#fighting for a cause whose purpose has been long forgotten

[theglowingjournal]

Turning 24

This blog comes right about the time I’m turning 24. I feel like I have lived through alot in a short time and gained some cool insight from people & experiences in my 24 years here. There’s alot more than 24 little lessons I could gather together but I’ll stick to 24 for now. I hope some of these call you to action or thought or even better, God.

1. Dont hold onto bitterness - living with anger & resentment halts growth and sometimes even opportunity. It’s not fun! Really lean into “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger”.

2. Have a servants heart - who can you be serving in your life? Do you need poured into too? Check who’s filling your cup and whose cup you’re filling.

3. Halt the worst case scenario mindset - don’t live life in worry of the worst happening. Some scenarious call for worst case prep but if it’s causing you anxiety, halt it!

4. Set aside time to be in the secret place - if you feel like you have no time for God, change your schedule.

5. Choose fellowship & community over isolation - sometimes, you gotta fight the urge to stay home and watch netflix instead of fellowship time with others. It could be just what you need! Go be with people.

6. Be confident in who God made you to be - He made you just the way you are meant to be, why want to change that when your very own Creator is perfect?

7. Awkward is fake & made up - that thing you thought was really awkward? You might be the only one who thought it was… and if not? It’ll either be forgotten or you might just be showing someone else that they’re not alone in feeling or being ‘awkward’.

8. Be real with those who value you - we all go through tough times, and the only way to know you’re not the only one who’s been through it is to share. Tell your friends what you need help with and prayer for.

9. Nothing in this world actually brings joy - just Jesus. That’s it.

10. Thank God continually for blessings & trials - remember to thank God for everything He provides daily, even the hard lessons & trials! Knowing He is good and has a purpose coming to fruition is something to be grateful for.

11. Stop overthinking - it’s so easy to get into your head and overthink things, daily! Work on stopping the overthinking process when you realize that it’s happening.

12. No one has it all together - not even the big adults with the big jobs. Everyone is just doing their best.

13. Take more photos, but at good times - as opposed to bad times where you aren’t being present! Capture moments with your eyes & mind’s eye first, then, if so led, take out the camera.

14. No more comparison game - cut out whatever is causing you to compare. Social media? Gossip from friends? TV shows? Out.

15. Read more, but get audible - I always have new books I want to read but I have trouble finishing books/feeling like I have time to read. Get the audiobook & listen while running errands, doing chores; it’ll cut the time in half!

16. Go for the ice cream - Period.

17. Patience goes a long way - pause before responding, and take a breath before getting annoyed. Alot can happen in those few seconds that will go a longggg way.

18. Let God write your love story - He’ll do it better than you could ever do on your own.

19. Communicate with everyone - bad communication is like, the #1 thing that leads to issues. All over the world. Everywhere. Communicate! I am speaking to myself here too; don’t put off texting people back. Just do it.

20. Go listen to The Beautiful Letdown album - Switchfoot’s lyrics are speaking to the world more and more and share such good gospel based messages. Pivotal album, go listen.

21. Baking can be therapy - try it out! Especially when you’re going to give it to others.

22. Lean on God and trust His sovereignty - in every question, decision, emotion, anything, trust that He has it under control and if you’re living in His will, you can live without fear.

23. We’re all in different seasons. Give grace - a reason why we should share with each other what we’re going through. If not, we don’t know what kind of season someone’s in, and can judge their actions or behavior. Give grace, as you want grace too.

24. Go for a walk - it can be silent, a talk with God, listen to a podcast/book, getting exercise, to let go of emotion. Whatever the reason, even if for no reason, get a nice walk in.

If you read this far, thank you! And please message me with what lesson you can start implementing. Peace out!

[the-golden-rose-archives]

✒ The Overview of TGRU: What it's about

The Golden Rose Universe is an ongoing head world project set in the world of Ai'terra, a world not so different from ours aside from the fact that this world is populated by anthropomorphic animal people. These races vary from those grounded in reality (such as Cats, Dogs, Rabbits, etc) to the more mythical (Dragons, Chimeras, Unicorns, etc). The setting of TGRU is Modern/Fantasy as it has elements to magic, supernatural creatures, and powerful deities.

In the setting of TGRU:

The mortals of the modern era have almost completely forgotten about the ancient and powerful deities that used to dwell upon the earth, having simply chalked them down to be no more than myths. However, the deities themselves are living, breathing, timeless beings that do still walk among them, as well as their divine champions, the Aespryt: Divine messengers, reapers, and guardians either born into their role, or bestowed new life upon their final hours as mortals.

For thousands of years after what would be known as the Era of Calamity that was caused by the destructive hubris of a mad god, the other deities had established a new order, known simply as The Golden Rose Court. Its sole purpose being to keep each other in check and to prevent the deities from using the mortal realm as their playground and using them as their pawns and sacrifices. However this did not sit right with deities whose motives were darker in nature, this driving them into creating a rival faction known as The Thorned Order, led by a former court member, Aarna the StormWaker. This led to a centuries long conflict that sundered the Court and the Order, leading to casualties on both sides, as well as the formation of The Wild Hearts: a faction disillusioned by both ends of the fight, and simply wanting nothing to do with the power struggle. While the battle was hard won by the courts and led to Aarna being sealed, it was an embittering victory, and led to the uttering of a cryptic prophecy, one that could signal the end of the entire world and the death of the deities themselves.

Now in modern times, these ancient feuds have been chalked up as mere fairy tales, with the mortals eschewing any sort of notion that magic and deities are real. However they are all but mythical and their entire power struggle between the Court and the Order have continued into modern times.

While this struggle has been hidden, the arrival of a new Aespryt under the watch of Friithor, the Lord of Winter, has brought the attention of both factions, leading to the remembrance of the ancient prophecy, as well as the Thorned Order's renewed interest in reawakening Aarna. The world of Ai'terra can only watch as the battle unfolds anew, all holding their breath at what is to be the final struggle and outcome that could dictate the world's fate forever.

"When thy hallowed blade shatters,

And the beast's shadow consumes all.

So will end the reign of the Rose,

And the Thorns overtake the world.

The Skies above will be as red as blood,

And the seas will swallow all.

All of creation will fall and cease,

And the Shadows arise anew."

[snowpoff]

thinking about elidibus again

[bitegore]

for the wip titles thing 1/3 (with thanks for your indulgence)

Orpheus motormaster

OKAY so this fic is sort of an experimental thing I keep reworking because I don't know what I want to do with it when it hits fairytale territory, but also I think it would be incredibly funny to slot Motormaster into a fairytale world where he has to deal with fairytale bullshit.

Readmore because this is long and also because, like, contents: quite a bit of dark nonsense about death

Presumably we all know who Orpheus is here, so I'm not going to bother to really detail anything about the original myth. I'm also going off the books very aggressively and cribbing a bunch of stuff from, like, the trials of Herakles and shit like that. I got a friend who did their degree in ancient history and literature who I fully intend to lean on for some of the more specific stuff but i'm not actually doing Greek Mythology so it's also probably going to take on a bit of the medieval Guy Wanders About Getting Into Situations vibe to it as well, since I like that quite a bit.

Also it was inspired quite heavily by The Unrepetant (song) by Steve Earle and also by Hadestown (play). I haven't decided how unhappy an ending I want yet, but there's not exactly going to be a happy one. We all know what happened to Euridyce.

The important details for the mythological backing are as such:

There is a pantheon, the way that there's a pantheon in most of these stories.

Primus is king of the "ordered world" pantheon and Unicron is king of the "chaos world" pantheon. In order to get from the normal world to the Underworld (as opposed to, like, traveling under the normal world by digging a hole) Unicron has to let you in. (Primus's domain is Cybertron; because this is G1-ish Transformers, we're on Earth. The general vast expanse of space is sort of a no-man's-land, but Unicron's seat of power is on Earth, so the Underworld is rather close to our cast at the moment).

Beyond this duology Unicron and Primus both have "champions", sort of like saints I guess? or minor deities? in the Thirteen Primes and the Thirteen Titans, who work in semi-harmony to keep the balance of nature even but who also occasionally fight or switch allegiances. Unicron has six Primes and seven Titans and Primus has seven Primes and six Titans. This is because I think it's fun to say that Megatronus was a champion of Unicron and that Prima was also a champion of Unicron before fucking off to Primus's side or something.

(Of the Primes- Primus currently has Prima, Optimus Prme, Alchemist Prime, Vector Prime, Micronus Prme, Onyx Prime, and Quintus Prime; Unicron has Megatronus Prime, Solus Prime, Liege Maximo, Amalgamous Prime, Nexus Prime, and Alpha Trion. I don't know thirteen titans off the top of my head so that'll have to come later.) (Optimus's Primehood is kind of a secret but like an open secret; he's sort of regarded like someone running around claiming to be a god would be. As in, common knowledge holds that he's making shit up until he starts refusing to stay dead and shit. He's a late addition to the roster and there to shake things up, because the game was getting stale since Unicron is fucking his job up.)

As always, Unicron is the "chaos-bringer"- the lord of chaos, bringer of chaos, who sure, eats planets, but he's not the "planet-killer", he's the chaos guy. So his job is chaos. Throw some shit into the mix and see what comes up. (Hence why he's got the Prime of creation and the Prime of shapeshifting and both Primes whose jobs are to be weird old men telling people to do things.) Except, oopsies, whoops, Unicron has been having a long and boring few millenia and he's sleepy tired and he has forgotten his job is to cause problems on purpose.

Primus is another force of nature, too; he can't do Unicron's job because he's the god of living order, of physics and crystal lattices. There's a reason Unicron generated organic life and Primus created machinery, and only in concert could they create Transformers. Now Unicron is dropping the ball and Primus has stepped back to let the Primes handle it, but things are still sort of getting dull and stagnant, and this whole "permanent war" deal that the new Prime and the guy who borrowed Unicron's primary champion's name have cooked up is just as frustrating as anything else.

Given that we're working with G1 Stunticons (i'm always doing that, anyway) the Stunties have spent a comparatively very long time being exposed to Unicron (under the Earth) than they have Primus (in space). They're still in the regular world, but they spend basically no time on Cybertron ever and are made from Earth-based materials, so they're basically just getting washed in Unicron Juice forever. This is barely relevant, but it might wind up more relevant later, who knows.

A final note: since everything isn't set in stone, I might reverse Unicron and Primus's positions as life deity and death deity without reversing anything else, worldbuilding-wise, anyway, and have Motormaster be trying to find the Underworld on Cybertron, but that's kind of boring and I like the earth energy better. We know where Cybertron keeps its dead, that's not so cool. And the idea of a robot alien wlaking into the belly of the regular Earth- surrounded by plants and shit, in an environment he is fully unsuited for- is very fun for me in a way that the Cybertron is not.

A lot of my worldbuilding is copped from TF Prime. Can you tell.

SO okay. No plot notes whatsoever in and we're already at a block of text so long that my computer doesn't want to register keystrokes for ano a full minute after I write them, cool cool cool. I might have to break this up into a separate thing, we'll see how frustrated this makes me.

The opening is simple, and I can just plain copy paste it. (Curses be upon Tumblr for not enabling nested readmores like they do on Dreamwidth.)

It happened out of nowhere. Nothing Motormaster could’ve done about it, not that he wanted to hear that at the time. He’d gone over it back and forth for days, trying to figure out what he’d done wrong as leader to let it happen. Turns out sometimes these things are just dumb shit luck. One stray shell landing in a place it wasn’t supposed to when they weren’t actually under attack, and then, boom, and their racecar frames were all more fragile than Motormaster’s truck. They’d had to piece him back together, too, anyway. Wasn’t like he’d gotten out unscathed either. But the rest of his teammates were dead.  Motormaster didn’t really come to grips with that in the medbay. They had him there for two weeks while they slowly rebuilt his spinal circuitry and the rest of his torso and legs and cab, but he spent the whole time prodding at the empty bonds mentally and running through what he could’ve done different instead. He didn’t really figure his shit out after either, when they let him back out onto his feet and threw him back to the war. He’d refused to go, asked what they were going to do to get him back his team instead. They’d told him dead was dead, and there was nothing to do about it; now he had to get over it and get back to the fight. Time to get even, or get one up on the Autobots. Not time to freak out about what was done and gone and couldn’t be fixed.  And he didn’t really come to grips with it then, either. He listened to them for a little while, thrown himself back into the fight. Let them convince him that there was nothing for him to do. But he was a team leader first, and without his team he didn’t know what to do with himself. And then he finally got it. Put the pieces together one by one. If no one else would go get his teammates back for him, well, shit, it was his responsibility to do that, wasn’t it? After all, he was their team leader.  He got himself together after that. Put in a report stating he wasn’t going to come back until the task was done, requested time off from the Decepticons. He didn’t wait around to see if it was granted or not. They’d take him and his team back when he returned, he was pretty sure. And he packed himself a little travel bag and got his sword and went out into the world to find the opening to the Underworld. He knew it was somewhere. It turned out to be a little bit underwhelming, after everything.  He'd been expecting something dramatic- a crack in the ground, billowing fire; a massive cave ringe with thousands of glittering jewels; an enormous terminal computer terminal humming with infernal energies, or something, but it was simple. No frills. Just a narrow staircase down into the dark, a rough-hewn affair with no end in sight. It wasn't even scary. Motomaster rested his sword over his shoulders, and began his descent.

Anyway I have, like I said, not ironed out exactly where I want to go with this, but for obvious reasons the Stunticons (minus Motormaster) probably are gonna wind up staying dead, since ethat's the way the story goes. I haven't decided, though; it would be really fucking funny if we make them Primes instead. Combiner Prime 2.0, or some shit like that. It'd lose what I like about the Orpheus and Eurydice story, though; I eat tragedy up for breakfast lunch and dinner and then heap myself anoher serving for dessert.

That aside, I do know some of what I want to do with it. The journey to the Allspark is long and difficult, and the first part is (obviously) getting to the staircase down. I have to go and add more stuff there, because that's not supposed to be an easy search either, but I don't want that to stretch on too long; crucially, though, outside his own realization Motormaster catches the attention of one of Unicron's Primes. They go poke Unicron, who goes "huh. Intriguing" and lets Motormaster in to his domain.

But Earth!Reverse is still just as big as regular!Earth and there's a lot of new ground to cover between the staircase down and the seat of the Reverse!Allspark and Unicron's throne. There are like, people in the way and shit. I'm not going for a full on like, cerberus and the river styx type deal, I want to make it a little less played-out and a little more interesting, but it is crucial that there is a whole bunch of people between Motormaster and Unicron and they can all be reasoned with, tricked or otherwise worked around with a bit of thought. I've got full intentions to make these workarounds really obvious, too... at least to the reader.

Because Motormaster is an idiot. And he solves everything by punching people really fucking hard.

He mostly makes it through the Underworld by being a giant pain in the ass and all the guardians who are supposed to direct him where he's supposed to go or provide a small challenge to let him prove himself eventually just go "Fuck this. Fuck this shit. What the fuck ever. Fuck this guy. Unicron and whoever else is behind me can sort him out, I am not getting paid enough to put up with this shit" and so they send him on his way, or give him bad directions that get him turned around or whatever, but they don't really stay in his way. Everyone fucking hates him though. He's making absolutely no friends. This will be relevant later.

Eventually Motormaster makes it to Unicron's court, where Unicron is waiting to hear him out at least with some sense of interest. Primus is there too, since they're buddies and Primus is fucking PSYCHED to see Unicron up and at it and is spending time hanging out in his court watching this stupid little truck slowly make it down to Unicron's fortress. Unicron allows Motormaster to plead his case, expecting, like, some attempt (however halfhearted) of an eloquent case for the return of Motormaster's subordinates, all of whom are present and chilling.

Motormaster does not do this, becuase he is Motormaster. Instead he just goes "Those are mine. Give 'em back" and goes to walk off with his teammates. He presumes this will work because he is an idiot but also becuase so far going "give me what i want or i'll hit you really hard" has resulted in him getting what he wants, because so far what he has wanted was not to leave but just to go in. And he most certainly was not stealing from Unicron.

Needless to say, this does not work.

After Motormaster is knocked very roundly on his ass by [gestures vaguely] someone or other, and impressed upon him is the importance of actually doing shit correctly this time, Unicron- who frankly is just kinda having fun- grants Motormaster a show of unusual leniency and allows Motormaster a second chance to plead his case. Motormaster tries slightly harder and proceeds to fuck it up again, but less badly, at least. Yay improvement.

(He still promises to punch Unicron really hard if Unicron won't give him his teammates back, but fortunately for everyone Unicron finds it really funny that this insignificant little ant is trying to threaten him personally. It's cute. Reminds him of Megatronus before the whole dealie with Solus and Liege Maximo stripped him of a chunk of his hubris. So it's like a kitten pouncing on his foot to him. He keeps encouraging the behavior even though it shouldn't be encouraged because he likes to see it. Primus keeps telling him off for it but he's not making any headway.)

Anyway in order to test Motormaster's resolve and also give him some sort of a chance, Unicron sets before Motormaster like five tasks that are nominally-impossible but not really. Here's where the labors of Herakles things come in; these are all just hard things that have answers. A lot of the labors of herakles are, like, killing a tthing though; obviously Motormater is okay at that, so instead we set before him tasks that don't require him to kill anyone.

Motormaster fails them all. He has one skill and that skill isn't even a little bit "looking for loopholes and tricky problem-solving". He tries and he just plain does not suceed within the timeframe he's been set.

Finally Unicron like. Literally trying soooooo hard to find an excuse to give him back his teammates because he's enjoying watching Motormaster do stuff and he wants Mototormaster to succeed, is like hey. Final task for you. Make the trip back with them and don't turn back, and you can keep them. Cool? Cool. This should be really simple, just face forward and don't turn around. I'll literally give you a guide. Please don't fuck this up.

Technically speaking, that would make all of the Stunticons minus Motormaster sort of like another of Unicron's Primes. Which would be really funny. If he won, that is. But obviously he doesn't win.

(It's very tempting to consider having him turn to look at his teammates as he leaves Unicron's court and having literally everyone present, in unison, go "....oh, for fuck's sake" as they vanish back to the Allspark.)

The real question is more, like- obviously I'm doing black comedy, that's my niche, I don't think I'm capable of not doing black comedy. But there are a few different directions I can go with it. It can be like, yay, Motormaster has learned to deal with grief now, everything's fine and the dead want to stay dead, this is not a happy story but it's a triumphant one. Or it can be like "you would be better off having literally just committed suicide". Or somewhere in between. I can't decide what balance I want to strike, but there's something compelling to the idea that Motormaster making it out of the underworld would sort of properly trap him out of it, where he can't actually return basically ever because divinity has gotten under his skin a little too hard and now it's not working, shit's out of balance and he can't die until it goes back and he is not smart nor powerful enough to ever put it back to rights anyway. If he managed to get his teammates out with him that'd be one thing, but obviously I'm not doing that; we all know what happened to Euridyce.

Anyway obviously I still have a lot to do on this one before I can really get back to it but it's cooking. It's being brain stew. And the flavor is good so far.

[versadies]

Hey!!! How are you?

Congratulations on your 1k followers

Can I request aries + Kazuha + hc scenario + fluffy...?

Today is the last day of the event, I just saw it today, at least it wasn't after the event ended ;w;

⠀

⠀

I'm thinking about having a nickname to join the anon squad... Maybe 🇧🇷 anon? Your content came to a Brazilian person! Congratulations on your content reaching someone on the other side of the world :)

in the next life (hc scenario, reincarnation au)

penpal: hi hi, i’m doing great ty 🇧🇷 anon!! i’m so happy to know that my content has reached to the other side of the world 🥺🥺 i hope you like this <<3

prompt: aries the ram, red-string soulmate au

pairing/s: kaedehara kazuha x gn!reader

sypnosis: sometimes, happy endings can only happen in another lifetime. (or, hc on how you and kazuha met during the modern era of teyvat)

includes: slight spoilers to inazuma quests (2.0), fluff/slight angsty, reincarnation au, mentions of death, modern au, rushed ending

soulmates has always been one of the things that made teyvat special.

people had all collectively agreed that meeting their soulmate is one of the most treasuring moment, no matter how strange or hilarious the first encounter is like, no one should ever forget the once-in-a-lifetime moment.

with that said, most stories are usually soulmates– specifically how one meets their fated other. historical moments are no exception to this, such as an archon's first ever encounter with their soulmate during an annual rite, a forbidden love between an immortal being and a human, a sweet story of a soldier and a healer during a certain war, and the list goes on.

but where are stories that contains soulmates who had never met one another? or had a tragic fate that gave them no opportunity to get along with their soulmate anymore?

none.

some would say they'll meet in the afterlife, where they can live on in peace as the world goes on. while some would beg to differ and think that the two soulmates are just bound to not meet.

only little would suggest reincarnation.

and you and your beloved soulmate are one of those little people.

but you honestly didn't think that you and kazuha would be the soulmates with a tragic fate.

the both of you had met thanks to the resistance. when beidou decided to introduce kazuha to kokomi, he met you along the way– the right-hand-person of kokomi and his soulmate.

the both of you had instantly clicked when you met, the wide smile the both of you had appeared when you notice each other's red string being connected.

since then, you were inseparable.

on days when your assigned unit didn't need your assistance at the moment, you usually use those times to hung out with the samurai, often talking about each other's adventures and experiences with the best you can.

it was those days when you incredibly cherished the moments, making sure to remember every second of those moments you had with him before going on battles against kujou sara and her soldiers.

unfortunately for the both of you, the memories that you oh-so cherished would be the last one you'll ever make.

"see you in the next life... kaedehara kazuha," you whispered, staring at the samurai as the both of you lie down on the cold ground with soldiers fighting around the both of you, blood gushing out from your mouth. "whether it'd be in the next life or another, may celestia let us have another chance."

you watched as kazuha smiled lightly, his hand shakily trying to reach out to yours until he intertwines it together. "till we meet again, y/n."

as the war between the resistance and the raiden shogun continued, you and kazuha let out your one last breath before passing away.

much to you and kazuha's hopes, the war against the vision hunt decree won victoriously, with the raiden shogun lifting up the decree and brought inazuma back to its usual peaceful life before the decree.

of course, the resistance alongside the traveler paid respects to you and kazuha's passing, telling you that you and kazuha can rest now that they won.

as centuries flew by, teyvat had a major change among the nations. in this particular century, archons and visions had long been forgotten, with technology around the world being more advanced than before. as for soulmates? they still exist fortunately.

then there's you, a person who found joy in traveling around the world and tell the world about it. at least, that's what people think.

to you, you simply wanted to travel around teyvat to find a person named kaedehara kazuha.

recently, you started getting dreams of a man who goes by kaedehara kazuha. some were usually romantic that it gave you butterflies, some were conversations that you sometimes would forget, and of course, the dreams that often haunt you.

most dreams of yours were always lying down beside the man– who was bleeding to death. was this a sign of him dying? what is the purpose of these dreams?

you didn't know why this was happening to you. are you slowly going insane? or were you just overreacting?

whatever it was, you knew that deep down that it has something to do with your soulmate.

you went high and low around each nation you visited, often asking certain people if they've know a man named kaedehara kazuha, only to receive no useful information that could help you.

of course, your only source that could help you find him is the red string that connects you and your soulmate, following the direction it led you with hopes of it twitching as a sign that you're near.

unfortunately, none of the nations you've visited had no signs of who you're looking for.

your last stop is inazuma, a nation that's infamous for having beautiful firework shows and tourist spots. there's not a single place that isn't worth taking pictures of.

the moment you arrived to the nation using a boat,l you came across to a woman whose name is beidou.

"i don't know a man whose name has a kaedehara, but i have a son who coincidentally has the same name as kazuha!" she exclaims with a grin. "i don't think he's the one you're looking for though, i've never seen him hung out with someone like you or anyone else who isn't gorou."

you smile lightly at the woman, trying to not look disappointed. "i see.. thank you again, miss beidou."

she quickly waved you off. "good luck in finding the man you're looking for!"

the moment you immediately checked in ritou, you started exploring around the nation with no plans of stopping, hoping to see at least one person who looks like the man in your dreams or has their red string connected to your finger.

unfortunately, every area you've visited in the land, you still haven't found the end of the string, your hopes slowly dying down as time flew by.

you decided to explore more the next day, deciding to go back to inazuma city and have dinner in one of their infamous restaurants.

as you sat down on one of the stools while waiting for kanbei to cook your meals, you let out a disappointed sigh. if you couldn't find your soulmate anywhere, where could he be?

what if kaedehara kazuha doesn't exist at all? what if he died before you could even meet him and find out what's going on with your dreams?

you let out another sigh, rubbing the back of your neck in frustration. you hoped all of this wasn't a waste of your time. you honestly don't know what to do if you won't be able to find him at all, let alone what happens after you meet him.

unnoticed by you, your red string started twitching nonstop. a man suddenly enters the place, sitting down one seat away from where you are.

"rough day, kazuha?" kanbei asked, not bothering to look away from the pot as he continues to focus on cooking your meal.

"not exactly. i found a perfect spot to write haiku." the man, kazuha, replied.

as kazuha and kanbei continued conversing, you couldn't help but find yourself slowly drifting to sleep, now feeling the exhaustion from your exploration around the nation.

before you could completely pass out on the counter, you immediately woke up from the delicious smell of your meal, looking up to see the chef being finished with your meal already. perhaps the reviews weren't lying when they said this restaurant is fast with services.

you quietly thanked the chef when he placed the meal down in front of you, feeling your mouth watering at the sight of the delicious meal before digging up, still not noticing the red string twitching nonstop due to your focus on filling your hunger.

"thank you again, kanbei." kazuha speaks up as he grabs the packaged food from the chef's hands and hands over the payment.

"always happy to serve, kazuha. see ya tomorrow." kanbei said, watching as the man walks away from the restaurant.

out of curiosity, you glance at who you assume is beidou's son, only for your eyes to widen at the sight of the same man that you've been seeing in your dreams–

along with his red string connecting to yours.

without thinking, you immediately jumped down from your stool, staring at kazuha, who already walked out from the diner without a glance of your direction. "i'll be back and continue eating my meal. apologies for my rudeness!" you exclaim before running towards kazuha's direction without letting a single word come out from kanbei, who was confused at your words.

"kazuha!" you yelled, hoping kazuha would hear your voice despite the sounds of cars and people being loud around the both of you.

you tried to call for the man again, only for you to get frustrated when he still hadn't heard a word from you. was he wearing earphones?!

you immediately look down at your string and back at kazuha, hesitating for a moment before shaking the string aggresively. please, please, please look back! please look like you're him–

you sigh in relief when he finally noticed his string shaking, causing him to stop his trakcs and look behind him to see you running towards him like your life depends on it.

his eyes widens at the sight of you running towards him, your face was all too familiar for him to remember. it can't be, you only existed in his dreams!

the both of you suddenly remember certain memories the both of you didn't even knew you had. memories of which the both of you used to be in. memories of the both of you walking around the infamous serpent head as soldiers trained with all their might for the upcoming war, memories of the both of you watching the stars and wish for the resistance to win victoriously, memories of your past life that you and kazuha had forgotten.

that was enough for kazuha to run towards you as well, his arms suddenly spreading wide open for you to clashed into, dropping his food without a care.

the moment you and kazuha finally had gotten closer, you tackled the man into a hug as tears prickled in your eyes, ignoring the questionable stares the both of you received from people passing by.

"i found you." you whispered, closing your eyes shut as you let out a sound of relief. "after so.. so many months, i finally found you."

kazuha hugs you back, pulling you closer to his body as he sighs in relief. now that there's no more wars or something to run away from, the both of you can start anew and live the life the both of you had wanted back then.

"i missed you."

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH52

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 52: Purgatory Reunion (IV)

[Player Qi Leren has arrived in Purgatory and started the task: Sacrifice of the Devil King]

[Task background: Three years ago, the Devil of Slaughter provoked the Devil of Power, and was suppressed by the Devil of Power and the Devil of Fraud in Purgatory’s lake of fire. However, he did not die nor give up, but silently waited for an opportunity. Three years later, the seal was accidentally loosened, and the Devil of Slaughter’s consciousness broke free from the seal and began to look for a way to resurrect...]

[Task requirements: Destroy the Devil of Slaughter and gain one third of the authority of the Devil of Destruction.]

[Data synchronization countdown, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, synchronization completed.]

　　&&&

"Oh? So, this martial law is the order of the Devil of Power herself?" a person in leather boots whispered in a sexy, soft voice. If they didn't pay attention, the voice would be covered by the wind passing through the underground passage.

But who dared to not listen carefully? The lower demon secretly glanced at the succubus, facing his smiling yet cold eyes. He looked at him as if he was a maggot crawling on the ground, which scared him, and said in a trembling voice: "I don't know... I just heard..."

"Heard?" The succubus repeated the word, his tone full of deep dissatisfaction.

"No no no, sir, the rumors are likely to be true! There was an abnormality in Purgatory’s lake of fire before, that is, the lake of fire that suppressed the Devil of Slaughter... I think that there may be a problem with the seal on the Devil of Slaughter! That’s it!" the lower demon quickly explained, fearing that the succubus would kill him in annoyance.

"Hehe." The succubus chuckled inexplicably and stopped.

Ahead was a huge underground space, which was too high for the top of the cave to be seen. The fluorescent plants and fluorescent moths covered this pure darkness from their perches on the rock walls, which made it seem as though the cave walls of this bottomless underground nest were dotted with starry light.

They were standing in an underground valley at this time, opposite to another underground valley, and between the two cliffs was a moat-like abyss, with churning red magma flowing under their feet, like a rushing river rushing toward the deeper lake of fire.

"Sir, do you want to pass? The patrol is very strict on the other side, I'm afraid that if you’re found..." The lower demon carefully raised his head and observed the succubus.

The mysterious succubus was studying a crystal in his hand, and the lower demon recognized that it was a life crystal. The original clear crystal has overflowed with black smoke, and there were fine cracks on the crystal’s surface.

It seemed that the owner of this crystal was in a bad situation, no wonder he was in such a hurry…

However, whose life crystal was this? What did it have to do with this succubus?

The succubus was aware of the other’s snooping gaze, and tilted his head to glance at the lower demon behind him. The ruby-like eyes flowed with the innate charm of succubuses, but they were as cold as ice: "Is there a more hidden path?"

The lower demon did not dare to look at him again. He bowed his head to suppress his rapid heartbeat, but he still saw the succubus’ long legs that were wrapped in leather pants so tight he may as well have been naked. After mentally rehearsing ten times, he said cautiously: "There is indeed one."

Magma ran rapidly through the canyon, and the succubus’ smile as he stood on the cliff deepened, murmuring in a dreamy way: "That's great."

It seemed that he had saved his small life, and the lower demon breathed a sigh of relief. Since he had been caught by this mysterious succubus an hour ago and forced him to "sell" a slew of intelligence, he was always in awe. As a well-known information broker near Purgatory, he was cautious in his daily life, rarely came forward himself, and lived a very low profile. So when he woke up this time and found a succubus sitting on the bay window opposite the bed, smiling as he twirled a dagger in his hand, he was really scared.

Comfortable days had passed for so long that he’d almost forgotten the terror of being on the edge of life and death.

Now, he coaxed the shadowy boss in a desperation to keep him pleased, and helped him hurry to the lake of fire. Anyway, he wasn’t curious... Well, there was still a little curiosity. Who was this succubus working for? What was his purpose for coming to Purgatory at this delicate moment? He definitely wasn’t with the Devil of Power or the Devil of Fraud, otherwise he wouldn’t need to be so careful.

Was he an old follower of the Devil of Slaughter? Or..... was he simply a follower of the fallen Lord of Destruction...

The lower demon did not dare to think about it any more. He lost 10% of his caution. He took the succubus around the patrol line, crossed the magma river in the underground valley, and finally came to the strictest area.

"This is it. Go from here and pass through the warning zone to reach the lake of fire. However, the area around the lake of fire has been completely blocked. I heard that a large-scale conflict broke out last night. Right now, entrance and exit from the lake has been barred. I can only take you this far. Next..." The lower demon rubbed his hands and smiled in a professional manner, fearing that the succubus would turn on him at any moment.

The succubus stood outside the warning zone, and the channels extended in all directions in front of him seemed like an ant's nest. He was afraid that the demons patrolling in the cave would cause a chain reaction.

Qi Leren sighed in his heart. He’d never thought that he would encounter so many difficulties after entering the Underground Ant City.

If it wasn't for the fact that the Court had given him a lot of resources and help, even if he spent ten days or half a month alone, he couldn't so much as touch the right way, let alone find the den of an underground information broker, and even coax and scare him into leading the way.

But even under such efficiency, there was not much time left for him.

There was only less than an hour's journey left to reach the lake, but this journey required vigilance. Qi Leren, who hadn't slept a wink for more than a day, had passed the point of exhaustion, but now was both energetic and filled with anxiety.

He was too afraid that it was too late.

"The conflict last night, tell me in detail," the succubus said lightly.

"This... is suspected to be caused by the old Devil of Destruction’s people. Specifically... I didn't go to work because I was with you so early this morning. The detailed information can be presented to you immediately when I go back and sort it out!"

The succubus hissed, and his red eyes showed deep contempt and murderous intent: "Do you still need to tidy up?"

"No no no no, I mean... I only have hearsay, I haven't tried to verify it, I'm afraid it’s not reliable."

"Let's hear it."

"Okay, sir. About a month ago, the lake of fire began to behave strangely, and died down after an underground volcanic eruption, but two days ago, several big demons from the underworld appeared near Purgatory. All of them were the old staff of the Lord of Destruction, and they seemed to explore something near the lake of fire. Since the fall of the Destroyer, they seldom come out, and this time they suspiciously appeared together. That is, in these two days, a low-level demon disappeared and was killed near the lake of fire. This kind of thing is very common, and we did not pay attention until last night..."

The lower devil's face showed a complex expression of fear and reverence. He lowered his voice and excitedly told the secret: "Last night, someone saw the body of a high-level demon in the canyon downstream of the lake of fire, soaked in lava, and flowing down along the magma... There were as many ants, which were crushed by the dark pressure. Then the whole of Purgatory went under martial law, and the lake of fire area became particularly strict. If you try to enter carelessly, you’ll be killed!"

"Who did it?" asked the succubus.

"We don't know that, but there is a clue. Last night, a demon heard a dragon roaring near the lake of fire. At that time, the whole canyon around the lake of fire was shaking, like an earthquake. The stones collapsed and fell everywhere. He ran quickly but saw nothing else."

"A dragon roaring..." the succubus whispered thoughtfully.

Getting the map of this area, he let the hapless demon information broker go. Qi Leren took off the "costume" he had used while undercover with the Slaughter Secret Society, changed into clothes more convenient for movement, and threw the fancy leather boots covered with sequins and silver chains on his feet back into the item bar, then hurriedly walked into the cave.

The dragon roaring last night was probably Ning Zhou awakening to the power of Destruction and transforming into a magic dragon. Was the big fight last night related to Ning Zhou's final death? Qi Leren couldn't be sure. Right now, he couldn't wait to fly to him when he thought of how close Ning Zhou was.

He had to catch up, and he would catch up. Qi Leren shook his fist, equipped the necessary skill cards, and touched the Prophet's Heart item hanging on his chest. He wanted to pass this area of the martial law’s warning zone. In addition to relying on maps and hidden technology, he had to rely on Secretly Observing. If it was really impossible...

Even with the Prophet’s Heart, he would have to forcibly cross the warning zone into the lake of fire.

He couldn't wait any longer.

Prepared psychologically, Qi Leren took a deep breath and strode forward.

……

……

……

The last guard post was already ahead, and [Secretly Observing] has also entered cooldown. Qi Leren’s body was tightly pressed to the rock wall, listening to the footsteps getting closer and closer. The patrolling demons held torches, which lit up the dark environment.

It seemed to be just a few ordinary demons, otherwise they wouldn't need torches to see.

Below this cliff was a huge "lake", with smoke rising above the brightly burning lava, making this cold underground like a burning hell. This was the lake of fire. Ning Zhou was here.

Qi Leren closed his eyes and calculated the most likely way to break through.

The patrolling demons were in groups of two. It would be very difficult for him to kill two demons silently at the same time. Once he failed, the demons on the guard post nearby would set off a chain reaction... If there’s a storm ahead, take a detour...

There was a loud bang, and the demons on patrol stopped and whispered, "What happened? Is it going crazy again? "

"Who knows. Be careful, don't be too lazy. Many people died yesterday."

The ground suddenly shook, as if an earthquake had broken out!

Loose rocks on the rock wall fell down in pieces, causing a lot of turmoil. Qi Leren, who was waiting for an opportunity, took this opportunity to rush out. When the two patrolling demons panicked, he took care of them sharply and neatly. Rather than dealing with the bodies, he went through the last sentry post as the rocks continued falling and rushed to the cliff ahead without looking back.

It was as if a window had been opened in the huge rock wall. Qi Leren stood at this window and looked down.

As far as he could see, the world was a vast red, bigger and more cruel than the scene in his dream. The air was so hot that he couldn't breathe, his mouth only seeming to suck the hot flames into his lungs and ignite his body.

The terrible height and heat made Qi Leren dizzy. It was difficult to imagine a glacier here, because the glacier would quickly melt in his mind.

This hot land made up of hot magma was like being placed in a high-pressure boiler, extremely hot. Even if there was a distance of more than 100 meters from the magma beneath his feet, the heat was like a red soldering iron pressed against his skin.

It wasn’t just hot, it was a painful torment. Just standing here was like a desperate slug on an asphalt road, dried by the hot August sun.

Qi Leren gawked at the sight beneath his feet. This scarlet lake of fire was burning, and a few black rocky islands were baked in it... No, it wasn't all rocks.

One of the black, half-submerged shadows in lava was...

This scene overlapped with his dying dream—the black dragon slowly sank into the lake of fire, never to exist again.

Was it too late? Was he already too late?

Qi Leren's legs went soft and he knelt on the ground, his mind going blank.

There was another loud noise, and the magma spewing out of the lake set off a surging wave in the lake of fire, lapping against the black dragon's body. The dragon that had been lying quietly in the lake of fire moved, and Qi Leren also moved at the sight of it.

The black dragon raised its head and looked at the thick domed ceiling. Its claws extended from under the lave, slapped hard on the lake of fire’s surface, and then roared. In a flash, the whole underground lake shook crazily, and the whole world seemed to be turned upside down. The magma gathered into a tsunami and washed in all directions. The surrounding rock walls dropped stones that crashed into the lava, and the rock wall above them...

The dome of the underground cave, the top of which couldn’t be seen, seemed to be torn apart by the terrible power. Suddenly huge stones were falling, pouring down in a heavy rain that made the surface of this flaming lake more and more turbulent. It turned into a horrible hell where fire fell like rain!

The black dragon stood in the lake of fire, and the overwhelming burning stones lit up the dark underground world. It was angry, sad, and desperate, and countless negative emotions gathered in it, making it roar at the invisible sky—

The dome cracked, and the top of the underground cave was torn open by the violent force, so that a beam of light pierced the earth and fell into Purgatory.

It was light, not the burning flames of sulfur and magma.

Just after the light fell, a familiar call crossed the distance between life and death and came to its ears:

"Ning Zhou—!!!”

Maybe it was because of the light, or maybe it was because of this voice, but the furious black dragon suddenly quieted down. It stood quietly in the lake of fire, looking at the distant hole in the rock wall, which was brighter than the sun.

Amidst the bright holy light, a silvery white light like fine gauze slowly stretched out, just like a huge lotus flower in full bloom. In that light, there is a mirage of paradise at dusk, and countless hymns were played there, washing away one’s inner pain.

In this light, a holy angel with white wings fell from the cliff and fell from Heaven toward Purgatory’s lake of fire without hesitation.

The holy and elegant white wings fluttered gently. The warm and quiet power extinguished the raging flames burning on the lake of fire along the way, and the terrible suffocating heat dissipated with them, turning into a paradise in the light. The reflection of Heaven appeared on the lake of fire wherever he passed.

The holy angel landed on a black rock in the lake of fire, just in front of the dragon.

And the light falling from the broken dome just happened to fall on him.

The earth shaking world had subsided, the downpour of fiery rain had subsided, and the scarred black dragon had also subsided.

They stared at each other as if they were staring at their own souls. One was full of cracks that were on the verge of breaking, and the other was about to be pulled by despair into the abyss of Destruction.

It was at this moment that they were all redeemed by gentleness.

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The author has something to say:

PS: They finally meet again! This scene is ranked as the no.2 scene that I wanted to write in the second part. It should be more beautiful in my brain... I accidentally burst the word count OTZ, First explain the cause and effect clearly, and then start a sweet love ^_^

By the way, everyone should have guessed how Ning Zhou died before, right?

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Editor’s Notes: Double update today because I think this and the next chapter are best read side by side. Please continue on~

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[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes

A sequel to "A Forgotten Memory"

Alex is once again tasked to continue his mission in pursuing the threat that had caused hundreds of missing persons turn up dazed the next day. But now he isn't alone, join him along with the elite Task Force 141 as they hunt down Nero, discover the secrets behind his plans and put an end to this memory erasing nightmare.

Chapter 1 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

"Resurgence"

"Alex"

CIA Warcom

Boracay Island, Philippines

Alex basked himself on the warm sandy beaches of the Philippines. He wasn't able to enjoy his vacation after the Nero mission, because he was sent immediately to Urzikstan and Verdansk immediately followed. And now that all of those were over, he now laid down on a beach chair and let the ocean breeze blow on his relaxed state.

Philippines was a nice country, the people were hospitable, the food was delicious and unique and the scenery was beyond amazing. Despite his metal leg, people still looked up at him the way they look at tourists and he was all of the hospitality and attention from his fellow Americans who are also on vacation to locals who were just amazed on how the leg works.

It's been a lot of months ever since Samantha forgot him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they'll meet again, that's why no matter many women try to show interest in him, he shrugs them off politely by pretending he has a girlfriend. A simple lie that he built for himself in hopes of a miracle of meeting her again.

He always brought her letter with him, some edges of it got burnt from the time he manually detonated a C4 explosive to destroy a gas factory, It was almost torn and faded, but he couldn't leave it somewhere safe. He wanted it to be with him wherever he goes. 

'Don't you dare forget about me'

His phone rang. He quickly fished it from a small pouch he bought that the locals made and immediately answered.

"This is Alex speaking." he chimed.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this time of day Alex, but I have a feeling you'd want to jump in on this." a British accent so familiar informed him over the other side of the line, It was none other than Captain John Price or Bravo Six, a comrade he once fought with back in Urzikstan.

"I'm all ears." he said, sitting up straight and letting his metal leg sink in the sand.

"Looks like your boy Nero is back on the grid. That Sneaky bastard kidnapped the Daughter of the Head of Defense, again." Price relayed.

Alex's heart thumped faster, his breathing became quick. He wished to meet her again but not like this. Not her being in harm's way all over again.

"Shit. Count me in. But.." he hesitated. He wanted to help but remembered he disobeyed CIA orders back in Urzikstan, making him unable to provide support.

"I've talked to Laswell. She's creating a special assignment for you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means welcome to the 141, Alex." Price said as he cut off the call, followed by a message regarding his departure to their base.

~

Alex can't help but worry about Samantha's condition. They've played with her memories multiple times and he thought that it would all be over after she decided to alter everything about them. Guess the enemy didn't know and they're still after her.

The soldier leaned on to the small circular glass pane as he looked at the clouds pass by. His hands were fidgeting each other while his non-metal foot bounced up and down at a fast rate. His seatmate, who happens to be a teenager, noticed his distracting leg movement but ignored it as rock music blasted from his ears. He was a completely different Alex right now and he believed that he'll be back to normal as soon as he sees Samantha safe and within his grasp.

When you have a heavy metal stick as a leg, customs is going to be the most annoying place in the world. Everyone looked at Alex as soon as he passes the metal detector and everyone else's eyes were on him. Of course with a few more safety checks and a whole lot of explaining, Alex was good to go. 

"So, you're the one they call Alex" the heavily British accented driver mused, breaking the silence of their ride to the 141 base. He was looking at him via the rearview mirror, chewing on what Alex hoped to be gum.

"Yep. That's me." he replied, turning to the view of the British streets which confused him a lot as it was the opposite of American or even Global streets.

"Heard they thought you were dead back there. In Georgia." he added. He was quite the chatterbox but CIA Agents are all about the information.

"Yeah. Tried to manually detonate the C4. After that… I just ran for my life." Alex answered, his head was realizing why he did it. What pushed him to think that he could make it out alive. Was it because it's for the greater good? The idea of freeing Farah's country from the harm of the gas? The idea of a chance to meet Samantha all over again? Or something he couldn't explain.

"Well, we're glad to have you back, Alex. But it's a shame it's no longer in the CIA." the driver waved as Alex opened the door and unloaded his stuff.

"As long as it's still about saving the world." he replied, making the driver smile. 

"That's what we do, right?" he agreed as he entered in his car leaving Alex in front a quiet gray building, the Task Force 141 Base, his new home.

Alex pushed the heavy doors open revealing a large hall, multiple round sofas were embedded to the ground and a huge staircase that split left and right greeted him. Multiple heads turned as he opened the said door and slowly walked his way to the nearest person who happened to be panting from exhaustion by the sofa. His metal leg clanked on his every step as the soldiers begin to recognize him. They smiled as soon as Alex's eyes met theirs and some even waved, Alex met them from several missions from the past, some were from the Demon Dogs and his previous designations, Delta Force.

"Where's the briefing room in this huge building?" he asked the soldier in a black t shirt drenched in sweat as he spun his towel trying to keep up with his breathing. He didn't speak but he nodded in acknowledgement and pointed to the hallway on the left. Alex left him a thanks and he walked his way to the direction where he pointed.

Just a few steps after the beginning of the hallway, the people from the main hall cheered and laughed, this made Alex turn around and he saw a young blonde man with spiky hair dash across him, he looked like he's on his way to your destination as well.

"Excuse me! Sir!" he yelled and Alex immediately halted. The young man panted in front of him and took a few seconds to breathe before he countinued his words.

"I'm Gary Sanderson, and I was supposed to guide you to the briefing room. You must be Alex." he reached out a hand and Alex shook it, quietly making your way to the room.

The huge door slid open and they found themselves in a dimly lit room, a huge screen loomed just by the wall and chairs were placed around a long circular table. Alex could spot a few familiar faces, faces he once saw and fought alongside with in Verdansk. There was the balaclava boy, Ghost, the Mohawk Man, Soap, their Captain, John Price and a few big heads from the United States. There were also new faces like Gary, who was now discussing something with another new soldier, a female soldier who sat by Price and a few new more who were already sitting on the chairs. There's also someone missing, Kyle Garrick, he pondered where he was.

The former CIA quickly saw Gary rush to Price's seat and whispered something causing him to lean on his chair, stand up and walk to his side. 

"Glad to see you back in the fight, Alex." he muttered, patting Alex's shoulder.

"I won't skip out on this mission, this one's close to home." he replied, patting his back in return.

"Yeah, heard this was your last mission before the Russian Gas." 

"Yeah. It's a loose end on my side." Alex nodded, crossing his arms.

"Good thing Shepherd had some sense in him. Not unlike your CIA heads, huh?" 

Alex nodded. He remembered he did an illegal thing against the CIA, and that was siding with Farah's forces, who were reclassified as global terror groups at that time. He silently thanked he could still step back in the fight along with the good guys even after that event.

"Yeah. I might have to thank him soon enough." Alex murmured and Price guided him to the briefing which was about to start in a few minutes.

~

"Before we start our mission briefing, I'd like to welcome each and everyone of you to the 141. A group of the most elite warriors from around the world tasked to eliminate terrorist threats lurking in the shadows. One of which, goes by the name Nero…" General Shepherd's voice was deep and serious, while the screen showed a photo of the guy they're after. His face looked punchable, as manifested by the way Alex clenched his fists while he stared at his soulless eyes.

"… whose goal is still unknown. He poses a threat as he has been out in American soil, which we believe is the one behind the multiple missing and reappearing person cases across the country." he continued, eyeing Alex. He knew a little bit about the case, maybe because he read his report.

"Since he poses no evidence of terrorist activity as of now, we are assigned to rescue and locate the daughter of Richard Coleman, America's Head of National Defense. We don't know why she was kidnapped but we believed it is or ransom or threatening purposes." The general explained, pacing back and forth, his shadow covered the screen.

Alex wanted to say something. Something about the details surrounding the case. It was written on his report. But then again, maybe the general already knew about the alteration, and since Samantha doesn't remember any IP Address, it was no longer worth noting.

Samantha's face was projected on the screen. Alex's heart began to beat faster, she looked different now, a little chubbier, longer hair and her smile felt happier. It was heartbreaking that she got caught in the crossfire again. After all those efforts of making her life normal.

'If our paths would cross again, I hope you'll remember me the way I remembered you before I take this operation, A good memory that's supposed to last forever. '

'Don't you dare forget about me.'

Her words echoed in his mind, using the same voice she had when they were together. 

"I will save you again if I had to.." he promised to her mentally, as he tightened the clench he was already doing.

"Our intel reports that twelve hours ago, local informants spotted an unknown flying vehicle just by the Georgian Border, local authorities confirmed that this wasn't one of their aircraft and we believe it could be the getaway vehicle of Samantha Coleman and her captors… We are still looking on to this so for the meantime I want each and one of you to be fully alert and ready for deployment."

Everyone else fell silent. It meant they agreed at what the high ranking official said. A few more words were exchanged such as new additions to the team, aside from Alex. He didn't seem to focus much on the second part of the brief as his mind worried a lot about Samantha. If his instincts were right, she's probably sedated once again, taking a trip down her own memory lane.

Chapter 2 : F.N.G.

[diosefm]

ATONEMENT: the demise of diose valey

there’s a new revolution, a loud evolution that i saw born of confusion and quiet collusion of which mostly i’ve known a modern day woman with a weak constitution, ‘cause i’ve got monsters still under my bed that i could never fight off a gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off

tw: death, alcohol, paranoia, violence, kidnapping, murder, torture

                                                    TIME OF DEATH: 2:13 AM

trigger free tl;dr

FRANCIS FOREVER — i don’t know what to do without you, i don’t know where to put my hands. i’ve been trying to lay my head down, but I’m writing this at three am

3:08 AM

Sleep evades you. It’s a recurring thing now.

Wine doesn’t help. You’d think it would at least make you tired enough to lie in bed and empty your head, but all it does is give you a headache that can only be cured with more and more glasses. And you think too much. Hyperaware of everything going on around you. 

And even if you can’t sleep, you still have nightmare. You’re wide awake when you swear someone is banging on your window, but it’s just the rain. The sun comes out, hits your eyes and forces you to close them as you get used to the light. Then your door opens. 

You’ve lost count of how many times the avoxes there to serve you have been victims of your latest tirades. You lash out. Scream and shout as you destroy your suite because it’s all you can do. Hysterical, that’s what you are. So you drink more. Slur out a  poor attempt at an apology. It doesn’t matter. Next morning it’ll be as if nothing happened and you will snap again. 

Sleep could help, but you’re no longer used to not sharing your bed with someone.

Days and nights blur together. There is not an end nor a beginning to your days. You’re lying on the floor, at the brink of passing out with a glass of wine in your hand. For weeks, you’ve feared someone will slip something in your drink, poison you. Little did you know, you’re already doing all the work for them.

You can’t remember the last time you ate, nor the last time you slept. You’re delirious. Weak after spending the little strength you had yelling at the avox with the black hair. That is why when your door is opened, you don’t bother to look up.

Your bruised cheek rests against the floor of your suit, the coldness making some of the soreness go away. Someone approaches you, kneels down beside you and runs their hand through your messy hair. 

“Pista?“

Incredible how despite everything, you are still able to hold onto the smallest glimmer of hope. If he is there, maybe you can stand up. Do better. Be better. You promised. 

Your eyes are tired, but even despite how blurry your vision is, you can tell it’s him. Desperate, you prop yourself up with the help of your arm and cling onto him, allow him to lift you off the ground. It’s not until you breathe in his scent that you notice his smell is different. 

Frightened, you take one look at his face and realized you’ve been tricked. It’s eerie how much this man looks like him. Has all of this been done on purpose? Flight or fight. You manage to get him to let you go, but your body is nothing but alcohol at this point, you stumble and fall onto the ground. He calls you a bitch, which you think you deserve. Grabs onto your hair before you can flee, tugging so hard you feel he pulls part of your scalp with it. 

You’d yell for Slate to move save you like he’s done before, but he is gone. And soon so will you. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see him pull something out of his pocket. He jabs a needle into your neck, and you finally get to sleep.

SEVEN DEVILS — seven devils all around me, seven devils in my house. see, they were there when i woke up this morning. i’ll be dead before the day is done

8:42 PM

The faint scent of expensive perfume stirs you awake. Your body is sore, and your head pounding. But your outer appearance doesn’t show how terrible you feel. You catch your reflection on a glass table and marvel at what you see, because you swear you’ve never looked more beautiful. 

The dress you are wearing is very familiar. It takes you a few minutes until you realize it’s one of your projects, one that had been sitting in your studio for months. They’ve been at your home, invaded your privacy, gone through your things.

Hair is freshly dyed, perfectly styled to frame your face and the gorgeous job the makeup artists did. No matter what your circumstances have been, you’ve had the ability to always look magnificent. Still, they’ve done a masterful job showing your full potential. 

No wonder so much people have always been desperate to be you, with you, or they just want to end you.

As your eyes get used to the light, you notice you’re sitting in the middle of what appears to be a television set. Your first instinct is to explore it, to leave the pristine mint green couch you’re sitting on, but you notice the shackles around your ankles, essentially holding you in place.

You’re not alone for long. Far away, you notice your father’s assistant woman. A petite woman with a fiery red mane of hair and much younger than you. You know very well she’s his latest conquest and a social climber you managed to spot the second you first set your eyes on her.

 Cherry, you think her name is. Tacky, just like her. But as much as you hate her, she seems to be your only hope. You call out her name, but she ignores you. Long gone are the days of her begging for your attention. Now you’re the one desperate for her to even glance your way. 

This is only the start.

Slowly, more people start arriving,, all of them with a job to do. And despite being surrounded by a crowd now, you’re ignored by everyone. It’s the first time this has ever happened. It doesn’t matter how much you’re glowing, you’re no one to them.

Despite your screams and your pleading, no one tells you what’s happening until a man arrives. You’ve seen him already, you just can’t remember. It’s his scent that clues you in, and you go feral. But you can’t move. the shackles are noisy enough to get everyone to look at you, but he is the only one focused on you, telling you that you need to shut up and avoid making yourself look bad because you will have all of Panem’s eyes on you soon. He adds a threat to his spiel, he brings up Sage and shows you her icture and you instantly press your lips tightly together. 

Caesar arrives shortly. Does’t greet you, doesn’t acknowledge you. Whatever fake yet cordial relationship existed between the two of you is now gone. He is there to do his job, that’s it. He shuffles his notes, deep in thought. The show should commence shortly. 

Prime time TV, here you come.

YOU’RE ON AIR

The title card is gorgeous. But how could it not, given who seems to be behind all of this. First thing you see on the screen behind Caesar is a slide announcing the following show will be a mandatory viewing all across Panem. Odd, so you keep watching.

Next, you see your father’s name on his signature font and golden lettering following by his title as executive producer. It only adds to your confusion, brows furrowing as your eyes remain fixated on the screen. Your father is an all-too powerful media mogul whose name is attached to anything related to the games, but you still don’t understand why you’re there.

At least not until you see the name of this TV special. Inside Panem: Framing Diose Valey

What happens next is a blur. Two hours filled with memories you thought you had forgotten or wish you could forget. The list of little tidbits and scenes the people of Panem are presented with are as followed:

It all starts with your more than humble beginnings. Images of the run-down house you were born in are shown. You find out who your real parents were along with the rest of the country. A butcher and a seamstress. Both starved to death after after the Capitol left Ten with almost nothing to eat. all to celebrate Snow’s birthday. Your father doesn’t show it that way, but you are able to look past his tricks and propaganda now. 

He is an artist, painting the image of a perfect family. Her parents are heroes, saving a child from an imminent death and giving her a life she could have never dreamt of. If you didn’t know any better, you’d be touched. But you are that child, and you’ve grown up and realized you were nothing but a pawn. A tool to up their social standing, to improve their public image. Not that it matters now. Your father has done an incredible job making himself look like father of the year. And maybe a long time ago you genuinely believed that, but the more of this you watch, the less you’re inclined to give him or your mother the benefit of the doubt.

You grow up, flourish into a poised and beautiful young lady. But you’re still a child. Barely into your teens and already perfectly groomed to be just like your parents. It’s the Valey way. Why bother with a normal childhood when you ought to be busy aiming for greatness. Everyone loves you, lauds you. Great things are coming for you. 

Your debut  is a complete success. The younger stylist in the history of the games, it’s a great honor and your parents couldn’t be any prouder. From the get go, you demonstrate how talented you are. Despite your age, your creations are the best in the entire lineup. Many stylist didn’t want you there, thought you had only gotten a spot in the team due to your name. You proved all of them wrong. 

You are a child forced to grow up too fast, but why does that matter when you have a successful career and a thriving business. 

To you, the next scene doesn’t come as a surprise. More of your accomplishments are shown before you are forced to see a summary of the 55th games. You look away, not wanting to see Aven and what they did to Caspian, but your head is held in place by someone behind you. Your eyes begin watering as you see him take his last breath, covered in blood, his face unrecognizable. A makeup artist is ushered in and she pats your face with a tissue and fixes a makeup. Someone orders her to stay by your side, telling her that will happen again. That sounds like a warning. Not directed at her, but you.

Showing what became of Caspian right at the start is something you think was done on purpose. It makes it hurt more when images of you two appear on screen. Laughing, talking. Your father’s collection really has everything; he’s kept a close record of every single thing you’ve ever done. It enrages you when you replay your first kiss in the middle of a private fitting, the way Caspian caresses your cheek and promises he is coming back for you. It’s pure evil that you are forced to watch all of this, but you think it’s even worse every personal detail of your life is now being used to keep others entertained.

 Your father, always so careful about his image, does not show how he refused to keep him alive. Your mother’s punishment after his death is not mentioned either. Your trauma doesn’t matter.

After more images of the rest of your teenage years, your introduction into adulthood is shown and there is a shift in the tone of the program. Your innocent is now long gone. You’re a woman now, one that is perfectly aware of how to use her womanly charms to get what she wants. What your mother encouraged is now a bad thing. Unbecoming of a high society lady. Your behavior is a product of your own trauma, a combination of your mother meddling with your unresolved issues, using them to toy with your head and turn you into something cold and calculated. Having her tell you tears weren’t a woman’s only weapons was a recurring thing all through your life, but given that she is supposed to be the perfect mother, Panem doesn’t see that. 

Tiberius was a constant in your life for years. Not in the same way Slate was, obviously. You never shared your bed with him. You never schemed with him to cheat and favor your tributes. You never plotted to have nuisances murdered. Tiberius was the brains behind everything but the Capitol won’t let such a beloved figure like him see his legacy be tarnished, especially by the likes of a newly disgraced figure. Everything is blamed on you. Diose tricked him. Diose forced him to do this. Diose seduced him. Tiberius is innocent. It’s all bullshit, but you’re not innocent either. If there is something your father has proved so far, it’s that the best calumnies are spiced with the truth. 

You’ve left a sizeable list of victims. Some are dead, some were luckier, having only suffered by seeing their own reputations ruined by the great Diose Valey. This was something else your parents encouraged, but not it’s being used against you. You could argue that things are being taken out of context, but you did all of those things. You lied, you cheated, you killed. Not directly, but does that matter now? You’re heinous person, the worst Capitol has to offer. Why someone wanting to do good and change the system you’ve upheld and taken so much advantage of would trust you is a mystery. 

Your accomplishments are presented along with more of your escapades and intrigues. Death, suffering, greed. Diose Valey is nothing but an evil woman, a harlot desperate to amass as many power and money as she could No one saw it before, but thankfully this story has a hero. Minos Valey is here to open everyone’s eyes. He’s proved no one outside the Capitol should trust you, potentially destroyed the few alliances you’ve made, what else could he do?

Rebel sympathizers have more than enough reasons to hate you now that it’s been shown you’re the shining example of the sins and crimes important Capitoles have incurred in. They’ve always know they’re bad, but now your name is at the top of the list of the worst of the crop. 

Cut all ties. Despite everything, you’re not the only one with skeletons in her closet. There is still people out there stupid enough to forgive your sins because they don’t know any better. Everything you’ve done so far could be excused by saying you did it to continue protecting the values and principles of the Capitol. People have done worse and still came out of top, you could do it. Or could have, had it not been for the train.

You see Pista and you start screaming again. Caesar glances at you before he asks someone to gag you, your screams won’t let him focus and you’re giving him a headache. As per usual, the editing is top notch. Diose Valey, the perfect Capitolite, is now a heinous traitor. More of your words are taken out of context, a narrative crafted to make it all seem that your change of heart happened because you wanted to benefit only yourself. You were willing to destroy the people that gave you everything and turned you into what you are now. Murder can be excused, disloyalty and treason cannot.

Neither you or Pista did anything to hurt any of the Peacekeepers that stood in your way. Did you threaten them? Absolutely. But it was done to protect the man you forced to help you. An image of you attempting to intimidate a peacekeeper by telling them they don’t know who they’re messing is shown. You remember that. It happened. But the next bit revealing the bloody remains of the Peacekeeper you confronted was not your doing. Thing is, who would believe you at this point?

You’ve switched teams, seem content plotting against your current government. The sensitivity that came with your new goals is nowhere to be found. According to your father, all you’ve done after the train has the only intention of benefiting you. Selfish, entitled, spoiled. You will never change. 

He doesn’t misses the chance to embarrass you even further by letting the whole country be a witness to your outburst at the wedding along with you supposedly mistreating your poor mother after some heavy drinking. There is a new narrative line he is following, one you don’t quite understand until it’s explained how unstable you are. You’ve been kind enough to give him more than enough material to work with in the past few days. The awful behavior caused by your paranoia has been turned into a montage of Diose Valey’s worst moments. You’re an unhinged drunk now, an unruly and hysterical woman that can barely function because the weight of every bad thing she’s ever done is eating her up. You think she is being poisoned, people are ought to get you. The terrified faces of the avoxes tasked to care for you are shown in between shots of you screaming and destroying your suite. No mention of Slate’s disappearance and it being the cause of most of your lunacy is made. 

It should be all over now. The screen goes black, no one is talking. They’re all too busy looking at you in pure disgust. You’re given a three minute break before you have a camera pointed straight at your face. Another threat is made. The same man who’s been silently torturing you ever since he took you from your room shows you more pictures. Virgo, Robyn, Slate, Pista. That must mean he is still alive, but you’re not given any time to process this information. He doesn’t have to say anything for you to understand. You know how it all works. If you don’t comply, others will pay. A nod is given before the makeup artist fixes your makeup.

 The show is back on and a clearly glum Caesar comments on what all of you have witnessed. Everything is a shame, it’s all so sad. You were a role model, what happened? Please, as if this isn’t nothing more than a punishment. You’re being framed by your own father and every person in that room is a willing participant.

The interview part of the special doesn’t last very long, because it’s not actually an interview. It’s your father’s own clever way forcing you to confess. You get the privilege of being the final nail on the coffin you will be buried in. that is, if you ever get that. 

You blackmailed Tiberius, forced him to be part of your nefarious plans. Yes, you meddled with the games. We got a list of people who passed due to your doing, can you confirm it all being true? Fine, that one you can’t deny, even if everything is not what it seems. 

I cheated, I lied, I killed, I destroyed many families. You hate that you’ve been beaten at your own game, but there is nothing else to do. It’s either this or seeing those you love suffer. You tired of seeing people be affected by your actions, so you lie again let them pin every single bad thing that’s ever happened on you. 

Everything is almost over. You’re quite proud of yourself or avoiding crying. You were warned about having to look perfect, and you’ve complied with them again and again. No one else is getting hurt. Only you. But you’ve accepted it. 

Caesar goes on a spiel about your recent actions, questions your mental stability, though he is not talking to you, but to the camera. Another announcement is made. His voice is soft and sympathetic as he explains that given how clear it is you’ve gone beyond dangerously teetering on the edge of insanity and have clearly crossed it some time ago.

Do you agree? There is no answer from you. Well, as we all care so much about you, certain measures have been taken. Diose Valey, all your assets will be seized, put under your mother’s name.

Some more is said, a proper explanation is given in order to give viewers some context and explain what all of this means, but you stopped listening the second you understood you now have… Nothing. Your home, your business, your money. Without people to trust that was all you had to rely on, your only way of protecting yourself, but now you’ve got nothing. 

Your credibility is shattered. The alliances you’ve made on both sides, you fear, are certainly ruined now. All the information, connections, and secrets you’ve gathered throughout the years and could be used against them now are unusable. The Capitol has shown you the house always wins.

Everything is over and you’re dragged away. You’d scream, but it’s pointless. You’ve come to terms of what’s coming next. Because, there is nothing else they could do to you. Death, that’s it. You’ve been shamed and humiliated, tortured one last time before they get rid of you for good.

YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL — will you still love me when i’m no longer young and beautiful? will you still love me when i got nothing but my aching soul?

1:51 AM

You didn’t notice you were put to sleep again. You don’t understand why you’re still breathing, nor why you’re naked and tied to a table face down. Everything is pitch black until you manage to spot a very faint and orange light near you. You can’t make up what it is, not until it’s almost dangerously close to your face you can feel the heat whatever that thing is irradiates. 

ЯOTIAЯT

You’re so out of it. But then, you remember seeing those things before. Your father owned a customized branding iron he used to mark all of your horses with the Valey family logo. Everything clicks into place and you start screaming again just as more people come into the room, one of them holding you down as the tool is pressed against the back of your right shoulder. It’s past 2 am by that point.

All you remember is the smell of burnt flesh  before you pass out due to the pain.

4:29 AM

Beaten. Bloodied. The wound cauterized itself and that’s enough for them to be done with you. They’ve done a number to your face, and body. You can feel it in the soreness affecting you from head to tie, but you’re not concerned with that. It’s your shoulders that is killing you. You can still smell the burn flesh as well as the dried blood stuck to your skin all mixed in with the putrid scent of the garbage all around you. You don’t know what time it is, whether if the darkness you see is due to the time or being inside a garbage bin. 

You attempt to get out, but the pain on your shoulder is unbearable. It renders you unable to move enough to be able to do much. And when you attempt to use your hands, you notice them going numb, refusing to follow your orders.

Maybe you ought to stay there. Maybe now that they’ve taken your money and the allure that drove people to you, you’re finally right where you belong.

[tobeornottotc]

So much to say about all Friday shows my brain shut down it’s weird how in a day all the shows that aired from we best love to TT finale made my day and made me happy I cried. We best love is a gem that has come and taken my heart it’s everything I love in BL, it’s like reading a novel and never wanting it to end, the pinining, longing and now the angst still upcoming. My love to all the characters? Everything about the acting, music, and writing. Taiwan came back and said you haven’t forgotten why you adorE BL right? Well here’s more reasons. I’ve missed Taiwan shows for so long I used to take the history series for granted despite my love for it and now look at me. We best love is just so great and cheesy and yet done so well I’ve not have any issues with it 😭 it’s not short, I like how angsty yet sweet it gets. Just everything

Then you have to my star. Is there any moment when Korea does something that does not make me shout from the rooftops another great one!! Like are we surprised at this point. Where your eyes linger still is my favourite Korean BL and although different I get the same vibes from to my star, there’s secret pining, confusing hidden hints to maybe more than just a very happy celebrity that is clingy and flirty. Seojun seems to know he likes boys from the start or is it just me. I won’t be surprised that the reason he’s hiding that video is because the reason there was a fight was because it’ll out his sexuality, either he had something with said guy he paid money to keep quiet about or said guy knows about his sexuality and threatened to blackmail him. But it’s the subtle hints that he may know about himself and his feelings like in episode 4 how many times he leaves clues and hints he likes Jiwoo but hides it behind this clingy want to be friends persona, I think when he was drunk he let out his true feelings he’s been hiding and he outed himself on purpose. I’m probably thinking too much but there’d be a lot at stake in my opinion if someone knew he likes guys it’d be a bigger scandal that’s probably why he acts like he doesn’t know when he’s flirting or hinting he likes someone. Just me? Jiwoo is also an interesting tsundere why does he have his walls so up, he clearly also has feelings but in the trailer he’s going to harshly break Seojun’s heart? Obviously I think it’s a lie it’s noble idiocy he realised it was the way to help him not get caught in another scandal. I really need to know more about his character. And the chef who knows more than he lets on who is he speaking to about Seojun does he know the other guy in the video? Does he know why Seojun is hiding the video he seems to have picked on the chemistry of Seojun and Jiwoo more proof that person was right? Let me know what your ideas are on this show. If this show is dealing with internalised homophobia and the scandal of the media invasion and celebrity lifestyle then man it’ll be fun to rewatch this time and time again. Kisses in Korean BL shows have become a staple for revealing a lot of secrets and pushing our couples to confront the truth about what they try to rationalise when it comes to their feelings. In where your eyes linger them entering a relationship was not good for them because it’d lead to separation and more. In Mr heart the kiss was revealed and forced our marathon runner to question his priorities and feelings. And in wish you the kiss happened when Sang yi could no longer run away from what he was feeling even if it meant they couldn’t be together because of same reasons as this show I’m guessing a scandal being caused because idols and celebs dating is a bit forbidden in kmusic and kdrama industry. Loses the fans. And attracts media attention. Let’s see what To my star reveals with this kiss now Seojun isn’t hiding what he feels anymore.

Then we have 1000 stars premiere and I cried at sheer greatness I’m a clown I came into it trying hard to keep my expectations at bay but my 30 minutes in I was bawling stunned and quiet. The directing is exquisite, in depth and littered with clues and hints to the themes of the show. The focus on the flashbacks of Tiens life coated in dark light and suffocating aura compared to the light and warm atmosphere of Torfuns narration whose life seemed hard but she found peace and joy just helping people and learning about the joy of finding value in every little things she had and saw. The peace that Tien couldn’t feel because he felt stifled and empty from his own choices when he thought his life span would be short. He didn’t know the value of money, life or little things. He wasted and gambled precious things to him, acted privelaged and lost hours in a sea of acohol, cigarettes and more. His lifestyle felt wrong after he realised he was given a second chance to find meaning. There’s an overall dark theme of corruption, greed and power that’s going to me an obstacle for the characters. Torfuns demise is clearly more than just an accident with the way people are trying to push her life to the side rapidly, hide details like even selling Tiens car which I have a feeling is what took her life (not him but he bet it in a race before he fainted) or clues that Phupha isn’t going to be done trying to figure out what happened to her it’s foreshadowing this isn’t over yet. We also have another villain who fled during the forest ranger fights at the beginning, he’s definitely coming back I wonder what these criminals want and how much danger Pha will have to deal with with this boss and his other hooligans. Why are they in the forest and what do the rangers have to protect? Lastly our couple met and you can’t tell me that Pha isn’t smitten he is struck with love at first sight immediately he meets Tien but he hides it through his stern cover and he finds it funny to bicker and tease him. He also thinks Tien is too delicate, rich and shallow to stay to help the kids, so he’ll struggle with liking Tiens determination and drive to feeling angry at how much value of life and money he takes for granted but it’s a learning arc something Tien will grow learning and transforming from. Their bickering is cute, both are intrigued by each other already Tien because Pha is connected to Torfun’s wishes and hopes, but also he saw him in the weird fantasy dream thing. He’s intrigued by his stern cover vs why people seem to think he’s sweet and kind. And he’s irked by the guy who keeps getting under his skin and calling him out. It’s going to be fun to see his own reactions and feelings develop slowly and his doubt that it’s his and it’s Torfun’s heart acting up. That conflict will be so interesting to explore and knowing Backaof we’ll get a deeper conversation about sexuality, spirituality and more. All his shows even his fantasies have these deep reflections and conversations about feelings and life of someone struggling with what their sexuality is to them. Even when fantasy he never fails to include those scenes. But also there’s always a massive plot twist hidden in the story that could tear our characters apart, and it’s connected to our girls demise 🥺 i have so much more to say about this show. But for now just know I’m obsessed in awe and excited for this journey. It’ll be emotional a roller coaster of emotions and lessons, but also a love story I can’t wait to see unfold

Lastly TT finale. It’s precious to say TharnType will always have a place in my heart, marked into it as my favourite couple. Their love is so incredible, everlasting and theirs, their journey to each other has never been easy and yet their love is constant, precious and real. They make me smile and want to cry because I still can’t process we’ve come to the end. Boy was it a good way to say goodbye. I will miss this show, the annoyances, problems and also the good moments. I will miss my LeoFiat dramatic souls, their angst and their own journey to each other. Glad to seeFiat finally got to define the relationship he’s been hoping and waiting for. And Leo finally got to show Fiat how much he’s cared. Question why didn’t I get a kiss scene from them? Forever staying petty about that. Champ and Khun did what they were meant to do, their own relationship was also adorable and I just wish it wasn’t only the last episode we had to deal with their confession and realisation that there’s been something here all along. Champs cute though his nativity and dumbness was real and pure but I like how he understood what he was feeling and why he wanted Khun by his side and more. So well done to them getting together. We had Tharn finally Wade his way into Type’s fathers acceptance I wish he wasn’t just a comedic role but we had more conversations serious ones about him learning to accept Tharn still it was wholesome he grew to finally let them be together he understood Type was never going to leave Tharn and was at his best with him. Love the Kirigun family and how much they push Tharn to be his best. Their support was earnest and I loved we saw Thorn get married like a full circle after he proposed and found his own love story. We Stan a very protective supportive older brother who has always been a source of help during TT relationship. Techno irked me in this series and he became one of my least fave characters his snooping whilst cute just didn’t mesh well with me and I kept wondering where his man was because he acted like someone who wasn’t satisfied in the relationship he was in. Just an annoying presence overall. Sorry not sorry. That being said I didn’t hate this sequel and I know rewatching it as second part to TT journey watching 24 episodes of TT back to back will be an emotional experience and will show you all the clues, meta, subtext and overall plot of these two in a better light. Overall TT is always going to be a fave show of mine, and the sequel whilst not fulfilling all my expectations it made me still feel like it was worth my attention and care. Thank you to the cast, crew and production for this. My Fridays will never be the same we’re really now in 2021 with these new shows 😭 just manner of d@earth to go. 😭

Friday shows bringing me joy, excitement and most of all new lessons and new ideas. I’m so excited and I loved that these are the shows we have in January. Let’s hope they keep being great and our Fridays stay exciting and warm 👌

[naivesilver]

@bewilderedmoth​ FINE. Fine. Since today is a Monday and therefore a day much more suited for a vitriolic commentary on terrible insects, I shall fulfill your request and the anon’s. I’m warning everyone in the premises, though -  this is a “no fucks given” list, so it may get ugly at any time. Also, as usual, this is only for things that I’ve already watched, so if you know of some cricket horror and don’t see it mentioned, assume I’ve yet to get to that specific adaptation.

Alright then! To the barricades!

1) Disney’s Pinocchio (1940)

The first of his genre. Look at this asshole - he’s literally the last creature I’d entrust my child to. The fact Pinocchio had to spend his first couple days of life with this guy shadowing his every step is mind-boggling, and it’s made even worse by the fact that the Blue Fairy put him in charge of another man’s kid, as though she had the right to make that choice.

(I won’t fall for the desire of dunking on the Fairy more, as this is a Cricket list, but believe me, the temptation is there. It always is.)

As Disney sidekicks go, he’s one of the worst. He’s not funny, and despite having literally ONE job he manages to fail spectacularly at it. He’s snappish at Pinocchio, he abandons his charge about two hours into the new day, he spends a much longer time flirting with female-presenting inanimate objects/animals/supernatural beings than doing any actual childrearing. He should have been forgotten the instant the movie left the theaters, but instead Disney made him one of his main mascots, giving him the role of storyteller or ghost or whatever the fuck they need him to do at the time. So not only is he single-handedly responsible for every other entry in this list, I keep finding him everywhere I turn my eyes to. A knock-off version of his Ghost of Christmas Past self was in the new Ducktales, too, so my friend freenklin (who already has had to endure many of my complaints) received some VERY disappointed scream-texts as I was liveblogging my watch.

Just...no. Get him out of my sight.

(Also Ewan McGregor is bound to voice him in the live action and like??? Excuse me??? Are we supposed to not make Obi Wan jokes??? Will he abandon his young padawan Pinocchio to the evil Strombolitroopers???)

2) Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)

This movie is at the bottom of my Pinocchio adaptation ranking, and boy, does it deserve the dishonor. The story is a weird mixture of adaptation and sequel, approximately a tenth of the characters actually appear in the book, and I can’t forgive them for ruining what could have been the coolest concept ever (Pinocchio as a pawn in a fight of good vs evil) into this disgrace of a cartoon.

As for the Cricket, in this case he’s not even a cricket. He’s a glowworm, and he’s a goddamn puppet too, to whom the Fairy gave life. I wonder, is the entirety of her job just...transforming people’s creations into sentient beings so that they can lead others to a honest life? Tell me, ma’am, do you want to breathe life into my disappointing Powerpoint presentations too, so that they might bully me into graduating?

Anyway, if you’re wondering what purpose Gee Willikers (sigh) serves, the answer is NONE. Pinocchio gets rid of him at least twice (good for him) and as easily as drinking a glass of water, he’s a burden to the (admittedly cooler) additional characters, like the aviator bee, and not only is he ugly as fuck, but also so annoying every time he gets a chance to speak that it’s a miracle he wasn’t cut out in post-production.

In short, disgusting. If he entered my home I’d swat him with a flycatcher until he leaves.

3) Pinocchio (2009)

This is essentially Disney’s Jiminy Cricket, but female, anthropomorphic, and with a passion for books instead of pretty ladies or ladies-adjacent objects. Mind you, a sapphic Cricket would perhaps have saved more than one adaptation, this one included, but I’m glad they skipped that part altogether. This miniseries has enough issues as it is.

I’m sorry, she’s just too annoying. Luciana Littizzetto can be funny, but in small doses, otherwise her jokes start to become repetitive. Two hours straight - and yes, it’s that much, because SOMEONE decided to follow Disney’s footsteps a little too well - are too long even for the strongest of hearts. Plus, none of the characters’ costumes are very flattering, accurate or well-made (except for Lampwick 💖), but hers just might take the cake. It looks like a mixture between a teenager’s first attempt at steampunk fashion and a Mardi Gras costume lifted from the discarded items’ bin at a cheap store. Takes you out of the fantasy more than anything else.

4) Roberto Benigni’s Pinocchio (2002)

I’ve talked at length of the weirdness of this movie, but all in all it’s a pretty accurate transposition of the story, from the dialogue to the scenery.

Except for him.

The Cricket in this case does appear in the scenes belonging to him, but ALSO in a long and extremely useless sequence where he tries to find Pinocchio in the Land of Toys and gets kicked around by literally everyone present. Don’t get me wrong, that’s something I would have liked to do as well, but it was totally unnecessary, and it gave nothing to the overall story. This movie still holds the record as the most expensive Italian movie ever made, so wouldn’t it have been better for everybody to  skip that part entirely? Not only it would have saved them some money, but also it would have saved me from seeing this guy for an additional fifteen minutes on my screen.

Still, pretty tame compared to some of the others. Could have been worse.

5) Once Upon A Time (2011)

I debated long and hard before making this choice, and I’m not putting him in with a light heart, but before you come at me with pitchforks, please listen.

I like Archie, okay! He’s a fun character, the human side of his backstory was great and gave him a lot of depth and inner turmoil, and the concept of Jiminy Cricket being a therapist is amazing and hilarious. But he’s kind of a shit therapist, whose actions aren’t always what you’d expect from someone who’s supposed to be a conscience and a guide. And despite the show giving us the impression that he and Pinocchio had the same adventures as in the Disney movie (which doesn’t exactly endear him to me - if it wasn’t for his later character development he’d already be Lil Nas X-ing his way down to the bottom of my list), he and August never interacted on screen after the First Curse broke. Not once. And if there’s someone who needs therapy and support, that’s August Wayne Booth.

Yes, I did say at some point that I’d like to fix this in a fic. I’ll write it when I don’t have like eight projects on my table at the same time.

Finally, two scenes settled the matter for me: one, him pontificating at Snow about her trying to do everything on her own, without even pretending to help her set up the stroller she was struggling with at that very moment. I work with kids every day, I know exactly what she’s going through. Shut your mouth and open the damn stroller, Archie.

And two...That one fucking scene where he’s jumping out of Snow White’s cleavage. Honestly, what the fuck??? I wouldn’t even have remembered it if Libby hadn’t reminded me, so I suppose my brain tried to remove the traumatic memory before it caused any further damage, but it exists, and I’m still wondering why. What exactly was the deal with the writers, when they made that choice? I want a glass of what they were having, because by God, does it sound like a trip-inducing cocktail.

Aaaand we’re done! Remember, this is all part of my personal opinion, and I’m not to be taken seriously even on the best of days. Plus, my favorite cricket-esque character, aside from the book-accurate ones, is Gina from Piccolino no Bouken, who is a duck, a sassy little bastard and no closer to Collodi’s canon than any of these fuckers. So yes, when it comes to choices dictated by the heart, I am an hypocrite. Au revoir!

[the-other-totally-normal-account]

The Mist's Angels

Out of the mist, the Angels come. Death incarnate. They whose blood runs deepest were there upon the final day of the Heresy, when demigods clashed and rivers of genetically enhanced blood flowed, loyalist and traitor alike. They were there when The Mist was struck down. And they will be here long after us; full of bitterness and seething hatred towards the traitors who killed their mother, and shame towards their own failings and curse.

They are the Corporation's most brutal, savage warriors when pitted against the enemies of mankind, lost in a bloodlust and rage that has been with them since the start, yet when off the field of battle they are nothing but secretive, cunning, and superstitious.

It is known they are hiding something, it is certain, even, but what it is they are hiding is unknown to all but those among their ranks.

Once headed by the Sephirah, Geburah, they are now all alone; Left to fight endlessly in the darkness of these millenniums, with no end in sight.

With a highly unstable geneseed and a gradually increasing list of splintered teams, they nevertheless push on.

Their Sephirah, Geburah, was originally a high ranking fixer, highly trusted by Ayin once they all were absorbed into the quickly forming Corporation.

During a widespread rebellion in Branch 5, District R, a branch which highly resisted unification, her position was overwhelmed by highly trained enemy combatants and she and many others were slain. A small group of fixers, however, managed to recover her alongside the body of what would be another future sephirah.

Her brain was somehow kept alive by technologies long-since forgotten, long enough for the transfer process to begin. Though just speculation, it seems as if Ayin, though we dare not speak ill of him, had already prepared the necessary genetically engineered body required for transfer, as if he was expecting her to die sooner rather than later.

At that very moment, she was no longer a fixer; Instead, she was Subject Geburah of the Tree of Life program, a Sephirah, who would later go on to earn various titles, and eventually, reclaim the title she earned as a fixer.

Gebura, like many other sephirah, did not quickly grow accustomed to her new stations as a general, and like the others, shared no memory of her past life. Emotional outbursts were regular during the early days, but became more and more frequent as the years went on.

The outbursts, however, were evolved but largely unchanged as time passed by.

As stated above, even from the beginning, she was known for her unbridled rage and, though previously unstated, also known for psychic outbursts that would occasionally occur.

It eventually got to the point where, despite her and her legion's excellent track record, she and them were feared. Even other legions were apprehensive to fight alongside them, despite their unquestionable loyalty.

They as a legion were secretive and odd from the beginning. Many of their operations ended up classified, records of Employees recruited into them completely expunged, and an unspecified, vaguely defined meeting between Gebura and one of the other psychic Sephirah.

But, the previously mentioned things that were and still are part of them as a Legion only were exacerbated and pushed to their logical conclusions during the most unspeakable, horrifying event since the first battles of the Unification.

The Heresy.

Gebura took the Heresy possibly the hardest, second to Netzach.

On the day the news of the betrayal from her brothers and sisters reached her, a Shockwave of psychic energy flooded both real space and the Stream, causing weaker Psychics everywhere to collapse and begin clawing their eyes out and deafening themselves.

And on her ship, the first records of what is only known as the Bloodcursed of the Mist's Angels emerged. At the time, it was a one off incident, but it soon started happening to her own Employees everywhere she went, when her rage became too overwhelming for even her. No details of what the Bloodcurse entails have ever been known.

- - -

Record Date: [OMITTED]

Ship Log: #3283-P

Author: [OMITTED]

Incident Description: Upon the news of the incident in the Outskirts of the solar system reaching us, our gene mother let out a deafening howl of rage so pure and so intense that all glass within a 130 meter radius shattered instantly.

Her honor guard were deafened by it, and some had visions race through their minds of an unrecognizable battlefield and bleeding demigods.

Some of them would not calm, and had to be executed.

It was a singular incident.

- - -

From there, her anger not subsiding, she quickly met up with her loyalist brothers and sisters, and entered into a meeting that is, to this day, classified.

What was said is largely unknown and no eyewitness accounts ever escaped the meeting room, besides one, from an unknown persons who never gave their name.

And what was disclosed from that account is that Hod, still masquerading as a loyalist, only appeared over coms, and with a convenient excuse; She was stuck fighting a several month long battle and wouldn't be there in any good amount time, but would eventually make it.

Eventually, begrudgingly accepting what Hod had said, they decided on a plan. They would rapidly approach and decimate the district and branch their heretical brothers and sisters were held up in.

Not one planet would survive.

And they did just that, until, at last, they got to the final planet that they knew for a fact the heretics were held up in.

Upon arrival to the planet, the heretical Sephirot, at the time, were officially not many. But, it would soon be found that even those by the loyalist's sides couldn't be trusted.

During the descent on the planet, panicked com signals reached several members of the Mist's Angels, all originating from the Flagship of The Cherishers, Hod's Legion, the ship known as the Light Carrier.

Panicked screams of agony rang out and gunfire echoed as a single message got through.

A scream of the short exclamation:

"DON'T LAND!"

Something was wrong.

On the Light Carrier, unbeknownst to the other Legions at that point, there was a massacre occurring. Every Employee from another Legion that was on it was being systematically and horrifically maimed and murdered by the traitorous Cherishers in a display of brutality and treachery unmatched, until the events that would follow on the planet down below.

The planet spoken of previously, officially, had no proper name- just a number and designation- but the inhabitants of it called it Babel. Before being taken over, it was a haven of knowledge and advancement, who's main exports were geniuses, books, and technology.

By the point the Mist's Angels and other legions arrived, what was left of the civilian populace was bones and slaves.

When word of the transmission got to Gebura, it was far too late. Troops had already landed and secured their positions.

Trusted members of the Mist's Angels were found dead in their chambers, replaced by members of the Golden Legion, and the ships sabatoged in kind.

Soon, coms went silent aboard the Flagship of the Mist's Angels. Not due to bloodshed, but due to the fact that all communications were disabled. The controls were disabled.

And it wouldn't be up and running for many hours.

No warning arrived to others, but the Mist's Angels knew what was coming. And they, and their Sephirah sat helplessly as the troops they did send, and those of their brethren, fought on the planet which would become their grave.

After two hours, the forces of the Mist's Angels on the ground realized while engaging enemy forces that the coms from their Flagship had gone silent- and nobody could figure out why. After five hours, speculation ran wild, but no real consensus was reached.

Thirteen hours into the fighting, when the heretics seemed to be on their last legs, tactical maps showed that, as they advanced towards the enemy, massive groups from three legions were approaching from behind- both behind them, and behind the enemy.

It was seen as a blessing by those among the Mist's Angels; Reinforcements arriving to help finish the job, when several of their allies- besides the two groups from other legions accompanying them- were fighting on another front or engaged in space combat.

They were horribly wrong.

It didn't take long for the renegade legions of the Golden Legion, the Cherishers, and the Crown's Heralds to reveal their treachery.

All accompanied by their Sephirot save for the last, they immediately launched their attack. Confusion was rife, death was constant, and on an unrecognizable battlefield, demigods bled.

The forces of the Mist's Angels that were on the ground were massacred brutally. A few made it off-world via transports, but they were outliers.

And the rest, as they say, is history; A bitter, sad history, but history nonetheless.

Years later, during the final battle of the Heresy, long after this massacre, Gebura succumbed to her wounds and died at the hands of one she had once thought as her sister.

- - -

Several thousand years after the Betrayal of the Three, and the Heresy as a whole, the Mist's Angels are splintered and fractured.

Mental instability, even more dark secrets, unstable Geneseed, and the ostracization of Teams due to even minor mutations all cloud their present and their future with the oncoming darkness; The darkness approaching Both the Corporation and the Mists Angels.

They fight without cause, without their Sephirah, and without purpose in a galaxy that fears them all. But they fight still.

May the dawn shine upon us all.

- - -

Gebura woke up somewhere dark and distant from the battle she was just in. Her last memories were of something going straight through her chest, and more blood than she had ever seen come out of someone before.

As she stood up, she felt the cold floor beneath her feet. Hard and glass-like.

She knew she wasn't wearing her armor anymore, nor was she wielding her weapons; And she couldn't see out of her right eye, but she could feel her blood dripping down her face.

Soon after standing up, her anger and rage from the battle before subsided quickly, and all that was left was confusion as, in the distance a light appeared.

The light burned brightly and, as she walked towards it, it burnt brighter.

Every step seemed to cause the light to grow brighter, and every step felt far lighter on the ground than it should have been.

As she got to the light, she noticed it was a burning feather, held in suspension by some sort of chain.

She tugged on the chain and...

Nothing happened, for awhile, at least. She felt like something should have. Like something was off.

And then it happened.

Thousands of massive, bright yellow eyes illuminated the darkness around her, like spotlights littering a city skyline.

Then, they closed.

[solacefruit]

Hello, I re-read your fic "one of a king, no category" again recently and first of all I absolutely love it and I always tear up no less then 3 times every time I read it. I was curious, if you remember, how you decided on the 9 cats you chose for the 9 lives ceremony, and also were there any other characters you considered using but who didn't end up making the cut?

Hello there! Thank you so much for writing in with such a sweet compliment, it really warms my heart to know that story has hit such a lovely chord with so many people. I think out of all the stories I’ve written for Warriors so far, one of a kind, no category is the one I’m proudest of and the one I’d like to be remembered for the most. 

And thank you for this question, it’s a very good one! I have a feeling it’ll get very long, though, so I’ll put it under the cut. 

I didn’t have to think much at all to know which cats I wanted to write about for this story, because I’ve been thinking about these nine in various ways since I first read the series. In many ways, one of a kind, no category is a love letter to characters I felt were treated cruelly and unfairly in canon and I wanted to give them a brief moment to be something other than what they were--whether that was to complicate or reinterpret the narrative they’re given in canon, or to highlight the qualities they have that often get overlooked or underappreciated by the writers (and sometimes other fans). 

So there’s cats like Silverstream and Rosetail, who are barely there and then killed off as a plot point--to cause drama for Greystripe or show the brutality of clan life, respectively. Then there’s cats like Lizardstripe, Nightcloud, and Foxheart who are basically written as shallow, “bitchy” antagonists--and as a result are often seen that way by the fandom--or cats like Ferncloud, who are seen as “boring” or “useless” because of their time in the nursery and often resented for that by fans. 

And I don’t necessarily blame fans for these readings of the characters, because the canon is so badly written. I think there’s always a tendency for male characters to be given leniency and complicatedness that is often withheld for female characters, but in Warriors, that cultural reading issue is compounded by the fact the writers themselves don’t ever really do female characters justice. Canon Ferncloud is largely there to pop out kittens and then died in battle “as a result of fan complaints” because Erin Hunter’s misguided understanding of the criticism they were receiving--i.e., interpreting “all she does is have kittens” to mean “we want her to fight [and die]” instead of “please give her character depth--no, not death, no, Erin, don’t--”

I wanted to take these characters and humanise (for lack of a better word) their canonical representations in a way that makes you actually care about who they are/were and the life they lived. Silverstream’s death is a tragedy. Rosetail’s life is a triumph. I wanted these experiences to be embodied in a story in a way that could give readers feelings and change how people thought of these (canonically very badly written) characters, not because I think Erin Hunter is a secret genius and deserves it (they don’t, I hate them), but because the characters themselves deserve more recognition and care than they often receive. 

Anyway, I’m sorry, I’ve gone way off track! To actually answer your questions: 

1. Leopardstar: one of the few female leaders--whose story is then basically about what a bigot she is and how she betrayed her whole clan (more or less) for a man because she was secretly in love with Tigerstar. I hate that they made a female leader (one of very few!) just to be like “eh she’s a lackey to an evil man she’s in love with who doesn’t care about her.” 

2. Rosetail: as mentioned before, she is barely in canon at all (in the main series; she returns in Bluestar’s Prophecy as kind of Bluefur’s best friend?). She’s actually the first clan cat to die after Firepaw joins Thunderclan, but it mostly gets swept aside and people are sad for like a minute and then the shock value wears off and she’s forgotten. 

3. Nightcloud: she’s kind of the contentious female character of the main series, because she’s either too clingy or too mean or a bad mother etc., and I’ve seen many people sympathise with Crowfeather over her--even though her side of things genuinely sucks. I wanted to give her space to be a kind of unlikeable person who still deserved better than she got. I think she deserves the same compassion people are willing to the extend to the man who mistreats her. 

4. Brightheart: one of the most famous disabled characters of canon--but she never really gets a decent resolution. Her ending is “happy” but I feel that she’s not really given closure for much of what happened to her, and in many ways the story around her is still very ableist. I feel like there’s a lot of extremely challenging internal growth that she would have had to do that never gets noticed in canon, so I wanted to give her a moment of sharing a fraction of the strength and wisdom she would have taught herself. 

5. Silverstream: as mentioned before, she’s so young and it feels to me like she exists--and dies--for the purposes of man-pain and I hate that. She gets so little personality in canon and then dies in childbirth, and I wanted to first give her a self that is so wonderful and real that it genuinely is devastating that she dies. It’s not a shrug, or a “poor Greystripe”: it’s a heartbreak to see someone so vivacious and excellent and hopeful get their life cut short. I want her story to be centred on who she is, not who she fell in love with and how he feels. 

6. Foxheart: she’s basically a mean, snotty villain in Yellowfang’s Secret (as is Lizardstripe) and an enemy of Yellowfang in a way that to me reeks of internalised misogyny from Erin Hunter, if I’m real with you. I wanted to give another interpretation of the events--especially considering how unbelievable it is that Yellowfang “got away” with that whole secret kit thing. It doesn’t make sense, unless you consider that other cats are in on it. Literally all Foxheart had to say to ruin Yellowfang’s life was “that kitten’s not mine”--and she never said that. I think that gets overlooked a lot and I wanted to explore that detail. And I thought it fitting to reinterpret a character whose name is literally an insult in canon (”fox-heart”) as having so much integrity that she would rather go down in history as a villain than be a snitch and a traitor to a clan-mate.

7. Lizardstripe: similar to above, she’s written as a horrible, bitter lady who resents her own mate and kits and is bullied into fostering Brokenkit and is miserable about that. It’s literally said “[h]er bitterness and resentment towards Brokenstar is what led him down his path of hatred” which is classic “blame a woman for a man’s behaviour” and a very rich statement from Erin Hunter who in the same breath is like “some cats (i.e., Brokentail) are just born evil as a punishment from Starclan on their birth mothers for breaking their vows.” It is so vile how Erin Hunter’s writing revolves as much as possible around blaming and punishing women for everything, including and especially men’s development and behaviour. 

8. Ferncloud: sort of mentioned before, but Ferncloud over the years has gotten a lot of fan disapproval for being passive and frequently pregnant. I think a lot of those criticisms--when levelled at Erin Hunter’s lazy writing--are fair and just but sometimes I feel that, in pursuit of more “strong” female characters in media, some fans forget to appreciate the many ways femininity and female characters can be subversive and/or still good, even when they’re not traditional hero’s narratives. In the real world, domestic labour (i.e., women’s work) is significantly undervalued, and I feel that Ferncloud can be read as an amazing example of someone who works to the bone every day and is largely ignored and underappreciated because the work she does is expected and taken for granted. 

9. Greypool: I love her--or at least my version of her. She doesn’t get a lot of attention in canon, other than a mention of being the foster mother to Bluestar’s kits and the fact she loses her memory as she ages and is murdered by Tigerclaw. It felt fitting for her to be the final life, both as a great and renowned storyteller in her own right and a cat considered to be very wise and kind with her words and thoughts, since ultimately one of a kind, no category is about the way stories can be told to shape the world--i.e., Erin Hunter’s often sexist canon versus the compassionate and intelligent retellings this fandom creates. 

As for cats that weren’t included, I’m happy with the nine I chose and I love them, but there are a lot of other cats who’ve been poorly treated by canon that would deserve a better story too. Snowfur of Thunderclan leaps to mind, as does Feathertail, and Palebird of Windclan, and honestly even Bluestar and Mapleshade. I think to a certain extent it’s hard to really engage with any of these characters’ narratives without also acknowledging the impact of sexist tropes on that narrative--i.e., how much of canon is “the character” (an intentional construct) and how much of their characterisation/story is kind of a side-effect of uncritical sexism perpetuated in the writing of said character? And I don’t really know the answer, because that’s not really a line that can be drawn. But I like to think one of a kind, no category and similar stories help reimagine other versions of these characters as fuller, more real people and that thought makes me happy. 

[gildedmuse]

So I seem to remember promising more Sora: Warrior Of The Sea Beach Episode. And by "seem to remember" I mean, it's in writing and thus hard to ignore. So despite the fact that none of you care, guess what? You're getting more of this ZoLaw AU.

First off, every member of the cast and crew understands the purpose of a beach episode: to waste time at the beach. Which means that everyone pulls up with swim trunks, blankets, grills and umbrellas. They are basically there to have a beach vacation.

I say everyone. Not Law. Law does not come prepared to party, he comes prepared to be pissy. But like everyone else (Yes, even Mihawk. Though technically only due to Shank's influence. Shanks forces him is what I'm saying. "Hey, even Beckmen is joining in the fun!" / "Benn always joins in these ridiculous games." / "What? My Beckmen? No! He's usually so mature and serious." / "He only seems that way compared to you. Because you are a child.")

The resulting shoot is pretty much pure chaos. Perona and Hancock are more interested in sunbathing than acting. Killer is kicking everyone's ass at volleyball. Franky and Ace are having a grill off to see who makes the better hamburgers and hot dogs (Sanji would totally win except that Pudding-Chan is right there and in a bikini and look, at some point it's difficult to care about things that aren't that.) Zoro and Luffy, meanwhile, are pretty much exactly the children you expect them to be, much to Robin's amusement. Look, she wrote a scene where Sora and Daichi "play wrestle" in the sea, but it has nothing on the actual thing. Because Zoro can often be oblivious and because, you know, Luffy she is sure they don't mean for it to look so homoerotic. It's just a shame Nami isn't here to capitalize on this. She could definitely sell Zoro pinning Luffy to the sand or Luffy wrapping around Zoro like he's made of rubber for more than a few quid.

Law is not enjoy this shoot.

Even when Benn finally gains enough control to start getting actual work done (you'd be surprised how authoritative Mihawk can be even in purple swim trunks) it soon becomes clear that this is going to be a longer than normal shoot. Not because the logistics, just people are not even trying. Ace will just start smiling in the middle of a scene where he shouldn't be smiling, and because Zoro really takes his cues on acting from Ace he'll immediately start smiling regardless of the line. Then Sanji will get angry with them both, which Pudding will think is adorable, thus leading to Sanji forgetting the script entirely to pay attention to her. Perona will tell Zoro off and get too close in his face, which will make Luffy jump in to "protect his virtue" (on order from Nami) which will make Boa jealous because how dare another woman be so close to her Luffy. Which will make Ace and Zoro annoyed which will make Robin giggle, which will distract Franky which will ultimately lead to the effects not working like they should, which will cause Shachi, Penguin, and Ikkaku to huddle up (definitely not them just laying on the sand and enjoying the day out) which of course gets Shanks and Mihawk's attention. Shanks tries to separate Perona and Luffy while Mihawk gives Zoro and Ace The Look which, despite his still authoritative aura is SLIGHTLY less effective when he's standing there in just swim trunks. Curse Shanks. So in the end, with a heavy sigh, he has to go train instruct Zoro in what he should actually be doing in the scene which somehow ends up with his hands at Zoro's bare waist as he goes through it all yet again.

Law HATES this. Fucking. Shoot.

Which is why he is so close to just leaving, as per Robin's suggestion. They don't need him there. Clearly. They can all get along quite well without him. It's obvious now that Law's real job is babysitting and at this particular location all attempts to be an adult are fruitless.

So Law is all set to leave but then Zoro gets out of the ocean, dripping wet, and heads towards his drink which Law happens to be standing beside. Not watching. Definitely. If anything, glaring. And he tries to keep glaring out at Luffy and Ace messing around as Zoro takes a nice long drink, eyes clearly focused on Law.

Which isn't distracting.

Zoro: Aren't you hot?

Law: *Takes a second to process what that actually means, covering by his continued glare* These are work appropriate clothes, Zoro-ya. Not all of us have forgotten why we're here.

Zoro: *Snorts* RIght. You can't be seen having fun, isn't that so Torao?

Law: *Turning his glare towards Zoro which is maybe a mistake because skin and water and mouth and eyes* I'm only being practical.

Zoro: That sounds boring *Reaching out to grab the end of Law's shirt* You should come have fun with us, Torao. You might even enjoy it. *Sideways smirk that is far too dangerous in nature, anyone with self preservation instincts would run*

Law: *Doesn't run* I… *Is older than Zoro and more experienced than Zoro and always the one to make suggestive comments to Zoro so how is it Zoro has currently got his hands wrapped in Law's shirt while Law seems unable to speak?* I didn't even bring-

Zoro: *Stepping closer, raising Law's shirt up a few inches to show his intent* It's just the crew, it's not like anyone will care.

Law: It wouldn't be very appropriate, Zoro-ya…. *Come on! He's half stripping you down! Be flirty or clever or mysterious or hell just step back and make him stop if you can't come off as at least competent. What the hell is wrong with you? Fuck, he's so close. And there's this trail of water falling from his hair to his lips. Fuck.*

Zoro: Look around. No one here is trying to be "appropriate" Torao. *Steps closer, feeling safe. Feeling cocky. Today has been all sword fights with Killer and sea fights with Luffy and Ace. Can you blame him for being in a good mood? And Law needs to join in, obviously. He's standing up here on the beach looking so miserable and serious. What he needs is to be dragged into the water and force to actually have some fun.* Unless…. *Cocks his head, looking Law over* You can swim, can't you?

Law: I - *It'd be nice if he could swallow right now because it definitely feels like he's going to start drooling. That damn water is curving up on the underside of Zoro's lower lip and he's so close. Law could lap that up for him. Could pin Zoro down and just….*

Zoro: *Beaming* It's alright. Luffy can barely swim, either. *Nods out to the water where currently Luffy is splashing around, riding on Ace's shoulders*

Law: *Eyes go to Luffy and Ace for once second and when he looks back Zoro seems so much closer.*

Zoro: *Still smiling even as he starts to peel off Law's shirt* Come on. *Tugging him by the arm, despite the fact he's still in his jeans and no wait he didn't agree to this!* We'll go together.

Law: *Manages to get Zoro to stop long enough to peel off his jeans so he's down to his boxers, which Zoro flushes at and isn't that what he meant? He can't be so inexperienced. Fuck, Law just wants to ruin this boy, he really does. But then Zoro is back to shoving him towards the sea, happily announcing to Ace and Luffy that he has a fourth and what does that even mean? What has Law gotten himself into?*

It turns out to be an overly competitive game of chicken (both Ace and Zoro really take it far too seriously while Luffy is clearly there for fun but also will break Law's nose if it comes down to it). Which means Law has his legs wrapped around Zoro, whose hands are curled up around his thighs and this could not get any worse.

He thinks.

Totally unaware that Robin has her phone out and is capturing this entire magical moment. And when Franky sits beside her asking why she's filming them fighting she just gets this smile that makes him want to unask because he knows Robin.

Mihawk has to eventually call the boys out to shoot a scene. He stands at the edge of the water with his typically displeased look. Law would feel so much more ashamed if Zoro hadn't chosen to just drop him slightly so Law's legs are wrapped around his waist, and carried him out of the water like that. Law tries to give his boss an apologetic look but it's difficult when he's so wrapped around Zoro, and Zoro's hands keep finding new places on his legs to hold him up. (And maybe Mihawk shouldn't look at actors who work for him that way. And maybe Mihawk should spend less time instructing Zoro. And maybe Mihawk can go to hell because Law has called dibs on this one. This one is his.)

(Also, thank you for this opportunity, Mihawk-san)

(Also, did Zoro really need to flash that smile at Mihawk? Did Mihawk's face just soften slightly? Isn't he like twice Zoro's age? He should really-)

Then Zoro drops him on the sand, and he's leaning over Law, practically on top of him. All other thoughts basically stop.

Zoro: *Beaming* See? Wasn't that better than just sitting around?

Law: *Forgets how breathing works for just a moment, and is way too out of breath by the time he recalls the process. So his mind goes into default Defensive Mode. He frowns* You just wanted a chance to beat Mugiwara-ya.

Zoro: Well… *Shrugs, like obviously. That isn't really the point, is it? Since he chose Law?* You did well Torao. For a beginner.

Law: *Crossing his arms across his chest, which is difficult with Zoro right there. Looks to the side, determined not to give a single inch* I don't like being used Zoro-ya.

Zoro: Right. *Frowns, pushing away from Law* It was Luffy's suggestion anyway.

Law: *Carefully glancing back* What was?

Zoro: *No longer looking at Law* To come get you. Tch. Like I would ever want to pair up with you, Torao. *Pushes off the sand, stalking off towards Mihawkk and the shoot*

Law: *Pushes himself up onto his elbows, watching Zoro go. Can't help feeling like he really messed up.*

Robin: Perhaps you should be more careful with our stuntman's feelings.I suggest next time you be more honest with him.

Law: *Doesn't jump at Robin's sudden appearance next to him. Totally.* There won't be a next time. This is a pointless waste of an episode and the studio will see that.

Law: *As an afterthought* And I was honest.

Robin: *Sets a hand on Law's shoulder in a quiet moment of commiseration*

Also Robin: I have it all on tape if you wish to watch it back. *Leaves*

Law: *Hates this fucking episode*

Law: ….. *Maybe wants to examine that tape.*

[lozzypoz321]

The Umbrella Academy

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: I don’t really know what this is, hope you enjoy it though! In celebration for season two!!

Warnings: none that I know of

Being part of the Hargreeves family includes;

•Taking your siblings clothes

“Hey Diego, can I borrow your sweater?” You asked, leaning into your brother's room, making him look over your direction by the door but before he could respond, you thanked him and grabbed the closest jumper that was hung up in the wardrobe.

“Hey!”

Without looking back you started running away from the voice of Diego, you looked over your shoulder while you were still running to make sure he wasn’t following you but unfortunately, you tripped and went flying over Luther's lone shoe that was left on the floor.

Without even opening your eyes you could sense your brother standing near, his frame towering over you.

“Can I keep it?”

•Hanging out in your sibling’s rooms’

“Five,” you started, dragging out the ‘e’ in his name as you sat on the bottom of his bed, “Klaus is being annoying again. Can I stay here for a while?”

He looked up at you, finishing polishing his gun and placing it on a stand that was mounted on the wall. Five raised his eyebrow and shrugged, walked over to the top of his bed. “I’m not surprised. It was Luther and Diego for me”

You leaned over to his side and asked whether he could space-time and get the book from your room. He narrowed his eyes at you, giving a clear answer. He huffed and fell back against the bed making it creak from the impact, without speaking you slid off and quietly tiptoed to your room to retrieve your book because it was boring speaking to a brick wall.

•Playing hide and seek with your siblings

“Five that’s cheating!” Luther yelled at the boy when he tried to space jump into the future making him scowl at the taller brother.

Allison just rolled her eyes and pushed Diego away when he tried to tackle them both before Klaus could start Egyptian dancing around the room Vanya (who was rarely involved in the games) put her hands over her ears and shouted “Stop! I’m gonna start counting soon so you need to hide!”

Without needing to be told twice, everyone scuttled away and in different directions. You tried to stick to number 2’s tail but eventually, you gave up and hid with Ben in one of the closets where spare sheets and pillowcases were stored. About halfway through the game and you could hear that Vanya had found Allison, Ben started quietly doing ridiculous commentary to entertain the both of you.

“And the bird has found its prey, find out after the break whether or not the worm gets viciously eaten in front of its slithery worm family whose entire population is Katherina Klaus!”

You had to stop yourself from laughing too hard and giving your hiding spot to Vanya, Allison and now Luther who had just been found attempting to squeeze himself in a washing machine that Klaus had brought home one day and named ‘Mary the great spinner’.

“How dare you assault Mary like that?!” Klaus shrieked after revealing himself upon hearing where Luther had hid.

“Where’s (Y/N), Five and Diego?”

When Ben heard they’d forgotten him, which he was used to but wasn’t any less annoyed, he yelled out to them “hey! I’m here too!”

As soon as the sentence came out of his mouth, he threw his hands over his face. Obviously not thinking before he did it. In an instant, the door was thrown open and revealed the two of you. Luther and Allison smirked, happy that their plan had worked.

Ben groaned, “you did that on purpose didn’t you?”

After another hour you had managed to find Diego but the six of you still couldn’t find Five and the two competitive brothers were starting to get fed up. You all rounded the corner to the hallway where his bedroom was but suddenly Five appeared out of nowhere and leapt forward making everyone scream. Klaus’ more high pitched than anyone elses.

“You still cheated!”

•Helping them out with hobbies

You loved helping out your siblings and cheering them on when it came to the things they loved. It started out when Luther began writing poems, he kept it a secret for the longest time. Afraid that everyone would make fun of him for it as he was a boy, but he finally opened up his love for writing to you after he found out you enjoyed reading so much and you were never one to make fun of people.

He was nervous at first but ended up coming to you whenever he had an idea or when he had finished anything so you could read it and give him feedback. The more he worked hard in his free time the more you two bonded over his writing: you helped him out on the grammar which you had learnt after reading so many books, bought him a rhyming dictionary for his birthday (basically all of your birthdays, but it was only for him) and let him borrow your writing pens.

He even shared his ideas at dinner when everybody else was eating.

“Hey (Y/N),” he whispered from his spot next to you, making sure nobody else could hear him through the heavy silence and occasional scrapes of knives that your father insisted on having at every meal.

“Huh?” You mumbled back, covering up the sound by clattering your knife on the plate so that only Luther could hear what you’d said.

“I was thinking about doing a poem of Griddys, like what it means to us you know?”

You pondered for a second before briefly glancing up at him, “and what does it mean to us?”

He raised one of his eyebrows and jokingly scoffed, earning the attention of your father looking at the both of you with a strict look plastered upon his face at his spot at the top of the mahogany table where he always sat. “Quiet children!”

So without making a sound, you reached into your pocket and brought out one of the biro pens that you always carry around for emergencies and you started writing on the back of your arm. It may not have been sanitary, but it worked.

‘What does it mean?’

He quietly grabbed the pen and began creating a sentence on his own arm, a bit too forceful. ‘Like, a place where we can escape, you know? Or is that too cheesy?’

You fought back a smile so no one would get suspicious, and gave him a subtle thumbs up under the table to show that it was okay.

Luther loved writing poems and you were always there to help him.

•Having sleepovers

“Oh (Y/N)” Klaus sang, and glided into your room with a top hat upon his head “it’s time for our sleepy sleepover!”

He chose the name and you didn’t have anything to say against it. Once a month you and him liked to have a ‘sleepy sleepover’ where the two of you had the time of your lives from 12pm to 3am while dancing, singing and doing dares.

“Okay, I’ll grab the snacks Klaus,” you said and slipped off your bed to go retrieve the gummy worms and prawn cocktail crisps that you two had managed to sneak from a convenience store one night.

After you had got them you tiptoed back upstairs, as not to wake up your mom, father or siblings. Once you got to the door of your room you walked in only to find Klaus laying on the ground with a cowboy hat on his head, you had no idea where he had found it. “Let’s do line dancing!” He yelled and hopped up, excitement filling his body at the thought of his favourite dancing style.

“Okay…”

•Sneaking out

“(Y/N)! Shhh,” Luther hissed at you when you accidentally stepped on Allison’s foot causing her to nearly yelp in pain “right here’s what we’re gonna d-“ before he could finish his sentence Diego interrupted him in a whisper “why do you get to decide everything?”

“Because” he started, emphasising the word “I’m the oldest in case you’ve forgotten, I get to decide the rules”

Just then Vanya decided to speak up “actually, you’re not the oldest, you’ve just got the smallest number, we’re all the same age” her tone was nervous as if she was scared to go against him, but they just ignored her.

“I should be in charge I’m the most responsibl-“

“No! I’m older, I should-“

“That’s not fair though! I’m-“

“Will you two cut it out!” Five hissed, moving himself between the two quarrelling brothers “I’m tired of you acting like two-year-olds. Don’t make me stab you with a shovel”

His threat seemed to reach them as they both shut their mouths and waited for Ben to peacefully tie his shoes.

“Okay are we ready?” Allison asked everyone once number 6’s trainers were successfully tied in bows, she received an abundance of yes’s in return making her grin “great!”

“We should probably be quiet now!” Klaus exclaimed loudly making Diego and Five punch him in the shoulder either side.

“Right okay, we should go now” you whispered and tried to break apart the fight that had now merged from Diego and Klaus to Diego and Luther to no ones surprise.

“Children,” a happy voice suddenly sounded from the hallway making you all twist around in surprise, guilt washing over all eight of your faces as you caught sight of your mother standing there with a dusting stick in her hand “you should be getting to bed now, you have a long day tomorrow”

“...yes mother”

@marvel-ous-hobbit @snarky--starky @rae-is-typing @stargazingfangirl18 @canadianhufflepuffavenger

[viterwrites]

An Equal Conversation (P: Bonds)

Whumptober Day 1.

“—am I to do with him? Don’t you have better-suited people for the job, Ir-?”

“The Lady for you. And yes, we do, but why should we aid you more?”

“To start with, he’s—”  

“Yes, yes, and the other tales we have passed down to you. The prodigy is your problem and your responsibility. Had it not been for your staggering incompetence, Paljot—and the whole of Quintera—would have been ours months, if not years ago. Hereby, you are to fix it, in the name of your late father, in the name of your fallen realm, and in the name of our Deity. Perhaps, not for yourself, for there is nothing that can redeem such a miserable human being, but you still might live a good life under Their rule.”

“You-”

“Are the sole reason you are still alive? Are your only hope, your single chance as of right now? Could execute you at any moment or give you away to the enemy for a momentary respite?”

“Hr-”

“Have we made ourselves clear? I believe we have, and you should believe so as well, as we do not fancy repeating ourselves. Bring him back under Their wing. By whatever means necessary. The method used at the end is irrelevant. If you do fail, however, you will replace him in the defence of our city. Oh, you would do a poor job.”

***

His hearing slowly returned, along with his consciousness. Gods, where was he?.. There was only darkness in sight—or his was lost—and no space to move. Restrained. He wasn’t getting up either way. The binds weren’t even the worst problem — it’s the way his whole body felt. Like it had rotten from inside out and frozen afterwards. 

The location was concerning too.

It was painful even remembering, as every thought seemed to draw more life out of his near-dead body. Riena. The army had stopped to celebrate the victory of the previous day, he, as usual, refrained from partaking in the festivities and stayed behind. And the servants brought him food… Soon after it went black. And hadn’t gone white to this time.

It didn’t take much time for him to realise what had happened. Poison.

At that moment, the door opened, letting the torchlight inside. Still hard, but he could now see just where he found himself in: a tiny cell, just enough space for two people to be in—and only in front of each other. Near-naked on cold stone. And a stretching shadow in front. 

With all the frail might he had left, he raised his chin and shot a glare towards the person in front. A glare soon-to-be followed by shock. And rage, weak as he was.

“Fjall Arveg, head of the Okel Village garrison. Bow to your Baron. Or is it that you have forgotten the Code while in service of the enemy? Please, do let me know, so that your offence may be treated accordingly.” 

The other could only chuckle. “The code states I must do a salute, but that seems out of the question right now, doesn’t it?” he tug his arms, feeling the rope retaliate. Then some more, and more, to the extent of where it burned. 

Pain helped him focus in such times. Always had, for better or worse.

The Baron’s gaze shortly narrowed, then relaxed. “We have got off on the wrong foot, it appears. Still, I am your superior, is it not right for me to be treated as one?”

“I have pledged loyalty to the Earl of Tertiara.”

“I was nowhere to be found, yes? It was rational of you to assume I had deceased and thus represent the people of Vardil in the new leader’s forces, but as you can see, I am still here in the Alliance, in flesh and blood, for they were so kind as to provide me with a residence, while I cannot return to my own. And you are obliged to help me do so, as a loyal soldier of your Barony, are you not?”

‘Avardil prepared well for this,’ Fjall thought. His words were true as well: the pledge he had made to the Baron was before all others by time and so, by priority. Yet he was no longer willing to uphold it.

“I am loyal to the Earl of Tertiara, Araien of House Paljot. I believe she represents the interests of Vardil as well as of her homeland, of Gret as much as well as of her ancestral home. My loyalty was pledged to the Barony first and foremost, of which Lord Avardil will no longer hold the control,” that caused a frown to appear on the Baron’s face. A frown and a scowl.

“Is that so? Please, do reconsider your options. Perhaps what I shall tell you next can change your mind,” he turned to the door and called for someone down the corridor. “Lord Halliste.”

The towering figure of the man who entered next was not one unfamiliar to Fjall. In fact, it was one he had engaged just the day before— no. perhaps, it was longer, but it was doubtlessly the man whose swordsmanship he couldn’t best in Riena. In truth, he would have been slain by him, had a superior not called this monster of a combatant back. 

Halliste—lord, commander, whoever he was—seemed as intimidating as in the first time their paths crossed: just like he seemed back at the western shoreline. He approached with a chair that Avardil happily sat down into, now looking at the restrained warrior from above. Halliste himself stayed right behind his back, looking down on Fjall from all his height, nearly reaching the ceiling. 

Regardless, it was clear that Avardil was bursting at the seams with information and the desire to lay it all out. Fjall prepared to listen, think and talk. These were the only three weapons he had left, ones he had never excelled at, yet the only ones that could be of any use now.

“I shall start by saying that you should not even hope to escape from here. Neither should you hope for a rescue,” the drasticity of a tone change didn’t go unnoticed, but he couldn’t show it outwardly. “If you have put two and two together, you know you are in the most secure place in Strell, one only the Lady of the Seas and her closest know of. It is nowhere to be found in the documents, the ones who were partial to its creation are nowhere to be found as well,” the Baron’s lips curled into a crooked smile. “This is no prison. You are in her secret headquarters, in the most secret of all cells there are in Quintera. None know where you are.”

A pause, as Avardil wanted Fjall to mull over these words. In the other’s turn… it wasn’t the first time no help was on the way, but it was the first time he was truly alone. In this cell, definitely underground, with not a soul to meet, except for his former ‘employer’ and his loyal dog. Although, that last fact was much less of a certainty than anything else. 

Halliste had not said a word in this conversation. As time went on it became more and more obvious he wasn’t there to speak or even intimidate, just to oversee. Not Fjall, either, although he was the centerpoint of the knight’s gaze. To oversee the Baron.

‘The closest are also on the closest leash, aren’t they?’

“Secondly, you could have gathered it on your own, but what happened in Riena was a stroke of luck. You are no match for Sir Halliste,” he paused tilting his head back towards the knight, “and the Alliance has a number of soldiers of his caliber. Are you not the strongest one in the Tertiara force?” The Baron wasn’t looking for an answer. “Then imagine what could happen, if all of them were released at once against your compatriots. And what will happen as they approach the capital. The Lady has no interest in letting the enemy step into her domain’s heart, so they will be stopped.” 

“And they die either way. What’s the point of passing it down to me?” without doubt, had they not wanted him alive, he would not have survived the celebration.

The Baron smiled. In the worst way imaginable.

“They don’t. Naive of you to assume death is what awaits them. It is salvation, not punishment,” The grin stretched wider. “People as important as them can’t simply die. No, they will have to pay for the inconvenience they caused us. And so will you,” his eyes locked onto Fjall. “Unless you agree to our terms.”

“Which are?”

“You fight for the Alliance. And take Her Earlshipness down. Perhaps with her falconer. Or perhaps leave him to mourn.”

“Them to mourn. Wait,” he exhaled sharply as the words sunk in. 

For himself to be the one to take down Araien and Io… Not long ago, the one purpose he has in life. Now, a terrifying prospect.

“And why me? Do you not have Halliste or other knights, all, as you claim, better swordsmen than myself?” even that sarcastic tone couldn’t draw out a reaction from the onlooker. Hm.

“I do not have to explain myself to my inferior. And you are not to question me, should you agree.”

“And if I don’t?” the same grin sprung up where it had been before. 

“I have not finished.”

Not once had Fjall heard of the Baron being as talkative as he was with him. Most of his words were threats, but at home that was not his responsibility: he had a wide enough network of ‘social workers’ to take care of that for him. Now he could see who they were taught by, if the rumours were correct.

“Araien. The poor young girl who prematurely lost her father. A formidable leader, he was and a formidable foe to me in the war—but even he could not stop the might of the Alliance combined with ours.” 

‘Didn’t he claim Vardil had won on its own? Another lie we were spoonfed, it seems,’ it was odd how his mind seemed to be sharper than it had ever been in this situation and this state. But the Baron continued talking.

 “How sad of him to pass away so suddenly, leaving his daughter grieving and ill-prepared to lead her house. Some called it a lucky coincidence, some believed it to be too lucky. And some,” the Baron half-bowed in a theatrical manner, “simply knew the truth. There are many things growing in the jungle around your village. Some can knock you out cold, some can assure you never get up again,” he paused letting Fjall swallow the words. In his turn, he was baffled at how blatantly, how openly Avardil admitted his guilt. And that was, without doubt, one of the many people he murdered.

Then something else occurred to him. Okel had never been known for making poison, but it was known for its herbs and the traders visited mainly for those, and those came from the jungle. “Precisely,” the Baron spoke up and Fjall’s attention shifted back to him. “You, as the head of the village garrison, the one who guarded all of those things, are also responsible for the death of Tolvi I of Paljot. And no doubt she will learn of it someday. The Lady and I will make sure she does, before her demise.”

Before Fjall can even process all of it, the Baron continued. “That poor girl, however, assembled an army, bringing together the finest from Paljot and Vardil, retaking Gret and even my ancestral home. Something I can never forget, but the Lady could and was, in fact, delighted to hear news of a woman to unite Tertiara after ages of separation. Until that same woman spoke up and rallied forces against her. Now, she is not even a dead woman, no, much worse, in fact. She will not be released from her shell until she passes from old age, and maybe not even then. Yet her life will not be a happy one—if you would call a lifetime of torture and pain in solitude, a torture on its own, a life: the Lady does not take kindly to those who offend her. Especially now that the coalition has control of Riena, her favourite outing spot. Araien is not to walk this land free, and neither she is to turn to the dead. She is to suffer for many dozens of years. This stands true if you refuse to slay her and put her to the Earth that she deserves, right next to her beloved, maybe. In her case, that is the best option.”

‘No. That cannot happen. She has a higher chance of defeating them than me anyhow, I have not been able to best her in battle. Besides, if things go awry, she is smart enough as not to let herself fall into the enemy’s arms. We are twins for a reason.’

“Defiance. Believe in her?” Avardil had an uncanny tendency to guess thoughts. “Untrue, but even assuming so, what about the others? Tallei, perhaps? She has no place anywhere, except for her troop and the two of you, and with you out of the question, that leaves the troop and Mortenir. Neither of which are welcome anywhere. But, you could bring her a happier life, instead of, once again, one of suffering. Her crimes against the Lady are so far insignificant, unlike her crimes against Paljot and Vardil both. And she could find a place and work in Strell, the Seafarer’s Heart, city built with this purpose in mind. Otherwise, for her and her family, it only gets worse from here. Regardless of whether your forces win or lose, although the latter is almost guaranteed.”

‘Bargaining? Abo would want none of that. She knows we’ve fucked up bad, she knows she has much to do to fix it. But she wouldn’t want to guilt of complicity, and neither would she accept it. This would be a betrayal from me. And I would never betray her.’

“What about Lieutenant Teie? That young boy who had responsibility thrust upon him by his masters, and did his best. It was saddening to watch, really, but I cannot go against the highest nobles so openly. He could have a good education, and a good life in the Alliance. Perhaps, with his newfound experience in leadership, he could even land a great position in the force. Would you take this chance away from him and take this youth’s life as well?”

‘Oita… The kid deserves the best. But he never wanted this, and never would he. Besides, he is strong enough to fight for himself. He can take down one of those ‘Hallistes’, and it would be yet another proof of his talent. And after the war, he can just… find a better place to be. And a better thing to do.’

“And, the last but certainly not the least, Lieutenant Mortenir,” on that, Fjall felt all of his mind shrink into one ability — to listen. As attentively as he could manage. “Do not think your nightly escapades—whatever they ended in—have escaped either your compatriots, or us. We have kept a watchful eye on the both of you from the fall of Gret. Young love, how nice that must be,” the Baron said to the knight behind him with a smirk, only to receive a stern glare back and hush. “Only if that love lasts. Thankfully for you, the Lady and myself are both reluctant to separate the two of you, so here is my last term and offer. Do the deed, and you can go free together, wherever your heart desires. Maybe even with the other lowly members of your group. Don’t you want things to be like they had been before all of this started? Here is your best chance.”

Avardil was a smooth talker, and he hit the bullseye.

Fjall was left grasping for straws, for something, some reason to say no, but all that came to mind was tied to this war. Before they left, even after, but before that skirmish on The Bridge, his world had been small yet perfect. It was far from it now. But they could still pretend it was, couldn’t they? Their small group, with a few more people, taking on odd jobs and travelling all across. Now that they could have each other, maybe all the other business: the Alliance, the Gods, even his legendary lost twin—maybe it didn’t matter. She didn’t matter.

The last thought had him shiver, to the delight of the Baron.

Hadn’t he sworn to protect any life worth saving? Hadn’t he pledged his loyalty, his knight’s pride to his sister, though she had begged him not to? Hadn’t he promised to himself—and to Abo, Oita, Meyl, Deim—that he would not make the same mistake as he had had before?

It was so tempting… A true Lady’s Trick, as some would call it. An opportunity one cannot accept but cannot refuse. And he was about to try the latter, certain it was hopeless for him. But, perhaps, not for the others.

‘Deim deserves a better person to fall for anyway.’

“I have pledged loyalty to the Earl of Tertiara, Araien I of Paljot. That is my final answer.”

The Baron’s expression changed to surprise. Then dismissive denial and, shortly after, anger. Pointed and concentrated on him. “Have you not heard me, perhaps?” he growled with pure venom in his voice. “This is your one chance to be normal, just like you had always wanted. Otherwise, be ready to witness them suffer for years without end, and try that yourself.”

“Your threats or your torture don’t scare me. Neither does death. They are strong enough to overcome whomever you pin against them, and will be better off without this criminal—now rightfully in a cell—regardless. I have given my answer.” 

“Foolish of you to assume that is your cell. No, this is simply a room for talking. Not even interrogations, but equal conversation and negotiation, if you will,” with that, he leaned in uncomfortably close. “But your time here has come to an end.” 

He stood up and walked to the door, but not before giving an order to the knight. “We’re done here, more drastic measures seem to be needed. We’ll see how he talks a few hours in. Rid him of his last bits of… dignity, and bring him upstairs. The clothes wouldn’t survive for long either way in those conditions.”

“Take this forward, Halliste.” 

“As I was inctructed to.”

[thelatelockdownlist]

A Series on Series 01: Bridgerton

Hi. I’m Alex, a YouTube newbie. 

I resurrected this channel mostly because I wanted to do this thing. It’s something I’d planned back in 2019 and never got around to it because I was too lazy. However… life happened and I thought that with everything that happened in 2020, I should stop procrastinating. So I did nothing in 2020 -- aside from the usual like work. I was one of the lucky ones whose only inconvenience really was being unable to go outside when I wanted to -- which, to be honest, wasn’t really that often. In ordinary circumstances, I don’t really like going out. But the thought of having an actual lockdown order PREVENTING me from going out, well, that’s a whole ‘nother thing.

So 2020 was a bust, but I wanted 2021 to be different. However long this pandemic is going to go, I wanted to make better use of my ‘free’ time.

On to the show. I’m doing A Series on Series, where I talk about my favorite book series. I figured since I read a lot of them, might as well talk about them right here. So let’s start with what’s currently popular: Bridgerton.

So I watched Bridgerton on Netflix the day it came out in my country, January 1. 

I’d actually read the Julia Quinn series -- all eight books -- years ago. After I watched the first season, I went back and reread the first book in the series which is the basis for this first season.

Just a disclaimer: I’m watching this through the lens of someone who has read historical romance novels almost my entire life. I understand that there are a lot of issues that should/need to be addressed here like race. However, as I’ve read the books that this series is based on, I know the period in which it’s set. That is to say, the characters are mostly white and mostly straight. It’s the overarching theme of most historical romance novels.

With that said, it’s not to say that I won’t have comments about current issues that we see play out in the series, but I just want to ground this -- this whole thing -- on my own experience mostly because that’s really my frame of reference. 

On the race issue, my comments are going to be from someone who is a person of color BUT has lived all of my life in a country, Philippines, where we’re really mostly just one race. There are a lot of biracial people in my country, but for the most part our issues are nothing compared to what black people have experienced and are experiencing everywhere -- especially in the U.S. What I’m saying is, I am aware of the Black Lives Matter movement and I agree with what they stand for and what they’re fighting for. What I’m also saying is that as a person of color who lives in a country with people who have the same skin color as I am, I don’t have the same issues of representation in the media. In OUR media here, I am very much represented. However, in the U.S. people of color are in the minority and struggle with representation. I’m saying that now because we’re going to come back to that later. Also most of my comments are going to be from the lens of someone who identifies herself as a decades’ long (yes, I’m aware that I’m aging myself) historical romance reader. However, even though I used to be the kind of reader who belongs to the ‘the author is dead’ school of thought, these days, one finds it difficult to divorce the author from the work. 

From “The Death of the Author,” an essay by French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic and semiotician Roland Barthes. Basically, it says that the author does not factor in the reading of their work -- that their words get to be interpreted by the reader however they may. The point is not to try to understand what the author’s intentions are, and just focus on the actual work itself.

I went to school for this so I’m going to have to balance the death of the author vs my own thoughts -- immediate and otherwise -- when it comes to what I read. 

So we’re good? If not, I’ll come back to it -- if you’re still here. [wink]

So in this first episode of A Series on Series: Bridgerton, I’m going to talk about my impressions regarding the series and then point out the differences between the Netflix Season 1 and the first book, The Duke and I.

First impression of the series & some issues:

I was pleasantly surprised to see a black man play the Duke of Hastings.

In the book, he is described as tall, dark-haired and with ice-blue eyes.

Also a pleasant, surprise? Queen Charlotte played by a black woman.

You see, some historians believe that Queen Charlotte was Britain’s first black queen.

She was born the youngest daughter of a duke and a princess in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in northern Germany. She married King George III -- yes, of Hamilton’s ‘You’ll Be Back.’

However, in this timeline set years after that, he’s more The Madness of King George.

Going back, historians are split about this because while some believe they can trace her lineage to the mixed-race branch of the Portuguese royal family and that the royal physician of her time described her as having a “true mulatto face,” other historians say that it’s never been proven. 

History says that she might be black or she might not be. In the series, she is, and I had absolutely no problem believing from the get-go that the black actress playing her is in fact, Queen Charlotte. 

Some people actually point out the casting of black people in the series -- not just the Duke and the Queen -- but others as well like Lady Danbury, the late Duke and the current Duke’s sparring partner, Will Mondrich -- as race baiting. 

Merriam-Webster defines it as the making of verbal attacks against members of a racial group. But that’s the 1961 definition. However, its other definition says it’s  the unfair use of statements about race to try to influence the actions or attitudes of a particular group of people. This, I think, applies better. 

As someone who isn’t black, I feel like my opinion doesn’t hold much water here -- or at least not the ‘diamond of the first water.’ Yeah, yeah. I went there.

But for me, since the series creator -- who is white -- made a big deal of wanting a diverse cast and ‘colorbind’ casting, a lot of hype surrounded the casting of black people in these particular roles -- who are white in the book. I think certain expectations were set -- whether intentionally or not -- about what it means to cast black people in historically white roles. Hence, the issue of race-baiting. 

Was that an issue for me? No. But I’m not black and I’m not the one who may or may not be baited. So what I say isn’t exactly something you can hang your hat on. However, I’ll say it anyway. I like the black actors who play their characters. 

In the book, Simon is almost god-like because of how handsome he is. The actor who plays him, really hot. I don’t mind that he doesn’t have ice-blue eyes. 

Lady Danbury is my favorite character because of her interactions with Simon and how fierce she is as a friend and aunt. She doesn’t feature much in the book. 

Queen Charlotte, also not in the book, is great. I especially liked her in that scene with George who was lucid one moment and then crazed the next. I didn’t think this at the time, but she must have both pitied him and been afraid for herself because he did threaten her. And what does that threat really mean for her? Is it just for her? Or for her people as well? 

Because as Simon says later during his conversation with Lady Danbury, their ‘elevation’ relies on the whims of this madman. 

The late Duke, well, he was just mean. But that part, when he gets so mad that Simon can’t speak -- I sort of understand why he wants a perfect child. It’s self-preservation. He says that their situation is precarious, that what they have will only remain theirs as long as they remain extraordinary. I felt that vehemence there. While I don’t condone it -- after all, he’s doing this ranting at a child, his child -- I understand the reason behind it. Book OG Duke doesn’t have that reason. 

The series kind of followed the book. There were certain departures, but it didn’t really bother me. 

For those of you who have not seen the series and/or read the book and don’t want any spoilers, leave now. 

Okay. 

SPOILER ALERT

The first 9 minutes (more or less) in the series don’t actually appear in the book. But it does a good job of setting up this world. We’re introduced to the Featheringtons and the Bridgertons. 

In the first book, the Featheringtons don’t really feature as much. Also, the Baron is dead there. Then there’s Marina Thompson, the Featheringtons’ distant cousin --

Not in the book.

Then there’s Lord Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton and his mistress’ (Siena) amorous activities -- also not in the book.

But I suppose it’s there to give us a glimpse of his character. You know, that he’s a playa.

Also, in the book, Daphne has come out -- as in debuted -- for nearly two seasons. In the series, it’s actually her first time hence the presentation to the queen. 

Lady Danbury’s ball is in the book, but Daphne’s entrance which causes a stir due to her being proclaimed as ‘flawless’ by the Queen and --

#recordscratch

Did you think I’d forgotten about Lady Whistledown? Of course not. Especially when she’s voiced by Julie Andrews. I love that they chose her to be Lady Whistledown, but for the purpose of this comparison, I won’t be dwelling much on her, as much as I love Dame Julie Andrews.

#backtoourregularprogramming

Lady Whistledown as ‘a diamond of the first water’ doesn’t happen in the book. While book Daphne was by no means unattractive, according to her: ‘no one was dazzled by her beauty, stunned into speechlessness by her presence…’

Then there’s how Daphne and Simon meet. In the series, Daphne bumps into Simon accidentally, trying to escape Nigel Berbrook. In the book… it’s a little complicated.

First, there’s when and where (and really how their ‘grand scheme’ is concocted). In the series, it happens at Vauxhall Gardens where Simon overhears Daphne and Nigel Berbrook arguing. Then he discovers them after Daphne hits Lord Berbrook when he tries to assault her. Then Simon concocts the scheme with the dramatic cutaways of them rejoining the crowd as they watch the fireworks. 

In the book, this actually happens at Lady Danbury’s ball (which we see in the series; the ball. The scene with Berbrook does happen, but it’s at the ball, off a corner. It’s how Daphne and Simon actually met. Anyway, it’s a whole coverup. They leave the unconscious Berbrook and they go back to the ballroom, separately.

Simon meets Daphne’s brothers and they end up introducing him to Daphne and they both agree to pretend that they’d never met before. Anyway, Simon gets all these looks from Lady Featherington and the other mamas and feels the need to escape. He then asks Daphne to dance. 

THIS is where and when they concoct the scheme. The plan -- thought of by Simon, same in the series -- actually happens during this -- their first dance at that ball. AFTER their witty repartee, while waltzing. They multitask. 

And unlike what happens in the series, the scheme didn’t happen because Daphne needed to be saved from ruin. Simon proposed it because he wanted an out from being stalked by ambitious mamas and offered it to Daphne AND this is a departure from the series -- to make her more desirable to other men. 

See, in the book, Daphne always gets FRIENDZONED. I know, I know… but the term really does apply to her here. And with no malice, really. 

They don’t view her as someone desirable. She says that she’s still unmarried “because everyone sees me as a friend. No one ever has any romantic interest in me. Except Nigel.”

So Simon’s reason of “men are always interested in a woman if they think other men are interested,” which he also says in the series is due to this. 

So to sum up the difference: In the series, it’s to save Daphne from ruin; in the books, it’s so she no longer gets friendzoned. 

So they both agree and the next day…

In the series, Daphne and Simon start to hang out and they go out on dates. 

Kind of the same in the books, BUT they let Anthony in on the secret. 

Anthony was incensed because Simon appears to be breaking the bro code. You know, the one where family is off limits? So they had to tell him. Of course he thinks it’s stupid, but goes along with it because he does see the benefits for Daphne. 

In the series, Anthony is in the dark.

Anyway, the dates. BECAUSE this is a historical romance novel set in the regency period, book Simon isn’t quite so bold. The spoon scene?

Not in the book.

The scene where Simon basically gives WAP tips to Daphne?

Not in the book.

And the biggest plot in the series that isn’t in the book?

Yeah... he’s not in the book.

But the part where Anthony catches them in flagrante delicto? 

That happens.

And the duel?

In the book.

The heartfelt speech to the queen?

Not in the book.

The scene where Mama Bridgerton tries (and fails) to explain the birds and the bees? 

Happens. And it’s actually funnier in the book because Daphne asks her, “So you did this eight times?” (whisper) And her mother blushes furiously and says that, no, not just eight times because sometimes you do it because you like to. 

Read the book. I found it funnier than the scene on Netflix. For one, Daphne is actually quite eager for this conversation “I’ve waited for this all week.” -- which shocks Mama. 

The wedding?

Kind of the same, since Daphne only remembered the funny moments -- which were not shown in the series. 

And I know you’re waiting for this: the wedding night. 

Um, they were different. 

For one thing, the ‘I burn for you’ line?

Not in the book.

In the series, their wedding night was pretty intense.

In the book, it starts out funny because remember Simon telling Daphne how he couldn’t marry her because he CAN’T have children? Well, Daphne -- having had what passes for sex education for women in Regency England -- thought that meant he COULDN’T have sex -- as in he’s impotent. Which sends Simon into paroxysms of laughter. 

And then there was sexing. 

But in the book, the sexing was confined mostly in the bedroom. 

In the series, it was everywhere, including the bedroom. You know, the library (against a ladder), the mausoleum, in front of the swans near the lake 

all to the tune of an orchestral version of Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams.’ 

BUT

You know the course of true love never runs smooth. Our lovely couple has to hit a snag. And it’s in the form of animal husbandry, planting and a little putting of two-and-two together.

How Daphne finds out is sort of the same, but also different. 

Like I mentioned before, I’d read this years ago. I’d forgotten about the particulars of this. So when I saw this scene in the Netflix series, I somehow sort of hazily remembered that that’s not what happened in the book. But as soon as I re-read it, I had to put it down. Not because the scene was well-written. But because I just had so many problems with it. 

Which kind of makes me thankful that they changed it for Netflix. Because in the series, Simon doesn’t come inside Daphne but this is also what convinces her that he DID lie to her. Remember that earlier scene when Mrs. Colson, the housekeeper, tells Daphne the story of Simon’s parents? How his mother died in childbirth and how his father always wanted a son and blamed his wife when she miscarries? Then Mrs. Colson says, “A womb won’t quicken without strong, healthy seed.” 

In the series, Daphne clues in to this when during one of their romps, AFTER she’d spoken with Mrs. Colson and the wheels started turning, she noticed Simon spend on her handkerchief. She then marches to her maid’s room and asks her for essentially a rushed version of sex ed. Then after Daphne and Simon have dinner, they have sex… and I honestly don’t know if Simon came in her or not. But that’s when she accuses him and Simon basically admits it, they then fight. From then on, their marriage becomes strained and they sleep in separate bedrooms. So that awful scene in the book doesn’t exactly appear in the series. 

Book Simon comes home drunk because he and Daphne had been fighting because of THE LIE. He manages to convince her to stay with him in bed, and she does. Then she is awakened later and as she talks to him and starts basically caressing him in his sleep, he responds. Which she realizes that this is when she could do WHATEVER she wanted, have WHATEVER she wanted.

So she basically giddyups and rides him like a cowgirl and being super extra, impressing even Simon, as is written in the book. BUT things take a turn when he starts climaxing and she essentially uses what strength she has to pin him down so he couldn’t pull out. 

He’s angry and is feeling betrayed and then he starts to stutter -- which makes him angrier, with her, with himself. He’s just a confusing mass of emotions at this point. 

And then he leaves for one of his other estates. Daphne goes to London and her brothers visit. One day, she assumes she’s pregnant and sends a letter with Anthony to send to Simon. Simon receives said letter and promptly sets out for London. 

In the series, this doesn’t happen. They’re basically living separate lives, apart from posing for a portrait, several social engagements and a ball. 

In the book, Simon goes after Daphne who’d been out riding at Hyde Park and she tells him that as it turns out she’s not pregnant. They don’t exactly resolve things there, but at least they’re talking. Daphne’s brothers sort of accost them at Simon’s house demanding that he convinces them that he loves her. Which sort of terrifies Daphne, but Simon takes her to another part of the house and in there actually professes his love, which he does unknowingly in front of her brothers who followed them. 

And then sex. This time they both finish. Together. Inside. With enthusiastic consent. On both sides.

In the series, we have sort of the same but in the rain. Not just the Bridgerton boys as audience, but all of their guests. 

Then sex. This time they both finish. Together. Inside. With enthusiastic consent. On both sides.

In the series, it ends with Daphne giving birth to Simon’s heir. Then we see them saying good bye to Colin who’s off to tour the continent. Book Colin actually returned FROM the continent the night of Lady Danbury’s ball. 

Then we get a hint of the next season, knowing that it’s going to be Anthony’s turn. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

What do I think?

Well, the series was HIGHLY entertaining. I enjoyed watching it, which, for me, is the chief purpose of TV shows like this. So that’s one box checked.

Was it faithful to the book?

Largely, yes. And whatever departures it made didn’t take away from the book, IMO. 

Was I bothered about the ‘colorblind’ casting?

No. Like I said before, I had no problems believing the black actors were the characters they played. It wasn’t a shock and it certainly wasn’t distracting. 

So I loved it; I may rewatch it from time to time while waiting for Season 2 as we go into Anthony’s story in, The Viscount Who Loved Me.