#fred was just expecting the right prey; but not even to kill- at least not directly. he wanted someone to abuse to release his frustrations

[malkaviian]

I've having brainrot over Fredgolden since yesterday

[ghostpeblewrite]

Paradoxical - Chapter 9

~~~~~~

“We need a gameplan,” Toast says, addressing the two sat in front of them.

After the other two showered, he called them both into the living room for a meeting. Toast looks stressed, but he’s doing his best to stay calm.

“Can’t we just kill them?” Spooker asks.

“Spooker, you saw better than I did how many are out there. Do you honestly think we can take them all?” Toast asks, looking at him.

“No,” Spooker admits, looking down.

Toast sighs, looking at Colon, “Any ideas?”

“Nope,” Colon shakes his head.

“Great,” Toast mumbles. If Ghost were here, this wouldn’t even be an issue. He would’ve come up with some outlandish idea that probably would’ve gotten them killed but would’ve solved the problem. Yet here they are, the sun beginning to set, and they’re still stuck. Toast is trying his best to be hopeful but it’s hard to. They’re stuck.

Toast jumps when he hears a quiet knock at the back door. He grabs his trusty shotgun, motioning for Colon and Spooker to stay put. He heads for the back door, shotgun ready.

He takes a breath before opening the door a tiny bit.

Outside, he sees a figure. Shorter than him, pale complexion. They turn towards Toast, and Toast almost believes for a moment it’s Ghost.

And then he sees the dark hair, and he curses, going to close the door quickly.

“Wait-!” Jimmy hisses, shoving his hand between the door and the doorframe, almost like he’s asking to have his hand broken. “Wait- I’m not here to hurt you!”

“That’s a lie,” Toast says, pressing the door into Jimmy’s hand.

“No, please, I’m here to help!! I have information!!” Jimmy pleads.

“Why should I trust you?” Toast says, pushing the door more.

“OW- Okayokayokay please- They’re really mean to me!!! I wanna help you!!!” Jimmy frowns.

That catches Toast off guard. Jimmy never frowns, and he looks so much like Ghost when he does…

“Fine,” Toast huffs, opening the door. Jimmy smiles.

That’s when Toast lifts the shotgun, hitting Jimmy over the head with it.

“Colon, go grab rope!” Toast calls, setting his shotgun to the side as he drags Jimmy’s body into the house. It’s not hard to do, Jimmy is very light.

When Jimmy suggested this plan to Gavin and Maxwell, he didn’t expect it to work.

He didn’t expect to get knocked out and tied up either, but he’ll take what he can get.

When he wakes up, he’s in a dark room. It’s pretty small. He’s tied to a chair, like how Ghost was not too long ago. Only difference is, Jimmy can’t timeline hop.

“Heeellooooo?” he calls out. Doesn’t like being locked up alone. Reminds him too much of Before. He misses Gavin- Why’d he have to leave? This was a stupid idea. Why did Gavin let him do this. Stupid Gavin.

The door opens, and Jimmy hisses at the light, closing his eyes and turning away. So bright-

“So, Jimmy,” a certain brit says, turning the lights on before closing the door. “You said you have info?”

“Those are bright lights!” Jimmy says, squinting at him.

“Jimmy-” Toast sighs.

“What? That’s information!!” Jimmy smiles, his eyes adjusting a bit.

“I meant about the people who did… whatever’s outside,” Toast says.

“The zombies?” Jimmy asks, like there’s anything else outside.

“Yes, Jimmy. The zombies,” Toast says tersely, trying to keep his patience from leaving him.

“Oh, that was Gavin!” Jimmy says simply, smiling. “He’s so cool!!!”

Toast stares. “Gavin? As in, my brother, Gavin?”

“Noooo, Gavin from the gas station- Yes your brother!!!” Jimmy laughs.

Toast blinks. I mean, he knew Gavin had powers but… Toast didn’t know he was this powerful. How is he this powerful? It doesn’t even make sense. He turns away, opening the door again.

“Hey!! Turn the lights off at least!!” Jimmy calls to him, but to no avail. Toast just leaves.

Colon looks up at Toast when he walks into the room. Colon’s sitting on the couch alone, Spooker off in the other room seemingly on the phone.

“So? Is he useful?” Colon asks.

“Somewhat,” Toast sighs. “He’s… Incredibly stupid, apparently, but he did reveal to me who did that.” He motions vaguely outside.

“Oh? Who?” Colon asks, sitting up more.

“My brother,” Toast says. His eyes look far away.

Colon is about to ask something, but then Spooker comes back in.

“Toast, I got help!” He smiles, holding his phone away from his ear.

“Really?” Toast perks up. Spooker’s actually done something useful?

Spooker nods, putting his phone on speaker.

“Alright, lithen up, nerdth,” a familiar voice crackles over the phone speakers. “I don’t have the motht time in the world here.”

“Spencer!” Toast says, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“Yeah? Who elth? Thtupid… Anyway, I hear you guyth have a problem with undead?” Spencer says, sounding very focused on something else other than the conversation.

“Yes, they are… quite literally surrounding us, and there are… alot,” Toast says.

“I would athk if Ghoth ith there but I know he’th not, so Toath you need to lithen up,” Spencer says, not pausing again for input. “Hopefully you know by now that you can’t take all the undead on your own. If not, newth flath! You can’t. Tho, what now? Well, you have a few optionth; Wait for Ghoth, could take a few dayth, try to thin the herd, could be dangerouth, or try to take out the main man himthelf. Hopefully I don’t have to tell you thith but I’m thaying it anyway jutht in cathe, when dealing with powerful necromantherth, it’th better to take out the necromanther than to try and take out all the undead. Take out the creator, the creationth go with him.”

“Yes, Spencer, I know that,” Toast says, “But- What did you mean when you said we could wait-?”

“I don’t have time for thith!!” Spencer groans, “I helped you, I no longer owe Fred a favour, I’m going back to my gameth! Don’t bother me again, you abtholute nerdth!!”

Spencer hangs up. Toast sighs.

“That… Didn’t tell us anything new,” Toast says, turning away to think. “We can’t get out there… How are we supposed to take him out? We don’t even know where he is!!”

“Well, we have Jimmy?” Colon says. “Maybe we can use him to bait your brother out?”

“Wait, brother?” Spooker looks between them. “What? Are you guys keeping things from me???”

“No- I just found out,” Toast sighs, looking at him. “From Jimmy, actually.”

“What’s his name? Is he older than you? What’s he look like?? What’s he-” Spooker starts asking questions, and Toast holds a hand up to stop him.

“Okay, no more. His name is Gavin, and he’s my twin brother,” Toast says simply.

Spooker and Colon look at eachother, wide eyed. Spooker looks back at Toast.

“You have a twin brother?!?!?” Spooker cries out.

Toast sighs, rubbing his temples, “I’m going back to Jimmy. I have more questions. Don’t burn the house down.” He turns away, walking back to the room.

Toast opens the door slowly, making sure Jimmy’s still tied up. Upon seeing he is, he opens the door more, stepping in.

“I have more questions, Jimmy,” Toast says, leaning against the door behind him.

“I have answers!!” Jimmy says, smiling up at Toast. His dark shaggy hair hangs into his eyes.

Toast is still unnerved by how much he looks like Ghost. He supposes it makes sense, he did come from Ghost’s mind, but that doesn’t mean it looks normal.

“Alright,” Toast sighs, “Where is he? Gavin.”

Jimmy seems to study him for a second, which unnerves Toast further. It’s like a predator observing his prey, determining the best time to strike.

“Oh, y'know… There! Yknow, we had Ghost there for a bit. He’s gone now,” Jimmy smiles wider, the corners of his mouth twitching, pulling back further than they should be able to. It makes Toast feel nauseous.

“What? What do you mean? Gone?” Toast asks. Ghost can’t be gone. It’s just- It’s not possible.

“His blood was so red… I’d seen it before, but… It was so much better from a third person point of view! Red, red blood…” Jimmy mumbles, his smile never faltering.

Toast stares at him, the words forcing their way out of his mouth before he’s sure he wants the answer to them. “What did you do to him?”

“He’s gone, Toast,” Jimmy giggles.

“No- No, he isn’t,” Toast says firmly. Yet, he can’t shake the feeling that Jimmy is telling the truth. Ghost is no longer in this world. The thought settles on him like a thick blanket of snow, freezing him to the bone, smothering any other thought that dare try to cross it.

“You know he is,” Jimmy says in a low voice, sounding so much like Ghost that Toast can feel his heart twist.

“Shut up,” Toast says.

Jimmy begins to cackle, twisting Ghost’s face into horrific, inhuman shapes.

“Stop it!!” Toast yells, feeling his body begin to shake. He finds himself closer to Jimmy. He doesn’t remember moving. Jimmy continues to cackle.

Toast can feel someone shove past him, and sees the back of a blue beanie. He doesn’t hear what’s said, but he’s somewhat snapped back into reality when he sees Colon’s fist collide with Gh- Jimmy’s face. Jimmy’s head snaps back to an unnatural angle.

Toast can hear yelling. It takes him a second to realize it’s his own voice. He’s fighting against Colon, his eyes on the limp form of Jimmy in the chair. Colon’s dragging him out of the room.

The door closes, cutting off the body from Toast’s vision. The sound brings him back to his senses.

He can feel something wet on his face, his breathing coming way faster than it should. He feels hands on his arms, and then he registers the face in front of him.

Colon.

Colon just killed Jimmy. Toast saw his head snap back. Jimmy looks so much like Ghost.

Ghost.

He can’t be gone. Toast has known that man for 24 of his 32 years on this planet.

Ghost has always been there for him.

Always willing to talk him through scary situations. Always talking. Toast remembers his voice clearly.

Someone’s shaking him.

Ghost can’t be gone. It’s not possible.

He’s being led somewhere. He can’t focus. Ghost can’t be dead. It’s not possible. It’s not right.

Toast never got to tell him how much he cared.

It’s not fair.

He can’t be dead.

~~~

I'm not sorry for any emotional damage caused during this chapter.

[pretty-thoughts-and-a-pen]

The One They Feared (2)

CW: Captivity, cutting and starving mention, beating, electrocution, manhandling, manipulation

They had Jacques sitting heavily against the wall with his wrists cuffed above his head. The leather gloves that restricted the use of his power, combined with the cinched metal around his wrist, almost cut off the blood flow to his hands. Probably, that was intentional. If he was to fight back, being a newly awakened sorcerer who couldn’t channel through other parts of his body, his hands were the most important tool he had. And they were killing it. Restraining it and making it whither away.

At least the chains were off. Jacques looked up through lidded eyes, first at Frederick, who held the coiled bronze chain and swung it’s open end in a circle. Their gazes locked and electricity crackled through the air, and it had nothing to do with Frederick’s power. Jacques could’ve sworn there was more to the man’s demeanour than hate and disgust for him. Something subtle, barely noticeable, and which could only be called fear.

It made him feel no better. In fact, being feared was the last thing he wanted. He would rather they were completely comfortable and unfazed beating him, cutting him, starving him until he was skin and bones. But if one of the Heads of the Legion that everyone looked up to, considered him a big enough threat to be wary of him, then it only confirmed the worst thought he could think of. That he was a monst-

No. He wasn’t. He wasn’t.

He wrenched his eyes away and turned to Azure, although looking at him didn’t make things much better. The man had his hands in his pockets, and his posture was completely straight as he paced back and forth. Slowly. Gracefully. As if he was a predator, and his constant stare at Jacques clearly made him the prey. That unsettling smile crept back onto Azure’s face. It was as if he had been waiting for Jacques to relent and give him his attention.

When Azure spoke, both other occupants in the room listened intently. “You’ve figured out, I hope, what needs to happen? You,” he paused in front of Jacques, “have been deemed a threat to the town’s safety, and are going to be kept as the Legion's prisoner.” Jacques’s eyes widened. He had suspected it, of course he had, but hearing it said was another matter entirely. “We have been given full reign to do whatever it takes to keep you under control. Shouldn’t be a problem, yes, Fred?” As if to emphasize that point, he swiftly delivered a kick to the side Jacques’s head. Jacques shuddered as he hit the stone wall. A sharp pain burst through his skull, and momentarily his ears rang along with the stars that danced in front of his eyes.

“Absolutely not.” Frederick spun the chain faster. Sparks of electricity could be seen popping out from the links. Then, he flicked it forward so quickly it blurred, and when it struck Jacques’s nose, it sent a jolt through his entire body and wrenched another strained scream from him. Frederick stepped back. Jacques panted and dropped his head, feeling all his energy sap out. He couldn’t even bring himself to glare at his captor once again.

“Don’t look so sad!” Azure sounded so gleeful, not even slightly as apprehensive as Frederick seemed. “You understand what we’re doing is necessary, right? You know what you deserve.”

A light seemed to click on in Jacques’s mind. The world came into focus, and more than everything, Azure became the only sight in the room worth seeing. Everything he said...made so much sense. Yes, yes, and yes. Jacques agreed. “I...” Jacques totally agreed. So why did the words feel foreign in his mouth? “I deserve whatever you do to me.”

Frederick stopped spinning the chain. His jaw slackened in a display of shock. Why? What had he expected? Jacques didn’t have any other opinion on the matter. He didn’t.

Right?

Azure clapped his hands once and Jacques’s vision tunnelled back onto him. “And, Jackie,” he was almost crooning now at him, and of course Jacques liked it. He liked it, “you want to forfeit your free life and give it over to us. To the Legion, for we would use it so much better than you, right?”

Jacques nodded in spite of how dizzy that made him. “Yes, yes. My life...yours.”

“Of course it is.” Azure reached out and grabbed a fistful of his short hair, humming contentedly. “I remember asking you to cut it this way. So much prettier this way. I always had a feeling you stood out, something special. And, won’t my attention do you such wonders?”

“So many wonders.” Jacques looked directly into his steely eyes. This man could do wonders, there was no doubt about it. What was his power again...?

“Without me,” Azure didn’t spare him a moment to think. “You would just be a monster.”

As if the emergency stop had been pulled on a train, Jacques’s entire thought process halted. He could even hear screeching in his ears as his brain tried to keep up with the new thoughts that were pouring into his head. What was he saying? Had he really thought all of those things. No, he couldn’t have. And yet, he hadn’t felt like he was lying back then.

But he was sure of one thing. He always was.

“I’m,” Jacques put all his force into those words, “not a monster.”

Azure looked like he had been slapped. Behind him, Frederick threw up his arms in amazement and confusion. For a tense moment, no sound could be heard in the room. Jacques studied the face of his captor, frozen in place so close to his. Utter bewilderment coated his features.

Then he snapped back with an angry snarl and kicked Jacques’s stomach.

“How?” He thundered, while Jacques curled up as much as the cuffs would allow, and tried to get his breath back. Azure kicked him once again, then one more time. He leaned back in and grabbed his hair, more tightly this time, and pulled his head painfully upwards. “Is this another feature of your power? What exactly are you doing? How are you resisting me?”

Jacques’s head was too muddled to make any sense of the man’s words, but in the haze of pain, he managed a response. “W-what...?”

Azure was glaring holes into his head. His tone dropped, and emphasizing each word, he spoke very slowly. “Do you know what my power is?”

Jacques gave him a blank look. It was almost ridiculous that he didn’t, especially since he had studied under both these sorcerers as his teachers for a long time.

“I can change anyone’s thoughts, make them think, feel, say anything.” Azure continued, and with every word, a pit of dread opened up in Jacques’s stomach. “And it was working, with you. Your opinions, your emotions, they were put there by me. Until right then.”

Azure suddenly straightened, readjusted his jacket. He fixed Jacques with one last hard glare, and somehow, Jacques knew things were only going to get worse. Because, now that he didn’t look angry, Azure looked interested.

“You’d do well to remember that.” The man turned on his heel and started to walk out. “What you believe is a powerful thing, and I...

...I can manipulate belief.”

[thatonebipotato]

Pills(1)

Story Warnings: Angst, Deceit, Remus, blood, descriptions of pain

Chapter Warnings: Deceit, Remus, detailed descriptions of pain, blood, screaming, uhhh let me know of any more!!

;)

~~~~~

Remus gave a loud yawn, making a show of rubbing his eyes dramatically. A long night in his imagination had made him very tired, and he wanted- no, needed- affection. He wanted comfort, because long nights of getting stressed out sometimes only caused more stress. He frowned, watching Deceit. He was currently making them some breakfast, but that wasn’t what he wanted. He didn’t want food, he wanted his snake.

“Remus,” said snake said smoothly, “maybe you should go sleep a little longer, what about that, sweetie?” Sweetie. A lovely name that he had been hearing a lot more recently. Not that he was complaining.

“Yeah, but I’d much rather enjoy the view,” he said slyly, glancing downwards before looking back up to meet the other’s gaze.(ha, gays-)

“Remus, you can look later,” he said, sighing. “You need sleep. I’ll put some food for you into the microwave so you can eat later, ok? Go sleep.”

“Hmph, fine!” He got up out of the chair and yawned again, though he tried his best to suppress it. He stumbled his way down the hall, and past the hall that branched off to his room. He didn’t want to be in his shared room, and the room they’d started preparing for him separately wasn’t finished yet. He wanted his imagination instead. Sure, Dee had told him to sleep, but he’d much rather not. Besides, he could take a nap in the imagination or something, so it was fine!

He reached the entrance to the imagination, and began to feel off. Maybe it was because he was worried about being stressed again, maybe it was something else. But there was something… wrong. About his own imagination. The door seemed to be a lot darker, and more broken than it had before. Welp, that’s what happens when you let monsters run loose around the place!

He threw the door open without a second thought and sighed contently, breathing in the sweet smells of his imagination. Despite what most everyone else thought, his side of the imagination wasn’t that dark, or even that bad. At least, not on the surface. There were many flowers with strong fragrances here and there. Most of those fragrances were different kinds of poisons or hallucinogens. Prolonged exposure to them made Remus entirely immune, and even Deceit was mostly immune to all of them. The sky was a dark gradient of purples and oranges, pinks and reds, and some dark blues, the product of an endless sunset. The sad part about the sky was it was covered in storm clouds, most of the time.

There were trees, and a lot of them. They towered over the land, and were very dark, with patterns in their bark and leaves that resembled animal skulls of all kinds, and had sharp edges. And the beasts. Oh, how Remus loved his pets! There were one eyed things with a large mouth and long claws; there were large things with a million arms and eyes that killed its prey with the thought alone; there were furry creatures that looked innocent enough, but could swallow four blue whales whole and still want more; there were slimy things and scaly things, big and small things, things with claws, and wings, and broken, sharp teeth. Ones that howled, and groaned, and yipped, barked, cried, whined, and spoke. He loved his pets!

He wandered up to two trees, the mud made from the previous rain threatening to make him slip. They were very tall, and rigid. He held out his hands, and several ropes appeared in them, and a large cloth sheet. It was a hammock. He began tying one end to one of the trees, and the other to the second tree. He pulled down one side, and leapt up into the hammock. It rocked under his weight, before settling into a lazy roll.

Today, there weren’t any clouds. The trees blocked out most of his view, but he could still see the soft colours. The smell of sickeningly(quite literally) sweet flowers was mixed in with joyous scent of rain. One tiny little fuzzball leapt from the fronds and onto Remus’s tummy. It purred and curled up, producing a sort of tickly sensation. Remus reached out his hand and started gently petting the thing. It was just as soft as it looked. Most people would be sceptical about this puffball, and they should be. While is was furry, and looked like a very tiny monkey, it had the mouth of a snake. It’s jaw could unhinge, and it was venomous. It attacked anyone that wasn’t Remus or Deceit if they showed any sign of danger, or startled it too much.

Her name was Fred.

Fred yawned lazily, turning over onto her back to allow Remus access to her belly, purring louder when his hand found said spot. Remus slowly traced shapes onto her belly, and smiled. Fred had been staying around Remus remus a lot more, and was a sign that she was expecting. In a world made by Remus, what else did you expect? Well, expect more than they were, currently.

Her tail loosely curled around his wrist, and she dozed off into a quiet slumber. Remus would join soon after, but he didn’t want to. He forced himself to stay up until he couldn’t. His eyes felt like they were on fire, and his eyelids weighed down a person being thrown off the dock tied to an anchor. It didn’t help that he had started to itch, a mad burning sensation that crept down his arms and legs, and buried itself into his stomach. For all the pains he’d ever felt, this one was new. Was this supposed to happen? He couldn’t remember.

Just as he was about to drift off, he screamed. The pain immediately flared up, and it hurt. A lot. It felt as though his muscles were being pulled apart one by one, but also at the same time. His joints felt like they were being pressed into burning iron, and the heat never once died down. His skin grew extremely cold, and hurt against the burning of everything else. He kicked and thrashed and screamed and cried, falling off of the hammock and into the mud. He writhed around, and if anyone saw him, they would’ve thought he was having a seizure of some sort.

By this point, Fred was up and about, having been startled so horribly from her nap. She was still on the hammock, and was screeching at Remus with confusion written across her tiny face. The danger was coming from him, but he was also the one in danger. She didn’t know how, she just knew that he was.

Remus curled into a ball, still screaming. He’d managed to control himself from hitting everything around him, but he was still in pain. Why was he in pain? What was happening? Why wouldn’t it stop already? Was it happening to the others? Was this happening to Dee?!

His eyes, which had previously been squeezed close, shot open. Oh God, was this happening to Deceit?! He forced himself onto his hands and knees, even though he was in agony. His attempts to stand kept failing, and he kept falling back onto his knees, so he decided he would just crawl out instead.

The screeching had stopped, Fred was gone. Where she had gone, he didn’t know, but he didn’t want to care right now. He had to check on Dee.

There were suddenly arms under his own. He started hurting more due to pressure being put onto him, but that didn’t matter. Whatever had grabbed him was moving closer to the door. That’s all he needed.

The thing gently placed him back onto the cold, wet ground, and lowered Fred onto him. She had gone to get help! She made sure to jump off of him as soon as possible, and started working on opening the door. Once she got it to click open, she pushed it wide enough for Remus to crawl through, and sat waiting for him to pass through.

He started crying more, having to pick himself back up and out the door, which closed behind him as soon as he was out. He heard sobbing coming from down the hall, and forced himself up, leaning onto the wall. In this moment, he wanted to die more than ever. But he couldn't He had to check on his snake, dammit!

It took a long time, but he finally made it to the last stretch. It was just a crawl from here to get to his hurt Double Dee and make sure he was ok. The second that his own struggles had made a noise in the mostly quiet living space, the sobbing softened.

“R-Remus? Is-is that you?” His voice was broken and quiet.

“Y-” Remus got cut off by a coughing fit, which only made him feel worse, if that was even possible. When he finally stopped, he looked down to see blood on the floor, and some gloved hands by his face, that were also covered in blood. He had to physically restrain himself from screaming when the hands softly cupped his face. He finally looked up, and, though he felt like he was burning at the stake, felt his blood run cold.

Deceit had blood on his chin and staining his clothes. There were tears in his eyes, and he looked white as a sheet. His scales, while normally a vibrant greenish-yellow, looked grey, and his eye was tinged blue. Which was weird, because he wasn’t close to shedding.

“D-Dee Dee, what happened?” he forced out. His own voice was raspy and scratchy from him screaming, and it felt like he was being choked when he spoke, and not in the good way.

“I don’t- I don’t know,” Deceit admitted. His teeth were also stained red. “I think something’s w-wrong, but I just… Remus, everything’s r-really cold.” He looked close to fainting.

“Dee, take- take me to the couch. Now.”

Deceit didn’t question it. He just threw his arms around Remus’s shoulders and supported him as they walked to the couch, slowly. When they got there, and Deceit had set Remus down, Remus knew he would regret what he was doing.

He grabbed Deceit’s hand quickly, and pulled him down onto him with maybe too much force. Yep, he regretted it. The pressure felt like he’d been hit in the chest with a fast paced, rolling boulder. He didn’t say anything as he wrapped his arms around the others chest and held him tightly. Deceit went to protest, but then melted into the touch.

“You’re so warm,” he muttered, burying his face into Remus’s neck.

The second Deceit’s skin touched his, he squeaked.

“Wow, and you’re- you’re really cold!” Deceit was somehow even colder than Remus was. The pain slowly melted away, as it was like an ice pack was pressed into him, but it slowly returned as Deceit heated up. By the time that happened, it was too late to get Dee to move or get him an ice pack or something, because the snek was asleep. He was softly snoring, and looked so peaceful like that, despite the fact that he was bloody and actively causing discomfort.

Remus sighed, and decided the pain was absolutely worth it. He would give his life for Dee, and though he wasn’t dying now, this was the best thing he could do.

Though he was in pain, he forced himself to close his eyes. Soon enough, it started to ease up, and Remus was finally asleep. The breakfast the Deceit had been making was forgotten on the counter, and aside from the snoring from the two Dark Sides, it was silent.

This. This was peaceful. This is how the both wanted it from now on, at least for a little longer.

But that was only the first pill.

~~~~~

:DDDDD

Sorry for any mistakes I made, I didn't really go back and check for any, lol

Taglist: @fatesail @supersoftsupersleep @thesoftestpuffballwegot @chronophobica (two of you guys did show up? I?? Sorry???)

[bigherosixfeels]

Liv Amara: Analysis and Theories

Hello, everyone! Well, the first ten episodes of Season 2 of BH6:TS have come and gone. Liv Amara, the character most heavily predicted to be our villain for this season was correct. She’s proven to be an extremely clever, manipulative villain. The more we find out about her, the more questions than answers we seem to have, and that’s really exciting!

If you’ve seen all 10 episodes, you know what went down during Lie Detector. We now have a good idea of what Liv’s endgame could be, so let’s get right into this!

If Lie Detector did anything outside of give us an idea of Liv’s true motives, it also has inspired not one, but two strong theories and either could be the outcome. 1) Liv cloned herself or 2) Liv has a twin sister. Why are both these options so good?

The very last scene of Lie Detector speaks for itself. All this time, Liv’s secret project was working on...Liv? Seeing this moment the first time around is quite shocking, but it puts a lot of pieces together. This is something she’s clearly been working on long before we were even introduced to Liv.

So, what’s going on here? As heavily speculated, the Liv in the capsule is the real Liv. And the “Liv” we’ve known since Big Problem is either a clone or her twin sister. With these two solid theories in mind, it’s only natural to question why as well as realize why the Liv we’ve known up until now has been doing what she’s doing.

As also been pointed out, the real Liv has a rare disorder in need of being cured.

This is why the real Liv is in the capsule. She has a disorder and the Liv we’ve known is trying to find a way to cure her. That’s what she’s been doing not only throughout the entire season thus far, but since her introduction.

As we all know now, she’s the one responsible for turning Orso Knox into a monster. She injected a bio-chip into his arm and has the ability to change him into a monster at anytime. But as we’ve learned, she doesn’t usually do this unless someone invests in Sycorax first.

Sycorax is a new company which makes sense considering Liv is only 23. With that in mind, I think it’s a safe bet that Knox was the first person to invest in her company. Because he was willing to work with Liv, she used him as her first test subject. She designed a bio-chip, injected it into him and activated it. Knox turned into a monster. Whether or not this was her goal, she needed this outcome for her scientific research. However, I’d like to believe that Knox managed to escape after this and began to follow his schedule.

Perhaps Liv may have thought it was a dead end, but I also like to think she laid low to avoid suspicion. So instead, we saw what we thought was a young entrepreneur generously donating funds to SFIT while also secretly looking for an invention that would further help her studies.

She’s done her research and is already interested in funding Baymax prior to meeting him. Given what we know about her “secret” project, she clearly wanted Baymax to scan the real Liv. Diagnose her disorder (if possible), scan her vitals and figure out what treatments she would need. Baymax would without a doubt have been a huge help, but Liv immediately lost interest in Baymax when she found out Hiro wasn’t his creator. I’m going to assume she may know of Tadashi’s death and since she knew she couldn’t speak to the actual creator, she moved along.

But luckily, Karmi had an invention of her own that Liv was just as impressed by. The extradermal nanoreceptors.

It’s no surprise that she takes interest in it right away. These patches are capable of delivering medicine or chemicals through skin. It can be used for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. Immediately hearing about this patch, Liv knew she could use it to help cure the real Liv.

A small electric current is applied to an iontophoretic chamber placed on the skin, containing a charged active agent and its solvent vehicle. Another chamber or a skin electrode carries the return current. One or two chambers are filled with a solution containing an active ingredient and its solvent vehicle. The positively charged chamber, called the anode, will repel a positively charged chemical species, whereas the negatively charged chamber, called the cathode, will repel a negatively charged species into the skin. (Source)

She may not have that cure yet, but when she has everything she needs, this patch is the key to curing the real Liv. It’s why she was so quick to fund it.

By the end of Big Problem, we get to see how useful these patches are with them being used on Orso Knox. 

The first time you watch these scene, it simply looks like Liv is about to be attacked by Knox, but Karmi saves her with her patches. But now, these scene is much different. Knox was mutated by Liv and when he sees her, he gets in her face and growls at her. And look at Liv! She is totally defenseless here and she knows it! She couldn’t pull out her phone and deactivate the bio-chip.

Luckily, Karmi was there to save her. Her patches have a medication that calmly put him to sleep. Because of this, Liv is not only safe, but no one is suspicious of her. She looked to be a harmless victim and even offered to help Knox which made her look more innocent.

This entire outcome worked in Liv’s favor by the end. No one suspected that she was behind Knox’s mutation and she was able to get Knox back to Sycorax where she could continue to monitor him.

Suspicions don’t rise until Prey Date where Hiro realizes that Liv has been saying she’s confident that they’re two to three weeks from a breakthrough. A statement she’s been saying for the last two months. It’s concerning that Knox hasn’t been cured yet which results in Hiro asking Karmi if she knows anything. This leads to Karmi trying to access the Orso Knox file, but she can’t get through. And then this happens...

The second Karmi mentions wanting to open the Knox file, Liv’s face falls. She’s not happy about Karmi wanting to get involved the the Knox project. She’s trying to keep Knox as a monster and it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t have a team for this so-called project. Keeping Knox as a monster is no longer for her studies, but instead to make sure he keeps his mouth shut about what she’s doing. Curing him would risk that, but she can’t tell that to Karmi.

Completely unaware of Liv’s true intentions, Karmi truly believes she has the answer to curing him. She’s excited about the idea of working on such a huge project. Even if she was tricked into finding out about Knox because of Hiro, she knows she has the skill and intellect to help.

I don’t think I need to go into detail over how emotionally manipulative Liv treats Karmi in this episode and definitely in this scene. Karmi truly feels that Liv and her are BFFs. And we already know (based on what Gogo said in Issue 188) that Karmi doesn’t have friends. We got to see these two appearing to have fun in Big Problem and with Liv funding her project and giving her an internship, it’s understandable as to why Karmi sees her as a best friend. She believes that Liv takes her seriously and would tell her anything.

But that’s not the case. This “friendship” is purely one-sided. Liv doesn’t take Karmi seriously at all and is using her for her invention and intellect. She belittles her by buttering her up with compliments while turning her down.

It disappoints Karmi a lot. She wanted to help and thought Liv would happily accept her offer, but being turned down by her idol and “friend” was far from what she expected to hear. She just doesn’t know the motives behind it.

Naturally, she doesn’t want to risk her internship, but Hiro convinces her that Knox needs to be cured. When they make it to Sub-Level 9 and find the cell Knox is being kept in, Karmi finds a console of Knox’s information.

She’s typing away and within less than a minute, she passes a trial. But before that trial is deemed passable, Liv catches them all in the act.

Her presence immediately has Karmi panicked. She knew she doesn’t belong here, especially after Liv has told her that she wouldn’t be working on the Knox project. With Liv catching them, she fears her job is on the line and it nearly is. Liv not only tells Karmi she’s disappointed in her for breaking a rule, but even points to her face for her to see that disappointment. It would have been simple for Liv to fire her for breaking a rule. Karmi would have been upset, but understood she disobeyed and wouldn’t have found it suspicious.

But then Liv sees what Karmi did

Liv sounds surprised at first. She knows they hadn’t been in Sub-Level 9 that long, so for Karmi to pass this trial in seconds is quite astonishing. And also threatening for her too. She’s admittedly impressed because of the quickness of her figuring this out, but with Karmi doing this despite rejecting her offer to help, she can’t have that. If Karmi was willing to break one rule, chances are she’s continue to help find a cure for Knox. Because of all of this, Liv appears to overlook it.

She may not have fired Karmi, but she thinks quickly. We already know that she took Fred out of the room, appearing to have a normal conversation about his mother, but this was just to get him out of the room.

She’s trying to get his mother be an investor for Sycorax. And she knows Fred’s mom won’t invest in the company if he gets hurt or worse when she leaves Karmi and Hiro in Sub-Level 9, disabling Knox’s cage to let him out.

Liv is so determined to not have anyone find about what really happened to Knox nor have Karmi find a cure that she was willing to let Knox try to kill them. Or at the very least this was meant to scare both of them as a warning to never come back to Sub-Level 9 and for Karmi to not get invested in the Knox project.

Whatever the case may be, things didn’t work out the way Liv had hoped. Hiro and Karmi managed to get away unharmed. Karmi was able to work on a cure for Knox. Hiro got kidnapped by Knox, but as speculated, Knox was probably taking Hiro out of Sycorax in fear of him getting mutated.

Knox is not trying to hurt anyone. Even if he’s been mutated for at least two months, he still has his morals intact. But Liv doesn’t know that. Not only that, but she still wants to make sure a cure doesn’t happen and that suspicions of how he was mutated stay on the down-low. So what does she suggest when he escapes Sycorax?

She doesn’t outright say what she wants to say, but it’s heavily implied. Again, she’s willing to have someone killed so no one finds out about what she’s really up to. This suggestion shocks our team especially since they all know he’s still a person.

And again Karmi knows she’s onto something for a cure. And again Liv shuts her down and simply tells her there’s no time. And again Karmi is left disappointed because she knows she can help save Knox, but doesn’t want to argue or go against Liv because she believes her and doesn’t want to lose her internship.

As we know, things don’t work in Liv’s favor. Knox isn’t as dangerous as he seems and Karmi does find the cure for him. However, Liv makes sure that her mutations remain under the radar. She tells the press that he graciously and generously has decided to invest in the future of Sycroax, but we know it’s all a threat behind closed doors.

She makes it very clear that she can turn him back into a monster whenever she pleases. He may be cured, but there’s still a bio-chip in his arm and if word gets out as to how he was mutated or anything about what Liv is doing, she’ll change him back. And he knows it.

Throughout the season thus far, we get to see Liv work with some villains as well. It’s seems simple. If villains pay her, she’ll mutate them and give them upgrades that enhance what they’re already skilled in.

We get to see how this process works with Momakase first in Seventh Wheel. She willingly agrees to work with her by getting money from the wealthiest people in San Fransokyo by hosting a fancy dinner. Before she got her money, Liv injected her with a bio-chip and once she got her money, she activated the chip.

This was pretty well constructed. No one knew that Liv and Momakase had made a deal together. When Granville tried to stop Momakase, everyone including Liv left the building which made her look as innocent as everyone else. And when the team things she’s been defeated, she allows her fingernails to transform into graphene. They eventually trap her in ice, but in a matter of minutes, her transformation takes a more monstrous turn.

In a matter of minutes she went from just having yellow eyes, to having graphene nails to this! She manages to escape and it’s easy to assume she went back to Sycorax.

Why? Because High Voltage had a similar experience with Liv. In Something’s Fishy, Liv breeaks High Voltage out of jail. She does this because she needs their crime dancing skills to get her more money for “investing”. They don’t want to be part of crimes anymore, but Liv says they have to because of the favor she did for them. After some convincing, they agree to help and we should know what happens here. Off screen, she injected bio-chips into them which gave them both the ability to use their electricity without the need of an energy orb. And she was able to achieve doing this by using electric eels.

Their mutation overall seems happen a little slower in comparison to Momakase’s. The day before they transform, they show a massive craving for fish. The night of their transformation, they truly didn’t realize what they were getting themselves into. They only thought that they got upgrades for the electricity so when they saw their appearance change to eels, they freaked out.

It’s a sad moment at first. Barb had just done a solo number about them both being on the good side and then this happens to them. They’r horrified about who they’ve turned into. In the end, they do fight against Big Hero 6 and like what Momakase did, they leave before they can be caught.

And this time, we do get to see where they go which is not only Sycorax, but specifically the fish tank in her office.

This is beyond disturbing. Before they left the dance, we saw that they had slithered their way out. It’s hard to say when they got to the point of becoming full on eel, but instead of being free and good people like they had tried to be, they’re now Liv’s pets.

Mutating Knox on top of villains is not actually necessarily for research purposes, but for them to be forced to work for her to get the money she desires so she can have it to cure the real Liv. And she’s working with villains because she knows they’ll commit crimes so long as she provides upgrades. And if they refuse her, she’ll convince them.

Somehow, word got around about villains being given powers. Without having to go to Mr. Sparkles next, he spends the entirety of The Fate of the Roommates to earn money from wealthy thrill seekers for his new game. Once Mr. Sparkles has all the money he needs, he gets away before he can be caught and goes to Sycorax with the cash.

Before we can see the outcome to his mutation, we get to see a more risky approach to Liv mutating someone in Muira-Horror! Liv wants the woods so she can find Bessie which she’s been trying to do for six months. While Krei manages to buy the land, Hiro spills who has the meteorite to Liv and Chris. Because of this, Liv plans on getting the meteorite while also plans to get rid of Krei and Hiro.

At first, things do seem to go well for Liv. They find where Ned lives, calmly knock him out and Liv puts one of Karmi’s patches on him. We know the patch has a sedative, but he was already knocked out because of Chris. But she says this...

We know that Karmi is the inventor of the extradermal nanoreceptors. We know what their purpose is. Despite Liv being impressed with her invention, she still altered it to her favor. Instead of a bio-chip, this time around she used a patch.

Off screen, I’m going to say they dumped Ned out of his tree house. By the time they got Bessie secured in a containment unit, Liv activates the patch which immediately turns Ned into a monster. There is no slow transition into it. All he can ask is what’s happening before he fully becomes the true Hibagon.

Again, she is willing to have people killed so no one finds out about what she’s up to. The only thing she didn’t count for was Krei’s impressive survival skills That saved himself, Hiro and Gogo on numerous occasions. Ned is still after them all the way to the middle of San Fransokyo Bridge. But because this was a patch instead of a bio-chip, Mochi, by complete luck, managed to scrape it off his neck.

Hiro grabs it and he knows exactly what this is. He saw Karmi’s patches. He held one of them. He heard Liv tell Karmi that her invention was being funded. So in this exact moment, this is where the mutations and Liv align for him.

Once the patch is off Ned, he gradually returns back to normal. Hiro and Gogo take him back home. They both know that someone turned him into a monster and their suspicions as to why are confirmed when Ned tells them that Bessie is gone.

Everything makes more sense to Hiro. He knows now that Liv is turning people into monsters.

And in Something Fluffy, he’s willing to call her out on it during a public speaker’s event. Everyone else is fooled with Liv giving vague answers about how Sycorax is the future, but Hiro no longer buys it. He asks her what they actually do and yet again she answers by saying “Sycorax invests in the future”.

But Hiro continues to challenge her with another question. And naturally, she doesn’t have an answer. The “product” as we know is turning people into monsters, but obviously Liv can’t say that. And as we can see, Liv is visibly unsure of how to answer it right away. She laughs it off and gives shifty eyes.

She gives her answer, but it’s not really an answer. Instead, she says this as says it in a manner that makes it so people won’t take interest in it. What’s going on isn’t a big deal. What should only matter is that people care about Sycorax being “the future”.

Liv is quick to ask who’s next to ask a question, but Hiro is not going to stop. Since she’s avoiding directly answering his questions, his next one is straight to the point.

He’s starting to corner her. It’s no longer about what Sycorax is doing, but what Liv is up to. He knows she’s behind the mutations and he’s going to at least try to get some answers.

We all know this is a huge lie. Hiro knows it too. But others that are attending this event don’t know that and why should they believe Hiro over her? Liv’s statement would sound true to just about anyone else because of Knox being cured. No one else suspects that Liv is mutating people. It’s also interesting to note that while Liv didn’t want to have Knox cured, she’s now using it to her advantage. And everyone else believes her.

He shows her the patch that she put on Ned. And she states that she’s seen something similar to it. She knew she couldn’t say no because she knows Hiro was in the room when Karmi introduced her to the patches. And Hiro continues to put her in her place, knowing that Liv had to be the only person to have put that patch on Ned since her and Chris were the only two other people in Muirahara Woods most recently.

But Liv isn’t going to admit defeat. She tells the room it’s just a coincidence and immediately tries to change the subject. She doesn’t get to finish her sentence, but her intentions are clear. She’s asking if people want an autograph in hopes they’ll all start to line up and keep Hiro from asking more questions.

But Hiro cuts her off.

This moment. This is the moment where you can practically feel the tension between the hero and the villain. From the moment Hiro started asking her questions to here, he’s slowly been asking more difficult questions towards Liv who’s been trying to brush them off. But Hiro knows she’s the one turning people into monsters and he flat out tells her the connection. Sycorax show up when monsters show up. Hiro wants her to know that he’s onto her.

And this time around, Liv isn’t trying to defend herself. She’s not making another attempt to change the subject or say it’s a coincidence. She glares back. She’s furious that Hiro knows what she’s doing. She knows now that she’s underestimated Hiro for far too long. The same kid that turned out to not be the creator of Baymax, created a huge thermometer in an attempt to impress her, and indirectly told her where she could find Bessie is much smarter than she realized. And if he’s able to get proof that it’s her, she’s in trouble.

Luckily for her, the speaker’s event is out of time and now Liv has to figure out a way to make herself look innocent. Not just to convince Hiro, but the entire city. Even if people at this event seemed to believe her more, she knew what he had to say may get some people thinking. So, her first move is to keep the city distracted by monsters. The Mayoi!

Look at these things! Adorable, right? Of course they are! Because Liv made them that way. The mutations that have turned people into monsters have been undeniably terrifying. So what did Liv do this time? She created an entire species of Mayoi that are super cute and they distract the entire city. Everyone thinks they’re cute and no one cares where they came from.

The only person that thinks through this logically and doesn’t once fall for this trick is Hiro. He knows Liv is behind this and just when he’s starting to wonder if he may be losing it, we all find out what’s happening. The Mayoi can grow.

And they’re growing fast and huge due to them being photosynthetic and after managing to get them all in one place, the team is in for quite the surprise.

Mr. Sparkles publicly takes the credit for all the monsters that have been appearing in San Fransokyo! The Mayoi and every mutation our team has witnessed.

But as we can see here, Hiro isn’t convinced. He’s understandably confused, but not because he thinks he was wrong. But more because in this moment, he doesn’t yet understand why Mr. Sparkles is taking the credit.

And now we get to see what Mr. Sparkles mutation is. He’s taken on a form that has a similar look to the Mayoi. And his power is mind control. He can speak with the Mayoi using vibrations. With the Mayoi being under his control and at their maximum size, the team is in a lot of trouble. And right before a Mayoi has the chance to strike Hiro and Baymax, it’s blasted and returns to its original size.

That’s right! Liv Amara! This has been her plan since the speaker’s event. She knew she needed to come up with a plan that would make her look good so no one would think she creates monsters and therefore continue her work in peace. And since Mr. Sparkles offered to invest in her, she had him be the one to take credit for the monsters so she could show up and act as a savior to the city alongside Big Hero 6! And it works!

She’s playing innocent and making sure she looks like a hero. And Hiro knows it. He knows she’s really the one who created the Mayoi and now he’s beginning to realize why. This was all a stunt on Liv’s part and now he’s the one that’s cornered. He can’t turn down working with Liv because that would make him (and the team) look bad, especially since her method is working. He’s reluctant to do so, but in the end he gives in because he knows it’s the only way to defeat the Mayoi.

And it sucks that it was the only option because if anyone had any doubts that Liv was a horrible person, all those doubts have vanished. She made a good move and she executed it well.

But thankfully she hasn’t fooled our main characters. They all know Mr. Sparkles isn’t behind the monsters and that Liv was faking her act of heroism. It only leaves them with one question and that’s wondering what her endgame is.

This is the scene that truly gets us all thinking. Everything Liv has been working for. Every person she’s mutated. Every risk she’s taken. It’s all because of who’s inside that capsule. So we can only assume that the person inside is very important.

But before we get to find out who it is, we get to see what Lie Detector brings and it’s a roller coaster. Hiro spends the majority of this episode trying to catch Liv in a lie to prove that she’s the one creating the monsters. And with Baymax as both his lie detector and witness, they find a moment to confront Liv directly.

Except Hiro is thrown off when this happens. Baymax’s lie detector is as accurate as you can get. Earlier in the episode, he detected both truths and lies from Liv during her conversation with Bluff. He’s expected to catch Liv in a lie when he straight up asks her if she’s creating the monsters. But her answering that Liv isn’t creating the monsters is a truthful answer.

How?

Because she’s not the real Liv. As pointed out, she answers what Hiro wants to know by saying that “Liv Amara is not creating the monsters.” If she had answered by saying “I am not creating the monsters.” Then Baymax would have detected it as a lie. But “Liv” outsmarts Hiro by both telling the truth and again making her look innocent. It’s incredibly clever because while Hiro knows that the Liv we’ve known is behind the mutations, he doesn’t know that it’s actually not the real Liv.

We’re left with this. The person inside the capsule is the real Liv. We’re left now with more questions than answers. Who is the fake Liv? A clone or her twin sister? What happened to the real Liv? Why is the fake Liv posing as the real Liv?

Well, this is where the theories begin. As already discussed, the real Liv has a rare disorder in need of being cured. And as we get to see in Lie Detector, Liv has (pun unintended) struck gold.

After what I’d guess is months of trying to find what she needs to cure Liv, she now knows it’s gold. And she’s not going to reveal everything about this rare disorder and who she’s trying to cure, but she needs a lot of gold to do so.

But why gold?

Earlier on, Chris indirectly gives her the idea. She discovers that gold is a great match for the cure because it’s bio-compatible and has nanoparticles.

Now, we don’t know the rare disorder that Liv has, but upon doing research, it makes perfect sense as to why gold is a perfect match.

First off, the gold won’t be harmful to living tissue. But it’s the nanoparticles that are more important.

The transport of therapeutic agents to the cells by AuNPs is a critical process in biomedical treatment.

Effective targeting and delivery strategies using AuNPs have been developed for therapeutic applications including photothermal therapy,genetic regulation, and drug treatment.

In one arena, AuNPs have been exploited as attractive scaffolds for the creation of transfection agents in gene therapy to cure cancer and genetic disorders. In one arena, AuNPs have been exploited as attractive scaffolds for the creation of transfection agents in gene therapy to cure cancer and genetic disorders. (Source)

This is definitely not something I’m knowledgeable in, but this source helped me understand why Liv realized gold was the answer she’s been looking for. Based on this information, I’m theorizing that the real Liv has a rare genetic disorder. It’s hard to guess which one exactly, but to narrow it down a little bit, I’m going to guess that’s it’s either a single-gene disorder or a more complex disorder that affects two or more of her genes.

I also just want to point out how literal Liv is when she tells Chris that he’s a lifesaver. While he didn’t intentionally give Liv the idea about using gold, she discovered it was the best match for the cure because of him and now she knows she could help the real Liv. 

Her desire for Globby’s glob in Nega-Globby make sense now. She believed that his glob had potential for curing Liv’s disorder. But when it became unstable, she knew it was a dead end and left it for the city to handle. But now she has the key component to her cure.

So let’s talk about the main theories. Is the fake Liv a clone or a twin sister? Both options are very possible and it’s hard to say which one is the true outcome.

Why a clone? Because who else could Liv trust to help her than herself? If the fake Liv is anything like the real Liv, she knows that a clone of herself will have the intellect and determination to cure her. And when she finds the cure, all she has to do is dispose of this clone and return to her life as if the fake Liv never existed. And no one will ever know the real Liv was sick in the first place. Plus, we know Sycorax has the technology that’s possible for cloning people. If “Liv” can turn people into monsters, surely there’s a way to clone people.

Why a twin sister? Because who else could Liv trust to help her than her own twin? Similiar to the clone theory, there’s a chance that if Liv has a twin, they both have an interest in biotech. And if we’re going along with the real Liv having a single-gene or complex disorder, that means that the disorder was passed down from their parents. So, what if Liv got affected by the disorder, but the twin sister didn’t? Or at very least could be a carrier? If that’s the case, I’m theorizing that both of them wanted to create Sycorax, but then Liv’s disorder got worse to the point where she’s almost dying. So her twin put her in a capsule, promising to not let her down and do whatever it taken to cure her. And then so no one would find out that Liv is sick, her twin decided to use her name.

Either way, it’s pretty obvious that Liv doesn’t want anyone to know that she’s sick and dying.

I’m not surprised that a place like Sycorax have nametags that are advanced enough to tell your readings, but look at that smile. No one would suspect that Liv has a disorder when both the fake Liv is standing in for her and saying that her readings are normal and healthy.

Whether a clone or twin, “Liv” needed to have someone on her side that she could trust to help her with the process of curing the real Liv. While what’s going on with Chris is a completely different theory post for another time, I’ll just say that Chris is either a clone, their family dog that she somehow genetically modified into a human which would explain the dog-like personality, or “person” she created that has dog-like characteristics. Someone she knew would stay loyal to her during this entire process.

While my first thought upon seeing the real Liv in the capsule was believing it’s a clone (and still very well could be the outcome), I’m definitely leaning more towards the Liv we’ve known actually being a twin. This Liv (who I’m headcanoning the name of Viv for her) is talking tons of risks and desperate measures to cure the real Liv. She’s more than likely seen Liv struggle with this disorder her whole life so when now at a point where she could lose her twin sister, she’s doing everything to keep her alive. And on top of that, now because Hiro suspects her, she’s also trying to make sure she doesn’t ruin Liv’s name. That’s another reason why she played hero in Something Fluffy. This entire journey to cure Liv hasn’t gone completely as planned so she has to also make sure that when Liv is cured that no one thinks badly of her for actions that she didn’t do.

What this means for what’s to come, I don’t know. I’d like to hope the real Liv will be cured, but I do wonder what her reaction will be when she finds out what the fake Liv has been up to. Since I’m leaning towards the twin theory more, I’m going to say that Liv is going to be thankful, but mostly horrified at the chaos her sister has caused.

For the other characters, I’m sure they’re going to be shocked when they learn the truth. But are they going to try stopping “Liv” before she can cure the real Liv? And I can’t begin to imagine what Karmi is going to think. She’ll more than likely feel betrayed and used by her idol and “friend” and I wouldn’t put it past Liv to attempt turning her into a monster just so she can continue her work. I also like the possibility of “Liv” mutating herself just so she can defeat everyone and return to normal to make sure no one knows. She did say in Seventh Wheel that “At Sycorax we believe in progress. At any cost.”

TD:LR (wouldn’t blame you) - The Liv in the capsule is the real Liv and whether or not the fake Liv is a clone or twin, she has had good intentions with trying to cure Liv of her disorder, but has gone about it in many wrong ways.

[ciestessde]

Phantasma Magica Ch. 5

STORY SUMMARY

Clockwork and the Observants send Danny to Hogwarts on a special mission. But, cryptic as ever, that Old Stopwatch never actually told him what would happen on it!!! “All you need to do right now, Daniel, is stay focused on your mission. And remember, the-” “‘The Lions with the time-turner, lightning-bolt scar, and hair like fire are friends; watch out for the rat; and the black dog is not a threat.’ Yeah, you’ve only repeated that a few dozen times today.”

Next → ← Previous (First)

Harry was stuck, by order of the school nurse, in the hospital wing the rest of the weekend after his fall. Which was fine by Danny -- Harry was the only overnight patient, so, other than the occasional visitor and the nurse, the hospital wing was empty most of the time. Which meant, with Danny able to turn visible when needed, he could spend the entire weekend guarding and visiting with his friend. (A fantastic balm to his newfound paranoia!)

Harry didn’t seem to mind the company, either, filling Danny in on various things about the wizarding world. … Well. He mostly talked about Quidditch -- the upcoming rematch occupying the boy’s mind. Danny was an expert on the sport by Monday morning. And (despite his aversion toward sports in general) Danny found he was looking forward to watching Harry play -- without rain blocking most of his vision. But the entire weekend -- even though spending time with a friend did much to calm him -- something kept bothering Danny. That taint in Harry’s metaphorical “smell” kept itching at his nose…

Even after his release, Danny decided to continue prioritizing Harry’s safety -- only resting when he knew Harry was in a safe environment. And with all the practice he got following Harry around, Danny finally perfected the art of concealing the chilling effect of his aura. ~Poor~ Malfoy, though, was unaware of his nemesis’ ghostly bodyguard, and had decided Harry’s weakness to the dementors was hilarious. If he had known… perhaps he wouldn’t have decided to make fun of Harry during potions… and maybe he would have avoided having his stool, and a bit of the table in front of him, turned intangible -- covering him in his unfinished potion… (Much to Danny’s annoyance, Snape didn’t take any points from Malfoy’s House. He considered pranking the professor as well, but didn’t dare risk it. … Yet.)

Because he was prioritizing Harry’s safety, Danny found himself staying with him when Lupin asked to have a word after class, too. Once all of the students had left, Danny went ahead and turned visible. “I heard about the match,” Lupin addressed Harry, “and I’m sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?” “No. The tree smashed it to bits.” Lupin sighed, beginning to prepare for the next class. “They planted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it. No broomstick would have a chance.”

Hesitating, Harry asked, “Did you hear about the dementors too?” Lupin paused, glanced at the phantasm floating in the corner -- then looked back at Harry. “Yes, I did. I don’t think any of us have seen Professor Dumbledore that angry. They have been growing restless for some time… furious at his refusal to let them inside the grounds… I suppose they were the reason you fell?” “Yes,” said Harry, hesitating again before, “Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just-” “It has nothing to do with weakness,” Lupin interjected sharply. “The dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don’t have.”

As Lupin explained the horrible creatures that were dementors again, Danny was bothered by the mystery that bugged him all weekend -- the tainted smell of Harry’s soul. There was another piece of the puzzle. He could feel it, just out of reach… “When they get near me--” Harry’s throat tightened, “I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum.” Lupin moved as if to comfort him, but stopped. There was a moment of silence.

“-Why did they have to come to the match?” Harry said bitterly. “I expect knowing a phantasm was nearby agitated them. But mostly -- they’re getting hungry.” Lupin shut his briefcase with a snap. “Dumbledore won’t let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up. … I don’t think they could resist the large crowd around the Quidditch field. All that excitement… emotions running high… it was their idea of a feast.”

‘--Wait…’ Danny thought, ‘... If it was the crowd that drew them -- why did they target Harry? And… I get reliving bad memories is common around them, but -- Harry was a baby when his mother was killed…‘

Finally, something clicked: This wasn’t the first time the dementors had singled Harry out; reliving a memory he shouldn’t have; the tainted “smell.” … Danny’s mission -- Clockwork’s clues… An idea -- which seemed almost impossible -- occurred to Danny: ‘What if… Harry is a horcrux…?’

Now that the idea had occurred to him -- -- It was unmistakable. Danny’s senses honed in on Harry’s soul without his volition -- and there it was. Like an infected wound, or a parasite -- a piece of a soul reeking of death clung to Harry. It’s essence seeped out of his scar, right where they had said Voldemort’s curse rebounded. For the first time since becoming a phantasm, Danny genuinely felt cold.

But he couldn’t dwell on this. What felt like hours to Danny was only a couple seconds -- before the name “Sirius Black,” and the abrupt motion of Lupin almost dropping his suitcase, pulled him back into their conversation.

“Yes, Black must have found a way to fight them. I wouldn’t have believed it possible…” Lupin said. ‘But Harry wasn’t on the list of objects!’ “Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long…”

‘Harry’s my friend -- I will NOT attack him!’ Harry interjected, “You made the dementors on the train back off.” ‘Oh, of course Clockwork didn’t tell me, he knew I wouldn’t-- no… Waaait. He said that Harry was a “friend” …’

“There are -- certain defenses one can use.” ‘That old- He manipulated me! --Not that… I didn’t know he was doing that... --but STILL!’ “But there was only one dementor on the train. The more there are, the more difficult it becomes to resist.” ‘Okay. Breathe. Calm down.’

“What defenses? Can you teach me?!” ‘Clockwork didn’t put Harry on the list.’

“I don’t pretend to be an expert at fighting dementors, Harry… quite the contrary…” ‘That means I don’t have to do anything.’

“But if the dementors come to another Quidditch match, I need to be able to fight them--”

Lupin hesitated… ‘And if Harry knew… He’d freak out…’ “Well… all right. I’ll try and help.” Danny was trying his hardest to not freeze the walls behind him. “But it’ll have to wait until next term, I’m afraid. I have a lot to do before the holidays.” ‘If Clockwork didn’t mention this… Yeah--’ “I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill.”

‘--Harry doesn’t need to know.’

He was about to follow Harry out of the room -- still visible -- when Lupin called, “Danny?” His gaze jerked around, his mind still reeling. Lupin locked eyes with him, concerned. “I hope this isn’t over-stepping, but… Are you alright?” Danny didn’t know how to answer that. He wanted to trust this teacher -- he really did, but… He smiled, “Yeah, I’m fine.” Lupin couldn’t have missed the pause if he had tried. But he continued on, “Well, I was wondering if I might have that interview tomorrow. During lunch, perhaps?” Lunch was safe. Harry was surrounded by other wizards -- Hermione and Ron, other friends -- during lunch. “Yeah, that works for me.” Danny’s desire to protect his young friend was stronger than ever. And the more positive relations he could build in this unsafe environment -- the better.

So as promised, he met the professor in his office the next day. He asked mostly standard questions… Which was rather awkward for Danny. “What do phantasms eat?” “Uhhh… Well…” Only the first question -- and he already wanted to fly away. In his defense, he thought they already knew AT LEAST this much!? “We-I mean, they eat mostly… ummm…” ‘How do I answer this without freaking him out?!?!’ Resigning himself, he sighed. “Phantasms eat... souls.”

Lupin almost dropped his quill. He stared at Danny, certain he had misheard. Danny quickly added, “But- I don’t! I eat -- My guardian, he makes this substance. A substitute for souls. I- Here, let me show you!” And like that, he darted off, grabbing them from where he had stored them in the system of giant-unused-wall-pipes. Lupin was fascinated by the glowing green bottles, and Danny agreed to let him have one to study.

““We were aware that phantasms were capable of sucking out souls, of course, but… I never thought a creature would use it as their primary food source. I wonder-- is being a soul eater--” “--‘Spirit-eater’--” “--what causes the space around both species to become cold?” “I… don’t know. Maybe?” “Now, I know this might be uncomfortable, but… What about reproduction?”

And so the interview went. Many awkward questions, many not. Some curiosity easily satisfied: “I see. You can spread your aura into it to turn another object invisible or intangible as well!” And many questions he didn’t have answers to: “How do you switch between a corporeal and intangible form?” By the end of it, Lupin seemed to have lost any remaining reservations he had towards Danny, and Danny had decided that Lupin really was a good guy. But still… a good guy or not, Danny didn’t know whether he could trust Lupin with his mission. Not just yet…

  Before classes were to end for their winter break, another Hogsmeade trip rolled around -- with the promise of Danny and Harry being stuck, once again, inside the castle. But on the way back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry was lured into an empty classroom by Ron’s twin brothers, Fred and George.

“Early Christmas present for you, Harry,” Fred pulled a worn, blank piece of parchment from inside his cloak, and, with a flourish, laid it on a desk. “What’s that supposed to be?” “This, Harry, is the secret of our success.” George patted the parchment fondly. “It’s a wrench, giving it to you, but we decided last night, your need’s greater than ours.” “Anyway, we know it by heart. We bequeath it to you. We don’t really need it anymore.” They explained they’d gotten (stolen) it from Filch; a drawer in his office labeled “Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.”

With a tap of George’s wand and the words “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” ink spread out on the parchment forming a map with the title:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER’S MAP

It showed every detail of Hogwarts and its grounds (‘Where was this when I needed it?!’), even -- with a moving dot and a name -- where people were inside it. For an instant, Danny and Harry’s pulses raced. But they quickly realized -- Danny wasn’t there. They were both just as confused as they were relieved. (Danny even more so when he saw the names of the Hogwarts’ ghosts and Peeves were shown on the map.)

Fred traced a secret passage on the map with his finger, “Right into Hogsmeade. There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four,” he pointed to them, “but we’re sure we’re the only ones who know about these. Don’t bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it’s caved in -- completely blocked. And we don’t reckon anyone’s ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow’s planted right over the entrance…” ‘That… Doesn’t make sense. Of course it was used! It was built, so -- oh, y’know what, forget it. I’ll investigate it later.’

After the twins left, Danny turned visible. “Danny look! If the twins are right -- and I’m sure they are -- I can get into Hogsmeade!” “Yeah…” Danny hesitated, while Harry studied the map more closely. He knew he couldn’t stop Harry if he really wanted to go, but… “Hey, uh…” Harry looked at him, grinning. Danny smiled back. ‘I’ll just have to go with him.’ “If you’re going to do this, you should probably grab your coat and invisibility cloak first.” “No, I’ll be fine. I don’t want to wait any longer.” And like that, he took off. Danny sighed, but smiled. It was good to see Harry so happy. He had been in a slump ever since losing his broom. Some fresh air and new sights would probably do him good.

Danny followed at a distance. Harry met up with Ron and Hermione right away. Hermione did not approve of Harry being there, of course. Ron, though, pointed out a notice pasted on the door of the shop the secret tunnel had let out in, which said that dementors were patrolling the streets of the small town during the night. ‘Only during the night, huh…?’ Ron’s point was that Sirius Black couldn’t get into the town because of these patrols. Danny disagreed (he’d gotten into the school, hadn’t he?), but he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with the creatures here during the day.

  After buying some candy from the shop, the trio made there way to a small, warm pub/inn called the “Three Broomsticks.” Things were going well. Ron even got Danny his own mug of “Butterbeer” -- a non-alcoholic beverage which, Danny decided (though not as good as hot cocoa) wasn’t half bad. He floated above the table, drinking from his invisible cup, when he noticed a group of teachers headed towards the building.

Danny reached down and turned Harry invisible with him. “Danny?” asked Harry. “What’s wrong?” Hermione looked around, quickly spotting their professors and the other adults coming inside. ‘Oh, this is going to be another long day, isn’t it?’ He resigned himself to it when they sat down at the table right next to theirs. Apparently, one of them, a man he didn’t recognize, was actually the “Minister,” and they even invited the waitress, Madam Rosmerta, to join them. The topic of conversation was, of course, Sirius Black. But… things turned personal.

Well… even more personal than attempts on Harry’s life. Danny was worried he’d have to restrain Harry. He almost had to restrain himself.

Black was Harry’s godfather. He’d been Harry's father’s best friend! But even more than that…

“... Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm,” the Minister said. “How does that work?” asked the waitress. Professor Flitwick (the teacher of the Charms class) filled her in. He explained that it hid a secret inside a chosen “Secret-Keeper’s” soul so that, unless revealed by the Secret-Keeper, it would be impossible to know or find out -- even if the “secret” was directly in front of you. Black had been chosen as just such a Secret-Keeper to hide the Potter family’s location from Voldemort. And, seeing as they were murdered barely a week after he became their Secret-Keeper…

Danny struggled not to freeze Harry’s shoulder, but managed to control himself. Their story wasn’t finished, either. Soon after Voldemort “died” (as Danny knew better), another friend of Black and Harry’s father, “Peter Pettigrew,” confronted Black. And Black didn’t just kill him -- Black blew him up! ...

  After making sure Harry and the others made it back to the castle safely, Danny flew himself down into one of the rare places that could provide the space and privacy he needed right then: the large underground room he had found connected to the pipes. (He had been mildly concerned by the gigantic snake carcass that was down there when he first found it -- but he didn’t even spare it a glance.) He spent that night and into the morning letting off steam. The snake’s body was frozen solid and shattered into millions of pieces, the walls were scorched and scarred by ethereal fire and his sonic attacks (as loud as he could make them without drawing attention down there).

It was like his mind was racing -- but had nowhere to go.

He wanted to find this Sirius Black and kill him -- No, he wanted to protect Harry, to make sure no one hurt his friend --

Harry must be feeling even worse right now, he should be comforting him -- No, Ron and Hermione were closer friends to Harry, and there was nothing he could say or do that could help --

He could kill Black, that would help his friend -- ‘I WILL NOT KILL!’ --

-- ‘But I want to protect them…’

~~~~~

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(Updates every Wednesday until completion.)

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[month9books]

Riverdale TV Show Review Episode 5 by Andrew Buckley

RIVERDALE - Chapter Five: Heart of Darkness

I had a real blonde (Betty) moment today when I suddenly realized that all the titles of the Riverdale episodes are named after movies. I went to film school! How did I not catch that?! But enough about me and my shortcomings. We have another episode of Riverdale to rip to shreds and it’s full of gothic goodness!

This episode served to give us a proper introduction to the Blossom family. Other than Mrs. Blossom bitch-slapping Betty’s mom a couple of episodes ago, most of our experience with what is clearly a very well-adjusted family (of psychopaths) has been through Cheryl. But they’re so much more than we expected! Not only do they live in a creepy mansion on the edge of town, but they’re all evil and crazy. And that grandmother (shudder) . . . what is with Granny Blossom?! But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s take a look at the other main stories first.

I fully understand that Archie is our main character but the show is truly an ensemble with no actual clear protagonist and it’ll be impossible for every story to have the same impact. For me, Archie’s story is getting a little buried under all the death, drama, and scandals. However, it’s no less heartwarming as our fave teen deals with the dilemma of football vs. music. Veronica points out that we are now living in a PG world - Post Grundy. The shockwaves felt by Grundy’s departure are all purely living inside Archie’s head, and he has a hard time coming to terms with who he is and what he wants to do now that his muse has driven off into the sunset, likely to prey on some other unsuspecting teenagers. Enter Valerie and we have a new female looking to set Archie on a particular path. That’s right, Archie has moved from a cougar to a pussycat (**that was low hanging fruit and I apologize).

Even in the source material, Archie is a character of choices and balance. Betty and Veronica, Jughead and Reggie, Football and Music . . . he exists in a constant state of decision-making. It was refreshing, and reassuring to see his final decision in this episode to give the captain position over to Reggie. Archie truly is a good guy who really doesn’t want to hurt anyone. That kind of nobility is endearing. And in short supply when it comes to the town of Riverdale.

 This is more nitpicky, but the acting in this show is pretty solid across the board with a few people truly shining (Archie’s Dad, Veronica, Jughead) so when someone is missing the mark entirely, it stands out like a dead Jason Blossom interrupting a gay rendezvous. Oscar the college music mentor is the aforementioned metaphorical floating corpse in this episode. His performance was exceptionally wooden and I found the scenes a little jarring. But I digress . . .

 Jughead and Betty are in full investigation mode this episode, seeking to hunt down Jason’s killer. I’m disheartened to have to let go of my Betty/Polly split personality theory but it appears the show has proven me wrong. While we haven’t actually seen Polly yet - but wait, what about the home video of Polly as a kid? - You mean the little blonde girl? - Yeah, that one - That could have just as easily been a young Betty! Okay, so I’m having trouble letting go of the theory. Maybe Betty and Polly aren’t the same person. Maybe Betty is just forming a Polly ‘personality’ to let out her dark side ala Norman Bates? But why can’t Betty see Polly? Why did Mr. Cooper lie about Polly attempting to kill herself when she was really engaged to Jason? It still doesn’t add up. And that brings us to what was possibly my favourite scene this week: Enter Granny Blossom!

This woman was creepy on a number of levels. Thornhill is already one disembodied hand away from being the Addams Family Mansion as it is! Granny Blossom acts in an expository fashion to reveal two things: 1) Jason and Polly were engaged. 2) Betty and Polly look identical. Maybe because they’re the same person!? (Okay, okay, I’ll let it go) Jughead’s reaction to the old lady rolling out of the darkness (“The horror, the horror!) was beautiful and provided one of the few comedic relief moments of what was otherwise a dark, mist-clad, episode.

 Penelope Blossom makes Betty’s mom look like a girl scout leader. From the highly uncomfortable dinner party, to her verbally ripping Cheryl a new one, and her ulterior motive of using her son’s funeral to bring all the murder suspects into one place is downright chilling. Jughead referring to Cheryl as a Gothic Heroine is well-placed because that’s exactly what she becomes in this episode and it’s not just the creepy setting of Thornhill that cements the title for her. Cheryl has her own demons, as revealed by her eulogy, and suffers at the hands of her demented family, and all of a sudden her entire character makes perfect sense. Sadly it means we have to remove her from the list of murder suspects because it now truly makes no good logical sense that she’d have killed her brother who was clearly the only good thing in her world.

Veronica is finding a place for herself as the town’s do-gooder and while her witty banter and perfect pun delivery is on point, she truly carved out her role as ‘supportive friend’ this week. Normally she plays off of Betty but this time around she becomes Cheryl’s shoulder to cry on and, albeit briefly, a bit of a compass for Archie. It’s her interactions with Cheryl and her ability to relate to the misunderstood rich girl that drives the story forward as the remaining Blossom twin struggles to find the best way to say goodbye to the dearly departed. For someone who is supposed to be shallow, Ronnie constantly shows shades of being the bigger person and it’s an interesting tact for the show’s writers to take. Eventually we’re going to see evil Veronica and I expect it’ll be both spellbinding and devastating.

 This was a great gothic episode that highlighted an even darker side of Riverdale and its nefarious maple syrup drenched murderous past. And now I have a craving for pancakes . . .

  STRAY THOUGHTS OF AWESOMENESS . . .

 - Snakes in a Box! Someone call Samuel L Jackson. Scratch that, call Fred Andrews. Know why? Because he continually crushes it on every level. As both a father and a friend, Mr. Andrews represents something noble and hardworking in a town of misfits, thieves, and murderers. And it looks like Hermione is beginning to notice.

 - Blood feud and Maple Syrup - Grandfather Blossom killed Grandfather Cooper. One of the few times anyone has been murdered over sticky sugar. Again, someone bring me pancakes. Now!

 - “Yeah, KJ, listen, we’re going to need at least one scene per week where you don’t wear a shirt.”

 - Zombie Jason!

So who killed Jason Blossom?! Let me know what you think! 

Andrew Buckley attended the Vancouver Film School’s Writing for Film and Television program. After pitching and developing several screenplay projects for film and television, he worked in marketing and public relations, before becoming a professional copy and content writer. During this time Andrew began writing his first adult novel, DEATH, THE DEVIL AND THE GOLDFISH, followed closely by his second novel, STILTSKIN. He works as an editor for Curiosity Quills Press.

Andrew also co-hosts a geek movie podcast, is working on his next novel, and has a stunning amount of other ideas. He now lives happily in the Okanagan Valley, BC with three kids, one cat, one needy dog, one beautiful wife, and a multitude of characters that live comfortably inside of his mind.

Andrew is represented by Mark Gottlieb at the Trident Media Group.

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Lesson 7) Ghosts, Poltergeists, and Gytrashes

*As the students enter the classroom, they see the Hogwarts ghosts floating around, putting on their usual start of term performance. The ghosts quickly disperse, only to be replaced by Peeves, who starts pelting the First Years with Stink Pellets then quickly flies away, laughing*

I hope you all enjoyed that show! It is not often that the ghosts will put on their little flying performance like that. I did not expect Peeves to make an appearance, but it does play well into the topics we will be covering today. Today, we continue our pursuit of paranormal creatures from last lesson by focusing on creatures that exist beyond the realm of the living, specifically by examining different types of spirits, both formerly human and non-human.

Ghosts



We will start by looking at the people you saw when first entering the classroom. A ghost is, for lack of a better definition, the essence of a person that is left behind after the person dies. They are weightless, transparent, have no physical form (though they do hold the image that their living body had), and cannot do much to affect the physical world around them. They are incapable of touching objects or making the object move. In fact, the only noticeable influences that ghosts have is that, when a living person walks through them, the person suddenly feels a chill.

Due to their transparent and overall nature, ghosts have the ability to become invisible, so a person may not even know a ghost is in the area unless they walk through the ghost. As a rule of courtesy, you should try to avoid walking through ghosts when possible, though it is unavoidable in some cases. Not only is the chill that you will feel uncomfortable, but the ghost may also become offended, since it is seen as rude to flaunt the fact that the person is dead by just walking through them.

Muggles frequently tell stories about ghosts, but they get them quite wrong in many accounts. We will look at some of the key characteristics of the Muggle ghost and explain why they are wrong.

First, Muggles seem to have this idea that anyone can become a ghost and haunt the living, causing fear and chaos wherever they go. The truth is that only magical people can become ghosts. Ghosts also are not malevolent, that is to say they have no ill-intent towards the living, in any sense of the word; they will, however, hold grudges towards other ghosts for incidents that happened when they were alive. Some ghosts will be grumpier than others, for example Moaning Myrtle who inhabits the girl’s lavatory on the first floor, but for the most part, ghosts are actually extremely friendly and will gladly stop and chat with you if you have a few minutes. However, there are a few courtesy rules to remember when talking to a ghost:

NEVER bring up the topic of their death. It is rude to ask about how the person died unless they bring up the topic first.NEVER draw attention to the fact that the ghost is no longer among the living. Even mentioning something like eating or drinking could cause the ghost to become offended.ALWAYS thank the ghost for their time. They like to feel appreciated.

Beyond that, the best way to determine how to handle a ghost comes down to an individual level. Some ghosts will be touchier than others about certain subjects, so it is best to know what each ghost prefers talking about. For example, you would be best informed never to bring up the Headless Hunt when talking to Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, otherwise known as the Gryffindor House ghost, Nearly Headless Nick.

Poltergeists



Similar to ghosts, we move on to poltergeists. Like ghosts, poltergeists are spirits; however, that is where the similarities end. Unlike the friendly nature of ghosts, poltergeists are spirits of chaos. They are fuelled by chaos and will always inhabit places where people frequently gather. Castles that are used, such as Hogwarts, are the perfect locations for poltergeists to thrive. There have also been recorded cases of poltergeists inhabiting Muggle and magical homes.

Ghosts and poltergeists also differ through their ability to interact with the physical world. Ghosts have no ability to touch or move objects, while poltergeists can do both. It is not uncommon for a poltergeist to pick up objects and move them around in order to cause more chaos and give themselves more power.

Another key characteristic of poltergeists is that it is very rare for them to have a visible, distinct form. They aren’t like ghosts and most often cannot be seen. Peeves, the poltergeist you saw at the beginning of the lesson who pelted you all with stink pellets, is one of the rare exceptions. For the most part, you will have to depend on other telling signs that a poltergeist is in your midst. Some of the ways will be noticeable, others not so much. Some of the signs you, as magical people, will want to watch for are as follows:

Banging on the walls or, generally, noises that you cannot explainObjects suddenly being thrown across rooms, seemingly on their ownStrange, unexplainable smellsPhysical attack from unseen forces

Now, one of these alone is not necessarily a telltale sign of a poltergeist. It is through the combination of several of these signs that you can tell. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to rid an area of a poltergeist - if it were possible, I am sure Peeves would have been removed from the castle long ago. No, the only way to “end” a poltergeist attack is to abandon the place they inhabit. If there are no people, the poltergeist cannot get any power and will effectively fade away. They will not be gone completely, though, just temporarily fizzled. Once people return to the area, they will be empowered again and will be back in action, causing chaos and mischief.

One final note to make about poltergeists is that, in extremely rare cases, they can be controlled. Using Peeves as our example, he seems to at least acknowledge people in positions of authority who have earned their respect - Peeves would always listen to Albus Dumbledore and The Bloody Baron (the Slytherin ghost). A poltergeist may also listen to someone who they recognize as suitably chaotic or who makes a chaotic request. In 1996, Fred and George Weasley were able to get Peeves to listen to them when they requested that he make Dolores Umbridge’s life at Hogwarts miserable.

Gytrashes



Finally, we come to the gytrash. These creatures are ghostly, large dogs that will only appear at night. They are pure white, except for their pitch black eyes, and can be extremely vicious. However, what makes these creatures particularly dangerous is their ability to blend into their surroundings until they are right on top of their prey - their favorite of which is humans. They can also be difficult because it is very rare for a gytrash to attack alone. In fact, they will frequently attack in groups of two to six.

There are a few known places where gytrashes are known to have packs. One of the most notable places is right here at Hogwarts, out in the Forbidden Forest. This pack is one of the many reasons that you are expressly forbidden to go into the forest - it limits the exposure to these creatures. In fact, you should never encounter the Hogwarts pack, since you should all be in your dormitories long before they come out.

Their method of hunting involves, as mentioned, working in groups of two to six. They attack by lunging at the victim, leaving one large bite before darting away, and waiting for the next attack. If they were alone, this would not be too dangerous, but since there can be as many as six of them, this can quickly become a deadly situation, since one gytrash can attack and dart away only for another gytrash to follow.

Overall, there is very little to worry about from the spectres we have talked about today. It is rare that a poltergeist will do something that is aimed to kill - they like chaos and need humans around to survive. Ghosts are usually friendly spirits that won’t attack because they are unable to. If a ghost is bugging you too much, you can chase them away with the Wand-Lighting Charm, which we learned in our first lesson. This spell will also work to defend yourself against a Gytrash, since they will flee the light from a wand.

Please make sure you review your notes and prepare yourself adequately for today’s quiz. This quiz will be a little longer than usual, but that is only because we covered so much more material.

All images found in lesson were obtained through a Google Image search.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Year One will serve as an introduction that will set the foundation for your magical education and properly prepare you for future work in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Here, we will explore what the Dark Arts are, some basic defensive and offensive spells, and low ranking dark creatures that will allow you to develop an understanding about how we discuss and defend against dark creatures.Enroll 

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Interview with a Ghost

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Book Excerpt: The Sopranos Sessions by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall

Below is an excerpt from the new book "The Sopranos Sessions," written by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall. To order your copy of the book, click here. 

The pilot of The Sopranos built a world that was fresh and convincing enough to get viewers’ attention, and the next three chapters were strong enough to hold it. But it wasn’t until “College” that The Sopranos truly became The Sopranos—doing it, ironically, by separating three main characters, Tony, Meadow, and Carmela, from their carefully established community.

The audacity of the episode’s structure is itself notable: it concentrates on just two narratives, sidelining everyone else (except for Christopher, in a performance that’s literally phoned in). One plotline follows Tony as he tours universities in Maine with his daughter and spots Febby Petrulio (Tony Ray Rossi), a Mob informant whose testimony jailed several of his colleagues and might have hastened his own father’s demise. Tony’s obsession with killing the rat erupts on the heels of Meadow grilling him about whether he’s in the Mafia. His attempts to track and kill Febby with long-distance help from Chris are a source of farcical humor, with Tony taking an increasingly annoyed Meadow on a chase down a winding two-lane road, pawning her off on a group of local students in a bar, and constantly fabricating reasons for ducking into a phone booth.

The second story finds Carmela welcoming Father Phil Intintola (Paul Schulze), a celibate flirt, into her empty house on the same stormy night she learns that Dr. Melfi’s first name is Jennifer; distraught, she grumbles that Tony’s refusal to volunteer Melfi’s gender must mean he’s sleeping with her. A dangerous dance ensues. (Their chosen film is The Remains of the Day, a 1993 drama about a housekeeper and butler who are too repressed and bound by their obligations ever to be together—sound familiar?) The connections between the plotlines emerge organically via juxtaposition, without excessive prompting. Whenever “College” seems to hand themes directly to the viewer, it does so in such a plain-spoken way that they open new avenues of interpretation rather than close off existing ones. Meadow and Tony’s discussions about honesty, Carmela and Father Phil’s conversations about sin, guilt, and spirituality, and the scenes where both pairs ponder confidentiality and secrecy, refract off each other and illuminate the entire episode, and the series as a whole. “College” also gives us a clear sense of Tony’s strengths as a father—he can be a good listener when he takes off the tough-guy mask—as well as the better qualities that Meadow might’ve absorbed from Carmela: her ability to recognize others’ peace offerings (when Tony half-admits that he’s in the Mob, she admits that she did speed to get through finals) and her willingness to call bullshit on men she catches lying or evading. (“You know, there was a time when the Italian people didn’t have a lot of options,” Tony weasels. “You mean like Mario Cuomo?” Meadow counters.)

But all this is a mere sideshow to the hour’s bloody piece de resistance, Tony’s murder of the informant. It puts the Analyze This comparisons to bed forever, makes it clear that this isn’t some cute series about a henpecked Mob boss with troublemaking kids (“Wiseguys: They’re just like us!”), and announces that the evolutionary changes in TV storytelling that Hill Street Blues launched are about to be overthrown.

They attended SUNY Purchase together, and had acted together many times on stage and screen (and would continue to do so for years after The Sopranos ended, as toxic lovers on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie). There’s a shorthand and chemistry between them beyond the nearly romantic that’s enormously valuable for a story that has to push their relationship to its outer edges at a point in the series when we barely know either character.

This might seem an excessive claim to anyone who grew up on television after The Sopranos and watched countless protagonists do horrible things, sometimes defensibly, sometimes not. But back in 1999, the effect of this particular killing was seismic. Four episodes in, viewers had seen murder and violent death attributable to negligence or incompetence, but Tony didn’t commit any of the acts, nor was he directly responsible for their occurrence. Though he was way too free with his fists, Tony was a de-escalator: burning down Artie’s restaurant so Junior couldn’t have somebody whacked there, engineering Junior’s ascent to the top slot to head off a war, and so on. And although it seemed unthinkable that he’d go through the series without ordering at least one person’s death—he’d toyed with the idea—a killing like this seemed equally unthinkable, because TV protagonists didn’t get down in the muck like that. That was what henchmen and guest stars were for.

Let’s back up from the murder and examine its dramatic architecture to determine what made it so unusual. It’s not the choice of target. Febby may have left the life years earlier, but he hasn’t really reformed. Deep down he’s still a criminal, and he’ll always be a rat, and because we’ve spent lots of time with Tony and none with Febby, and accept that this is the kind of thing mobsters have to do because of their code, of course we’re going to take Tony’s side. Also significant: this is a crime of opportunity. Tony didn’t drag Meadow to Maine just to track down Febby and kill him, which would’ve been reckless and deranged versus merely impulsive. He isn’t killing some random person for disrespecting him or to cover up some other offense. This is a former gangster—and a poor excuse for one. He sold out his friends (one of whom died in prison), then entered witness protection until the FBI ejected him. Now he’s been living under an Anglicized alias, Fred Peters, and lecturing about his former life to college kids. We already know (from the pilot and “46 Long”) Tony and the others consider this sort of behavior a whackable offense. 

All of this places Febby squarely in the category of “work problems.” To frame things in terms of the Godfather films, as The Sopranos often does, Febby isn’t that anonymous sex worker in The Godfather Part II who the Corleones killed to indebt a senator; he’s more akin to Frankie Five Angels, the underboss in II who becomes a state witness and kills himself after committing perjury. The Corleones became American folk heroes despite being thieving, racketeering monsters because, with few exceptions, they only killed other mobsters and their collaborators, and only ones that were coded as worse than the Corleones.

That’s the case here as well, though we feel for Febby’s wife and daughter even if we don’t care what happens to Febby. No, Febby’s murder was startling because of the context—a father-daughter road trip, mirroring Febby’s life with the wife he’ll never sleep next to again and the daughter he won’t see grow up—and because of the joy Tony takes in doing the deed. There’s no regret or distaste on his face as he twists those cords, only glee. The most frightening thing about Tony is the way he seems to trade depression for euphoria when hurting people. James Gandolfini’s face splits into a predatory grin, practically a leer, and he throws his tall, broad frame into the action with the furious precision of a smaller, more graceful man. His arms and fists are a blur, his eyes blaze, and flecks of spittle fly out of his mouth as he curses the men he’s battering and tormenting. He’s never been scarier.

The lead-up to the strangulation reveals the scene’s primordial essence: we’re watching an apex predator stalk and kill its prey. We got a taste of this approach earlier in the episode when Tony visited Febby’s home and watched him tell his daughter good night while sitting in a hot tub with his wife. Right before Tony sneaks up behind Febby in the woods, Febby hears a noise in nearby brush and looks to see what caused it, and we get a cutaway shot of a deer gazing at him, its curious face framed by the greenery. The sequence of actions that brought us to this point represents a journey backward in time: Tony and Febby arrive by car, a twentieth-century form of transportation; Febby loses his revolver, a nineteenth-century weapon, during the struggle, and there’s a shot of the piece dropping onto the earth beneath his feet; then Tony strangles him and strangles him and keeps strangling him, an act of Shakespearean viciousness. The scene lasts much longer than you expect, until the audience feels assaulted as well. The editing cuts between tight close-ups of Febby’s face, Tony’s hands pulling the cords tight around Febby’s neck, and Tony’s face contorted in euphoric rage, his front teeth framed by his snarling mouth (like an upside-down smile) so that they evoke a carnivore’s bared fangs. Close-ups of Tony’s hands reveal that he’s choking Febby so hard that the cords are cutting his skin.38 After he drops Febby’s lifeless body, he stands up and walks past the travel agency as insects whir and birds caw. He looks up to see a flock of birds—ducks, probably—in a V formation, a shot that resonates in multiple ways, none of them reassuring.

Shots of birds in flight after a character’s death always evoke a soul departing. In this case, they also amplify the sense that we’ve just seen prehistoric savagery occur. These ducks harken back to the ones that left Tony’s swimming pool, part of a narrative that we associate with Tony and Livia’s relationship: her hold over his imagination, the genes that encoded half of the beast in him. And they stand in for the safe family and feelings of peace that seem to remain forever beyond his grasp. Carmela’s story is nearly as unsettling, partly because of how it fuses with Tony’s. Tony’s half of “College” is a scaled-down, two-character exploration of what it means to be Tony Soprano, a theoretically respectable man with a house, a wife, a kids, and a secret criminal life; Carmela’s half is about being his complicit partner. We get a sense of how repressed she is, thanks to her acceptance of the contradictory sexual values of Mob marriages (men are expected, even encouraged to take mistresses; wives are supposed to be faithful) as well as the sexual politics of Roman Catholicism. Two of the movies that are name-checked in this episode, The Remains of the Day and Casablanca, revolve around great loves that cannot be. It’s spot-on that she’d bond with Father Phil over these sorts of movies, and that she’d select a priest as the vessel into which to pour the specific desires, fears, and affinities that Tony would never entertain. There’s (almost) no danger that the frisson of attraction will become physical.

Nevertheless, her evening with Father Phil unfolds like a date from the start—she even takes a pass at her hair before letting him in. Their interactions show that they genuinely like each other, and that each is getting something out of the relationship. Carmela gives the priest-plus an outlet for his intellectual curiosity beyond matters of scripture, plus imaginative fuel for fantasies of a life where he could have a normal relationship with a woman (thus their discussion of Jesus coming down off the cross in Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ). Father Phil gives Carmela a sympathetic ear, appreciation for her food and her personality, and a means to discuss religion, philosophy, and movies as art. The script is clear on what’s at stake for them: it’s never a good idea to court a gangster’s wife, or for a gangster’s wife to step out. But the fact that Father Phil is married to the church adds another layer of taboo. When he rushes to the bathroom to retch after moving in for a kiss, it’s not just the alcohol causing his body to rebel.(The moment connects with the Last Temptation discussion, as well as with Tony’s line while killing Febby: “You took an oath and you broke it!”)

It seems fitting that “College” puts Carmela’s confession to Father Phil and her subsequent taking of Communion—the moments when she’s most emotionally naked—at the midpoint, where these characters’ first sex scene might go were this a novel about two lovers. The close-ups of Father Phil pouring wine into a Communion cup and delivering it straight to Carmela’s lips along with the Host are the true consummation of a storyline about sexual energy being teased out and shut down (or redirected). It’s in these scenes that we move beyond the question of “Will they or won’t they?” and enter darker territory. Carmela is in denial about her husband’s affairs, but those pale in comparison to the other sins, the literal crimes, that she can’t bring herself to confront. Her confession to Father Phil, delivered on the same couch where her family watches TV, sums up this series’ fascination with evil and compromise, false faces and self-deception. “I have forsaken what is right for what is easy, allowing what I know is evil in my house,” she says. “Allowing my children—Oh my God, my sweet children!—to be a part of it, because I wanted things for them. I wanted a better life, good schools. I wanted this house. I wanted money in my hands, money to buy everything I ever wanted. I’m so ashamed! My husband, I think he has committed horrible acts. . . . I’ve said nothing, I’ve done nothing about it. I got a bad feeling it’s just a matter of time before God compensates me with outrage for my sins.”

Late in “College” there’s a scene with Tony that explicitly connects the two stories. As Tony sits in a university hallway at Bowdoin College waiting for Meadow to be interviewed, he looks up at a quote emblazoned on a large panel hanging over a doorway: “No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.”43 It’s a slight misquote from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, about a minister who falls in love with a woman and breaks his vows.

Father Phil tells her exactly what she needs to hear about repenting and renouncing sin, even as we can suspect this is Carmela’s momentary burst of remorse before she returns to enjoying the benefits of being a made guy’s wife. By the next morning—after Father Phil is saved from a second moment of temptation by a stomach too full of pasta and alcohol—Carmela has, indeed, reverted to type. She couldn’t have been more vulnerable in her confession, nor could she be any colder or more in control as Phil stumbles around in his undershirt trying to apologize for his behavior.

The correct quote is, “No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true”—as in, “the true face.”

Excerpt from the new book The Sopranos Sessions by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall published by Abrams Press; © 2019 Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall. To order your copy of the book, click here

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