#I used to call him Prometheus but in universe they just call him Him

[heepthecheep]

This seems like so much fun,

[meggannn]

mel invited moros on their first date and they literally just talked about their anxieties. valid

more serious tangential ramblings: i think this could be another hint that some gods or incarnates might learn to change their nature or become different than what they are. after moros arrived in the crossroads and immediately told mel “fates aren’t looking let’s break some family curses,” i tend to be on the lookout in moros’s conversations for any hints of “are they setting up something else now.” after all, he is our only insight for how the fates work, and turns out the fates' executor and bodyguard chafes under them and wishes he were something different.

it could be the grass is always greener, but moros is almost universally reviled or feared (partly his own fault but mostly not) to the point he envies the guy getting his liver picked out on the daily because at least he has fans. so it’s unsurprising he daydreams about a different life with different responsibilities, and i suspect mel has too. i suspect he would welcome a world where he was not forced to be the bad guy just because of a job assigned at birth. after all, moros’s line in the very first 2020 trailer was “this is an opportunity for you to create a better future for us all.” i even feel strongly now he means both gods and mortals.

eris routinely calls mel out for subscribing to one way of thinking, that the gods' rule is stifling. she can’t help being who she is, and she blames nyx for that (though mel presses her and she casually admits hasn’t really tried). i don’t know if strife will ever change her nature/personality, but maybe they can change her, like… job?

moros naming “fear you’ll never be as capable at other things” is maybe why some gods who are a bit more self-aware they aren't perfect might resist change; they know they're imperfect but they're so settled in their ways they don't know what else they could do. hades is a prime example of this (“we're gods, boy. killing each other is our lot”), but persephone and zagreus manage to convince him otherwise. melinoë herself is proof hades can change. meanwhile, prometheus calls mel an agent of change. this feels significant.

especially after this latest update with prometheus, i think as the story progresses and mel learns more sides to the conflict, she’ll shake up the status quo even beyond the war. if she succeeds in restoring the “old order” (if it will even look like the old order by the end), one way i see a solution to the problem of gods mistreating mortals is by the gods themselves evolving or changing. i don't know how far supergiant is willing to shake up the greek pantheon, but with multiple gods calling out how the current “assigned x at birth” system is failing them, i think it is setting up for something different.

[quasitsqueeries]

The Emperor wasn't 12 feet tall

I see this meme a lot in my Instagram feed and it really grinds my gears:

Not because it seems to be trying to shame a fictional antagonist for being "wrong" (although that really doesn't help), but because whoever made it seems to have missed that depictions of the Emperor as superhuman are meant to be Imperial Propaganda.

Now, I realise I'm going to be fighting an uphill battle here because there seem to be people working for Games Workshop and producing their media who also missed that memo, and for a while now the studio has started producing actual depictions of the Emperor, and some of those depections show him as 12 feet tall and immortal. This might be controversial but I think what this shows is that Games Workshop don't understand Games Workshop's source material.

Here's a picture of the Emperor from the original Rogue Trader rulebook.

Even this is obviously meant to be a propaganda image, but here he looks like just a regular guy in armour, he's about the same size as the people around him. Not a superhuman, just a guy with an excess of hubris.

There's this literary construct called the unreliable narrator. When I studied literature we were given this short story to read called Bartleby the Scrivener. It's told from the point of view of an employer about a clerk who was apparently really difficult to manage. The subtext is that the narrator is trying to manipulate the reader to make themself look good.

For a long time, that's what Warhammer 40,000 did, the Imperium was made out to be an unreliable narrator. Stories about the Imperium's "glorious past" were told through the haze of ten thousand years of unending war, by an ecclesiastical class with a vested interest in keeping Imperial citizens committed to feeding the war machine. To the Imperium, the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy serve the function of myths, more than history. I've gone on before about how important heroic figures like Siegfried and Perseus and Prometheus were to the Nazis. The Imperium, being a fictional state that draws on the aesthetics and ideology of Fascism, uses the figures of the Emperor and Primarchs the same way.

Basically what I'm saying is that when Imperial sources state that these people were twelve feet tall and immortal and could, um, turn a giant ork into a lightbulb on a whim, it's not because they had these powers, but because they've been ascribed these powers by their priesthood, who have total control over the flow of information in this setting.

And I get that this is hard, because most people don't get taught this stuff, and often people are probably looking for escapism from their fiction and why would the book I'm reading lie to me? But I think it really makes the setting more interesting if you look at it this way.

Also, I realise that since 2006 there have been books around that describe the Emperor, and they do show him as superhuman, and I think those depictions are based on the writers misunderstanding the material they're working from. I guess Tolkien wrote the existence of The Hobbit into Middle Earth as the Red Book of Westmarch so I can tell myself that the Horus Heresy novels are meant to be in-universe Imperial propaganda.

ADDENDUM: I need to add this because I've been reading about Perpetuals, which is apparently what the Emperor is since the Horus Heresy series was published. Apparently these individuals are human mutants that are both immortal and invincible. I remember Mechanicum heavily implying that the Emperor and St. George are the same person. Here's the problem with that. There are two themes that I think are really important in Warhammer 40,000. One is the Emperor's hubris, the idea was that he was playing god, genetically engineering monstrosities in the form of the primarchs. In the Greek tragic mould, it's this hubris that leads to his downfall. This kind of loses its sting if he's just trying to recreate what what he already is.

The other theme is the Imperium's superstition. This one is really the core of 40K. The Imperium has taken the corpse of a man who tried to rule the galaxy, told themselves he's not dead, plugged the corpse into a machine that "regenerates" him, and founded an intolerant, violent and expansionist religion around this husk. This theme changes significantly if the Emperor actually was as powerful as the Ecclesiarchy makes him out to be, and actually isn't dead, and has somehow been regenerating for the last 10,000 years. There's a question here about what would make an entity worthy of worship, or being called a god, and I probably shouldn't get into it but this is my blog so I'm going to. It seems like there's an assumption among some writers that if something can be rationally explained then it's not a god, because gods ipso facto don't exist. They've incorporated nonexistence into their definition of gods. This is where you get the idea that the Chaos gods aren't gods, because the setting explains their existince "rationally" with its internal logic (nevermind that there's nothing rational about the warp). If there were gods in a rational sense, then our model of the universe would have to change to accomodate them. I think the upshot of this is basically that if what the Horus Heresy novels claim about the Emperor is true, then the Ecclesiarchy are right and he is a god within the logic of the setting. That doesn't justify the genocide and expansionism, but maybe it does justify the worship, and that's something that I think takes away from the setting.

[randomnumbers751650]

I finally have time to talk about Lone Trail. I will be focusing on its depiction of science, technology and its progress. Will get a bit political, but funnily enough less than I imagined.

The thing that called my attention most in Lone Trail were the discussions on the nature of scientific progress. This is a theme that’s dear to me and the stuff I research about. It’s easy to think of scientific progress like an inevitable march forward, like an escalator. After all, we are much richer than we were before, right? Go to OurWorldInData dot org to play around with economic statistics in time – make sure to check the World GDP chart, from year 0 to 2000 and see it taking off like a rocket from year 1700.

What kind of Uncle Ted fan or neoluddite would go against that? Haha…hah…

Truth is that, although its effects are there, it’s not a clear if this is the little, neat process techbros want us to believe. It’s new and produces more, therefore it’s good, right? I could be writing this as a new wave of AI-generated NFTs pollute my algorithm.

That’s what makes the storytelling in Arknights so effective: it mashes together fantasy and sci-fi to really tell stories on the role of beliefs, technology, science and religion. The Rhine Lab saga is definitely an exploration of technology, with focus on the equivalent of the United States. During the period before the First World War, 1870-1913 (which is the one that Arknights draws most from), the world underwent through the so-called Second Industrial Revolution and I’ve read economic historians considering it the most innovative period in human history. I mean, obviously, there is an absolute number of inventions in our current age, but in relative terms 1870-1913 experienced a much larger number relative to the previous one.

The escalator narrative constructs scientific achievements as work of daring people (mostly men, but there were women like Marie Cuire), that combined science and technology to help mankind, like Prometheus giving mankind fire from the gods (in fact, one of these books is even named “Prometheus Unbound”); more than often they have to fight against the establishment. Remember Ignaz von Semmelweis? He just wanted doctors to wash their hands. Even I learned this standard narrative in the university. But that’s not the entire story.

The positivistic paradigm – of a science free of value judgements, made with the power of math – has actually helped build this escalator narrative. In reality, some scientists and scholars are horrible people. Later, I learned that Semmelweis, as much as he campaigned for the right thing, was a very arrogant person, who abused everyone around him, to the point few people went to his funeral.

Narratives focusing on one single hero are easy to sell and the ones building them are always on the lookout. Remember how ten years ago, a lot of people tried to push the narrative Elon Musk was going to create a new industrial revolution? Nowadays he’s just an arrogant loser who keeps dragging on his midlife crisis. The 1880s also had similar people like that, such as Thomas Edison.

Kristen Wright is definitely better than them both, because she is actually an engineering genius. But she’s also just like them, in the sense of unethical experiments, collusion with the military-industrial complex and being an overall superficially charismatic, but rotten to the core person. And she’s surrounded by a lot of people like Parvis and Ferdinand.

Breaking this line of reason, I have to say how much I hate Nietzsche’s ubermensch and master-slave morality, I hate Great Men theory, I hate Ayn Rand; these people are sheep who think themselves wolves. And before you say that Nietzsche didn’t consider himself an ubermensch, well, neither did Parvis and his reasoning was the same. For every person fancying themselves ubermensch, there’s a lot of those whom he’d call untermensch to clean up their messes. You have no idea of how times I stumbled upon people (especially libertarians) that advocate lower barriers to regulations that were written in blood, so that progress can happen quicker. Creative destruction works, as long as some people get “creative” and others clean the “destruction”. Deaths and injuries? Acceptable, just give them a pension (but fight tooth and nail in the court to not do it beyond the barest of the bare minimum, because it’ll lower the shareholder profit in 0.01%). Increase in inequality? Nobody will care in a few years, it’ll make everything cheaper anyway (look up Baumol’s cost disease to see how wrong that statement is, without being incorrect). I’m not exaggerating, sometimes the people saying that don’t even bother lacing it in politically correct language.

Because Lone Trail showed it “worked” – Kristen Wright broke off the ceiling over Terra and that will have consequences (especially with Endfield coming closer). The data from her experiments will advance science, the sight of a broken ceiling will inspire artists and prompt politicians to act. Was it worth it? Well, it will depend on who you ask (like, Ifrit or Rosmontis would have strong feelings), but it’s just there now. Serious history isn’t kind on this question as well – many technologies have a lot of transgressions, both legal and ethical, in their supply chain (both the American and Soviet space program come to my mind – guess who helped them); the difference between an entrepreneur and a criminal are contextual, because both are finding new opportunities of profit and both interlock frequently.

In the end, anyone can put an equation that has its uses, not mattering if it’s a good person or not. But that is no excuse to find good ethical practices. Silence saw everything with her own eyes and I’m really glad she’s leading the initiative for a more ethical science in Columbia – especially because people who are willing to break moral rules tend also to be willing to break research rules (this is why the “research” made in concentration camps is actually useless, it didn’t respect experimental rules). So I’m really glad for the Arknights writers for understanding these nuances and communicating them to the audience through one of the best stories of the game.

[whyisthereacentaur]

Modern Monsters 6: Dr. Frankenstein

With thanks to the wonderful @purrlockholmesbooks, whose monster request inspired not one, but several further Modern Monsters instalments!

~~~

My brain: Did you realise you have a series of poems regularly featuring the phrase “I am a modern ____” and you haven’t made a single homage to “The Modern Major-General”?

Me: I don’t know if that’s a good-

Brain: GET IN LOSER WE’RE WRITING POETRY

Victor Frankenstein originates from Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The characters, in my view, are a seamless fit for the MM series. You can probably think of multiple other retellings and characters inspired by the scientist and the monster - what else are they, if not part of the folklore of our times?

Keeping it brief: in the original novel, Victor was hardworking, interested in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and later horrified and guilt-ridden over what he had done. A bit obsessive, maybe, but not the typical mad scientist character. His work revolved around animation of non-living tissue by a process never detailed in the book. The monster was constructed from both human and animal parts. Spoilers - by the end, the monster kills its creator and then goes into hiding.

~~~

In the Modern Monsters world, not only did Victor keep excellent lab notes, but his intelligent creation’s guilt drove it to reproduce the process and resurrect its “father”. The reanimator became the reanimated.

Just as for his creature, the process did not bring Victor back entirely as intended. The obsession (and his ego) has only grown, and he has far fewer moral qualms now over using his skills, whether to keep himself alive for centuries, or for the advancement of science for its own sake.

He has moved from country to country under various aliases in the last 200 years to find and work with those who seem to share his passion, including making many two-headed dogs with Vladimir Demikhov and later Christiaan Barnard (before the latter moved on to pioneering heart transplants).

These days, he carries out transplant surgeries both above- and below-board in an English university hospital. Unsurprisingly, the wealthy, powerful and corrupt all find their way to him when their own looming mortality is knocking down their door. He makes a good living, but he still wants to see his work in journals and to watch his advancements change the world on a grand scale.

Unfortunately for him, the modern era comes with rather less maverick-ery accepted in research. He swears these nitpicking ethics committees will be the final death of him.

~~~

Well, that got long.

REC= Research Ethics Committee, HTA = Human Tissue Authority, and HRA= Human Research Authority. Terms that medical researchers in the UK are likely to have encountered at some point…

The illustration is a mishmash of some of the typical Frankenstein-inspired mad scientist aesthetic, with a deliberately off skin colour. He can’t find his preferred style of lab coat anymore, but for some reason this dress shirt really called to him.

Silly mouth is silly. I imagine “curse youuuu” was uttered.

~~~

Still just in time for Monday here in the UK! I will try to have the next instalment, the Monster itself, up tomorrow if possible, but if not, stay tuned.

I’m happy to keep making these for as long as I’m inspired and anyone’s interested, so, requests/prompts will still be welcomed well after the pumpkins have all gone to compost.

~~~

Modern Monsters series

Modern Monsters 1: Dullahan

Modern Monsters 2: Kelpie

Modern Monsters 3: Kuchisake-onna

Modern Monsters 4: Cuca

Modern Monsters 5: Vampire

Modern Monsters 6: Dr Frankenstein

Modern Monsters 7: Frankenstein’s Monster

Modern Monsters bonus: Frankenstein, Monster

[simon-newman]

Another franchise intentionally ran into the fucking ground

So... I've heard before about the supposed "Alien 5" idea that got scrapped/put on indefinite hold.

Today it came up in a discussion with friends and I tried to look into it more.

Apparently the idea is not really new but not quite as old as the original four (sic!) movies.

The whole thing comes from 2015 and is a series of concept arts released to the public and a 50 page sketch of a script.

From what concept arts suggested the movie (sometimes called "Alien: Awakening") would erase Alien 3 and 4 from canon and continue with older Ripley, Hicks and adult Newt forming a resistance against WY who somehow obtained and were experimenting with Xenomorph samples.

Cool. Workable. If done correctly I am sure it'd be welcome addition by the fans.

20th Century Fox actually recognized the fans enthusiasm and greenlit the project before no one else but Ridley Scott got involved.

The idea was then shelved indefinitely with Scott instead gaining the right to produce more movies to his "Alien Prequel Story" started with Prometheus...

Now. We all know how Alien: Covenant turned out. Not great. Now there's third movie from the series coming up titled "Alien: Awakening". Sounds familiar? Worry not. It'll likely get released as just "Awakening" instead. And won't feature our beloved Xenomorphs.

Why?

Apparently Ridley Scott sees Xenomorphs as old idea that can't be of use in film anymore. According to him the Alien Franchise "Needs to move on" and away from Xenomorphs...

Like. Dude... You are making your movies riding on the back of the Alien Franchise - THE Xenomorph franchise.

If you want to make new "space monster" horror movies that's fine. But don't make them under the name of existing franchise of a different, beloved space monster.

Also - if you can't think of a new, interesting way to use the Xenomorphs that's fully on you. There's an entire de-canonized extended universe featuring it. A whole goldmine of ideas to be used, never before brought to the big screen. You really say there's nothing to do with it anymore?

Fuck off!

Hollywood needs to stop hiring directors who hate franchises they're supposed to work with.

[denimbex1986]

'If you’ve ever read an interview with the Irish actor Cillian Murphy, you might think him shy, irritable, or even neurotic. Journalists love to write about how closed-off he is, that if you ask him anything too personal he’ll shut down and give one-line answers. This makes their job very hard, they say. But what those interviews don’t tell you, is that if you let Murphy talk about a subject that he actually wants to talk about – such as his epic new film about the father of the atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer – he’ll go on for ages. And he’ll be very open and interesting while he’s doing it. He might even make a joke.

He does this when NME meets him at a posh hotel in Soho. We’ve just walked into the room. Murphy is sat down, wearing a black v-neck jumper over a white t-shirt, black trousers and a pair of very pointy Chelsea boots. He seems relaxed, and greets us with a cheery “hello!”. Then he recognises the thick paperback tucked under our arm as a copy of American Prometheus, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography from which Oppenheimer is adapted. We’d intended to read a quote from the book later but Murphy cuts in on our explanation. “No, you brought it in here to be pretentious,” he grins. “Would you like me to sign it for you?”

There are people who would sell their grandmas for a mere glimpse of Murphy, let alone an autograph. He’s been dogged by screaming fans since the early days of his career – when he broke out as often-shirtless apocalypse survivor Jim in Danny Boyle’s 2002 horror hit 28 Days Later. Brummie gangster series Peaky Blinders made him a global star, but his most famous film roles are notable because they’ve often come from collaborations with the same director. Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster Inception, war thriller Dunkirk and his Batman trilogy all featured Murphy as the supporting curio – a side character that pops up every so often to steal your attention from the main protagonist. But in Oppenheimer, the duo’s latest creative partnership, he finally is the main character.

And he’s a good one too. Oppenheimer was an American scientist who made vital discoveries in quantum physics during the 1920s and ‘30s, going on to oversee the creation of the atomic bomb for the US Government – two of which were dropped on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing an estimated 220,000 people. Oppenheimer spent the rest of his life campaigning for disarmament, appalled at the weapon (his preferred term was “gadget”) he had helped to give the world. He also drank heavily and had a reputation as a womaniser, despite being quiet and sometimes socially awkward. Murphy calls him “contradictory” and “complex”, which is like saying Suella Braverman doesn’t like immigrants. “I do think that he believed it would be the weapon to end all wars,” Murphy continues, attempting to explain how a left-leaning humanitarian could spend two years perfecting the ultimate killing machine. “He thought that [having the bomb] would motivate countries to form a sort of nuclear world governance.” Murphy pauses. “He was naive.”

Was that naivety a choice though? Oppenheimer had an explosive ego, once attempting to poison a university professor who chastised him when he was a student. Could his desire to achieve such as historic breakthrough have led him to ignore his own better judgement?

“That’s an interesting take,” says Murphy. He runs his hands through his hair, which is styled into wavy curtains. He does this a lot when thinking a question over. “Chris used this amazing phrase. We were talking about Oppenheimer’s arc and he said, ‘You know, he’s dancing between the raindrops morally.’ That unlocked something in my mind when I was preparing.”

To play the role of Oppenheimer, Murphy went very deep. He read the Bhagavad Gita – a 700-page Hindu religious text that the physicist famously quoted from (“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”) Then he started “skipping meals” in an effort to slim down to Oppenheimer’s rail-thin frame. During the actual shoot, Murphy smoked so many fake cigarettes that he worried it harmed his health. “They can’t be good for you,” he told The Guardian. Oppenheimer himself died of throat cancer in 1967.

On top of the physical strain, Murphy delved into some pretty dark emotional places. He had six months to research before filming began in February 2022, and during the 67-day production he often worked 18-hour days. War, genocide and the nuclear holocaust are unpleasant to think about at the best of times, never mind your every waking moment. It must have been brutal.

“You always have to take a holiday after a job,” he concedes, as though being a Hollywood actor is no different from plumbing toilets. “It’s not because… as some journalists like to think, you’re a method actor or whatever. It’s because you give so much time to the job and then suddenly you stop. You have all this displaced energy, you know, so you kind of don’t know what to do with yourself… But I’m a very easygoing sort of person. It doesn’t weigh me down.”

We suspect Murphy isn’t being entirely truthful here. Such is the intensity of his performance – all simmering discontent and wide-eyed panic attacks – that it’s difficult to believe he just shook the weight of global armageddon off each night before climbing into bed. Emily Blunt, who plays Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty in the film, has said Murphy regularly skipped cast dinners because of the “monumental” pressure he felt. “Of course he didn’t want to [eat] with us,” she told People magazine. Matt Damon, brilliant as mustachioed military boss General Groves, agreed: “His brain was just too full.” When we push Murphy on the subject, he reveals a little more. “I didn’t go out much. I didn’t socialise much, mainly because of the amount of work I had to do… I became so immersed in the role.”

To make the experience yet more profound, cameras rolled only “a couple of days” before Russia invaded Ukraine. The West united to impose stringent economic sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his people. The value of the Ruble plummeted, Russian billionaires were booted out of London and Moscow became a cultural ghost town with the likes of Green Day and Iron Maiden cancelling gigs. Putin’s response? To start lining up tactical nukes along his borders. Armageddon seemed closer than at any moment since the Cold War. Murphy (and his castmates) felt the heat. “It was everywhere, and we were fully aware of that,” he says. “The threat [of nuclear war] has escalated and receded over the years since 1945… and now it’s back. It’s always there, this Sword Of Damocles that is hanging over us.”

Murphy, 47, knows what it’s like to exist against the backdrop of conflict. He grew up during the Troubles in late 1970s and ‘80s Cork, Ireland, where reports of sectarian violence in the north often dominated the news. His mum was a French teacher and his dad worked for the civil service. As a teenager, he was obsessed with music. He read NME and loved Frank Zappa and The Beatles. To illustrate his fandom, he tells us about a trip he took to Liverpool, later in life, to see the legendary Cavern Club, where the mop tops first cut their teeth on stage. “I walked down to [the street where the Cavern Club is supposed to be],” he says, “and it wasn’t there. It was somewhere over there!” He gesticulates with his hands. “It’s not the real Cavern. It’s just a mock-up!”

Inspired by John, Paul, George and Ringo, Murphy and his brother formed a band: The Sons of Mr Green Genes, named after a Zappa tune from the avant garde groover’s 1969 album ‘Hot Rats’. The songs were similarly experimental, filled with “wacky lyrics and endless guitar solos”. Eventually, an indie label based in London, Acid Jazz, put a five-album deal on the table. He and his brother turned it down, citing reasons of artistic independence, but for a while rock and roll appeared more inviting than the movies.

Murphy is often disparaging about his songs to journalists, but they must have been doing something right. He’s also self-deprecating when we bring up the underrated 2002 short film Watchmen, which he co-wrote with BAFTA-winner Paloma Baeza – his only attempt at a screenplay. “I just never thought that I was good enough really,” he says. “It’s why I haven’t, you know, pursued the music either… I like to do one thing quite well.” He adds that it’s unlikely this will change in the future.

Murphy will be far too busy to write songs or screenplays for a while anyway. The first reviews for Oppenheimer are out, and some critics have him earmarked for an Oscar. He’ll charm his way through awards season no doubt, just as he does at the Paris premiere the night before our interview. Done up in a black suit with mustard shirt and matching oversized tie, he looks a bit like the handsome English teacher your best mate had a crush on. Walking the red carpet, he is happy to answer questions, speaking at length about Nolan’s genius and the “amazing” reaction to Oppenheimer so far. You can tell he’s enjoying himself.

Murphy’s not on duty tonight though, with London’s premiere scheduled for the day after our chat. Then he’ll be waiting to get on with his next gig, the dark indie drama Small Things Like These, adapted from Claire Keegan’s bestselling 2021 title, in which he’ll take the lead role. Following his breakthrough blockbuster with a low-key Irish drama is typically understated of Murphy, so not unexpected. More box office projects loom on the horizon – a standalone Peaky Blinders movie and the long-awaited horror threequel 28 Months Later – but he says he has “no new information” on either.

It’s difficult to say what Oppenheimer means for Murphy. He is a household name in the UK and Ireland, but less so in the States, where some still see him as a ‘TV actor’. In a recent interview to promote the film, Robert Downey Jr. talked of Murphy’s life “changing” after Oppenheimer, as if he’s a fresh actor on the scene. In a sense, Downey Jr. is right. This is Murphy’s first lead role in a sure-fire smash. And the parts he gets offered now may be a bit starrier. But don’t expect to see him in spandex on a Marvel soundstage anytime soon.

“I like unknowable, ambiguous, kind of enigmatic [characters],” he says. “To me that’s human life: the knotty, weird grey areas… A good man’s life is wholly uninteresting.”'

[adidegmez]

spn s8 spoilers

s8 ep1(we need to talk about kevin)

another year has passed. cas really left dean alone, huh? sam why didnt you look for dean? dean knows how to hide pain. like, he was in hell for 40 years they mentioned it 2 or 3 times and we didnt talk about it. he was in purgatory. I am waiting with curiosity and fear to see what else will happen to him. i love kevin. I'm eager to learn more about Benny.

s8 ep2(what's up, tiger mommy?)

i loved kevin's mom. i need cas to come back and team free will to be together.

s8 ep3(heartache)

i really want winchesters to be happy but i dont think they can be fully happy. they have their little happiness. there will always be something missing.

s8 ep4(bitten)

wow. i liked kate's speech at the end. Dean doesn't contradict himself. When Dean killed Amy, my thoughts about him started to collapse. Then I thought about it and I think I understand Dean's perspective on monsters well now. And Dean still hasn't contradicted this point of view. Dean's point of view: If the monster has killed people, there is no return, but if it hasn't killed anyone yet, then there is a possibility of return. and I understand and love that perspective.

s8 ep5(blood brother)

dean's flasback scenes reminds me of arrow oliver queen's flashback scenes. vampirates, i love how dean's face and how much he's proud of that name when he suggests new species a name. i love benny. well, Benny seems to be the exception to Dean's rule, but again benny is not the same as Amy. Amy would kill again for her son, but Benny hasn't killed for a while and I don't think he will. Dean believes in Benny and I believe in Dean. so i hope benny wont fail us.

s8 ep6(southern comfort)

but really sam turned his phone for a year. no one can be bobby! dean trusted sam and cas, and they both failed dean. benny didnt betray dean, yet. there is not so many people dean can trust. well Dean has no one he can trust(not anymore).

s8 ep7(a little slice of kevin)

cas! of course dean feel guilty.

s8 ep8(hunteri heroici)

hunter cas, awesome. team free will they are all funny. seeing them smile is amazing. things are easy when they have an angel on the team.

s8 ep9(citizen fang)

i love benny. call dean, benny. sam if you try to do something to benny… benny is a good guy. they shouldnt push his limits. i hope benny will be okay. i dont know why but i couldnt like sam's flashback scenes. sam just gave up on dean and chose amelia. dean has every right to defend benny and be mad at sam.

s8 ep10(torn and frayed)

I wish Jess could come again. sam and jess were perfect together. i dont like him with amelia. she is married. i love kevin. cas why did you just do that?! why didnt you go to benny dean?

s8 ep11(LARP and the real girl)

hi Charlie! dean is a fanboy i really love him. armor suits dean(as always).

s8 ep12(as time goes by)

men of letters i was curious about them. i loved henry. and i still love john.

s8 ep13(everybody hates hitler)

i love mystery. i love when they say supernatural on the Show.

s8 ep14(trial and error)

they have a home. dean has a room. and i liked clark kent dean. dean has no hope for his future. this breaks my heart. i need dean to be happy. and sam, and cas.

s8 ep15(man's best friend with benefits)

so what happened to anti-christ and adam? they'll return, right? sam is not good. but its nice to see dean trusting sam again.

s8 ep16(remember the titans)

i hate Zeus(i knew him from pjo) so i like prometheus. i hate Zeus in every universe. really, where is cas? i miss him. i love big brother dean. he really loves sam. he may love him more than anything in the world. dean dean dean… i love him.

s8 ep17(goodbye, stranger)

dean is cas' weak spot. i hope he can turn cas back to normal. i'm glad i now can understand star wars references. i think, i like meg. meg loves cas. where is cas going? its funny to see him on the bus.

s8 ep18(freaks and geeks)

i like victor's vision. i love the gang. and of course, dean showed them the way. and they actually listened. i have hope.

s8 ep19(taxi driver)

i never thought we would see bobby again. hi bobby. i missed bobby. i love benny. i saw a spoiler before watching this ep it said that dean killed benny to save sam and i assumed benny would kill people and tries to kill sam but no. he saved bobby he saved sam. and sacrificed himself and thanks to him winchesters will save the world. rip benny. i love benny. he is my favorite vampire.(i dont know much vampire but still no one can surpass him). i shouldn't like crowley BUT he was played by David tennant in good omens and he was a good guy there and he is played by mark sheppard. and he sometimes does good things. idk.

s8 ep20(pac-man fever)

wow. sam is not good. hi Charlie. i love Charlie and dean's relationship. winchesters kinda have a sister now. and i love her.

s8 ep21(the great escapist)

i knew something was wrong. i hope they can save kevin. hi cas:) . i love kevin.

s8 ep22(clip show)

i like metatron. Why did they choose the hardest person to cure? i liked sarah. crowley is right. the people they save keep them going.

s8 ep23(sacrifice)

i love supernatural so much. 7 seasons left. i love dean i love sam i love cas i just love them so much. i am glad we get to spend so much time with them.

is meatron bad. i have a bad feeling about what he's doing with cas. i never thought they would cure Crowley. when will god come? i want to cry. everything goes wrong in the last minute, always. angel are falling… i saw that scene in an edit with skyfall and it was beautiful and tragic. is crowley fully cured? i don't think so but he changed a little bit.

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

JON SNOW DAY 15 : Jon & The Smith  (Faith of the Seven)

If you were told to associate Jon Snow with one of the seven deites of the Seven you would probably draw comparisons between him and the Warrior.

When Catelyn prays to the Seven, she sees Jon's face among those who resemble the Warrior.

"The Warrior stands before the foe...[...] He protects the little children"; as a popular song of the seven kingdoms informs us. And what are the Black brothers if not protectors of the realm?

I'm not denying the connection between the Warrior's image and Jon Snow. I just wanted to talk about his less explored connection to the Smith.

So, who is The Smith?

Meribald turned back to Podrick. "I have never known a boy who did not love the Warrior. I am old, though, and being old, I love the Smith. Without his labor, what would the Warrior defend? Every town has a smith, and every castle. They make the plows we need to plant our crops, the nails we use to build our ships, iron shoes to save the hooves of our faithful horses, the bright swords of our lords. No one could doubt the value of a smith, and so we name one of the Seven in his honor, but we might as easily have called him the Farmer or the Fisherman, the Carpenter or the Cobbler. What he works at makes no matter. What matters is, he works.

AFFC, BRIENNE V

According to Septon Meribald, the Smith is someone who works and his labor is used to help other people.

Jon is the only character on a position of power  (being Lord Commander) who has also working experience. Unlike the rest of lordings/kings & queens who simply inherit their title, he had to earn his own. When he first joined the Night's Watch, he had to work, like eveybody else who was a newcomer. Jon being the previous Lord Commander's steward means that he was used to serving - and giving his personal labor- before he started to rule and give orders.

Here are the tasks of the stewards, the order in which Jon belonged before he became Lord Commander:

Chett gave an angry scowl. "I'm a steward. You think it's easy work, fit for cowards? The order of stewards keeps the Watch alive. We hunt and farm, tend the horses, milk the cows, gather firewood, cook the meals. Who do you think makes your clothing? Who brings up supplies from the south? The stewards."

AGOT, JON V

Also, according to Brother Narbert, the Smith gave horses to men in order to help them to do their work:

The jest did not sit well with Brother Narbert. "You are a knight, ser. Driftwood is a beast of burden. The Smith gave men horses to help them in their labors."

Here the Smith is presented as the asoiaf universe Prometheus from greek mythology. Just like Prometheus gave fire to men to aid them, the Smith gave them horses.

Does Jon Snow has any Prometheus - Smith moment? Tha answer to this question is, more than one. At the beginning of the first book, he gave his little sister a sword so she could learn to protect herself. He asked an actual smith to make that sword and when he presented it to Arya, he also gave her the first fighting lesson: stick them with the pointy end. Both the sword and that first lesson are significant on Arya's journey and help her survive (along with the swordsmanship skills she received later on).

During the Night's Watch journey beyond the Wall, Jon found - thanks to his direwolf- dragonglass at The Fist of First Men.  Unlike other Black Brothers who are skeptical of dragonglass, Jon believes that those materials were buried due to their importance and decides to make weapons out of them and give them to his friends and Jeor Mormont. He becomes a sort of literal smith offering weapons to those who are dear to him in order to help them protect themselves.  Sometime later, Sam will use one of those daggers Jon made to kill an Other.  Jon Snow as Prometheus - Smith served his purpose to aid men with his gift.

[thebibliomancer]

Universe X #5

We’ve got some Micronauts. I’m still surprised and alarmed that they’re part of Universe X’s big picture.

Although, here they are called the Ant Men.

Huh. Weren’t Scott Lang and his daughter stowed away in Tony’s refurbished Red Ronin armor? I guess they died when he tried to fight the Celestials. That’s depressing.

So red guy is Ant Man, son of Marionette and Arcturus Rann. I guess he named the team after himself.

Bug is the green one. Fun fact: the 616 version was in the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marionette is glowy, golden light woman. Neutron is the one who has the tall, conical head. Proton is the egg shaped one. Spartak is orange and has the crested helmet. And Spidra is upside down woman with all the hair.

Did you need to know their names? No and neither did I.

You’re welcome.

We’re following up from the Cap Special here so we start with Captain America’s funeral, held in the ruins of Washington DC and the grave of American democracy.

Wyatt Wingfoot, Cap’s former partner Redwing, gives the eulogy, calling Steve an unknown soldier, not really understood by the people he spent his life protecting.

So things are grim.

Not helped by funeral drama.

Redwing blows up at Lil Mar-Vell when various heroes offer to take up Cap’s role in guarding him on his quest. As far as Wyatt is concerned, Mar-Vell caused Cap’s death. By dragging him around on some weird quest and not being able to save him despite saying he has cosmic consciousness.

Also, Unpersoned Loki tries to start off on a new page with Thor but of all approaches chooses a flirty one.

I kind of want to roll up a newspaper and give Loki a smack.

The Tong of Creel attacks Windsor Castle to claim another piece of Absorbing Man.

King Captain Britain has impressive forces to throw at the problem. Himself, riding a Dragon Man. The Union Jacks. The Iron Avengers. Medusa. The new Black Widow, on loan from Russia. The new Black Knight/Prince of the Inhumans.

King Britain is more than equipped to kick the Tong of Creel’s ass in a straightforward fight. But while he’s doing one of those, someone sneaks behind the lines and just swipes the chest of Absorbing Man.

Dammit but that’s embarrassing. You know these guys are after the pieces. You know that they tend to swipe them in the chaos of battle. You should have prepared a better place for it than a glass display case! Throw it into the Sun!

Meanwhile, Mar-Vell and new protectors Venom, Thor, the circus X-Men, gorilla Hulk and child Bruce, and half-on-fire Namor go to HELL.

The Human Engineering Life Laboratory.

Acronyms are fun.

Home to the Prometheus Pit, once the entrance to the Microverse or Subatomica.

Mar-Vell needed to come here to get Psycho-Man’s Emotio-Caster. And he finds that the Prometheus Pit is clogged with some weird, organic matter.

The Ant Men are finally relevant to the story because they pop up to exposit everything. Well, Nighthawk got the opening exposition dump about Microverse stuff, too.

In the far off future, Prince Wayfinder finds a sentient sword embedded in a star that leads him to Earth of the distant past and created the subatomic world for him and his people to live on. The sword also imbued him with the Enigma Force, making him the first Captain Universe.

When Wayfinder died, the Enigma Force passed down to his descendant Arcturus Rann. But when Psycho-Man got tired of the Fantastic Four kicking his ass, he conquered his own home the Microverse, using his Emotio-Caster to fill people with fear, doubt, and hate. He even influenced Marionette to kill her own husband Rann.

The Enigma Force that was in him passed into the Realm of Death instead of choosing a new, living host and chose Dead Mar-Vell.

That’s the big inciting event for Mar-Vell’s side of the plot. That’s why he’s suddenly making moves despite having been dead for a long while.

When all hope was lost to save the Microverse from Psycho-Man, Ant Man and his Ant Men chose scorched earth. They evacuated through the Prometheus Pit and then had Man-Thing clog it up so nobody else could escape. Literally scorched. All who know fear burn at the Man-Thing’s touch.

The Microverse was on borrowed time. It was created and sustained by the Enigma Force. When that Force died with Rann, the world it created began falling apart.

The last of the Enigma Force that had been in the Microverse then went back in time and empowered the last survivor of the previous universe.

Yes, that’s right. In Universe X, Galactus and the Microverse share the same origin.

It gets betterworse, depending on your tolerance for this arc welding. Aaron Stack, the new Watcher, speculates that it wasn’t the sword that gave Wayfinder power and created a world for him, it was the star the sword was stuck into. And Galactus’ ultimate fate was to be turned into a star. Therefore, we have a bootstrap paradox time loopy.

The Enigma Force creates Galactus who gets turned into a star which creates the Enigma Force and the Microverse, which eventually collapses and sends its last energy back in time to create Galactus.

I don’t have to like it but I do have to respect Earth X and its sequels conspiracy board with yarn between various things “it’s all connected!” approach.

Neutron yanks the Emotio-Caster out of the mess for Mar-Vell, which finally collapses whatever remained of Subatomica and Man-Thing.

Venom asks what Mar-Vell needs the emotion controlling device for and he says he wants to make people happy.

Nobody seems to find this alarming or ominous!

Maybe because he bolded happy. I feel that given the device in question the emphasis should have been on “make people happy.”

So much of this quest is Mar-Vell gathering up dangerous items and going “just trust me, bro” and people do!

Also, Mr S (Cyclops) realizes that he can communicate with Phoenix in the Realm of the Dead through their psychic rapport.

In perhaps the only significant characterization that the new X-Men have gotten so far, Charmer is upset about that because she has a crush on Scott.

And while pondering the Galactus-Enigma Force ouroboros, Aaron Stack goes and digs up the Supreme Intelligence from beneath the surface of the Moon, like he’s been talking about doing for a while, and sits on him.

Five issues, an issue 0, and three specials in. And still not a really concrete idea of where we’re going with this.

Aaron at least decides to go talk to Nighthawk soon. I’m glad for him. Going out and talking to new people instead of pondering the multiverse and letting Uatu yell at him.

[esbisimp]

Pablo

There are so many rant-worthy thoughts running around in my head: trolls, irresponsible reporting, malicious agenda, toxic OT1s. But I need to get my priorities straight.

I have to talk about Pinuno’s body of released solo work before he overwhelms me with his musical and lyrical mastery on his upcoming albums.

Even before this highly anticipated news came out, it was already my opinion that Pablo’s lyrics need to be studied. In universities. By literary experts. Just one example: he incorporated astrophysics in the song Liham. Astrophysics in a PPop song of a “boy group”? Yeah, Pablo did that.

So, apologies in advance for this loooong yet woefully deficient rambling that no one asked for✌🏼:

LA LUNA

In La Luna, #Pablo introduces his vulpine alter-ego, someone who lets his dark side out in the open, with his rap skills on full display. Initially, he seems to be expressing conflicting emotions about the duality he needs to maintain as the leader of a highly visible and representative PPop group, while keeping his seething rage at bay - rage at the disrespect he and his group is getting for staying true to their art. Towards the middle of the song, the duality is abandoned and the wolf emerges howling.

I think of it this way: in #SB19, he claps back at haters in a PG manner, but no longer holds back in La Luna: “Dugo'y dadanak na sa mga kaluluwang mapanghusga

Ito'y hinding-hindi magtitimpi”.

In this song, the Alpha was born.

DETERMINADO

Pablo continues unleashing on Determinado, where, with his brother Josue, he threatens those who doubt his commitment to his craft with a skull bashing, though by his verses.

Oh, the bars! The bars in this track are dizzying! Let’s take one example:

“Katumbas ako ng dalawa na ipo

Bawat suntok ay may bigat na mala-hippo

Kahit si Aeolus, hindi ako mahipo

'Pag nag-dempsey roll, bira mo'y sa anino”

This verse has alternating references to wind and boxing. Dalawang ipo is IPOIPO, which is whirlwind or tornado in English. The second line translates to “Every punch has the weight of a hippo”. The third line goes back to the wind reference, saying, even Aeolus (the ruler of wind in Greek mythology) can’t touch him. The final line in the verse roughly translates to: “if I do the Dempsey roll (a boxing move), you’ll be punching at a shadow”. Guess who is supposedly known for using the Dempsey Roll as a signature technique in boxing? IPPO Makunouchi, a Japanese slugger. If that’s not a full circle of bars, I don’t know what is.

Need I mention the fire bars? (Yes, they ARE 🔥). A whole verse of references to fire: matchstick, toasting, burning, Prometheus, blazing cities, ignite, heat.

Schools probably need to dedicate several sessions just for this song.

AKALA

Akala, or“assumption “ in English, is a song that, from its first line, may make you think that it’s just straight up (pun intended) about drinking. “Paabot naman ng alak, halika pare walwalan”

It is, and it isn’t. It did popularize “Shat!” even more as the go-to invitation to drink. It cautions against the pitfalls of turning to alcohol as a means to deal life’s realities. “Alak akala ko mawawala lahat ng aking problema”.

But that word play on alak and akala is not gratuitous witticism: it lays the groundwork for the song’s transition to its more central theme - the struggle against assumptions that could imprison a person in doubt and insecurities while trying to live an authentic life:

“Di ko na malaman ang gusto niyo

Gusto ko lang subukan na maging ako

Ng walang panghuhusga sa mga mata niyo”

EDSA

Leave it to Pablo to discuss the travails of survival without losing sight of your goals under the guise of an upbeat plaint against traffic and the usual mishaps traversing EDSA.

He even humorously brings up holding back the call of nature while dealing with EDSA’s usual congestion.

But in its heart, the song is really about not giving up on your dreams despite the roadblocks.

“Marami ma'ng aberyang hadlang sa 'yong daan

Patuloy lang ang andar sa 'yong pupuntahan”

With Pablo, there’s always something more than meets the eye. So everyone, gird up and prepare your brains for ALON and LAON. For sure, Pinuno will be testing our emotional and intellectual limits in these albums.

[deer-hearted]

An Imitation of a God.

He came to me like a prophet, basking in the light of his own greatness and glory.

"Oh, what a boring little dollhouse you have here. Aren't you tired playing babysitter instead of tending to your potential?"

The living embodiment of Olympic Gods, Prometheus and the fire itself.

"Here, I've got a little teeny tiny gift for ya, loser. Everything you've ever craved for, free of charge. Not that you would ever be able to achieve it without me anyway. Enjoy."

I was stunned.

"Don't call me that! I'm perfectly capable of everything you're capable of! I'm you!"

"Ha, nice. Nah, I don't think you are. I don't even think you could ever be like me, not with that wasted life of yours. Unless... you take the chance and actually try to."

The whole universe was laid bare at my feet, waiting for me to make a choice.

"Now behave. And don't make me regret coming here and choosing your ass over a bunch of other loser me's."

How can one deny an ever-expanding spiral of endless opportunities at the cost of just a few severed ties?

So I ran.

I ran.

I couldn't stop running, desperately trying to find a fitting place for me in this big, big world.

Trying to achieve something.

To become someone.

Sometimes I wonder, would my life be a dream or a nightmare if I stayed?

I've never looked back to find out.

I kept thinking about how in my AU Rick Prime managed to surgically fuck up D-512´s life without killing his whole family. And so this piece was born.

Rick D-512 always used to think he can do more. Moreover, he has been told so by everyone he reached for moral support: his parents, his peers, his teachers and professors, and later — his wife. "You're destined for greatness". "You will achieve something incredible".

But could he? Was he right to abandon the idea of Christian God and religion integrated into his family's values and traditions? Was he wasting his time travelling the country doing dubious things and self-exploration? Did he do the right thing when he chose to marry the girl he had madly fallen in love with and become a family man? Did he make the right decision to continue his studies and become a stay-at-home dad and inventor?

Rick Prime said what he had already started to suspect long ago: that he didn't. He couldn't do anything great, not anymore; it's the dead end.

To deny the portal gun meant to lie to himself that he's doing great, he's worth something and is capable of living a life he'd truly enjoy with what he's got at the moment.

To take the portal gun meant to admit that he's someone far less than The Rickest Rick, but at the same time to also take in on opportunity to find out, what it's like — to be one. At the cost of leaving his family behind, of course.

In the end, he just keeps trying to prove himself he's great and worth loving, while being unsure of his own identity and scared shitless to look back at what he's lost. What a sad guy. Fuck him anyways.

[anonymityisfunwriter]

The Twin Flame - Chapter 26: "Eyes Open"

"Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown. Everybody's watching to see the fallout..."

Pairing: Sunshine!Reader x Grumpy!Bucky Barnes The Twin Flame Chapter List | The Grumpy x Sunshine Universe

"Karli!" Sam bellows, you and Bucky following on his heels as you finally make it to the designated coordinates. 

She pokes her head up from the balcony of the seemingly abandoned building. Her head tilts to its side with calculated grin, "I thought I told you to come alone. 

"You called my sister, that's how we're going to play this?" Sam sneers. 

"I would never hurt her," Karli assures him. She looks between you and Sam, now standing side by side, "I just wanted to understand the two of you."

"Well, here's a crazy idea, you ask!" you incredulously remark.

"The Power Broker had it right then. About the two of you," Karli gestures between the two of you. "You're not romantic-"

"Gross," you and Sam simultaneously respond. 

"But you're more than friends," Karli continues. "The Power Broker's file was right about a lot of it, now that I think about it. It's why you're all here. Together."

"Does everyone have files on us? Is that a thing now? Are we allowed to see these files?" you rhetorically ask. 

"End this. Now," Sam demands.

"I don't want to hurt you," Karli offers. "You're just a tool in the regimes I'm looking to destroy. You're not hiding behind a shield. If I were to kill you, it'd be meaningless. I was going to ask you to join me. Or do the world a favor and let me go."

"I will teach you," you blurt. 

Karli's eyes snap over to you, clearly taken aback by your offer. "What?"

"This is not the plan," Sam hisses under his breath. "I repeat, not the plan."

"You haven't been able to figure it all out, right? I'll teach you," you offer once more. You slowly pad to the bottom of the staircase that Karli stands atop of. "I'll teach you, but you can't hurt anyone anymore."

Her eyes narrow at you, cynicism laced in each of her words, "And what's in it for you?"

"No one else gets hurt. This war, it ends. Now."

"Have you always been such a pacifist?" she poses.

"If you don't hurt anymore people, I will go with you. Everything I know, you'll know. I'll be your Prometheus."

Karli's glare softens incrementally, and for a moment you're certain you're getting through to her again. When out of nowhere, Sam's eyes snap to you from the small screen on his wrist, "It's Walker." 

When you look back to the top of the stairs where Karli stood seconds ago, she's gone. Already running to her next location. "You know for a kid, she's really fast."

"I'll send you the location. Go!" Sam sharply instructs, taking off through the open rooftop.

"I'll follow Sam," you call after Bucky. 

"How are gonna-"

But before he can finish his question, you reach out to the brick and mortar pillar in front of your. And with a slight rumble, footholds appear along the bricked pattern. Bucky looks on in complete wonderment as you scale to the top of the awning in no time at all. You reach out for the awning, lurching forward and hauling yourself up along the rooftop. To follow Sam, just like you said. 

With his neck craned up, he watches your skilled movements get you up onto the roof in no time at all. He stares up in awe with an uncharacteristically proud smile on his face, he quietly marvels, "Wow."

You look back down at the ground from the rooftop to see Bucky standing there with an odd look on his face. "What are you doing? Go!"

He jolts, shaking his head, "Oh, right!"

You watch as he takes off before taking off yourself across the rooftops. You follow him, bounding across rooftops as you track the faint white engine marks left by Sam's wings until the moment he nose dives for Karli's next location.

Once you reach the building Sam dove towards, you splay your hand across the large widowed ceiling. Within a second, cracks start forming, all centering around your hand. You turn your head away, squeezing your eyes shut when you hear the glass shatter with a large, fragmented pop. 

You stare down the now gaping hole in the ceiling and with a shrug, you leap down into the building. 

"And superhero landing," you exclaim, only to turn and face an empty room. You grumble to yourself, "And of course, no one was here to see that. Am I really the first one here? I hate being the first one."

"I wouldn't worry about that," a familiar voice rings out from above you. You whirl around to see 5 of Flag Smashers, including Karli, lurch down from their platform. "This is your last chance. Stand down."

"Alright, this doesn't seem very fair," you state, all the Flag Smashers slowly closing in on you. "For you guys, I mean."

"Cocky," Karli comments. "You really are an Avenger."

You stand in the center of the room, allowing the Flag Smashers to circle you. They all remain masked except for Karli. "I am not your enemy, Karli."

"You're either with the cause or against it."

You shake your head, raising your hands to signal your neutrality. "It's not that simple, Karli. You have to know that. You've seen war. There is no glory, There are no winners."

"Yes, there are. Do you know what this place is?" You look around the room to take in your surroundings. Old metal cots line the walls of the room. Tables with scattered papers and old medical supplies are strewn everywhere. "It's an infirmary. Abandoned once your little friends decided that we weren't worth the money to keep alive."

"I'm sorry, Karli."

She lowers her mask with a glower, "I don't want your apologies, they mean nothing to me. Just stay out of our way."

"You see," you wince apologetically. "I've always been sorta bad at the staying out of it thing."

Karli hums apathetically, shrugging her shoulders as she defensively raises her hands. "I figured as much."

Though you've dropped your hands, you refuse to raise them, instead purposefully keeping them tucked at your sides. "I won't fight you, Karli."

A flame emerges in her hand, "Then this should be really easy."

"Guys," you try talking into the comms device Sharon gave the three of you in Madripoor. "Now would be a really great time for you guys to show up."

"What? No backup this time," Karli chuckles.

With no reply or even an indication that the device in your ear was even working, you decide you're on your own for now.

"I already told you that it wasn't much of a fair fight," you quip, a bubble of water slowly pooling in your fingertips. 

You can tell she wants to ask you how you did that. How you knew that moisture in the air was almost always an option instead of always choosing raging flames. She doesn't ask, instead she snorts, "You and your little bubble of water?" 

In your peripheral, you see one of the Flag Smashers prepare themselves to lunge at you. You duck down as they lunge, their extended arms harmlessly passing over you. They smack against the stone pillar just behind you. The water freezes the second the water bubble smacks against the stone, freezing their hand to the one of the stone pillars and rendering them immobile.

"How did you-?"

"I've got plenty more tricks, Karli. Please, just let me help you," you implore, pleading with every once of genuity you can muster. "You are not the villain in this story. Don't let them make you one."

"You had your chance."

Before she can act, John storms in with Sam right behind him. Her eyes snap over your shoulder at the sight of John Walker. She wastes no time before throwing a knife in his direction.

As the knife flies past you, it sharply curves downward, landing with the blade embedding itself into the floor less than a foot away from him.

"This is the part where you say thank you," you snark.

"You okay?" Sam asks you, the three of you still outnumbered by the Flag Smashers. 

"I'm fine," you promise. "But they're really not backing down this time."

"They took Lemar. They threatened Sarah and the boys... " Sam quietly seethes, his eyes scanning over that room. "Hold on, why is that guy that guy frozen to a column?"

"No time for questions, Sam," you quickly reply, watching John lunge for Karli. 

"Where is he? Where's Lemar?" John furiously demands, dodging Karli's first fiery swing at him. 

"Oh look, there's Lemar," you exclaim, pointing to a side door that Lemar bolts in through followed by Bucky. "Bucky too. Anyone else we're missing?"

John immediately releases Karli, focusing his attention on Lemar. He sprints over to Lemar, clearly a little rattled by being kidnapped by the Flag Smashers. "Are you okay? What happened? What'd they do to you?"

"I'm okay," Lemar assures John, wiping dried blood from the corner of his mouth. 

While the other Flag Smashers continue their assault, Karli watches for a moment as the Flag Smasher with the frozen hand delivers one final blow to the column that holds them captive. She sees you overtake one Flag Smasher with ease, pinning them down with bent metal framing that belonged to one of the old infirmary beds. 

Bucky struggles, trying to out maneuver a different Flag Smasher. They were barely outnumbered now. And they couldn't sustain the fight against experience and skillful knowledge.

John, no longer distracted by the Lemar's reappearance, lunges for Karli, but his attack is circumvented by her second in command shoving him away. 

Just as it looks like John's losing his fight, and the tides might now be turning in their favor, you quickly leave the now restrained Flag Smasher to help John.

She knew it wouldn't be long before you took down another one of her friends.

She, now truly concerned about how the odds were stacking against her, looks back to the Flag Smasher fighting Bucky, just in time to see the large beam behind Bucky crack once at the top. Your eyes widen as you see the column begin to fall over Bucky. You sharply gasp, leaving John to fend for himself while you help Bucky.

Karli's face lights up with an idea. She drives her hand in the direction of the pillar opposite from you. A crack runs up from the very top to the bottom.

Bucky looks up to see the large stone hovering less than a foot above him. His eyes, now wide with shock, snap back to your focused, determined expression, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," you grunt, clearly strained under the weight of the marble beam. Just as you're about to let the column still suspended mid-air down, you hear another violent cracking noise from the stone behind you. Before this one can collapse, you take hold of that one too. Before you can drop the beam that almost killed Bucky, yet another beam starts fissuring under the Flag Smasher's assault. It doesn't take long before you realize their strategy: keep your hands full while they overtake Sam and Bucky. You frantically call out to the room, "Are any of these structural?" 

"I don't think so," Bucky grits out, trying to fend off the Flag Smasher that stands in front of him holding uncontrolled flames in both his hands. 

You shrug, letting the one of the now three falling columns to the floor. Just as you let it go, a large piece of the stone archway collapses with it. A loud boom reverberates through the room as the stone smashes against the floor, leaving a giant cratered surface where it landed. "Okay, they're definitely structural."

"Can I get any help here?" Sam shouts, two Flag Smashers slowly ganging up on him.  

"Do you want help or do you want to not get crushed by these stupid columns?"

"You could just say that you're busy, you know that?" Sam rants.

"I'm busy!" you bellow. You stand there, too focused on keeping the columns upright to notice John Walker leave Lemar to finish off the Flag Smasher. He closes in from behind you. You're still only half paying attention to him as his hand wraps around your bicep with a death grip. A wince leaves your mouth, but you know you can't break concentration without the building at least partially coming down on you all. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"You're as much of a threat as Karli Morgenthau," he spits. "I'm not letting you get away either."

"Are you seriously threatening me after I just saved your life like half a second ago?" You try to wrench your arm out of his hold, only for him to squeeze it even harder. You jaggedly hiss, "Seriously, what is your problem?"

"You," John sneers. "You're my problem."

"You really need to get your priorities straight," you sarcastically remark. "Now back off, John. I'm not your enemy here." 

"What? Not going to fight back?" he taunts. "No more threats?"

"You're like weirdly obsessed with me, you know that?"

But that's not what strikes John as odd. It's that you don't do anything. Even as he stands there right in your face.

You don't do anything.

With another clenching of his fist, you forcefully state, still desperately trying to stay focused on keeping the heavy stone pillars from crashing to the floor and the building along with it, "This building's going to come down without me. Back off."

You can see realization light up John's face: you can't fight.

At least, not in the traditional sense. You always tried, but you'd never really had the time to learn. Natasha taught you some basic self defense, but that was all you had in your arsenal.

You also hated it. Hated the idea of putting your hands on someone to incapacitate. You liked to stay away, letting familiar powers course through you. It was more familiar, more comfortable, like an extension of yourself.

And even those, you tried to use only when necessary in a fight. 

"I don't think I will." He checks his shoulder into you, mostly to test his theory. With your focus broken for the second that you're stumbling against John's hard shove, more cracks form into each of the columns, making it even more difficult to keep them upright.

You harshly exhale under the immense strain. "You'd let Karli go, let the Flag Smashers get away for pride?"

"For justice." The moment the words leave John's mouth, he shoves you into the pillar behind you. Your concentration breaks in that moment, and you're not even paying attention to the sounds of stone crashing against the tiled floors that reverberate through the room. You groan, a searing pain radiating through the shoulder that just crashed into the heavy stone. A pained groan leaves your mouth as you double over, clutching your shoulder. He hauls you back up by the same injured shoulder. "You know what I think, I think you're all bark and no bite. I think, deep down, you're still the same scared little girl Nick Fury had to rescue all those years ago."

And then, John reaches out to grip your chin.

And in that moment, it's like you're dropped in a new yet eerily familiar scene. John's right in that sense.

You're reverted back to that person who didn't know the outside world even existed. You're the person held in captivity, never destined to see the light of day, let alone take a freeing breath of fresh air. Standing before you is no longer John Walker, but the same captors told you that you were an evolutionary mistake, a blight of this earth, a monster.

While you told yourself and everyone else that most of those memories were long repressed once you were freed, that's simply not the truth. Not with the way the scene so vividly replays itself in your mind.

You'd curled into yourself, tucked yourself tightly into a ball to protect your most vital organs. You begged them to stop. You told them you'd give anything. Heavy boots dealt blow after blow, you could almost feel your ribcage cracking. 

And for one miraculous moment, it stopped. 

You knew better than to relish in the moment free of pain. But you always did. 

You coughed, blooding dribbling down your chin. Your captor reached up, dragging you up to your feet by your chin.

And with pain and fear mixing in your bloodstream, you stop him in the only way you can think to.

"What the hell-" Sam remarks when one of the stone columns suddenly starts collapsing.

Sam leaps out of the way. The rest of Sam's indignant remark dies on his mouth when he sees John's hand stopped an inch away from your face. John's hand trembles, clearly wanting to defy the way his body is moving of its own accord.

Without anything touching him, it's like he remains frozen as his hands shakily try to reach for you. His feet unnatural drag against the floor away from you. "What are you doing to me?"

"Just stop, okay? Just stop hurting me," you shakily mutter.

"Did you know she could do that?" Bucky murmurs under his breath.

Sam solemnly shakes his head, "No."

Bucky delivers a boot to the chest of the Flag Smasher standing in front of him, now desperate to make his way over to you. 

The building thunders, the entire infrastructure rattling as the last column plummets. You Jolt away from your stupor, the current moment rushing back in. You look around you, Sam still watching you with a shocked expression, John Walker now standing pinned against the pillar he just threw you into, and Lemar trying to protect himself against flames being waved in his face. 

"This building's coming down," you loudly warn the entire room. "We need to get out. Now!"

Before John can recover, a Flag Smasher jumps at him from behind. With a piece of metal framing in the Flag Smashers hand, he presses it against John's throat, with both hands he pulls it as hard as he can, suffocating John.  

"Lemar, don't-" you shout, Lemar immediately jumping in to save John.

But before you can finish your warning, Lemar lunges for the Flag Smasher crushing John's windpipe with a metal pipe. Before Lemar can see it in his peripheral, Karli shoves him from the side and into one of the fallen columns. 

Lemar reaches out to catch himself as he stumbles toward the ground, but his fate is sealed by the fallen column behind him. 

His head smacks against the fallen column with a bone chilling thump.

For a second, it all stops. Like all the air has somehow left the room, there's not even the sound of a single breath. Lemar's head slumps back against the stone, his open eyes now lifeless and his body completely unmoving.

"Lemar," John calls, shoving the Flag Smasher away from him. The Flag Smasher backs away without a fight. John reaches Lemar's lifeless body, desperately shaking him, "Come on, Lemar. You gotta get up."

A quiet gasp escapes Karli's mouth. She stumbles back, a startled, terrified look on her face. She looks to you with wide eyes and a slight tremble of her open mouth. 

For that split second, she doesn't look like the leader of a rebel organization, she just looks like a kid.

You take a small step towards her, reaching your hand out to her with a small, "Karli,"

Your voice breaks her out of her stupor, and she bolts at the sound. She whirls around on her heels, vaulting herself over the banister and onto the next flight of stairs. To the side of you, the ceiling starts crumbling away, concaving on itself. 

You follow her, vaulting yourself over the railing. A well timed burst of air cushions most of the fall, but you're left dodging large chunks of stone that start collapsing ever faster. 

You squint your eyes, trying to see through the puffs of dust and rubble now tainting the air. You look through both exits, one left, one right. And make your best bet. 

You take the left, running out into the street in hopes of finding her;

Crowds of people line the streets. You crane your neck to try and get a glimpse of her signature curly hair, but you see nothing. Not a trace of her. You hiss, "Damn it."

You shake your head, ready to turn back to the building to find Sam and Bucky, only to see the exit you came out of now blocked by mounds of concrete and other rubble. 

Sharp whispers and frantic murmurs line the streets. People begin congregating around the other exit on the other side of the building. 

In the crowd, you see Sam and Bucky both facing whatever is captivating the crowd. "Guys, I lost her."

Neither of them turn around. It's then you notice almost the entire crowd is holding their phones up, all of them pointed in one very specific direction. "Guys?"

You walk around to take a look at what everyone is staring at. And that's when you see it.

John Walker standing with the shield bloodied in his hand. A lifeless Flag Smasher at his feet. Blood pools around John's feet as he scans the crowd. Anger and frustration paint John's expression, nowhere do you see any remorse. 

You sharply gasp, whirling yourself around to look away from the body.

Without any thought, you tuck your face into Bucky's shoulder. Your eyes squeeze shut and your firsts clench as you try to erase the image of the man killed by John Walker.

Bucky raises his hand, cupping the back of your head as though comforting you is second nature. He gently strokes the back of your head and quietly murmurs words of affirmation, "It's okay."

"Shit," Sam exhales, looking up at plumes of dust and rubble still emerge from the building. The new Captain America standing with a murdered body at his feet. It was the very definition of an international incident. In that moment, he knew, the world was watching. "You gotta go."

"What?" Bucky sharply demands. "We have to go after him!"

You reluctantly tear yourself away from Bucky, scanning the street to see recording phones still lining the street. You shake your head, "No, he means me."

Sam pulls the hood of your sweater up and over your head, "Keep your head down. Call Torres. Send me your location and we'll meet you after we find John."

You sigh in defeat, knowing you were out of options, "Okay."

"What the hell aren't you guys telling me?" Bucky asks, his eye frantically flickering between you and Sam.

You squeeze Bucky's hand before you turn to leave, "I'll explain later. Promise. You guys go."

"Be safe."

"I will."

The Twin Flame Chapter List AnonymityIsFun Masterlist

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[raccoonfallsharder]

꧁･:☁︎⋆. cicatrix .⋆☁︎:･꧂

chapter five. o'erpine. [new 4/2] ✩

18+ only | rocket x f!oc | 5/25+ | wip | word count: pending. masterlist, notes, & moodboard | chapter five. o'erpine.

a conflict arises. a series of truths come out. see below for warnings & notes.

“Pearl?” The call is quiet — he’s trying to chew back his annoyance, to make his voice reasonable and maybe even something like penitent, since he knows he probably should be. The lonesome word echoes down into the hold. There’s no response, and he glares into the dark shadows. Did she lock herself in the engine room or something? Or is she just stubbornly refusing to answer? When he sniffs, he’s pretty sure he can pick up on the fragrance of her — soft and clear under the scent of his soap and his shirt. She smells like clean riverways, and — he figures it out then, the memory calling to him out of nowhere — like this kind of cool, honey-sweet water lily he’d noticed carpeting some of the freshwater canals when he was hunting down a bounty on Morag. Noticed is maybe an understatement, because he’d liked them — took big deep breaths of them every time their fragrance hit the air. Wouldn’t have minded swimming in ‘em, if there had been time for luxury.  He sighs, and groans, and eases his way down the ladder. “Pearl?” Apologize, he orders himself, and he rolls his eyes as his lip curls in irritation. He’s not sure he can scrape out another m’sorry, but he can at least admit he’s a dickhead. “Look. I know I been a jackass—“

masterlist, notes, & moodboard | chapter five. 'erpine. inspired by mary shelley’s frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus. a freakish little monster visits the high evolutionary’s bride on her wedding night. an adventure of intergalactic proportions ensues. aka raccoons make plans; the universe laughs.

WARNINGS for chapter five: a few descriptions of physical nausea/pre-vomiting. it’s been less than a day since chapter two so we’ve still got a lot of regret to process. descriptions of leftover physical pain and references to some of the rough/hate-sex from chapter two. discussion of non-sexual child abuse and controlling behaviors/manipulation. discussion of pet death and intentionally self-inflicted allergic reactions. brief flashbacks to lylla’s execution.

trying to sprint a lil with three updates this month. i used to write a lot of tragic shit but this is probably the angstiest stuff i've written and there are a lot of departures from my usual approach to writing (so much mental grovelling, so much upfront emotional work - i hope it doesn't end up boring as we continue on). thanks for bearing with me, as always. i am eternally grateful. you can check out the masterlist for an idea of approximately where we're headed in the future (got a few tenative chapter summaries up!)

some explicit statements or references ✩ abbreviated explicit sequences ❤︎ detailed/prolonged explicit sequences ❤︎❤︎

taglist ♡ @evolvingchaoswitch ♡ @glow-autumz ♡ @wren-phoenix ♡ @suicidalshitstick ♡ @pretty-chips

[primevein]

The Prime of His Youth: Book III: Prometheus' Gift: Ch14: Water Well

Japheth, Arcee, and Sirenia stepped into the catwalks of the first basin. Bijou ran up and bowed before him. "My Prime." she said.

"I'm the same... man... I was last time." Japheth replied. Bijou stood up and looked at him nervously. He looked down at the catwalk, "Is this safe... for my new body?.." he asked.

"Oh, yes. Despite the smaller size, it is still built to standard Cybertronian physical requirements."

"Oh, good." Japheth stated, "I would like to inspect all of the basins. If you could accompany me?" he asked.

"How much time do you have?" Bijou asked.

Japheth looked behind him, "Siren?" he asked.

"6 cycles." Sirenia stated. "Based off the estimate."

"Lots of time." Bijou stated, "You're sure you want me?"

Japheth looked at Sirenia, who shyly looked down, "Unless you have someone else you think should do it?"

"Tethys?" she asked, and saw disappointment on his face. She pondered for a moment. "Barrelrider?" she asked.

Japheth shrugged, "There are a lot of faces here for me for me to learn." he stated.

"I'll call her." Bijou said, and closely looked at how Japheth was taking up the entire catwalk. "Maybe you could?.."

"We'll wait in the office." Arcee said. She turned around. She gently grabbed Sirenia's shoulders, and turned her around as well. Japheth turned around behind them, and they filed out of the area.

Arcee waved her arm in the air, "Thank you!" she shouted.

"My pleasure!" Bijou replied, "My Prime!"

Japheth sighed.

"Better get used to it." Arcee said, and Sirenia let out a snicker before quickly silencing herself.

* * *

Japheth, Arcee, and Sirenia stood in the office looking at each other, "Something on your mind?" Arcee asked Sirenia. She looked afraid for a moment, "Come on!" Arcee asserted, "This is us! You can be honest with us."

"I'm sorry." Sirenia voiced, "It's just, now everyone here can worship you like I do."

"Worship?" Japheth nervously asked.

"Silently?" Sirenia asked.

"You are, kind of... you know... a god now..." Arcee stated, and Japheth sighed.

Japheth grabbed Sirenia's arm and pulled her in for a hug. "You know I'll forgive you for this." he uttered.

"I know..." She sniffled.

"I knew what it would mean to become a Prime." Japheth stated.

"You, what, had a choice?" Arcee asked.

"I was offered to simply return to my life." he stated, still clutching Sirenia dearly.

"Then, why did you?" Arcee asked, and gave him a knowing smile. "The world needed you."

"There is so much I can do as a Prime." Japheth stated, "I can't hide from it anymore. I don't have to worry about having to explain who am I and why I should be allowed to help. Now, I can just help."

"And you want to find all of the lost colonies?" Arcee asked.

"That... might be a bit ambitious." Japheth stated. He loosed his grip on Sirenia, but she still clutched to him fully, so he held her tight again, "But now I have all the time in the world. More than a world. All the time in the universe." Japheth stated.

"And I'll be with you the entire time." Arcee added. "Someone has to keep you alive.

Japheth nodded his head towards her. Arcee moved in and he kissed her. "Like I could live without all of my girls." he replied, finally letting Sirenia go. She slipped out from under his arm.

"What about June?" Arcee asked.

"I want her to be able to relax..." Japheth stated, "She's spent her entire life taking care of me. Even more since the end of The War. I want her to be able to relax, and live what kind of life she wants to live."

"She does as well." Sirenia stated, "She is so proud of you, and knows that Arcee will always be by your side, protecting you. I will, as well. If could..."

Japheth smiled at her, and she let out a shy smile.

"I'm going to need a new sword." Japheth stated.

"Knockout is working on a few candidates." Sirenia stated, and he gave her a curious look. "The Cybertronians in the First Terran Rangers have grown... not exponentially, but each individual one provides disproportionate power. He has been working on more weapon options for them."

"I shouldn't be surprised." Japheth stated.

"He will also make a cheerleader outfit for Roxana." Sirenia said with glee.

Arcee looked about nervously. "I did like the idea." Japheth stated, and Arcee gave him a curious look, "I wasn't sure we were going to keep her."

"More like trying to lie to yourself about it." Sirenia said, and then looked shocked.

"No, I think she was right." Arcee said. "But now, I can do the usual Human things, and jealously chase off anyone that tries to get close."

"Thank you." Japheth stated.

"You have all the femmes you need." Arcee stated, and Sirenia looked nervous, "Oh, you are the most important one of all." Sirenia gave her a curious look, "You are the one he has to look out for. Looking after you is why he is the 'Bot he is today."

"Both literally and figuratively." Japheth stated, and turned his head as a new femme walked in. Arcee stood upright, while Sirenia looked passed Japheth without focusing. "Barrelrider, I presume?" Japheth stated.

She bowed, "My Prime."

Japheth smiled while Arcee started snickering. "That's going to keep happening, isn't it?" Japheth asked. He then looked Barrelrider in the eyes, "I'm the same man I was last time I came here. You don't need to worship the ground I walk on." he stated.

"How about the water that falls off of you?" Barrelrider cheerfully asked, and Japheth sighed. "So, I hear you want me to show you every part of our hydrology system?" she asked. Japheth's face agreed. She looked at Arcee, who seemed disinterested.

"I'm here because he is here." Arcee stated. "Maybe I'll learn something?"

Barrelrider looked at Sirenia, whom was still looking away, "Still the same Sirenia..." she voiced. She then looked at Japheth, "Well, let's get started."

* * *

All of the basins were connected, not just with inner sluice gates, but with stairways the spiraled around the central water well. Going to each basin in turn. Walking from one end to the other. He learned how the levels were kept, how the measurements were done, what ideal conditions were thought to be, about what probems can be caused. Since this was for the sake of plants, they added nutrients to the first level, the one that flowed right under the surface. Most of it was used up by the end of the terrace. Before it cascaded down to the next level it was filtered until it was pure once again.

That said, many of the hydrologists would take time to simply race around the water. They would often eagerly come up to the catwalks to show their respect, (and sometimes giggles). Arcee was sure to give them a harsh glare. They would pay their respects and move along. At the end of the day, or however long it was, they ended up having to climb stairs from the last basin. The water flowed out, the city did not have access below the terrace. They at least had some senses of defensibility.

As they climbed out it was dawn, the dark of the night being washed away by the coming light. They climbed the stairs until they were standing on the surface of the lowest terrace. Japheth simply enjoyed the sights. Arcee and Sirenia quickly moving in beside him. His arms embraced the two.

"Will that be all?" Barrelrider asked.

Japheth turned his head towards her, "Thank you." he sincerely stated.

She started walking back down the stairs.

"Siren?" Japheth, and it took her a moment to return to reality.

"Master?" she asked.

"How long?" he asked.

"2 cycles." she stated.

"How time flies..." Japheth voiced. "Let's go harass my mother."

* * *

Japheth took up the entire corridor as he walked into the medicaeron. The femme at the front gave him a curious, expectant, reverent look. "I'm here to pick up my mother." he simply stated.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, and stepped away from her desk. She turned and ran into the back.

"This is so bizarre." Arcee stated. Japheth turned fully around to give her a curious look, "For most of my life, going to the med bay usually meant automatic Energon infusions. How can they be so relaxed?"

"There is a separate bay for emergencies," Sirenia stated, "and they would be going out to retrieve the patient, so would have plenty of time to get ready for it."

"I feel like this is what people mean when they say 'white women'."

"Too be fair?" Japheth asked. "Yeah."

"Typically refers to WASPs." Sirenia stated.

"Wasps?" Arcee asked, "Those little insecticons? Swarms of poison needles?" Sirenia looked at her with a brilliant smile. "What?"

Sirenia looked at Japheth. "What?" Japheth asked, "I was raised Catholic. Kind of."

Sirenia looked at Arcee, "White-Anglosaxon-Protestant."

"Saxophones?" Arcee asked.

"The Anglo-Saxons were the tribe that dominated England, which eventually gave us modern English."

"Wait, wasps come from England?" Arcee asked, and Sirenia had trouble not laughing at this.

"In swarms." Japheth said with a smile. He looked at Sirenia, but she was smiling too much to answer. He looked back to Arcee, "The 'White Anglo-Saxon Protestants' were the main immigrants to the US. What we consider US culture was mainly created by them. Catholics like me were oppressed."

"You were oppressed?" Arcee.

"Me?" Japheth asked, "God no. I mean..." he said, and sighed. "The US long ago established the freedom of religion. But, once the culture was established, it kind of stayed there. When people say 'white people', that's what they mean."

"That makes SO much more sense." Arcee stated. "Am I a white people?" she asked.

"She is prickly." Sirenia said with a smile, and then instantly looked worried.

Arcee put her hand on her shoulder, and pulled her square towards her. "Look up." she said with her usual harshness. Sirenia slowly looked up, only to see a brilliant smile. Arcee moved in to kiss her before quickly pulling away. "Good work."

June stepped out, followed by Roxana. The secretary then stepped out and back to her desk.

"Did you need me?" June asked.

Japheth simply walked over to her in silent haste. He quickly picked her up, and she looked at him curiously. "Have you taken a break?" he asked.

"A few..." June said, and looked distance as she thought it over. The answer was largely no. She had been working for... she wasn't sure.

"Siren?" Japheth asked.

"Hm?" Sirenia asked, her eyes swiftly opening. "It has been 8 cycles." she stated.

"It's been what?!" June asked.

"Hence why I've come to kidnap you." he said. He snugged up on her and walked towards the doorway. He turned back to the secretary. "Thank you." he said, and she smiled in reply.

[lightdancer1]

Another small bit of original fiction:

Gaudy, isn't it?

The man that looked at them had a wry grin, his right eye seeming a little too red, almost mechanical even if the rest of him wasn't.

The whole light show. Everyone sees a glimpse of what walks among you. The sky rolls up like a scroll and upon a white horse divinity descends and with words like swords all, small and big, alike are consumed. Well, really, that's our own scriptures, those of us that are men, anyway, who claim them would speak thus. Gods, or what you'd call gods, we have our own.

The man's dark skin seemed to swim for a moment with silver that appeared and gave him the appearance of a metal giant, the chair he was sitting on breaking beneath the weight as he stood up.

Oh the rest of it, that doesn't scare you. Eldritch things from beyond the stars being real, the implications for religion, none of that does. I'll tell you what does.

In that moment the man became a giant, a figure twenty-five feet tall, the human form raised to something out of myth more than reality, skin just as dark and his clothes growing in size with him.

It's me. You see, gentlemen, the entire reason I allowed all of this....

He looked around him.

Is a very simple reason. My world changed, in the beginning, when the Soul and Messenger lay with the daughters of men and birthed magic, and then again when the sky fell and the blue fire brought the power of Prometheus to all of us. We overthrew our oppressors, gifted with the fires of the gods. And then something else came, a monster, this towering imposing giant in dark green armor. So I fed it a black hole and it didn't like that very much. And from making a monster that eats entire universes bleed and destroying one of its incarnations while a man, a true man, I rose into those ranks.

The dark skin became its truer shape, intertwined flesh and metal as turrets rose from his shoulder.

I was given the power of a god, the power to walk between worlds. And so many worlds are tilted against those that look like me. It took me no time at all from ascendancy to walk the pages of infinity, to seek to undo things, to make the multiverse less ghastly. How could I not?

The men that looked at him, smelling like the sewage-ridden age they were, an age when handwashing was unfashionable, men who'd made money by great evil.

Of course simply doing things like this is only the start. The real meat is to undo the very things that made it desirable, but not in a way where they would credit some divine figure fall from Heaven doing it. All that does is make a new religion and a new master, a new god, great and terrible. A Man of Iron, instead of an End of Empire.

The turrets fired great blasts of fire intermixed with spheres and he shook his head.

But that, that never gets old.

And then he stepped from the inferno, one of many like it, looking at something on his right wrist.

North America finished, now for the South, and then the rest. His nose twitched, as he looked beyond him at the unlovely elements of the past. The Hammer of Doom had uplifted him but it had been he, empowered by the way these beings crossed through time and space, and by all else, who had wrought the vision to make Existence that much less miserable.

His lips parted with a grin as his right eye shone.

One more world, and then so many more to go.