to happen.

With another flick of his hand, the door to the cage opened. Flug, predictably, jumped at Black Hat, who easily caught and wrapped him up in a tentacle. He pulled a struggling Flug closer, looking at him closely. “Flug, if you can hear me, and remember this, if you tell anyone I will kill you with no hesitation,” he said quietly. He went to lift the paper bag off Flug’s head but Flug jerked his head at the same time, causing the paper bag to go flying. What was underneath made Black Hat feel surprise for the first time in centuries.

Flug was headless. Instead of a head, smoke hovered around where it should be, coming out of his neck. The thickest part of it covered the hole where his neck was, but without his bag holding the rest in place, it swirled around up to a foot above the base. Right now it was swirling about violently, as Flug started to struggle more.

Black Hat barely noticed, however. He was entranced by what was in front of him. He slowly put a hand in the smoke. It swirled around his arm, as if to try to attack him, but then it stopped. Though Flug was still struggling, the smoke, for some reason, calmed down. It lazily floated around Black Hat’s head. He twirled a finger in it, and it reacted by following his finger, like it liked it. “Doctor, you are full of surprises, aren’t you,” Black Hat finally said, in almost a whisper.

He put a hand in the middle of the smoke, where a head should be, and for a brief moment he pressed up against something invisible before he hand went through it. Pulling his hand back, he did it again, though more lightly, and felt something again. It was almost like Flug had an invisible head, but it barely held together under pressure. “Must be how that bag stays there,” Black Hat mused out loud. He lightly felt against it, and realized he was feeling a mouth. He ran his finger across Flug’s “lips”, causing the smoke to swirl wildly and Flug himself to briefly stop struggling. “Heh, you liked that didn’t you, Doctor?” Black Hat laughed. “Well, you better enjoy what is coming next.”

Lifting up Flug’s “head”, Black Hat leaned down and slowly kissed Flug on the “lips,” making sure to be gentle. The smoke swirled around Black Hat’s head, and Flug instantly went still. Okay, that’s enough. You can stop now, a voice in the back of Black Hat’s head said. But Black Hat didn’t stop. He didn’t want to stop. The smoke was intoxicating to him, and Flug’s “lips” were so soft. He almost didn’t notice, but somehow, Flug was kissing him back, which surprised him briefly, but then he decided he didn’t care.

After some amount of time - a few seconds, a few minutes, an hour, he didn’t know -  Black Hat finally pulled himself away and gently set Flug down, recalling the tentacle. Flug just stood there for about 30 seconds before he lightly shook his “head”. “Ugggh. Where am I? And why is everything hazy,” he groaned. He reached to adjust his goggles, and wasn’t expecting his hand to reach nothing but air. “... Oh... Oh... OH NO.” He started to panic. “MY BAG MY BAG MY BAG!”

“You mean this one?” Black Hat asked, handing Flug his paper bag.

“Oh yes! Thank you Black Hat sir!” Flug said happily, grabbing the bag and putting it on. Finally able to see clearly, he blinked a few times. “B-B-BLACK HAT SIR????”

Black Hat narrowed his eyes. “I never expected you to hide things from me Flug, and yet here we are. Not only did you not tell me who rented you, you’ve been hiding the fact you aren’t human as well?” He growled. “I am VERY disappointed.”

Flug looked down. “I-I-I’m sorry Sir. I knew y-y-you’d never let me go if I told you, and I just wanted to steal some of her tech to make things for you to sell. I just wanted you to be proud of me, sir.”

Black Hat was glad Flug wasn’t looking at him, because he was just staring at him in disbelief. Flug wanted Black Hat to be proud of him. Flug didn’t think Black Hat was proud of him. Black Hat lightly shook his head and glanced at the door. “Doctor, I hired you and only you. I already know you are good, otherwise I wouldn’t put up with you. Don’t try to make me proud.”

Flug looked at Black Hat in disbelief. Was that...praise? From Black Hat? “A-a-are you okay, sir?”

“OF COURSE I’M OKAY WHY WOULDN’T I BE?!” Black hat snapped at him. “Besides you’re not off the hook! I mean I only had to come save your ass from that bitch!” Flug didn’t say anything, just looked back down again, dejected. “But I guess it wasn’t all bad,” Black Hat continued, more annoyed than mad now. “We made a deal and she is now working under me. So I will forgive you hiding that from me.”

Black Hat walked up to Flug. “However, you better choose your words wisely about why you hid what’s under the bag from me Flug. Or you’ll need a new bag for your arm.”

“W-w-w-well sir, you, uh, just, uh, n-n-never asked,” Flug stammered out. “And i-i-it has no b-b-bearing about how I can do my job s-s-s-so...”

Black Hat glared at him. “Maybe so, but I like to know everything about those that I work closest with, Doctor. So tell me, what are you?”

“I g-g-guess, I’m technically undead?” Flug closed his eyes to think. “It’s been centuries. I barely remember what happened. But what I do know is that I was beheaded, and was raised back to life by something. Why and for what reason I can’t remember. I have it written down in a book somewhere, but I’d have to look for it.”

Black Hat and Flug stood in silence for a few minutes, neither of them looking at the other. Finally, Black Hat lightly put his hand on Flug’s shoulder. “Find that book. I am very curious. Also, take the rest of the day off. Unpaid, of course.” He took his hand off Flug’s shoulder and walked towards the door, flicking his hand to unlock it. 505 instantly opened the door and ran in towards Flug, giving him a big hug. Black Hat watched for a moment, gave a small “bleh,” and was almost out the door before Flug spoke up.

“T-t-thank you for saving me sir,” Flug said, quietly.

“Thank me by making me stuff to sell that actually works, Flug.” With that, Black Hat walked out the door and closed it.

As soon as Black Hat was out, Flug curled up in a ball, about to have a mental breakdown. Yes, the whole thing at Aphro’s was messing with him. Yes, havng his secret found out was messing with him, too. But the thing that was weighing on his mind the most was he hid something else from Black Hat. While he was under mind control, he knew what was happening, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was like his body wasn’t his. But this meant he saw Black Hat take the bag off. He saw Black Hat play with the smoke.

He remembered Black Hat kissing him, and it was him, not the mind controlled version, that kissed him back.

“Oh God 505, what am I going to do?” he asked the bear, who was sitting behind Flug, petting him in worry. “This can’t be happening.”

Oh the other side of the door, Black Hat hadn’t moved. He had his hand lightly pressing his mouth. The kiss of the one he loves. It was him. It had worked. At least I don’t have to kill him, but... What is this feeling I have again?! He closed his eyes and his thoughts instantly went to him kissing Flug. I felt...happy? I feel happy? I’m going to kill his man for making me feel anything. Growling at himself, he walked away from the lab. Well, at things will be interesting now.

[ourwingsofwarriors]

Hope (Reiner X Reader) FINAL

Read the chapters here: Chapters 1, Chapter  2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Characters: Reiner Braun, Reader, OC Pairing: Reader x Reiner Rating: M for MMMM Daddy (sex, death, swearing etc) A/N: not a suggested read if you have not read the manga.

You were woken up by the sound of the others being dragged out of their cells. Panicking, you threw your old clothes through the bars, apart from your cloak, which you put on, hiding the fact you were actually in Reiner’s old uniform, hiding the wings of freedom from view. “Don’t forget her!” The guard shouted, and the door opened, you sat there, looking up at the little glimpse of light… was this it? Were you going to die?

You were dragged out along with the others, up and out of the prison in chains. You knew what was going to happen, you would be dragged through the city to the port, being hurled abuse at, you had seen it plenty of times before.  

Hanging your head, you walked, your neck stiff, you had an iron collar attached to chains on you, it was too tight, making it hard to breath. “Scum!” You heard “Whore!” You felt the weight of the world on your shoulders as you looked to the floor, tears welling up in your eyes. You just wanted to see Reiner, you just wanted to see him one last time, to tell him everything, to let him know how much you loved him… to be held by him one last time.  

You were dragged through the ghetto, where you saw Karina, standing with Gabi, the look on Gabi’s face was of pure disappointment, Karina looked happy, you guessed it must of been her who had told the guards about the headquarters

“That's what you deserve” she hissed “Trying to seduce my son!” “[Y/N]...” Gabi sobbed “Why!”

You looked down again, not wanting to face the two of them, would this make Gabi work harder to become the next armoured titan? Did she really think that Reiner would continue to be next to her throughout it? She had no idea that Reiner would be killed the instant she ate him?

You could see the harbour, the smell of the sea, the smell of freedom. Looking around, you desperately searched for Reiner in the crowd. But you couldn’t see him… maybe they were not coming after all.

You heart sank, wanting to break down and scream your lungs out, knowing this was it, your time was up. You were pushed onto the boat, you fell to your knees in misery. “Goodbye…” you whispered. Looking across to the city you had lived in, that you were now leaving, as a traitor.

“Here come the warriors!” shouted a little girl from the crowd, you instantly searched the crowd for Reiner.

It was him. He was dressed in his uniform, next to Zeke and Porco. He looked happy, smiling and waving to the crowds… but you knew it was for show, Reiner hated them all. You knew it.

“Get them on the boats now!” shouted a Marleyan soldier. “They don’t deserve this crowd”

They were soon aboard. Zeke walking up and down the prisoners, looking at each of our faces.

He stopped at you, looking down at you. “You know, I have seen so many of you, try to raise an army, to fight back. All of you end up here, even my parents, I sent them to their deaths for being traitors. They didn’t deserve to live. Yet my stupid father lived on, now my brother, has his power. It’s funny really isn’t it? You will all have the fate that my mother had, there is no turning back, you will live the rest of your miserable lives on that island, as mindless titans!” he laughed, walking away “shame, such a pretty face eh Reiner” He patted him on the shoulder. I could hear the others starting to cry, now knowing exactly what was going to happen next…

“Reiner, why are you wearing that?” Zeke looked down, Reiner had put on his 3DMG, standing awkwardly “Why?” “Because, what if they are there… and we need to fight” “I like your thinking! Try and get more of them this time, we can all look at them and study how they are used” Zeke smiled “That's why we kept you alive”

 Was Reiner on borrowed time? Had Zeke planned on killing Reiner before this? Was that why Reiner was so desperate to see you so much?

The boat set off… soon you would be kneeling on the wall awaiting your fate.

Of course that time came too soon…

“Get off” Porco shouted at the prisoners, you followed, but he stopped you, looking at you, the other warriors were off on the shore of the island, allowing Porco to take charge.  “[Y/N] why…” he muttered “Why did you…” “I did it for us…” you whispered “Why did you have to fight against our own people..” “I…” He paused for a moment “Marcel would of been….” “I know...I’m sorry” “He loved you, he hated how you looked at Reiner” “I…” “And now, he would hate me too, sending you to your death” “You don’t have to do this… you know that, there are no Marleyans here right now” “But… I have no choice..” he sighed. Leading you off the boat, along the wooden planks.

You looked up to the walls, seeing the others climbing the stairs to their dooms. “Reiner take this one” Porco said, pinching my arm “she won’t fucking stay in line” Reiner grabbed your arm, pulling you forward, towards the stairs. “I have a plan” “Don’t worry about me..” You bit your lip, trying not to cry in front of Reiner “I’m ready now” “[Y/N]...” “Sometimes our fates are just cruel” “I can’t let yo..” “When the time comes.. Kill me, slice me down” “I can’t..” “Reiner, please, don’t let me kill others when I turn…” He grabbed your arm tighter, he himself was trying not to break down too. You reached the top of the stairs, you saw the others, all kneeling at the edge of the wall. You were lead to the end, Reiner gently pushing you to your knees. You looked out into the open fields. It was just like how you imagined, it was beautiful, the air was clear, the skies blue.

“Today you will be punished” shouted Zeke “For your crimes against the Marleyans and your own people! You will live the rest of your lives as mindless, ugly, human eating titans! You will suffer, you will be forever walking through this land, unable to speak, to cry… to even think” He walked towards Frederick, the first in line “you knew my father didn’t you? Isn’t this a moment to remember!” He pulled out a box from his pocket, opening it, pulling out the syringe. “When you see him in hell, tell him I said hello” He laughed, injecting him in the back of the neck before kicking him off the wall. The others started to beg for mercy, crying. You just kneeled there, in silence.

A flash of light blinded you for a moment, before all you could see was a small titan, you couldn’t deny it, he was ugly, he looked around, his legs long, deformed. You looked away as he tried to climb up the wall to reach one of the others to eat them.

“Who is next… let’s see..” “What the fuck is that?” Porco called out, pointing out into the distance “Zeke!” “Well… well well. If it isn’t my little brother” He turned to the others “Prepare for battle, take down their titan shifters, we need them”

There was a sudden flash again, this time.. Two titans were on the ground, a small one, who looked quick, his mouth wide… and the other… was a giant.. Beast. “Now is your chance” Reiner said quickly “If they get to you, tell them you’re [Y/N] Ackerman from the eldian resistance in Marley okay!” He panicked. “Reiner!” You called out a he pulled out a dagger “Don’t! Don’t fight them!” “I have to…” “No! No you don’t!” He looked at you a you stood up “Take this” He said, pulling off the 3DMG, “hold up your cloak” you pulled it up before he started to attach it to you  “I’m sure you will be able to use it better than me” “Reiner...  please… please don’t fight them!” “I have to…. Or..” he pushed you away, “I love you” he cried out, before jumping down as a flash of light blinded you, causing you to fall to your knees, when you looked back, you saw him… his titan form. He looked back at you before joining the other two…

In the distance, two lights were seen, you guessed that was the survey corps on a expedition to the wall. You looked as you then saw horses, a lot of them riding your way… but the three of them were not moving, they stood there, almost like they had planned this all along.

“Help us” cried the other prisoners on the wall, as you got up to get them loose of their chains the beast titan swiped them all off, leaving just you. You stared at him, before turning your back and running along the wall away from him. Your heart pounding, you pulled off your long cloak, revealing the Survey corp uniform, it was big on your but you didn’t mind it, it represented something more than just a uniform, it represented freedom. You looked back to see men and women flying around in the sky, you stopped in complete awe of what you were seeing… so this was what Reiner was part of?

“And who are you?” You felt a sharp metal object poke you in the back “turn around” “I...I” You froze, who was now behind you? You turned to see a small man, his hair dark as the night with piercing grey eyes, next to him, a taller woman, with goggles on. “I’m..” “Explain yourself, why are you wearing that” “I’m… I’m [Y/N] Ackerman..” you looked to them “of the Eldian resistance” “Like…” The woman said “like Grisha?” “Grisha Jaeger?” You asked “yes.. Him”

“How did you get the uniform?” she asked, looking at you in the oversized clothes “Re…” “Reiner braun?” the smaller one said “was it him?” “Ye….yes” “I see. Well I’m sure you know who we are” “Er…” You looked at the two of them “Levi…” you pointed to the short one “How the…” “Reiner…” You muttered “he told me everything..” You looked at the taller girl “And Hanji..” “Bingo!” Hanji laughed “Wow, you are an ackerman too then? Maybe you two are related” “I doubt it” Levi hissed “stay out of the way, we have a few things to deal with, I am going to kill the beast titan” “Zeke?” “So that’s his n…” “Hanji! We don’t have time” “Oh.. oh yeah” the two of them ran off, before jumping off the wall and flying off. You stood there in shock. What the hell had just happened. You ran closer to the battle, hoping to help if someone was injured, but instead, blood soaked the ground, Zeke was smashing humans onto the stone, like they were tiny ants.

And that’s when you saw.. Reiner’s titan on his knees, three cloaked men stabbing at his nape, steam rising up..

“Reiner…” You cried.

But then you suddenly felt a surge of energy through you, your body started to shake and feel stronger as you watched them hack into the back of Reiners titan. Your blood pressure rose, your heart pounded within your chest. You looked down at the 3DMG, remembering what Reiner had told you about it on the first night you spent together. You held onto the triggers, your fist sweating from your body overheating. You pulled the triggers sending two hooks into Reiners titan and you flew through the air, panicking a little as your balance wasn’t perfect. You landed however. Holding on, using your feet to hold your body up right

“Stop it!” you cried out “stop!” You stared at them, they looked shocked

“Who the fuck…” One of the men said, “who the fuck are you?” “I am [Y/N] and you are not taking him!” You looked down, you could see Reiners back in the titan, you went over, trying to cover him “please..” “He killed Marco..” The man said “he is a bastard and I will watch him die today!” “Jean…” You muttered, his eye’s widened “How the hell?” “Please.. You know how it feels to lose someone important… so..” but before you could continue another of the group kicked you down, leaving you hanging from the wires of the 3DMG “Shut up!” screamed another of the boys “shut the fuck up!” Jean continue to hack at Reiner, more steam releasing from him “You don’t understand what he did, what all of them did to us!” “I know what happened! I do! He told me..” “Was he bragging about it?!” The boy said “fucking bast…” “No! No he wasn’t! He spoke of you all! He felt like this place was home” “Why are we even talking to her Conny!” Jean called out to the other one “she is with them!” “Your right!” You felt the wires suddenly break free, as Conny broke through your wires with his blades, letting you fall, rolling down Reiner’s arched back to the floor. Landing with a thud on the dirt below.

You blacked out.

“Give up Reiner!” you heard someone shouting as you opened your eyes, your head was ringing from the fall. You looked at the gear, it was broken, it had come off when you landed on the floor.

You felt a sharp pain in your side, one of the blades from your own gear was lodged into your stomach, it must of pierced through you as you struggled to get a grip on Reiner as you had fallen. You pulled the blade out, throwing it to the side, your body crying out in pain.

You looked towards the source of the noise.

Against the wall was the three of them, Zeke, Porco and Reiner. “Tell us everything! Now!” “Rein….” You tried to get up. “Reiner..” You mumbled, crawling towards him. He looked at you, making the others turn around “Oh look!” Hanji cried out “she isn’t dead! Wonderful, I have a lot of questions for her” “Leave her alone…” Reiner begged “take me, please, I won’t fight anymore, just don’t hurt her” “That’s cute” Jean said “shame you are the one responsible for everyone's death, you don’t get to choose who lives and dies anymore. “The men are ready” Another voice could be heard “shall we end this?” “Good.” Hanji smiled “bring over the injections”

You felt the world starting to spin. You looked at Reiner, you too were on borrowed time.

“Stay with me..” Reiner called out, noticing your eyes closing slowly “[Y/N]! Don’t close your eyes!” “Hanji! We are losing her!” Jean called “shit.” “Re….Reine…” “No! No no!” Reiner begged. He watched you fall backwards, the last thing you heard was Reiner calling your name, a smile forming on your face as you took your last breath, you had made it to the island with Reiner… in your mind, your dream had come true…

[istrys]

His Word is His Bond

Rethandus had a lot to think about on his way back to the Acherus.

It was difficult to see Whitstan standing beside Kaevia like he was one of them, especially in the aftermath of his reawakening; thanks to Syrahn’s naïveté Artemisia’s work had been undone. Whitstan was now whole again - or at least, whole enough to return being a colossal threat - and at Rethandus’ current state, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in Hell that he could defeat him. Kaevia’s blind trust and stubbornness to fulfill her promises has now put her life in considerable danger, and there was nothing the Harbinger could do to stop it; just the thought of Whitstan standing over her crumpled corpse filled Rethandus with newfound hatred.

What’s worse, she saw his distrust of her new ‘friend’ as weakness. Once Whitstan’s last remaining memories were unlocked, the Commander of the Oathguard plans to remove everyone she doesn’t trust from service; which means most of the Death Knights will be left to their own devices. How would Rethandus tell the men and women who served faithfully over this past half year that they were not to be trusted and had to leave? Many were caught on the wrong side of Zaldrannar’s coup. Many had to either serve in the Blackguard or be incinerated by the Mad Pyromancer himself. Many paid the price for their redemption with their lives. It didn’t feel right to kick them to the curb just because Rethandus did not and could not trust a man who just recently tried to get him killed. Hopefully Alucieus could shed some much-needed wisdom on his daughter, if he’s in any condition to do anything right now. Or perhaps the Oathguard had been doomed ever since Syrahn showed Whitstan mercy; an honest organization destined to end before it even began. Or, perhaps, he was overthinking this whole ordeal. Alucieus needed to know his daughter wants that monster by her side, but Rethandus had bigger fish to fry.

When he opened the door to Istrys’ chambers, he was met with pale skin and legs a mile long; she wore little more than a loose thread and a pair of leather shorts. Her armor was set to the side, still stained with the vigor from her throat wound. The woman glanced up from her desk, pulling her goggles off to give Rethandus a sly smirk. “Oh, please Andy, storm on into my room without so much as a knock. Thanks.” The Necromancer still looked like she was in terrible shape, but if she was giving him sass, her injuries couldn’t be too serious. “Had you walked in ten minutes ago, you would have seen me in all of my splendor. Dancing around my room with my plump, juicy ass clapping agai-“

“I take it you’ll be back on your feet soon if you’re making jokes.” Rethandus stared at the woman with minimal interest. “How are you feeling, exactly?”

“Exactly? Like a corpse, I’d think. Glad Whitty was kind enough to clear my throat.” Istrys’ gaze dropped to her legs. He noticed the stitches along her neck, but he decided against addressing them. “I regret making that Light Rune though. As you can see my mouthwateringly gorgeous legs, but they are of little use to me for now. And to be honest…?” she paused while she pushed her runeblade across the desk. “I honestly thought I was going to die down there.”

“You nearly did.” he paused to study her face closely. “Fortunately Vesk was able to sustain you.” She stared at him intensely for a split second, seemingly at a loss for words.

“I… what?” Istrys ran one of her hands through her silver hair while she shifted in her chair to face him. “What are you talking about…?”

“You take me for a fool like the others, then.” Rethandus pushed his words through his clenched teeth. “Just because my temper is short and my threats are plentiful that doesn’t mean I don’t notice things. I knew the moment you returned, covered in strange wounds with a second presence lurking behind your eyes. This pointless deception is why nobody trusts you. Speaking of which, Commander Sun’rael plans to remove everyone she doesn’t trust once Whitstan’s memories completely return; you are likely the first to go.”

“Ugh, that’s some bullshit.” The Necromancer scrunched her nose at him. “I’ve busted my ass for the Oathguard, and I’m still suspect of treachery? Fuck that, and fuck her!”

“You were planning on a coup if you were convinced they were killing off us Undead, were you not? That looks like treachery to me.” The Harbinger crossed his arms while he scowled at her. “But I doubt she’ll send you to your execution. Worst-case scenario you’ll just be kicked out and left to your own means.”

“That…” Istrys started, leaning back in her seat. “… doesn’t sound too bad then, I guess. Being off the hook for that whole Zaldrannar debacle would be nice… but what about you?”

“What about me?” Rethandus asked, perking a brow. “I haven’t attempted any traitorous actions of the sort.”

“But your trust is still under question, right?” the Necromancer asked, causing Rethandus to fall silent; he didn’t have an accurate answer for such a question, and that uncertainty was quickly becoming unsettling. “Hey, if she kicks you out of the Oathguard with the rest of us, why not come with me? We can defeat the Legion in our own way. Or even run away together like two young lovers.”

“That’s not going to happen. Especially that last part.” He huffed, pulling his gaze away from her. “Kaevia would not turn me away. I’m an integral part of the Oathguard’s Offensive.”

“Yet it’s Whitstan by her side, not you.” Istrys’ words struck a chord in the Harbinger, clearly pissing him off; but before he opened his mouth to unleash what would certainly be another threat, the Necromancer continued speaking. “Look, I get it Andy. You hate the bastard. And despite your best efforts, he’s seemingly always one step ahead of you. But your hate-boner for him is distracting you from the real enemy, okay? If you can’t kill him, then why bother?”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” His icy glare returned to fixate deep into her eyes. “I defeated him once. I can defeat him again.”

“He had no memories of his past, which likely included most of his combat training. No grasp on Necromancy, and one of his arms was burnt to a crisp by our late friend Zerry.” Istrys scoffed, but she chose her words carefully all the same. “You won’t have a severe advantage like that again… so what makes you think this will end in your favor again?”

“Because the next time I challenge him, you’re going to help me.”

“Oh? I’d like to see you two fight again.” Istrys leaned forward while she sneered at him. “But I thought you had a sense of… what was it called again? Honor?”

“I plan to fight him one on one, if it’s fate.” Rethandus corrected, narrowing his brow. “But as it stands he wouldn’t need to put in much effort to defeat me. That’s why I need an experienced Runesmith to repurpose my runes to put me on an equal playing field.”

“He has a San’layn spirit that’s granted him impressive control over his Blood Runes.” Istrys explained, stroking her chin while she studied Rethandus closely. “Add to that his natural talent for Necromancy, and well… it doesn’t look good for you, Andy-boy.”

“With a little more juice his horde of ghouls would be easy to deal with.” The Harbinger glanced down at his icy gauntlets. “I can reach him without issue… it’s in close quarters where the problems begin.”

“There’s more to Necromancy than raising the dead. But I’m sure you knew that already.” Istrys huffed, before yawning obnoxiously into her hand.

“Teach me all the tricks you know about the arts. Inscribe the best runes you think I can handle on my armor. Give me the edge I need to set this straight, Istrys.” Rethandus reluctantly took a step forward, catching her attention.

“You want me to do all that?” she asked, perking a brow. “And what’s in it for me, Andy? What do I get out of this, besides front-row seats to a fantastic duel?”

“Name your price.” The Harbinger retorted. The thought of being in her debt did not sit well with him, but he didn’t have a choice. If Whitstan turned on Kaevia and killed her, Alucieus would be next; if the former Spell-Breaker truly returned to his old ways, there would be no one to stop him until far too much damage to the Oathguard was done. It had to be him. It had to be personal.

“No more idle threats.” Istrys demanded, sitting up straight with a cruel grin spread across her face. “Anyone who knows you doesn’t take your threats seriously anyway. And I want in on any meetings you have with the Redblood girl and her lieutenants. I want to know where every single member of the Oathguard is going.”

“If I agree to those terms, it must go both ways.” Rethandus warned. “No more lies, no more treachery. If you do something on your own, you must tell me about it. If you want me to trust you, you have to do the same.”

“I’m not finished.” Istrys huffed, indignantly. “I know the Oathguard gets some pretty rare and expensive stuff in their supply exchanges. I want in on some of that good shit, you hear? And if I have a favor, you’re going to help me with it. Do we have a deal?” The two Knights stared at each other in silence for several moments, but eventually Rethandus began to approach her.

“Deal.” He reluctantly spoke, still struggling with the idea of giving her this much knowledge on the Oathguard’s inner workings and questionable resources; but if it meant protecting Kaevia, and indirectly, the Oathguard itself, it would be worth it. With an outstretched hand, the Harbinger stood before the Necromancer and waited for her to shake his hand. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“Oh Andy, making you regret things is something I li-” As Istrys reached out to shake his hand, the Harbinger firmly grasped her wrist and pulled her onto her feet; her sentence was cut short the moment he embraced her in a hug, pressing her chest against his freezing-cold armor. “W-what’s all this about, mister?”

“There’s something else.” Rethandus whispered in her ear, brushing the side of his face against hers. “Kaevia has had us under surveillance for who knows how long. I’m going to find out how this Lilthessa witch is doing this exactly, but in the meantime you need to watch what you say and what you do.”

“Is that so?” she softly whispered, gently pressing her chin against his shoulder. “I’ll be sure to stop calling her a Redblood Bitch then…?”

“That’s a start. And Istrys? That trick you tried to pull in that dungeon? The one that almost got you killed?” The Harbinger pulled her even closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. “That was reckless, even for you. Don’t do anything stupid like that again.”

“Rethandus…” the Necromancer whispered, clutching his shoulder tightly. “I still can’t use my legs, so… please don’t drop me.” The Harbinger gently lowered her back into her seat, pausing to glance down into her eyes one last time before turning toward the door; he departed without another word, leaving her alone with her own thoughts.

“I think you and Rethandus need to have a serious talk.” Vesk finally spoke, after being completely silent this entire time. “That was unusual for him. Very unusual.”

“I…” Istrys nervously huffed, slouching back into her chair. “S-shut the fuck up, Vesk. He’s just… trying to trust me is all.”

“As you say, Istrys.” The spirit sighed, returning to her reclusive silence.

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