#Still chasing the high of book 1 of the last magician

[inthecaseofgaaraofthesand]

I'm so sad that I can't vibe with the book I checked out from the library =(

[taiblogcomics]

I Can’t Pet Force You To Read This One, But...

Hey there, high school crushes. Well, it's finally here. Can you believe it? Yes, counting from the original Xanga site (which, yes, still counts. It's like our own Golden Age publication or apocryphia), this is our 10th anniversary of reviewing comics. That's fantastic. I'm excited, can't you tell? I can tell, since I'm writing this preamble a good two months before the actual anniverary~

So, last year we reviewed the absolute pile of dreck that is Heroes in Crisis. And while that was worth ripping into, I'd rather not spend the 10th anniversary hating on something. I'd like to do something actually meaningful to me. I've teased about this one for many years, probably for as long as I've been doing this blog, and I think it's time we stopped pussyfooting around and reviewed some Garfield. But not just any Garfield. It's finally time, my friends. This... is Garfield's Pet Force.

I dunno how many people will remember this one. Maybe you recall the direct-to-DVD movie adaptation from 2009, or at least advertising for it. I never saw it, but apparently it differs a bit. They also appeared a few times in those Garfield comics from back in the day. We even reviewed a couple (some were on the Xanga blog). But what we're looking at here are the original novellas published between 1997 and 1999. So yeah, these really are from my childhood. And since I've long espoused that Garfield was always funnier 20 years ago, this must be actual premium Garfield content, yeah? By golly, I hope so, because we got five whole books here today. So we should probably get into them~

Book 1: The Outrageous Origin

This is a classic sort of superhero cover. Standard team shot of poses, and that's fine for a first volume. In fact, that's great. Later editions of this would replace the lightning-filled gradient background with a pure white one, but I have this original version. We'll get to specifics about these characters in the meat of the story, but let's talk about the costumes for a bit. Very classic early-'90s sort of look, before the Dark Age kicked in. Reminds me a lot of Jim Lee's X-Men designs, actually. Making all your characters visually distinct is important in a team book. The heavy lean into secondary colours is unusual for heroic characters, but not unwelcome.

So we actually start with a cold open in the superhero universe. This is pretty much to introduce us to the characters as soon as possible, and thus I'll do the same for you here.

*Garzooka, team leader, super strong, has a razor-sharp claw, and can shoot radioactive hairballs from his mouth. That's... at least a unique power, I don't think anyone on the Justice League can do that~ *Odious, the dumb muscle with the accent on the "dumb". Possibly even stronger than Garzooka, and possessing a "super-stretchy stun tongue", an elastic tongue that can scramble the minds of whoever it adheres to. *Starlena, the team girl. She can fly, and she has a siren song that can put those who hear it into a hypnotic trance. Garzooka is the only one immune to its effects, for reasons that are never explained. *Abnermal, the kid-appeal character. He has ice powers, forcefields, and an ill-defined "pester power" that means he can annoy people on a greater scale than normal folks. It's pretty much only used for comic relief, but that could be a brilliant power in the right hands. *Compooky, the brains of the operation. Other than flight, his powers are limited to super intelligence, which means he's usually the exposition guy. There's probably a reason they left him out of the movie adaptation~

You got all that? Don't worry, we'll introduce you again later in the book. What actually happens in the intro chapter isn't really important, it's just setting up the universe. In fact, it's all taking place within Pet Force #99, a comic just enjoyed by Nermal. Yes, we quickly cut over to the main Garfield universe ("our universe", the narrator calls it), where Pet Force is just a comic book. The Garfield gang is all outside, enjoying a cookout prepared by Jon Arbuckle. Nermal is extremely enthused by his comic book, and brags about how he has all 98 previous issues sealed and polybagged, and this one will soon join them. Sorry, Nermal, this came out in 1997, the speculator boom already went bust~

Garfield dismisses comic books as stupid because you can't eat them or use them as a blanket, and declares that none of the stuff that happens in the comic could possibly happen in real life. Uh oh, irony! Because these things can happen, and do! It's a parallel universe, baby! This might be one of my earliest introductions to a "parallel worlds" concept. Much like Earths 1 and 2 in pre-Crisis DC, the events of the comic are essentially the real life adventures of their super-powered counterparts in another dimension. Most of the action in these stories will take place there~

So here's the setup: Vetvix (the parallel equivalent to Liz the veternarian) is an evil sorceress and scientist, who essentially wants to experiment on animals in peace, and possibly subjugate the universe while she's at it. You could argue that Liz is an odd choice for villain, since our universe's Liz isn't particularly evil. But then, our universe's Garfield isn't particularly heroic either. She operates out of a deadly space station called the Orbiting Clinic of Chaos, and at present she's waiting for the arrival of her henchman, Space Pie-Rat, who is a six-foot-tall anthropomorphic rat dressed in stereotypical pirate getup. Vetvix has just finished inventing a levitation ray, and she'd like Pie-Rat to go out and use it to steal all the food in the universe. Vetvix doesn't think small, is what I'm saying.

The counter to Vetvix is Emperor Jon, ruler of the planet Polyester. He's kind and benevolent, even if he's a little dippy and his fashion sense atrocious. Having gotten wind of Vetvix's latest plan, he contacts Pet Force in their ship, the Lightspeed Lasagna. Upon learning the problem, Pet Force gives chase to Pie-Rat. They eventually corner him on some desolate planet, landing and entering an abandoned factory. Unfortunately, they're not safe amongst the dangerous machinery, because this turns out to be a trap. Vetvix has been busy as hell, because she's also invented a metal that's impervious to their powers. And that's not all, because she's also basically invented the Phantom Zone, where she traps Pet Force forever. It specifically mentions it doesn’t kill them, because it wouldn't be kosher to murder the heroes in a Garfield book~

The Lightspeed Lasagna has both onboard cameras connected to the heroes' belts as well as automatic return protocols, so within two days, Emperor Jon knows exactly what's happened to Pet Force. He needs help, so he calls upon his most trusted and powerful advisor: Binky the Sorceror. Binky's just as loud and obnoxious as in the main universe, but he's also a powerful magician. He conjures up a spell for Emperor Jon that lets him pierce the veil between universes. It's basically Equestria Girls rules: parallel universes have similar characters between them. So to replace Pet Force, they need the nearest genetic equivalents from another universe. And that's the versions of Garfield, Odie, Arlene, Nermal, and Pooky that we know and love~

Back in the main universe, it's another day entirely. Another cookout is taking place, and Nermal has received his special anniversary issue of Pet Force #100. The cover's really special, dripping with '90s cover gimmicks like glow-in-the-dark and embossing. A rarely used one, though, was "portal to another universe". That was pretty expensive to print, so you won't find many comics like Nermal's. Maybe he had something there with the collecting after all. The cover glows, and while Jon is distracted by the grill, Garfield and Friends disappear~

They reappear in Emperor Jon's wood-paneled throne room, now transformed into Pet Force. Emperor Jon and Sorceror Binky try to explain the situation, but Garfield--now Garzooka--is disbelieving of the whole thing. In fact, even the idea that Jon can now hear him talk absolutely floors him. Since he's about to deliver the exposition for everyone, can we talk about Compooky for a minute? This spell has just granted sapience to Garfield's teddy bear. I don't expect deep philosophy from a children's novella, but the ramifications of this are really under-explored. Like, never mind the whole idea of a teddy bear having the same genetic makeup as an alternate universe equivalent. He goes from inanimate object to fully conscious being, and he just rolls with it.

Anyways, once everybody gets caught up on what's going on and accepts the new reality, a training montage ensues so the group can all learn to use their powers without killing each other. Once at least reasonably trained, the reborn Pet Force is sent out to stop Pie-Rat. He's gotten sloppy in the times with Pet Force dead, so they track him down easily. After a brief scuffle where Garzooka takes his eyepatch, Pie-Rat flees in his ship. They follow Pie-Rat back to the Orbital Clinic of Chaos, but they can't go in the front. That led the original Pet Force into a trap. Finding an unguarded maintenance hatch--standard on any big space station--they enter Vetvix's lair for a final confrontation!

After dealing with the Waiting Room of Doom, which slowly fills with outdated magazines, they enter Vetvix's inner sanctum. Frustrated with Pie-Rat's failure, she uses her magic to turn him into an ordinary mouse. Vetvix then attempts to use her same weapon on this new Pet Force, but thanks to story contrivance, it only works on beings born in this universe. As other dimensional visitors already, they can't be banished to another dimension. She then pulls a Dr. Claw and runs off cursing Pet Force's name while her base self-destructs. Vetvix is a very "discard and draw" sort of villain, it seems. Pet Force, of course, makes a harrowing escape just in the nick of time.

Returning to Emperor Jon, they vow to be ready to return whenever they're called on, since evil never stays dormant for long. Odious even gifts Emperor Jon with the mouse-ified Pie-Rat as proof of their victory. Well, I'm glad they remember that, so they didn't accidentally murder a major villain in their first superhero outing. They're returned to their own universe, and the time differential between them places them back with Jon having not had time to even look up from the grill. Garfield begins to doubt the adventure even happened--until that night, when he finds Pie-Rat's eyepatch still on his person. Ah, definitive proof of... eyepatches, I guess~

Book 2: Pie-Rat's Revenge!

You have to wonder where, in a space-faring superhero setting, Pie-Rat got the inspiration for his classic pirate motif. It's a little incongruous is all I'm saying. And hey, remember when I said earlier that Garzooka's purple-and-green colour scheme was odd for a hero? Well, here he is as a villain! That'll catch your eye. This would be a terrific comic cover, which is what you want in a series like this.

The book opens with a brief recap of the previous story's events, then moves into the new plot. See, Emperor Jon has opted to keep the polymorphed Pie-Rat as his pet. How very Ron Weasley of him. That's pretty apt, actually, because similarly Pie-Rat has maintained his intelligence in his new mousey form. Pie-Rat gets sick of being Emperor Jon's pet and plans a daring escape, exploiting the emperor's dimwitted and loving personality against him. Pie-Rat jams the lock with a food pellet and makes his escape that night.

Once free from his cage, he encounters Binky's cauldron, still left in the throne room from when the sorceror summoned Pet Force from Garfield's universe. Figuring he has nothing to lose, Pie-Rat jumps in the leftover brew. Suddenly he finds himself growing. He returns to his original anthropomorphic state--but with a twist. He's now twice his original height, a staggering twelve feet tall. He scoops up the rest of the remaining potion for later, and sneaks out of the palace as best as a 12-foot rat can sneak. Desiring revenge on both his former employer and his longtime foes, he steals Pet Force's ship and makes his escape from the planet, headed for Vetvix's newest base.

After his guards help Emperor Jon put the pieces of the problem together, they decide they must once again call upon the powers of Pet Force to recover their missing vehicle and stop the newly embiggened Pie-Rat. Fortunately, Garfield and friends have been watching movies all weekend, so Jon doesn't notice when his pets disappear from the living room in a bright flash. Of course, once returned to the alternate universe and the situation explained, they still have a problem: how do they give chase to Pie-Rat when he's got their ship?

And speaking of Pie-Rat in their ship, he's followed the trail of a mysterious energy output, and it's led him right to Vetvix's new base, the Menacing Moon of Mayhem. See, this is why you don't blow up your base: the backup base is never as good. if it was, it wouldn't be the backup. Given that it's such a shoddy base, Pie-Rat is easily able to get inside and get close to Vetvix. She's expecting a technological attack, so she's unprepared when he pulls out that vial of magic potion and sprinkles her with it. And naturally, the potion that made him grow 12 feet tall makes Vetvix shrink to 5 inches. It's magic, we don't have to explain it!

Pie-Rat takes the magic crystal that Vetvix uses to fuel her powers, which of course didn't shrink because magic is just bullshit. See previous paragraph's last sentence. And while Pie-Rat takes over the base and begins plotting a further revenge against Pet Force, we cut over to them. They're at Sorceror Binky's own castle, and it's clear he's a bit of a hoarder. This is to their advantage, though, as they eventually piece together a working spaceship out of old car parts and other things, all patched together between Compooky's know-how and Binky's magic. This seems like the sort of book where I could use that "it's magic" quote every other paragraph. But craft a new--if small--ship they do, and speed off in the newly christened Planetary Pizza.

The rickety little ship does eventually find its way to Pie-Rat's base, saving him the trouble of being proactive as a villain. The magic thing keeps happening, and Pie-Rat basically becomes Discord for a bit while he fights them, doing things like turning Starlena's siren song into actual living music notes. One by one, the members of Pet Force are taken out, with only Garzooka is left. He and Pie-Rat struggle, while Pie-Rat tries to aim the magic crystal at Garzooka. Garzooka uses his claw to rip the crystal from Pie-Rat and defeat him.

Unfortunately, here's where the cover comes in. It seems the moments Pie-Rat was focusing the crystal during the struggle affected Garzooka's mind. He puts the crystal around his own neck. which turns him evil. He helps Pie-Rat to his feet, and the pair escape in the Lightspeed Lasagna. While Pet Force pursues them in their ramshackle ship, the new criminal duo strikes the storage planet of Deli to steal their food. Pet Force manages to catch up as the villains celebrate their spoils, and use a magic blast from the systems Binky installed to short out the Lightspeed Lasagna. This enables them to dock with the ship and climb aboard for a contfrontation.

The group fights, and once again the bearer of a bullshit magic crystal subdues the heroes easily. Annoyed now, Garzooka takes hold of Starlena and prepares to kill her or something. She taps into the one thing she has left: she's not fighting just Garzooka, but Garfield in his body. She drops some heavy put-downs, which resonate with Garfield, and he hesitates long enough for her to cut the crystal off him. The crystal hits the floor and shatters, undoing its evil magics on Garzooka's mind as well as on all his teammates. With Pet Force reunited, Pie-Rat is easily subdued and locked up.

The group waits for the ship to power back up, then speed off to apologise to the planet Deli. Following that, they head back towards Vetvix's moonbase. That night, though, the magic that was making Pie-Rat 12 feet tall wears off, and he escapes from his cell. He steals the remaining shards of the crystal, climbs into the Planetary Pizza, and makes a getaway. As a bonus, he also repeats the power-down spell against the bigger ship, giving him ample time to escape. And he's not the only one. Over on the Menacing Moon of Mayhem, Vetvix also returns to her proper size, and abandons this base as well. And when Pet Force fails to find her, they simply return to their own universe, ready to be called on once again in the future~

Book 3: K-Niner: Dog of Doom!

Another very basic comic book-style cover. K-Niner is a much more typical villain in style. This one's actually a wrap-around, and features the rest of Pet Force reacting to K-Niner on the back cover. Which is good because, other than the first cover, the covers all have a heavy Garzooka focus. Which makes sense for a book series, I suppose, you wanna assure the kiddos that Garfield's gonna be in the book. But as a comic book series, this would be a bad look for a team book~

So after our standard introduction and recap, we start off with Vetvix in yet another new base, the Floating Fortress of Fear. I'm sure it's very intimidating, if she can keep hold of it for more than a single book. She's picking up from the epilogue and putting the last touches on K-Niner, mostly enhancing his intelligence. Now, you look at the cover and tell me what kind of voice you'd expect. Some sort of German or Austrian accent, like the doberman on Road Rovers? Does anyone remember Road Rovers~? Anyways, but no: he speaks with a posh British accent. You know, the "I say, good chaps, looks like we're in a bit of a sticky wicket, eh wot?" type. Trust me, you can tell. But just because he sounds refined doesn't mean he's not evil.

I also love that after the initial "trapped them in the Phantom Zone" bit, the villains just go whole ham. K-Niner here demonstrates that he is indeed evil by threatening to rip out Vetvix's throat. Let your villains be villainous is all I'm saying. She's pleased he's so vicious, but feels he needs to learn his place as well. She force-chokes him until he complies. She then gives him his assignment: she thinks dogs should be liberated. The Boy Mayor of Second Life would approve, and so does K-Niner. Turning pets on their masters is just his style.

K-Niner takes a portable evolution gun, and immediately sets off. He begins on the planet Kennel. Isn't it neat how every planet is named after an English word that describes its function? K-Niner quickly takes over the dog population and turns them against their masters, because boosting their intelligence also makes them evil, of course. They use enslavement collars on their former owners, and within a few days, the dogs now run the planet. We cut over to Emperor Jon on Polyester, where a man has crash-landed a ship. He's an escapee from Kennel, and he's here to report the events so we can get the plot moving and once more summon Pet Force!

And summoned once more they are, Garfield and Friends once more conveniently disappearing in a split second while Jon's back is turned (this time they're outside playing volleyball). And once back in the parallel universe, Emperor Jon fills them all in on K-Niner's dastardly doings. Garzooka, naturally, takes great offense to dogs being in charge, and takes his duties as a hero completely seriously for once. Pet Force takes off for a confrontation with K-Niner in the Lightspeed Lasagna. And speaking of Pet Force's ships...

The Planetary Pizza, piloted by Pie-Rat, plants its pads down on polar planet Glacia. Pie-Rat is here seeking a way to restore his magic crystal and regain his mighty magic powers. He's sought out the home of a legendary evil wizard, who's known by the name of... Barfo. I see why Barfo keeps his location a secret. But anyway, Barfo is the one who made the crystal, so naturally Pie-Rat reasons he can restore it as well. Suprisingly once on Glacia, Barfo's evil lair is pretty easy to find. His manservant, Hobart the Gnome, brings Pie-Rat before the wizard, and within moments the crystal is restored! Pie-Rat turns to thank Hobart, but Hobart suddenly turns into Vetvix!

Yes, Vetvix knew all along that Pie-Rat's quest would lead him here. And as she was once Barfo's student in the ways of evil magic, she knew she could get the old coot to go along with her plan. Barfo returns the crystal to Vetvix, restoring her powers. And so Pie-Rat, a recurring villain in three whole books, is unceremoniously done away with, as Vetvix teleports him inside an asteroid, trapping him in solid rock. Even if the asteroid were hollow or he displaced the interior when he teleported in, no doubt he'll suffocate within moments. That's pretty harsh.

With that over, we rejoin Pet Force as they approach Kennel. K-Niner's battle cruiser spots them incoming, and shoots the ship down, even in spite of Abnermal's forcefields. Pet Force bail out of the ship, and Abnermal uses his powers to make snow to cushion their fall. Upon landing, a contingent of mutant animals attack. The mooks aren't much, but K-Niner himself puts up an impressive fight. However, one of the mooks pulls a gun and points it at Compooky. This is why Compooky usually stays aboard the ship, but that wasn't an option. Rather than let their friend get hurt, Pet Force surrenders.

Pet Force is held prisoner separately from Compooky, with both the cell's technology making it freeze-proof and threats of "don't break out, or we'll shoot your compatriot". Their imprisonment is not long, though, as suddenly the power goes out. Pet Force takes advantage of the situation and make their escape, quickly running into Compooky. K-Niner didn't think the hyper-intelligent teddy bear needed a high security cell, and just locked him in the basement. It was easy for him to then break out and shut down the local power grid. This also has the side effect of turning off the control collars the humans were wearing. How convenient!

With control of the planet now tilted in their favour, Pet Force now has time to both fix their ship and reverse the polarity of the brain-boosting weapons, turning the dog population of Kennel back to their normal selves. Though the experience did change the pet owners of Kennel. Having experienced life in their pets' shoes (so to speak) for a bit, they've resolved to treat their canine companions a bit more equally. More being allowed on the furniture, less stupid tricks for treats. Still, Pet Force can't stay long, and they head off in pursuit of K-Niner's battle cruiser. This is why most superheroes don't have spaceships (Jedis don't count): if your enemy also has one, they can flee way more easily than on foot.

Not willing to let another place go to the dogs, as it were, Pet Force catches up with K-Niner. With his previous success, Vetvix has stepped up the timetable and sent him after Polyester right away. Emperor Jon is in danger! They enter the planet's atmosphere, and are attacked by fighter craft. They fend them off, but their weapons system is damaged in the fight, so they can't simply use the reverse brain-rays and solve it quickly. The team splits up instead: Garzooka and Abnermal will go after K-Niner, while the other three will find the planet's power source and knock out the collars, since that worked so well the last time.

The two heroes quickly make short work of K-Niner's guards, and then turn the battle to deal with the Dog of Doom himself. While the struggle goes on, the rest of Pet Force reach the planet's power grid. Using a clever tactic, Compooky overloads the power and causes and electrical storm that simultaneously undoes the brain-boosting effect and shorts out the enslavement collars. There's only a few pages left, after all, and we have to wrap this up.  K-Niner is reverted back into an ordinary dog, and the emperor is reverted to an ordinary non-enslaved person. The day is saved!

And now once again, Pet Force prepares to return to their own universe. However... when the spell clears, the five heroes are still standing there. Something is blocking the passage between dimensions, and Pet Force is trapped. And while Pet Force's adventures have taken place between mere moments in their own universe, they have always returned quickly enough that Jon didn't notice a thing. But this time, as Jon retrieves the volleyball and turns around to his pets, he's surprised to find they've all vanished into thin air...

Book 4: Menace of the Mutanator

This one's very striking because of its more painted look compared to the heavy black outlines the rest of the covers have. Does this one count as having the whole team on the cover? Because, spoilers, that's what the Mutanator is: the rest of Pet Force mashed up into a villain. Again, though, that's definitely a striking image that'd draw in readers to a comic cover. In fact, while Garzooka may be over-used as a cover focus, several of these also show him imperiled in some way, and that's nice for character stuff. That helps balace it a bit~

I wanna say, before we start, that I'm impressed by the continuity for the series as a whole. They could've just written each story as a standalone, but for a series of 100-page children's novellas starring Garfield characters as superheroes, things happen in these books. Like, maybe not sweeping status quo changes, but events affect the plot of each next book down the line. And that's where we pick up! Right where the last book left off, with Pet Force now stuck in the alternate universe, unable to return home to Jon. But if they can't go home to Jon, well, maybe then events will conspire to bring Jon to them~

Yep, because Jon happens to wander into the room where they keep the copy of Pet Force #100 that acts as a portal to their universe, he gets transported into the Pet Force universe. And since Emperor Jon is still an extant entity, there's just two Jons now. Jon, of course, is a bit freaked out, and it takes several pages to explain the whole deal to him, and also have a showcase of all their powers to pad out the book some more. Eventually, they decide to call in Sorceror Binky to examine the problem. When he has a go of it, a sudden tornado emerges from the cauldron and whisks away Pet Force--save for Garzooka, whose prodigious strength keeps him anchored.

Garzooka heads out in the Lightspeed Lasagna to track Pet Force's signature, glad to get away from a double trouble Jon. And while he's searching, the scene cuts to Vetvix's Floating Fortress of Fear. Hey, one of her bases actually lasted more than one book! This is where Pet Force has been transported to, once more in a power-proof cell. Vetvix monologues to the heroes, as she is wont to do, explaining that she's the one who cast the spell to keep them from returning home. And further, she's brought them here to mutate them into her servants.

While Emperor Jon exposits about his backstory (turns out he is not of royal blood, and has about as much legitimate claim to the throne as you or I do), the search continues. Sorceror Binky detects Pet Force, giving them all a view of what happens next. The trapped members of Pet Force are literally broken apart and reassembled: Odious' body, Compooky's brain inserted into the chest, Abnermal's hands, and Starlena's head. She christens this beast "Mutanator", and it is soullessly obedient. I also wanna say, Mutanator's kind of a non-binary icon, aren't they? (The comic uses "it", but it was 1998 and alternative pronouns weren't really a thing yet.) Muscular, masculine body, but confident enough to still wear lipstick. It's a look, is all I'm saying~

Mutanator continues to possess the combined powers of Pet Force as well. Vetvix sends them to attack the planet Armory to gear up before attempting to conquer Polyester. And meanwhile, thanks to the convenience of being able to scan all of Compooky's memories now that his brain is part of Mutanator, Vetvix has the perfect trap to spring on Garzooka--or should she say Garfield. Yes, she really knows the whole origin for Pet Force now, and now she knows all Garfield's weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and probably blood type and other dating profile stats~

Thus, when Garzooka receives the coordinates from Emperor Jon and arrives at the Floating Fortress, he finds himself menaced by giant spiders. Vetvix couldn't think of a way to get Mondays to attack him, so the Giant Spider Invasion will do. Spiders are apparently very formiddable foes, Garzooka's personal fears aside. They can swat gamma hairballs out of the air, they can construct webs as quickly as certain Marvel heroes, and their hairy exoskeletons are resistant to both claw and strength. But despite his fear and Abnermal's running commentary, Garzooka manages to trounce the spiders with a carefully applied flame--taking Vetvix's blueprints with them.

Garzooka heads out once again to track down the Mutanator, leaving his less-than-all-together friends in the safety of their forcefield prison. While he's off, we return to the perspective of his target. Using their combined powers, the Mutanator swiftly conquers the planet Armory and sets their sights on Polyester next. It's not a bad plan, honestly. With the stockpile from Armory, not only will the Mutanator be more powerful, Polyester won't be able to use the planet for backup. Fortunately for the two Jons, though, Garzooka intercepts the Mutanator before they can leave Armory.

The fight's actually pretty good. Very back and forth. But even despite Garzooka's great strength, the Mutanator wins in the end. Thankfully, Vetvix puts her conquest of Polyester on hold to take the time to retrieve Garzooka and add his power to the Mutanator. This, of course will be her undoing--in a completely ridiculous way, of course. For back in the palace, our universe's Jon is watching Pet Force's struggles with the scrying cauldron. And he leans in a bit too close. Sowhile Vetvix is prepping the machine to divide Garzooka's body like she did the rest of Pet Force, Jon suddenly tumbles through the dimensional warp caused by the cauldron and lands on Vetvix, which causes her to put the machine in reverse. A real Jonnus ex cauldrona there, eh?

The Mutanator disappears, their existance as a unique being wiped out as their pieces return to their proper Pet Force owners. With Pet Force reassembled, Garzooka takes out Vetvix with one of his gamma-radiated hairballs while she's distracted by Jon. Pet Force decides that the vile veternarian should have a taste of her own medicine, and stick her in the body-splicing machine with some of her guards. This divides them all up and mixes them into bizarre combinations. It also has the side effect of disabling Vetvix's magic, so they can return to their own universe now.

The book wraps up here. Pet Force first returns to Armory to both return the stolen weapons and also make repairs on the buildings that were damaged in Garzooka's fight with the Mutanator. That's the sort of thing I'd like to see in more superhero stories in general. The two Jons part ways, with the Emperor believing the other Jon's heroism to have been deliberate. And thus are Garfield and friends returned home. And just like the end of their first adventure, where Garfield couldn't be sure if it really happened, so too is Jon's memory fading. Had he really witnessed all that? Only his pets know for sure--and in this universe, they can't talk~

Book 5: Attack of the Lethal Lizards

This one's another wrap-around, showing the rest of Pet Force engaging the remaining Lethal Lizards on the back cover. This is one advantage books have over comics: a front and back cover you can use for your story-telling. The Lizard designs are pretty good for a villain group too. Like Pet Force, they don't adhere to a particular theme, but they do look good individually. Garzooka roasting a hot dog on a stick might be a bit too comedic for a superhero story, though. It sets the tone wrong. How "lethal" can they possibly be if Garzooka is out here roasting hot dogs in the middle of battle?

So here we go, last book. After the usual recap, we open with Jon explaining to Garfield and friends his latest plans: they're going to WackyWorld, a theme park dedicated to Jon's favourite cartoon, The Wackies. Both Garfield and Nermal think the show is lame, and if those two agree on something, you know it must be so. In less lame universes, however, trouble is once more a-brewing. So it turns out Vetvix's Floating Fortress of Fear has been orbiting the swamp planet Reptilius this whole time. And her various experiments in the last two books have been radiating the planet in magical energy...

From that magical power, three reptiles find themselves uplifted in intelligence and granted fantastic powers. Please say hello to our three main villains for this book: Snake, an enormous snake (the only one without an anthro design) with stretching powers; Chameleon, who can shapeshift; and Dragon, a komodo dragon with fire breath and the bad attitude to match. While Snake and Chameleon figure out their powers, Dragon declares himself the leader as he's clearly the smartest, strongest, and most powerful. They name themselves the Lethal Lizards and start plotting how to rule the planet.

After that exciting intro, though, the book kind of slows down. First we get a whole chapter of Emperor Jon also deciding to go on vacation, to planet Funlandia. With Vetvix out of commission for a while, there's no better time. In short, he's out of the castle and Sorceror Binky is in charge. This is followed by a chapter of Jon and his pets at WackyWorld. It's certainly an accommodating amusement park to allow pets on its grounds. Garfield at least gets along with the food, but if you know anything about amusement park food prices, the amount Garfield eats will make your wallet weep. Jon takes his mind off it by dragging the pets along to a ride. Surely they have to be under the height restriction~

Fortunately, we get back to the actual stars of this book, and we see a bit more of their dynamic. Snake is the sort who sucks up to whoever's calling themselves "Boss" at the moment. Dragon is power-hungry, and it's clear he'll sell out his allies at the drop of a hat. Chameleon is Starscream. Anyway, they trek through the jungles of Reptilius until they find a downed spaceship. Reviewing the logs reveals it was a scout ship from Vetvix, and they also learn of Vetvix and her mission. However, they don't know where Emperor Jon lives, so they crowd into the the newly christened Rapacious Reptile and set course for the stars.

The first planet they come across is a world called Klod. Quickly the Lethal Lizards beat up the populace and find the local government. Chameleon shapeshifts into a dignitary, pretending to be an advance entourage for Emperor Jon, schmoozing with the governor until he learns both what Jon looks like and the name of his planet. With this information secure, Chameleon nips out suddenly, and the trio sets forth towards Polyester. Governer Klutz calls up the palace as soon as the reptiles depart, and reports the incident to Sorceror Binky.

Binky wastes no time, and he dials up Pet Force. Since all five are in one place, he's able to pull them through even without them being near the gateway through issue #100's cover. Convenient! Pet Force, however, does waste time, as a lengthy comedy scene eats up several pages before we just get on with it. Eventually, the situation is conveyed, and they figure it's safer to keep Emperor Jon on Funlandia for the time being. Compooky stays behind to help plan some strategies, while the rest of Pet Force boards the Lightspeed Lasagna to intercept the Lethal Lizards before they even arrive.

Pet Force spends the next few minutes both scanning for incoming ships and bickering with each other, so I'm very glad when the Rapacious Reptile appears on their detectors before too long. Dragon threatens the ship, telling them to move or he'll knock them aside. It's a spaceship, dude, you can move in three dimensions. The ships trade shots, and while Chameleon's piloting is actually pretty good due to his independently-rotating eyeballs, eventually both ships crash land on whatever planet is nearby.

Both ships crash right next to each other, which is improbable but less ridiculous than some of the contrivances in these books, so I'm okay with it. Now you'd think what with the enemies being reptiles and Abnermal having freezing powers that this battle would be over really easily, but no. In fact, Garzooka and Dragon are pretty evenly matched. Snake turns out to be immune to Starlena's siren song because snakes don't have external ears. See, now there's a contrivance I find a bit weird. Snake swallows Abnermal whole, and Chameleon and Odious get literally tongue-tied. The Lethal Lizards actually live up to their name pretty well.

As the fight continues, half of both sides are laid out when Compooky comes rushing up, saying he has an urgent message from the emperor. And that's when he sucker-punches the team. It was actually Chameleon in disguise, having gotten knocked away when he and Odious separated. So yeah, round one goes to the Lizards, and they make their escape first. Pet Force regroups, and they give chase. The Lizards have enough head start to really lay siege to Polyester before Pet Force arrives, though. They even get access to the palace using Chameleon's shapeshifting, leading to Sorceror Binky letting slip the real location of the emperor just as Pet Force arrives.

Another fight ensues--see, now it's really a superhero story--and the Lizards leave again 2 and 0. This time Snake uses his venomous fangs to attack Starlena. This leads to the weirdest contrivance yet. Maybe not the worst, but definitely the weirdest. They have only minutes to save Starlena. So how do they do it? Well, they notice that Odious drools quite a lot. It's very "fluid output". So they have Binky magically reverse Odious' drooling, so that he has "fluid input" on his tongue instead. It becomes a big suction sponge and sucks the poison out of Starlena. They then restore the drooling, and he just harmlessly drools out the poison. What.

With their teammate saved, Pet Force pursues the Lethal Lizards to Funlandia. They get there just in time to rescue Emperor Jon from their clutches, with Garzooka and Odious combining their strength to literally rip a kiddie ride out of the ground. Starlena corners Chameleon in a hall of mirrors, turning his own trick against him. Snake is undone by Odious' strength. And Garzooka fights Dragon to a standstill, finally trapping all three on a roller coaster still operating. When the ride comes to an end, Abnermal freezes them all until the authorities can retrieve them.

Naturally, Emperor Jon thinks it's all part of the show (because Jon is dimwitted in any universe). The Lizards are sent to a lizard-proof prison (seriously, it specifies this), and Pet Force returns to their own universe. As usual, Jon didn't notice his pets go missing during the dark amusement park ride. The book concludes on an ominous note, however, as the ship carrying the Lethal Lizards makes its jump to lightspeed just as it passes the Floating Fortress of Fear. The shockwave knocks over some debris that reactivates the combining machine, restoring Vetvix to her full evil might once more!

The end!

No, really. Those five books are all there was. I hear it may have continued into the comics, but I don’t know how accurate that is. I didn’t really look into it.

But boy, what a ride, huh? Let’s dissect the books one at a time, since it only seems fair to take them as individual stories.

The Outrageous Origin: It’s a fairly basic origin story, I’d say. It kind of has to be. I guess my main gripe is that, like Rita Repulsa’s entire run on Power Rangers, the heroes never fight the main villain directly. In fact, there’s barely even an evil plot in this one. You have henchmen and some traps, and that’s about it for the menace.

Pie-Rat’s Revenge: A cautionary tale about why you treat your minions with respect. This one’s pretty good, but the events depicted on the cover make up such a small part of the book. Wouldn’t it have been more fun if Garzooka was turned at the beginning of the story? Book 4 would at least do the reverse of that, so it’s not a major complaint~

K-Niner, Dog of Doom: I think this one’s about as middle of the road as you can get. What a coincidence that it’s also the middle of the series! Like I said in the recap portion, it’s a shame that Pie-Rat’s story ended here. This one definitely feels more “villain of the week” than most.

Menace of the Mutanator: This one might be the best book in the series. Garzooka, alone, battling against the best parts of his team? That’s gripping stuff. I guess the main problem is that the Mutanator isn’t really a character in and of themselves. Like, K-Niner, he may have been a generic rent-a-villain type, but he had a personality. Mutanator is little more than an extention of Vetvix’s will.

Attack of the Lethal Lizards: I’m a bit split on this one. The bits with the titular Lizards are great. They steal the show! But the parts where it focuses on either Jon kind of drag, and Pet Force is a bit too jokey here. Like, I get the point is that they’ve relaxed into their roles now, and there’s not much point of doing it as a Garfield story if they don’t actually use the character personalities, but... I dunno. It’s good, but it could have been better~

And that’s it! Like, I dunno how to wrap this up. Pet Force was neither my first exposure to superheroes nor my first introduction to the Garfield brand (you can thank Saturday morning cartoons for both of those). But for some reason, maybe just the absurdly goofy premise, it always kinda stuck with me. And I think that’s a good enough reason to make it my 10th anniversary review, don’t you~?

[inkribbon796]

Lost Pages Ch. 2: Black and Blue

Summary: The heroes face down the two thieves and are in for a tough fight than they thought.

Chapters: 1, 2

Yan gripped onto Dark’s arm and in an instant the Entity took both Yan and herself through a portal to safety and the heroes didn’t see either of them for the rest of the day.

They left the heroes alone with the two thieves.

“Skeppy,” the taller of the two assailants pulled the crossbow up, a slight disapproving whine in his voice made the name almost sound like “S~Geppy” and was shouldered out of the way. “You muffinhead, don’t shoot them.”

“Let’s talk this over,” Silver started floating a bit as Chase backpedaled to stand with the others, immediately handing the book over to Marvin who slipped it into his cloak.

“Hey,” the taller one waved as he stepped back in front of his friend. “We can talk, it’s alright.”

Skeppy glared at his companion.

“Hello, my name is Bad,” the taller assailant gestured to himself and took another step, and the heroes realized that his height hadn’t been exaggerated. The taller cloaked figure stood at almost seven feet tall and towered over them. Marvin could see the magic keeping his hood in shadow. “This is my friend, Skeppy, and you have something that actually belongs to me and my friends and we need it back.”

“Which is why yah[1] wanted ta[2] steal it,” Marvin reminded, with the book stored away in his cloak he brought his hands up to brace and start throwing spells.

“Look we tried but they stole it from us first and wouldn’t let us have them back,” Bad said, his voice much softer and not nearly as deep as Silver would have ever expected from the assailant. “Those books belong to us and we don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Give us the book and we don’t have to fight anyone,” Skeppy ordered, his crossbow still in his hand, but it wasn’t pointed at anyone . . . at the moment, at least.

“We’re not givin’ yeh an evil fookin’ book,”[3] Marvin spat.

Bad gasped, “Language!”

“Not the time, Bad,” Skeppy spat, not taking his eyes off Marvin. “We’re not going to stand here and keep asking nicely. You are giving us that book. It belongs to us.”

“How about instead yeh give us the other four yeh’ve got, an’ we just call it a day,”[4] Marvin hissed.

“Okay, stop,” Jackie tried to step in and take over the conversation.

“No, give us the book,” Skeppy’s skin began to slowly turn blue as it took on an almost crystallized appearance. “Last warning.”

“Fook[5] off!” Marvin shouted and Skeppy summoned a shield made of metal and the front was coated with the same type of material quickly covering his skin.

The next thing to happen was something shot through the air, no one was sure who had fired first, but Skeppy and Marvin quickly responded with a crossbow bolt and a bolt of magic at each other in kind. Skeppy never physically reloaded bolts but they magically appeared in the crossbow all the same.

Jackie and Marvin were able to deflect the bolts with little trouble, but one of Marvin’s magical shots managed to slip past Skeppy’s shield and hit him directly.

“Skeppy! No!” Bad called out in horror. Before his eyes began to glow red. “How dare you hurt Skeppy!”

A pair of black bat wings sprouted from his back and his form shifted to having black hair and horns with a glowing halo hovering over his head, then he was suddenly glowing in size until he was twenty feet tall and he slammed his fists on the concrete. “Get away from Skeppy!” Bad yelled, his voice booming out before he swiped the heroes away from Skeppy to scoop him up into his hands. “Get away from him!”

“Skeppy?” Bad frowned with worry, as Skeppy pulled himself into a kneeling position, propping his arm up on Bad’s thumb. Skeppy’s blue crystalline skin was starting to knit together again. “Are you okay?”

“We need that book,” Skeppy pointed at Chase.

“But you’re hu—” Bad reminded gently.

“Get that book!” Skeppy ordered, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Bad flinched before moving his hand so Skeppy could jump onto the hood of his cloak before sliding down. As his feet hit the ground a blue sword appeared in his hand as he looked at Chase. “Hand over the book, before this has to get ugly.”

“Now!” Bad roared.

“That’s a demon,” Marvin realized, looking up at the giant, bracing himself with more magic. “I think they both are.”

“How many demons are e’en[6] in this fookin’[7] city?” Jackie spat.

A shrill whistle pierced the air and in the distance and the two assailants stopped to look at a nearby building as a figure in a long green cloak and a smiling white mask stared at them.

“We’re not done,” Skeppy told the masked man, who jumped down and at almost the last moment a swirl of water helped slow his fall enough for him to land safely. Then he started walking towards Skeppy.

“Need your help,” the masked man told Skeppy, looking over in the heroes’ direction. “Come on, you guys can pick this up later. It’s not like these guys are going to actually destroy it.”

Skeppy glared at the heroes, mentally weighing his options as Bad shrunk back down to the height he’d been at before. He pulled back up his head and his face became magically obscured.

“You sure?” Skeppy demanded. “They were talking about burning it earlier with Dark.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” the masked man chuckled, he was looking at Marvin, and the magician could feel it. “Curiosity got the cat, and all.”

“Skep?” Bad asked hesitantly, as Skeppy kept glaring at the heroes.

Skeppy took a deep breath and smiled, “You’re right, it’s not going anywhere, we have all the time in the world. Come on, Bad.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Bad tripped over his words a bit.

“We’re not done here,” Marvin spat, taking a step forward.

“No,” the masked man hummed as he pulled out a small orb of swirling dark green magic. Skeppy and Bad copying him. “I think we are. We’ll have this chat another day.”

The three of them turned to throw the orbs up behind them. They raced unnaturally high before smashing on the rooftop like fragile glass. When they shattered, it was like three great eyes opened right where they stood and then closed. It lasted a second, and the three newcomers were standing on the rooftop and racing away at full speed to head towards Gainesville. They used more orbs to get away from Jackie and Silver who were trying to pursue them, and in the chase the three assailants disappeared into the busy streets of Gainesville.

Silver and Jackie were forced to regroup with Marvin and Chase, both of whom stayed on guard for an attack.

“Yeh find ‘em?”[8] Marvin demanded.

“No, I think they used some kind ‘a[9] invisibility spell an’[10] disappeared in Gainesville,” Jackie shook his head. “I’ve already called the Sides an’[10] Logic promised they’d look inta[11] it.”

Marvin didn’t look happy.

“We should just head back ta the base so yeh can put that thing in a cage or somethin’,”[12] Chase told Marvin. “We’ll find King later.”

“Yeah, fine,” Marvin agreed and they headed back to the base where they met up with King and Lunky who were being sent through one of Dark’s portals.

Kay looked at them as he rushed in with them, Lunky holding onto his head, “The Old Man said you had something for me?”

“Ancient demon cult book,” Chase told him, Marvin held the book out for King once they were all safe inside and the door was closed. “We were attacked by the cult’s junior brigade.”

“Alright,” King commented as Bing and Mini walked in. Lunky saw Mini and immediately detached from King to turn fully 3D and instantly raced over to grab onto their friend.

“Play date?” Bing asked with a smile.

“Thanks Bing,” King told him before he led the group to his room. Bing took Lunky and Mini back to his office. When the heroes got to King’s room, the young man took everything off the desk and started cleaning and sterilizing everything before he took off his cloak and crown and switched his glasses. His magic moved and whirling around him as he tried to protect the air around the book. Then he put on a pair of gloves. “Looks old.”

“Didn’t ask fer[13] the carbon date,” Marvin told him, shooting a look at Chase. “Was a bit too busy tryin’ ta get this thin’ ta an actual safe location.”[14]

King flipped through the book for a couple seconds before he paused with a look of confusion on his face.

“Hold up,” King pulled off a glove and moved to look for something in his desk and pulled out some notes. And pulled out some loose pages of paper with some symbols and his writing. King looked between the pages and the book and then grabbed his phone. The heroes were close enough to see him type out a message to Illinois: “Clear your schedule, Phills. Tomorrow @ 5.”

“You said this was from a demon cult?” King was flipping through the book carefully with his still gloved hand.

“How bad is it?” Silver asked.

“That depends on who’s got this book memorized,” King told him.

“It’s apparently part ‘a[9] collection ‘a[9] five,” Chase reported.

King grabbed his phone again and typed: “Blackbird” while Illinois was trying to send a response. He stopped and instead the adventure sent: “You don’t need me now?” and “0500 or 1700”.

“That was quick,” King thought out loud, scoffing at some joke in his head. Then he typed: “0500, will have information by then. That was fast, was Eric busy?”

“Hey, hermanito,” Illinois responded and sent a picture of his middle finger and King started roaring in laughter and slid his phone away.

“You need Illinois’s help with this?” Silver asked in concern.

King shrugged. “Maybe, I just know the Old Man will tell him about the book and I want to get on top of it before Illinois hounds me.”

Then he gloved up his hand again and turned back to the book and grabbed some blank papers to start making notes. “Alright, what do you guys know about ciphers?”

“They look cool,” Chase answered.

“Can’t you write secret messages with it?” Silver asked.

“Well, yeah,” King agreed as he pulled out a paper with some symbols and images that Nate and Séan had pulled from a cave. “But the problem is that a cipher without a key is harder to solve unless it’s a shift cipher. Nate and Jackie didn’t give me enough to even try and figure out if they were words or names. But with this, I can crack it.”

“Anything you can tell us before you start?” Silver looked at the book. “You going to be okay with it?”

“Book’s evil, but not cursed, if I could get a reminder to grab a coffee and a sandwich in an hour that’d be great,” King smiled and slowly the trio bid him good luck and left. King kept his smile up until they were gone and the door was closed.

Then he grabbed his phone again and called Illinois.

“You clean?” Illinois asked.

“Yes, are you?” King asked, using the signals they’d developed for themselves back when they were both still working for their father.

“Yeah Eric’s in the other room and Dad’s in his office, he’s not even listening in.” Illinois didn’t sound rushed, and he wasn’t using any of the warning words or phrases. “What’s going on?”

“You know those cave markings the heroes brought me a while back?” King reminded as he turned to a specific page that he was the most worried by.

“Which ones, the ones I found, or the ones they found?” Illinois asked.

“The ones not from Brazil,” King answered. “But they’re probably connected. Demon cults don’t just sprout up out of nowhere. But it would be great if we could keep this from Dad as much as possible.”

“Why?”

King squinted at the book. “Because, if I’m reading the scant . . . English, I think that’s English, right then they were experimenting on and sacrificing children to some type of demon they worshipped as a god. Just, you know Dad. He’d probably try to adopt one of them and helping them is good and fine but I’ve got a kid and my brain can only take so many new people right now so just make sure we don’t get a new brother or something out of this.”

“Alright, I can do that,” Illinois chuckled. “Maybe we can set Yan up with a date or something.”

“Yeah, or something,” King agreed, and he was about to disconnect when Illinois quickly asked something.

“Hey, while I have you here, do you know if the heroes have gotten into a huge fight with Dad or something?” Illinois questioned.

“Not that I know of,” King answered.

“Okay, and it’s not the hunters or Phantom either,” Illinois hummed, clearly thinking out loud. “Dad’s aura’s been acting weird, I’ve never seen it do something like this before and he hasn’t really gotten into any big fights since we cleared up that mess with the Suits.”

��Well, weird how?” King asked. “Did you talk to him? He usually tells you stuff, not me.”

“Oh, I tried, but you know how he is,” Illinois grumbled. “I asked him what was wrong and he turned into Mom and the problem was less obvious. She knows something’s up and is just hiding it. As for what he’s doing, his aura is just curling around him weird, usually it’s acting like a second suit or just doing the blue and red ringing thing but it’s turning a dark grey now.”

“I’ll try and help but I don’t know what I can do,” King admitted.

“When you come over with the info we’ll talk,” Illinois told him. “Hey, boss is back, gotta go.”

Then he was gone and King frowned at the phone before turning back to the book to compile as much information as possible before he needed to go check on Lunky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post A/N: For those new to the SMP, Badboyhalo was only one train of thought and it’s “Skeppy” and I’m so glad that’s not hyperbole in the slightest because it is as cute as it is hilarious.

Accessibility Translations:

1. you

2. to

3. We’re not giving you an evil fucking book

4. How about instead you give us the other four you’ve got, and we just call it a day

5. Fuck

6. even

7. fucking

8. You find them?

9. of

10. and

11. into

12. We should just head back to the base so you can put that thing in a cage or something

13. for

14. Was a bit too busy trying to get this thing to an actual safe location.

[beerecordings]

Poison - Chapter Seven

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l Part Six

Hi guys! Though this is the last plot-heavy section of the story, there will be an epilogue to tie up loose ends :) Hope you enjoy this final section! It has been a long ride with maximum whump haha. Thank you for reading.

Trigger warnings for hospitalization, needles, death threats, traumatic flashbacks, and mild eye trauma.

I’ll post a last-chapter summary later because I just posted chapter six but be sure to read that before you read this one :)

It was easy, honestly, once the doctor was shaken up.

He didn't have to be Anti or Chase. Anyone could have seen that Henrik was a mess, all trembling hands and reddened eyes and grieving, guilty, heart-broken mouth. Poor little doctor, aww. And he'd been waiting for an opportunity for days.

He considered riling him up more, but Henrik only gets stiff and scared and frozen when too much is going on, so he soothed him instead, pretending to wake up warm and sleepy and whimpering for his big brother, begging to be unrestrained just for a few minutes, please. Desperate for good news and aching for one of his best friends, Henrik quickly abandoned caution in the hopes of comforting Chase.

And he let himself be held for a moment, and Henrik was warm and soft and comforting, and he cannot deny that he liked it for the time he let it last – the smell of coffee and soap, the hot pressure of another body, the familiarity of human skin.

But he had more important things to do than this.

He held Henrik's throat until he passed out and sedated him in an act of vengeance, exchanging clothes and leaving Henrik tied up and unconscious on the bed where he had been trapped for days.

He could have hurt him further. He should have hurt him further. He should have killed him.

But he did not.

Where are we going? He asks himself, trying to keep his wavering legs steady enough to walk without drawing suspicion. What will we do?

I'm not sure. Should we just go?

We could.

But I don't want to.

Why not?

There's – things to stay for?

Don't go getting fucking attached.

He loved me.

We should cut them out.

What do you mean? The magician?

Yes, cut him out, because we keep thinking about it, thinking – oh, he loved me.

If we're cutting him out we should cut all of them out.

We should have killed the doctor.

Yes.

Let's kill the magician at least.

He called me amata.

Shut the fuck up!

But there's a sensation now, one he's hated as long as he can remember, and he must stop to put his hand against the wall and cover his eyes, biting down on a groan. It feels like his blood is trying to separate from his bones.

He loved me...

Be quiet. My brain is turning against me. Where's his room, do you think?

Ask the receptionist.

But we look like his doctor. We ought to know.

Tell her we heard he'd been moved without our permission and we need to check which room he's in.

Good, yes. The accent...

We can do it, but the magician – my brother –

Stop! Just – if we can do the accent, fine, just come on. I need to make this confusion stop, now.

“Clara!” Thank God for her nametag. “Did they move my brother out of his room? Where is he now?”

Haha, you're so bad at it!

He's so bad at it too so it doesn't matter!

Hahaha.

They come back together under the amusement of it and his bones settle.

“Oh, no, Dr. S, looks like he's still in Room 413. Did you change your hair?”

The fake Henrik rushes away before he can be forced to answer, heading toward the elevator. He's up and about, yes, but he's still much too weak from the drugs and the week of rest to take any stairs.

He gets a few weird looks from nurses on the stairs, but that could also just be because he's Schneep.

I don't – I don't think I want to do this.

Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet.

I don't think we want to do this!

There's only one of us! Just be quiet!

“Hey, are you alright?” someone asks him.

“Just leave me alone,” he snarls, leaning against the wall of the elevator as his skin threatens to tears away from his muscles and his skull splits down the center. “Just leave me alone.”

They back off and the elevator falls silent.

I'm doing this. I'm doing what I have to do. There's only me and I'm doing what I have to to ease the pull between us. Now hush and get ready. We won't have much time before Jackie comes.

Jackie... he loved me...

Anti grips his head, furious and despairing, and bites on his tongue until blood wells. It’s time to cut these feelings out of their shared chest before they are both destroyed.

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

“So, as you can see here,” explains Dr. Corrin warmly, holding up some pictures of his brain. “It's in the language-producing center of your brain over here, called Broca's area, which is why you're having difficulty with both spoken language and sign. As a bit of good news, aphasia is something patients often recover from even without speech therapy, though there may be some lasting difficulty in finding the right word, and it's possible the aphasia could give you problems for up to a year. You're already speaking again, though, which is excellent news. And you're having no comprehension difficulties?”

Marvin shakes his head slowly, stroking Jameson's hair.

“That's good.” She keeps her voice soft to let his little brother sleep. “I know this must be hard right now, but I have high hopes you'll make a near-full recovery. There is some other minor brain damage around the same area, but as long as you don't notice any significant impacts on your day-to-day life, I think our best option is letting the brain do what it does best and find new pathways to keep you going. Are they any questions you're able to communicate with me just now?”

He hums sleepily. “Ssssshhh,” he manages, his mouth sliding on the word like it's waiting for more to be there. “My? My?”

“Schneeplestein?” She notices him looking at her coat and badge. Marvin smiles, pleased he's managed to get his point across.

“I'll ask him to come see you soon, okay?” she says, smiling back at him, and he nods his head and lets her get up to go.

The room falls quiet again without her, but he doesn't mind. His pain medication is up nice and high again and after the scary part of the night everything became warm and pleasant again.

He's drifting when the door opens.

“Shhh,” he calls again, happy with the sight of his white coat and glasses. “Pi.”

He reaches out for the book, setting it on his lap over his card pack and waiting for his little brother to come over and read to him.

But one step, two – it is not Henrik standing closer to him.

For a moment, Marvin thinks it's Jack.

Then the syringe comes out of his pocket.

Marvin does not quake or shrink in on himself. His eyes fix on the needle. He looks back up at his little brother.

Anti – Chase – his eyes are unreadable, full of something Marvin does not recognize in blue eyes.

But it doesn't scare him.

“Amata,” he whispers, smiling. “Here.”

“Shut up,” he snarls, rounding the bed, and it is only when he approaches Jameson that Marvin begins to feel afraid. “I'm going to kill you.”

Marvin shakes his head and Jamie's shoulder. JJ comes awake with a snuffle, rubbing at his face as he looks up, and then, before his eyes can even widen in alarm, Anti has grabbed him by the throat.

It is, perhaps, a sad fact of Jameson's life that this is not the first time in his life he has woken up with Anti about his throat, but it is the first time he's woken up with Anti about his throat and a brother high on morphine in the hospital bed beside him, and the terror Marvin sees in his eyes is as clear and as deep as the burn of light in the bulb of an angler fish. But if Henrik freezes up and Marvin becomes careful and reasoning, Jameson's reaction to a sudden attack is exactly what Jackie always hoped it would be – fucking fight.

Marvin would like to tell you he helped – that he screamed, that he thought to press the call button, that he threw something, anything. Marvin would like to tell you he even watched. But the truth is that the moment he saw Jameson rear back with a knife drawn from his coat pocket and Anti recoiling to meet him in battle, he was back in chains and convulsions, watching Anti kill Cottonmouth in his little brother's body.

“Darling,” he wails, once, twice, because he cannot even cry his name. “Darling!”

He hides his face and curls in on himself on the hospital bed, holding his shoulders, trying to breathe. Cottonmouth crumples into her own blood in front of him and he pushes his palms hard into his eyes and groans, gritting his teeth.

“Anti,” he whispers. “Chase. Don't.”

But when he hears the thud of a body slamming into the ground, he knows it isn't Anti.

For a moment, there's only Anti's breathing and the shaking of his own heart in his chest. He peers out of his fingers, needing to know if JJ is alive, but all he can see is his little brother's face turned away from him on the tiles of the floor, still.

Anti stalks forward and grabs him.

To his credit, Marvin does not scream or sob even as his flashback near consumes him. He clings furtively to Chase's hands and closes his eyes. The rapid thudding of his heart suddenly stops registering on the heart monitor as Anti manipulates the tech. The nurses won't notice anything wrong.

“What did you wake up in me?” hisses his brother, pushing him down hard against the hospital bed. Needles shift in Marvin's body and he whimpers. “Why are you all making me feel a thousand different things? This is worse than I first melded into this fucking flesh.”

Marvin breathes in, out. Trying to stay steady. Trying to stay steady.

“Look at me,” snarls Anti.

Marvin does not. Marvin does not open his eyes.

“Look at me,” screams Chase.

“Hear you,” warns Marvin in a croak, sliding open his eyes and glaring up at him even as tears run down his cheeks.

“Stop crying,” he answers, his face darkening with frustration. “Stop!”

The needle of a syringe leaps up in his hand and presses into Marvin's throat. He closes his eyes again and lets it sink against the first layer of his flesh, threatening to go deeper.

“Too high to be afraid of me? Huh? Is that it? I'll make you fucking beg.”

Marvin almost laughs. If this isn't terror – if the memory of being hung up in those chains as the poison coursed through him isn't real terror – he doesn't know what is. But Anti's hands reach out to adjust his drug dose and Marvin's heart drops with his morphine levels. Almost immediately, he feels the effects. It's like his skin, his body, his heart has become real again, real in a world much colder than he remembers. He's being recreated. This is what it feels like, isn't it?

Cosmic and mortal at the same time, his atoms are flung into arrangement after long years of drifting, and he is a tree raised from the earth, suddenly standing, suddenly bodied, suddenly aware and alive and staring at the world.

Drifting, confused, scared. Yeah, he remembers. This is what it feels like to be created.

He just doesn't remember it hurting this much.

He doesn't remember anything ever hurting this much, because he's been trying not to think about what happened to him that day on those chains, and oh, oh, oh, it's here with him again now.

The needle presses deeper into his throat. He can hear Anti – no, Chase, his Chase, his Chase in pain – breathing harshly above him, trying to make himself do it.

“Don't feel guilty,” he hears himself sob.

“What?”

He clings to his wrists. He clings, clings, clings to his little brother's wrists. Amata, amata, Chase, the only word left on his mouth, the only thing left that matters, his heart, his heart.

“I love you.”

Aphasia, or the inability to produce language, is not an uncommon result of brain damage. An interesting fact about this condition, however, is that, at times, while it may be impossible for a person to form the sentences or words they'd like to say, it may well be possible for them to recite memorized or familiar phrases. For example, someone might not be able to express their congratulations to a family member on their birthday, but when everyone begins singing “happy birthday,” they are able to join in just as loud and as clearly as anyone else.

There are phrases Marvin knows. There are recitations imprinted on his heart. And if you had told him that a week ago, he would have laughed and made fun of you, because, as he would assure you, that is much too soft for him, but this is not a week ago.

This is now. His kidneys have failed twice. He was tortured for three hours straight. His little brother has been missing for six months and now, here he is.

It is Anti also, or somewhat, or sort of, or something, but Marvin has never known Anti beyond legends and a battle or two, and what he sees – what he feels, what he hears, what he smells – this is Chase, Chase with his sad, lovely eyes, Chase with hair that goes gold in the right light, Chase with this bizarre and ever-present vanilla smell on his tired palms, Chase, Chase, Chase.

Marvin is laughing before he knows why, laughing as Anti tries to put the needle in his neck.

“I love you better than stars and suns,” he recites, his own spells, his own poetry. “I would like to make a constellation of you, stella amata, beloved, my heart. Blue eyes, brother. Amata, I'm here. Amata, I'm here. Come lie down with me. I love you. Chase, do you want to come with me? Just breathe deep. What can I do to help? Are you with me? I know how hard you're trying, I know you're doing your best.”

A litany of remembered things, left over from every time Marvin has comforted him or been comforted by him. A litany of their brotherhood.

“Stop,” he cries.

Marvin begins to quote in earnest. Brothers and songwriters and authors.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Stay with me, my brother. Here I am. I can't lose you. The weather would be just right, requiring a light sweater mornings and evenings, and something short-sleeved midday.”

“You're just babbling,” he howls, pressing him down bodily into that hospital bed, until they are chest-to-chest but for the book on Marvin's chest and the cards beneath it. Marvin's head is clearing again the longer he looks at it. He knows he needs to try and speak on his own again. He knows he needs to try and save him. His brother. His Chase.

“Scared,” he whispers, touching his cheek, and he groans and ducks his head, holding that needle against his throat in a trembling hand. “I know. Scared.”

“No... No, I'm not s-scared...”

Marvin could sing for Chase's stammer. He caresses his beard, dark and unkempt. His free hand traces down his own chest, careful.

“Don't feel guilty,” he murmurs, reaching back to touch his hair, to stroke his head like he had Jamie's only minutes before. “If pain. Me, darling.”

“You should be worrying about yourself, not us!” he shrieks. “We're not going to feel guilty for killing you! I'm not! And I'll, I'll... I'll take the black and white one with me again! Yes! Our baby brother! And he'll quiet all this noise! I won't feel alone anymore!”

“Not feel alone anymore,” whispers Marvin, tears hot and red on his cheeks, from the pain, from the fear, from the love of him. “Not alone.”

“I'll make it stop, I'll make it stop.” He is shaking his head back and forth above him and they both know he does not believe himself. “We have to make it stop, we just want – I just want – ”

“Chase,” whispers Marvin. “Cast him out.”

“I c-can't!”

“Yes, Chase. Yes.”

“No, I can't, I've tried, I've tried! For months, Marvin, for months, I tried so hard, I did. I wanted so badly to come home to all of you.”

Marvin sobs and clings to his face, his free hand finally reaching his card pack.

“I was so scared, I just want this to stop, we both do!”

“Cast him out. Cast him out. You – you are my sunshine, I'm here, stella amata, the weather would be just right... Chase, here, here.”

“Marvin!” cries Chase. “Please, please help me.”

“No, stop,” shouts something else beneath his skin.

“It hurts!” they both shriek, falling slightly away from the bed.

Marvin grabs their hand.

For a moment, Chase and Anti both stare at him, and there is a silence and an ocean between them, and the world is a rocking, moving thing, and they are anchored together in white palms and white fingers and twin tattoos along their right arms, and they see each other.

“Get the fuck out, Anti,” says Marvin, and he pulls out his King of Hearts and finishes the spell he meant to finish in that basement a week ago.

Light burns between the two of them and they scream as they fall back, their flesh singed by the force of the spell, a black heart scalding into their neck. He – they – whoever and whatever this creature is – trips back over Jameson and falls to the ground beside him.

“Marvin!” Screaming down the hall. “Marvin!”

The door opens and slams into the wall. Jackie does not hesitate even to look around, just pounces towards Anti.

“Stay back!” he screams, scrabbling to his feet and bringing Jameson's body with him, the syringe pressed against his throat. “You stay the fuck away from me!”

“No, you get the fuck away from him,” cries Jackie, teeth snarling. “Let him go. Anti, you're bleeding already. Give up.”

He's right. He realizes with a start that blood is tracing its way down his cheek, bleeding from his eye. Or – is it blood? It's dark as ink.

“Big brother,” croaks Marvin. “Careful, careful.”

“I'm here, Marvelous, I'm here. Anti, stop!”

He's maneuvering toward the door. With JJ in his arms, unconscious and pressed against that needle, Jackie doesn't know what to do to stop him. His first instinct is tackling, as it always is, but that might not end well.

“I've got a tracker on JJ,” says Jackie. Well, he's got his location on on his phone, anyway. “If you try to take him or any of my brothers away again, I'll find you.”

Anti bites his teeth at him, standing in the doorway with JJ slumped across his chest. He can hear more people coming. He's sure Jackie brought security.

But those are the least of his problems right now.

The sensation of his bones and his blood separating, of his skin peeling off from his flesh, of his heart pulsing to get out of his chest, of something being wrong inside him, of something needing to escape every cuticle of his flesh –

This is worse than it's ever been.

He turns his head, and, when he is sick, something black is leaking out of his mouth.

What is this? What's happening? He did something to me!

That's... you? Isn't it? The real you. Without me.

He slams Marvin's door shut behind him and drops Jameson in front of it, shoving him against the crack beneath the wood to slow Jackie, turning to sprint down the hall.

No, please, we can't run. I'm so tired...

Stop fucking whining!

His gait stumbles and he falls, crashing hard to the ground and drawing startled gasps all around him before he can get up again, throwing himself into a closing elevator. He shares a tense elevator ride with a terrified-looking twelve-year-old who won't take her gaze off his own bleeding eyes, trying to get his breath back before sprinting back out of the elevator and into the world.

Please, I want to go back to my brothers! I want my brothers to look after me! I think we can get separate again, please!

But he isn't listening to the voice inside his head right now.

His bones are splitting. His nerves are unraveling. Inside his head, neurons don't know which way to go.

He's coming apart. And when it's over, he doesn't think he'll have a body anymore.

He's afraid.

He runs.

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

Jackie knows where to go.

Jameson is bleeding heavy from the shoulder and his neck is blue with bruising. Jackie heaves him up in his arms and deposits his little brother gently in the bed beside Marvin's, checking for the pulse of his heart beneath his injured throat before turning to race after Anti. He hollers something about nurses, security, cops. Doesn't know what. They're safe here. Jameson and Marvin and Henrik will be looked after. They have to be. What matters now is Chase.

And he knows where to go. Jamie showed him.

He sprints down the street, down the pavement, panting hard, his body working like a machine, his feet pounding sturdy and swift against the concrete. People pass to let him go. Perhaps they can see the ferocity in his face.

He lost Chase once. Last week, he lost Marvin. All his life, his family has come and gone, through kidnappings and comas, imprisonment and loss. But today?

Today he brings his brothers home.

He picks up his pace and the wind makes way for him too. Today, he will not be late.

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

His gait slows.

His gaits slows to a snail crawl.

He staggers

He staggers

He staggers away from the building.

Lights burn around him in horrible gold and white, stinging against his aching eyes.

He can hear a low, desperate keening –

“Marvin... Marvin... Marvin...”

Over and over again.

That's not his voice, is it?

He's pretty sure he's the one groaning. He's pretty sure he's the one everyone's staring at, pausing on the pavement to call out in concern and whisper.

He's pretty sure he's covered in somebody else's blood.

His brain has turned to mush as everything inside him tears about and he no longer knows where he's running. Hot tears course down his cheeks. He clutches at his shirt and realizes he's aching for something soft to hold. A hand, a warm body, or maybe just a plush seal toy squished into a stuffie pancake.

“My baby,” he hears that distant, familiar voice whisper. “Hunter... my son...”

He has no child. He has no family. He is what remains and what remains is all that there is.

A sting cuts through his neck again and he screams, staggering against the cold wall of an alleyway. Something is in his blood! He can feel it! Poison, poison!

“What is happening to me?” he screams. “Something's inside of me! Marvin! Marvin! Marvin!”

He wants his big brother. He wants his big brother right now.

There is no big brother, there is no one left that he loves, if Marvin were to show his face to him he'd drive a knife into his heart and put a bullet through his skull just for good measure!

The sting pierces through him. The hot burn of something purer than his tainted blood. He is sobbing, heaving, sinking down beside a garbage can in a dirty alleyway beside a road to towards the hospital, wrapping his arms around himself. When did he get so skinny? When did he forget so much of himself? He can't even remember his name – a C? An H? An A?

Marvin spoke it. Marvin spoke it like it was the only word left that mattered. Marvin loved him.

I won't be thrown out of this flesh now! This body belongs to me! This body is me! I don't... what happens if I'm torn apart?

“A – Anti,” stammers his aching mouth. “Anti.”

“That name no longer means anything.” He is alone. He speaks to himself. They speak to each other. “Do we really have to go back to struggling?”

“I feel like I'm always struggling... I can't remember...”

“We don't need to remember. I have you and you have me. There is nothing left of the man you once were. If we could just settle down again!”

“P-poison... you are a poison... Marvin is sending you out...”

The pain lances through his ribs, spreading out across his body. He wails as the hurt only grows and grows, hyperventilating against the cool metal of the dumpster.

“You stole me from them!” he screams, trying to think. “I was going – I was going to see my child! My children! You stole me away from my children! From my brothers! Marvin! Marvin!”

Quiet. Something hateful and commanding arises in his head for the first time in weeks and he chokes, grabbing at his hair. I spliced you into myself once already. I will do it again. Marvin is gone and his magic was weak. You are alone with me. And if someone is leaving this body, then I will be the one to drive you out, Chase. This could kill me. I need to be separated but what if it kills me? What if I die here?

“You're... scared...”

“Chase!” someone shouts. “Chase!”

And then Jackie is there, Jackie is there, Jackie is holding him.

“Please,” he begs, he sobs, he wails; he writhes against Jackie's arms, struggles with him on the cold cement of the alleyway. “Please, it burns me!”

“Let Anti burn away,” he pants, only holding him tighter, only holding him tighter the harder he struggles. “Let Anti burn away. Come back to me. Come back home. I never meant to let you go. I'm sorry. It's me, it's Jackie. You have to remember who you are.”

Jackie smells like home. Pressed into his sweatshirt, Chase can hear again every word that Marvin spoke to him, can feel the touch of Jameson's forgiving body wrapped around his own, can see Henrik looking after him even though it terrified him.

“You know who you are,” whispers Jackie, sinking down to the pavement with him, holding him, careful with the heart-shaped burn singed into his neck. “Come back to me.”

We discover who we are in many ways. Perhaps most of all, we see ourselves in the love we have for others. In the way we love, in the fierceness with which we do. Chase knows himself, yes, after long months. He can see himself in the way Jackie is holding him and in the way he hugs him back, clinging to his brother's sweatshirt, burying his face against his chest.

Trusting his family to save him.

He is terribly ill for long minutes, sick and convulsing as the poison leaves him. Jackie's shirt soaks with the most horrible black ink. It won't come out in the wash. He doesn't care. Chase is here.

“I've got you,” he says, holding one-fourth of the world in his arms. “I've got you. I won't let him take you away again.”

The black ink runs down the brick of the alleyway where Jameson was standing a few days past with his little tray of hospital food. He knew this place would be important. He knew they would have to come here again.

Chase shudders, cries, stills against his chest.

Jackie looks down and sees the blackness creeping together as though magnetic on the brick, and then it is rising, it is forming, it is standing; it is Anti.

His face is drizzling so much black ink he can hardly keep his simulated body together, slumped and staggering, hollow and dazed. His eyes are dead. Jackie has never seen him stand still for so long.

His head rises, exhausted, and he does not breathe or move or speak a word. He only looks at Jackie. The blackness drips off of him – plink. Plink. Plink.

Jackie holds Chase. Jackie stares at him.

Anti closes his eyes and his mouth, and he lifts his hand to his chin, and then draws it away again in one of the first words of sign language Jackie ever learned.

Thank you.

Jackie should get up and hurt him. Jackie should find a way to hurt him. Jackie should kill him.

He doesn't.

The blackness collapses back into liquid. A rat scatters by. Anti's essence fills the squeaking animal up and, a moment later, they are both slipping away down the drain together, leaving nothing but drips of inky blood on the red brick behind them.

Jackie pulls Chase slightly away from himself to look at his little brother. Dazed and still bleeding sluggishly from the eyes, Chase can only snuffle and blink thick and slow, his eyes half-way closed, clinging to Jackie's shirt.

“I got you, Chaser,” whispers Jackie, slipping his arms beneath him. Chase sighs sleepily and wraps his arms around Jackie's chest as he is lifted into his arms, pressing his face against his brother's warm chest. “I got you. And I won't let you go again.”

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

A white

room.

White lights. White bedsheets. White brothers, haha. Marvin grins. He's on morphine again, but he's still crying by the time he comes to, hot wet tears tracing softly down his face.

“Marvin,” someone whispers.

“Jackie,” his mouth manages, and they share a smile there over the whiteness of the bedsheets, holding each other's hands.

Marvin's eyes drift to the rest of the room. His heart warms like grass in the sun. The bed across from his own is, at last, full.

“Okay?” he asks.

“He will be,” answers Jackie softly. “We'll make sure.”

Just like they always do. Just like they promised each other when they were young. We'll look after them. No matter what it takes.

Marvin looks down at himself.

This, he thinks. This is what it took.

“Hey,” he mumbles, pointing at the clock beside his table. It's 9:03. “Survived... night.”

“Survived the night? Oh. Yeah. That last kidney scare was yesterday. You survived the rest of the night and then the day and then this night too.” Jackie smiles at him. “Sleeping beauty.”

Marvin throws his hair in mock pride for his Aurora-levels of beauty and sends Jackie into a mini giggling fit, bent over his hand and squeezing tight.

“So... okay?” he murmurs, pointing at himself.

“There will be some complications,” says Jackie gently. “With your diet and your speech and your... your mental health, too. But everything's going to turn out alright, Marv. You made it. You're a survivor, Marv. And you helped Chase too.”

Marvin smiles up at him. Jackie praises and reassures, massaging at his palm, his eyes full of warmth. He has to keep quiet, though, because it appears they've gotten into a habit of sleeping in this room – Henrik is at Chase's side, crashed beside his brother's legs, snoring into his knees. Jameson is sitting up in the middle of the two beds, quiet and still, his throat bandaged.

“Darling?” asks Marvin. “Okay?”

JJ turns slowly about. His eyes are bright silver.

“Uh-oh,” says Jackie, reaching out his free hand for him. “Got a trance, looks like. Doing okay, buddy? You with us?”

JJ's mouth quirks dazedly and he nods.

“Good,” says Jackie, reassured. “You're getting a better handle on it already.”

Marvin reaches out his hand for him too and Jamie turns to take it, smiling warmly at him.

“See?” signs Marvin, not quite able to find the words for 'what happens now, Jameson?'

The tilt of his mouth blooms into a full smile.

“I see you, and me, and Jackie, and Chase, and Henrik,” he says.

“Is that all?” asks Jackie.

“No,” says JJ. “But that's all that matters.”

Chase shifts in his sleep and his hand finds Henrik's. All five of them are warm in the hospital room. Outside, the snow falls white and glowing in the morning sun.

[jmsa1287]

A Year in Review: The 31 Best Episodes of TV of 2019

There's never been more TV than this year. Thanks to the launch of new streaming services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ (with more to come in 2020!), there is an infinite number of hours of content out there. And while not all those TV shows are worth a watch, mot seasons of shows genuinely contain at least one great-to-amazing episode. The 31 episodes listed below are the ones that stood out the most; that either became part of the cultural conversation or were not well-watched but still resonated in a way that deserved more attention. Whether it was the writing, the acting, a visual moment or a hilarious scene, these selected episodes rose above the cut to show what TV can do in this unprecedented era.

31. “Striking Vipers,” Black Mirror Season 5, Netflix 

30. “Smell Ya Later,” Killing Eve Season 2, BBC America

29. “Chase Gets the Gays,” The Other Two Season 1, Comedy Central

28. “Refugees,” Ramy Season 1, Hulu

27. “Finish It,” The Deuce Season 3, HBO

26. “Chapter 7: The Reckoning,” The Mandalorian Season 1, Disney+ 

25. “Life’s a Beach,” Pose Season 2, FX

24. “Easter,” Better Things Season 3, FX

23. “Chapter 8: Overview,” The OA Season 2, Netflix

22. “Reborn,” Servant Season 1, Apple TV+

21. “Stories,” Broad City Season 5, Comedy Central

20. “Blondie,” High Maintenance Season 3, HBO

19. “The Trials and Tribulations of Trying to Pee While Depressed,” Euphoria Season 1, HBO

18. “The Bad Mother,” Big Little Lies Season 2, HBO

17. “405 Method Not Allowed,” Mr. Robot Season 4, USA

16. “1:23:45,” Chernobyl Season 1 HBO

15. “Dundee,” Succession Season 2, HBO

14. “Episode 9,” Mindhunter Season 2, Netflix

13. “401 Unauthorized,” Mr. Robot Season 4, USA 

12. “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am,” Modern Love Season 1, Amazon

11. “Part Four,” When They See Us Season 1, Netflix

Ava DuVernay's achingly painful "When They See Us" miniseries about the persecution of the Central Park 5 is capped off with its brilliant final episode; a showcase for Jharrel Jerome ("Moonlight") who undergoes a transformation here unlike any other actor on TV this year. Playing Korey Wise, we see Jerome go from happy-go-lucky New Yorker to a victim of the vicious prison system who is beholden to his truth despite its consequences. It is a harrowing 88 minutes of TV that is both devastating and beautiful, carried on the shoulders of Jerome's unparalleled performance.

10. “A God Walks Into a Bar,” Watchmen Season 1, HBO

The penultimate episode of "Watchmen," the buzziest show of the fall, is the most Damon Lindelof has been during this stellar season of TV. "A God Walks into a Bar" is a revealing episode in the same way as the last season of "The Leftovers," Lindelof's previous project. The episode reveals that for all of its surrealness and commentary about race and gender in our world, the "remix" of the popular comic book series is, at its core, a love story. Lindelof sets the episode as a classic cosmic joke but as it goes on, it exposes itself to be full of heart and emotion; about two people from different parts of the universe (and different parts of the space-time continuum?) connecting. At a bar. Over beer, conversation, and eggs.

09. “Strawberries,” Ramy Season 1, Hulu

Unlike anything depicted on TV, "Strawberries," the peak of Hulu's comedy "Ramy," created by standup Ramy Youssef, is told in flashback, tracking a young Ramy in the days leading up to and after 9/11. Seeing the event play out from the perspective of a young Muslim child in middle school is heartbreaking and raw; a highlight that is thoughtful, meditative, funny and surprising.

08. "Shook One Pt. II,” Euphoria Season 1, HBO

It's not until "Shook One Pt. II" that "Euphoria" finally clicks and finds its groove. Playing out at a carnival, the episode raises the dramatic stakes for the show's young cast, where creator Sam Levinson's bold aesthetic choices complement the intense tension on display. Part thriller, part romance and all edge, this episode of "Euphoria" features stellar performances from Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi and more.

07. “Volume 7: The Magician" + "Volume 8: The Hanged Man,” Too Old to Die Young Season 1 Amazon

It was hard to pick just one episode of Nicolas Winding Refn's twisted noir cop saga "Too Old to Die Young." The controversial auteur made a perfect thing for streaming age; somewhere between a film and a series. NWR said himself that you can watch the episodes out of order, or start from anywhere, which is sort of true. But it's the back-to-back episodes towards the back half of the series, "Volume 7: The Magician" and "Volume 8: The Hanged Man," that stand out the most; a chaotic and insane set of events that turn "TOTDY" on its head.

06. “Posh,” PEN15 Season 1, Hulu

"PEN15" is hands down the funniest show of 2019 but it's the Hulu series episode "Posh" — a thoughtful and insightful examination of racism in the 00s — that is the show's highlight. In the episode, BFFs Maya (Maya Erskine) and Anna (Anna Konkle) make their own version of the Spice Girls with a group of mean girls at their middle school for a class project. They force Maya, who is Japanese-American, to play Scary Spice — the only woman of color in the insanely popular British girl group, because Maya is the only girl of color among them. It sparks a deep divide between Maya and Anna that is explored in the short episode with maximum effect.

05. “DC,” Succession Season 2, HBO

Over the last few years, Americans have made Congressional hearings they're own sort of perverse reality show. So, it's no surprise that "Succession" would go there and put members of the Roy family on display and under scrutiny. The main targets here are Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun), who have to answer a number of questions about Waystar Royco's handling of alleged sexual assaults and crimes involving the company's cruise line. "Succession" had been building up to this moment since early Season 1 and the payoff is both cringe-worthy and hilarious.

04. “The Great War and Modern Memory,” True Detective Season 3 HBO

Filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier's ("Green Room," "Hold the Dark") crack at a TV show is nothing short of spectacular. With "The Great War and Modern Memory," he establishes an unsettling mood and tone to the third installment of "True Detective," a somber story about two cops investigating the disappearance of two young children over the span of several decades. The episode is poetic and solemn, featuring two mind-blowing performances from its stars Mahershala Ali and a career-best Stephen Dorff. They're both in tune with what kind of show they're in, selling creator Nic Pizzolatto's writing, which coming out of the mouths of other performers would likely sound dreadful.

03. “Episode 1,” Fleabag Season 2, Amazon

Filming a dinner scene is not as easy as it looks. For the first episode of the second season of the outstanding "Fleabag" both writer/creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge and director Harry Bradbeer hit out of the park. It's a whirlwind of an episode where PWB's Fleabag character literally tells the audience Season 2 is a love story, which, of course, involves the so-called Hot Priest (Andrew Scott). "Episode 1" is fast, zippy, and manages to get most of the show's cast in one room, featuring wonderful performances from not only PWB and Scott but also Olivia Coleman, Sian Clifford and Brett Gelman. It's a chaotic half-hour of TV that has a kinetic energy unlike anything else this year, taking an awkward family dinner to its limits.

02. "Series Finale Part 2: Hello, Elliot,” Mr. Robot Season 4, USA

The series finale of “Mr. Robot” is as emotional as it is shocking. Sam Esmail sticks the landing with his hacking drama, turning a story about a vigilante and his crew trying to right the wrong world into a personal journey of a young man struggling with deep trauma. It’s a beautiful sendoff, that is fully satisfying and a magnificent accomplishment of modern television.

01. “Never Knew a Love Like this Before,” Pose Season 2, FX

"Pose" proved itself to be an uplifting and hopeful show, uprooting cliched and tragic stories about trans people we've come to see on screen and instead, opts to show us something beautiful. But its "Never Knew a Love Like This Before" that is 2019's best episode of the year — a heart-wrenching and unexpected boom and a reminder that trans people, especially trans women of color, are often in danger. Here, Candy (an out-of-this-world performance from Angelica Ross), who orbited around the main cast in the series, is murdered. She returns to her funeral in spirit, having in-depth conversations with her friends, enemies and frenemies. Pray Tell (Billy Porter) honors her by moving forward with her wish — a lip-synch category for the balls that he previously rejected. It's a beautiful story about the history of queer culture that's personalized in an unexpected way.

[solaneceae]

EGOTOBER DAY 1 - FLOWER

Robbie loved flowers.

That one was a given. Since the undead ego had come into existence among his strange, dysfunctional family members, he always displayed a certain fondness for plant life; they may appear still and lifeless at first glance, but that misconception would be shattered under more scrutiny: the way they would oh-so-slowly move to always face the sun, or grow in a certain direction to reach the light.

Flowers were, in a sense, conscious. Responsive. Alive, despite a misleading appearance.

No wonder the zombie felt a sense of kinship around them.

The other egos must’ve noticed it back then; memories of his family’s warm smiles and excited murmurs as they led him out of the house and into the woods. There, in the mossy clearing surrounding an elder willow tree -his favourite nap spot in the warm months- had stood a little glass house that wasn’t there just a few days before.

“This is a greenhouse,” Jackie had said. “We all had a hand in makin’ it. Even Glitchy McGee over here.”

Said glitch had sneered, but the purple-haired ego had only giggled at his antics; he could tell Anti wasn’t mad. He always could. 

“It’s for you,” Marv had continued, rolling his eyes, “we know how much ya like flowers, so we thought you’d like to grow some yerself. It’s tiny, but we made it cosy!”

To say Robbie way thrilled that day was an understatement. He remembered whispers of thank yous and I love yous tumbling from his pale lips, his gangly arms reaching out to embrace the people he cared about most. Schneep’s stern advice about proper growing conditions, Chase’s laughter, JJ fondly ruffling his hair. He remembered warmth and unbridled happiness.

But now, he only felt cold.

Robbie let out a distressed whine, fingers slowly brushing along the decaying asters and daffodils.  He didn’t understand. He had worked so hard! His body may be slow and unfit for precise handiwork, but back then his natural patience and gentleness had been enough to make his greenhouse flourish. “Even… asked Host… last time we visited…” 

So why? Why was everything turning brown? What did he do wrong?

He shivered; the air had become chill the past few days, and his trusty striped sweater didn’t quite cut it anymore, especially for a creature devoid of warm blood. Robbie knew he rarely ever left the heated comfort of the house during the colder months, so he’d been worried about the state of his plants if left unattended for too long.

Looked like he wouldn’t need to worry about that since they were all dying anyway.

The zombie shook his head; what was he thinking? He could still save them! Surely one of the others would know what to do. His milky white eyes steeled in resolve, he walked out of the greenhouse, rubbing his wool-covered arms for a semblance of warmth; he had a magician to find.

***

“You want me to do… what?”

Robbie stared, tilting his head to the side; Marv was at his desk in the library, a bewildered expression on his face, as if the undead ego had just sprouted another head. “Fix… my flowers? With your magic?”

The masked man stayed silent. A few seconds ticked by, heavy and increasingly uncomfortable, as Robbie’s determination started to crumble. “...please?” he tried, thinking it would somehow defuse whatever issue his brother seemed to be having with his request.

The older ego took off his kitty mask and shook his head, an apologetic expression on his face. “Buddy… I can do lots with my magic. But reversing the course of nature?” He grimaced. “I tried it once, and… well, it felt like shite. Like I was tampering with something way bigger than myself.”

The zombie’s hopeful expression crumbled. “So… you can’t help me?”

The magician felt awful letting his little brother down, but primordial magic wasn’t to be trifled with, and he wouldn’t budge on his decision. “I’m sorry Robster, but you gotta let this go. Flowers wither eventually, that’s a fact of life. They’ll regrow when spring comes back, you know that, right?”

Robbie frowned; he did. He knew flowers couldn’t thrive in the cold, he’s read it in one of Schneep’s books back when he first started growing his own plants. But he’d grown so used to always looking after these fragile, colorful lifeforms, the prospect of spending months without caring for them didn’t sit well with him.

“I… understand.” he drawled sadly, looking up at the taller man. “Thank you… for being honest.”

Marvin offered him a gentle smile, setting his hand down on the young ego’s head to ruffle his purple hair. “It’s alright. They’ll be back in no time, you’ll see. Want to clear up the greenhouse with me tomorrow? That way it’ll be all nice and clean for next year’s sprouts.”

As the undead nodded -if a bit unenthusiastically- at his brother’s idea, a pale, green-haired ego quietly scoffed from behind a bookshelf, before vanishing in a burst of neon-colored static.

As Anti found himself outside, he rested his back against a tree and put his face in his hands, glowling; Robbie had the annoying tendency to project his emotions outwards without any restrain, especially when he was upset. The glitch could almost taste it in the air whenever he came close, and it brought up something within him he wasn’t quite willing to face. To make matters worse, Anti suspected that Robbie wasn’t even aware of this particular ability of his, and the glitch was apparently the only ego sensitive enough to pick up on it.

In any case, he did not like the feelings the zombie radiated right now. It pissed him off.

Coming to a decision, Anti glitched into Chase’s room, a plan slowly forming in his mind. “Brody, I- Stop screaming, it’s me- Chase, I swear to fuck, if you don’t shut up right now I will strangle you. Look, I need help with something.”

***

“Robbie? Hey bud, wake up.”

The zombie stirred, milky white eyes fluttering open. Chase was kneeled down next to the couch, gently shaking him awake. Robbie’s face scrunched up in a high-pitched yawn as he carefully sat up from his nap spot in the living room. “Wha…? Do you… need me to move?” The fatherly ego chuckled. “Something like that. Wanna follow me outside? There’s something we wanna show ya.”

He nodded, still lethargic; he’d been feeling down since he and Marv had cleared up the greenhouse the day before, so any distraction was welcome in his book. “Okay…”

***

And what a nice distraction it was.

Robbie gasped, gaze fluttering excitedly around him; dozens of strange, flowerless plants he’d never seen before. Shiny and plump, ranging from deep emerald green to pastel pink, reaching high or hanging low from suspended pots above his head.

He stared, enthralled by the discovery. So pretty… he kind of wanted to much on them a little.

“Do you like it?” JJ signed cheerfully from beside him.

He turned around; his brothers were watching him expectantly, gauging his reaction. He timidly smiled at them. “I… love them… they’re pretty…” he drawled, smile morphing into a worried frown. “But...”

Schneep cleared his throat. “We- well, some of us couldn’t help but notice you were distressed when your flowers wilted.”

Jackie squinted at the doctor’s words. “What’s that emphasis for?”

“Ah, Bitte verzeih mir, I mustn’t have been clear enough. You are about as observant as a mole and I cannot believe we are related in any way whatsoever.”

“Hey!”

“Aaaanyway,” Chase rolled his eyes as the two kept bickering next to him, “those are actually succulents. They’re very durable in both hot and cold weather, and barely need any water. Anti thought you’d like something you could care for all year-long, in addition to your usual summer plants.”

The zombie tilted his head. “Ant…?” Was this his more elusive brother’s idea?

“Yeah,” Marvin scratched the back of his head, grimacing. “He was really weird about it too. Like, you being sad made him angry somehow? So he threatened us to make it stop?” he shrugged. “We would’ve done it regardless, but you know how dramatic he can get.”

“Look who’s talking.” Schneep deadpanned. The magician laughed, flipping his long green braid behind his back. “Bitch, I’m fucking fabulous. There’s a difference.”

Robbie only watched as his family kept throwing jabs at each other, warmth blooming somewhere in his chest as he smiled. He’d have to thank Anti next time he caught him; he might have fooled his brothers with his cold and aloof facade, but he couldn’t hide from Robbie. He was less naive that most would think, and really good at figuring other people out.

The zombie would make sure the glitch understood that. -----

@lilakennedy @tabbynerdicat @egopocalypse @humblecacti

dm me if you wanna be tagged in my egotober fics!

[arrowdaily]

Stephen Amell is dreading the eighth and final season of Arrow, though you wouldn’t know it on this hot, sunny July day in Los Angeles. Wearing Green Arrow’s new suit, the CW star seems perfectly at ease as he strikes heroic pose after heroic pose on a dimly lit stage. But once he’s traded heavy verdant leather for a T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap, his guard drops and the vulnerability starts to creep in as he contemplates Arrow’s last ten episodes, which was set to begin production in Vancouver a week after the EW photoshoot took place and premieres October 15.

“I’m very emotional and melancholy, but it’s time,” Amell—who is featured on the new cover of Entertainment Weekly—says as he takes a sip from a pint of Guinness. “I’m thirty-eight years old, and I got this job when I was thirty. I’d never had a job for more than a year. The fact that I’ve done this for the better part of a decade, and I’m not going to do it anymore, is a little frightening.”

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow debuted in the fall of 2012. The DC Comics series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who, after years away, returned to now–Star City with one goal: to save his hometown as the hooded bow-and-arrow vigilante who would become known as Green Arrow (it would take him four seasons to assume the moniker). What began as a solo crusade eventually grew to include former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), quirky computer genius Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), lawyer-turned-hero Laurel Lance/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy-Rodgers), and the rest of Team Arrow. Together they’ve defended their city from a host of threats—dark archers, megalomaniacal magicians, and the occasional metahuman—while Lost-like flashbacks revealed what Oliver endured in the five years he was away, first shipwrecked and then honing his skills around the world to become someone else, something else.

The premiere gave the CW its most-watched series debut since 2009’s The Vampire Diaries. But before they launched Arrow, Berlanti and Guggenheim had to suffer through a failure: 2011’s Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. The duo co-wrote the script but lost creative control of the film, which flopped. So when Warner Bros. TV president Peter Roth approached them in late 2011 about developing a Green Arrow show, they were wary. After much deliberation, Berlanti and Guggenheim agreed, on the condition that they maintain control. Says Guggenheim, “As long as we succeed or fail on our own work, and not someone else’s work then maybe this is worth a shot.”

Their take on the Emerald Archer—who made his DC Comics debut in 1941—was noteworthy from the beginning. Taking cues from films like The Dark Knight and The Bourne Identity and series like Homeland, the writers imagined a dark, gritty, and grounded show centered on a traumatized protagonist. “As we were breaking the story, we made very specific commitments to certain tonal things, such as ‘At the end of act one, he has his hands around his mother’s throat.’ And, ‘At the end of act two, he kills a man in cold blood to protect his secret,’” says Guggenheim.

A hero committing murder? That was practically unheard of then. Having Oliver suit up in a veritable superhero costume by the pilot’s climax was radical too. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was deep into Phase One when the producers were developing Arrow, but TV was traditionally more apprehensive about comic books. Smallville famously had a “no tights, no flights” rule and only introduced superhero costumes in the last years of its ten-season run, and there weren’t any masked avengers running around NBC’s Heroes or ABC’s No Ordinary Family, the latter produced by Berlanti (let’s not even mention NBC’s The Cape, which was essentially dead on arrival and never did get its six seasons and a movie). But Arrow not only fully committed to the idea of someone dressing up like Robin Hood to fight crime with a bow and arrow, it introduced a second costumed rogue, the Huntress (Jessica De Gouw), in episode 7.

“It’s just comic book to the extreme and the fans seem to really love it,” says Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries, a former writer on Smallville. “They still maintain it very grounded, but it’s very different with everyone in costumes. The appetite for superheroes has changed in my mind in terms of like they just want the literal superhero [now].”

Not that the team wasn’t meticulous about creating Green Arrow’s cowl. “We had to have so many conversations to get it approved, but that’s why we got [Oscar winner] Colleen Atwood [Memoirs of a Geisha] at the time to [design] the suit,” says Berlanti. “We were determined to show we could do on TV what they were doing in the movies every six months.”

“It’s really easy to make a guy with a bow and arrow look silly. We sweated every detail,” says Guggenheim, who also recalls how much effort it took to perfect Oliver’s signature growl. “I actually flew up to Vancouver. On a rooftop during reshoots on [episode 4], Stephen and I went through a variety of different versions of, basically, ‘You have failed this city,’ with different amounts of how much growl he’s putting into his performance. [We] recorded all that, [I went] back to Los Angeles, and then sat with the post guys playing around with all the different amounts of modulation.”

That process took eons compared to the unbelievably easy time the team had casting Arrow’s title role. In fact, Amell was the first person to audition for the role. “It was Stephen’s intensity. He just made you believe he was that character,” says Guggenheim, recalling Amell’s audition. “We had crafted Oliver to be this mystery box character, and Stephen somehow managed to find this balance between being totally accessible in a way you would need a TV star to be, but he’s still an enigma.” After his first reading, Amell remembers being sent outside for a short time before being brought back into the room to read for a larger group: “I called [my manager], and I go, ‘I know this is not how it’s supposed to work, but I just got that job.’”

In the first season, the show’s chief concerns were maintaining both the “grounded and real” tone and the high quality of the stunts, and investing the audience in Oliver’s crusade. Beyond that, though, there wasn’t much of an over-arching plan, which allowed the show to naturally evolve—from introducing more DC characters, such as Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), sooner than they initially intended (the shot of Deathstroke’s mask in the pilot was meant as a harmless Easter egg), to promoting Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity from a one-off character in the show’s third episode to a series regular in season 2 and eventually Oliver’s wife. Even the whole idea of a Team Arrow—which, over time, added Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy)—was the result of the writers allowing the best ideas to guide the story. “Greg used to say all the time, ‘You have a hit TV show until you don’t, so don’t save s—,’” says Amell.

Also not planned: Arrow spawning an entire shared universe. “We went on record a lot of times during the premiere of the pilot saying, ‘No superpowers, no time travel.’ But midway through season 1, Greg started to harbor a notion of doing the Flash,” says Guggenheim. “I’m a very big believer that it’s great to have a plan, but I think when it comes to creating a universe, the pitfall is that people try to run before they can walk. The key is, you build it show by show.” And so they did. First, they introduced The Flash star Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen in the two-part midseason finale of Arrow’s second season. From there, Supergirl took flight in 2015, then DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in 2016, and Batwoman is due this fall. “It’s like the hacking of the machete in the woods and then you look back and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s a path,” says executive producer and Berlanti Productions president Sarah Schechter. But even though Arrow is the universe’s namesake, Amell doesn’t concern himself with the sibling series outside of the now-annual crossovers. “I never think about any of the other shows,” he says. “I want all of them to do great, but they’re not my responsibility. My responsibility is Arrow, and to make sure everyone from the cast to the crew are good.” His sentiments are seconded by The Flash’s Gustin: “I don’t understand how he does it—his schedule that he maintains with working out, the conventions he goes to, the passion he has for it, and the love he shows towards fans. He’s always prepared. He cares more about that show being high quality than anybody else on the set.”

That said, the universe’s expansion precipitated what is widely considered to be Arrow’s best season, the fifth one. After focusing on magic in season 4, the show returned to its street-crime roots as part of “a concerted effort to play not just to our strengths but what made the shows unique,” Guggenheim says of balancing their four super-series in 2016. “Because Arrow was the longest-running Arrowverse show, we were able to do something that none of the other shows could do, which is have a villain who was basically born out of the events of season 1,” he explains of introducing Adrian Chase/Prometheus (Josh Segarra), whose criminal father was killed by Oliver. “That gave the season a resonance.”

It was midway through season 6 when Amell realized he was ready to hang up Oliver Queen’s hood. “It was just time to move on,” the actor says of pitching that Oliver leave the series at the end of season 7. “My daughter is turning six in October, and she goes to school in LA, and my wife and I want to raise her [there].” Berlanti persuaded him to return for one final season, which the producers collectively decided would be the end. “We all felt in our gut it was the right time,” says Berlanti. Adds Schechter, “It’s such a privilege to be able to say when something’s ending as opposed to having something just ripped away.”

But there’s one integral cast member who won’t be around to see Arrow through its final season. This spring, fans were devastated to learn Rickards had filmed her final episode—bringing an end to Olicity. “They’re such opposites. I think that’s what draws everyone in a little bit,” showrunner Beth Schwartz says of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. “You don’t see the [love story of] super intelligent woman and the sort of hunky, athletic man very often. She’s obviously a gorgeous woman but what he really loves is her brain.” For his part, Amell believes the success of both Felicity and Olicity lies completely with Rickards’ performance. “She’s supremely talented and awesome and carved out a space that no one anticipated. I don’t know that show works if we don’t randomly find her,” says Amell, adding that continuing the series without Team Arrow’s heart is “not great. Arrow, as you know it, has effectively ended. It’s a different show in season 8.” And he’s not exaggerating.

The final season finds Oliver working for the all-seeing extra-terrestrial the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) and trying to save the entire multiverse from a cataclysmic event. “[We’re] taking the show on the road, really getting away from Star City. Oliver is going to be traveling the world, and we’re going to go to a lot of different places,” says Guggenheim. “Every time I see Oliver and the Monitor, it’s like, ‘Okay, we are very far from where we started.’ But again, that means the show has grown and evolved.” Adds Schwartz, “This is sort of his final test because it’s greater than Star City.” Along the way, he will head down memory lane, with actor Colin Donnell, who played Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn in season 1, and Segarra’s Adrian Chase making appearances. “Episode 1 is an ode to season 1, and episode 2 is an ode to season 3,” teases Amell. “We’re playing our greatest hits.”

But season 8 is not just about building toward a satisfying series finale. “Everything relates to what’s going to happen in our crossover episode, which we’ve never done before,” says Schwartz. Spanning five hours and airing this winter, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will be the biggest crossover yet and may see Oliver perish trying to save the multiverse from destruction, if the Monitor’s prophecy is to be believed. “Oliver [is told] he’s going to die, so each episode in the run-up to ‘Crisis’ has Oliver dealing with the various stages of grief that come with that discovery,” says Guggenheim. “So the theme really is coming to terms, acceptance.”

If there’s one person who has made his peace with Oliver’s fate, it’s Amell. “Because he’s a superhero with no superpowers, I always felt he should die—but he may also not die,” says Amell, who actually found out what the show’s final scene would be at EW’s cover shoot. “I cried as [Marc Guggenheim] was telling me. There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.” Get this man some more Guinness!

[dcarevu]

DCAU #10: Be a Clown

“They don’t make straight jackets like they used to! (I should know…)”

After that last oddball episode, it feels nice to settle back into some familiar territory for this one, at least somewhat. Admittedly, even though we have been enjoying the show, it does have kind of a slow start, and to me, this episode isn’t really an exception. Next time things are scheduled to rise to the next level, but in the meantime, let’s look at why Be A Clown was passable, but a little underwhelming.

Villain: The Joker Robin:  No Writers: Red Pedersen, Steve Hayes Director: Frank Paur Animator: Akom Airdate: September 16, 1992 Episode Grade: C

Having the Joker disguise himself as a birthday clown and fighting Batman at an abandoned (or maybe it was simply closed?) carnival is an obvious setup for an episode, maybe a little bit too obvious? It didn’t make for much excitement, at least not until the end where Bruce Timm ended up storyboarding (apparently they had a freelancer leave before the episode was finished, so Bruce Timm had to finish it himself). I think this episode was another example of them not taking full advantage of their concept. But like I said, I did enjoy the ending, particularly when Batman was attempting to get the situation under control while on the roller coaster, and Joker is lobbing those “baby bombs” as Char called them.

The baby bombs were cool because it would be so easy to give the Joker some cornball 60’s-inspired clown weapons and call it good. I feel like the “baby bombs” in a way were partially that, but they also had a sense of weird and creepiness too, and work for a modern version of the Joker. We also see the return of Joker’s razor sharp throwing cards, along with a card that could somehow expel knockout gas. The razor cards are awesome, as they are a play on actual card throwing. A very real stunt among magicians, such as Ricky Jay, is throwing cards at such a speed that they can actually stick into objects such as a watermelon. The Joker is a dishonest manipulator, so giving him what is basically a cheater’s version of throwing cards, along with that being an actual weapon, makes sense with his personality. The knockout card was a bit weirder, neither Char or I really know how that would work. It jumped the shark a little, especially with how quickly it seemed to work on Batman. That must have been some strong stuff! Batman wasn’t super prepared for that one, and moments where he lacks the competence he usually has does stick out a little. But that’s more just nitpicking, and it didn’t really take away from anything.

I also thought that the Joker easily could have unmasked Batman when he was out cold, but maybe at this stage the Joker didn’t care so much about seeing Batman’s true face? The Joker is almost like a cat playing with a mouse sometimes, he doesn’t really care that much about what ultimately happens in the end, or even planning the next time they meet. He mostly cares about the in the moment plan, and having fun making life a living hell for everyone involved, including Batman. And I mean, he decided to set off a bomb at a child’s birthday party just because the mayor noted in an interview that he wanted to keep Gotham a safe place. As Char said, Joker may seem to have a high IQ, but his insanity level is also high, and they are constantly at odds with each other.

This episode also gave us our first major look at Mayor Hill. We have seen him before, but I think the most we’ve seen of him was his appearance in On Leather Wings which I didn’t even note when I covered that episode. I had honestly forgot that he becomes a semi-recurring character. Like the series bible planned, going by this episode, he seems to be a wishy-washy man that has practically zero guts, zero spine, and zero ambition to do anything aside from making sure he is seen as good in the eyes of the public. It’s not really clear as to whether or not the ordinary citizens of Gotham appreciate him as a mayor, but with how phony he seemed, it wouldn’t surprise me if people saw right through him. Come on, there is no way anyone living in Gotham would believe that the police chase which interrupted his speech on the new apartments was an isolated incident, right? This is the main reason why The Joker decides to challenge him a little, and show just how easy it is to detonate a bomb and rack up a body count it is in this place. I like seeing some actual motivation for the Joker, even if for any sane person this wouldn’t be.

On top of a phony politician, the mayor seems to be a disconnected father who thinks that he cares about his son, or at least wants people to think that. His son seems to love his father, but get easily frustrated with how he behaves, projecting himself onto his son all too often, and not truly getting to know what his son likes or wants. He completely dismisses his son’s magic hobby, as an example, and he turns his son’s birthday into what is basically a meeting among people with power and people with money. Poor kid. At least his father did have the courtesy to hire Jekko the Clown, but not even that can go right as it ends up being the Joker in disguise.

As a child-focuses episode, something I mentioned not typically being very good before, a lot of the usual sins aren’t here. The integrity of the episode isn’t completely thrown away to completely turn it into a kids’ show. We actually do have some relatable emotional scenes as well, such as when the kid is returned to his father, or even when it comes to the father being so distant toward his son. Also the child voice actor is surprisingly pretty good! Basically, I didn’t find myself embarrassed to be showing this episode to Char, and that’s a main reason why I find this episode to be passable in my book, despite it being a recipe for disaster. The only thing about the kid that Char and I really didn’t care for was his design. There was another kid at the birthday party with the same design issue, too. They don’t really look like kids, they look like mini adults with high-pitched voices. I don’t know if it’s the suit, or the hair, or the proportions, or something else entirely, but the kids in The Underdwellers looked a lot more like kids to me. Yeah, maybe they were meant to be younger, but one thing about kids is that they’re god damn goofy looking, particularly when placed inside an adult-looking suit. This kid doesn’t. Oh, and that receding hairline didn’t help, either.

It is interesting to see the Joker interacting with a kid, though. When they’re at the party, the Joker doesn’t seem to put too much attention into the kid, aside from messing with a him a little bit. But then back at the amusement park, he gets a little bit more giddy at the thought of ruining the kid’s innocence, and he even abandons Batman to chase after the kid to get him to watch Batman die. That’s pretty messed up, when you think about it! Char thought that the Joker seemed to work off of a partner in crime pretty well, and that maybe in a sense he is lonely. But I think we’re also both on the same page where we think it more comes from his joy of manipulating people, brainwashing them, and molding them to fit his needs, much like what happens with another character that we all know and love. Other than that, though, I never really got the sense that the kid was in any real danger, at least not in the moment, but who knows what would have happened if Joker did manage to escape or take Batman down. I think that if Joker escaped, he would have left the kid at the park. Maybe even on the roller coaster. But if Batman was killed, I have a suspicion that Joker would not be able to ignore the opportunity to adopt him in his own special kind of way, and morph into something similar to what we see when we get to Batman Beyond. But that’s not until way later. This is probably my favorite bit of the episode by the way, when the Joker is exposing the kid to his madness, as Char and I both think that this segment contained some of the best lines in the episode. One of them is the first quote used in this post, and then we had others such as, “If it wasn’t risky, I wouldn’t enjoy it,” and “Quiet, kid, it’s a free ticket.” Mark Hamill’s delivery is probably 60% of why these moments were so funny.

So this episode did have quite a bit going for it, but before we get to the spooky carnival stuff and the Joker/mayor’s son dynamic, there really just wasn’t that much which I considered entertaining. It’s hard to narrow down exactly why, but because there isn’t too-too much to complain about, I can hardly say the episode failed. It just turned out to be a little too forgettable for me. If they had gone further with the initial concept of Batman having a hard time saving the boy due to his frightening costume I think we would have had something much more worth watching (again, Batman Beyond). This is also our 3rd Joker episode, so he has made up 1/3 of the series so far. Maybe a little break from him would do some good? At least he didn’t trip and fall over a pit of something this time, but, yeah, he still fell at the end. Oh, Joker. You have gotta do something about that.

Char’s grade: B Major firsts: A close look at Mayor Hill.

Next time: Two-Face (Part 1)

Full episode list here!

[tired-college-student-writing]

Vocal Mayhem pt 1.

Summary: A magical accident during a meeting between the Iplier and Septic Egos leads to some interesting developments, some miscommunications and someone hiding a secret.

I was going to post this as one really long story but decided to do chapters instead~

Part 1

Part 2

Google Blue droned on at the front of the room, figures flashing in front of him. The Septic egos were growing restless, glancing at the clock on the wall like they were waiting for a school bell to release them from mind-numbing boredom. The Iplier egos were watching them with amusement, feeling slight sympathy for the inexperienced egos.

Dark was smirking at them, a flash of pride in his chest as even the most immature Iplier appeared attentive and composed throughout the meeting. He had trained them well. Afterall, if you couldn’t pay attention at least act like you were unless you want a certain sadistic android adding another hour or two of unnecessary info to his presentation. He could tell Field reporter Jim, Bim, and King was each reaching the end of their rope, eyes taking on a glossy sheen, and Wilford might start interrupting soon if Blue continued much longer, but watching Anti’s teeth grind as he glitched heavily in his seat was too satisfying to end just yet.

His attention was drawn by a quiet gasp from his left and a quiet giggle. Turning he saw Marvin glaring at Robbie, the zombie holding the small black wand the magician had been twirling around his finger for the last half an hour.

“Robbie,” Marvin hissed, trying to snatch the wand back, “Give it back,”

Robbie pouted dodging with unexpected speed for the slow-moving ego, “Nooooo, my turn to play!” His voice was soft, not drawing attention like it normally did

“It’s not a toy, give me back my wand,”

“Marvin was playing with it,”

“I know how to use it, you’ll just break it,” Marvin snapped, managing to grab one end of the stick, by now more and more egos were noticing the scuffle. Robbie held strong, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I no break it! I just wanna play!”

“Too bad give it back!” They were nearly out of their seats, each trying to pull the wand from each other’s grasp. Dark sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He should have known getting through a meeting with all the egos of both families was too much to ask. The whole room watched the two squabbling egos as their words grew louder and louder.

“E̴̟͒͊͠Ņ̴̛͎͉͆̽͆̈́͠ͅO̴̠̯̯̗̤̾̍̅Ư̵̢̗̗̮͔̦̈̆́Ģ̸̛͚͖̈́̂̅̾̓H̷̛̰͓͗͜͠!” Anti’s demonic screech ripped through the air as he finally snapped from the inane fighting. Marvin and Robbie startled back, both holding tight to the wand, only for it to snap under the strain. Glass shattered around them as a bright toxic green explosion ripped through the room, throwing everyone present back. Dark felt a warm snare wrap snugly around his throat before everything faded to black.  

Dark pushed himself up with a groan, thankfully not feeling any more broken bones that he’d have to deal with. He glanced around to see the other egos slowly begin pulling themselves into sitting positions. Marvin was the first to scramble to his feet staring at the broken wand with disbelief. His eyes widen as he whipped around looking at all of the egos in turn

“Is everyone okay?” Marvin’s worried voice made a few egos groan in response. Wilford was the next to get to his feet, brushing his clothes off.

“A little warning next time, kitten!” Wilford paused after his words left his mouth. The words lacked the usual drawling slur the reporter was known for, sounding slightly clipped and professional. The others raised an eyebrow at the oddity but didn’t comment.

“Not my fault Robbie broke my wand!” The magician glared over at the zombie before his face softened as he noticed Robbie was crying holding his detached legs against his chest with his one remaining arm, “Oh geez Rob!”

Anti glitched over to kneel next to the young ego, humming lightly as he pets the egos hair. He stayed silent, not wanting to startle the young ego as he waved the doctors over.

“Don’t worry my friend,” Doctor Schneeplestein soothed, fingers alight with swirling spring green light, “I’ll fix you right away.”

Robbie stared up at him in confusion, “Schneep talk funny?” The doctor blinked, grabbing the limbs and aligning them back where they needed to be.

“What do you mean? I sound-” His hand gripped his throat in shock, “Why can’t I speak English?”

“You feeling okay, Schneeplestein?” Iplier asked, setting Robbie’s arm down to check on the panicked doctor, “Did you hit your head?”

“No!” He shook his head frantically, “I feel perfectly fine!”

Marvin stared at them before snapping his fingers a large book appearing on the table, “Anyone else feeling off?” He asked tensely flipping through the book. The egos glanced around at each other. Red rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to ask what he meant by that only to snap it close as a high pitched squeal came out.

“Was… was that the old dial-up tone?” Chase asked  The android turned to his brothers in confusion, only for them all to stiffen as the same noise escaped Green’s throat.

“Is there something wrong with your voice modules?” Wilford demanded, worry dancing in his eyes. The all four of the brothers’ eyes flash behind their glasses before they shook their heads, confusion and slight panic covering their features.

“You two as well?” Jackie asked, only to stop as his voice came out with a much thicker accent than any of the Septics usually spoke in. This paired with the answering nods set them all on edge. Another high pitched screech filled the air, and their attention was set on Bing who was still kneeling on the floor, hand fastened tightly around his mouth.

Mutters erupted around the room, panic bubbling over each of them. Dark’s form cracked, aura surging outward to quiet everyone down.

“Everyone needs to shut up right now unless they know what’s going on,” He growled only to see their eyes glaze over, bodies tense as prey preparing to flee. That shouldn’t happen, He thought, gazing as they slowly snapped out of it one by one, unless…

“I’m not speaking English am I?” He asked softly, only to see Yandere’s and Jackieboy’s eyes glazing over.

“Well this is great,” Marvin mumbled, eyes rereading the passage he found for the third time, eyes flashing over the five egos of concern before lifting his voice to normal volume, “I think I figured out what happened, but you guys aren’t going to like it.” All the room turned to him as one. He gulped as he caught Dark’s eyes and saw the threats the demonic being wanted to hiss at him. This was going to be fun to explain.

For those that need a little help, here’s the formatting I’m using throughout the story.

“Italics inside quotation mark”= Speaking a human language that’s not English

“Bold italics in quotes”= Speaking a Language that’s not human

Bold alone= Writing

Italics alone= thoughts

[thebroodyelf]

Arcana

Being new to the fandom I enjoyed all of this very shady, funny, clever and smutty fanfictions & art pieces over here and on AO3 way too much. And of course I couldn´t hold back, the need to contribute something was too strong to resist ;´)

So... there´s going to be a fanfiction. Betareading´s still in progress, but anyways... Here is the first chapter.

1 What is this fiction?

It starts off with a retelling of Julian´s book VI, Gift and Curse/Laying low, BUT behold! It´s certainly not a mere written version of the events, no, as the story gets eely the plot is more and more altered, because Julian is Julian.

The apprentice in my version is called Octavia and yes, she has hit Julian´s head with the bottle in book I (in case you were wondering). And then there is a certain palace guard / Sherlock Holmes wannabe called Iuno. Things will get messy, I promise ^^

As I have played through book I to V and Julian´s book VII The Chariot only, you can witness my playing progress, for I´m going to weave it into this fiction. Have fun, hope you like it! 1

Portia: “Eh, yes, well here we are and you want to hear the story, right? It all started one night. Pepi and me, we were home. The palace gardens are nice and welcoming in the hot summer. All the birds chirping, telling their goodbyes to the sinking sun. Well. Guess you want to hear more about the palace´s secrets another time. But now, I´ll stick to Ilja´s story. Back then, he had just returned to Vesuvia. After the red plague he had been gone for quite a while... As far as I know, he intended to seek out Asra, a mighty magician of the city and a former lover of his. Hem. That particular night it all started, Ilja spent brooding about the past, standing at one of the aqueducts in the outskirts of the city…”

Gift and Curse

“Octavia?”

Surprise spreading over his face, Julian Devorak steps out of the dimness of their shady surroundings. He now stands at the edge of the aqueduct, a dark silhouette framed by the light of the moon. Behind him, the city towers like a behemoth, a chaotic sprawl of building stacked atop each other. In his hands is a mask with a long, curved red beak that he turns slowly, like he´s contemplating what to do with it.

“Octavia. Fancy seeing you here, hm? Out for a night walk?”

He sighs, gaze dropping to the reservoir pool below. The red of his coat reflects and refracts in the water, splashes of crimson dancing against each other.

“Me, I was just… thinking. Funny, fickle thing, life, isn´t it?”

Octavia looks up at the lanky doctor. “Should you be standing so close to the water?”

Her dark brown hair resembles molten chocolate in the strange light, her green eyes clearly show her worry.

With a nonchalant wave of his hand, Julian responds, lips twisted into one of his famous lopsided grins: “What, this water? It´s harmless, Octavia, or as harmless as it can be. It won´t do anything to me. Or anything to anyone, anymore. Sure, a few people might get sick if they go for a swim, but…”

He trails off, as his former trail of thoughts resurfaces. “Isn´t it a miracle? They went and figured it out. Or outlasted it. Wonder how they did it?”

A short pause follows, then he continues: “It´s no matter, I suppose. Life finds a way, doesn´t it? The plague is over. Ahhh. And so is my career, just like that.”

With a dramatic gesture Julian lifts the mask to examine it on eye level one last time. “Who needs a plague doctor if there´s no plague?”

Not far away, hidden behind a broken cart, a figure lurks in the dark, listening to the hushed voices. She had been waiting for a sign, apparently, for now she lifts her head with a small smile.

“Today is my lucky day… That is the killer, Countess Satrinava wants to be found.”

Iuno Aurelia gets up without making any noise. She is a palace guard and tonight, despite her usual, boring duties as such, she is on the hunt. It´s actually not her task. Being new in Vesuvia she had wanted to apply for the job, solve the mystery of Count Lucio´s death, become the greatest detective of all times, but somebody – a witch apprentice with a high reputation – had literally snatched it away right under Iuno´s nose. So much for interesting labour.

“Yet I am here, right in time.” Iuno makes a move and glides next to the cart. “And all it took were a stroll through the neighbourhood and my intuitioaaahrgh!!!”

Her foot rolls over a broken jug and she falls over. Above her head a raven lets out a ragged screech. “Shit!”

“Guards afoot, Octavia. Look lively! We´d best make tracks!”

Both leap into action at the same time, running further down the aqueduct to reach the street. The doctor gets there first, turning back to Octavia as she runs. Her foot slips on a wet stone, tumbling her backwards into the reservoir below.

“Octavia!!!”

With a loud splash the woman sinks like a stone. The doctor, shock painted all over his pale face, dashes back and grabs Octavia´s wrist in the last moment. With one strong pull he tugs her out of the water, a translucent creature attached to her belly. 

“A vampire eel?!!”

Iuno has still some distance to cover, before she can reach the two criminals. She cannot yet make out their faces in the dim light, but the sight of the undulating creature, translucent and now filling with a red shimmering fluid, causes her to hesitate in the chase.

“Vampire eel. Damn. That girl´s dead.”

If she concentrates, she can eavesdrop on the doctor, who gets a hold on the elusive creature´s head with quick, skilful moves.

“On the count of three”, he barks in his strange accent and then after counting “One. Two!” he pulls the eel off and tosses it back into the water. “Three. Up you go, then. Easy now. I´ve got you.”

A loud gasp for air is to be heard. The doctor half drags the sopping wet woman, as they run, leaving blood puddles behind. Iuno spins back into motion.

“I have to follow them! Catch the killer!”

The killer, who is just disappearing behind a gloomy street corner. When Iuno reaches the strange couple, the doctor is busy, seeing to the steadily oozing wound of the woman.

“The bleeding won´t stop. Damn”, he mumbles. He draws back with a look of displeasure and starts peeling off his gloves.

Iuno is torn between interrupting the hopeless attempt and witnessing the infamous arts of the doctor.

“Hold still.”

They don´t even notice their stunned observer.

“Deep breaths. This will only take a minute or two.

”Why are you helping me?”, the woman whispers. A pained groan follows. 

“She will live?!”, Iuno marvels. “How has he done it? Witchcraft?!”

“Shouldn´t I? You´re injured. Surely you don´t think I´ll let you bleed out on the street.”

“Ha! A noble murderer! How fascinating!”

Fascinating indeed. While the soft chatting continues, Iuno can make out a sudden glow radiating from under the skin of his throat. “A magical mark…”

Iuno is not familiar with that sort of magic.

“What in the Count´s name is going on?!” Time to intervene.

“Freeze!”, Iuno exclaims and sprints towards her prey. 

“Go, Octavia. You must leave me behind. It´s me they are looking for, not you.” With a weak gesture the doctor waves the woman off. 

Iuno decides to stay with the murderer. When the fleeing woman throws one last look over her shoulder, their eyes meet. “I will not forget you!”, Iuno shouts. Then she turns towards the doctor.

“As for you, doctor Devorak, I shall arrest you for the murder of… the murder…” For the first time the palace guard has a clear view on her target. Dumbstruck Iuno watches, as fresh blood blossoms under his clothing, his face a grimace of pain.

“A parting gift… Curse, to be more precise”, he explains with an exasperated sigh.

“You… How… Why?” The palace guard finds herself stuttering. She is not only confused by the expanding red glistering on the black and white cloths of the man before her. 

“I´m able to take away bodily wounds, as you can see.” Still not looking up, doctor Devorak directs his obvious self-disgust at his blood covered hands and clenches them into fists.

“And in return, I get to experience them for myself… ugh.”

Slender figure. Wild red locks. No eyepatch though, but there is no doubt. An almost forgotten memory overpowers the palace guard. Her fingers begin to tremble. That man. The wanted murderer of Count Lucio. She has met him before. 

“Damn!”, she curses under her breath.

The doctor sways forward, as blood is running freely down his torso now. “It won´t last. It never does”, he says more to himself than to the guard. “A curse from a witch that fears commitment.”

His face lightens up with a strange kind of bitter joy. “Then again, I´ve never been bitten by a vampire eel. This might be interesting.”

“Shut it, I´m not listening to such nonsense!”, Iuno orders. “What can we do against… this?”

She rushes to his side and helplessly presses her hands against the wound. The doctor blinks owlishly at Iuno.

“Eh…?”

“We need to stop the bleeding, right?”

With frantic moves, she fumbles a fine embroidered handkerchief out of her belt pocket.

“Here. I´m sorry. That´s all I´ve got.”

The doctor throws a slightly embarrassed side glance to the blood puddle forming under him on the cobble stones. “You´ve changed your tune. Don´t you want to arrest me anymore?”

The palace guard rolls her eyes. “Just tell me how to help!”

Iuno hears them coming a moment after he does. The Countess´s guards, doing rounds of the outer walls. Swiftly she ushers the wounded doctor into an ally nearby. They press against the wall to seek cover, involuntarily getting into each other´s personal space.

“This is ridiculous!”, hisses Iuno.

The moment the guards pass, they hold their breaths, hoping the well-trained eyes will slide over them in the darkness. This close, Iuno can see the pain painted on doctor Devorak´s face. His eye is fixed behind her, but as if he senses the gaze it moves to Iuno´s. For a moment they stare at each other.

“I… A-apologies…”

Just as he is about to say something else, they hear a thud from the entrance of the alley. “Not the time. Let´s go.”

Now it is the doctor, grabbing Iuno´s hand and tugging her out of the alley. They break into a run. The city passes them by in a blur as they evade capture, weaving around buildings with ease. They are moving so fast, Iuno almost misses it. There, nestled between two tall buildings… a garden. 

[dfroza]

A grand True story and a humbling

is seen in Today’s paired chapters of the Testaments with the opening chapter of the book of Luke and chapter 4 of Daniel, with the first lines of Luke relating to the significance of writing words down to conserve the eternal True story of grace in the Son

from the writing of the 3rd book of the New Testament:

So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught.

(continued in the chapter...)

[A Virgin Conceives]

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!

You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,

be called ‘Son of the Highest.’

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob’s house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

the power of the Highest hover over you;

Therefore, the child you bring to birth

will be called Holy, Son of God.

(continued in the chapter...)

[The Birth of John]

When Elizabeth was full-term in her pregnancy, she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives, seeing that God had overwhelmed her with mercy, celebrated with her.

On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. But his mother intervened: “No. He is to be called John.”

“But,” they said, “no one in your family is named that.” They used sign language to ask Zachariah what he wanted him named.

Asking for a tablet, Zachariah wrote, “His name is to be John.” That took everyone by surprise. Surprise followed surprise—Zachariah’s mouth was now open, his tongue loose, and he was talking, praising God!

A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighborhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else. Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, “What will become of this child? Clearly, God has his hand in this.”

Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he came and set his people free.

He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,

and in the very house of David his servant,

Just as he promised long ago

through the preaching of his holy prophets:

Deliverance from our enemies

and every hateful hand;

Mercy to our fathers,

as he remembers to do what he said he’d do,

What he swore to our father Abraham—

a clean rescue from the enemy camp,

So we can worship him without a care in the world,

made holy before him as long as we live.

And you, my child, “Prophet of the Highest,”

will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways,

Present the offer of salvation to his people,

the forgiveness of their sins.

Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,

God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,

Shining on those in the darkness,

those sitting in the shadow of death,

Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,

down the path of peace.

The Book of Luke, Chapter 1:1-4, 26-35, 57-79 (The Message)

and from the book of Daniel we see a picture of King Nebuchadnezzar and his spiritual advisors that included magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, and witches. and then Daniel, a man full of the divine Holy Spirit who clearly interpreted the king’s dream. and the Spirit is the pure treasure of the heart by which the truth of Love is illuminated (inside, Anew)

for we don’t need such advisors as those mentioned here, right along with astrologers and tarot card readers and the like. we need to be humble children of God as daughters and sons who walk in truth. who walk in Love.

ancient lines from the 4th chapter of the book of Daniel:

[A Dream of a Chopped-Down Tree]

King Nebuchadnezzar to everyone, everywhere—every race, color, and creed: “Peace and prosperity to all! It is my privilege to report to you the gracious miracles that the High God has done for me.

“His miracles are staggering,

his wonders are surprising.

His kingdom lasts and lasts,

his sovereign rule goes on forever.

“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home taking it easy in my palace, without a care in the world. But as I was stretched out on my bed I had a dream that scared me—a nightmare that shook me. I sent for all the wise men of Babylon so that they could interpret the dream for me. When they were all assembled—magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, witches—I told them the dream. None could tell me what it meant.

“And then Daniel came in. His Babylonian name is Belteshazzar, named after my god, a man full of the divine Holy Spirit. I told him my dream.

“‘Belteshazzar,’ I said, ‘chief of the magicians, I know that you are a man full of the divine Holy Spirit and that there is no mystery that you can’t solve. Listen to this dream that I had and interpret it for me.

“‘This is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a big towering tree at the center of the world. As I watched, the tree grew huge and strong. Its top reached the sky and it could be seen from the four corners of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant—enough food for everyone! Wild animals found shelter under it, birds nested in its branches, everything living was fed and sheltered by it.

“‘And this also is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a holy watchman descend from heaven, and call out:

Chop down the tree, lop off its branches,

strip its leaves and scatter its fruit.

Chase the animals from beneath it

and shoo the birds from its branches.

But leave the stump and roots in the ground,

belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow.

Let him be soaked in heaven’s dew

and take his meals with the animals that graze.

Let him lose his mind

and get an animal’s mind in exchange,

And let this go on

for seven seasons.

The angels announce this decree,

the holy watchmen bring this sentence,

So that everyone living will know

that the High God rules human kingdoms.

He arranges kingdom affairs however he wishes,

and makes leaders out of losers.

“‘This is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. It’s your turn, Belteshazzar—interpret it for me. None of the wise men of Babylon could make heads or tails of it, but I’m sure you can do it. You’re full of the divine Holy Spirit.’”

[“You Will Graze on the Grass Like an Ox”]

At first Daniel, who had been renamed Belteshazzar in Babylon, was upset. The thoughts that came swarming into his mind terrified him.

“Belteshazzar,” the king said, “stay calm. Don’t let the dream and its interpretation scare you.”

“My master,” said Belteshazzar, “I wish this dream were about your enemies and its interpretation for your foes.

“The tree you saw that grew so large and sturdy with its top touching the sky, visible from the four corners of the world; the tree with the luxuriant foliage and abundant fruit, enough for everyone; the tree under which animals took cover and in which birds built nests—you, O king, are that tree.

“You have grown great and strong. Your royal majesty reaches sky-high, and your sovereign rule stretches to the four corners of the world.

“But the part about the holy angel descending from heaven and proclaiming, ‘Chop down the tree, destroy it, but leave stump and roots in the ground belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow; let him be soaked with heaven’s dew and take his meals with the grazing animals for seven seasons’—this, O king, also refers to you. It means that the High God has sentenced my master the king: You will be driven away from human company and live with the wild animals. You will graze on grass like an ox. You will be soaked in heaven’s dew. This will go on for seven seasons, and you will learn that the High God rules over human kingdoms and that he arranges all kingdom affairs.

“The part about the tree stump and roots being left means that your kingdom will still be there for you after you learn that it is heaven that runs things.

“So, king, take my advice: Make a clean break with your sins and start living for others. Quit your wicked life and look after the needs of the down-and-out. Then you will continue to have a good life.”

The Book of Daniel, Chapter 4:1-27 (The Message)

writing that is accompanied by these lines from Psalm 52 for the 52nd day of Autumn that clearly speak of the importance of truth and integrity:

[Psalm 52]

A David Psalm, When Doeg the Edomite Reported to Saul, “David’s at Ahimelech’s House”

Why do you brag of evil, “Big Man”?

God’s mercy carries the day.

You scheme catastrophe;

your tongue cuts razor-sharp,

artisan in lies.

You love evil more than good,

you call black white.

You love malicious gossip,

you foul-mouth.

God will tear you limb from limb,

sweep you up and throw you out,

Pull you up by the roots

from the land of life.

Good people will watch and

worship. They’ll laugh in relief:

“Big Man bet on the wrong horse,

trusted in big money,

made his living from catastrophe.”

And I’m an olive tree,

growing green in God’s house.

I trusted in the generous mercy

of God then and now.

I thank you always

that you went into action.

And I’ll stay right here,

your good name my hope,

in company with your faithful friends.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 52 (The Message)

and then lines from Psalm 17 about the significance of treasuring the Word of God in making the case of the heart while here in this world where some people despise and reject its truth:

[Psalm 17]

A David Prayer

Listen while I build my case, God,

the most honest prayer you’ll ever hear.

Show the world I’m innocent—

in your heart you know I am.

Go ahead, examine me from inside out,

surprise me in the middle of the night—

You’ll find I’m just what I say I am.

My words don’t run loose.

I’m not trying to get my way

in the world’s way.

I’m trying to get your way,

your Word’s way.

I’m staying on your trail;

I’m putting one foot

In front of the other.

I’m not giving up.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 17:1-5 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Wednesday, november 13, the 52nd day of Autumn and day 317 of the year:

[uniquejennyessays]

Greek Myth In Contemporary Society

For years I have been liking Rick Riordan (Rick)’s works, it seemed like I have not written a review on it yet. So, here’s one on my favorite book series of all time.

HOW AND WHEN DID I START ON THIS SERIES?

It all started during my first year of high school, when I had a fixation on Greek Mythology. I admired the humanized personality of different gods, the adventures of heroes with their tragic end, and the inconsistent romance (either a happy or a miserable end). The passion led me to discover the first series of the Chronicles, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO). I think I borrowed the first two books from the school library and bought the rest from the bookstore. I pretty much spend most of my time reading these novels forth and back.

Then it came the Heroes of Olympus (HOO) series, which Rick introduced Roman Mythology. With a set of new characters and old friends, I was even more absorbed into the series throughout my high-school years. I waited anxiously whenever a new installment was published, and was really content when I got to know the continuation of their adventure (which the author is a troll for cliffhangers, just like how they do for Attack on Titan Season 2). The Blood of Olympus (BOO) was published during my fourth year, which the moment I read it I had a mixed feeling of joy and sorrow. The ending was extremely shocking, from Leo’s plotted death to his revival (He’s the Percy Jackson’s Jesus), I nearly wanted to punch the author. But then, Rick created many mysteries inside the book itself. For example, Apollo’s punishment, the prophecy Ella recited, Nico and Will’s relationship, and Leo and Calypso’s whereabouts. These unexplained mysteries just made me go ‘What the hell’ at the end of the book. There were conspiracies that Rick would make a new series, with all these hints. Yet I fulfill all my needs through fanfictions, seeing what people predicted the future ‘book’ will happened.

Good news rained down on me in my last year of high school. During his tour for Magnus Chase series in 2015, he announced his new Greek Myth series, Trials of Apollo (TOA). The Hidden Oracle (THO) came out when I was studying my A-Levels, I went to the bookstore on the day when it was published. Since shipping required an amount of time, I was informed that the book will arrived one week later. Eventually, I waited patiently, and finally I received it. The book was still amazing as ever, with a God as the narrator and the main character. The other main character, the daughter of Demeter (which I predicted accurately) who can perform badass sword-fighting at the age of 12, sometime out of the ordinary Demeter child people would imagine.

During my A-Levels period, my taste has turned to Victorian classics. Besides, I have started on anime. Thus, my need for the series had lessen. Even I bought the Dark Prophecy (TDP) months ago, I managed to finish it. However, this does not stop me from loving the author’s style of writing and sense of humor.

(Additional note: I have finished TDP on Percy’s birthday.)

(picture of the troll)

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT?

After pouring all my love for the chronicles, so what are the series all about? Americanized Greek Mythology in the modern world. These demigods live in training camp named Camp Half-Blood (another word for demigod) during summer or for the entire year so they can prepare themselves for the dangerous outside world full of monsters. Since it has 3 different plots for each series, I need to introduce them in detail separately.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2005-2009)

The gateway to the demigod universe. It started off with the Lightning Thief (TLT), through first-point of view of our beloved hero, Percy Jackson. He discovers himself as the remaining demigod son of Poseidon, the Greek god of sea. Due to a great prophecy predicted one of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) children will bring to the fall of Olympus, his presence was a threat to the Gods. He was also set to vanquish Kronos, King of Titans who is under the aid of another demigod, Luke Castellan.

The five books of the series described his journey to be a living legend, with an amount of betrayals, deaths of his trusted partners, slight romance and awesome fighting scenes. His humorous jokes and comments presented Rick’s unique style of writing, giving the readers memorable images.

The final book, The Last Olympian (TLOl), is the greatest among them all. brings up another prophecy which is the key to the next installment. No matter how much Luke is a villain, his devastating childhood stories and his anger towards the Greek Gods made the readers understand his resentment and yearning for a familiar love. Besides, it also revealed another prophecy, which is the key to the next series.

Heroes of Olympus (2010-2014)

The sequel of the previous series, narrating seven demigods on a quest to defeat an ancient deity in the ancient grounds of Greece and Rome. They meet challenges from the worst monsters, mortals and deities, sailing to stop the wrath of Gaea, the Earth goddess.  

This series, is my favorite series among the three. It does not focus on a main character, or written in 1st person point of view. Instead, we got a third person omniscient from 9 different people, who are the seven main demigods (with Nico and Reyna in the last book). We do not get our beloved son of Poseidon in the first book, but we were given a new set of characters with different background. We also discover the Roman Version of Camp Half -Blood, Camp Jupiter, a rigid military-like camp full of Roman demigods and their descendants. The series narrated two parallel sides of the Greco-Roman Mythology working together against a common enemy.

Unlike the previous series, this brought up many backstories of characters even more tragic than Percy’s. The narration was still amusing, yet there’s a sense of seriousness inside. There was an obvious character development when the series goes on. For example, Piper McLean, who refuses to recognize herself as the daughter of Aphrodite, later accepts her identity and able to use her own inherited powers. Frank Zhang, an insecure demigod with a bad reputation, turned into a confident Roman praetor.  

The thing I would like to complain about is the final fight scene in BOO. It was a few pages long with Piper, Jason and Leo putting Gaea back to her slumber. It was not as majestic as people expected it would be. It could be as fantastic as TLOl!

Trials of Apollo (2016-?)

The latest sequel for the previous series, which feature the sun god Apollo as a powerless mortal, finding his way to gain back immortality. Rick had converted back to the first-person point of view style, with the sun god as the narrator. His choice of narrator gives us an insight to a deity’s mind and opinions, how he sees the world compared to how mortals, having an ephemeral life, perception on their life. It’s a philosophical matter which discuss about life and death, and living an eternal life.

In THO, readers could see the improvement on Apollo’s personality. From the arrogant and narcissistic god who cannot accept on his ‘ugly’ condition, finally learns how to be humble and trying to see the world as how mortals would. We also witness the psychological abuse of Nero on Meg McCaffery. Letting her believe her abuser is another person from her adoptive father, but what she does not know Nero and the ‘Beast’ are the same person.

The second book, TDP, probably is my least favorite of the series. There was not much Leo-Calypso endearing moments that I expected it should be. The first half of the book narrating Apollo doing various pet tasks, and remembering his ex-lover, Emperor Commodus. However, I am pleased that Rick put a lesbian couple in the story, which I had no idea that even same-sex relationship is prohibited as well for the Huntress of Artemis. There are old friends from the previous books, which I am delighted to see again.

The third book, The Burning Maze (TBM) will be released next year.

Companion books

As much as the companion books are light and consisted with short stories, I explored the little things that were never mentioned in the main series. Besides fillers, there were information on the demigod world, giving readers a clearer sight of the Greek Mythology and Percy’s world.

The Demigod Files (TDF), narrates how Percy assisted Clarisse on her Ares rite of passage; the discover of the bronze dragon (which later Leo named him Festus); and the children of the Big Three Gods finding the newly forged weapon of Hades (Gods do like causing unnecessary trouble and giving quests to their half-blood offspring).

The Demigod Diaries (TDD), explains the adventure of Luke and Thalia in a trapped mansion, finding Annabeth on their way; the task given by Hermes during Percy-Annabeth’s one-month anniversary date; Leo and his friends’ encounter with the drunken followers of Dionysus; and an extra story written by Rick’s son, with impressive writing style for someone diagnosed with dyslexic and ADHD.

Camp Half-Blood confidential (CHBC) is a collaborated guide ‘made’ by the campers, due to the horrible orientation film directed by Apollo. Poor Nico is the only one who suffered from the film and accidentally humiliates himself in public.

Percy Jackson’s guide to Greek Gods and Greek Heroes are separate two books as a guide introducing to Greek Gods and Heroes. People could actually score Greek Mythology with these two non-boring lecture books.  

Rick also made a crossover on Percy and his Egyptian Mythology counterpart, Carter Kane. They work together to defeat Setne, an Egyptian magician who thirst for divine powers. It was like an official crossover fanfiction.

Diverse Demigods with Dazzling Characteristics

I love the characters in the series, they were just full of animation and so on. I’ll state my top 10 favorites and that one character I truly despise.

First come with my favorite characters of the series: 

(art by viria, she makes the old official arts belongs to the pit of Tartarus)

10. Frank Zhang

One of the cinnamon roll of the series, and the tamest among Mars/Ares children. I’m glad that Rick put a Chinese demigod in it. His Chinese name, Fai Zhang, probably based on Zhang Fei from the Romance of Three Kingdom. He is the only demigod who can read and write normally. He has shape-shifting abilities, inherited from his ancestors, is adapted from the Monkey King from Journey to the West. Like the Greek hero Meleager, his life is depended on a wooden stick, showing his pyrophobia.

Frank started off as shy with low self-esteem. He was raised by his military mother and his strict grandmother who told him various tales of their ancestors. His mother died in a war, giving him a start to train himself as a Roman demigod. In the Son of Neptune (SON), we first see him doing tasks that are undesired by the other campers. He is officially welcomed into the centurion of the fifth cohort, after he was claimed as the son of Mars. His first quest to Alaska causes him slowly gathers courage and discovers his family power. The funniest makeover he has was in the House of Hades (HOH), when Triptomelus rewards him with a buffer and taller figure, saying goodbye to his chubby self. Finally, he is upgraded to praetor.

The dynamic between Leo and Frank plays a vital role. Frank, who is initially afraid of Leo because of his fire power while the latter keeps making fun of him. We can see in the Mark of Athena (MOA), his act of jealousy towards Leo due to his similarities with ‘Sammy Valdez’, Hazel’s first love. As the series continues, Leo gives him a fireproof cloth for him to keep the wood, as a baby step for Frank to give him trust.

I heard that he will be in the subsequent book, as the Dark Prophecy stated him as the ‘changeling lord’. I might see him as a mature praetor on duty alongside with Reyna.

9. Hazel Levesque

Another cinnamon roll in the series. Despite being a daughter of Pluto/Hades, she is the less miserable version of Nico. Originally, she is known to have the abilities of controlling metal and valuables. Her magical abilities in controlling the mist is known in HOH, becoming another useful weapon. Like any child of Hades/Pluto children in the series, Hazel was from the pre-20th century. Her mother, Marie was hungry for wealth, causing her daughter having a cursed ability of attracting metals. Despite Hazel resented her greedy mother, she saved her from raising Gaea. Her heroic deed gave her a token to Elysium, yet she gave up her position to refrain her mother suffer from eternal punishment. As the child of death, she wandered around Asphodel for decades. Until her Greek half-brother discovered her and brought her back to life, giving her another chance to live again, in the 21th century.

In SON, it is revealed that Hazel’s half-brother is Nico. Originally, he wanted to bring his biological sister, Bianca back to life, seeing that the Doors of Death was opened. It was hinted Bianca had chosen a new reincarnated life than staying in the Underworld. Eventually, he learnt about Hazel’s presence and decided to take her back instead. Initially, we thought Hazel as a replacement for Bianca, judging Nico as a selfish person. Slowly, he shows brotherly affection for her in HOH by kissing her forehead, something he would not simply do. In BOO, he accepts Hazel’s relationship with Frank and teases them. He even comforts Hazel when she cries for Leo. It’s a coincidence that their mother almost shared the same name.

As she lived in an era where colored-race were low-key discriminated, with her unusual ability, she was a target of bullying. Her only comfort among these mishaps was Sammy Valdez, who sees her as a diamond. As Leo shares the same looks and last name as Sammy, believing as his reincarnation, she has slight romantic fondness for him. Later, they discover Sammy is Leo’s Great Grandfather.  She finally settles down with Frank, treating Leo as her friend.

Her curse, which will be washed away by a descendent of Poseidon/Neptune, which readers are not sure if it is Percy or Frank. Besides, she probably learns some interesting 21th century stuff she had never seen before. Hopefully she does not craze for fidget spinners (those things are just all over the place!).

8. Annabeth Chase

The Brainiac of the group. Our favorite Wise Girl who is Percy’s love interest and strategist. The architect of Olympus. Someone you would choose as your girlfriend. After meeting her, you will change your views on blonde hair people.

No matter how beautiful and smart she is, she has her own fears and flaws. She has Arachnophobia, based on the feud her mother and Arachne had. In MOA, she faces her greatest fear, mother of spiders Arachne. With her clever trick, she easily defeats Arachne, possibly the first Athena demigod to do so. In SOM, she reveals her fatal flaw is hubris, believing her intelligence and power are beyond the Gods.  

She ran away from home at 7, believing that her father and stepmother had disliked her part god status. On her way, she met Luke and Thalia, who presented her one of her signature weapon, the Celestial Bronze dagger. They were like a parental figure to her, and the first demigods she encountered. In the beginning of TLT, Percy figures Annabeth develops a crush on Luke, who turns out to be a backstabbing traitor and a threat to Camp Half-Blood and Olympus. Her feelings towards Luke varies in the PJO series, we see compassion, sympathy, love, respect, hatred, and regrets. In TLOl, she settles with having a sibling love towards Luke, choosing Percy over him.

The Percy-Annabeth relationship is one of my favorite hetero fictional couple. They treat each other as equal, rather than having Annabeth as his personal sidekick. With her, as the intelligent girlfriend; and him, as the brave puppy-dog boyfriend. We surely remember the first thing she tells Percy in TLT is ‘You drool when you sleep’. Even the rivalry between their parents, Annabeth still treats him as a friend, with one or two disagreements. Of course, I shipped them before they are officially together. In the Titan’s Curse (TTC), we get hints on Percy starting to fancy Annabeth, with Aphrodite’s appearance and her teasing. Next, there was the infamous kiss scene in The Battle of Labyrinth (TBOL), confirming the start of Percy’s romance journey, which becomes true in TLOl (that underwater kiss is so romantic!). After dating for months, Percy is swapped place by Hera/Juno, without any previous memories except for Annabeth. In MOA, she gives him a judo-flip (I laughed at that scene for hours) and spend a night with him in the Argo II stables (Frank does not deserve to see this ‘intimate’ moment).

Besides, do you know that she has a Norse Demigod cousin? Check out Rick’s Norse Myth series to find out.

7. Luke Castellan

You would probably ask why I place him as Number 7, for someone like him as a traitor who almost destroy Olympus and the host for Kronos. He is the anti-hero in the first series, but I like the fact that Rick created someone like him.

Luke is not an entirely a bad person. Normally, he can pass as a protective older brother, a swordsman mentor, or that mischievous and charming friend you want to hang out with. His ambitions to destroy Olympus and feeling of resentment the gods, due to the injustice of the Olympians to their demigod offspring, makes him an antagonist in PJO. He is one of the demigods who can see the flaw of the lawful system, the one who questions the authorities.

Luke constantly seeks for familiar love which his parents failed to give him, with him living with an insane mother and an absent godly father. After he ran away, he was paired with Thalia and Annabeth, giving him a new meaning of family. However, Thalia’s death added as a fuel of his bitterness. His became the head of the Hermes Cabin, leading his half-siblings, but his anger had not fully stopped, with Kronos’s constant impure motivation. He also feels compassion towards minor godly children who have no place in Camp Half-Blood, which most of them serves him during the Titan War.

For most horrible deeds he has made in the PJO series, he finally died as a hero, oppressing Kronos who possessed him. Inspired from his wish, Percy refuses his eternal life by demanding fair treatment for every demigod child.

I ship him with Thalia, which they share a few romantic tensions in a short story in TDD. He is the reason why Thalia declined her offer as a hunter in the first place, and also the reason why Thalia settles down as the lieutenant of Artemis in TTC.

6. The Grace siblings (Thalia and Jason Grace)

It’s a tie. Yes. I could not separate them like how Juno/Hera does. The Grace siblings are the improvised version of their father. We see their father as a womanizing, dramatic and disloyal King of Gods. They showed his best qualities, like leadership. The siblings are very loyal to their partners and masters, like Thalia to Luke and Annabeth in the beginning and Artemis in TTC. Jason, a loyal and supportive friend to his Argo mates and his girlfriend (He did admire Reyna before, but thanks to certain goddess).

Thalia Grace is that cool-looking sister in punk. Her name is from Thalia, one of the Muses. The irony is that she has a great fear of heights, but she can control lightning. Like Percy, Thalia was destined to be the child in the prophecy. She fought the monsters sent by Hades to her death, protecting Luke and Annabeth. Then, she is reborn in the Sea of Monsters. Luckily in TTC, she joined the Huntress. She also been through a rough childhood, with taking care of her baby brother and her irresponsible mother, then with the disappearance of Jason. She had to take the role that her parents failed to perform, yet the Gods accused of her existence before Percy showed up. It’s pretty much Zeus/Jupiter’s fault for not stick with the oath. Not once, but twice! Worst of all, he named his son Jason, like the mortal hero, so he can make his wife happy! Best Dad award for him!

Her brother, Jason, with blonde hair and blue eyes, the typical American boy. The ‘perfect’ boy with duties and leadership, he could live a perfect Roman demigod life in Camp Jupiter. Then, Hera/Juno interfere again. From the Lost Hero (TLH) to BOO, we can see a few changes of him. The rule-following golden boy to a slightly laid-back person with nerd glasses. Most fans expected Percy and Jason had a death-match against each other in MOA, with Percy replaces his position as the praetor in SON and Jason, the legendary son of Jupiter. Unexpectedly, they become best buddies on first sight and gang up against Octavian (We also got that one scene with them fighting while being possessed by eidolons). He also has the most passed out scene in MOA (hence the birth of Brick x Jason). His sympathetic character cares for Nico when he is forced spit out his crush on Percy (who does not have a crush on him, I mean, it’s obvious to fall in love with the greatest hero). He does not question or having a prejudice on the boy’s sexuality. At the end of BOO, him and Piper sit on the roof, remembering his ‘dead’ friend Leo.

These polar-opposite blood-siblings are a unique element of the series. I would like to see more of their interactions, or Thalia spilling out more embarrassing stories of Jason.

5. Leonidas ‘Leo’ Valdez

I called him the second Percy Jackson, with that same level of humor and that friendly attitude. He has a pair of magical hands that can create things and repair broken stuff. In TLH, he modified a simple paper into a small flying helicopter. Leo was partly raised by Hera/Juno, who makes him do dangerous tasks in his childhood (This woman is nuts!). When he was eight years old, Gaea made him believe he caused a fire that kills his mother in her workshop, leaving a scar in his heart.

Leo probably knows himself as the third-wheel, constantly the one being left out. There was a period of time he is jealous of Jason’s charisma and excellent leading abilities, while he is a low-profile mechanic, with no one cares about him. Otherwise, he is a good friend to people who are nice to him. In BOO, Nike/Victoria predicts either Frank, Hazel, Percy or Leo will die in the war. Leo, helping the idea of getting the Physician’s Cure while secretly plotting his own death and his chance of survival.

This guy has a tough time catching the girls’ attention, he keeps falling for the wrong person. In the beginning, he has the hots for Khione, the cold snow goddess who side with the Titans. Next, he falls for Jason’s sister Thalia, who tries her best ignoring him. He has a small chemistry with Echo, a camouflaging nymph who is cursed to repeat people’s sentences (I feel hurtful when Echo disappears). Hazel mistakes him as her first crush Sammy, who happens to be his great-grandfather. Finally in HOH, the Titaness Calypso despise his sudden appearance on her island, later they find themselves being attracted to each other. He is also the first hero who can return to Ogygia and claim Calypso as his girlfriend, and the first demigod known dating an ancient being.    

I need more interaction of Percy and Leo, which was rare in HOO. I expected them to be joking buddies, but in MOA Percy yells at Leo for setting New Rome on fire, not a good start for best friends. Leo also dislike Percy for abandoning Calypso behind, which turned out to be a misunderstanding. I finally get a scene of them making Nike and Adidas joke they made in BOO.

By the way, Team Leo for the win.

4. Piper McLean

I do not get why people would dislike someone like her. There are several fans disliking her characteristics, including an ex-classmate of mine. They think her as the most useless and bland character. I love Rick’s arrangement of her characteristics! What is the point of making her the main character if she does not contribute anything? I mean, she singlehandedly defeats Khione and the Boreads in HOH. When Khione degrades her, she confidently argues with her, proving her strengths.

People stereotyped daughter of Aphrodite as living Barbie dolls, who do nothing but looking into their reflections and gossiping. Sometimes, they either pair people up or break others’ hearts. She breaks that idealistic view as a tomboyish girl who cares less of her look or fashion. She is one of the boldest Aphrodite child who fights for people she loves (the other one is Silena). She is very down-to-Earth about her father’s job as a Hollywood actor, until she is cornered by others. She is also the first person who dauntlessly challenges the cabin leader and oppose the Aphrodite’s rite of passage of breaking other’s heart. Piper is not a dumb-beauty, she already has an abundance of knowledge on Greek Myth and Cheeroke legends which play extremely useful information to other.

That ex-classmate told me Piper is possessive towards Jason. For me, it is very normal for her to be possessive to her ‘boyfriend’, or someone whom she loves, as long as it’s not Yuno Gasai level (see Future Diary for references). Besides, Jason is not the only one she cares about. There is Leo, and her father who is captured by the Giants. There are people dislike her because in MOA, she thinks Percy as cute, but average. Everyone has their own opinion, not everyone fancies the greatest hero on Earth. I really adore her and Percy as best friends, rather than her being another Percy’s admirer.

I would say she has the second-best character development. In TLO, she has the image of an insecure girl. Her adventure as a demigod makes her grow, mending her weaknesses. I love her chemistry with Annabeth in BOO, when fear and phobia prevent Annabeth’s logical reasoning from functioning properly, her feelings guide her to overpower them.

3. Reyna Ramiez-Arellano

Most of the major female characters are taken (except Thalia, the huntress and Rachel, the oracle), she’s the only major female demigod character in the series without a romantic partner. She made a minor appearance in the Sea of Monsters (SOM) as Circe’s apprentice, but soon

Her first appearance in SON gives a dignified and mysterious aura, we barely know her last name and such. She is fearless in battle and a wise leader. In fact, the last book reveals her fear towards ghosts, leading to her haunted childhood of physical abuse. She has moved from home to home, and settles as a praetor in New Rome. Her former sin for patricide might lose her power and trust in New Rome, thus she never speaks of it to anyone except for Nico.  

I am really entertained with the fight between Orion and Reyna. Orion, being the male chauvinist, comments the greatness of male dominance. Reyna proves herself that she can perform as well as a man could do, defeats him by herself while avenging the fallen huntresses and Amazon warriors. ‘You will die at the hands of a girl’, that sentence literally gives me the chills.

She has a successful career, blessed by two divine beings, and having an excellent characteristic. One thing that she does not own is romance, just like Aphrodite/Venus tells her that she will never find romance in half-blood. There might be a chance for her having a mortal lover, or catching the eye of an immortal being.

2. Perseus ‘Percy’ Jackson

He is the key character for us to fall in love with the demigod world with Greek Gods and monsters. He was not only charming, but having a great sense of humor. The dark hair and green eyes of his makes him fall into the category of the stereotypical hot-blooded protagonist with a tragic backstory and secret powers, like Eren Jaeger from Attack On Titan, or Hyakuya Yuuichirou from Seraph of the End. The character is based on Rick’s own son, Hayley Riordan, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexic. Rick used to tell him Greek Mythology as his bedtime stories, until the child gave him the inspiration to create his world with Greek Myth as the base.  

In TLT, he is shown as a troublesome child who gets kicked out of school frequently. He has an abusive stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, a nasty gambler. He does not have any friends except for Grover, who has difficulty in walking, and stands up for him. He nearly loses his mother from a Minotaur. His unfortunate past changes when he knows of his identity as a demigod. From SOM to TLO, we can see improvements in his mortal life, such as gaining a new stepfather, Paul Blofis, able to attend high school, and getting loyal friends. In TOA, it is known that he will have a baby sister.  

Besides his heroic acts and his brave deeds that we all know, he is pretty goofy and sarcastic. We all know of his personality through that first-person point of view about his views on others and the description of his adventures. He is moderately smart and observant, but he can be oblivious in simple stuff around him, like his own romantic encounters. He needs years to realize he is in love with Annabeth, which most of the readers get the clue before him. Reyna confesses her feelings to him in SON, which Percy needs minutes to figure it out. In BOO, when Nico opens up to Percy, Annabeth already gets the point right ahead, leaving him still in a daze.

Percy, despite being the best demigod alive, he acts quite modest and selfless. Most Greek Heroes we all know are portrayed as prideful, arrogant, womanizer or ungrateful. Him, as the son of Poseidon who technically saves the world, he never looks down on anyone. He barely sells himself, except when it’s needed, or in a very sarcastic way. He makes friends with everyone, including non-humans. In SOM, he is a little ashamed that his half-brother is a Cyclops, in the end he accepts him as his brother. The most significant moment is in TLOl, when Zeus offers him immortality. He considers at first, but then realizes the price of it, and turning it down. Instead, he asks for minor deities’ equal rights to claim their demigod children, including Hades, who is not welcomed in Olympus. If I were him I would probably do the same thing, except I might face the wrath of the King of Gods.

**Before revealing my top favorite character, here’s some honorable mentions:

Zoe Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, Will Solace, Charles Beckendorf, Rachel Dare, the Stolls brother, Ethan Nakamura, Grover Underwood, Tyson, Blackjack, Chiron, Silena Beauregard, Gleeson Hedge, Clarisse La Rue, Calypso

Now here comes my favorite character:

1.Nico di Angelo

I am so sorry, I must put him at number 1 because of my personal bias.

This character has the most noticeable character change and development. He is debuted in TTC, which he is portrayed as carefree 10 years old boy who loves Mythomagic and very curious about everything. The death of his sister, his only known blood relative, caused him fall into despair. Soon, he learnt about his parentage, separating himself from the other demigods.

Despite him as the serious, angry son of Hades with depressing background, he gets a few hilarious moments. He is turned into two types of plants; the Spiderman referenced quote ‘With great power…comes great need to take a nap’; his imagination of Percy joking about farturas; and his confession to Percy.

His personality is mostly seen from other demigods’ views. In TTC, Percy sees him as an annoying little brother and full of curiosity of the demigod world. He seems excited with everything he is involved in, and very eager in participation. He also shows concern for his sister Bianca, asking Percy to protect her. His twist of personality comes in when Percy brings the news of Bianca’s accidental death. In BOTL, he becomes the gloomy, antisocial, and angry child who seeks for revenge and performing necromancy. He also crowns himself as the Ghost King, which the name sounds very Chuunibyou-ish (Chuunibyou is a Japanese term for people who acts like a know-it-all adult and look down on real ones, or believe they have special powers unlike others, see the anime Love, Chuunibyou and other Delusions for more info). In TLOl, he tricks Percy into his father’s lair, which makes Percy angry. He is one of the important ally who aids Percy gaining his Styx River immortality and convincing Hades to fight the Titan army.

There are more demigods involved with his description of personality and people’s opinion of him in HOO. Hazel, seeing him as her savior and brother, showing an amount of respect and admiration. Annabeth, doubting him having a crush on her (which he does not), only sees him as a younger brother. Leo is scared of his necromantic skills, trying to avoid him as best as he could. Frank shows respect and fear to his ‘brother-in-law’, but unexpectedly sharing the same interest in Mythomagic. Jason, originally suggests abandoning him to the Titans while proceeding their main task in MOA, receiving many objections from the other crew members. In HOH, Jason has a sense of sympathy to Nico when Cupid forcefully make him spill out his feelings. He approached the younger boy to befriend him. We also have Reyna, who forms a big sister instinct towards him, and also feels his pain.

We get Nico’s own point of view in BOO. We could not help but to sympathize with his old memories and feelings. We can see his unrequited feelings towards Percy, his moments with Bianca, his hatred towards the Hunters, his intense feelings with his father and the most importantly, his concern towards other demigods. He is not entirely a cold-hearted, unemphatic person like others believed him to be. The way he describes Will, it definitely sounds like a typical boy meets boy fanfiction. Using comparison to other demigods like Jason and Octavian, he has a sense of fondness to the child of Apollo. The Percy-Nico-Will mirrors the Luke-Annabeth-Percy relationship. Both Luke and Percy are the heroic figure to Annabeth and Nico, they are years older than them (technically Nico is older), and they the first demigod they encounter. Annabeth had a love-hate relationship with Luke due to his betrayal; while Nico hates him for breaking their promise and admires him at the same time. Annabeth bickers with Percy like how Nico argues with Will, and they are opposite attractions. In the end of the series, Annabeth tells Luke she sees him as a brother and starts to date Percy in PJO; Nico confesses his past crush towards Percy and sets his eyes on Will, which they end up dating.

I am glad that Riordan arranged Will as his boyfriend. There is a slight change of his personality after they are dating. For example, in CHBC, him and Percy team up and tease Annabeth. In THO, he becomes more participating in camp activities, and willing to socialize with other campers. Plus, he gives an excuse for himself to sit with his boyfriend in the Apollo table. Nice job kid! The loophole of two demigods of the opposite sex cannot stay alone in a cabin gives them a nice chance to spend nights in Hades Cabin, doing stuff.  

The character I despised the most, is none than other:

Octavian

He is purely whiny and annoying, like a fly. I knew he was up to no good when I first know this person. I do not care if he is the descendant of my favorite god (Apollo), this puny auger is terrible. In SON, he reminds Percy as Luke Castellan. In BOO, Nico describes him as a watered-down, unhealthy version of Will Solace. Leo also states he has a girly screaming voice. These descriptions give reader an image of an undesired person, also adding humor in the series.

Octavian is extremely xenophobic. He immediately dislikes Percy, insulting him as graecus scum. He does not show any sign of welcoming to the arrival of the representatives of the Greek camp. Ironically, he fears for Nico, who is a powerful Greek demigod. He discriminates Rachel Dare, Apollo’s chosen oracle, believing she is a fraud who practice sorcery.

His sadistic and prideful side is portrayed in many scenes. For example, he rips off stuffed animals as an offering to the gods. He hopes Percy feel the pain of getting his new SPQR tattoo. When he is in charge as Pontifex, he picks people who are brutal like Bryce Lawrence and strong like Mike Kahle. He casually tells people that his family is wealthy in New Rome and he is a descendent of Augustus.  

In the end, his own pride and lust for fame and power blinds him, giving him a death sentence. His death is graphic and funny. He might receive eternal punishment in the Underworld. My favorite scene of him is when Piper, Jason and Percy tells him to shut his mouth in MOA.

(I almost forgot Gabe Ugliano, who happens to be the worst parent and husband in the fictional world. This man is gone for good!)

Groovy Gods of Olympus

The Greek Gods in Percy Jackson’s world rules the world, which all of them have humanistic personalities. Greek Gods mirrors human’s behavior with their vice and virtues, like Hera’s jealousy, Hephaestus’ diligence, Zeus and Aphrodite’s lust, Hestia and Artemis’s chastity, Zeus and Ares’s wrath, Hestia’s kindness and Dionysus’s sloth. They moved their base from empires to empires, until they found their spot in United States, the world’s superpower nation. Olympus is based on the top floor of the Empire state building, while the entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. These settings probably make us never see those things the same way again. The gods, adapted to the 21st century lifestyle, with their area of power matches the modern professions.  

Rick still sticks to the original description of the gods, with Athena’s greyish eyes of wisdom, Aphrodite’s changing beauty (depends on different people), Ares’ ruthless behavior, Apollo’s flashy and handsome looks and Hephaestus’s unappealing image. Not all the gods are divine as they should look. Dionysus/Mr. D in PJO series acts as a sluggish camp director. He is banished to Camp Half-Blood due to his flirtatious manners on an off-limit nymph. He does not contribute much to the camp, except for having naps or playing poker with Chiron and a few satyrs. Apollo, the prideful and narcissistic sun god, turns into a mortal by his father in TOA series. He has lost his former glory and powers, leaving him a mortal identity and body to live on Earth. Hestia, the former Olympian in the appearance of a young girl, is easily neglected due to her status.

I would admit that Greek Gods does not make excellent parents. Zeus forbids the gods from visiting their mortal children, except in a few occasions (he is also the douche who broke the oath twice and have 2 demigod children, and he passes most of the blame to Poseidon). Hera, expecting an ideal family, abandons her child Hephaestus because of his ugly appearance. In TLOl, Hades openly declares he prefers Bianca over Nico. However, some gods do care of their children. Poseidon in the series acts as a caring father to Percy (we barely see his angry side like in the myth). Hermes, who has multiple jobs, and countless children, he cares deeply for them. He even kisses Luke on the forehead before the Fates carry his body away. In BOO, it is revealed that Hades has a deep affection for his children, which most of them do not have a happy life. The antisocial and awkward god has difficulties in showing fondness, thus he provides his children gifts (Pluto gave Hazel colored pencils on her 13th birthday while Nico gets a French zombie chauffer).

Usually, gods conceive children like normal human beings. In BOTL, children of Athena are born in a unique way. I was curious at Annabeth and the other Athena’s children birth since their mother is a virgin goddess. There was a story in Greek Myth which she and Hephaestus had a child sprang from her handkerchief (of course they do not have any intimacy). It is told that children of Athena are born from the mind and pure love, not through intimate love and pregnancy. In THO, the daughter of Apollo Kayla Knowles has two fathers. I had to stop and reread that part, and it is true. I still do not get how demigod children are born from same-sex parents. Subjugate mothers? Or maybe like Athena children, sprang out from something. (I need to stop thinking about this or else the complexity will burn my brain cells).

Controversies

There’s a few controversies I have heard around.

Similarities of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter

This one was all over the place. People keep comparing Percy Jackson to Harry Potter. Some complaint that Rick copied the characters Rowling owned. These are the examples people brought up.

1.Percy has green eyes and black hair, living with an abusive parent. He does not know of his parentage. Harry, who has green eyes and black hair, living with abusive relatives.

2.Annabeth plays the smart one in the first trio. She is constantly compared to Hermione, the brightest witch in the Wizarding World.

3.Grover is the timid person of the trio, and the first supporter and companion to the main character. Another character in Harry Potter with the similar personality, Ron Weasley.

4.Chiron, the knowledgeable and caring mentor in the series, like Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

5. Luke, blond hair, the anti-hero. Draco, the anti-hero to Harry.

6. The mischievous Stolls brother, who keeps pranking on people. The Weasley twins, pranksters duo of Hogwarts.

7. Camp Half-Blood that is invisible to mortal’s eye, a haven for Greek demigods to learn defensive skills. Hogwarts, unknown to muggles and where young witches and wizards lean magic.

Maybe the author was not stable with the characterization in the first place, he might get references from the series itself. However, Rick has not confirmed that his characters are based on the Harry Potter series. The characterization became better later.

To be frank, I prefer Percy Jackson than Harry Potter. I love the diversity shown in the book, with good humor in it. Otherwise, Harry Potter gets the best language form.

The Percy Jackson movies

Movie adaptations are barely good, this is one of the examples. Even Rick himself acknowledge that the movie is horrible. I watched both movies, the plotline itself is good, but it cannot satisfy us fans.

The producers casted young adult actors for the roles than 12 years old. They could actually make the actors grow up with the movie, just how they did for Harry Potter. I’m alright with the Percy Jackson actor, I have no prejudice over Movie Grover’s race, Luke’s actor is fine (where’s the scar). I just have problems with the casting on female characters. Firstly, Annabeth Chase. In the first movie, she’s a brunette with blue eyes. I legit thought that’s a random daughter of Aphrodite. Where is the blonde hair and blue eyes? It does not mean I dislike the actress herself, it just her signature curly blonde hair with grey eyes are gone! This mistake was soon corrected in the 2nd movie. In the SOM movie, the Clarisse’s actor looked like a Victoria Secret Super Model, rather than the buff, mean-looking leader of the Ares Cabin.

There is a stark difference from the movie settings and the book settings. Instead of having cabins based on their godly parentage, each member has their own cabin. What is this? Luxury camp for the godly children? There is also no rule on camp clothing, where’s the orange camp shirt? The worst of all, why do they have advanced technologies? It is said that technologies attract monsters, which is unusable for demigods.  

All of these flaws made me prefer a sophisticated anime adaptation than a real-life movie or TV-show.

LGBT+ characters

(whoever made this edit deserves a thumbs up)

This is a recent controversy after the publicize of THO. Mostly from parent readers, they complained on the god’s sexuality and Nico and Will dating. I understand that some parents don’t want their children to knowing much about human sexuality at an early age. What makes me feel mad about the people who complained about having same-sex couple or characters in the LGBT+ spectrum does not realize that homosexuality is accepted in the ancient times.  

It is true that Apollo is bisexual, who has countless affairs with women and men. Other gods are not 100% straight, even Zeus fancied Ganymede. (I know, Greek Myth is one hell of a messed-up pit!)

Besides, I have nothing against Nico and Will dating (Solangelo shipper here!). Rick does not use words like ‘gay’, ‘queer’, ‘homosexual’ to identify their sexualities, which he does not want to label them as a specific identity. In Ancient Greco-Roman, same-sex relationship is highly encouraged in the army to strength the bonds between teammates. Also, as someone in the LGBT+ spectrum, I appreciate Rick’s decision to take the risk and promoting diversity. One thing I am mad about him is the vagueness of Nico and Will relationship. There are so many gaps in between BOO and THO which there’s no description on when they started dating, who confessed first and how do they get together! I need to know more about their relationship! I will be glad if there’s a side story of them. Also, Kayla’s mysterious birth from same-sex parents.

I love the fact that Rick does not give a dam (I simply just put a pun here) about the people who complained. He straight on inserted a kick-ass elderly lesbian couple in TDP.

How the series made an impact on me? My hopes on the franchise.

It is one of the reason why I took the path of writing. The story, and the writing-style had inspired me to be a writer myself. Looking at the vivid image of modernized Greek Gods brought some magic into my dull high-school life. I would also like to cosplay those female demigods in the future. As an anime fan, I hope this series can be created into an anime series, just like how they did for the Powerpuff Girls back then. I also hope I can meet more PJO/HOO fans in my country.

 Jenny (14-21 Aug 2017)

Author’s Note: My first essay describing on a fictional work I like. I tried to avoid any grammatical mistakes and add as much vocabulary as I can in it. The one week of writing this essay gives me neck pain (from looking too much on my laptop), and a better insight to the character and the story. I took a hiatus in the PJO/HOO fandom since I started on Hetalia and other anime. The day I decided to write this fic, I realized there are so many details I have forgotten, thus I need to check the Wikia and the books for references. This is a pleasant experience for me to start on writing reviews and simple creative writing. I might write more reviews or analytical essays for other book series and anime.  

[tcstu]

I was tagged by @typeaadventures . I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to participate in this, there’s just a lot of questions in this one.

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

I’m not entirely sure, but I know I’ve had Fahrenheit 451 a really long time. I was going to say The Tao of Pooh, because that was given to me by a close friend a long time ago, but I can’t find it on my shelf right now, so I’m not sure if I still have it.

2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?

I am currently participating in a Beta read, but besides that I’m reading The Outsiders. The last book I read was Small Steps, which is the sequel to Holes. I absolutely love Holes because of the way the various strands of the story tie together in the end. The sequel didn’t have any of that, but I still enjoyed it.

There’s so many books I want to read next, I’m not sure what I’ll go with. On the list is The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, Death Note vol. 1, The Magicians, and the latest volumes of: The Brotherband Chronicles and Magnus Chase. Oh, and I also want to finish the False Prince series.

3. Which book does everyone like and you hated?

I don’t like The Hunger Games, but it is only because of the ending. I feel like when you take a journey through a story the ending should be worth it, but for me the end of this series fell short of where I needed it to be.

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

Maybe The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft that I just mentioned. Lol! I will probably read it eventually though. Another one might be Silmarilian. I tried that once and couldn’t get through it, though I keep saying I’ll go back. Oh, a friend of mine also gave me Eat, Pray, Love and I feel like I should read it because it was a gift, but I’ve never actually want to.

5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”

Hahahahaha! I’m not saving any book for retirement. I never even thought about doing that.

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?

I always wait until the end! I don’t like spoilers.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

I don’t personally enjoy reading them, but I think they’re important to the people who are mentioned and that it’s important for authors to acknowledge those who helped them on their journey.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

First of all, @typeaadventures, I think it’s awesome that you chose Eowyn.

I’m taking this question way too seriously. I mean I think of characters like Frodo or Sam (probably because the person who tagged me chose Eowyn), but their lives are so tragic I don’t think I’d want them. I think I would choose Hermione from Harry Potter because she’s intelligent and gets to participate in the adventures, but her life isn’t horribly tragic due to them. I don’t think I would want to marry Ron though.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

When I was little, my mother used to read to me the Little House on the Prarie series. She always had to force me to sit down at first, but once she started reading I loved it. I think it is what made me love books.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

I’m kind of a book hoarder, and I actually can’t even remember where I got half of my books from. Nothing particular stands about this.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

Once I gave James and the Giant Peach to a little boy because he was a wildly creative child and I knew that he absolutely must have it.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

I usually just travel with whatever I am currently reading, and since I’m always reading something different, the book changes.

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

None that I can think of.

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

I’ve found all kinds of weird notes in books, but nothing that particularly stands out. Maybe I just have a bad memory?

15. Used or brand new?

If it’s a new author who’s just starting out, I like to buy new books to support them. However, for more popular books that have been in circulation awhile, I love finding a good deal at a used book store.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

I went through a Stephen King phase where I loved his stuff, but it’s been awhile. Based on my experiences with him back then, I would say he’s a literary genius, because I was obviously into his stuff at the time.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Hmm, sometimes I’ll enjoy the anime version of a story because they’ll build on the fight scenes compared to what’s in the original manga. The original story is always best, but I do enjoy being able to watch animated versions of the fights.

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

Definitely the 2nd Percy Jackson movie, Sea of Monsters. They completely butchered that story. Heck, they only put one monster in it! They should have called it, Sea of the Monster.

19. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

Yes!!! The Ranger’s Apprentice series. They’re always eating in those books! I read the entire thing, and since I usually read at night, I had to keep going to the kitchen for a midnight snack. The author always describes warm bread and stews and cheeses… I’m drooling just thinking about it! I’m sure I gained weight reading that series!

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

At this point in my life, I don’t’ have a particular person that I’ll always take advice from. I tend to just trust my own instinct when it comes to writing.

 OK, I’ll tag a few people in case they want to participate. So, I’m tagging:

 @brynwrites @aveyondk @ava-burton-author @writerlydays @aquarianknightrising @acfawkes @theoutlawwrites

If I tagged you and you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. If you aren’t tagged and you would like to do this, feel free to jump in! I’m sorry if I tagged someone who has already done this before.

[rqwoodward]

Awards are always fun, especially when you win them TWICE. I’m not exactly sure where the Sunshine Blogger Award came from or what it means, but it seems like an exceptionally nice award to have with its sunny graphic and cheerful vibes.

The humorous, entertaining, and thought-provoking A.S. Akkalon first nominated me for the award. If you’ve ever wondered which dinosaurs are the best to date, she can help. If you get stuck while writing a fantasy novel, she can help there too, see: The Solution to Fantasy Writer’s Block. Be sure to check out her amazing answers to the questions posed to her as a recipient of the Sunshine Blogger Award too.

Since I’m lazy and like to post once a week (but already had last week), I decided to save my publication of this post until today, the start of a new week. As I was reading through posts  I’ve missed over the last week from people I follow, I saw that the lovely K.A. Botello was also a recent recipient of the Sunshine Blogger Award, and that she nominated ME for it too!

Wow! Double win! You guys are the greatest! I’d nominate you back, so you can know the feeling, but that seems like a cheap trick. So for now I’ll blush and smile, and direct everyone to K.A. Botello and A.S. Akkalon’s Twitter feeds so you can follow them, in all their awesomeness, there.

K.A. Botello is a great person to follow on WordPress too if you want to get great updates on her current progress with editing her manuscript, find gems of writing and editing advice, or better get to know her.

The rules for the Sunshine Blogger Award are as follows:

Post the award on your blog.

Thank the person who nominated you. (Thanks again guys!)

Answer the 11 questions they set you.

Pick another 11 bloggers.

Give them 11 questions.

Since I was nominated TWICE, you’re in for a real treat. I’m about to answer TWENTY-TWO questions. Here goes!

Questions from A.S. Akkalon:

1. What do you most wish people thought about you?

That I’m nice is a good generic answer. I’d love for people to think I’m a good writer, excellent baketress (yes, I made that word up), and have cool hair. But seeing as how I’ve only shared my stories with a few people, don’t like to share cupcakes, and hibernate during the winter, thus not seeing many people, I can’t really expect those things. Maybe I should wish that people don’t think I’m stingy (Because apparently, I am. WITH CUPCAKES).

2. What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?

I tried to think of something hilarious and outlandish all week, but the only thing I could come up with was rinsing my hands with lemonade from a giant Igloo cooler as a summer camp counselor one time. I went back like three times, thinking I was using the water cooler and wondering why my hands kept being sticky.

3. If you were a game show host, what kind of game would it be?

Something nerdy and comedically obnoxious without actually being obnoxious. Trivia and word puzzles are too simple. But throw in some physical challenges (again, nothing obnoxious), and we might have struck gold.

4. Are you more scared of krakens or black death?

Black death. Krakens only kill unnamed minions or maybe the side kick you’ve grown to love. Black death can and WILL, KILL EVERYONE.

5. What do you wish there was more of in books?

Quirkiness. Not in characters, (there are way too many forced ‘quirky’ characters out there). I mean quirkiness in descriptions and content. I always wonder why epic fantasy novels never talk about their adventurers having to pee. Then I wrote such a story, and I understood. But I still enjoy unique tidbits like that where the author thought to put something unusual into their novel. Two examples off the top of my head are Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg, where pee actually is mentioned (because I brought it up and now am thinking about urine). The main character is literally ‘followed by frost,’ causing snow storms and freezing everything she touches. The book mentions her having to pee in quick bursts otherwise the urine freezes. Another example, but a much lamer one, is a book I read recently describing something as having the consistency of pudding. For some reason, that stuck with me even though I don’t remember what the object being described was (it wasn’t food). I guess I don’t see a lot of pudding comparisons in books, because I found it really  unique.

6. Where is your favourite place to read a book?

Outside in the sun on a nice day. Curled up on my couch is a great second option and where I actually do most of my reading. Also, anywhere (sitting, standing, comfortable or not) so long as I’m also eating. Yay, food.

7. What is the most “you” thing ever?

*Sigh,* Robin’s egg blue and the song Rockin’ Robin. As much as I’ve tried to run away from these two things throughout my life, they actually have ended up describing me/things I really like incredibly well. P.S. the R in R.Q. Woodward stands for Robin.

8. Cats eating birds: more proud of the cat or sorry for the bird?

Sorry for the bird. I’ve never actually seen a cat eating a bird, but if it’s anything like my dog chasing and killing screaming bunnies, I want no part of it. Poor bunnies. Stupid dog too, she’s always sick afterward.

9. What did high school English do for your love of writing?

Ha! Nothing. Back then I was more interested in the standard art forms of painting, drawing, and 3D design.

10. If you could have a mythical creature as a pet, what would it be, and what trick would you teach it?

Pegasus. Sure, everyone wants a sparkly unicorn, but think about it, wouldn’t you rather FLY? I’d teach it always catch me if ever I fell.

11. If you could have a superpower, what power would you choose?

One of the best questions ever. Since flying is covered, I’ll go with telekinesis. I’m also cheating a little bit by choosing it because my current work-in-progress includes telekinetic mages as the most powerful kind of mage: they can control the weather, heal people, physically control/manipulate other people’s bodies, and of course, do the hum-drum moving of objects with their minds. THAT is the kind of power I’d have :D

Questions from K.A. Botello:

1. What is one of the books you are currently reading?

Dang it! I’ve been on a writing binge and purposefully haven’t started my next book yet. I love that the question says “one of” too :D

I plan to re-read The Last Girl by Joe Hart next in preparation for the March 28th release of The First City by him. I reviewed the The Last Girl the first time I read it, if you want to check that out, and talked more about Hart’s skillful writing in this post.

2. If you could enter into the world of any fictional book which world would you choose?

I’m going to go with the world of The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. Don’t mean to be mentioning her twice in this Q&A series, but I think part of the problem with most fantasy novels is that the magic system is exclusive. You have to get invited to Hogwarts. You have to have the have shifter/wizard/witch/mage DNA to even know about magical communities in most fantasy books. Most other books that take place in lands where magic/dragons/all things fantastical and awesome exist, don’t go into great detail with world building. It’s basically earth back in Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest or something. Clearly, I’m generalizing. The point is, Holmberg’s world in the Paper Magician series is amazing because learning magic is like going to trade school. As far as I can tell, anyone can do it, and it’s just another profession. AMAZING. I want to live there in modern times (because the books take place around 1910 I think…in another reality where magic is normal. It takes place in London, but I don’t think her world is supposed mirror Earth’s history per se).

3. What is one of your favorite quotes?

:( I’m not big on famous quotes. I love highlighting brilliant or hilarious lines in books I read though. One that makes me smile every time I read it is, “He had spent a lot of time thinking about himself, and had come to the conclusion that he was definitely not self-absorbed.” From Scott Meyer’s Off to Be the Wizard. That and dozens of other quotes from books I’ve read are posted on Goodreads.

4. What weather would you consider ideal?

Sunny with a breeze and NOT humid. 25-115 degrees Fahrenheit is fine, snow on the ground or hot asphalt. Just so long as I can breathe easily without inhaling gnats or mosquitos!

5. What is your favorite fairy tale or classic myth?

Ooo! Tough one! I’m going to have to give a few because I think the source matters (she says to herself, knowing full well she’s cheating). When it comes to Disney renditions, I would have to save Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty. When it comes to original fairy tales, actually the answer is super easy. 100% Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans. You can, and should, read it for free here. Seriously, it’s the best fairy tale ever. You should read it. Right now.

6. If you could have any kind of animal real, or imaginary for a pet what would you choose?

A raccoon! I’ve always, always wanted one.

7. What is your favorite time of day?

Generally, meal times because I can eat. Otherwise it depends on if I’m inside or outside, what I’m doing, and what the weather’s like. While this sounds like I’m being picky, what I actually mean to say is that I like ALL of the daytime hours and find it hard to choose.

8. If you could change your natural hair color permanently, what color would you pick?

Hmm, well seeing as how my hair is currently blue, purple, and sea foam green, and has been hot pink, blue, and purple frequently throughout my life, I’d say just brown is fine. I look funny blonde. But burgundy is nice too.

9. What is your least favorite food?

Meat. Sorry carnivores. I’m a brussels spouts, broccoli, kale, and asparagus loving vegan who makes a sad face or scrunches her nose at all things meat.

10. Where would you rather vacation: the desert, the mountains, the forest, or by the sea?

All of the above, please! The year isn’t complete unless I’ve seen a bit of each!

11. What is your favorite animated movie?

Again, I have to cheat and still give too many answers. Computer animation: The Lego Movie and Frozen. Stop-motion animation: The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings. Older animation: The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast ❤️

Nominees and Questions for them:

I’m nominating:

If Mermaids Wore Suspenders because Aubrey’s amazing and always adds a sprinkle of sunshine to her posts.

S.E. Drummond because she’s my writing buddy and duh.

Green Life Blue Water because P.J. Lazos keeps it real and provides a broad range of posts from eco information to book reviews.

Don Lorah because he boldly posts tons of wonderful stories, and I want to see if he’ll actually answer my questions in a ‘get to know me’ style blog post.

and finally Niels Saunders because I know he still exists despite his recent respite from sharing his authorly awesomeness with the world.

My eleven questions for you guys are as follows:

  What’s one of the wackiest dreams you’ve ever had?

Name your favorite book, movie, and tv show, and then tell me which of THOSE is your absolute favorite.

What is the first favorite color you ever remember having and what is your fav color now?

Who is your favorite person in the world?

What’s your favorite smell?

If you had to choose between living as an insect in the Amazon or as a fish in the ocean for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Coffee,  tea, beer, or wine? (multiple choices are acceptable)

How do you like to spend your leisure time?

Do you like to hike, bike, or do other types of outdoor recreational activities? (if this answer is a “duh” type of response because of #8, do not pass go, go directly to jail. Also, tell me anything)

What is one (or maybe two) question(s) you wish I’d asked?

What is the answer to the question you just asked yourself?

Happy answering and sunshine spreading!

To learn more about moi, check out a similar Q&A post I made earlier this year.

Sunshine Blogger Award Awards are always fun, especially when you win them TWICE. I'm not exactly sure where the Sunshine Blogger Award came from or what it means, but it seems like an exceptionally nice award to have with its sunny graphic and cheerful vibes.

[spynotebook]

Cult favorite TV series Twin Peaks is mainly about a very intuitive FBI agent chasing down a supernatural serial killer, but it’s best known for being incredibly, bafflingly strange. I mean, of course it is; it was created by David Lynch. To pass the time until show’s return on May 21, we counted our favorite WTF moments from the original series (in chronological order).

19) “Her name is Lil.”

The Fire Walk With Me movie was released after the show ended, but the events in the film take place before the TV show. Like, for instance, this freaky pantomime, which baffles the FBI agent played by Kiefer Sutherland, but which plays out in easy-to-interpret code for the agent played by Chris Isaak. Just don’t ask him about the blue rose.

18) “We’re not gonna talk about Judy at all.” 

Agent Cooper doesn’t get a lot of screen time in the film (reportedly at the behest of Kyle MacLachlan). But this scene—featuring David Lynch himself as Cooper’s FBI boss, Gordon Cole, and David Bowie as a fellow agent whose mysterious behavior foreshadows Cooper’s later experiences in Twin Peaks—is one of Fire Walk With Me’s strangest sequences. And that’s saying a lot.

17) The Breakdancing Student

Blissfully unaware that her best friend has just been found dead and wrapped in plastic, Donna Hayward stops at her locker before the first class of the day in the show’s very first episode. For once, the mood is light at Twin Peaks High—and in that rare moment, a student we never meet (or see again) takes the opportunity to add some funky flair to the background of the scene. Why? Well... why not? (“Northwest Passage”)

16) “There was a fish in the percolator.”

This might be the only scene in all of Twin Peaks to feature bad coffee, a beverage so prized in the town that Showtime recently made a fun video collecting the show’s many caffeinated scenes. It’s a genuinely funny moment, also from the show’s first official episode, featuring one of Twin Peaks’ most quotable lines, and is also a perfect example of the show’s fondness for peppering its more serious moments—say, the early stages of a murder investigation—with non-sequiturs. (“Traces to Nowhere”)

15) “Let’s rock!”

Agent Cooper’s dreams and visions become important tools in cracking the Laura Palmer case, even if the remarkably open-minded Sheriff Truman has a hard time following along at first. Cooper’s first dream features footage that Twin Peaks junkies will recognize from the international version of the pilot, which was released theatrically with a longer ending that made it more of a stand-alone story. But more importantly, it also introduces the Man From Another Place. (“Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer”)

14) “This is the best damn sandwich I ever ate.”

His small stature doesn’t diminish his dancing skills, nor his baffling ability to talk in riddles both forward and backwards These “red room” scenes have become an iconic part of Twin Peaks, both visually and thematically, but their off-putting vibes feel just as potent every time you see them.

Pie may be the signature treat of Twin Peaks—followed closely by donuts—but the show has plenty of foodie moments that don’t take place at the Double R Diner. Case in point: the above scene introducing the gourmet-loving Jerry Horne, just back from Paris with a suitcase full of brie-and-butter sandwiches, which his brother Ben samples with near-orgasmic delight. (“Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer”)

13) “I’m gonna turn it upside down!”

Dana Ashbrook’s performance as Bobby Briggs is extremely oversized, particularly in the first half of Twin Peaks’ first season, and especially when he’s confronted by authority figures like Sheriff Truman, Agent Cooper, or—as in this scene—his father, the stiffly formal Major Briggs. The funeral in question is, of course, for Laura Palmer—Bobby’s girlfriend, with whom he had a fraught relationship. And he does indeed turn it upside down, berating the assembled mourners (“Everybody knew she was in trouble, but we didn’t do anything!”) and nearly starting a graveside fistfight. Emotions run high in Twin Peaks, but Bobby’s run higher than most. (“Rest in Pain”)

12) Cooper Meets a Llama

While investigating a typically offbeat lead that might hold the key to discovering Laura’s killer, Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman visit a veterinary clinic that could only have carved from the imagination of David Lynch. To Cooper’s credit, even when he’s confronted by “the beast incarnate,” he doesn’t miss a beat. (“The One-Armed Man”)

11) The Great Northern Dance-Off

Laura Palmer’s father, Leland, deals with his grief in strange ways. He’s very big on singing and wailing, but here we see him crack up on the dance floor at an important investment presentation. As portrayed by Ray Wise, Leland is equal parts campy, pitiful, and creepy—and this scene in particular is very, very unsettling. You want to laugh, but you know that you shouldn’t, especially when you see Audrey Horne sobbing at how goddamn awful everything is. (“Cooper’s Dream”)

10) Audrey’s Job Interview for One Eyed Jacks

Speaking of Audrey, she lands her gig working at a Canadian brothel by showing off a very special and strange talent to its skeptical madam. This became one of Twin Peaks’ signature moments—and the scene was later parodied on Saturday Night Live’s take-off on the show, in which an actress pretends to tongue a piece of ribbon into an elaborate gift-wrapping bow. (“Realization Time”)

9) The Great Northern Dance-Off, Part Two

At the start of season two, Leland’s hair has gone completely white, and his mind has continued to deteriorate. This time, however, the Horne brothers react to his strange behavior with even stranger behavior of their own.

As an aside, later in this episode, we see a tuxedo-clad Leland spontaneously perform “Get Happy” at a dinner party at the Hayward house. But that’s not even the weirdest part of that particular scene—that honor goes to the first and (so far) only appearance of Alicia Witt as the youngest Hayward sister, dressed as a fairy princess and displaying her child-prodigy skills on the piano. As you do. (“May the Giant Be With You”)

8) Creamed Corn

After Donna takes over Laura’s Meals on Wheels route—more for purposes of playing detective rather than any desire to actually help people—she meets a little boy and an old woman. One is a magician-in-training, while the other has very specific feelings about creamed corn. A teeny bit more context for this odd pair would come later in the series, as well as in Fire Walk With Me. (We also eventually learn a bit more about the significance of creamed corn.) But this first introduction is startlingly bizarre. (“Coma”)

7) “Deliver the message.”

No list of Twin Peaks’ weirdest moments can exclude the Log Lady. Really, you can choose any of her scenes. But this one, involving Project Blue Book’s own Major Briggs, is primo Margaret. (“Coma”)

6) “Cooper, you remind me today of a small Mexican chi-wow-wow.”

Cooper’s hard-of-hearing boss, Gordon Cole (again played by Lynch), shows up in Twin Peaks to deliver some important information at top volume. Apropos of nothing, however, he makes this observation. Cooper brings it up later, but we never get an explanation. Of course we don’t. (“Demons”)

5) Nadine Joins the Twin Peaks High Wrestling Team

Nadine Hurley is one of Twin Peaks’ most oddball characters right from the start, displaying super-strength and having a crazed obsession with inventing the world’s first silent drape runners. But after she attempts suicide, she awakens thinking she’s 18 again. Though this delusion negatively affects her marriage—which, to be fair, was already in trouble—her muscle power grows even more baffling, leading to a very odd interlude in which a middle-aged woman joins the local high school wrestling team. Frankly, Mike, a generally unlikable character who was underused after the show’s first few episodes, had it coming. (“The Black Widow”)

4) Ben Horne’s Civil War Re-enactment

The eccentric proprietor of the Great Northern Hotel, one of season one’s keenest schemers, drifts over the edge in season two when he becomes fixated on the Civil War. He’s eventually cured thanks to Dr. Jacoby and the help of his family and friends when they implement “the Appomattox scenario,” which wraps up an awful lot like The Wizard of Oz. (“Slaves and Masters”)

3) Josie and the Drawer

By this point in the show, master of deception Josie Packard has begun to realize she’s doomed to be at the mercy of the men in her life who are desperate to control her. Soon after we learn that Josie is the one who shot Cooper back at the end of season one, more gunplay ensues. But she doesn’t die from a bullet—instead, she has some kind of medical episode and Bob appears, asking, “Coop! What happened to Josie?” Well, Bob, this is what happens:

As best as we can tell, Josie’s punishment was to have her soul banished into a drawer knob at the Great Northern. Her fate is never elaborated upon much more than that. (“The Condemned Woman”)

2) “Grand theft auto!”

By its final episode, Twin Peaks had become extremely wrapped up in its own mythology. But in between all the messages from outer space and secret doorways in the woods and tarantula traps and beauty pageants, there’s still room for a classic Pete Martell interjection—as in this moment, after he mistakes a disguised Windom Earle for the Log Lady. (“Beyond Life and Death”)

1) “How’s Annie?”

“He can’t ask for your soul,” Bob explains to Agent Cooper in the Black Lodge, speaking of Agent Cooper’s evil ex-partner Earle. “I will take his.” Which version of Cooper (the good guy, or his evil twin) emerges from the Black Lodge with Annie? The very last scene of season two makes it pretty clear.

For the record, Annie “is going to be just fine,” according to Sheriff Truman in a conversation that takes place just before this. As for Agent Cooper—well, Twin Peaks returns to the airwaves May 21 for an 18-episode season on Showtime. Let’s hope we have lots of weird new moments to savor. (“Beyond Life and Death”)