#i have to say it's beyond remarkable what kinds of horrific injuries some of the men survived

[pastlivesandpurplepuppets]

We started moving forward in snow nearly two feet deep. A soldier’s best friend is cover and we had none. It was a strange feeling of vulnerability. But the German garrison must have been apprehensive about our approach. They lobbed some 88s our way, not exploding shells but armor-piercing, and all were too long or too short. Other resistance was light, almost as if they were giving in to the inevitable. We started running to find cover behind fences and buildings. I looked up from behind a wall. A Belgian farmer was standing in the window of a farmhouse, frantically waving and pointing to the cellar of the house. He held up two fingers and pointed down. A pair of Germans were downstairs. A handful of us moved forward. I opened the back door and could see the stairs to the basement. “Comeinzeout!” I yelled. No response. I threw a grenade down. Boom. A dog scurried upstairs. I yelled again. Again, no response. I opened fire with a tommy gun as I started down the stairs and finally heard some German words. Finally, two officers slunk up the stairs, one waving a white handkerchief. I don’t remember who interrogated them, but they said they were told they were supposed to fight to the last man or a German 88 unit was going to level the town, including them. We took sixty-five prisoners that day and didn’t lose a man. Late in the day, the two officers were being held in a village barn. Sgt. Earl Hale and a rifleman, Joe Liebgott, were guarding them. One of the prisoners sprang on Hale, slitting his throat. Liebgott killed both. Somehow, Hale survived.

~ Don Malarkey

[elsanna-shenanigans]

April Contest Submission #25: Break Free

Words: ca. 6,600 Setting: canon AU Lemon: no CW: Imprisonment, Torture, Injuries (but no graphic detail), Abuse, Mentioned Kristanna, Mentioned Character Death, actual character death, violence (choking). Mentions of slavery

 xXx

“Anna… Anna…”

The redhead’s eyes slowly opened at the sound of a familiar voice, as she was brought out of another horrific nightmare.

“Are you awake?” A voice spoke.

Weakly, Anna nodded. “I take it, that’s you there, Elsa?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

Anna groaned, getting out of bed. For the past year, she had been a prisoner in the Southern Isles, kept as a trophy by King Hans. Everything had been taken from her, her friends, family, even her kingdom.

The cell was dark and filthy, with only one bed. The floor was stone, cold on Anna’s bare feet. The dungeons were on the lowest level of the castle, Anna’s cell having a window overlooking the ocean, the sound of the waves crashing against the rockface often keeping her up at night.

Lamenting her situation, Anna hoped she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life here. She was a Queen and a warrior, she didn’t deserve to die in a dungeon-like this. She should have died defending Arendelle with honour… but Hans had denied her that.

As Anna got up, she sighed, rubbing her eyes. She missed the days when she actually had a good nights sleep. As she climbed off her bed, she saw the door to her cell open, the familiar sight of a blonde-haired woman in uniform walking into the cell. It was indeed Elsa, Hans’s second in command, the woman who had led the attack on Arendelle… and if Anna was honest, her only real friend.

"Nightmare again?” Elsa wondered.

“The same one I’ve had for the last year,” Anna remarked.

Elsa sighed. “I’m so sorry.” Then she cleared her throat. “Prince Hans has requested your presence at breakfast, your majesty,” one of the guards said. “You are to come with me.” “He should give up,” Anna replied. “I’m not going to give in to his demands.” “Even so, you have to eat something,” Elsa insisted. Knowing Elsa was right, Anna got up. She needed to keep her strength up, what little of she still had. “Fine,” Anna agreed reluctantly. Walking out of the cell, she let Elsa lead her down the corridor, her weakened legs barely keeping her standing straight. She looked at the sorceress, confused about how she felt.

Elsa had been responsible for so much pain in her life, and yet, she had also visited her cell pretty much every single day. Anna didn’t know why, but perhaps she was just as lonely as she was. It was clear no one really talked to Elsa, aside from Hans.

But Anna still felt a sense of unease around her. She had watched her kill so many people in her dreams and yet, the real Elsa wasn’t as cold as she imagined.

The real Elsa actually had a kind heart to her, and it was clear that she did care about Anna. But Anna would never forget what Elsa had done, despite the fact they were friends.

She remembered the day Arendelle fell like it was yesterday, reliving the images of the invasion every night, seeing friends and loved ones slaughtered every time she closed her eyes. Every night in her dreams, the images would be warped and distorted, portraying Elsa as some kind of inhuman monster, who had brutally murdered her husband. But Anna had a feeling her dreams were just exaggerations, brought on by her trauma.

For much of her life, Anna hadn’t really been given much of a childhood. When she was a baby, enemy spies had kidnapped her older sister, forcing her parents to keep her locked in the castle for much of her young life.

As Anna grew up, her mother and father put her through all sorts of training to protect herself, to ensure what happened to her older sibling would never repeat itself. By the time Anna was eighteen, she had already served a couple of years in the kingdom’s royal guard. By age twenty-two, she had attained the rank of officer. But that was not the last title that she would be known by.

Her parents tragically died at sea a year later and as such, Anna assumed the throne as Queen. Most assumed it was just a really bad storm. Anna hadn’t taken the news well and it was only afterwards, she knew the truth about her lost sibling.

But even though she deeply mourned her parents, she carried on, later taking a husband. Kristoff was a kind man, he had a large heart and it was his love that made Anna feel so alive and helped her to love life again.

But just as tragically, this bliss was not to last. The Southern Isles, who had been expanding their territories, had wanted to Anna to surrender her kingdom to them. Despite knowing they had a secret weapon that had allegedly wiped out entire kingdoms, she wanted Arendelle to go down fighting.

So much for that, since her forces were completely wiped out, but she’d heard rumours that many of the civilians had managed to survive as refugees elsewhere.

“I take it you didn’t sleep well,” Elsa assumed, bringing Anna out of her thoughts.

“Is that sarcasm?” Anna responded. “I didn’t think you had a sense of humour.”

“I take no amusement from your treatment, Anna,” Elsa stated. “But… you did bring this on yourself. Hans gave you a guest room to stay in when you arrived, a rather luxurious abode I might add.”

“It was still a cell,” Anna replied. “I’m still a prisoner in this castle, regardless of how I’d be treated.”

“But it would have been preferable compared to what you’re going through down here,” Elsa expressed.

Soon, Elsa brought Anna to the royal dining hall, where Anna could see a great banquet of food laid out for her. She felt her stomach growl at the sight of it.

Hans himself was sat at the end of the table facing her, her father’s crown upon his head and a smug look on his face. Glancing at him enraged Anna, the sight of her oppressor reminding her of her suffering.

“Ah, your majesty,” Hans greeted her, as Elsa took a seat on the edge of the table next to him “You must be famished.”

Anna sat down, taking a bite of a slice of beef that had been placed on a plate for her. As much as she hated submitting to Hans this way, she was starving and Hans knew this. But she wasn’t going to let him take advantage of her.

Hans just smirked knowingly, as if he was mocking her. “Tell me, my dear, how have you been doing?”

Anna glared at him, just eating her food.

“I said… how have you been doing, Anna?” Hans asked again.

In response, Anna just muffled something while she was eating.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s rather rude,” Hans snarked

Anna swallowed. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Oh come now, Anna. You’ve been our guest for a year, I would think you were a tad more sociable by now.” Hans forked a piece of sausage into his mouth. “I hope you’ve once again reconsidered my decision.”

“I am not going to become your wife, Hans,” Anna said defiantly. “I’m not some property for you to own.”

“Come now, if you agree to marry me, you’ll be given riches beyond your wildest dreams and be adored by the people,” Hans offered. “Plus, you won’t need to suffer in those dreadful dungeons any longer.” Anna looked over at Elsa, seeing the blonde staring at her with concern. It was clear at this point that Elsa wanted Anna to fake her own surrender, as Elsa couldn’t bear to see Anna this way. But Anna wouldn’t do that. It would go against everything she stood for.

“I already had people who loved me… your soldiers took care of them,” Anna remarked. “And why would you care? I’m sure Elsa here would make a much better Queen than me.”

Hans chuckled. "I care about Elsa a great deal and I would not want the burden of Queen to be placed on her. Besides, she prefers women and I would not wish to make her… uncomfortable.” Anna noticed how saddened Elsa seemed to be from that subtle insult. Despite the abuse, she still followed Hans loyally without question. In a way… Anna felt sorry for her, that Elsa was as much of a prisoner as she was.

Putting down her cutlery, Anna glared at Hans.  "And what about me, Hans? If you care about me so much, why am I whipped, beaten and starved so much?”

“You refuse to behave,” Hans growled. “I’m honestly reconsidering why I even let Elsa take you in alive when I easily could have let you die with the rest of your pathetic kingdom.“

Enraged, Anna snarled, grabbing a knife and lunging at Hans. She knocked him to the ground, trying to jab the knife into his eye. But being starved so much meant that Anna’s strength was nowhere near how it used to be and as such, Hans got the advantage.

Anna tried to stab the knife, but Hans managed to dodge it, the knife merely grazing his cheek. He snarled, punching Anna in the face. Anna stumbled back to her feet, dazed, before Hans got up and slapped her, knocking her to the ground.

Elsa got up, watching as Anna writhed on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Even after all this time, you’re still a disobedient little harlot,” Hans murmured. “Elsa, take her down to the dungeons for punishment.”

"Yes, my lord,” Elsa responded, going to Anna’s side.

As Hans left the room, Anna glared at the man, cursing herself for not being strong enough. She was clearly not the great warrior she once was.

xXx

The punishment was a whipping, as usual. Anna was chained to the wall and whipped by one of Hans’s guards, yet another tactic used by him to try and break her mentally. To be honest, sometimes Anna wondered if Hans had succeeded and she hadn’t realised it, but some part of her would still keep fighting on.

Elsa was there every time, watching the punishment take place, watching Anna as was made to suffer in agony. But eventually, the pain was over, Anna shaking as she ached in chains.

It amazed Anna that she even had enough strength to try and tackle Hans in the dining hall, but she hated herself for not being able to finish the job. Still, she wouldn’t succumb to this agony, no matter how painful it was. Even with her dying breath, she’d deny Hans that satisfaction.

Knowing that Anna had been through enough, Elsa looked at the guard, nodding. “That’s enough, soldier. You can go now.”

The guard left them, Elsa going up to Anna and undoing the chains around her arms and legs. Anna collapsed to the floor, quivering as Elsa walked over to her.

“It’s over now,” Elsa spoke, handing Anna a waterskin.

Shivering, Anna gently held the pouch in her hand, gulping the water down. She gulped down the water as fast as she could, before panting, as sweat beaded down her body.

“You… You’re gonna get in trouble for helping me like this,” Anna said shakily, her throat dry.

Elsa looked away. “What Hans doesn’t know won’t hurt him. To be honest, I’ve been wondering why you’re even still here. It’s clear that no matter what, you’re not going to break.”

“I won’t break,” Anna insisted.

“That’s a rather arrogant way to look at things,” Elsa noted. “You’ve been pushed beyond your limits. I’m surprised you haven’t died yet.” She then bent down and helped the struggling Anna to her feet. “Let me help you. I’ll take you back to your cell.”

Anna merely nodded as Elsa helped her. She was surprised the sorceress was so kind to her at times, as if the person who had helped destroy Arendelle and the person helping her now were two completely different people.

“I admire your strength,” Elsa spoke. “Most people would have either gone mad or died from the torment you’ve been put through.”

“My parents raised a strong daughter,” Anna replied.

Eventually, the two of them arrived at Anna’s cell, Elsa unlocking the door.

“We’re here,” she said. “You should rest.”

Anna hobbled inside, eventually making it to the bed and collapsing upon it. Much of her body now was covered in scars from the torture Hans put her through constantly. As she laid on the bed, she saw that Elsa was still standing there.

“What are you doing?”

“I… I don’t know,” Elsa expressed. “I wish I could do more to help you.”

“You could have told Hans not to whip the piss out of me,” Anna remarked, trying to use humour to disguise her pain.

Elsa shook her head. “No, I can’t disobey Hans. If it wasn’t for him I…” The blonde stopped herself. “But maybe there is something I might be able to now to help you relieve that pain.”

Anna sat up, looking away. “Why do you care about me so much? I’m just a prisoner to you.”

“Perhaps… perhaps you’ve helped me to discover my humanity,” Elsa admitted. “You’re a rather… fascinating woman, Anna of Arendelle.”

“I’m surprised you have some,” Anna argued. “I still see you killing Kristoff in my dreams every night, leading the assault on Arendelle. In my dreams, you’re a cold, unfeeling monster.”

“And is that what I really am?”

“I… I don’t know,” Anna admitted. “You give me mixed messages. Some days I think you’re a friend and others, I’m reminded you’re a monster.”

Elsa walked into the room, sitting down on the bunk opposite Anna. “He attacked me from behind. I… I actually tried not to kill everyone. But Kristoff, he came at me with that spear and… ” She looked away. “I regret that.”

“What?” Anna wondered. “What are you talking about?”

“I wanted to win that battle with minimal casualties,” Elsa stated. “But everything went wrong. I regret what I did to you, and to your kingdom.” She looked into Anna’s eyes. “I even let most of the civilians go when I found them in the forests outside your kingdom. They didn’t deserve to die… no one did.”

"Is that… true?” Anna asked. “You’re not lying?”

“No, I haven’t lied to you,” Elsa expressed. “I’ve been good to you this past year to try and make up for the fact I destroyed your kingdom. I hoped… I hoped that perhaps if I befriended you, that life here would be better for you. It was obvious you and Hans wouldn’t get along but perhaps if you had me…”

Anna thought for a moment. She had a gut feeling that Elsa was indeed telling the truth.  Anna had misjudged Elsa slightly. Hans was clearly using her as merely a weapon, not truly caring about her as a person. After all, in war, soldiers often were forced to fight, not given a choice to leave.

And in Anna’s eyes… Elsa had shown she was a kind person. A complicated one, but her actions of mercy and care for her had shown her humanity. And yet, her visage still haunted her dreams.

“I… I think I can forgive you,” Anna accepted. “But… part of me will always be angry towards you for what you’ve done. But it’s clear that perhaps you’re on the path of change.”

“That means a lot to me,” Elsa admitted. “ I don’t blame you for still partly being angry over what I did to your husband. You don’t have to completely absolve me of this.”

“I am not,” Anna said honestly. “But perhaps I can move on. Even if the image of you slaughtering so many with your magic is etched into my mind… it’s clear that’s not you anymore.”

“Then… allow me to assure you that I have changed,” Elsa spoke after a moment, slowly taking off her gloves. “If you’ll let me?”

“What are you going to do?”

“Just lay on your stomach and I’ll do the rest,” Elsa said softly. “Do you trust me?”

For a moment, Anna almost said no, but Elsa had clearly opened her heart to her and been honest to her. She was genuine and wanted to help Anna and if Anna was to try and move on with all of this, trust between her and Elsa was important. She nodded, laying down on her back.

Elsa then reached over to Anna, pressing her hands on Anna’s back, her cold icy magic soothing Anna’s skin.

“Uhhh…. what are you…”

“Using a bit of my magic to relieve your pain,” Elsa said. “It’ll allow you to rest better.”

Sighing in content, Anna felt relaxed as Elsa applied pressure to her aching back and legs. It was almost enough to make her forget where she was, but no matter how much Anna wanted it, she was still a prisoner in this dungeon.

After massaging Anna for a while, Elsa looked over at her. “You okay now?”

“Mm, much better,” Anna purred. “Have I ever told you that you have hands like a surgeon?”

Elsa chuckled, to Anna’s surprise.

“You… you laughed!” she exclaimed.

Her friend stopped, a little embarrassed. “Sorry… I can’t remember the last time I found anything funny.”

Anna sat up and looked into Elsa’s eyes. The two of them were but inches apart and at that moment, as Anna was relaxed, she gazed at Elsa. Her gorgeous blue eyes almost glowed in the sunlight, and her platinum blonde, nearly white hair looked as soft as silk.

In all this time, had Anna really not considered how beautiful Elsa was? At that moment, a strange new sensation started to form inside Anna’s chest. Not anger, not a desire to never give up, but… something else, some sensation of her wanting Elsa, wanting the two of them to try and make something of all this.

And then… Anna leaned in and kissed Elsa. It was a brief moment, Anna succumbing to whatever this sensation was inside of her, before quickly pulling away. “I’m sorry!”

Elsa stroked her lips. “I… It’s okay.”

“No… I didn’t mean to do that,” Anna argued.

Nodding, Elsa stood up. “I… I should go,” she said to break the tension. “You should rest, conserve your strength and whatnot.” She smiled at Anna. “I… I wouldn’t mind taking you out of this cell tomorrow. You need some exercise.”

“Would… would you be allowed to do that?”

“As I said before, what Hans doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Elsa said reassuringly.

Anna nodded. “I’d like that… getting out and all.” She laid down and sighed. “And Elsa?”

“Yes?” Elsa wondered.

“Thank you,” Anna said genuinely.

Elsa smiled, closing the cell door. “Rest well, Anna.”

xXx

Fresh air, sunlight. It had felt like an eternity since Anna had been outside, in the presence of nature. Elsa had brought to a clearing just outside of the Southern Isles capital, where they wouldn’t be disturbed. The clearing was surrounded by beautiful trees full of lush green leaves, while in front of Anna, she could see a small lake with clear water reflecting the morning sun. It reminded Anna of where Kristoff had proposed to her.

Anna almost turned, instantly expecting to see the man of her dreams next to her…. only to be met with the sight of Elsa, having just dismounted the ice horse she’d created to take Anna to this place. She felt… unsure. It was confusing to Anna, who now realised she’d been attracted to Elsa for quite some time. Part of her hated Elsa and Part of her loved her. She wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

The sorceress walked up to her and smiled at her. “Enjoying the view?”

“I guess,” Anna answered as best as she could. “Why did you bring me here exactly?”

“This is where I go to practice my magic,” Elsa replied. “No one else knows about this place other than you and me. It’s the perfect little spot where no one will ever find you.”

“Huh,” Anna remarked. “You know, I’d have figured for an ice witch, you’d be hiding out in some giant frozen castle on the side of a mountain.”

“You really think that?”

“It was in a bedtime story my mother read to me as a kid,” Anna explained, before sitting down by the lakeside. “Thank you for bringing me here. I remember I had a place like this in Arendelle. It was in the gardens and Kristoff and I used to spend so many afternoons here.” “You miss him terribly,” Elsa said. “And It’s all because of me.” “You explained that last night,” Anna replied. “I do blame you still partly for what happened to him… And I doubt he’d have approved of me being like this with you. But then again… he’s gone and I should let go of the pain and move on.” “And what do you think?” “i… I think you know how I think,” Anna replied.

“If… If this is about that kiss, you don’t have to apologise,” Elsa expressed. “I’ve heard of the concept where one falls in love with their captor out of desperation.”

“No, if that were the case, I’d have fallen in love with Hans,” Anna corrected her. “But you aren’t my captor. You’re just as much of a prisoner as I am. Just I’m in a cell and you… you aren’t.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “And I think… I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”

“I… I think I feel the same way,” Elsa admitted. “But it can’t work. I can’t go against Hans, as much as I’d like to. I can’t give you freedom or your kingdom back.”

“Why can’t you?!” Anna demanded. “Elsa,  if this is how you really feel, why the flying fuck have you allowed yourself to be Hans’s lapdog all these years?!" 

"Because I’d have nothing else!” Elsa shouted back.

“I saw how Hans treated you at breakfast yesterday, with that bigoted remark,” Anna reminded her. “And you’re supposed to be his equal for crying out loud? Doesn’t sound very equal to me.”

“You don’t understand!”

“You could have broken away from Hans anytime you wanted,” Anna argued. “You could have stopped yourself from becoming what you are, you could have prevented so much death and destruction!… and yet you didn’t. Why?”

A few more tears of regret shed from Elsa. “Because I was a fool. Hans was the first person who ever showed me kindness, who saw some use for me.” She looked away at the water, looking at her reflection. “I was taken from my parents when I was three years old by Hans’s father. My powers hadn’t developed by then and I was just meant to be some political hostage, meant to weaken one of the Southern Isle’s enemies. Hans took pity on me as I got older… I helped him kill his father. He gave me a life, a purpose. His enemies were my enemies and I gladly cut them down for him. But… after that, he was colder to me, especially after he found out I preferred women.”

“So… he made a pass at you,” Anna realised. “That explains it, and part of your mistreatment is because Hans couldn’t have you fully. And yet, he still needed you.”

“It’s kinda stupid isn’t it?” Elsa remarked. “And I’ve been too damned insecure to do anything about it. If I kill Hans, I’d have nowhere to go. I’m fairly sure my birth family is dead. . I’m most likely wanted in the surviving kingdoms that I didn’t destroy… I have nothing. Even if I did spare many of the civilians, my reputation among the other kingdoms is tainted.”

“That’s not true,” Anna argued. “I… I’d welcome you to stay in Arendelle if I could.”

“Would you really do that?” Elsa wondered. “In spite of all of my crimes.”

“At least you’ve tried to atone for yours by being my friend and taking care of me,” Anna replied. “That’s more than his royal douchebag ever did for me.” She took Elsa’s hands. “So yes, if Arendelle were still standing… I’d gladly invite you to stay and… I love you.”

Elsa was stunned, as Anna then kissed her again, but then, she gave in, wrapping her arms around Anna as she kissed her, caressing the other woman gently. Anna gave in to the moment, relishing the kiss, letting go of all that pain and anger. Would Kristoff have approved? Well, he’d have been glad that she’d found love again, but with the woman who had killed him? Well, that was certainly complicated, but love wasn’t a matter that was easy. At the end of the day, he’d have been happy if she was happy.

But as Anna held Elsa in the kiss, something clicked in her brain, something about Elsa’s story that seemed… familiar.  A young princess kidnapped at three years old, stolen away and never to be seen again. Could Elsa be… no, it was impossible. Anna panicked, pulling away from the kiss.

“What’s wrong?” Elsa asked, concerned. “Anna, are you okay?”

Anna looked in the water at hers and Elsa’s faces, she could see that there was indeed a resemblance between them. A similar face shape, their eyes being a similar shade of blue, Anna’s teal and Elsa’s ice.

She didn’t want to believe it… but couldn’t deny the facts before her.

“You… you don’t have nothing, Elsa,” Anna spoke.

“What?” Elsa wondered. “What are you talking about?”

“I wasn’t my family’s firstborn,” Anna explained. “I had an older sister who was abducted when I was just a baby. My parents never told me about her and I never even knew she had existed until they died at sea a few years back. But, if she was still alive….”

Elsa’s eyes widened. "You… You don’t mean.”

“I mean look at us!” Anna shouted. “Our faces, don’t they look kinda similar!”

“But… That’s impossible!” Elsa shouted. “I would have known I’d have had a sibling! Oh god… I kissed my sister!” “Oh god, I fell in love with my sister!” Anna reacted. “No… it can’t be right,” Elsa argued. “Hans would have told me that I had a sibling.”

"Would he?” Anna wondered. “Did Hans even tell you what Kingdom you were taken from?”

“No..” Elsa realised. “He did not… and if your story is true and then…” She shook her head. “But why wouldn’t he have told me… unless he wanted to further…” After passing through disbelief and confusion, Elsa finally ended up in anger.

At that moment, Elsa’s hands curled into fists and an angry scowl formed on her face. To Anna’s shock, a whirlwind of ice and snow surrounded Elsa as she let out a massive scream of rage, firing ice blasts left and right. One of the blasts was powerful enough to freeze the whole lake.

“Elsa! Calm down!”

“No!!!” Elsa shouted. “I’ve had enough! I’ve been lied to my whole life and I’m tired of it! Hans forced me to destroy my own home, and I didn’t even realise it! He deserves to pay for what he’s done!”

Anna walked over to Elsa, feeling a little nervous. Seeing Elsa this way reminded her of the visions of the sorceress that she saw in her dreams.

“I’m… I’m okay,” Elsa panted.

“You sure?”

Elsa nodded. “Yes… Damn it all to hell. How could I have been so blind all these years? I knew Hans was a piece of work, but if this is true… then he and his whole retched family deserve to rot in hell.” She started to sob, Anna going to her side and holding her.

“I’m here,” Anna whispered. “I’ve got you, Elsa.”

Accepting it all, Elsa looked at Anna, breathing deeply. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

“And I’m sorry too,” Anna apologised as well. “I should have realised this sooner… I’ll just forget those kisses happened. I can’t believe you’re my sister… and I’m in love with you.”

“No Anna, don’t say that,” Elsa urged. “For all you know we might not be related after all… and even if we were, does it really matter? No one would know but us.”

“I… I don’t know,” Anna responded, unsure. “What… what are you going to do now?”

 "I’m going to look through the journals of Hans’s father. It likely confirms what you’ve been telling me. Then… I’m going to confront Hans about this myself.“

"Alone?”

“I won’t put you in danger,” Elsa insisted. “Sister or not, you’ve been through too much and I care about you.”

“But I was also raised as a warrior,” Anna replied. “If we’re going to do this… and we’re going to finally do what I think we’re going to do, I want to be there.”

Elsa nodded. “Okay… but I’ll take you back to your cell while I look through the journals.”

“Sounds good to me,” Anna replied.

xXx

It hadn’t taken Elsa long to find King Johann’s journal. Hans hadn’t exactly left his father’s old belongings hard to find in the castle attic. But actually reading the words to herself made Elsa sick to the stomach.

The entries in the journal confirmed what Anna had suspected, that Elsa was indeed the other Arendellian princess, abducted as a child. It had made Elsa angry that she had been denied such a life, a sister, two loving parents, the chance to be Queen herself…

But now, Elsa knew she had a chance to start over with Anna. She could bring Arendelle or the other kingdoms she destroyed back and try and do her damndest to make amends for all of her many many sins. And how was she going to do that? By finally killing the monster who had used her for all these years.

Storming through the halls of the castle to Anna’s cell, Elsa pondered what she was about to do. For one small moment, she was scared, scared that killing Hans would only make things worse for the Southern isles. But then she thought about the power she herself had, a power that if used right could do much more good than harm.

Eventually, Elsa made her way to Anna’s cell, opening the door and looking at Anna, who was lying on her bunk.

“Elsa?” Anna asked.

The sorceress walked over to Anna, reaching her hand out to her. “It’s time to get you out of here… my sister.”

“Wait, are we really?”

The blonde nodded. “Yes, you’re my sister, Anna.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it,” Anna expressed. She then jumped up and hugged Elsa tightly. Her long lost sister… finally they were reunited. For a moment, she thought about kissing her again, but knew it was best to push those thoughts to one side.

“So… are we going to do this?” Anna asked.

Elsa nodded. “Yes…. this is something I should have done the moment I let Hans get into my head.”

And so, the two sisters eventually made their way to the war room, where Hans and his generals were planning their next campaign of conquest. Elsa told Anna to wait outside, Anna hiding behind a nearby statue, while Elsa walked inside, firmly prepared for what she was about to do.

Hans and his generals were gathered around a table plotting their next conquest, Elsa seeing the usual smug look on Hans’s face. It enraged her now, more than it ever did, especially now that she knew the truth. But finally, this nightmare would be over, for both her and Anna.

“Hans?” Elsa asked.

“Elsa! Just the woman I wanted to see,” Hans responded. “My generals and I were going over the plans for our next campaign. I trust you will be of course leading the charge?”

Elsa then bowed in respect. “Of course. I live to serve you, my lord.” She knew she had to get Hans alone in order to do this. The fewer people around, the better. “I… I had something I wanted to speak to you about,” Elsa said.“Can we speak in private?”

“Of course!” Hans replied. “I was hoping to talk to you about some personal matters as well.” Hans looked at the generals. “Leave us, please. This hopefully won’t take long.”

As the generals and the guards that had been in the room left, Elsa stared at Hans, as the former went to pour himself a drink of whiskey from a nearby bottle. After taking a swig, he smirked at Elsa.

“I know you don’t hold your ale well, but would you care for a drink, Elsa?” Hans offered. “This is a rather good vintage.”

"No thank you,” Elsa responded.

“Hmmm pity,” Hans remarked. “I was having a drink in celebration.”

"Of what?” Elsa wondered. “Your next campaign?”

"Oh no, something a little closer to home,” Hans explained. “I’ve just arranged for the execution of your friend Queen Anna.”

Elsa’s eyes widened. "What?! Why?”

Hans shrugged. “I just wanted to clear up loose ends. After yesterday’s little incident, I realised she’s too much of a liability. It’s best to let the last remnant of Arendelle be finally snuffed out. Plus… She’s a rather bad influence on you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m not stupid, Elsa!” Hans shouted. “I know you have feelings for her and how you feel pity for her. She’s made you soft.”

Her heart beating in her chest, Elsa flared with anger. She had to act now, Hans was going to kill Anna, the only family she truly had left and she wouldn’t allow him to take her away from her.

"No.”

Hans put his glass down. “No what?”

“No, I can’t allow you to do that, Hans,” Elsa argued. “I’ve been your slave for too long. I know everything now. I know I was stolen from Arendelle as a child and that Anna is my sibling.” She strode towards Hans. “Why did you lie to me, Hans?! Why use me?!”

Hans sighed. “Oh well… I suppose you were going to find out eventually.” Hans walked over to a nearby window, looking out on his kingdom. “You were too useful to me, and I couldn’t resist losing you or the power you would gain me. And I had to teach your birth kingdom a lesson. They were trying to take you from me.”

“What… What are you talking about?”

"A few years ago, not long after you helped me stage my coup, do you remember when I had you sink that enemy ship?”

"What does that have to do with this?” Elsa wondered. Then she stopped and thought. She remembered how the king and Queen of Arendelle had apparently died at sea. Her parents. “Oh…”

Hans laughed. “That was your own parents, Elsa, rushing to your rescue and you never even realised it. I bet Anna would just love to know that little factoid. She’ll never consider you a sister once she knows that.”

“What?!” A voice exclaimed.

Elsa turned around, seeing Anna walk into the room, her mouth wide in shock. Sweat beaded from her brow, knowing that Hans had deliberately withheld that information from her, for just such a moment like this. “Anna… I didn’t know, I swear!”

“You… you killed them….”

“It was Hans!” Elsa argued. “He forced me to sink that ship. I didn’t know our parents were onboard it! And it doesn’t matter, this is him trying to mess with our heads!”

Anna sighed. “You’re right… I can be angry about that another time.” She glared at Hans. “You’re an insane bastard, Hans!”

“Oh shut up, the pair of you,” Hans argued. “There’s nowhere for either of you to go now. So just run along back to your cell, Anna.”

“No, she’s staying with me,” Elsa said defiantly.

“And you’re going to stay with me!” Hans insisted. “And you would have been nothing if I hadn’t taken pity on you.f I hadn’t, you’d still be locked in a cell as one of my father’s little trophies. I made you what you are Elsa.”

“You’re wrong!” Elsa shouted. “You can’t control me anymore!”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Hans asked. “If you kill me, you’ll have nowhere to-”

And right there and then, Anna punched Hans square in the face with all her strength. The king was started for a moment, giving Elsa the chance to grab her hands around Hans’s neck.

Hans choked and grunted. “Elsa… What…” But Elsa’s hand squeezed tighter and tighter, Hans’s face turning redder as he tried to breathe. However, he felt a sudden chill as ice spread from Elsa’s hand to all over his body. Elsa quickly let go, but Hans struggled as the rest of his body started to turn to ice.

“It’s the end for you, Hans,” Anna said coldly.

“And you were so wrong about me,” added Elsa in an equally icy tone. “I have a sister, someone I love. That’s more precious than something you’ll ever have. And as for you… you’re about to lose everything.”

Hans gurgled audibly, trying to form words to spit out, but he couldn’t. His throat had been the first thing frozen solid by Elsa. He settled for glaring venomously at Elsa, full of fury.

With a powerful kick, Anna knocked Hans towards the window, smashing him through it. As she watched, she saw Hans fully become an ice statue before he finally hit the courtyard below, nothing left of him but bloody particles. Finally, it was over. Hans was no more.

Just then, Elsa and Anna heard the sound of the guards enter the room, having heard the window break. They drew their sabres at them, but Elsa just gave them a freezing glare. The soldiers surrendered in moments, bowing in respect for Elsa, completely at her mercy.

“What is your command, Elsa?” one of them asked.

“Leave us for a moment,” Elsa answered. “I’ll address you when I’m ready.”

As the guards left the room, Elsa looked over at Anna, who was looking at the window.

“I can’t believe it… it’s finally over,” Anna admitted. “I’m free.”

“Are you still angry?” Elsa asked her.

“No… No, you didn’t know about our parents,” Anna replied. “And to be honest… I bet they’d have been happy that we took out Hans together.” She turned around. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’ll assume the throne of the southern isles,” Elsa stated. “Put the kingdom’s resources towards repairing the damage I’ve done. I’ll make sure Arendelle is restored to its former glory… hopefully some of the people I let go are still out there.” She held Anna close. “Finally… it’s over.”

“Good riddance to Hans,” Anna admitted.

“Did you have to kick him through the window?” Elsa asked. “I mean, I was gonna shatter him to pieces anyway.”

“A warrior has a flair for the dramatic,” Anna replied.

Elsa knew this probably wasn’t the best time to ask about this, but she and Anna both knew that despite the revelation of them being sisters, they couldn’t simply ignore their romantic feelings. “Anna… about us being sisters…

"I made my decision already,” Anna interrupted her. “I want to be with you, Elsa. This whole sisters thing… as long as we keep it our little secret things will be fine.”

“You’re sure about this?” Elsa wondered.

“Well, how else am I going to make you my queen and not raise eyebrows?” Anna remarked.

“Wait… what?”

But Anna had then grabbed Elsa, dipping her down for a passionate kiss, celebrating the fact that freedom was theirs at last.

[buzzdixonwriter]

Super Duper Supermen

This will be a long one, so pour yourself a cuppa and settle down.   We may seem to meander, but we’ve got a destination.

. . .

I’m tired of superheroes.

I’m tired of a lot of genre fiction.

Part of the reason is that too much of the current material is ugly and loud, but the real reason is it isn’t fresh, it isn’t fun.

I tried watching The Boys.  I got to the end of the second scene of episode one and realize, “This ain’t for me” and turned it off and went over to YouTube and watched guys build model airplanes.

At least they look like they’re having fun.

. . .

Look, superheroes are a power fantasy and they’re okay for little kids who want to believe there’s always going to be a mommy or daddy who will protect them, but they’re an absurd genre at best and when you start taking them seriously -- and recently even the funny parodies and spoofs take themselves Too Damn Seriously -- they become horrific.

What prompted me to realize this is an article posted on The Vulcan by Abraham Riseman “The Boys Is the End of the Superhero As We Know It.”

Highly recommended, by the way.

. . .

It’s not like Riseman was the first to make this observation.

30+ years ago Gary Groth observed:

“Superman is one version of the hero with a thousand faces -- to employ the title of Joseph Cambell's excellent book on the subject -- and his appeal should therefore not surprise us.  But Superman is a crude version of the hero; if you will, an elementary one.  Unlike his more developed analogues in all the world's great religions, Superman does not offer love or goodwill, self-knowledge or contemplation as keys to man's salvation.  He offers his own physical powers.”

And he ain’t the only one.

Alan Moore recently chimed in:

“They have blighted cinema and also blighted culture to a degree. Several years ago I said I thought it was a really worrying sign, that hundreds of thousands of adults were queuing up to see characters that were created 50 years ago to entertain 12-year-old boys. That seemed to speak to some kind of longing to escape from the complexities of the modern world and go back to a nostalgic, remembered childhood. That seemed dangerous; it was infantilizing the population.

“This may be entirely coincidence, but in 2016 when the American people elected a National Socialist satsuma and the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, six of the top 12 highest-grossing films were superhero movies.  Not to say that one causes the other, but I think they’re both symptoms of the same thing — a denial of reality and an urge for simplistic and sensational solutions.”

. . .

I don’t like cruelty.

I used to enjoy old weird horror films back in the day -- movies like The Reanimator -- because I appreciated their absurdity and never took them seriously.

When the torture porn sub-genre came along, I lost interest in horror films.  

The Babadook is the only modern one I’ve seen in the last 5 years and I enjoy it because like earlier horror films (and here I include both classic Universal / RKO movies and the artistry of Mario Bava and Dario Argento) it’s essentially a very dark fairy tale, not an exercise in cruelty for the sake of cruelty.  

Violence doesn’t turn me off.

Sadism does.

And sadism is all about power and fascism is all about power, so when I remark on modern superhero and thriller and horror stories as being fascist, I know whereof I speak.

. . .

Superhero stories may not necessarily be tales told by idiots, but they are full of sound and fury, and signify nothing.

Ultimately superheroes fail because:

they can’t lose

they can’t win

There is no finality in the superhero genre.  The damn Joker keeps crawling back, Les Luthor constantly schemes, Dr. Doom and Galactus pop up whenever things lag in the sales department.

Superheroes as a genre are failures insofar as they can’t permanently deal with these existentialist threats, nor can they step out of the way to let others deal with them.

Superheroes promise salvation but deliver bupkis, slapping a band-aid on a cancer and telling us it’s all better.

They can’t permanently defeat their greatest threats, yet neither can they be truly harmed by them.

I’ll grant you the occasional Captain Mar-Vel but they are very minor exceptions to the rule.  Gwen Stacy was bumped off in The Amazing Spider-Man #121 in June 1973, first reappeared as a clone in May 1975 then several times thereafter, and most recently shows up as Spider-Gwen in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 (September 2014).  

As Roy Thomas aptly observed:  “In comics they’re only dead if you have a body and even then only maybe.” 

(In fairness, there’s no finality in most formula / genre fiction either, but we’ll get to that in a bit.)

. . . 

Before we delve deeper, let’s be clear as to what we’re discussing when we say “superheroes”.  

They don’t need to possess “powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men”.

As noted above, they just have to be:

always victorious

never in real danger

You can bash ‘em / trash ‘em / slash ‘em / smash ‘em and they still bounce back -- heroically -- to save the day.

Break both legs, riddle them with machine gun bullets, hit them with a car, cave in their skulls with sledgehammers, and yet somehow they summon up the super-human reserves needed to keep in the fight.

Mind you, in the real world there are people who display super-human endurance in horrific situations and not merely survive but go on to achieve incredible success.  They don’t do such things every year (as do heroes in movies), much less every month (comics) or every week (television). They sure as hell don’t make a career out of it.

Let’s veer away from brightly colored naked people flying & fighting to superheroes in a different genre than costumed crime fighters.

Mike Hammer is a superhero.

Sherlock Holmes is a superhero.

Philip Marlow might actually be a literary character.

Look at the criteria:  Can they lose?

Never in Hammer’s case.

Rarely for Holmes (and when he does, it’s always with bittersweet irony).

Frequently enough with Marlowe that one can’t anticipate if any of his stories will end with him victorious (yeah, he solves mysteries, but always at profound personal cost, and in more than one novel he ends up realizing he’s been a sucker all along).

Here’s another example that snaps the dichotomy into ever sharper relief:  

Samuel L. Jackson’s Shaft is a superhero.

Richard Roundtree’s Shaft is just a hero.

Roundtree’s Shaft is aware he can fail.

No “macho bullshit irony” as they say over at the Church of the Sub-Genius.

. . .

Superheroes don’t grow -- they decay.

They never truly use their power for good (because that would involve changing the world) nor do they adequately protect the innocent.

They serve no true function except to entertain and to be exploited.

Series novels and television shows can feature character growth, but the concept has to be baked in from the beginning (Jan Karon’s Mitford series and Armistead Maupin’s Tales Of The City books are two examples that spring immediately to mind).*

More typically, in series fiction the character/s show little actual growth; they are more or less the same at the end of their adventures as they were at the beginning, maybe a little greyer, maybe a little creakier, but essentially the same person.

Sometimes, particularly in military or nautical or police series, they may start out as a callow cadet but soon wise up to the stalwart hero we want to see.

As perfect an example of superhero decay can be found in the Die Hard movies.

The original’s superhero character, Detective John McClane, implausibly goes through a night of hell yet actually shows some character growth:  By the end of the film he’s able to swallow his pride and admit to his wife he was wrong.

A very farfetched movie but an emotionally satisfying one.  We’ll overlook a multitude of injuries that would have rendered him hors de combat in reality in exchange for the movie actually being about something.

All that gets chucked out in the first sequel, Die Hard 2, where the characters are thrown into a contrived situation to mirror the first film without the satisfying emotional growth but with far more ridiculous action;  Die Hard With A Vengeance jettisons McClane’s marital relationship except as an afterthought and ups the absurdity of the story (indeed, it’s best viewed as an action comedy); Live Free Or Die Hard totally trashes all the character growth before it; and A Good Day To Die Hard not only trashed previous character growth but went so badly over the top that it and the star’s aging out hopefully are the one-two punch needed to end the series once and for all.

. . . 

Look at non-superpowered / non-comic book superheroes and see how they fare.

D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers are superheroes (conversely, Cyrano de Bergerac is not because the focus of his story is on who he is and not the what but the why of his actions; all the cool sword fighting is just bonus material).

Natty Bumpo is a superhero; anybody who can jump into a birchbark canoe from a tree branch 30 feet overhead without crashing through is a superhero because that character simple Can Not Lose.  

For that matter, most 1950s TV cowboys and virtually all Italian Western protagonists are superheroes.

Tarzan is a superhero. 

James Bond is a superhero (the SPECTRE / Blofeld arc in the novels and short stories actually do end up with him going through significant growth and personal change, ending with Smersh brainwashing him and sending him back to assassinate M…but then the British Secret Service intercepts him and a couple of paragraphs later he’s all better and off after The Man With The Golden Gun).

Modesty Blaise is a superhero.

Claire Starling is not a superhero, but Hannibal Lecter is (don’t give me that; even if you’re evil, when you’re the central character of a series of books / movies / TV shows you’re a damn superhero).

They’re all superheroes because they can’t lose and they can’t change their world and more importantly they can’t change themselves.

. . .

There is one exception to the above re superheroes, and that’s in the realm of sci- fi and fantasy stories.

Occasionally we find a character who becomes a king (viz Howard’s Kull) or a demi-god (viz Herbert’s Paul Atreides) and does alter their world for good or ill.

That, of course, is the ultimate power fantasy.

. . .

Fascism focuses on the Will and the Act.

It is a philosophy of movement.

It’s a philosophy that attracts the weak and the sadistic, because it promises protection from and power over others.

It’s a philosophy that actively seeks conflict, not necessarily overt violence, but the promise of same is always there.

. . . 

A brief sidebar to the other side of the comic book spinner rack.

Funny animals are essentially anti-authoritarian.

From Aesop forward to Carl Barks, their characters, filled with all too human foibles, can and do fail.

And when they win?

Ah, then it’s almost never by force or action, but by cleverness.

Funny animals are tricksters, accurately sussing out a situation and maneuvering to gain the best outcome for themselves without obtaining dominance over their opponent.

Bre’r Rabbit and Bugs Bunny.

Ducks Donald, Daffy, and Howard.

Superhero stories seems obsessed with keeping everything orderly and in continuity.

Without continuity, anything goes, and that’s fatal to the superhero trope as it annihilates authority.

Funny animal stories rarely feature continuity and when they do, it’s rarely rigorous.  If Porky Pig needs to be a businessman or a farmer or a studio executive or a traveling salesman, so be it.

He’ll be something else in the next story.

As tricksters, funny animals are bounded by one rule: They may save themselves and seek justice, but they will pay a penalty if they try to use trickery for selfish gain.

Howard the Duck -- “trapped alone and afraid / in a world he never made” -- is just trying to stay survive.

Daffy Duck -- greedy little miser that he is -- inevitably gets it in the neck when he tries to cheat someone.

Donald Duck -- floating somewhere between Howard and Daffy in his motivations -- finds no guarantee of success and reward, yet achieves success often enough to keep striving.  

He may battle mummies or a reluctant coke machine, his stories may take him around the world on an adventure or no further than his kitchen to fix dinner.

It doesn’t matter.

Who he is makes his stories compelling far more than what he does.

He’s not on a power trip.

He doesn’t feel he has to win every time.

And as a result, he has a much richer life than Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark.

. . . 

“So whaddya sayin’, Buzz?  ‘Superheroes is bad’?”

No.

I deny no one their pleasure.

But I also think there are times when we have to demand not just more of creators but of ourselves as an audience with the media we consume.

I only saw the first two scenes of the first episode of The Boys.

That was all it took to convince me not to watch it anymore.

For similar reasons, I have no desire to watch Mad Men or Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul or Game Of Thrones.  

I’ve picked up a strong enough vibe from each to know I’m not going to connect with them.

I’m certainly not saying you can’t enjoy them if you like.

Bu I am saying we’re cheating ourselves by not demanding more.

And until we start demanding more, the studios and streamers are only going to offer us less and less variety.

C’mon, people, we deserve more than that.

  © Buzz Dixon

  *  I’m sparing you a whole long analysis of The Mary Tyler Moore Show because frankly it goes too far afield of this essay’s central thesis and besides I can use it for another blog post in the future.

[calibratemehard]

Calibrate Me Hard (a working title)

After Horizon, Shepard is having a hard time dealing with her failures. Miranda asks Garrus to talk to her since he’s the only person Shepard trusts on the Normandy. 

“I need you to speak to the Commander.”

Garrus looked up from the ship’s gun and found Miranda at his door, looking uncharacteristically ruffled. It was odd enough that she was here talking to him when she hadn’t had much to do with him since he’d joined Shepard to stop the Collectors, but he had never once seen her look worried as she was now.

“Why?” Garrus asked.

Miranda shook her head. “She won’t talk to anyone and she’s about to punch a hole in the cargo wall.” Miranda looked up and met his eyes. “She won’t speak to me at all.”

Garrus looked away, back at the gun. “She has a right to be pissed at you.”

“I’m not defending what that rogue sec of Cerberus did on Akuze, she knows that,” Miranda replied, exasperated. “But what happened on Horizon obviously bothered her and she won’t speak to me because she’s still mad at anything Cerberus.”

“And since I’m not Cerberus, you want me to talk to her?”

“Well, she trusts you,” Miranda replied with a shrug. “She said as much when you were unconscious from your wounds.”

Garrus nodded. He knew Shepard trusted him, just as he was sure he trusted her, but he wasn’t sure if he could talk her down. While he had known her longest out of the new Normandy’s crew, Shepard had always been closed off from everyone, even the original crew. While she did seem different since Cerberus revived her, Garrus still wasn’t sure if she’d listen to him.

With a sigh, Garrus stood up. “I’ll try.”

“She’s in the cargo bay,” Miranda said as he passed. “And good luck.”

Garrus left the main battery and took the elevator to the ship’s lowest level. The cargo bay was usually empty save for mornings when the marines and crew would clear out the area and condition. Now it was empty save for Shepard striking a punching bag.

Miranda hadn’t mentioned how long Shepard had been down there, but the Commander was slick with sweat and panting. She wore a sleeveless shirt and black leggings with the N7 logo on them.  Every time she struck the bag it flew back and swung wildly only to be attacked again. A biotic field flickered around her, multiplying the force of her strikes.

Just as he walked up to her, the chain on the bag snapped and the punching bag went flying. The glowing scars on Shepard’s face and arms flared as she threw off her gloves and panted, “Fuck.”

“Never seen a human do that,” Garrus remarked as he took a seat on a box and crossed his arms.  

She glanced over her shoulder at him, her seafoam eyes stormy. “Well I’m not exactly purely human anymore,” Shepard muttered as she sat down across from him.

She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, as she ran her hands through her sweat soaked hair. Garrus glanced at her through his visor and saw that her biometrics were all over the place. According to the readings, she was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Perhaps Miranda hadn’t been mistaken in sending someone.

“Is that what’s bothering you?” Garrus ventured.

She didn’t look at him, but her eyes narrowed. “Who says I’m bothered?”

Garrus shrugged. “Miranda. And after what happened on Horizon and the things Ashley said …” Garrus trailed off, hoping she’d fill in the gap.

Shepard shook her head. “Ashley was right to be suspicious of my involvement with Cerberus.”

“If you say so,” Garrus said.

Shepard didn’t reply and Garrus didn’t push. If she had something to say, she’d say it. She’d done the same for him when they had spoken after she’d recruited him on Omega. He’d still been recovering from his injury, but she’d given him space and time until he could talk about what Sidonis had done to him.

She leaned back and put her hands in her lap. Her eyes were distant, unmoving. The rest of her was as still as water, as still as when she’d listen to her old human music before missions and drown out the rest of the world. In all his time working with humans with C-Sec, he’d always thought of humans as fidgety, but Shepard proved that they’d become the dominant species on their planet for a reason. The stillness she exhibited before a fight was predatory and dangerous.

Almost a minute passed before Shepard spoke so quietly Garrus almost didn’t hear her. “It was … difficult seeing Horizon empty like that.” She paused. “It reminded me of Mindoir.”

Garrus nodded. Before he met Shepard he had heard rumors of her trials on Mindoir, but the Commander had never spoken of it before save for an incident on the Citadel two years ago when she had talked down a girl who had been enslaved during the attack. Shepard had handled the situation like a professional and the girl had submitted to taking a sedative, but the things the girl had described had been horrific. Garrus had seen some awful things while in the Turian military and during his time as a C-Sec officer, but to lose one’s entire family in such a horrific way was beyond his comprehension.

He thought of his own mother. Her health had been failing for years and now every credit Garrus could spare went to research into his mother’s disease. The last time he had visited, she’d had trouble recognizing him. It had hurt so badly he hadn’t mustered up the willpower to see her again.

“That’s understandable,” Garrus commented after his moment of reflection.

Shepard gave a dismissive sniff and crossed her arms. “Yeah, well, you’d think ten years of therapy would have stomped this out, but I suppose there are some things you can never fix.”

“So it’s bad memories? Shepard, every soldier has their share of those, it’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Garrus said.

“I’m not ashamed,” Shepard countered. “I just hate feeling powerless, you know?”

“Yeah, I do,” Garrus replied. His mother, Sidonis, his squad - he felt helpless when it came to them.

He looked at her again. She was resting her head in her hand, her expression troubled. It was clear she already knew how she felt, talking about it wouldn’t help. After a moment Garrus thought a distraction might suffice better for the situation.

“You know, I never understood how you humans dealt with stress.”

Shepard looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”

Garrus shrugged. “Like before we went into Ilos, I kept wondering, ‘Is this it? Are these humans just going to stand around and worry about the battle? How do they ease the tension?’”

“We all have our ways of coping.”

“Yeah, I know you listen to that western music, but it’s not like that for Turians. Our military has more operational discipline than the Alliance, but less personal restrictions,” Garrus explained. “Before a high risk mission, the commanders let us blow off steam with some violence. We have battle simulators, exercise rooms, and even a place for full-contact sparring.”

A smile of disbelief spread across Shepard’s face. “Full-contact sparring? Before a mission? What if someone got hurt?”

“It’s supervised, of course. Nobody is going to risk an injury that interferes with the mission. And it’s a good way to settle grudges amicably.”

“Ah, I sense a story,” Shepard said, leaning back with a small knowing smile.

“Actually yeah,” Garrus replied. “I remember right before one mission, we were about to hit a batarian pirate squad. Very risky. This recon scout and I had been at each other’s throats. Nerves, mostly. She suggested we settle it in the ring.”

“I assume you took her down gently?” Shepard asked with a lifted brow.

“Actually, she and I were the top-ranked hand-to-hand specialists on the ship,” Garrus countered. “I had reach, but she had flexibility.” He thought back to the match and winced a bit. “It was brutal. After nine rounds, the judge called it a draw. There were a lot of unhappy betters in the training room.”

“I’m sure,” Shepard said. “You never had a tiebreaker?”

“Well, ah, we ended up holding one in her quarters. I had reach, but she had flexibility,” Garrus replied too quickly. When he saw Shepard’s look of amusement he shook his head. “More than one way to work off stress, I guess.”

Shepard huffed a laugh. “So the point of this story is that I could blow off some steam by beating the shit out of someone or having a hook-up?”

Garrus paused. After a moment he replied, “Pretty much.”

Shepard shook her head in amusement. “I don’t think I can take your advice, Vakarian. I’d probably kill someone with my biotics right now and we’re in the middle of a FTL jump. No way I could reach someone for a quick booty call.”

“There are human men on the Normandy,” Garrus countered.

She lowered her brows and gave him a look of skepticism. “No eligible human men.”

“Jacob seems to like you,” Garrus remarked.

Thinly veiled nausea crossed her face. “Not my type.”

“Really? What’s wrong with him?” Garrus asked, curious.

“Nothing, just not my type,” she replied as she crossed her arms.

“And what’s your type?” When she furrowed her brows at him, annoyed, Garrus added, “I don’t know much about human courtship. You two get along, so why’s he not your type?”

Shepard shook her head. For a moment she said nothing, and then with a shrug she said, “He’s just not. I may not have dated in-” she paused to think “-an embarrassingly long time, but I just know.”

Garrus’s mandibles twitched from not asking just how long it had been since she’d dated, but she probably had a good reason for it and they were already prying too much into one another's personal lives. It occurred to him that he had never had such a long conversation with Shepard before and he said as much.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly the friendliest person when you first met me,” Shepard conceded. “I was dealing with a lot of bad memories and talking to people was hard. Still is, sometimes.” She blinked and looked up at him. “You can relate more than most: you lost your team on Omega and I lost my entire unit on Akuze. Coming back from those kind of failures is difficult.”

Garrus nodded, understanding. His failures still haunted him even though he tried not to let it show. But he’d always thought that Shepard’s hard exterior was just her way of soldiering, not from trauma.

“You seem different than you were back then,” Garrus remarked. “You’re more open, less stoic.”

Shepard breathed a laugh. “Dying puts things in perspective.” Her eyes took on a glazed look as though she were somewhere else. “I had so much regret when I died.”

Silence filled the space between them and stretched out. After a minute Garrus quietly asked, “What did you regret?”

She blinked, breaking away from wherever she had been. She looked right at him as she responded, “That I hadn’t been living for six years and that fate had molded me into a cruel person without passion. I regretted that after everything I’d been through that I was dying just as I was starting to feel like a person again because of our adventures on the Normandy.

“I’ve been given a second chance to do things right,” Shepard continued. She stood up and walked over to the punching bag. With the help of her biotics she lifted it and put it back to its stand with the broken chain. “And this time I won’t take the time I have for granted.”

“Sounds like a good goal,” Garrus remarked.

She smiled at him, a real smile. Garrus didn’t think he’d ever seen her smiling without a shadow of some memory haunting her. It made her eyes bright.

“Well I guess I’ll have to thank Miranda for sending you,” Shepard jokingly complained. “Good job, Vakarian. You got Horizon off my mind for a while.”

Garrus stood up and shook her hand. “What are friends for?”

She pointed a finger at him. “Just don’t go around telling people that I like heart-to-hearts. I’d like to keep my reputation as a relentless hardass in tact.”

“Understood,” Garrus laughed.

[biofunmy]

Latest in the N.B.A. Injury Crisis: Kemba Walker on a Stretcher

Injuries happen in all professional sports. Players get hurt, even when they are in top physical shape.

But what has happened in the N.B.A. this season has gone far beyond the norm, particularly for the league’s best. Four top-20 players have not seen the court much, if at all, this year. That’s not including the All-Stars who only recently made their debuts, such as Detroit’s Blake Griffin and the Clippers’ Paul George, or other stars who are dealing with day-to-day injuries, like the Nets’ Kyrie Irving and Portland’s Damian Lillard.

On Friday night, Boston’s Kemba Walker was taken off the floor on a stretcher. He ran into one of his own teammates, Semi Ojeleye, and immediately collapsed. Walker received a diagnosis of “concussion-like symptoms,” according to the Celtics, and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.

And it’s not just injuries to franchise players. Rising young players — likely future All-Stars — are hurt too, such as Sacramento’s Marvin Bagley III and De’Aaron Fox. And, of course, Zion Williamson, the most hyped young player the N.B.A. has seen (or I should say hasn’t seen) since LeBron James, is out till at least next month.

This is unusual, and the injuries are happening as the discussion rages about so-called load management — teams’ sitting players to keep them fresh for the playoffs. The injuries have, it seems, come at the expense of the N.B.A.’s television ratings, and while many injuries are fluky, you have to wonder if teams are going to start resting players for even more games as a precaution.

You could make a new “We Didn’t Start the Fire” with all the names on injury lists. But we’re going to home in on some of the most significant ones.

All figures represent statistics entering Friday’s games.

The Injured Elite

Golden State’s Stephen Curry is out for several months because of a hand injury, which means he can cheer on the Warriors from the bench, alongside his teammate Klay Thompson, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury. If you have any doubt about Curry’s impact, the Warriors went from a significant playoff threat to the worst team in the N.B.A.

Part of that drop-off comes from losing Kevin Durant, who is now with the Nets — though “with” is perhaps the wrong word. Durant was essentially ruled out for this whole season in the summer because he tore an Achilles’ tendon during the league finals in June. He still signed with the Nets in July.

And then there’s Victor Oladipo, who hurt his knee last January and hasn’t returned to the Indiana Pacers.

The Sacramento Kids Are All Right

The strange thing about the Kings losing Bagley and Fox is that they have done just fine. Bagley has played only one game this season. Fox last played on Nov. 8 against the Atlanta Hawks. Since that game, the Kings have gone 3-1, after starting the season 3-6. The three most recent victories include quality wins against Portland, Boston and Phoenix. The lone loss was by 2 points to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center, a difficult game for any team to win even at full strength.

Under their new coach, Luke Walton, the Kings finally seem to be rounding into form on the backs of Harrison Barnes, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield. And Bogdanovic comes off the bench! But the energetic Richaun Holmes — a candidate for the All-Chip On The Shoulder Team — has been just as crucial on both ends of the floor, and is on pace for a career year.

Bagley is expected to return soon, while Fox’s return is uncertain. If the Kings can tread water for a while longer, they’ll make the playoffs and be the kind of team no one wants to face.

Gordon ‘Sisyphus’ Hayward

Last season was a struggle for Gordon Hayward. His return from the prior season’s horrific leg injury did not go as planned. He had trouble getting to the basket, so much of his offense was derived from jump shooting. He didn’t fit next to Irving, and really, neither did the rest of the Boston Celtics.

This season’s Hayward is the All-Star the Celtics signed. In eight games, Hayward averaged 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists. A larger percentage of his shots were coming off drives to the basket. He was finishing 71.1 percent of his shots in the restricted area, compared with 63.9 percent last season. He had more lift, which may have helped with his jump shooting, too; he was a whopping 43.3 percent from deep.

And then he got hurt. Again. Hayward had an operation this month after breaking his left hand during a game against the San Antonio Spurs, and he is sidelined for at least a month. In the grand scheme, this is not a serious injury, but it is surely a frustrating one given the season he was having.

The Celtics aren’t a particularly deep team, and they need his playmaking because of the threats they face in the East from the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. Boston has been able to take advantage of a soft schedule, going 4-2 in Hayward’s absence. But the games get tougher now.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn Recovers

The Nets knew Durant was injured when they signed him. He is, after all, an investment in the future. But now Irving and another one of their blue-chip prospects, Caris LeVert, are hurt, as well. This means the team’s three best players are out. Even in a throwaway season, this is a disappointing way to start.

LeVert hurt his thumb this month and had surgery, which is, of course, less distressing than the frightening leg injury that caused him to miss three months last season. He has played 57, 71 and 40 games in his first three N.B.A. seasons. This year, assuming he gets back in a month, he will have missed about 20 games. But he was having an excellent season, on pace for his best. In nine games, LeVert averaged 16.8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. It’s a small sample size, but LeVert’s jump shot is a particular point of improvement. He shot 36.1 percent on 3s in those nine games, compared with 31.2 percent last year.

Irving has a shoulder injury that appears to be day to day. That is not, in itself, a big deal. But like LeVert, Irving has a significant injury history. After starting the season as one of the most dominant players in the league, Irving began slumping before sitting out three straight games, with perhaps more on the way. The Nets have cobbled together two wins without him.

Historically, Irving’s numbers take a dip as the N.B.A. season progresses. If the Nets want to make the playoffs this season, doing so without Irving and LeVert at full strength is going to be exceedingly difficult.

High On Zion

The New Orleans Pelicans are 6-9. They are a winning streak or two away from being in the playoff race, but the injury bug has feasted on them too. Lonzo Ball played in Thursday night’s win, returning from a groin strain that had kept him out since Nov. 8. Brandon Ingram, who is putting up All-Star numbers this season, missed four games with an ankle injury.

There is still about a month or so before Williamson makes his debut, but his addition, assuming that he is healthy, will shake up the race for the playoffs, especially with Ingram back. The bottom half of the Western Conference is very fluid right now. Phoenix is sinking after a hot start, and its starting point guard, Ricky Rubio, is dealing with a back injury.

Williamson will serve, essentially, as one of the most remarkable midseason N.B.A. acquisitions in recent years, and he may elevate the Pelicans to another level.

Hoping in Portland

Portland has its own reinforcement waiting in the wings. The 5-11 Trail Blazers are hoping to get Jusuf Nurkic, one of their best players, back later this season after he fractured his leg in March and missed out on the Blazers’ unexpected run to the Western Conference finals. On Wednesday, Nurkic posted on Twitter that he would not return in 2019.

The return of Nurkic, a talented center, would alleviate some of the pressure on Lillard and C.J. McCollum. To make matters worse, Lillard is currently out with back spasms and has no clear timetable for returning.

For now, the Blazers are relying on the recently signed Carmelo Anthony to pick up the slack. They can still make the playoffs, but 5-11 can turn into 6-18 in a blink, and then the postseason will be out of reach.

Given how this season has gone for the health of N.B.A. players, please, everyone in the league: Get your flu shot. Your teams need you.

Sahred From Source link Sports

from WordPress http://bit.ly/33cxcJ9 via IFTTT

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Converted Touchdowns for Stars and Islanders, an Avalanche of Wins (Jan 21)

Converted Touchdowns for Stars and Islanders, an Avalanche of Wins

What can you say about John Klingberg, who added another three assists on Saturday to give him 40 assists and 46 points, which leads all NHL blueliners. In just 48 games, Klingberg has nearly equaled his point total from all of last season (49 points in 2016-17), while his 40 assists leads all defensemen and is top 5 among all skaters. His eight-game point streak ended on Thursday, but he still has 19 points in his last 14 games.

But it wasn’t all Klingberg for the Stars in a 7-1 rout over Buffalo. Klingberg usually provides most of the Stars’ offense from the blueline, but Esa Lindell chipped in with a goal and two assists of his own to go with a plus-4. When I watched the Stars play live last season, something that caught my eye was how much icetime Lindell receives, as he is Klingberg’s regular defense partner. Lindell has averaged nearly 22 minutes of icetime over the last two seasons, although he usually defers to the second power-play unit. I know Julius Honka has been more appealing to keeper owners over the last few seasons, but I’d keep an eye on Lindell, who a much more established NHL defender at this point.

The Stars’ scoring attack usually falls off a cliff after Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, and Klingberg, but they did receive scoring help from another forward on Saturday. Mattias Janmark scored two goals and added an assist with a plus-2. The points were Janmark’s first in five games. Janmark lined up with the previously scratched Jason Spezza, who added two assists of his own to give him four points in his last three games. I discussed Spezza in more detail a few days ago in the Ramblings.

With a goal and an assist, Jamie Benn was able to extend his point streak to seven games. How does Benn stack up against a player like Brad Marchand? This week’s Cage Match featured a comparison of the two.

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Don’t look now, but Michal Neuvirth has back-to-back wins over the past three days. Neuvirth stopped 28 of 29 shots he faced in the Flyers’ 3-1 win over New Jersey. The Flyers are back in action today against Washington, so expect that Brian Elliott will be back for that game. Elliott has played more than he’s probably used to over the first half, so don’t be surprised if we see more of Neuvirth beyond just back-to-back games during the second half. A lot will depend on Neuvirth staying healthy, though.

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When I played minor hockey many years ago, there were three medals given out for each team at the end of the season: most valuable player, most sportsmanlike player, and most improved player. If these were handed out to NHL teams, the most improved medal should be handed to the Colorado Avalanche, who have already exceeded last season’s point total in half the games.

We know Nathan MacKinnon has evolved into one of the top value picks this season, and he did his part by adding a goal and an assist. But there are two other Avalanche who had strong performances on Saturday.  

In stopping 27 of 28 shots, Jonathan Bernier has now won eight consecutive games, just one fewer than his team’s present win streak. During his personal win streak he has a 1.47 GAA and .958 SV%. I know the general rule is that a starter isn’t supposed to lose his job because of an injury, but this recent run could mean that Bernier factors into the Colorado goaltending equation more even when Semyon Varlamov returns. I know the Avs have faith in Varlamov, given the fact that they didn’t protect Calvin Pickard during the expansion draft. But Varlamov has not posted a GAA below 2.80 or a SV% above .915% over the last three seasons.

Erik Johnson scored a goal and added an assist in this game. He has never stood out offensively in his career, never reaching the magic 40-point mark that seems to mean universal ownership for a defenseman in fantasy leagues. But this is at least worth pointing out:  

Erik Johnson has 17 points in 32 games since the start of Nov when the Lando-Mac-Ranta line was put together.

— Stephen Laidlaw (@SteveLaidlaw) January 20, 2018

Maybe I should have acquired Johnson when someone offered him to me in mid-December for a player that I eventually had to drop. But at the time I couldn’t have forecasted Tyson Barrie’s injury just before Christmas. Here’s another stat for you: since Barrie’s injury, Johnson has seven points over his last ten games (all even strength). In addition, EJ’s icetime is up nearly two minutes per game in January, some of which is power-play time. So with Barrie possibly returning next week, Johnson could be back to his old role next week, which isn’t as fantasy friendly.

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The hottest line in hockey might be the Bruins’ top line of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron. This trio has combined for 56 points (25g-31a) in their past 16 games. The leader for this line on Saturday against Montreal was Pastrnak, who filled the multicategory stat sheet with two goals and added an assist with a plus-3 and eight shots on goal.

While the Bruins are on their 16-game team point streak which started on December 16, Tuukka Rask has nine wins, a 1.80 GAA and a .933 SV%. He is also 13-0-2 in his last 15 decisions. After a rough start, he’s playing like one of the league’s top goalies while the Bruins have been playing like one of the league’s top teams.  

With his goal against Boston on Saturday, Max Pacioretty now has seven goals in his last seven games. Your window to buy low on him should officially be closed. At the same time, this should be a lesson that we shouldn’t just give up suddenly on consistent, proven performers.

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Morgan Rielly was not in the lineup for the Leafs on Saturday with an upper-body injury. As a result, Jake Gardiner moved up to top D pair with Ron Hainsey. Gardiner took full advantage of the opportunity, recording three assists. The move didn’t affect Gardiner’s overall icetime, though, as he has been averaging around 25 minutes per game in January and logged 24 minutes in this game. Gardiner is now on pace for his second consecutive 40-point season and has five points in eight games with the increased icetime.

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You could say that the Islanders have been shooting the lights out this season.

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With Ryan Pulock scoring five points in the Isles’ seven-goal explosion, an Islanders’ rookie has recorded five points in a game three times this season (Mathew Barzal has the other two instances).

Pulock’s line ended up as a goal, four assists with a plus-3 and four shots on goal. He has the offensive upside to be a fantasy contributor, but getting onto the NHL team prior to this season has been a challenge. Now that he’s on the team, icetime has been a challenge, as he has averaged just 16 minutes and change. But his situation has improved recently with the injuries to Johnny Boychuk and Calvin de Haan. He’s also been receiving second-unit power-play time, for what it’s worth.

Brock Nelson hasn’t exactly gotten in on the Islanders’ scoring jackpot this season, but he did score a goal and added two assists leading all Isles’ forwards in scoring. Nelson had not scored a goal in his previous four games and had not scored a goal in his previous 17 games, which shouldn’t be that surprising considering that he’s played outside of the top-6 for much of the season. But what happens to his fantasy value if John Tavares leaves?

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I’ve been leaving Antti Raanta on my bench for much of the season, but maybe I can roll the dice and start him now. Raanta has a 1.91 GAA and .933 SV% this month, even though he has just two wins in six games.

With two goals on Saturday, Christian Dvorak snapped a 10-game goalless drought.

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The Kevin Fiala/Nick Bonino/Calle Jarnkrok line was on fire on Saturday, combining for eight points. Fiala scored his first multigoal game of the season, which was a feat that he couldn’t manage when he was on the red-hot line earlier this season with Kyle Turris and Craig Smith.

Turris recorded an assist in this game, but I’ve moved him to my bench because he’s been ice cold. Turris has just three points over his last 13 games, which of course is the inevitable cool down after his hot streak (17 points in 17 games) when he first joined the Preds.

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Opportunity knocks for Elias Lindholm. He replaced the injured Sebastian Aho on the Hurricanes’ first line and on the first-unit power play and took full advantage, scoring two power-play goals and taking five shots on goal. With Aho’s status uncertain after suffering a concussion and lower-body injury after a nasty hit from Mark Giordano, Lindholm will need to be leaned on while the Canes’ leading scorer is out of the lineup. We’ve been waiting for some kind of breakout, and we may get something at least in the short term.   

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Brent Burns is doing his thing again. With a pair of assists on Saturday, he now has at least one point in 16 of his last 19 games.

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Want to know who the fantasy MVP is? According to Yahoo, it’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is owned in 45 percent of the top 500 Yahoo Public League teams. No one else is owned in more than 25 percent of this collection of teams, so this is a remarkable number.  

Unfortunately, with the Bolts’ recent three-game losing streak, Vasilevskiy has been sputtering. Going back to the last five games (two weeks) Vasilevskiy has posted a horrific 4.64 GAA and .850 SV%. He’s been fantasy’s most valuable goalie up to that point, so you’re obviously best to be patient unless you can acquire a proven stud in return. But this slide has to be at least somewhat concerning. The Bolts’ next two games are back-to-backs on Monday and Tuesday, so expect to see Louis Domingue for one of those games. Vasilevskiy is second in the NHL in minutes played, so it might be time for a little rest.

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Jesse Puljujarvi didn’t look like a player that had been held without a point in his previous eight games, scoring a goal and added two assists with a plus-3 and six shots on goal. The Oilers have moved Puljujarvi off Connor McDavid’s line, but one constant linemate since his AHL recall has been Milan Lucic while he appeared to connect with Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers haven’t been happy with their scoring from the wing since trading away Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, so expect Puljujarvi to figure significantly in their plans going forward.

Paul Coffey has joined the Oilers in some capacity, with a formal announcement coming today. It will be interesting to see how this affects the Oilers, particularly their defense, in their latest attempt to get things right.   

McLellan says Coffey’s focus will be on skill development, at all levels of organization, and with a focus on D in particular. Will work with prospects and with their NHL dmen as well. More to come tomorrow.

— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) January 21, 2018

Alex Edler might not move the needle much in fantasy. But with an assist on Saturday, he currently has a five-game point streak with six points over that stretch. He's also been shooting the puck a ton recently. With six shots on goal on Saturday, Edler now has 33 shots in seven games this month. Only Brent Burns, who leads all players by a wide margin in shots (44), has more shots on goal among defensemen than Edler this month. 

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For more fantasy hockey information, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-converted-touchdowns-for-stars-and-islanders-an-avalanche-of-wins-jan-21/