#but like. ORION is the one who's actually engaging in that shit. because he's not decided 'im the commander of an army now'

[decepti-geek]

tbh an important part of my take on the 'don't be like Sentinel' question is that hours earlier D16 had very decidedly assumed leadership of the High Guard, after which any attempt at resolving his very understandable personal trauma via murder was also, on a wider affects-everyone/your-new-power-means-something scale, inherently going to count as a military coup.

yknow. the thing Sentinel did to assume power/hand it over to the quintessons in the first place

[badbookworm]

Small Cursed Fates rant/appreciation? (overall ZA book 5 thoughts)

For a dark romance/fantasy, the best parts of Zodiac Academy rly are when nothing dark is happening, huh.

Just finished book 5. And like. Within 5 books, they have undoubtly build very solid and detailed characters, and all who have interesting and different dynamics with each other. I love seeing them interact and hang out since book 1.

Most of book 5 is heavily character focus. The heirs and the twins started the book on a neutral ground, entered a truce, and the heirs plot is coming to terms that they actually like the twins' company, and to hangout with them. And that's cool as fuck, it was very fun to see the friendship develop, the plan to get Darius and Tory together, it was straight up good. I ate that shit up.

ALSO RANDOM NOTE, I DID NOT EXPECTED SETH AND CALEB TO ACTUALLY BE A THING?? AND IT WAS GREAT??? I made a bingo for this book with things I thought would happen, and one of them was just "Seth and Caleb do something gay". I marked that square 10 different times, it was wild 💥💥 I saw a goodreads review say that straight Caleb was his flop era, and now I GET IT. BC IT'S TRUE. Sorry Tory, but the Caleb and Seth side plot is much more engaging then Caleb being a 2° option plaything fr.

Ok, going back. With the comment at the start it might instigue a "it's a bullymance, what did you expect", but because the way the saga gone with turning the bullying into romance in taking it's time, along with all the fighting back and the leading to it is interesting, I'm hooked, genuinely interested and caring for these characters. It's all the other edgy fantasy stuff which stinks. The vibe was ruined the moment Orion was sentenced and it never picked back up. At least in this book, it was boring. I already don't love Orion character, he doesn't appeal to me in any way, and the though of him carrying a solo, brooding, plotline is the most boring thing this saga could've come up to me.

And then the ending came, it was like a cold water splash to remind me what kind of story this is, but it felt like "oh, the cool parts are over now?". I cannot give a shit about the whole thing going on with Clara, I'm sorry, I tried, it's so messy and nasty, and having to see Lionel be the villain for 5 books straight has drained him from any intrigue I had. He's just an villain shaped hole of a character. He's signifies a bad omen, not a character, you see Lionel and you know that something will go badly so the plot can progress, I cannot tell you 1 thing about Lionel besides he's evil. Oh, and the ZA finales are always chaotic and cramped with action and twists, the authors halt all the on-going plots so they can solve and drop them at the last 7 very short and fast chapters, but this one felt extra edgy and fast? I was so done with it with 4 chapters left still. And it feels like book 6 will keep on this trail of the edgyness.

I'm low-key scared of entering book 6 and being bombarded with any forced Tory and Lionel stuff, because I can't find any thorough review of book 6 to ensure there's no SA or anything like that involved with this plotline. The 1 thing that had kept me going with this saga was that, despite a lot of the nasty stuff, the sexual content has kept itself in a mostly consentual territory, sometimes vaguely consentual. But Lionel forcing Tory to say she loves him has already made me physically gag, and seeing Lionel and Clara (which also made me incredibly unfomfy and disgusted) makes me dead ass scared to see the next Tory povs. Non-con is my only big nono in taboo stuff.

Does it get the point across about Lionel being evil and all? Yes, ig.

Anyways, gotta finish what I started. BRB.

[isaacapatow]

* * #OUTPOST CONVO WITH @zackastor (between the home depot run & the clinic run)

Zack Astor  -he is following Isaac through the tall grass towards the outpost, carrying a bag full of supplies on his back, which he puts down as soon as they reach the outpost; he stretches his shoulders- Fucking biters. -he pulls out his gut-covered knife, wiping it down with a piece of fabric- Wouldn't have expected there to be that many of them in a damn home depot. You good, Ike? 

ike Yeah, I'm good. -he's distracted, actually; thinking about the Sunface teenager who'd been at that home depot, and the fact that all the bodies were mostly still where they'd dropped, where him and Nicki had killed the rest of the cult-  There's more nests like that these days. Living people getting wise, so the biters who haven't eaten in a while start to go tharn. They just ... hang out until living people reactivate 'em.

Zack Astor Like hibernation. Fucking bastards, you'd think at least that'd kill them. -he takes a water bottle from his pack and takes a few sips from it- That symbol that was painted there - what the fuck was up with that? Was that one of those fucking cultist things? What were they called-

ike Sunfacers. I mean, that's what Orion and me call 'em, anyhow. As good a name as any, huh? -rustles out a packet of melba toast and crunches through it mindlessly, alternating with dried apricots- Crazy, thinking they can make themselves some sorta thinking, talking zombie.

Zack Astor Sunfacers. Insane shitheads. -he let's his gaze wander over the grassy plains and to the treeline in the distance- Yeah. Ain't that crazy. Seem to be getting more too. All the more reason people like us gotta be vigilant, huh? Make sure nothing bad happens.

ike Uh-huh. -chokes a little bit on his dry food and scrambles for his canteen, gulping down some water and wiping his mouth- We seem to be doing okay. No big attacks since the Reavers tried to take Redwood. -reaches over and knocks the nearest beam of wood to not jinx it-

Zack Astor -he huffs- Only a matter of time before something happens. And with the way Redwood doing, it's not gonna survive an attack. Too many weak spots.

ike -finally tunes in properly, frowning at Zack- What? What're you talking about? With all the security patrols and shit, the constant watch on the towers, and the walls are doing fine....

Zack Astor The walls are doing fine, huh? -he finally turns his gaze to Ike, eyes slightly narrowed- Except when there's a huge fucking hole in it and security doesn't notice because somebody decided to keep it a fucking secret.

ike -clues in, his stare going flat instead of engaged- Right. Look, the Council and people in the town have already raked me over the coals about that, it's all fixed, there's no need for you to get your ranger panties in a twist about it.

Zack Astor -he stares him down, not wavering- Who said I'm talking about you, Ike?

ike Jesus. -closes his canteen- What the fuck are you talking about, then?

Zack Astor I think you know, Ike. -he leans forward slightly- Next time Mayra decides to endanger all of Redwood for some bullshit reason, she should make sure everybody's in on keeping it a secret.

ike You don't know what you're talking about.

Zack Astor -he chuckles slightly, letting the silence stretch out between them before answering- You wanna try that again, pal?

ike -frowning again- The Council already knows. The fence is fixed. What does it matter?

Zack Astor -a shit-eating grin finally spreads on his face- They don't, though. They still believe it was you. -pushes his hands in his pocket as he regards Ike- That just ain't right, is it? You know... I should change that.

ike Ermano knows. -even as he says it, he knows that was a little too fast; he takes a breath and says more calmly- Him and Jemma know. It's not ... there's no point trying to ... are you trying to threaten me?

Zack Astor -he doesn't respond to Isaac's question, just meeting it with a smile as he makes his way over to Isaac, only stopping when he's just a few inches away from him- Plenty of people here wouldn't be too happy knowing they got a damn rat in their midst that risked their lives for taking a stroll outside of Redwood.

ike -sharply- Don't call her that.

Zack Astor -he leans in, close enough that the tips of their nose almost touch- Or what? You're gonna tell the council?

ike -leans back, slightly, very slowly- ...what do you even want?

Zack Astor -he grins but doesn't chase the closeness, staying right where he is- What are you willing to do to keep her safe, Isaac?

ike -breaks a little, taking a half step back and shaking his head- You can't be serious. You can't possibly think you can actually threaten Mayra and stay in Redwood.

Zack Astor Oh, is that so. -this time he follows, getting back into Isaac's space- How are you gonna stop me?

ike What do you fucking want??

Zack Astor For now, I want you to know that I know. And that I can do whatever the fuck I want with that.

ike I don't ... I don't understand what the hell you would even gain from making people mad at Mayra. It was a mistake. She wasn't thinking.

Zack Astor Was it a mistake, or just a really fucking stupid decision she made willingly, Isaac? -he suddenly reaches and grabs Isaac by his collar, fingers digging into the fabric- If you hadn't caught her, do you think she would have fessed up? Or would she have kept it a secret because 'she wasn't thinking'?

ike -more firmly- It was a mistake. She doesn't think about these things, she doesn't -- she's not like us, she doesn't understand that it's dangerous out here. She thought it was harmless. It's all fixed, Zack, what's the point of dragging it up now?

Zack Astor And if her 'mistake' had killed people, Ike? -he chuckles, mockingly- If she doesn't understand, she's gotta learn. Pretty sure you had your fair share of lessons beat into you, too.

ike -gritting his teeth to not react to that- I could tell the Council you're threatening her. Pretty sure that would outweigh anything else in this clusterfuck.

Zack Astor Do it, then. I don't have shit to lose, anymore. -stares at Isaac without blinking- You on the other hand... You do. If she gets someone killed, that blood's gonna be on your hands, Ike.

ike It's fixed. We fixed it. She isn't responsible for anything-- -leans in to Zack's face, snarling- --not anymore. All you'll do is make people mad at her and that isn't gonna benefit you, now is it.

Zack Astor -he meets Isaac's glance unwavering, still smiling- And? What does that change for you and me, Ike? I still know. And you gotta deal with it.

ike -breathes out long and slow, holding zack's gaze- All right. If you want it between us, then it's between us. Leave her out of it or I'll go scorched earth too, Zack. Believe me on that.

Zack Astor Will you now? -pulls on Isaac's collar, dragging him closer- You gonna try and kill me, Ike?

ike -a grin spreads across his face, for the first time in this conversation- Aww, Zack. And ruin the surprise?

Zack Astor -chuckles and finally let's go of Isaac, taking a step back- Alright. -suddenly swings and clocks Isaac in the jaw-

ike -caught off-guard, he staggers back, blood dripping thick from his mouth as he bends over; he touches his jaw, then spits and looks up, grin back in place- Ohhhhh-kay then. If you want a lil tune-up, Zack, you can come get one. -scrapes a quick handful of rubble off the ground and flings it in Zack's face, charging in with an elbow aimed at Zack's throat-

Zack Astor -he grins, licking his lips- Let's go, fucker. -his grin disappears as he gets hit with the gravel; he hisses out a curse but instinctively sidesteps the charge; he still gets hit in the shoulder, but uses the opportunity to grab onto Isaac and pull him in close; he tries to get the older man into a chokehold-

ike -grunts, his own boots skidding in the gravel, and reaches behind him to grab at Zack's ear, tearing at it as he bucks his weight back against zack- What is this for you? Making the rounds trying to topple everyone you think's in charge? -twists out of the chokehold, ramming his forearm against zack's chest to shove him back slightly, then clouting him in the nose with his other fist- You're not a leader. You're a leech. You're a parasite.

Zack Astor -he grunts in pain, feeling his nose break under the punch, blood spurting out of it, which he licks off his lips- And you're taking it up the ass for people who couldn't give a shit about you. At least I got some fucking dignity. -he reaches for Isaac's collar and drags him back in, punching him in the gut with full force- You're fucking weak, Ike.

ike -the breath gets knocked full out of him, but ike stays in close and reaches up to hook his arm around the back of zack's neck, holding him there while he shoves his fingers up into zack's broken nose, howling a laugh as he forces out more blood, wrenches the cartilage around- Dignity? Where's your fuckin' dignity now, soldier boy? -headbutts zack and then reels back and away, still chortling even though his head is ringing- Fuckin' ... enough. We still need to get back home, enough. You got your ya-yas out, you can say you swung on me and connected, boast to all your... -pauses, frowning- Hmmm. Do you have friends?

Zack Astor -blood is running down his mouth and chin from his broken, crooked nose; he is panting with pain as he stares at Isaac, his head throbbing- You can go boasting to Mayra. Bet she'd suck you sloppy for being a good bitch and taking that beating for her. -he grins, relaxing for just a moment, before suddenly charging in and tackling Ike to the ground; as soon as they're down, he starts wailing on Isaac's face , hard and fast-

ike You don't know the first thing about-- -goes down flat; it was a long day and he's already worn out and if this was a life-or-death situation he'd be throwing all his effort into it but zack's strong and motivated and much fresher so ike's mostly doing the most to block zack's blows, twist himself enough to buck and kick, trying to heave zack off-

Zack Astor -he manages to keep Isaac down firmly, getting some good, hard punches in; when he stops, his knuckles are busted; he reaches out and grabs onto Isaac's face and leans over him, the blood from his nose dripping down- I know fucking enough, Ike. You know who the fucking leech is? The parasite? -he spits into Isaac's face- It's people like Mayra, Ike. She's gonna suck you dry and you- you're gonna let her.

ike -blinks hard when zack sprays his face with bloody spit, lifting his hand to try and shove him away but his fingers just slap against zack's face, with a brief shove, before they slide down to zack's collar and grab on there- ...enough. God dammit, enough.

Zack Astor -he looks down at Isaac for a moment before chuckling roughly- Fucking hell. -he still holds Isaac's face, pushing his fingers into the hollow of the other man's cheeks before letting go- I'm done with you for now.

ike -stays still, catching his breath before laboriously turning over onto his side so he can spit out the blood filling his mouth-

Zack Astor -stares down at him for a moment longer before getting up; considers for a moment before holding his hand out to help him up-

ike Jesus, seriously? -wipes blood out of his eye and then reaches up to take zack's hand, getting hauled unsteadily to his feet and groaning at the pain, pressing his hand to his middle for a few moments- You're gonna keep this to yourself. Promise me.

Zack Astor -he stares at Isaac- Why? -there is no defiance or accusation in his tone this time-

ike -heaves a breath, collecting his stuff and starting to shuffle off towards the path back to redwood- You wouldn't understand, Zack. Sometimes it doesn't matter that somebody never sees or cares about all the shit you do for them, because they're so wrapped up in their own hurt. But you do it for 'em anyhow. You just do.

Zack Astor -watches Isaac quietly, before grabbing his own pack and following him- I understand that better than you damn think, Ike. -he walks beside him- I'm not gonna promise shit, you know. If you wanna go scorched earth, do it, but that ain't gonna change a thing.

ike All right. Well. I had to ask. -drinks some of his water, swishing it around and spitting- Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna spend the rest of this walk nursing my wounds and my fuckin' pride in peace and quiet. So if you feel the need to talk smart, do it without moving your lips.

[earthstellar]

oh god here we go: I’m spending my lunch hour analysing meg-ratch-ops

Original post here for context! 

@trashytransformerstrash​  #Megop this Megaratch that#can’t y’all see they’re just a failed polycule even tho op and ratch are still together#Megs is bitter about it

Honestly, now that I’m thinking about this a little more seriously (and it’s not like 5 AM lol), you’re 100% right

Their dynamic could easily be read, if one is so inclined lmao, as Megs remaining hurt by Orion’s perceived betrayal of their originally shared ideals and sense of camaraderie as well as the perceived rejection of Megatron himself as a product of his upbringing and forced lifestyle during his formative years

a love so strong the Cybertronian government was bent on destroying it: how to emotionally engage with your not-boyfriend so hard that you accidentally unionise your entire city-state, and your union goes so hard that you accidentally do a whole revolution

part one: at the podium

The big deviation in their relationship was essentially depicted in Exodus, when Megatron plans to address the Council directly, his first and possibly only ever chance in his lifetime to do so, an unbelievable opportunity for both him personally as well as his entire conceptual social movement--

--and Orion steps up and takes over, out of an explicitly stated sense that the Council won’t listen to Megatron owing to his self-presentation and the way he speaks and his reputation

(instead of letting Megatron have the chance to prove the Council wrong, Orion with all the best intentions intervenes before anything can proceed further, as the gallery of Council spectators starts to turn a little hostile and god I can absolutely see how this would piss off Megatron so fucking bad)

because to Megatron, Orion is essentially a middle class, fairly secure mech from a metropolitan city, essentially the capital polity of their world, and yes while Orion has the looks and the eloquence and the insider knowledge of how to talk to Council tier upper class people, that’s not the point of any of this

and to Orion, he’s simply trying to help Megatron’s point get across to the people who need to hear it, who will have the political and cultural power to make the necessary changes-- because Orion doesn’t fully grasp that the Council has no interest in hearing any of this from anyone, regardless of class or background or how smoothly and “correctly” it is objectively stated

the Council has a few key members who are just barely receptive enough to Orion closing out what was really Megatron’s speech to dole out a specific punishment task as opposed to just executing Orion or whatever else

but like, holy shit, it reminds me so much of every time I’ve gotten a chance to speak about trans healthcare concerns at medical schools and inevitably some fucking middle-upper class doofus jumps in and feels the need to re-package everything in a way that is sanitised for the ears of people who actually do fucking need to hear the actual severity and seriousness of these issues and how it impacts people and giving them a sanitised upper class veneer version of the content does nothing to impart the seriousness of any of it so none of them fucking learn or internalise anything RAAAAGH

part two: critical to consider, Megs originally just wanted to get a decent hourly wage 

Megatron did not originally want to escalate, nor was that his plan at any point until AFTER people started rioting of their own volition and AFTER Orion botched his podium opportunity with the Council-- at which point he embraced the vibes

it was Orion who essentially suggested a more formalised/legal approach by encouraging Megatron to try engaging through more official pathways to reach an audience with planetary authority, as he saw that there was at least potential to improve things now that Megatron had rallied a sizable number of the total working class population collectively

Megatron, up until discussing things with Orion and inviting him to come over to Kaon to experience the lived daily conditions of his people, did not ever plan to do any of this bullshit

his confidence in approaching the Council was based heavily on the support of his inner circle, which was primarily Soundwave and Orion at the time

Orion, while well intentioned and wanting the same end results from all of this, had zero real experience or understanding of two critical things:

1) the severity of how worn down and enraged the working class bots were

2) the severity of how little the Council actually cared about any of it

From Orion’s point of view, Megatron’s semi-celebrity status was an intentional thing, a popularity play, building a platform with revolutionary goals-- But Megatron’s popularity was not intentional, and was in fact generated by both his own need to speak up out of desperation combined with the unexpected mass response of others in the same or similar social positions.

His actual public platform, the gladiatorial rings, was shit he didn’t want anything to do with in the first place. He was forced into it, and chose out of exhaustion and desperation and rage to make that platform into something he could use himself, instead of constantly being a show animal for rich people to bet on every round 

Megatron, on the other hand, had all the lived experience necessary to speak to these societal and cultural issues, but his comfort was largely within the limits of that lived experience;

I used to live in a tent in a trailer park when I was in high school for a couple years, for an idea of my background lmao, and I’ve also had to have dinner in the actual UK Parliament in Westminster with actual government people and actually have to talk to them about serious shit

I promise you, I FULLY UNDERSTAND how fucking stressed out Megatron had to be standing in that fucking Council hall once he finally got there 

and from his point of view, Orion encouraged this; his trustworthy, good, sweet Orion who represented a previously unknown hope that perhaps there were other middle and upper class bots like Orion that could be reasonable if only they had the chance to see someone like him speak the truth, inform them of the conditions so many others had been suffering for so long 

and then Orion steps up to the podium 

and it all melts away into another middle class bot speaking to things they don’t understand, putting a pretty middle class face on a working class struggle for the optics of it all, another political ploy between the middle and upper class, devoid of the voice and physicality of those harmed the most by ongoing oppression 

and then Orion becomes Optimus, and isn’t that some fucking shit, from Megatron’s point of view? 

Optimus then surrounds himself with these well-off, middle and upper class bots, makes their filthy rich capital city-state his base to defend as things continue to spiral out of hand, 

and at that point, why not? fuck it, there’s no hope for these people 

nothing left to break but their chains. 

then Optimus has the nerve to get mad and seemingly attempt to de-rail everything, destroying the hope for change, after having proven in Megatron’s mind that none of these fuckers could ever be trusted-- Not even Orion? 

Optimus, falling back on his most familiar social caste relations, surrounds himself with career soldiers--military people who worked for the same fucking oppressive government they had both stood against-- and high caste people like Towers bots and a fucking world class surgeon? 

from Megatron’s point of view here, it is 100% time to start Googling every single one of these Autobot fuckers and determine who, exactly, his not-boyfriend is probably closest with. 

because that person is surely fascinating, and enraging-- he likely feels as though he’s been replaced. 

here we gooo: Ratchet time 

but like, no wonder Ratchet in particular would become a particular interest of Megatron’s, out of the cohort Optimus has gathered around himself

because who is more upper class than a Chief Medical Officer? who was more important in Cybertronian society than those privileged enough to ever reach high office in any role, especially in any scientific fields (which are mentioned at least once in canon materials as providing a particularly notably high class/caste ranking)

and I have no doubt that Megs looked into Ratchet’s personal history, because anyone that close to Optimus is likely of great interest

and oh! 

look!

it turns out the good doctor was originally from the middle of fucking nowhere 

no civilisation, no privilege, Ratchet pre-dates most of the infrastructure of Iacon altogether 

it is fascinating, how someone who literally had to traverse the planet and ask to be educated and ask to be given work, is seemingly fine with participating in a broken and class stratified society 

(yes, Ratchet is a medic, and to not participate in that society would mean not being able to help people--- we know Ratchet treated less well-off bots as well as anyone else, but in public, he was decorated. venerated. very well off, himself.) 

it is enraging, as proof that those who are “grandfathered” in have no worries, their positions are secured because they helped to create their positions in the first place 

it is spark-wrenching, to imagine that someone with such a background could, in Megatron’s eyes, be processor-washed into spouting the same hateful rhetoric (even if it was just for show) in order to keep their position, even considering the unique aspects of medical work and ethics under such a system-- well, it hardly matters if it was for show, because if that is all anyone ever sees, it may as well have been genuine, as far as Megatron is likely concerned. 

but he sees similar rage in Ratchet. 

Ratchet is the one bot out of Optimus’ remaining team members which reminds him the most of himself. 

there’s a real fire there, a real drive to do what needs to be done to make things right, to make things good, to make things better, to care about the wellbeing of those less off, of those who are hurting 

and that appeals to Megatron as much as it does to Optimus 

the medic fills that personality type for Optimus, fills the gap Megatron left behind in ways that are more palatable, more appropriate, better expressed-- according to Optimus, from Megatron’s view of things 

-----

I gotta to back to work now, a lot of this is just me talking bullshit and I have no time to read over or edit any of this but I’m 100% on board with this fuckery lmaooooo

[anryuuepic]

What kind of drunks are the Daryan guards? OwO

Artair — He’s probably the safest drunk. Aside from getting a little more relaxed and good-humored, Artair generally just stays in his seat, keeps to himself, and drinks just enough to feel calm for once. He’s never been known to overindulge on anything, so no one knows what he’s like when he’s truly, truly drunk. 

Harlow — Honestly, alcohol just ups her anxiety. Harlow generally seems pretty okay, but when she gets drunk enough, she starts having panic attacks and bursts of intense anxiety that are basically crippling. She can never remember once she’s sober again, but strange things come to mind when she’s drunk.

Orion — When he’s drunk, everything becomes hilarious. Orion, despite his usual relaxed demeanor, turns into a giggling mess when he’s thoroughly intoxicated. He’s somewhat rougher as well, physically speaking, but he’s mostly just going to be laughing at stupid shit so hard he can’t stand up. 

Gisen — He’s just a grouchy old man who doesn’t do much of anything but sit around and complain about whatever comes to mind. Gisen knows better than to get violent when he’s impaired, but he’ll absolutely talk shit about anything and anyone. He’s gotten himself into some trouble with this before. 

Rinme — She’s a furious, raging drunk who wants to beat the living shit out of anyone who even slightly gets on her bad side. All of Rinme’s frustrations come out when her inhibitions are brought down, and it’s scary. However, she’s also prone to fits of hysterical, stress-induced, utterly inconsolable crying. 

Benniya — She’s completely silent. It’s not exactly a surprise, but you’ll have a very hard time telling when Benniya is actually drunk. She doesn’t talk (which is nothing new), and instead just sits with her drink without engaging anyone. The only real tell is that her face flushes quite a bit and her balance is off. 

Temperance — No one’s really sure. While she does drink socially, Temperance has never drunk enough (at least, not in public) to actually show any signs of it. She remains polite and composed while everyone else begins to lose their faculties... and seems to enjoy that part a little more than she should. 

Draven — An absolute maniac. Really, what did you expect? When drunk, Draven alternates between starting loud, raucous bursts of song and dance, getting in the face of anyone he finds mildly irritating, and initiating brawls (either mass or just him) that are likely to end in corpses.

Konstanze — A mix of highly aggressive and just plain done. Konstanze does not relax when she has alcohol in her system. Instead, she gets twice as intense... and with a much lower idiocy tolerance, to boot. She’ll be calm enough on her own, but irritate her, and you’re asking for problems. 

Joziah — He’s a lot like Artair in that he finally relaxes a little bit. Kind of. It’s... debatable. He’s every bit as hyperactive and intense as usual, but much, much clumsier and uncoordinated both physically and mentally. Someone usually has to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t wind up getting hurt. 

Galia — When she’s drunk, Galia is just quiet. She doesn’t want to talk or interact with anyone, and usually refuses alcohol in public because she knows it’ll just make her want to go back to her room and stay there. She tends to get very depressed and miserable when drunk, so she avoids it when possible. 

Zacharius — He’s a very jovial, friendly drunk who loosens up quite a bit and really just wants to get along with everyone. Alcohol lowers his usual defenses, and he winds up acting much more friendly than usual. The only problem is that he also gets more prone to impulsive behavior... usually fight-related. 

Winterkill — Like Temperance, no one knows. She doesn’t drink at all, claiming that she can’t risk being intoxicated should something in her division require attention. People have various theories as to what the real reason is, but what’s clear is that Winterkill has no intention of showing anyone that side of herself. 

[klysanderelias]

listening to ttrpg actual play podcasts is so wild because it's like 'wow this is so fucking good holy shit' and then you find out about the absolutely abysmal drawbacks to every single one TAZ - the mcelroys created a story with truly moving characters and a great long-running narrative that wrapped up beautifully and still moves me to tears but they refused to learn how to play or improve on their skills so every project after balance got progressively worse because they doubled down on making the show but not listening to criticism or god forbid, asking professionals for help (there's like three other podcasts off the top of my head who hired diversity consultants) and that's without even talking about the shitshow that was graduation

Skyjacks - oh my god it's so good and I love the interplay between the characters and for being a comedy podcast they really hit some emotional and powerful moments with goddamn good drama and acting but jesus christ some of the non-canonical bits they do are painfully unfunny to the point where I skip every interview/dear uhuru reflexively because I'm sick of listening to them run an already unfunny bit into the ground for ten fucking minutes (the worst being casey tony's midroll bits that went for like three weeks and made me hate him as a person)

Critical Role - actually I don't have much good to say about this one, there's a lot of good moments but the game moves so painfully slowly most of the time (especially combats) and mercer (at least through season one and the beginning of season 2) never seemed to understand how to dm effectively because it feels like he's always AGAINST his players instead of facilitating them, and there were a lot of times where I was like 'hey my man you don't need to be doing this, you're just gearchecking them for no good narrative reason and bogging down the play EVEN MORE' oh yeah and orion acaba for like the four episodes he was in, fuck that guy

Dimension 20 - super funny, lots of good moments and memorable characters, and brandon's acting is A+ but it also kind of suffers from having glacial combats and bizarre slowdowns. Also this is probably unfair criticism but I always felt like a lot of the characters just kind of passively experienced the world instead of actively engaging with it. Oh and this applies to a lot of these but a lot of the combat was over-the-top grotesque and really uncomfortable (I have no problem with gore but quite a few problems with describing a sentient creature having a goblin climb up its asshole)

F@TT - I have actually almost nothing bad to say about friends at the table EXCEPT things tend to go really bad really fast; not like clownshoes 'you trip and fall and shit yourself and die' level of failure but 'oh boy well, you failed a single roll and now the entire scape of the world has shifted into full-on disaster' (and I get that pbta [and blades in the dark] games have that as a built-in mechanic but I think they revel in it a little too much for my taste). Also I dropped off on partizan because 'the party doesn't like each other and would split apart as soon as humanly possible to fuck off out of the story' is triggering for me, even though I assume they do a good job of resolving that (AND i really appreciated grand magnificent in twilight mirage so I'm not sure why partizan was my breaking point)

anyway I'm just complaining to complain but since I'm powering through 12 hours of podcast a night, I've got lots of things rattling around in my head as I burn through years of backlog in weeks

[phantomato]

Uber

Nottmort (Tom Riddle/Nott Sr.), Modern Muggle AU, ~2k words

Thanks to @yletylyf for kicking around this idea! Tom drives an Uber in the Bay Area. Thoros & co need a ride.

—

Abraxas and Orion are bickering over luggage in the background when your Uber pulls up. Black, of course, so it’s a Mercedes that will smell a little too much like leather cleaner when you get in, but none of you have ever ridden in an UberX or, god forbid, an Uber Pool, and you’re not about to start.

Your colleagues—never forget, you are not friends, no matter how much time you spend with them—slide into the back seat before you can even begin to help load bags into the trunk. You’re left alone with the driver, and though he offers to help, you haven’t let yourself sink that low as to make this man pile all of your shit in his car while you sit around and watch. And anyway, it feels like the polite thing to do. More than Abraxas or Orion, you’ve been raised to be polite.

So you fold yourself into the front passenger seat, too kind to push the seat all the way back and give yourself the leg room you need even if Orion, behind you, is just 5’8 to your 6’3, and smile at the driver as he confirms your destination.

He’s pretty. You’ve been in a lot of Ubers and you’ve never seen a driver this pretty. Is that classist?, you wonder to yourself, remembering something you read in Vox the other day. Probably. Nevertheless, you’re taken by the curve of his mouth, the sweep of his dark hair, and you throw a smirk over your shoulder at Abraxas who you know must have also noticed.

“Traffic to SFO will be busy,” he says regretfully, and you roll your eyes. Orion refuses to take the early morning flights, unwilling to wake at 3 AM, and you’re always stuck with these long, miserable Uber rides down from the city to the airport. “And Terminal 2—right in the middle of it. There’s construction around those doors, if you haven’t been there—”

“We know,” Orion butts in rudely, shutting up your driver for the few minutes it takes to get out of your neighborhood.

You use those few minutes to swipe through your phone. Email—nothing important. Messages—you clear the notifications. Your Instagram is alight with people reposting the same infographic about voting rights and you make a mental note to kick some money to that non-profit that’s been all over Twitter lately. You close out apps and end up back at Uber, watching your car’s laggy progress through the San Francisco streets. Your driver’s name is Tom, the app informs you. It’s a nice name.

You clear the side streets and Tom offers amenities. “If you want any water, there are bottles in the cooler between the seats,” he calls back to Abraxas and Orion, “and mints in the cup holder. You can adjust the air conditioning if you like, and there’s a charging cable attached to the back of my seat if you need it. Would you like to choose any music?”

“No,” Abraxas says, and whether he means the music or the entire spiel doesn’t really matter, given his withering tone. You look back at him, trying to convey ‘Be nice’ with just your eyebrows, but Abraxas is fussing with his hair and ignoring you.

Tom’s one of the chipper ones, it turns out, because he takes the rejection in stride and shifts to the dreaded personal conversation. “What do you all do for a living?”

“Ah, we invest in companies, mostly start-ups,” you say, trying to avoid—

“Venture capitalists!” Tom guesses, and he’s right but you hate the term and its connotations. So what if you are all white men whose family money has bankrolled tech speculation? It’s what anyone with half a brain would do. You donate, you read the liberal news—at least, you think that’s true for all of you, though Orion was friends with that Republican mayoral candidate and Abraxas’ father sponsors that conservative think-tank and…

Ah, fuck. “Yeah, pretty much,” you agree, hating yourself.

Behind you, Orion digs his AirPods out of his pocket. You hear the snap of the magnetic lid as he closes himself off to the world. Abraxas is slouching, the hem of his third-favorite cashmere cardigan catching on the seat behind him, and you realize that you’re alone in this conversation.

Well, fuck it. If those two pricks are going to make you call the Uber, deal with the reimbursement paperwork, and sit in the front seat, you’re going to talk to the driver and make this car conversation as painful as possible for them.

As if reading your thoughts, Tom does the one thing that guarantees a terrible ride: he pitches his app idea.

“You know, I’m also a software developer,” he says, which is at least more promising than when someone isn’t, “and if I had the kind of funding that companies like yours provide, I would absolutely make this app.” He proceeds to describe something completely inane, the type of exclusive, niche social networking app that hasn’t had legs since before the Trump presidency and you would be content to let him drone on, to let Abraxas keep melting into his own seat and to let Orion channel his anger through a knee driven into the back of yours, but—

But for all that Tom’s idea is stupid, he has the energy of the best pitches you see. His energy is infectious. His eyes light up, he gestures with one hand, and when he stops to take a drink (one of those water bottles with a built-in straw, which you associate with joggers and your lamest employees but which does very different things to you when it’s Tom’s mouth wrapped around the top) you’re transfixed by the wet sheen over his chapped lips.

And so, yes, maybe it’s mostly lust, and maybe this is a sign that you need to download Grindr again, even if only to jerk off to the dick pics you’ll get, but you start to actually talk to him.

“There’s no future in niche social networks,” you say, halting Tom in his tracks. “There will always be new ones, don’t misunderstand me, but the broader landscape is saturated by the top names, and they’ll buy out their competitors if they need to. Perhaps you can topple Tumblr, but that’s not a path to profit. If you want to impact the social market, you need to pinpoint the novel interaction model that you want to offer and make yourself buyable.”

“Buyable,” Tom repeats, like he’s never been interrupted before. He probably hasn’t. The first rule of Ubering around the Bay Area or the Valley is to never engage the app pitches, and Orion has started kicking your seat for your transgression.

“Yes,” you enunciate. “You want to be bought out and brought in at a high level. The giant that eats you may or may not use your idea, but you’ll make a comfortable sum as a consolation prize.” You’ve helped companies through this before. You’re flying out to New York this week in part because one of your investments is considering purchase offers and you want to strategize in-person. The founder is dallying, sending emails about independence and integrity, and Orion will bully him into selling while you and Abraxas negotiate the best terms for the contract.

You can feel Tom’s eyes on you. Abraxas might be calling “Thoros…” from the back seat, and Orion might be attempting to annihilate you with his gaze alone, but you’re smiling at that handsome face behind the wheel and hoping for an accident on the 101.

Unfortunately, you make it through San Bruno without running into more than the usual level of traffic, and Tom’s pulling up to your terminal much sooner than you would like. Abraxas and Orion jump out of the car with uncharacteristic speed when it stops, Orion even moving to stand by the trunk in readiness to take his bags. You delay.

“Do you have a business card?” you ask, when it’s clear Tom’s waiting on you.

He fumbles to pull a wallet from his jeans. You can’t quite get a view of his ass as he does, but that doesn’t stop you from looking.

His card is bent at the corner, printed cheaply, and probably from his last job. You’re pretty sure that company doesn’t exist anymore. Tom taps the phone number. “I can be reached here,” he says smoothly, but his professionalism cracks when he adds, “by call or by… text.”

You know what sort of texts you’d like to receive from him.

Pulling out your own card case, you hand him your card. “Text me,” you say, your voice just this side of appropriate, “any time.”

Tom visibly swallows and jumps out of the car. You take your time getting up, and if your cashmere sweater—Margaret Howell, not that Elder Statesman piece of shit Abraxas is wearing—ends up in the footwell of Tom’s passenger seat, well, you’ll be back in SF next week, won’t you?

“Thanks for the ride, Tom,” you tell him as you take the handle of your luggage, letting your fingers brush his. “I enjoyed our conversation.”

“Yeah,” he nods, and you don’t care that Abraxas is snorting behind you, he’s been judging you this whole trip and he lost out on a hot guy’s number as a result. “It was…”

“Thoros,” you interrupt him before he can ramble and psych himself out. “My name is Thoros, and I really would like to hear from you.”

Tom looks at you then, and you see him pull together the same sureness that drew you into his initial pitch. “I’ll text you about the app.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” you say, meaning it.

—

Bonus:

“You know,” Abraxas drawls as you sit in the United club lounge, gesturing lazily with his overpriced airport Fiji water, “if you tip him too much it’s like you’re paying him for sex.”

Orion looks up from his phone then, removing one earbud for the first time since he put them in. “I’ve paid more for sex with less attractive men.”

“Welcome back,” you say, “I didn’t realize you had paid any attention.”

“Someone would need to not have eyes in order to miss how hot that Uber driver was,” he bites back, returning to his phone.

“Well, I’m tipping him extra anyway,” you announce, confirming Tom’s five-star rating. Should you write a review? Is that too much?

Abraxas, with a grumble, declares, “I’m telling Alecto not to approve this expense.”

—

Bonus bonus:

Your phone buzzes at the end of dinner, the celebratory affair to close the sale which someone had insisted must be at Lilia, even though Abraxas doesn’t eat carbs and you would have preferred to grab a slice at Scarr’s rather than haul out to Williamsburg, anyway.

It’s Tom. Of course it’s Tom—you’ve been texting all week, and between a few late-night flirtations and one very bald statement of interest, you’ve got a date set for when you’re back home. You’re going to Mensho Tokyo, since he lives in the Tenderloin and you live… vaguely around the Tenderloin, at least, you tell people you live there when you want to seem cooler, and Tom is the type of guy that makes you excited to stand in line for hours to get seats. You’re already thinking about whether you might put your arm around him while you’re waiting, and you unlock your phone to see what he’s saying now.

It’s a picture message.

A picture of Tom, wearing your Howell sweater and no pants and oh god oh fuck—

“Was that Uber driver’s dick?” Abraxas whispers, next to you, and you curse your luck. “Remind me to call the next Uber, Jesus Christ.”

[dochaes]

anon said: 🍒 + moonwoken

send  me  🍒  +  a  url  and  i  will  write  some  positivity  for  them    /    ACCEPTING ↷

firstly, thank you, kind anon, for giving me a chance to do one of these for @moonwoken​!

for those of you who don’t know, orion and i are married in real life. what can i say, his legal name is dean, i’m a hardcore castiel stan.......... totally dated based on name alone. i lie, actually we were mutuals on twitter and he posted a picture of a valentine’s card with a llama dad joke and i responded to it “i’d date you based on this alone”. this was early 2019. anyway he immigrated to a different continent later that year to marry me.

orion is a wonderful writer, with roleplay, fanfic, and original work all. his poetry has been published before, and he’s currently working on a novel that i’ve had the privilege of beta reading, and just his creativity and use of language baffles me. he’s a poet at heart. he legitimately wrote me a song to propose to me. he custom ordered (while being broke) claddagh rings as our engagement rings, in destiel colours of course, because we’re fandom trash to the soul. and like, i don’t even believe in the existence of souls, i’m a scientist, i’m a reductionist, but i find so much beauty in the way orion views the universe. there’s, in fact, poetry in it. the magick i’m into is thanks to him, for the most part.

he’s the kindest person i’ve met. if you follow him, you know this. he always has energy to word things kindly, he doesn’t want to alienate people or harm anybody.

he’s incredibly hardworking (to a fault, but i’m not talking about your mental health issues forcing you to do shit here, i’m talking about your personality), competent, and not to repeat myself but kind in whatever he does. back in the states, he used to on a regular basis give out food and coffee to homeless people on his commute when he worked at a starbucks in an area where a lot struggled. he founded an organisation dedicated on helping people (keeping it vague because privacy + abusers fucking him over and discrediting him with this). before developing his (likely) arthiritis and becoming unable to bake on a daily basis, he used to want to start up a bakery with living quarters upstairs to house and give work to people who have nowhere else to go.

oh, speaking of baking, orion’s multitalented as fuck! he’s first and foremost a writer, but he also went to art school and culinary school and is an excellent chef, he’s highly artistic with both painting and bakery (you should see his cupcake decorations holy shit), and he took singing lessons and did the vocals for plenty of songs prior to transitioning medically. i know he doesn’t agree, but i think his singing is still phenomenal, despite needing new vocal training after HRT changed his voice! he also had a 4.0 GPA in college.

he’s a natural with animals, and even the most skittish cats and aggressive dogs have been known to gravitate towards him. i think it speaks a lot about a person, how animals regard someone.

i’m incredibly lucky to get to be orion’s spouse. idek what i did to deserve the honour.

i love you. you bring a little bit of magic to my life on an everyday basis!

[butterfly-winx]

Seen a lot of talk about relationships in people’s rewrites, and I wanted to share my headcanons for the “butterfly fic” AU! (I’m currently going on an S6+ timeline, so the story starts off with all canon couples and then... crumbles from there)

Bloom x Sky: The two of them got together for real at the end of S2 in this timeline, after the identity shrouding/theft both of them pulled made their start rocky. They both understand why the other did it, but it doesn’t make it any better or easier to bear after months of insecurity, thinking they would be dumped eventually when the truth came out. S3 though S4 they are well off, but then the whammy hits when Sky loses his memories during the oil rig rescue mission. He still knows Bloom and that he loves her, but even after a year he doesn’t feel like he can recover the version of his self that he has been before. Bloom tries to assure him as best as she can, showing him that she can learn how to love the “new” him as well. Their lives end up on hugely different trajectories that lead to their relationship slowly crumbling over the S8 timeline, during which Bloom is going crazy worries about her sanity and reliability (👀). Bloom also slowly finds herself developing feelings for Stella after the other confesses. In the end Bloom and Sky go their separate ways amicably.

Stella x Brandon: So, Stella confesses to Bloom, then how does SxB work out? Well, both Stella and Brandon are home of sexuals in a mutually beneficial fake relationship. They did date of course back in the S1-2 time, fully conforming to what society expected of people of their standing. Stella believed as long as she could find a guy ok enough to settle with, everything would be fine. She could be happy. Brandon on the other hand was a bit more aware of his crush on Sky, but he though if he hid behind a relationship with a conventionally feminine and attractive girl he could squash all rumours and budding feelings. Internalised homophobia is a bitch that did a number on both of them. Though this is not to say there are no real emotions between them. Stella loves Brandon deeply, they consider each other their respective closest friend. In that vein, Stella would do anything to make life as stable and comfortable for Brandon - after his childhood had been less so - including marrying him to make him a prince. Since Solaria supports polyamory, this comes at no additional strain for her. His presence in the meantime wards off other suitors and creeps, for which she is very thankful, as it gives her space to figure out her feelings about Bloom. And oooh does she have many. She eventually confesses during the S8 timeline, but has to wait quite a while for a positive response, after which Stella and Brandon both come clean about the nature of their relationship to the rest of the world. In the end, Stella is lucky enough to celebrate not one, but two fun weddings.

Brandon: He gets his own column, because his story goes on separate from Stella’s. While the engagement to Stella is still on the table in the S6 timeline, Brandon struggles both with his crumbling team of Specialists and his feelings about the new recruit. Alright, he did not recruit Roy to the team because he thought he was cute. Brandon thinking that and low-key flirting with him came after they settled on the addition to their team. But BxR doesn’t have a long future after Roy believes Brandon cheated on Stella by sleeping with him. Plus his tension with Layla eventually lead to Roy leaving the team mid S7. Long after that, Brandon gets over his crush for Sky, just when Sky is in the middle of a life crisis and Brandon tries his best not to get sucked in too deep again, but that hurts Sky and irreparably damages the close friendship they had before.

Flora x Helia: Ah yes, unproblematic faves. Don’t change what isn’t broken. (Their S5 trouble isn’t about Flora being jealous about a literal teenager,  but rather about her shock of him being so willing to close off and leave behind people from different stages of his life.) The two of them would be set for marriage if such a custom existed on Lynphea, but they definitely plan on raising a family on planet once that is an option again.

Timmy x Techna: Equally low drama zone. They felt a bit pushed together when they first got acquainted as their friends started to date each other. Techna was having their gender identity crisis for the majority of S2 so a relationship was furthest away from their mind. They softly flirted in S3 as they grew closer, which as we know ended in Timmy losing his marbles when Techna got sucked into the Omega portal. He confessed right as the rescue mission was still happening and the two of them have been going strong since then. In S5 they even move together, which Musa joins in S6 (they had a two bedroom flat, just in case they needed the extra space from each other, when/if things weren’t working out, but they were using only the one bedroom anyway, so Musa was welcome there) Surprising everyone who knew them, Timmy and Techan were actually the first ones to get married. After Timmy’s family was becoming more and more hostile, denouncing him for his choice of career, Techna thought it was the most logical thing to get married and grant Timmy much better social security. The two of them plus Musa living together were falling into a tooth-rottingly cute domesticity, until life got unexpectedly difficult.

Musa x Riven: The drama central couple that never should have gotten together. In retrospect everything was super clear to Musa: they had gotten together after Riven had rescued her from Shadowhaunt, playing the hero he had always wanted to be - this streak for glory being the thing that ruined their relationship down the road. Riven’s insecurity got the best of him during S5 and he couldn’t stop comparing himself to Sky, feeling helpless even beside Musa herself. She of course was incredibly offended her boyfriend only wanted her as long as she was waifish and he could swoop in for the rescue, so as soon as Domino was restored the two of them broke up, Riven going his own way, away from the Specialist team itself. Reflecting over the mistakes of her relationship cause Musa to realise she was forcing herself to like a lot of things about Riven, and maybe she was actually also interested in women as well. Layla welcomes her to the wlw world and suggests Musa put herself out there. However Musa doesn’t find love anytime soon (not like there weren’t options out there, like Galatea would go on a date with her in a heartbeat if Musa only asked) And then after moving together with Techna and Timmy, the three of them fall asleep on the same couch one too many times for Musa to start thinking there might be something there, a bit more than just friendship.. and then of course she ruins it, cause....

Riven x Darcy: He enters the story again in the S8 timeline, and disappears quickly again after Flora gives him the worst advice of her life (that she thought he looked genuinely happy with Darcy, hoping he wouldn’t force the thing with Musa). So he goes looking for Darcy, unintentionally setting off the whole plot for this arc, because Darcy is not where she should be prison and she is not there on her own accord. Darcy and Riven continue to have a thing on and off (seeing as she is a wanted criminal and shit) and that drives Musa up the wall. She may or may not still have feelings for Riven. Upset, she looks for an outlet with her quarantine mate, and that ladies and gents, is bad decision central

Stormy x Musa: Bad decision central. A drunken one night stand, let’s not talk about it anymore.

Layla x Nex: A sweet one sided crush that goes nowhere. Nex tries, but Layla is nowhere near ready to date again when he steps into her life in S7. He takes the rejection with dignity and the two of them try to remain friends, as best as they can, when Nex suddenly becomes the biggest critic of Layla’s chosen relationship in S8 (he means well of course, and once again, despite the Riven-vibes he gives off, he knows when to shut up).

Layla x Orion: A girl can only handle so much flirting on galactic starsailers before she starts noticing a kind of chemistry she tried to suppress from budding for years after a huge personal loss. Are LxO a match made in heaven? Probably not, but they offer interesting perspectives to each other and are both happy with a casual relationship at that point. Things get tense about a year in when Layla pitches that she does want something more permanent and Orion’s first instinct is to nope out of there. But despite themself, Orion has to realise they really like Layla way too much just to let her go because of their attachment issues. The actual relationship between them is a bit on hold until after everything in the Universe is sorted, but in the meantime Orion becomes the biggest supporter of Layla going her own way and exploring independence away from what people expect of her. Deciding that being a nymph and protecting the whole Universe is way more important to her than following the path the circumstances of her birth set out for her, Layla eventually settles with her partner sailing the winds of the cosmos.

Daphne x ?: Immortal Queen. Needs no one in life except maybe her right-hand woman to lean on 👀 

Some one-sided crushes that went nowhere, but were sweet anyway:

Musa x Layla: not a secret that Musa had a thing for Layla when she transferred to Alfea in S2

Sky x Riven: Due to his amnesia, Sky idiotically forgot he was already out as bi and had a whole crisis, as he developed a tiny crush on Riven of all people

Icy x Tritannus: Gets an honourable mention here because it wasn’t true love, but obsession with power on both sides

Musa x Stella: Not as pronounced as Musa’s other crushes, but on the down low she always softly admired Stella and it turns out what she felt wasn’t envy like internalised societal expectations made her believe 

Diaspro x Sky: Once again, a bit more obsessive than loving. Diaspro saw Sky like a lifeline and she hyperfocused on being able to call a husband her own. After her betrayal and prison time she mellows out, gets pardoned and gets a kind of “stupid, but loving” bf who would kiss the floor she walks on.

[sexycraisinthanos]

Therapy in the Netherworld

Just a little fic I wrote because I wanted Lydia to seriously get some therapy. Put it under a readmore because I don’t want it taking up dashboard space.

Words: 2,936

Warnings: mention of suicide

Rating: T, for mention of suicide and death, but other than that no graphic depictions of violence or stuff like that. Just a girl talking about her trauma

They sat in a circle, reading the Handbook. Adam and Barbara sat next to each other, reading silently while Delia, Charles, and Lydia sat across from them.

“Well I’ll be darned. They do have an undead therapist.” Adam said with a chuckle, turning the book to show Barbara.

“That could have been helpful a long time ago.”

“What could there possibly be a therapist for?” Lydia asked skeptically.

“It says,” Adam looked back at the page, adjusting his glasses, “that therapy services are offered for those struggling to cope with their deaths...not exactly the kind of therapist we need.”

“We don’t need a therapist.” Lydia crossed her arms. “Dad’s just freaking out because I had a nightmare.”

“The same nightmare for the last three months, Lydia. And it’s not just a nightmare, it’s a night terror.”

“Same thing.”

“Actually, night terrors are more extreme and mostly for children.” Delia corrected proudly.

“...Well yes. But Lydia you were sleepwalking. You almost walked off the roof.”

“...Well a regular therapist would be a better idea.”

“We just think it’d be best if you had a therapist you could talk to about...stuff without judgment.”

“And the Netherworld is your choice? Delia is a better choice.”

“Aw, thank you.”

Adam sighed and stood, still holding the book. “It doesn’t hurt to try. They’re the only ones who can understand what’s happened. Just try one session.”

Lydia scowled, but didn’t protest.

Adam pulled out a piece of chalk. “Okay, it says to draw a door and knock to the rhythm of...shave and a haircut. Huh, you don’t often hear people refer to it that way.” He drew on the wall and knocked.

A doorway appeared and the door cracked open, emitting pink smoke and glitter. They coughed, backing up.

Adam looked at the book, confused. “Did I do it right?”

Barbara slowly opened the door and more smoke wafted through the air and then dissipated.

When it cleared, they saw a messy office with papers strewn about and an empty old-fashioned chair with holes in the upholstery. 

“...Well it’s certainly the Netherworld.” Adam covered his nose. “Smells like it.”

Barbara carefully stepped inside and looked around. “Hello? Is anyone here?”

“There’s probably no one here. No one would want to go to therapy after they die.” Lydia said. 

A pile of garbage sat up, making indiscernible noises. The noises turned into yawning and pieces fell off, revealing a demon underneath. She stood up, dusting herself off. She straightened her coat and messed up her hair and looked at the open door. “Oh shit. Hi.”

“...Are you the therapist?” Adam asked, almost regretfully.

She looked around and clicked her tongue. “Well I’m the only one here, aren’t I?”

“We were expecting someone more...different I guess.”

“Why were you sleeping under garbage?” Lydia asked.

“You’re looking at a demon and you’re asking about using garbage as a blanket?”

Lydia blinked and shrugged. The demon cleared her throat. “Okay, so what can I do for you?”

“Well, we were hoping you could help Lydia.” Adam answered, motioning to Lydia.

“The vampire?”

“I’m a human.”

“I usually only deal with dead people. And the occasional undead.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Undead people suck. I should know, I am one.”

“Can you just try talking to Lydia?”

The demon sat at her desk, throwing stuff off of it. “Well sit down and tell me what’s going on.”

“There aren’t any-” The trio was pushed onto a set of magically appearing chairs and pulled close to the desk.

Charles and Delia went to go in, but the door shut in front of them and the demon crossed her hands over each other, trying to appear more professional, but only came off as slightly more unsettling than before. It did not help when she gave a smile. “So, tell me what’s going on.”

Adam and Barbara looked at Lydia, putting their hands on her shoulders. Lydia sighed. “I’ve been having trouble adjusting to...something that happened a few months ago. A demon showed up and caused a lot of trouble and they’re just worried about all these nightmares I’ve been having.”

Her eyes lit up. “Ooh, demons. This’ll be fun.”

“...They say I should get some professional help. So here we are. In the Netherworld, talking to a demon about my problems. Cause by another demon.”

“Well good news is I can help.”

“You can? That’s great!” Barbara smiled.

The demon nodded. “Now, you two are dead and since I’m sure you want to not be trapped in the Netherworld, I would suggest you two leave back through the door to your house. Lydia will be safe here while we talk.”

They stood hesitantly, looking at Lydia. “I’ll be fine.” She assured. Accepting that, they sighed and walked through the door.

Lydia yelped as the chair changed into a therapy couch and she was lying on her back. The demon sat across from her, sitting in a large loveseat, holding a notepad and pen with pink unicorn on it. “Okay, so my name is Gem and I’m the unofficial therapist of the Netherworld.”

“Gem?”

“Short for Geminorum.”

“Does every demon have a stupid name?”

“It’s a nickname. My real name’s Ashley, but I go by Gem because I’m both a treasure and a Gemini.”

“...I guess that tracks.”

“So, Lydia, tell me how it all started.”

Lydia took a breath. “Well it started when my mom died. She and I were really close. I went into a really bad depression and my dad moved to get away from our house because...well she died in our house and it was just a lot for him to handle. So we moved into this house that Adam and Barbara died in, so they haunt it. It sucked, but they’re nice. And then I found out that Dad was engaged to Delia, who was/is my life coach. So I tried to kill myself. It obviously didn’t go as planned.”

“How were you gonna kill yourself?”

“What?”

“How?”

“Uh, I was gonna jump off the roof.”

“Classic. Keep going. What happened next?”

“Well, then I met Beetlejuice.”

“Oh, I know him.”

“You do?”

“Yup. Tacky outfit, always singing, cute butt?”

“What?”

“So he was trying to get you to say his name, I’m assuming?”

“...Yeah. Saying he could help me get revenge on my dad. Of course I didn’t listen to him. At first. Then I had to. He scared my dad away and then I was trapped in my house because if I left there’d be a giant monster who’d kill me because I was an ‘honorary ghost’ or whatever. It was fun at first. No one around to tell us what to do. And then I tried to bring my mom back to life and then he turned into a grade A asshole! He tricked me into almost exorcising Barbara and forced me to agree to marry him.”

“Green card thing?”

“...Yeah.”

Gem snorted. “Classic.”

“Of course, I agreed to save Barbara. And then I stabbed him in the chest with Delia’s art.”

“Nice. Always kill creepy old men.” She held her fist up for a fist bump, but Lydia shook her head no. Gem pursed her lips and put her hand down.

“And then his mom tried to kill me because I had escaped into the Netherworld to go find my mom, but then I left before she could catch me. And then he fed her to a sand worm. That all happened months ago.”

“So what are your problems?”

“Night terrors, triggers, angry outbursts, abandonment issues...you know. The typical stuff.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“It’s nothing serious.”

“Humor me. Let’s start with the night terrors.”

“Well it just started out with me waking up screaming. I was having bad dreams about...well, him. Him and his stupid outfit. It’s always the wedding. I’m in the wedding dress, dancing to some distorted music. He’s smiling like this is the best thing in the world. I’m crying. Before I stab him, I wake up with everyone around me. Last week I started sleepwalking. I woke up, standing on the roof.”

“Do you think it’s him? Trying to get you to kill yourself so you’ll be stuck with him?”

She shook her head. “No. Not really. I don’t think he’s making me do it. It doesn’t feel like someone’s forcing me. It’s like a...natural reflex. Like a muscle memory. Like it’s telling me to meet him there.”

“Why would it tell you to meet him there?”

“Well, we met on the roof before I was going to kill myself.”

Gem hummed to herself, taking more notes. 

“I just gotta say that you’re very professional and probably the only demon I’ve met who didn’t immediately make me want to vomit.”

“Aw, thank you. I take my job very seriously. I know I look like a hot mess, but that’s only because I choose to. Not many jobs let you have pink hair.”

“Do all demons have weird colored hair?”

“Yeah. It’s part of the gimmick. So tell me about the triggers and angry outbursts you mentioned.”

Lydia sucked her teeth and sighed, curling up slightly. “I don’t know...it’s kind of stupid.”

“You know what’s stupid? I was considered one of the most feared women’s gang leaders in the 80′s. I got drunk, fell off a bridge, and now I’m a therapist. What’s not stupid is your trauma.”

She smiled a little. “Thanks...Okay...” Lydia took a breath. “My dad and step-mom were planning all the details for their wedding. I was in the living room, kind of listening and then I just...started crying and ran into my room. They decided to hold off on it until I was better.”

“Poor thing.” Gem said sympathetically. 

“I joined a stargazing club at school because in New York I never got to see stars that much. Of course, the first constellation we talked about was Orion.”

Gem nodded understandingly. “Second brightest star in the constellation is Betelgeuse.”

Lydia winced at the mention of the name and Gem tensed up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what I was saying...How about whenever we need to bring him up, we can just call him something else.”

“Like what?”

“Buttmunch?”

Lydia snorted. “That works.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, Bertha said...Buttmunch and I just froze up. She told her parents that I tackled her, telling her not to say it, but I don’t remember that.”

Gem hummed to herself. “It sounds like you have a case of PTSD.”

“PTSD?”

“Well from what you’ve told me, whatever he did traumatized you. Even if you don’t think it was that serious. You were depressed and suicidal, he showed up and made your life a living hell, you were forced to kill him, and what 12 year old needs to stab someone for forcing them to marry him, trapping her in her own house, scaring her dad away, and feeling like you’re obligated to hang out with him because he saved your life?”

“First off, I’m not 12. Second of all, he didn’t save my life.”

Gem looked at her clipboard. “Well, actually he did. You said he saved you from his mom.”

“Which she wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for him.”

“And you wouldn’t have been alive up to that point if it wasn’t for him.”

Lydia scoffed, crossing her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You said you met him on the roof, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you were about to jump, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So what happened between you wanting to die and him scaring your dad away?”

“Well...he saw me about to jump and when he realized I could see him, he tried to get me to say his name. But he can’t say his name, which is dumb. Why can’t he say his name? Every other demon can say their name just fine.”

“It’s a thing that happens. If he could say his name, he’d always be saying it to give himself power and he’d never shut up. It really depends on the source material you’re working with.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, so what happened after that?”

“Well he told me that killing myself is stupid and I should try to get revenge on my dad. I told him to piss off and then I took his advice but had Barbara and Adam help me instead.”

“Poor choice, they look like they think ‘revenge’ is a fancy French dish. Now, from what you just told me, if he hadn’t shown up, you would have jumped, your life would have been over, and you would have been stuck doing civil work. Ergo, he saved your life.”

Lydia scowled, trying to think of a snarky response. 

“So?” 

“You just have a lot of confusing feelings. You want to be mad at him, which you have a right to be. But he did technically save your life. And you know you wouldn’t be here without him. So you’re also partially grateful for him.”

“What does this have to do with my nightmares?”

“Well you said yourself that your brain wanted you to meet him there.”

“That’s dumb. You’re not even a real therapist. Telling you all this won’t help. You won’t understand. None of them do! They just want me to get better, but they don’t know what it’s like! To not be able to sleep because you’re afraid that when you wake up, it’ll all be a dream and you’re still trapped in the house with him. Or that he came and killed my dad in the middle of the night as an act of revenge. Or hate yourself for trusting him in the first place. And I can’t even talk to them about it. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to them about it. They just wouldn’t get it...I guess that’s why they sent me here. Because you’re the only one who would get it.” Lydia wiped her eyes and sniffled. 

Gem sighed, setting the clipboard down. “Lydia.” She summoned a box of tissues and handed them to her. “You’re stressed, restless, you’re scared, you’re angry, you’re a kid who dealt with stuff no grown adult should have dealt with. You have too many thoughts going on now. So what’s going to help?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s okay...When was the last time you slept? Like actually slept.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Couple weeks ago...”

“Tell you what, you can stay here and sleep. It’s perfectly safe in here. Buttmunch won’t get you. You can sleep as long as you want since no one ever needs me. And we can talk whenever you want. That way you have someone who understands what you’re going through. Does that sound good?”

Lydia shrugged again, but this time with a smile. “I guess.”

“It’s not a permanent fix, but it’s a start. And if you have a night terror, I’ll be right here for you. I promise.”

“You do?”

“Of course. Demons have questionable morals, but we never break a promise. And if you ever do get stuck with him again and someone happened to have said his name three times, just say it three times again. That takes all his power away.”

“It does?”

“Well, it varies by which one you’re working with, but yeah. If you say his name three times, it gives him power, if you say it three more, it takes his power away. It’s like that shitty book series says. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. Or whatever. The less you say his name the more scared you are. So the more you say it, the less scary he becomes and the less power he has over you.”

“That actually makes sense.”

“I’m a pro at handling demon shit. Now, lie down and get some rest.”

Lydia nodded and adjusted herself, lying on her back. “I actually was wondering...what happened to him and his mom?”

“Hm?”

“Well, his mom got eaten by a sand worm and...well, I stabbed him. He went to the Netherworld.”

“Well, since Juno died, Miss Argentina is in charge. I’d let her boss me around...”

Lydia raised an eyebrow. 

“I mean Juno is technically still a demon, but sand worms take about 1,000 years to digest their food so she’s probably gonna be there for a while, so she’s listed as dead.”

“Whoa...I feel sorry for her...even if she did deserve it. What about him?”

Gem shrugged. “I haven’t really seen him around. He’s probably hiding from his responsibilities like normal.”

Lydia laughed a little. “Well, you seem relatively normal for a demon. What’s the deal?”

“I just talk to people daily. There are actually a LOT of people who don’t read the Handbook, and thank God/Satan for that. Do you know how many people die a day? 55 million. Only about 2% actually read the Handbook in its entirety, which is still over 1 million people, but holy shit is it hard to see 1 million people a year.”

Gem snapped her fingers and a blanket and pillow landed on Lydia.

Lydia grunted, grabbing the pillow off her face and scowling. “Hey!”

“Now get some sleep, kiddo. You need it.”

Lydia tucked the pillow under her head and wrapped herself in the blanket. 

It was surprisingly comfortable and devoid of any terrible smells. She smiled, pulling it close. “Thanks, Gem...”

“One step at a time.”

Lydia nodded and closed her eyes, dreaming about much nicer demons with stupid hair.

[written-on-the-trees]

Strawberry Necklace Part 8 - Yungblud Fan Fiction

Word Count: 1925 words.

Warnings: None, for this part. Smut, fem-dom, and prostitution for the whole story.

Summary: Nova explains to her sister about her relationship with Dom...but it turns out Stella isn’t the only one who’s interested.

Where else can you find this:  Ao3  |  Wattpad

Part Seven  |  Part Nine

"So...strawberry necklace boy."

 "Hi Stella. Yes, I'm well, thank you. I got you a latte - no, no, there's no need to thank me." Nova replied blithely, ignoring every unspoken question she'd just been asked and smirking at her sister, who was glaring at her from the chair she'd just dropped into.

 "Nova!" Stella whined: "Stop it! You got a boyfriend, and you're trying to talk to me about coffee. Seriously!"

   Nova just laughed.

 Stella glared and bunched up a napkin and threw it at her hand, but that only made Nova laugh harder at her sister's annoyance.

 It was tempting to keep annoying Stella by evading her questions - both because it was amusing and because talking about Dom was going to be awkward as hell - but her sister would probably move onto throwing heavier objects at some point, and Nova didn't want to get kicked out of another coffee shop. So instead of being a bitch, she shrugged and gestured for Stella to ask her questions.

   Of course, Stella already had a whole load of them - which she had apparently written in her notes app, if the way she started reading off of her phone was any indication: "Right, firstly...is he still treating you right?"

 "Stella, it's been two days since we decided to see each other outside of work - "

 "It's important!" Stella insisted.

 "Yeah...Yeah, he's still treating me right." Nova smiled softly. Because even if it had just been two days, so far everything had been good. Better than good, in fact.

   Stella nodded, apparently satisfied by what was probably a ridiculously sappy expression on Nova's face.

 It was hard not to look a bit sappy; Dom might have left last night, after getting his own text messages about who the hell was on his Instagram story and demands to explain himself from his housemates, but that didn't mean he hadn't made his presence felt this morning. She'd woken up to a really cute text message, and a delivery man knocking on her door to hand over a bouquet of all different kinds of pink flowers.

 Maybe it was just the honeymoon period, but that didn't stop her from feeling like he was amazing.

   "Good. Secondly, are you two dating now? Just seeing each other? Engaged? Planning to elope to Vegas next week? Where are you at? Am I going to be an auntie soon?"

   Nova choked on the sip of tea she'd just taken.

   "Jesus Christ Stella!" she spluttered: "Dating! We are dating! There are absolutely no plans for marriage or children at this point."

 "You sure?"

 "Yes!"

 Stella smirked: "Because I know you have a tendency to announce things via Dom's Instagram..."

 Nova glared and jabbed a finger at her sister: "Fuck off, it happened once."

 Little shit that she was, Stella just laughed: "Speaking off announcing things, have you told anyone else yet?"

 "I didn't mean to tell you. Fucking Sinead and her fucking Instagram." Nova sighed half-heartedly, bearing no actual ill-will to either her niece of her social media: "But no, I haven't told anyone - honestly I only plan on even telling mum, dad, and Orion because I don't want Dom thinking they won't approve of him."

   It was entirely true.

 Nova's relationship with her parents and younger brother was...strained at best. Her parents might be former hippies, but they were judgemental pricks, and Orion had some sort of youngest-child-and-only-boy inferiority complex that meant he was always looking for ways to prove he was 'better' than Nova and Stella. In truth, they probably wouldn't approve of her seeing Dom, but that disapproval would be focused on her, not him; because that was what they did. Disapproved of her.

 She got it; no-one really wanted a dominatrix for a daughter, but it had started getting old around five years ago, and by now she was completely over it. She knew her parents loved her, but they just didn't approve, and though they certainly weren’t afraid to show that, Nova didn't really care anymore. It was old news, as far as she was concerned, and Stella knew all of that, so she was quick to move on to her next question, because there was simply nothing else there to cover.

   "Speaking of family, Sinead thinks you're literally the coolest person in the family now." Stella rolled her eyes: "She's not shut up talking to me about how cool you are because you're dating this famous rockstar, and now she's somehow got Ciara and Finn on board, so you're going to be very popular this Christmas."

 Amused by Stella obviously being put out by her daughter's favouritism, Nova smirked: "I mean, I was already the coolest person in the family, but it's nice to finally have it recognised."

 "Go fuck yourself." Stella responded casually, taking a sip of her latte: "They've all been keeping it really secret, but are you and Dom keeping it a quiet? Sinead's really nervous about letting it slip if she shouldn't."

 "We haven't really spoken about it. From what I can tell, he's never been hugely obvious when he's dating someone, but he doesn't go to many lengths to hide it either. He seemed more worried by my family not liking us dating than anyone else, but for now..."

 Stella nodded in understanding: "Sinead and Ciara can keep it quiet a bit longer. I'm not entirely sure Finn actually knows who Yungblud is, or even if it's the same person that you're dating, so there's no risk there."

   Nova wouldn't lie and say that she was relieved that the girls wouldn't say anything yet. She didn't want to fuck anything up for Dom, which meant she'd have to take his lead on whether anything went further than their families.

 In any case, it might not be a problem. If they tried dating and it didn't work, then it was probably better that it wasn't widely known that they'd been together at all. Dom wouldn't need the questions, and Nova wouldn't need the attention - it would be much better not to have the whole world know about them if there wasn't actually a them. Besides, she wasn't trying to be flippant, Nova had other things on her mind than Dom's Instagram followers.

 She was thinking of quitting her job.

 It wasn't because of Dom...she was just getting tired of being a dominatrix. She'd been doing it since she was twenty-one - not to mention the two years she'd worked in a brothel before that - and she was thirty-two now. It was boring. She was bored of her clients - with the exception of Dom, of course - she was bored of her lack of a real social life, and she was bored of the constant effort to try and look like she was in her early twenties because looks were a huge part of attracting and keeping clients.

 To put it simply...she was bored out of her mind. If she was being honest with herself, she'd admit that she had been for a while, but now she was dating someone - with the intention that the dating would turn into a relationship - Nova was wondering if it was time to move on. The only thing that was stopping her was...not knowing what she was going to do if she did pack it all in.

 Unfortunately, there was no easy answer to that. And so she wasn't going to dwell on it while she was having coffee with Stella.

 Instead, they carried on speaking about Dom, for a little while. Stella was insistent on getting the chance to meet him, but Nova warned her that it wasn't going to be for a while. She wanted to see if they made it past a month yet - if they did, then she would think about him and Stella meeting, since Stella lived so close. About the rest of the family, Nova wasn't sure, but she was sure that she wasn't in any rush for him to meet them, so that was fine for now. After that the conversation turned to a few other bits and pieces, before Stella had to leave to get Finn from school.

 Nova made sure to hug her sister tightly, a silent thank you for so open to Dom being a part of Nova's life, while still wanting to make sure he was good for her, before both of them left together, walking to the tube station together before going to their separate platforms. Nova had every intention of just going back to her flat and making the most of having no clients today, knowing she had and appointment with one of her less preferred customers tomorrow, when a text message from an unsaved number dropped down from the top of her phone screen, interrupting the news article she was reading while waiting for the train.

 An unsaved number, not an unknown one.

   What the fuck does she want?

   The text message itself was uselessly vague - messages from Nova's 'boss' always were. The old woman didn't like to put anything even potentially incriminating in writing. If she had something to say about business, she'd say it over the phone or (as she preferred) in person.

 And it seemed she had something to say.

   Meet me at your house. Five o'clock.

   Nova cursed internally.

 Helen Birch was a woman of few words, but somehow she always managed to make every single one of them feel like they were weighted down with lead. Maybe it was from years of experience, both as a dominatrix and a madam (although she would never admit to being the latter), or maybe it was just her personality, but either way it made reading her texts feel like being threatened...although in this case, it was potentially because Nova was being threatened. Not explicitly, of course, but nothing good ever came from such blunt commands from Helen.

 Sighing, Nova slid her phone into her handbag and boarded the train that had just opened its doors in front of her.

 The way she saw it, she now had two choices.

 One, ignore the message. It would piss Helen off, and likely only invite more arsey text messages. Helen didn't actually employ Nova - that would suggest there were contracts and paperwork and physical evidence - but did own the house Nova rented to work in, and she also took a cut of some of the money Nova got from some clients, if those clients were direct to Nova from her. And over the years she had sent Nova a lot of clients. She'd really helped Nova find her feet as a dominatrix, providing not just clients but also good advice and help when Nova needed it.

 Basically, it would be really rude to go with choice one.

 Choice two, however, was doing what Helen told her. And that...that set a bad precedent. Helen wasn't her boss, and Nova didn't have to go when Helen called. If Helen wanted to tell Nova something, she could ask Nova if she could meet like a normal person. Nova didn't want to give in and make Helen think that she could command Nova to do as she wished, whenever she wished.

 But if she didn't go with choice two, she'd have to wait longer to find out what Helen wanted. And more than anything else, Nova wanted to know why she was being summoned to her workplace.

   Looks like I'll be going to work after all.

    Whatever happened...it should at least be interesting.

[the-unconquered-queen]

Choices LI tag game

Thanks for tagging me, @endlessflame and @litgpop!

Watch how I am incapable of giving brief, to-the-point answers below

Across the Void: None because I haven’t even made it past chapter 4 and won’t anytime soon

America’s Most Eligible: Adam, named Leo. Then I got so bored of him I switched to Slater at the first opportunity

Baby Bump: Who the hell knows at this point? I don’t like either LI too much, so it’s just a weird limbo

Bachelorette Party: Ash, whenever he was onscreen

Big Sky Country: Dallas, who was so paywalled I could probably count the times my MC kissed him on one hand, but they did end up together in that future fantasy at the end

Blades of Light & Shadow: I meant to go for Mal, but Tyril’s intriguing so my MC will probably flirt with him before eventually ending up with Mal (I have a bit of an odd headcanon in which my MC will end up with both eventually, at different times)

Bloodbound: Jax

The Crown & The Flame: Most playthroughs with Raydan (loml), until I did the most recent one with Diavolos (loml), so now I consider them AUs that can coexist, but I’m also planning to try Tevan’s route eventually

A Courtesan of Rome: My first playthrough, my MC flirted with every LI (it played up the aspect of her being able to wrap everyone she met around her finger, imo) before eventually ending up with Syphax. My latest playthrough had her drop the dead weight and be with Syphax from the start

Desire & Decorum: Prince Hamid (who now bears my MC’s last name)

The Elementalists: Beckett

Endless Summer: Jake

The Freshman: My first playthrough had my MC ending up with Chris, but after I saw how Zig had the best proposal from screenshots, I planned another playthrough with the purpose of romancing him, and goddamn, he’s a god-tier LI and that’s what I consider my canon playthrough, so Zig’s endgame (also once I played Snowed In with Kaitlyn as MC’s LI out of curiosity, but she was pretty meh)

The Haunting of Braidwood Mannor: Tbh, I only played it once and it was near the beginning of my Choices days, so I don’t remember at all whether it was Víctor or Eleanor

The Heist: Monaco: Honestly, I hear this book is super good, but my motivation to play chapter 2 is low, but I’ve seen Fabien, and I’m coming for him eventually

Hero: Kenji, who was so paywalled that the most he and MC did was flirt (and he’s already flirty by nature), so he is one of the LIs an MC of mine has romanced the least

High School Story: Before I played, I had trouble picking between Michael and Aiden, but I chose Aiden and now I couldn’t imagine picking anyone else over him, even for just one playthrough

High School Story: Class Act: Started out with Rory, but then switched to Ajay in my most recent playthrough and I like him way better, but I’m still salty he never apologized

Home for the Holidays: Nick, but I don’t remember any of it

It Lives in the Woods: I know I talk about wanting to romance Dan and Noah (and even chose to flirt with Lucas), but the truth is that Andy is tied for #1 as my favorite Choices LI, which if you follow me long enough, you’ll know by how often I start randomly posting about him

It Lives Beneath: No contest, it was Tom… but Andy’s tied with someone, and I’ll give you three guesses as to who it is (also irrelevant, but his last diamond scene was one of my favorites I’ve ever paid for)

Lovehacks: None of the LIs here really stood out to me, and I only picked Mark so my MC wouldn’t be single, ‘cause I stan a best friends to lovers trope… I just don’t stan this couple. I’d say I’ll replay it to try Ben, but I didn’t like it enough to replay (unless I’m mining it)

Most Wanted: I don’t really remember it, aside from the twist, but I’m also not motivated to replay it

Mother of the Year: Levi, and the added smugness of having the man Guy despised become “his” daughter’s stepfather was the absolute icing on the cake, but I like the screenshots of romancing Thomas, just not enough to ever ditch this rockstar

Nightbound: Nik

Open Heart: Bryce Lahela, 110%

Passport to Romance: Ahmed, the only thing this book has going for it

Perfect Match: Damien, but in my latest playthrough I tried to have MC flirt with Hayden by giving him a quick kiss, but he must’ve thought that was a declaration of love and I couldn’t back out (accidentally clicked to end chapter) and my MC ended up with both but I pretend that never happened, so just Damien

Platinum: Even from the previews, I’d decided on Raleigh, but I’m pretty sure I pulled out a legit engagement ring the moment I found out he was Puerto Rican

Red Carpet Diaries: Started out with Matt, but switched to Thomas because of how much more supportive he was to MC when the whole thing with Montmartre went down

Ride-or-Die: I started out being one of the few people in the fandom who actually liked Logan, but it was around chapter 8ish (I don’t recall exactly), when he started being distant and Colt started being closer that I made the permanent switch to Colt

The Royal Masquerade: Hunter (named Hyperion) because he’s so fine, but after the last chapter, I might have a playthrough for Kayden (named Orion)

The Royal Romance: Alright, I’mma confess that I started out with Drake (you can see some of my old ss on my blog), but I started disliking him and made the good god-tier switch to Liam and now Drake’s the only romance I don’t like. Also, I like Maxwell, but I couldn’t possibly ditch Liam now… besides, the story revolves around him, so I’m already on the winning team

Rules of Engagement: The bartender for MC and Mira for the party sister

Save the Date: Simon, but the progression of the relationship was so paywalled that by the time my MC got to even kiss him, other ss showed he was already dating MCs

Sunkissed: Samson, but mainly so MC wouldn’t be single

Veil of Secrets: Flynn, and my MC stayed with him in the end

Wishful Thinking: Jaime, because again, best friends to lovers is my shit

If you’ve read this far, props to you, and you are now automatically tagged, so drop yours, too! :)

[frasier-crane-style]

Let’s talk about Treks baby

The One Where Riker Stars In The Grey.

When Riker is reassigned to go over a terraforming colony bedeviled by pesky, genetically engineered wolves, a new first officer is assigned to the Enterprise. And he’s kwazy.

The irritatingly named Quintin Stone is sort of the Nick Locarno to Peter David’s later Mackenzie Calhoun. Brooding rogue, troubled past, gets the job done, you know how it goes. It’s a pretty unabashed power fantasy/Mary Sue in New Frontier, but there the whole thing is so over the top and tongue in cheek that you really can’t take it too seriously. Quintin, on the other hand, is more played for drama--for most of the story, there’s a question as to whether he’s outright homicidally insane. Luckily, Troi is on top of things, checking on his mental well-being and also kinda being his love interest, like a literal version of this gif.

Spoiler alert: It turns out he’s deeply traumatized by a not wholly believable incident in his past*, so good on ya for catching that one, Troi. 

Looking back on it, this book would almost seem to count as a deconstruction of the ‘broody antihero’ trope, showing that the character type just doesn’t work in TNG. He infuriates most of the cast and doesn’t get the girl, while those who are taken in by him are presented as saps (yup, Wesley). 

Speaking of New Frontier, with the self-aware jokeyness and tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of Trek’s campier elements, would it be fair to say PAD was ahead of the curve in predicting the modern incarnation of Trek? Its take on Star Trek would definitely fit in with the Kelvinverse movies and especially with The Orville, which is pretty much the people’s choice for Trek these days.

*Okay, I get the interpretation of the Prime Directive as not interfering or revealing yourself to alien cultures until they develop warp drive, at which point they’re going to figure out you’re there anyway. And if you can stop an asteroid from wiping them out without them knowing about it, fine. Cool. I get that. But I don’t get Star Trek stories where the PD means you can’t interfere with the Romulans’ development, even though they’re showing up on your doorstep every other week and shooting at you. It’s like saying if Hitler 2.0 showed up in Germany and started amassing power, the US shouldn’t try to discourage that shit or, I guess, engage in any diplomacy whatsoever. It’s mindbogglingly isolationist. And isn’t it arguable that part of a culture’s natural development is interacting with other cultures? Like the back and forth between America and Japan driving forward the medium of animation?

The One Where Picard Nearly Bangs Guinan’s Sister

This one has a bit of nontroversy attached to it, because it came out while Star Trek was still kind of hashing out the Borg, so there’s a disclaimer at the beginning basically going

The gist of it is that Borg aren’t supposed to have gender (a bunch of people with blue hair just had their ears perk up, didn’t they?), but PAD here has a drone that gets detached from the Collective and is a girl. It seems pretty self-evident to me--Picard gets assimilated, they get him back, he’s still a dude, so why wouldn’t it work that way with a chick? But this is back when assimilation wasn’t the Borg’s m.o. the way it would later become. They assimilate a Ferengi in this book (yup) and it’s kind of a big deal. Oh, and as you might’ve guessed, Girl Borg bears a few similarities to Seven of Nine, who would show up later in the franchise, although PAD’s take on it is more “we rescued a girl from a serial killer’s basement after ten years and she’s totally catatonic,” less “what is this human emotion you call ‘kissing’?”

Good thing we have Deanna Troi, a counselor, to ease Girl Borg through the healing process. Oh, wait, she basically takes one look at GB and goes

Thanks for the help, Troi. I guess this subplot is supposed to prove that it’s pointless to try to save any assimilated person other than Picard, because mentally they’re already dead, so might as well just have a bunch of fun guiltlessly blowing them away

(And that goes for you too, audience.) But still, bit of a downer. At least Spock would’ve tried a mind-meld.

There’s also this chick Delcara, who in a pretty XXtra Flamin' Hot narrative choice is like Picard’s soulmate and he’s sort of in love with her slash obsessed with her after having a psychic vision of her in Starfleet Academy and y’know? TNG might’ve opened the door to this by having Crusher bang a ghost, but we should close that door. We should close it right now.

(By the way, in case you’re wondering if this Guinan’s sister business means Picard is down with the swirl, it turns out she’s Guinan’s adopted sister, so is it just me or is that weirdly ambiguous? She’s a beautiful black woman and Picard wants to do her. You can come out and say it, book. No one minds.)

Anyway, Delcara is piloting one of dem planet-killers from back in TOS--in hindsight, it’s weird that the Abrams movies never did anything with the one big Death Star-y thing that actually is canon to TOS, isn’t it? They gave Khan and Nero ridiculously super-sized ships, but the one kaiju that’s actually in continuity, nothing--on a vendetta against the Borg, who basically killed her family twice over. Man, if only there were some kind of psychologist on board the Enterprise to help her through that trauma.

I sense she feels great bitterness, Captain.

Yeah, why does she get a seat next to the Captain again? Let Worf have that seat. How is it fair that he has to stand around all day, he actually does stuff!

Anyhoo, as you might’ve guessed from the opening set on a holographic rendition of Don Quixote, with a Data Discussion(tm) of quixotic endeavors... and the fact that Delcara intends to totally wipe out the Borg, gosh, I wonder if she’ll succeed--this one’s something of a downer. It does give the promised Planet Killer on Borg Cube action for those fanboys who’ve wondered who would win in a wrassling match, and Picard learns a valuable lesson about not pursuing suicidal vendettas against the Borg, which he definitely takes to heart...

(Wow, he did that one-handed? What kind of gains does Sir Patrick have?)

But still... bit depressing.

The One Where Bones Becomes A Space Pirate

Another giant novel, I’m surprised this one never got raided for parts in any adaptation. Even on the page, it’s pretty breathtakingly cinematic, and yet, the only part of it that’s really been used is, if you squint, Bob Burnham in Discovery being a disgraced Starfleeter.

The premise is that, some months ago, the TOS Enterprise crew was involved in a breaking of the Prime Directive that resulted in the destruction of a world and the ‘Enterprise 5′ of bridge officers blamed for the tragedy being shunned and hated wherever they go (ah, that utopian Star Trek future, predicting an entire population that’s politically engaged). 

Now, with the command crew scattered, everyone’s trying to get back to the planet where it all happened to find out what tf went down for reals. In a bit of a stretch, this is really hard for them--no one seems to be able to call in a favor or hire Han Solo to take them there or anything, which I suppose is in keeping with Star Trek 3′s similar situation six years prior. They don’t have to go so far as to steal a Constitution-class this time. I suppose it’s fitting for the wild and woolly TOS era. In TNG time, they’d probably be able to dial a Space Uber. (As it turns out, it seems like if they’d just coordinated their plans, they all could’ve hitched a ride with Spock, but then there’d be no book, much less a Giant Book.)

Anyway, Kirk’s been court-martialed and is working as an asteroid miner, Chekov and Sulu fall in with Orion pirates, Spock is challenging the whole thing in court, and Uhura’s in jail........oh. It’s like that, huh, Starfleet?

Like I said, most of the plot involves the crew going off on all their separate adventures, eventually getting the band back together and figuring out what went down. Apparently, the book was criticized for its nonlinear structure, but I think it worked out really well. Starting months after the incident, with everyone disgraced, gets you pumped to find out what happened. Then when they flashback to the shit going down, there’s a great sense of foreboding because you know something is going to happen, just not what exactly. 

If I can make a criticism, it’s that after some great build-up, the ending seems a bit anticlimactic. The nature of the threat requires some unbelievable Hollywood Evolution to buy (nothing new for Star Trek, admittedly, and this is a crew that’s fresh off meeting Apollo and Abraham Lincoln) and while it is fitting that they’re able to resolve the situation without blowing up anything or punching anyone (Star Trek loves to talk the talk about how anti-military it is, then end their movie with some Klingons getting blasted), it still seems a little... dry. You’re not going to have Kirk hang off of anything, story? Not even a little? Okay. I still had fun. 

And you’ll note that once again, Deanna Troi was of no help whatsoever. Geez, woman, you’re oh for three here!

[gideonthesoldier]

➤ ➤ Gideon Prewett ➤ ➤

GENERAL INFORMATION ➤

Full Legal Name: Gideon Felix Prewett Nickname(s): Gid, generally. Git, from close friends. Occasionally he just goes by ‘Fabian, oh - shit, sorry, wrong one.’ Age: 23 Gender & Pronouns: Cisgender male Sexuality:  Certifiably, as gay as the day is long.  Date of Birth: May 29, 1955 Horoscope: Gemini Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw Nationality: British English Occupation (and, if you’re one of the people playing a character close to graduation, future occupation):  Shopboy at the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley and wanted vigilante Summarized in One Word: Red

APPEARANCE ➤

Faceclaim: Eddie “ugliest boy in school” Redmayne Height:  6 feet 0 inches Hair Color: Red Eye Color: Green-grey-hazel-messiness Noticeable Features: Freckles everywhere, a voice loud enough to give you a headache, he’s probably gesturing a lot with his hands, why is his hair so red? Oh no, there’s TWO of him,  Typical Outfit or General Fashion Sense: Bad. He thinks nothing about mucking about in trainers all the time and as long as clothes are clean and still fit him, he’s happy to wear them. There’s often a slight wrinkle to him and he sometimes looks more...comfortable than appropriate. When he does dress up, he does it well! But for a normal day, he’s happy in his tee-shirts and denims. There is one spectacular blue coat in his collection now, but he’s almost too worried about wearing it anywhere.

HISTORY ➤

Hometown (and, if they’re a graduate or soon to be a graduate, where they live now or will be living soon):  Gideon shares a flat with Fabian in London, but he is almost never there. If he’s not at Order headquarters, he’s at the Burrow. If he’s not either place, he’s at work. Home is a landing pad at best, not because he dislikes it but because he prefers to keep moving and is unable to be alone. 

Financial Status: Like the rest of their family, the Prewetts are comfortably nettled in the lower class but they’ve gotten very, very good at making do. It’s made worse by the fact that Fabian had to give up cursebreaking and Gideon is stuck at his dead-end, minimum wage job. Still, they split the cost on their apartment and save where they can, using magic to keep clothes mended and things clean. As long as they have enough to eat and a roof over their head and some pocket change for drinks on the weekend, they’re more than happy.

Spoken Languages: English and Molly’s Annoyed Voice (counts as a language, trust him)

Dream Job: He’d love to write children’s books and also be the father to 178 rescue pets

Bad Habits: He has a lot of them. He’s a lip biter, a nail picker, and always leaves his clothes on the floor. He doesn’t smoke - a fact that he’s strangely insecure about - but he’s been known to overindulge on drinks. He interrupts people when he’s excited. He sleeps far, far too late when he can (or, at least, he used to before the nightmares began). 

Above all, though, Gideon is unable to be alone. If a time comes when Gideon has the rare chance to spend a day in his own apartment and Fabian or another friend isn’t there, the place becomes completely uninhabitable to Gideon. He loves being at Order headquarters, or the Burrow, or even work whether he’s scheduled or not, because he needs to be around other people to feel like he’s truly himself.

FAMILY BACKGROUND ➤

Mother: Rose Prewett  Father: Tyson Prewett  Sibling(s): Molly (sister); Arthur (brother in law) Pet(s): None yet, sadly Grandparent(s): Hugo, Gideon’s maternal grandfather, is his only surviving grandparent. Cousin(s): Gideon’s uncle, Ignatius, and his wife, Lucretia, don’t have any children of their own. However, Aunt Lucretia does have one brother - Orion - who has two strapping sons, Sirius and Regulus. Arthur’s brother, Bilius, is much cooler. 

MAGICAL ABILITIES ➤

Wand:  Cypress wood, phoenix tail feather, thirteen inches, unyielding, unusually knobby 

Patronus (and which memory they’re currently using to cast a patronus if they can, or which one they’d use if they could): It’s a fox, and he thinks about last year on Charlie’s birthday when he and Fabian ran around with all the nephews in the backyard and got them to laugh until nobody could breathe, and it was a lovely sunny day, and nobody was afraid and everyone was together! 

Boggart: It’s a reflection of Gideon himself, standing alone. It may not seem like much, but even in Gideon’s head he can’t picture himself without Fabian by his side. If not Fabian, then someone - Molly, or one of his nephews, or a friend, or a fellow Order member. He’s afraid to be alone. To see himself on his own is truly terrifying, albeit embarrassing. 

OWLS: Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Astronomy

NEWTS:  Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions

What Kind of Magic do They Excel at: His best branch of magic is Transfiguration. In school, it was due to the perfect combination of it being mentally stimulating, practical, adaptable to pranks, engaging and having lessons where he actually got to interact with his wand, his classmates and objects around him. It caught and held his attention enough to seem worth learning, and was taught in such a way that it seemed worth learning. 

Now, in the Order and in his free time, Gideon uses Transfiguration whenever possible. Forgot to wash the dishes? It only takes a few seconds to transfigure his favorite mug into a dinner plate. Unnaturally bored while stationed somewhere, keeping guard? He’s been known to conjure a Rubix cube or other small puzzle box to entertain his hands. Rough day at work, and not feeling like cleaning out the cages? Vanishment is a difficult branch of magic, but Gideon always had a talent for it.

He uses a lot of Transfiguration in dueling, too. When he feels he can’t control his opponent or the situation he’s in, Gideon finds comfort in controlling the surroundings, and will often bring sudden, distracting life to whatever dark alley he’s in to throw the other party off their game.

PSYCHOLOGY ➤

MB Type:  Campaigner ( ENFP-T) (Read more!)

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for – and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool – for love – for your dreams – for the adventure of being alive.”

The Campaigner personality is a true free spirit. They are often the life of the party, but unlike types in the Explorer Role group, Campaigners are less interested in the sheer excitement and pleasure of the moment than they are in enjoying the social and emotional connections they make with others. Charming, independent, energetic and compassionate, they can certainly be felt in any crowd.

Enneagram: (Read more!)

Type 7 - 83% MATCH Type 7 is described as The Enthusiast. Sevens want to have as much fun and adventure as possible and are easily bored.

Type 2 - 79% MATCH Type 2 can be described as The Giver. Twos want to be liked and find ways that they can be helpful to others so that they can belong.

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good

Archetype:

53% Caregiver - Friendly, sincere, and compassionate, the Caregiver finds their reward in helping others. No one could ask for a better best friend.

24% Advocate - The Advocate is the one everyone wants on their side. In the name of justice, they are not afraid to challenge authority or speak up for others.

23% Rebel - The Rebel is comfortable throwing caution to the wind—and bucking the system—if that means getting their point across.

Temperament: Sanguine

Sanguine people are boisterous, bubbly, chatty, openly emotional, social extroverts. (Read more!) 

[lichbarry]

what did orion do?

SO, I don’t have all the answers myself, and the Crit Role mod team for their reddit (again, don’t know if this is actually the CR team or just the mods) very specifically asked people to stop speculating about the details in season 1 (I wasn’t a Critter then, so I’m getting all of this info secondhand)

The “official” statement (from their reddit account) FAQ was that   “He has engaged in harassing and dangerous behavior publicly against both fans and colleagues including revealing the confidential personal information (doxxing) of one of his supporters. Other accusations levied against him include fraud or misappropriation of fan-provided funds on two separate occasions”.

Of these reasons cited:

- He raised money on a kickstarter for a fan whose dad had just died and spent that money on personal items without ever sending it to her.- Apparently has a history of deleting history, such as a rant against the cast of Critical Role, which I personally don’t hold against him because I would’ve deleted that shit too. - The commonly given reason from the CR team was him fudging dice rolls, and there is a lot of argument (from what I’ve seen so far of S1) about him trying to bend the rules to fit what he wants to do. He’s also a HUUUUUGE metagamer.- Someone made a shirt on Redbubble that said “Hi my name is” “Tiberius Stormwind” “from Draconia” in a nametag style and he, since it was on Redbubble, called them a “fucking leech” for profiting off his character and that they should “consider yourself uncrittered” which the whole crew had to apologize for.

ALLEGEDLY part of his rant-video that he took down, among other Tweets and posts that he deleted, tried to claim that they kicked him out of CR because of his HIV positive status (which he is, but we know is false, just by who the CR team are as people).

I KNOW there’s more so chime in as yall want to (such as him making unwanted sexual comments) but I don’t have the evidence or drive to find it. I know that he did post numerous apologies and promised that he would do better, but I just don’t like him or his play styles in general and from browsing his Twitter he does looked to have “forgiven” the CR cast but I can’t say for sure if he’s actually gotten better or not. 

[thecomicsnexus]

THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #289-294 JULY - DECEMBER 1982 BY PAUL LEVITZ, KEITH GIFFEN, LARRY MAHLTSTEDT, BRUCE D. PATTERSON, CARMINE INFANTINO, CARL GAFFORD, HOWARD BENDER AND RODIN RODRIGUEZ

SYNOPSIS (FROM WIKIPEDIA AND DC DATABASE)

The Legion searches for its five members who are lost on an icy asteroid. Brainiac 5 and Element Lad attempt to cure Matter-Eater Lad's insanity, but fall victim to a renegade psychiatrist. 

Legion of Super-Heroes co-founder Cosmic Boy leads a group of Legionnaires to investigate attacks on the Museum of the Mystic Arts and the Tower of London, both located on Earth. Included in the squad is 20th-century member Superboy (the legendary Superman as a teenager) and the latest addition to the team—Jacques Foccart, the new Invisible Kid. At each site they are attacked by beings of great power, both of whom are shrouded in darkness and mention that they are servants of their "Master" who controls the "Great Darkness". Through the use of a teleportation warp, the beings escape with two stolen items: a mystical wand from the museum and the sword Excalibur from the Tower of London. When a third Servant attempts to steal the Orb of Orthanax from the Institute of Parapsychological Phenomena of Talok VIII, she is captured. However, a fourth Servant appears via another teleportation warp and absconds with the Orb. At his unknown base of operations, the Master absorbs the power contained within each of the stolen artifacts. The captured Servant is taken back to Legion headquarters. When she is brought in close proximity to Invisible Kid's younger sister Danielle Foccart, who has been possessed by the rogue artificial intelligence Computo, Danielle's brain activity spikes. In effect, the Servant causes the unconscious Computo to have a nightmare.

Through genetic testing, Mon-El and Dream Girl determine that the captured Servant is an inanimate "reverse-DNA" clone of Lydea Mallor, Shadow Lass' ancestor and a 20th-century heroine of Talok VIII. Meanwhile, on the planet Avalon, the fourth Servant frees the immensely powerful Mordru, the mightiest wizard in the universe and arguably the Legion's most powerful enemy. Just as Mordru is about to destroy the Servant, the Master appears and quickly defeats him. Shortly thereafter on the prison planet Takron-Galtos, the Legionnaires discover that the Time Trapper — another powerful Legion foe — has been drained of his cosmic time-manipulation abilities by the Master as well.

Dream Girl's precognitive abilities allow her to foresee the Servants attacking her sister, the sorceress known as the White Witch, on their homeworld Naltor. She and a squad of Legionnaires travel there and prevent one of the Servants from kidnapping the White Witch. During the attack, Invisible Kid seizes the opportunity to journey into one of the beings' teleportation warps and take the battle directly to the Master. He confronts the Master, who is amused by the notion that the young hero is presumptuous enough to confront him. The Master blasts him with energy beams from his eyes, and warps him back to Naltor. Having seen the Master's real face, Invisible Kid is frightened on such a fundamental level that a large stripe of his jet black hair turns white permanently.

In the midst of the crisis, the Legion holds its long-delayed election, choosing Dream Girl as its new leader. She leads a squad of Legionnaires to the Sorcerers' World, where they repel an attack by the Master and several of his Servants. Mon-El confronts the Master directly and immediately recognizes him, but is easily defeated. The Master then reads his mind, learning that Mon-El recognized him because of all that the Legionnaire witnessed during his many centuries in the Phantom Zone. Additionally, the Master learns of Mon-El's homeworld, Daxam. The sorcerers cast a spell intended to defend them against the Master, and they surprisingly conjure a humanoid baby. Meanwhile, on Earth, the three Legion founders (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad) determine that two of the Servants are reverse-DNA clones of Superman and one of the Guardians of the Universe. Shocked that the Master is able to clone and harness the power of two of the mightiest beings in history, the founders send out a general alarm, calling all active and reserve Legionnaires to duty.

The Legionnaires manage to locate what turns out to be the Master's homeworld. Engaging the Servants in battle, Wildfire destroys the Guardian clone, while Element Lad exposes the Superman clone to gold kryptonite, allowing Timber Wolf to destroy him. Afterward, Brainiac 5 recognizes the Master’s homeworld, and is able to deduce his true identity. Meanwhile, the Master has travelled to Daxam. Having added the powers of Mordru, the Time Trapper and others to his own abilities, he transposes Daxam with his own homeworld. Consequently, Daxam's three billion natives each gain powers equal to those of Superman or Mon-El, and all of them fall under the thrall of the Master, who is determined to conquer the entire universe. At the villain's command, the Daxamites use their powers to physically reshape the planet until it has been sculpted in the image of the Master himself: the ancient New Gods tyrant, Darkseid.

Brainiac 5 is the only Legionnaire (other than Mon-El) with any knowledge of Darkseid or his homeworld, Apokolips. Once he briefs Dream Girl, she sends out a second general alarm to all of the Legion's super-powered allies, including Supergirl (who resides in the 20th century) and the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Throughout United Planets territory, the Kryptonian intelligence agent Dev-Em, the Heroes of Lallor, the Wanderers, the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires all struggle to hold back the onslaught of attacking Daxamites. On Takron-Galtos, a de-powered Chameleon Boy fends off an attack from a Daxamite child by using judo to toss him into a cell with Validus, the mysterious childlike creature who is the most powerful member of the Fatal Five.

As the humanoid child inexplicably ages at an accelerated rate, the White Witch casts a spell transporting the people on Daxam to Apokolips and vice versa. She is forcibly aided by a powerful unknown entity. When Darkseid tries to seize the child, the entity completes the aging process and reveals itself to be Darkseid's ancient enemy Izaya, Highfather of the New Gods from the planet New Genesis. Highfather transforms the last remaining Servant into a perfect clone of Darkseid’s son Orion, who is destined to someday destroy his father. Before fading into nothingness, Highfather summons Superboy and Supergirl to the battlefield above Apokolips, with his power allowing the Kryptonian cousins to maintain their abilities under a red sun. Darkseid destroys the Orion clone and sends Superboy back to the 20th century. He then becomes so preoccupied with battling Supergirl and the other Legionnaires that he loses mental control of the Daxamites, who begin to make their way toward the planet. Realizing that he cannot defeat three billion Daxamites, Darkseid concedes defeat and vanishes, taking Apokolips with him. As he departs, he declares that he has left the Legionnaires with the "curse of darkness" which will destroy them from within, promising "that which is purest of you shall be the first to go." In the aftermath of the crisis, the White Witch is inducted into the Legion, while Light Lass decides to quit.

REVIEW

This is perhaps the most famous Legion story, which doesn’t really speak well of the rest.

Perhaps at the time, having Darkseid in the future was unthinkable, but these days, we know he was involved in this saga, and even if you didn’t, the moment you pick up the trade, Darkseid is in the cover. That makes the “mystery” totally decompressed. We are hinted at the big reveal (that happens in the second to last issue) and in the meantime, we have the same fight over and over with Darkseid minions. Just in case you needed more clues, one of the minions is very recognizable as Orion.

I think they also cheated a little bit, making Boom tubes look different. For what I have read about the way Levitz used to write. His fight scenes were vaguely plotted, he was only interested in the soap opera plots. To be honest, I learned to skip most fight scenes in comics from 1941 to 1985. They just fill issues.

There are a couple of good things about this saga and I think those are the main reasons this story is so well remembered. One is Giffen and Mahltstedt style (Giffen would change his style later on). It actually fits the Kirby theme, but in the early issues, I can feel a George Perez vibe.

The other good thing is how these stories are starting to be less annoying. I don’t really want to talk shit about Levitz writing skills, because I know this was a tough job, and despite making mysteries last more than six months, he manages to have some kind individual story in each issue. Things like Lightning Lad being depressed and Chameleon Boy acting like a jerk lasted too long.

Another reason for the importance of this, is the surprise appearance of Darkseid. This was later parodied by Giffen itself in his Ambush Bug mini-series, where Darkseid would be revealed as the big bad in each issue. I can imagine that at the time, having the Legion fighting Darkseid was a big deal.

The reason I don’t think this is a great story is because it is very anti-climatic. Darkseid decides that he has been defeated and leaves. It doesn’t feel earned. And I know he leaves a curse on them, to be explored in the future, but that is a different arc.

All this aside, it actually brought some hope. Now that they know they can do great epic stories, perhaps they will continue doing so and I will find my greatest Legion story.

To do: Less repetition, simpler exposition, don’t plant mysteries to much ahead of the reveals.

I give this saga a score of 7