#rather than a disgraced lover taking revenge

[trashlie]

Hello, I'm the anon from earlier. I'm not a business person by any means either, but I guess I was thrown off by the fact that a seemingly family-owned corporation like Hirahara Corp apparently had an outsider as CEO? Rand inheriting instead of Yui makes sense since there were no male heirs and this is probably a patriarchal set-up; but why didn't Koutaro, or any other Hirahara, become CEO rather than Young-chul?

I 100% think the partnership with the Kims continuing even after the past SA allegations is a "sleazy business world" thing. I doubt shareholders have any problems with it so long as it generates profit. Most likely the allegations didn't amount to anything, which is unfortunately realistic.

I can't WAIT for Yujing's article, it will no doubt send shockwaves throughout the system even if it doesn't manage to topple it just yet.

Oh absolutely, SAME! I've always felt that Yui herself resents that the company is passing down not through her, but technically through Rand, that his illegitimate child could possibly even stand an opportunity simply by being Rand's son (and thus why she has torn him down at every opportunity, so he never gets the chance to ever catch attention). Part of her whole deal with having Kousuke fast-track his way to CEO seems to be to bring the company fully back into the hands of the Hiraharas, so yes, I was DEFINITELY taken aback that someone OTHER than a Hirahara could have been a CEO.

Like... right. For what reason did it work out that way, that not even Koutarao was CEO? And if Yui doesn't want Hirahara falling into the hands of anyone else, it feels like a Choice to partner with them - although I guess it's because a partnership doesn't hold as much power?

A really half-baked thought I haven't been able to work through prior is that maybe Yui is playing some kind of long game - that by partnering with the Kims they could somehow let them fall back on their own sword (when you think about it, the Kims and Hiraharas are really poised to bring each other down, right?) but.... that seems messy and why would she do that? Then again... she likes a good hunt and chase. Tangentially a theory I have that goes dark is, perhaps, a member of the Kim family may have assaulted Yui when she was younger, but that's a topic for another post (I keep meaning to work on) but it loops back to "why would Yui partner with someone if she loathes them"? What does she seek to gain from that? She tends to see a few steps ahead of anyone else, so if she had had a plan, I wouldn't be shocked. After all.... wouldn't it be so easy to spin the story as "sob sob as it turns out, Gun Kim pressured us to make poor Nol take the fall for Sangchul; he was going around trying to drug girls at the Kim formal but he forced us to stay quiet~ you know how that family is~" which is, honestly, scary, but is it beyond the realm of the things Yui does? If anything, it feels like child's play, right?

On the one hand I'm like that's so convoluted, Yui would never, but only the other hand, this woman gets off on peoples' misery and loves to torture, so if she went through a long con to get back at the man/family who possibly did something to her when she was younger, if she played nice with them with the eventual intention to castigate them? Making them business partners gives enough reason to believe that they could "coerce" Yui and co to do anything, by trying to use the "lesser" of the Hirahara boys (barf) to take the fall. And how easy would it be to actually trace the drugs back to Yui? Oh, the accused perp is claiming she gave them to him? When there's a whole history of this happening at his school, in his family? When you look at Gun Kim and his rep? What other allegations have come from those Kim formals that never went anywhere? She could SO easily twist any of that!

But idk lmao it feels almost cartoon villain and I'm probably grasping at straws, but I let the thought live at the back of my mind, to see if it will grow into anything else and to see if we get anything else to change how I feel. Something definitely happened in Yui's past, of that I'm certain, but everything else is very loose conjecture.

But whether that has to do with the Kim Hirahara family history we're yet to see. There's so many questions I have and I really hope everything will be answered LMAOOOOO I also look forward to Yujing's expose, but ever since reading the theory that she's working on two separate pieces, I can't help but feel the real bomb will drop in s2. But even seeing what she's writing for Nol's case sounds promising, because it feels like the prelude of the much bigger piece, right?

GOD I get really excited just thinking of it, even though I feel like learning the eventual truth is gonna make me feel real nauseous. The seediness of the Kims and Hiraharas runs deep and twisted and UUGGGHHH. The angle of "the less fortunate" taking the fall for the affluent, privileged elite is suuuuch a good angle to work and I can't WAIT to see the ripples of it!!!!!

[amywrites256]

WIP Introduction: Of Tears And Ashes

Seraphina has spent the last few years of her life wishing she could vanish off the face of the earth and no longer have to suffer through her stepmother's constant abuse. But when she stumbles upon a sinister conspiracy to kill the King and is murdered soon after, she learns that death wasn't what she imagined. Standing at the crossroads between life and death, Moros, the lord of the underworld and the personification of doom, gives her another opportunity at life, due to a blessing she was granted at birth from the fire and creation goddess, Fira. The reaper warns her before she leaves the realm of the dead, that she will meet him soon enough, telling her that even though she has been given this second go at life, death will still haunt her wherever she goes. Sera ignores this warning and takes her second chance, hoping to run away into the woods after years of self-loathing and isolation. That full moon, she rises from her grave, like a phoenix, drenched in her own blood and covered in dirt, hoping that she can leave the Kingdom of Aureus before the attempted coup takes place. But fate seems to have other plans because she soon finds herself in the arms of a desperate Prince Alexander, who runs into the blood-drenched girl in a crowded tavern after a deadly curse begins to terrorize the residents of the royal palace. Alex is on his way to find a way to get rid of the spell that has begun to plague the royal palace, causing strange apparitions and hauntings of bleeding walls and wailing ghouls. And once again, Sera is dragged back into the chaos of the planned assassination that she was trying to escape, and while she comes to terms with the fiery rage that dwells inside her she must save her kingdom from a banished prince of hell, who is hellbent on feasting of the fears and bloodshed of innocent mortals.

Main Protagonists (With Descriptions)

Seraphina

After being dedicated to the powerful goddess, Fira, at birth, Sera was gifted with the ability to come back from the dead, when she rises from her grave she discovers new-found powers have awakened inside her, she can now breathe and summon heavenly fire, and is filled with righteous anger, rather than the numbness she was accustomed too. However, there are consequences to coming back to life, each time she does so, Sera loses some of her humanity, she cries tears of blood and has terrifying nightmares of wading through the dark blood-soaked limbo that sits at the crossroads between the realms of the living and the dead. After having spent years being abused, Sera struggles with self-loathing, suicidal ideation, and depression, but is determined to enact her revenge and prove her nemesis--Tobias--wrong.

Alexander

Alexander is the firstborn son of a King, and heir to the throne, but that doesn’t prevent the nobility and the general public from making rumours about his paternity, due to the disgraceful and treasonous actions of his mother, Gabriella, who was rumoured to have seduced his father through witchcraft and made a deal with the devil. Gabriella died in a house fire when Alex was eight, but he later learns that this was all a lie and that she faked her death after discovering that she was pregnant with an illegitimate child. After her disappearance, Alex endured both emotional and physical abuse from his father and felt like he could never be enough, disdaining the cruelty of the crown, and loathing his birthright. After his lover, Valentina tragically dies in a fire, he is left with nothing but strange haunting visions, the painfulness of grief, the gossiping of the nobility, and the looming expectations of the throne.

Andrea 

Andrea has been working as an indentured servant for Lord Javier Dominus-Lopez for years, having to endure constant verbal abuse and harassment from both Tobias and Javier's three sons. When she witnesses the summoning of the god Deimos, the lord of fear and bloodshed, she is unwilling dragged into a menacing scheme to kill the King and hunt for an enchanted sword. All Andrea desperately wants is her freedom, and to be reunited with her mother, but as the fate of the Kingdom is put at stake she learns to turn her fear into anger and to take agency in the narrative of her life.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Characters in ANF Who Would’ve Made Better Love Interests Than Kate

There are a lot of mixed opinions on TWDG: A New Frontier. Some people like it, some don’t, and some people hate it so much that they refuse to accept as canon in the series. Extreme? Yeah, but hey, to each their own. 

One thing that always bothers me when I do my replay of the series and this game is how much Kate is forced on us and even kinda punishes us for not romancing her. Like, no offense, but I’m not really interested in dating my sister-in-law, especially when her husband is actually alive, and even if she wasn’t my brother’s wife, she’s still not a character I have chemistry with, y’know? 

And every time I play, I can’t help but think that almost anyone else in ANF would’ve been a better romantic interest for Javi over Kate, so I decided to make that the list for this week. 

I would’ve loved more choices and for the game to actually show Javi’s canon bisexuality outside of a flirty line with Jesus that most players didn’t even pick. Just sayin’.

I do want to note that if you enjoy the romance with Kate and the relationship between her and Javi, that’s totally cool. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t ship them, y’know? I’m not here to try to change your mind or tell you you’re bad for shipping something I don’t because I’m not a dingus. You do what makes you happy, friend. :)

Besides, going off the stats, a majority of players romanced her so if anything, I’m the weirdo. This list is just for fun! 

Before we start, just wanna say a big thank you to @pi-creates​ for helping out with this one! Really appreciate it! Now, here are my top 5 characters who, in my opinion, would’ve made better love interests for Javier than Kate.

5. Jane if the writers didn’t turn her into a dead potato

Oh man, you should see your face right now. 

Wait, wait, stop! Before you click outta here in a huff with your “Kenny good Jane bad” grunts and come yell at me, just hear me out-- this entry is mostly a joke and the other four on this list are serious, okay? 

I needed someone to put at #5 and after talking over some options and going back and forth.... Jane came up as a joke and then kind of made the list. Because really, I thought about it. I was like, “Would I really rather have dingdong “whatever happens stay out of it” potato face Jane as a love interest over Kate? Do I dislike Kate as an option that much?” and Pi and I talked about this for a while and yeah.... yeah I would actually. 

When I said anyone but Kate, I guess I really meant anyone. 

Trust me, I know, I’m just as surprised. I guess this really says a lot about my feelings for Kate. I didn’t know I disliked her this much either.

But for fun, let’s entertain this idea of the writers NOT pulling the ol’ character assassination on Jane and she made it to Richmond with Clementine and AJ because--

Jane: "One time I ate glass because I was drunk and thought it was sugar."

Javier: "I gambled on my own baseball matches and disgraced myself for money."

Jane: “Well, I dragged my little sister around with me after everything went to shit until I finally gave her what she wanted and left her to die.”

Javier: “I wasn’t there when my dad was fighting cancer and when I finally showed up, I was too late and he was already dead, then he turned and I bashed his skull in with a piece of wood.” 

Jane: “I shot a dude’s dick off once.”

Javier: “Oof. I insulted an old lady’s cake and then shot her eye out.”

Jane: “I screwed a guy when I was supposed to be securing a place for some lady to have her baby and it resulted in the death of a teenage girl.”

Javier: “I screwed my brother’s wife.” 

Jane: “...”

Javier: “In my defense, I thought he was dead.” 

Jane: “That’s fair.”

Clementine, exasperated and emo: “Oh my god.” 

....I mean... we might be onto something here, c’mon--

Okay, now onto the more legit entries. 

4. Conrad

Now listen... I know, okay? I know. I know this one can be seen as a bit problematic considering the fact that Conrad, in his grief and anger over Francine’s death, held a gun to Gabe’s head and threatened Javi and Clementine.... plus Javi can literally murder him.

...and if you don’t do anything, Conrad with murder both Gabe and Javi and you’ll get a “YOU ARE DEAD” screen...

But we don’t talk about that because it’s not canon.

I know, but listen... I’m allowed to have ships that are difficult, as are you, and this is my list so... there.

If Conrad was a love interest that’s the route I’d take because I love him and I think a relationship between him and Javi could’ve been so damn good if properly done.

I just find Conrad to be an interesting character with a great arc that you only get to see if you don’t shoot him... which is what most people did, so they missed out. And like, I get it, I get why y’all shot him but maybe next time you play, you could consider not doing that?

So here’s the thing, Javi and Conrad share something-- they both lost loved ones because of shithead Badger. Javi is heartbroken after Mariana’s death, Conrad is devastated after Francine’s death, and they both handle that in different ways. Conrad becomes so focused on revenge and getting into Richmond, that he’s willing to threaten two kids in order to get what he wants but the thing is... that’s not him.

He even says so himself when you keep him alive-- he genuinely apologizes for what happened and will end up coming back to save Javi’s life in ep4. The potential for this to work as a relationship? It’s there... the only problem is that my confidence in the writers handling something like this is low, but let’s pretend they used their time and brains wisely-- ya got yourself a classic slow-burn friends to enemies to friends again to lovers romance and I’m here for it. 

3. Paul “Jesus” Monroe

A lot of people really like the idea of Javi and Jesus and wanted him to be a romantic option, and I don’t blame them. They have chemistry in the scenes they share, and Javi can straight up flirt with him at the end of the season, and it’s super cute... of course, I wish we had more but Telltale was too scared to actually show Javi’s bisexuality outside of that one line, I guess.

But, anyway, this ship has a lot of sweet fanart that we love to see.

The only real reason he isn’t higher on the list is that Jesus is apparently already in a relationship at this point? I guess? From what I’ve been told? Listen, I don’t read the comics, I don’t watch the show, I just go off what y’all tell me. Plus, I believe Kent joked about Jesus having someone in each community during the commentaries so like... that’s a thing?

But let’s pretend that we throw that all out and Jesus is single and ready to be in a committed relationship with our boy Javier here. Like I mentioned above, these characters have a believable chemistry from the moment they meet and I think that has a lot to do with how charming they are by themselves. Those different charms work well together.

I also enjoy how much of a badass Jesus is when it comes to fighting off walkers. Javi has a lot of force that you feel with each hit, while Jesus almost has a lighter but just as impactful hit? I dunno if I’m explaining that well-- basically, Javi strong but Jesus can bounce off walls and do cool shit with weapons that feels effortless.

It’s a combo of fighting styles that I love, so these two fighting together? *chef kiss*

There’s also Jesus’ morality and how he wants to see Javier make “good” decisions, y’know? Sure, he gets pissy if you murder the shit outta Badger, which is mostly just Telltale showing you consequences, but I get it. He sees a lot of potential in Javi, more than Javi himself sees. And unlike certain characters, Jesus doesn’t completely hate you for doing something he doesn’t agree with to a frustrating degree.

If the game gave us the option to pursue Jesus as a love interest, he and Javier would’ve been such a badass couple with a sweet romance.

2. Eleanor

This one might come as a surprise to those of you who know my feelings about Eleanor... as in, I don’t like her. I never forgave her for the shit she pulled in ep4/ep5, and now every time I replay ANF and she shows up? Well, all I really hear is the hissing of a snake.

But, putting those feelings aside and looking at her from a different perspective, I do believe that she would’ve made for a better love interest than Kate assuming that if you romanced her, she wouldn’t rat everyone out to Joan, y’know?

Hell, most people believed that Eleanor was going to be the second option with Kate back when the episodes were coming out, and for good reason. The chemistry is there in the flirting, and their relationship could’ve been super cute.

Of course, Eleanor being a love interest also comes with things becoming awkward with Tripp, but c’mon-- as awkward as pursuing a relationship with your sister-in-law and never telling your brother after finding out he’s alive? Nah, I don’t think so.

Plus, for the first three episodes, Eleanor’s not a bad character. In fact, she’s pretty damn likable, she deeply cares for the group and wants to use her medical skills for good.

And you can tell through the dialogue that she and Javi are fond of one another... well, I guess until they shove the Kate thing in our faces and suddenly Eleanor’s like “oh, I thought you two were a thing??” like... Eleanor, we were flirting and I totally rejected all of Kate’s advances last episode I mean??

If she were a love interest, instead of turning on us, she would... y’know, not do that and instead help us out. We have a couple cute moments like back in ep1 where she’s patching Javi up but this time with a smooch? Super cute.

1. Tripp

Okay but seriously, why wasn’t Tripp a love interest? 

He’s the perfect option. I just-- uuuughhhhh. 

They already have a great believable bromance, so why not take it a step further and make it an official romance? Oh wait, that’s right, ya gotta kill off 95% of your determinant characters, I forgot. Sorry Tripp. 

Well, fuck that. Out of all the other adult characters, Javi has the most chemistry with this man. I believe them more than I believe him and Kate. Sure, they got off to a rocky start the progression of their relationship felt natural with every episode. 

That scene where Tripp is confiding in Javi about his feelings for Eleanor? And in turn, Javi can confide in him about Kate? One of my favorite scenes. I only wish there was an option to tell Tripp he can do much better and set the path for the romance. 

Seriously, I’d probably feel more okay about the romance with Kate if Tripp were the second option. That way, Kate wouldn’t be so forced onto the player, the writers confirming Javi’s bisexuality on Twitter or whatever wouldn’t feel like they were trying to earn points without actually showing representation, and we would’ve gotten the beauty that is Javier and Tripp. 

Also, then Tripp could make it to the end without dying that dumb death of his that no one likes. 

And if I haven’t convinced you yet, then look at these swaps Pi did--

--and tell me they aren’t fucking perfect?? You can’t, because look at them. 

Where’s my Tripp route, Telltale??

---

Honorable Mentions

-If I wasn’t sticking to just ANF characters, Luke probably would’ve made the list because that’s apparently a popular combo and I dig it.  -Pudding... because Javi fucking loves pudding.  -Honestly Max probably would’ve been a better love interest than Kate oof--

---

So, whattya think? Do you agree with this top 5 or nah? Do you have a favorite Javi ship? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you. :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Times Lee was the Absolute Best

[muertawrites]

Two Halves - Chapter Seventeen (Zuko x Reader)

Chapter 16 - Part 1 - Part 2

Word Count: 2,130

Author’s Note: All I’m gonna say is that I think my exposition sucks, but here it is, the plot has returned (Alexa play Edge of Seventeen)

News of your newfound comfort with your husband sweeps silently and swiftly throughout the palace following your return from Ember Island, the sideways glances you receive from diplomats and servants alike impossible to overlook. Those mulling about the corridors gawk as you leave your quarters beside Zuko each morning, whispers muttered over the scandal that you now sleep in the same bed; eyes widen when you brazenly peck his lips in the company of others, and cheeks redden when his hand is spied resting shamefully low on your waist. Neither of you mind the reproachful attention, however - you want your love to be seen. 

Of course, it’s a short matter time before the council gets involved in the affair, your advisors calling a meeting less than a week after your return to berate you about the newest stain on your public image. 

“It’s disgraceful!” rages one of Yong’s aides, tossing his arms about as he shoots himself out of his seat. “The Firelord and lady are figures of authority - not foolish teenage lovers! Do you have any idea how idiotic this makes you look to the nation? To the world??” 

“Hakoda loved his wife publicly,” you flatly answer, taking a tauntingly unbothered sip of the tea laid out before you. “He’s still a very respected leader, both in the Southern Water Tribe and in other parts of the world.” 

“Chief Hakoda’s wife held no power,” the aide spits. He leans menacingly over the table towards you, clenching his fists. “You are no longer a weak, sheltered Water Tribe woman. You’re queen of one of the strongest governments to ever exist - you need to damn well act like it.” 

You shift your gaze towards the man, fixing him with a subtle, cutting glare that makes him pale. You feel the weight of your betrothal necklace at your throat, the force pushing you upward to stand at eye level with him. 

“I was never weak,” you state. “I was never sheltered. I watched Fire Nation soldiers murder my parents when I was six years old, and supported an entire village in my siblings’ absence when they left to fight with the Avatar. I willingly left my home to marry a stranger for the betterment of my people; do not call me weak for learning to love him.” 

A heavy silence falls over the room, a dozen sets of eyes trained on you. You stand, unwavering, unblinking, staring at the aide who challenged you; he sets his jaw, refusing to lower himself. Yong comes up beside him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“What Jenshi means,” she sternly justifies, “is that there are still many people in the Fire Nation who are loyal to Ozai, who are used to a Firelord and lady that operate as a political alliance rather than a traditional marriage; those people may view your affections as a sign of weakness and attempt to take advantage of it.” 

“Yes,” Jenshi mutters, lowering his shoulders as he calms himself. “And with all due respect, my lady, we still don’t know who we can trust. The threat may still very well be within the palace walls.” 

You and Zuko turn to each other, sharing a noiseless, worried look; he takes your hand, squeezing it tightly as he addresses the entire room, lowering you back to his side. 

“What do the other sectors have to say?” he questions. “Military?” 

“The general consensus so far is that the military doesn’t care,” answers Counselor Chin. “Your superior skill as a warrior is revered, and the Firelady has proven a great leader in regards to our decolonization efforts. Your personal lives are of no concern to us, and we are primed to defend you against all existing dangers.” 

“Ethically there are a few problems,” chimes Advisor Shi, head of the Integrity Committee. “Your actions go against what has been culturally accepted since before Sozin’s reign; a Firelord and lady aren’t meant to be publicly affectionate with one another, no matter how they may feel for each other beyond the nation’s eye.” 

Zuko hums, nodding. 

“I understand,” he responds. “But we are trying to move away from the traditional monarchy. We’ve already established that we don’t want any children we have to be forced into their roles, and public reception was relatively accepting. What could it hurt for us to be honest about our feelings for each other?”

“It brings us back to concerns over dissent,” Yong interjects. “As Jinshi said, we’re no closer to understanding who was behind Counselor Fen’s murder or what their intentions are; we can’t let them use your emotions as leverage.” 

“Has word really spread that quickly?” you ask her, fear beginning to quake in the center of your chest. “They’re talking about it outside the palace?” 

“No,” Jinshi replies, “but it will soon. If there are actors within the palace, we assume they already know and will attempt to play your intimacy with each other to their advantage.” 

Zuko’s body stiffens, the corners of his lips turning downward into a grave, shadowed grimace. He nods in concession, but doesn’t let go of your hand. 

“We’ll watch ourselves,” he affirms, clutching your palm tighter within his. “In the meantime, I want everyone within the palace’s actions to be heavily monitored. No one is safe if we’re not.” 

After the meeting, you and Zuko take lunch together, choosing the unromantic and relatively public setting of a stateroom outside your private wing of the palace. Anxiety causes your stomach to churn like the ocean in a storm, hindering your appetite so that you only pick at your food - you notice that Zuko does the same. 

“... I visited the physician this morning,” you tell him, breaking the uneasy stagnance. ��She said the medicine worked - I’m not pregnant.” 

“Good,” Zuko murmurs. His hand is raised to his chin, his voice distant as he keeps his pensive gaze aimed at an empty space on the table before you. “One less thing we have to worry about.” 

“What’s on your mind?” you ask.

“The attacks,” Zuko relays. “They’re not… normal.” 

“Normal how?” 

Zuko sighs, folding his arms in front of him as he continues to ponder, his brow furrowing in search of the correct words. 

“... They’re not what my father would do,” he says after a pause. “He wouldn’t utilize outsiders like the Dai Li, or kill an indirect target just to make a statement. That’s what Azula would do.” 

“... So you think she was behind it?” you guess. “They could have been her ideas, but the fact that she took herself out means that there had to have been someone else.” 

“Exactly,” Zuko agrees. “And that’s what’s confusing. The only person she ever feared was our father, but after he abandoned her during the comet, she hated him. Everything we have from her investigation supports that. She’d never be allegiant to him.” 

“But who else could have convinced her?” you wonder. “What else? Threatening her life clearly didn’t mean anything, and she renounced her loyalty to the Fire Nation when she was arrested. Do you think that… that maybe someone told her they were trying to overthrow you? That they offered to let her take your place?” 

“Azula was like our father. If she wanted to take over, she would’ve just taken over. She never would have taken the throne if it were offered.” 

“So… she wasn’t the one leading the attacks… but her pride kept her from bending to anyone’s will but her own. What was her place, then?” 

“I think she just wanted me dead,” Zuko admits. “Whoever approached her, they asked for her help in killing me. They gave her the opportunity to exact her revenge in a way that destroyed me little by little, the way she wanted to see it happen.” 

“... But Ozai and his supporters don’t operate that way,” you recall. 

“ They don’t,” Zuko echos. “They take by force.” 

You meet his eyes, a deep, tumbling chasm bottoming out in your stomach, the shockwave reverberating through your body. Your limbs feel limp, your head dizzy. 

“It’s not the Fire Nation,” you realize.

The words come out in a quiet gasp, carried by what little breath you can manage to force from your lungs. Zuko’s expression falls gravely blank; he reaches for your hand, bringing your knuckles to his lips without thought or care to who could see. 

“It’s not the Fire Nation,” he repeats. “Which means… there might be no one we can trust.”

The door to your bedroom slides open and sputters shut behind you, indicating Zuko’s entrance; bent over, fumbling with the ties on your robes, you don't turn to greet him, but instead share the message you got that afternoon. 

“Toph is coming,” you announce. “She heard about Azula and is worried about our safety, so she's bringing a group of-” 

You cease completely as you face the man standing in front of the doorway, horrified to find that he isn't your husband. 

“I must say, you really know how to upset things,” Advisor Xiang sneers, pacing slowly towards you. 

You take a few steps back, cornering yourself back against the nearest wall; in the waist of your robes, Suki’s fan presses harshly to your side, too hidden for you to reach without alerting your intruder.

“Get out,” you quip. “Get out before I call the guards.” 

“Make one sound and this knife will end up in your neck,” Xiang threatens. He raises a blade from his hip, holding it menacingly level with your throat; as he closes in on you, he lets it graze your skin, his gaunt, sunken face glaring down at you like a demon summoned from the darkest corner of hell. 

“You were supposed to run, little girl,” he drawls on. “You were supposed to die in Ba Sing Se. None of this - this love you have for the Firelord, your flirting with the possibility of continuing his bloodline - was ever supposed to happen. And we can't let it happen.” 

“Who is ‘we’?” you demand. You try to make your voice firm, unshaken, but it quivers in your mouth, causing Xiang to release a belittling chuckle. 

“You won't find that out,” he taunts. “I've come to discuss the terms of your punishment. You see, since you defied everything we expected of you, we’re going to make you do what we planned to do months ago - you're going to kill Zuko.” 

Bile rises to the back of your throat, your gut seizing in a panicked, terrified hitch. You shake your head, quickly and minutely, tears starting to sear the corners of your eyes. 

“No,” you detest. “I won't do it. We’ll stop you.” 

“You will do it,” Xiang hisses, “because if he isn't dead within the next seven days, your entire family - that bumbling brother, his wife, your sister and her precious little family, even your father - will die instead.” 

He removes the dagger from your neck, grinning tauntingly, maliciously, as he slips it into the loose breast of your robes. His touch sickens you, but you're too petrified to force him back. 

“And don't you dare try reaching out for help,” he snarls. “We have informants throughout the palace - we’ll know every move you make, and if anyone gets word of this, your loved ones will all perish, and this time you’ll have no one to take you in.” 

It's only when Xiang releases you do you realize he had a hold on your wrist, gripping you so tightly that he leaves flaming red marks on your skin. Tears bubble down your cheeks, a sob lodged in your throat that you refuse to let go. 

“Why are you doing this?” you plead. 

You don't know why you expect him to answer honestly - you don't know why you expect him to answer at all. He smirks, showing the ugly, yellowed points of his irregularly sharp canines. 

“Because Zuko would have been better off dead when Ozai gave him that scar,” he replies. “His is a family of sociopaths and murders, my dear - we must end the cycle before it repeats itself.” 

Xiang slips through the door he ambushed you from, and you're left alone in your terror. Fingers shaking, you take the knife from your robes and hide it under the mattress, your mind racing as you try to figure out what you can possibly do to save the people you love. 

You're in bed by the time Zuko returns, the lights turned out and your body hidden beneath the blankets, too shaken to face him. As he lays down beside you, wrapping his arms around your waist and nestling into the comfort of your body, all you can feel is the blade beneath you, slicing your side as ruthlessly as if you were the one sentenced to death.

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[shini--chan]

1p (yandere) allies or axis The (country)reader gives them love and affection, because she knows they in love with her. They have a relationship, for few months. One day they come home and in the private office are really important documents missing. And they see the reader in the next meetings not (for years?). One day they see her again, what would they do?

Yandere Allies

America

He grinned menacingly at the sight of you. Anger was already slithering through your veins, the harsh snap of it causing his mind to fall into a familiar calculating state. He had fantasied about this moment for a long time, yearned for your touch for a long time, desire to crush you for your transgressions for a long time.

Maybe he was a moonstruck fool that simply couldn’t let go for feeling his heart palpitate upon the sight of you. Or he was just plain sadistic by the blissful way his blood rushed upon seeing you pale with fear.

Running away wouldn’t work at this point, since Alfred would be dead set on obtaining you and making you repent for your sins. He wouldn’t take espionage lightly, especially since you represented a honey-trap. All the memories he would have about you would be pleasant ones, and he would reflect back on those times where you were so perfect fondly. America would aim to recapture those moments and mould your persona to his liking.

He may or may not meet you again by chance, or he would have been actively hunting you down. If there is anything that can enrage America, it would be being bested – something you would have somehow accomplished with frightening ease. And something you would have to pay for. In Alfred’s eyes, it would just be fair play.

Canada

One moment you were calmly going through the aisles of the store, the next you were staring into indigo eyes. There was a smile on Matthew’s face – the soft, considerate kind that didn’t reach his eyes. There, an icy glint lingered, dangerous and subtle like frostbite in the bleak mid-winter.

Internally, you knew that was far more deadly than the usual temper tantrums, that people throw once they are betrayed. By the likes of it, you had made a fatal error in your calculations.

If you thought you’d be facing a flimsy little wallflower that has no backbone, then think again. Matthew’s anger is ice, and therefore he isn’t as blinded by emotions as others would be. Sure, deep down he would still love you (or rather be obsessed with you), yet that doesn’t mean that you would be off the hook.

No way in the whole world would he let you get away with what you did. However, with his kind words and sugary tone you wouldn’t be aware of the full extent of his rage. Unluckily for you, Canada is a hunter and he would know exactly how to pin you down and ensure you wouldn’t be able to escape until he would have his justice.

 China

“It has been a very long time, hasn’t it, my little rabbit?”, a silky-smooth voice inquired behind you. Startled, you whipped around, nearly spilled the champagne that you were delicately holding, and stared him in the eye.

The amber was cat-like, just like the tight smile on his lips. Feline as he was, no doubt he had all intentions to play with his prey. The music being drawn from the piano would be the requiem of your pride, and the other guests to the gala the audience to applaud the abrupt turn of your fate.

“When you went away, you broke my heart. I was struck by betrayal and I couldn’t keep my thoughts off you.

“Often, I would fantasize about you – what I would say, what would you say. But in the end, that is all irreverent. I’m simply a victim of the circumstances, here to set matters straight and you have gone ahead and set the stage. I am most touched”, he drawled, genuine hurt in his light tone.

The other people had started to look and whisper, the impending fall from grace too delicious to pass up. Such negative attention made you clutch the fragile stem of the flute even tighter.

Glass shards could never evoke as much pain as Yao’s sharp tongue.  

China would be smouldering with rage underneath the artfully crafted theatre mask. First of all, he would angry at himself. Due all the experience he has under his belt, he should know better than to fall for the tricks of some young fledgling. Still he did and the implications infuriate him. Nonetheless, the whole affair would be analysed and carefully catalogued in his mind to prevent you from ever having the upper hand again.

Secondly, he would be upset with you. Did all those kind words really mean nothing to you? All those tender moments, all those affections – a magnificent lie? He’d hope that deep down you had sincerely fallen in love with him. Through he wouldn’t be so foolish to act on that assumption. As old as he may be, he isn’t senile.

Try as you might to wriggle out of it, he wouldn’t let you. In an indirect way, you would have brought disgrace to his name by making him look like a fool. That means he wouldn’t hesitate to thoroughly humiliate you in public. Then he’d ensure that you would wind up in his gracious custody – with no means of ever leaving him. Having then isolate you, he would use that precious time with you to re-educate you. Whoever did it before he entered your life evidently did a measly job.  

England

When you switched on the light to your living room, you nearly tripped over your own feet in shock. Malice danced like fae fire in the pair of eyes that scrutinized your every move and drank in your terrified expression like it was whisky.

Eventually overcoming the initial shock, you seethed: “What are you doing here. Decent people knock on the door and don’t simply invite themselves in!”

“Strange for you to say that. Even hypocritic, if I may remark”, Arthur lightly said, words slow as if he was weighing every word against gold. No doubt he was barely holding all the insults back.

He gestured to the armchair opposite him. “Have a seat. There all a lot of things we need to talk about, and loose end to tie up.”

Out of all the nations, England would be the most volatile. When your relationship would have started, he would have been cautious, even suspicious to a degree. His paranoia would have been well-founded, especially with how many times he’d been backstabbed in the past. That he had invested his trust in you only for you to abuse it would reaffirm his belief that it would be best to keep his hackles raised. Never tiring, he would hunt you down, constantly torn between the desire for revenge and how he would yearn for your love. That mixture would be potentially lethal.

Arthur might kill you with the justification of “if I can’t have you, no-one can” or also “a fitting punishment for your crime. However, that option would just be further down his list. If you act polite, then he would largely reciprocate the favour. If you lash out or even just insult him then he would rain fire and brimstone down on you.

The conversation would be like an interrogation, with only a thin veil of civility leaving room for something else. Should you beg for his forgiveness, then he would be pleased and even a bit lenient. That doesn’t mean that you’d evade the punishments he’d have instore for you.

France

You saw Francis before he saw you, a lucky thing on your part. Your former lover looked lost. Not that it was the initial impression that a random pass byer would glean from him, but you knew him better.

For a brief moment your thoughts darted to the documents you had leaked to your government – damaging, condemning information if it were to land in enemy hands, which was exactly what happened. If you didn’t know better, then you would pity poor France for the travesty that happened.

You prowled forward to him. Such a sappy fool, you could probably convince him that you still loved him. Maybe you could glean some more information from him.

Your hubris would really be the end of you. Naturally, France would be overjoyed to see you and immediately welcome you back with open arms and a giddy smile. Just remember that love, or rather obsession in his case, isn’t harmless. The limerence he would have with you would entail that he would squirrel you away and hoard you.

In the beginning, you wouldn’t even fully notice where the whole matter would be heading, either blinded by your own false pride or by Francis’ suave manner. Either way, if you wouldn’t wake up to his counter machinations fast, then you’d have all the information you could wish from him but no means to reporting it to your superiors. Your foolishness would land you in a gilded cage.  

Russia

Once he reached the top of the hill you noticed him. Ivan was strolling down the same path that cut through meadows and forests, just a few metres ahead of you. Of all times to meet him, you had least expected it to be during your evening stroll.

You halted in your tracks, contemplating if it would be better to wait until the danger was far away or to immediately turn around and head back home. Russia ended up making the choice for you, and it was neither of the options you had in mind.

He must have somehow sensed your presence, for he glanced over your shoulder. Recognition flashed over his defined visage and it evoked a sense of dread in you. Especially when he pivoted around and approached you.

With some difficulty, you swallowed your fear, because you knew that Ivan was like a wolf that would mangle you if he whiffed weakness. Meticulously, you adored your lips with a picture-perfect smile, a painter adding the finishing touches to their masterpiece in your own right.

“It is a wonderful evening, eh?”, he asked you, in that soft voice you were so well acquainted with.

Russia would first play on pleasantries. However, don’t be fooled. He can hold a grudge and once in his grasp, he would shy away from making his displeasure known. You’d have to be very lucky to escape him and more to permanently evade him. The chance would be slim, yet it would be there. And don’t think that he would be stupid enough to point it out to you.

Your betrayal would have been a smarting blow to him, even if he would have half-expected him. And to him, petty little information thieves are surprisingly worse than cold-blooded murderers. The threat you would represent wouldn’t be obvious, yet that wouldn’t stop with from curbing all those bad habits. He’d miss the person you had displayed yourself as when you had been wooing him and he would do his best to build you to be that person in reality.

[dwellordream]

“One of the seductions of horn logic was its power to make short work of complex and contested narratives. When Thersites reduces the Trojan War to "All the argument is a whore and a cuckold" (Troilus and Cressida 2.3.72), he slyly mocks the spectators who flocked to play after play about precisely that argument. On the street and at the theater doors, ballads aired news of local and homely adulteries, while the stage offered plays about sexual betrayal in elevations low (Johan the Husband) to middling (Arden of Feversham) to lofty (King Lear), many of them preceded by a clown's homing gibes at the audience and capped with bawdy jigs about cuckoldry. 

If sated playgoers decided to pick up an Arthurian romance or a volume of English history, they would find more monitory examples of infidelity, male and female. In the Arthurian legends and in chronicles by Speed and Holinshed, "the king's adultery is an immediately familiar emblem for the defilement of the purity of the state and the abdication of responsible government." In accounts of Edward II's homing and murder, Henry VIII's fatal accusations against his queens, or the explosive rumor of Lord Darnley's horning and murder by Mary Stuart, chroniclers and popular authors warned princes to beware the love of women. 

As Phyllis Rackin observes, "the patrilineal genealogy" that organized both history and society "required the repression of women, and of heteroerotic passion as well, because the invisible, putative connection between fathers and sons that formed the basis of patriarchal authority was-as Shakespeare's cuckold jokes endlessly insist-always dubious, always vulnerable to subversion by an adulterous wife." Not even religion was free of the horn. During Queen Mary's reign, Catholics bewhored English nuns who had converted to Protestantism under Edward and married. In taking the veil, they had espoused themselves to Christ; wouldn't he be "stirred up to wrathe and indignation" like any other cuckold?

Pageant drama, too, had its share of horn jokes. In the "N-Town" Joseph's Doubt, spectators have a good laugh at the expense of Joseph, who moans that he'll be ridiculed back in Bethlehem as an "old cokwold" whose "howe is bent." When Mary explains that the Holy Spirit impregnated her, he angrily cuts her short: "It was sum boy began [th]is game." It takes a miracle for him to believe her: a cherry tree bows down to give Mary its fruit, finally satisfying him that he is not horned but holy. Like Joseph, many critics who have considered early modern cuckoldry suspect it was "sum boy began this game" and that the prime mover behind the age's obsession was intense male concern about "the other man." 

Relying on analyses of property transfer in marriage derived from the work of Marcel Mauss and Claude Levi-Strauss (theories that Gayle Rubin drew on in "The Traffic in Women"), critics as diverse as Coppelia Kahn, Katherine Eisaman Maus, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgiwick forward the proposition that cuckoldry narratives focus chielfy on the flow of homoerotic and political power "between men," in Sedgwick's famous phrase. Douglas Bruster asserts that only the male lover, never the wife, is "the one who cuckolds" and that women are "helpless counters" in a transfer between males.

While the cuckoldry paradigm is certainly about male-male economies of desire, it seems futile to deny that it is also about female pleasure and will. In some tales the "helpless counter" is not the wife at all but the lover, who is hidden, coached, and directed by the wife. Many tales name the wife as "the one who cuckolds," while the husband is the object. One lame jest puns on this relationship: Q. Why doth the man weare the hornes whereas the woman doth make them? A. Because the man is the head. More often than not, the merry books feature women who act on their desires for revenge, love, or sexual satisfaction using the weapons of allies, wit, daring, and timing. 

A surprising number of tales direct no criticism at the wife or lover but instead upbraid the husband and his faults: impotence, jealousy, brutality. Finally, some comic narratives give prominent play to a husband's lechery as the cause of his wife's infidelity or her threat to give him horns. The author of Jane Anger, her Protection for Women (1589) certainly thought her readers would enjoy hearing why skirt chasers so often became cuckolds: "some of them will follow the smocke as Tom Bull will runne after a town Cow. But, lest they should running slip and breake their pates, the Gods, provident of their welfare, set a paire of tooters on their foreheads, to keepe it from the ground."

To explain all such narratives by recourse to the theory that women are counters passed from male to male is to accept a monolithic, one-sex model of drama and social power. This is unwarranted in light of the abundant popular materials that dwell on women's abilities to manipulate and subvert, if only in fantasy, a sexual marketplace that urged them to be pliant commodities. Too many stories show the commodity striking back, besting husbands described as deserving cuckolds or proving them hypocrites. More important, the favored genres of the horn-ballad, jig, novella, and jest-often portray women as storytellers and performers, which is not so surprising given that real women engaged in precisely these forms of popular mimesis.

Why would women enjoy these tales? First, many tales assert that women possess a satiric weapon in a world that continually denies them agency and wit. They offer harsh judgment fitting to the harsh conditions of most women's lives, inviting readers to mock abusive, alcoholic, or philandering husbands, all of which were in ample supply. Second, within the jesting literature, poverty and beatings at home are cited as motives behind many extramarital encounters. The narrator in Cornu-Copiae (1612) reasons that, by taking lovers, women may be looking for something more than sexual pleasure: 

Sometimes the golden prey doth make the theife, And women yeeld for further maintenance: Sometimes short commons makes them seeke reliefe: And stubborn usage and sterne countenance, Perforce constraine a woman now and than To seeke for comfort of a kinder man; And sometimes want of heartes, when hands are married, Is one great cause, that many have miscarried. It is remarkable how often such passages occur in texts that are otherwise crudely antifeminist. (Cornu-Copiae goes on to show a man trapped into marriage, with her family's collusion, by a woman impregnated by another man.) 

Other jests and ballads target hard-handed husbands who drink to excess. Narratives about tavern-haunting, foul-mouthed husbands sometimes show a bias toward the female reader. These may function as ripostes to the more misogynist specimens of the gossips' literature, in which drunken shrews plot how to beat and cuckold their husbands. Pasquils Palinodia's "Muse of Sack" warns men that a husband's brutality can drive a wife to adultery: 

And blame her not for shee is not of steele, Nor made of iron, brasse, or such hard mettle, Neither so senseless that she cannot feele But she is us'd as tinker doe his kettle .... Then straight he calls her half a dozen whores, And to the Taverne gets him out of doores .... Then druncke, at midnight, home the knave doth creepe, And beats his wife, and spues, and falls asleep. Shall a vast unthrift with a false pretence Wrong his poore wife, and be exempt from blame? And shall a woman, who hath a just offence And forc'd by dogged usage to her shame, If she another friend doth entertaine, To give her some content, and ease her paine, Shall she be censur'd with disgraceful speeches, And he stand deere because he wares the breeches?

The answer goes without saying-she'll be censured, and he'll" stand cleere"-but at least the text identifies and questions the double standard, an example of the counterhegemonic articulation that is sometimes audible in popular texts. Such a passage does not offer up the ventriloquized voice of a female subject. Rather, it is a beckoning slot in discourse, an invitation to debate that may be taken up by multiple voices, including women's. Frances Dolan argues that popular representations of cuckoldry "constitute the wife as a subject only to the extent that they qualify [the] husband's claim to subject status by silencing and immobilizing him and casting doubt on his authority and potency."”

- Pamela Allen Brown, “Between Women, or All Is Fair at Horn Fair.” in Better a Shrew than a Sheep: Women, Drama, and the Culture of Jest in Early Modern England

[reylofanfictionanthology]

Authors have now been revealed for For one is love and both are one in love!

Over 170 fics were posted to our Exchange this month and we are so excited to finally share the authors with you!  Thank you so much to all of the writers who wrote for this event!  

For one is love and both are one in love collection on AO3 |  Gift Fic Master Post Part One | Gift Fic Master Post Part Two

Treats Masterpost:

Only Now Can We Remember by misszeldasayre for america_oreosandkitkats

Ben Solo arrives home, disgraced. All of Hanna City judges him—all but Rey.

just want the devil to hate me by walkingsaladshooter for america_oreosandkitkats

Three years after he killed the past, Kylo Ren returns to the town where he was only ever Ben Solo. Nothing is even remotely healed, but maybe he can start.

Each Day is Valentine's Day by HellyJellyBean for andabatae

Accidental Praise by QueenOfCarrotFlowers for andabatae

Ben likes his new roommate, Rey. She's smart and funny, and she's a good cook; she's fun to hang out with, although she seems to blush a lot. Maybe she's coming down with something? Anyway, when she has an interview and she needs some help selecting her outfit, Ben is there to help her out, any way he can.

She learned that word from Whom? by itsinthestars for aNerdObsessed

Rey and Ben Solo's young daughter, Reia Solo, says a bad word in front of them and now the couple wonder where she learned it... 👀

Her Inspiration by itsinthestars for Ann3onymous

Art student, Rey Johnson is preparing her Final Portfolio and her inspiration for it all is her boyfriend, Ben Solo.

Regeneration by crossingwinter for bitterbones

She should have known it wouldn’t work. Not wanting to tell her friends because she knew she’d have gotten a you can’t be friends with benefits with your ex talk should have told her all she needed to know.

Gentle Sin by QueenOfCarrotFlowers for CeciliaSheplin

Rey is writing a new song, maybe Ben can help.

As Boundless as the Sea by SpaceWaffleHouseTM for crossingwinter

Padmé survives and raises her kids, but decades later her grandson meets the granddaughter of the man who took everything from her at a masquerade, and sparks fly. Upon realizing who the other is, the two must make an impossible choice: risk losing the love of their families, or risk losing the possibility of loving each other.

Within and Without by misszeldasayre for CwenPhy

When Rey brings Ben back to Ajan Kloss after he saves her, Finn objects to his presence and burgeoning relationship with Rey. However, he can't ignore their friends who observe something real between Rey and Ben.

Strays by crossingwinter for dankobah

Rey rescues a mangy mutt from the site of a junkyard and brings the dog to the Solo Veterinarian Clinic. There she falls in love with the handsome son who's just really trying to save all animals.

The Gentleness That Comes by shewhospeakswiththunder for ilum

For the prompts: "1990s New York AU. Ben rejects his wealthy, reputable family (bonus points for !lawyer Leia) and decides to fend for himself. He ends up getting involved with an underground boxing community. One day, bloodied and bruised after a fight, he goes for a drink to the local bar he frequents. To his surprise, he finds a young, fresh-faced girl behind the bar instead of the usual bartender." And: "We have not touched the stars, nor are we forgiven, which brings us back to the hero’s shoulders and the gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it." Richard Siken - "Snow and Dirty Rain."

Stay Safe by crossingwinter for itsinthestars

Just one curse.  Just one simple curse and she’ll be gone.  Blasted off the face of the earth.  When had that idea become repellant to him?

prince and the sea by thewayofthetrashcompactor for kuresoto

Prince Ben Chewbacca Solo Organa, descendant of the house of Naberrie and the line of Skywalker, heir to the Starbird pirate fleet, has followed in the family tradition of slaying monsters and ruling the high seas. Which in no way is an attempt at ignoring his soulmate bond.

to be held, and held together by walkingsaladshooter for Lightningpelt

“I want to stay here with you,” he murmurs. “In this bed. And I want to make you feel nothing but good things.” — "After the war, Ben and Rey travel to Naboo for a vacation. The first thing Ben wants to do is spoil Rey as best he can.

Beneath The Stars by itsinthestars for MBlair

Rey and Ben celebrate their first Valentine's Day with snuggles, comfort, and kisses beneath the stars.

In the Name of Whitney, Mariah, and Aretha – Amen by reylogarbagechute for MBlair

A snapshot of happily-coupled NYC Ben and Rey via: one overblown Valentine’s Day fight, one dramatic rendition of karaoke, and one round of bang-and-make-up in a dive bar bathroom. Literary merit questionable, ridiculous crack-fluff guaranteed. A #RFFA fic.

False Positive by apisa_b for MissCoppelia

The health check Ben was given after he joined the Resistance didn't come back quite as clean as he expected, which causes Rey to feel rather guilty.

Tangentially MintyCel for ninecrimes

After Exegol Rey goes through a period of deep mourning, escaping to the crowded towns of Corellia where no one knows who she is whenever she needs some time by herself. But one day, a stranger walks into the dingy bar where Rey is drinking some of her sadness away, a stranger that seems all too familiar and is wearing Ben Solo's face.

Killing Me Softly by HellyJellyBean for PalenDrome

A short Mr and Mrs Smith Reylo AU treat. :-)

bittersweet and strange by thewayofthetrashcompactor for PalenDrome

Rey has decided that she's done with waiting. If she can't have a soulmate, she's going to be the best Jedi the galaxy has ever seen, and not even Luke Skywalker is going to stop her. She'll take on a mission to defeat a monster and prove that she's as good as any of his students, despite his warnings. Of course, monsters aren't always what we expect.

Conjugal Visit by radioactivesaltghoul for persimonne

Being the last Jedi comes with a lot of perks. For example, nobody questions Rey when she brings a bag full of equipment to come visit her accidental husband in prison.

This Connection by itsinthestars for persopilliankore

After one passionate night at an office party, Rey Johnson and Ben Solo, finally confront each other...

Unshakeable by crossingwinter for politicalmamaduck

Rey is performing in another fucking musical and Ben goes to see it.

Ash and Blood by CeciliaSheplin for queenofcarrotflowers

Bloodthirsty warrior Kylo Ren is betrayed by his men and must flee. He is helped by a mysterious woman and her friends. He joins forces with them to get his revenge.

In Secret, Between the Shadow and the Soul midwinterspring for RedPaladin465

Five years after defeating Palpatine, Emperor Kylo Ren and Empress Rey rule the galaxy.

If I Was A Raindrop (Would You Be My Thunderstorm) by itsnotillegal for ReyloBrit

Rey has finally worked up the courage to tell her best friend she likes him, but an awkward encounter complicates matters...

White Silk by TourmalineGreen for SaintHeretical

There is one person, however, in the office, who does not fill her with genuine joy. “Brides don’t want unembellished gowns, they want sparkles!” she’s yelling to the owner-designer-asshole who ruins her life and harshes her chill on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis. “Just last week, I had five brides who asked for more bling at a price point they—” “I don’t deal in ‘bling,’” Ben Solo is yelling back, behind his closed office door, but clearly loud enough that everyone can hear it. Everyone in the back office, thank God. Not the customers. She hopes. “I deal in couture,” he says. “I deal in design. I deal in elegance. Women want to feel elegant on their wedding day, not like a goddamn Vegas showgirl—” “Oh, oh, that’s rich, you, telling me what it is that women want?” Rey scoffs, almost laughs—she’s the only one brave or stupid enough to try this with him. “Wonderful. I am prepared to receive your insight, oh wise one.” — AKA the Say Yes to the Dress Omegaverse AU, for some reason?

Futile Devices by misszeldasayre for TheStolenQuill

When piano teacher Kylo Ren runs into Rey at his local music shop, he knows her talent must be cultivated. Who better to teach her than himself?

A Magical Surprise by itsinthestars for TheStolenQuill

Both in Ravenclaw House, best friends Rey and Ben Solo, share a moment of longing that turns into a magical surprise...

I'm the Spy by andabatae for thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily)

Spy Rey is sent on a mission to figure out if Kylo Ren, tech mogul, is involved in leaking election secrets to a foreign government. She plans to seduce the information out of him. Too bad he seems completely oblivious to her advances.

Dibs by crossingwinter for tmwillson3

Ben dibses the parking spot after it snows. If he’s going to spend almost an hour shoveling his car out of the snow, he gets to park his car there later. Too bad one of his neighbors thinks dibsing is unethical and keeps thwarting his parking plans. Dibs: A Chicago Winter Parking Enemies To Lovers AU.

Syrup by walkingsaladshooter for trasharama

The first time she shows up, it’s eight o’clock in the morning and she looks asleep on her feet. Her brown hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, her sweatshirt is sitting askew on her shoulders, and she blinks heavily up at the menu behind Ben’s head. He watches her purse her lips and immediately feels a soft fondness. “Small latte. Six pumps of vanilla.”

Lucky by BastetWrites for walkingsaladshooter

Nothing makes Ben more happy than waking up with Rey in his arms. Also lazy morning sex happens. _______________ A small gift for walkingsaladshooter for the Valentine's RFFA: Reylo Fanfiction Exchange of 2020

Endings and Beginnings by Vivien for  Xochiquetzl

Rey’s hand cradles Ben’s head before it can hit the stone floor. He’s ridiculously heavy, all dead weight, and Rey’s entire body cramps in horror before she sees the faint rise and fall of his chest. He’s not dead. He hasn’t left her. Yet. She cradles his face with both hands and sobs in relief.

You can view the other two masterposts for this exchange in this tag.

[theradioghost]

what books did u get ? i rly need to get back into reading more now school is over

oh man. so I’ll give you what I bought & then I’m also gonna throw in some similar books that I have already read just because I can actually vouch for the quality of those

(brief note that my main qualifications when I was looking for books, besides not wanting YA, was that 1. they were not about straight cis white men and/or 2. they had particular appeal to one of the areas of sf&f that I have a particular fondness for and/or 3. they cost under five bucks. so there’s a lot of diverse lit, and a lot of novellas, and a lot of urban fantasy wizards who are also detectives/rebellious angels and or demons/necromancy/dragons/stuff that is explictly Lovecraftian adaptations but takes the piss out of Lovecraft/anything on this list/anything published by Tor)

new books that I have read:

(coming back to update this as I get through these books)

the Lovelace & Wick series by Jennifer Rainey – this is the Demon Husbands one I’ve been yelling about. Two gentleman demons in love – a Faustian tempter and a bringer of catastrophes – are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the work they do for hell, while also being forced to contend with new and dangerous enemies. Set in a vaguely-steampunk 1890s Massachusetts. Also includes monster-hunting steampunk scientist lesbian wives.

Deadline by Stephanie Ahn – fourteen months after a disastrous failed ritual, disgraced blood witch Harrietta Lee gets offered a ridiculously lucrative job quietly recovering a stolen artifact for a young member of a powerful magical family, and promptly finds out that this is too good to be true. Also she keeps meeting scary, hot women. Instantly the only wisecracking urban fantasy PI named Harry that my heart has any room for. (This one’s a bit Spicier than my usual fare but the author actually includes a list of content warnings including page numbers at the front of each book, which you can view with the preview option on the Amazon page.)

Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw – A kid hires London PI John Persons to kill his stepfather. The first catch is that the stepfather is a Lovecraftian horror. The second catch is that Persons is too. This is like, the noir-est horror I’ve ever read and that’s something I am very into. 

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark – An urban fantasy police procedural set in an alternate 1912 Cairo, in which two government officials are sent to deal with a strange, malevolent spirit in the midst of political upheaval as Egypt’s women demand universal suffrage. There’s a free short story prequel to this on tor.com called “A Dead Djinn in Cairo“ that’s worth reading first.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone – high fantasy with a black protagonist, in which Tara Abernathy, a disgraced magic user and rookie associate in an internationally renowned necromancy firm, is assigned to resurrect a city’s murdered patron fire god – but first, with the help of a chain-smoking priest and a vampire-addicted servant of Justice Herself, she has to track down his killer.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey – in an alternate history where the 1910 “Hippo Bill” passed, Winslow Remington Houndstooth, an ex-rancher out for revenge, is hired to travel north with a ragtag crew – a con artist and pickpocket, a demolitions expert with a proclivity for poisoning, the most dangerous contract killer in the country, and the very man who ruined his life – and take on the dangers of the massive swamp that was once the Mississippi river, a place ruled over by deadly feral hippos and a homicidal riverboat gambling king.

or, essentially, a swamp-based heist Western with a cast including a British-East Asian bisexual man, a black nb person, an unashamedly fat woman, and a pregnant Latina lesbian, and also their pet hippos. Listen just go ahead and get the version with both stories in it

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh – Tobias has lived in the woods as long as anyone can remember; long enough that the nearby town tells stories of the Green Man, the spirit-king of the forest, who dwells in the trees. These stories are truer, and far more dangerous, than anyone but Tobias knows – so when friendly, handsome, curious Henry Silver buys up the neighboring Greenhollow Hall and starts investigating the local folklore, Tobias will have to decide whether to sacrifice the only life he has known for centuries, or the first person he has loved in all that time.

not-new books that I have read:

idk if you don’t know about the Wayfarers series, the first of which is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but it is an absolutely stellar bit of sci-fi very much based around ideas of found family and discovering your own identity and place in the universe and love and compassion and stories based around sweet slice-of-life stuff in a scifi universe with lots of fun aliens and it is so very queer and so very heartwarming and all three books (which each have different casts, although the characters in all three are connected to one another and sort of cameo across all the books) are fantastic.

Urban Dragon by J.W. Troemner – Dragons are supposed to be ruthless, unpredictable, deadly, selfish creatures. So why is it that Rosa Hernandez seems to be able to keep her best friend Arkay in check? How did Arkay, a shape-changing dragon with lightning at her command, end up being found alone and starving and with no memory of her past by a homeless woman? And as evidence mounts that someone is hunting down supernatural beings, who can they trust? (I stumbled across this while looking for urban fantasy on TV Tropes and BOY am I glad I did. Good if you like close friendships between queer women or the enemies-to-lovers trope)

The Merry Spinster by Daniel Mallory Ortberg – of course I was going to read Daniel Ortberg’s short story collection, are you kidding me. Not “””darker””” fairy tale retellings, but fairy tales as often very surreal, psychological horror. Read this if you want to totally ruin “The Velveteen Rabbit” for yourself.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – historical fantasy set in the early-20th-century Orthodox Jewish and Middle Eastern immigrant communities of NYC, about the strange friendship that springs up between a bitter jinn trapped in a mortal body and a masterless golem living among humans. and it gave me feelings.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle – a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Horror at Red Hook” from the perspective of a black man. One of the better pieces of horror I have ever read.

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff – a very different take on a similar concept to The Ballad of Black Tom, wherein a mid-century black Midwestern family find themselves mixed up in the plans of a bunch of cultists and set out to disentangle themselves from this whole cosmic-horror mess. Apparently Jordan Peele is adapting this into a TV show, so I’m stoked for that.

new books that I have not read:

(& also a couple that are just books I want, and some that I just haven’t read yet but got free from the Tor monthly ebook club, which is very much worth joining)

Armed in Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield– I’m just going to let the official blurb speak for this one because there is absolutely no way I could improve on it

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark – New Orleans-based steampunk fantasy about an airship captain and a stowaway who talks to orishas.

Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw – Apparently several authors have written standalone works in this series, and Cassandra Khaw’s aren’t chronologically the first, but I love Cassandra Khaw and “chef for ghouls and pencil-pusher for the Ten Chinese Hells is forced to solve an inter-pantheon murder mystery” just sounds so good to me.

Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves – Cursed half-huldra PI is forced to help out his little brother and the demon who shares his body, and then everything goes wrong. Feat. carnivorous unicorns.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova – reluctant bruja attempts to rid herself of her magic and instead plunges her entire family into magical trouble. YA.

Robbergirl by S. T. Gibson – WLW retelling of The Snow Queen from the perspective of the bandit princess. YA.

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages – slightly-fantastical historical lesbian noir novella set in the burgeoning 1940s gay club scene in San Francisco.

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang – admittedly caught my eye because the cover art reminded me of Moribito, which I adore. East-Asian-inspired epic fantasy which I believe has a nonbinary protagonist.

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire – I’ve been neglecting getting around to October Daye way, way too long considering how much I love Seanan McGuire and urban fantasy, but my mom started reading this and that pushed me over the edge because damn it, yes I want to read her take on the Wizard Detective genre that I have such a weakness for.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson – this was recommended to me in a Tumblr post listing interesting, diverse fantasy, and I’ve been into high fantasy political intrigue lately.

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg – came across this in a Twitter thread about fantasy worlds with unconventional and interesting magic systems. A newly graduated student of magic is bitter about being sent to learn paper-crafting magic rather than working with metal, until Murder Stuff Happens. YA.

Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett – queer fantasy sequel to The Tempest, with Miranda as protagonist.

Witchmark by C. L. Polk – post-WWI gaslamp fantasy MLM romance about a male witch in hiding, working as a doctor; the reviews seem to indicate people think it’s more ‘delightful’ than ‘literary’ but apparently it is pretty fucking delightful.

In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard– East Asian WLW retelling of Beauty and the Beast and also one of them is a dragon.

Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys – another one of the rash of new Lovecraft adaptations that are turning perspectives around, this being one where the citizens of Innsmouth are the protagonists. Also has a really good short story prequel you can read for free on tor.com.

also I just feel like mentioning that I’m stupidly excited for Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir to come out this fall because the review they’ve decided to put at the top of every blurb is “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” (not my exclamation mark) and I don’t know how anyone could more perfectly craft something to my tastes.

[thedcdunce]

King Snake

“I've lost the use of my eyes but I'm not blind!” - King Snake

Real Name: Sir Edmund Dorrance

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 2″

Weight: 220 lbs (100 kg)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Blonde

Abilities:

Martial Arts

Enhanced Senses

Stealth

Weaknesses:

Blindness

Universe: New Earth

Citizenship: British

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: 

Soldier 

Mercenary

First Appearance: Robin #1 (January, 1991)

Appearance of Death: Batman: Gotham Knights#49 (March, 2004)

Abilities

Martial Arts: King Snake is a master of several of the world's most deadly martial arts. He kills without conscience and has earned the title of "the most dangerous man alive".

Enhanced Senses: King Snake has turned his blindness into an asset, as it has allowed him to hone all of his other senses to an uncanny degree.

Stealth: He uses the dark as his weapon.

Weaknesses

Blindness: King Snake is blind, although he has largely made his vision impairment an asset rather than a handicap.

History

King Snake, real name Sir Edmund Dorrance, is a former mercenary turned ganglord. With his Ghost Dragons, he has operations in Hong Kong and Gotham City. He is a formidable martial artist, despite his blindness.

Mercenary

Edmund Dorrance is a British native who first distinguished himself in the Royal Artillery. He and some friends then became mercenaries, offering their professional expertise to various anti-communist rebels, making considerable money in doing so.

While in Santa Prisca, working with local rebels, he slept with a female rebel. Their camp was taken by surprise by government commandos, and Edmund was blinded by gunfire. He fled the country, leaving his lover for dead. The woman was actually alive and pregnant with Edmund's son. She and their child were imprisoned for Edmund's crimes against the Santa Prisca government. The child grew up in prison, becoming the villainous Bane.

Ghost Dragons

Edmund subsequently moved to Hong Kong and used the money he had acquired to start a double life. To the public, he was a Hong Kong businessman worth millions, with interests in shipping, banking, as well as electronics, while in secret he was one of the most feared men in Asia, a giant in the heroin trade. Taking on the name King Snake, he found willing soldiers in the Ghost Dragons, a Chinese youth gang of Macau, Kowloon, along with Hong Kong.

Although he had a strong power base in Hong Kong, he could not hope to stay when the island was handed over to China. He began extending his interests into France and the United States. He decided to lay waste to the city of Hong Kong rather than have it be soiled by falling into Chinese hands. His plans to release a Nazi-developed plague after leaving Hong Kong were foiled by Timothy Drake, assisted by Clyde Rawlins and Lady Shiva; both of whom wanted revenge against King Snake. After the attack of his headquarters in Hong Kong, much of his gang was captured and he was presummed dead at the hands of Lady Shiva.

However, it was later revealed that King Snake survived the attack and was merely left paralyzed due to a back injury.

After having his spine reinforced and regaining mobility, Sir Edmund moved to Gotham, where he wrestled control of the Chinatown district away from the Triad gangs, revealing himself to be alive, as well as initially focusing on Robin for revenge. Not long after, however, he lost power in a gang war, with his own Ghost Dragons rebelling and the Triad gangs sending assassins.

Kobra

King Snake survived and joined the international terrorist cult Kobra. He took advantage of a leadership struggle in that organization after the previous "Lord Naja-Naja" was disgraced.

Danny Temple was revealed to be the next in line for leadership. Temple was abducted and taken to a mountain lair of the cult. During the ceremony intended to invest Temple with leadership, however, King Snake rebelled, declared himself the next Naja-Naja and his followers healed his eyes in a Lazarus Pit the cult has access to.

His eyesight restored, Sir Edmund battled against Robin, while Kobra attempted to regain control of the Kobra cult. Luckily for Robin, Sir Edmund was unaccustomed to seeing, actually throwing his fighting style off. A vial of cobra poison used in the Kobra-cult initiation ceremony was knocked over. During his attempts to warn King Snake, Robin accidentally caused the villain to be blinded a second time. Robin and Danny Temple escaped, while King Snake was left trapped in the base with no escape.

After a significant amount of time, the villain Bane finally learned the identity of his father and tracked King Snake down to the mountain base. Sir Edmund had survived months alone, was barely alive and severely malnourished. Bane was emotionally conflicted during the reunion, apparently intending to kill his father several times, but did not. King Snake tried once more to seize control of the Kobra Cult, this time with his son at his side. After Robin and Batman intervened, however, Bane sided with them. In the resulting struggle, King Snake was knocked down a deep crevice, apparently dying.

Blackest Night

King Snake is one of the many villains raised from the dead in Gotham City to join the new Black Lantern Corps as zombies during Blackest Night. Along with Abbatoir, Deacon Blackfire, Blockbuster, Magpie, KGBeast, the Trigger Twins, and the Ventriloquist, he has received a Black Lantern Ring. He has been seen terrorizing the city, and tearing out the hearts of innocents to feed on their emotions and life force when they're feeling the most fear.

Fun Facts

King Snake has a steel-reinforced spine.

Edmund Dorrance has a snake tattoo on his chest.

[darrowsrising]

You know, I will just throw questions back at you if you don't mind because I can finally scream with people! Tell me about your favorite RR characters aswell, please? ♥

I never mind people asking me things about RR. I love this series with my heart and soul and everything in between. Also, stop apologizing to me about long posts regarding RR, I love them and I have lots of long rants to confirm that.(don’t search for them, they are full of spoilers…and my distaste for Dancer and Roque!) Also, I’ll try not to spoil the fun for you…

Darrow:

My absolute favourite. I love him to bits, he’s my precious, murderous baby! I’d start a #DarrowDefendingSquad or a #DarrowPreciousMurderousBabyBoy, but that’s not my style. Or his style for that matter. He can take care of himself, 75% of the time…the other 25% is not really up to him (it’s a combo of his friends and pure luck).

Jokes aside now, Darrow’s feelings and realness always got to me. When I started reading Red Rising I was 17 and I was recovering from a very bad…burnout (I went to see a psychologist and she told me that I was hurting emotionally from many bad things happening at once, but it wasn’t like…depression or anxiety per se). His feelings, whether it was rage or kindness or anything in between, were so valid to me. He reminded me that it’s perfectly alright to have confidence in yourself, to go after what you want, to be proud of yourself, to love again (friends, lovers, whatever) and many other things. I was at my lowest then and he showed me that ambition is not a dirty word, that confidence in yourself isn’t a bad thing and even if these things intimidate the people around you, they are valid and you shouldn’t be ashamed of despicting such things.

That made me relate to him a lot. I still find myself (whenever I revisit the books) being like “mood” or “same” or “that’s my boy” or “my pride and joy” or “Hail Reaper” at many of his thoughts, actions and one liners. I will always love him, although he is very thick headed sometimes and that’s annoying.

Mustang:

She is my favorite female character. I love the fact that despite growing up with Nero au Augustus as a father and Adrius as a twin, she is still kind. She is also fair, open-minded and highly intelligent. And strong in more ways than one. I love that she is multi-faceted (although haters think she is bland and 2D…Pixies, where? Did we read the same books?) and despite her family and the way she was brought up, she finds it hard to pretend and is mostly genuine (unless she has a plan). I love how she doesn’t give (to use Sevro’s terminology) two squirts of piss over the title of heir of House Augustus, although she’s more than capable to fill in the spot. But she’s more concerned with making the world a better place (she is a Reformist and although the story follows Darrow more, that is a big deal giving that she tried to make laws to help other Colors including the banning of the Board of Quality Control). I love how she is a logical person, yet she sacrifices a part of herself for her family, because she is human and bound to do illogical things. I love how, despite loving her family so much, she often goes against them, because it’s the right thing to do. I love how she is underestimated and she just spits (not literally) in their faces. I just love how she is a fighter, a politician, a leader, because we rarely see females like that. 

Sevro:

Sevro is a breath of fresh air. He is who he is without warning labels and apologies. He is a survivor, a loyal friend (very rare kind), a badarse. He is amazing. His existence is a defiance and I love it, although that resulted in a lonely childhood. I love him to bits tho, because he also shows how good it is to be yourself and like yourself despite everything. He is very sweet despite being a hard arse and his insults always leave me very impressed. It’s obvious that at the Institute, he just wanted to survive and get a modest job (like Fitchner - thing which Fitchner probably encouraged), but he started to see Darrow and his behavior with the others and he wanted to make friends. And when Darrow became his friend - his only real friend until then - it made him want more, dream for more. And I just love that. I love how Sevro evolved and how he protects his friends - Howlers included. The only thing I’m not a fan of is his hygene…and his pornographic collection of holoFilms.

Victra:

Victra is a warrior, an heiress and a business woman. She kicks arse, takes names and simply slays. I love that there is more to her than meets the eye (although I don’t trust NerdsTM to appreciate her like she deserves). I love how bad arse and loyal she is. I love how she enjoys life and all it entails. I love that she lets herself be vulnerable in public and it makes her courageous. I love how open she is about herself, yet she is still mysterious. I love the fact that she never lies and she loves jade jewelry and displaying her scars like jewelry and the smell of the air before the rain hits the ground. 

Fitchner:

I feel like Fitch is way too underrated. He was fairy chosen to be Rage Knight -  a position Lorn filled which only makes it legendary and harder to get. He beat Proctor Jupiter and Tactus’ eldest brother - which I hope is Tharsus, because Apollonius is in my graces atm. Not only that, he created the Sons of Ares, he lead them and infiltrated into the Society’s highest ranks to destroy it from the inside and build something better. It was his plan, his sacrifices, his dream. There would be no Rising without Fitchner. Not even Sevro, but hey, it’s not like the guy would say something like “The entire world should thank me for Sevro - he came from my sperm, ok, my swimmers made the little Goblin. You’re welcome!”…when we all know Sevro’s enemies would rather curse Fitchner’s balls for helping create their doom…

Getting back on track, Fitchner was the okay-est Proctor and one of the best characters.

Adrius: (no, it’ not an unpopular opinion, here we love Adrius)

I believe Adrius is the best villain hands down. There are no excuses for his actions, he is a genocidal maniac with daddy issues. He looks at people like they are objects, not human beings, he has no compassion and has no knowledge of empathy. And I love him. I give him sympathy, because he is a monster, but he was made that way. Although he displayed terrifying behavior from a young age, his fall towards evil could have been avoided if his father gave two (2) fucks about him. I love his relationship with Darrow and how they were rivals, then sort of allies, then…you’ll find out. I just love how Adrius was written. He is really great as a villain. I hate what he did to Darrow, tho. When he killed Nero I was happy for him, but no one touches Darrow, so that was his worst move ever. Like…Pixie, you just signed your death warrant, stay away from Mustang’s Bitc- Boo!

The Telemanuses: 

All of them are amazing! Much love to all of them! They deserve the world! I include Niobe, Thraxa and Xana, but that’s all I’m going to say, because you need to read for yourself to believe me.

Cassius: (long stoty, because i didn’t really like him at first)

You know what? I disliked Cassius as much as Darrow did first time he saw him…too annoyingly perfect. And after what Darrow endured it felt like a disgrace to see an entitled little Pixie dance his way on marble corridors at the expense of so many Colors. As the story progressed, Cassius’s entitled arse didn’t improved and the most annoying part was him bragging about the death he claimed. I know he did it to make people talk and find out who killed Julian, but that doesn’t make him right. The 49 other people killed in the Passage were just as innocent as Julian. He made the death of the person he killed sound cheap. Even Antonia had more respect towards that. And Titus made it worse, but that gets off tracks. I understand his pain. If someone would have killed my sister in the Passage, it would have sworn revenge too. But the painful thing is that Cassius saw only Julian’s death, Julian didn’t deserve to die. But that is also true for all the other people who got murdered in the Passage. They didn’t deserve to die either, but you don’t see anyone going at Mustang or Sevro with blood oaths to murder them. The whole system is fucked up and must be changed. Killing Darrow might be a thing of honour, but honour doesn’t bring back Julian.

The fact that he lied to everyone that Darrow was killed by Adrius to claim his spot as Primus of Mars wasn’t good publicity either. And then, he got to be even more of a Pixie in Golden Son. But it was Mustang who convinced me to give him a chance. Because she was the one who revealed that Cassius is conflicted, that he regrets losing not one brother, but two. That he suffers, but tries to do his duty to his family and honour them. Bit by bit, I was open to seeing Cassius from this perspective, so I gave him lots of benefits of the doubt. Until he killed Fitchner and all I wanted was to see his head on a spike turned ugly by gore and maggots. Then Morning Star happened and I went from: fuck Cassius (and not in a nice way) to Bloodydamn finally, Pixie, you made me so proud. Then, we got Iron Gold and man, if something happens to him I’ll kill all the Gold families of the Rim and then that bitch of a ward. 

I really love his character development. I can see that mine is an unpopular opinion everywhere in this fandom, given that even the author has a soft spot for Cassius (not that that stops him from making Cassius suffer even more), but yeah…that is the story of how I got late to the “We love Cassius” party. I’m being short on the good details, because I don’t want to spoil you, but I hope you understand.

Holiday and Orion:

They are amazing human beings and although they are side characters I love their contribution to the series. I love their personalities and talents and their overall no nonsense attitude. 

I’ll stop here, before we go off charts. Here are some honourable mentions in no particular order: Aja au Grimmus, Ragnar Volarus, Theodora, Matteo, Mickey, Tactus au Rath Valii, Lorn au Arcos, Apollonius au Valii Rath, Alexandar au Arcos, Rhonna of Lykos, Diomedes au Raa, Trigg ti Nakamura, Volga Fjordan.

[constant-fandom-migrator]

Sweetwater Revenge: A Choni AU

A Riverdale AU in which the Blossoms are a very old vampire family and the serpents are vampire hunters. With a peace treaty between the Blossoms and the serpents, all seems calm. That is until the ghoulies, an insane breed of vampires, begin to push their way into town. Shocking murders rock the town, but is it vampires, or is it someone out for revenge? On the other side of things is the Lodge family, still buying up land with a different, but sinister, plan.

Choni is the main focus of the story, enemies to lovers type deal. All other characters are treated appropriately.

ao3

CHAPTER 1

Riverdale was the town with pep! At least that’s what the faded sign on the town border said. In reality, the town was far more ominous than advertised. Darkness clung to everything in sight. The people, the places and, of course, all the ill formed alliances, were all shrouded in mystery. That mystery being several hundred years in the making.

Over the years the town became divided as more people failed to see eye to eye. It was understandable, given the circumstances. While most towns grappleed only with politics and poverty, Riverdale was forced to deal with something far more sinister, death.

The sprawling Thornhill Mansion on the highest hill served as a constant reminder of the terrible truth. Etched on the rusting gates was the phrase“Radices Currere Abyssi.” It was an old Latin phrase for Roots Run Deep. Those roots were deeper than anyone but the Blossom’s knew. As the founders of the town, the Blossom family owned much of the town, including Thornhill.

Most people considered Thornhill to be a home of horrors, haunted not by ghosts, but by the living. Though, some would disagree with the word living. It didn’t really apply, at least not to the Blossoms.

The town, and more specifically the residents of Thornhill had a secret. Vampires were not only real, but they owned most of the town. They weren’t vampires in the sense that they glittered in the sun and were tentative friends with werewolves. Rather, they were the sort that had a blood cellar instead of a wine cellar, and were remarkably old. No one had an exact number, but they founded Riverdale nearly 250 years prior. They also had been rumored to be around several centuries before then.

This was a difficult concept for newcomers to grasp. As such, most of the town consisted of the original families that settled there just after Riverdale’s founding.

The main families were the Blossoms, Coopers, Andrews and Lodges. The Lodge family was the sole family to actually leave Riverdale, but like most others they returned.

Riverdale was a magnet forged by demons themselves. It didn't matter that most town’s didn't have vampires or mysterious deaths. It was a town comparable to no other, a piece of it living inside each resident. No one stayed gone, not for long.

                                                         * * *

It was an exciting day for the people of Riverdale. The high school specifically was abuzz with rumours of the new arrivals. The Lodge family, though one of the original families of Riverdale, had been in New York for nearly twenty years. It marked the longest departure of the original families.

Hermione and Hiram Lodge had a daughter, Veronica, while in New York. After some legal trouble, the disgraced family decided to return to their humble roots. That's what was exciting people the most. The older folks in town knew Hermione and Hiram, but no one knew what to expect from Veronica.

Betty, of the Cooper family, was first to break the news in the school paper. It didn't take long before all of Riverdale followed the peppy blonde’s lead, trading rumours like it was a new form of currency.

It was no secret that the Blossom family both owned and ran the small town, located on the scenic edge of Sweetwater River. However, the Lodges had made a name for themselves in New York, and a showdown was inevitable.

People already knew a lot about the Lodges. For instance, Hiram and his wife started Lodge Industries together. Carefully and over time, they wove a tangled webb of various businesses, some legitimate, some not.

It was some of their earlier businesses that finally caught up with them, landing Hiram behind bars. Though, just like with everything else, money was key. After only six months in jail, he was released. Following the advice of their many lawyers, they decided to start over in Riverdale.

It wasn’t until eight thirty a.m on a breezy Tuesday morning that the news finally felt real. With the front door to Riverdale High slammed open, in came a girl with dark black hair, a neatly pressed skirt matched with a ruffled blouse and elegant string of pearls around her neck. Veronica Lodge had arrived.

Silence engulfed the crowd of onlookers until Betty stepped up with an outstretched hand and her swinging signature ponytail.

The two could not have appeared more differently. Betty with her pink cardigan and comfortable jeans, next to Veronica and her oversized sunglasses and razor sharp high heels. Anyone who knew Betty would tell you she wasn’t afraid of anything. So with a smile, she announced, “Hello, I’m Betty. Welcome to Riverdale.”  

Veronica made a show of removing her glasses and gripping Betty’s outstretched hand. “Hello to you. As I’m sure you know, I’m Veronica Lodge.”

With a smile, Betty released her hand. “Yes, we were expecting you today. Can I take you to the office? You can pick up your schedule and locker number there.”

“Of course” She responded quickly, with an eye on something behind Betty. “Maybe along the way you could tell me about that red hunk of handsome.”

Turning, Betty saw none other than Archie Andrews. He was her best friend and nextdoor neighbour. He was sweet, and the closest thing to selfless a person could be. She didn’t much like the idea of introducing the two just yet.

On the way to the office, they ran intoto Kevin Keller, king of snappy comebacks and stating the obvious. He was a good friend of Betty’s, but as Veronica so animatedly offered to take him in as her best gay, she grew quickly weary of the newcomer.

It wasn't until after escorting her to the office that they ran into her worst fear, Cheryl Blossom.

Everybody was aware of who and what the Blossoms were, but generally didn’t speak on it. It was best to stay out of their way and, when necessary, give them what they wanted.

Cheryl’s striking red hair seemed to light her milky white skin on fire while her eyes felt as if they went through anything she chose to glance at. She moved abnormally quickly, but not enough to make obvious what she was.

What gave her away the most was the way she seemed to float rather than walk. Sure her fit actually touched the ground, but did so in a way that Cheryl appeared weightless.

Stepping to the side, in order to not be between them, Betty made quick introductions.

“Veronica, this is Cheryl. She is captain of the vixens, our decorated cheer squad.”

Cheryl chuckled menacingly, lacing her fingers together. “Oh sweet Betty, you know I’m far more than a mere cheer captain. I run this school and my family runs this town. Be warned, daughter of a sleazy conman, no one gets in my way.”

Crossing her arms, Veronica fired back, “I didn’t realize you and the rest of your blood thieving family could even venture outside during the day.”

“There is a lot you don’t know about my family, and if I were you, I would keep it that way.”

Neither looked like they were going to back down when, like a saint on a mission, Jughead Jones swooped in. Flannel shirt around his waist and pin decorated beanie cut in the shape of a crown, made him stand out in a crowd. His distracting presence was sorely needed.

“Whats up ladies?”

“No one was talking to you, hobo.” Cheryl replied coldly.

Veronica took a different route, with a sickly sweet voice and fluttering eyelashes.

“You are a welcome break from the Anne Rice novel I seem to have gotten stuck in. Hello there, I’m Veronica.”

“Charmed” Jughead said, failing to hide the sarcasm. “Betty, are we still on for Pop’s later?”

“I’ve lost interest in this sidebar.” Cheryl flipped her hair and floated away.

Betty chose to ignore them and only answer Jug, “Yeah, and how’s your dad?”

“Oh he’s fine, you know him, not even a Ghoulie can take him out.”

“That’s good Jug, I’ll see you later. I’m going to show Veronica to her first class.”

“Yes, dogooder Betty, on her first mission of the day.” Jughead gave an awkward bow and narrowly avoided Betty’s playful smack.

When they finally arrived at the classroom, Veronica boldly asked, “What’s a ghoulie?”

Betty thought for a moment, trying to figure out a short but accurate answer. “They are like the Blossoms, but much worse. Compared to them, the Blossoms are basically as human as you or I.”

Veronica nodded, but still looked confused, as she should be. Even Betty, who lived in Riverdale her whole life, couldn't fully explain or understand the ghoulies. They were vile, insane creatures that masquerades as a local gang. Of course they were not to be confused with the serpents. Sure they also wore leather and caused their fare share of chaos, but they were human and,  most, had morals.

For the moment, that was all Veronica needed to know. After all, she was new and not many people should be trusted in Riverdale.

                                                         * * *

Toni’s day was going much like any other. Wake up, go to school, cause a bit of mayhem, and end up at the south side bar, The Whyt Wyrm. Even being in the serpents had become more about going through the motions than anything else.

She had been lured into the gang because of her grandpa’s tall tales of vampires running wild and the small group of indigenous people that fought back with the only known weapon, the venom of a massasauga. Only the venom of that particular serpent could take down even the strongest vampire. For safety, a group of men began to gather regularly and used to the venom to take out any vampire preying on their tribe. They called themselves the serpents and her history began.

After the peace treaty with the Blossoms, nearly forty years prior, things quieted for the serpents. The peace treaty only covered the Blossom family, all other vampires that came near their land were still up for grabs.

Toni had never met a Blossom, mostly because the peace treaty only meant a cease fire, not that old wounds were healed or that there was even any understanding. They were still the enemy, and that was fine by her.

The ghoulies were both a whole different story and breed. While the Blossoms drank only from blood bags and willing donors, the ghoulies drained anything human. Whether it was a man, woman or child, they weren’t picky and never left an ounce of blood to spare.

The serpents managed to keep them out of Riverdale, both the north and south side up until that point. Rumours of them growing restless, however, had been confirmed when several ghoulies were spotted circling the perimeter of Riverdale.  For the moment, all the serpents could do was keep a close eye on them. Some members wanted to go after them, but most realized their dwindling numbers would not produce a victory for them.

Her days of checking on ghoulies and pouring beers were shaken up when FP, king of the serpents, announced they had been paid off for a simple job. They were asked to takeover and trash the drive in theater. It was true that the job wasn’t exactly usual for them, but it seemed simple enough and they were all low on cash. Toni figured it was as good a job as any. She could use a break from the monotony, and trouble was her favorite extra curricular.

For the north side, there was nothing better to do than a movie at the drive in and a milkshake at Pop’s. For the south side, there was nothing better to do than bother the north side. They had a funny relationship that way.

Unlike a lot of the southside, Toni didn’t hold any ill will against the people of the north side. Sure they were annoying, stuck up and had a nasty case of tunnel-vision, but they never did anything specifically against her.

So while she was happy to pester them in the name of fun, thats where Toni drew the line. She joined the serpents to protect people from the ghoulies, not deal drugs and rob the north side. The serpents had lost their way, and she wasn’t yet in a position to point that out.

Instead, like the good soldier she was, Toni marched into the drive in, large bucket of popcorn to toss and orders to bug as many people as possible.

[theliterateape]

How Free is Our Speech and Who Decides?

by Don Hall

"Donald! If you say one more word, I'm sending you to the Principal's Office! Just. SHUT. UP!"

Third grade. Mrs. McWilliams. As the resident 'new kid' I was isolated to begin with but I had ridden this roller coaster before. Two boys in class decided that I was their enemy (or rather the object of their boredom) and they had taken to stealing any toys or books or games I'd grab during in-classroom recess. This was the third time and McWilliams had had enough of my gift for non-stop verbiage.

There it was. They had ripped the CandyLand game out of my hands and aside from just marching across the room and beating them to death I had no options but to sit there and take it. McWilliams had completely cut me off at the legs. If I say one more word, I’m screwed.

Except…

I grab some construction paper and a crayon. I draw what looks like two parentheses with a line through:

( | )

Sort of like an early emoji before there even was such a thing. In my brain, it was a butt. Then I drew the same butt with lines coming out of the crack and another with several circles coming out. This was my best guess at drawing the litany of profanity I wanted to yell. My nine-year old imagination couldn’t come up with anything quick for ‘cocksucker’ or ‘motherfucker’ which, all things considered, was probably a good thing.

I walked over to the boys and flash card style, held each one up to them making a stern and angry face.

The boys ratted me out. McWilliams fished the paper out of the trash and LOST. HER. MIND.

Two hours later I’m underneath my mother’s dining room table waiting for her to come home and belt me. McWilliams was apoplectic; the Principal was horrified. They sent me home early and called my mom at work to tell her what a perverse and awful monster I was. I had drawn pornographic pictures in class!

In hindsight I get it. I was an obnoxious kid. I was smarter than most, was full of more energy than five teachers could handle, and I thought nothing of breaking the rules for the sake of breaking them. 

It seems that we are at an impasse when it comes to our personal rights to free speech. Laws against hate speech are already a violation of the First Amendment (which sets out that the government cannot create and enforce laws abridging speech) but we get around it by using the old chestnut of yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. The idea that by uttering racial slurs is somehow in the same ballgame is tenuous but still sticks.

The other side of the debate is accountability for words spoken or written. Call it whatever you choose—cancel-culture, public shaming, mob justice—it amounts to groups of people with no individual authority but the power of populist organization to effectively shame companies into firing offending employees. It also, on a far smaller but more destructive level, harbors a revenge justification against those who err in public for any reason (Amy Cooper is a solid example).

When the religious decide you can’t do or say something, well, Holy Shit.

The Critical Race Theorists who advocate curtailment of speech offensive to minorities insist that individual instances of hate speech are never the isolated, unpopular speech of a dissident few. Rather, they are manifestations of a deeply ingrained cultural belief system, an American way of life.

Hate speech is so dangerous because it plays melodies that are so deeply rooted in the culture as to be structural parts of everyday life for large numbers of Americans—perhaps even a majority.

“Your motherfucking son spray painted my house, bitch!”

The woman was a good six inches taller than my mom and outweighed her by at least seventy pounds. Earlier that day she had decided that I and my other eleven-year old friends were too loud just outside her window.

She screamed at us through her window. We cussed her and then ran off. I had come back with some red spray paint and had tagged the side of her house with a defiant “FUCK YOU!”

“What makes you think you can accuse my son of vandalizing your fucking house?” Mom was tiny but the Irish made her think she was much bigger.

“The little dumbass signed his name.”

She was right on both counts: I had signed my name because I was a little dumbass.

When a homophobe uses an anti-gay insult, he's signing his name to it. When a misogynist says something obviously anti-feminist, he's a dumbass. Things get stickier when the racists aren't dumbasses and refuse to provide an incriminating signature.

The question that some would prefer we check off in the “Answered” box is likewise a tangly mess. Is the n-word (a word so thoroughly aggrandized that, like He Who Shall Not Be Named in the JK Rowling books, the utterance has increasing and horrifying power) “hate speech” or just hateful speech? Is it racist or merely racial? Queer used to be a slur but when GenZ kids regularly describe themselves as such, no one calls the language police.

The lack of any clarity along these lines is resulting in a quandary for everyone involved in words or merely dealing with other people and being in a position to have to communicate with them.

In the film Dangerous Liaisons The Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) plots revenge against her ex-lover by ruining his young fiancée. There’s a lot of betrayal and a duel that ends in the death of a dude who duels and all. In the end, she is boo’d a bunch and she is disgraced. Now imagine if her big sin was to call someone something on the hate speech spectrum or espouse an ideology deemed wholly immoral. Sure, booing her then seems appropriate but for her to be completely eviscerated for it? To have the booing crowd pressure her work into firing her? Putting her behavior on social media so that she can never be hired again? Seems like an overreaction.

Seems like the permanent record one receives from going to a religious school.

Seems a bit religious.

When the religious decide you can’t do or say something, well, Holy Shit. You don’t have to go all Goody Proctor and the witches beings drowned to see if they could float to see a more recent example. Operation Rescue was the anti-abortion group in Wichita, KS when I happened to be going to high school in…Kansas. Randall Terry had a unique approach. If he disagreed with you (and if you were anything but fully anti-abortion in every possible scenario, he disagreed with you) he would yell over you instead of have some sort of heated discussion.

The local broadcasters stopped putting him on television because he’d just get on there and scream people down. As if, by drowning out their ability to communicate with anyone, he was likewise obliterating the message entirely.

He and his crew were out of control. They had determined that anyone associated with abortion in any way whatsoever was EVIL. In fact, I remember a group of them screaming at passers-by in downtown Wichita on Douglas Avenue for not joining them. They had extra placards with pictures of butchered fetus parts on them and were foisting them on people. If the person demurred (you know, maybe they had an appointment or needed to go impregnate someone so they could have a reason to slaughter the baby) the group would scream at them until they basically ran away.

At the time, I was anti-abortion but a prolonged summer of being around these religious screaming whack jobs changed my mind. Truly. My ideological change from pro-life to pro-choice had more to do with disgust over these idiots than any righteous belief in the autonomy of women.

This is not to say that I didn’t come around with a more progressive view. It took some time but a woman’s right to choose which surgical procedures she employs on her body is pretty much her business. If someone can elect to tattoo 75% of her skin, decide to stick Botox in her face, and fill her tits with silicone it isn’t much of a stretch that she should without obstacle relieve herself of a tumor that will become a human tethered to her hip for life.

The idea that human life is valued in the world is perhaps a goal but certainly not a reality. An ideal to uphold but not a realistic approach. Some lives matter. Lots of lives don’t so much.

Ideals are exactly that: goals. “I disagree with what he says but would die to ensure his right to say it” is a goal but would I really die so that someone unbalanced or religious is able to say “God Hates Fags” or “All White Americans are Racists”? Probably not.

Would I expect you to die for my right to say whatever I want? Not unless I'm a sociopath or a moron.

So no one is really going to die so that someone else can insult another person or espouse an ideology that differs from his own. Established fact. Where does that leave us as we navigate the increased opportunity to show our ass's in public more frequently (considering that social media and the whole of the digital highway is now quite public)?

Self censorship is completely legit so the folks complaining about people being afraid to speak “their truth” because of repercussions are simply pussies.

Around 2010, I was working for the public radio station in Chicago. I also had a blog from before I was hired. It was entitled (with an intentional wink at the rightwing NASCAR crowd) "An Angry White Guy in Chicago". Being fairly progressive in politic, the fun in the name was that people on the stereotypical raging caucasian dudes would jump on expecting me to parrot their ideology only to have themselves smacked in the face with articles against George W., in favor of the queer nation, and railing against the tendencies of unregulated capitalism. Also, as my mom used to point out, a lot of profanity.

The meeting was called because there were concerns about employees of an NPR station with social media and blogs. The concern was that these platforms might paint the station in a bad light if a lack of objectivity presented itself. The management had come up with a policy limiting our ability to utilize these methods of communicating and asking that they be able to censor us when necessary.

I listened.

My boss came over after the meeting.

“So, Don, what are you gonna do about your blog now?”

“Wrong question, boss.”

“Wrong question? What’s the right question?”

“What are you gonna do about my blog?”

He paused. “Probably nothing.”

“Good answer.”

I had come to the conclusion that any business that decided to censor me wasn’t worth my time working for and that has held true to this day. I suppose the fact that I’m not a racist or a sexist or a religious-type saves me from being relegated to the heap of dumbasses who sign their names to their intolerance. Being far more tolerant but more discriminating (or skeptical, I guess) has likely made me less odious.

At some point I did change the name of the blog mostly because, with Donald Trump suddenly in office, the joke wasn’t as funny as it was before. Self censorship is completely legit so the folks complaining about people being afraid to speak “their truth” because of repercussions are simply pussies. If you believe it, you can prove it, you should say it but don’t blame the mob if they don’t like it. This includes college professors, linguists, journalists, activists, and those dumb shits who think they can post memes on Twitter but shouldn’t lose their jobs if it’s anti-Semitic.

On the other hand if the best you can do in the face of language you can’t abide is scream down your opposition, you’re no better than the anti-abortionists of the eighties and you should look closely at your maturity level and how cultish your beliefs are. Chances are, if you’re so impassioned by your beliefs and refusal to hear anything that may contradict them, you’re a religious nut of one stripe or another.

“You’re a racist, man!”

The guy was in the casino I was managing, trolling around, trying to bum smokes and vouchers from paying guests. When I told him he couldn’t do that, he decided to play what is commonly referred to as “the race card.” This card has now become the rosary beads to flash around as a sort of secular religious icon.

“You’re racist, man!”

“OK. You still can’t solicit cigarettes or cash on the casino floor.”

“It’s because I’m black!”

“No. It’s because it’s against the rules. It’s a colorblind rule.”

“RACIST! RACIST!” He started screaming at me in order to what? Shut me up? Scare me away? He got loud and animated. I just stood there and watched him lose his shit like the girl who lost her shit on the white professor whose wife had written that college Halloween costumes are not the height of racist demonstration. You remember the video. I was mostly surprised at how calm the professor was in the face of such unrepentant childishness.

His accusation didn’t rile me up because I had no reason to be defensive. I know who I am and he doesn’t. He might as well have accused me of being a vampire or a Scottish lord. 

“You finished?”

“You gonna kick me out, racist?”

“I’m going to ask you to leave unless you put some money in a machine.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I’m gonna kick you out.”

“Because I’m black?”

“No. Because you’re an asshole and assholes can be any color under the sun.”

To whom do you award the right to decide which speech is harmful or who is the harmful speaker? To whom would you delegate the task of deciding for you what you could read?

— Christopher Hitchens

It seems like an awful lot of this battle for freedom of speech is a struggle for who gets to say what without living-threatening consequence and who gets to dole out those consequences when they decide it goes beyond a predetermined boundary. The idea that those who can wield the iconography of secular religious thought are somehow the disenfranchised is a fantasy in the exact same way that the idea Christians (or Muslims) are in some way marginalized by those who do not believe.

These days political thought is indistinguishable from religious rhetoric. So many looking to assert the moral ground upon which we all must stand or be banished. The mistake made is to embrace the idea that the digital space is real life or even matters that much. As someone who dumped Faceborg a while ago and whose dick didn’t fall off and life didn’t end, social media is not the sum total of free speech.

A friend who works for Netflix recently made an off media comment that the company is noticing that the social justice crowd is fighting online for more inclusive and political content but that no one is watching it. This indicates that either they’re all just a bit full of shit or there simply aren’t as many out there as the noise of deplatforming and calling out signals.

The best form of “deplatforming” is to ignore the people who can’t understand that all speech is free but if you scream in the wrong person’s face, you’re gonna get popped in the jaw. 

Or at least kicked out of the casino.

[missmuffin221]

Sherlock - Das Musical

Last weekend (July 22nd 2017) I visited the opening night of ‘Sherlock - The Musical’, a summer production by Gabi Blonski (lyrics) and Constantin Stahlberg (music), on the beautiful Kultur Gut Hasselburg . The bill said the production is inspired by the (success of) the BBC Sherlock series.

First things first: Yes, it’s cheesy and horrible, (un)intentionally funny. I enjoyed myself to no end and you should definitely take somebody with you to hold on to. Lucky me, I had @khorazir  with me, who endured me ‘slowly turning my head towards them with wide open mouth, my sometimes flabbergasted dismay and/or amazement’, me ‘grabbing random body parts of them to hold onto’, and, at one point, a light but insistent ‘leg slapping’.

Content:

(X) from left to right: Irene Adler, Prof. Moriarty, Sylvie, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson and Lestrade.

The musical is set around 1930. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are getting old. After the unexpected death of Mrs Hudson, they decide to move into a retirement home. Lucky them, they just got an appealing flyer in their mailbox.

(X)

Only minutes after their arrival at the care home, they discover an unconscious Inspector Lestrade on the floor. Turns out he’s living there, too (it seems the universe is sometimes rather lazy after all or isn’t it?!).This is followed by a song about how it sucks to be old, featuring a cane and a lot of ‘old people in back pain moves’.

Turns out, the head of this facility is up to some mischief. Sherlock deduces that the solution to this case must lie in the past. A song mentioning old cases follows, a duet between the sleuth and his friend. An old, unsolved case comes to his mind, ‘The Case of the Vanished Woman’.  Who’d thought…

Time jump to appr. 1900/1901 (Queen Victoria is still Queen and the Suffragettes are on the rise). Sherlock and Watson (!) are comfy in Baker Street. Well, actually not that comfy, because the tea is cold. Women in general and ‘their’ woman, in particular, are out, rying to gain the right to vote. Scandalous! What follows is a song about women belonging into the kitchen - turns out, this Holmes is having a hard time not being a dick towards women. 

Luckily, Lestrade turns up with some case files. He is a total dork in this play, thinking himself so clever but being out of his depth constantly (and is hurting himself with the sharp edges of his case files constantly - attention: Chekhov's sharp case file edges!) Apparently, Queen Victoria will attend a musical performance by La Divina Ciatti, and Scotland Yards fears an attack. Sherlock and Watson split up and disguise themselves to meet up at the opera to investigate.

Meanwhile, at the opera, La Divina Ciatti aka Irene Adler concocts a plan: she’ll start to sing, but will suddenly light a firecracker and wave a banner that demands votes for women. She and her maid Sylvie sing a song about the suffragettes, the need for equality and sisterly solidarity. But Sylvie, madly in love with the director Sir Timor Ray, later backstabs Irene and tells her lover about the plan. He forces Sylvie to switch the cracker for a bomb (to kill the queen and disgrace the suffragettes - I am not 100% sure about this plot point) before sexually harassing Irene, which Sylvie blames on her mistress instead of her lover. But Sir Timor Ray, aka Moriarty, is - surprise, surprise -  up to no good beside attempted rape. In a song featuring chess analogies he explains his evilness, calls himself the devil incarnate and very bad in general (very subtle)

When Sherlock, now disguised as Pastinelli, an Italien singer (who looks like Harry Potter sporting an afro) and Watson, dressed as Bavarian Karl Josef Fürchtegott, turn up at the opera, they at first don’t recognise each other, only to later then recognise each other and sing another song (it’s a musical after all). 

Meanwhile, Lestrade investigates. There is a switcheroo with the bombs. Sherlock and Irene meet and remember how they felt drawn to each other during their last encounter before plotting to thwart Moriarty's wicked scheme. 

Watson, however, who’s cover story is being the piano player for  Pastinelli’s act, has to solve a problem of its own: He can’t play the piano. 

Watson: Sherlock, ich kann aber gar kein Klavier spielen! / Sherlock, i can’t play the piano! Sherlock: Nicht mit den Fingern…benutz deine Fantasie! / Not with your fingers...use your fantasy! *me*: der Piano Mann!

(X)

After some more razzle-dazzle, Sherlock, Irene, Lestrade, Watson and even Sylvie are caught and shackled by Moriarty, who leaves them with the bomb ticking in their middle.That was his plan all along - to kill Sherlock and to have his revenge for the Reichenbachfall or maybe just out of pure evil - who knows.  But the group escapes just in time, using the sharp edges of Lestrade's case file to defuse the bomb, only to discover that Sylvie, out of jealousy, has placed a second (back up bomb) in Moriarty’s coat. Apparently, he dies as it detonates. 

(X) 

While Sherlock tries to get in on with Irene, she has the bigger picture in mind and demands more, namely to fight for equal rights for women. Regarding her aspirations, Sherlock sings a song about how she won’t succeed, because she is a woman and not smart enough for politics (!). In the end, they part ways (I wonder why) and Sherlock and Watson return to Baker Street

Time jump, back to the retirement home.

Turns out it had been Sylvie who got them all there together. Still driven by hatred, and thirsty to revenge the death of her one true love,. Together with her son Rory Marti (!) she tries to kill everyone. A disturbing Mother/Son duet follows, Sylvie gets killed and the group is reunited with Irene. Sherlock tells her how married he and Watson have become over the years, solving case after case while she had been in America, libarting women. Suddenly, Sherlock realises that she has done something meaningful with her life, and admits that she has been right about that all along. #equalrights #Betterlatethannever!

The main theme of the musical, as sung in the trailer, is performed again, but now Sherlock has changed. He’s not just deducing and all brain - he needs love in his life as well and we get an adlocky end.

The cast is a mix of residents of the stage productions on the Kultur Gut, like Braun and Karl, and some new additions with Kohn and Paul. Most of them graduated from the Stage School Hamburg and Hamburg School of Entertainment. The costumes by Marion Lippe are high quality, they just maybe overdid it a bit with the tweed-cladding for the males? It makes you slightly dizzy...  The cast and costumes were really, really good for a 10 nights only thing in the middle of nowhere. Some of the dance numbers are really cool and include funny moves and lift figures with Sherlock and John and a dramatic chess dance thing-y. 

The misogyny is what really bothers me. The cast seems to have fun, and you really have to fight the main theme to not get stuck in your head on a loop. But why invent a case, a whole new plot for a musical, and make Sherlock a dick towards women? A patronising man in need of love to become more than his own myth... The creators said in an interview that they wanted to come up with a case of their own and show a maturing Sherlock, encompassing all the adaptations. (X) Well, it’s something. On the plus sides: they always refer to Watson as a masterfull sleuth, too. So yeah! 

Overall: It's worth the trip if you are up for some weird and somehow special Sherlock moments. I'm glad we did it! 

With only 10 performances in total, you might wanna hurry to get your ticket and go.

Crew

·         directed by Gabi Blonski

·         music Stefan Hiller/ Constantin Stahlberg

·         choreography Lena Onter

·         costumes Marion Lippe

Cast

·         Sherlock/ Pastinelli Johannes Braun

·         Dr. Watson/Garderobier Valentino Karl 

·         Mrs. Feelgood/Sylvie Ann-Marie Lone Gindner

·         Kommissar Lestrade Daniel Holtz 

·         Sir Timor Ray/Prof. Moriarty/Rory Bastian Kohn 

·         La Divina Ciatti/ Irene Adler Hannah Moana Paul

*a big thanks to @isitandwonder for making this post more proper english and less...denglish XD

[movieswithkevin27]

Dead Again

A man lays pipe for a living, can't get it up at home. -Robin Williams as Dr. Cozy Carlisle

Dead Again is a film that is best described as being a film that constantly forgets it is a film. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, the film is both a tongue-in-cheek throwback to noir and Hitchcock, while also being a serious murder mystery in its own right. Yet, it all feels odd. Branagh's depiction of gumshoe Mike Church is, at best, frazzled. At others, he seems to be shocked there is a camera pointed at him. Emma Thompson's mysteriously amnesiac is not much different, balancing between straight-laced confused woman and a character who is just reading the dialogue for the first time. Oddly, however, none of this is bad. Both Branagh and Thompson deliver excellent performances in their roles, allowing the film to strike that balance between subtle satire, all while Branagh weaves a nearly incomprehensible web of noir puffery that is laced with more red herrings than an ocean would be if they were a real fish.

Introducing us to the mysterious amnesiac as she dreams about a man named Roman Strauss murdering his wife Margaret, only to wake up finding herself in a Catholic school for boys in a large home, the film is immediately laced with mystery. Who is she? What happened to her? What is her connection to this murder? In steps Mike Church, a former resident of the home and former cop hired by the Priest in charge of the facility to find out who this woman is and where she comes from. Opening its second Church speaking to Dr. Cozy Carlisle (Robin Williams) in the back of a food market, Carlisle divulges a few pieces of information that immediately strike a chord. One, the above quote about the irony of a man who is impotent after "laying pipe all day". Second, how a man either smokes or does not smoke. With Church claiming he is trying to quit, Carlisle quickly quips that "trying" is for "pussies who cannot commit." One either smokes or does not and must figure out which defines them. In this sequence, Branagh's incredibly tight film is able to introduce a few things. One, this inherent irony about the man who works with pipes.

While a smart and funny line that highlights both the film's wit and the natural talent of Robin Williams as a whip smart comedian, the line is actually rather significant, especially alongside the bit about smoking or not. For one, it is an impeccably smart red herring. With the film developing as it does, one can reasonably reach back to this conversation for the motive: Roman is impotent, poor, and can no longer make music due to a possible mental block. With his love Margaret being a desired woman amongst male companions, celebrated with lush and expensive gifts from Roman himself, and a brilliant musician in her own right, Roman feels emasculated. Thus, he kills her, right? Wrong. As we learn - regardless of whether or not Roman is the actual killer or not, which is largely the central mystery of the film alongside the mystery woman's identity - this theory is entirely misguided. While all of those negative traits are true, none of them are the reason that Margaret would up dead. Furthermore, these lines hint at undercurrents within the characters themselves. For one, Mike Church has no idea who he is and where he comes from. There is an inherent irony, as with a man who lays pipe being impotent, about how he once worked locating missing persons and has no idea how to actually find himself. Secondly, this smoker/non-smoker comes about in both direct reference to smoking later on or simply showing characters smoking or not. It is rather cliche, to be fair, but is a reference to the essence of a person. In many things in life, there is a gray portion in the middle. However, some things just have to be done. Either you get yourself or you do not, for example. If you are trying to find yourself and trying to figure out what your role in life is, you are simply afraid to commit to something or somebody. Either do not do it or do it, but you must make a choice and not waver in the middle. For Mike Church, a man at a crossroads in his life, this line strikes at the core of what he must do and what he must embark upon in the film: will he quit smoking or will he just keep on smoking?

A wild fantasy film at times, the film's brilliance comes in the red herrings and twists that arise, but it is also where its faults lie. The over-the-top insanity of the ending and the seemingly out-of-left-field resolution to it all is rather unsettling, especially with how Branagh must try and tie them all together loosely at the end to try and assure the audience it makes sense. While, thematically, it is resonant with what Cozy Carlisle explained about karma and how we learn things in past lives that must be used to better us in our present one - even if that means killing somebody who will kill you based on knowledge you have from a past life - the resolution is largely disappointing. While it all makes sense, Branagh is forced to embark upon a rushed reveal of the truth that is done purely through exposition and telling the audience what happened, instead of developing it and allowing us to come to a natural conclusion, even if a bit predictable. Worse, it renders the rest of the film rather inconsequential. While still a fun and campy exercise in mystery thrillers, Dead Again's reveal of the truth surrounding Margaret Strauss' murder and how it ties together with ***SPOILERS*** Amanda ("A-Man-Duh") Sharp's present situatoon ***END SPOILERS*** is too reliant upon nothing. Sure, we see small occurrences earlier in the film, but none of them hint at the real reasons. Instead, it is just told to us with no anticipation, expectation, or build-up. It is a pay-off without build-up while its build-up (and unique fantasy introductions via past lives) gets no pay-off and is instead reduced to being an original idea left to flap in the wind for the most part.

***SPOILERS*** The remaining part that does not is how it resonates thematically. With Mike being Margaret and Amanda being Roman, the film's inclusion of Mike hating music is odd, when it should be the other way around. But, aside from that, the film having Franklyn (Derek Jacobi) be the killer makes sense when viewing it from the context of Margaret and Roman's relationship. Smartly, Branagh builds the film as a romance with this couple standing at the center. With red herrings abounding with regard to Roman's jealousy and inability to write music because of how it distracts him, the film's resolution shows Roman finishing his opera and playing it as Margaret is killed by young Frankie. As a result, he blames himself for killing her and feels guilty, hence why he is willing to be executed for the murder. As a husband, he feels he should have protected her and listened to her complaints about Frankie and his mother, both employees of the home. Thus, death is a satisfying conclusion for him. This manifests itself into fear for Amanda that, not only will she kill Mike (or, as she dreams, Roman will kill Margaret again), but that Mike will kill her as a bit of revenge. However, love does win in the end here. Mike/Margaret does not hate Amanda/Roman. Rather, the two are still one-in-the-same and a single person made up of two souls who will be together for all of time. Frankie sought to separate them, thus he must go with revenge exacted upon him, not Amanda. It is Frankie's karmic reward and Mike/Margaret learning from their past life to improve upon their next life. In this, the film all comes together, but is a rather unsatisfactory murder mystery as a result with how it throws Frankie in at the last second. Had it hinted, beyond him stealing jewelry, that this would be the case, it could have been a better film. ***END SPOILERS***

A stylish neo-noir film that pays homage to Hitchcock and the noir genre in its entirety, Dead Again's less-than-straight acting gives the film this air of oddity that is secured with its supporting characters. Robin Williams is almost exclusively used to comedic effect, as is Wayne Knight. Both are excellent and contribute greatly to the film's considerable amount of charm. For his part, Branagh brings great wit and zip akin to a gumshoe from the 1940s classics, but with added vulgarity. He is a lost man who has no time for anything or anybody and is unafraid to rip a person to shreds with a slight jab of verbal sparing as a conversation ends. The film is uncharacteristically funny for a noir, no matter how witty and smart they could be at times. It is a heightened and exaggerated version of the genre it pays homage to at all times, even having the gall to take the deadly gritty style of noir and trade it out with a fantastical plot about hypnosis and past lives. The film employs genre conventions, points out that it is employing them and follows them to a tee, and then plays those out in a straightly campy tongue-in-cheek fashion. With all of this combing, the film is oddly surreal to watch unfold with how unexpectedly relaxed it takes itself.

A theatrical and dramatized neo-noir mystery thriller with fantasy and light satire and nostalgia film elements, Dead Again is a strong film from Kenneth Branagh that has been rightly labeled a "film for film lovers". At the very least, it is one for noir lovers who can spot the conventions, where it breaks them, and where it seems to point out some more colorful elements about them. A funny, smart, and classically put together film, Dead Again shows that Branagh is best at acting when not expected to be conventionally good and is allowed to play a role a little off-kilter. Alongside him, he brings out a similarly askew Emma Thompson in a terrific role, as well as a supporting turn from Robin Williams as a disgraced former psychiatrist that constantly steals scenes. While perhaps not as strong artistically as its influences, Dead Again captures the essence of noir as few films do nowadays, even if its central mystery is not committed enough to its incomprehensibility, instead opting for a safe and neat conclusion that explains it all.

[dydturktek]

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Just how to deal with the Ex who would like to Punish You

Just how to deal with the Ex who would like to Punish You

None of us want to consider the reality that is harsh an individual who when liked us happens to be off to harm and also discipline us, however it’s true.

Bitter, disgruntled and dismissed ex’s seek vengeance in every quantity of means, including functions of physical physical physical violence, bullying, intimidation, harassment, passive aggressive behavior, quiet indifference and utilising the kids as pawns. Let’s look at four of the very most ways that are common harmed and punish their former lovers, why they are doing it plus some good options to the form of destructive behavior.

# 1. Putting kiddies within the Crossfire Ex’s can became therefore ruthless, vicious and contentious they falsely accuse their ex-husband or ex-wife, or soon-to-be ex, of youngster punishment, domestic violence, alcoholism, infidelity, unlawful functions an such like. Brainwashing young ones and switching them against their other moms and dad produces a scenario that is no-win of loyalties when you look at the psych of a kid.

Another method of placing young ones within the crossfire will be discipline your ex lover over time with silent disdain. This hurtful kind of incivility forces kids of divorce or separation into walking on eggshells round the bitter, estranged moms and dad — and being re-traumatized by the ever-present stress and animosity they choose through to.

# 2. Violent Aggression Statistics reveal that domestic physical physical violence and murder that is spousal pandemic inside our culture. The pain sensation and rage of marital disputes escalate to a boiling point — and somebody gets harmed. The cruelty, brutality, incivility and traumatization brought on by vengeful physical physical violence can perpetuate a very long time of mayhem.

# 3. Slander and Public Shaming Discrediting and disgracing an ex by perpetuating lies, exposing secrets and exaggerating transgressions are made to permanently damage their reputation. The consequences tend to be intentionally irreparable and devastating.

# 4. Passive Aggressive Behavior Passive-aggressive behavior is a cowardly and form that is dangerously sneaky of. Frequently referred to as the sly behavior of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” this indirect type of payback can lead to getting individuals fired, switching children against their other moms and dad, destroying friendships, disrupting household relationships, causing pecuniary hardship, an such like.

Why? An ex that is experiencing betrayed, harmed, abandoned and/or rejected may paint a grossly altered, one-sided picture of their previous partner — why their wedding failed. Using up residence as a “victim,” they create a cynical narrative and project blame onto their partner, instead of using any duty and/or ownership for his or her component into the demise of the relationship https://bestbrides.org/asian-brides. In terms of they’re worried, their ex is bad, wicked, ungrateful, dishonest, and a “lost soul” as you ex-husband that is slanderous it. They, having said that, are great, righteous, truthful, lovable and enlightened souls that are yet unlucky have already been victimized.

Insecure, low self-esteem and sociopathic ex’s can temporarily bolster their ego’s and feel much better about by themselves by achieving this. They find respite from the unsettling emotions of inadequacy and failure that often accompany a breakup. Denial and self-deception are utilized as powerful tools of avoidance. Additionally, they are able to rationalize, justify (and reason) any discomfort, disquiet, harassment or punishment that is outright inflict to their ex’s.

Options to Punishing an Ex

It is understandable that lovers suffer great heartache and grief whenever love goes sideways. The discomfort of loss is debilitating, and will be unmanageable; therefore can the anger and hatred that arise from betrayal, failure, abandonment and pity. Listed here are five methods and must “take the high road” after a breakup if you’re anyone inflicting pain and punishment. Doing these specific things will avoid things from escalating into destructive, dangerous and behaviors that are hurtful protect your kids, restore your integrity, activate your resilience and set the dining table for an improved future:

1. Acknowledge your pain and distress that is psychological. 2. Own up into the proven fact that the problem is now (is that is becoming difficult handle and that you might be/are harming other people. 3. Make the choice to just take the “high road” rather than let your hurt and anger to escalate any more. The false vow of revenge is so it’s likely to cause you to feel better. And assist you to achieve justice. But neither holds true. 4. Seek professional assistance and guidance to de-escalate your hurt and anger. Counselors, practitioners and divorce or separation coaches makes it possible to discover ways that are constructive vent/express your hurt feelings and commence curing your heart. 5. Stop seeing your self as being a target and blaming each other, their loved ones, buddies or therapist. You both share a few of the duty for just what occurred and owning as much as your component could be the insurance that is best you won’t take place once more in the next relationship. 6. You are an ongoing work in progress. Catch yourself backsliding or turning to punishing behavior. And Prevent! No level of revenge will probably be satisfying or undo the last. Stay glued to your contract and make the road that is high.

Because you left them, here are some ways to consider helping yourself if you’re the one being hurt and/or punished by an ex, possibly:

1. Some ex’s are masters at convincing everybody that you’re the guy that is bad threw in the towel in your wedding — and they will be the target. “My son ended up being furiously furious beside me for making his father” one woman reported. “’Mom, on you, you should stay,’ he’d argue.” 2. Your children, family and friends may be “siding” with your ex if he never hit or cheated. As damaging as that is, so that as much in a better frame of mind to set things right as you’d like to strike back, slowing down will put you. 3. The simple kinds of mental abuse, neglect, careless and behavior that is corrosive kill a wedding are never as observable as physical punishment, addiction and alcoholism, infidelity, economic mismanagement along with other breaches of trust that justify closing a married relationship. 4. You have actually every right to guard your self and look for protection from a bully. This could necessitate calling law enforcement, protective solutions or legal counsel. Chatting straight to the kids, household, buddies, next-door next-door neighbors and peers who’ve been afflicted by your ex’s slanderous feedback (without becoming slanderous yourself) may also be helpful issues. 5. Move on as best you can easily. The profits on return to get too greatly embroiled in ex-wars is quite bad. You may be best off exercising good self-care with people who lift your spirits as you recover from the ordeal of a breakup and surrounding yourself.

Ex’s whom punish and people who will be attempting to free on their own of the period of hurt, anger and revenge deserve another opportunity. After the above recommendations will provide you with the opportunity that is best to understand from heartache and failure – and start to become the higher, smarter, more relationship ready version of your self.

Closing a relationship in never ever effortless, but we are able to elect to forge comfort as opposed to wage war. You both, as well as your kiddies, deserve the opportunity to continue on with your life and find delight once again. Permitting get and moving forward with this life takes place whenever we place the past ourselves and our partner for not knowing/doing better, show one another respect and allow ourselves to feel sorrow for the bad and gratitude for the good (including children) that came from our time together behind us, stop playing the victim, take responsibility for our part, forgive.

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Best Action films Of South Korea In 2017

2017 has been a good year for action films. We were given the long-awaited sequel John Wick: Chapter 2, the latest Wolverine film Logan and the eighth instalment of the Fast and the Furious franchise along with many others. Among these releases, some were supposed to be ground-breaking for women. Action films with a female protagonist are very hard to come by and this year we saw the release of several of them. We witnessed Wonder Womanbecome the highest grossing film by a female director, the highly anticipated and highly disappointing Atomic Blonde and the complete and utter disgrace that is the Ghost in the Shell adaptation.

Among the hundreds of action films released, only a handful have female characters in the lead. It seems Hollywood can only make riveting action films with male leads, such as the Jason Bourne and Mission Impossible series, because the female-leading films have only been problematic so far. Atomic Blonde gave us a selectively bi-sexual lead character, while Ghost in the Shellwhitewashed almost every character from the manga by casting white actors for almost every role.

While we were waiting for Hollywood to bless us with a good female-lead action film, a gift came from South Korea with The Villainess. Directed by Byung-gil Jung, the film stars Ok-bin Kim as Sook-hee, a trained assassin who, after avenging the death of her lover, begins to work for the government in return for her freedom. The film immediately starts with an action scene in which we see Sook-hee kill at least 30 men from the first-person perspective. It is truly a new and amazing experience. The scene is shot in a continuous sequence and it doesn’t change even when there’s a switch from Sook-hee’s perspective to the third person. Lucky for us, scenes like this are plenty in the film.

We see Sook-hee fighting with swords guns and even on motorbikes. We are never deprived of action throughout the film and it is bloody and gory. Watching the fight scenes from a first-person perspective is so different and much more thrilling compared to the third-person perspective. It’s obviously more difficult to shoot and there are some flaws, but you get so immersed in the film, they’re unnoticeable.

Unlike many action films involving assassins and spies, such as John Wick and James Bond, The Villainess also provides us with a worthy plot, rather than giving us a forgettable story we can’t invest in. We encounter Sook-hee just as she’s on a personal mission to avenge the murder of a loved one. Once she accomplishes that, she is given a second chance by a secret organisation within the South Korean government; she trains with them, learning all the skills she needs to be a secret agent and work for them for 10 years.

If she accepts, she’s put in a school, where she learns to cook, act, use make-up along with shooting guns and the martial arts. Once she finishes her training and graduates from the school by completing her first mission, she is given a new identity to take on in the outside world. If she works for them for 10 years, she retires with a good pension. Sook-hee agrees and soon graduates with ease, living the life of an actress who stars in small plays in the real world. And as soon as she receives a mission, she completes it without a second thought. Although Sook-hee is amazing at her job, she is surprisingly sensitive. She finds herself torn between her job and her past, which pushes her yet into another path of vengeance.

Revenge is a major theme in the film. We see this when Sook-hee vows to avenge her father’s death and then her lover’s, and then once again for her loved ones. Revenge is what introduced her to the world of assassins and it is what helped her complete her goals. It becomes a vicious cycle for her. There are times when we see it taking a toll on her, but it seems as if this is the best thing Sook-hee knows how to do. She lives her ‘normal’ life, while always choosing revenge, when she could easily walk away. Even though it seems like fate toys with her, Sook-hee makes her own decisions.

The roles of men and women in the film are also very interesting. In a world run by men, in every aspect, The Villainess takes this point and puts it on the big screen for us. We are introduced to Sook-hee when she goes on a killing rampage (for 10 minutes), killing men and is then arrested by male police officers. However, what saves her is a woman.

We are invited to a meeting of the secret intelligence agency which is full of men, and only one woman who sees Sook-hee as an asset. Chief Kwon (Seo-hyeong Kim) is the one who makes the important decisions in a room full of men, even though she’s not at the head of the table. She is, however, the head of the school. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the school only has female agents who are watched by male agents.

Once a student graduates and earns the right to leave the school, they are assigned a male agent to keep an eye on them, without their knowledge. Even though it’s the women who do the dirty work, it’s once again the men who are in charge, with the exception of Chief Kwon. Perhaps that was Chief Kwon’s idea; to assign them a person who will try and become close to them so they are not lonely in the world.