#like i have very little love for the cage as an episode but dear lord fk;jlafj;ajdld go on give us nothing

[whispsofwind]

After rebloggling countless gifs I am basically almost done with His Dark Materials s1, and I wanted to write down some quick thoughts (years late I know I know)

Under the readmore in case someone still hasn't seen it

It's overall a really well crafted series: it keeps the pace well, the characters are endearing, the writing is solid, and dear Lord the scene when they try to put Lyra into the machine gave me shivers.

I am also really interested in what they are doing with Marisa, with all this hidden ferocity and self hate and almost monkey like mannerisms, which are not a T to the book but work really well imo. And Lin Manuel Miranda is surprisingly not too distracting (usually. Oh Lee my darling).

Already including Will in S1 was a genius stroke of the adaptation process. While it does diminish a little the moment of "oh fuck there are other worlds" in the book, I feel like it's much better in terms of pacing to introduce him in s1, so that the TV only audiences won't be immediately turned off by a sudden setting change in s2. Also Will is. So. Good so far! Loves his mum and is angry and he's patient and gosh, this kid.

CGI is also usually very good, but here I begin with the nitpicking: really not enough attention is devoted to the daemons, so you really don't get how essential they are to the concept of personhood and how unsettling it is to see someone without them (that said that scene with the caged daemon repeatedly hitting their head against the cage was so heartbreaking). Also not enough attention is given to the taboo, like, that doctor sexually assaulted Lyra and Pan, but you wouldn't get it without knowing the books (and in fact I had to explain it to my boyfriend who hasn't read the books and was confused on why Pan clearly wasn't expecting to be grabbed).

My second problem with the series so far is Lyra herself - the actress is magnificent, don't get me wrong, she does amazing with what she has, but I feel like the show is really trying to make her as likeable as possible, and in particular tones down the lying quite a lot. Which, I feel like such a big part of Lyra's character is that she is this wild, selfish, lying little girl, that she is brave and impulsive and courageous and mischievous and well - everything really. The show really gets her positive sides to shine, but not the negative sides so much, and I feel like this diminishes her.

So far I am overall satisfied with it as an adaptation and loving it as a show.

Next episode is the Lyra - Iofur showdown and I can't wait to have time to watch it.

These books were so important to me as a teen, it's such a joyous experience to relive them like this <3

[raisinchallah]

i was curious about the next discovery episode see how things got resolved with the whole spocks mental illness and finally understand his and michaels relationship but im left with more questions than answers like the absolute terrible cant come back from thing michael did was... be nasty to him when she was 10....... after they had presumably known each other for like a year and this was something amanda couldnt forgive her for... being a scared child... and irreparably damaged her relationship with spock and also i guess she was in active danger by living on vulcan which sort of makes no sense when u would think if there were extremist vulcans hating all humans amanda would also be a target? and again its like why the fuck was michael put in this awful situation but its like im left wondering were her and spock ever close cuz this moment supposedly reveals the rift between them happened when they were so young its not like they had a relationship to rekindle or anything also tbh i realize for the longest time i had misremembered the spoiler and thought that michael was the red angel and that what was making spock go crazy was a premonition about michael being gone and i thought that would be very cool but um the time thing felt so silly but like god... i really felt like until more details were coming out it felt like their rift would have been something that happened when they were older and maybe something where they were both wrong and like had to heal their relationship rather than something perfectly constructed so u dont actually feel like anyone did anything wrong but also just feels like again another illustration of what an awful situation michael was put into and nobody supporting her and idk i just wish that instead of some like oh wow spocks falling apart cuz he has a messed up understanding of time which feels so silly it could be that he had a premonition about michael leaving into the future or how her moms the red angel and it was like him having to confront the buried pain of his distance from his family or fear of losing michael and that bringing up the pain of them not speaking for years or just you know djkla;kljs he could be mentally ill for normal reasons like theres just like it feels like a few small changes could make the emotional reality of it a lot stronger..... idk its just a lot of quick fixes that sort of leap over character development i did really like hughs section of the episode the focus on his alienation and trying to rediscover who he is... which did pair well with like i think what they were going for with the spock and michael parts of the episode nice to have like thematic consistency..

[red-winters]

*Batfam fic-recs

*Some are Tim Drake Centric

**Some links are not working in mobile (and ONLY mobile) for some reason? And some titles that were bolded in the original post are ALSO not displaying on mobile correctly. Idk what to do about that, but you can still look up the fic, I guess.

The Bat’s Crest - livierambles

Note: I will always keep recommending this fic. It’s epic, thrilling, and hilarious and sometimes angsty. Also, everyone is confused, including the ones doing the confusing. Maybe especially the ones doing the confusing. Also, some Tim and Damian bonding, which is always nice.

Summary: Tragedy strikes the hero community when Bruce Wayne commits a crime so heinous even the best start asking for blood. However, as the heroes try to recover from the hit and carry out justice for their friends, a random assortment of people start acting oddly, including the current Speedy Tim Drake, a child hostage in Gotham, and a young man from an unremarkable circus amongst others. All of them seem intent on saving Bruce Wayne from the grasp of the Justice League for no apparent reason, going as far as betraying their previous allegiances.

Unknown to the Justice League, these people are equally confused. Clearly they're stuck in another dimension, but how do they get back? How did they even get here? Who else is stuck in this world? And how long will Tim's patience last? Back home, the Bat was a planetary symbol that struck fear in the hearts of criminals. In this new world, it has no meaning, save for the handful of stranded souls.

In the Shadows - Kieron_ODuibhir

(shortened) Summary:

“I’m not like you.”

The cowl still looked like something he was wearing, but Clark knew it was not. It flexed like skin when Batman narrowed his blank white eyes and said, “I can see you know that.” 

Chirp - AmariT

Summary: Every piece of the signal Tim unlocked revealed more locks, and by the time he broke through the last one, he was already mentally rehearsing his many upcoming talk show appearances. 'Yes,' he told the interviewer, 'it was difficult for me, a ten-year-old genius, to break open the worldwide alien conspiracy. That's why it took a whole hour.'

When the crackling audio started, he expected some weird alien language. Maybe squawks and high-pitched squeals mixed with musical woofs. Maybe they wouldn't talk at all, and images would beam directly into his mind. Maybe they'd talk in practiced English with a Midwestern drawl like their other resident alien.

Instead he heard a low, guttural voice growling out of his computer speakers. "Robin," it said. "Are you in position?"

A Better Cage - Mangaluva

Note: I was absolutely DELIGHTED to see a Young Justice Crossover with the Justice Lords (Earth-50) from the animated Justice League series, which is near and dear to my heart. I admit I haven’t really had much time to hunker down and read this, but even skimming, it’s an intriguing piece of work. Also, Justice Lords.

Summary: Wally's grateful to have woken up at all, really. He just doesn't know what to make of the world he's woken up in. At least they want to find a way to his world as much as he does, if not exactly for the same reasons...

Common People - AmariT

Note: The Bat boys are all Bruce’s blood sons, but it still feels very much like a found family. I haven’t really read everything in this series, but I feel the author has an amazing grip on all the characters. Lovely and heartwarming.

Summary: His whole life, Jason’s mom had told him his dad was Bruce Wayne, but he’d never been dumb enough to actually believe it. They lived in a rundown, one-room apartment in the worst part of town, and in every single picture he’d ever seen of that rich bastard he was wearing a suit or sipping champagne worth more than everything they’d ever owned.

But if he wasn’t Bruce Wayne’s kid, then what the hell was he doing sitting outside the man’s office in Wayne Towers?

Red Robin and the Hood - momoejaku

Note: Haven’t read this in a while, but it made an impression. Though it’s a fic set during the Red Robin arc, it very much is about both Tim and Jason. Plus, it fleshes out the Pru and Z a bit more, too.

Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. Superman brought back his body, and the family mourned him, holding a quiet funeral in secret so that the legacy of Batman could live on. But not everyone has been able to put him to rest.

Reeling from the loss of Bruce, his identity as Robin and his trust in his family, Tim Drake sets out on a personal quest that will take him across the world to prove what he knows in his heart: that Bruce Wayne is alive.

Though intending to make his way alone, Tim reluctantly accepts help from his predecessor, Jason Todd, who knows from personal experience that death is not always as final as it seems.

Together, they are Red Robin and the Hood.

Liminal Spaces - Calamityjim

Note: Skimmed this only since I’ve been busy, BUT it does look well-written, and I’m always a sucker for alternate dimension/dimension travel intervention-type of fix-its. It’s a very specific trope.

Summary:

Bruce's habit of collecting strays is not limited by dimension.

Or

When Young Justice Batman comes across an angsty, seemingly abandoned by his Batman Tim Drake, he decides to step up to the plate and parent the crap out of him.

Little Bird’s Vengeance - KatHarkness-Katara

Note: Crossover with Avengers. Awesome fic with Tim and Jason and some Outsider POV (via the Avengers) of these dimensional stragglers. I think Tim’s team shows up in the later chapters, too. If you’re reading on mobile, it’s still very much worth reading despite FF.net’s horrible format and abundance of advertisements in the mobile version.

Summary: Why is life never simple? Red Robin's ended up worlds away from home once again, and now what's he to do? What do the Avengers want from him; do SHIELD have another agenda; and is there any way back? Pre-New 52. No slash. Rated for inevitable language/violent themes.

A Displaced Red Robin - dragonprincess1988

Note: Worth reading despite FF.net’s horrible format and abundance of advertisements in the mobile version. Well-written fic! EMOTIONS! I love them. Younger Dick Grayson is adorable, Tim is a competent fixer-upper for other people but not so much himself. He’s kind of angsty and making YJ Dick want to keep him (and YJ Bruce, too, if you read between the lines). On the plus side, seems like he’s making good friends with Young Justice Roy. This fic was written before certain episodes of YJ came out, though, and the fic reflects/will continue to reflect that. Still, I give it five stars.

Author’s Summary: Tim gets transported to the cartoon Young Justice world, and he's not sure he knows how to deal with it. Attention: If you want to know about Artemis or people from Tim's world the final note on my profile is for you. Also, a special thank you to angel-gidget over at Tumblr, who made the wonderful cover art for this story.

The Till-then From the Ever Since - Keiron O_Duibhir

Note: Fandom classic. Definitely a must-read for Batfam fans, in my humble opinion.

Summary: It began, or seemed to begin, with Jason.

Usually that would have meant something in the order of fire and explosion and probably at least one gunshot wound, but for once (as Tim said, sourly), it wasn't actually Jason's fault.

The Wayne Family Ghost - pupeez4eva

Note: Please read this. Especially if you’re sad or anxious or just have time. I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s my go-to cheer-up fic. Absolutely hysterical.

Summary: In which Bruce realizes that having a legally dead son, who regularly hangs around the family, might be slightly problematic. 

Bloodline - chibi_nightowl

Note: Complicated family dynamics, this time centering around Tim, Selina, Bruce and, surprisingly, Damian. Jason and Dick make an appearance as supportive big bros, too. It works. Take a read, it isn’t that long.

Summary:

“Mr. Drake, I can’t think of a better way to say this, so I’ll just be blunt. This file is for your first adoption. By the Drakes.”

Tim blinked. “My what?”

“You were adopted as a newborn by Jack and Janet Drake.”

“Excuse me, but what the fuck are you talking about?”

Talon!Tim AU Series by keeptogethernow

Note: Found family, from a different angle. Cool fic and well-written.

Summary of Tso’ape Mumbichi, first in the series: Ten years ago, two people made a deal with the devil--unlimited funds in exchange for their child. And now it's time to pay up. But there's no way to ensure that the child will cooperate.

Shutterbug Series by goldkirk

Note: Exactly what it says on the tin! Found family.

Summary:

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird next door neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

Thursday’s Child - anthalogia

Note: Well-written and has found family and Tiny!Tim? Automatic win.

Summary:

He’s not the first child with nowhere else to go that Bruce Wayne has taken in. Dick Grayson was the first and the most high-profile – because no one would have thought Bruce Wayne was interested in ever raising a child, let alone the orphaned son of circus performers – but Jason was maybe just as much of a shock to society for being a street kid who came out of seemingly nowhere. Tim Drake is ordinary by comparison – his parents died in a plane accident. He can’t think of anything very special about him except that he met Bruce a few times when his parents hosted parties to keep in touch with Gotham society.

Or, tiny Tim Drake is adopted by the Waynes a little earlier than scheduled.

We’re Not Driving (How did we get here?) - TimTheToaster

Note: Short and sweet, a little angsty, and then very sweet.

Summary:

Tim stared at his phone, as if that would change what was on the screen.

Dick Grayson @FlyingDGrayson

It took some doing, and in some cases a little blackmail, but we've finally got the whole family together for a movie night! #WayneManor #movienight #familytime #schedulingisanightmare

15 minutes ago

Take It Back Now Y’all - TimTheToaster

Note: And Tiny!Jason has made his appearance. Also, Tim, I am begging you to please take care of yourself—ah, Bruce has made his appearance. Interesting. Also, I gotta say this author is good.

Summary:

There was absolutely no way this sunshine was from Gotham in April.

Not possible.

Which meant, Tim was no longer in Gotham, in April.

(In which Tim finds himself in the past, and tries to do the right thing. It's more complicated than he'd like.)

Takes a Little Time, Takes a Lotta Twine (To Get Us Back Together) - TimTheToaster

Note: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, beginning of reconciliation, and brotherhood. A satisfying, cathartic moment during the Red Robin arc to soothe your heart.

Summary:

Tim was in Gotham.

Tim had pretty specifically been avoiding thinking about Dick as much as possible for the last few weeks.

For the last year, really. No need to open that can of carnivorous worms.

Dick had other plans.

Everybody’s Heard (Bird is the Word) - TimTheToaster

Red Robin Era ANGST, but like, deliciously well-written. Also, protective Dad Bruce is always epic. Light bashing of Green Arrow and BC, though. But considering the situation (in this fic), kind of warranted.

Summary:

5 times Batman heard other heroes talking about his wayward brother,

And 1 time they were talking about his son.

A Choice to Make - scorbusfics

Note: fresh and interesting premise! Cool world building, too.

Summary: They have to choose. Dick and Bruce have to choose one person each to save, and one to disappear through the door.

“Send one of us,” Dick says fiercely, not for the first time. His face is dark and angry and desperate, eyes flicking from brother to brother. “Send one of us instead. I won’t choose.”

“Neither will I,” Bruce says.

But Tim knows.

Secret Places - RenaRoo

It’s ANGST, but the author knows how to use it well. Also, Jason’s line at the end killed me. Damn.

Summary: Tim Drake goes missing. The search to find him begins.

[sieben9]

“who is alice” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaTiW for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Holy… this episode did not go where I expected it to!

and that takes care of my nightmares for at least a week. thanks, Wonderland!

This show gets dark in places. I mean, it’s a well-earned and appropriate kind of darkness, because grief, depression, and mental illness in general are heavy and dark topics, but still. Damn.

Some more wailing under the cut. (If it helps those who don’t know the show—everyone comes out of this episode mostly-alright.)

So, uh… I did wonder how Alice ended up in that hospital, and I guess this episode answers the question.

I mean, it’s awful, even before this “hospital stay” went terribly, horribly wrong, but it’s an answer, at least.

As for the bits where I expected this episode to go differently… well, for one, I expected more Jafar. But he turned out to be more of a framing device for this one, and I guess that’s appropriate. This was Alice’s story, and before this latest return to Wonderland, he didn’t really play a role in that.

That said, I am maybe disconcertingly glad that he happened to that complete waste of space that has the audacity to call himself a medical professional. And no, I do not care that this was the prevalent opinion on the mentally ill at the time, this murdering bastard deserves everything that happens to him. (I would also like to apologise to all bastards everywhere for the comparison.)

yeah, you better be scared.

That said, I am mildly concerned about his visit to Alice’s father. Not so much because of what Jafar might do to him, see above re: “he verily had it coming to his ass”, and more because this can’t be good for Alice, and I am at the “I will personally strangle anyone who tries to hurt her” stage of character adoption.

This episode did a really good job of showing why staying in her original world just wasn’t an option for Alice, even without the whole “escaped mental patient” deal. 1) Nobody would ever believe her and 2) her stepmother is a complete asshole.

No, seriously, I mean it. Her impulses might be reasonable (“who is this stranger and what is she doing in my house”, as well as “I don’t want this weird woman harming my daughter”), but dear Lord, she doesn’t have to be such a complete dipshit about it. And the “dipshit” comment goes doubly for Alice’s father, who seems awfully quick to dismiss his daughter’s clear distress, just because his wife—who, please remember, barely knows Alice—tells him to. Just… guh. You are terrible people and I cannot believe you raised such a nice little girl as Millie.

oh, the cute sisterliness that could have been…

The flashback, of course, gave a good impression of the person Alice still secretly thinks she's "supposed" to be. Doesn't matter that she knows Wonderland is real, doesn’t matter that she knows she needs to save Cyrus, there’s a part of her that still wants to be “happy” by forgetting all the worries her real self has. But, as the Grove shows, that means forgetting everyone she cares about and leaving behind who she is entirely, which is, y’know, not the healthiest of coping mechanisms.

did I mention the nightmares?

And for a bonus: that is exactly what her “new mother” (Coraline reference intentional, because if I’m going to have nightmares, I’m taking all of you down with me) wanted her to do. Just forget about her troubles and move on with a “normal”, “happy” life. Yes, the sarcastic quotation marks are getting quite a workout today.

I also loved Will’s whole rescue scene. Not only the “I’ll get you back, even if it kills me”-bit (and holy crap, you don’t realise how rarely you hear that in a non-romantic context until you do and then it’s glaringly obvious), but especially the “hypocrisy” of him telling her that just forgetting about it all won’t solve her problems. He never faced his own heartache; you could argue that he has no place telling her how to deal with hers, but he’s still a really good friend—even if he’s bad at following his own advice, he knows what the right thing to do is here.

And yes, I am looking forward to the scene where he inevitably puts his heart back in. Very much so, in fact.

Cyrus’s plot was… yeah, it happened, I guess. It’s pretty much more of the same as back when he was still in the cage, only with more running around. He’s not really getting anywhere; the show just wants to remind everyone that he’s still around and not just sitting on his hands or something.

Though you do have to admire the intestinal fortitude of the man for jumping down that cliff.

at least go in feet-first, you absolute maniac

And, as a little personal highlight, have a look at the Collection of “TURN BACK!” signs before the dark forest.

You’d almost think this was a bad place to be in or something. (I also loved Alice straight up wiping the floor with the two bandits on the way. They messed with the wrong person, is all I’m saying.)

Next episode: I truly have no idea, but I’m already excited to find out.

[annalisacoppolino]

A Court of Hope and Legacy - episode 7

I had a lot of fun writing this episode. Hope you’ll love the new characters as much as I do❣

To read the previous episode click here.

Also on Wattpad.

     Distant echoes of life came to her in fleeting screeches of night birds as she struggled to keep track of time. Darkness, damp and stagnant silence as her only companions. The moon was a phantom presence lingering at the top of the stone funnel opening several levels higher into the sky.      Suri felt entombed, enveloped in the unstirred air of the dungeon and in foreign shadows spreading around her like cobwebs, trying to swallow her completely. She knocked her head on the bars once. Twice. And kept doing it for a while feeling less alone at sound of bone against metal. She slid the tips of her fingers down the thick iron bars, feeling under her hands the odd symbols engraved there. They covered every surface of the cell, from ceiling to floor—Suri had never seen anything like them.      In the long hours she’d spent down here, courtesy of Eris, Suri had been studying them carefully. As it plainly was, these marks had the extraordinary faculty to block out her powers. That she knew, the only way to achieve that effect was using Hybern’s ancient chains, and yet, here was this other diabolic trick; she knew the chains of the King had all been destroyed, and these carvings felt far from that sort of magic anyway. Suri didn’t know how to explain it, but they felt—older. She wasn’t an expert but from the look of them the symbols followed some unrecognizable pattern, like letters.      If only Aksel were with her. He would surely know about them.      He wouldn’t have gotten into this kind of trouble to start with, actually.      Now it didn’t matter—she obviously wasn’t her brother. The only thing that counted was that once she got out Suri would cut away the arrogant grin of Eris from that pretty face of his.      The sound of approaching footsteps drew her out of her thoughts. Gold embroideries glinted in the dark as four guards stopped in front of her cell ordering her to step back. Suri did as she was told without arguing. The bulkier one opened the door always keeping a watchful eye on her, lest she should decide to pick a fight, and stepped aside to let her out. Suri could have used the shackles engraved with magic symbols they’d put on her wrists to strangle the guard, then knock on the head the next who came after her, and next, and the next. But what point was there in killing them? They were already taking her right where she wanted—to the High Lord.      Suri kept walking, two guards flanking her and two following behind. She recognized the path to the same room in the tower where she and Keran had been received by Eris the day before.      Keran must have been taken to another part of the dungeon, she did not know where, for she had not heard or seen him the whole night. Suri didn’t have to wonder for much longer, though. He was there, similarly escorted and chained, waiting for her. They filed into the room through open doors and found and empty throne welcoming them this time. The eight guards accompanying Suri and Keran spread out along the circular perimeter of the turret, standing at attention.      That bastard was enjoying this till the very end.      Eris had caged them with his treacherous magic, thrown them into a damp cell and let them wallowing in mildew.      He was so finished.      The sun started to tinge the sky outside announcing the beginning of the new day, and Suri felt her resolution growing stronger with every minute that passed. Her hands were literally itching with eagerness to fight when the Cauldron finally decided to please her.      Suri and Keran turned their heads in unison to behold the entrance of the High Lord: Eris was walking toward them entirely shrouded in flames lapping his body. The fire burned hotter than hell on Suri’s skin at a distance, while Eris didn’t look troubled in the slightest as the red tongues danced around him, his amber eyes also ablaze and sending out scorching sparkles.      Suri was regretfully forced to step back as she felt the leather of her suit starting to melt with the skin underneath. Eris walked slowly through Suri and Keran to reach his seat, the exposed patches of their skin sizzling. Just as Suri was about to let down her stoical composure and back well away from that unbearable heat, the High Lord smothered the flames and sat on his chair, eyes still smoldering. His rage felt tangible when he spilled a vibrating roar.      “You,” he stabbed a finger at both of them. “You will pay. Don’t you dare think for a second to come into my house, elude an explicit ban of mine, abuse of my hospitality—even kill a member of my Court—and walk away without repercussions. I don’t know and I don’t care if you acted on your own, or if you were sent here by your parents with ill intent all along, but I’ll make sure this kind of disrespect is never showed again in the future. Your punishment will be exemplary.”      Suri stood with her back straight, wearing an unimpressed expression against the sweat still trickling down her temples. She stepped forward and glowered at the High Lord. “If apologies are what you’re looking for, I think you’re going to be disappointed.”      Eris laughed heartily to her face. “Apologies you say. You’ll regret even crossing my threshold.” He stood up and set his foot on the first step of the raised dais, regarding her as he would do with any chained dog. “You can start telling me what Vaun revealed to you.”      Suri scratched her chin with a nail as in deep thought, rattling her shackles. “Vaun... Who’s this?”      Eris stalked to her, brandishing fire in his right hand. “Don’t play games with me, little girl, or you’ll get burned. Vaun was the man you killed, my best alchemist, and you know it perfectly well.”      “Ah,” exclaimed Suri. “Sure. I didn’t know his name. Keran, do you remember? Vaun—the one who soiled himself and begged like a dog.”      Wildfire spurted out from Eris’ hand, reaching a threatening distance from Suri. Keran turned to her with a half-pleading look on his face; this was difficult to him, since everything they’d done from their arrival had been jeopardizing the long-lasting alliance between the Autumn Court and his own, ruining the efforts of his father. Suri could understand and respect that, so she ceased the outright insults in favor of a hostile silence—she could try, at least.      “I’m not asking twice.” The low rumble in the voice of the High Lord didn’t admit a refusal.      Suri preserved her composure stubbornly, but she felt Keran waver next to her. Then a tremor shuddered the turret through all its length. Suri snapped her head up toward the roof where something had just crashed. For as quick as her reaction was, Suri heard them coming before actually seeing them: two sets of mighty wings, booming like impending thunders over their heads. The sun at their backs, gliding inside through the open sides of the tower like nightmarish creatures, the two Illyrians made a spectacular entrance. Suri thought with regret that the effect would have been much improved if the trio had been completed by herself, though. Their landing was perfect as well. They were quite a view—the lanky figure of one warrior standing next to the bulky frame of the other.      “Sorry to interrupt,” said Kaden as way of greeting.      The wicked grin on Ronin’s face told quite the opposite instead. Smaller in stature than Kaden, he made up for every inch he lacked with sheer force and his pugnacious appearance.      “Who are you, and how did you get in?” The cold and murderous tone in the words hissed through Eris’ gritted teeth was a harbinger of bloodshed.      “Your security measures proved... a bit lacking—you’re welcome, by the way; we were glad to help your guards figuring out how to best improve themselves. As for your first question, High Lord,” Kaden bowed to the waist, “we are humble middlemen, speaking in name of our Commander, Cassian.”      “Your Commander has no authority here—no one invited you!” barked Eris.      “I did.”      Everyone turned toward the open doors to the throne room as Lady Aileen strutted in and walked past Suri and Keran to stop in front of the High Lord. “My Lord, I’m here to negotiate the release of my son.”      “And we’ll do the same for our Deputy Commander, if you allow it,” cut in Kaden. He and Ronin had taken advantage of the general surprise following the arrival of Lady Aileen to sneak through the room and position themselves on either flank of Suri—two pillars, her loyal comrades. It looked like they knew of Suri and Keran’s situation; somehow, word must had reached the right ears and reinforcements had been sent.      “Aileen,” drawled sourly Eris, “I expected more from your son. We are kin, after all.” They were indeed, since Tamlin had married into the Autumn Court nobility.      “I don’t deny his wrongdoings. But his recklessness has extenuating circumstances, you’ll concede.”      “You’re in no position to tell me what I shall or shall not concede.” Eris spoke with obvious irritation, but he was apparently growing less edgy. That must be the reason Aileen was here instead of Tamlin; as Eris’ relative—for how distant their kinship—she had better odds to get him listening. Besides, Tamlin already got his hands full with the panic surely taking over his Court right now.      “Of course.” Aileen lowered her head slightly in apology. “Name your price then, for you surely have one.”      “My dear, nothing you can offer will repair the damage I’ve suffered.”      “That’s a lie—and you know it. Just ask.”      Eris tightened his jaw at Lady Aileen’s knowing smile, and seemed to be taking her seriously now. He traced his steps back onto the dais and to his seat, settling himself with utter calmness. Arms resting at his sides, Eris focused his unrelenting and calculating gaze on the female. Suri could barely glimpse a reflection of the High Lord’s scheming thoughts in those amber eyes.      “Do you truly think that after all we’ve been through I still have to ask? If I were my father, your entire family would have been wiped out to get what was mine—what still is mine.” Eris spoke with cold words, though the flames dancing in his eyes didn’t reflect that blankness. “But I spared them, and asked nothing in return.”      “And I thank both the Mother and the Cauldron you’re not your father,” acknowledged Aileen. “But, my Lord, you know as well as I that you didn’t do it out of generosity—you didn’t harm them because Fianna would have never forgiven you.”      Eris shot out his tongue like a barb to make some cruel remark, but then changed his mind. A long pause ensued.      Lady Aileen eventually broke the silence and offered, “I’ll speak to Fianna. Release Keran now, and she’ll agree to a private audience with you. That’s all I can promise.”      Eris transfixed her with a sharp look and nodded in satisfaction.      “I guess now it’s our turn,” stepped in Kaden. “Lord Eris, Commander Cassian is willing to meet your requests to get his second back.”      The High Lord looked him over carefully, not at all impressed. Kaden held his stare without faltering and waited his reply. That was smart, not giving away how much they were ready to offer for Suri’s freedom; better seeing first what Eris’ inclinations were.      “The Brannenstein,” Eris articulated, savoring each syllable.      Suri closed her fists rattling the chains still bounding her wrists. Kaden went stiff next to her.      “I fear that one is not on the table,” the Illyrian replied.      “Then your Deputy Commander can rot away in my dungeons,” Eris gloated.      Ronin took a menacing step forward, the nasty scar running from his left ear down into the collar of his suit flashing out against the tanned skin of his neck. Kaden cast him a warning side glance willing him to a halt.      That bastard. Suri should have guessed Eris would not miss the chance to make demands on the stone. The Brannenstein was an ancient heirloom that had come to be emblem of power and strength. It had once belonged to the Autumn Court and to its High Lords, but it had been stolen from them by the Illyrians—that was one side of the story, at least; according to the Illyrian records, the Brannenstein had been won in a fair combat by an Illyrian war-lord, and treasured somewhere in the mountains of the north since then. Suri didn’t even know whether Cassian had it, or someone else did.      Kaden squinted his green-streaked brown eyes looking comprehensibly perplexed, but not entirely surprised by the request. Maybe Cassian had seen this coming and given him instructions on the matter.      “The Commander is not in possession of that item, at the moment. He’ll need a few days to retrieve it, but, if this is your only condition, you can have it.”      Eris’ teeth flashed in a smug grin. “Giving in already? I expected much of a negotiation. That stone has been property of your kind for centuries, I thought your Commander would hardly cede it.”      “He reckons it a fair price to pay for his second,” Kaden declared. “Naturally, he expects you to trust him on his word and to release Suri immediately.”      The High Lord snorted. “Naturally. But before that, I have another request.” Eris turned his cunning and cruel gaze directly on Suri. “I ask something else of you, as personal payment and proof of your atonement.”      He made an operatic pause before declaring, “I want you to bring me a Suriel.”      Suri went still, feeling her blood turn ice inside her veins.      That fucking bastard.      She barely registered Ronin and Kaden’s edgy glances, her body instinctively assuming a fighting stance as her mind molded the cold anger and loathing burning through her into a sharp blade of murderous determination.      “I wouldn’t do it if I were you,” Eris challenged her. “Another infraction would cost your father greatly. You know he’d give anything for his daughter, wouldn’t he?”      Blood trickled on the marble floor as her nails dug in the skin of her palms, but Suri didn’t notice the red beads staining the pavement, nor the light drip drip that was now the only audible sound filling the still air of the room.      “A Suriel.” Her voice sounded like an outlandish rasp to her own ears.      “Precisely.”      Suri walked toward the throne under the stunned gazes of those around her. Eris’ eyes betrayed a subtle fear as she extended her bloodied hand to him. After some tense seconds, he reached out and grasped it.      “It’s a bargain,” he said barely hiding the quiver in his voice.      “It’s a bargain,” repeated Suri.      Right after the words were pronounced, matching tattoos appeared on their left wrists, sealing the pact. They looked like black circles resembling wristbands—or handcuffs.      Once the guards freed both she and Keran, Suri released her wings and took off, flying out in the morning sun with a cry that shuddered the forest to its core.

     Suri met the others later, outside the Forest House—at a safe distance from Eris. The flight had cleared her mind and soothed her, but she was far from being subdued. When she landed, Suri noticed the drawn face of Keran as he argued with Lady Aileen.      “Mother, you didn’t have to—”      “Don’t worry Keran, it’s for the best. Your aunt refused the bond out of respect toward me, but now I can give her a pretext to give up her honor and finally be with the male she wants. Fianna is stubborn, but she’ll do it if she believes it’s to help you and to avoid retaliation.”      Suri vaguely knew the story; it had occurred before she was even born. Aileen had been engaged to Eris, but after meeting her younger sister, Fianna, he had called everything off because the mating bond had snapped into place. Fianna had refused to accept the bond, though, even after Aileen had married Tamlin. It seemed the water under the bridge hadn’t been enough still, for either Eris or Fianna.      For how much she wanted to stay with Keran, Suri couldn’t bear the name of Eris right now, or anything related to him. She walked into the near cluster of trees instead, where Kaden and Ronin awaited her.      “We got out pretty smoothly, didn’t we?” Kaden joked grimly.      Suri snorted.      “What?”      “Nothing,” she said. “Only, you’re usually the sensible one. I thought being such a show-off was my prerogative.”      He ruffled clumsily his short chestnut hair. “Well, you weren’t with us, so I took on your part—only this once, don’t worry.”      Suri chuckled, surprising even herself at the lightness in that simple gesture.      Ronin joined her and gave her a jab. “Glad to see you again, boss.”      “I told you not to call me that!” Suri complained.      “I know, boss.” Ronin tossed his long braid backward and leaned in to pat Kaden on the shoulder. “Seriously, this one almost freaked out when your uncle Azriel sent his spies to the camp to warn the Commander of your incident.”      Kaden muttered something incomprehensible and pushed the other Illyrian still mimicking his upset expression.      Suri smiled at the two warriors bickering like children. They looked a curious pair: one tall and dark-haired with a bashful air about him; the other a sturdy brawler with white-blonde hair, arranged in a complex pattern on the top which left the shaven sides of his head exposed, and clear blue eyes revealing his Vallhanian origins.      She couldn’t have asked for better friends, though.      “Ok, ok, I got it. You missed me. Thank you, by the way—you saved me.”      “Always,” replied Kaden with a smile.      “Don’t rush it,” cut in Ronin. “We’re not finished yet.”      “What does that mean, now?” asked Suri confused.      Kaden sighed in reply.      Ronin explained, “There have been troubles back at the camp. You need to come immediately, before things get really messed-up.”      “Is that what I think?” Suri felt a grip in her stomach.      “If you’re thinking of outright rebellion—then yes.”      Suri cursed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Tags: @the-bookish-soul @the-book-court @nestasbucket @tntwme @tacmc @feyre-therabeaux @nervousllamasalad @alittlepieceof @highladyjel @acourtoffuckmylifeup @anuppityfangirl @tessywessy22 @unicornbooks @cerridwxn @awkwardfan563 @fanfic-masterpost-site @eternally-reading @illyrianbastards @urbisie @fandoms-everywhere-united @illyrian-lovers

[calliecat93]

Star Trek Episodes 34-37

Metamorphosis: It was fine. I like having it be a mainly Kirk,Spock,and McCoy adventure with them stranded with a diplomat and bejng found by a giy who should be long dead. The concept of The Companion is fine and the themes of love is a perfectly fine plot to play out. But... the execution is kinda... ehh. Mainly at the end with Cochren being upset at The Companion being female (I’d also be annoyed at how Kirk assumed it was female cause of the voice but 60’s), The Companion posessing Nancy and the trio just... leaving it that way. I guess that Nancy was more or less dead by then, but it still feels wrong. And if she wasn’t dead, this BETTER have given her consent cause dear Lord NO. Then Cochren choosing to stay in his guilded cage with a being forcing him to remain cause... love I guess despite neither he nor Nancy knowing each other at all. Yeah, this is kind of a mess. It’s not bad, it had aspects Ilimed like McCoy trying to care for Nancy due to her comdition, Kirk feeling guilty because as captain whatever happens to his crew is his fault, Nancy’s sadness at having focused somuxh on her job she never found love as she’s dying is legit sad, and the trio overall working effectivly together with even Spock and McCoy not bantering too much. Heck McCoy gets concerned for Spock twice (albiet the seocnd time was also concern for Kirk). So nice bits of character and ideas that made me like the watch, but still has questionable elements that make me tilt my head. 3/5.

Journey to Babel: It’s time to meet Spock’s parents, yay! So I knew about this one cause avoiding spoilers for a 50+ year old show isn’t really on my list of priorities as my reblogs have shown. Needless to say I had expectations going in... and they were very much met! I really enjoyed this one! I like Sarek and Amanda as charcters as well as Spock’s feelings about them being ont he ship no matter how much he hides i. He understandably isn’t happy to be aorund his father who clearly didn’t approve ofhis life choices, though there doens’t seem to be any genuine hate between them. But sitll cutitng off from your own son for 18 years... dude I know yu’re a Vulcan and I know about the third movie, but that’s pretty crappy. We also see Spock, depsite using the usual ‘I’m a logical Vulcan’ card, clealry holding in storng feelings, concern, and regret hroughoutt he whole episode. Seriously, Leonard Nimoy did such an amazing job in this episode and did so many little things with the protrayal here. Though honestly McCoy may be the MVP here for successfully saving Sarek and keeping Spock alive, finally getitng the last word against Kirk and Spock, and his huge ass grin when he finds out about the tddy bear is the greatest thing int he world and Spock triyng to make it sound less embarassing made it even better. The ending was suspenseful as well. We don’t see Spock necesarially resolve his issues with is father, but it does feel like at least some progress was made... also them teasing Amanda int heir own Vulcan way made me laugh. That poor woman XD Overall, great episode. 5/5.

Friday’s Child: I think that the alternate title should be ‘McCoy’s REALLY Awkward Day’. It was good. We get the Klingons again, we’re on a planet with customs very different from Earth, and we have our trio on the run due to what is essentiallu a coup. They also get stuck with a pregnant woman who hates being touched... well until McCoy smacks her after she does it to him twice, then she’s ALL into him. Poor guy, and it only gets more awkward when he accidentally gets her to say that the child is his because he wans’t careful with his wording. But hey, he still fulfilled his duty as a doctor whether the woman liked it or not and he tried to get her to take credit for her own child since she’s the one delivering it, so good job doc! It was also hilarious with FAR too many moments to note, though most of them involve Spock being uncomfortable/annoyed as Hell XD There’s also the B-Crew dealing with their own issues, and it was nice to see them heading things without Kirk or Spock around. They’re all awesome, Scotty esecially continues ot be a badass when in commad. It was a good watch. 4/5.

The Deadly Years: It was...okay. It had some okay elements like Kirk’s aging affecting his mind, but it’s otherwise a meh episode. Metamorphosis at least had ideas I thought could be interesitng, this one is ‘let’s rapidly age the cast and roll with it’. IDK, it just ddn’t feel that storng. Admittedly some stuff was fun, like DeForest Kelley getitng to go into full-on cranky old man mode and Chekov complaining about all the examinations that he’s forced to endure, but there’s nothing notable. It doesn’t even really go into how aging and the effects on their mentality makes Kirk or the others feel like I know that The Wrath of Khan does. So yeh.. not much to say here except decent idea, but bleh execution. 2/5

Weak episode to end on, but the other three were enjoyable even with my issues with the first one.

[shimmershae]

My takeaways from tonight's episode--other than the fact that the Emmys are a fucking joke because Melissa McBride would already have several--are these:

Rick is still somewhat an arrogant dumbass, I see.  Just waltzing right up the Trash people's den of dirty dinge like that. 

 Nabila, I love you. 

 This all feels so very roadside memorial.

 The letters were a nice touch, I guess, a way to keep our scattered Team Family connected. You know what would have been even better?  Actual physical connections between them.  I don't know.  If this season is going to only cover like 3 fucking days, Carol and Daryl could have had longer than 30 seconds to say a potential final goodbye to each other.  Tara and Carol could have actually swapped lines on that overpass instead of just sitting pretty for the oh-so-awesome cool shot.  Characters could have actually interacted thus far.  Gimps and Co. only would have had to cut about 98 of their 100 instances thus far of dick-related dialogue.

My poor baby Aaron.  You're making my heart hurt. 

 Baby Gracie is precious. 

 So.  Carol's leading what's left of the Kingdom while their self-proclaimed King wallows in his manpain. 

 Maggie, it's so good to see you.  But goodness.  Are we sure you're not carrying a baby elephant?   Maybe this apocalypse has skewed with normal human gestation, lol.  As it is, baby Rhee should come out with a full head of black hair and pearly white teeth to show off when he smiles. 

 Naked Arts and Crafts in an landfill during a Zombie Apocalypse.  Yuck. 

 Somebody kill that skeezy sucker that shot Ben. Anybody. 

 Gregory, you spineless weasel. 

 Jesus, you're trying my patience.  And somebody remind me what happened to Morgan.  I know it's only been a day or so, but in real time, it's been 6 episodes and not much has been particularly memorable enough for me to actually remember. 

 Poor loyal, sweet Jerry.  I love you, too. 

 Damn.  Macsen looks so much like Madison I just cannot. 

 I hate the way the Garbage Pail quacks talk.  Hate it.  Rick isn't much better, though, lol.  The dialogue on this show...who talks like this? 

 I usually don't find much fault with Michonne, but what the hell?  Girl. 

 I'm not particularly pleased with the direction of Tara and Daryl's storylines as vigilantes this season no matter how understandable.  It really goes against the character of the characters as I've come to know them. 

 On the plus side, though.  Norman's actually enunciating lately, so I have tiny ray of hope that I won't have to turn on my closed captioning to actually decipher what the man is saying during any potential future Caryl scene. 

 That talkative Savior trying to be all reasonable and get in Jesus's good graces?  Not sure I trust him. 

 Like Thelma and Louise, this car ride of Michonne's and Rosita's is pretty ill-advised.  Getting out of the car, even more ill-advised injured as they are. 

 Carl approaching Siddiq and offering up his trust just like that.  I mean, it brought a tear to my eye, the callback to Lori--guh, do I miss her--but in trying to make your own way, Kid?  You're taking a page out of dear old Dad's book.  Lord help.  As much as I want to trust a man that kills walkers to honor his mother and free their souls, I feel like this can only end badly for our disobedient (not so little anymore) shit. 

 Henry, baby doll.  You've really stepped in in now. 

 This callback kills me because she's totally thinking about Sophia and it's written all over her face. 

 Maggie having Gregory put in the cage with the Saviors has me LOL.  Thank you, Margaret, for actually playing it smart.  Although, I do think it would have made more sense to keep those assholes outside Hilltop's walls. 

 Somebody kill that smarmy bastard that shot Ben.  Like seriously. 

 See you still know how to get yourself in a real pickle, Carlton.  Obviously, you're more like dear old dad than I'd originally thought. 

 But why didn't Rosita just use that RPG on the speaker truck?  If girl's so willing to sacrifice herself for vengeance, you know.  Just saying. 

 Second scene in a row that I could actually understand Daryl.  Now, if he could just make friends with a pair of scissors...

 The door was unlocked the whole time?  Carol's reaction was priceless, lol.  Melissa, have I mentioned yet that I love you?  Because you make me laugh in one frame and the very next one you're killing me with your mad skills. 

 Carol talking about acting until everything was actually okay breaks me, okay?  Those tears and that chin wobble?  My God, Woman.  She's still not okay, y'all.  But she's trying.  For the people she loves. 

 She absolutely could lead, whether she wants the mantle or not. 

 Oh, and Ezekiel sitting there with Shiva's chain?  Ouch.  Shiva and Zeke were the real ship, y'all.  Not in that way because eww.  But that was the most real connection the man had and you're not going to convince me otherwise   

 Maggie holding Gracie while Aaron talks about Eric?  My heart.  But seriously.  It's been a day and a half and my boy is talking like it's been longer than that.  I realize it feels fresh and far away at the same time, but it was still a little weird. 

 Bargaining chips.  Thank you again, Maggie.  For being smart.  This is war, after all. 

 Enid, baby girl.  Your mama/big sis Maggie isn't going to be happy with you. Not happy at all. 

 I get what they're trying to do with Daryl's traumatized ass, but I still don't like it. 

 I had to laugh at Jadis wearing Rick's boots.  So it's Andy's time to be nekkid.  Who's next, huh?  Maybe my babies get to be nekkie together, lol. 

 Sorry.  This got really long, lol.  I hope it was at least a little enjoyable, hahaha. 

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 4 Episodes, #1/13

1. 4x02 Korra Alone

Non-linear all around perfect episode that explores Korra’s struggles with PTSD and I can’t even be funny about this. Oh and Toph.

This is a post that’s taken me some time to write, because addressing the perfection of this particular episode is a daunting task. I mean it. It’s not just the best episode of Book 4, it’s the best episode of the franchise. The most daring as well.

For a little bit of context, there’s an incredibly popular episode from Avatar: the Last Airbender called “Zuko Alone.” It picks up after he leaves Iroh in “Avatar Day,” because his uncle kind of pointed out that the hunt for the Avatar might be a tad on the futile side. His brain can’t reconcile this, so the episode instead shows him trying to blindly stick to this task, while feeling as though he has no place in the world, and being rejected by anyone who finds out who he really is. He struggles with inner darkness, inner pain, and the whole time his story is punctuated by flashbacks of his relationship to his sister, his mother’s disappearance, and his father’s ascension to Fire Lord.

I’m not sure I’d call it the high point of ATLA (“Crossroads of Destiny” gets that honor), but it is kind of everything with regards to Zuko, easily one of the strongest characters Bryke have ever written. Also it did a great job of not endorsing his self-destructive tendencies or making excuses for him.

“Korra Alone” was announced (and screened) at the 2014 New York Comic Con, and when Bryke first said the episode title, the audience screamed. Smugly, from the comfort of my couch, I shook my head at the livestream and declared that there was no way this could measure up.

Well, color me dead wrong. I forgot that it was starring Korra, and she not only measures up, she creates a new goddamned reality the world didn’t know it needed.

Just thinking about the episode for first-time viewers, it does exactly what it needs to do. It’s impactful coming off the [mostly] Korra-less “After All These Years” to not just see her, but feel what she’s going through and feel that isolation, even when she’s surrounded by her parents and other loved ones. Though it somewhat takes on the travel+flashbacks format of “Zuko Alone,” even Korra’s present-day plot isn’t strictly sequential—most notably with us learning the real reason she entered the earthbending cage-match, with the flashes moving faster to get her to the swamp. It gives the entire episode a very ungrounded feel, which for the viewer does two things:

You desperately begin to want Korra to connect and be stabilized, because there is an inherent discomfort from the loose form for your brain (not a bad thing...an effective discomfort)

It REALLY gives the impression that time is passing in this episode

The second point is especially striking when you consider the scope. We’ve got in one “plotline” (for lack of a better term): Korra underground fighting, following a ‘dog’, and getting sucked into the swamp where she meets Toph. This alone covers significant ground. Then we have her flashbacks of leaving Republic City, not improving in her home and Senna begging her to go to Katara, Katara’s first healing session, the letters from friends that paint time as passing, Katara’s ‘wiggle your toe’ session, Tenzin visiting, Korra’s narrated letter to Asami while she meditates and trains, her leaving the SWT, her failing to apprehend the thieves, turning from Yue Bay, cutting her hair and donning new clothes, the tree of time scene, then traversing every possible landscape.

HOW WAS THIS ALL IN A 22 MINUTE EPISODE?

Yeah. This is three years, no question about it. It’s visually stunning, but there’s also this extreme sense of loss that the viewer is clued into, and the aimlessness that is heavily felt. Korra’s physical appearance changing was the external manifestation of this, and the symbolism surrounding it was as clear as when Iroh and Zuko did the same nearly 8 years prior. Toph popping out at the end is the one bit of relief, and it *really* shines, especially given her voice actor being perfect and sounding instantly familiar to us (did Philece Sampler just watch hours and hours of Jessie Flower footage or something??).

I can’t see this not landing for someone the first time through, to be perfectly honest. It sets up Korra’s journey for the season, and with her still out of touch from Raava and still away from friends and family, there’s a lot that needs resolving, and that the audience should definitely want to see resolved.

Placing “Korra Alone” in the context of the entire season, and the series at that (or even the franchise) is a different ballgame. Not a worse one, but it certainly means that you can consider this in Korra’s healing arc as a whole.

I’ll fully admit I was not 100% on-board with Dark!Korra being the representation for PTSD at first, even though this is, at the end of the day, a Y7 show that needs to break down these concepts to children. However, it worked within this episode, and given how the whole thing was resolved through mindful meditation (plus how the little bit of metal Korra extracted didn’t end up being a cure-all), I think it justified itself in a general sense.

In the case of “Korra Alone” alone (lol), it worked in a sort of 3rd person omniscient way, to quickly convey Korra reliving this moment and having a ton of anxiety each time it occurred. What had the potential for being a bit of a cheap visual metaphor instead mostly landed, giving us a kind of visceral understanding of that anxiety (and as someone who’s had to explain what that feels like to people who’ve never experienced it, that’s really no easy task).

When it comes to Korra’s healing arc as a whole, I’m going to have to be an asshole and tell you that Gretchen ( @theonewithpurplehair ) and I are planning on writing something about it when she gets back from South Africa. It will be lengthy and emotional and talk about THEMES and how important this is. We do that.

But even in advance of it, I think there’s a point to be made about Bryke choosing to have a healing arc in the first place. They didn’t have to, you know. And for some, especially in light of the indelicately worded “I needed to suffer” quote from the final episode, having two white men use a bisexual indigenous woman to explore a story about recovering from extensive trauma is uncomfortable, which is absolutely a valid tension.

However, something I think @glamourweaver highlighted best back when fandom dialogue was more...heightened, was that like it or not, Korra’s gone through major traumas throughout the show. In Book 1, she lost most of her bending and was so affected there was not-subtle-at-all suicide imagery included. Then Aang’s magic touch fixed her depression! Yay!

In Book 2, she had Raava ripped out of her and lost her (admittedly newfound) connection to her past lives, calling into question her very identity as the Avatar. The whole astral-projection thing she did? That was just Korra’s strength of soul, separate from anything to do with reincarnated powers. So yeah, reconnecting with Raava and becoming the first Avatar of a new spiritual age would totally be healing, but the idea that there’s no trauma she’d need to explore? Book 3 is near and dear to me, but in many ways it almost feels like a new show, complete with not bothering to tap into implications of the first 2 seasons. Whoops!

It’s yeah, not great how much she was put through the wringer when you get down to it. But Bryke are conscientious and tend to fix their mistakes. In a lot of ways, Korra being given PTSD—like...realistic PTSD—and an ensuing healing arc in Book 4 was the direct answer to everything previously glossed over.

The result? To that, I’ll just go ahead and quote @beccatoria’s essay (seriously, read it), because it lays out the meaning so well:

“This brings us to the final part of my argument: forming new meanings. The therapies I have mentioned so far focus on the physiological issues. The brain blows a fuse and can't process what it has experienced, so if you fix the fuse, you fix the processing problem. This still leaves a person who has been through an extremely traumatic event. PTSD almost always presents alongside issues such as depression and can lead to feelings of isolation and guilt. Individuals may either feel emotionally disconnected or emotionally out of control and have often internalised damaging messages as a result of their trauma. There is often a focus on creating new meanings as these memories are re-examined. We see this in Korra's evolving attitude to her own experiences.

Zaheer asserts that her power is limitless. She should never have been able to survive the poison. He offers her an opportunity to recontextualise her survival as evidence of her enormous resilience and strength rather than as a failure because she did not survive unscathed. While she is recovering, Katara tells her about Aang and how he chose to find meaning in his suffering. “What will I find?” Korra wonders. “Won't it be interesting to find out?” Katara asks. The answer comes in her final conversation with Tenzin. Korra chooses to form new meanings for her experiences, and chooses to find a message of compassion and empathy.”

Yes, the landing was not 100% perfect, but the recontextualization of her suffering and subsequent empowerment through that was clear. Korra ended the series hopeful about the future, and more at peace than we had seen her—certainly more at peace than that flailing teenager who was more willing to demand a duel with Amon than admit fear. She had grown and found ways to reconcile what happened into how she wanted to lead her life.

Do you mind if I get personal for three seconds? I have general anxiety, as well as a very specific (and admittedly mild) trauma associated with driving, and though I’ll never equate my experience to Korra’s brutalization (seriously, mine just involves a hangover, a large cup of coffee, pizza, and a bridge), there is something about that terror of being out-of-control I identify with, and it features so strongly in Korra’s arc. I also know what it’s like to want to will something away and fight against everything that’s happening. Why can’t my stupid brain just STOP?

But the thing is, like beccatoria said, it’s about contextualizing it. Anxiety never goes away, and it certainly can’t be willed out of the forefront. But you can choose to look at things with a new point of view. To be able to sit with a feeling and recognize what it is, even if it’s massively uncomfortable or puts your body in flight-or-fright mode. Personally, I’ve come to look at my anxiety/intrusive thoughts as a very badly behaved cat. The cat is weirdly trying to protect me, and truly thinks this is what will help keep me safe, but well...it’s an idiot:

Still, it’s *my* idiot, damnit, and now when I drive, I can just picture her in the passenger seat chewing on the emergency brake. She’s also the survival mechanism my brain came up with to shield me from more chaotic forces in my life, and that’s kind of neato, when you get down to it.

*Kind of*, okay? (I still need to replace this chair, though Trystane Nymeros has done more damage to it with his many toes).

The point is, Korra’s story is powerful and salubrious because she just...goes through hell and back, she really does. But she not only finds meaning in it, she finds positivity and hope. She is at her MOST secure when she flings herself in front of that spirit gun, and then talks down the season antagonist with a few words. It’s uplifting, without pulling *any* punches on how ugly and terrifying and isolating PTSD can be.

There were punches thrown outside of “Korra Alone” too, but that was the episode that waded in most deeply, and somehow did it in an appropriate fashion for a Y7 show. I can’t sing its praises enough, truly.

Having laid this all out, it seems almost trite to mention the Korrasami aspects of the episode. It didn’t escape the fandom that Korra telling Tonraq and Senna she wanted to go back home read like a coming out conversation, and the “Dear Asami” sequence is without question the most stunning of the episode. Though @queertoonqueertoons lays out why there’s other reasons for that as well. But like, what can be said? Korra lets herself be vulnerable around Asami in a way she won’t with others, and Asami asks for very little in return. It was a nice, continuing thread, but it never became a focal point of the episode, or the series, so shame on me if I buck the trend.

I can give overall thoughts on Book 4 when I pull together the final post for this ranking, but like Korra, I think I’m ending on a pensive and positive note. “Korra Alone” will do that for you, even though it may be the darkest episode of the franchise. What a masterpiece.

#13: 4x08 “Remembrances”

#12: 4x11 “Kuvira’s Gambit”

#11: 4x09 “Beyond the Wilds”

#10: 4x07 “Reunion”

#9: 4x06 The “Battle of Zaofu”

#8. 4x12 “Day of Colossus”

#7 4x01 “After All These Years”

#6 4x03 “The Coronation”

#5 4x04 “The Calling”

#4 4x05 “Enemy at the Gates”

#3 4x10 “Operation Beifong”

#2 4x13 “The Last Stand”

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

[charmingturkeysandwich]

Knock, Knock Ch.24/27: The Aftermath

We’re getting closer to the end, friends! This chapter had more angst than I’ve planned, but I still love it. And I hope you do, too! Question: does everyone know the game Hangman? As I was taking the photo above I realized that might be a regional thing (and also realized how gross the concept is; like seriously why the fuck was I playing this as a child?!). But when I was in the hospital my mom and I played it a lot, hence it making its way into this story. 

If you read, let me know what you think? And thanks to @emmaswanchoosesyou for unintentionally(?) providing a line of dialogue. :)

Read on AO3.

Start from the beginning on Tumblr.

It’s funny how sometimes you just want to reach through your rib cage and rip out your own lungs.

OK, so funny probably wasn’t the word. But Emma was trying to see some form of lightness in her current situation. And, yes, she was failing horribly.

She couldn’t talk, not really. It came out all scratchy and wasn’t really worth the pain, so she’d taken to writing notes. Except her hands had suffered minor burns from coming in contact with hot objects, so that hurt, too.

Just wonderful.

Miraculously she hadn’t broken her legs – Killian did well to remind her exactly how lucky she was to have escaped that particular injury (“why are you calling me the lucky one? I’d say it’s you, considering if my legs were broken you’d have been the person in charge of helping me use the restroom,” she’d scratched out, her voice somehow Julia Child and Morgan Freeman at the same time).

He’d been distant. He was taking care of her, of course – in addition to David, Mary Margaret, and Regina, the three of whom were also tending to poor Belle (alongside a massively apologetic Will).

Belle was doing about the same as Emma, though with fewer bruises, cuts, and sprains (Emma was ever the Princess of Stupid Ideas with Painful Consequences, it seemed).

Sleeping was Emma’s current favorite pastime. Not because it brought much rest – no, with all those wires and tubes hooked up to her, with all the pain and discomfort, all the noises of the stupid hospital, her sleep was never really all that high quality. But it meant she didn’t have to talk to anyone, didn’t have to apologize again for her stupid/heroic behavior, didn’t have to watch the people around her worry and fuss and dote.

It hadn’t been the wrong decision. Despite his fucking crazy, Emma still stands by going up to check on Jefferson. She had to at least try to help. At first it had seemed so minor, so it wasn’t like it was life-threatening. She hadn’t known from the start what she was getting into. And when it escalated, well what was she supposed to do exactly, just say fuck it and let the psycho burn down her home? Yeah, it burned anyway (burned to the ground, nothing left but beams and brick and dust), but she had to know that she’d tried to save it, to save the only place she’d ever really felt OK.

And, you know, other people lived there, too.

Killian didn’t leave the hospital. Ever. The nurses would try to kick him out and he’d always get snippy with them. “Where the fuck am I supposed to go?” he’d growl out, not an ounce of politeness left in him. “My home burned just like hers. I’m staying here.”

After his little outburst, Emma had written him a little thank you on a sticky note and stuck it to his arm. He’d smiled and folded it up, putting it into his pocket before scooting his chair closer to her and laying his head on her bed, time to get some sleep.

She’d run her IV-laced fingers through his hair until his breathing evened out. Whether or not he was actually sleeping, she couldn’t be sure. But hopefully he was faring better than her in the rest department.

Mary Margaret was exhausting. She was pregnant and shouldn’t even be on her feet the way she was (probably? That’s how pregnancy worked, right?), but she was constantly on the go. She’d buy Emma and Belle better food, better drinks (even though they didn’t exactly like putting anything down their throats quite yet). She’d bring fresh flowers and prettier bandages to cover their burns and scrapes. She was absolutely hell bent on providing comfort and relief in the form of material goods and any attempts to make her stop only made her cry. So Emma gracefully (not) accepted each new offering, vowing via notebook that Mary Margaret was making a difference.

David was a different story. He and Killian were mostly still riding the Rage Train.

Jefferson had – thankfully – been moved to a different hospital, air lifted to the city where they had a dedicated burn unit (and a psych unit – just saying). He’d been in bad shape. Obviously. He’d thrown accelerant on himself, had been standing directly in the fire. His burns were the kind that stayed with you. Forever.

(So much for a cleansing.)

His legs had been broken. His pelvis, too, if she were to believe the chatty nurses roaming about the halls. It was a miracle he was alive.

A miracle that David and Killian did not appreciate. The two of them spent time researching how to sue him. They came up with “fantasy” plans for how to kill him and get away with it. They even tried to blame the ex for “not getting him proper treatment” and their landlord for “renting to a goddamn psychopath.”

Emma was pissed at Jefferson, and with every right to be. Duh. But what kind of recourse was going to do any kind of good right now? The man was clearly suffering mentally. It takes a lot of wrong in your brain to resort to arson, to completely dismiss the consequences of your very unhinged actions. She was angry and annoyed and caught in a never-ending why me kind of depression spiral about the whole thing, because obviously Jefferson’s actions affected her. Directly.

But suing him wouldn’t take it away. Even him dying wouldn’t change the past. He needed help. And Emma needed to never think about the bastard again. A concept David couldn’t seem to fucking grasp.

“Please,” she croaked. “Just... pretend he doesn’t exist.”

“But he did this to you, Emma! Your life is just… gone. And all because of that idiot!”

Emma rolled her eyes and shrugged and grabbed her notepad, scribbling in childlike chicken scratch: say his name one more time and I’m going to find an IV needle and STAB YOU WITH IT.

He stopped talking about it after that. Out loud and in front of her, anyway. But his rage, his fury was still permanently etched into his scrunched up face and lifeless eyes.

It was like he couldn’t see that Emma was still here. You know, right fucking in front of him.

(Sometimes anger gets in our faces. It makes us do the wacky. Just like love.)

 She was taking a “nap” (reliving the time travel episode of Castle in her head) when an all-too-cheerful sounding set of heels started clicking on the shabby linoleum floor of her shabby hospital room.

“First you land yourself on the no-fly list, and then you jump out of a burning building? Damn, girl, you’re making my life look positively dull.”

“Ruby!” she practically growled, her voice particularly yucky after a few hours without water.

“Oh, dear lord please don’t do that again. I’ll have nightmares.” Ruby always knew how to lighten a mood, make the best of a truly shitty situation. She and Emma shared that way too soon and highly inappropriate sense of humor and it was just what she needed after the doting, brooding, and outright ignoring of her the last three days.  

Emma grabbed for her notepad and pen, only causing a little pain as she jerked at her IV port, and started scribbling.

What the hell are you doing here???

“Um, my best friend jumped out of a burning building. Did you miss that part? Of course I was coming to see you.”

You sent your love via text through Killian’s phone. With a lot of emojis.

“No emoji is a substitute for this face.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that,” a smooth British voice called from the doorway. It seemed Killian had returned from his hourly walk/excuse to avoid Emma.

“So, Jones, has the fire convinced you that you should move to Seattle? Victor is itching to get you in on his poker night after last week.”

“We played poker?” Killian looked truly shocked by that information, which was particularly amusing considering how much he’d won – while apparently blacked out.

“Oh, you played good, sweetheart.”

The two of them spent some time catching up, Ruby seeming to sense that Killian wasn’t in any mood for joking about the recent incident that was the reason she was visiting in the first place. Emma just listened and smiled and gestured a few times in response to a question.

It was just nice to hear her voice. And to hear Killian’s voice… you know, without the twinge of blind rage or deep depression.

He’d seemed to be feeling far guiltier than Emma could wrap her head around. What exactly could he have done differently that would have changed the outcome of the day? Literally nothing. It all would have gone the same, except he’d be hurt, too. But he was feeling bad and it was making her feel bad and there was just something so odd about feeling the person you want right beside you –

And realizing they don’t seem to be there at all.

-

He needed to tell her.

A lot of things, actually.

(There was nothing like a near-death experience to get your damn priorities in order.)

First of all, he needed to tell her about the step he took without her permission. But, you know, she was probably going to want to slap him. And he owed her that. So he couldn’t tell her that when she was laid up in a hospital.

And he needed to tell her she was wonderful and perfect and all he ever needed in his life.

Sure, she probably realized he felt that way. She probably suspected that he felt the L word for her. But they never talked about it. They’d had some heart-to-hearts, they’d confessed their feelings and whatnot, but there was always the hint of humor, the possibility that it wasn’t all real and important and solid.

He knew it was. And he suspected that she knew he knew that. But why didn’t he fucking tell her? Why didn’t he confess how terribly much he loves her and how he plans to stay at her side every day for the rest of forever? Why didn’t he make sure there was absolutely no possibility for miscommunication?

Oh, because he was scared. Scared she might run or worse, that she didn’t feel the same way.

But she did. She fucking did and he knew it and why didn’t he just take the leap?

Nope, instead he watched her leap – off a fucking building, not knowing if she’d survive long enough for him to spill his guts.

And now he was just so angry at himself and annoyed at her and positively raging at the lunatic who couldn’t handle his own shit and put them all in this situation in the first place. In other words, he was in no state for a mushy, lovey speech.

And she was in no state to hear it. It wasn’t clear whether she was trying to avoid speaking with him or if she was just reacting to his own coldness, but she’d been fairly uncommunicative. She’d reassure him with little notes and he’d keep them close, but he couldn’t control the fire in his chest every time he thought about how she was almost taken from him, about all his own shortcomings, and especially about fucking Bucky and how much he wanted to strangle that bastard with his fucking breathing tubes.

OK, yes, he was overreacting. Emma would lecture him beyond belief if he were speaking out loud (and if she had the ability to talk at length), but he was just so mad. And it was easier to be pissed off at a violent, mentally unstable neighbor than it was to cope with being irrationally angry at yourself.

Ruby’s visit provided some perspective. With Emma not able (and/or afraid) to lighten the mood, Ruby was a breath of fresh air. He was able to forget, if only for a moment, about all the bullshit of the past few days. He was able to feel like he was just sitting in his living room, hanging out with his two very favorite ladies.

But that sense of home quickly vanished when he remembered his home had done just that – vanished. Gone were the couches they’d lounged on, the TVs they’d watched, the video games they’d played.

(Gone were the walls on which they’d knock for communication long before they were face-to-face friends.)

It was all gone.

It appeared he’d gotten a little lost in his dark thoughts, because Ruby had moved on from joking and catching up with him to apparently playing hangman with Emma on the nurse’s white board. Emma had gotten an entire song title correct without a single body part drawn and therefore was celebrating by doing a little dance from her bed.

Which resulted in a tugged wire and a pulled cord and all of a sudden there was a steady beeping and a very cranky nurse storming in to fix everything.

“Damn, Emma, you’re on fire today with your clumsiness,” she joked, Emma raspily chuckling in response.

Killian, of course, was not amused by anything that contained the word fire.

“What, too soon?” she asked him, a look of mock innocence crossing her still-laughing features.

At least Emma was smiling.

 It was the next morning that Emma found out she could be discharged. They needed to check all of her wounds and do a few more tests on her lungs, but everything seemed normal.

Well, normal up until the nurse made the mistake of asking Emma if she was excited to go home.

She stared blankly at the poor lady and then reached for her water, gulped down as much as she could and responded, “Would be if I had one.”

Which appeared to be the moment the nurse realized that Emma had been in the fire that destroyed her apartment. And she therefore had nowhere to do. Not officially, anyway.

She had somewhere to go. She and Killian were both invited to stay several places. Ruby, of course, had offered her flat in Seattle, but that was the first suggestion they steadfastly turned down. Regina, Robin, Mary Margaret and David, even Belle’s family had offered them places to stay. Only Will had forgone extending an offer – and that was because he was so desperately wrapped up in helping Belle to recover the hideousness (and their brief disagreement, too).

“I’m thinking we go with Regina. She’s got the big house, after all,” Killian joked to Emma as he was packing up her (recently purchased) clothing and toiletries.

“If that’s what you want,” she responded flatly.

“Swan, I was kidding. I just kind of assumed we’d go to David and Mary Margaret’s.”

Emma rubbed at the little hole in the crook of her elbow, the place they’d just removed the IV (a sure sign she was imminently free from this hospital hell). “I mean… well, I was thinking that maybe we shouldn’t stay together.”

Her sentence didn’t quite compute. “What do you mean ‘not stay together?’ What else would we do?”

“Well it’s not like we lived together, Killian!” Her sore voice was probably on its last leg, so to speak, with this influx of talking, but Emma showed no sign of wanting to switch to the notepad instead. “Just because we lived in the same building doesn’t mean we have to go to the same ‘emergency shelter.’ Plus you can barely look at me and it’s making me feel like shit. So maybe you should just go work out your anger at me or whatever somewhere else. I’m sure Robin would be happy to have you.”

He got the distinct feeling that if she’d had the ability, she would have stormed off at the end of that sentence (she so very much loved to have the last word). But instead she just plopped back down on her lumpy bed and hung her head.

And he probably should have thought a little longer about what he said in response. But, you know, emotionally charged situations and all – they’re not great for critical thinking. “But we can live together now. I mean… why wouldn’t we? We have to find new places. What’s so wrong with finding the same one? It would certainly make the process a lot simpler.”

The room was uncomfortably silent for the span of two walkers scratching by the open door of Emma’s hospital room – and three announcements over the PA system.

“OK, so you want to move in with me because it would just ‘make things easier?’” Emma put air quotes around those last three words, and that was about the time Killian realized he should have kept his damn mouth shut (he’d been right to not confess the mushy stuff – it certainly doesn’t come out very mushy in his current state). “I’m not interested in taking an important step in our relationship just because it would be less of a headache. Speaking of headache, I have one. And I’m tired. And I’m hungry. And I’d like to be somewhere that doesn’t make me want to commit murder. So could you please go find David for me and, I don’t know, call Robin while you’re gone to let him know you’re coming?”

Emma stood from the bed and hobbled over to the duffle bag with her things, grabbing one of the sweatshirts he’d gotten from the hospital gift shop. She refused to look at him, but as soon as he took a breath to respond, she countered, “Killian, please. I can’t do this right now.”

So he leaned over, kissed her cheek, and left.

-

“What kind of idiot suggests moving in like that?” Emma rasped, Mary Margaret quickly grabbing the empty bottle in her hand and running off to fill it with more water.

“Well, I mean – he does have a point?” Ruby suggested, her voice light and laced with a tone of please-don’t-kill-me-for-stating-the-obvious.

“OK, yes. I mean, he kind of does. We were probably going to get to that stage, anyway. So it does make sense. But he’s barely talked to me since I was in the hospital!” Mary Margaret returned with the water and Emma sucked down half the glass before continuing. “He was cranky for days and distant and I get it, but you don’t go from ‘I’m basically just tolerating you’ to ‘let’s consolidate a life together’ in a few hours.”

“Well, as Belle said yesterday, you also don’t usually go from brunch with your BFF to half-dead in a hospital bed in a few hours, either, sweetie. The situation is pure garbage, and he probably did it all wrong, but you can’t stay mad at him for this.” It was the first time in three days that Mary Margaret had actually voiced anything other than how can I throw more things at you to make you feel better.

Of course, just when Emma was at her low, Mary Margaret decides to stop doting. Just fabulous.

“You know, he hasn’t even said ‘I love you’ yet? Who moves in before you say you love them?” Emma countered, her argument seeming flat even to her own ears, considering it would take being blind, deaf, and perhaps not human in order to not know that Killian loved her.

(Or that she loved him in return.)

“Emma, you’re not exactly the easiest person to please. Or the easiest to know what you want, I should say. I’m sure he was playing it safe. And I’m sure the second he saw the fire trucks, he regretting playing it safe.” Ruby took a deep breath, closing her eyes as if to channel the energy of the sea or some of that floofy shit she’d taken classes in back when she lived by Emma.

“I know I joke a lot. And I know I don’t say too much about Victor. But one day he was on call and he was paged after an accident. It had been some kind of mess between a couple of cars going too fast and a tractor trailer that had fallen asleep at the wheel. Anyway, the passenger of one of the cars looked just like me, apparently. Or enough that Victor’s heart dropped at least. He did surgery on her, but there was no saving her. He had to call time of death on her and he had to tell her brother and her boyfriend that she was gone. It was that night that he picked me up from the apartment building, still wearing his scrubs, and told me in a very matter-of-fact tone that I was the best thing to ever happen to him and he’d like to come home to me every night. He was tired. It was midnight – and not the romantic kind. But it was real. He’d had enough fear of losing me entirely that he was no longer afraid to push me away. Mad at him was better than dead in his book, I guess.”

(Always ending on a light note, that Ruby.)

The girls were all quiet for a few moments, Emma feeling their stares through her eyelids as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to figure out any way she could stay mad at Killian instead of herself. (She was failing.)

“Now can we please call Robin to bring him over? I’d made up the guest room for both of you.” Mary Margaret was scowling at Emma when she finally opened her eyes. Ugh. How did she go and fuck up so quickly?

“Fine, but someone else is calling him.”

-

A strange number popped up on Killian’s phone. Who would be calling him that he didn’t have in his phone book?

That’s when he remembered that Belle and Emma had left their phones in the apartment. You know, the one that had burned down. And rather than trying to rush new iPhones and deal with insurance and all that crap, Mary Margaret had just picked them up some Tracfones from the local dollar store. Meaning they both had new numbers, at least for the time being.

He answered expecting to hear the rasp of Belle or Emma, but instead it was David’s voice on the other line, apparently having borrowed Emma’s new phone. “You’re being summoned, Jones.”

“Summoned?”

“Yeah, the crazy girl has admitted her crazy and requests your presence. And I swear if you refuse I’ll bop you on the head because, yes, she was wrong, but she also almost burned to death this week so how about we give her a pass?”

“Only for you, Dave.”

 Robin had been expecting that Killian wouldn’t stay long, his things already in Robin’s jeep before Killian had even requested a ride to the Nolans’.

“Oh, I figured one of you would crack. Like you could actually be away from each other.” Robin scoffed and rolled his eyes and Killian felt a lot like punching him for his attitude, but then again why would he? It was technically a compliment to his and Emma’s relationship that it was so obvious they should be together.

(Well obvious to everyone except Emma apparently.)

The ride to David’s place was mostly full of idle chat, comments on the football matches he’d missed and on how smitten Will was. It was, again, a relief to have some to just talk to, someone he didn’t constantly feel guilty about lying to or about failing to keep them safe.

As much as he was looking forward to seeing Emma, to hopefully holding her and allowing the tension of the past few days to dissipate, he was also dreading this. They were going to have to talk. They’d both need to apologize, or something in the general vicinity of apologizing, and they’d both need to be honest. Her own honesty would probably be fairly minor – probably just admitting she was scared, which, you know, duh. But his? She really could hate him for making such a decision for her.

Robin opted not to come inside, citing the fact that he and Regina actually were planning to watch a movie together that night (Oh, now I see why my bags were already packed), but he did ask that Killian pass along his well wishes to Emma.

And, of course, he wished Killian good luck.

(Which he’d need.)

“Killian! Fancy seeing you here!” David called out the front door, waving a bottle of beer at him to usher him inside more quickly.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see if I stay,” Killian groaned. He probably should have told Robin there was a chance he’d end up crashing his date with Regina. Just to give him fair warning and all if Emma were to kick him out. Again.

“Oh, you’re staying. Probably for quite a while, I’d imagine. My wife has already hung pictures in the guest room to make you both feel welcome while you’re sorting out your living arrangements. So you’re in this for the long haul.”

“Shouldn’t you two be focused on the baby and not us?”

“Well at this point you two need about as much supervision as children, so we’ll call it practice.” David clinked his bottle against Killian’s, took a sip, and wandered back into the kitchen.

“Ah! He’s here!” Ruby shouted as she bounced out of the living room, a glass of wine in her hand.

“Should we really all be drinking when Emma can’t?” Killian questioned.

“She can tolerate us all better when we have a buzz. Now, Mary Margaret and David and I are off to do some baby shopping! Leaving you and your lady all alone. But the kind of alone where you talk, not the kind where you get kicked out of airports. Savvy, pirate?”

“Aye, Captain.”

Ruby looped her arm through Mary Margaret’s and the two mumbled their goodbyes to Emma as they joined David out in the kitchen. There was some shuffling and talking and the scuffle of shoes before the outside door creaked open and shut.

And he was alone in the house with Emma.

She was perched on the couch, her less-bruised elbow leaning on the armrest, one leg curled toward her chest and the other extended across two of the three cushions.

“Can I sit?”

“If you can fit. I’m not moving my leg. It hurts like a bitch.”

“Shouldn’t you be icing it? Or taking pain killers or something?”

“Nah, I’m toughing it out. You know me.”

“That I do,” he mumbled, tipping his head away from her so he could roll his eyes without her seeing.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, mister. I know I’m frustrating but, you know, it’s been a bad week for me. Being on fire and all.”

Her voice was still hoarse and weak, but he could sense the smile, so he turned to meet her eyes as he sat down at the opposite end of the couch. “Yeah I suppose I could cut you some slack. But, you know, you only get to use this so many times.”

“No way, buddy. This one’s good for the rest of our lives. Very little can trump burning building. I’ll always have that card in my pocket.”

It was uncanny how quickly they could fall back into their easy, joking manner. He reached out and put his hand on her ankle, running his fingers along the bruises.

“So. The rest of our lives. That’s a thing you think about?” Easy joking was nice, but unfortunately, it was time for a Real Talk.

Her response was not only shocked, but almost offended: “Of course I do! It just kind of seems like… you don’t. Didn’t? Or something. I don’t know.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well why wouldn’t I?!”

It seemed they’d come to an impasse. Apparently when you were both just supposed to know that you were Serious (not just boyfriend and girlfriend but actually going somewhere else kind of serious), there really were significant chances for miscommunication.

“I love you,” Killian finally said, reaching out for Emma’s hand. “I love you so much it apparently makes me stupid sometimes. I shouldn’t have been so angry at the hospital. I mean, I was never angry at you, but I’m sure it was hard to watch me be angry near you. A lot. And I’m sorry that seized the worst opportunity to ask you to live with me. And I’m sorry it took you jumping out of a burning building and spending four days in the hospital for me to tell you I love you. So very much. Basically from the first time you yelled at me, in case you were wondering.”

Emma smiled and squeezed his hand tighter, shifting her leg forward so she could scoot closer to him. “I love you. Definitely not since I first yelled at you. But I still love you all the same.”

Little fireworks went off in his chest. Despite already knowing how she felt, despite the fact that none of this was a surprise, just hearing the words made him do a little happy dance all the way down to his soul.

And that’s when his voice of reason woke up from his nap and gave him a little tap, tap, tap to the brain.

Better tell her now, buddy.

Deep breaths. He needed to take some deep breaths.

“Would you still love me if I did something big and somewhat life-changing without your knowledge?”

“Did you already buy a house? Because I swear to God, Killian, if it’s ugly I will smack you.”

“No, no. Um. OK, so you know how I had meetings with the insurance guy and my lawyer and all that?”

“Yeah? Obviously? That was only a few days ago. And miraculously I didn’t suffer any memory loss from my recent… incident.” Emma smiled and giggled a bit (as much as she could when she sounded like what he imagined a talking bulldog would) and it made him all the more ashamed of the imminent confession.

“OK, yes, you remember. And I told you why I was going – but only part of it. The papers are in my bag and I can show you later, you know, if you don’t kill me – which, at this point I would understand if you did and – ”

“Killian. Spit it out.”

He paused one last time, exhaling out and preparing for the worst.

“I made you an equal partner in my business.”

Emma’s eyebrow shot up and her eyes roved the room as her mouth fell slightly open. After a few more seconds of silence passed, she started physically looking around the room like a leprechaun were bouncing around with a damn pot of gold in his hands. Maybe she had been taking more medicine than he’d thought?

Then she finally spoke: “And?”

“And what?”

“That’s what I’m asking you.”

“Did you not hear me?”

“Equal partner in the business, right?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“That’s what I’m asking you!” she growled, choking a little from raising her voice. She reached for her glass of water and downed a little bit before turning back to him.

“Did you sign a contract with the devil for my soul in exchange for half your business?”

“Um. No?”

“Then why the fuck are you freaking out?”

“Well why aren’t you?! I asked you to move in with me a few hours ago and you reacted like you were going to run me over with a car. But I give you half my business and you’re just cool with it?”

“Well I do half the work. Why wouldn’t you give me half your business?”

This fucking woman. Just when he thought he knew her enough to predict her reactions, just when he thought he’d prepared himself for all the worst…

She goes and gets all understanding and reasonable on him.

“So you’re OK with it?”

“Did you not want me to be?”

“Well I assumed because I did it without your permission – which was stupid, yes, but I was scared you’d say no – that you’d be really angry.”

“I’m a little weirded out that you could do that without at least, like, my signature? But I’m not angry. I mean, not at you. I’m a little angry at the fucking universe because these injuries and this obnoxious voice are both messing with our schedule. Summer is almost fucking here. We need to execute our very well-crafted plans!”

Her frustration was palpable. She really was all-in when it came to the business.

And apparently also with the relationship.

How weird was that?

(His favorite kind of weird, of course. The kind named Emma Swan.)

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews… Fargo (S03E03) The Law of Non-Contradiction Airdate: May 3, 2017 @fxnetworks @fargo Ratings: 1.169 Million :: 0.36 18-49 Demo Share Score: 9.5/10

**********SPOILERS BELOW**********

A little word of advice… You know, besides the worst cities in America for heartless bastards, bright lights, big skylines, and broken dreams are Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami… Never cut checks to a man sitting behind a desk snorting massive rails of cocaine assuring your fate is fame and fortune. The businessman in me, who is still very much learning as I go, understands that this is probably not exactly what one would refer to as ‘business savvy’. Wanna know a secret? I’ve actually watched 'The Law of Non-Contradiction’ three times, not because it struck me as an incredible piece right off the bat, even though I admittedly love every second of it, but because I feel like taking on shows like Fargo, American Crime, American Gods, etc, deserves my full and upmost attention. There are details in the details within those details that sometimes bring you to Point B, and sometimes they lead you to nowhere, but who’s to say that Point B is where you should’ve been heading anyway? Maybe nowhere is exactly where you were supposed to be after all.

My appreciation for 'Fargo’ runs deep, but I don’t just hand out praise just because I expect a series or an episode of that series to be good. A lot of times I’ll watch a show with an impact like Fargo, and I’ll be too tired to truly give it the TLC that it needs. I won’t 'get it’, those are the moments when I know it’s time to turn to a comforting Dick Wolf series, no offense as I love it all and believe that there’s a place for almost anything. With the 'Law of Non-Contradiction’, there’s really not a whole lot going on… In terms of pacing, Fargo is never in a rush to get anywhere. It’s the nuance of the show, and the irony that it plays as straight forward like a doomed, violent pulpy tale where things will turn expected and drastic corners right when they need to, even if that’s exactly what you are expecting… And in this particular story, the main focus is Gloria Burgle. We stay with her on her quest to hunt down a lead that could crack the case of her dear (sorta), grumpily departed step-dad (sorta, as Burgle would say in her best version of 'Minnesota Nice’) Thaddeus Mobley, who she knew her whole life as Ennis Stussy. While Gloria is the obvious epicenter of the episode, she searches for clues in a dumpy part of the 'should-be’ glamorous part of LA, tracing a young, naive Thaddeus Mobley (Thomas Mann - A man I sing high praises of, he’s a keeper) and his tragic tale of lesson learned in and around Studio City.

Young Thaddeus is tricked into signing away his book advances to a slick talking, trashy LA producer, Howard Zimmerman - they even got the name right (Fred Melamed) and his *at the time* sexy sidekick, the young, manipulative, cocaine fueled Vivian Lord (Francesca Eastwood), whose job is to lure him in, keep him put, keep him high, while Zimmerman bleeds him dry with the promises of making one of Young Thaddeus’ books into a major motion picture. While all this is going on, Gloria is in the present navigating the same streets and hotels that Young Thaddeus lost his mind, his dreams, and his faith in human beings… A beautifully sad, perfectly simple, but brutally honest parallel cross-narrative, stained with cocaine, dead-ends, tears, desperate Santa Clauses (yes plural), fear, illumination of a different kind, anxiety, a horrible act of well deserved violence and vomit… A perfectly edited dual-vomiting cut-scene that leads to an accidental clue… The 'Dennis Stussy & Sons’ name barely visible from all the repeat usages and beachings on the back of the inside rim of the toilet, the D faded to almost nothing… Reading 'Ennis Stussy’.

Now, all of this would make for a fantastic tale of 'Fargo’ by itself, but the show decides to add another fork in the narrative’s road… Gloria is reading one of Thaddeus’ novels and it plays throughout the episode like an animated dream, beginning and ending as Gloria sleeps and wakes. A robot roams the world after a crash on a foreign planet, with no master to give it purpose or direction. After surviving millions of years, he sees the fall and rebuilding and falling of humanity, ultimately an invasion, and a group of aliens that beam up the robot and honor him for being the oldest sentient being ever. The only thing the robot says… 'I can help’. He’s told his journey is complete and he is to shut down operations, ending his life with a single switch on the inside of the top of his head. Is this an exercise in futility? Im not sure, it’s nicely weaved in and gives the whole episode an existential punch… Along with a visit to a very old and very disabled Howard Zimmerman (now played by Roger V Burton), of whom a nurse claims that she wasn’t sure on the details but he was involved in a horrible accident that left him unable to walk and speak without the assistance of a wheelchair or a voice-box for the ghastly hole in his throat. Zimmerman gives a compelling speech about 'quantum science’ and being made of particles that roam freely, and every now and then collide into each other. He used to think these collisions meant something, but now… Well, 'don’t let the door hit you on the way out’. All is tied up when the once cocaine-fueled, seductress Vivian Lord, now a down on her luck, regretful diner waitress (Frances Fisher) finally meets with Gloria and tells the story of Young Thaddeus’ Hollywood demise and barbaric reaction. Gloria realizes that none of this is connected to the death of her (sorta) late, step-father and the world keeps turning and moving and atoms & particles continue to collide.

It maybe true that we are but nothing in a vast special construct of rocks and stars and suns and moon… But coincidences are something aren’t they? I mean they ARE really something, they have to be, right? Once upon a time I had traveled from city to city, Midwest to West Coast and back again and again, finding myself stuck in Kansas City. I was cold, almost had a job, but was told I couldn’t work without pants I couldn’t afford. I considered stealing them, but I was a tourist in the ghetto, and couldn’t risk the possible drama. The job and potential to continue to stay in Kansas City faded away, the person I was with locked me out of the roach infested hotel room, the now demolished Cherry Street Inn in The Government District on 9th & Cherry in Downtown KC… Funny, I had a key, but the latch was on. I reached in and grabbed the bag belonging to the person inside and pulled it into the hallway just to set it on fire, Angela Bassett 'Waiting to Exhale’ style… So I was willing to do that, but not steal a pair of black pants I should’ve packed anyway. Human emotion is a strange thing, wouldn’t you say? My stuff was thrown out of the back window, half of it at least. My birth certificate and social security card were kept and sold. It was November and it was cold. A jolly, homeless man of color kept appearing asking me, 'Why ya so down, Ginger Boy?’ I told him my tale and he would point me to where I could food, he’d disappear, he’d show up again when I was close to frostbite and he showed me to a shelter. He’d disappear again and out of nowhere, weeks later, he walked me to a market where I could get fruit and vegetables at night. It sounds crazy but the man would just appear out of nowhere, he never asked for one thing, just directed me to the vital things I needed at that time to stay alive.

Maybe that man was my more assisting and meaningful 'Ray Wise’, you know, '6 flights since Tuesday!’ He was a conversation when Gloria needed it the most, or a comforting glance/buffer at the bar when the scummy LA Cop (or fellow law enforcement agent) was looking for a cheap thrill instead of actually trying to help Gloria on her circular quest. Maybe signs are really sent from some higher power or cosmic entity that is everything science wishes it could explain, like the box Gloria found in her hotel room that switched on and off, green to red… Maybe that box was there to connect Gloria’s dreams to her current reality. Maybe our collisions DO mean something, and maybe they mean nothing at all, or maybe, just maybe they give us exactly what we need. Or maybe when we’re cruel to something helpless and weak one too many times, those collisions of atoms that give the world a tiny spark in its ultimate infinity, dwindle like the end of disappointing sparkler on the 4th of July. Maybe.

[truecantaloupelove-blog]

Steven Universe Finale (FanFic): “The Shattering- Part 1″

Hey, everyone! Welcome to my Steven Universe fanfic finale: this is how I’D imagination the perfect end to one of the best kids’ cartoons in the last 50 years. I little background; part of this fan episode was born from my frustration throughout Season 4, I felt the side episodes were taking up too much time, and there wasn’t as much attention devoted to fusion, gem lore, good action scenes and music like their was in previous seasons. Well, if you want something done right, do it yourself, so this fan work has the full package: fusion, battle, the cluster, ALL the Diamonds, some of of our favorite sidelined heroes returning to the action, and so much more.

A word of warning: this story does contain one OC of mine; a homeworld gem agent named Holy War Quartz. I really enjoy her as a character, I think she’s plucky and strong-willed in a very fun way, but I know how people feel about OCs so I tried not to give her too invasive of a roll in the story.

This episode is meant to take place during the final Homeworld invasion of the Earth, where things REALLY go down and get tense. I’ve filled in some of the gaps in lore that we haven’t learned yet, but I’ve still tried to keep it as close to canon as possible.

This is a fan-friendly, inclusive episode for everyone, just like the creators would want. Anyone is welcome to enjoy it, and there shouldn’t be anything offensive or upsetting in this to longtime hardcore fans of the series like me. Part 2 is one the way soon, so with that, enjoy!

Steven Universe—Series Finale:

S06 E25: “The Shattering”

A Fan-Made Episode

 (Opening credits)

NARRATOR: On the last “Steven Universe” things had gotten pretty heated for our heroes—literally. (Shot of all the Crystal Gems and Connie trapped in a cage above a chasm filled with lava and brimstone) The nefarious Yellow Diamond had captured all but one of the Crystal Gems and decided to hold them as hostage for leverage against the remnants of Earth. But any sort of human counterattack was unlikely as Homeworld’s invasion of Earth was in full force; and all resistances to the relentless assault were being pummeled.

(Scenes of battalions of Quartz, Topaz, and Ruby soldiers decimating sieging and decimating major cities around the globe) As if that wasn’t enough; the cluster had finally begun to emerge, and the effects on the Earth’s tectonic plates were cataclysmic. Steven Universe led a brave defense for his hometown of Beach City, but when a great tremor split the boardwalk in two and swallowed the bulk of its citizens into the earth, this battle too proved futile—and tragic.

(A Quartz soldier spears Greg through the chest. Steven is seen holding his bleeding father, crying) Mortally wounded, Greg Universe was left for dead in the infirmary, but the rage of his father’s loss empowered Steven to do something he’d never been able to do before. (Steven screams a howl of agony and begins to transform, growing older, meaner, stronger) The pain caused him to finally break through the barrier of his pre-pubescent body, transforming this meek, effeminate child into a stout, brawny man bent on revenge. Enraged, he cut a lethal swath deep into the ranks of Homeworld’s forces, but even this effort would have come to naught had it not been for the sudden arrival of a new, shocking, and unexpected ally.

(White Diamond emerges, wielding massive twin swords. He intervenes as Steven is about to be overwhelmed in his berserker rage; the two of them pull together and manage to beat back the enemy) Together, these two brave warriors managed to drive off the invasion party—for now. But the Earth is in a dire state, and all of the forces of Homeworld are massed between Steven and his imperiled friends. Can Steven and the renowned White Diamond possibly hope to turn the tides of this war? Can they save their friends and neutralize the cluster before it fully emerges, wreaking devastation upon the planet? Is this humanity’s last bow? Find out on today’s “Steven Universe”!

 (Aerial shot of Beach City; buildings are in splinters and fires are smoldering everywhere. The Big Donut, its roof ripped off and two of the walls collapsed in, is being used as a makeshift hospital; the remnants of Beach City’s citizens who aren’t too wounded to walk scramble around trying to bring the triage under control. Steven stands over his unconscious father, fists clenched)

STEVEN: Dear old Dad, I remember you once told that no matter what happened, there would always be a guardian angel out there to protect me. Well, now I need that angel more than ever, and only too late I learned you were lying. Yet somehow even now, I can’t bring myself to hate you for it.

(He surveys the wreckage of the city) I was once a boy with a home. With hopes and dreams. With a family, or at least what counted as a family in this decadent world. Now, when the true weakness, the feebleness of my world is exposed for what it is, and when all the rot and decay is stripped away, what am I left with? Nothing. Nothing but the fury, and my own restless thoughts to keep me company.

(As he ponders, a mutant gem monster the size of a rhino bursts through the perimeter and tears havoc through the town. Steven goes for his sword but is too slow. The gem monster is about to trample him when a white crystal blade slashes through its deformed body from behind, poofing it instantly. White Diamond stands there, his chest bare-shirted and his lips opened on a snarl)

WHITE DIAMOND: Keep your guard up, Half-Breed! I can’t afford to be watching your back every second!

STEVEN: (Dispassionately) Oh, yeah. Thanks. (He takes the mutant gemstone and bubbles it) Guess I owe you one.

WHITE DIAMOND: I mean it, Universe. You’re no use to me as an ally if you’re dead.

STEVEN: I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that you want to be my ally in the first place: I’ve turned Gems before, but never this fast.

WHITE DIAMOND: Don’t flatter yourself; this has nothing to do with you personally, it’s a simple strategic analysis. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

STEVEN: That’s funny, I thought the Diamonds were on the same team.

WHITE DIAMOND: You really don’t understand your own culture even now, do you? You’re comrades-at-arms must have left you woefully ignorant.

STEVEN: (Bitterly) Well, they weren’t exactly the type for answering questions when asked.

WHITE DIAMOND: I’ll give you the shortened version, if only because it expedites my purposes. The truth is, Universe, that there is only one Diamond Patriarch, the White Diamond. This is the way it has been from ages immemorial: one Diamond, to rule them all. All planets, all gems, all the knowledge and technology of Homeworld ultimately belong to him. All the other Diamonds serve him as members of his court, or, as you more primitive humans might call it, his harem.

I too was the ruler of Homeworld, once, like my predecessor and the predecessor before him. But I made the first mistake any Gem can make: I fell in love. Pink Diamond, she was truly the most beautiful of all creatures, and I loved her more than any of my other concubines. So I spoiled her, and pampered her, and did something no White Diamond had ever done, or ever should do. I gave her a planet of her own, to rule. But Yellow Diamond took exception to our love, she became bitter and envious of her sister and plotted how she might take revenge. It took centuries for her plan to be carried out, but finally she found the perfect opportunity, and in one fell swoop, she tricked me, draining my power and forcing me to take residence in this diminished, weakened form. She deposed me, usurping my throne and my birthright. She set herself up as the new tyrant of Homeworld, with that simpering blue peon at her side. She rewrote history, she massacred millions of gems who resisted her blasphemous treason, and she divided the Gem empire, knowing it to be beyond her capacity to rule.

It is fitting, in a way, that the ancient grudge between us should be settled on this planet, where it began so long ago. I have had to live as an exile and a wanderer for thousands of years, but at long last my aching thirst for revenge is about to be slaked. But I’ve learned how to plot, I’ve learned how to wait out the centuries and play her long game. When I re-ascend to take my rightful place as Lord and Master of all Gemkind, I won’t make the same mistake she did. Let me be clear: Yellow Diamond won’t escape this day with her life.

STEVEN: (Wryly) I thought you said you were giving me the short version.

(WHITE DIAMOND yanks him off his feet by the scruff of his pink shirt. Even in his diminished size, he’s still nearly ten feet tall)

WHITE DIAMOND: I will not have my plans for vengeance foiled by your lack of conviction! This day is about more than either of us, Half-Breed! This is restoring the rightful order to the Universe. I have no love of Yellow Diamond; the Kingdom of Gemkind has gone to ruin in her hands! She knows this, she knows full well that only a White Male Diamond is fit to rule our kind, and yet she persists in her debauched, unholy reign, pretending to be a leader when she was created to be nothing more than a consort. I’m going to end her charade, and you’re going to help me do it, Half-Breed. You play a vital role to my plans, and therefore, I order you to stay focused and alert!

STEVEN: If means getting revenge, you don’t have to tell me twice. Now put me down. (White Diamond does so) So, what is our plan?

WHITE DIAMOND: Yellow Diamond currently holds my stolen energy, which puts us at the disadvantage. However, I still know her weaknesses. If we can make it to the throne room, I only need a few minutes of diversion to reabsorb my power, and once that happens, this entire war will be over.

STEVEN: Seems simple.

WHITE DIAMOND: Not quite. Yellow Diamond and her pusillanimous blue lackey are cowards by nature; her flagship is going to be surrounded by literal legions of soldiers, each tier stronger than the last. I know how her battle formations work; at the frontline, she’ll put the crippled, the forced fusion shard gems. Those, at least will be easy enough to hack through, but they’re only meant to wear us down before the real task begins.  Next rank is the corrupted abominations, a shade more difficult to break through if only because they retain more of their sentience. Then after that, come the hybrids.

STEVEN: (Shocked) You mean there are more human-gems hybrids?

WHITE DIAMOND: Indeed. When Earth was colonized we learned to breed and weaponize the humans, some of whom we collected and carried back to Homeworld as prizes. Under my rule, at least, we only resorted to such a disgraceful tactics due to mounting desperation to provide relief contingents for our soldiers during the Great Gem War. Trained under the right conditions, these hybrids can become even stronger with their powers than natural Gems. However, their flesh bodies make them doubly vulnerable to both physical wounds and attacks to their gems. The half-breeds are a sort of trade-off in battle tactics, they have the best of both worlds as well as the worst. And by all means they are an insult to the purity of the Gem race, but do not underestimate their deadliness.

STEVEN: (Hushed) I can’t believe I’m not the only one…

WHITE DIAMOND: You have already met one such hybrid in the past, believe it or not. The agent known as Holy War Quartz 8-X1J was sent to this very town only a mere couple of months ago, will undoubtedly be among their ranks. Like you, Universe, she is in fact half-human.

STEVEN: Amy…

(He has a flashback to 11 episodes earlier, fighting against a tall, limber blond-haired girl in the temple. She appears to have been making short work of all the Crystal Gems in the flashback)

WHITE DIAMOND: “Amy”? That must have been the alias she took on for her mission. In any case, we must stay focused. Beyond the half-breeds lies the real challenge: Quartz soldiers, hundreds of them. And more likely than not a couple of fusions towards the back. Luckily, if we make it through that, all we have left to deal with are her personal guards.

STEVEN: Sounds like a tall order.

WHITE DIAMOND: I don’t understand your human inanities. But listen, Universe, before we march into this glorious battle, you really should consider finding some attire more appropriate to combat. Unlike me, your body can sustain permanent damage from flesh wounds.

(Steven looks down at his tattered pink star shirt. Since his transformation, it’s become far too small for him, exposing his midriff, clinging tightly to his pronounced pectoral muscles and outright shredded where his shoulders bulge through)

STEVEN: What? You mean this old thing? (He rips the shirt clean off, exposing his sleek, muscled physique) I was going to get rid of it anyway. I’ve outgrown it. (He throws the now pink rag aside and searches through the bodies for something more suitable. He comes across Suitcase Sam’s black rugged black trenchcoat) Ah. Here we go.

WHITE DIAMOND: Hmm. Much better.

STEVEN: Couldn’t have said it better myself. (He throws the black trenchcoat on, leaving it unbuttoned to expose his abs. Then he takes his father’s old bloody bandages and wraps them around his head as a headband of defiance) Don’t worry, Dad. Your old schstu-ball is gonna spill some blood for you.

WHITE DIAMOND: Listen, Half-Breed. You have to realize that even with me on your side, we’re going up against nearly impossible odds. If I weren’t a Diamond, it would be thoroughly impossible for the two of us to overcome the legions of Homeworld.

STEVEN: So what’s new for the Crystal Gems?

BISMUTH: Well in that case, maybe you have room for two more in this party?

(Bismuth and Jasper emerge through the perimeter. Steven sees them and runs up to give them a bear hug)

STEVEN: Bismuth! Jasper! How did you guys make it out of the Burning Room?

JASPER: The earthquakes just about leveled the entire Temple, Rose. The Burning Room was shaken off its foundations and all of the bubbles broke loose. We had to spend a couple of hours fighting through the corrupted defectives, luckily, this Bismuth here was sentient and competent enough to help me. Which reminds me, watch your step, the beasts are still swarming the area.

BISMUTH: (Looking around) Are we making bases out of ruins now? Whose terrible idea was this? (Noticing that Steven is now eye to eye with her) And look at you, boy! You’re more shredded than a six-citrine fusion! Whatever happened to that tubby, weepy pacificist who ran a sword through me?

STEVEN: He’s dead, Bismuth. That boy you knew is gone forever.

BISMUTH: Glad to hear it!

JASPER: What happened here, Rose? I know I was out for a long time, but this! This miserable chunk of rock looks even worse off than I remembered it.

BISMUTH: I was about to ask the same thing! This whole place has gone to matchwood! What’s up?

STEVEN: You were right, Bismuth. About the Diamonds, about Homeworld…everything. And I was too stupid to listen until it was too late. Now Yellow Diamond has her invasion in full force, and I’m worried the cluster is about to break free.

BISMUTH: Well, you know what I say. It’s never too late to turn over to a new leaf. Now come on, chin up, boy. We’ve got work to do.

STEVEN: But Bismuth, I…I destroyed your breaking point. I’m so sorry…

(Bismuth starts laughing)

BISMUTH: You really are something else, Rose. Did you honestly think I only made one?

(She drops the bag slung over her shoulders onto the ground; it’s filled with breaking points)

STEVEN: No way!

BISMUTH: Come on, now, everyone arm up! Something tells me we’re going to be needing these in the fight against those Homeworld upper-crusts!

WHITE DIAMOND: I most certainly agree. These two will prove a valuable asset in out assault on the flagship.

(Bismuth notices White Diamond. Her eyes narrow and she takes one of the breaking points, about to charge him)

BISMUTH: You…!

STEVEN: Bismuth, wait! He’s on our side!

BISMUTH: (Disbelieving) What?

STEVEN: He’s an ally! He saved me! And he’s going to help us stop Yellow Diamond!

BISMUTH: So…we’re teaming up with a Diamond to help stop a Diamond…well, I never thought I’d live to see the day…

WHITE DIAMOND: It’s most unusual, I’ll grant you. Believe me, I never expected to be fighting alongside plebian bismuth and a lowly quartz soldier, but desperate times and all.

BISMUTH: Don’t push your luck. Fortunately for your gem, I’ll take all the help I can get right now. Like they say, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

WHITE DIAMOND: Ha! Seems it’s true even a common brigand knows how to speak wisely every now and again.

BISMUTH: I said don’t push it. But enough chit chat! Everyone suit up! Unless I’m mistaken, we’ve got a war to fight!

JASPER: (Picking up a breaking point) Finally. I’ve been waiting to get back to what I was made for a long time now!

BISMUTH: (Holding a breaking point in one hand and a massive battle ax in the other) That’s the spirit! Now let’s go show those Homeworld elites who’s BOSS!

(Cut to a shot of Yellow Diamond’s monumental flagship. Its shape is a golden arm, appearing as though rising straight out the ground the way it’s positioned, the hand at the top clenched into a fist. Cut to the inside. Pearl, Amethyst, Sapphire, Peridot and Connie are still trapped in a cage suspended over a lava pit. On the opposite side of the room, Yellow Diamond paces the room anxiously while Blue Diamond quivers uncertainly, hunched over in her throne. Their Pearls stand by in attendance, apprehensive. Ruby has been quarantined in a yellow bubble, suspended above them. This doesn’t her from kicking, flailing, and screaming mutely)

CONNIE: (Nervous) So…anyone up for a barbecue?

SAPPHIRE: (Deadpan monotone) Your attempts at humor are doing nothing to set anyone at ease.

CONNIE: Well, I have to try something to keep from losing it right now. Do you want us all to just give up hope right now?

SAPPHIRE: Hope does seem to be rather useless at this point. My future vision refuses to grant me even the slightest possibility of success.

CONNIE: Wait…you mean you’ve already seen the future where we all… (She can’t finish the sentence; her voice trails off)

PERIDOT: She’s right, you know, we’re all completely doomed! I’ve calculated our odds of survival, and they’re currently less than 0.000000017% and dropping! Even if we could somehow escape the Diamonds, there are too many dangers threatening the whole planet right now—(A violent tremor shakes the ground)—like that! I’m not ready to die yet, not now, not on this planet! (She curls up into a fetal position beside Amethyst shaking uncontrollably)

SAPPHIRE: (Grimly) Hmm…true, without Ruby I can’t see the future branching off into alternate possibilities, but, I have a feeling that even if I could, I’d just see the same thing in every direction. There’s only one way this ends.

CONNIE: So…listen, I know if we were to be dropped right now, I’d pretty much be a crispy critter and a puff of smoke, but aren’t you Gems basically indestructible?

AMETHYST: (Blowing hair out of her face) Phht. I wish.

PERIDOT: Hold me, Amethyst!

(Amethyst picks her up like a basketball)

SAPPHIRE: She’s right. A gem’s gemstone can be cracked, broken, or corrupted, but in all cases, the consciousness still remains in some form, even if it becomes scattered and diffuse. If you want to truly destroy a gem, you have to apply a more…permanent punishment.

CONNIE: Like melting you down.

(Peridot lets out a howling sob and Pearl covers her mouth with her hands. Sapphire stays stone faced and stoic)

SAPPHIRE: Once the gem is liquefied, it breaks down into its core components. At that point, the gem is truly gone and the being it once held is extinguished.

CONNIE: So why isn’t Ruby in here with us?

SAPPHIRE: She’s the only who can survive at higher temperatures. Theoretically, she could fuse with all of us and extend her protection to everyone. No, I believe they have a far more creative sentence in mind for her. (Ice crystals begin to form at her base)

CONNIE: Aren’t you afraid.

SAPPHIRE: Of course. I’m absolutely petrified. Livid, too, I’m so furious right now I can barely think. (The ice crystals harden and grow)

PEARL: (Mournfully) Our only hope now is for Steven to come and rescue us. But I don’t see how that could happen.

PERIDOT: (Exploding) It can’t! He’s too far away, he’ll never make it in time, even if he could, he’d never be able to make it past the might of the D—

(Amethyst puts her hand over Peridot’s mouth, muffling her outburst)

CONNIE: I sure wish Steven would come and save us all. We need him.

SAPPHIRE: For his own sake, it’s better that he forgets about all of us. Him coming here will do nothing more than throw his life away with ours, and I’d rest easier knowing that he at least saved himself, and is living on peacefully somewhere far, far away from here.

(Cut to a shot of STEVEN decapitating a forced gem fusion with a berserker howl, his sword cleaving downward in a deadly arc. Beside him, Lion is clawing and making short work of a mass of writhing arms. White Diamond has unleashed his swords from their hilts by chains and whirls them around in viscous swaths, every slash breaking the form of a dozen monsters. He laughs maniacally at the thrill of utter butchery. Behind, Bismuth and Jasper are shattering gems left and right, Jasper supplementing her attacks with spin dashes and her crash helmet. There is very little talking for the first 10 seconds of this scene; the focus is entirely on the fighting. A far shot shows the countless hordes of gem armies, Yellow Diamond’s fist flagship looms in the background.

Gradually Gem shards have begun to litter the ground. Steven stoops down during a lull in the fighting and begins bubbling the fallen shards)

WHITE DIAMOND: There’s no time; leave them be! It will take them a few days to reform anyway.

STEVEN: They just keep coming! Is there no end to this? (Cleaves a twelve foot colossus in half through the midsection)

BISMUTH: We’re thinning out the hoards, boy! Don’t worry, this ain’t nothin’ compared to the stuff I fought back in the great war!

JASPER: EEEIIIYAAAGHH!! (She bludgeons a misshapen octoped to dust)

(The fighting continues. Steven mounts Lion and prepares to fight cavalry style. The gang tightens their formation, hacking devastation on every side as they slowly advance)

WHITE DIAMOND: Almost…there! We’re nearing the next tier!

JASPER: (Bloodthirsty grin) I could get used to this!

BISMUTH: I can feel it! We’ll be fine as long as we stick together!

(A tumultuous earthquake shakes the ground, rending a fissure in the Earth’s crust right ahead of the group. Entire ranks of gem monsters fall into the chasm. White Diamond uses his chain swords to grapple to the other side of the rift, simultaneously Steven leaps the fissure with Lion. Jasper and Bismuth are left stranded)

BISMUTH: Clods!

JASPER: Don’t worry about us, we’ll hold the front back here! You two press on! Everything is for nothing if you don’t make it to the ship!

WHITE DIAMOND: Duly noted! (They charge forward)

BISMUTH: …��We’ll hold the front?”

JASPER: Come on, I have an idea!

(Steven, Lion, and White Diamond have moved into the corrupted monsters. Swarms of deformed, animalistic mutants press them in on all sides, only the murderous frenzy of their blades holds them at bay)

WHITE DIAMOND: (Through the onslaught) I can’t believe Yellow Diamond would stoop to such a depth to keep ahold of her own power! (He chops through a feathered Agate corruption with seven eyes) This is sacrilege! Taking loyal, pure-blooded gems and twisting them into these unholy amalgamates! These are the tactics of our enemies! Depravity! (He grabs a bipedal monster by the tongue and slices it off with a lightning fast thrust of the blade. The severed tongue hangs in his hand, still dripping wet and palpitating. It squirms, it struggles, pulsing under his iron grip for a full three seconds before giving out and disintegrating into nothingness. White Diamond takes the rest of the beast by the head and plunges his sword straight through the gem) It’s too late for you, wretched child. The best I can do is make this quick.

(The creature squeals a primal, bloody scream as its gem shatters)

WHITE DIAMOND: How are you holding up, Universe? Is that meat-sack of a body fatiguing you yet?

(Steven hangs on Lion’s back, still violently swinging, but drenched through with sweat and stained with his own blood)

STEVEN: (Gasping) A little!

WHITE DIAMOND: Take this! (He tosses a small bean like crystal through the ensuing chaos; Steven catches it and gulps it down)

STEVEN: What is it?

WHITE DIAMOND: It’s an uznes shard. Extremely rare. It will revitalize your gem and give you energy to sustain yourself. But use them sparingly, I only have three and I might need one for myself!

(Steven’s gem glows bright and his expression immediately perks up)

STEVEN: Oh, yeah, that is some GOOOOOOOD stuff! (He laughs thunderously and decapitates a row of gem mutants with one hand)

(Meanwhile, Bismuth and Jasper are being driven back by the throngs of gem mutants. The untenable defense has forced them into a strategic retreat, taking out whoever they can as they fall back. But the opposition is overwhelming)

JASPER: (Spotting a cave) Quick! In here!

(They rush into the cavern. Bismuth rips an enormous crag off the wall and shoves it into the mouth of the cave as a barrier. The pounding of the gem mutants from outside shudders through the entire hollow of the cave)

BISMUTH: That boulder ain’t gonna hold forever!

JASPER: Bismuth. Fuse with me!

BISMUTH: What? Are you crazy?

JASPER: It’s the only way we’ll be strong enough to defeat them! We can’t last much longer on our own! (The boulder begins to convulse from the battering on the other side)

BISMUTH:  I don’t even know you!

JASPER: Doesn’t matter; I’ve fused with strangers before! Right now, this is survival; it’s fuse or die!

(Bismuth seems to be weighing her options. The boulder begins to crack and splinter, the howling from the outside reaches a crescendo)

JASPER: I don’t have time for this. We have to do it now!

(She grabs Bismuth by the arm)

BISMUTH: What are you doing? Let go!

JASPER: We can beat them together! Just say yes already! (She tries to force Bismuth into a fusion dance)

BISMUTH: No! No! Stop!

JASPER: Quit…struggling! I’m doing this for your own good! (The dance turns into a wrestling brawl. Jasper grapples Bismuth and refuses to let go as they thrash about the cave. Bismuth changes her arms to hammers and attempts to club her assailant into submission, but Jasper is stronger. She pins the Smithing Gem down and holds her firm under the weight of her body. The gemstone on her nose begins to glows)

BISMUTH: Don’t do it! Please!

JASPER: Just relax. You’ll thank me for this later.

BISMUTH: NO!

(The boulder at the cave’s entrance explodes into a shower of rock splinters. Gem mutants pour in like gumballs. Bismuth screams out a primal wail as her body begins to turn into light, her gemstone blazing. The melting figure of radiant energy wavers for a second, struggling, but then the form resolves. Cut to a shot of outside the cave. The entire side on the cliff is literally demolished by the shock wave of power released from the fusion. Boulders fly everywhere, crushing gem mutants by the dozen. A being of pure light rises, growing twenty, forty, sixty feet tall before resolving into a distinct form. The scream turns into a bellow. Then into a laugh)

Sunstone: AAHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!! Ooh, I take it back! This feels amazing!

(Sunstone emerges from the dust of the cave. To call her burly is an understatement. Her body vaguely resembles a top-heavy centaur in form, but that’s where the similarities end. A scorpion-like tail whip protrudes from the end of the abdomen, and along the back, a row of spikes climb upward. Four limbs serve as legs, their ends tapering down to a fang-like point planted in the ground. The other four limbs serve as arms, two with fully formed hands and two with sickle-like blades. The skin of the fusion is a sparkling burnt orange, the face having Jasper’s shape but Bismuth’s rainbow dreadlocks billowing down to the waist. Two sets of eyes, one ochre and one steel, stare down at the throbbing masses of gem monsters in sadistic glee. When she speaks, she talks with two voices at once, not unlike Malachite. She also appears to still be aware of her component parts)

SUNSTONE: I haven’t felt this good in ages! (Switching persona) I know, right? I told you this was the way to go!

(Sunstone notices the masses of Gem monsters trying to claw at her feet)

SUNSTONE: HA HA HA HAHAHAHAH!!! Puny creatures! I’ll show you what true strength is! (She smashes a dozen monsters beneath one of her legs) We are strong now! Nothing can stand against us! No one can stop me! (With a swipe of her tail, thirty gem monsters are sent flying. She pounds the remnant of the cliff face with her fists, making it rain rocks the size of houses) I am mighty! I am powerful! WE ARE SUNSTONE!

(The scene switches to Blue and Yellow Diamond, watching the commotion of battle from on high)

BLUE DIAMOND: There really seems to be struggle going on down there, Yellow. I don’t understand how anyone could have mounted a counterstrike and survived for this long.

YELLOW DIAMOND: There is only one explanation. He must be down there with them.

BLUE DIAMOND: (Suddenly terrified) You don’t mean…?! No, that can’t be! Perhaps we should withdraw. We may not be safe here anymore.

YELLOW DIAMOND: Calm yourself, Blue. It’s all going to be over soon. This planet, this war…everything. Soon she will emerge, and when that happens, we need not fear even White’s wrath against us. (Another seismic wave rocks the ship) Every tremor of this planet’s crust sets her closer to breaking free. I can feel it now. She is very close. No doubt he can feel it, too. That must be why he’s acting so desperate.

BLUE DIAMOND: (Tearing) I just want this to end.

YELLOW DIAMOND: We’ve come too far to turn around now. You swore to me that you were in this to the very end. I’m not about to let you back out!

(Blue starts crying and her Pearl comes to comfort her. From the other side of the room, the Crystal Gems look on)

CONNIE: Can you tell what she’s talking about?

SAPPHIRE: I can’t see anything beyond a few hours from now. Everything just goes black. Which I can only assume must mean… (She trails off)

AMETHYST: Dark.

(Ruby still thrashes wildly in the bubble, her endurance ceaseless and her temper riled. Sapphire watches her with a hard gaze)

CONNIE: You two were really close, weren’t you?

SAPPHIRE: I would say so. Ruby and I were about as close as any two friends could be.

CONNIE: And…?

SAPPHIRE: And I don’t want her to be hurt. She was my best friend. She was almost like a sister to me.

CONNIE: A sister, huh?

SAPPHIRE: Just a sister, if you’re asking. I’m sorry, but I really would rather not talk about this. It’s already weighing heavy on my mind, discussing only makes the burden greater.

PEARL: Kind of like me and Rose, right, Sapphire?

SAPPHIRE: Yes, exactly like that. You two were very good friends as well, weren’t you?

PEARL: I’d say we were just about as close as sisters too. But the more I learn about Rose, the more I realize I never did understand her.

AMETHYST: Hey, could we worry more about escaping right now?

PEARL: There’s no point. There’s nothing we can do to save ourselves right now.

(Another convulsion rocks the ship. Peridot squeals and shivers in trepidation)

PERIDOT: Will they never stop?

SAPPHIRE: That one felt different. That was no earthquake.

(Blue and Yellow Diamond rush to the portcullis of the ship bridge. They gaze out the panel and behold the image of Sunstone rising, wreaking terror upon the Gem hordes)

BLUE DIAMOND: Great stars! What is that thing?

YELLOW DIAMOND: A wrinkle in our plans. This…this development may complicate things.

BLUE DIAMOND: Oh no, oh no no no no, I knew it was going to come to this! We’re doomed, Yellow! What are we going to do, what are we going to do, what are we going to do?

YELLOW DIAMOND: Calm down, Blue, we’re not in trouble yet! We still have contingency plans.

BLUE DIAMOND: I’m scared, Yellow.

YELLOW DIAMOND: Silence! I’ve had enough of your simpering; just hush and let me deal with the situation! (She presses a button on a comlink and speaks into it) Put the troop into high alert and have them send me up green squad commander. Inform all units to standby for possible deployment.

(The Crystal Gems see the edge of Sunstone’s rampage from their prison)

AMETHYST: Whoa-ho-ho! That thing is huge! It’s even bigger than Sugilite!

SAPPHIRE: I admit, I didn’t see this before. I have a fairly good idea what that creature is, though I hardly believe it myself…

(The doors to the bridge slide open and “Amy”, otherwise known as Holy War Quartz 8-X1J, strides in. In contrast to everyone else in the room, her appearance is absolutely stunning. Her luscious, silken golden locks drip down to her waist, her flawless white skin smooth and gleaming as ivory apples. Her eyes are shadowed with intrigue and mystery yet crystal blue and sparkling like the crisp ocean waves, they flutter like the delicate wings of butterflies beneath deep, seductive lashes. Her body is sculpted to a figure of perfection; tall, slender, lithe and sleek, yet still voluptuous in all the right places. Her liquid legs could enchant even the stoniest mercenary, her wine red pouting lips could send the coldest woman-hater to his knees begging for mercy. There’s not a trace of flab or fat or weakness in her tight, trained and expertly honed vessel of enchantment. She is everything every woman dreams of being, everything every man desires. She is the ideal female figure in every way. Her clothing consists of nothing but a sheer, clinging white tunic, draped off her form like a billowing curtain concealing a masterpiece of art. A curving diamond window is cut into the bust to expose a blood sanguine gemstone, polished to perfection and radiant like the rest of her. She enters before the Diamonds and kneels submissively)

AMY: How may I serve you, my Diamond?

YELLOW DIAMOND: Holy War Quartz 8-X1J, a situation has arisen on the eastern perimeter of our encampment. You will go and attend to this matter; put down the assailants by any means necessary. I am also authorizing you to command our Special Forces Squad V-284 LL “Hydra” to assist you in this endeavor. Be advised that we believe the filthy unregistered Halfling, known locally as “Steven Universe”, is among the counterattack forces. I believe the two of you have encountered each other once before, on a mission where your results were less than satisfactory. Kill the Halfling, take his gem and bring it us as proof of his demise, and you will be well on your way to redeeming yourself for this failure. Go now.

AMY: It will be an honor, my Diamond. I will not disappoint you again.

YELLOW DIAMOND: Indeed you will not, else you be disassembled and returned to your core components and recycled. Go, time is of the essence.

(Amy exits, determined. As she leaves the bridge, she whips out a chain-flail Morningstar, her gem weapon, from the quartz embedded in her bust. Yellow Diamond looks on in admiration)

YELLOW DIAMOND: You will soon learn what it means to cross a Diamond…Steven Universe.

(Back on the battlefield, Steven and White Diamond fly pell-mell into the ranks of gem soldiers. Chaos reigns in side. Confusion, clamor, and the dust of broken gems scatter the battleground of nightmares)

WHITE DIAMOND: Ingrates! Mutineers! Misshapen clods! How dare you attack me, the father of all Gemkind? Has it been so long that you don’t even recognize your own master and creator?

(A Topaz centurion raises a ten foot axe to cleave White Diamond in half, but Steven springs in on his feline mount, intercepting and eviscerating the ugly blob of a gem)

WHITE DIAMOND: Well done, Half-Breed. To arms!

(They collect in a defensive formation. It’s becoming clear that even with their combined strength and determination, they’re beginning to tire. A row of quartz soldiers launches spin dash attacks against them, but Steven blocks all of them with his shield and then slashes their forms with his mighty blade.

Suddenly a roar like a thunderclap echoes across the plain. Steven and White Diamond briefly turn to behold the monstrosity of Sunstone battering her way through the mutlitudes)

WHITE DIAMOND: Inconceivable! Is this another part of Yellow Diamond’s clandestine freak show?

STEVEN: (Dawning) It’s Jasper and Bismuth! They fused!

WHITE DIAMOND: Our allies found a way to increase their power levels that much? I don’t know whether to call it blasphemy or strategy!

STEVEN: Shut up and fight! You can worry about it later!

(Steven repels a platoon of Rubies that just charged them. By amazing coincidence, it’s the same Ruby squad that visited them on Earth several seasons ago. Steven makes short work of them, poofing Eyeball and Army, shattering Doc, letting Lion chew Leggy to shreds in his jaws, and then pouncing on Navy, the last one standing)

NAVY: No! Wait! Please!

(Steven grapples her and begins to choke the Gem to death)

STEVEN: I’m going to repay you for all those times you tricked me and disgraced my companions!

NAVY: (Struggling to speak) ...have…mercy…

STEVEN: You mean like this? (He rams his sword straight through her chest. Her eyes widen and she lets out a strained gasp of agony of before disintegrating into thin air.)

STEVEN: (Bubbling her) The day I let you free will be the day pigs fly, you charlatan. It’s more than you deserve.

WHITE DIAMOND: Universe! Look up!

(Steven sees what appear to be birds descending from the sky. However, as they draw nearer, their true nature becomes apparent)

STEVEN: Lapises! Lapis Lazulis, dozens of them, headed dead toward us, ten’ o clock!

WHITE DIAMOND: Matri con Skrias! Run! Take cover! Find something to grab onto!

STEVEN: Why?

WHITE DIAMOND: A Lapis’ power multiplies tenfold on Earth! With that many of them, they could—

(He is cut off as a tsunami levels the battlefield. The Lapis Lazulis have conjured a tidal wave of epic proportions and slammed it against the coast. Trees are uprooted. Boulders are supplanted. Only Yellow Diamond’s flagship remains intact. Thousands of gems, fusions, mutants and monsters are swept away with the tide. White Diamond, through superhuman effort, manages to plant his chain sword into the ground even as the surge blasts them full force. He clings to the hilt as an anchor with all his might, even while holding his other sword with the opposite hand. Steven grips the blade end desperately, blood pouring from his serrated hands. As the tidal wave subsides, Steven and White Diamond are left waterlogged and frantically panting for breath)

STEVEN: (Gasping) That…just about…did me in…

WHITE DIAMOND: Here comes another one!

(A second wave of equal force pummels them with unrelenting fury. And then a third and a fourth. Blast after blast of pure typhonic force nearly yanks them out of their bearings. Steven’s grip slips and White Diamond has to latch onto his arm to keep him from flying away. By the time the blows finally stop, both warriors have been pushed to their body’s limit. They lie prostrate on the flooded coast, wheezing and struggling to stand)

WHITE DIAMOND: No giving up, Half-Breed! It cannot end this way. We must think of something…

STEVEN: I can’t go on…I’m sorry, Dad…Rose…

(The Lapises descend like a flock of harpies, darting and wheeling about their prey. One of them levitates several water globules with her hands and morphs them into blades. Steven looks up, weary and defeated. He grits his teeth, too exhausted to defend himself. The Lapis readies her volley. She fires. The missiles race toward their target but they never arrive. A whirring blade chops them straight out of the sky. White Diamond is on his feet again, panting but flailing his chain swords with renewed vigor. He stands over Steven, shielding him)

WHITE DIAMOND: I…am…stronger!

(He slashes more water spears out of the sky as the Lapises unleash a hailstorm on him)

WHITE DIAMOND: I am stronger than you low-caste slaves!

(The Lapises barrage him with hardened aquatic spheres, but the razor precision of his weapons dissipates every one of them to mist)

WHITE DIAMOND: I will not bow down to you! I will not be humiliated!

(They draw water up from the earth, forming a sheet to slice the ground from beneath his feet, but he leaps to the side and severs the curtain in two)

WHITE DIAMOND: I am stronger than this planet!

(Full throttle attack; they slam him into the eye of a literal monsoon, but he stays upright against the catastrophic winds, swords in hands, howling in the face of the storm)

WHITE DIAMOND: I am stronger than fate! I am stronger than DEATH! I am stronger than all of you!

(His weapon finds a home embedding itself in one of the Lazulis. She screams before poofing; White Diamond cries out in triumph)

WHITE DIAMOND: You can’t stop me! Nothing can stop me! I’m coming for you, Yellow! I will be avenged at last!

(A fresh tremor catches him off-guard and rocks him off his feet. At that moment of instability, a water bolt catches him dead on the forehead. His gem cracks. The entire world goes dead silent and slips into slow motion as he falls)

WHITE DIAMOND: (In silent thoughts) No…I don’t understand. Was that really it? Did I really come all this way only to be halted now, with victory in sight?

(White Diamond clatters to the ground)

WHITE DIAMOND: All my life…every day, every waking moment has been predetermined and set in stone for me. A Diamond is born knowing everything for every situation; how to act, how to look, even how to think. Every deed was carefully measured and performed in perfection. Every decision was made before us, and the end was known before the beginning.

But now, coming to the end, everything falls apart. Even in exile, there was never a second I didn’t know exactly what I should be doing: I fought to regain my throne. To realign the sacred balance of Gemkind. Because it was what I was born to do; there was nothing else. Everything I needed to know was taught to me before I was born.

But death…death is the one thing we were never taught. How does one prepare for such an illogical impossibility as death? Now I stand face to face with the greatest, blackest abyss in the cosmos, a darkness I was programmed to never pay an instant’s heed to. And for the first time in my life, I ask myself: was it all for nothing?

No. This wasn’t meant to be my fate. Nothing in this adds up. All those years of tyrannical glory, the kingdom, the colonies, the untraveled worlds and the endless mystery of cosmic beauty, what are they now, now that I face the end of existence, the end of me? This isn’t supposed to happen. How can I be dying? I have so much left to see, to explore, to discover, to conquer and rule. My road can’t just end here, slain ingloriously by the blow of a common footsoldier. I…I’m better than this! I can’t die! I won’t die! Not here, not now! My journey must continue; I’ll stand on my feet and show them what a Diamond is truly made of! I am resolved to live! I won’t die! I won’t die! I…won’t…

(Everything fades to black)

WHITE DIAMOND: (Quivering) Keep…holding…

(The screen goes pitch black and there are a few moments of total silence. Absolute void. Nothing. X. 0.)

(A distant noise is heard, a far off stirring like the intonation of music across a winding corridor. The shot cuts to a close up of White Diamond’s gem. The fissures that cracked its surface are receding into nothingness. The shot cuts out just a little, and we see Steven cradling White Diamond’s head. His pink bubble is wrapped around them, the sound of Lapis Lazulis hissing and snarling can be heard outside it)

STEVEN: Don’t leave me.

(White Diamond opens his eyes)

WHITE DIAMOND: Steven! How…?

STEVEN: I healed you. I healed your gem.

WHITE DIAMOND: You can do that?

STEVEN: (Gazing up at the seething Lapises meaningfully) Yes. I can. It’s the gift of my mother, Rose Quartz. It took another uznes shard, but with my stamina restored, I have all of her abilities as mine, including this shield that surrounds us.

WHITE DIAMOND: Inconceivable! All this hidden potential in a mere Rose Quartz, and it was never explored. How greatly the Gem Kingdom could have benefited from this latent power!

STEVEN: Yes…my powers are very useful for healing. But do you know what else they’re good for? (He drops the bubble) KILLING!

(Steven conjures up a swath of thorny vines to shoot straight up from the earth and wrap around the Lazulis in mid-flight, breaking their wings and crushing their bodies until the very life is squeezed out of them. Every Lapis is poofed in a matter of seconds. Their useless gemstones clatter to the earth in a rain of crystal tears)

WHITE DIAMOND: (Laughing) Well done, Half-Breed! I was wise to choose you as my ally.

STEVEN: Now let’s move! The way is clear— (the sound of rushing winds like a roaring waterfall drums the distance) —no. NO!

(More Lapis Lazulis are pouring out of the windows of the flagship. There are hundreds of them, possibly even thousands, darkening the sky)

WHITE DIAMOND: Stand your ground, Universe! It seems our fight isn’t over yet!

(But the winged terrors speed right on past them, not paying a moment’s attention to our heroes. It soon becomes clear who their real target it: Sunstone, still kicking and howling in the distance)

WHITE DIAMOND: Fate has granted us a diversion! Fly! Fly fast as your feet can carry you! This is our chance!

(The two race toward the flagship, but White Diamond soon becomes tired of Steven’s comparative lack of speed and throws him onto his shoulder. Then he really takes off, surging over the yawning plain with superhuman power. They reach the entrance to the ship in less than a minute)

WHITE DIAMOND: Almost there!

(They both stop short, eyes dilating. The entrance to the flagship is wide open. But there, standing at the foot of the entrance, slapping her Morningstar against her palm, is Amy)

TO BE CONTINUED...