#miles morales: [refuses to accept that he has to let people die for the good of the multiverse]

[please-dont-pet-the-okapi]

Star Trek: Voyager, “Caretaker” //  “Am I Dreaming” by Metro Boominf, A$AP, and Roisee // Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) dir. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson // Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes dir. Werner Herzog // Babylon 5, “Comes the Inquisitor” // Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) dir. Christopher McQuarrie // Doctor Who, “The Doctor Dances���

[shadow-sovereign]

I’ve got another Ashborn/Jin-Woo fic idea.

This one is an au world, though I’m still working out the exact details of the setting. I know that I want it to be a no electricity, everything’s run on magic world. No cars, internet, and phones.

The setting is a somewhat isolated town near the mountains and a forest with one dirt path leading to the next village, several miles away. It’s a town where the people have worshiped a death god (Ashborn) for as long as they can remember.

In return for sacrificing some animals and produce here and there, Ashborn keeps them safe from invaders. But unbeknownst to the townspeople, the temple priests in charge of the sacrifices have recently begun keeping the offerings for themselves, leaving them vulnerable.

Now, Ashborn isn’t being malicious about it, but without people actively praying/sacrificing to him, his attention begins to wander. Maybe it’s even harder for him to visit the mortal plane without the anchor of their worship. So, he doesn’t even notice when that town he used to protect is attacked.

The townspeople are able to fend off the invaders, but many are injured in the process. And they know that the retreating force were mostly just scouts, a bigger force to follow. Everyone’s frantic, wondering why Ashborn didn’t defend them.

Obviously, the temple priests aren’t willing to admit that they’ve been slacking on their duties, so they tell the people they’ll research the old texts to figure out what Ashborn wants from them. There, they find reference to what they perceive is a human sacrifice, made a couple thousand years ago. The texts say that the human woman gave ‘her mortal life and heart’ to Ashborn, and in return, he protected the town and helped them prosper.

The priests think this means a greater sacrifice gets greater reward. It also gives them an excuse to tell the townspeople, that the death god requires a human sacrifice every so often. They’d rather sacrifice a human than admit their mistake, knowing the townspeople would call for the missed sacrifices to come from their own wealth.

It takes them a while to convince the townspeople, but then it becomes a question of who to sacrifice. Not wanting a mob to form if they start fighting about who to sacrifice, the priests lie and say they’ll look for a volunteer. In reality, they look for someone who won’t be missed.

Thus, we have Jin-Woo’s family, living out in the woods. His father is a hunter, selling meat and furs in town. He’s often away in the forest, checking traps and hunting animals. His mother tends to their garden, along with Jin-Woo and Jin-Ah. No one in town would notice for a while if one of them went missing.

The priests find Jin-Woo when he’s in the woods and threaten his family to get him to come with them quietly. They make him write a note, saying that he’s willingly sacrificing himself to save everyone. Since Jin-Woo will be dead by the time anyone reads the note, they figure there won’t be a way to prove one way or the other whether his sacrifice was willing or coerced.

What they didn’t count on was Ashborn’s reaction.

Ashborn feels it the moment they kill someone in his temple, cutting out Jin-Woo’s heart and throwing it in one of the black flame torches next to the throne. He’s livid, the room growing dark as he appears inside.

His anger permeates the room, demanding to know what they’ve done, his rage only growing as they explain what and why. To have that ritual from so long ago twisted by their greed.  

The woman that gave her ‘mortal life and heart’ to Ashborn was never a sacrifice, but his consort. He replaced her mortal heart with one of his own creation, the ‘black heart’, so that she’d live for a long time by his side. And as his consort, he naturally took care of the people of her hometown, wanting to make her happy.

But now the temple that was built to house them both has been defiled, a seventeen year old boy sacrificed in his name. Even though it’s not his fault, he still feels guilty that Jin-Woo’s life was cut short. And so, he offers Jin-Woo’s spirit a choice.

He doesn’t have the ability to heal Jin-Woo’s body as it is, but he can create a new black heart for him. Not telling him the original meaning of it, but that it will extend his lifespan if he accepts it.

Jin-Woo isn’t quite happy about the idea of living longer than a normal human lifespan, but he’s unwilling to move on and leave his family behind. He accepts the heart, then asks if Ashborn will help him defend his family from the invaders.

Ashborn agrees, but says that he wants Jin-Woo to move into the Temple. With that Black heart inside him, Jin-Woo is now able to command his shadow soldiers, and he wants to get to know the person who’s essentially become his second in command. (Again not mentioning that the heart originally had that power because it was meant for his consort.)

Jin-Woo moves into the Temple while the Shadow soldiers start patrolling around the village. His family slowly moves into the Temple, too, packing up their stuff, moving the garden. His father has to go around collecting his traps from the forest, as the Temple is on the other side of the village.

While this is all going on, everyone starts getting to know each other. Jin-Woo and his family have conversations with Ashborn and get introduced to some of his most trusted shadow soldiers. Igris and Bellion are made the family’s guards, but Jin-Woo also becomes close to Beru, Iron, and Tank.

Jin-Woo and Ashborn slowly develop a friendship and eventually, Jin-Woo asks about the story behind that woman who was said to give her ‘mortal life and heart’ to him. Ashborn is a bit reluctant to tell him, but doesn’t want to lie to him either. After revealing that she was his consort and what the black heart originally meant, he’s quick to reassure Jin-Woo that he doesn’t have any expectations of that from him, but that he couldn’t just let him die when he was killed in his name over such a misunderstanding.

Jin-Woo is a bit embarrassed by the revelation, but knows Ashborn enough by that point to trust he’s telling the truth about not expecting such things from him. But it does get him thinking later, seeing Ashborn in a new light. It hadn’t occurred to him before that a death god could fall in love with humans. He assumed a god would see humans in a more distant way, a species that’s so much weaker and dies in the blink of an eye.

It makes him curious, wanting to get to know Ashborn better. He finds that they both value loyalty and family, are ruthless in the pursuit of keeping their people safe, and both enjoy the simple things in life. Family meals, stargazing, the first bloom of flowers in the Spring, petting an animal as it purrs in your lap, and many other things like that.

Slowly, they start to fall in love.

For Ashborn, this presents a bit of a moral quandary. It’s already an awkward situation with Jin-Woo having the black heart inside him, even with his promise of having no romantic expectations. He’s not sure if Jin-Woo will react badly if he confesses his feelings.

There’s also the difference in their status. Some humans would feel pressured if a god admitted interest in them or worry about retaliation if they refused. He doesn’t want Jin-Woo to accept his feelings out of fear or obligation.

On Jin-Woo’s end, he wonders if Ashborn would even be interested in someone like him. He’s fairly young, seventeen when they met and eighteen by the time he realizes his feelings. But surely every human must seem young to someone so ancient.

And even if age isn’t an issue, he doesn’t know if he’s Ashborn’s type. What was his human consort like? Does Ashborn prefer women or does gender even matter to gods?

Jin-Woo would probably start by asking the shadow soldiers if any of them were around when Ashborn’s consort was alive. Asking them what she was like and how Ashborn treated her. They’d end up having a conversation about Jin-Woo’s feelings and maybe give advice. At least one of the summons would know that Ashborn liked to take his consort stargazing or that she sometimes cooked his favorite food. Things like that.

Ashborn, meanwhile, is thinking of ways to subtly get across his feelings. Courting Jin-Woo without being obvious about it. Starting with making sure Jin-Woo at least thinks of him as a friend, not as his patron god.

So, they’d both be thinking of activities to do together. Finding gifts that the other would like. Ashborn would also try to get closer to Jin-Woo’s family, so that they wouldn’t feel concerned if the two of them started dating.

It’d just be both of them trying to show that they can be a good partner, hoping that the other person will start seeing them in a romantic light as well. Eventually, they’d start to catch on, maybe the shadow soldiers and Jin-Woo’s family giving them hints that the other person likes them. Then someone will clue Jin-Woo in that he needs to be the one to confess first, as Ashborn is worried about their difference in status making things awkward if he expresses interest.

After confessing, they start going on actual dates and live happily ever after.

And Ashborn figures out a way to extend the lives of Jin-Woo’s family, too. A way that’s less traumatic than literally cutting out their heart and replacing it with one of his own creation. And thus, they all get to live long, happy lives together. The end.

[uraichievents]

UraIchi PC4 2019 Masterlist

Here’s a list of all the works submitted for PC4! I’ve ordered them in by prompt number under each work type, and it looks like we came pretty close to finishing the whole table! Thank you to everyone who participated this year~

FANFICS

Third Eye Blind by DevinePhoenix [#02]

Long before Kisuke was blinded by Askin, his eyes had already been damaged.

Patchwork Soldier by DevinePhoenix [#02]

When they wake up, they will have to deal with what their decisions have wrought. He will have to cope with his injuries and Kisuke will have to cope with his scars and guilt. But they still have time before that morning of uncertainty. In the dusty twilight of the Soul King’s realm, they could rest together and dream of a better ending.

Death Gods by Chaos_Greymistchild [#03]

AU in which Kisuke is still a mad scientist with only slightly more morals than the rest of them, but Ichigo is a vampire/death-dealer/human hybrid, a legal executioner, and (still) the world’s most recent supernatural anomaly.

The long avaited encounter by SueGra [#04]

Kurosaki Ichigo left Karakura after he lost his power. Urahara Kisuke listened to Isshin and he broke up with Ichigo. Somebody killed the rogue shinigami and his partners. Urahara went after the person who killed them and he was surprised. Who was it?

Wrong Side of Reality by Starrie_Wolf [#06]

If there was one thing that every invader of Soul Society did wrong, it was that each and every one of them measured one's power by the strength of their reiatsu alone. And every single one of them failed, because they did not understand that to be truly powerful, one must first have the Means to ensure their plans succeed.

He, who has been watching from the shadows for a thousand years, refuses to make the same mistake.

By Invitation Only by FeelingFredly [#10]

“No weapons are allowed past this point.  Please move forward to the weapons check and place them in the tagged locker.  You will be given the code to retrieve them when you leave.”

Ichigo turned on his heel as if to follow the robot’s directive, only to stop and spin back, trench knife in one hand and katana in the other, the smooth swing of the blades separating the brassneck’s head from his body.

“I’m sorry,” he said, standing over the sparking remains, “but I refuse to make Aizen-sama’s acquaintance so underdressed.”

Kisuke snorted in his ear.  “No one is there to hear your dramatics, Kurosaki-kun.”

Ichigo kicked the head to one side, like a soccer ball. “You know that you’re the only audience I need, Kisuke."

stay with me (until the sun rises) by Fox_the_Hermit [#12]

Ichigo is friends with a great deal of supernatural entities. The one monster under every bed in town is his favourite, though.

these dreams like ashes float away by howls [#12]

Ever since Ichigo refused to leave something well enough alone, a shadow man would visit him once, or twice, a month. (What he never realized was that there was more going on in those moments than the shadow man would reveal. For now, at least. He could never refuse Ichigo for long.)

Gambit without Guarantee by Starrie_Wolf [#18]

How did everything go so wrong so quickly?

new life, same shit by Chaos_Greymistchild [#19]

Not all knowledge is gained through the Gate of Truth. Not all reincarnates are born with their memories. Ichigo’s not sure how comfortable he is with this knowledge.

Arsenic by FeelingFredly [#20]

He was poison and he'd accepted that fact. Now if only everybody else would.

Police Tricycle (or: it’s not a buddy cop if I’m the third wheel, says Rukia) by Chaos_Greymistchild [#21]

Ichigo chases Szayelaporro Gantz down the highway in a high-speed car chase with a grenade launcher cameo. That’s it. That’s the fic.

Winds of Change (Tempest) by Sky_King [#24]

When the war is over and Ichigo has won, fate will come back to get her due.

Ichigo gambled and gave everything away in exchange for power, and finally the price paid has to be claimed.

(When the war is over, Kisuke finds himself adrift, too guilty to live, too guilty to die. He carries on, fueled by that single promise, trying to find a reason for being.And when he does, he'd sooner kill the Soul King himself than let it disappear, no matter the cost.)

Whip It Good by FeelingFredly [#25]

You didn't live a life like Kisuke's without developing a few interesting preferences, but he knew they weren't for everyone, and really, his relationship with Ichigo was more than he could have ever asked for--loving and supportive in ways he still wasn't sure he deserved. It was just very vanilla. Which was fine. Really.

So why he was "just visiting" at his old BDSM club?

The very bad, terrible, no good first few days of Junior SID Agent Dokugamine Riruka by Starrie_Wolf [#27]

Sometimes, Dokugamine Riruka wishes she could go back to her 22-year-old self and tell her to choose another department, any other department, she’s got the grades to take her pick.

Berry Nice by Chaos_Greymistchild [#28]

“Can I kiss you?"

“If you don’t,” Kisuke said with remarkable control, “I think I might do something regrettable.”

“Okay.”

Calling You (Maybe) by EternalEclipse [#29]

Ichigo never answers his phone, and Kisuke always does.

building a future (and tearing down the past) by EternalEclipse [#30]

At first, Ichigo had just been an invention of Kisuke's, nothing more than a gear to be moved. A pawn. It was only natural that after the war, Kisuke left him to his own devices--they'd won, which was the best he could ask for. As it turns out, once he starts making things for Ichigo instead of just countering Aizen, it's a hard habit to break. By the end of it, he won't even want to.

Or, five times Kisuke made things with Ichigo in mind, and one time Ichigo asked him to destroy something.

Companionship (Stay with Me) by Nikolaila [#31]

People are people, even in space. Sometimes the required conversations in relationships are hard to have but necessary to hold.

Tsuki no Tsuppane by Silmariën (Starrie_Wolf), Starrie_Wolf [#32]

They have scarcely begun to unravel the complex web of Aizen no Sōsuke's treason when Kisuke is made aware of another layer to the conspiracy, one that threatens to expose all the secrets he has not yet decided if he will share with Ichigo-no-mikoto.

Few enough people are willing to accept onmyōji, but even fewer will be willing to accept that their lover is not even human.

Work/Date Balance by Starrie_Wolf [#33]

Kisuke doesn't seem to really grasp the meaning of a date, but it's okay, Ichigo loves him anyway.

“So… are you doing your usual fainting damsel imitation, or shall I take care of it?”

(Interlude during their vacation in London.)

a breath of fresh air by Fox_the_Hermit [#34]

Ichigo refuses to let Kisuke win yet another round of the "I took a cute photo of you and I'll use it to fund my experiments" game. Mostly on principle.

The world is changing by Starrie_Wolf [#35]

They’ve been doing this for so long that Kisuke has no idea how to wake up in a world where he doesn’t need to prioritise the Hōgyoku over his family.

Interlude: the day after Aizen's defeat.

Accidental Pokèmon Acquisition by EternalEclipse [#36]

Ichigo had never wanted to be a pokèmon trainer. To be flat honest, the ghosts kept him busy enough. But when Monferno fell into his life with a burst of laughter and trouble, Ichigo is drawn into a side of the pokèmon world he didn't even know existed.

Or the one where there are both ghosts and pokèmon, the Gotei 13 is a government organization with as many checks and balances as ever, and Ichigo will do whatever it takes to keep his own safe.

Feeling Horny by Silmariën (Starrie_Wolf), Starrie_Wolf [#36]

When Urahara shoved Ichigo to Hirako to learn how to control his inner Hollow, Ichigo thought it meant Urahara wasn’t Hollowfied.

He was wrong.

the fear is eating you alive / so I'll be your reason, I'll be your shelter by Chaos_Greymistchild [#37]

Sometimes, Kisuke doesn’t remember where he is, or who he is in his own personal timeline. Sometimes, Ichigo is more Hollow and instinct than human. But that’s okay.

one-sided understanding by Angst_Distribution_Service (Fox_the_Hermit) [#37]

suspended animation (patiently waiting for the end) by Chaos_Greymistchild [#38]

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck is new on the starship Zangetsu, piloted by Captain Kurosaki alongside his AI Urahara Kisuke, who seems to have an… unprecedented freedom on board the ship, if she was being entirely honest.

Freedom worth Fighting (for) by Starrie_Wolf [#39]

Things have a way of coming full circle...

You Haven't Lost Me by FeelingFredly [#40]

Ichigo has moved on. It doesn't matter if his Shinigami powers are gone--he's a weapon, and there was always a market for that skill set. Currently that skill set was being tasked to collect the oyabun's past due tribute from a troublesome shopkeeper.

Troublesome shopkeeper. No... it couldn't be.

What they don't understand by Starrie_Wolf [#42]

Ichigo comes back from winter break with bruises he can't explain and a significant other who looks to be much older than him.

His classmate thinks she's put two and two together.

With Affection by wynnebat [#44]

"Yoruichi asked me if I had any family," Ichigo says. His gaze rests on the courtyard and squad buildings across from them while Kisuke cannot look away. Ichigo's voice is even, but Kisuke knows better than that. Ichigo adds, wryly, "I told her all I needed was you."

painting in blood by Chaos_Greymistchild [#45]

“It’ll be fine.”

He hopes that that proves true.

You Don't Have a Soul, You Are a Soul (You Have a Body) by FeelingFredly [#47]

Kisuke has a disregard for his own safety a mile wide and it's enough to drive Ichigo mad. This time he finds the shopkeeper unconscious but not alone, and the woman with him has some very interesting things to say.

Thunder For Bells In This Church Of Two by Chaos_Greymistchild [#48]

“[Resonance for a human is] total, complete, irreversible blending” -- Bell Tolls, esama

For the shinigami, it is... less so.

wear your soul (outside your body) by Fox_the_Hermit [#48]

Ichigo has no idea how he ended up with someone so brilliant. Kisuke has no idea how he got lucky enough to end up with one of the best people he's ever met.

your heart doesn't beat (let me teach it to) by Fox_the_Hermit [#52]

Kisuke understands that his time to go has come. It's time to accept that he can't hang around forever. His dear friend Ichigo has agreed to help him with finding what is needed to help him move onwards, whatever that really means. (Except he’s not ready to let go.)

roots in my lungs, blooms on my tongue by Chaos_Greymistchild [#55]

Astilbes, dahlias, and Queen Anne’s Lace. Patience, devotion, sanctuary.

Will you become my... by SueGra [#57]

The war with Ywhach has ended two years ago. Everybody enjoying the peace. Suddenly all captains get an invitation to the Shiba compound because there is a new clan head? Who is she/he?

Happily Ever After by Starrie_Wolf [#58]

Ichigo wasn't expecting a happily ever after, but it seems like he could find a little peace at last.

Omega as Fish Oil by EternalEclipse [#59]

Yeah, Ichigo's an omega. He's fine with it, especially since some of the instincts that come along with it are useful for protecting his own. What he's not fine with are a bunch of shinigami noble knotheads deciding that he's up for the taking because of it. Luckily, he's got a Kisuke to help him set them straight.

You are my Sanity by OrangeTeaMoon [#60]

And so, it had taken Urahara Kisuke nearly 4 months, 1 week, 3 days and a direct run-in with an absolutely impossible apparition of Kurosaki Ichigo to realize that he had lost his mind.

reach the epilogue (and then take it from the top again) by Fox_the_Hermit [#61]

Ichigo's alive and healthy and whole. But too many people aren't (friends, family, the one single crush that hasn't had the time to get anywhere), and this isn't an epilogue to his story that's worth living in. He'd rather rewrite the whole damn thing from scratch.

Only the truth you want to see by Starrie_Wolf [#61]

Growing up as the daughter of a police detective father and a novelist mother, it’s no small wonder that Rika chose to study English Literature in university. The class is unavoidably small – even for Todai,finding students interested in pursuing a degree in the classics of a foreign country is a difficult matter.

Which makes all her classmates so unavoidably interesting.

Especially that Kurosaki Ichigo.

I'm a Certified Genius, I Swear by Chaos_Greymistchild [#64]

Kisuke’s not quite sure why he keeps getting gifts from the Shiba Clan Head, Shiba Ichigo, but— Hiyori please stop laughing please.

-0-

FANART

UraIchi PC4 Prompt #32 - Magic AU / Mythology AU / Fantasy AU by @ananfer [#32]

UraIchi PC4 Prompt #48 - Daemons AU by @junoagriffin [#48]

[kob131]

I know you find a lot of RWBY “critics” claims to be stupid or misinformed, but have there been any you have found actually insulting?

Yes, quite a few actually.

The biggest example I can think of is the age old ‘Jaune is a self insert of Miles.’ The reason why it’s insulting is that no part of this actually works (Jaune defies a lot of things that make a self insert like being treated with respect or having any kind of significant power, Jaune is literally the only member of Team JNPR Miles DIDN’T create, Miles repeatedly refers to himself and jaune in a negative way [basically saying he draws on his most embarrassing moments to portray Jaune], Miles likes voicing villains more, he actually avoids writing Jaune now ect.) It became clear the claims had nothing to do with what it said and more to do with the negative connotation of ‘self insert.’

A different one is the claim that Jacques’ actions towards Weiss were not inherently abusive. This is actually what made me so angry at Kamen as he claimed that giving her money then taking it away wasn’t abuse (even though that’s the literal definition of financial abuse), that he let her go to Beacon (he didn’t, he was forced to) and that he was allowed to hit Weiss for ‘assault’ and ‘ruining the family’s reputation’ (even though it wasn’t assault, Jacques only cares about himself and he made her go to this thing in the first place.) The claim clearly relies on them interpreting every scene involving Jacques in his favor even as it defies all logic. And really, it’s just trying to make something widely considered good look bad.

Yet another is basically anything with Monty’s name on it. It doesn’t matter what it is, positive or negative: it’s always using the emotional weight behind a dead friend’s name to try and get what they want. It’s manipulative beyond acceptability.

We also have the ‘Psycho Lesbian’ label attached to Illa. This is insulting because both sides of the RWBY ‘critics’ pull this for the exact same reason and yet act like there’s a difference between them: it’s just there to attack the first major LGBT character for political ends, completely ignoring the aspects of her character outside her sexuality (so...her whole character) and effectively punishing the writers for putting in effort.

Same with the ‘Team RWBY has protagonist centered morality’ claim. A lot of effort was put in to show that they weren’t in their position, trying to show moral greyness not just with Ironwood but also Ozpin too, and the creators are punished for it by ignoring all of it just to take a position they likely don’t care about beyond ‘attack CRWBY.’ They’re both hollow and meaningless. Trying to address them is stupid because they’ll just flip flop to be adversarial. 

More is the ‘Bumbleby is totes gonna be canon guyz!’ specifically said by those who claim to hate ‘the writing behind the ship’. This is literally complaining about nothing. Any pretense at not trying to be malicious flies out the window here because it is literally complaining about writing that DOES NOT EXIST. Literally the only thing I can see as being shippy is one scene were Yang takes a selfie with Blake. That’s it. Everything else is just being friendly or close (you know, like a team or ‘sisterhood’ as they claim should be) and the romance is just an interpretation. But it seems everyone buys the interpretation entirely just to feel like their biases are right. I expect nothing more from shippers, I do and SHOULD expect more from people claim the ‘critic’ title.

I think the biggest claim I feel is insulting is ‘the CRWBY (read: Miles and Barbara) attack critics!’ because this claim, despite being false, is entirely EARNED. Despite the fact that all Barbara has said is ‘it’s just a cartoon!’ (something a lot of critics agree with the minute they’re criticized) and all Miles has said is ‘I refuse to listen to people being hostile towards me’ (which is better than most critics who will mock people behind their backs): they deserve the insults they think they get. They’ve done nothing to prove they’d be worth any respect.

I have been paying attention to the critical scene of RWBY for three and a half years now. I have seen people ask when the writers will die so they can be replaced, insinuate their writing issues are because of their gender and race, get called every -ism in the book, belittled in every respect (mentally, physically and personally), threatened that they be burned down, blamed for the working conditions at the company, have all their accomplishments degraded and demanded to be taken away, implied to have KILLED THEIR FRIEND, claimed to have rewritten his work, removed from their own creation, taken out of context more times than I could ever count and so much more. I have literal THOUSANDS of examples for this. The idea that should be treated with anything beyond open mockery is a god damn JOKE. It’s an insult to writers everywhere expecting them to treat this as valid feedback, it’s an insult to fans for trying to say they are fans, it’s an insult to critics for portraying them like this-

It’s insulting on every level.

[crazycat-88]

Male Dragon Ode x Male Reader Part 1 (SFW)

This one is set in a medieval(ish) high fantasy style setting, it’s plot heavy and already sitting at 5,455 words.

Content: Mentioned - War, Death, Murder & Injury. Also contains Disturbing Imagery. Part 1 is SFW but there is an underlying hint of sexual themes. 

On that note, please enjoy!

It was the sound of the warning bells ringing that woke you from your slumber and after dressing you hurried outside where the villagers were screaming and running in all directions in fear, falling all over each other in their panic. A glance up at the sky revealed the reason for such panic and confusion. Dragons. With two of them on the horizon and closing in fast, it was no wonder the villagers were hysterical.

Hearing the chink of armour and of swords being unsheathed, you turned to watch as a group of the kings knights raced towards the dragons. You considered drawing your own sword in aid but you were no knight and you had no desire to die today. Instead you tried to help your neighbours, many of which were to hysterical to seek shelter and many stood frozen watching the chaos unfold.

Fortunately, it seemed that neither dragon was interested in the village itself and as one stood fighting the knights and batting them away like flies, the other headed straight towards the castle sailing high over the defences and crashing straight into the north tower. You were too busy to see what the dragon was after but not ten minutes had passed when suddenly it was all over.

The village itself was unscathed and the villagers only injuries had been caused by their own hand. The knights were not so fortunate, many of whom had to be carried on stretchers to the village hospital. It was surprising that there were very few casualties, with two dragons you’d have expected more carnage, and you wondered what had brought on this attack. It had been years since the dragons that lived up on the mountains had come down to this village, despite the ongoing war between your two species.

It hadn’t always been this way. When you were a boy, dragons had been an everyday sight. The dragons had been your kingdom's allies and the king and his knights would ride the dragons into battle. It had been your dream as a child to become a knight and be a dragon rider, but then everything changed and war had broken out. The details of why were unclear, the king had said that the dragons had betrayed the kingdom but the dragons claimed the opposite had happened.

Many rumours had spread through the kingdom as to the reason for the war, some had merit, while others were completely ridiculous. Whatever the truth, the day the war had broken out you knew four things for certain; One - The queen was dead, having died giving birth to the princess. Two - The leader of the dragons was dead, killed by the king himself. Three - You would never become a dragon rider, and four - The dragons who were once cherished and revered, were now hated and feared and had returned to their homes in the mountains or had left to new lands.

No one was sure how many dragons remained in the mountains, they were rarely seen and the knights and squires that ventured up there in the hopes of bringing back a dragons head rarely returned. The lucky few that did never spoke of seeing more than one, likely the reason they had survived the trip. Taking on one dragon was stupid, taking on more was suicide. Still it seemed every month produced a new, young, foolish squire that ventured up there with the hopes of coming home to be knighted by the king for their supposed strength and bravery.

You had never become a squire, your mother did not have enough coin and no knight had been willing to accept you as their page due to a slight limp you had acquired from an accident as a young boy. Instead you had become a mercenary, a soldier available to hire for the right price. You rarely worked with a crew, finding the other local mercenaries lacking in morals. A little hypocritical perhaps but still, there were things even you were unwilling to do.

--------

The following morning you caught sight of a group of knights making their way up to the mountains. The dragons must have really upset the king this time you thought as you watched their progress until they were out of sight. The knights returned the following day, the group half its original size and those left sporting a number of injuries. This went on for three days, until finally on the fourth, you and every other mercenary in the kingdom were called to stand in the king's banquet hall.

You stood there waiting, gazing around in discomfort. It was the first time you had ever entered the castle and you were not expecting to see mounted heads of dragons decorating the walls. You had heard rumours that the king had gone mad with both rage and grief after the death of the queen but you had never been one to put much stock in rumours. Perhaps you should of you think, cringing at the sight before you. Your fellow mercenaries seemed just as disturbed as you and you all shifted uncomfortably while waiting to discover why you had all been called there.

The king had not been seen outside of the castle for years and you are surprised to see him looking so old and haggard when he makes his entrance surrounded by guards. His voice is strong however as he welcomes you and he states that he has called you all here for an important mission. He claims his daughter, the princess, has been taken by the dragons and he asks that you all journey to the mountains to rescue her. He offers a high reward for her safe return and you listen as the men murmur amongst themselves.

It is not a job you would usually accept having no interest in taking on a dragon, however when one of the men refuses the job outright it is made clear that it is an order and not a request after all. The men gathered wisely stay quiet after that but you wonder just how many will abandon the quest once you reach the mountains. As you leave the castle, the king makes one last request, he asks that when you do find the princess, you do not look upon her. With that confusing request he leaves the hall followed by his guards.

On your journey to the mountain the men talk amongst themselves, separating naturally into groups. You end up riding alongside a crew that had just been passing through the kingdom and had no intention of actually going up the mountain. They were quiet, a stark contrast to the crew riding ahead of you, who are jovial about going up the mountain. This crew are locals and you can hear them boast to others about having faced dragons before and it being an easy job causing you to snort dubiously.

‘‘I’d heard the rumours that your king had lost his mind but I didn’t believe it until today… I’m Gadaric by the way,’’ says the half orc next to you. ‘‘And these boys are Frederic, Laodamas and Meuric,’’ he continues, pointing to each of the men as he introduces them. Nodding to each of the men, you introduce yourself.

‘‘Do you plan on going up the mountain?’’ Frederic asks you quietly.

‘‘I suppose I’ll have to if I wish to return home,’’ you reply. You do consider leaving it all behind but there is also the matter of the princess’s life. While you do not know her, you feel obliged to at least try and save her.

‘‘Good luck,’’ Gadaric says. ‘‘I’ve gone up against dragons in the past and it's never ended well.’’

‘‘Thank you. I'm hoping to avoid the dragons to be honest,’’ you reply.

‘‘That’s your best bet. Let the others cause a distraction, then sneak in, save the princess and get the hell out of there,’’ Frederic whispers.

You just nod at him in agreement. Honestly that had been your plan, you had no desire to face down a dragon. You may be skilled with a sword but you did not believe yourself competent enough to take down a dragon. You also had no desire to kill such a creature, you had always thought them to be magnificent and majestic, and you knew they were capable of great acts of kindness. It had been a dragon that had saved your life when you had your accident. Your whole life you had felt conflicted when you thought of the dragons, you knew they were now your peoples enemy and that you were at war with them but you couldn’t separate the new knowledge from the old feelings.

As you approach the base of the mountain, the men break off into two groups. The crew you were talking with leaves riding East towards the next kingdom and many of the other men move to follow them. You knew many of the men wouldn’t stay but you are still surprised when only eight of you remain to make your way up the mountain.

‘‘Why do you think the king asked for us not to look at the princess?’’ One of the men asks quietly.

‘‘Maybe she’s really ugly,’’ laughs another loudly. You recognise this one as a local mercenary, who’s always been a brute with no morals. He’s also the one that boasted of killing a dragon before, though you’re confident that he was talking out of his arse.

‘‘Or… maybe the rumours about her are true,’’ says another one of the men.

‘‘What rumours?’’ asks the only non-human left amongst you.

‘‘They say she isn’t the king's daughter… that she isn’t completely human,’’ answers one of the men.

‘‘Wh-what?’’

‘‘Who says?’’

‘‘That’s all utter bull crap.’’

‘‘You’d believe anything.’’

Everyone speaks at once. Some of the men are guffawing loudly, and one pushes another. If they carry on at this rate the dragons will you hear you coming a mile off. That is assuming they don’t already know you’re here.

‘‘Everyone shut up! Do you want them to know we’re coming,’’ hisses one man, echoing your thoughts.

It’s far too late though, as just as he gets the last word out, you all hear a mighty roar and a large green dragon appears breathing fire towards the group. Everyone scatters, with some of the men ducking behind rocks, others raise their shields, draw their swords and race towards the dragon. Seeing this as an opportunity, you scan the rocks searching for an entrance to the tunnels and caves inside. Finally spotting one, you make a dash for it, reaching the entrance unscathed. None of the men follow you inside, which you’re glad of, but you do hope that the majority of them make it home in one piece.

Luckily the entrance does in fact lead to a tunnel, though it is tight and obviously not used by the dragons and you carefully squeeze your way through it. You know you are on the right track when you see the glow of firelight up ahead. Slowly, unsure of what you will find, you follow the glow, breathing slowly until you reach an opening in the tunnel. Beyond that, you find an enormous cavern and you can hear the rumbling snores of a dragon far too close for comfort.

Torches line the cave walls thankfully providing light, however you can still feel your heart pounding frantically as you search the cave for the source of the rumbling snores. You almost miss the dragon at first, your gaze skipping over him before you do a double take. He is lying fast asleep amongst his hoard of gold coins and other trinkets, the colour of him blending in to the rock like camouflage. You feel your heart skip a beat and the first word to come into your mind is beautiful.

He is magnificent and large, a grey-blue colour, with two long white curved horns upon his head. Two smaller white horns sit just beneath those, jutting out from the side of his head and on each of his four legs, he has a set of sharp white claws. His long neck, bat like wings and sharply pointed tail are tightly curled around his body while smoke billows from his nostrils as he continues snoring, your presence for now going unnoticed.

Shaking your head at your thoughts, you note that he is not one of the dragons that had attacked the kingdom, both of those had been green, and you see no sign of the princess here. Searching the large cavern for another exit, you curse internally when you see that the only other way out is directly behind the dragon and you consider your options. Do you try to get around the slumbering dragon to the opening which likely leads further into the caves and hopefully to the princess or do you go back out the way you came, not knowing what’s outside, and try to find another opening.

Deciding you’d rather face a sleeping dragon than the angry one outside, you press yourself close to the wall and cautiously inch your way along it. Every time the dragons rumbling changes in pitch, you stop holding your breath hearing your heart pounding in your ears. Just as you think that you are going to make it, the dragon suddenly snorts awake and his amber eyes open, his gaze narrowing when he sees you.

‘‘Human,’’ he growls, standing up on his four muscular legs, claws scraping over the stone.

Shit! You did not appreciate his sheer size until he stands facing you, he’s not the largest dragon you have ever seen but still, he’s double your size. You raise your shield but do not draw your sword, hoping if you do not pose an immediate threat he may not kill you just yet. Eyeing the opening you wonder if you should make a dash for it but he follows your gaze and blocks the way by unfurling his wings, caging you in.

‘‘Have you come for my head or my hoard?’’ He growls snarling, lips pulling back revealing his maw full of very sharp teeth.

‘‘Neither… I came for the princess,’’ you gasp, standing frozen with your heart pounding and gaze fixed on those teeth.

‘‘Ah... You’ve come for the girl. How chivalrous,’’ he rumbles, tilting his head to get a better look at you.

‘‘Do you know where she is?’’ You ask.

‘‘Perhaps…’’ he rumbles, sitting back on his haunches and folding his wings back.

You dare not move though, as his tail trails dangerously close to your body. Alert, as if waiting for any sudden movement.

‘‘Will you tell me where she is?’’ You ask him hopefully.

‘‘What makes you think she wants to be saved?’’ He rumbles in amusement, his tail twitching side to side, occasionally brushing against your legs.

‘‘Um… because she was kidnapped by a dragon?’’ You reply blinking, confused by the question.

‘‘Humans,’’ he growls in reply. ‘‘You are all the same, rushing in to save the day, assuming the worst.’’

‘‘I… Are you saying saying she doesn’t need saving?’’ You ask, shifting your weight uncomfortably. Since it appears that he has no intention of killing you, you relax a little and lower your shield.

‘‘Hmm… Would you believe me if I said yes?’’ He asks, watching your movements carefully.

‘‘I’d believe it if she told me herself,’’ you reply frowning.

He growls, tilting his head again, studying you for a moment, before rumbling, ‘‘Strange little human… engaging in conversation with the enemy… Do you not wish to see me dead?’’

‘‘No…’’ you say honestly. ‘‘Now can I speak to the princess or not?’’ You ask.

You manage to keep your voice steady, trying to sound braver than you feel but as he stands and lowers his head so that his snout is in front of your face, you can’t help but tremble wondering if he may just kill you after all. The heat that blows from his nostrils is stifling and you nervously break out in a sweat. Fortunately he just chuckles and turns towards the opening.

‘‘Follow me brave little human... and leave your sword and shield behind.’’

You watch him move, exhaling in relief as he leaves the cavern and you debate whether or not to trust him. Figuring if he was going to kill you, he would have done it already, you reluctantly drop your shield and sword, hoping you won’t regret leaving them behind and follow him through the opening which leads to another tunnel. As you quickly catch up with him, he lets out another rumbling chuckle which causes you to tremble for an entirely different reason, the sound of it vibrating through your body.

Trying to ignore it, you pay close attention to where you’re going, keeping track of all the twists and turns in the tunnel in case you need to make an escape later. Suddenly you make a turn into a tunnel which isn’t lit and as you move further along it the light from behind dies out, leaving you unable to see. You start to panic slightly, trying to see by sound but even the dragons footsteps are silent, and you stop, no longer following.

‘‘What’s wrong, why have you stopped,’’ the dragon rumbles a second later.

‘‘I can’t see,’’ you explain.

You gasp, tensing as you feel something wrap around your waist and touching it you feel the rough scales of what can only be the dragon's tail. He surprises you by tugging you towards him and you collide with the side of his body.

‘‘I forget you humans can’t see in the dark,’’ he rumbles quietly. ‘‘Just relax and let me lead the way.’’

Laying your hand on his side, you let him lead you through the tunnel, sighing when you realise that you will now be unable to get out of these tunnels on your own. Absently one hand strokes along his tail while the fingers on your other knead into the ridges on his side. You only realise what you’re doing when he rumbles out a noise which sounds strangely like a purr. You stop what you’re doing immediately, embarrassed, but fortunately the dragon doesn’t comment.

‘‘What’s your name,’’ you ask, trying to distract yourself and tired of referring to him as dragon.

‘‘Ode,’’ he rumbles in reply. ‘‘What is yours?’’

Telling him, you listen as he repeats it, before he chuckles, ‘‘I think I prefer little human.’’

Shaking your head, you walk the rest of the way in silence. It feels like you’ve been walking for miles, when eventually you see a light up ahead. Sighing in relief, your legs now sore and your limp more pronounced, you remove your hand from Ode’s side and step away slightly. You expect him to remove his tail from around your waist and you're surprised when he doesn’t, eyeing him subtly you watch as he continues you walking, not acknowledging that you have moved away or that he still has a hold of you.

The light leads into yet another tunnel, this one lined with torches, finally at the end of it is another cavern similar to the one you found Ode in, wide with high ceilings, and immediately upon entering your gaze goes to the large green dragon, who’s head swings in your direction growling. Then you notice the human standing beside the dragon and gasp.

‘‘Ode… Why have you brought a human here?’’ The distinctly female dragon growls.

You don’t hear Ode’s reply though as you’re to busy examining the only other human in the room, though perhaps human is the wrong word. She’s tall, with curved golden horns that sit above her ears, and skin that is dappled with black scales. Then you notice that she has digitigrade legs and a tail, also black, that curls behind her. You feel Ode’s tail leave your waist as you approach her slowly.

‘‘Princess Adelaide?’’ You murmur questionly.

You hear the dragon beside her growl at you and feel the heat of Ode behind you but are far to distracted looking into the eyes of the princess in front of you. It’s like looking into the eyes of a dragon and you cannot believe the rumours are true, that she is half dragon, but she nods in reply to your murmur before frowning.

‘‘You are not a knight,’’ she says.

‘‘No,’’ you agree. ‘‘And you are not what I was expecting either.’’

As the green dragon growls at you again, the princess runs her hand along her snout. ‘‘It is alright Estrild. It’s understandable that he is confused,’’ she says to the dragon before turning back to you. ‘‘Did the king send you?’’

‘‘Yes, he’s very concerned for your welfare princess.’’

‘‘I highly doubt that,’’ she snorts.

‘‘I… do not understand,’’ you murmur.

‘‘Come sit. Let me tell you a story,’’ she says, leading you over to sit by a stream that runs through the cavern. Both dragons follow behind you, and while Ode lies behind you, his head at your side, Estrild lies beside the princess laying her head over her lap. You watch this with interest, wondering just how close the two are.

Princess Adelaide then offers you a cup full of mead and you take it gratefully, sipping it slowly while you wait for the princess to get comfortable.

‘‘Hmmm... where should I start,’’ princess Adelaide mumbles, staring down at her cup.

‘‘The beginning is usually the best place princess,’’ Ode rumbles amusedly.

‘‘Thank you Ode,’’ she chuckles in reply. Then looking at you she continues, ‘‘My mother and the king were betrothed… they had no love for one another and that never changed. She was treated as a possession and while he was known for being a strong and fair king, he was not a good husband… My mother sought comfort elsewhere and found it with the Dragon leader Arthfael. They fell in love with one another but they tried to keep their relationship platonic, knowing it would be wrong for them to be together…’’ she says sighing, and then taking a drink.

‘‘One night they gave in to their desire and while they never regretted it, they swore to never let it happen again. Soon after, my mother discovered she was with child, but assumed it to be the kings, believing it impossible to be Arthfaels… When I was born, the king discovered the truth, he murdered my mother in a fit of rage and then Arthfael. It is unknown why he spared me, but he certainly did not raise me, I was kept locked in the north wing and whenever our paths crossed he treated me with derision’’ she sighs, her gaze unfocused.

‘‘How… how do you know all this?’’ You ask, stunned at her story.

Shaking her head and with her gaze focusing, she looks you in the eye. ‘‘My mother’s maid was her one true friend and confidant. She became my nanny and as I grew older I kept asking her questions about my mother, the dragons and why I was different. She eventually told me everything just recently.’’

‘‘And the dragons?’’ You ask questionly, glancing briefly at Ode and then Estrild.

The princess smiles and looks down at Estrild smiling and stroking her head, before saying, ‘‘They knew of Arthfaels love for the queen, when he was killed by the king they left for the mountains, the alliance over. They would have left it alone but the king, still mad with rage wanted every dragon to be punished… People say the king went mad after the queens death but servants in the castle would tell you he was always this way.’’

‘‘How did you come to know Estrild? And the other dragons?’’ You ask. Everything you had heard so far was interesting but it did not explain why the dragons would come for her now and how she seemed to close to Estrild.

‘‘I discovered a secret passageway out of the castle a year ago, I have been sneaking out, meeting with Estrild in secret,’’ she giggles. ‘‘They never knew I was Arthfaels child and you can imagine their surprise when I met them. I always returned to the castle though, my nanny is very much like my own mother... Then I got caught trying to sneak out one night and I was locked in my room. Estrild came for me with her brother Dew when I failed to meet her as we arranged… but I never expected it to cause all this trouble.’’

‘‘The king has sent most of his knights after you and now he’s moved on to mercenaries… He seems determined to get you back,’’ you say frowning.

‘‘He does not want anyone knowing the truth, nor does he want me to be happy,’’ she says sadly.

‘‘What will you do now?’’

‘‘Most of the dragons have already left these mountains to a land across the sea, the rest remaining are planning to leave in a matter of days and I am going with them.’’

‘‘What of the king? He’s going to keep sending men here after you,’’ you ask.

‘‘I know and I worry for the dragons if more come before we leave,’’ she says, frowning before suddenly sitting straighter with an excited look. ‘‘Will you return and report to the king that I am dead?’’ She asks hopefully.

‘‘I… You want me to lie to the king?’’ You ask, worried about the consequences of such an action.

‘‘He won’t know it is a lie. Please, ’’ she begs, and you find yourself unable to refuse especially with Estrild eyeing you like she might eat you if you do.

You spend a little more time there talking with princess Adelaide, you ask how she met Estrild and she asks what life in the village is like. Ode and Estrild mostly stay silent, only occasionally adding to the conversation. Dew, Estrild’s brother, eventually makes an appearance and you are introduced. It is evident that he was the dragon outside that took down the rest of the mercenaries and that he is most displeased to discover that you managed to evade him.

He is huge, the largest of the three, with only one eye and a broken horn. You leave soon after his arrival, feeling uncomfortable as he glares at you distrustfully. Ode escorts you, leading you back into the tunnel from which you came.

‘‘Did you injure your leg?’’ Ode asks, as he notices your limp.

‘‘No, it is an old injury. It has just been exacerbated by the journey here and by all the walking,’’ you explain.

‘‘Climb onto my back, I will carry you the rest of the way,’’ he rumbles, stopping and looking at you expectantly.

‘‘That is not necessary, I can manage,’’ you protest, though secretly you would love to ride him and feel your heart race at the prospect.

‘‘Get on,’’ he rumbles. ‘‘We will be in the dark again soon enough and you cannot see where you are walking.’’

‘‘Alright,’’ you say, withholding a grin. ‘‘You will have to help me up though.’’

He does so by wrapping his tail around your waist again and lifting you straight onto his back. You hold on tightly as he lets go and starts walking, finding it surprisingly comfortable. Now he is no longer looking at your face, you grin widely. It may not be the same as flying on a dragon but it certainly comes close.

‘‘Alright back there?’’ He rumbles questionly.

‘‘Yes, thank you Ode.’’ You reply, still grinning happily.

In the dark you stroke the scales on his back, finding them rough to the touch, while Ode rumbles a purr that seems to vibrate straight through you. The journey back to Ode’s cavern passes far quicker than you hope and you reluctantly slide down from his back when you reach the cavern and he stops laying down to aid your descent.

‘‘It is late, you should stay here for the night,’’ he rumbles.

‘‘I… well if you don’t mind, thank you,’’ you say, not liking the idea of traveling back to the village in the dark.

‘‘Not at all… it has been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of another’s company.’’

‘‘What about the other dragons?’’

‘‘We tend to keep to ourselves… Dew and Estrild are the exception. I speak to them both on occasion but we are not close,’’ he explains, and you nod accepting this, knowing that dragons are generally solitary creatures. ‘‘There is a small stream towards the back of the cavern is you wish to bathe,’’ he says, standing and leading you over to the back of the cavern.

‘‘I would, yes,’’ you say, eager to clean yourself. After the journey here and walk through the tunnels you cannot imagine that you smell particularly fresh and you wonder if it bothers him.

‘‘I will get you a cloth that you can use to clean yourself and a cloak to wear,’’ he rumbles, moving around a protruding rock which is large enough for him to almost disappear behind it.

Removing your tunic in preparation, you are bare down to the waist and debating whether to remove the rest of your clothing, when he returns, bundles of cloth clutched in his claws. He stops when he sees you, his widening as he stares at your torso. You feel a thrill run through you as he eyes you in what seems like appreciation before cautiously approaching you and pushing the bundles towards you.

‘‘I will go hunt while you bathe,’’ he rumbles, before turning and heading out of the cavern, tail scraping along the stone.

Smiling you bathe before pulling on the cloak that he has brought you. While you wait for him to return, you have a look around the cavern finding it to be even larger than you first thought, with corners that lead to more areas that contain items of his hoard. Around one corner you find bundles of fabric which have been arranged into a makeshift nest.

When he returns, you help him build a fire on which to cook the meat he’s brought back with him. He may not need it cooked but you certainly do and as you do that you ask him about his life up here in the mountains and about what his life was like before the war. You sit by his side, comfortably leaning against him as you listen to him talk feeling his chest vibrate with every breath.

You are surprised to learn that he is considered young in terms of dragons but old enough that he has already had young that are now fully grown and have since left. He has been on his own ever since, hunting and sleeping the days away except for the brief time he spent with the humans. You have many questions for him and he answers them all patiently before he loses interest in speaking about himself and instead asks that you tell him more about your life in the village and the work you do.

‘‘So you’ve never battled a dragon then?’’ He asks, as you finish telling him about your previous jobs.

‘‘No, I’ve never wanted to. A dragon saved my life when I was a boy and…’’ you say, trailing off.

‘‘And what?’’

You chuckle self consciously. ‘‘He was my first crush. Strange I know but…’’ you say, turning to look at the fire.

‘‘Not so strange,’’ he rumbles amusedly, turning your head carefully with a claw. ‘‘Surely you noticed that the princess and Estrild are more than just friends. And I… I have always found you humans beautiful… so small and delicate.’’

‘‘Ode,’’ you whisper questionly searching his eyes, as you feel him shuffle slightly, wings twitching.

‘‘Get some sleep little human, you need it for the journey back tomorrow,’’ he rumbles standing. ‘‘It is more comfortable in my nest, come.’’

You frown as you follow him to the nest you saw earlier, confused at his sudden withdrawal. Not wanting to push your luck or upset him, you settle down in the nest, finding yourself yawning. You are tired and while you would rather be engaging in more interesting actively, sleep is the next best thing.

‘‘Stay?’’ You murmur questionly, as Ode turns to leave. He eyes you for a moment before laying down next you. When you tuck yourself closer in to him and stroke along his snout, he lets out a purr and wraps his tail around you.

‘‘Good night little human,’’ he rumbles, as quietly as a dragon can, sounding just as tired as you feel.

‘‘Goodnight Ode,’’ you murmur in response.

---------------

Thanks for reading! As always please reblog. Likes & Comments are also appreciated,I love to hear what you guys think.

My Masterlist

[featherquillpen]

I miss you in Leverage fandom, so I’d love a scene from that mortal!Eliot with fae!Parker and fae!Hardison story you mentioned once. (Bonus points for incorporating the folklore about mortals being bound to Faerie by its food, since food is Eliot’s love language.)

Changelings

One of the best ways to con people is by telling the truth.

Parker and Hardison will never be the grifters Sophie wants them to be. But they do their best, given their limitations.

Like when Hardison told Nate, “I bounced through five sets of foster parents until I ended up with Nana.”

Like how Parker doesn’t talk about her childhood at all.

I. Hardison

“I hate humans,” Parker said to Hardison when they got back from the orphanage job. “I should have brought those kids through a ring to the Other Side.”

It’s the first time Parker has acknowledged what they are out loud. They’d both known, of course, seen the signs: careful lies of omission, a wariness of iron. Hardison had tried to bring it up, sharing a hazy memory of the daughter of an orisha and a faerie queen, born when the stories of European invaders did battle with the stories of West Africa hundreds of years ago – he thinks she might have been his mother, but she’d traded him away for a human child anyway.

(“I don’t talk about that stuff,” Parker had said, with an air of finality.)

“They’d have to send over just as many faerie kids to keep the Balance,” Hardison said. “And you know that ain’t fair. Besides, you don’t hate humans.”

“Yes I do,” Parker said. “I blew up my foster parents.”

(Hardison has met other changelings. They call the humans who raised them their parents. Hardison and Parker say “foster parents,” except when they talk about Nana. Sometimes the human children get the better end of the bargain.)

The door opened. Eliot said, “Parker. I need backup at the casino.”

Parker nodded and leapt out of her office chair. Hardison grinned at her. She flicked her ponytail at him as she turned and left.

II. Parker

“We have to tell him,” Parker said while Eliot was in the kitchen plating the first course. She could smell something rich and savory, like warm dark oil.

“We don’t have to tell him anything he won’t even believe,” Hardison said. “None of my siblings at Nana’s house ever believed it, and I did all kinds of weird-ass – ”

“Sophie believes it,” Parker said.

“She what?”

“I didn’t mean to tell her but she got all Sophie at me! First she gave me grifting lessons and she tried to make me lie and realized I couldn’t,” Parker said in a rush. “Then she realized you can’t either. That’s why she always introduces us with our fake names, so we don’t have to say them. She didn’t know why at first but she kept guessing and finally she said we’re fae. I told her it sounded silly but she said ‘tell me I’m wrong’ and I couldn’t. But she hasn’t snuck me iron or made me tell the truth about things I don’t want to. So Eliot wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.”

Hardison said softly, “I never thought he would. That ain’t our man.”

Eliot came in with bowls of steaming consommé garnished with parsley. The look on his face, you’d have thought he knew he was serving a lost faerie prince and a daughter of the Unseelie. Hardison said, “That smells so good, you have no idea. I must have made some kind of good choices in my life to deserve this.”

“You wouldn’t know a good choice if it smacked you upside the head,” Eliot said. “Which is what I’m gonna do if you let this soup go cold.”

When their bowls were empty, his hospitality accepted, Parker said, “Eliot, you know we never lie to you, right?”

“Technically we don’t lie to anyone,” Hardison said. “I don’t know if you, uh, noticed – ” At Eliot’s raised eyebrows, Hardison seemed to remember that he was talking to one of the most observant men in the mortal realms. “Right. Yeah.”

“Technically we don’t lie to anyone, but we really actually don’t lie to you,” Parker said.

Eliot’s mouth went soft in that way that wasn’t a smile, a face Parker always knew she could trust when everything else seemed confusing and fake. “I know.”

“So we’re going to tell you something weird but you have to believe us,” Parker said. “Because we earned it.”

“A hundred times over,” Eliot affirmed.

Hardison and Parker exchanged a look. Hardison nodded. “Okay, so it’s like this. It’s true we’re both kids who got kicked around the foster care system. It’s just that we didn’t get given up by who you might think…”

III. Eliot

They thundered through the faerie ring in their fine raiment, riding impossible steeds.

The faerie queen rode a camel patterned black and white like a magpie, her head wrapped in indigo cloth and starlight. The Unseelie raven girl wore a trail of clouds and feathers, and her horse’s breath steamed white even on a summer day in Portland. Eliot wouldn’t have known who they were if not for the children clinging to their waists, who would have been perfect miniatures of Parker and Hardison if it hadn’t been for their eyes, flat without that dancing light he’d come to understand was from another world.

Hardison jumped up from the picnic blanket. “Oh God oh God oh God. I knew the whole fresh air thing was a bad idea. Fresh air means woods, and woods means faerie rings, and faerie rings mean twelve kinds of trouble. Where is the damn car?”

Eliot reached up and clamped a hand on Hardison’s hip. “Don’t show fear.”

Parker was in a crouch, watching the faeries ride out from the treeline. Hardison said, “How do you know how to act around a faerie queen?” But he didn’t flee.

“I know rulers. Warlords.” Eliot looked up at him. “I knew Damien Moreau. He stole children too.”

The faeries stopped before the picnic blanket. The grass around them frosted over, and the light fell on them silvery like moonlight instead of golden summer sun. “We’ve come to claim our children,” the queen said.

“What do you want us for?” Parker spat, still in her predator’s crouch. “You didn’t want us. You traded us away.”

“Legends of you have reached even the faerie realms, daughter,” the raven girl said, the words misting in front of her mouth. “It seems we made a bad trade. Fortunately, we can trade to get you back.” She hoisted the stolen human child in her arms. The child stared, flat-eyed, as if she hadn’t understood.

“No way am I going back there,” Hardison said, looking nervously at the swirling blackness rising up from the faerie ring. “I don’t remember it all that well, it was a long time ago, but I am totally sure y’all don’t have Netflix, and that is just not acceptable.”

Eliot reached for Parker’s hand, staring certainty into her fae-lit eyes. She took it. They stood, proud and defiant. “You have no claim on them,” Eliot said. “I do.”

The queen thundered, “They are our blood, born in our realm! What claim could you possibly have?”

“I welcomed them to my table, and they ate my food from the mortal realm,” Eliot said. “I claim Parker and Alec Hardison.”

The Unseelie fae tasted the air with her tongue, like a snake. “You are no being of power. You are only a mortal man. I can taste death on you. Changeling children all eat food made by mortals, and they are not bound to this realm.”

Fear clutched cold at Eliot’s heart, though he refused to show it. Parker and Hardison told him about faerie law, and he knew his claim abided by it. But he couldn’t quite believe the faeries would follow the law instead of declaring themselves above it, as every other warlord Eliot had known would do. He kissed Parker on the mouth, tasting chocolate, a final goodbye if her mother stole her away.

“The way I understand it, if a human goes to the Other Side and accepts the hospitality of the fae by eating their food, they’re bound there forever. Changeling children aren’t bound to this realm by our food because if we welcome them as the humans they were traded for, we don’t know who they really are, so it’s no true hospitality. I gave them my hospitality knowing full well who they were, and they accepted it. I claim Parker and Alec Hardison.”

“You can only claim our children by their true names,” the faerie queen said. “Your claim by their false human names has no power.”

Fear dried Eliot’s mouth and rooted him to the spot, but still he refused to show it. The children the faeries had stolen in trade for Parker and Hardison were changed from their time on the Other Side, and if the faeries traded them back, they might not survive here. Eliot kissed Hardison on the mouth, tasting candied fruit, a farewell for him if the queen his mother stole him away.

“Hardison,” Eliot said, still looking him in the eye. “Tell the lady you’re Miles Morales.”

“You know I wish I could,” Hardison said. “I cosplayed as him at ComicCon – ”

“ – I know, your costume crap was all over the place – ”

“ – but I can’t, because I ain’t him, and that’d be a lie.”

Eliot placed a hand to the back of his neck, drawing him down. “Tell her you’re Alec Hardison.”

Hardison – Alec �� swallowed hard. He turned slowly from Eliot’s eyes to the queen’s fathomless ones. “My true name is Alec Hardison.”

The queen hissed.

From the raven girl’s arms, the girl exchanged for Parker spoke, her voice high and piping but precise. “If you claim them a third time, they will be bound forever to the mortal realm, and they will die as mortals.”

Eliot’s throat closed up. He’d promised he’d protect Parker and Alec until his dying day, but he couldn’t ask them to die for him.

Alec took Eliot’s hand and kissed him on the cheek. “I’d rather die with Eliot than live forever in Crazy No Internet Child Stealing Land,” Alec said. “Y’all want us back because we’re legends. Eliot just wants someone to cook dinner for when he comes home.” His kiss glowed warm on Eliot’s cheek like a beam of sunlight.

Parker took Eliot’s hand and kissed him on the forehead. “I always knew I’d die here. That’s what makes it so important to do the right thing.” Her kiss felt as heavy on his forehead as the impact of hitting the ground from a height.

“I claim Parker and Alec Hardison as my own.” Eliot glared at the faeries. “Now get the hell out of our city.”

[less-than-wholesome-shipper]

Here ya go... another outline I probably will never fully write!

It's a HoboTagger Hanahaki.... but with Spiders!

Miles is devastated by the tragedy of first love

Madame Webb - freeform gives him a choice

Remove the heartache and the love that causes it

Or suffer through it

Miles “Who’s Morales”, a child who doesn’t know any better, chooses to have it removed so Madame Webb grants his wish (a small spider sac pill)

The mystical spiders feed off of unspoken love and will eat away the love he keeps hidden, but as they continue to feed, they will become tangible, nest in his lungs, and breed until he is overrun with them.

Obviously, the cure is to tell the person he’s in love with that he loves them.

Miles wakes up in a different dimension and seeks out the resident Spider-Man

To the surprise of 0 people, it’s PeterB’s dimension

Tells Peter about a weird dream he had of a giant woman with 8 eyes and 6 arms

Peter writes it off as some kind of hallucination while passing through dimensions

Peter takes him in

Peter still lives in the 1 bed apartment but assures Miles that he’s still working things out with MJ, they’ve just decided to take it slow.

Miles starts to “feel better” (as in he doesn’t feel his heart ache every time he looks at Peter)

Things are good for a while

Then Miles starts to get sick

Eventually coughing up webs, spider bits, then whole spiders!

Peter takes Miles to the Avengers Mansion for help.

X-rays show hundreds of spiders in Miles’ lungs

Miles finally tells Peter about his choice

Dr. Strange is called in

Is reluctant to intervene with Madame Webb’s magic

Especially since it involves one of her spiderlings

Encourages Miles to just tell the person

Miles says he can’t.

Peter thinks it’s Gwen

Tries to figure out a way to get Gwen here

Can’t find one

It’s near the end for Miles - he can’t breathe on his own.

Peter stays glued to his bedside

Miles asks Peter to try to get a message to his parents

[gdi now I’m crying] Peter swears he will even if he has to build a collider like Kingpin did

M: “Hey, you can’t just go messing up your dimension or hopping off to another with no sure way to get back, you gotta be here for Miles Jr.”

Jokingly P: “Miles Jr.? There something you’re not telling me, kid?”

M: “You know, in case you have a boy. Or a girl. Names are really only gender specific if you want them to be.”

Peter confesses that he lied about taking things slow with MJ. They tried for a little while, but it still didn’t work out.

“So, If I die, you’ll be alone?”

[by this point in time, both of them are crying] “Hey, c’mon don’t worry about me, kid, I can handle myself. Besides, I thought we decided none of us were actually alone after the whole -”

“Peter?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Miles.”

“No, Peter, I mean - It’s you. I love you.”

Hobo.exe stopped working as Miles starts coughing severely

Staff rushes in, they try to forcibly remove Peter from the room when Miles’s coughing turns to choking.

Peter fights them - refusing to let go of Miles’ hand [kinda getting in the way of things] and cussing Strange because he swore Miles wouldn’t go violently.

Strange uses magic to clear the blockage from Miles’ throat

It’s the spider sac pill

Miles falls limp and Peter is devastated until Strange assures him that Miles will be ok.

S: “A good bit of damage to his lungs, but with spider healing, he should be fine within a week or so…. Peter, I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but the best course of action moving forward is to get the boy home. I will contact his dimension’s Sorcerer Supreme and with their cooperation, we should be able to bridge the world’s long enough for him to cross over.”

P: “Can Madame Webb cross dimensions?”

Mildly confused S: “Naturally. She is the creator and overseer of the Web of Life and Destiny. It bends to her will before all others.”

P: “So you didn’t want to interfere with her plans to save his fucking life, but you’re more than eager to step in now due to your own fucked up moral priorities and opinions that obviously paint me as some kind of predator?! I’m pretty sure if she wanted Miles to go home right after his confession, he’d already be there...”

Strange leaves with the intention of conferring with Madame Webb, if she will entertain him [spoilers: she doesn’t XD]

After the second night in recovery, Miles is well enough to go home

Things are a little awkward

Miles realizes how long he’s been gone and thinks it’s time he figures out a way back if Madame Webb isn’t in a helping mood.

P: “It was good seeing you again, Miles. Maybe next time we meet up, one of us won’t be on the verge of death?”

M: “Yeah…. I love you, Peter.”

P: “And you know I love you, too, bud-”

M: “But not in the same way that I love you, right?”

P: “Miles, I can’t. For me, romantic feelings go hand in hand with sexual feelings, and you’re what? Twelve?”

Rolling his eyes, M: “I’m thirteen!”

Pleasantly surprised P: “Oh, my bad, that changes everything then!”

Perking up, M: “Really?!”

P: “No! The bare minimum that’s accepted by law is 17 and even then it’s still frowned upon socially. I’m pretty sure you haven’t even discovered the joys of masturbation yet - do not answer that, it wasn’t even a question! - The point I’m trying to make is, you can’t know what you want because you haven’t given yourself time to try everything yet. Do you get what I’m saying here?”

M: “I get that that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re telling me that I have to try different things before I can know what I want, but if I want to try something, I can’t, because I have to be given permission on what I can do with my own body by a bunch of old randos that know nothing about my particular situation?”

PeterB.tryingtobethegoodguyhere.prog isn’t responding

M: “What if I’m on top?”

P: “I’m sorry… what?! [see: stunned_blinking.gif]

M: “You’re worried about taking advantage of me, right? Well, if I’m on top, then I’m the one taking advantage of you. Problem solved.”

P: “N-no… that’s… that’s not how that works.” [compounding math meme]

M: “What if you can’t fight back? Like if I webbed you to the bed? Or held you down? I mean, it’s not like I can’t get the drop on you easily, so it’d be totally believable.”

A problem has caused PeterB.tryingtobethegoodguyhere.prog to stop working correctly.

Sex ensues [I guess! \(O`~`O)/ who tf knows anymore?! Not me, apparently...]

Madame Webb is pleased

[The fulfilling, cute, and sexy epilogue I had planned to go here doesn’t fucking matter anymore, thanks to Miles’ thirsty teen hormones so]

FIN

[itspileofgoodthings]

Ben and Rey: The Other Side of the Line

In The Last Jedi after Ben Solo turns on Snoke and kills him, and after he and Rey fight back to back to destroy the Praetorian guards, he turns to Rey and asks her to abandon the Resistance and everything she’s known and rule the galaxy with him. Rey, who boarded his ship with the single intent of getting him to turn back to the light, is heartbroken by this and begs him “not to go this way.” Both refuse to change their positions; she reaches for her lightsaber; so does he and after a brief struggle they are forcibly separated. Apart from a brief, important scene at the end, this is the last time we see them in the same frame. 

Ben’s Force!Darcy “let’s rule the galaxy together” proposal and Rey’s subsequent rejection is tragic and heartbreaking, but above all a PERFECT encapsulation of why romance can never override morality. And I don’t mean “shouldn’t”, I mean “cannot”. This scene proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is a literal impossibility. There is a line between Ben and Rey that is keeping them apart, and it is the line of morality, cold and hard and sharp-edged. And Ben and Rey’s arc, and this scene in particular, is about how that line cannot be ignored or crossed or blurred by feelings, however soft or deep they may be. And I love that so much. I love that this scene shows you very clearly the line of morality emerging out of the fire and softness of their emotions for each other, like iron, like cold truth, to separate them from each other until they’ve learned their ultimate lesson- how to deal with that line between them without pretending it isn’t there or that it can be circumvented or that it is anything less than the earth-shattering, life-shaping thing that it is.

Ben and Rey are equals and opposites on either side of a war, of the line between light or dark, essentially good and evil. When Ben is presented to the audience for the first time it is as Kylo Ren, the Villain to Rey’s hero, the Bad to her Good. The tension between them (and this is presented in The Force Awakens before it is expanded in The Last Jedi) comes from the fact that though they are on opposite sides of the moral line, there is an understanding and attraction there- humanly speaking and through the force, and that both of them know it. Kylo knows it, and because he’s on the side of the line that has no stake in respecting the boundaries the line represents but everything to gain by making people cross over it, he offers to train her. Rey knows it and, understanding that that line is the fundamental difference between love and hate, destruction and life, losing her soul and saving countless others, does her best to keep him out. He says, essentially, stay with me, and she responds by slashing his face open and leaving him to die in the cold.

In The Last Jedi, they are thrown together again in a situation where physically they are not able to hurt or control each other, and, as one would expect, Ben still tries to reach across the line and Rey still tries to keep him out. “Murderous snake!”, she calls him. And a monster, a liar. “I know everything I need to know about you” She means what she says, but she does not say it only because she believes it’s true. She says it to keep him out, to keep his humanity out, to push the bond and his eyes away from her. We’re not the same. We’re different. We’re on the other (either) side of the line. She succeeds for a while but when he takes a step forward, looks her dead in the eye, and says “Yes I am. I am a monster”, she has no answer for him. Her only defense was an accusation that now he’s accepted but the defense was built on the understanding that he wouldn’t admit it himself. And when he does, she doesn’t know how to keep the connection between them- and his pain, his loneliness, his beauty- out any longer. And she forgets. She forgets to hold the line- the cold, hard, ugly line that for all its seeming thinness keeps them miles and chasms apart. She forgets. And when she starts to come to terms with the reality of her past, her abandonment, with the ache of the loneliness in her soul, she falls. She reaches for him and his warmth and his presence and his comfort, across the chasm of space and time, across the line that should and DID separate them, that cold line of morality. And she feels him as if he’s really there right in front of her, holding her hand, giving her comfort. And he tells her, “you’re not alone” and she responds “neither are you” and for a moment, it’s enough and it stops the hurt for both of them. For one shining moment, they aren’t alone. They have each other.

But that’s not enough. It cannot be enough. And in the end it’s not. Because he’s not really there holding her hand. He’s not and cannot be by her side because of the line between them. It’s still there. Rey crossed that line to touch him, she ignored it, but even she was never fooled into believing it wasn’t there. She knew it was there and so she decided in the generosity of her heart and the fire of her emotions that she would go to him and make him cross the line. It would be easy, she thought. She knew what they had; she saw how he looked at her. And so she believed that if she went to him he would turn. For her. And if it was hard, well, she would be there to help. She would be there to believe in him with all her might; she would be there to throw her arms around him and drag him over the line if need be. She was so determined and so sure. She would cut down anyone who prevented Ben Solo from crossing that line. Anyone. Anyone.

But she never counted on Ben Solo not wanting to cross that line.

She saw it as the thing separating them and because she knew that their souls were bound together in some way, and because she saw and felt the warmth in his eyes, she (understandably) believed he’d cross the line in an instant. Because she would be there waiting for him, ready to catch him if he falls! Ben, I’ll help you.

And here is where she fails, so humanly, so understandably, but so completely. The line of morality is not so easily crossed. No matter how willing, how eager, how determined one human being is to save another, dragging or even coaxing is not an acceptable way to cross the line of morality. There are no shortcuts or backways in. You have to cross it willingly with your own two feet, with your heart open and willing to accept the fire of suffering which is the rite of its passage. And, no matter the depths of your loneliness or the warmth in your eyes for another person, it cannot (cannot!) only be because someone is waiting for you on the other side.

Rey failed to give him any other reason to cross the line apart from her. In her impulsiveness and naivety, she missed the great truth of redemption and all homecomings after a terrible and long absence. You have to want it for yourself. Ben is not at that point. For all his disregard for boundaries or lines, he has no reason to cross back over the line of morality. He neither wants it nor is ready for it. And if she stands on the other side of the line, calling him Ben, telling him to join her, saying “I’m here, waiting for you”, why can’t he do the same? Why wouldn’t he do the same for her?

Ben knows few things for certain and one of them, I believe, is that his heart belongs to Rey (in what measure you can argue), but right alongside that certainty is the belief (however correctly is irrelevant here) that everything and everyone else has failed him and that the only way out of the pain is through destruction. It is not necessarily more powerful than his connection with Rey, but it is not less powerful either. His longing for her and his desire for destruction are united in him, and so he reaches out a hand to her and asks her to cross the line and join him.

It’s a moment painfully similar to the earlier one when they reached for each other across the stars, but this time neither can ignore the line between them. It can’t be buried in fire or warmth or in the depths of each other’s eyes. It is out in the open and the coldness and hardness and rightness of its truth begins to break them apart because that is what it does and what it has to do. He asks her to cross a line she cannot cross, to abandon people she cannot abandon, to forsake her attachment to the light for him, just as she asked him to do the same for her without really trying to give him any other reason.The justness of her cause (the protection of the weak and the fight against evil) and even the burning generosity of her heart does not absolve her of the mistake she made when she believed that she would be cause enough for his return to the light. Rey failed to hold the line between them and then in trying to resolve it without falling into the darkness (because she did understand that she couldn’t cross that line) she forced her hand and tried to solve the dilemma with a solution that just didn’t work. To put it in one metaphor, she tried to skip the stages of grief and leap straight to acceptance.

And so of course she fails. Neither will shift their ground because the only reason to do so would only be the other and that is not enough. The whole point is that it’s not enough. Understanding, fire, warmth, gentleness, attraction, comfort, sparks, pleading eyes and warm touches Are. Not. Enough. They are no match for the truth, for morality, for the cold, hard brightness that severs them from each other. And that in its iron coldness (in its seeming ugliness or unfairness) is more beautiful and more terrible than the warmth which tries to cross a chasm that cannot be crossed except by the willing and ready heart of the transgressor.

It is for their own true good that they are torn apart by the morality between them, though neither would admit it in the heat of their stubbornness and of their demand that the other cross the line between them. And as contradictory as it may seem, it is for both of their good that he doesn’t go back with her, that he doesn’t try to do the right thing for the wrong reason. And she was the wrong reason! If he came back with her, for no other reason than that she asked him to, she would grow to despise him and he would despise himself. Curious though it may seem, his rejection of her offer is a step closer to redemption than accepting it would have been, because it is his own action and not hers.

They end the movie once more (more) firmly on opposite sides of the moral line. When the bond reopens and both learn to their surprise that their connection has extended beyond Snoke’s life, it is heartbreakingly Ben who seems to feel the pain of the loss most keenly. He kneels below her in the cold; she stands above him on his father’s ship. It is strikingly parallel to how they parted ways initially, him wounded in the snow, struggling to rise, her looking back briefly before she boards the ship to fly away with and to everything that was his.

But there is a difference this time and in that difference, hope. Having tried to ignore the line between them once and then having tried to bend it to her will when it was never her call to make, Rey knows to the depths of her soul that she can never do it again. Her hand slamming forward to close the falcon doors in his face signals where she stands, where her true allegiance lies, and what lengths she will go to to protect herself from falling again. Considering her failure, I initially struggled with the hardening of her face. I would have preferred a soft expression while the door slammed shut anyway (a movement which would keep emotion and morality in their proper place), but it makes sense to me now. Slamming doors and drawing lines isn’t easy especially where there was once vulnerability and hope of change, so I understand the hardness. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect herself and others from him and hardness, her face seems to say, is what it takes. 

For Ben, there seems to be less hope that he’s learned anything at all. It’s there, but only as the smallest seed. I said earlier that there was more hope of redemption in his refusal of Rey than there would have been had he accepted it only for her. And I stand by it. The hope lies in the fact that it is his decision, not hers, and so now it is his pain, and not hers. His pain is his to bear alone as his wrongs are his to accept. He tried to circumvent the situation, too. He tried to cut out his past without dealing with it and he tried to keep Rey at his side because her presence is the answer he thinks he seeks. Next to her, he had no chance of learning that so much of his pain is the price of his sins. Without her, he does have that chance. Her absence and the shape of her left in his heart are not enough for him to change. (This is the point.) But they could be the starting place for an understanding in him that the pain in his life springs not just from others but from himself, that the pain of separation is his own fault, because he stands on the side of the line which chooses destruction over life, war over peace, hatred over love. What is tearing him apart, which he could learn on his knees in the cold again if he chooses to, is nothing but the destruction of sin. What could save him is love and suffering, not for one person only, not to please or win one person only which is the path of selfishness, but true love and generosity. 

Because the line has been redrawn so unequivocally, the space has been created for Ben to suffer alone, and in that suffering to understand that the ugliest wounds in his soul are born from those he inflicts on others, and from that understanding the grace to look outward and see and atone for the destruction he has caused. It’s a long and it’s a difficult road, but the hope for it comes back to the reestablishment of the line between them, between light and dark, hatred and love, good and evil. The warmth of human connection he sought with Rey, the physical attraction and understanding, is a good he thought he could have while rejecting Goodness as a Whole and perpetuating evil. But the line of morality, the reality of truth itself, snapped that dream in an instant, and in doing so, showed him (if he wants or can see it) that the goodness and the healing and the beauty that he seeks in her is not just her but is goodness and love and light as complete things, that it is not behind him but ahead, on the other side of the line.

[macromicrocosm]

Novel Review: Automatic Reload by Ferrett Steinmetz

Hei Hei and Welcome to MacroMicroCosm Literary Review…

Novel: Automatic Reload Author: Ferrett Steinmetz Publisher: TOR Books (2020) Rating: 4/5 Stars

Today we are diving cautious as a paranoid quadruple amputee cyborg into the cyberpunk romantic kill zone known as Ferrett Steinmetz’s Automatic Reload published in 2020 by Tor Books. Strap into something, prepare your payloads and it’s time to dive in.

I borrowed Automatic Reload’s audiobook from my municipal library’s Libby app, and will be critiquing the audiobook narration by Tim Campbell via Macmillan Audio with Steinmetz’ prose. Tim Campbell’s narration hit my auditory nerves with the same grit as a Private Eye in my spouse’s beloved old radio shows. Instantaneously, I was brought back to The Shadow, and Red Panda Adventures. Mat’s internal narration was made vivid with Campbell’s grit. All goes as expected for a guttural masculine-led audiobook… until Campbell narrates female characters. The grit and gruff voice of our narrator and protagonist Mat (whose name I missed completely for the first few hours of audio storytelling), shifted to a nasal ‘quasi-feminine whine’ each a tad different for the few feminine characters in the novel. While off-putting to hear limp feminine audio, it didn’t stop me from listening to the entire audiobook. I wish Macmillan Audio hired two voice actors, that Sylvia and Trish especially were voiced by a woman. I don’t envy Campbell’s options with Sylvia’s voice, especially in the beginning, Sylvia is a panic-attacked whimpering victim and Mat the rough but conscience-bound redeemer. Maybe it’s a pet peeve of mine, when listening to audiobook narration with too ‘breathy’ a character voice, or too much differentiation between a narrator’s timbre and the various dialogue, but it threw me out of Automatic Reload’s prose a few times and elicited many a rant among our MacroMicroCosm discord server on the nature of respecting female characters by allowing them a more natural voice, and not a whining nasal whimper. It’s unfortunate, because Tim Campbell had the perfect voice for Mat’s rough narration. All in, this was the only issue with the audiobook version of Automatic Reload.

On to Steinmetz’s prose. While entertaining, and a fun way of portraying neuro-divergent characters, Automatic Reload is not making it into my top cyberpunk novels. As it was billed to be a cyberpunk romance, the choice to spend a vast third if not half of the novel in a first-person narrator-protagonist dry technological readout of the various guns, cybernetically augmented prostheses and associated weapons-come-defence programs felt stale as a slice of bread on the kitchen counter in summertime. Maybe engineering isn’t my thing, I know of several friends who would love such attention given to the weaponry, and recommended Automatic Reload to all of them, but a good hour into the prose and all I knew of Mat was the amount of weaponry he possessed on his specialized limbs, that he was attempting to halt a kidnapping, and he was paralyzed with the incapacity to kill. A decent bedrock for a PTSD scarred main character, Mat’s inability to take life becomes a mainstay of the manuscript. This is not in itself a negative. It makes for intriguing prose, and shows his caring, ethical side.

But I could not help feeling Mat’s selfish delusions within the first few chapters. His first-person narration of saving the teenaged girl became more about saving the people, who caused her fear and harm at her expense. When I taught self defence in a university and martial art academy setting, one of the first lessons (especially to the female students) was a defender has the right to go home. The attacker has every opportunity to stop harming you, and them refusing to let go is them allowing you to defend your right to survive unharmed as possible. In the introductory arc, Mat rescues a girl from kidnappers, who are prepared to kill her. Regardless of how noble Mat was in his attempts of causing less harm, I could not stop thinking of the harm he was causing to the poor girl frightened out of her mind, with a knife against her neck. Steinmetz goes so far as to have the girl bleed from a superficial slice to the throat, before our ‘wounded hero’ intervenes in a kinetic fashion.

Mat is not a hero, his paranoia at preventing harm does not make him precisely good. It does, however, make him a fascinating study of an injured veteran compensating for the horrors of war. He reminds me of Perseus, played by Sam Worthington in the 2010 released Clash of the Titans, where Perseus discovers his demi-godhood and struggles to go about his mission as a normal man, not a god. As if his spectacular powers were to be feared or forgotten in self-hatred rather than used to others’ advantages. Even when companions on his voyage begin to die, Perseus sticks to his selfish morals and refuses his inner power until it is all but too late. Just as Perseus could have saved multiple companion’s lives had he accepted his power, so too Mat could have saved the girl from trauma (injection of ‘anti PTSD drugs’ notwithstanding) if he hadn’t attempted to wait the kidnappers out as long as he did, until a last second where she looks into his faceplate and knows she is about to die.

As protagonists go, Mat is an insecure, selfish moralist with his own set of obsessive edits, who passes it off as a sheriff’s bravado in the wild world of body hacking. When his contact and seemingly only friend Trish (whom I loved) gets him a job worth millions, Mat dives in to prevent collateral damage only after she cajoles his ethics, and that is noble. But this is where the novel takes its’ turn. I won’t be going into spoilers much here, but from the moment Mat meets assassin-damsel in distress Sylvia, I could see where the novel’s plot was going, and for the most part I was 9 for 10.

Sylvia’s panic and anxiety disorder took centre stage, as Mat tumbled with her assassin-programmed artificial body, and the other body-hackers who were looking to bring her back and finish their job. The bonding between the two (through ‘old timey cinema) was ultimately endearing but fairly stock, between the constant verbal output of every single technological gadget Mat had on hand, or modified to work, or picked to replace old limbs, or because we were at another moment, where Mat needed to drone on about the tech as if to remind us that we were, in fact, in a cyberpunk setting.

My major criticism of the prose isn’t Mat’s struggle with harm reduction, but the sheer amount of technological data Steinmetz pushed into the manuscript, until I felt like half the novel was a sci-fi reader’s guide to emotionless guns, cybernetic components and threat awareness programming. At a fairly early point in the prose, the tech talk got so redundant if I hadn’t been listening on audiobook in my car, I’d skip pages. Yes, I can see this was a coping mechanism for Mat, and the best way Steinmetz had to frame the science fiction setting in a novel completely from the protagonist’s inner monologue (a literal ’subvocal recording’ as we discover), but it threw me. Automatic Reload lacked a balance between the cold cover of Mat’s obsessions and the emotionally gorgeous story of two wounded people falling in love… while being chased by psycho body-hacking killers.

It’s unfortunate, because the relationship development between Mat and Sylvia is agonizingly sweet. Their ability to both freak out and help each other, the peppering of laughter to break the tension of their run with death were all wonderfully done. Trish, Mat’s business contact and friend is the stand alone best character of the novel. Sassy, strong and incapable of selfish intentions, Trish gives Automatic Reload the backbone it needs to evolve both Mat and Sylvia and drive the plot forward, even through the constant re-hashing of the setting as Mat experienced it. I cared about Trish more than I cared about Mat or Sylvia, beyond their growing connection. The enemies, while trope-ish, were believable in their immensity, and brought me to the feel of a 1980’s action flick with Van Damme, or Norris at the fore… if their female lead happened to be more powerful than the Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok.

Steinmetz’s plot in Automatic Reload is visible miles before the chapter headings, and that is unproblematic, if you’re looking for an easy, entertaining read similar to that 1980’s action flick. I won’t say the climax didn’t take a twist, it did, but even when the twist occurred, I again called what would remain of the plot. If you want a cyberpunk weapon’s heavy cute-couple novel to relax with, this will certainly do it for you. Aside from its’ flaws, Automatic Reload has a vulnerability and joy to its escapism, the clinging growth of a relationship in two freaked out, lonely people.

Mat does grow through his moments with Sylvia, but especially with Trish’s advice. If you like to know the technological readout of every warrior’s equipment, watched the Matrix and Maltese Falcon, and enjoy a good gritty radio-show, with romantic plot-line, Automatic Reload is for you. I give it four out of five stars, and imagine the ideal reader would be of the masculine or tech-minded variety who is woke enough to handle a gritty romance with more bullets than people, a transgender best friend, and heroes whose anxiety and PTSD cause as many problems as they eventually, and inevitably, solve.

For those who want something to listen to of a similar feel, I thoroughly advise listening to the Red Panda Adventures.

[wisdomrays]

BASICS OF ISLAM :Angel Azrail

Q: Although Azrail is One, How does He Capture the Souls of Many People Who Die at the Same Instant?

By the angels who tear out (the souls of the wicked). By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed). And by those who glide along (on errands of mercy). (Nazi'at 79:1-3)

With this question, we again face a subject which, if we tackle it by making human analogies, will mislead us. It is a mistake to liken an angel to a human being, just as it is a mistake to seek the mind in the brain, or the emotions in the heart, or the soul in the body, or—in the language of philosophy—to seek the noumenal in the phenomenal. It would be improper to attempt this question without first pointing out that mistake in thinking and terminology which (probably) is what gives rise to it and other questions like it.

Angels are, as regards their creation and essence, the realm they exist in, and their responsibilities and duties, creatures wholly different from all others. 

Any argument or judgment made without taking full account of that difference is bound to go wrong. The nature of angels should therefore be approached through consideration of their different creation and essence, their different realm of existence, and their different responsibilities and duties.

Malak (angel) in Arabic relates to malk which has the meaning power, or to mal'ak which has the meaning messenger. 

The shared point of reference is to one most powerful or to the power itself or to one who, as messenger, holds and carries that power: thus, an angel comes to mean one who, as messenger, holds and carries the divine commands. Such an elevated rank belongs to all angels as such. For the angel commissioned to convey the Divine Message to humankind, it is necessary to have the most elevated rank and the most superior attributes of all. Angels are commissioned to oversee all kinds of events—from supervising birth, life, and death to carrying the Throne (arsh) and observing the Divine Actions in wonder, admiration and praise. All so-called natural laws, from attraction and repulsion between masses to the principles that regulate electrons spinning around the nucleus, and the putting into effect of these laws, and all changes and transformations, compositions and decompositions, exist under the administration of angels, who are the medium of the messengership and power. Angels are so related to things and events that neither a drop of rain nor a clap of thunder can ever be conceived without them. The laws operating in the universe (shari'at al-fitriyya) are the manifestation of the limitless power of the Creator, the All-Mighty, the Absolute Sovereign, on angels according to their skills and capacities. Similarly, all legislative (tashri'i) commands to humankind from the attributes of kalam are conveyed by angels. Since humanity is the focus of all great and majestic manifestations of the Creator, the Divine inspiration and revelation that come to humanity to guide and regulate his actions are nothing other than the manifestations of God to angels. In this respect, it is ignorance and an error in thinking to liken to human beings, the angelic beings who are a medium or a means between God and His servants, who are charged with supervising or administering all things from atoms to nebulae in dependence on the power of the All-Mighty. It is likewise a misjudgment and an error to consider restrictions by which human existence is bound as applicable also to angels. If the angels had a physical form like that of humankind and were subject to decay and decomposition, if they too were aged and eroded by time, we might use the same criteria for both. However, there is a world of difference which makes such a comparison impossible.

As regards their creation and nature, the angels are different from humankind. 

The powers and responsibilities of angels are not bounded by space and time. The purity, light (nur) and splendor in their essence make them more powerful, influential, quick and active. They can be in touch with many souls, be seen by many eyes, and manifest their oneness in plural forms, at any instant of time or space, even though they are one. In a hadith narrated by 'Aisha, Prophet Muhammad said: 

"The angels were created out of light (nur)."

That is why, they are given and thus manifest all the attributes of light.

Luminous things, like the sun, though single, are reflected by and so seen in each transparent object; they can reach and be seen by each and every eye. Similarly, the angels, who are created out of light, can meet and be reflected in many souls; and they can deal with thousands of them at an instant. 

The angels, whose essence is latif (fine, subtle), are very different from what has material form and is therefore heavy and dense. The angels can take different shapes and forms; also, they can be seen in different shapes and forms at the same instant. Tamassul, the souls' or angels' assuming visible forms, has long been known among religious people, and there are many examples of it. It is even now not uncommon to hear claims (something, alas, of a pastime among the so-called "idle rich") of some individual's "spirit" or "double" being in a place separate and distant from where the body is and able to produce material effects. Whatever the truth of such reports and claims, they indicate that all fine beings like souls, in comparison to physical beings, are more capable, quick and active. Angels are far more capable, quick and active than souls, which is another indication that angels operate beyond the bounds of physical nature.

As we said, tamassul of souls and angels is a phenomenon that has long been known and reported. The Prophets in the first place and then the saints have recounted their experiences, and many ordinary people around them witnessed such incidents. The coming and appearance of the archangel Gabriel, in different guises and personalities, according to the reasons and missions he was given, such as being a messenger while conveying the Revelations and being a warrior during battles, are good examples of tamassul:Gabriel appeared in the form of Dihya; as another angel, whose name we do not know, fought till evening in front of the Prophet as Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr; many angels took part in the battle of Badr in the guise of Zubayr ibn Awwam to boost the morale of the Muslims.

There are many incidents which indicate that some saints are in touch with the heroes of the Unseen, among them former saints and Companions of the Prophet. 

Also, their appearance to ordinary people in dreams and trance-like states supports the argument. A number of godly men and women have testified that, in their dreams, particular noble souls always keep in touch with them, and give them guidance. To be sure, there will be people who refer all such experiences to the "subconscious" and so make the whole subject incomprehensible. Alas for their ignorance and arrogance!

To sum up what we have said so far: 

just as all beings are seen reflected in a mirror, so angels are seen in everything that can be a mirror to them, but with this difference that angels are not merely a picture or image, as a reflection in a mirror is, but are as themselves, with all their powers and faculties. Like a beam of light, angels can reach and be in various places at the same time and carry out their duties, the distance of the place or the number of people concerned are of no relevance and can present no hindrance. The sun is single but is reflected, seen, and its effects are felt, everywhere on every object according to the object's qualities. Similarly, the angels, being created of light, can be seen, breathe life into human beings or recapture their souls or carry out any other of their duties everywhere at any time.

In reality it is, of course, God who gives and takes life. Azrail is only a medium and means, commissioned to superintend the giving of life and recapturing of souls and to praise the All-Mighty in His Divine Actions. 

As God is everywhere at every instant and performs innumerable actions beyond the power of our imaginations to conceive, it is not difficult to accept that He can create, give and take innumerable lives all in a single instant. Such omniscience and omnipotence can undoubtedly see, administer and govern the deeds, and give and take the lives, of as many people as there may be particles in the whole universe, at the same instant, though some unfortunate atheists may refuse to believe.

Whether God or Azrail captures the souls, each soul whose time of death has come turns to God at its last moment and then is taken. We can make this more comprehensible by an analogy. Let us suppose that there are thousands of radio-like receivers operating on the same frequency. If any transmitter sends signals on that frequency, they will be heard on all the receivers. In the same way, all beings live in dependence for everything on the All-Mighty, All-Generous Creator, and when they ask for anything from Him, they do so through their poverty, that is, through their needs, their helpless impotence. And when they reach the last minute of their life and turn to God by, as it were, switching on to their life-ending frequency, they begin to perceive the signals of death. If a weak, powerless human being can make contact with systems hundreds of miles away simply by pressing a button, why cannot the All-Mighty Creator, who is free from all our weakness, impotence and deficiencies, make contact with souls, each of which is, in a sense, a living machine? Why cannot He make them all start or stop functioning in an instant?

Summary

It is God who gives and takes life. Azrail is only an agent who is commissioned to oversee and administer and praise the work of God.

While carrying out his task, Azrail acts only with the permission and approval of God.

As a great number of angels administer tasks in the universe as representatives of the Divine Authority, Power and Will, there are many angels that can help Azrail with his work. They are even grouped into classes according to their tasks. Some of them take the lives of people without causing them any distress or hurt—they carry out their task peacefully. After souls have been recaptured, other angels at once take the souls before the Divine Presence, and so on. The Qur'an refers to all of them: 

By the angels who tear out (the souls of the wicked). By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed). And by those who glide along (on errands of mercy) (Nazi'at 79:1-3).

Thus there are different angels dispatched according to the level of the people they will deal with. They are all under the supervision of Azrail, and God commissions them according to whether the individuals concerned were good or wicked.

In conclusion, we can say that the understanding which gives rise to such questions begins in an error of thinking in that it mistakenly likens angels to human beings. We have pointed out that angels are quite different from beings with physical form; not only in their essence and creation but also in their tasks, servanthood and responsibilities, angels are quite different from other creatures. Angels can assume different forms (tamassul), be in many places, and do many things, as human beings' souls can. What is popularly read about in our day in connection with spirit-mediums, necromancy, and other such efforts to communicate with the Unseen, are in their way evidence of metaphysical elements operating in the physical universe. Angels, as beings far superior to these elements, can function and carry out their missions in a way far superior to all other beings. And certainly, at the time of death, when people share the same "frequency" with the angels, an angel can deal with thousands of people at the same instant. Finally, we must remember that the angel for death is not alone; rather, there are innumerable angels appointed for taking souls, and when we consider that there is an angel for each individual death, no further point remains to raise the kind of doubts expressed in the question.

God knows best.

[hellyeahheroes]

Secret Empire: Top Ten DUMBEST Moments

As far as events go, Secret Empire is probably one of the worst. And considering both Civil Wars, Ultimatum, Amazons’ Attack and Countdown are events, that bar has been set pretty low. So as it finally comes to an end, seven months too late, let us showcase some of the worst decisions made during the creation of this story. They made it into such colossal trainwreck.

Honorable Mention: Dress Like a Nazi To Work Day

Out of all moronic decisions in this event, this was the one that irks me the most because it slipped into real life. Marvel tried to get their retailers to not only dress in Hydra shirts the day the book premieres but also dress their entire store in Hydra symbols. At least one store owner told them they hire LGBTQ and Jewish people and will be dropping Marvel. Hard to blame that person. Who in their right mind tells people selling his product to dress like a Nazi?! And don’t tell me the old “Hydra isn't Nazis” crap. First of all, even if they’re not, they’re still a fascist death cult that had absolutely no moral qualms about working with the Nazis during World War II, copying from their style and being effectively taken over by remnants of Nazi Germany multiple times. At this point, it’s splitting hair. And two, Marvel, you had Steve Rogers say Hail Hydrand a whole year before. Since then you were constantly trying to tell people Hydra isn’t a Nazi organization and NOBODY BOUGHT IT! At this point, you should have looked at the “Hydra Takeover” idea and realize it might backfire. That this wasn’t recalled but went through only proves that Marvel’s head is so deep up its very ass they no longer see the reality.

Number Ten: Captain America Walking Out Of Himself and Standing Nearby

It is undeniable that Marvel did horrible damage to Captain America in this story, basically twisting the guy into everything he wasn’t. I was honestly afraid how, if ever, they manage to fix the character. But I was not expecting them to pull out the good, old-fashioned chickening out by having an identical copy of the character before he was ruined appear to take over. While seeing real Captain America beat the shit out of Captain Nazi is really cathartic, one cannot forget it came to be through rather...ridiculous means.

Number Nine: Tony Stark

Okay, this one is simple. Tony Stark is in this story. Despite being in a coma. Tony Stark holographic A.I. from Brian Bendis’ Invincible Iron Man is filling in for him. Only here he parades around in Tony’s old armor all the time without anyone commenting on it, recalibrated his personality to be constantly drunk and at one point Steve Rogers tries to decapitate him, a hologram, talking some technobabble about how Hydra made it possible for Tony to die this way.

He’s just Tony Stark. He is Tony Stark because Spencer had scenes requiring Tony Stark to be there and instead of killing his darlings like a good writer, he just wrote clearly human Tony Stark and threw some half-assed explanations and lampshades. It’s silly and makes every scene with him impossible to take seriously.

Number Eight: All the Fucking Quislings!

This one is bad. And I mean, just simply bad. Okay, it’s multiple problems, not a singular one. But it makes my very insides turn at the thought. Nick Spencer asked how can he threw some moral ambiguity IN AN EVENT ABOUT HEROES FIGHTING LITERALLY NAZIS and the best idea he had was to have some random heroes join Hydra. I’m not talking here about those who were brainwashed, like Wanda and Vision, although that is a conversation to also be had by their fans about how often this treatment occurs. Although I wonder - if they are too powerful to let them roam freely, why even HAVE them in this event? It’s not like every superhero was there, currently, heroic Victor Von Doom could probably break Hydra at day one and he was nowhere to be seen.

No, the real problem is with the fact they made some heroes join Hydra willingly. Sometimes they tried to throw flimsy reasons in. Punisher joined to get his family back...even though in previous stories he refused the same offer from less evil people. I feel it’s kinda funny they did this with Frank, considering the man who more or less defined him, Chuck Dixon, has thrown in with real-life Nazis like Milo Yiannopolus. Meanwhile, Deadpool and Thor just go along with letting Nazis rule the States because....Steve Rogers said so and Steve Rogers is always right. That’s just a plain stupidity and total lack of compassion on their side. I’m sure don’t feel like buying any book starring them ever now.

But the worst one is, by far, the Hulk. Who also comes back to life for this event, only to smash for Hydra and immediately die.But that is not the worst part. The worst part is how they build up to it. By having Hydra Steve give Bruce Banner long speech over how Avengers and everyone mistreated him over the years and with Hydra he will finally be accepted for who he is. And Banner calls him a Nazi and tells to go fuck himself. And it is a very powerful moment, Bruce Banner symbolizes everyone disfranchised by the society being offered hand by Nazis and heroically rejecting it... Nah, turns out Rogers was talking to Hulk who felt like changing his catchphrase to Sig Heil. I don’t think Spencer even realized what message he sent by this one moment. He basically said that everyone who has been screwed over by the system secretly agrees with the Nazis, but are “too PC” or “too weak” to say it out loud. It’s stupid AND extremely insulting, two for the price of one.

Number Seven: BARF!

How to properly seed a classic Chekov’s Gunman and yet STILL make him feel like a Deus Ex Machina? Make him ridiculously fucking stupid, that’s how!

Enter Barf, a random Inhuman with the power to vomit up things he needs. He shows up in the first issue, is absent through the entire story only to reappear in Captain America #25 and vomit out a fragment of Cosmic Cube. Because why let people work for their victory and earn their happy ending when you can just have all their efforts blow in their faces and just have means of victory handled to them on a silver platter in the most blatant way possible! If Nick Spencer knew he’s going to write himself into a corner, couldn’t he simply change the plot to avoid it instead of setting up something so stupid?

Number Six: Thou Shalt Not Kill, Miles

After Civil War II we were left with a vision of the future where Miles Morales kills Captain America. Once Secret Empire rolled around and we saw Rogers go full Alt-Right on the country, many were hoping this will actually happen. And Miles, with a handful of friends, does join Black Widow in her efforts to off Captain Nazi. And she spends most of the series training them to be more like her....then talking how she doesn’t actually want them to be more like her and how her generation screwed things up....then taking them on the assassination day anyway only to lock Miles up to kill Rogers herself and when that fails, give up her life trying to stop their fight. Which, in the classic refrigerator fashion, pushes Miles hard enough to actually do this. Only to be given one of the most hollow, lazy-written speeches about how killing is wrong. It hits all the old, tired notes. “Heroes should be better than villains”. “If you kill him, you will be just like him!” (a reminder that “you” in this situation is a Black-Latino and “him” is A FUCKING NAZI FOR CHRIST”S SAKE...). “Natasha wouldn’t want this for you.” (she showed it in the strangest way).... It’s especially bad when you have a character who has a backstory of being trained to kill but rejecting those ways, like Nadia Van Dyne, delivering this speech. Despite her background and personality none of this sounds like her words. It reads like she was going through a checklist of tired cliches.

This is why I came to hate this Aesop that superheroes shouldn’t kill. Because nine times out of ten this isn’t done to actually be a piece of a character driven narrative. It’s done to give a bunch of excuses to let villain live when he deserves to die.

Also, that entire plot point dragged since the previous event, in the end, amounted to BUG FUCKING NOTHING!

Number Five: Who Cares About the Civilians, Right?

So okay, the day is saved, villains are defeated, Captain Nazi got his ass kicked by Steve Rogers and Kobik, a sentient cosmic cube, undoes all this damage. EXCEPT FOR FUCKING VEGAS, WHICH HYDRA LEVELED AND LEFT NOT SURVIVORS! Seriously, I don’t care about the explanations given. Someone should have asked her to do it. And no, some “leave it as a reminder” excuse doesn’t work, Kobik is mentally three years old, she isn’t some wise all-powerful being like Odin or the Stranger from whom we could buy this shit. This is pretty much done only so that Nick Spencer can claim he kept his promise to not undo everything by the cosmic cube. He didn’t undo EVERYTHING, that counts, right? It makes all the heroes look like morons and assholes. Even Z Fighters in Dragon Ball have enough decency to ask the dragon to resurrect all dead civilians when they undo everything after every arc. Marvel heroes, for all the “lessons” this even taught them, couldn’t be assed to do even that.

Number Four: Ultron the Centrist

I’ll be honest with you, Pymltron wearing “Kiss the Overlord” apron, forcing Avengers and Hydra to sit and roasting all of them was one of the best parts of the event. But then it also comes off as paying lip service to the “both sides are as bad” mentality that we saw being used by people of today to desperately try to equate alt-right and those opposing them in real life. It’s pretty much justifying this approach in this story and it doesn’t matter one saying that is a fusion of mentally unstable man and a genocidal robot - he never gets challenged on this position because, for all his talk otherwise on twitter, Nick Spencer apparently cannot think of a compelling argument against it. I guess he secretly agrees with him...

And it doesn’t help that while Ultron ends up aiding the good guys, he does say it’s because Hydra became too strong and might pose a threat to him. Sending a message that any outside powers that show support to those opposing Nazis, in reality, wants America’s destruction...

Number Three: Nazi Pandering

Do I really need to explain this one? The entire event does nothing but bends over to kiss Hydra, and by the extension, Nazi ass at every possible opportunity. They beat up all superheroes because the plot says so, while the narrator goes on and on about how NAZI STRONK! We’re told they were supposed to win the World War II and that Allies “cheated” by rewriting reality...but for some reason let the Holocaust in?! Their rule is shown as being the strongest, which is water to the mill of real-life Nazis as their philosophy is based on “might makes right” and they beat up pretty much everyone, even Wakanda. Every victory heroes have against them must be immediately undermined by giving Nazis another win for consolidation. And while the heroes win at the end, this comes after several issues portraying them as absolutely pathetic losers who didn’t really earn their happy ending but it was handed to them by a random inhuman and Deus Ex Machina device. Which brings us to the next point...

Number Two: Cosmic Cubes

All the dumb shit going in this event can be tracked back to Cosmic Cube, be it as Kobik or the shards. She causes Crazy Steve to emerge, launching this story. And she fixes this mess at the end. Shards of Cosmic Cube serve as a distraction to put both good and bad guys on a wild goose chase because Spencer couldn’t think of any actually interesting plotline for this event. All dumb shit evil Steve pulls out can be explained by them. When it’s time for heroes to win, Barf vomits out a shard. And It undermines everything. A story that entirely revolves around this crap doesn’t have any time to actually show things it’s talking about. Maybe instead of running after Dragon Balls, more time should be developed to show how lack of trust and resentments between the good guys gets in the way? You know, something the narration keeps talking on and on and on but never is reflected in the book? Or show more of them acting like an actual resistance would? Worse, thanks to them heroes no longer win because they’re heroic but because they’ve been handed the I Win Button. Any easy win of the villains can be explained by them holding the Fuck You That’s Why Button. Making you wonder why even care if everybody wins only by writer’s fiat?

Number One: Bown Down To the Gary Stu

Most of the problems in this entire story can really boil down to just this. Steve Rogers is a gary stu. He wins because Nick Spencer wants to show how cool and badass he is. His plans always go without a hitch and he never has to adapt or improvise, under him, Hydra wrecks everyone's shit, even if he loses he still wins and in the end, the only man allowed to beat him is...another Steve Rogers. All other problems in the story can be traced back to Spencer’s desperate need to make him look strong. And believe me, he tried soo damn hard. Up to have him go full Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Four Madara Uchicha with Cosmic Cube Dojustsu on everyone’s ass at the finale. I don’t think we’d see a guy being shoved down our throats so hard if Roman Reigns joined Ultramarines! This is where the book truly falls. Nick Spencer could not let go of his fanboyism over the character and it twisted everything he supposedly wanted to say into a parody of itself, often sending the exact opposite message to accommodate the need to make evil Steve Rogers look good.

So, these are ten dumbest moments in the series. As far as events go, this was one of the worst. It looks like it might have ruined Nick Spencer’s career at Marvel and maybe in general, and will probably make it very hard to look at certain characters for years to come. The only good thing you could say is that it finally ended.

Fuck this book.

- Admin

[ask-constantinvaldor]

Say at least one bad thing about every primarch, plus the emperor if you want. Maybe even the other custodes too if you're feeling like it.

*Sips Hot chocolate and pulls out a piece of paper.*

I.  “Despite his knightly demeanor and all his talk of honor and loyalty, The Lion was far too willing to keep secrets, even when he could and should have told the truth.  He believed he should have been chosen Warmaster simply because he was the 1st primarch ever created.  He was unable to  relate to mortals and even his own Legion.  He demanded respect and obedience, but rarely gave it to others, even his own brothers and adopted father.”

II.  REDACTED (They made the mistake of facing me, they should have fled and lived a little longer. Not that they could have escaped the Ten Thousand and I.)

III. “For all his talk of perfection, Fulgrim failed to see the perfection in humility and doing his duty,   All he ever wanted was glory and adoration. He wanted everyone to  sing his praises from the highest mountaintops and the lowest of gutters.” 

IV “Perturabo never should have been given command of a legion.  Like Fulgrim he wanted praise and glory for his achievement.  While paranoia is a strength, Perturabo saw criticism and enemies everywhere, even when it did not exist and even among his own family.  He believed Rogal Dorn was his rival but this rivalry  was a product of his own deranged mind.  His treatment of his Legionaries was sick and disgusting,   While victory cannot be achieved without sacrifice, Perutrabo murdered one in ten of his own legionaries when he was reunited with them, simply because they did not meet his achievable standards.  He spent their lives like a spoiled prince spends gold,  War was never a necessary evil for him, it was an equation and a bill at his doorstep,  One he was too eager to solve by spending his own son’s lives.”

V “The Khan was always a mercurial  soul. A paradox.   Reckless one moment, overcautious and dawdling the next.  A bloodthirsty hound and a diplomat.  A admirable, cultured and philosophical man, and a barbarian that mounted the heads of his foes on his jetbike,  In his desire to not be a tyrant, he neglected discipline and too many White Scars considered becoming traitors, yet in his widsom, he granted them atonement through battle. In short, he traveled down many paths,and ran off the road constantly,  Thankfully the one road he stayed on was one of loyalty.”

VI  “ Leman,.. Like Dorn, I admire him for his steadfast loyalty and envy him for how simple things are for him   Simply tear the Emperor’s enemies apart and follow orders like a good little corgi.  Yet, he is a hypocrite, He claimed his Rune Preists used the power of Fenris, when one could smell the musk of the Warp on them a mile away.  The culture of Fenris may have saved the VIth legion from  tearing itself apart, but it was anathema to the Imperial Truth.  He always assumed the worst in Magnus and that he was always right,  So self-righteous, so  eager to charge with his axe raised high.  So changeable. One second he’s offering you  a tankard of Mjol, The next, you’re head’s been removed and being chewed on by one of his wolves  and he’s bedded your wife, cousin, sister and daughter at the same time. He always chose the most violent and direct option, even when diplomacy might have prevailed.  If I  had brought a leash for him, perhaps Prospero might not been destroyed,and the handful of innocents on the wretched rock might have lived.”  

VII  “I admire Dorn  for his refusal  to compromise his ideals, his honesty and his zeal.   I wish I shared his idealism.  But his refusal to compromise is his greatest weakness.  He is more stubborn than a mule.  He would rather win a moral victory and lose the tactical war than make a hard or dishonorable decision that keep you up at night.  In addition he will not accept that  Arlette will not let him fortify the Tranquil Courts.”

VII  “Konrad Curze  refused to  accept help for dealing with his visions dammed him.  He saw only one way to bring justice, through fear.  The Night Lords were a necessary evil, but under him they became nothing but a band of criminals, He claimed to be a bringer of justice.  A rather bold claim when one skinned men, women, and children alive.”

IX. “Sanguinus was compassionate and empathetic, but he never saw humans as people, he treated them like pets. For all his humiltiy, he basked in thier admiration like a tanner in the sun,  Some part of him he refuses to admit enjoy’s how they view him   He was too idealistic, and like Dorn refused to compromise on his ideals when it would be necessary.  He was also  surprisingly short tempered and hateful on  occasion.   I’m not sure if he knew this, but to some of the Silent Sisterhood, he came off as Misogynist.”  

X “ Ferrus Mannus was incredibly short tempered.  For all his and his legion’s cold-hearted and automata like behavior, he emotions collared him and kept him on his knees like a slave.  He said he would purge the silver from his hand and ban the voluntary cybernetics of the Iron Tenth when the Great Crusade was done, yet if he had the strength he boasted so much of, he would have done it already.  if he was logical  as he claimed to be, he would not have died on Isstvan V.”

XI [REDACTED]

XII.  “Although Angron would not accept it, I pity him.  The Emperor should have let him die.  The Butcher’s Nails have stolen any chance he had for  a happy life, Yet the Butcher’s Nails does not excuse  forcing them to  be implanted them in his men.”

XIII “ Roboute is a statesman second only to Malcador.   What he has done with Ultramar is nothing but remarkable. However, his obsession with control and efficiency, and his idealism, means everything must conform. Everything must be right or it will all fall apart.  He cares for mortals, but like Sanguinius he believes he is their better and knows what’s best for them.  Like the Lion, he demanded respect and obedience, and while he did earn it from his subordinates, like his brother, he had scorn for those who disagreed with his vision and banished them from his presence like the nobleman he denied he was.  One can look no further than the 22nd chapter of the Ultramarines.  These men are Destroyer’s and primarily Terrans from the old XIIIth legion.  Many of their number also come from Ultramar and their Chapter Master is from  the 500 Worlds. Yet the 22nd has a distinctive and unique culture that makes them stand out among the XIIIth ad other legion’s Destroyer Corps.  Gulliman has made his dislike of Destroyer’s weaponry well known and their culture does not fit into his idealized view of his Legion , so he keep them at arms length like a red-headed stepchild. “

XIV.  “Mortarion’s  dislike towards Psykers, while justified due to the abuse of his foster father and the suffering he inflicted on him and the people of Barbarus, does not excuse his blind and irrational  hatred for all of them.  In addition,  he lavished his affection on the legionaries from Barbarus and disbanded the Librarius of his legion.  This made the former Librarians feel like illegitimate children.   Mortarion was a prideful as Fulgrim, and could not accept the fact the Emperor had to save his life. When Mortarion spat on his oaths, he became the very thing he and the old XIVth legion swore to destroy,  a tyrant with a callous disregard for life.”

XV “Magnus was arrogant. He believed himself superior to his brothers because of his abilities. He was a glutton for knowledge, but for all of his knowledge, Magnus was not very wise, and in his folly, dammed our entire species.”

XVI  “  Horus… *sighs and takes a swig of hot chocolate*  As much as I hate to admit it and as much as I tried to turn a blind eye  to it,  Horus was arrogant and acted like a spoiled brat.  For all  his tactical brilliance, for all his humor and kindness, He graved glory and adoration not for his Legion or for humanity,  but for himself.   Like Fulgrim, he wished all to bask in his glory and sing his praises.  Horus wanted statues of himself, wanted people to prostrate themselves before him.  He wanted their affection and love and to say “Yes Horus you are so brilliant what would we do without you.”  

An old quote came to me regarding Horus Lupercal. “Veni Vidi Vici”    Horus Came, he saw galaxy and humanity, and wished to conquer it.  First for the Emperor, now for himself and his sick desires,”

XVII   Lorgar is complicated.   Arlette and I advised to Emperor to be merciful, when He censured him   After the II and XI, I could not bear to slay another one of His children, and Lorgar’s transgression  was nothing compared to  the horrors the II and XI wrought on humanity.    And I sympathized,  with him not wishing to be a warrior, to try and be something besides another warlord.  After all, when the crusade ended, and if Emperor’s safety could be absolutely guaranteed for eternity, i would live in a cave high in Himalzia with sheep for food and company and indulge in falconry and blacksmithing and toymaking and compose philosophical  treaties. I could venture down from  my solitude and strike down injustice and distribute candy and toys  to children.  

I was a dammed fool.

Like Leman, he was so changeable. He was like a child’s bouncy ball.  Except he was loyal and devout in  a misguided way, and than wicked, traitorous and spiteful, burning works and unleashing damnation with a smile on his face.  

Lorgar had such faith in Emperor, he deified him,  raised statues and built church’s all for Him.  Now he is devoted to the Primordial Annihilator and will do anything to please his gods.

If only he had such  faith in Humanity.

XVIII “ Vulkan’s Promethean Creed is an admirable philosophy.  He had a heart bigger than an Ordinatus and kindness, compassion and smiling all came so easily to him.  I envy him for his effortless kindness.   Kindness, compassion and smiling are all things the Ten Thousand must hone as much as our skills in  assassination and bladework.

Yet that compassion in his greatest weakness, Vulkan is not a warrior, he is a builder, a worker ant defending his anthill out of love. A blacksmith who forged all his creation but his weapons with pride.”  

XIX “ Corax’s goal of liberating those in bondage is an admirable goal. Yet for all his time spend hiding in shadows, he failed to  recognize necessary evils. On  a personal note, I believe this character flaw led to his Terran legionaries meeting an ignoble end.”

XX  The Alpha Legion began as a hammer in the shadow, another necessary evil.   Yet when  Alpharius took  control, they became a twisted serpent.  The old Christian devil in  the form of a Hydra. Alpharius was a glutton for complicated plots and schemes.  He is intoxicated on suffering and disorder.  He is like  Horus in the regard that all must know they were outsmarted by him.  All most know that as soon  as they sat down at the Regicide table with him, they were played like a damn fiddle.”  

Any complaint’s about the Emperor, I shall keep to myself.

Arlette and I may have our disagreements, but we have each other’s back.  

The only custodian I can complain about is Diocletion. He is quite frankly, a Dick.  Empathy and compassion are skills he must learn.  Time with the Ligo  Aetos and humanity itself will be his teacher. “

[cryptidwizard]

Frozen

@docterpoison mmmm cyd you know I'm emo about skysolo. THIS TOOK FOREVER IM SO SORRY AJSKDKDKFJFJ I HOPE YOU LIKE IT ITS KINDA A MESS IM REALLY RUSTY 

Han can’t quite pinpoint when it first started. At first, he only saw him as some kid who was in way over his head, just a farm boy who daydreamed about journeying the cosmos and leaving it all behind. Han couldn't help but notice the far off look in his eyes when he imagined it all, the way his blue gaze seemed to brighten when he thought of leaving the cluster of sand and dust that was Tatooine, how he bit his lip and the corners of his mouth curled into a small smile at the idea. The kid was a dreamer, Han could tell right away. Yet his scoffs of contempt at the boy didn't feel as sincere after noticing, almost as if he never really meant them. Maybe it was then, maybe after, maybe he always had felt this way. But he couldn’t deny he felt…. something.

The moment Luke laid eyes on him, he had a feeling he was in trouble. Everything felt like a whirlwind of emotion, the death of his Aunt and Uncle, Old Man Ben’s stunning information, the beautiful girl pleading for help displayed on the droid, the sudden mission and purpose he had, and now.... him. The pilot’s hair was dark and had a sort of bounce to it, his eyes almost gleamed like he knew something you didn't, his smirk and body language oozed confidence. Luke committed everything about him to memory, the way his shirt collar was opened and crooked, the way his eyebrow was raised slightly as if daring someone to argue with him. Luke desperately wanted to pick a fight if only to wipe that look off his face. This man had seen the stars and the edges of space. Luke felt a twinge of jealousy, or maybe just a twinge of something entirely different. He couldn't deny he felt something, whether the feeling was contempt or longing Luke still hadn't decided.

Luke and Han edged around each other uncertainly, not sure how to interact. Insincere challenges issued but never fully delivered. Then they were being pulled towards the Death Star, and placed with a mission with what felt like impossible odds. Through winding steps of the mazelike Death Star and the synchronized steps of the Stormtroopers, the two searched for who they were looking for. There she was. Suddenly the confused and repressed feelings between the two seemed pale in comparison to her. She like their adventure was a whirlwind of incredible feats and rage. With the new member in their party Leia forcing down her overwhelming grief with her uncontrollable need to fight for her cause. Luke’s confusion bubbling over into loss for whom he had only moments ago. And Han’s instincts that have kept him alive for so long screaming at him to abandon these people he barely knows but already cares deeply for, the war outside themselves seems easier.

Luke is stepping out of the cockpit in a daze, only just barely aware of what had just taken place. With the lights in the rebel warehouse overhead he looks like an angel descending to earth, descending to Han. He had never felt so much relief to see that face again, he stepped forward, he stepped back. “Let the Princess greet him”, Han decides, “I’m not the one he’s hoping to see.” Luke smiles in the arms of what feels like his new family, so soon replacing the one he’d lost, his grin falters as he sees Han turn away but returns once more when Han offers him a grin of his own and a slight nod as if to say, “good job.” It is enough.

Time passes, the rebels cling to life so barely. In the frozen stronghold in the dead of night, cold lips meet and numb hands hold, and they grasp onto each other and grasp onto warmth. Small smiles are shared and teasing is not unkind. It is cold, it is frozen, and it is temporary. But it is bliss, and it is theirs. All too soon it will go wrong, and they know it will, so they make use of their time. The rebellion can only hold so long. Eventually they leave pursued by the Death Star. It feels painful but it wasn’t meant to last. Luke pursues the teachings of Yoda, Han pursues the help of Lando. They should’ve known it couldn’t last. Han and Leia gaze at each other before he goes under. He loves them both. He says, “I know” instead. He feels cold again, but not the way he felt before. He wishes he could’ve seen then both before he froze. Luke feels pain, not unlike the pain of leaving Hoth. But it is tripled. His father was supposed to be a hero, his father is a monster. He feels the loss of his hand, he feels the loss of Han. Luke and Leia embrace each other, both grieving. Luke pretends the reason he cries is the pain of his hand.

Luke feels hardened. He feels frozen again. When Han unfreezes, a part of Luke does too. But not all, not enough. Han still has the questions he froze with, he still loves the two of them. Luke is different, he is lost and cold. Leia is different, she is strong and warm. The war still calls to them, no matter how hard they try to ignore it. They have a duty to the galaxy that Han doesn’t remember accepting. There is no rest, no time to feel things. They have to stop the Empire, they have to stop Luke’s father. Luke faces impossible choices, he feels deranged, his moral compass has failed him and now he is hopelessly lost in a forest of misguided decisions and darkness. His father recognizes that forest. His father has been lost there for a long time, he refuses to leave his son drown in darkness alone as he did. As his father fades away, Luke believes he’s finally unfrozen. He tells Leia she’s his twin. Han regretfully thinks to himself that polyamory is out of the question now. Leia links hands with Han and looks up at him, he feels himself smile. Han looks to Luke and his lips curl into the small smile Han loves as if to say, “Its okay.” Han gives Luke the slight nod that always drew him in. Luke decides its okay.

More time passes, so much time. They are old and they were happy. Leia and Han were happy. Luke resigned himself to happiness. Then came Ben, Leia and Han were overjoyed. Luke was ecstatic. Then came Kylo Ren, Leia and Han were devastated. Luke was ashamed. He leaves, he can’t look at Leia and Han anymore, he can’t face them. He tries to find peace in nature but he can’t ignore what he knows. The Force tells him everything, he is too closely linked to Han and Leia. Perhaps he never fully unfroze. Luke feels it when it happens. Feels it like it pierces his own heart instead of Han’s, wishes it had. He knows Leia felt it too. He hears her cry out in anguish though he’s millions of miles away. He unfreezes. Finally and completely. Luke allows himself to finally cry and finally grieve. Eventually a girl stands before him, she felt Han die too, Luke can tell. She holds out his old lightsaber defiantly, almost daring him to reject her, to say no. Luke does not say no. He feels he finally left Hoth.

[mbtizone]

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who): ESFP

Dominant Extroverted Sensing [Se]: Rose lives her life moment to moment. She does what feels right at the time, and instead of spending time stressing over the consequences, she chooses to deal with them when they come. Although Rose is taken aback after first meeting the Doctor, she adapts to life with him extremely quickly. She hasn’t traveled with him for very long before she’s able to tell what century she’s in and is able to discern that she’s on board a space ship from the engines. Rose knows how to let loose and have fun and enjoy the present. Although there are pressing matters to attend to, she wants the Doctor to relax for a minute and dance with her. She has an adventurous spirit, as well as a good sense of her surroundings and she can usually them to her advantage when in a sticky situation. Her quick thinking in the moment has proven her to be an asset on multiple occasions. Rose is aware of her environment and uses her observations to come to conclusions. She realizes that the Christmas tree is different and is immediately suspicious of it. She doesn’t mind putting herself at risk or diving into dangerous situations. She knows what she signed up for, and she never wants the adventure to end. Rose isn’t built for the regular or the mundane. She wants to be in the middle of the action and see the extraordinary. She enjoys going to different planets and different times and dressing up to blend in with whatever time and place she’s landed in. She allows herself to be completely immersed in sensory experiences and takes the time to appreciate the wonder of wherever she ends up. When the Doctor orders a missile to be launched straight at them at 10 Downing Street, it is Rose who gets everyone into the cupboard of the Cabinet Room to ride out the explosion safely. When Rose realizes that the Beast is possessing Toby, she responds quickly by shooting out the front window of the cockpit and unfastening his seatbelt, causing him to fly out into space, saving the day.

Auxiliary Introverted Feeling [Fi]: One of Rose’s greatest strengths (as well as her occasional weakness) is her capacity for love and compassion. She originally wants to travel to the day her father was killed so he doesn’t have to die alone, but, in the moment, saves him from every having died at all (Se-Fi). Her morality is both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes, it can lead her to make foolish decisions that land her in trouble (such as taking pity on the Dalek and touching it, which allows it to use her DNA, and the time energy from the TARDIS that resides within her to revive itself). She doesn’t usually talk about her feelings, but she does act on them frequently. Rose does what feels right to her and stays true to herself. It breaks her mom’s heart and hurts Mickey when she runs off with the Doctor, but she can’t stay just for them. She needs to see what the universe has to offer for herself. When she first meets the Doctor, he tries to leave without explaining anything, which is unfair. He can’t just leave her. When Rose visits other time periods, she doesn’t adjust the way she communicates with people in order to be appropriate. She speaks the same way in 1869 as she would in 2005. She tries to relate to the people she encounters based on her own, subjective feelings and experiences. She tries to have a conversation with Gwyneth about checking out boys and asking them out, which gives Gwyneth the impression that Rose is “wild.” The things she says are improper for a woman in that time, but she doesn’t care. She says whatever she wants to say, and she doesn’t care how people take it. Rose stands her ground on moral issues. It’s wrong for the Gelth to inhabit people’s corpses! The dead should be respected! She refuses to allow Gwyneth to sacrifice herself, even though Gwyneth is volunteering. It’s hard for Rose to accept her choice and just go along with it, even though it’s her decision to make. Rose fights for what she believes in and makes her decisions based on how she feels about things.

Tertiary Extroverted Thinking [Te]: When Rose first meets the Doctor, she (incorrectly) states that the mannequins must be students, because what other large group would get together dressed ridiculously and cause a scene? To her, that was the only logical explanation. When she’s first introduced to the world of the Doctor, she tries to rationalize what she’s seeing. When she sees pictures of the Doctor from 1963, she insists that that must be his father. Although Ruse typically relies on the Doctor to come up with the plans, she is more than capable of taking the reins when necessary. She can be decisive, firm, and delegate tasks to others. When Rose is asking questions, she usually wants information for a practical reason. It isn’t just mere curiosity. What do they want? How do we kill them? Rose wants to take action and get things done. Though she’s typically warm and kind, Rose can viciously attack others when she feels that she or someone she cares for is being threatened. When the Doctor sends Rose away, she hatches a plan to get to the heart of the TARDIS in order to to get back to him and successfully saves both him and Jack. When the Doctor is down in the Satan Pit, Rose slips into an authority position in his absence, easily giving out commands to the crew. She gives each person a job to do and ends up saving the universe. When she and the Doctor encounter the Isolus, Rose finds herself on her own again. She rationalizes that the pod will be at the hottest part of the street, and immediately takes Kel’s pickaxe to dig it up.

Inferior Introverted Intuition [Ni]: Rose doesn’t have a concrete plan for her life. She’s completely focused on the present and doesn’t really consider the future. Everything she does is in the moment. She saves her father from his death without thinking about the way time might be altered if she saved a man who was supposed to die in 1987. Rose was forced to learn the hard way that preventing his death would have disastrous consequences. It’s hard for her to keep her mind on the big picture because of her tendency to act in the heat of the moment and her need to follow her heart and do what she feels is right. Rose can be have a difficult time digesting the realities of the far-off future. When she travels to see the death of Earth, she has a hard time accepting that a time will come where it all just ends. Rose usually leaves the intuitive leaps to the Doctor, but every now and then, she gets a hunch of her own. She had thought that “Bad Wolf” was a warning, but suddenly realizes that it’s a message and uses that discovery to return to the Doctor and save his and Jack’s lives. She is immediately able to figure out that the Santas are only after her and Mickey to get to the Doctor, even though she knows virtually nothing about them. When the TARDIS stops translating for her, she comes to the conclusion that it’s not working because he’s “part of the circuit and he’s broken.” When the Doctor goes into the Satan Pit, everyone tries to tell her that he’s dead, but Rose refuses to believe that. She realizes that the Beast wants them to escape because it could’ve killed them many different ways, but it just let them go instead.

Enneagram: 7w6 2w1 8w9 Sx/So

Quotes:

Rose: No, not at all. Er, I don’t know. A long way away. I just sort of hitched a lift with this man. I didn’t even think about it. I don’t even know who he is. He’s a complete stranger. Anyway, don’t let me keep you. Good luck with it.

Rose: I’m not leaving because of you. I’m traveling, that’s all, and then I’ll come back. Jackie: But it’s not safe. Rose: Mum, if you saw it out there you’d never stay home. The Doctor: Got enough stuff? Rose: Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now I’m signing up. You’re stuck with me.

Jackie: You’ve changed so much. Rose: For the better. Jackie: I suppose. Rose: Mum, I used to work in a shop. Jackie: I’ve worked in shops. What’s wrong with that? Rose: No, I didn’t mean that. Jackie: I know what you meant. What happens when I’m gone? Rose: Don’t talk like that. Jackie: No, but really. When I’m dead and buried, you won’t have any reason to come back home. What happens then? Rose: I don’t know. Jackie: Do you think you’ll ever settle down? Rose: The Doctor never will, so I can’t. I’ll just keep on traveling. Jackie: And you’ll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there’ll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she’s not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She’s not even human.

Rose: I’ve had a life with you for nineteen years, but then I met the Doctor, and all the things I’ve seen him do for me, for you, for all of us. For the whole stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum. But not anymore, because now he’s got me.

The Doctor: Once the breach collapses, that’s it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother! Rose: I made my choice a long time ago, and I’m never going to leave you. So what can I do to help?

Rose: That’s amazing. I’ll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky. What’s that smell? The Doctor: Apple grass. Rose: Apple grass. The Doctor: Yeah, yeah. Rose: It’s beautiful. Oh, I love this. Can I just say, traveling with you, I love it.

Mickey: You’re never going to stay, are you? Rose: There’s just so much out there. So much to see. I’ve got to.

Rose: Two hundred thousand years in the future, he’s dying, and there’s nothing I can do. Jackie: Well, like you said two hundred thousand years. It’s way off. Rose: But it’s not. It’s now. That fight is happening right now, and he’s fighting for us, for the whole planet, and I’m just sitting here eating chips. Jackie: Listen to me. God knows I have hated that man, but right now, I love him and do you know why? Because he did the right thing. He sent you back to me. Rose: But what do I do every day, mum? What do I do? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed? Is that it? Mickey: It’s what the rest of us do. Rose: But I can’t! Mickey: Why, because you’re better than us? Rose: No, I didn’t mean that. But it was. It was a better life. And I don’t mean all the traveling and seeing aliens and spaceships and things. That don’t matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. You know he showed you too. That you don’t just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what’s right when everyone else just runs away, and I just can’t.

Mickey: You can’t spend the rest of your life thinking about the Doctor. Rose: But how do I forget him? Mickey: You’ve got to start living your own life. You know, a proper life, like the kind he’s never had. The sort of life that you could have with me. [Then Rose notices large letters painted on the tarmac of the play area.] Rose: Over here. It’s over here as well! Mickey: That’s been there for years. It’s just a phrase. It’s just words. Rose: I thought it was a warning. Maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe it’s a message. The same words written down now and two hundred thousand years in the future. It’s a link between me and the Doctor. Bad Wolf here, Bad Wolf there. Mickey: But if it’s a message, what’s it saying? Rose: It’s telling me I can get back. The least I can do is help him escape.

Rose: All the Tardis needs to do is make a return trip. Just reverse. Mickey: Yeah, but we still can’t do it. Rose: The Doctor always said the Tardis was telepathic. This thing is alive. It can listen. Mickey: It’s not listening now, is it? Rose: We need to get inside it. Last time I saw you, with the Slitheen, this middle bit opened, and there was this light, and the Doctor said it was the heart of the Tardis. If we can open it, I can make contact. I can tell it what to do. Mickey: Rose. Rose: Mmm? Mickey: If you go back, you’re going to die. Rose: That’s a risk I’ve got to take, because there’s nothing left for me here. Mickey: Nothing? Rose: No. Mickey: Okay, if that’s what you think, let’s get this thing open.

Dalek: I am dying. Rose: No, we can help. Dalek: I welcome death. But I am glad that before I die I have met a human who was not afraid. Rose: Isn’t there anything I can do? Dalek: My race is dead, and I shall die alone. [Rose reaches for the Dalek’s head.] Adam: Rose, no!

Rose: You’re out. You made it. I never thought I’d feel the sunlight again. Dalek: How does it feel? [The Dalek opens its middle and dome sections to reveal the one-eyed mutant within. It holds out a tendril.] The Doctor: Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now! Rose: No. I won’t let you do this. The Doctor: That thing killed hundreds of people. Rose: It’s not the one pointing the gun at me. The Doctor: I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I’ve got nothing left. Rose: Look at it. The Doctor: What’s it doing? Rose: It’s the sunlight, that’s all it wants. The Doctor: But it can’t Rose: It couldn’t kill Van Statten, it couldn’t kill me. It’s changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?

The Doctor: Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it? Rose: Sorry, I was a bit slow. See you, then, Doctor. It wasn’t your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn’t your fault. And do you know what? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Harriet: How solid are these? The Doctor: Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big. Rose: All right, now I’m making the decision. I’m not going to die. We’re going to ride this one out. It’s like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard’s small so it’s strong. Come and help me. Come on.

Jackie: I wasn’t there. Nobody was. It was a hit and run driver. Never found out who. He was dead when the ambulance got there. I only wish there’d been someone there for him. Rose: I want to be that someone, so he doesn’t die alone.

The Doctor: When we met, I said travel with me in space. You said no. Then I said time machine. Rose: It wasn’t some big plan. I just saw it happening and I thought, I can stop it. The Doctor: I did it again. I picked another stupid ape. I should’ve known. It’s not about showing you the universe. It never is. It’s about the universe doing something for you. Rose: So it’s okay when you go to other times, and you save people’s lives, but not when it’s me saving my dad. The Doctor: I know what I’m doing, you don’t. Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point. Rose: But he’s alive! The Doctor: My entire planet died. My whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them? Rose: But it’s not like I’ve changed history. Not much. I mean he’s never going to be a world leader. He’s not going to start World War Three or anything. The Doctor: Rose, there’s a man alive in the world who wasn’t alive before. An ordinary man. That’s the most important thing in creation. The whole world’s different because he’s alive. Rose: What, would you rather him dead? The Doctor: I’m not saying that. Rose: No, I get it! For once, you’re not the most important man in my life. The Doctor: Let’s see how you get on without me, then. Give me the key. The Tardis key. If I’m so insignificant, give it me back. Rose: All right then, I will. [Rose hands over the key.] The Doctor: You’ve got what you wanted, so that’s goodbye, then. Rose: You don’t scare me. I know how sad you are. You’ll be back in a minute, or you’ll hang around outside the Tardis waiting for me. And I’ll make you wait a long time!

Rose: The end of the Earth. It’s gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It’s just-

Rose: You pulled his arm off. The Doctor: Yep. Plastic. Rose: Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what? The Doctor: Why would they be students? Rose: I don’t know. The Doctor: Well, you said it. Why students? Rose: ‘Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students. The Doctor: That makes sense. Well done. Rose: Thanks. The Doctor: They’re not students.

Rose: Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we’re going to go with the living plastic, and I don’t even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it? The Doctor: The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead. Rose: So that’s radio control? The Doctor: Thought control. Are you all right? Rose: Yeah. So, who’s controlling it, then? The Doctor: Long story. Rose: But what’s it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what’s that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain’s shops? The Doctor: No. Rose: No. The Doctor: It’s not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me? Rose: No. The Doctor: But you’re still listening. Rose: Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?

[Rose stands up and looks at the Doctor, then runs round the chamber.] Mickey: Just leave him! There’s nothing you can do! Rose: I’ve got no A Levels, no job, no future. [She grabs an axe as the three brides prepare to shoot Jackie.] Rose: But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I’ve got the bronze! [Rose chops through the rope holding a very long chain to the wall and takes firm hold. She runs and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat. The second one also drops the vial of anti-plastic into it. The golden Nestene screams as it starts to turn blue.]

The Doctor: He’s not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere. Rose: Is it always this dangerous? The Doctor: Yeah. Rose: Yeah, I can’t. I’ve er, I’ve got to go and find my mum and someone’s got to look after this stupid lump, so. The Doctor: Okay. See you around. [The Tardis dematerialises.] Rose: Come on, let’s go. Come on. Come on. [The Tardis materialises.] The Doctor: By the way, did I mention it also travels in time? Rose: Thanks. Mickey: Thanks for what? Rose: Exactly. [Rose kisses Mickey on the cheek and runs into the Tardis.]

Rose: That strategy nine thing? Jefferson: Not enough power. It needs a hundred percent. Rose: All right, we need a way out. Zach, Mister Jefferson, you start working on that. Toby, what about you? Toby: I’m not a soldier. I can’t do anything. Rose: No, you’re the archeologist. What do you know about the pit? Toby: Well, nothing. We can’t even translate the language. Rose: Right. Toby: Hold on. Maybe. Rose: What is it? Toby: Since that thing was inside my head, it’s like the letters made more sense. Rose: Well, get to work. Anything you can translate, just anything. As for you, Danny boy. You’re in charge of the Ood. Any way of stopping them? Danny: Well, I don’t know. Rose: Then find out. The sooner we get control of the Base, the sooner we can get the Doctor out. Shift.

Rose: So, did you go to school or what? Gwyneth: Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper. Rose: What, once a week? Gwyneth: We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second. Rose: Me too. Gwyneth: Don’t tell anyone, but one week, I didn’t go and ran on the heath all on my own. Rose: I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys. Gwyneth: Well, I don’t know much about that, miss. Rose: Come on, times haven’t changed that much. I bet you’ve done the same. Gwyneth: I don’t think so, miss. Rose: Gwyneth, you can tell me. I bet you’ve got your eye on someone. Gwyneth: I suppose. There is one lad. The butcher’s boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him. Rose: I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum. Gwyneth: Well, I have never heard the like. Rose: Ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, that’s a start. Gwyneth: I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You’ve got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing. Rose: Maybe I am. Maybe that’s a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed.

Rose: You can’t let them run around inside of dead people. The Doctor: Why not? It’s like recycling. Rose: Seriously though, you can’t. The Doctor: Seriously though, I can. Rose: It’s just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death. The Doctor: Do you carry a donor card? Rose: That’s different. That’s The Doctor: It is different, yeah. It’s a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time’s short. I can’t worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying. Rose: I don’t care. They’re not using her. Gwyneth: Don’t I get a say, miss? Rose: Look, you don’t understand what’s going on. Gwyneth: You would say that, miss, because that’s very clear inside your head, that you think I’m stupid. Rose: That’s not fair. Gwyneth: It’s true, though. Things might be very different where you’re from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do?

Rose: Doesn’t the universe implode or something if you dance? The Doctor: Well, I’ve got the moves but I wouldn’t want to boast. [Rose turns up the volume on the radio. It is still Moonlight Serenade.] Rose: You’ve got the moves? Show me your moves. The Doctor: Rose, I’m trying to resonate concrete. Rose: Jack’ll be back. He’ll get us out. So come on. The world doesn’t end because the Doctor dances. [Rose holds out her hands, and the Doctor looks at her palms.] The Doctor: Barrage balloon? Rose: What? The Doctor: You were hanging from a barrage balloon. Rose: Oh, yeah. About two minutes after you left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air-raid, Union Jack all over my chest. The Doctor: I’ve travelled with a lot of people, but you’re setting new records for jeopardy friendly. Rose: Is this you dancing? Because I’ve got notes.

Rose: I can go anywhere now. The Doctor: I told you, you don’t need a passport. Rose: It’s all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I’m prepared for anything.

The Doctor: There’s another thing the Tardis could do. It could take us away. We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989. Rose: Yeah, but you’d never do that. The Doctor: No, but you could ask. Never even occurred to you, did it? Rose: Well, I’m just too good.

The Doctor: The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up. Rose: Thousands of years just floating through space. Poor things. Don’t they go mad with boredom?

The Doctor: It is. It’s graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil. Rose: I was attacked by a pencil scribble? The Doctor: Scribble creature, brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we’re dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But why make a scribble creature? Rose: Maybe it was a mistake I mean, you scribble over something when you want to get rid of it, like a, like a drawing. Like a, a child’s drawing. You said it was in the street. The Doctor: Probably. Rose: The girl. The Doctor: Of course! What girl? Rose: Something about her gave me the creeps. Even her own mum looked scared of her. The Doctor: Are you deducting? Rose: I think I am. The Doctor: Copper’s hunch? Rose: Permission to follow it up, Sarge?

The Doctor: Someone wants a word with you. Rose: You upset my mum. Elton: Great big absorbing creature from outer space, and you’re having a go at me? Rose: No one upsets my mum.

Rose: How many of us have there been travelling with you? The Doctor: Does it matter? Rose: Yeah, it does, if I’m just the latest in a long line. The Doctor: As opposed to what? Rose: I thought you and me were. I obviously got it wrong. I’ve been to the year five billion, right, but this? Now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you’re going to do to me? The Doctor: No. Not to you. Rose: But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not? The Doctor: I don’t age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you- Rose: What, Doctor? The Doctor: You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can’t spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That’s the curse of the Time Lords.

Rose: Mum. Where’d you get that tree? [The Christmas tree is now green.] That’s a new tree. Where’d you get it? Jackie: I thought it was you. Rose: How can it be me? Jackie: Well, you went shopping. There was a ring at the door, and there it was! Rose: No, that wasn’t me.

Rose: I don’t understand what they’re saying. The Tardis translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am. Mickey: So, why isn’t it doing it now? Rose: I don’t know. Must be the Doctor. Like he’s part of the circuit, and he’s, he’s broken.

Alex: The yellow girl. She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet. Harriet: But she can’t. Rose: Yeah, I can. Mickey: Don’t you dare. Rose: Someone’s got to be the Doctor. Harriet: They’ll kill you. Rose: Never stopped him. I, er, I address the Sycorax according to Article Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. I command you to leave this world with all the authority of the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius, and er, the Gelth Confederacy as er, sanctioned by the Mighty Jagrafess and, oh, the Daleks! Now, leave this planet in peace! In peace. [The Sycorax all burst into laughter.]

Jackie: Here we go. Tina the cleaner’s got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it. Though I still say we should take him to hospital. Rose: We can’t. They’d lock him up. They’d dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race. No! Shush!

Mickey: Who were those Santa things? Rose: I don’t know. But think about it. They were after us. What’s important about us? Well, nothing, except the one thing we’ve got tucked up in bed. The Doctor.

Danny:They’re the Ood. Rose: The Ood? Danny:The Ood. Rose: Well that’s ood. Danny: Very ood, but handy. They work the mine shafts. All the drilling and stuff. Supervision and maintenance. They’re born for it. Basic slave race. Rose: You’ve got slaves? Scooti: Don’t start. She’s like one of that lot. Friends of the Ood. Rose: Well maybe I am, yeah. Since when do humans need slaves?

Rose: What’re you doing? Jefferson: He’s infected. He brought that thing on board. You saw it. Rose: Are you going to start shooting your own people now, Is that what you’re going to do? Is it? Jefferson: If necessary. Rose: Well then, you’ll have to shoot me if necessary, so what’s it going to be? Look at his face. Whatever it was, is gone. It passed into the Ood. You saw it happen. He’s clean.

Rose: It doesn’t make sense. We escaped, but there’s a thousand ways it could’ve killed us. It could’ve ripped out the air or, I don’t know, burnt us, or anything. But it let us go. Why? Unless it wanted us to escape?

Toby: I shall never die. The thought of me is forever. In the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity and obsession and lust [Rose picks up the bolt gun.] Toby: Nothing shall ever destroy me. Nothing! Rose: Go to hell. [Rose shoots out the front screen then unfastens Toby’s seatbelt. He is sucked out into space, still roaring.] Zach: Emergency shield! [A metal shutter seals the hole, but the rocket is still falling.] We’ve still lost the gravity funnel. We can’t escape the black hole. Rose: But we stopped him. That’s what the Doctor would’ve done.

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who): ESFP was originally published on MBTI Zone

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Walking Dead: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (7x16)

In comparing this finale to last season's disaster, I must say I'm pretty pleased with the results. Was this episode still too long? Yes. Were there other annoying aspects to it? Yes. But it actually felt like something happened, and there were a lot of really satisfying elements to it. This has been a substandard season of The Walking Dead, and this is probably a substandard finale, if we're being honest. But it's miles ahead of what I feared we might get, so... a win in my book!

Cons:

Spoilers start here: Sasha dies. This isn't actually a "con" necessarily, as I liked most of the story with Sasha. It was pretty epic, and she got to go out on her own terms, and all that. But this episode weaves in a lot of flashbacks and hallucinations as Sasha slowly dies, and it's here that I have my issues. We see this stupid, overly sentimental scene with Sasha and Abraham, as they talk about sacrificing themselves for others. It takes place just before the group leaves to bring Maggie to Hilltop, meaning Abraham is fated to never return to Alexandria again. As I may have mentioned, I do not much care for Abraham. Like, at all. He's annoying. And Sasha, in her final moments, focuses on this memory of him. We don't get the slightest reference to her brother Tyreese, or her other boyfriend, Bob, who also died. It's all about stupid Abraham and his stupid gross face.

The other flaw is bigger, and it's with the stupid garbage people. Why are they so awkward and strange? We got an explanation as to why Ezekiel talks like he's performing in a play, but not so with Jadis. She sounds so stupid. I never understood why Rick wanted to align himself with her in the first place, and this episode has so many stupid stilted moments with her. There's this moment when she asks Michonne if Rick is "hers," and then says she's going to "lay with Rick" after the confrontation with the Saviors. As we learn later, Jadis and crew were planning on betraying them and turning to Negan's side, so... why did she even say that? It was super awkward. Who the heck were these people before the apocalypse? I keep using the word stupid, but that's what it is! It's stupid! Oh, and the betrayal was super obvious, too.

Although definitely better than Season Six's finale, Season Seven's last episode had an undeniable pacing problem. We all knew that the Hilltop and Kingdom people were going to show up and save the day, so why go through such a rigmarole to have them arrive at the eleventh hour? There might have been something more satisfying, actually, if all of those people had showed up before the Saviors did, and were lying in wait. As it is, we have to endure yet another beat-down from Negan before we can get to the revenge part, and it definitely slows the episode down.

Pros:

Let's start with Sasha. Negan tells her that he plans on using her as a way to get Rick and the others to fall in line. Sasha gets Negan to agree that only one person has to die as punishment for Alexandria's insubordination. Negan, being the dramatic son of a bitch that he is, wants to put Sasha in a coffin, then reveal her to the group. Sasha says she'll make the drive over to Alexandria in the coffin, so she can go to sleep. While inside, she takes the poison pill that Eugene had given her. When Negan opens it, Walker!Sasha emerges and nearly kills Negan, and this sets off Carl and the rest of the Alexandrians to begin firing, ending the stalemate and eventually, with the help of reinforcements from Maggie and Ezekiel, driving Negan off.

This is a good death. I hate that Sasha has to die, and I'm annoyed that her relationship with Abraham was such a big focus in her final moments. But her death meant something, and it felt earned, and proper. Unlike so many deaths on this show, this wasn't a random, shocking violent moment that ultimately means nothing. Sasha planned her death to have the greatest impact possible. As she says, only one person has to die. And she decides that one person should be her. The moment when she emerges from the coffin and knocks Negan off the truck is just great. I knew it wouldn't be that easy, but I really did want her to take him out in that moment. In any case, Sasha definitely gets some kills in, post-death. Turning yourself into a mindless weapon is such a hard core thing to do! I also liked the moments where we saw Sasha and Maggie sitting together in a pleasant field. Abraham-hating aside, it was a great bookend to the beginning of this season, when these two women had lost their partners and were feeling completely broken down. Now, in death, Sasha is serene in knowing that she did something to help her friends.

And it's Sasha that kick-starts the whole battle at the end. Rick and his team were in a completely unfavorable situation, thanks to the fact that Jadis and her people had turned on them. But just as I was wondering if Rick was really going to lay down his arms against overwhelming odds, Negan opens the coffin, and dead Sasha sparks an all-out war. It was the best moment in the whole episode, and it made Sasha's death feel significant.

Rick's character arc also comes to a head, here. After his talk with Michonne, we know that Rick is ready to accept losing the people he cares for most, so that the world can be a better place. At the start of this season, he was a sniveling mess as Negan nearly forced him to cut Carl's arm off. As the season ends, he meets Negan's eyes with fierce anger, believing Michonne has just died, no less, and basically tells him that he'll survive Carl's death and keep going until Negan is dead. Obviously Carl's death would be an unrecoverable blow to Rick, but he didn't back down, even in that most harrowing moment.

Also, Carl. Carl is the one who breaks the stalemate, just as much as Sasha is. The minute he sees Sasha is a Walker, he turns around and starts shooting. It's such a powerful moment for his character. I cannot get enough of it.

There's also an arc in this episode for Rick, Michonne, and Carl as a family. Basically, Rick and Carl both believe Michonne to be dead, knowing that she was struggling with one of Jadis' people up on a roof, and then hearing a scream. Later, they find her badly beaten, but alive. It was such an important thread to include, because Carl and Rick, even believing Michonne to be dead, still rallied when their reinforcements arrived. They still fought to survive and win, refusing to give in to despair.

I've had a hard time all season pinning down how I feel about Negan as a villain. This comes from the fact that Jeffrey Dean Morgan does such a great job, but the character himself is bogged down by too many speeches and a lot of repetition. The most interesting Negan moments are when we learn about his own moral code, and his own strange sympathies. He seems to actually respect and admire Sasha, for example, and he actually seems sad that she died. He's no longer amused by Rick, and finds him to be annoying, but the "necessity" of killing Carl to teach Rick a lesson seems very upsetting to him, because he does genuinely like Carl. Negan is a monster, full stop. But he's an interesting monster, one with more shades and complexities than you might first assume. As annoying as it is to drag out this Negan plot, I'm actually excited that we're not quite done with this character yet. I see promise.

As this episode ends, we have two sides preparing for war. Negan, with Eugene and Gregory by his side, vs. Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel, the leaders of three communities now banded together. It was so satisfying to see this, especially for Maggie. We get a great voice-over, where Maggie says that all the bonding that they've done, all the sacrifices that they've made, they all come down to Glenn. He made a choice to save Rick when they first met, even though he didn't know him and didn't have to. Maggie was just following his example when she decided to show up and kick ass with the Hilltop folks. It's a beautiful speech, encompassing the importance of friendship and loyalty with the great gift of sacrifice. I'm very excited to see more of Maggie in this new leadership role. Things are about to get interesting, for sure!

And there you have it. I can't call this a great episode of television. In fact, we may be past the days of great episodes of The Walking Dead, sad though it is to contemplate. But this show is still good some of the time, and this finale is an example of that. RIP Sasha. Your death meant something.

8/10

[gracedman]

For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free!

Galatians 5:1–6 (AMP)

IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]. Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no profit (advantage, avail) to you [for if you distrust Him, you can gain nothing from Him]. I once more protest and testify to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation and bound to practice the whole of the Law and its ordinances. If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God’s gracious favor and unmerited blessing). For we, [not relying on the Law but] through the [Holy] Spirit’s [help], by faith anticipate and wait for the blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God [our conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope. For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.

  John 8:36 (AMP)

So, if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.

 There are so many people who are Christians, who are afraid of the freedom that Christ brings to every believer at their salvation. Christ’s freedom does not give the fallen nature the right to express all its desires and passions. Nor does Christ bring pressure to bring us into conformity to religious and moral standards. To all the religious people of his day and to the Pharisees, Jesus Christ said this:

  Matthew 5:20 (ESV)

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 Today, some are saying that we need to return to the teachings of Jesus Christ and not honor Paul above and beyond Jesus; for the servant is not above his master. The Pharisees and scribe of the New Testament were meticulous and engrossed upon doing what is right in the sight of God. Their pursuit of righteousness absorbed their minds in ways that it is difficult for us in the twenty first century to understand. One type of modern Pharisee, the Ultra-Orthodox Jew, will not drive a car on the Sabbath, will not push an elevator button, nor do other simple tasks with labor saving devices, because of their desire to honor their understanding of the law. And often, they will work harder and create unreasonable actions to honor a superficial understanding of the law. I have known such a person who will refuse to even ride in an automobile yet instead will walk 5 or 6 miles in the heat of the day. Which is more of an effort? And a whole system of rules for avoiding working on the Sabbath exists in certain religious circles. Here is a clear example of what is primary in the minds and hearts to which Jesus and Paul would agree:

 “I once more protest and testify to every man who receives circumcision (an act of performance-based acceptance before God) that he is under obligation and bound to practice the whole of the Law and all its ordinances. If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law (or any system of actions in a performance-based acceptance before God), you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from the benefits and blessings of grace.”

 Like flowers that have budded, bloomed, blossomed, and then faded, when we return to the resources of our fallen selves and try to live out our lives at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, our lives will fall to the ground and die. In addition, God says we are under the obligation to keep his entire law, all of it, if we are seeking to be justified before him by our own actions.

 Justification is a once and for all time event. God, the Father, honors the blood of his Son in the life of all who have faith in Christ. It is a legal transaction in heaven not an experiential impartation in the soul of the believer. It is an eternal fact to be reckoned upon and rejoiced in continually. God, the father sees us in Christ. And he treats us as such. He longs to be gracious to us and resists our proud efforts to earn or merit his favor. Christ has set us free and expects us to relish the freedoms he has provided. In this simplicity, we are to stand in the glorious freedom that grace will establish and maintain in our lives. Let me repeat our opening verses:

 John 8:36 (AMP)

So, if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.

  Galatians 5:1 (AMP)

IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].

 We can stand in grace and advance into greater grace because of the work that Christ has already done for us and now desires to reveal in us. If you are in Christ, then you are really and unquestionably free.

 Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for what you have done for us. It brings us to worship again. It establishes us in service again. It empowers us in warfare as more than warriors in Christ. Amen!!!