#like the fucking way this is even tied to the plot and radiation poisoning is crazy

[star-ar512]

[evilminji]

This? Is driving me ~crazy~?

You know Anti-Force drugs and devices? Such as cuffs or collars?

Presumably, both rare and expensive, since Noteable Force Sensitivity is Rare AF? Not sure if it's more of a Fandom or Canon thing? But still, THOSE things? Yeah, you know THEM?

...... w-wouldn't... wouldn't they fucking KILL people?

Like? I'm not even joking here. We gotta remember, IN UNIVERSE, that the Force? Is FUCKING EVERYWHERE. All the Where. The LIVING Force is what CONNECTS and guides all LIVING things. "Guides" being the significant word there.

I'm not saying it would be IMMEDIATE death? Because Force Blanks exsist. Impossibly rare as they may be. But no one ever said they were HEALTHY. You CAN survive, for a pretty long while, after getting your internal micro biomes DEEPLY fucked up. Can even possibly repair them, depending on the damage.

And, what? Is the Midi-chlorian? If not a symbiotic microorganism? Living off you while giving you benefits in return? Health, durability, and The Force, in return for a place to thrive. Tied, inexorably, to your immune system and other vital bodily functions? To your SENSES. Your BRAIN FUNCTION.

Anti-Force drugs and Devices? Are awful... to those already a count of MULTIPLE THOUSANDS per drop of blood. What about much lower? If the device damages or suppresses all but the strongest Midi-chlorians? Does the average person HAVE enough to survive that?

Is it like radiation exposure? Deadly not in the immediate, but in the days to follow? In the sickness. The nausea. The weakness of limbs and the tiredness that drags. A seeping sense of unreality. Disconnected from others, who no longer feel "real". Do YOU no longer "real". As the interwoven connection you had, inside you, to the Force, is dying?

The Force is still there. You are still a part of it.

But you can't feel it anymore.

And it wasn't even something you knew you WERE feeling, until it was gone. Until people and the paintings of people, hold the same realness. Until you no longer feel connected to your own body. Sick, disassociating, and scared. Blood poisoned by the dying matter now floating in your veins.

There's a REASON, I would imagine, such devices are not standard issue. Mass produced. Expensive, dangerous, and deadly to those who DON'T have a high enough midi-chlorian count.

Even those who DO have a high enough count? Get sick wearing them! Need time to recover!

They are? Fundamentally?

ANTI-LIFE.

People throw them around in fanfic's a lot. As though just shutting off a major part of someone biology wouldn't have NASTY blowback. As though a Jedi probably doesn't fucking DESTROY those monstrosities, those ABOMINATIONS to the Force, every time they come across a set or vial of the stuff. Second only to the Sith, that sort of evil. Probably MADE by Sith. Evil. Nasty. Disgusting and no good.

Burn it.

You absolutely NEED to keep someone contained? Sleep. Nice lil Jedi enforced nap. Or drug enforced. Maybe both. They ALSO have FORCE rituals. Combine THEIR power against YOUR power. There are many ways. HUMANE and ETHICAL ways. They AREN'T SITH.

Just? Those things? Should be treated like the horrors they ARE, you know? They're not convenient plot devices! They are critical biology suppressing radiation collars and chemo drugs! Being PUMPED INTO PEOPLE by RANDOS!!

Shoved ON people! By FUCKING SLAVERS!

That SHOULD be HORRIFYING! They're ANTI-FORCE! <-!!! Which?

Is LIFE.

@legitimatesatanspawn @babbling-babull @spidori @mayfay @hdgnj @hypewinter @lolottes @leftnotright

[nitw]

Can you explain what you mean with misinterpreting Chara? I've always been confused about that character and you seem to have a pretty solid read you alluded to in that post about Snowgrave.

of course!!! as your local chara defender since the ripe age of 13 i hope you don't mind me doing a small essay on this. please bear with me tho because i sometimes can't articulate my thoughts well on stories that deal with philosophical themes ;;

UHHH SPOILERS FOR UNDERTALE AND DELTARUNE CHAPTER 2 BELOW

first let me make a few things clear so i don't have to repeat myself a bunch:

only tobias radiation fox himself has The Word of God privilege when it comes to things that haven't been explicitly confirmed in the games yet, EVEN if they're strongly hinted at. don't take anything i say about the plot as more than firm personal interpretation based on the info we have right now!

i cannot stress this one enough: undertale is a game that was never meant to be experienced from a singular perspective/mindset. the genocide route doesn't JUST exist for the sake of "enjoy your personalized edgy fuck-you run for being a serial killer in a video game", every one of the total 93 endings (look it up) in this game exists to reflect the player who achieved it in one way or another. the genocide route is really no different from any of the others, because in the end, no matter what, the player who decided to go through with the things they did will ALWAYS be rewarded for it. the question the player will have to ask THEMSELF afterwards is "is this what i wanted?"

OK MOVING ON-

let's think back to the little but vital amount of info we have on who chara actually was, like, as a person. we know pretty much all of this due to 1) the tapes in the royal lab 2) asriel's additional dialogue at the end of true pacifist.

while we'll never really know why frisk fell into the underground, asriel tells us explicitly about chara's hatred for humanity, and how they jumped from mt. ebott for "not a very happy reason"; supposedly a suicide attempt. chara "never talked about why", it's left intentionally vague because their reasoning isn't really what matters. what DOES matter is how this is relevant to the genocide run, ESPECIALLY with the new obvious parallels in deltarune's snowgrave route. i'll get to that.

when you finish the genocide route, chara will talk directly to the player in person. they talk about your (you AND chara's) success, despite "their plan (having) failed". this "plan" is one they secretly made with asriel when they were both still alive, as revealed from the tapes. chara got terminally poisoned from eating buttercups (whether this was fully intentional or not is still kiiinda up for debate), and while on their deathbed, asriel says that he doesn't like the plan anymore. yet despite his fear, he still fused his soul to chara's when they died.

the actual plan here was to become a monster powerful enough to slaughter humanity, specifically chara's home village by their own dying request - this all ties into their mysterious spite and hatred mentioned before. but due to asriel's resistance against chara, their fused body was killed by the humans - which eventually led to the creation of flowey, and asriel's inner demons after death.

but back to the genocide route. during chara's monologue to the player, they give us a LOT of important exposition. basically:

at the very start of the game, frisk's own determination is literally what brought chara's soul 'back to life'. we know how human and monster souls are different and how "determination" in this universe is something only humans possess, so it makes sense why it awakened them. i won't get into the whole narrator theory because i feel like it's not that relevant to my point (it's fun tho), but chara is always present from the moment frisk falls down, and stays regardless of the player's actions.

if you managed to finish undertale at all you'll already kinda know this (thanks sans), but the EXP and LV you (can) gain throughout your journey aren't just numbers on your screen - they're genuine in-universe manifestations of power that increase when you kill someone. and in genocide, chara explains how they were directly affected every time your stats rose. they could FEEL their spirit growing stronger for every life you decided to take (REMINDER THAT THE GENOCIDE ROUTE CAN BE PERMANENTLY STOPPED AT ANY POINT BEFORE SANS. YOU DID THIS.), so is it really that strange that they felt the desire to grow even stronger?

and once you do reach this point, there's no return. all that excessive time and effort you put into killing off a civilization OBVIOUSLY has some consequences. the consequences HERE being - if you paid attention to chara's life story - you took advantage of a traumatized child who was already at the breaking point and making irrational choices on their own, and you led them to believe that this was what they needed!

this is VERY MUCH SUPPORTED by the snowgrave/weird/pipis/whatever route of deltarune chapter 2 that was discovered about 2 days ago as i'm writing this. i'm gonna go ahead and assume you know what happens in it and i don't care to go into details if you don't, since this post is about chara, but surprise: THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO NOELLE, TOO! even in a completely normal run, noelle makes it clear multiple times that she wouldn't mind staying in the dark world; that in spite of how scary and dangerous it seems at times (something something horror movies), she started to feel at home. POSSIBLY even more so than her ACTUAL HOME, with her dying dad and negligent mom. like chara, noelle is a young person with low self esteem and her fair share of trauma, even if it's not as apparent. and like in the genocide run, the player's desire to ruthlessly kill in order to grow stronger affected her already-poor mental state.

someone else already pointed this out specifically, so don't credit me for it, but the main difference between chara and noelle is that noelle managed to break free in the end.

if you're like Most People Who Played The Genocide Route Back In Like 2016 and you played the genocide route with no further knowledge about it than "i have to follow these specific steps to get a harder fucked up version of the game", i don't blame you. you didn't actually know what you were doing in the end, did you? but did the outcome disappoint you, make sense to you, or did it just leave you with an empty/confused feeling? i love undertale because it WILL force you to think about things like that. i mean, if the result wasn't gonna affect you in SOME way, why would you go through all of that trouble in the first place? you had your reasons, as the player of any video game where you know your choices matter. would you have carried out the entire thing if you knew what was coming? the answer to that is only relevant to yourself.

[stevenuniversetanzanite]

Fallen Angel (Venable X reader) Part 5

Michael's character might be inconsistent in this chapter if so I'll fix it later.

Also, don't hate me too much, I have a plan with this story.

Prequel Link: The Angel Among Us (Cordelia x reader) Plot: The event’s leading up to Y/N joining Michael and the Cooperative.

Summary/idea: Two strangers come to ‘save’ the occupants of outpost 3. Neither are what they seem.

Warnings: N/A

Parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4, Part 5 (Will add as I go)

The two of you wound up tangled in her bed. No words shared just gentle touches of hands brushing over bare skin. A black nightgown discarded on the floor. You held her close, her head rested on your chest. Most would have thought it would have been the other way around, you wouldn't complain, you won the girl- at least for now. Venable was like a sour candy, bitter at first but once you get to understand her, sweet. You hoped the lolly wasn't expired.

Before you'd found yourself, you posed her a question, "What next?"

"We take our places for ourselves."

You had no clue what she had in mind. Was this the time to tell her there was nowhere else to go? The sanctuary is destroyed and everywhere else had been contaminated with radiation. This was the sanctuary.

You could take this woman away from here and leave Michael to have this fun with the other. You had no debt to him or his father. The reason you'd joined him was because you sought the truth. You had your answers, you only stuck with them because you never found the remaining witches before the bombs went off. The witches lived on- well at least two did. There was no place to take her, you'd been exiled from your former home and hell wouldn't go so well either nowadays. Anywhere on earth would be contaminated so she wouldn't be able to go outside without a hazmat suit. The former sanctuary could be revived, steal one of the apples you'd brought from the garden, but that would take time. She'd require food for which you can't supply.

"Sounds like fun," you attempted to sound happy, but the sadness came through. "You're probably still tired, I accidentally woke you."

"I could say the same."

"Yeah, sorry, again."

"No need to apologise, we both made a fool of ourselves today."

"I should let you get back to... bed" You shuffled towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Venable asked.

"Bed?" Venable raised her brow. "The generator room."

"That won't do at all."

"It won't? Got a better idea in mind?" You smirked.

"One or two."

"Do tell." You crept closer to the woman until you were close enough where you were forced to look down at her. "Does this idea involve me in less clothing by any chance?"

"It could."

"Are you going to keep me wondering or are you going to tell me?" Venable stared at you not saying anything. "Ms Venable?" Venable gulped and fought against the urge to shrink down and into herself. "Mina?"

"Yes," she croaked out. "I... don't-" Oh god, was she going to admit this to you? It's so embarrassing. What were you going to think of her when she told you? You'd probably have been with a lot of people and yet you were her first. "I haven't- Um, had intercourse before-" or even a relationship if that's what you would even call this.

"Okay and?"

"Isn't that shocking to you?"

"Not really, I kind of guessed that would be the case," you answered. "You outlawed sex; red flag number one. You appear generally uncomfortable any time I pursue you or get close to. Your distaste for connecting to people or building an emotional connection and the fact that the act involves some form of connection whether it be a fling or long-term thing. Also your fear of people seeing your back would most likely stop you or at least you'd keep a shirt on. Need I go on?"

"Please don't"

"You also have to keep in mind that won't be the weirdest thing. You would be fucking the devil's sister."

"-And Michael's aunt. Oh god I forgot about that. I thought you two were a thing"

"Eww~"

"Only briefly. It was the first rational conclusion I came up with. It didn't help that in the beginning you didn't appear to do much, other than annoy the man."

"I think I'm going to be sick" you covered your mouth. Freezing then you had a lightbulb moment. "That's it. That's it!" Venable waited for you to continue. "We make them all sick."

The plan was simple to create an event based around some holiday, Halloween as an example and tell them that it was this weekend. The two of you would poison the supply of apples you and Michael brought with you with snake venom and feed it to the unsuspecting residents.

You'd put your plan in motion tomorrow, for tonight it was just you two. You wouldn't move an inch in fear that you'd lose her. Death followed you like the plague. Divinity doesn't come without it's consequences and yours was being unable to among the living for long. You pulled Venable closer, holding her tighter. She hummed, bemused by your actions.

"Y/n? Are you still awake?" Venable asked.

"Yeah," you mumbled.

Venable sat up, you frowned as she escaped your grip. She spun around to face you. A look of worry etched on her face. You scanned her face. You sat yourself up, pulling yourself out from underneath the redhead and gathered your clothes.

"Where are you going?"

"We need to by ourselves some time." You kept your head lowered as you dressed yourself. Venable made no attempt to stop you. A part of her forgot she was mobile enough to stall you.

"What's your plan? Think whatever you're going to do though first-"

"What I do is none of your concern," you snapped. She was taken aback. You fidgeted about as you gathered the last of your belongings. Your hands shook as you tied up your shoes. You thought about apologising, nothing came of that thought. "I'm going to see Michael-"

"No-"

"I'm buying us some time."

"H-how? What are you going to do?"

"No clue."

You closed the bedroom door behind you. Walking down the long hallway down with no plan. Your movements became less shaky. A tune played in your mind, you shut your eyes for a moment convincing yourself you were anywhere but in the last standing outpost on planet earth. The imaginary music blared, you could feel the buzz of the sub, the vibrations shaking the floor. In reality it was the power in the air from the few magic individuals. To be anywhere but here.

You loosened up, body slackened as you walked like a drunk man. For a moment you thought of hightailing it, there's probably a club in hell you could attend. No- chickening out wasn't an option. Unfortunately. You halt immediately, your eyes flung open, your nephew stood half a metre away.

"You seem to be having fun."

"I am, Mikey. Don't be a buzzkill," you responded in your usual ditzy way.

"You seem to be getting close to the outpost leader." No shit sherlock. You already knew that... right? God, I don't remember anymore. He should know, you made it blatantly obvious.

"Hmm. Want something?"

"I want your answer to my question"

"What question, you never asked one?"

"Whose side are you on?" That's right, you thought. It had been some time since you'd been 'blessed' by the man's presence. Since the checkup with Venable and you were forced against the wall and choked you'd stayed away from your nephew.

You leaned in close to the man and whispered, "my own." You straightened up and moved past him, brushing shoulders.

"We'll see how long that lasts."

"You will leave her alone or you'll face me. Got that?"

"Crystal clear."

You sat in the auditorium tuning a trumpet when Venable graced you with her presence.

"Beautiful," you mused. Venable caught what you had said and blushed deeply.

"Unlike your trumpet playing," she said. She sat down beside you resting her cane beside her. She was still using it to make Michael unaware of her being healed. She rested her hand on your knee. "What's with the trumpet?"

"It's the end times," you said, forgetting she wasn't as knowledgeable about the biblical telling of the end times.

"They don't correlate. I mean an instrument and the state of the world-"

"Not one for religion?"

"Not as much as you... clearly."

She assumed all it was bullshit that was until she'd met you. She didn't understand your rule in all this or if you had any relation to religion other than being the devil's sister. She'd have to do more research to come to her own conclusion.

"Wouldn't blame you. Most of it's bullshit written by men from minenila ago. I'll fill you in when we're out of here."

"The trumpet?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. An archangel is said to play it at the end of time."

"And you think that's you?"

"God no, but I like the instrument. I like it's my brother Michael-"

"I thought he was your nephew."

"Not that Michael. There's more than one."

"Not confusing at all."

"Human's do that too."

"I presume we got that from your kind."

"Don't know, maybe."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Stupid question. That's like asking how many angels there are."

"Do you know the names of all of them?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not going to have to meet all of them, am I?"

"Don't want to have dinner with your future in-laws?" You said it as a joke but felt Venable tense up. "I was kidding V. You don't have to meet them-"

"It's not that. Do you see us two together-together in the future?" She didn't want to use the word 'married'.

"Yeah- unless you don't want that. I guess it would be hard seeing as I'm an angel and you're a human. It would be like a human dating the Doctor, mortals and immortals don't mix well even with my-"

"Doctor? Why couldn't a human date a doctor?"

"Not doctor....The Doctor. Doctor Who? BBC?" Venable looked confused. "God Mina, I'm forcing you to watch that later, I can't believe you haven't seen... oh wait your American, never mind. It wasn't important anyway." it also didn't help you've watched everything since the dawn of time. You'd say the same about any show.

"You're not american?"

"I'm not human, I can't be american... well animals can be American I guess- I'm not from earth so I can't be. I showed up somewhere in what's now Egypt when the land was still Pangea- at least I think it was Egypt."

"I keep forgetting how old you are."

"What can I say, those anti-aging creams work wonders." Venabe chuckled.

"Can you tell me a story from your past?"

All your stories ended the same. You alone, wandering the earth. A part of you assumed it was designed as punishment. All crumble away with time while you remain the same. Whomever you shared your life with will fade away too. The first human you befriended and the last. You left your imprint on the world as well as the people you associated with. What story to tell? One with a happy ending? if you could think of one. Your first interaction with a human, a similar looking woman to the one beside you, hair of fire, skin to pale for the beating sun of the desert you were both stranded in. You'd shown her a part of yourself you haven't shown anyone since. She left you in a bloody state, you left her worse. The kindness you showed her by healthing the damages she'd received by the dust storm (and other wounds) amped up until she'd beg you for death. That's what she deserved right? It took you eons to understand humans and every stowaway you had helped you more until you gave it all up for a taste of humanity, even if it was among witches.

Hours later, the two had retired back into Venable's room.

The selection where near completion. Michael was in his office going through his selections for the new world. He expected the company of the red-head soon. He had ordered one of the greys to fetch the woman as soon and have her come as soon as she was available.

She showed up half an hour later unamused. She addressed him by his last name as she did with everyone besides you.

"Ms Venbale, I'm glad you could make it."

"This better not be a waste of time, Mr Langdon, I was in the mix of some very important work."

Is that what she called you nowadays? Michael thought knowing just by looking at her she was with you prior to her arrival. "Then I won't keep you long. Please take a seat."

"I would rather not. If this is going to be as quick as you say it will be, I won't need to."

"Suit yourself."

"I've almost completed my selections."

"And?"

"I want you to join us... but only if you end things with Y/n."

"I will not"

"I only have one vacancy left... so it's you or her," Michael explained. "There can't be both of you. Keeping her around is a liability. It would be best if you get done with the breakup before Monday, I don't want any mess and we'll be expecting visitors." Visitors? Who the hell would be coming to the Outpost?

"And why do you think I would agree to this plan of yours?"

"She is not the woman you think she is, Ms Venable. There is more to her than either you or I can ever comprehend. As long as she is alive she is a threat. All you have to do is read any of the journals in the library and you'll see her for what she is. You may think she loves you but in a second she'd change tones. Especially by Monday night."

"What's Monday?"

"The guests will arrive."

"Who are these guests? Are they from the cooperative?" Venable asked, gripping the topper of her cane tightly. "How are they getting here?"

"No one you'd need to be concerned with... only Ms L/n's ex."

There was no way she could trust the man. He had been nothing but trouble since arrival. He had a point, she could ever truly know you. If you found out that your ex was still alive you'd go back . It was evident from the interactions from the beginning of your relationship that you weren't over her.

There was only one way to know about you, google you.

Venable never noticed it until now but she'd never the hum of the generator in the room next to the lab. You'd always been tinkering with it, but it's never made a sound. Is that regular? She'd never been in the room alone, either you were in there and you'd usher her out after a moment, or the door was locked.

She decided to test her luck today and tried the handle. The door glide open with ease. The room was pitch-black besides the glow of some sticker stuck on the back wall. You're doing, of course. She felt for the switch, once finding it flipping it. Nothing happened. Odd, she thought. She had her candle from when she was walking outside this section of the outpost. The auditorium lights didn't switch on either.

She made her way using her candlelight to the generator. It was off, rusted over and looked like it hadn't worked or been maintained in years. But you'd worked on it the other week. Something wasn't adding up. She tried to switch it on, hopping to hear a rubble but received nothing.

Venable sped to the computer room to test if there was any electricity in this place. The monitor light was on. She entered your name in the search bar. ERROR. She tried different variants of your name. ERROR. She slammed her fists into the desk, one hitting the keyboard. The screen blacked out. Crap. She cursed and tried to get something to appear. System reboot, the monitor said. The computer restarted itself. Venable's eyes were glued to the computer. Once the scene had light up, the language settings has shifted to default. They were the same ones she'd seen the first time when you set up the computer for her.

Blindly, she went back to the search engine. She typed out your name once more. The text entered shifted about, glitching in between the default language and another. The jumbled mess of letters appeared to spell out a place, Salem.

This was all bullshit, you must have done something to the computer along with the electricity, Venable thought. Jokingly she entered the name into the search, she got the typical (from what she could tell as it wasn't in English), the place, witch trials etc.

She scowled around some random sites until she heard a gasp from behind her.

"What are you doing?!" You snapped at her.

The red-head said nothing. She needed time to come up with an excuse. You tore her away from the computer, pushing the chair across the room and shut down the system.

"I was searching up about witches," she lied.

"No, you- you couldn't even read that-"

"What's the big deal Y/N? I wanted to know more about the stuff you talk about."

You clenched your fists, not bothering to turn around and look at the woman. "Get out."

"What?"

"GET OUT!" You spun around and roared at her. Sparks erupted out of the computer, leaving you unfazed.

You stared into her soul with your eyes fully dilated. Not just over the colour but the white of the eye. Your skin had paled down a couple shades giving you a ghastly appearance. Behind you, projected on to the wall was your silhouette, it mimicked you like a shadow but unlike you, it had wings.

Venable was stuck in place, trembling and not daring to look away for a second.

"Didn't you hear me missy?" you snarled. Her voice had a more demonic underlay. When she didn't respond you trudged up to her and pulled her up off the desk chair by her lapel of her blazer. She fought against her urge to quiver in your grip. "DON'T EVER use my technology to search me," the last part turned into a whisper.

You hadn't googled her and even if you had, she gave you permission when she first showed you the device. You had even suggested it. What had changed?

Venable grabbed you arm to try and push you away. Instant burning pain surged through her hand. She yelped and retracted her hand. You both immediately looked over to her hand. You dropped her instantly and backed away.

"I-I didn't mean to-" you stuttered out knowing your mistake instantly. Turning back to the monitor, you caught a glimpse of your ghastly reflection. "Please leave this room, you're not safe around me right now. I need to cool off."

Venable wanted to comfort you, but you made it clear not to and it was in her best interest not to aggravate you further.

You clenched your jaw, before smashing your fists into the mirror repeatedly.

She left you in that room to destroy whatever you saw fit. You were dangerous to be around, if she hadn't touched your icy skin who knows what would be of her. She hadn't searched you and yet you claimed she had. All she did was such up Salem, how was that connected to you other than witches? Where you there?

The skin that you'd touched began to deteriorate. The irritated skin bruised around the untouched areas as the rest turned to a nasty scablike wound. All in an hour, she'd found herself in the infirmary, wrapping the wound up with gauze.

"You screwed up, Y/n," Michael told you.

"I know that." Your body had yet to go back to normal no matter what you did to calm down. You teleported to Michael in hopes of his help and at worse a some snarky comments and 'I told you so's'.

"It's not so bad, now you can focus on the beginning of the world."

"Why am I here again? I got what I wanted out of this and I owe you nothing."

"You were bored and have nowhere to go."

"I could go back to heaven."

"As if they'd want you after the mess you've made."

"Hell."

"Do you want to go back there?"

"Not particular."

"Then where else would you go, besides I thought you were having fun. You enjoyed destroying the sanctuary-"

"That was my home long ago-"

"Didn't you enjoy watching it burn?"

"I want to see it burn again," you said. "Watch the waterfalls flow lava and the tree's goose blood instead of tree sap."

"Then do it. Nothing is stopping you from having your own hell on earth."

"But Mina-"

"Forget the woman Y/n, she's nothing to you. She's like all the others before her," Michael said. "You stole woman from there husbands and held them up in Eden, you were ruthless. Where has that woman gone?" He's gotten the story wrong, you didn't steal them, you saved them. "She's holding you back. Leave her and help bring a little more hell to earth."

"You're right. I'll do it," you said. He was pleased to hear that. "I'll do it this Sunday," a little less after that. "I need to... finish off Mina first."

"You can leave her to me-"

"You said to kill what 'it' wanted; I should be the one to do it." 'It' meaning the humanity in you.

"Don't take too long, the beginning of the new world can't wait any longer."

You and Venable made amends before the sunday. Both wary of the other but still going through with the previous plans of poisoning the members. Venable questioning whether to stick with you and go to the sanctuary with you or backstab you and go with Michael. You had to think about if you'd stay with Venable or find your own path void of her.

You hadn't gone back to your normal self. You decided to hide away from the others for the remainder of the week, only showing up on the Sunday night masquerade ball. Your outfit was an all black suit where the blazer with a train,paired with a black and gold belt you stole from Venable and your goldern devils mask.

The masks covered half your face, a black veil underneath to hide the rest of your discolouration skin. All skin was covered so you wouldn't harm anyone prematurely.

You stood above the music room looking down at all the unsuspecting survivors. Venable walked up behind you. You noticed she didn't have her cane with her.

"No cane?"

"No need to keep up appearances for the dead." You chuckled at her answer. "Soon it will just be us, we'll have the sanctuary all to ourselves."

"Yeah~" Venable noticed the uncertainty in your voice.

"What haven't you mentioned?"

"How do you now I haven't mentioned something?" You paused. "Oh, that's how." Your response gave you away.

"The sanctuary isn't real"

"What?"

"It was, but we destroyed it."

"Why? Y/N!" The woman took a step back.

"This is the last sustainable place left," you said not paying the woman to much mind. "We torched the place before we headed here. Those apples are from the oldest tree in existence. The one that caused the downfall of humankind."

"And we poisoned them."

"Yep."

"You killed humanity."

"You had no problem with it when you were told you were going to an outpost leader. You wanted to have a taste of power. Well you have and doesn't it taste good. The world is over. Humans are gone and you... well, you helped caused it." She was to blame as much as you were. "You'll be fine though. You got me and I'm not going to allow anything to happen to you." You smiled. "I'm going downstairs to keep up appearances. Can you get the two untainted apples? and then we can end this once and for all."

Venable nodded doing as asked. She headed to the kitchen to retereve the two apples. When she had her hands on them she paused. Michael was right, there was no snatuaray. The foundation for the two of you being there was destroyed. What was to make her believe that everything else you was saying was true too. You did have magic, there was no way you could fake what you did to her back, but the rest, how much of that was real? How about your feelings? Hers were but yours- if you were willing to lie to her, how could she know for sure?

With the wrong apple it would create a disaster.

Venable handed you an apple watching you remove your cover from your lower face, smile at her and take a bite of the apple. You gleam at her while chewing. "Well, aren't you going to eat?" Venable eyed you weirdly questioning if she gave you the right apple.

"I think we should save it, as a treat for victory."

"Well if that's the case then have some of mine."

"I couldn't possibly-"

"Oh, no, insist." You handed your apple over. "Unless you did something to mine." Venable stiffened. You covered your mouth and started coughing, dropping the apple on the ground. You hunched over, coughing with an earth shaking strength for your body.

"I can't be with you," Venable said.

"Why?" you croaked out. She doesn't respond. After a minute you straighten yourself up and dust yourself off. There was no hit of blood on you. "Oh, I know what you did. Might I say the poison gave it a nice taste." You stepped closer. "Who put you up to it? Michael?" The endearing look you used to give her faded away leaving a plain expression. You always wore emotion on your person, you looked vacant husk. It made you unpredictable. "You fool, he tricked you." You grew anctisy, "It's fine... I can work with this." You slipped off the gloves covering your hands and shoved them in your pockets. "Your just as dumb as he is, thinking that destroying the sanctuary was a good idea. He's still human, he too will be infected." You kept your undivided gaze with her. The inhuman part of your grew more evident by the second. The shadow from the computer room was back but this time had the same horns as your mask. "All humans will be dead. It's truly the end of time. I thought it would be different, God said it would be different. Guess he too couldn't give two craps about us. Hell if you read the old testament he was a bastard-" You rambled on, growing more irritated and manic by the moment.

Venable grew worried. She was frozen in place.

You retracted a blade from her sleeve and inched as close as you could.

"If I can't be with you then you don't serve a purpose." You shivved her. She grunted. You shushed her. "It's alright V, death ain't so bad." You eased her body to the ground, still clutching the knife in one of your hands. Once she was against the ground, you straddled her hips pushing the knife further into her. "All you had to do was pretend to like me and you would have been safe. I mean come on, how hard is it to do that? You humans can't make up your mind. You guys deserve to die." You added more pressure. You felt a presence at the door. Michael.

"Wasn't your toy to your liking?"

"Mickey, she didn't like me, what did I do wrong?" You ripped out the knife in one swift move. She cried out in pain.

"There will be plenty more for you in the new world."

"Your psychotic," Venable choked out.

"You're one to talk. You'll do well in hell, love. All those people you killed." You looked back to Michael. "Maybe I should go back to hell and look after this one?"

"But what about my partner in crime?"

"You got Mead."

"We'll find you, someone better, if not, she's not going anywhere." She wouldn't leave hell any time soon.

You stared down at Venable, watching the life drain from her eyes. "See you soon love." You leant down and placed a kiss on her forehead before her vision faded to black.

Don't worry there is at least one more chapter joining the two stories together. and it will have a happier ending. So don't worry that Venable was stabbed.

[dicecast]

The Paradox of Draco Malfoy

Or: Why do People like Draco Malfoy

      Who are the most important characters from Harry Potter?  If you were a marketer and had to design a set of I  don’t know, candy for each of the main characters, who do you include?  You only have 9 slots.  The Trio obviously are the main characters, and then Voldemort, Snape and Dumbledore. Neville, Hagrid, and then in the last slot you’d probably put Malfoy.   And the question is…..why?

(character looks much cooler than he is)

See Draco Malfoy is an iconic character of franchise, easily one of the most memorable and beloved characters, certainly he has received the most fanfiction, but looking at the books…Malfoy isn’t that important.  He only majorly effects the plot in the first and 6th book, and even then he is never the central forces of either story, his role in the story is usually just him showing up, being kinda of a dick, and then something bad happening to him.  Barry Crouch jr and Sr, are in every way more important characters to the plot and themes of the story, and yet they aren’t really registered as major characters.  

(this character matters a lot more)

And it isn’t just that he is iconic, I mean Boba Fett is iconic and he barely does anything, but Malfoy is loved.  I mean there is a Tv Trope “Draco in Leather Pants” for a reason, in fact in many ways he is more beloved and admired than Ron, who is an actual character who does stuff.  And I can’t empathies this enough, the sheer amount of Malfoy fanfiction out there is overwhelming, I know fanfiction will elevate any character given enough time, but there is a reason why I know about this, despite never reading HP fanfiction.  I mean the Very Potter Musical makes Malfoy the secondary protagonist on equal billing to Harry Himself, and honestly gets more of an arch.  Which is particularly puzzling because again

Malfoy isn’t that important of a character.  

   Almost every Malfoy scene actually in the books follows certain beats, and you can break them down.  Malfoy approaches Harry, Harry’s friends, or some helpless weak kid who Harry feels obligated to protect, Malfoy is a colossal asshole, and he either leaves smugly or is humiliated.  Or Malfoy actively tries to do something dickish like dress up like a dementor, or ambush Harry &co on the train, which inevitably back fires and he ends up humiliated.  Even random lines that mention him basically boil down to “Malfoy did something dickish”.  Occasionally you will have a scene where some element of the world is explored by something bad happeing to Malfoy, like Harry using the invisibility cloak to fuck with him, or Malfoy being forced to go into the woods, or Malfoy getting turned into a ferret.  Until book 6, he is basically just a bit character, who shows up, does something dickish, and then usually gets the shit beaten out of him.

In short

Malfoy in Fandom

Malfoy in the Books 

Now there are many reasons why we like Malfoy, some to do with his design (especially in the movies), the fact that Slytherin has the best color scheme (snakes are cool yo), our societies complicated feelings toward aristocracy, and the overall popularity of villians over heroes, the latter point could be its own video.  But I’m going to narrow in on three main points, which as an academic, I’m required by law to spell out to you before I explain them

Reader Rebellion and Slytherin’s appeal

Malfoy’s status as “the Bully” vs. his actual character

SHIPPING

(trying too hard)

   See, part of the reason why people like Malfoy is because what I call “Reader Subversion”, basically when the audience rejects what the text is telling them to do.  The most obvious example is watching bad movies for fun, these movies want to be seen as serious or dramatic, and instead we are just laughing at how bad they are (The Dungeons and Dragons movie is one I recommend).  So when the narrative is telling us “Hate this character, look how unlikable we made him” its very tempting to just be like “Screw you, I’ll sympathize with the character”.  Another example of this in HP is the embrace of Slytherin, which at least memetically is tied with Ravenclaw for most popular house.  Its associated with sexiness, coolness, ambition, and cunning but frankly…those traits aren’t really on display in the books.  

(Slytherin in the Fandom)

The vast majority of Slytherins we meet are…kinda stupid, just selfish cruel vindictive spoiled assholes who only care about protecting their status.  Its less sexy vampires, and more Trump administration entitlement.

(Slytherin in the books)

 But because the books are telling us so much how bad this house is, how much they suck, how much they are the “bad guy house” it’s pretty tempting to reject the narrative and find reasons to like them.  Topic for another video, but I notice this is popular when the narrative is very obvious about how much we should hate an antagonist ,and when the antagonists are more annoying than actually threatening.  

This instinct is especially important because that is one of the major themes of the book in the character of Snape.  Everything about the character is designed to make us dislike him, he is cruel, selfish, petty, vindictive, and is actively abusing his position of power to psychologically torment children.  He is given all the “bad guy” physical characteristics, he dresses in black, and pretty much does something dickish in every scene he is in.  And critically…he is the good guy.  The point the book is making is that even if somebody is a massive asshole, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t possess positive qualities.  This is arguably the main theme of the series, that people have more to them than we first imagine, we see this with Neville, the Crouches, Dumbledore, McGonagall, the Marauders, REB, Fudge, and Dudley all relate to this them.

The inverse of Snape is James Potter, who is revealed to have been an arrogant bully (and incidentally my second favorite characters in the series).  Now this is a topic for another video, but I think that the greatest failing of the HP series is not really following through with this theme, for every character who learn more about, there are others who stay the same, Lilly Potter and Voldemort being the worse examples.  But this finally gets to the problem of Malfoy 

See from the start Malfoy is coded as somebody who isn’t just a bad person, but also a simplistic one, he has a very clear role as a character, of “The Bully.”  Basically, the Bully exists to be a minor antagonist to the hero, and possibly embody the writer’s childhood issues.  This character is like the terminator of petty spite, he will go out of his way to make the protagonists miserable in the most needlessly cruel way possible.  They will relentless pursue fucking with the protagonists at the expense of even their own basic self-interest.  This is one of the most overdone, tired, and uncreative roles in fiction, I’ve always hated bully characters and I feel they make the problem of childhood bullying a lot worse because it doesn’t recognize where the instinct to bully comes from, and how complicated it is.  What the stranger in a ski mask is to understanding rape, so this character is to understanding bullying.  Bully characters exist to be generic antagonists, so they are almost anniversary awful.  The only examples I can think of who are good are Cordelia from Buffy…and Draco Malfoy.  

Cause when you break it down, Malfoy has motivations, relationships, goals, ideals, insecurities enough to make a full character, or at least a resemblance of one.  He truly loves his family, he has some massive set of issues and he loves his family.  Its honestly kinda compelling how he like “yeah I’m going to be evil when I grow up” but that same wimpness that makes him less threatening to Harry is also his greatest virtue, he simply isn’t strong enough to be truly evil and that is kind of a good thing.  Honestly its sort of the anti-Neville, while Neville is a giant coward except when the chips are down and that is his greatest virtue, Malfoy acts tough until shit gets real and that is also his greatest virtue.  Cowardice makes him a better person, in contrast to Crouch or Riddle who are extremely brave and cruel.  

Also when compared to his father, you realize Draco is basically desperately trying to be something he isn’t, a cross between a Lannister and a Bond villain and he just can’t quite manage it.  And his frustration with Harry comes in large part because Harry kinda has everything Malfoy desperately wants all without “earning it”.  Draco is obviously somebody who is pressured a great deal by his family to succeed and has a lot to live up to, and deep down doesn’t’ really think he is up to the task.  And as we see in book 6, he isn’t.  Harry meanwhile basically has what Malfoy wants the most without even trying, which makes Malfoy risk thinking about his own inability to live up to his father’s standards which leads him to lash out.  It isn’t a super complicated character but there is potential, which is never really explored in the books because Rowling doesn’t like him.  

There is potential for a fully character there, and it honestly reminds me of Snape, we are given a character whose every action is coded bad but if we pay attention we realize there is more personality there than our initial impressions give credit for.  But unlike Snape, we don’t actually get rewarded for looking closer to Malfoy, if you pay close attention you realize there is more to him but the narrative basically doesn’t care about him.  The reader isn’t rewarded for taking the book’s advice and examining the character beyond the trappings of his presentation, which is one of the most frustrating experiences you can get as a reader, feeling all the work you put in was for nothing. And that frustration is, along with radiation poisoning, the greatest impetus for the creation of fanfiction, which is basically the result of stories cockblocking the audience.

(did this happen in the movies I don’t even remember)

This goes to the shipping thing. Full up, I don’t ship Harry/Malfoy, in large part bceause of how much of Harry’s character is determined by his internal narration, and that to me disproves any indication that Harry likes Malfoy.  He spends so little mental energy on Malfoy, when ever he encounters him he is like “oh yeah that guy is a shit..I bet he likes Thatcher” but when Malfoy isn’t on screen Harry doesn’t really care, he has more important things to worry about like being British and having a shockingly high pain tolerance.  The only time when Malfoy seems to occupy Harry’s thoughts its the 6th books, and only when there is a plot reason, and in the 7th he doesn’t care again.  Compare this to how he thinks about Cho Chang, where he spends mental energy on her even when she isn’t on screen.  Harry just doesn’t care.

BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Malfoy does.  Malfoy over the course of the book goes dramatically out of his way to fuck with Harry Potter, he dramatically inconveniences himself in order to fuck with Harry.  in the first book he sneaks out at night to try to fuck with Harry Potter for its own sake and gets caught for it.  He dresses up in dementor robes to mess with him, he waits in hallways to make fun of him, he designs a bunch of badges to mock him, like Malfoy seemingly goes out of his way to fuck with Harry above and beyond the norm.  So...why

(I”M AN ADULT)

Well the actual reason is that Malfoy is the Bully character and that is what Bullies do, which is why bullies in fiction are often so boring and don’t resemble real life bullies, who are much closer to Snape or James Potter.  But this doesn’t work with Malfoy because the character is just well written enough that you have to ask “wait why is this guy acting so obsessed”

(WTF is he doing in this shot?)

And that is where some of the shipping comes from.  Its not necessarily true, since you could just read it as Malfoy being super insecure and envious, but you could easily also read it as just “Malfoy has a crush on harry and is a shithead”  Repressed homosexual lust is as good explanation as many for his weird fixation on Harry.  It certainly makes more sense than “he is just evil” which 

seems to be the canon.  

TLDR, Malfoy is interesting because the writer seems to actively dislike him and dismiss him like the Tory punk that he is, but the fandom loves him so much that they have turned him into a whole new character the reason why is that he is just well written enough to be intriguing but has no follow through.  

Also who names their kid Scoripus Hyperion Malfoy jesus christ this guy is the Jacob Rees Mogg of the HP series.

[professorbellarke]

Honestly a bit disappointed in the “traitor you love” moment. Am I crazy for wising it had been a quieter character moment instead? I love soft bellarke so much. Please convince me I’m wrong! im begging you, I don’t want to be a negative Nancy :(

OHHHH. Oh sweet honey baby, you have come to the right person! And I hope you have some time to relax and pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents the thesis you didn’t ask for! This is going to be a long one.

Because I loved everything about that scene. Honestly, I loved the entire episode top to bottom, and I’ll tell you why. Because this story is a genre story. It is science fiction. And while good genre stories have intimate character moments and connections as the…I don’t know, the flesh and blood of a story, the BONES of genre fiction must be plot. And sometimes, it feels like The 100 carves away too much of that flesh and blood to focus on the bones, when the blood is what makes us care about the bones (this metaphor went cannibal places, oh no). BUT THAT MOMENT! Ohh, that moment, sweet anonymous, was the perfect fusion of flesh and bone. Heart and head. Plot and character. In other words it was our beloved Bellamy’s favorite thing:

!!!!!!HIGH DRAMA!!!!!!!!!!

One of the things I love best about genre fic is that everything—even and especially emotional revelations and turning points—must be done in the most dramatic way possible. It’s ingrained in the dna of the genre, and I’m always disappointed when sci fi and plots take the easy way out. No, I don’t want a magical amulet that’ll just fix everything! YAWN AND SNOOZE AND OO. The 100 never does this, which means it always pushes its characters into impossible corners, forcing them to make unthinkable choices, and that is what I love. If there’s an easy way out, like say, a space station that can shelter Skaikru from the radiation, THE 100 BLOWS IT UP. I LOVE WHEN SHOWS BLOW THINGS UP! I want the drama so explosive that my nose is three inches from the screen because I’m so eager for what’s next that I’m trying to physically leap into the story. I like the stakes SO HIGH that I’m in a constant state of tension. It’s why I’m obsessed with this show. It’s why it’s also not for everyone.

But like I said, this show is at its best when it has the character stakes and the plot stakes working in harmony. 5x08 was a masterclass in that.

For an example in how stakes make a story, Clarke’s radio could have worked (ignore science, I don’t know her, I know only story.) So Spacekru could have known she was alive the whole time, she and Bellamy could have had merry chats across space, she could have told them about her berries, they could have laughed together about that time Murphy slid into a coma, lol, classic Murphy. Then Spacekru could have come bback down when the five years were up, because of course they had enough fuel, and then Clarke would be waiting for them and yay! Good times.

Good snooze.

I have read really good fics that are about this exact thing. They’re cozy, dreamy, romantic, and beautiful. They fill a crack in my heart formed by the agony of Praimfaya. They are also NOT MARKETABLE GENRE STORIES BEING EXPLORED ON THE SCREEN. There are certain expectations there. You need obstacles before you earn the payoff. Bellamy must think Clarke is DEAD!!! And learn to move on without her! And Clarke must talk to him EVERY DAY because the thing that keeps her going is that he’ll come BACK TO HER! BUT THEY CAN’T GET BACK BECAUSE NO FUEL!!!! BUT CLARKE IS IN TROUBLE AND NEEDS THEM NOW!!! Ahhh! The stakes raise with every plot twist. And we’re personally invested to boot.

Bellamy could have learned Clarke was alive in a million ways, by stepping out of the dropship and seeing her waiting, by hearing her on the radio, on and on. But it’s so much better that they reunited in the climactic scene of the WHOLE EPISODE. That the first time Clarke sees him in six years is through a haze of pain, when all hope is lost, and then there is hope. Her drama bae. Dramatically saving her life like no time at all has passed. The whole plot of 5x03 was Bellarke reuniting! That’s what the stakes were. Will Bellamy get to Clarke in time? First he must overcome the fact that he’s stuck in space, and then that he thinks she’s dead, and that Diyoza will kill him, and ack it’s getting harder because Clarke is getting in deeper water by the second!

I LIVE FOR THIS. Those are the moments I watch over and over and over again.

So Octavia could have thrown out that “lol, you love Clarke, you’re so lame, sick burn Blodreina well done have a humansnack ration” at any time in the episode to try to get a rise out of him. But they saved it. For when it counted most. For when it would have the most impact for us and for them.

Bellamy (and the writers) didn’t just not deny that Bellamy loves Clarke. No, Bellamy’s love for Clarke was declared by the narrative while he was POISONING HIS SISTER to SAVE CLARKE’S LIFE as the FATE OF ENTIRE SOCIETIES AND THE LAST LIVABLE PLACE IN THE WORLD HANG IN THE BALANCE. BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS AS MUCH AS HIS LOVE FOR CLARKE! HIS LOVE FOR CLARKE WAS THE FINAL PLOT TWIST, THE TURNING POINT, THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE BELLAMY’S BACK! BELLARKE WAS THE PLOT!!! THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PLOT!!!!!!

That is my ABSOLUTE JAM RIGHT THERE oh my god. Oh my god I can’t even word about it. Yes, I love quiet character moments. I love them so much. And this show could use more of them. Honestly, this episode was so strong because it not only HAD them, but it let us feel them: Bellarke in the tent, Monty and Harper planning their happy farmlives, Emori and Murphy having a very sad second breakup in the woods while McCreary cursed his entire existence, Raven and Echo holding hands, Raven breaking down with Zeke at the end. From a character point of view, this episode was a gift.

But one of the things I’ve always loved best about Bellarke is that their emotional beats are TIED DIRECTLY INTO THE PLOT IN THE BIGGEST WAY. The stakes in their relationship are literally world-changing, life or death, apocalypses and war and, well, epic, in the Logan Echolls sense. What’s the first time the word love is used in connection to Clarke’s feelings for Bellamy? WHEN SHE’S SENDING HIM TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF IN MT WEATHER. When is the first time Clarke realizes how much losing Bellamy will hurt her? When she closes the dropship door on him and believes she has just killed him herself. Who is the one person on earth Clarke cannot sacrifice, even if THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE HANGS IN THE BALANCE? Bellamy freaking Blake, that’s who. Your OTP could never.

I love quiet, subtle, low drama Bellarke in my fan fiction, so very much. They deserve to have a break and so do we. But there’s a reason that never happens on screen—because that’s not Story, in the classic way of sci fi and fantasy, where the stakes are magnified. I had a writing professor who liked to use the common writing adage Twist the knife. You stab them right where it hurts, but you don’t just leave it there. You twist it. You milk it for everything its got.

Everything in genre fiction must be bigger. It takes the themes of our world and blows them up by adding bloodier stakes. It’s the same interpersonal struggles, but instead of you losing a job or a friend, you lose a kingdom. You lose a planet. Genre stakes are both personal and external, and the really good genre stories manage to fuse them—which is what they’ve done with Bellarke since day one. The fate of the hundred, of skaikru, of spacekru, of humanity, rested on Bellamy and Clarke being able to forge a working partnership.

And, spoiler alert, they did. And now they have to fucking kiss, hopefully in a moment of high plot-related drama as well.

I know fiction is objective and you super don’t have to agree with me. But I’m a high stakes ho, and 5x08 gave me my high stakes fix. Thank you for coming to the TED talk you only a little bit asked for.

[secretadventuresociety]

Episode 30 Recap

It’s that time again, SASholes! I’m Bren, resident SAStorian and Kü enthusiast. Welcome to Episode 30: Fire and Bone.

“Who Broke the Sky?”

On the walk back from the Night Market, our heroes take in the bright swirls of the aurora in the Mardosta welkin. Despite the heaviness of the evening, the sight brings on conversation about the coming festival-- which will necessitate new clothes and money to buy them with. Kess makes sure to impress upon Pearce that he can’t wear his red paint-stained mask, and so the gunslinger turns to Kü and asks if he would take off his helmet; his reasoning being that it would be ‘weird’ if he wore it. Now, I know what you’re doing here, Shooty Boy, and it’s admirable. However, if you ever tell my son how to dress again I will rip your character sheet up in front of you. ANYWAY. The matter is dropped as the party’s attention once again returns to gold (and honestly? Mood.) and they decide to go seek out Norse and Arthur to find out if they found the note and attached moolah that Pearce accidentally slid under their door. They find the couple lounging on their floor-- the whole floor that they have to themselves-- with cocktails in hand. Arthur immediately offers them a ‘Mardosta Mule’, which excites Kü. He turns to Pearce and exclaims that he’s had horses and donkeys, but never this ‘newfangled fusion’. 

As they all get turnt, Norse admits she did find the letter and assures the group she did NOT tell Brienne about it, just in case. Relieved, Kess explains the mix-up, then asks what her elders DID tell the detective. Norse reports that they were relatively honest, up until the point where they were questioned about Xarus’ presence in the house. They covered well, however, telling the investigator that he came to work with one of Kess’ brothers. The investigation does not seem to be closed, but the parents think that they are in the clear for now. Kess asks about Vendreth’s reaction, and Norse isn’t as forthcoming. All she will say is that he was fine, just upset that he wasn’t told sooner. Placated, the adventurers start in on their Madosta experiences, which to be fair, are limited because of… you know… all the murder. In any case, it makes a perfect venue for distraction as Pearce and Kess allow the nine year old kobold to drink TWO mules-- which for his body weight HAS to be more like TWENTY-TWO mules-- so that they can possibly talk him into removing his helmet. His skull. His-- skull helmet. Skelmet.

Kü gets to the point where the alcohol is giving him the sads instead of a buzz (which, RELATABLE, amirite?) and he tells everyone he’s just trying to ‘not think about how I feel or feel about how I think’ and realizes the mule is donkey-kicking him right in his racehorse heart. I think I tried too hard on that last sentence but I’m leaving it. Fuck you. In an attempt to make Kü feel better, Kess brings out one of our favorite callback jokes-- the singing bass. She tosses it at the kobold and in his drunken haze he bites at the writhing meat, coming away with a mouthful of dead scales. Did you guys know that thing was an actual, enchanted fish? ANYWAY. With this being the nail in the coffin of the worst day of Kü’s life (which INCLUDES his mom dying), our little buddy nopes out to sleep off the alcohol, leaving Pearce and Kess to their own devices.

The Suicide Squad

Being wary of the dozing kobold, Pearce quietly tells Kess that if Brienne comes after Kü to incarcerate him; he would take the fall for him. Kess counters that they probably have ways to see if he’s telling the truth-- but then realizes that they could eliminate the problem altogether if they separated the being from Kü. The fishsticks from earlier betray our druid-- the combination of the grease and stress forcing them from her stomach and onto the nice guest room floor. She flings a sidelong look at Kü and decides that their ‘stealth speak’ may not be enough to escape Mother’s… uh. Not ears, but-- whatever an evil being uses to listen. I didn’t take Eldritch Anatomy. The pair take off toward the greenhouse, Kess instinctively leading to the place she feels most at home. Once inside, they rehash all that they know about Skugamor. 

Pearce looks at the scene around him, soil spotted with Kess’ white flowers with the black iris, and he takes off the dried remains of the one he picked and places it with the others. He asks if Ashe is of a similar type as Mother, and Kess denies it. She says that she thinks her power isn’t tied to the being, but it does help him in some way. This inspires her to grow a flower to try and talk to Ashe to get help with their situation, but no answer comes. Pearce, irate, takes hold of it like a microphone and shouts into it, obscenely demanding attention. In a panic, Kess draws the rest of her strength and grows another flower-- and when it only waves in response, an insidious idea blooms. The changeling tells Pearce she saw Ashe when she was dead (unconscious), and without further explanation the gunslinger refuses to help one of his best friends die (get knocked tf out). He does, however, offer to take her to Rook’s room (you know, where the poison is— the poison to kill Kess. Kess’ poison. THAT poison) so that they have someone else to assist should the whole dying (slight coma) thing go wrong.

As they’re headed back into the house already, the duo go into the guest room to let Kü know their plans. Pearce wakes up the kobold and Kess breathlessly explains her brain blast, asking him if he wants to join them. The sleep immediately leaves Kü’s drooping eyes as rage fills its place. His voice booms with pain and accusation-- unbelieving that she could even think of killing herself (taking a quick nap with no breathing) because of him, especially after she told him she wouldn’t leave him the way that Jendee, Dorf, Augustus, and his mother had. He pointedly asks her ‘Do you know how I would feel if you died trying to fix me? Not that I NEED fixing” and as the anger gives way to sadness, he mutters that he was better off asleep. Effectively having talked Kess out of being near-suicidal, Kü takes this opportunity to relieve himself of his party’s company while he cools off. He storms out and starts to stalk the halls for his nightly watch.

Küdini

Now alone, Kü registers Mother attempting to speak with him. She extinguishes all the firelight around him, and the kobold lets loose a bloodcurdling scream for help. Kess and Pearce emerge from the guest room, the former running to all of her relative’s rooms to ensure their safety, and the latter posting up beside Kü. Everyone on their floor seems to be fine, but before they can let a sigh of relief loosen from their lungs, a scream rings out from downstairs. If you’re feeling deja vu, rest assured, it’s about to get REAL different. Pearce yells at Kü to go outside, but as he tries to comply, it’s soon clear that he and his party members are dashing toward the scream instead of going their separate ways. The lights continue to go out as they bolt through the halls-- stopping finally as the group comes to see two hired hands; one standing frozen in horror… and one being constricted by shadows.

Not knowing what to do, Kü tries to counterspell the tendrils of darkness. When nothing happens, he instead casts fly on himself and throws his tiny body at the Drow chef in front of him-- who is suspended in midair, choking from the pressure on his throat. He succeeds, but only inasmuch as he gets him on the ground. Kü watches as the light dies in the chef’s eyes-- not unlike the lantern fires that now flicker to life around them. Kess, acting quickly, brings out a diamond and uses Revivify to save the fallen housemate. The druid then heals him for good measure; giving him no time to recover from his experience before she and Pearce give him food and drink before asking him to recount the events of the night. He doesn’t remember much, and before the two can dig in deeper, Norse pulls Kess aside to ask what the actual fuck is going on. 

Her daughter tells her about Mother, about Kü’s past, about their current predicament. She fears Kü is a warlock, and that the shadowy magic comes from his patron, who is wreaking havoc in their home. Mind clouded by fury, Norse reveals that she was plotting to kill Xarus already, and with this secret out-- a wave of calm washes over her-- and she marvels at Kess having enough magic within her to save a life. It’s then that Norse ushers the younger Shadowmore away to check on her friends. She sees Pearce, and they link up to head outside for Kü. However, once there, they see no trace of him. He’s vanished.

I’ll Fly Away

Unbeknownst to anyone, Kü used the remainder of his Fly spell to escape soundlessly from the Shadowmore manor. It carries him to the treeline of Mardosta, and once it fails, he falls into the snow, sobbing. His shaking arms reach up and lift the helmet from his head-- bringing it to face him. Nothing happens, and the kobold tries to form one word. His heavy heart crushes the ‘why’ rising from his gut, and he lays down on the unforgiving snow. Kü squeezes the skull to his chest and sleep claims him. The green and purple of the aurora above stick behind his eyelids as they close. They twist into a nightmare of screams, slaughter, and ash until everything goes still; melting into a small campfire. The warmth radiates from his mind to his body, and an excited voice calls out to him. Kü attempts to respond, but there is some sort of disconnect. The cry implores him to find them-- admitting they’ve been watching him for some time and are anxious to meet him.

Kü awakens, afraid and unsettled. He reaches out to Mother, who tells him that she’s tired and will talk to him in the morning. The kobold, however, has other plans. He refuses to wait, and Mother fumes at the fact that he thinks he is in any position to be demanding when he took away her kill, but she relents. She asks if Kü doesn’t want her to get stronger anymore, and he timidly replies that he does, but he needs to know who she really is. Her anger rises as she fires back the same question to him-- accusing him of not acting like himself, of being stupid. In recompense for his insolence, Mother tells him that now, HE needs to spill blood for her once a day. If he doesn’t, she will be forced to, and she won’t show any prejudice. Seeing no other way out, the kobold agrees, placing the skull back on his head and sits in silence. After a couple of hours watching the night sky, Kü grows hungry and he decides to try and make his way (SOMEHOW) back to the mansion.

While all this is happening, Kess and Pearce are panicking. Kess shapeshifts into a giant owl and persuades Pearce to hop on her back. In this higher vantage point, they find the missing kobold within twenty minutes, and Kess swoops down to intercept him. Kü assumes he is about to be eaten until he sees Pearce, and Kess drops her form before he can run away. Things escalate quickly from here, and I bet you can guess whose fault it is. Pearce whips out his gun and points it at Kü, assuring the kobold that he doesn’t want to hurt him, but he needs to remove the helmet. Kü relents, placing it on the ground. Kess and Pearce take in their friend’s visage for the first time. He sports small, nubby horns and a long, healed scar from the top of his head to his nose. The gunslinger asks for one reason not to shoot the skull, and Kü tells him he doesn’t think it would stop Mother. The two quickly realize, however, that Kü doesn’t need to be wearing the skull for his powers, which seems to soothe them somewhat. 

Mommy Dearest

Because the hits to my heart never stop, Kü voices his decision to leave the group. He tells Kess and Pearce that he wants to go home to his cave, and they agree-- excited to go with him, thinking digging into his past may help. The kobold shakes his head and clarifies he wants to go alone; he is afraid their timers will go faster if they stay with him-- and that as long as he’s in Mardosta, people will continue to die. He realizes he can let go of his anger at Gus, who only left because he thought what he was doing was right. Pearce tells Kü he has effectively paused his timer; and he and Kess aren’t going anywhere. Kess says they can find a way to break it, but Kü dejectedly murmurs, “She’s the only one who won’t leave. I can’t let her leave; not again’. So-- they then discuss other options; Kü wonders if he can find a Scott-like douchebag (and Xarus, just saying) to take out every day to keep Mother away.

Kess brandishes the page she ripped from the library book and hands it to Kü. He sees the illustration of the struggling victim of the shadows but is unable to read the words; so he passes it off to Pearce to read for him. Afterward, Kess asks the kobold if he believes the entity in his mind to still be his mother. Kü launches into the story of what happened to his real mom in answer; saying that a giant spider had stalked him and that his mother gave up her life for his-- and months later he found her skull, picked clean from other scavengers. That’s when he heard her, telling him to pick up the skull and take her with him. Kess, unnerved by the story, switches back into her owl form and flies the trio to a cave she used to hide in-- covered in dusty furniture and knick knacks. They start a fire with the forgotten relics, and from the flames comes the voice that Kü heard in his dream. She introduces herself as Kertilios, encouraging Kü to call her Kerti. They are able to communicate this time, and Kü learns that she is the disowned daughter of Skugamor, the Goddess of Warmth, the Daughter of Firelight. She tells him they can get rid of Mother together, and he took an important first step by removing his helmet; they’ll need to destroy it.

Overwhelmed, Kü admits that his waking hours hadn’t been very good to him, and though the sleeping hours weren’t much better, he needed some time away from the hurt. The kobold hands off his helmet to Pearce and lies down by the fire. Pearce lets Kess sleep as well, watching the skull for an hour or two before the changeling rises from her sleep, unable to breathe. The gunslinger instinctively attempts to shoot the skull, throwing an apology to Kü as he does so. Kü, however, does not hear it-- his mind is an unending echo of questions. The Shadowmother heard Kü talking to Kerti, and she’s not happy. In terror, Kü makes an effort to banish Kess to another plane of existence long enough for her to be out of Mother’s grip, but it fails. Pearce continues attacking the resilient bone, and Kess shapeshifts to loosen the hold the shadows have on her. Out of magical options, Kü gives Mother a warning. He tells her, “Let go of my friend, you FUCKING BITCH”, and when she doesn’t, he pulls the last bead from his Necklace of Fireball and the helmet goes up in flames; Pearce narrowly missing secondhand damage. The shadows recede violently with a howl, and Kü drops to his knees, hearing a small “You’ve done it” from Kerti in his mind.

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TL;DR

I was not ready for Kü’s Molly Weasley moment, y’all.

I think this is an important time to mention that self-harm does not fix anything; even fantasy problems. *cough*Kess*cough*

Can we be done with the Sad now?? What do you mean we still have DADDY ISSUES to explore?!

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Hugs and Kesses my friends, and catch the next session over at twitch.tv/lochness on September 8th at 7:30CST/8:30EST! If you’d like to watch THIS episode, follow the link below:

Secret Adventure Society | Session 30: Fire and Bone