#Tales of Thorn: Global

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Bowen McCurdy and Jordan Morris’s “Youth Group”

NEXT SATURDAY (July 20), I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

Youth Group is Bowen McCurdy and Jordan Morris's new and delightful graphic novel from Firstsecond. It's a charming tale of 1990s ennui, cringe Sunday School – and demon hunting.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250789235/youthgroup

Kay is a bitter, cynical teenager who's doing her best to help her mother cope with an ugly divorce that has seen her dad check out on his former family. Mom is going back to church, and she talks Kay into coming along with her to attend the church youth group.

This is set in the 1990s, and the word "cringe" hasn't yet entered our lexicon as an adjective, but boy is the youth group cringe. The pastor is a guitar-strumming bearded dad who demonstrates how down he is with the kids by singing top 40 songs rewritten with evangelical lyrics (think Weird Al meets the 700 Club). Kay gamely struggles through a session and even makes a friend or two, and agrees to keep attending in deference to her mother's pleas.

But this is no ordinary youth group. Kay's ultra-boring suburban hometown is actually infested with demons who routinely possess the townspeople, and that baseline of demonic activity has suddenly gone critical, with a new wave of possessions. Suddenly, the possessed are everywhere – even Kay's shitty dad ends up with a demon inside of him.

That's when Kay discovers that the youth group and its corny pastor are also demon hunters par excellence. Their rec-rooms sport secret cubbies filled with holy weapons, and the words of exorcism come as readily to them as any embarrassing rewritten devotional pop song. Kay's discovery of this secret world convinces her that youth group isn't so bad after all, and soon she is initiated into its mysteries, including the existence of rival demon-hunting kids from the local synagogue, Catholic church, and Wiccan coven.

As the nature of the new demonic incursion becomes clearer, it falls on Kay and her pals to overcome these sectarian divisions over the protests of their guitar-strumming, magic-wielding leader. That takes on a special urgency when Kay learns why the demons are interested in her, personally, and a handful of other kids in town who all share a secret trait.

I confess that as someone who lived through the 1990s as a young man, there is something disorienting about experiencing the decade of my young adulthood through the kind of retro lens I associate with the 1950s or 1960s. But while the experience is disorienting, it's not unpleasant. McCurdy's artwork and Morris's snappy dialog conjure up that bygone decade in a way that is simultaneously affectionate and critical, exposing the hollowness of its performative ennui and the brave face that performance represented even as the world was being swept up in corporate gigantism.

McCurdy and Morris are really onto something here, implicitly asking us why the 1990s gave us Buffy and Sabrina (and The Coven, etc etc) – what was it about that decade in which Reaganomics and globalism consolidated the gains of the 1980s, where the climate emergency took on its undeniable urgency, where media monopolies mastered the art of commodifying counterculture faster than it could mutate into new forms?

Morris's writing really shines here. If you enjoyed Bubble, his earlier outing based on the post-apocalyptic comedy podcast of the same name, you will love this one:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/21/podcasting-as-a-visual-medium/#huntr

Morris is also half of Jordan, Jesse Go!, the long-running podcast where he and Jesse Thorn do a weekly ha-ha-only-serious goofball schtick that never fails to smuggle in really clever and insightful ideas amidst the poop jokes.

https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/jordan-jesse-go/

John Hodgman calls nostalgia a "toxic impulse." Church Group deftly avoids nostalgia's trap, managing to be a period piece without falling prey to the Happy Days pathology of ignoring the many flaws and problems of its era. And of course, it's a hoot and a blast.

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/16/blight/#the-dream-of-the-nineties

[readersmagnet]

Lily Among Thorns is a book story of Bible prophecy. The Twentieth Century warned of the world's potential for two world wars, but the worst is yet to come in the first decades of the Twenty-First Century. Society's woes will lead to an Antichrist, the "Global Leader" described in the Bible as "that Man of Sin." This will result in Bible-believing Christians becoming enemies in a New Oppressive World Order. A young woman in her mid-twenties exemplifies this, despite the loss of family and love.

Explore a prophetic tale of faith and resilience. Visit https://www.annettekmazzone.com/ today and get your copy of Lily Among Thorns!

[lilithsaintcrow]

"In Baring-Gould’s text, the werewolf is a thorn in any vision of civilizational progress or lamentation of lost paradises. The monster serves as a reminder that utopic, predator-free pastures are always built on the graves of a mass cull..."

[unpopularghostwrites]

Book Review 1-4: The Lunar Chronicles, by Merissa Meyer

This is my book review for the books Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter, Fairest, and Stars Above; all by Merissa Meyer. I’ll be reviewing the books below, posting some of my favorite fan art from creators about these characters, and talking about the pros and cons of it. So buckle up for a super long post, I doubt many will read this but hey, might as well make it anyways. I will put a rating list below after the review! **Overall rating of the series: 3.5/5**  Cinder - 4.5/5 Scarlet - 3/5 Cress - 3.5/5 Winter - 3/5 Fairest - 3.5/5 Stars Above - 3/5

**You would like this book series if:** - You like science fiction and fantasy - You like twisted fairy tales - You like strong female leads (that are not sexist stereotypes of “strong female leads” - You like a feel good story - You like team oriented story lines - You like rotating points of view **Media that is similar to the Lunar Chronicles** - Percy Jackson, by Rick Riordan - Once Upon a Time, TV show on HBO Max - Merissa Meyer’s other books - The Red Queen series

**The series**

I really liked reading this series. I combined the audiobooks and the ebooks, so I could get through the series extremely quickly. It isn’t very advanced writing wise, so I can easily see a teenager or an adult reading this for the characters and story. Problems with the series are lack of LGBT representation, and inconsistent pacing - Past that, I have very little negative comments about the series. What pleased me was the racial diversity, as nearly all the main characters come from different countries and ethnicities.

I think that the Lunar Chronicles came out at the best time and worst time, as it would be a bit too cliche if it was published now, but it wasn’t nearly as popular as other book series that were coming out around this time. People were more likely to read the Percy Jackson books or the Hunger Games than they were to dive into the Lunar chronicles.

Because of the lack of clout that this series got, there is very little fan art to gush over. This is my personal favorite depiction of the main lover interests. I like that the prince is Asian, as an Asian American I don’t see nearly enough representation in books. He’s considered the most eligible heart throb in the world in this series, which is such a refreshing change of pace.

The artist for this work I couldn’t find. I got this off of pinterest.

Going into the books themselves -

This book cover was the first I ever saw for Cinder, and is incredibly inaccurate to any theme or aspect of the story. If you read it, you’ll get it.

This is a much better version of the book cover. I love the aesthetic and that it doesn’t look like a ripped off version of Twilight!

Cinder as a book is very long, there are a lot of moving parts to it but it follows the track of Cinderella very closely. You can predict what will happen, but it’s great that there are cyborg and science fiction elements like a global pandemic and moon queens to deal with.

It’s good for the world building and to introduce us to the concept of cyborg moon princesses.

But again, we’re going to notice a theme of the new covers being wonderful and the original covers being on the nose and “Twilight” like.

This book was great for 13 year old me, obsessed with wolves and quotev. The memories and nostalgia make this book a 4.5/5, if I had read it now and rated it I’d have given it a 3/5. It’s just, spit fire red head falls in love with Alpha man who is heart throbby. If you want a version of this that is more centered on a dynamic like this, I’d tell you to read A Court of Thorns and Roses (NOT that I’ve read it, but that the witty heroine and alpha man being protective trope is a bit deep fried at this point). They are cute enough and Cinder and Thorn as characters make up for this.

SPEAKING OF THORN.

Thorn grew on me as a character in this! Cress being a vapid little dizzy girl was cute in this story, maybe because Rebecca Solare is that good of a narrator. This dynamic and story line was much more interesting to me than the one in Scarlet now as an adult. As a kiddo reading this series, I got halfway through Cress before I stopped reading it. It’s only now as a 21 year old I was able to power through all of the series. The character interactions in this were great! Some of the downsides of Cress are that it becomes a bit Looney Tunes at times with all the characters separated, Scarlet and Wolf become the annoying characters to read about, and the character Jacin is the human embodiment of “my mom made me come to your birthday party, this is lame”.

Please accept this fanart as a token of my anguish:

So chugging along. Here we have:

I think that the way they fake Snow White’s death is lame. I think that this book ties all the others well but the ending fight scene is so odd. I liked this was the end of the series, I liked the idea of a childhood romance, I found Winter to be annoying. I think this idea of someone being naturally so beautiful, that her scars make her even more gorgeous to be irksome. Pretty privilege is a thing, but to have her main characteristic be that she’s beautiful is playing into the theme of Snow White a bit too much. The Evil Queen becomes much more interesting than most of our main characters. It’s weird that Scarlet and Wolf are even somewhat relevant in this book, and the end feels leaves you feeling happy but also wishing we could have had more of a central story that isn’t Cinder giving motivational empty speeches.

Levana is a very toxic person. She thinks that possession and coercion is legitimate feelings of romance. I think that her husband is an odd ball, and the entire relationship she has with him makes me feel very icky. I feel sad for her, but not enough to think she’s misunderstood or innocent. I think that this would have been great included in Winter, as it would have had more depth of character. The author herself says that this is a good book to read before picking up Winter.

Stars Above was an okay read. I don’t think that it added much, but it was a cute concept. I think that some of the stories were completely skippable, when I think back on all of the stories I honestly cannot remember many of them. 

I think that this series is very similar to many young adult series: the first book is great, the second is not as good, the third makes you question how many more are left, the last is just relief the series is over and you can go find the next one to obsess over.

BUT. DESPITE ALL THE NEGATIVITY?

I did really like having a book to read again. I felt like a little kid, and each book was a juicy apple to bite into. There were some meal-y parts but overall? Very pleasant and fun! :) I highly recommend you read these books, there are flaws but the characters are worth knowing and the story is worth being told.

How I rate books: 0 - Could not finish

Could not finish due to various reasons. Be it it’s too boring, or that it was highly offensive or poorly written.

1 - No.

Absolutely detested, will not read again, could not believe some people read this and enjoy it. What were they thinking?

2 - Eh.

Not my cup of tea, but I can see why someone would like this. Wouldn’t read again but not a complete waste of time. 

3 - Huh.

Welp. This book is very mid tier. I’m okay that I read it, might read it again if I am bored or forget it. This is an okay read and I’m okay I read it.

4 - Hm.

Hm. I don’t know if I really like this book but it made me feel something. I liked it and would read it again, I don’t know when I’d read it again but I’d confidently tell someone about this book and recommend this book.

5 - WOW! I love this book. I am this book. Read this book. 1000000000000000000000000000000/5 - Self explanatory

If I give a book this rating, assume it is now my personality and I am going to force you to read it in front of me.

**All art is not made by me, it is a google search and not my art. If it is my art, I will say so. Assume all art is not mine. Ty**

[legends-of-time]

Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)

Chapter 22: The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Masterlist

1816 AD/CE

It's funny, sometimes Kathy sees the Doctor quite frequently and sometimes it's centuries before she sees them again.

Kathy knows it's the former when she joins a certain group of writers during the summer of 1816.

Byron had already left England in April 1816, never to return until his death after having been forced to by the scandal of the separation from his ex wife, the rumours about Augusta (his half sister) and ever increasing debts.

That summer is when Kathy met him, John William Polidori, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (future Shelley though styles herself as if she is already) and Mary's sister Claire Clairmont at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

Kathy knows that the weather will keep them indoors for over three days in June, at which point the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan will appear.

Byron will challenge them to a competition to see which of them could write the best ghost story. This will produce Frankenstein and The Vampyre.

——

Thunder, lightning and torrential rain, probably thanks to the eruption of Mount Tambora the previous year which caused severe global cooling as the ash blocked out sunlight around the world.

Mary holds her young child as she looks out of the window of the villa.

"Confined again." Byron laments from his chair. "I cannot bear it. How are these guests you mentioned of Ms Davis, meant to arrive?"

"Do not worry, they have their ways." Kathy smirks as she strokes the keys of the piano in front of her. She hopes anyway. She hasn't dared go and try to find Shelley and attempt to get the Cyberium out of him as she doesn't want to cause any damage. She doesn't even know where to start as at the beginning he's all over the place before retreating to the cellar. She's happy and nervous to be in Thirteen's adventure and she knows what's going on

"Your friends sound so magical." Claire sighs wistfully.

Kathy's smirk deepens amusedly. "Indeed. It's almost as if they are other worldly."

"Such a shame your brother and sister-in-law could not join us." I.e., Carlyle and Ashildr. No need to explain how her own son and daughter-in-law are physically the same age as her or near abouts.

"Well, I could not possibly inconvenience Lord Byron any more than I have." Kathy shrugs off. "Plus, someone has to look after my wards."

"Ah yes, the mysterious new young Lord Sutcliffe and the Urchins he brings along with him." Byron remarks.

"The very world itself seems sick." Mary observes as she turns away from the window. Byron and Claire are standing and walking about at this point.

"A most ungenial summer." Polidori comments. "I've never known air as dank and frigid."

"Oh. Dank and frigid. Who does that remind me of, I wonder? Oh." Byron snaps his fingers and points at Polidori.

"Sleep well, sweet boy." Mary says to her son as she hands off the child to a servant.

"Perhaps Lord Byron or Doctor Polidori would read to us?" Claire suggests.

"What would Miss Clairmont wish to hear?" Byron asks.

"Something to awaken thrilling horror." Mary suggests.

"Yes, Mrs Shelley."

"To make us dread to look around. To curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart."

Kathy sighs as if irritated but maintains her amused smirk to show she's only joking when she says, "Who wants sleep anyway?"

"Now Ms Davis..." Byron admonishes. "I have just the thing." He walks over to the bookcase. He opens a copy of Tales of the Dead - French horror stories translated by Sarah Elizabeth Utterson.

He begins to read as they gather around. "Tales of the dead." There's a crack of thunder. Kathy holds Claire's hand as she can see that the woman is unnerved. "At midnight, we took a torch to the chapel. With pallid countenance and trembling limbs we descended to the vault. Hildegarde's leaden coffin loomed before us. The Count was seized with the sensations of terror. He opened the coffin with a stifled cry of dread, and inside we saw..."

Someone knocking on the door makes them all jump. Kathy jumps as well despite expecting it but relaxes once she feels the familial mental tug when the Doctor is nearby. Claire lets out a small scream.

"I shall send whoever calls away, my lord." Fletcher, the butler, says.

"No, Fletcher."

"What if it is she? Hildegarde, the death-bride." Mary wonders dramatically.

"If something infernal is on my doorstep, I should be the one to go and greet it." Byron continues to speak.

"Infernal?" Claire questions fearfully. "Surely not."

Byron snaps the book closed. "Who is brave enough to come and see?"

They emerge slowly into the hallway towards the door as the banging continues.

"I'll wager it's Shelley, amusing himself with a trick." Polidori disdainfully remarks.

"Shelley is not one for tricks." Mary rebuffs.

No, he's currently being held hostage by the Cyberium that's in his system. Kathy is just waiting for the right time to help him.

Bang! Those next to Kathy startle while she herself rolls her eyes. Do the Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham really have to be so dramatic?

Clearly sick of the hesitance to open the door, Byron walks forward casually and declares, "There is nothing to be afraid of."

He might as well eat his words because as soon as he opens the doors, everyone cries out at the sudden and ragged appearance of those at the door as they are light up by lightning. The Thirteenth Doctor and her companions, in period costume, also cry out, startled.

"Good evening." The Doctor greets. "Not quite the welcome I was hoping for, but I'll admit we've looked better. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances. I'm..." She holds out the psychic paper but the historicals stare back at it blankly. "Nothing? Weird. Might need a blow-dry. Uh, Kathy?" The Doctor looks at her pleadingly while Kathy stares back amusedly.

"Do you know these people?" Mary questions.

Kathy shrugs. "As I said before, my guests have their ways."

Polidori scoffs. "Of course, you know these people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan demands to know looking offended.

"Anyway." Yaz butts in, giving a 'shut up' look to Ryan before turning back to them. "Got a bit caught in the downpour."

"Yes, because it is a truth universally acknowledged..." Graham begins to narrate.

"Wrong writer." The Doctor hisses at him.

"...that one's driver will park one's carriage imprudently too far from whence one is going." Kathy would've definitely been able to tell who he is talking about without having watched the episode.

"Can we please just come in before we drown to death? Please." Ryan pleads. The fam smile at them awkwardly.

Byron huffs with a grin before stepping aside. The Doctor grins and darts inside with the companions following.

"Kathy!" She cries, pulling her into a hug.

Kathy grimaces. "Great to see you to, but please no hugs after being poured upon."

"Ah right." The Time Lord/Lady (there really should be a non-binary word for the species) pulls back with an apologetic smile. "How long's it been?"

"Only two. Frost fair, fish." Kathy replies vaguely.

"Ah, yes. How is the new Lord Sutcliffe?" The Doctor asks knowingly.

"Good." Kathy can see that everyone is still inside the hallway watching them. "Anyway, our guests should really go and get dry."

Byron is startled to attention. "Right, yes! Fletcher? Take them to some rooms and make sure they are looked after?"

"Yes, my Lord." The butler answers. Graham had clearly not heard him wander up behind him as he startles.

——

Kathy slips away from the game Byron and Claire had decided to start and go in looking for the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan.

The Doctor is talking as they come down the stairs, "Okay, so there was a spot of rain, and gale-force winds and a super-long walk. But I got us here, didn't I? And Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, soon to be Shelley, screamed in your face. Quality historical experience, that."

"Gold I'd say." Kathy calls to them.

"Exactly!" The Doctor grins at her as they get to the bottom of the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan asks.

Kathy shrugs. "Why not? It's one of the nights that inspires Frankenstein after all." She smirks and raises her eyebrows tauntingly.

"You haven't mentioned that have ya?" Graham questions her.

Kathy scoffs. "No, of course not! Spoilers! I know the rules, no mentioning Frankenstein, don't interfere and nobody snog Byron."

"If," Fletcher suddenly says startling everyone except Kathy, "you'd be so kind." The butler walks away to lead them to the drawing room.

"Blimey." Graham mutters.

"Witness some of the most enlightened minds of a generation at the pinnacle, the absolute zenith of their creativity..." The Doctor is saying as Fletcher opens the door to reveal Byron rolling on the floor with Claire, shrieking with laughter causing the Time Lord to cut off abruptly.

"Sure..." Kathy mutters with a smirk.

"What would you all care to drink?" Byron asks as he stands.

"We shall teach them the dance." Mary declares.

So they do the quadrille, with Fletcher playing the keyboard and looking done with the world. They all line up opposite each other and twist and twirl while carrying on multiple conversations. Since there's an odd number of them, Kathy had been paired with Ryan and Mary.

"I detest all gossip, you understand. Utterly abhor it." Byron declares to the Doctor.

"Mary goes by Mrs Shelley, except she and Percy are not married." Polidori says.

"It really is quite a scandal."

"Lord Byron is separated from his wife. The rumours are so disastrous he cannot return to England." Mary gossips next in retaliation.

"What do you think happens when you get involved with your half sister?" Kathy mutters.

"Now he keeps company with Mary's step-sister, Miss Clairmont." Polidori informs.

"We have an exceptionally strong attachment." Claire declares. Kathy winces in pity at the young girl as Byron mutters to the Doctor about how he couldn't exactly turn her away.

"Please, excuse me, fair lady. I must poppeth to the little boys' room." Graham says as he spins around with Claire. He quickly leaves the room and the Doctor takes her chance to separate from the arms of Byron.

"So... that was marvellous." She declares causing everyone to stop. Kathy pulls herself from the weird circle she, Ryan and Mary had created. "Is anyone up for, I don't know, I'm spitballing here, how about writing the most gruesome, spine-chilling ghost story of all time? You know? A bit of blood and guts? Throw in a corpse for good measure. Float anyone's boat? Mary?"

Mary stares at her oddly before declaring, "Or perhaps another quadrille. I shall choose the music."

"Hear, hear." Byron agrees.

"Excuse me, Doctor. You broke a rule. Next, you'll be snogging Byron." Yaz accuses her.

"I was trying to get them back on track. Something's wrong here." The Doctor defends. Kathy sees Claire take a knife and slip from the room. She knows Yaz is going to follow suit soon but won't be in any danger. "This night and two others, June 1816, Byron challenges Mary, Polidori and Percy Shelley to come up with a ghost story. Spot the difference."

"You and I shall be partners for the next dance." Polidori is saying to Mary.

"Not much writing going on." Yaz begins carelessly but then frowns. "And there's no Shelley."

"Bingo. They're a man down. Why?"

Kathy hesitates before speaking. "There's something you should know..."

Kathy pulls the Doctor out into the corridor, away from the others and explains things as best she can.

"There's something in this house that's affecting it?" The Doctor asks.

"Something alien that shouldn't get into the wrong hands." Kathy tries to explain.

"Any hints?"

"Find Shelley."

The Doctor nods then with a grin pulls out her sonic and Kathy does the same. Kathy knows in the end the Cyberman, Ashad, will get the Cyberium and create his army leading to the Master creating their own monstrous creations but Kathy can and will stop it.

——

The Doctor and Kathy are scanning the dining room with their sonic screwdrivers.

"She walks in beauty, like the night." Byron murmurs as he walks up behind the Doctor. Kathy rolls her eyes. Here we go.

"Of cloudless climes and starry skies." The Doctor finishes without looking at him.

Byron moves so he's in front of her. "I'm intensely flattered you're familiar with my work, Mrs Doctor."

"And so is every GCSE kid." Kathy remarks. She receives a confused look from Byron while the Doctor looks irritated.

"Just Doctor is fine." She corrects. "I'm quite into Shelley's stuff too. He about?"

"Indisposed, I'm afraid. He won't be joining us. May I be candid?"

"Go for it."

"I sent my man out to fetch your carriage, but it seems to have disappeared."

The Doctor stays quiet before speedily moving on.

"I'm fully aware of what you want and you have enacted Ms Davis into your plan." Byron says.

"Please, reveal all." The Doctor mutters.

"My third canto. Of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, my work in progress."

Kathy snorts. "Why? It does half go on a bit. No offence."

"A lot actually." Byron remarks dejectedly.

"Nice mention of Ada, though. Big fan of hers." The Doctor adds.

"You know of my daughter?" Byron looks at her in shock, sounding more affected than he likely ought to have liked.

"Will do. Both of us." The Doctor gestures to herself and Kathy. Kathy looks up at that. She's going to meet Ada Lovelace? Cool. Though less cool when thinking about what the Master is up to then. "Gorgeous brain."

"Why are you here?" Byron questions.

"For a quick visit, supposedly, but I've been told of the danger in this house backed up by the this really weird vibe I'm getting off your house."

"Vibe?"

"Yeah. I don't want to worry you, but I'm sensing that it's sort of... unrelentingly evil."

——

"Doc! Kathy!" They hear Graham yell and rush back to the drawing room to find a skeleton hand gripping Ryan's throat with Mary and Graham trying to pull it off him and Fletcher and Polidori watching in shock.

Mary gets it off Ryan and throws it, the Doctor bats it away and Fletcher clobbers it with the silver salver he is holding. It turns to dust on the carpet.

"Great shot." The Doctor compliments him and he smiles for the first time Kathy has ever seen him do so. Ryan is gasping but seems fine. At this moment Yaz and Claire rush in.

The Doctor samples the remains. "Hmm. 14th. No... 15th century. Touch more umami."

"She licked it!" Mary mutters in disgust.

"She is the most baffling creature I've ever been acquainted with." Byron murmurs. Claire glances at him with a hurt look.

Kathy scans the remains. "Human. Protein, collagen and... nothing abnormal. Just as I thought."

"What kind of implement is that?" Polidori questions.

"One that zaps people's heads off who threaten people with guns." Ryan threatens, causing Kathy to chuckle slightly.

"I don't think they're really from the colonies." Mary realises.

"No. She is from somewhere much, much stranger." Byron says as he gazes at the Doctor.

"So's Ms Davis." Mary murmurs, staring at Kathy in amazement. Kathy realises how strange it must be for them to see how Kathy has changed since the Doctor and her companions arrived.

"The north." Polidori whispers.

"How'd it come to life, then? Was it haunted or something?" Yaz questions.

"No, Kathy said there's something in this house affecting it." The Doctor replies.

"Well, you did say the house was evil." Byron comments.

Graham looks alarmed. "Well, that's a development."

"I've been getting a vibe." The Doctor defends.

"And she's not entirely wrong." Kathy says.

"If there is evil here, I know who brought it in." Polidori says accusingly. Mary and Claire follow his lead to stare at Byron.

Byron sighs. "Very well. I may have a skeleton in my chamber."

"Right. You keep an eye on Trigger Happy." The Doctor tells Graham then she turns to Byron. "Me and you need to take a squiz at your skeleton." The man looks all too pleased and follows her.

——

The rest of them follow the Doctor and Byron to the latter's chamber.

"It's a collection," Byron explains as they all walk inside and fill the room.

"Of what? Dead stuff?" Ryan remarks.

"And in your bedroom?" Kathy grimaces. She gives the room a brief scan with her sonic.

"Relics of war." Byron corrects. The Doctor waves her sonic all over the place. "From my travels. Reminders that we tread on the dust of empires. Crops now grow where blood was split. An innocent fascination, I assure you."

"Waterloo." The Doctor gasps. She puts on a helmet. "Oh, I love a good plume. What do you think?"

Yaz gives her a small nod.

"Nice." Kathy grins. The Doctor beams back.

Ryan helps Byron lift a chest onto the table. "A 15th-century soldier from the Battle of Morat. His final remains." Byron explains as he opens it. There's a flash of lightning and Yaz, Ryan, Mary and Claire startle.

"One hand gone." Yaz observes.

"Both hands gone." Byron realises, he spins around as lightning cracks as if expecting it to be crawling behind him.

"Great. There's another on the loose." The Doctor comments sarcastically. "Keep your eyes peeled."

"Anything else strange happen since you've been here?" Yaz asks the historicals and Kathy.

"When the weather turned, Shelley began having visions." Mary says.

"He's prone to them." Claire elaborates.

"What did he see?" Ryan questions.

"An apparition of a figure floating above the lake." Mary replies.

"When you said he was indisposed, what did you mean?" The Doctor asks Byron.

"Er, well, when he didn't join us, my mind naturally wandered to the idea of some torrid assignation in town." Byron says in a gossipy tone and a pointed look at Mary, who quickly takes offence.

"Shelley often retires to our chalet to write. Maison Chapuis. On the shore." Mary corrects strongly and with sharp looks in Byron's direction.

"You should probably pop down and have a chat." Yaz suggests.

"No, he's neither in town nor is he at the chalet." Kathy corrects.

"Then where is he?" Mary asks.

"That's what we've got to find out, but I believe he's somewhere in this house."

Mary, Yaz and Ryan leave to begin the search for Shelley.

"What reanimates bones and leaves no trace? Why just the hands? Why only parts?" The Doctor questions. Kathy is listening but she's also being greatly entertained by the massive helmet on the Doctor's head. It completely contrasts with her expression.

"However, my collection's not demonic?" Byron asks.

"Correct." The Doctor takes the helmet off. "But I'll probably come back for this, though. Strictly for, er, safety purposes. Not because it really suits me or anything."

"This vibe you mentioned. Is it still there?" Claire asks.

"Yeah. I can't... It's like it won't let me think. I need to get out of this house." The Doctor says, moving to do so.

"We can't." Kathy says stopping her. Though come to think of it, she herself is finding it difficult to think.

"What do you mean?"

"Look." She walks out of the doors only to find herself walking back inside.

"Easier said than done, apparently." The Doctor realises. "You were right Kathy, whatever it is, it's affecting the house."

This doesn't stop the Doctor from having a go herself. Multiple times.

"The same chamber, over and over. How is it possible?" Claire questions.

"It's not. It's..."

Byron cuts the Doctor off, "Like a dream."

"A nightmare." Kathy corrects.

"Is anyone else trapped?" The Doctor calls.

"Yeah!" Comes Graham's distant reply. "And I think I'm seeing dead people."

The wind blows through, extinguishing fires and candles startling everyone.

"We're the same!" Ryan yells distantly. "I totally saw a ghost."

"We're stuck on the stairs." Yaz adds.

"Please! How do we move upwards? I need to check my son is well." Mary begs.

"Working on it!" The Doctor replies, crouching down by the fireplace. "Head's a bit fuzzy. Normal service will resume shortly. And ghosts don't exist."

"Of course not." Graham retorts. "You two just need a spray tan and a kip, eh?"

"Graham, what sort of dead people, exactly?"

"Oh. How can I hear your voice, Doc?" Graham questions.

Kathy crouches next to the Doctor. "She's using the fireplace chimney."

"Doc? Kathy?" His is louder and echoes.

"Graham? Graham?" Kathy calls.

"They've gone now. And... so's Polidori. I've lost him."

"You had one job!" The Doctor whines.

"Yeah, made more challenging by his ability to walk through walls." Graham defends.

"Through?"

"Well, he just turned sort of zombie and went into one."

Byron crouches down next to them. "What do you speak of? What is a zombie?" He questions.

"Mrs Doctor?" Claire calls.

"Kind of a dead person walking, but it won't be that." The Doctor explains.

"Mrs Doctor? Ms Davis?"

Kathy looks up to see a shimmering light on one of the walls, she stands quickly and comes to stand by Claire.

"How do you know?" Byron asks.

"Because Polidori isn't dead, for a kick-off."

Polidori walks in through the wall. Claire grips Kathy's in fright.

"Uh, Doctor!" Kathy yells.

"What?!" The Doctor exclaims. She spins around and sees Polidori gliding into the room. Lightning strikes, lightning up the room.

"Polidori!" Byron hides behind Claire and Kathy.

"He emerged from the wall like a phantom." Claire gasps.

"Begone, demon!" Byron cries.

The Doctor walks over to observe Polidori. "Pulse? Check. Breathing. Check."

"May I just say, you are quite lovely in a crisis." Byron flirtatiously remarks, stepping around Claire and Kathy. Kathy glares at him irritably.

"No, you may not." The Doctor gives him her own annoyed look before turning back to Polidori. "The lights are on, but he's gone on a mini-break."

"Possessed?" Byron suggests.

"Or asleep? He walks in his sleep." Claire suggests then.

"She's right." Kathy agrees. What Shelley is doing to the house is scrabbling her mind but she's pushing through. "There's an illusion that's allowing him to walk as normal because he's not experiencing it like we are. He's just asleep and can't see it. That's why er he was able to walk through the wall and up as well. I-it's a, um, perception filter."

The Doctor moves to a wall as Kathy speaks and is able to put her hand through the wall. "We're surrounded. Immersed." She realises. She turns to yell to everyone else. "Close your eyes. Clear your mind. We're only experiencing what it wants us to."

After a few moments, there's a sudden scream. Mary must've been able to get to her son's room only to find a cot containing a skull and hand.

The scream startles Polidori awake. He looks at them unperturbed. "I suspect I must have missed something."

"Yes," the Doctor replies, "but you've shown us how to get out of this room."

They step through the wall and make their way along a corridor, which is one Kathy recognises as being from the ground floor despite them having just been upstairs.

"This can't be the hallway. We've not descended the stairs." Byron utters, but then emerges into the entranceway to be confronted with a wall that should really have a door leading outside. "It is."

"And there really should be a door there." Kathy points out.

"Please can we get out of here?" Claire begs.

"In theory, yes. We just have to tell ourselves that we can walk through the door we know is right there..." The door appears as the Doctor opens it.

Kathy realises something. "Wait, Doctor—"

It's too late, the Doctor steps through but hits something solid. "Oh!"

They all wince and hiss.

——

Everyone is back together in the drawing room. The skull and hand are under glass and not at all pleased about it. Kathy grimaces at the way they wiggle about.

"My bones have never caused such mischief before, I swear." Byron declares.

"The things we know. We can move inside, but not out." The Doctor says.

"Dead things don't act dead." Yaz adds.

"People vanish. Elise? My poor William." Mary laments, clinging to Claire.

"There's no sign of Fletcher either." Ryan points out.

"I've never believed in such things, but could this be Hell? Could we be deceased?" Byron questions.

"Nice blue-sky thinking, but no." The Doctor disagrees.

"This place keeps on folding in on itself as well." Kathy says. She knows this is Ryan's line but she needs to make sure it's mentioned.

It dawns on the Doctor. "Exactly. It's like you said, something is in the house. To protect it, we're caught in a security system. It's... it's turned the house into a sort of giant panic room."

"In 1816?" Graham questions in disbelief.

The Doctor turns to the window. "The Year Without a Summer. They blamed it on volcanic ash covering the sunlight. Weather went haywire." She turns to them all. "What if something came here that wasn't supposed to and caused a major disturbance?"

"Like what?" Yaz asks.

"That?" Mary points out of the window.

"That could be a solid option, Mary, yes." The Doctor murmurs as they all walk over to the window to see a silver figure in the distance.

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"It's sort of just floating around." Ryan observes.

"Like a death god rising from Hades." Yaz says.

"Shelley's vision." Mary realises what Yaz is saying. "But we're all having it."

"No. It's pushing through." Kathy points out. "That is what Shelley saw. It's not a vision. It never was. It's a traveller moving through Time. A lone Cyberman."

"What? Like you and Jack talked about?" Yaz questions.

Before Kathy can answer, a flash of lightning illuminates the figure in the hallway. Kathy turns around to watch it.

"Apparently. And he's trying to get in." Kathy says. Everyone turns around as it succeeds, fully appearing in the corridor. Kathy is already running to the door with the Doctor behind her.

"Are you the Guardian?" He asks. They quickly shut the door on it and the Doctor sonics it locked.

"Beware of the lone Cyberman! Don't let it have what it wants." Yaz reminds them. Thanks, Yaz, kind of already knew that. Though she's not sure how she's going to stop this.

"At all costs!" Graham adds.

Mary, Byron, Polidori and Ryan are already barricading the door with furniture from the room.

"Yes, thank you!" The Doctor retorts.

"May I ask, what is a Cyberman?" Mary asks once they are all grouped up, backing away from the door, and looking at it worriedly.

"Someone altered. Organs, flesh surgically replaced with mechanical parts without consent. It drives them insane, so they alter the brain too, switch off all emotion." The Doctor explains.

And Mary's inspiration for Frankenstein apparently.

"Are you the Guardian?" The Cyberman can be heard saying.

"Never seen one like him before. He's different. Unfinished."

"But still just as deadly when at full power," Kathy warns them. She looks at the door with a level of fear and interest. The last time she'd interacted with Cybermen was at the Pandorica, where she didn't get much interaction with. Even now, this still isn't a full Cyberman experience. She wonders when she'll meet one.

"Are you the Guardian?"

"Whatever he come for is hidden here. It explains the security." The Doctor explains.

"What's hidden?" Ryan asks. Kathy doesn't dare answer in case the Cyberman can hear them.

"I've no idea, but we need to beat him to it, quick." The Doctor replies. She reaches for the door handle.

"Doctor, what are you doing? Where are you going?" Yaz questions.

The Doctor opens the door to reveal the Cyberman is no longer there. Kathy is filled with dread when she thinks of where he's gone.

"You're not leaving us?" Mary asks desperately.

"I have to find what he's looking for. Alone." The Doctor declares.

"You need backup. All of us against one." Yaz argues.

"One Cyberman, but then thousands. Humans like all of you changed into empty, soulless shells. No feeling, no control, no way back. I will not lose anyone else to that." The Doctor declares. Kathy winces when she thinks of Bill. She'd only seen the companion recently and to think of her initial fate. The only consolation is Bill then sees Heather again and will become a Sentient Oil Creature like her. "Do not follow me."

"Well, that means I'm safe, doesn't it?" Kathy persists.

"I need to do this alone. Stay with the others." The Doctor leaves without another word. Kathy glares after her, frustrated and annoyed.

"What if it finds William?" Mary asks worriedly.

"We need to find the child." Polidori agrees.

"And a way out." Byron adds.

"We are not safe here. He could pass through a wall at any moment." Claire argues.

"You're right, we can't just sit here." Kathy declares. Plus, they need to leave because this is when they're able to find Shelley.

"The Doctor told us to wait," Ryan argues. Kathy raises an eyebrow. Honestly, what kind of companion is he? Staying when the Doctor tells them to is not the companions' motto.

"Technically, she only told us not to follow her." Yaz gets it. "Let's split up." Or maybe not.

"When is that ever a good idea!" Kathy remarks sarcastically.

——

Yaz, Ryan, Mary and Byron head one way while Kathy goes with Graham, Claire and Polidori. Better to stick with the group that finds Shelley.

They open a door to find it leads to the cellar.

"The cellar. We'll give it a miss, eh?" Graham remarks nervously.

"Oh, come on, Graham! Where's your sense of adventure?" Kathy asks with a grin.

"Left behind and over taken with my need to survive." The companion retorts unhappily.

"Could the coal hatch be a means of escape? We should try everywhere." Claire argues.

"Is it too late to choose another group?" Asks a frightened Polidori.

"Come on, we won't get anywhere standing here." Kathy says, leading the way down the steps.

Kathy and Polidori reach where the coal hatch should be, only to find it not there as Kathy had expected.

Polidori hurries to where Graham and Claire are looking about. "The coal hatch has gone. Oh, there's no way out." He tells them fearfully.

Suddenly, Claire's candle goes out and she vanishes from their sight.

"Claire, you okay?" Graham calls somewhat calmly but you can hear the tremor underlining his voice.

"Miss Clairmont?" Polidori's fear is more apparent.

"There's something down here with us." Claire whimpers. Well, that's not terrifying at all.

"Claire?" Kathy calls. "It's alright. Just walk back towards our voices and the candle light."

Claire slowly does as she says and Kathy lights her candle with her own.

"Something crept in front of me. I heard its vile breath." Claire tells them. "Listen..."

They all hear something then and turn in that direction. Graham moves forward into another section of the cellars with the rest of them walking slowly behind. Kathy doesn't want to rush as she doesn't want to cause Shelley any panic. They turn a corner; their candles illuminate a familiar figure. Shelley.

He's huddled in the corner looking shaken and unwell. "I'm sorry, but I tried to hide it. I have to keep him out."

"It's alright." Kathy tries to reassure him, crouching down in front of him along with Graham. "We know you're doing your best."

"Who are you?" Graham asks him.

"I'm the Guardian." Shelley replies. "I am Percy Bysshe Shelley."

——

Polidori and Claire leave to retrieve the Doctor and soon she arrives with Yaz in tow. Kathy knows that Polidori, Claire and Byron are hiding elsewhere while Mary will arrive shortly.

The Doctor scans Shelley. "Shelley in a cellar, hidden away, cloaked, too big to register. That's why the readings have been off. It's something called a Cyberium."

"I'm trying to protect it." Shelley tells her. The Cyberman suddenly zaps in, blinding them with the light. Shelley isn't having any of it. "Be gone, invader!" The Cyberman is relocated in the house, they faintly hear him roar in rage. Shelley breathes heavily from the effort it took.

"Who moved him? Is it you changing the house?" The Doctor questions.

"Some, but not all. It has its own room." Shelley replies. It's clear that talking is taking a lot of effort for him. Suddenly Mary appears nearby.

"Mary!" The Doctor gasps in surprise and frustration.

"I cannot hide. Not while he suffers." Mary crouches down beside her beloved.

"Show me." The Doctor makes telepathic contact with Shelley. "What happened to you?"

"I was out walking alone. There was a glimmer in the lake. Exquisite. Alive. Like quicksilver. I fished it out to study it more closely. But then it took root within me." Shelley lets out a sudden gasp causing the Doctor to break contact. "I returned. I was changed. No one could see me. It hid itself in me, and hid me within the villa."

"And when it thought it might be discovered, it manipulated all of our perceptions." The Doctor realises.

"Since the quicksilver has taken hold of me, I see symbols. Symbols and numbers. They will not leave my head, no matter how much I transcribe them." Shelley explains. Coordinates for the future.

"The symbols were all over his room. All over the walls." Yaz tells them.

"The house was like shifting sands. I sought solitude here, in the dark."

"What happened to him?" Ryan wonders.

"I'm going with... alien parasite." Graham suggests.

Kathy slightly smiles at his remark but shakes her head. "It's Cyber technology. It's given him information on their entire past and future."

"They scorched and split the sky. Built the army of all armies. Left behind only pain, rage, fear and death." Shelley further explains.

"How is he seeing all this?" Mary questions.

"The Cyberium is burning through his mind. It'll destroy him if it stays in him much longer. An epic battle." The Doctor explains. "The Cyberium at the heart of it, controlling data, strategy, decision-making. Clever! Very clever. Someone took it from the Cybermen, sent it back through time here in an attempt to change the future."

There's a flash of light as the Cyberman tries to get back into the cellar but fails.

"In an attempt to protect you from that."

"I can't keep him away much longer." Shelley heaves.

"Then don't."

Kathy, Ryan, Yaz and Graham look at her in alarm and surprise though Kathy doesn't do the latter.

"Doc." Graham mutters.

"Stop fighting. It's okay." The Doctor reassures Shelley.

"But Doctor, I have seen what happens. It can't get into the wrong hands!" Kathy argues pleadingly.

"I know, because armies will rise and billions will die."

"Shelley's going to die if that stuff stays inside him." Graham points out. Kathy sighs, what is she to do?

"Shelley's only one life against all those others." Ryan argues.

Mary is shocked and in disbelief. "What are you saying? How can you condemn him to death like that?"

"But is he, Ryan?" The Doctor asks. "His thoughts, his words inspire and influence thousands for centuries. If he dies now, who knows what damage that will have on future history? Words matter! One death, one ripple, and history will change in a blink. The future will not be the world you know. The world you came from, the world you were created in won't exist, so neither will you. It's not just his life at stake. It's yours. You want to sacrifice yourself for this? You want me to sacrifice you? You want to call it? Do it now. All of you."

There's silence before Kathy opens her mouth, "But it's one possible ripple against billions certainly dying if you let the Cyberman have it."

"Shut up!" The Doctor suddenly snaps.

Kathy looks at the Doctor in wide eyed shock. They had never spoken to her like that before.

"You're not my equal, Kathy!" The Doctor snaps before turning to her companions who are either staring at her or at the floor despondently. "Sometimes all the decisions are for me to decide. Sometimes this team structure isn't flat. It's mountainous, with me at the summit in the stratosphere, alone, left to choose. Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now or tomorrow. Sometimes, even I can't win."

"Please, help me." Shelley begs.

This time the Cyberman is able to push through and marches over and demands, "Release what you hold."

"How?"

"Release it!"

"He doesn't know what that means! You've got to tell him what he's got to do!" Graham yells at him.

"I am addressing the Cyberium." The Cyberman corrects him. "It must execute the host to be extracted."

"It's not obeying you." The Doctor leans into his face as she smugly retorts.

"Hmm. Then I shall execute the host." He prepares his gun but Mary steps forward, stopping him in his tracks.

"What is your name, sir?" She asks.

"Mary, this is not a good time to talk." Kathy tries to tell her quietly. She still feels shaken from having the Doctor's anger directed at her.

"Or names. Are you several men? A composite of parts." Mary murmurs to herself as she analyses the Cyberman in front of her.

"I am better than men." The Cyberman angrily corrects.

"Yet I still see a soul in there."

The Cyberman laughs. "What do you think you see, child?"

"I see the man who spared my son." Mary tells him. "Were you a father, before?"

"I was." It's strange how Kathy can see some emotion there but knows how quickly it'll turn in a few moments.

"You didn't want to be this way. They hurt you, this modern Prometheus. You loved once. And were loved in return. You do not wish to kill." Mary declares. She holds out her hand, and he touches it.

"My name was Ashad. I did spare your son..." the Cyberman then grabs her arm, "because he's a useless runt, sickly and weak. And I did have children. I slit their throats when they joined the resistance." It switches to holding the back of her neck. "In death we are transformed, improved, updated, as you will learn."

"Transformed in death. I'm sorry, Percy Shelley. So very sorry." The Doctor apologises to the poet.

"Doctor!" Kathy yells. She knows it's too late and they need to save Mary plus Shelley survives but this means the Doctor will give the Cyberman what he wants.

The Doctor touches Shelley's head and Kathy knows he's being shown himself drowning in the Mediterranean in 1822.

"Mrs Doctor, what are you doing to him?" Mary questions desperately.

Silver flows out from Shelley's mouth and the Doctor jerks back.

"The Cyberium, it's leaving his body." Yaz observes.

——

They then all appear in the drawing room where Byron, Claire and Polidori hide. They all stagger at the force of the change. Shelley still lies on the floor but is now unconscious.

"What just happened?" Graham questions.

"How are we back here?" Yaz wonders.

"He's reset the house." The Doctor explains. "Shelley needs help. I think I've freed him from the Cyberium."

"At what cost?" Mary asks her as Yaz and Kathy kneel next to Shelley. Kathy knows they need to help him get through the trauma of what the Doctor had just done to him.

The Cyberium is in mid-air. The Doctor and the Cyberman both reach for it. It moves towards the former.

"No!" The latter cries in frustration and anger.

"And it chooses me. Interesting. Time Lord magnetism. Looks like I'm the true Guardian." The Cyberium passes into the Doctor.

"Surrender it or I will execute you." The Cyberman threatens.

"I'd be very careful with those execution threats. I can feel it already, fusing to me. It feels very at home. Recognising great host material. Not to big myself up, but I don't think it'll vacate me without a fight." The Doctor remarks smugly.

The Cyberman simply turns his arm towards the window. The thunderstorm shakes the villa. Kathy looks up from Shelley as she's jolted to see a hole open in the sky.

"What are you doing?!"

"Transmitting. My ship will lock onto my signal. It will tear this reality, and this planet will remain only in shreds." The Cyberman declares.

"This world doesn't end in 1816. It can't." The Doctor murmurs in disbelief.

"It will."

Kathy is taking it in turns doing chest compressions with Yaz. Yaz suddenly stops in the middle of hers to say to the Doctor, "He's bluffing. Don't listen to him. Kathy, tell her!"

Kathy looks unsurely at the Doctor, her hurtful words ringing through her mind. "I-I don't know. I can't be sure Yaz." She genuinely doesn't know as they never got to find out but could they risk it? She wordlessly returns to the chest compressions.

"She's right, we can't be sure. I can't risk this planet. I can't win!" The Doctor agrees mournfully. Kathy catches the quick apologetic look in her direction from the Doctor, which she'll take for now but knows the Doctor needs to expand on her apology.

"We are inevitable." The Cyberman declares.

"Yes. You are." The Cyberium leaves the Doctor.

"What are you doing?" Yaz asks.

"She's giving it what it wants." Kathy replies.

The Cyberium enters the Cyberman. He vanishes, the hole in the sky closes and the clouds clear away, sunlight streams in. Shelley sits up, gasping. Kathy leaps back from him, almost getting knocked in the face.

Mary cradles him. "What did you do to Shelley?"

"Old Time Lord trick. Not a nice one. Pushed his mind to his future death, tricked the Cyberium into letting go, hoped his body would survive the trauma. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me." The Doctor apologises.

"You saved Shelley, but what does that mean for the future?" Graham correctly wonders. Kathy's mind wonders to the destruction and trauma of the future, particularly a certain Time Lord reappearing and revealing the Doctor's past.

"It means I've put it in the gravest danger." The Doctor replies.

"Please, tell me that was part of the plan." Ryan says.

"Yes. A last-minute, imperfect, all-I've-got plan. Saving Shelley was step one." The Doctor explains.

"What's step two?" Yaz asks.

"Fix the mess I created in step one. Go to the future, find him and stop him from rebuilding the Cyber Army. Shelley, can you give Yaz those symbols and numbers? We're going to need them."

——

Kathy walks the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan to the TARDIS through the woods.

"So, if all the weirdness was the Cyberium, you know, the bones and Shelley floating about and all that, why would it reanimate a couple of stiffs just to bring me a sarnie?" Graham gets a few confused looks at his words. "You know, the maid and the creepy little kid?"

"Er... no. We thought you saw Shelley like we did." Yaz replies. They all come to a stop by the TARDIS.

Graham looks at them in disbelief. "Oh, come on. Beady eyes. Made the room go all arctic. Where do them two fit in?"

"I'm not sure they did." Ryan says.

"No, no, come on, Doc." The older companion turns to the Time Lord for an explanation. "This is where you jump in with a rational explanation. I mean, ghosts don't exist, right?"

The Doctor shrugs. "Unless they do."

"What?" Graham gapes as the Doctor walks past him and opens the TARDIS door.

"Inside, you three. We need to talk." The Doctor says. Her companions walk past Kathy, offering goodbyes through hugs and comments though Graham is in a daze. The Doctor turns to Kathy before she steps inside.

"You're going to Cyber war zones, aren't you?" Kathy hesitantly asks.

The Doctor nods. "Are you coming?"

Kathy smiles slightly and shakes her head. "I've got obligations here, Doctor. But perhaps a future me may join you."

"I'll see you then." The Doctor turns to step inside the TARDIS before pausing and turning to Kathy apologetically. "I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean it. If anyone who's not a full Time Lord is ever my equal, it's you. You're my best friend Kathy and there's no one else I trust more."

Kathy smiles tearfully. "I suppose you're alright."

The Doctor grins, rightfully taking Kathy's remark as an acceptance of her apology. "'Course I am."

They share a chuckle.

"Till the next time, Doctor."

"Till the next time, Kathy."

——

A/N: I hope Kathy's involvement makes sense. She's still fearful about changing things for the worst at times. Been doing a lot of 13 recently, returning to 10 next.

Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

[maplesap]

THE DEITY DECREE.

— original writing by Viktor/Thorn. Please don't steal these have been in the works for years.

— —

Now we all know that fairytales are just that, fairy tales. Nothing more, nothing less…unless, you look beyond the veils of reality and grasp onto that last of what childlike wonder remains in your mind. Only there will you find the world of Idethan. Idethan was only a fairytale to some, but to many species, it is very much real. After the fall of the mighty gods and deities, the world had gone to heal itself from the great war and was now thriving under the veil of its mysteries.

The group of 6 that contained the last few deities that remained, the rest being killed or missing within the chaos within the global war. The 10 remaining were Chaos, Serenity, Literature, The Key, The 'mother', Mother Nature, Gate Keeper, Hell Spawn, Karma and The Portal through the generations, and all 10 were against the known fake god, now known at Azimuth, the one who caused all the chaos within the world without the help of the deity known for causing pure chaos and discord. The fake god having consumed so many worlds beyond that veil of reality from the real world we know of today.

The discord deity stood in dismay as he was blamed for the chaos at first, brought to shame by the gods and deities alike. He locked himself in his chambers under supervision up until smaller deities started to disappear, as if being picked off one by one. Now knowing the discord deity wasn't responsible for this dismay, panic ensued within the all powerful gods as one known as Azimuth slithered away from the chaos, but where was she going?

The poetic deity had followed Azimuth, within the hours she had been gone with him following her trail.

He had finally pieced together what was going on, she was the source of chaos brought into their world. She was the fake god. He had to get back to tell the others, he could not let her escape!

— —

Barreling through the halls of the divine as the poet clung to his notes full of proof behind her being the source, Azimuth was back with the group, placing the blame on the poor poet instead. He demanded to know her proof behind her accusations, to which there was none. " Thy has no proof nor right to accuse me of such things, whilst I have all the proof I need against thy. " He spoke.

The gods did not believe the proof however, as how could a small deity such as the poet have such proof against a fake god? With the gods not taking his proof with a grain of salt, he was banished until they all resolved the chaos within their world.

With the poetic deity out of the picture for now, what was left of the once large number of deities to maintain harmony dwindled until there were only 10.

— —

The pleadings of the remaining 10 fell on deaf ears, with the worrisome and selfish rulers scrambling to save their worldly order and harmony. With their cries being ignored, they sought out to find the source on their own, as they knew the world more than their own gods did.

Days passed, then weeks, then months with the last 9 deities still looking for a source with no hope nor luck until Azimuth finally had enough, revealing her true form to the gods one by one until none remained. But the death of gods was of no worry, they would get reborn within the next century or so...but you can never replace a deity with such ease.

and then, there were only 9. no more gods, no more deities. Just 9. With no contact with the divine within the veil., they watched their world decay into madness and ash that set apart the world they once knew.

There was no more running from the fake god anymore, all there was left was to fight.

And fighting is what they did.

The fight took more than 7 days to finally come to an end, the tired and weak deities panting and struggling on the ground. They were cornered at last.

" Do not freight, dear children. " Azimuth finally spoke, " You all put up an outstanding fight, so we shall battle again once more. Goodbye for now, children. "

— —

and with that, the world was put into a state of idle for exactly 10 years as it recovered from the destruction, finally springing back to life on the same day, several years later when the chaos began. However the sleeping deities did not wake up until 2021, with no memory and thousands if not millions of miles apart from each other.

Life returned to "normal" for those who woke up from the coma, given the excuse that it was a mere accident to why they were in such a state.

— —

Now, the 10 are finally awake after centuries of slumber in 2021. With the 10 having no memory of their battles thousands of years ago, they’re left with no family, friends and a strange growing power that seemed overwordly. As the months passed, the rest of the world started to take notice of all the discord happening within their world where there was once harmony and peace.

Fearing that the deities that were told as prophecy was finally coming true, a world wide Deity Decree was announced. Anyone with any overworld abilities were to be captured and brought into the heart of the Decree Headquarters.

Within that time, 25 were pulled worldwide to be tested for deity power, which included our lovely 10.

— —

[miraculouspaon]

2020 End of Year Recap!

2020 was an awful year for writing. My output had already taken a hit after Ciara was born, but I was still getting out a chapter a month or so on main fics, plus sporadic updates here and there on side pieces. This year...not so much. I lost my job last November, and at the beginning of the year decided to take the plunge into an entire career change, say goodbye to actuarial work, and open up a math tutoring center. This felt like a scary-but-exciting decision in January and felt very different a few months later, after I was completely financially committed. If I had it to do all over I’d still go for it, but yeeeeesh was it way more stressful and hard than I could have predicted twelve months ago. Between getting a new business off the ground, suddenly becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom and navigating a global pandemic, there was very little time or mental energy left for writing this year.

But! The advantage to this is I can actually list every single update I made this year and it’ll be readable. So let’s do it!

1/6: Imogene. Hnnnngh. I just really like this one, guys. It should have been posted in 2019 but I got an extension, and it was worth the wait. I poured all my love of existential angst and questions of personhood into this one, and I’m very proud of the end product. This is the first year I haven’t done ML Secret Santa, so maybe go back and read this one if you missed it last Christmas.

1/21: Aftershocks. This was a nice little Ferd-centric piece set within Heroes, mostly focused on the toll the occupation took on him. Ferd usually shows up in relation to Jonathan, so it’s nice to kind of take a step back and let him be his own character for a bit. If I update this fic ever again, the next chapter will probably be about Prince Stephen, who has like this whole badass Occupation story that lives in my head rent-free and it would be nice to actually publish it, even if Stephen is like a level 3 OC several degrees removed from anything in the actual source material, so maybe I’m the only one who cares about him.

1/30: Sins of the Father Chapter 9. Oh, poor Sins of the Father. I have some very lofty goals for it but they just didn’t really come together this year, so its only update was almost an entire year ago. At least this chapter had some nice character interactions- we got to see Dad!Guardian Nino coach Amira, Adrien and Darcy worked through some shit, and the kwami dropped some exposition re: soulmarks. I have some good ideas for the next chapter but actually writing it has turned out to be a different story, alas.

3/8: The Past is a Foreign Country Chapter 9. Gabriel Agreste Attacks His Granddaughter With A Sword: The Sequel. Also the chapter where AU!Jonathan quips that Emma is from the Mirror Universe, which was fun for me as a Trekkie and also fun just because I like the idea of the main canon universe being the one that’s actually all bleak and awful to everyone else-and after the 2020 we just had, who among us can’t relate?

5/26: The Rose and the Thorn. Almost three months without posting anything BUT this was a five chapter, 18k fic that I had to post all at once since it was part of an event, so really it’s five updates. This might be my favorite fairy tale AU I’ve done? I really love how I was able to adapt the original story to fit the characters of ML. The Beast as a bitter widower instead of a spoiled brat in particular worked very nicely, I think.

6/5: What You Have Tamed Chapter 6. Me at my most shameless, writing AUs of AUs for my pet OCs, I love them. There’s a lot of ways a Ferdithan AU could go, and I spent a lot of time daydreaming about various scenarios. This one preserves more of the canon tragedy than others, but it’s got a kind of gentleness to it I really enjoy.

6/11: Luna Moth Chapter 11. An entire YEAR after chapter 10 went up and I actually managed to finish it. Never say never!

7/2: What You Have Tamed Chapter 7. The conclusion of the Ferdithan Soulmate AU. Very good odds there will be more Ferdithan AUs after this, you guys are all enablers.

7/11: The Past is a Foreign Country Chapter 10. Not much actually happens in this chapter. Jonathan and Gabe have a nice talk in this one, and it was nice to take a closer look at the ways in which this alternate reality is better, and the ways in which it’s maybe not as different as the characters would expect. Emma is also compared to her grandmother, which nobody in her reality has ever done even though she and Adele have plenty in common. Sometimes the people closest to us can’t see the forest for the trees, so it’s nice for Emma to get an outside perspective on her and her situation.

8/27: The Past is a Foreign Country Chapter 11. A little more happens in this chapter, most notably the reveal that it’s Simon’s young son who’s been responsible for (some of) the errant portals, and not Simon himself. We should get deeper into the full implications of that next chapter, whenever that may be.

12/20: Better Halves Chapter 2. Four months of nothing, and then I go and update a fic that’s been dead for almost four years. I’ve never been prouder of myself.

And that’s it! Eleven updates in twelve months, not spread out particularly evenly, and some of them more substantial than others. A bad year for my main fics, but a good year for dusting off old WIPs at least. Here’s to a more fruitful 2021!

[mermaidsirennikita]

books (in the time of corona)

PART I: ADULT EDITION

Let’s get real--we’re all going fucking insane.  

Therefore, I’m recommending some books with which you can kill time.  I’m breaking them into categories--the romance category including several subgenres but by and large covering books that focus more heavily on the romance than anything else.  These will all be adult books; I’m doing a separate page for YA recommendations.

I’ll be adding to this list as I finish books that I feel belong here.

ROMANCE

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.  A young woman is abandoned by her scoundrel of a boyfriend, only to find a literal medieval knight in shining armor.  Pure 80′s cheese, a classic in the time travel subgenre long before Outlander ever happened.

The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts.  Six sexy people, three men and three women in Roberts fashion, travel across time and parallel dimensions to fight an evil vampire and her undead army.  Come for three fun romances, stay in particular for the “virgin bookworm queen captures the heart of the formerly evil 1,000 Irish vampire” ship.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.  Rival coworkers who’ve always hated each other compete for the same job--until maybe?  They start?  Hooking up?

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata.  A down on her luck singles figure skater pairs up with the pairs champion she’s always despised... Unless they in fact, in a STUNNING TWIST, do not hate each other?

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa.  A BIT ON THE NOSE RIGHT NOW, but I promise that this tale of a hot virgin Horseman of the Apocalypse spreading his plague and the one woman brave enough to fuck him is WORTH IT.  As is the sequel, War.

My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curran.  A literal choose your own adventure novel, but the adventures bodice ripping Regency romance plots!!!

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang.  A sweet and smart woman on the autism spectrum hires a male escort to teach her to be good at sex.  Shit goes DOWN from there.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary.  She works days; he works nights.  She needs a cheap place to stay, and he needs a roommate.  So they share a flat and even a bed (sleeping on opposite sides and never at the same time) only communicating through post-it notes throughout the apartment.  What could go wrong?

Marriage for One by Ella Maise.  She can only get her inheritance if she’s married.  Good thing a glacial attorney has offered to marry her out of nowhere, only for paper purposes.  What could go wrong???

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa.  Lina is a wedding planner who was left at the altar.  Max is the younger brother of the man who left her, and apparently convinced him to do the leaving.  What happens when they work together?

Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert.  Chloe suffers from a chronic illness, which means that she’s never had a life--and so she compiles a list that will help her get one.  On the list?  Meaningless sex.  Which she won’t have with her building’s superintendent, even though he’s really down to help her cross off all the other items, riiiight?

HISTORICAL FICTION

Passion by Jude Morgan.  The dramatic and intense height of Romantic England, told from the perspectives of Caroline Lamb, mistress of Lord Byron; August Leigh, his sister and lover; Mary Shelley; and Fanny Brawne, fiancee of John Keats.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.  Impoverished Griet becomes a maid in the household of the painter Vermeer, becoming his muse after he realizes that she has a natural eye--much to the dismay of his wife.

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See. In nineteenth century China, best friends Lily and Snow Flower follow each other through emotional and cultural revolutions, communicating through the secret language of fans.

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George.  Cleopatra recounts her life story, from her earliest memory, through her affairs with Caesar and Antony, and her end.

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn.  In Domitian’s Rome, a Jewish girl rises from the position of lady’s slave to the emperor’s mistress through wiles and scheming.

The Tiger Queens by Stephanie Thornton.  The rise and fall of Genghis Khan’s empire, as told through the women of his family--from his favorite wife to a clever daughter-in-law.

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen.  A socialite follows her incompetent to Scotland as he struggles to find the Loch Ness Monster and redeem his ancestor’s name--finding herself and questioning her life in the process.

A Year of Ravens.  A collection of short stories by different authors, all centering on Boudica’s rebellion through the eyes of her countrymen and her enemies.

Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King.  A slave becomes a chef in the treacherous household of a social climber struggling to gain the favor or Caesar August.

Fatal Throne.  Six authors tell the stories of Henry VIII’s wives, all from their differing perspectives.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  The rise and fall of a 1970s rock band is charted through the recollections of its members--as they recall what drove them apart, and in particular the intense relationship between the leader singers.

THRILLERS

The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre.  A woman with murderous impulses locks herself in her apartment to keep the public safe, making a living as a camgirl.  She’s left torn between morals and impulse when she begins to suspect that one of her “fans” is dangerous.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint.  In 1960s America, a single mother finds her personal life and image called into question when she’s accused of murdering her two young children.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.  A nurse covers up her beautiful sister’s murders, only to be caught between loyalties when the doctor she loves falls for said sister.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine.  A plain “nobody” transforms herself in order to steal a high society housewife’s husband, only to deal with more than she bargained for.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.  A woman obsesses over her ex-husband’s new fiancee, leading her to disturbing lengths.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones.  After meeting her ideal man, a woman must contend with his possessive mother, who will do anything to maintain her hold over him.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman.  A couple on their dream honeymoon find something in the water that will change the course of their life together.

The Au Pair by Emma Rous.  The day Seraphine and her twin brother were born, their mother flung herself off a cliff and their nanny disappeared.  Decades later, Seraphine discovers a photo taken of her parents just before her mother’s death--with only one baby.  The only person who holds the key to the mystery?  The au pair.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing.  A couple keeps the spark alive through murder.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager.  A young woman takes a job apartment-sitting in a high-end Manhattan building.  Shortly after she befriends another sitter, the girl goes missing--with everyone else acting like nothing is amiss.

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher.  Thursday is one of her husband’s three wives, though she’s never met the other two.  When she finally does meet the third wife, she discovers a woman far different from what she expected--and covered in bruises.

FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/HORROR

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.  Sorcha is the youngest of seven children in medieval Ireland.  When her stepmother curses her six older brothers to live as swans, Sorcha agrees to weave them shirts of painful thistles, all the while remaining silent, to break the spell.

Black Pearls by Louise Hawes.  A collection of dark fairy tale retellings.

The Incarnations by Susan Barker.  A man receives letters from an anonymous source, detailing his supposed past lives throughout historical China.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust.  A dark Snow White retelling, with a stepmother whose goals extend far beyond the princess.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.  Alex Stern is discovered as the sole survivor of a brutal multiple murder, and is promptly scooped up by a group charged with monitoring the occult societies at Yale.  Now disguised as a university student, Alex must figure out who’s been murdering locals, while also hiding what happened the night she lived.

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell.  A young widow in Victorian England is sent to her husband’s country estate to wait out her pregnancy, and is not alarmed to discover a “silent companion” (a painted wooden figure) in the house.  But when the figure’s eyes begin following her, she is sucked into a history beyond her imagination.

Circe by Madeline Miller.  The story of the woman who would seduce Odysseus, from her beginnings as a plain witch born of Helios and a mother who couldn’t care less.  A classic rise to power story.

CONTEMPORARY LIT

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal.  Down on her luck Nikki takes up a job as a creative writing class instructor for the Punjabi widows in her West London neighborhood.  It turns out that the widows thought she was there to teach them to write in English--which leads to the class becoming a place for them to share their stories orally instead.  And it turns out that they’re a bit... erotic.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  Upwardly mobile newlyweds Celestina and Roy have their lives upended when Roy is falsely accused of a terrible crime and sent to prison for twelve years.  When he’s released early after five, he returns home to find that Celestina has changed completely, and their marriage is entirely unknown.

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo.  A young Nigerian couple has always been against polygamy; but after the wife fails to get pregnant, her in-laws show up on their doorstep with a second wife.

NON-FICTION/MEMOIR

Harem: The World Behind The Veil by Alev Lytle Croutier.  An examination of the Ottoman Empire’s harem culture, focusing on the women within.

Love For Sale: A World History of Prostitution by Nils Johan Ringal.  Not really a GLOBAL history of prostitution, but a good introduction starting with ancient times and going into the cases of more recent madams in America, with a strong case for legalization worldwide.

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman.  A readable biography of the famously scandalous and tragic duchess, to be read while you kill time rewatching “The Duchess” starring Keira Knightley.

Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy by Sarah Bradford.  A fair but none-too-precious assessment of one of Renaissance Italy’s most controversial women, and an analysis of her relationships with her father and brother.

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives.  While you’re quarantining, you might as well read the definitive Anne Boleyn biography, yes?  This one is responsible for much of the modern attitude on Anne.

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber.  A fascinating analysis of Marie Antoinette’s political life through her clothes.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.  An analysis of the infamous, unsolved “Monster of Florence” case.  One of the most gruesome serial killers in Italy’s history, the monster’s crimes were pinned on several different men, and even investigated by the prosecutor who botched the Amanda Knox case.

The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick.  An examination of the case of Han van Meegeren, a painter who forged and sold many Dutch master fakes, and the pretentious art world that let him get away with it for years.

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford.  A study of the women in Genghis Khan’s family, and in particular those that kept his empire from falling to ruin after his death.  A good companion read with Stephanie Thornton’s fiction novel Tiger Queens mentioned above.

Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum by Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino.  How did the Getty Museum end up with so many stolen artifacts?  This book aims to find out.

The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo.  A different kind of Anne Boleyn book, studying her portrayal in culture and fiction--complete with input from Natalie Dormer following her portrayal of Anne Boleyn on The Tudors.

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood.  An examination of the women of the houses of Lancaster and York during their famous, long-running conflict--and how these women had an impact on battles and politics alike.

The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World’s Most Coveted Fish by Emily Voigt.  The author delves into why people are so obsessed with the arowana, a rare and exotic fish, to the point that they’ll commit murder--and becomes wrapped up in the fascination herself.

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy.  Over the course of a month, Ariel Levy watches everything she held true in her life--her financial security, her career, her marriage, and her pregnancy--fall apart.  Levy must confront what it means to live an “unconventional” and “free” life, only for that to become meaningless, and pick up the pieces.

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to find The Good Death by Caitlin Doughty.  Doughty recounts her global travels to observe and study different funerary and death rituals, recounting and analyzing her experiences with respect and personality.

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer.  A collection of female serial killers, analyzing why they did what they did and the cultural legacy they left behind.

Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found by Frances Larson.  A history of decapitated human heads, and what different cultures have done with them.

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke.  Tembi Locke was never truly accepted by her husband’s Sicilian family, as a black American woman.  But when Saro dies young of cancer, she finds herself more deeply entwined her in-laws, as she works to pick up the pieces.  (Warning: one of the most achingly romantic books I’ve ever read; but it will destroy you.)

[thehumanobservation]

Seems like Humans are the problem

T.S. Eliot loves to talk about huminites alienation.

Let us be honest with ourselves; we have all felt that moment where we just feel like we are the only ones in this universe.

However, T.S. Eliot loves the concept of alienation and the sense of being alone that, when reading through his selected poem of the anthology, I could not help but think and feel like being alone. J. Alfred Prufrock, A Games of Chess and Burnt Norton all highlight a sense of isolation in a world that is grandeur and alive.

Reading Eliot's poems during 2020 is haunting as the recent global pandemic event has put all of us under lockdown. We suddenly felt alienated because we have all lost our lives basic need, which is human contact, only to replace it with technology.

The theme of alienation is very dominant in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, where the speaker J. Alfred Prufrock highlights society's alienating people, whether that be due to differences, education and appearance; society will permanently alienate someone for their differences. It then leads the person to question themselves, just like how Prufrock questions his ability to talk to this woman he feels passionate about but yet repeats himself, "Do I dare? and Do I dare?".

The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock eerily reflects in the society we all live in, especially in a digital world where now days having a brand to your name is a verification of who you are. Although the poem's era is in the 1920s, the concept of societal alienation is fundamental as representing who you are determines everything from social status, wealth, and how you are seen in society. However, as we live in a digital age, that has changed everything because of social media and the easy projection of brands and virtual connection. It put us in a position to lead lifestyles that could be fabricated and very isolated.

Yes, I know we all keep hearing how social media is bad for us and how it has damaged our society but let us not forget they are hard facts and evidence out there if why such point even exists. Eliot's point, as I said, is very haunting because, in his view, modernism shows a “disintegration of life and mental stability” and as we are keeping hearing, that is how social media is damaging our society.

With T.S. Eliot other poems, A Game of Chess and Burton Norton, similar themes are discussed about alienation and modernism problems.

A Game of Chess explores humanity's disconnection by having a dark undertone of how we live in a modern world. First of all, this poem's setting is ambiguous, but it is lavish as “the chair she sat in, like a burnished thorn.” So, is the woman in this poem a queen? We will never know because does the woman know herself if she is the queen. The line “withered stumps of time” shows how humans are disconnected. We use a medieval concept of kings and queens and apply it to our everyday lives where everyone wants to be treated like they part of the royal society, which alienates us from reality.  

Similarly, Burnt Norton explores alienation themes by using phrases like “Internal darkness, deprivation and destruction of all properties” Eliot again show how the modern world is doomed. The difference with this poem is the use of past, present and future all coexist and how humans have repeated the sins of the past, bringing it to the present and will continue it to the future (“on its metalled ways of time past and time future”). Relate this to A Game of Chess, and you can see why the use of iambic pentameter starts to lose its rhythm because as time progresses, the structure changes, making it unstable.  

What does the future mean for humans and technology? Krapp’s Last Tape has one perspective

You must have read this title and must have thought, “hmm, what does the future mean for humans and technology?” Humans and technology have had a harmonious relationship throughout the ages where technology has benefitted our species is progressing throughout the world.

However, Krapp's Last tape would say otherwise. It depicts a decrepit old Krapp at his “den” with a “tape recorder, microphone and a number of cardboard boxes containing reels of recorded tapes.”  That does sound very bleak, but it is meant to sound like that because it shows the over-reliance on technology as we progress more into the future. Technology has been used for good like prosthesis, telecommunications, television, the internet, and other things. However, it does raise a question of how much of ourselves are we going to give to technology? Are we willing to let technology replace us? These sort of questions we have to ask ourselves as the future nears.

The tape recorder in Krapp’s Last Tape may seem like an ordinary device at first. Still, it symbolises a much deeper meaning as Beckett points out in the ending stage direction, “Krapp motionless before him. The tape runs on in silence”. The tape is personified; it symbolises a grandeur “being” of immortality, whereas Krapp is just a fragile old man running on his last leg until he is nothing but bones.

Every year there is a new release of technologies that changes everything. Apple, for example, changes the technological landscape with its latest iPhone, iPad and MacBook every year. Thus, it puts this pressure on everyone to buy the newest product because it is so cutting edge even though it is only a slight improvement from the previous model. As humans, we are like guinea pigs to experiment. Look at the other technologies we have, Amazon Alexa, to remind us of appointments, dates, or even just to have a chat.

Now the tape recorder that Krapp has is just a device that stores audio recordings; it may seem harmless and beneficial but look at it this way. Krapp has a collection of his audio recording that he needs to clinch to his memories. It is for him to relive the past, and that is the troubling thing because, as humans, we are wired and programmed to relive memories through a mental image. If we remove that via an audio recording and even pictures, we release our mind's valuable asset.

It is daunting that we live in an age where we are comfortable with having our data like shopping, searches or what we even ordered on Uber Eats sorted and shared across the digital world; it makes me wonder about our privacy and how much is it valued?  It does question that social media has made it easy for us to share our pictures and have them stored there forever for everyone to see and yet to be analysed beyond its initial reason.

Nevertheless, technology will forever shape our future for good or bad reasons, but our ambition will determine our morality and our existence in that future. What will that future look like when we rely on Artificial Intelligence to meet our human needs? If science fiction has told us anything is those good intentions can be lead us astray.

 Do we have a God complex? Or are we just morally driven to a path of ill ambition?

Have you just sat there and thought, “I wonder what it will be like to create a new being?”.  If you have not, then you are not as crazy as Victor Frankenstein. If you have, then you might be as mad as Frankenstein but not as quiet.

Mary Shelly classic Frankenstein is widely known throughout pop culture and the world to the point where every monster and science fiction tale will have an underlying message and recreation of a human creating a grotesque creature. Still, it is not hard to see why it has been recreated so many times.

Human morality is often debated a lot, especially within the scientific community, because how far are we willing to play God? What is God? Moreover, who is ready to stop us? These sorts of questions are constantly asked within our species as we continue to evolve.

“whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery.” What does this mean to you? To Victor, it is an idea that your parents essentially play God from the moment you are born. Like God, the concept of nurture, care, and help you direct to your future, whether happy or sad, is your parents who do it.

It may seem a little far-fetched, but there is a point to this as when we have children, we want the best for them, like how God does the best for us; however, most of us believe

God is sin-free; he can do no wrong as God is above all beings, so whom do we blame for all the trouble we suffer. We condemn the devil.

So, who are we to even think this? After all, we as species are relatively new, only being 250,000 years old,but the advances we have made are astronomical; from creating languages to art and making substantial scientific discoveries, we have evolved quicker than other species lived. Nevertheless, the one thing we have not been able to do is to create a sentient being.

Has that ever stopped us? No, it never has because our race is built on the fundamentals of finding a purpose within this universe. We always ask ourselves the question of are we alone in this universe? If not, then what other beings are out there and are they more advance than us?

What Frankenstein teaches us that we are scared to be alone, so to eradicate that loneliness, we fantasies and makeup beings that will perfect us. However, in some cases, perfection is also our monster, like Victor’s monster, which leads to neglection, alienation, and judgment.  

Let us be honest; humans do not have an outstanding record of celebrating differences. Our history book is full of events that show us how we despise differences, like slavery and the abomination against Black people, the Jewish Holocaust, Islamophobia. Moments we question humanity, and yet in all of these events, the superior majority is always against the minorities and in my view, that is a God complex.

The idea of humans creating a new life that is intelligent and sentient juxtaposes us. They could be a very high possibility that society will reject a new species that we have created because it is not human. If we cannot accept the differences within our race, how will we accept a new race? We will just reject it like the monster or, even worse, kill it, but even then, we are ideally and morally happy to do that and given our track record with animal extinction.

However, on the other hand, we live in a time where acceptance is becoming more and more viable, especially with everyone difference, so unlike rejecting the monster, we come and love it, but that does bring a problem of how accepting are we willing to be? We are human, after all, and we do not operate in a black and white world; our nature and intention will always put us in this grey area, and that is the area were we initially show our true morality and ambitions.

As technology advances and genetic engineering becomes a reality, we have to think about our intentions and our willingness to act like God when it comes to a new life. Are we ready to use gene therapy to eradicate diseases before birth, and if so, what impact will that have on the human race and its longevity? As Robert Sparrow points out, “Just because we have the capabilities to perform enhancements, it does not mean we need to perform it.”

Charles Dicken’s Tale of Two Cities is very much a reality

Charles Dickens is famously renowned for speaking out against a society catered towards the rich and leaves its poor in debt. After all, his famous books Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol show the people's inequality during Victorian England, but those books were optimistic; they had a happy ending.

On the hand, a Tale of Two Cities does not have a happy undertone, and in my opinion, it does show the grim reality of how we have created a world that favours the few and neglects the people.

Look at the mills that have survived; mills symbolise a strong workforce, productivity, capitalism a well-established economy. They also represent class distinction, poor working condition, and fear. It clearly says in the book, “samples of people who had undergone a terrible grinding and regrinding in the mills”. Less fortunate people had to experience, and no matter if this was in England and France, the message was the same, humans are expendable, and the poorer you are, the less value you will have to your name. Sadly, that is true to this day, where wealth inequality just grows further.

Let me just throw some numbers out there for you. In England, at the end of the 2020 financial year, the wealth inequality grew to a point where the income of the top 20% grew six times more than the most deficient 20%, and the top 10% had an income stream that was 50% greater than the poorest 10%.

That is shocking, but what is more surprising is that this all happened during a global pandemic that resulted in many people losing their jobs. This is to be expected because of how our society has been structured, and figures like Dickens challenged this economic structure, so are we and will continue to do so.

Dickens novel also points out the force of the people as they make the majority of the nation is solid and to be frightened about as “urging one another, and themselves to madness, with the wildest cries and action.”

Events throughout 2020, like the Black Lives Matter to the Indian Farmer protest, is a perfect illustration of movements reforming and challenging society. Dickens' novel mirrors this that no matter where in time and what era, society will always be dysfunctional due to the few exploiting the rest.

[srwestvikwrites]

Privilege is the Haven of Thorns

I wrote this post the week George Floyd was murdered. I was angry, and tired, and confused, and increasingly more apprehensive in my capacity as a person and as a writer as I was drawn in to the immense whirlpool of the zeitgeist gripping the internet and society. 

It was such a complicated and emotional time. I was wracked with guilt at not going to the BLM protest in Madrid because we had just opened up into Phase 2 of the desescalada and I was scared of COVID. I was furious at the denial of individuals in my home country of Singapore who refused to believe that just because our race riots were in 1964 and not 2020 that it meant we had no more issues of systemic discrimination or privilege to challenge. I was exasperated and uneasy and inspired at having been drawn into a massive shitshow about race that rocked the Tolkien fandom within the same timeframe.

All of this made me question my place and my purpose as an author writing a story like Haven of Thorns. It doesn’t dwell on these issues, but it draws on them, in the same way that my life doesn’t linger on the colonisation of my home country or the country of my ancestors (India) and yet is irrevocably shaped by this history. 

Haven of Thorns was always going to be a story taking place in the strange rivers of colonial legacy. It is a story of drowned histories and ghosts that reside in the very stones of a city and demons that linger inside people who were happy enough to let them back in. All of it is pushed along by the current of time, where history is not stagnant but forces change. It is about war, and it is about subtle discrimination, and it is about what we choose to do when we’re so hung up on our independence story that we refuse to acknowledge the rot in our roots.

I’m reproducing the post as I wrote it all those weeks ago, even though there are better ways I could have expressed my thoughts, and indeed some of these thoughts have new nuances now as I have drafted pivotal scenes in the story. There are other things I’d rather have focused on. The haven of thorns is more than mere privilege now. And perhaps one day I’ll expand on that.

But for now, this is a historical record of what I was thinking as it was all going down and I was trying to decide what sort of story I wanted to tell in the world I lived in as the person I am.

_________________________________________________

I’m not going to be coy about the metaphor anymore. This book was always going to be highly political. It has just become even more political. I cannot begin to describe how apt and how heartbreaking it is to be drafting my novel right now.

Some context should perhaps be given as to the kinds of politics that are informing this story. I began outlining the earliest iterations of Haven of Thorns at the height of the European migration crisis. While migration itself is not a main theme of the story – and where it does feature, it’s from a rather inverted historical power dynamic – the backlash against it was always present in the telling of the tale. The rise of the European right terrified me. I had never experienced open racism before until one incident when I moved to Norway in late 2015, where I was lucky enough to have an ally at the time, though I never learned her name. I have seen far too many swastikas misappropriated from their holiness to represent hatred, spraypainted on neighbourhood walls in Trondheim, London, and Madrid.

For many years, I likened racism and xenophobia and white supremacy to a contagion, even to possession (which may have been down to the title of this book I read during high school). My view on this has changed, now. For those raised into these ideas, sure, the demon metaphor may still apply. But for many, these corrupted values take root and fester because we allow them to.

The old first draft of Haven of Thorns was begun in the first week of November, 2016. I feel I have no need to elaborate on why this timing is significant. Globally, the sense of the triumph of ignorance and vitriol was palpable. Over the next few years, partially because I became more active on social media and partially because of the degree I was studying for, every day required exposure to injustices very often predicated on culture, ethnicity, language, and/or race.

Then in 2019 Singapore commemorated the bicentennial – our 200 year anniversary of being colonised. And once again I was confronted with the bizarre lack of acknowledgment of how blatantly race relations had been directed and segmented by the British, and how whatever the government line says, we have not bounced back from the wounds that gouged in our society. I interned at an NGO dealing with race relations, and it only illuminated what we’d rather cover up – the value judgements we make of people based off their skin colour, the god(s) the pray to, or the language they speak. When COVID-19 reared its head Singapore was lauded for their response, until it hit the migrant worker dormitories. That was a powder keg waiting to explode. And it is false and unjust to pretend that the conditions they are living in do not have their own origins in the petulant protests of those who unfairly profiled and characterised the workers and robbed them of better conditions, resulting in the tragedy that has taken place now.

Even climate justice and its link to ethnicity began to seep into the story, particularly during the early 2020 fires in Australia and how severely the Aboriginal peoples were affected.

As I write this post Minneapolis is up in arms, and Americans are out in the thousands across the country protesting for justice for George Floyd and the countless other black Americans who have been victims of the system and of police violence.

Growing from childhood to adulthood in the 2000s-2010s has meant growing up in a time when discussions about race, ethnicity, culture, and the legacies of our most backward perceptions and prejudiced notions have come to the forefront, both of activism and of violent action taken against others. How could I not be impacted, for example, by the horror of the massacre in Norway on 22 July? How could I not have felt the shadow of the War on Terror through the rampant Islamophobia in the media and in society?

The extent to which all these disparate ideas of politics and power and race and xenophobia and colonialism actually manifest in Haven of Thorns isn’t perhaps measurable in the amount I’ve discussed them here. But the core of this book is that the haven is privilege, and thorns are both the barrier of our ignorance and the spears upon which we sacrifice those who challenge it.  White privilege in the West. Chinese privilege in Singapore. Yes I fucking said it. To refuse to see that is privilege, in and of itself. One can feel hurt, to be associated with the violent ways these ideas manifest. Or, one can choose to acknowledge that feeling implicated by despicable acts is perhaps the spark to challenge one’s own biases.

This story is about breaking that thorn barrier and letting in the light, in all its unbridled blinding glory, to burn away the festering hatred we’ve allowed to take root in our flesh.

In the end an important theme in Haven of Thorns – perhaps the most important – is the power structures and prejudices that prevail when colonisation has ended, along with its associated forms of exploitation, and a state becomes self-governing. It’s about who remains in power, why they remain there, and what it means for those who do not have an equal share in that power. I’m not just talking about physical force. I’m talking about value judgments that disenfranchise people based on their inherent qualities. Things like language, religion, or skin colour. Having a voice and having the power to exercise and sustain what you advocate for are all very different things, and this is why these stories cannot be apolitical. A person’s life, their right to life, and their rights to liberty and equality should not be a matter of politics – and yet they are. Because politics is about power. And power is far too often exercised unjustly.

Blaming the old oppressor only works up to a point. At some stage, a country has to face what it has done and continues to do to itself, and whether they are going to choose to make collective, powerful, and perhaps jarring value changes for the sake of basic human rights and justice. After all, prejudice is learned. It can be unlearned.

While this tale focuses on the legacy of colonisation, these same principles lie behind the abuse of authority and the untended wounds of what has happened to the black community in America for centuries, itself founded upon ideas of racial superiority. The police brutality coupled with endorsement from the highest offices in the land is a horrific ugliness – but worse, is those who choose not to see it for what it is. Those who tweet #alllivesmatter. Those who say they don’t see colour. Those who question why race has to be dragged into everything. To quote Moses in Dreamworks’s The Prince of Egypt: “I did not see because I did not wish to see.” This is privilege. This is us inviting contagion into our societies and refusing to mask up and letting it kill us from the inside out. But unlike a contagion, this is discriminatory. That is the essence of it. The differential treatment is the point. If you question why people are burning and looting, why they aren’t being “peaceful”, why they don’t comply (they do – it doesn’t work, as anyone who watched the clip of the CNN reporter would know), why they are so angry – then you are in the haven of thorns. You just refuse to acknowledge it, because the only light seeping into your little puddle is filtered, screened, and you’d rather ignore the shadows cast by the thorns.

So many of the choices in Haven of Thorns hinge upon deciding whether to preserve or whether to overturn these vicious cycles of hatred. It’s so painful to see these struggles continue to be mirrored in the real world, happening to real communities at this very moment. Part of me wants to stop writing this, because I cannot begin to capture the true agony of what is happening, no matter how much I empathise. But another part of me knows that I am in a position of great privilege, and perhaps it is time I put my voice to something that truly matters. Add another line to the anthem that advocates for these deep-set value changes that we need to make on a domestic and an international scale.

In the first very first chapter of this story, the royal palace burns. It may just as well have been a police station.

[c0smicheaux]

Saturn’s Return through the signs and houses. Source;astrostyle . Com

Saturn first/Aries; can make you rather impetuous. You may be the first one to dive in, kickstart a project, or start a new trend. The trouble is your staying power is not quite as strong. Conversely, Saturn in Aries or the first house can make you hesitate, so that you wind up with a zillion genius ideas that never get off the ground. The lessons of your return are to become a leader without doing everything yourself—or becoming completely bossy and domineering. There can be a “my way or the highway” pitfall for you. Stamp your name on your innovations and get them out to the world, but remember that many hands make light work. You could be a stellar athlete and a daredevil. A career as a motivational speaker, CEO, military leader or athlete could be in the cards as well.

Saturn second/Taurus; Practical luxury and comfort is paramount to harnessing the stabilizing energy of Taurus here—but do you actually have the funds to pull off those champagne wishes and caviar dreams? You may struggle in the money department, living in a fantasy world and learning tough lessons about budgeting and delayed gratification. Beware laziness, too. Learn to be the charging Bull instead of the sleeping one, or opportunity could pass you by. With a little elbow grease, you could become an incredible money manager and might have a shining career in finance. Hospitality and the fine goods markets could also be your path. You have a keen eye for beauty and might even own a brick and mortar store one day.

Saturn third/Gemini; Hello communicator! The gift of gab or the power of the pen—you are meant to use your words. But Saturn’s suppressive powers can make you shy about expressing yourself, and it could take a while before you have the guts to voice your opinion or shop around your memoirs to publishing houses. Though you thrive in a partnership (chatty Gemini is the sign of the Twins), you could be a little too quick to compromise, losing your autonomy in the process. Working as a dynamic duo could bring you great success. You could have a career in writing or teaching. You may excel in more sartorial or technical pursuits (especially coding or software development), or harness your people skills to make a mint in sales

Saturn fourth/Cancer; Home and family can be a source of comfort and angst in equal measure. Some people with Saturn in this position may struggle to leave the nest, or become overly attached and responsible for their relatives. Shyness can plague you, making it difficult to come out of the proverbial Crab shell. Some people born with Saturn in heartfelt Cancer or the fourth house have difficult childhoods, with an absent or challenging mother. Although you may resist becoming a parent, it could be your greatest joy, whether you have children or pets. Your care-taking instincts could lead you to a career in the culinary world, hospitality or nursing. Working from home or owning a small business will be fulfilling too. You love being hands-on!

Saturn fifth/Leo; Glamour, passion and fairy-tale romance: you want them all, but may take the long road to achieving them. Although you have talents as a performer or presenter, Saturn’s influence in dramatic Leo can make you slow to find the stage—or hard on yourself once you do. Finding your voice, self-expression and confidence will be a riveting journey. You may struggle with excess—and learn some tough lessons about overindulging. A tendency to romanticize and idealize people can bring struggles in relationships. Although it may take you a while to figure out who is right for you (or distinguish a player from a prince), you could enjoy a rich and rewarding love life. Creativity is your calling card and you could find a career in the arts or theater, or by making beautiful objects by hand. Leo and the fifth house have a regal vibe, so being the boss like the proud Lion is in your blood.

Saturn sixth/Virgo; Order in the court! You love systems and know how make life run like a well-oiled machine. Chaos, which is a naturally occurring phenomenon, could confound you—and you could struggle when things don’t fit into neatly categorized boxes. Learning how to stay on top of the details while also going with the flow will be one of your biggest lessons. Perfectionism could plague you too, and even lead to struggles with food since purifying Virgo and the sixth house govern the digestive system. Your Saturn falls in the sign of service too, and you could excel in non-profit work or as an agent who helps others accomplish their dreams (with a percentage for your time, of course). All things natural appeal to you: organic foods, cruelty free and sustainable products, holistic healing. You could open up a business based around any of the aforementioned, or even train as a therapist, masseur, acupuncturist or herbalist.

Saturn seventh/Libra; Relationships are both a blessing and a thorn in your side in this lifetime as your Saturn theme is all about partnership. You may struggle to find the proper equilibrium of give and take. Your Saturn Return brings the hard truths about what it really takes to co-exist harmoniously with another. Your Saturn Return could also herald a marriage proposal or the dissolution of a relationship based on shaky ground. Harmonious Libra and the seventh house bring a people-loving vibe, but you may struggle with boundaries and lose a few friends before learning to set limits. You could be drawn to the law, fashion or sales as a career, since you’re equally concerned with justice and beauty.

Saturn eighth/Scorpio; Money, power, sex! Having Saturn in sultry Scorpio or the eighth house is no light and fluffy thing. You could deal with blocks to abundance, fear of success or body hang-ups—but your Saturn Return brings an incredible opportunity to work through them. Who knows? You could emerge a yogi, dakini, or powerbroker by the end of this phase. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, something must die for a transformation and rebirth to take place. You may deal with a powerful loss that shapes your life path, or discover your own psychic powers during your Saturn Return. Your career may involve medicine (you aren’t afraid of blood) or helping people through personal crises and transformations. Resourceful, you are an alchemist who can turn the mundane into gold.

Saturn ninth/Sagittarius; You’re a worldly one with your Saturn in global Sagittarius or the ninth house. Cross-cultural relationships will be your learning grounds and you may become “adopted” by a culture different than your own at some point in your life. If you haven’t traveled extensively, your Saturn Return would be an ideal time to live abroad. Or, if your nomadic nature has given you a tumbleweed complex, you could pause and put down roots for a few years during the Saturn Return. Higher education is governed by this sign and house: you’re an eternal student of life. Your Saturn Return could be a great time to go back to school for that graduate degree or special certification. Your career could involve traveling, teaching or publishing.

Saturn tenth/Capricorn; Goals, goals, goals! You may be obsessed with success to a detriment, and your Saturn Return will remind you that the end does not always justify the means. If Saturn has stalled your ambition, you could finally find your career calling now. Ambitious Capricorn and the tenth house are associated with men and the father. Daddy issues could plague you, or you may have a strained or distant relationship with your father. Or, your dad could have been very stern and authoritative, making it difficult for you to express yourself in his company. These will need to be dealt with during the Saturn Return, but powerful men will also help you manifest your dreams. Big business could call your name. You may return to school for an MBA, be promoted to a director’s position, or open up shop on your own venture. Hello, CEO.

Saturn eleventh/Aquarius; Community could be a source of struggle for you, but your Saturn Return is the time to find your tribe. Humanitarian issues may rouse you, like a calling, and you might start a non-profit, get involved in social justice work or find ways to make your everyday environment a place where people from all walks of life are welcome. Since future-forward Aquarius and the eleventh house govern technology and innovation, you could invent something life-changing, like an app or gadget. Though you could do many kinds of work, you’ll want to surround yourself with progressive thinkers and inspiring innovators as colleagues.

Saturn twelfth/Pisces; You are a born healer and your compassionate nature will be awakened during your Saturn Return. You may be drawn to the hidden side of life, such as spirituality or esoteric pursuits. An interest in human psychology or alternative medicine could emerge since ethereal Pisces and the twelfth house rule the subconscious mind. Learning boundaries will be a huge lesson now, especially since you may be prone to making too many sacrifices. The arts—especially music and poetry—will call your name. You may also discover a gift for working with numbers and codes or doing holistic healing.

[wolfyxkaden]

FULL NAME: Kaden Greymark NICK NAME(S): Kaden AGE: Twenty six. PRONOUNS: He/him. S. ORIENTATION: Pansexual. R. ORIENTATION: Biromantic. 

POSITIVE TRAITS: patient, intelligent, nerdy, polite, quiet NEGATIVE TRAITS: Cold, calculated, obsessive, possessive, strict  FORMER OCCUPATION: Student, CEO(current) 

SPECIES: Werewolf ACTIVE POWERS:  SKILLS: Great hacker, writing and inventing code, good leader 

RANK: Master ROLE: Dom TURN-ONS: d/s, tpe, daddy kink, orgasm control, sensory deprivation, anal play, bondage, light breath play, rough sex, marking, biting, hair pulling, spanking, obedience, submission, oral(both receiving and giving) TURN-OFFS: Scat, water sports, bathroom play, blood play, humiliation, disobedience, rudeness

BIOGRAPHY

Kaden was raised in a werewolf community not far from Thorn Haven, the oldest of three brothers. His parents had initially had a loving marriage but after Kaden was born his father was cursed and controlled by a power hungry, very old witch who wanted to use his pack for her own gain. She made Kaden’s father, the alpha obey her every command by forcing him to shift at her own pleasure. The wolf he turned into was one twisted, feral, demonic. Her curse made him a slave to her whims, thus the pack as well. Not to mention that it made Kaden’s father prone to violent rages that his whole family was forced to feel on their skin. Kaden’s mother stuck it out for as long as she was able, but when she figured out she was pregnant a fourth time, and accepted that her husband wouldn’t be able to break free from his curse and become the man she had fell in love with, she disappeared without a trace or another word. Her sons were forced to stay with their vicious father and the pack he controlled with an iron fist. Kaden took a lot of blows for his younger brothers, and was ultimately the one most often scrutinized and terrorized by their father. He was too weak, to shy and his father was convinced he’d turn out a coward. So he tried to beat it out of him.

When Kaden turned nineteen he pleaded with his brothers to come with him as he planned on attending college. When they both refused, he left his family behind, desperate to make something of himself on his own terms, even if it was in the human world. His years at MIT are still some of the best he can remember. After college Kaden started his own company with a couple of college friends who shared his passions for coding and development of technology. They were quickly making a name for themselves in the larger cities and about to launch the company on a global scale when Kaden’s younger brother came to see him, pleading with him to return home. Their father was very sick, dying from the curse, and Kaden had to come and take his place as alpha. Reluctantly, Kaden did return home, both to verify his brothers tale, and wanting to free his pack from the witches grasp. As his father died and he assumed position as alpha, the witch made her threats, but did not curse him as she had his father. Kaden was smarter than his old man, playing nice with her, making her believe he would willingly do her bidding. For a time Kaden was able to plan out how he was going to take the witches life, once and for all. He trusted his brothers with the plan, unaware that the youngest had fallen in love with the woman. He told her what his older brother was planning, and in retribution she declared the youngest Greymark alpha, promising Kaden he would die a gruesome death. Luckily his pack mates freed him and he ran for his life, not looking back once.

Thorn Haven became the young mans home, and there he grew his business empire. Today he is CEO and rather successful. For a long time slaves were simply used to stave off needs and bring him the occasional quick pleasure. But when Kaden met Brooks, a lot changed. The wolf found himself smitten by the young, talkative and sweet younger wolf. It didn’t take long for him to decide to claim him, and the two began sharing a life together. For two years Kaden found his life brightened by the younger male. And then he received a tip that the witch from his past was coming into town. To be safe Kaden had to act. He felt terrible about sending Brooks back to the cells, but he saw no other way. Then he left town quickly, monitoring the situation from afar under the disguise of being on a lengthy business trip. Now that he’s learned his information was wrong he has returned, assured that no witch from his past lingers in the city he’s glad to call his home.  

[combogamer]

Únete al primer Big Event del ARPG 'Tales of Thorn: Global'

Únete al primer Big Event del ARPG 'Tales of Thorn: Global'

El evento está vigente hasta este domingo 22 de julio

Lee el artículo completo aquí:

http://www.combogamer.com/32220/unete-al-primer-big-event-del-arpg-tales-of-thorn-global/

[weirdsciencecomics]

Here are the February 2020 Marvel Comics Solicitations for all Avengers related comics!

FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER #1 (OF 5)

DEREK LANDY • FEDERICO VICENTINI (A)

Cover by DAN MORA

Variant Cover by BENGAL

VARIANT COVER BY BUTCH GUICE

CHINESE NEW YEAR VARIANT COVER BY ZIYIAN LIU

An office of dead government agents. A gifted new killer. Two ex-Captain Americas…

When a dramatic attempt on the life of Bucky Barnes reunites him with Sam Wilson, the two old friends are plunged headlong into a race to uncover the new leader of Hydra before a mass casualty event announces the terror group’s resurgence to the world. The clock is ticking…

Derek Landy (BLACK ORDER, SECRET EMPIRE: UPRISING) and Federico Vicentini (ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: MILES MORALES) team up for a pulse-pounding action spectacular!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ANT-MAN #1 & #2 (OF 5)

ZEB WELLS • DYLAN BURNETT (A)

Covers by EDUARD PETROVICH

ISSUE #1 – Variant Cover by MARCOS MARTIN

ISSUE #1 – VARIANT COVER BY JOHN  TYLER CHRISTOPHER

ISSUE #1 – REMASTERED VARIANT COVER BY HERB TRIMPE

ISSUE #2 – Variant Cover by SUPERLOG

SWARM APPROACHES!

ISSUE #1 – Scott Lang is back and doing better than ever! Er, at least according to him, but his daughter, Stinger, and the anthill he’s living in say otherwise. Desperate to raise his daughter’s opinion of him, Scott takes a job from local beekeepers only to uncover a global conspiracy that could topple the world order! No time to call the Avengers, this sounds like a job for – ANT-MAN?! Join the explosive creative team of Zeb Wells (NOVA) and Dylan Burnett (X-FORCE, COSMIC GHOST RIDER) as they take Ant-Man to all-new heights in this epic adventure!

ISSUE #2 – A global conspiracy uncovered! Ant-Man faces off against a new host of villians unlike anything we’ve ever seen before – and they’re not falling for any of his tricks. With his back against the wall, will Ant-Man be able to stand his ground or end up squished beneath their heel?

32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)

THOR #3

DONNY CATES • NIC KLEIN (A)

Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL

Variant cover by RYAN BROWN

GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN

THE BATTLE OF TWO STORMS!

It’s Mjolnir versus Stormbreaker as Thor’s old ally Beta Ray Bill makes a thunderous entrance! But what has put the two friends at odds — and can the King of Asgard convince the Korbinite to let him continue his bloody mission to save all that is?

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

  CAPTAIN AMERICA #19

TA-NEHISI COATES • JASON MASTERS (A) • Cover by ALEX ROSS

GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY JUNGGEUN YOON

THE LEGEND OF STEVE Concludes! 

Cap comes face-to-face with the Dryad and learns her game-changing true identity!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

AVENGERS #31

JASON AARON • GERARDO ZAFFINO (A/C)

GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL

CHINESE NEW YEAR VARIANT COVER BY TIANQI HU

THE TEMPTATION OF ANTHONY STARK!

Special Oversized Issue! Trapped in an icy cave at the dawn of time, Tony Stark has lost most of his armor and a good chunk of his mind. And tonight when the sun goes down and the devil comes round again, Iron Man may very well lose whatever’s left of his soul. A dark tale of hell and ice and iron, unlike any Golden Avenger story you’ve ever read, featuring the gorgeously gritty visuals of guest artist Gerardo Zaffino (CONAN THE BARBARIAN).

40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #2 (OF 5)

ED BRISSON • JONAS SCHARF (A) • Cover by JUAN JOSÉ RYP

Variant cover by Riccardo Federici

HUNTING FOR DOOM!

DANI/THOR, DWIGHT/ANT-MAN, and HULK, JR. set off on a quest to save the Wastelands from DR. DOOM’s reign of terror! But can they succeed where OLD MAN LOGAN left off? And what does the return of CAPTAIN AMERICA herald for the team?

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

  MARVEL’S VOICES #1

Vita Ayala, Roxane Gay, Brian Stelfreeze, Geoff  Thorne, Anthony Piper, Kyle Baker, Evan Narcisse, Method Man, Rob Markman, Chuck Brown, David F. Walker

Brian Stelfreeze, Anthony Piper, Kyle Baker, Sanford Greene, Damion Scott, Ray-Anthony Height, Alitha E. Martinez, Natacha Bustos, LUCIANO VECCHIO (A)

Cover by RYAN BENJAMIN

Variant by Brian Stelfreeze

Variant by DAMION SCOTT

THE WORLD OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW!

Marvel’s acclaimed podcast series focusing on telling the stories of diverse creators and their unique perspectives becomes a one shot of brand new adventures! The X-Men find their place in the world after declaring a new nation! Killmonger strikes! Moon Girl and Devil Dino return! 40 PGS./ONE SHOT/ RATED T+…$4.99

  TAROT #3 (of 4)

ALAN DAVIS • PAUL RENAUD (A/C)

VARIANT COVER BY ALAN DAVIS

VARIANT COVER BY KEVIN NOWLAN

As the chaos and madness continues to spread, the Avengers and the Defenders find themselves confronted by the most unlikely characters in Marvel history! Would you believe – THE UNBELIEVABLES?

40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

  STAR #2 (OF 5)

KELLY THOMPSON • JAVIER PINA (A)

Cover by Carmen Carnero

Variant cover by Kirbi Fagan

TWO REALITY WARPERS COLLIDE!

As Star struggles to master her powers, she gets a visit from one of the world’s greatest — and most dangerous — reality warpers. But is the Scarlet Witch here to guide a fledgling, would-be hero…or put down a deadly villain? Either way, Star better learn fast — because heroes aren’t the only ones watching the new wielder of the Reality Stone.

32 PGS./Rated T+…$3.99

  MARVEL’S AVENGERS: HULK #1

JIM ZUB • ARIEL OLIVETTI (A) • Cover by STONEHOUSE

VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM

VARIANT COVER BY PYEONG JUN PARK

HULK STARS IN THE SMASHING PREQUEL TO THE UPCOMING VIDEO GAME, MARVEL’S AVENGERS!

The adventure leading to MARVEL’S AVENGERS rages on, with an all-new story leading directly into the events of the highly anticipated video game! As the incredible HULK, the monstrous alter ego of scientist BRUCE BANNER, he’s done good for the world.  But with the virtually uncontrollable, gigantic green rage monster always bubbling under his skin, Banner has teamed up with an inquisitive scientist in an attempt to regulate the beast once and for all.  As their experiments go deeper, a catastrophic event may spell the end for more than just Banner’s curse!

Witness crucial incidents and intrigue in the saga tied to the earthshaking events in the MARVEL’S AVENGERS game next year!

32 PGS./ ONE SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

MARVELS X #2 (OF 6)

ALEX ROSS & JIM KRUEGER • WELL BEE (A)

Cover by ALEX ROSS

VARIANT COVER BY WELL BEE

David’s arrival in New York doesn’t bring the safety he had hoped it would.  And while he does indeed find some heroes, he also finds that they don’t know what to do in a world where everyone they ever fought to protect now wants only to blame them for the hell the world has transformed into.  Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Well-Bee continue the amazing prequel to the EARTH X trilogy.

40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99

ATLANTIS ATTACKS #2 (OF 5)

GREG PAK • ARIO ANIDITO (A) • COVER BY MICO SUAYAN

VARIANT COVER BY TBA

VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM

CHINESE NEW YEAR VARIANT COVER BY MoNa

THE EARTH WILL SHAKE AND THE WATERS WILL BOIL!

NAMOR versus BRAWN! A team torn asunder! SWORD MASTER and SHANG-CHI undercover! Wave caught between the surface world of her birth and the undersea glories of ATLANTIS! And who are the SIRENAS? The epic clash continues and the AGENTS OF ATLAS — both old and new — will never be the same!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

HAWKEYE: FREEFALL #3

MATTHEW ROSENBERG • OTTO SCHMIDT (A)

Cover by KIM JACINTO

As things around him are getting more dangerous, Clint Barton is being pushed to make some tough, and probably really bad, decisions. Meanwhile the mysterious new Ronin is waging war against The Hood and Hawkeye is caught in the middle of it. The Web of lies our Friendly Neighborhood archer finds himself caught in will have Spectacular ramifications when he is confronted by our Amazing secret guest star… (It’s Spider-Man. Shhh.)

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

DOCTOR STRANGE #3

MARK WAID • KEV WALKER (A) • Cover by PHIL NOTO

VARIANT COVER BY KEV WALKER

Tattoo removal isn’t in a surgeon’s job description, but when one man’s heavy metal tattoos begin coming to life Doctor Strange will have to make an exception! With the clock ticking down rapidly, will Doctor Strange be able to save his patient—or himself? Find out as Doctor Strange gets drawn into the diagnosis—literally!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

IMMORTAL HULK #31

AL EWING • JOE BENNETT (A) • Cover by ALEX ROSS

Variant cover by GEOFF SHAW

GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY DAVID NAKAYAMA

There’s a new monster in town. He’s cuddly. He’s lovable. He’s down with the kids. And he’s available for your corporate retreat. Yes, there was another Hulk, once – the one who made all those nasty threats to end the world. But who needs him? THE LIVING HULK is here. And he’s going to save us all – or your money back.

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

  CAPTAIN MARVEL #15

KELLY THOMPSON • LEE GARBETT (A) • Cover by MARK BROOKS

CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY INHYUK LEE (4 OF 5)

CHINESE NEW YEAR VARIANT COVER BY ZILI YU

GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY Ema Lupacchino

“THE LAST AVENGER” PART 4: DESPERATE MEASURES

Captain Marvel had 24 hours to kill five Avengers — and she’s dangerously close to failing. Carol’s plan was always flawed, but as she nears the endgame, those flaws are becoming fatal. As Vox Supreme’s true plans for five dead Avengers emerge, it’s more important than ever that Carol not fail today.

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

SAVAGE AVENGERS #0 

GERRY DUGGAN & CHRIS CLAREMONT

GREG SMALLWOOD & JOHN ROMITA JR. (A)

Cover by GREG SMALLWOOD

VARIANT COVER BY PHILIP TAN

The looming threat of Kulan Gath reunites Dr. Strange and Magik on Krakoa. The fate of the world will rest in what they discover. Re-presenting a pair of classics, UNCANNY X-MEN 190 & 191 by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr, in the context of a great new sequence illustrated by the impeccable Greg Smallwood.

64 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

SAVAGE AVENGERS #10 

GERRY DUGGAN • PATCH ZIRCHER (A) • Cover by Valerio Giangiordano

Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom and Conan the Barbarian set out to kill Kulan Gath before he grows stronger! The team-up you never knew you couldn’t live without concludes. We hope you’ll be okay.

32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

  VALKYRIE: JANE FOSTER #8

JASON AARON & TORUNN GRØNBEKK • CAFU (A)

Cover by Mahmud Asrar

GWEN STACY VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO

ODE TO THE DEATH OF MIDGARD!

When Earth erupts with a cancerous contagion, it’s up to Jane to find the cure. But it’ll take more than her medical knowledge to fight off this infection. The source is buried deep in Asgardian legend — the sort only a king would know. Valkyrie finally joins forces with the All-Father of Asgard in a fight for the entire planet!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

  MARVEL’S BLACK WIDOW PRELUDE #2 (OF 2)  

PETER DAVID

CARLOS VILLA (A)

THE HUNT FOR THE BLACK WIDOW!

Follow the trail of NATASHA ROMANOFF’s exploits in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! As the facts are considered, the question remains: is the BLACK WIDOW really a threat? Get ready for MARVEL STUDIOS’ BLACK WIDOW solo film with the conclusion to this prelude story!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

    Avengers February 2020 Marvel Comics Solicits Here are the February 2020 Marvel Comics Solicitations for all Avengers related comics! FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER #1 (OF 5)

[comicteaparty]

June 22nd-June 28th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 22nd, 2019 to June 28th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

Describe your comic’s main antagonist.  How do their goal’s conflict with the protagonist’s?

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I haven't revealed the main antagonist yet... not outside of Merlow's nightmares, anyways. ;)

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

The main antagonist of http://bicatperson.com/ is an apocalyptic industrialist who's trying to kill off the other battle monsters so hers has a better chance of surviving the end of the world. The protagonists...do not want their battle monsters dead, and don't believe this apocalypse stuff anyway. The main antagonist of http://leifandthorn.com/ is, uh, probably capitalism. (I mean, there's also vampires! But the legal system is arranged so that the more debt you have, the more license they have to go after you.)

NeilKapit

I hate capitalism too, go on

AntiBunny

Oh wow where to even begin with http://antibunny.net/ It's gone through a few minor antagonists, but the main antagonist Dark Pooky has only revealed bits and pieces of what he's up to.

He's mostly just been pulling strings and tormenting the protagonist Pooky, allowing Pooky to think he's just a hallucination, while he tries to push and nudge Pooky to a more unstable mental state, and undo the slow progress Pooky has made. His actual goals aren't going to be revealed for a while though but he's mentioned that his real enemies are still very far away. He also played a role in the past in Nailbat, but to explain that would be a huge spoiler.

As for the antagonist of Nailbat the prequel to AntiBunny http://nailbat.antibunny.net/ Malphas, he's a simpler megalomaniac. His ambitions go from city level, to global, to cosmic in scale as he continues to leverage resources that become available to him both supernatural and technological. He's extremely intelligent and has the financial power to put that intellect to use. He might have succeeded if he didn't treat people as disposable objects. He comes into conflict with Nailbat all to save one life from his abusive clutches.

ShaRose49

Sunstrike and Bluemist’s main antagonist in this first story is named Xan, whom I will be getting back to sooner than later. He’s a weapons designer who is very practical but also ruthless. He has a lab underground where they make weapons to sell on the black market. The main way his goals conflict with Kairo’s is that he is basically a more extreme version of Kairo. Kairo is apathetic which enables him to do questionable things to survive, whereas Xan not only survives—but thrives in an apathetic world. The things he is willing to do to accomplish his goals make Kairo feel sick. http://sunstrikeandbluemist.thecomicseries.com/

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

@NeilKapit XD So in Leif's country, if you go into debt, you're sold into indentured servitude until you can pay it off. He's not actually the one who incurred the debt -- it was inherited from his parents, he doesn't like to talk about it -- but it's still at the root of Every Bad Thing that happens to him.

Meanwhile, Thorn's country has socialized medicine, a universal basic income, universal health insurance, all kinds of useful things. He was severely burned pre-canon while dragonslaying! And all the treatment he needed was covered.

So it takes him foreeeeeeever to figure out the real depth of how bad Leif's situation is, because it's so alien to his experience. And he doesn't understand Leif's language well enough to pick up the hints.

(Leif refers to himself as "not a citizen" and Thorn is just like "huh, guess I don't know what that word means")

NeilKapit

Well, I certainly need to catch up on Leif and Thorn

varethane

In Chirault, I have several antagonists but it's hard to categorize most of the antagonists as villains-- some are just trying to do what they perceive to be right based on what they know, and one was killed trying to do something (that he believed to be) heroic and then his body became the puppet of angry spirits trying to take back something that was stolen from them. The one human I would consider a real villain did most of the worst stuff in the distant past out of cowardice and greed, and at the point where the story begins he's a wreck in the beginning stages of dementia, consumed by paranoia.

MJ Massey

Black Ball's main antagonist is a mystery--Emily is trying to find who murdered her sister Amelia and why, and so far she doesn't have much to go on. A mysterious letter to someone named "Millie" might be a clue to get her started, and it is most assuredly connected to the illegal spellcraft trade

so all we know so far is it's: someone connected to spellcraft, and someone who murders people

Mharz

The main antagonist of The Angel with Black Wings http://blackwings.mharz.com/ Vladimir Hector is pretty much a goody-two-shoes guy who can seem to do nothing wrong. The problem is he's a perfectionist and he takes that perfectionism to insane levels. He wanted the world to be perfect without anyone suffering so he wanted to eliminate people who had sinned and caused suffering even the most pettiest misdeeds. The thing is, nobody's perfect and everyone makes mistakes so pretty much everyone is ded under his eyes. So Silver and her angelic army pretty much try to prevent that.

Attila Polyák

I sooooo like this question, but I just simply can't give a proper, one name, answer. In Tales of Midgard I couldn't really name one main antagonist, as a matter of fact the person I'd name as one, first appears as someone who actually helps the main crew not because he has some hidden agenda or anything, but because their interests in that particular situation happen to align. As a matter of fact several antagonists later return as helping side characters and those who help at first sometimes return as antagonists. The reason for this is simple, characters in different situations act differently. The only thing that saddens me in this topic is the fact that in 2017 we had to greatly rethink how many pages we can actually produce and for the sake of quality we cut quantity down. Or in other words I can't really showcase this dynamic for years... https://talesofmidgard.com/comic/book-1-cover-page/

Respheal

The antagonist of Galebound (http://www.galebound.com/) hasn't really revealed themselves yet...as far as we know, anyway. But they're the sort of antagonist I really enjoy--the sort whose goals are not bad at all.. A villain with a good point. In fact, their goal is the same as what Conan's will be, the difference is how they choose to pursue it. The antagonist has long since given up on doing things the "nice" way and is out to just get things done, to hell with anything and anyone who stands in their way. Surprisingly the main antagonist is not Din

Well, there's also a second antagonist. He's just plain awful xD He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth with the promise of more to come...and then that never happened. The wealth he was promised was denied to him and he was given a shadow of the power he thinks to be his birthright, so of course he wants more and he's doing everything he can to get it. He's a Noble (of course he is), which does unfortunately mean he's got some modicum of power to use in pursuit of his goal, and he chooses to use that power in the worst ways possible. He doesn't actually directly conflict with Conan much xD His true opposition is another character, the one character who (as far as Villain B knows) is the one keeping him from claiming his birthright, so their "battle" becomes a bit of a game of wits...Unfortunately for Villain B, he's playing with someone who knows where all the aces are in the deck and has a decade lead on him(edited)

Sarai

Villain B sounds like someone I grew up with I am very afraid

[kcrima]

˚ ‧ ♢ ․ JADE THIRLWALL. CISFEMALE. SHE/HER. » is that KARIMA NAZARI, the FASHION DESIGNER, who has been often times compared to CALVIN KLEIN? i heard the TWENTY-FOUR year old can be APATHETIC and FAITHLESS but makes up for it by being HUMOROUS and ZEALOUS. whenever i think of KARIMA NAZARI, i’m reminded of a plethora of RIPPED BLUE JEANS, DARK RED LIPSTICK, and BEING BRALESS. maybe there’s more to them than being dubbed THE POISONOUS THORN by the media.

trigger warnings: death 

guess whos back?? (back again) the formatting of karima’s intro is exactly the same as somi’s so first the mini bio, career info, then wcs!! id love to get as many plots as possible for karima so pls like this or message me on here (or on somi) !!

BIOGRAPHY

karima is.... the exact opposite of somi. instead of being an optimistic hopeless romantic. karima is a faithless realist. 

when she was younger she used to believe the world was a wonderful place with endless possibilities 

her parents used to take her to church, tell her extravagant stories of fairy tales and happily celebrated the existence of santa claus and all that jazz. her parents loved her dearly and sheltered her from a lot of things as a child.

however, after the death  of her older brother the world stopped being an enchanting place. she tried to understand why ‘god’ would take her brother at such a young age. and her grief stricken parents fell apart after his death. her mother became more overbearing. her dad became depressed & began to drink. 

everything was different. eventually she came to the conclusion that life is bleak. you live, then you die, then there’s nothing. 

getting older, she became bored of life. every day consisted of the same routine. there was no adventure and no excitement to be had. she got up, went to work, got home, went to bed. and that was it. that was her life. 

at least that was the routine until one day she was offered an internship at a clothing company in london, they needed an intern to do coffee runs and staple paperwork. they weren’t particularly looking for anyone special. she took the internship solely for a change in pace in her life. 

eventually the internship turned into something more. she began learning how to sketch designs, sew, and market. she took a bit of pleasure in getting to create designs but never visualized it as a full time career.

one day her bosses offered to buy some designs from her and to manufacture them. she declined it, if they were her designs they were having her name on them. not theirs. 

so she took her designs and began to sell them to various stores around london. it took a while for anyone to take interest in her designs. but eventually they did and ever since her work has been growing into a globally recognized brand.

CAREER

August 2016 - she began her own company/brand

November 2016 - her first collection was launched in stores and online

January 2017 - her designs hit the runway at London Fashion Week

Feburary 2017 - her designs are being sold internationally in store and online

CONNECTIONS

friendship

- work friends ; never see each other outside of a business obligation, whether it’s attending the same events or being involved with the same music label. but always find it to be a pleasure when they see each other.

- enemies to friends ; despite once hating each other, the two have bonded over ___ and have actually developed a friendship.

- lovers to friends ; after a quick fling they realized they would be better off as friends. they friendship can be awkward or not. either way it was just better left as a friendship.

- party / drinking buddies ; this pair is always up for a good time whether it be hitting the club at 1 am or just drinking in their living room. they’re always their for each other for a good ol’ fashion pick me up.

- confidants ; in this industry it’s hard to find people you can trust, luckily these two found each other and were able to find each other and tell each other everything with no fear of repercussions.

- gossip pals ; these two are always exchanging the latest gossip & news with each other just for their own entertainment

- protective friends ; since they’ve met, they’ve looked after each other as if they were actually family. they will do anything for the other and have a strong bond.

- internet friends ; although the pair hardly interact irl they are constantly hyping each other up and interacting over social media / text messages. they could spend hours talking via text.

- friends by association ; they have all the same friends and know a lot of the same people, they’ve met a few times and have just kind of become friends through others.

- distant friends / rekindling friendship ; they used to be extremely close then for whatever reason they lost touch. they could potentially try to rekindle the friendship and have it work or it back fires and its kind of sad because the connection is just lost even though neither of them want to admit it.

enemies

- frienemies ; their relationship is a complete roller coaster, one minute their best friends who can’t live with out each other then the next they rather have the other person dead. it’s complicated to say the least.

- secret enemies ; although they act like their friends in front of everyone, they lowkey hate each other. although they’d never admit it, they can’t stand each other. every conversation is full of snide remarks and back-handed compliments.

- instant enemies ; they have hated each other since the moment they’ve met for whatever reason.

- friends to enemies ; although they were once good friends they now hate each other for _____.

- lovers to enemies ; their romance ended in a complete disaster for whatever reason and now they can’t stand the sight of each other.

- competition ; these two are always head to head competing for the same jobs and dislike each other because the other is always getting in the way.

etc

- mentor ; someone who has taken karima under their wing and  has helped her improve her designs & gotten her more involved with the industry.

- friends to lovers ; their friendship quickly turned into something more without either of them expecting it.

- unrequited love ; one of them is completely infatuated / head over heels for the other & the other has no idea.

- enemies to lovers ; their hatred turned into a passionate “romance” and both of them love to hate each other / hate to love each other.

- friends with benefits ; their fuckin on the low.

- neighbors ; self-explanatory. they live next to each other.