#she was kidnapped by a fucking bounty hunter and escaped all on her own

[sweaters-and-vertigo]

me, a future child psychologist, watching the bad batch:

[dark-konohagakure2]

May I request Rogue Zabuza defeating a female Hunter-nin that's been chasing on his and Haku's heels for a while and he decides to make an example of her? Ties her and fucks her against his sword among other things, maybe even uses a water clone to double stuff her.

tw: noncon, clone sex, double penetration, full nelson, exhibitionism, blade play, kidnapping, size difference, degradation, bondage, tummy bulge

All characters depicted are 18+

Zabuza and Haku are more than experienced with dispatching any bounty hunters that might be after them, the duo deals with hunter nins in the same way one would swat a buzzing fly away. However when one hunter kunoichi catches Zabuza on a day when he's in a particular foul mood, the Demon decides that a lesson is in order.

Zabuza doesn't like it when weak little ladies try to stand up to big strong men such as himself, so he takes it upon himself to put her in her place. He'll order Haku to tie her up tightly, and once she's bound and unable to escape, that's when Zabuza will commence the lesson.

Zabuza will hold his giant Executioner's Blade up to her, the circular cutout around neck, mere inches away from cutting her neck as he tears her clothes right off, making sure his protege gets a good eyeful of the woman's pussy before he rams his cock into her, tummy bulging with the shape of his thick member.

Zabuza's cock will be roughly hammering into her smaller form, letting Haku watch Zabuza destroy the hunter with his cock, making it clear that is main goal isn't pleasure, it's humiliation and dominance over this foolish shinobi who thought she'd have a chance in hell at taking down Zabuza Momochi.

"Watch closely, boy. This is how we deal with pesky hunters, but you already know that... I'll leave this one even more messed up than the last one..."

After he cums inside of her and he sees that there is still some fight left in here, Zabuza decides to up the ante. Forming the necessary hand signs, Zabuza summons a water clone, one that's sturdy enough to withstand a very tight squeeze, before easily lifting her up from behind, looping his muscular arms underneath her legs, lifting her up as both he and his clone rub their hard cocks against her already used pussy.

Just one Zabuza is enough to completely dominate and overwhelm anyone, but two Zabuzas pounding her at once is a mind shattering experience, having two of him to inside of her with their fat cocks bullying her untouched womb and stretching out her delicate walls around the two members relentlessly thrusting in and out of her sloppy pussy.

Zabuza will snidely praise her as he pounds into her, telling her that the hunters he's humiliated in the past couldn't take one of him without passing out, let alone two, but she's taking it like a champ, he didn't know that the Hidden Mist had been raising so many talented sluts when he was away, it's truly pitiful how the kunoichi of his village are more skilled at taking dick than they are at taking hits.

Once she's been thoroughly used and fucked out to Zabuza's liking, he decides to be generous and give her a brand new career path, being his own personal sex toy and stress relief, and it's a job with a terrible salary; a nonexistent one at that.

"You really should have reconsidered your method of earning pay, bitch. Because now you've got yourself a brand new job that doesn't pay a cent; being our own personal cumdump."

Being on the run as a rouge ninja is a pretty stressful lifestyle, but fate seems to be on the duo's side that day, because now Zabuza has his very own slutty stress toy to play with in anyway he sees fit.

[onceuponastory]

in another universe - god the bounty hunter x reader

Plot: One night, Y/N meets someone who’s about to change her life and everything she knows. Pairing: God the Bounty Hunter x Female!Reader (if you look hard enough) Warnings: Mentions of death/murder, guns/weapons and kidnapping. As always, if I miss any triggers please let me know! Notes: None of you say a fucking word 😂 seriously though, we get like a minute of Seb content from a cameo and I say “I can work with this” lmao. There’s no plot spoilers in this (bc I only watched those two cameos) Not beta’d, so any mistakes are my own!

Wrapping her jacket around herself, Y/N leaves the bar where she’s spent most of the night. Alcohol still pools in her stomach, its warmth spreading throughout her body. She sighs contently. It’s been a good night, something she’s needed for a long time. And then she begins the walk home. Soon, someone falls into step behind her, matching their footsteps to hers. Even when she speeds up and slows down, the stranger matches her footsteps. Y/N registers her heartbeat rising. That’s strange. Hopefully she’s just imagining things, and that she’s not being followed. But as they continue down the street, the person’s footsteps still follow behind hers. As her mind races, Y/N tries to calm herself down. Because surely, this can’t be happening. She’s just overreacting.

“Sorry.” She murmurs, stepping aside to let the person behind her past, hoping they’ll soon be gone and she can head home with no more worries. But then, she feels something cold and hard pressing against the small of her back. Immediately, Y/N sobers up. Her breath hitches in her throat, and her heart stops. She already knows what it is, and what it means.

She’s about to die.

“Just keep walking.” A male voice orders, hot against her cheek. She does as the voice asks, too nervous to argue back. As they walk, she tries to pick up her pace a little, hoping that she’ll be able to slip away quick enough to not end up with a bullet in her back. But the man simply matches his pace with hers, digging the gun into her back even harsher. “Uh uh.” He tuts. Something is pressed into her neck then, and she yelps in pain. “Quiet.” Y/N immediately shuts up. “That is connected to my ring. One wrong move, and 50,000 volts will be sent through you. So you better do as I say.” He orders, and she nods. 

As he leads her through the streets, Y/N continues to think of what this man could possibly want with her. Of course, she has her ideas, but none of them are good ones. Before she can even engineer her next escape plan, the man leads her to a car. “Get in. We’re going for a drive.”

When the man gets in beside her, she manages to get a good look at him. He doesn’t look like she expected him to. For starters, his outfit makes him look more like an art student than a dangerous assassin, especially with the various bracelets covering his arms. Yet, Y/N finds herself wanting to ask him things, to know more about him, and especially why he chose to dress like this. That is, she would if he wasn’t pointing a gun at her while also threatening to electrocute her. Glancing over his face and his jawline, a light heat settles on her cheek. He’s kinda cute, in a way… and oh god, why is she thinking this about someone who’s kidnapping her? But then again, maybe in another universe, one where he isn’t trying to kill her… things would be different.

“What do you want with me?” She asks finally, as the man starts driving. A huff follows her question. “Okay, are you going to kill me, or are you just kidnapping me?”

“Most people don’t ask so many questions.”

“What, you kidnap people and expect them to stay silent, and not ask what the fuck is happening?” She snaps. “No, fuck that. Tell me what you want with me.” As silence fills the car once more, Y/N suddenly worries that she is about to be hit with all those volts that the man threatened for daring to talk back. Yet, to her surprise, the man simply chuckles as if impressed by her fire. 

“It’s not me who wants you, doll. I’m just the delivery driver.” He replies. She won’t lie, she quite enjoys being called doll by him. But then, the realisation hits her. 

“Oh god. Is this about Josh?” The man frowns.

“Who the fuck is Josh?”

“My stupid fucking boyfriend.” She huffs. Before they started dating, Josh used to be a petty criminal, stealing money and jewellery here and there. When she met him, though, he seemed to be doing better, and she helped get him back on the straight and narrow. And for the next couple of years, things were good. Sure, they had their arguments, but they were happy. Or at least, Y/N thought they were. A few nights ago, Josh came home freaking out because he ‘pissed off some dangerous people’. Although he didn’t go into specifics, from the terrified look on his face, Y/N knew it wasn’t good, and he’d fallen back into his old tricks. Or maybe he didn’t leave them behind at all. Maybe he’s been playing her this whole time, working his way up the criminal ladder whilst playing happy families with her. 

“All I got told was he owed my boss money, and when we tried to find him for payback, he had disappeared.” 

“So they sent you after me instead.” She murmurs. When the man nods, her entire body slumps forward, and she even begins shaking her head. Perhaps hoping that she convinces herself that this isn’t true. Hoping that it’s just a horrible nightmare, or even a twisted prank. But this is all very real. Something twinges deep in her stomach, and Y/N lets out a cry. He ran without telling her, and threw her to the wolves to clean up his mess. If she knew, she could’ve helped him. Or at least fled too. Tears start to fall, and she tries to wipe them away to no avail, as they keep coming even harder. Did she ever mean anything to him? Is he coming back for her… or is he gone forever? But she already knows the answer to that. He didn’t even bother to tell her the truth about what was going on, and fled before he could even face the music. Of course he’s not coming back for her. “God.” She sighs, burying her head in her hands. Her entire life these past few years has been nothing but a lie. 

And now, she’s just collateral damage. 

“I’m sorry.” The man speaks, causing her to raise an eyebrow. She looks back over at him, blinking in confusion as she waits for him to say something like ‘sorry I have to kill you’ or ‘sorry it’s come to this’ before putting her out of her misery. But nothing else comes. 

“What?” 

“I mean, I’m um- sorry you had to find out like this, with my gun pointed at your back.” He stammers, obviously overwhelmed by being the one to tell her that her boyfriend had left her to die. “I know I’m not really the most moral person, but that was a shitty thing for him to do.” And despite the tears still streaming down her cheeks, and how this man is most likely driving her to her death, Y/N feels something inside her flutter. In that moment, she appreciates his small glimpse of kindness more than he could ever know. 

“If you want ransom money from him, it’s not worth it. Just kill me.” She states with a shrug. “He didn’t even care enough to tell me what was going on, so there’s no way he cares enough to get me back. Knowing him, he’s probably in a whole other state right now, doing it all over again.”

“I’m not going to kill you. I’m under strict instructions not to harm you.” Y/N doesn’t reply, simply resting her head against the window. Honestly, she doesn’t care what happens to her now. As far as she knows, her life and relationship are over. She has nothing else to live for at this point.

Silence falls once more, neither willing to say anything to the other after that bombshell. The night sky soon envelops them, and Y/N feels herself slowly starting to fall asleep. A little part of her still hopes this is just a dream, that she’ll wake up back home and safe, not being driven to god knows where.

“What’s your name?” The man asks, cutting through her thoughts.

“Why do you care? I thought the others didn’t do so much talking.” The man shrugs.

“You’re not like the others.” Another flutter from deep inside her. Y/N tries to suppress it as much as she can. Maybe he’s lying to her, and he wants to know everyone’s name. Or maybe, after telling her that her boyfriend left her for dead, he wants to make her feel a little better. Although, maybe the flutter is because after the little snippet of kindness he showed her earlier… Y/N’s starting to feel more comfortable around him.

“It’s Y/N. Can I know your name?”

“I’m God.” Immediately, Y/N raises a brow. “What?!”

“Oh please, that is not your fucking name. Please don’t tell me you chose that.” 

“Obviously it’s not my real name. But nobody else gets to know my real name. And besides, it works, right? I saw it as meeting your maker kind of thing.” 

“It doesn’t. That’s so cheesy.” Y/N shakes her head, laughing to herself. As her peals of laughter fill the air, God rolls his eyes. 

“I’m going to let you off with that laughter because you’re sad.” He insists. “But no more, alright?” He warns.

“Thank you. That felt so good. I needed that.” She pants once she’s finally calmed down. It feels more like they’re two friends spending time together than a bounty hunter and the person he’s been sent to kidnap. A flicker of a smile crosses God’s lips. Although, he won’t lie... it’s a nice feeling. And besides, despite how annoying she’s being, hearing her laughter is a lot better than hearing her cries.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Tell me about your boss.” 

“I can’t do that.”

“Of course you can’t.” She sighs. The sound causes a pang in God’s heart. Obviously, he’s supposed to keep things about him and his boss quiet for safety. But after everything this poor woman has been through tonight, including realising just how much of an asshole her boyfriend is, surely the least he can do is tell her something. He’s a lot more firm and threatening to the others he’s taken. But Y/N, she’s different. The reason he’s kidnapping her isn’t her fault. Everyone else he was sent to deal with were assholes and scum of the earth, and he had no qualms about making sure they were dealt with. This, though, isn’t Y/N’s fault. None of it is. She didn’t ask for any of this, to have her life turned upside down because of the actions of her shitty boyfriend. In some way, God feels protective of her, and he doesn’t understand why. Maybe, she’s finally melting his heart of stone.

“He’s… nice I suppose? Or at least as nice as someone who orders bounty hunters after people could be.”

Maybe, in some other life, or some other universe, he and Y/N could be friends. It’s just a shame the way things work out. Sometimes, God wishes he could live another, normal life. One with a loving family or just someone to call his own. If only he made other choices before he got lost and went down this path, and turned to doing what he does as a way to tell the world to fuck off after it chewed him up and spat him out. He could’ve made something with his life. Something good.

Maybe he could’ve met someone like Y/N.

No. He couldn’t. That’s insane. He’s insane. He could never be a good person, especially not after what he’s done. The lack of sleep is making him go crazy or something. He’s just taking pity on Y/N because of what she’s been through. There’s no other meaning behind it. And besides, he likes this life. It’s been his for so long, he doesn’t know another way to live. Stupid fucking Y/N, making him think about his feelings. Thankfully, she’ll be out of his hair soon, and no longer his problem.

Although, as they approach the meeting point… deep down, God realises he might not be as ready to let go of Y/N as he thinks he is.

“Well. Here we are.” He announces, pulling up beside a row of rundown buildings. Y/N gulps. This is it. This is where she dies. “You know, I am sorry.”

“Mhm. You know, since I’m gonna die soon, I’m just going to say it. You aren’t so bad, God.” She admits. God scoffs.

“You don’t have to lie to me, Y/N.”

“I’m not!” She insists. “I mean, sure, we didn’t get off to the best start, but you’re nicer than I thought you would be.” Her words make him smile, and he sighs. This is going to be even harder than he thought. “And besides, you could’ve killed me on the way over here, because let’s face it, I was being annoying. But you didn’t.” Honestly, he couldn’t. Not just because that’s not what he does as a bounty hunter… but because he just can’t. He can’t harm a hair on Y/N’s head. “I guess we better go then.” She announces, reaching out for the door handle.

“Y/N. Wait.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Do we wanna see more from these two?

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[tremendouskoalachild]

Jedi Survivor bingo!

decided to make my own, inspired by this post. went with all different options, except for the ponchos for obvious reasons. they're a combination of things i think will happen, things i want to happen, things i desperately don't want to happen and random wildcards. elaboration under the cut :)

merrical kiss - pretty sure this one is not 100% confirmed, but it feels like a safe choice. unless multiple devs and writers have been lying to us that is

imperial deserter - type of storyline unexplored by the first game, maaaybe set up by the tie-in book?

greez kidnapped - guy still has gambling debts as per the book and i think it would be funny, as well as a rescue mission serving as a cool inversion of the arena escape in fo

trilla mention - they fucking better

cere leaves - from the book and trailers it kinda seems like that might be a direction they're going with her story. could be an impactful ending (other than her straight up dying)

coruscant mission endgame - going to the imperial capital reminds me of the nur mission in the ballsiness department. at the very least i doubt that part will be replayable

ninth sister return - my girl got dropped off a tree and we never saw the body. i have a good feeling about this one

new eno message - maybe something triggers bd's memory banks, idk

merrin makes a friend - she deserves it and so do i

cal dead - yeah 99% not gonna happen but what's a bingo card without batshit options. i live on the edge

reference to obiwan show - takes place at the same-ish time and the show ripped off was inspired by the first game's ending. maybe a mention of why vader's too busy for us?

merrin-centric mission - she deserves it and so do i

ponchos - free space basically. there's no way they don't give us ponchos (right??)

ilyana mention - she's only mentioned in a couple voice lines so idk. but if they're going for the merrical romance then i could see merrin talking to cal in a cutscene

take back mantis mission - could be cool. maybe the ship gets stolen by pirates or taken by the empire idk. fun gameplay potential

bounty hunter nemesis - we've had inquisitors as recurring antagonists. maybe set up by the book

jaro flashback - feels safe. probably not the traumatic survivor's guilt visions from the first game though

alderaan - not extremely likely but i love visiting in swtor and obviously it is not an option in a lot of the timeline. it's a beautiful planet and the first game was so great with exploring pretty environments

dathomir discussion - merrin development please. also the planet's cool by itself. we kinda killed everyone in fo so what's up now

new inquisitor - i always want new cringefail darksiders. but it seems the second game is moving away from that so idk

section without bd - feels safe just for the gameplay variety. but maybe they won't wanna retread the arena mission from fo

koboh is done - having a safe haven under the empire can't last long

the crew gets along - i can hope right

greez gets a new hobby - i love the plants but is the garden gonna be enough for our recovering gambling addict? can we make collectibles out of recipe ingredients?

cere discusses the jedi - seems important to her story. hoping for a cere/merrin cutscene or several gameplay scenes

[thewriterowl]

Owl I don’t know if you’re accepting headcanon prompts (and no worries if you’re not!!) but I was browsing through some of your older asks and I would LOVE to see your thoughts on Luke’s first kidnapping attempt vs Leia’s... and especially their scary parents’ reactions to it x3

Oh man, that would be fun!

So the first attempt on both twins was when they were seven. They were playing together in a Naboo park being watched over by Artoo (the best babysitter) and some guards. Well, some undercover evil dude came up to the twins, all creepy like, to ask if they wanted candy or something. Luke was all shy and hid behind Leia, not fond of new people, and just tended to follow her lead than anything else. Leia took one look at the creep and gave him her infamous sneer, “You’re a pervert. Daddy told me about you. I’m going to tell him about you and you’re gonna die and rot. I hope worms eat your face.”

After that, he tries to grab them and she shrieks, “PERVERTED ADULT!” and then bites him. Then Artoo rages over and promptly destroyed the bastard.

Her singular kidnapping came when she was fourteen. Three bounty-hunters appear with blasters, demanding for her to tell them where her brother is and to get on a ship. She barely uses her Force because she wanted to feel them suffer with her own hands. She loved manicures and getting her nails down pretty and a little sharp. 

One of her attackers was a human male. That human male may have lost his genitals to said nails.

It was somehow videoed and released to the galaxy. No one was really interested in going after her after that.

She got a LOT of simps who wish she stepped on them.

--

Luke is incredibly strong with the Force but more than that he is very deep in the Light side, so evil people are really interested in him. But though he is very strong he is not the most intense warrior of folks. He’s just a sweetie who is very empathetic and wants to make people happy.

When it was realized he was not terrifying or mean like his sister there were attempts mom every month. Luke became very indifferent to them, he was still strong after all, but it freaks his family out.

His first alone attempt was when he was ten and he was grabbed by a passing speeder from his parent’s side. Anakin got him back in less than five minutes but having him literally ripped from their side may have had something to do with his parent’s panic. Three months later someone told him they needed his help and he was easily led away (this time Padme unleashed her wrath) and his parents realized “oh no, we have a sweet, naive, baby” because Leia (who would so follow the My Favorite Murder podcast saying of Fuck Politeness) would just flip the person off.  When he was fourteen he was really kidnapped and taken off world for about a week...well, he was only kidnapped for about two days as he was taken away from Naboo. he escaped pretty easily and just waited for people to come pick him up (he was pretty relaxed about it; his family was very much no relaxed). 

Because of his looks and kindness and ability of getting kidnapped (but saving himself) he is just as popular as his sister.

He gets an attempt on his life three weeks after meeting Din. He is all calm about it, though Din is freaking out, and just shrugs, “Yeah, it happens often. Sorry about that. You and your son will be safe. No worries! I’ll make sure I’m the only one taken :D” and Din is just screaming, “WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!?”

Luke is kidnapped probably just three days after he and Din get together. He gets all chained up with Force Restraints and this particular person is demanding that Luke marry him (which Luke is like, nah, I got a really handsome boyfriend. I don’t cheat. I’m sure you can find someone meant for you if you try! There is someone for everyone :D) Evil guy is gonna marry this dumbass no matter what. Luke is already planning his escape, and would be out before lunch time without a doubt, but before he can even really start Din storms in, takes out every single henchman, destroys his  “love rival” and takes Luke home, not listening as Luke  who is saying everything was fine, it wasn’t a big deal and please don’t tell his parents they worry enough as it was and they still tried to ground him despite being nearly thirty.

Oh sure, Din won’t tell. Cause he’s grounding Luke himself (and they were getting married instantly so no one else could try to marry him) which gets him massive brownie points from Luke’s overprotective parents.

[kyberphilosopher]

Wʜᴀᴛ I'ᴍ Tʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ Aʙᴏᴜᴛ

“Go ahead and cry little girl... I know how much it matters to you...I'd do whatever I could do. I'd run away and hide with you.”

Word Count: 4176

“He doesn’t care what she tells him or what they talk about, he just loves to hear the sound of her voice. Even better if she has to tell him twice. On the other hand, this could insinuate that he either has a bad memory, is distracted, or is so infatuated with her he can’t concentrate on what she’s telling him.”

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Everybody on the Mantis seemed to be filled to the brim with something that could never be alleviated. 

Things stung like a sunburn... one that was plastered to their brains and wouldn’t go away. Even when the sun would implode in on itself six billion years later, the pink marks and scars wouldn’t fade. All their problems ran so deep- arguably too deep. What could they have done but sat and waited for it to leave them?

Greez Dritus couldn’t stop gambling. The rush of it all... the chance of losing and dying and escaping it each time made him feel invincible. Even when he would lose, it felt so good. It felt right, fated. Godly, even. It nearly destroyed his relationships... almost got one of his crew members killed... but Greez had come back to save him! Not that he needed saving... but it counted for something, didn’t it? 

[It didn’t.]

Cere Junda did what she could to let the guilt go. First, she tried confronting it. Then she tried burying it down. Neither of these made her feel any better. She tried meditating, eating, starving, sleeping, ignoring, embracing, and redirecting the guilt. Anything to defer the pain, instead of accepting it. But the more Cere deferred, the more the guilt grew. And the more the guilt grew, the more Cere shrank. 

Merrin felt angry too often. Even for her own liking. It was just that, sometimes if she thought too long, or shut her eyes too tight, she could remember her childhood. She could remember being patient and small, just as willing to learn as her fellow nightsisters. She could remember that all was well. But Merrin could also remember the day the armored man came with the droids, and how she wouldn’t have to be patient until she was left alone with no one but the dead. 

And Cal Kestis... Cal Kestis might’ve had the worst of it. The man suffered of no addictions, nor physical ailments. On the contrary, in fact. His body was broad and promising from work as a Rigger. Flexible and taut. It was his mind and emotions that was couldn’t seem to function properly. 

But it was different from Cere and Merrin’s trauma. It was more intensified, focused, raw on both guilt and loss at once. Cal had been in a complete state of agony since he was twelve years old, since he had held his master’s hand while he died. Master Topal had died for him, after all. Maybe it was for the best that Cal be the one to live with the blame. 

Cal thought about this every day. He thought about what he not only could’ve done, but should’ve done. He thought about all the people he’d never be able to love again, and why he didn’t deserve it anyway. Maybe he did have an addiction. Maybe Cal Kestis just loved making himself feel so bad over something nobody but himself hated him for. 

It’s not like you were much better. 

You felt incredibly heavy with the weight of all the secrets you’d been asked to keep. Strained with all the tapestries of misery you’d been tasked to weave. You were a Slicer, which wasn’t the most morally corrupt job, but it certainly made you feel morally corrupt yourself. Because you doubled as a bounty hunter, you were forced to choose yourself over others. Usually, yourself over the people and things you were turning in. 

Once, you had sliced into a mans datapad in search of information you had been tasked with deleting. On this datapad, you found names. Names of children, anywhere between the ages of eight to sixteen, sold off into various different rings. A girl named Aheka Shyn was training to be a medic when she was abruptly kidnapped and sent off to make spice. A boy named Garreth was only fourteen when he’d been stolen from his junk home planet, instead to be sent to an Imperial fighting ring. And you had desperately wanted to send the man to the authorities, arrest him yourself- anything. But if you didn’t delete what you had found, you would’ve starved to death that night. 

So you deleted what you found. 

There were several more occasions like this, and all of them haunted your memory. You were not a bad person, or even a neutral person. You were much worse. You were a bystander, a failure, the farthest anyone could get from a hero. And you refused to blame anybody but yourself for this revelation. 

You would not hate your father, nor blame your actions or lack thereof on the issues he had given you. You would not blame your mother, your brother, your sister- anyone you may or may not have in your life. You wouldn’t blame the first boy who ever broke your heart, or the first girl who had ever let your hands wander against her for false fame. It was you, all you, and if you wanted otherwise, you should’ve given otherwise. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

There are a lot of people in this world, and the next, who find sex to be pleasurable. Sometimes it’s for selfless reasons, and sometimes it’s for selfish reasons. Sometimes it’s simply because it’s one of the many cures for boredom. Maybe the purpose for your particular instance didn’t matter very much. It was pleasurable for you and Cal, and that was enough. 

You’d liked Cal for a long time. It was difficult not to. First thing you knew about him was that he had a great taste in music. Second thing you knew about him was that he didn’t know when to ask and not ask questions. The third, and most obvious thing you knew about him, was that he was a good person. From anyone’s point of view but his own, he was someone to be admired and respected. His whole life, the entirety of all occupations he’d had, were based around helping others. And you knew this was further proof that you weren’t good enough for him, but that night was the night that you couldn’t resist any longer. 

Cal had given you his consent, and you had given him yours. Both of you were worn out and too honest from the events of the long day, but mentally sober enough to be clear in your mindsets. You knew what was happening. No drugs, no alcohol, no manipulation. You’d found yourself in his quarters while everyone else slept for one reason or another, and then you’d done it. 

The act hadn’t lasted long. Both of you were too excited at the heat and promise of intercourse from the time you’d gone without. Not because you couldn’t get intercourse, but because you couldn’t find it within yourselves to muster up enough trust for anybody to touch you so. But then something had snapped between you and Cal, resulting in the rather hot and aroused endeavor. 

When it was done and the finger tipped shaped bruises were beginning to form on your hips, your first clear thought cut through like a knife. [“Oh, fuck.”] It wasn’t because there was a good chance that Cal had partially finished inside of you. It wasn’t because either of you had failed to think of any quick source of protection. It was because the consequences of your actions stretched beyond the physical ones. 

Were you in a relationship now? What if you weren’t? What if you wanted to be, and he didn’t? What if he wanted to be, and you said otherwise? What if this meant nothing to him? You didn’t know if you believed Cal to be that type of person, but your work as a Bounty Slicer before joining the Mantis crew was enough to teach you to never assume anything about anyone. Where were either of you to go from here?

Cal Kestis was in no position to be in a relationship. He’d told you that tonight, not with his lips, but with his fingers. When people become intimate as you have, sometimes they manage to share more than just their bodies. Cal had managed to share with you just why and how you were wrong about his mental and emotional state. He’d revealed his anguish, his fear of losing people. He’d revealed that he was angry deep inside, that he’d had more than a few regrets in his life. You didn’t know how or why- you’d always been too respectful to ask about his past. But now you had some twisted form of confirmation.

You looked over at him, deep in thought. Cal’s skin was glistening with a thin layer of sweat as he began to regain his breath. His hair was falling in soft, orange locks by his eyes. His lashes were long and dark brown, and seemed  heavy as he blinked. You can see the old, mauve gash that stretches from his neck to his cheek like a line in a poem. 

The boy raises his veined, left hand to push his hair back. With close eyes and a heaving chest, he says, “was it alright?”

In truth, it was much, much better than alright. Maybe you had low standards for not being touched for so long, but you really believed it was fantastic. A little blurred together from the pace and the clouded mind, but unmistakable in the sensations you’d earned from it. “Yes,” you managed to reply. 

Cal sighed finally, eyes still shut. His breathing was beginning to calm down at this point, but your mind was still racing. With his green orbs still glued shut, Cal reaches his arm around you, and rolls to the side. In a fluid motion, without much effort at all really, Cal pulls you towards him until your bare back meets his bare chest. 

Cal groans lazily a few more times as he adjusts his body around until he’s completely comfortable. He falls asleep in a matter of seconds. You on the other hand, feel tired, but buzzed. Almost like your deep dark thoughts have the same affect as caffeine. 

What the hell was that? You cry out in your mind. What the hell are we going to do now? 

But, despite the thoughts that created such anguish after such a pleasurable experience, you could feel yourself sinking into Cal’s embrace. His chest was warm and inviting, and broad enough to snuggle into it at any angle. You didn’t fight too hard to keep your eyes from coming to a stiff close.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

This brings us to now, and why you’ve only said one word to Cal since that night. 

It happened about four days ago at this point. You should’ve stayed and voiced your concerns to the boy, but you hadn’t. Instead you’d fallen into a dreamless sleep, only to wake up hours later when the Mantis shook coming out of hyperspace. Cal had removed his arm from around you and turned away, so it was easy to hop up, throw your undergarments on, and rush back to your room before anyone could deduce anything. 

It wasn’t that you specifically regretted what you had done- you liked Cal. You liked Cal a lot, actually. The night you spent pressed against him only proved and accelerated that much. But you were an observant person, and you were observant enough to understand that you might’ve just ruined everything. 

You weren’t good enough, or worthy enough to be with Cal. He wasn’t perfect, (which would bring you to your next point), but you were even farther from it. How many lives had you ruined just by trying to scrape by? Cal saved and bettered lives like it was nothing. He’d helped the partisans of Kashyyyk without asking for anything in return. He’d informed a single mother of her partners death with as much humility as he could. He’d shown enough empathy towards the Nightsister’s to make even Merrin budge. And you? You hated yourself for all the people you’d let down and would continue to let down into the next life. 

But Cal wasn’t in any state of mind to love you. He wasn’t cruel, nor manipulative. But he was damaged and scared of something that scared you more. So how was he ever going to love you? How was he going to put up with you? To take on more suffering than he already struggled with? You couldn’t do that to him, and the option of breaking your heart seemed all the kinder. 

And yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You knew the moment you would be alone with him again, it could’ve gone one of two ways. Way One: that Cal would inform you that he loved you- falsely- and you would fall into his strong arms again and repeat your heated actions. On the other hand, there was Way Two: the way in which Cal told you he loved you, but he couldn’t go any further. Then it would come to an end. Both options upset you, so you decided to freeze yourself in time. Cal could neither lie, nor harm you so long as you kept away from him. 

And, as stated above, this went on for four days. 

So, there was a build up of frustration within the walls that you’d constructed around yourself. It was a stalemate, and it didn’t take long for you to crack. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

It started slow- the welling of tears across your lower lash line, the flushing of your cheeks, the trembling of your lips. You tried to deny it from happening. You practically shouted at yourself not to cry. It was so stupid. So, so stupid. So... why was it happening?

It overwhelmed you quickly. Your eyes squinted, smearing the drops across your eyes and making your vision blurry. You bit your bottom lip to stop the trembling, but then your nose began to sniffle. It burned to inhale the snot again, and your lips started to quake again. You were lucky you were alone, you thought, before you let the tears fall. 

It was night. Or, as nightly as space could get, you supposed. Greez had put the Mantis on autopilot, and hyperspace was whizzing by in indigo and baby blue streaks. White stars laced by in between lines, past the glass of the windows and the metal that had created the space. 

All was asleep, except for you. So you allowed yourself to cry, but only if you held yourself to keeping the volume down. And you did. On the steps by the Latero’s terrarium. All of the seeds had grown into miniature plants and trees and flowers by now, blooming in vibrant colors of all kinds. The picture would’ve been so neat and beautiful, if not for your form shaking as you hunched over. 

You should not have slept with Cal. Did you regret it? Not exactly. But you still felt so guilty about how much you cared for him, and the knowledge that he couldn’t have actually loved you. You might not have been able to love him too. There was just so many issues that you’d been able to pick up on, especially since you’d done the deed. But Greez had his gambling, Cere had her guilt, Merrin had her anger, and Cal had... Cal had everything. Everything you had shared, every burning mark he’d left on you, it all felt false. Like maybe it wasn’t out of emotions, but a wrong idea. 

What a ridiculous thing to cry about, you thought as you cried. But you couldn’t stop. The tears were leaking from you in pearly beads, glistening and swirling with your stress. As much as you hated to admit it, it felt good to cry. You hadn’t done it in a long time, years maybe. There was more than just everything with Cal that was exiting your system along with the tears. 

It was from the stress of your father, and whatever he may or may have not done. It was from the stress of work, the stress of your past. The guilt. All of it. It was pouring out of you silently, like the way that someone wrings out a washcloth. The sounds were minimal, and if anyone woke up and heard it, it could easily be mistaken for the little critter on board eating. 

However, the person that woke up and heard the noises, didn’t mistake it for the little critter on board eating. In fact, he thought it sounded a lot like someone who was crying, or sniffling. Even if he hadn’t been so observant with his hearing, he could still sense the waves of sadness coming from just past the hallway. They echoed throughout his chest like a wind chime, rippling through him until he felt sad too. 

Cal Kestis had a habit of taking on others people’s emotions. He had, even if it didn’t always shine through, an enormous amount of empathy. He had it even for his enemies, and it was the cause of a lot of lost fights. 

The Jedi had gone to use the bathroom when his face fell. He looked to the doorway of the stairs for a while, seeing just the outline of someone from his view. He couldn’t make out who it was, but he was quick to rule out Merrin and Greez. This left Cere and yourself, but the hood of your jacket gave it away. 

Maker, Cal had to urinate. He had to go so bad. But he went to you first without thinking about it, walking carefully as if not to disturb you. His boots were dropping on the floor louder than he would’ve liked, but it must not have been too loud, since you had not ceased your depressed bobbing or turned around to face him. 

Cal didn’t like asking upset people if they were okay, because he was intelligent to understand that being upset was not equal to being okay. But his baby pink lips were already throwing the words out anyway, his voice croaking slightly from the sleep he’d woken up from. “Are you okay?” he ventured out. 

Immediately, you turned around with a jump. Your cheeks were a deep shade of magenta, eye lashes long and dark and feathery. Eyes were sparkling beautifully, but for all the wrong reasons. One of your hands hastily wiped your face, as if you had simply sneezed. But Cal had already seen it. He knew you were crying, and you knew that he knew. 

“Oh, uh, yeah,” you said as your voice cracked slightly. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“You sure?” Cal asked as he took a hesitant step forward. “You don’t look okay.”

Your eyes flitted from him to the miniature tree in Greez’s terrarium. The branches were curled into detailed little swirls, with leaves sprouting in bushes of bright and dark greens alike. In truth, craning your neck to look over your shoulder strained it for you, and looking away alleviated it just as much as it alleviated seeing the boy. “I’m cool.”

You hoped he would leave it and go away. This was a bit of a long shot, and of course he didn’t. Because Cal Kestis had a big, caring heart that was probably corrupted, but big and caring nonetheless. 

He walked nearer to you until finally another step would’ve resulted with him on the stairs too. You didn’t dare look up at him, keeping your eyes on the tree like your life depended on it. 

“I don’t think you’re okay,” Cal said in a very tired, but very soft and real voice. 

You swallowed, trying to keep the tears from falling again. Your eyes had already begun to glisten again like a threat, and your breathing was becoming shaky. But you were a big girl, and you knew you could keep it together if you just kept your eyes on the tree. Where had Cal gotten it? Kashyyyk?

“I mean maybe I’m tired but... you don’t look okay,” he continued. You could feel his soft green eyes on you as your nostrils flared with anxiety. “You don’t sound okay.”

“I’m just having an off night,” you decided to say. Which, by the way, was a safe enough thing to respond with. It wasn’t necessarily a lie- you were having an off night. But somehow it still felt like it wasn’t the truth. 

“Can you please look at me?” the boy said softly, though it felt somewhat dominant. 

Maybe if you looked at him and kept telling yourself to keep it together, you could. Maybe it would help. Like confronting a dare or showing up an enemy. Was that how you saw Cal now? An enemy?

Your knees croaked in protest as you pushed yourself off the floor. When you stood at your full height, much lower than him due to being a step lower, you lost sight of the tree. Cal’s left shoulder was in the way, covered by a black shirt and dark blue poncho. You followed the seam of it down where his collarbone would be, up the neck to where you had left a few marks, around his jaw and finally to his eyes. They were piercing and begging, and you knew at once you shouldn’t have accepted the challenge of looking into them. 

“Are you okay Y/N?” he repeats. 

You bite your bottom lip as the tears well again, telling yourself to nod yes. But for some reason, the message doesn’t get from your brain to the nerves or muscles in your head, and instead it shakes no. 

Cal reaches his arms around your shoulders again and pulls you into him until your head hits his chest. It’s a bit of a weird angle and position, but it feels nice to rest against something. He’s quick to notice your trembling and slowly eases his knees into a bend as you follow, though you’re more melting like putty. 

You start crying again right before he hits the stairs. It’s a little louder than it was before Cal arrived, but only because he knows you feel more protected and comfortable enough to do so. Still, he keeps you close as both a courtesy to others, and yourself. And it’s nice because you can see the tree again, but this time you can hear the rhythm of his heart as well. 

Both of his strong, engineer hands are caressing you- one against your shoulder and the other in your hair. Stroking softly and quietly as a contradiction to your sobs, like something calm against something wracking. 

It made you cry more when you realized how calm Cal was to all of this. He stayed steady and upright so you could be comfortable against him- you could already feel the tension forming in his back. But his eyes were closed instead of looking around awkwardly. He wasn’t asleep, but it was like his body was entirely dedicated to taking care of you in the moment. He knew how much it meant for you to cry, even if you thought the reasons were stupid and ridiculous and you’d done your best to stop it. He let it happen anyway, and he’d let it happen on him. And if you didn’t know, that’s an incredibly nice thing to do for someone. 

You felt like a little girl again, but this time it felt better. It felt like maybe someone actually wanted you to be okay. 

Cal didn’t even ask what was wrong. Not yet, anyway. He just stayed in his position, tracing loving circles into your skin without really knowing the reasons why. He cared, but not as much as he cared about you being alright first. That meant something to you. It meant that he cared about you more than whatever reasons that galaxy could come up with. It meant that he’d put you first, before logic or shadows of facts or evidence. For now, at least.

In turn, Cal wanted to do everything he could for you. He didn’t know what was hurting you. He’d ask after, when he’d whisked you off to somewhere special and warm and safe that existed just between the two of you. Like your own little planet with a thousand different rings and scenery. Because, like said before, Cal Kestis has an enormous amount of empathy, and a very big heart. 

So, you thought, maybe he can love me like I love him. 

[He could.]

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

I really came into this trying my best but then I feel like it slowly spiraled as I progressively got more tired. I always say I’ll go back and edit but then I get distracted by the Clone Wars and start something new. 

This was based of the song Daddy Issues by the Neighbourhood. I suggest listening to it. AND if there’s any other characters you’d like me to use for this song than tell me! I really like it a lot. anyway, butts. 

Taglist: @omg-we-really-doo​ @haztory​ @fanficsforheartandsoul​ [can’t even remember if you’re actually on my taglist but i just tag you in everything anyway i’m so sorry], @anakinswhore​ @chokemeanakin​ @kit-jpg​

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Seklos and Gaylen, They Were Cagemates! Chapter 3: Reaching Out

Aja and Archie try to talk to their respective allies. Douxie is experimented on.

Thank you to everyone who reblogged and commented on the previous chapter 🥰

Spoiler/trigger warning: kidnapping, medieval torture (referenced only), needles, medical torture, dehumanization, unsafe medical practices (explained in more detail at the end of the chapter), referenced death.

If you would like to skip the torture scene/unsafe medical practices, skip the second scene; the end of chapter notes will have a brief recap of the scene with any plot-important stuff in there.

AO3

FFN

“Hey, hey, Aja, it’s gonna be okay,” Steve said to her over the phone. “I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he just went for a walk this morning as well?”

Aja sniffled. “He doesn’t like it outside, though. He doesn’t like trees.”

“But he went outside yesterday, right? When you were on the phone with me? Maybe he came back and then went for another walk?”

“I mean, I guess, but I don’t think so. Zadra’s been on the alert all morning.”

“Could he have snuck out when she was asleep?”

“Zadra is a taylon; they’re trained to need very little sleep. Plus, I think I saw her making coffee using one of the energy drinks Stuart dropped off for her as a welcome-to-Earth gift.” Aja laughed a little at that, thankful for the distraction from her missing brother, and then she frowned.

She shouldn’t have been distracting herself from the fact that Krel was missing.

“Does anyone else know that Krel’s missing? If we get a big enough group searching for him –“

“No, we can’t. Maybe if he were human, sure, but if anything, people are going to see him as the enemy! If we get a big enough group, he’ll be dead!” Steve made a concerned noise; she had scared him. “I’m sorry for yelling; I’m just worried.”

“I know, I get it. But you weren’t around for all of yesterday’s battle; the people of Arcadia Oaks don’t mind the trolls. They gave them shelter from the sun.”

“But trolls were seen helping humans. Akiridions weren’t. Even if there are humans who would help us, how could we be sure no one would sell us out to bounty hunters, especially when Krel’s hurt? Or what if they did the same to Varvatos, for that matter?”

“Okay, I won’t push you if you aren’t ready. But do you have any other options – people who already know and you trust – than just me and Zadra? Because more people looking for Krel means more people that might find him and bring him back safe.”

Douxie was strapped down to a metal table by his arms and legs. He was cold, because his only clothing was a thin hospital gown, and the table was a cold metal. His head hurt from where he had been hit. He was hungry because he didn’t know when the last time he had eaten was. It had been a long time since he hadn’t known if he’d be getting a meal any time soon, but unlike back then he wasn’t sure if he would be able to eat even if food was offered. He felt too nauseous with dread.

He was going to be tortured. Even the knights wouldn’t have tortured Douxie. He was a wizard, yes, but he had been a child living on the streets. He wouldn’t have been any use in finding the few covens and independent wizards living in Camelot in defiance of King Arthur’s laws. They wouldn’t have tortured him for information; they would have just given him a swift death by the sword. They nearly had, until Merlin had saved him.

Douxie suspected that Merlin wasn’t going to save him from this Area 49-D (or whatever the four-armed alien had called it) place. Yes, his master was going to come back for him, despite all the sympathetic looks that Archie, Zoe, and Tatik Margarid gave him when they thought he wasn’t looking. But Merlin had said to wait in Arcadia. And despite Douxie’s efforts, he wasn’t following them. Hopefully Merlin wouldn’t be too disappointed in Douxie, despite how he always was. A better apprentice wouldn’t have been caught by humans with tasers who were about to…

Honestly, Douxie wasn’t quite sure what they were going to do to him. He remembered hearing about how people would be hung by their thumbs and have fires lit under their feet. Neither of those made sense with being strapped down.

An elastic band was tightly tied around his lower arm, and one of the orange suited technicians jabbed a needle into one of the veins in his hand.

Douxie whimpered as the blood began to flow out from his hand into the vial. It hurt so much.

“Hey, how many vials do we need for testing right now?” asked one of the two technicians.

“I think the tests are being done in pairs, right?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” They switched to a second vial. “So, how many extra should we take?”

“We don’t want it to die on us too early.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Besides, we can always jab it more later.” The room was silent aside from the pained noises escaping Douxie’s throat. They finished filling the second vial.

“Okay, time for the second pair.”

“Wha-“ Douxie started, but he felt an odd jolt run through his system as one of the technicians took a remote and turned a dial. The lights on his cuffs dimmed slightly. He still felt cold, sore, nauseous, hungry, and scared, but he felt more normal than he had ever since the Battle of the Bands.

“Do y’think its blood samples will be any different from that other freak we captured?” asked one of the technicians.

“Eh, that’s our job to find out. Plus, we’ve gotten more funding since that other magical freak died.”

Douxie tried very hard not to hyperventilate. They had captured another wizard and probably tortured them to death. They would probably do the same to him.

“Maybe now we could see if there’s any changes in its blood when we turn down the magic suppressors.” The technician grabbed the remote and turned the dial again. Once more, he felt better.

Douxie’s eyes widened. Magic, of course! That’s what the cuffs were doing to him. Gritting his teeth, Douxie reached out to his magic. It was barely there, but his hands started glowing. Maybe he could force the needle out of his hand. His eyebrows drew together in concentration, and his hands began to glow.

A fist connected with his jaw. Tears formed in Douxie’s eyes as he lost his concentration.

“Don’t even think about it,” the technician who had punched Douxie said to him. “I’d be more than happy to beat you up, you fucking freak, so go ahead and fight back. There’s more where that came from.”

Douxie lost track of the time until they finally finished collecting his blood. Before they undid the restraints they took his magic from him once more. He was lightheaded when they finally threw him back in his cage. He gazed at his reflection. There were multiple bruises forming on his face. He looked beyond the glass and frowned, then winced because that made the bruises hurt more. The four-armed alien was gone. Douxie hoped he would come back. He could use a friend.

His face hurt. He was cold, because the glass cage and thin gown didn’t keep the chill from his bones. He was nauseous and hungry at the same time. Once more, he couldn't feel his magic.

The technicians hadn’t even given him a bandage for the bleeding.

Hex Tech didn’t open until nine AM, but Zoe always got there at a quarter to eight. She had to as manager and matriarch. Well, mainly as matriarch, because her business skills caused her to constantly be working the front desk in longer shifts than the state of California considered legal. It didn’t help that, as much as Zoe tried to keep up to speed with the modern era, wizards born after the industrial revolution were a little more proficient with picking up new things. Like how to play nice with the witches running corporate.

Zoe stretched and yawned. Her coven would have to have a meeting soon about how much they would reveal. The youngest members of the coven wanted to reveal themselves since the whole town knew about trolls. Older members of the coven were concerned, whether it be about the town potentially turning on them, or about the potential that revealing that their franchise was a coven would put all the other Hex Tech-affiliated covens in danger, since presumably they didn’t have to deal with trollish invasions. And, of course, since the majority of her coven had been born after Killahead, every single wizard who refused to learn more than an extremely basic monsterology was demanding answers on why lumps of rock had attacked the town.

Well, at least most of the rubble was gone, probably eaten. Most of it, except for a broken red-and-white guitar laying in front of the door to Hex Tech. Great. Just great. She hadn’t seen much rubble on her way her way to work and here it was. She knelt down to grab it and then she saw a stray black cat curled up next to the guitar.

No.

Not a stray.

No stray cat had a pair of glasses on his face.

“Archie? What’re you doing here? And is that Douxie’s guitar?” As forgetful as Douxie could be, he had always been rather responsible. Zoe knew she had gone soft when she caught herself thinking he was too responsible, not when his childhood was far more similar to her own than that of the children of this century. Douxie knew the value of craftsmanship and the fear of shortages, and he wouldn’t just leave his guitar on the sidewalk with his just-waking familiar.

Archie looked up at her. The fur around his eyes was stained by tears. “I need your help. I can’t sense Douxie anymore.”

Zoe staggered to the door, trying to keep her breathing steady. She fished in her pocket for her keys with one hand and made a fist with the other, digging her nails into her palm to ground herself. She was the coven matriarch; she couldn’t break down even though she wanted to right now. As far as she could recall, the only thing that could break a familiar bond was death. No. No. She was used to outliving people she cared about, but the last few centuries had made her go soft. Douxie was only a kid; he shouldn’t be dead.

“Let’s go inside,” Zoe said, voice shaking.

A/N: Sorry about the lack of Krel in this one; I promise he'll be here next chapter! Also, Douxie's backstory is a bit different from show canon, mainly because I'm changing up the Wizards lore in such a way that time travel isn't needed because I'm not a time travel fan.

Torture scene recap: Douxie is strapped down and has his blood taken from him. He learns that the cuffs are blocking his magic, but can be adjusted so that he can have access to it. Area 49-B is attempting to learn if the amount of magic he has access to can be detected in his blood. He also learns Area 49-B captured another wizard previously, but that wizard is dead now. Douxie attempts to use his magic only to be punched for fighting back.

On the unsafe medical practices found in this chapter: hand-based blood draws suck; I've had them and they've always hurt. However, they can be safely done, and work especially well if you're too dehydrated for the nurses to find the veins in your elbows. The personnel are only doing it in the hand because it hurts, though. In addition, they chose not to sterilize the injection site, even though this could lead to Douxie getting an infection. In addition, Douxie not receiving a bandage contributes to both blood loss and risk of infection. Torture ≠ sound science.

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 129

129

Gearing up, Keith’s body shook as he strapped his gun into place. They had a lead. They finally had a lead worth chasing. Coran had been working hard behind the scenes, trying to match the trace elements found on the clothing Matt, Sam, and Shiro had, but it was a pissed off vampire that’d given them their lead. The fucking opera was a set up. An auction held for the rights to hand over Lance and Lotor to Sendak. Attending the opera had provided the evidence that Lotor was cooperating with VOLTRON, a move seen as going against Zarkon. The winning bid had the rights to present Lance and Curtis to Sendak, with the promise of some kind of riches from Zarkon over the return of his son to his side and the breeder for experimentation. Lotor had no clue there was a joint bounty on his head. His stupid ego probably thought no one would dare turn against him or sell him out. Lance’s existence had become the source of rumours in the vampire community. Keith felt sick at the way they spoke of his boyfriend like he was some kind of trophy.

Betrayed by the continual fail of payment, then removal and death of half their group, they couldn’t confirm the location where Lance would be being held, they’d given the address of the vampires they’d been betrayed by. They had no evidence Lance was alive, or what had happened to him since they’d been double crossed before they could personally make the apprehension. All they had were their damaged egos... and their heads seeing Keith hadn’t set eyes upon them personally. With confirmation of the intention of removing Lance and Lotor on private jet.

Pidge was a gremlin channeling her scary talents into tracking down the lead with such determination Keith felt compelled to find something. He couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t start hunting on his own if this didn’t pan out. He’d tried so hard to be the man Lance would want him to be. But it was harder by the day. 10 fucking days was too long.

Placing her hand on his shoulder, Krolia gripped it hard

“Keep your head in the game. If you mess up, I will drop you”

Like he’d mess this up. Their first real lead. Lance’s health and safety, alone with Curtis’s, took priority

“I know”

“If he’s there, we’re getting him out”

“I know”

“And if he’s not, you need to be prepared for it”

“I know!”

He knew all too well. The information was out of date and provided by angry vampires that could simply be looking to take advantage of the situation

“Good. You’ll be with me. Shiro will be leading the wolf squad”

Why were they being separated? Shiro was an exemplary agent, not... oh. Ohhh... They thought both of them too emotionally compromised to complete the mission without going off script. The wolves would stop Shiro, with Krolia stopping him if she felt he was acting out. Yeah. Keith might not be able to stop himself if the moment presented itself... but he and Shiro had earned the right to be there when their boyfriends were found

“Am I understood?”

“Yes, ma’am”

““Mum” is fine. I want him back too. I won’t fail you, Keith. If you think about it, he’s my son too. My family, too. That’s why you’re coming with me”

So his mother was saying if he interferes with her getting Lance out, he’d be expected to provide cover for the both of them. It wasn’t that she thought him inept. It was that she lost the love of her life and didn’t want him going through it too...

“I... mum... what do if he isn’t there?”

“Then we follow the evidence, even if we have to go it alone. I’m sick of this game. I’m sick of knowing you’re going through hell. I’m going to do whatever I can to bring him back to all of us. Him and Curtis... thank god these rooms are sound proof”

Keith found himself chuckling, almost immediately feeling guilty for the sound, sobering sadly

“I didn’t think I’d see the day you’d sideline the mission”

“I didn’t think I’d see the day when I did either. I think I spent too many years as a hunter and not nearly enough as a mum”

“To be fair, I wasn’t ready to let you in”

“And to be fair, I tried too hard. I love you, Keith. I won’t let you down”

Krolia was surprised as Keith threw his arms around his mother. Keith also kind of surprised. He could feel his mother’s warmth. Feel the way her body tensed, then instantly relaxed. She’d worked so hard. The bags beneath her eyes were next level. Not only was she working, she’d been there for everyone in their group. She’d even been out running errands for Miriam, then providing a buffer when Luis came to scream at Coran over his mother being apprehended. A lot of things had happened over the last ten days, but it was finally coming to an end. All those times he’d sworn to get Lance back were finally going to become reality.

As he was getting ready to leave, Pidge came rushing into the room, throwing her arms around his waist. Hunk hovering, but when Keith extended his arm, the big teddy bear came in for a group hug

“Be safe out there. I can’t lose another brother”

“I will be”

“Don’t be reckless. And don’t get hurt... and ...”

“Pidge, I can’t rescue Lance if I’m too reckless”

“I know... I wish I was coming with you. I want to see these bastards pay for what they did to us”

Hunk nodded

“Be careful, bud. We don’t want to lose you”

Hugs were such a strange thing. Keith felt almost invincible, or at least a hundred times more ready to face what was coming with a simple hug from his two friends. He’d been such an arsehole worrying about Lance. He’d barely been able to contribute. Pidge was a tech wizard, bullying her way into getting access to everything. Hunk was just as bad as her. Put the two of them together with Sam and all things tech related were at their mercy. Breaking the hug, Pidge pulled something out her pocket

“I have this. I know we can’t come, but if you need support you can reach us on this one. It’s the same as what the blades us, but I’ve keyed in a seperate channel for just us. It’ll also tell me your location...”

Just in case something happened. He got it. This time he was the one wrapping arms around Pidge. She was brilliant. Completely and utterly brilliant

“We’re going to get answers and we’re going to get him back...”

“And then I’m going to punch him in the dick for being kidnapped”

Keith snorted

“Not before I do. Okay. You guys should head back. It might be a while before you hear anything and Mami is going to need your support”

“We’ve got this handled. Take care of yourself”

“I will...”

*

Lance had seen enough movies to know when something was up. Lotor had been moved into the same room as him. Chained on the other side of the bed. Acxa, Zethrid and Ezor were chained together, with Curtis in seperate chains. Curtis had the most mobility of them, he could “waddle” around, waddling from where he’d been thrown into the room across to sit beside Lance. There were bruises across Curtis’s face. His horn seemed longer too, but his friend still smiled at him. Out of everyone, Lance was most relieved to see Curtis was okay. Tangling their chains together they clung to each other. After being silent for so long, Lance couldn’t find the words to tell Curtis how relieved he was. That and both he and Lotor had been gagged. The ball gag in his mouth was made from some kind of spiked metal. His lips taped over, with extra tape over the side straps of the muzzle device they’d forced him to put on. Curtis couldn’t get the tape off properly, the pain leaving Lance in tears... then again, he’d already been crying with happiness over seeing Curtis again.

Lotor’s gag was worse than his, as were his chains. Metal spikes dug into the vampires face leaving weeping wounds. His chains must have had a higher concentration of lead or mercury as the wounds around his wrists were no joke. Lance had had a lot of time to really break things down, he now believed beyond a doubt that Lotor had tried to trade himself to Sendak in order to secure their release, only to be betrayed by Narti and her own ambition. Him getting Shiro, Matt, and Sam out was the best he could do... and maybe he thought like Lance did that together they’d be stronger than what they turned out to be. He still didn’t like Lotor as a person. His ego made him want to smack the fellow vampires head into the closest wall until he learned humility.

When they finally came for them, Zethrid nearly had Lance laughing. He maybe, definitely, kind of liked her. She seemed kind of freer to be herself when Lotor was gagged. She had a joke for every occasion, including being led off into the unknown. Thanking the room for being “drab”, “filled with terrible company”, and “an experience she wouldn’t recommend”, she actually waved as she was led away. Lotor had seemed bored of her commentary, but Lance hadn’t been. She’d laughed a lot. Compared him to Keith with both of them being helpless and cute, and needing them to show up and rescue them. She’d made Ezor jealous as she complained about Lance not turning into a cute little bat. Ezor promised Zethrid could have a hundred pet bats if she just stopped wanting Lance for a pet. Zethrid pointing out that those bars didn’t have a cute human form that looked cuddly. Lance really was glad she hadn’t been gagged, though Keith would have pissed enough to gag her himself.

Between the three witches being taken and returning for them, hours must have passed in the matter of minutes. When they undid his chains from the bed, Lance held onto Curtis so fiercely that the vampire on chain duty couldn’t pry him off his friend, even with the threat of the cattle-prod. Spitting in his face, the two of them were let together, snarky remarks made about him being a “slut of a breeder and a mistake”, thrown around like leaves in a breeze. This was their final chance to escape, but now he’d gone and bonded with the others, he wasn’t okay with leaving anyone behind. Captive bonds and all that aside, it was true that Zethrid and Ezor had helped Keith at the shipping yard on his birthday. He at least owed them for that. Acxa didn’t say much, though Zethrid did tease her a hell of a lot about her possibly liking Keith. Alas for Acxa, Keith was his and he’d never willingly give him up, though Acxa did say that it more like kinship that love... Yeah. No. She’d not be left alone with his boyfriend when he finally got back to Keith.

Not moving fast enough, Lance was smacked over the head with the handle of the cattle prod, stumbling and nearly taking Curtis down with him. Both of them were already leaning against each other in an attempt to remain upright. How Curtis could stand being so close to him when he was a mess Lance wasn’t sure. He’d been too docile. He should have been louder. He should have screamed the house down and made things harder for his captors. Meeting Curtis’s eyes, Curtis smiled softly at him. It seemed as if he’d already accepted they wouldn’t be getting out of this. Well fuck that. If he had the chance he’d be taking it.

Seeing they were being moved, Lance got a good look at the place they were being held. Another set of stairs confirmed there were two stories underground, practically purpose built for housing vampires. The hallways dimly lit, wallpaper peeling in places. He tried to absolutely memorise everything down to the smallest detail. Depending on the outcome he wanted to have enough information to provide an airtight statement that couldn’t be rebuked by even the best lawyer. So everything was memorised. The size. The layout. The mould in the air. The creek of the floorboards. This place didn’t have much love poured into it. Not like his house. He always had sunlight streaming into every room. Warmth and love filled his home. He wanted to avoid the sensation of being trapped underground and everything stereotypical vampire trope.

Led through to a darkened living area. Lance’s knees went weak. Standing before them, in all his unholiness was Sendak. Disgusted by his surrounds, blood was splattered across the floor. Death hanging in the air. Narti’s body hadn’t been moved. The witch’s features still held the same almost surprised look, despite the decay of her body. The stench was as shocking as the senseless waste of life. As Lance’s body broke out in goosebumps, Sendak strode across the room, cloak billowing as if there was some kind of supernatural wind behind him. Taking Curtis by the horn, his friend was cast aside, Lance’s nails scraping his arms as he tried his hardest to ignore the urge to submit to the vampire in front of him. Taking him by the chin, Sendak’s eyes met Lance’s. Lance paralysed by the feeling of terror coursing through every fibre of him. Sendak’s ego was every bad thing that lurked in the night. Every bad thing in every depiction of hell. His touch felt scolding, as if a red hot poker had been driven through up his chin and into the core of his brain. This was a true vampire. An old vampire. A vampire that’d been reborn by the monster inside. No humanity remained in those eyes as black as charred flesh.

Tilting his chin, Sendak examined him. Lance knew very well he didn’t look presentable. Even in the days he’d let himself go with depression over his cursed state, he’d never let himself fall this far. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had some kind of facial hair messing up his handsome face

“So this is it? This is the thing all the fuss is over. Remove these chains. He’s hardly fit for much more than lying on his back, and that’s already been seen to. A full belly of human filth”

Keith was not filth. Their children were not filth. His body was screaming to submit, but he knew he could push past an ego now. He’d done it to Lotor. Lotor had tried to make his mind go all dreamy, but he’d fought it. He needed to fight past Sendak’s ego. He couldn’t even spit in the man’s face. The best he could do was sloppily take a swing when his chains were being removed. Sendak catching his fist and twisting his arm as he turned him, pushing up so hard something snapped and Lance screamed around his gag. How fucking dare Sendak touch him?!

“Do not think you can fight me. You’re valuable, even without those things inside of you. Accidents do happen. Load them up. I want them out within the half hour”

When Sendak released him, Lance dropped, cradling his very broken arm to his chest as he dragged himself over to Curtis. Curtis was awake, semi-dazed, and his horn ripped clean in half. The half showing a sick dark red, almost crystalline mess. He tried to say Curtis’s name, but all that came out was whimper in pain. Curtis was tough but this was cruel. Cruel like burning ants with a magnifying glass. He was only human. Letting go of his arm, he took Curtis by the hand, squeezing to let him know he wasn’t alone. Grunting in pain, the hunter returned the gesture. Curtis knew full well that Lance couldn’t go against Sendak. He knew all the shameful feelings being in the vampire’s presence brought up. If Curtis could have, Lance knew he would have tried to protect him from him. He couldn’t even lie and fake a smile. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t exhausted to the bone or that he didn’t have a glaringly obvious compound fracture. He wanted to. He wanted so badly to crack a joke and show Curtis he was trying. If he could just get his mouth free... He could get his mouth free. His hands were free. He was the freest he’d been in days. If he could... if Curtis could give him some blood... he might... he might be able to finally be useful.

[palettes-and-prompts]

Prompts Based on the Song Cotard's Solution (Anatta, Dukkha, Anicca) by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

Dialogue Prompts

1) "Computer...is there any sign of life today?" "No, Ma'am/Sir. Not today." 2) "It's me and you again today computer. I suppose I should give you a name, after all it's just been me and you for the past...how many days has it been now?" "One thousand four hundred and fifty-six." "It's really been that long?" "Yes,  Sir/Ma'am." "What would you like to be called? Do you have a favorite name?" "Is Clara an acceptable name." "Yeah. I think Clara is a perfect name for you." 3) "Get the ship ready. We're making a break for it." 4) "Five thousand gold says my ship is faster than yours." "That pitiful excuse for a ship?" "If you don't believe me then race me to that floater and back." "Hah, My ship would outrun it twice before you made it back." "Don't say it if you aren't ready to put your money where your mouth is." "Fine, I'll even up the stakes. If you win I'll give you twenty thousand gold and I'll help you find your stupid diamond." "And if you win?" "I get to put that ship of yours out of its misery. Deal?" "Deal." 5) "Hey, kid?" "Yeah?" "Don't let them take you alive." 6) "Relax." "How can I relax? You've been shot!" "The bullet's not in me. Just give that alcohol would you?" "Are you going to use it to disinfect the wound?" "No. I'm going to drink it. I've just been fucking shot!" 7) "Person A?" "Yeah?" "Gun it!" "The ship doesn't have enough gas, we might not make it!" "That's a risk we're going to have to take or we're going to get killed or arrested by these bounty hunters. Now fucking gun it!" 8) "Did you just get us lost in space?" "No." "We've passed by the same asteroid ten times." "How do you know that? They all look different." "Every time we pass that asteroid you laugh and go, 'that asteroid looks like a dick!'" "It does." "I KNOW BECAUSE WE'VE PASSED IT TEN FUCKING TIMES ALREADY!" 9) "Are you high right now?" "I'm about to fucking be." "Is this cocaine?!" "No. It's space cocaine, that's why it's hot pink." "That somehow makes me more worried. What the fuck is space cocaine?" "Instead of making it with like gasoline or whatever they make it with rocket fuel and like, space crystals." "Okay, now, I'm not a doctor or a scientist but I'm actually a hundred percent certain if you snort that you will not only not wake up tomorrow, I'm not sure if you'll wake up at all." "Only one way to find out. Time to go skiing, baby!" "No don't snor--" "Fuck me this shit kicks fast." "Jesus fucking Christ you're going to die." "Don't be a buzzkill, Person A." 10) "Remember when you told me not to steal that space cat. Why did you tell me not to do that again?" "Because it's a parasite that feeds off love and can kill you if it bonds with you." "Right, yes, I remember now." "...Why do you bring it up?" "No reason." "Mhmm, and why is your jacket moving and also glowing blue along with your eyes?" "I smoked drugs." "You smoked drugs?" "You know me, I do those things." "Okay, and why is your jacket meowing?" "Because you also smoked drugs." "Did you steal the space cat?" "Are you going to yell at me?" "I honestly don't have the energy anymore. Let me take you to the hospital."

Regular Prompts

1) Person A is forgotten in space but has faith their friends will return for them. When they don't return A finds their own way to another planet, almost dying in the process, where the people there are unkind but tolerate A. Person A finds work and gains enough money to have someone search for their friends. They think something happened to their ship in space but the investigator manages to find out they didn't forget them but rather left them behind hoping they would die. A is hurt and their sadness turns to anger. A gets a weapon and learns to shoot before hiring a bounty hunter to take them and help them carry out their revenge. A then hunts their 'friends' down one by one. 2) Person A is a space racer and uses their ability to navigate through asteroid belts to steal whatever they want. When they steal a certain shipment they find a stowaway child, Person B, who had hidden in the crates. Before they can take them back the child admits they don't have a home to go back to. Person A slowly becomes a parental figure or older brother/sister figure to the child and decides to teach them everything they know including racing while continuing to tell them that space is no place for a kid. After a while Person B tells A they don't have to take care of them anymore and that they can leave them at the next planet they come to. When they get to the next planet Person A and B complete a job and A has some paperwork done while B is gathering their things. As B says goodbye, Person A tells them to get back on the ship. When they claim that Person A doesn't need them anymore, A shows Person B the paperwork showing that they're now Person B's legal guardian and that they're taking care of them now. The two hug and the story ends with them about to steal space diamonds off another ship quickly in order to take B to their first big race. 3) Person A feels lost on Earth but when they find a space ship after it crashes they find a small creature inside. When they realize it's the equivalent of an Earth toddler they search the ship for answers. The creature gets attached to A and they soon name the creature Pip. Pip is able to give abilities to Person A and allow them to read their language, which helps them realize the coordinates on screen are to find Pip's family. Person A and Pip then navigate space and end up having to make a few stops along the way to fuel up. They meet a few people who try to steal Pip because they're a creature hunted to near extinction because they're able to excrete jewels whenever they eat/drink/sweat. A is able to safely navigate through different conditions and even meet a few people who want to help along the way. They finally get to Pip's new planet and return them to their parents and A, along with their new friends, are allowed to stay on the new planet and for the first time in years A realizes they no longer feel lost. 4) A and B are two friends who grew up wanting to join their space program to travel the galaxies but find out the program is making them into perfect soldiers to fight in an alien war that no one is aware of but the people running the program. The two rebel and inform all the students of what's going on. When the teachers and instructors in charge find out they begin using a gas to brainwash people into being soldiers whether they like it or not and decide to lock down the building one way or another. A and B manage to escape on a ship with some supplies but have no idea where to go or what to do. They eventually wander far enough to find a small planet and soon they meet others who are aware of Earth's intentions to take over the galaxy as their own. A and B spend the whole time trying to get others see that Earth isn't the problem and that it's the leaders of the program who need to be stopped. They figure out a way to cancel out the effects of the gas they're using to brainwash them and they, along with an army of others set out to take down the leaders and save their friends and the galaxy. 5) A finds a crystal that's sentient. It helps them build a body from scrap parts, forming Person B. But when the body can do everything but experience touch, taste, and smell the two work together to figure out a way for B to get a human body without killing someone. They discover a lab that specializes in growing cells for transplants so people can have fully functioning arms without prosthetics and they find out there are full bodies growing in the basement that would be perfect for B. When the price is incredibly expensive they ask if there's another way to get it. The owner, Person C, tells them if they can find their kidnapped 'daughter', Polly, they'll let Person B have the body in exchange for her safe return. A and B travel and eventually find her. Her 'kidnappers' admit they took her but tell A and B they did it because C was using Polly's DNA to create the female bodies, poking and prodding her every day for more and more blood and tissue. A and B can't bring themselves to take her back to C. Person C finds them anyway and kills the kidnappers, taking Polly back to the lab. A and B decide to go back and, using one of the mechanical bodies A built B, they manage to kill Person C and save Polly. The full bodies are destroyed except for one which was made using the DNA of Polly's real mother/father. Polly tells them she doesn't remember her mother/father and that it's okay wit her if B takes it as their own. When B is human the first thing they do is hug Polly and thank her. A and B then adopt Polly and live happily together as her guardians. (Whether A and B are romantically involved is up to you.)

[popculturebuffet]

Analysis of X: Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn

In honor of britan’s premire superhero team returning today, we take a look back at the original team. Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler must team up with a drunkard magical british superman and his chipper shapeshifting sorta girlfriend to save their old teammate from an alternate dystopian future with the power of a god from both a squad of skin stealing wolves sicced on her by a sinsiter reality show producer from another dimension and a group of intergalactic weirdo bounty hunters after her due to an entirely separate omniversal dictator who wants to bang british superman. Somehow, Grant Morrison didn’t write this. I would like to, if I may, take you on a strange journey after the cut. 

Excalibur has always been the odd mutant out of the X-Men franchise.And that’s in part because the bulk of it’s mythos and characters come not from the deep wells of the X-Men comics of the time, but from another character Chris Claremont had a huge hand in: Captain Britain

Created shortly after Claremont got his start on the All-New All-Diffrent X-Men, redefining the X-Men forever and making them into the sales juggernaut they were for the 80′s and early to mid-90′s and are again today at long last, Captain Britan was Brian Braddock, a scientist who, while escaping a hired goon who torched his workplace, crashed his motorbike. He was saved by, of all things, Merlin... yes exactly the one your thinking of.... and his daughter and omniveral guardian Roma. They choose Brian to be their champion choosing either the staff of right or the sword of might and, not really being a fighter, Brian chose the staff and a hero was born. 

Cap was created for the UK Divison of Marvel and while Claremont did a sizeable amount of work on the character, including introducing Brian’s sister and future X-Man and as of this week Captain Britan herself Betsy Braddock,  it was two other men who made most of his mythos and the stuff that would end up being the backbone of Excalibur: Alan Davis, an absolutely monsterous talent of an artist and all around nice guy and... your going to want to sit down if you don’t know this I sure as hell was surprised, Alan Fucking Moore... and if that’s not his actual middle name it should be. Yes he of long beards, genere definting runs and yelling at the young people to get off his lawn and DC to stop hurting his baby Watchmen, THAT Alan Moore worked for marvel breifly. This was his only work with them shockingly. Not so shockingly he and Davis redefined the character, created most of the concepts that would be carried over to Excalibur, and gave the character a spiffy new costume seen above, one so good it’s stuck even into the modern era. Moore, and some other artists in addition to Davis, crafted a long epic about Cap going up against Mad Jim Jaspers, a reality warping mutant who was as insane as his name suggested and introduced many things that would become the backbone of the character, as well as establishing Moore’s habit of taking a less than sucessful B-List hero and utterly turning him on his head. Their also the ones who dubbed Marvel’s main universe 616, a fun fact I honestly had forgotten.  But of course after Moore left Cap fell by the wayside, making a cameo or too in other marvel books in the US while Betsy made her way to the X-Men just when they needed new blood most. More on that in a bit. But he wouldn’t stay on the sidelines for long. See Chris Claremont has a habit of taking characters he created and using them later if they’d been forgotten somehow or put off to the wayside. Mystique, one of the x-men’s most iconic enemies... was a Ms.Marvel (The carol danvers one before she got the rank up), enemy. Sabertooth? An old iron fist villian he’d created and taken a shine to. Arcade was inveted for a team up of Spider-Man and Captain Britan before primarily becoming an X-Men villian for most of his life. And of course Betsy was a a supporting character who became one of the x-men’s most iconic members through a weird mind swap with a japanese woman before recently getting her old body back. Claremont dosen’t like leaving his charcters to twist in the wind and thus brought most of them into the x-men mythos. Even Spider-Woman, depowered at the time, ended up as a major Wolverine supporting character. One of Claremont’s strengths as a writer to me is that he never truly forgot anything he created or worked on, and the X-Men benefited greatly from it.  So while it probably surprised american readers who only thought of Captain Britain as a c-list hero who teamed up with Spider-Man and Captain America, it’s no surprise in hindsight that for his second X-Men ongoing, having also made a TON of mini series, he choose to bring Brian to the big time. While I can’t find much background on Excalibur, I conjecture that Chris wanted to go a bit lighter. 

The X-Men were in a DARK place at the time. I mean the X-Men were never all sunshine and roses but most of the humor of the book and lighter moments were gone at the time thanks to the Mutant Massacre, an event where the Morlocks, a group of disfigured homeless mutants who felt at odds with society and thus lived in the tunnels under New York, were slaughtered by professional hitsquad the Mauraders who killed all but a handful of them and during the fight with the X-men took 3 of them out of commission:  Nightcrawler had fallen into a coma after overtaking his already crippled teleportation powers defeating one of the mauraders, Kitty Pryde slowly started to disappear, unable to phase back to solid after taking an electric spear for Rouge, and Colossus was heavily wounded in ways I forgot and since he rejoined the X-Men, aren’t really relevant here anyway. The X-Men were up against the wall against a barrage of ruthless opponents, working with longtime foe  magneto since Xavier got trapped in space, as you do, and were not in a really happy place. So it feels like, even if the angst was still present because Claremont would go into withdrawl if there wasn’t some form of angst to work off, Excalibur was created as a way for him to do something different in the X-Mold and lighter so he could go as dark as he needed to. So by injuring Kitty and Kurt, he took them off the board and had a starting point for the team, and by adding Captain Britan and his girlfriend Meggan, a shapeshifting  empath brought back one of his own creations and brought him into the american side of Marvel, and gave him an almost complete team. It also had the bonus of likely enticing Alan Davis, who in one of the few background things I could find about this book, didn’t really want to work on an established title like X-Men where there were expectations how it was supposed to look etc. But they were still about one member short of a team... but thankfully chris claremont had squared away a spare x-man for just such an occasion. 

Enter. Phoenix, aka Rachel Summers. The daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers from the Days of Future Past timeline, Rachel ended up in our timeline, bonded to the Phoenix Force like her mom, and struggling with the power, eventually running away after attempting to kill Selene, an evil sorceress who hunted her in an attempt to drain her power. She fled, not sure wether she should rejoin her team or not, and was instead lured into joining Mojo on the promise of a new start. Mojo.. is this guy. 

Strap yourselves in for this one: Mojo is the dictator of another dimension that runs off TV, essentially crafting shows for the media hungry populous and kidnapping the X-Men every so often to show up on his programs, to the point he once swapped Psylocke’s natural eyes out with robot camera eyes that looked like the normal eyes so he could record the X-Men’s adventures as it happened, which itself isn’t a bad concept. He didn’t show up to Rachel in person of course, partly because he’s too lazy and partly because he looks like what happens when lightning strikes a pile of twinkies and exposed wiring and somehow brings them to life.  She was sent here for the same reason as Kurt and Kitty: to keep her off the board and set up her return here. It’s one of Claremont’s strengths to me: While he ocasionally forgets a subplot or dosen’t realize how wonky one is, more often than not he knows where the story is going and has a plan for it, and thus set up Excalibur a year in advance in the pages of Mutant Massacre. 

Speaking of setup there’s one final thing to cover before we begin, the second X-Men crossover event and the one that directly leads into this: Fall of The Mutants, aka one of the worst days in the life of one Kitty Pryde. First her best friend and human google translate Doug Ramsey died while on a misson with the new mutants, sacrificing himself to save the life of his girlfriend Wolfsbane. 

As if someone was challenging god to make her days worth, at the same time as this tragedy the X-Men, at the time made up of Storm, Wolverine, Psylocke, Rouge, Havok, Dazzler, Longshot and with tag along Madeline Piror whose story is too much to get into here, were locked in a battle with force of chaos and actual demon Nemisis, a being summoned by their sorta ally Forge by accident. Forge can also build any device he pleases but since every fifth x-men character has magic ruin their life, someone had to take the bullet caked with demon blood. At any rate the only way to stop him.. 9 souls were part of the ritual that brought Nemisis in, 9 souls were needed for the ritual to seal him up. And the X-Men, being true heroes determined to do whatever it took, gladly offered up their lives to defeat the demon and save the world. As the world looked on, the X-Men died, for once not feared and hated, but honored and mourned as heroes. Of course this being a comic book Forge’s method of saving the world was turning the X-Men into pure soul energy and throwing them at the demon but that somehow makes it more epic. And of course, it’s no suprise one of their dearest friends was watching from Muir Island, which was serving as a recovery ward for the surviviors of the massacre and was run by longtime X-Men Ally and lynchpin of Hickman’s run Moira Mactaggert

Thankfully, Kitty got one tiny sliver of sunshine on the worst day of her life: Kurt woke up from his coma... just in time to tell him the only family he’d ever known is dead. And that’s where we pick up, with our two heroes trying to figure out what to do now they’ve lost everything. But before we FINALLY get started, this bit was way longer than I meant it to be, your probably curious how long the X-Men stayed dead as well.. this is comics and they were the hottest team int he world. This wasn’t going to stick even if Claremont was serious about ending the series. And the answer, and i’m not making this up I counted, is two pages. Yup, TWO PAGES. Not kidding. Ironically enough Roma, the omniversal goddess daughter of merlin I mentioned, got wrapped up in all this and, moved by the X-Men’s bravery, gave them the chance to come back and start over however they like, and the X-Men choose to be unable to be picked up on tape and let the world think they were dead so they could strike back at their mounting enemies. Granted I feel that while the “play dead and take out our worse foes while we have the advantage” is a good part of it, not telling the new mutants or kitty and kurt is not only cruel, but just paints a target on a bunch of teenagers backs. Sure teenagers who’ve faced worse but still. But I digress, that’s a rant for when I cover Fall of the Mutants at some point and this exposition has taken far longer than I wanted it to. And so here we are at the one shot that would forge a team and finally, we can get into it:  The cover, way up there is decent. It shows a nice right melee between Excalibur, the Warwolves and the Technet, though it makes it look like Gatecrasher is part of the team when she is in fact one of the issue’s main antagonist and is overall a bit weirdly composed. It doesn't help the proper Excalibur #1 has one of the best x-team covers of all time. 

As you can see the comparison dosen’t help the far messier above cover. It’s just average in comparison to the creative and funny covers Davis would provide throughout both runs and the majestic one above.  WE open on Kitty Pryde, understandably, having a nightmare, being dragged by a crew of makeup people just off screen and smack into

Oh good marvel’s already working on the new X-Men movie. Thank god I thought they really WERE going to take 5 years to do it. Naturally she is curious why their in hollywood but dosen’t suspect fowl play because well... to put it in a personal persepctive if I saw my grandpa I lost a few years ago or my dog I lost in high school that was the same age as me, alive healthy and back, i’d be confused as hell but mostly? I’d just be relived and hope beyond hope it was real, as poor Kitty is diong. Unfortunatley the illusion something isn’t up lasts all about a panel before this happens. 

First of all: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!. Second. as AHHHHHH! as it is.. it could’ve been worse. 

It soon becomes clear something is up as Kitty wails around confused, wondering why Rouge’s powers don’t work and why the X-Men are acting as if nothing is real before action is called and they run off.. it’s then Kitty finally encounters a freindly face. 

It's now from context clear just what the fuck is going on: this isn't JUST a dream: Rachel has somehow dragged Kitty into Mojoworld through her dreams, warning her, as seen above that with the X-Men gone, their image can be twisted and exploited by those wanting to use it for their own image. This warning is cut short when Fake Xavier starts shouting and soon we get this lovely image.

As we can see Rachel deeply regrets running but Mojo won't let her go.. fortunatley Kitty phases the chains and lets Rachel go, with Rachel promising to see kitty again soon as she flees.. unfortunatley Kitty's pissed off Mojo's actors...

Again, it could’ve been worse. 

Kitty wakes up and naturally angsts a bit over that fucked up dream she had and then sees a phoenix in the sky, wondering what could it mean and what could the dream mean. 

A lot to unpack here. First off... Perverso...

Second, my heart breaks at that last line.. and it’s true. Kitty likely feels, like a lot of people going through grief, that  maybe they could’ve done something. Maybe if she was there she could’ve stopped their deaths and saved the day or failing that, she could’ve gone with them. So she wouldn’t have to feel awful about being here while they aren’t, so she wouldn’t feel the unbearable weight of being one of the last X-Men. But the sad truth is, she wouldn’t of made any diffrence. None of them would’ve taken the last slot and would’ve given it instead to their tagalong Madeline Prior so she could see her family again. They died selfilesly, and nothing she could’ve done would’ve stopped them. 

As seen above Kitty tries to take solace in petting her dragon Lockheed. Yes Kitty has a dragon for those who didn’t know about him or were only familiar with her from the cartoons.. though why X-Men Evolution never thought to introduce Lockheed is beyond me. He’s a space dragon that stowed away when the X-Men returned from well.. space, and saved Kitty’s life, taking up residence as her pet. He was later revealed to be far more sapient than he seems, but still hangs around Kitty because it’s an effed up world, but it’s a two player game.  But as demonstrated Kitty’s powers have inverted. While she has gotten better, as I talked about in my Mauraders #1 review she was fading from existance shortly after the massacre, her intangiable state is now her natural one. She has to concenrate to turn solid. So in addition to having lost just about everything, her powers are broken too. Kitty then sees a picture of her shortly after she joined the X-Men before having a good cry about how most of the people in the picture are dead and professor xavier got shot up into space. Thankfully he dosen’t have to watch cheesy movies.. unless it’s Cho’d turn to pick the movie. For some reason it’s ALWAYS Cool as Ice. no one knows why. 

Meanwhile, in the seas of mood whiplash, we meet Meggan. Meggan, like most of the cast, is a mutant, something I was unaware of until now even though the I just thought she was some sort of magical creature, but no, she’s a mutant and the naration outright calls her one. I’m just stupid or thought they just classifed her wrong I guess. Unlike most mutants, who manifest powers at puberty, she manifested hers at birth. Megan is an empathic shapeshifter, basically meaning that she shifts based on those around her’s perception of her. And sadly her upbringing was not a happy one as, since she was born with fur, her parents saw her as a monster and left her in a caravan alone, with the rest of her romani community making up rumors about her.. and due to being unable to control her powers shape shifted into the monster they thought she was. She was raised on televisoin and thus has a rather naive sense of the outside world, and later bonded with brian after he took her in, her home having been destroyed due to lots of stuff I don’t have time to go into, and she later took up her current default form after realizing she was a shapeshifter in the first place.  But yes our bubbly shapeshifter is swimming with the dolphins and due to her emphatic ablites, she can commuincate with them learns how to swim like them and, thanks to her ablities, has shifted to do so the best. She’s lost track of time though and heads home to the lighthouse she and Brian live in. She returns home to find the place ransacked, and since she didn’t feed her mogwii after midnight.. this time, she searches for the cause.. and the cause turns out to be similar to the reason Kitty is crying her eyes out miles away in scotland. 

When Kitty and Kurt lost their surrogate family, Brian lost his too. As stated far above Betsy was his sister, and they were very close from the looks of it, and the loss of her naturally shattered the man. Meggan tries to comfort him but.. it goes  about as well as you’d expect, especially since Brian has been heavily drinking on top of his grief. 

This scene.. is really damn sad but really well written. Brian, as I joked in the teaser, has the powers of superman basically minus the add ons like heat vision and frost breath.. yet he couldn't save Betsy. But as Meggan accuratley puts things, he couldn’t of known she was in danger and she was a grown woman. As I said, she choose to sacrifice herself, and as I didn’t fill in, the spell only works with WILLING participants. All that would’ve changed had he gone is Madelyne Prior would be alive and not him. And it’s things like this that also made me take such umbrage with the X-Men faking their deaths: their causing, real genuine greif to people... while I joked mildly about the telpathy thing, i’m not sure betsy’s range, I AM sure that being a telepath one of the simpliest trick is masking your presence. It’d take a lot of effort and be mildly invasive, but keeping yourself hidden to tell your brother goodbye is hardly more morally grey than faking your death and leaving him in a drunken stupor. This is especailly bad once they get a teleporter shortly into their australian stay, as Gateway could SEND HER to him, with no risk of detection, and have her explain it in person with storm in tow. Instead they hurt their friends and loved ones for a plan that ultimatley didn’t quite pan out. 

Meggan herself mopes for a second, understandable as Betsy was her friend too and she's hurt she's gone and blames herself.. before snapping out of it, realizing that Brian is just lashing out and needs help, but unable to face him like he is, she leaves him a pictoral note, since she's functionally illiterate, and goes to get advice from Kitty and Kurt, wanting to help him open up the way he helped her do the same. Meanwhile...

Jesus christ this comic loves abrupt tonal shifts.. but yeah Kurt is excercising, but then reflexively teleports after he takes a hit. As  I mentioned earlier Kurt’s teleporting is strained, having gotten injured in a battle with Nimrod, who really hickman you couldn’t of come up with either a better name or a reason he’s called that when you brought him back in House and Powers?, and as a result comaed himself defeating one of the mauraders. And while the coma thing cleared up nicely his powers are still a fraction of what they once were and one teleport while injured no less leaves him too shaky to continue and reaching for the saftey panel. Thankfully Kitty phases through it while checking up on him, having been told through the island’s backup alarms that he was doing this borderline suicidal shenanigan. Kitty naturally lays into him over it. 

Kitty's rage is entirely warranted: She just lost her surrogate family and her best friend. Things with her parents are strained. She dosen't want to loose the only family she really has left because he feels the same things she feels and is nearly killing himself to try and deal with it. Kurt apologizes, admitting the painful part of it: that he was HAPPY when he woke up from his coma, overjoyed to finally be alive again, to live again.. only to find out his family is dead from one of his closest friends. And with this i'm reminded of Steven Universe.. just go with me. There Pearl mourned for a good decade about loosing Rose because well.. she was everything she had. She , literally and metaphorically, freed her, she was her world.. and Rose moved on to someone else romantically and then decided to up and leave the mortal coil. Her entire world left her and she had no idea to cope or as she put it in song, "Who am I now in this world without her?" That's what our heroes are dealing with: for Kitty and Kurt the X-Men were their world.. not in such a co-dependent way as rose but for Kurt, it was his family: through them he went from a monster in the world's eyes, hiding from it and tired of having to do so, to a bold hero who refused to hide who he was anymore and who had family and a purpose. For young Kitty, she found parental figures in a time when her actual parents, particularly her dad, were going through a messy divorce, found strength she never knew to the point she EARNED her right to stay on the X-Men after Xavier started a junior class and wanted her to go there, and really came of age. The X-Men made them who they are today and without them.. just who are they? But before they can dive into that themselves our heroes find out something disturbing: they had the same exact dream about rachel, complete with helping her escape. Maybe they really did or maybe it was just a warning, the conculsion our heroes reach, and while Kitty does resolve to do something about it, determining that just because their injured dosen’t mean they’ve stopped being X-Men, but before they can deal with this they get a guest. 

No but she’s just as weird and abrubt:

This is Gatecrasher,  leader of the The Technet, a group of interdimensional mercenaries and bounty hunters. She wants to speak with the lady of the house but that’s not really and option as she’s kinda on a schedule. You know people to grab, drinks to be drunks, sapient racoons to bone.. that sorta thing.. and the last one isn’t something I pulled out of nowhere the recent Rocket Racoon solo not only brought in the technet but had her fancy the guy. Guess it’s the fuzzy, as Kurt himself will tell you chicks dig the fuzzy. It’s why he’s Krakoa’s orgy meister. Before Kitty and Kurt can find out who Gatecrasher is and why she’s here, Meggan soars in.. and hisses at Gatecrasher. See The good captain and the Technet have a history: they’ve been both enemies and reluctant allies, so naturally Meggan is worried their here for Brian. But this time they have no buisness with the good Captain... and when asked by kitty why she’s here Gatecrasher uses a telecom crystal, some sort of magic hologram recording, to explain herself:

Saturnyne is , as she says an omniversal majestrix. This basically means she runs the day to day operations of the Captain Britan Corps, basically the Captain Britians for every reality, helps give underdeveloped words nudges toward advancment and general multiversal maintince stuff. Sorta like a combination of Omnitraxus and Hekapoo from star vs the forces of evil but without being a racist asshole. I mean she’s still an asshole, just not a racist one. She and Brian have a romantic history. As you can also see each of the team is having a different reaction to her: Kurt is popping a boner just off screen, maybe he can invite her to Krakoa orgy night hmm?, Meggan is pissed because she and Brian were a thing once, and Kitty just found out she likes ladies AND she likes guy. What i’m saying is it dosen’t take an intellectual to get that she’s bisexual. And yes I know she turned down Karma off screen later on but that was A) the result of another writer changing things after the previous writer on both character, Chris Claremont himself, apparently had sizeable ship tease for them. and B) if her ex boyfriend iceman can be retconned to have been a heavily closeted until very recently gay man this whole time, Kitty can also have been sticking to the closet or just simply have not explored that side if we want. Anyways it turns out there here for rachel at Saturnyne’s orders, because she’s apparently a theat to the multiverse.. not too much of a stretch when in one reality her mom going dark phoenix destroyed damn near everything and even here the phoenix force has snuffed out entire galaxies. She’s apparently on her way back to earth, and it’s the Technet’s job to catch her. As for the specifics.. Gatecrasher has no idea. And frankly when an omniversal goddess asks you go fetch someone for what I assume is a yak that has a comparentment in it’s back with millions of dollars stashed inside,  you don’t really care. Kitty being Kitty, refuses to help her find their friend and until she knows more, she’s willing to fight her on it. Unfortunatley, as you can probably tell, Gatecrasher wasn’t dumb enough to go after a being that can eat an entire solar system alone. 

It's here we meet the Technet proper and a fight between two former teammates, a shapeshifter they only just now met and who only Kurt recognized, and a team of weird as shit but highly trained bounty hunters goes about as well as the classic matchup of Wolverine vs "Anyone trying to get between him and his beer stash". Kitty is quickly taken out by the yellow girl with green hair, scatterbrain, whose power is.. just that: anyone she touches has their brain go all spacey and weird and kitty knocks herself out falling over when Scatter shuts her thinky parts off. And as for Meggan..

This is Bodybag. And his power is exactly what it looks like: he gulps people up and then keeps them in his sack on the back. It’s weird but i’ts my kind of creative weird and it makes sense for a team of bounty hunters to have a member to store their quarrry. Kurt wisely BAMF’s the fuck out of there, but Gatecrasher decides not to persue him: He’s not their target, and if he wants his friends he’ll have to come back for them anyway, so it’s not like chasing him all over is really worth the effort. She does have Bodybag snag kitty though, and plans to use her and Meggan as bargaining chips. 

Meanwhile Rachel finally returns to the story, as seen above a bit discombobulated given you know, she just crossed dimensions or whatever hapepned. She then ends up at a charity masqurade party , just poofying out of nowhere and when she tries to you know, leave...

I just... what the fuck kind of charity event IS this? The chains she brought with her but “no one leaves without permisson. “ I just... THIS IS A CHARITY BALL NOT VIETNAM. And who, besides racist assholes, thinks holdiing someone down with chains is a good idea. Just WHAT IS THIS SCENE. Thankfully we get some other party crashers. 

These are Warwolves, a new, as far as I can tell, creation and basically Mojo’s literal hunting dogs. Rachel tries fighting them off but naturally, their Psi-Proof so just blasting them with telekenisis won’t work and uses the objects around her, including her own chains to duck them. But she mutters what’s the point it’s just another sound stage.. except as I said, it isn’t. She’s in foggy london town. 

Rachel continues her run through the urban jungle eventually ending up in a subway. No not the restraunt, she’s not that unlucky. Duckign onto a train one of the warwolves globs on. 

To be fair most hollywood contracts are basically slavery, but Rachel as a point.. she was basically tricked into singing it, again not exactly uncommon, and refuses to take this bullshit.

This bit is awesome, and doubly so as I left out a bit of Rachel's backstory on purpose earlier: she was a hound. Basically it meant she was enslaved and conditioned to hunt down other mutants, only escaping shortly before days of future past happened and then escsaping into the present. So naturally the thought of being enslaved and forced to do some asshole's bidding again, to loose her free will? She'll die before that happens and slaughters the warwolf to prove it.. though also scares her fellow passangers in the process. While Rachel tries to explain thing the warwolves greeve.. and Teleporter, Gatecrasher's lizard thing, has located Rachel. Meanwhile Madison is grappling with the fact that not every issue can be settled by comittee... Meanwhile Kurt arrives at the Lighthouse to find Brian stinking of booze and asleep, so he decides to do the only logical thing he can think of. 

I fucking love you Kurt. So since Godzilla is too busy at his tax audit to save him from the depths of the ocean Brian wakes up himself pissed and assuming someone tried to kill him. Which granted Kurt outright admitted he might drown but given the only two friends he has left in the world and an innocent he just met who fought beside him despite having no reason to besides it being the right thing are in mortal peril, he has no time to play nice. Kurt’s responses to Brian’s outrage are fucking amazing. 

Fucking brutal and accurate: Brian’s alcoholism is killing him and is just as borderline suicidal as Kurt’s play session with largely the same intention. Kurt has no time for wallowing in self pity, no time to baby Brian, as much as it might be warranted, through his grief. Kurt Wagner needs a hero, and since the avengers and fantastic four would likely take hours he dosen’t have, Brian is his best bet at saving his friends.  He has no time for pity or sadness, he only has time to save what he has left. He explains the situation to Brian as well as how the hell he found him: since he at least knew of Brian, likely due to Betsy as she was staying with the X-Men prior to joining and just before the massacre, he dug up the X-Men’s file on him and spent the rest of his time getting to him. Brian is, unsurprisingly, in no real mood to help and mopes that there’s really no point in it… and that’s when Kurt somehow gets even more pissed  off and 20 times as awesome, with a speech worthy of Sir Patrick Stewart himself.

And as I’ve made abundantly clear that’s the point of this story: The X-Men’s temporary death was unfair, left a lot of pain in their wake and left our heroes scrambling to figure out where do they go from here? And it’s here Nightcrawler is the first besides Meggan, whose simple world view means it was a lot easier to process things and took her three panels to get herself in gear to help Brian, to really turn a corner on his grief. He’s sad his friends are dead, he wishes more than anything that he could’ve died a hero like them instead of living with the misery and sorrow of them being gone.. but he’s alive. And he’s going to honor them the best he can by being the kind of man they wanted him to be. And to me this is why Kurt became leader: out of the five he has the most experience,  with only Brian rivaling him in that, but also the most drive. He may of lost everything, but by god he’s going to keep moving. Sure his friends died, it’s the risk of the trade.. but they’d want him to live, to take up the sword and keep  fighting so that the dream dosen’t fade out. It’s why, as much as I don’t agree with it, they kept hteir resurrection a secret: because the safety of all mutants, of their friends, is more important than one man. And Kurt is going to honor that. But not before giving Brian another verbal bitchslapping.

Of course it’s not easy as Brian DID die to become captain britan.. and the memory haunts him. And he wonders when it’ll come from him.. and he’s afraid of it. But the question is will he let his fear of the reaper swallow him whole or live like Kurt, fighting on anyways. To truly live.

Meanwhile Rachel is the only member of the forming team to not have had a full on mope sesh so she gets on that, but it only lasts for about a panel and like most of the angst in this comic is warranted: Rachel comptemplates if she should go back to the X-Men.. but realizes despite running out on them , their family, and she has no other options. But before she can learn the truth the technet are upon her and bodybag scoops her up. Gatecrasher plans to release Kitty and Meggan and one thing I like that I hadn’t noticed in previous reads is Gatecrasher is a fairly intresting antagonist. She’s not “evil”, she’s just a merc wanting a payday, and in this case was hired by a legitmate if pompus source. While she takes Kitty and Meggan, it’s more out of pragmatisim and as noted she plans to release the two when she could’ve let Bodybag digest them, and when first showing up is perfectly cordial to Kurt and Kitty, and only fights when it’s clear our heroes won’t let her just walk off with their old friend. It makes me glad there’s far more of her and the technet to come as the series goes on and a ton more in Alan Davis run when I get to that. Their intresting characters with unique power sets and inject a sense of fun into what would otherwise be a fairly dreary story.  Anyways before she can do that the warwolves strike and are too dumb to know when to quit so a fight breaks out and Gatecrasher beats the piss out of one while Kurt arrives, watching from  the shadows. As for why no one’s spotted him... i’ts simple: One of his powers is to blend into shadows. It’s not used often and it’s forgotten quite a bit, but it is one he’s used on ocasion and even IF Claremont just retconned it out, his foes are too busy to notice. Kurt once again shows how awesome he is and tricks one of the wolves into slashing the bags containing his friends open. Gross but oh so triumphant. 

Unfortunatley his victory is short lived: Meggan and Kitty are still woozy as, while I didn’t mention this earlier, Bodybags bags contain a paralyzing goop so they still aren’t quite ready to fight and while Rachel is, she can’t psy zap the dog. Luckily for Kurt gatecrasher yanks it away. Unluckily, she prepares to beat him into furry blue chunklets on the ground. Luckily...

Brian has finally gotten his shit together to save the day.. for all of a panel…

While Brian is fighting who or whatever that is Rachel and Kitty try to get into things but are blindsided by ringtoss and joyboy whose powers well...

Yeah while ringtoss, if still weird isn’t TOO out of the ordinary for Marvel, Joyboy seems like he’s some sorta lost Jojo’s bizarre adventure stand. It’s also another reason to love the technet as again, their powers are just so fucking creative and weird. But that’s also what makes them such a threat: Their powers aren’t what most heroes usually deal with, and thus they have the element of surprise, helped by the fact their all from separate dimensions, meaning even in space, where their likely more ready for nonsense, they still have the upper hand by being races most space peeps aren’t ready for. Speaking of not ready,w ehave two last members to cover... 

They speak for themselves, and while they do so Brian tries to rescue Meggan but is stopped by scatterbrain. Nightcrawler notices their asses are getting kicked and figures out WHY: The Warwolves and The Technet are teams. They work together regularly. Excalibur at this point is three former teammates in a disorienting situation and two british persons they just met. And if they don’t’ start working together they aren’t going to last. So Nightcrawler decides to fix that by knocking a warwolf into Ringtoss, who then collapses into waxwork whose touch takes out both and leaves Rachel free. Rachel quickly takes out Joyboy and with him out of the way, Kitty and Kurt can focus on Gatecrasher:

And with that Gatecrasher knows when to fold em and teleports the team away to fight another day, while the Warwolves slinked off in the confusion. Both will be back, obviously, but for now our heroes have one, Brian and Meggan make up and make out, and with the chaos settled Kitty, Rachel and Kurt have a tearful reunion.  

Our heroes celebrate with a campfire and memories of their fallen comrades, with Rachel admitting she’s not sure what’s real or not after her experiences with Mojo. Brian prepares to leave and take care of the Warwolves himself.. but Rachel objects. The three others don’t have lives to return to, and just because the X-Men are gone dosent’ mean Xaviers dream should die out, likening them to the symbol of King Arthurs sword Excalibur. Kitty and Kurt start to agree, pointing out their dream taught them that if theirs a vacuum left in the X-Men’s legacy, someone will use it for their own ends. Rachel affirms her reasons for staying as a team, saying she’s tired of running: She’s done so all her live and she wants to , for once, stand for something. Meggan, having had similar problems in the past, agrees with her and the rest of the crew quickly come on board and thus we close on this image as a new team, and a new legacy, is forged: Excalibur is born.

Final Thoughts: The Sword is Forged is an utter classic and a great way to start things off. Our heroes are established, Rachel, who I felt was a bit thrown around by the plot during her time on the X-Men, is fleshed out a bit more and given purpose while Brian and Meggan are decently introduced to the audience. My only real complaints is that Davis and Claremont sometimes forget that American audiences won’t know who half these people are and while they introduce the Technet and Saturnyne well enough, they still never backtrack to explain them better later and what history I DID get I had to dig up for myself online. That aside the story, while having a lot of angst, is well done and has a good flow to it and ends on a high note, the characters are likeable enough, the villains are all creative though the Warwolves feel slight next to the Technet and will get fleshed out a bit more in the series proper. And of course I’d be a moron if I didn’t compliment Alan Davis wonderful art, which captures the whimsical tone well, the emotion in certain scenes perfectly and holds up beautifully years later. Overall The Sword is Forged is a great team origin story and if you liked what you saw here I’d recommend checking it out. Next time, hopefully tonight, we finally get to to the new Excalibur as Brian and his sister and thrust into the shit and a new Captain Britain is born. Until then, courage.

[thoughtslikeaminefield]

I remember you by the day I was searching for dark fics and came across a bunch of Demon!Dean fics. Immediately fell in love with the darkness in ur fics

I so enjoy writing Demon Dean. He’s as meaty and complicated as human Dean with that flare of darkness we all crave.

MY DEMON DEAN FIC

Discord and Rhyme - Demon Dean x unnamed female character

Summary: Dean is on the prowl.

Warnings: this is not your mother’s Dean Winchester, rough anal sex, crying during sex, blood during sex, there’s a lot of purple prose and excessive descriptions of taste and smell here, dub-con/sexual coercion, dirty talk,

Words: 1753

Leaving Heaven - Demon Dean/Dean Winchester x original female character

Summary: Tazi is a bounty hunter of mostly human things. She isn’t firmly seated in the supernatural world, but she’s familiar enough that she’s recruited by an old friend of John Winchester’s to capture and deliver a brief acquaintance of her own.

Warnings: this is not your mother’s Dean Winchester, show level violence, adult language, alcohol consumption, sexual intimidation, brief dub-con, flashbacks, mentions of the foster system, mentions of petty crime, mentions of Dean’s arrest record, mentions of blood and gore, rough foreplay, choking, making out with a Knight of Hell culminating in coming fully-clothed against a brick wall, mentions of past rape (nothing descriptive), commiserating over childhood trauma, minor character death, non-sexual choking, verbal threats of violence and sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, choking, verbal terror, psychological horror, guilt, regret, redemption, falling in love, cunnilingus, het sex, rough sex, hair pulling, more tags to come as story progresses

Shattered Like A Stone - Demon Dean x OFC

Summary: The Mark is demanding and the demon in Dean won’t deny it.

Warnings: this is not your mother’s Dean Winchester, Dark Demon!Dean, Top Demon!Dean, Dom Demon!Dean, rough sex, object insertion (multiple), The First Blade, The Mark of Cain, Rope Bondage, Knife Play, no condoms, Bloodplay, Biting, Bisexual OFC, Reference to attempted suicide, no safe word, references to mental illness, risky sexual behavior, Marking, cum marking, slight Pain Play, masochism, subspace, topspace, rough anal sex, spit and Jameson as lube, OFC has a death wish, face fucking, slight Daddy kink, consensual snuff, assisted suicide, choking, strangulation

Words: 6998

AND SPEAKING OF DARK FICS, CHECK OUT @laphirablack‘ FIC ILLUSION

Illusion - After Sam and Dean part ways, Dean is kidnapped and finds himself in a living hell. Can he escape?

[redderanddeader]

(cataloging all my characters cause I swear to fuck I had more variety but alas) 

1. First Character I made, face #11. Miranda Morgan, Collector and Trader 

2. Made another one when, for some godforsaken reason, Rockstar turned my first face ugly (I logged on after about a year and her face looked totally different from the one I made). She’s “Miranda” in her early years- heavier, less good at things lol. She’s a bounty hunter (but not a good one). Also face 11 (they are the same person, natch)

3. Jesse Luna, son #1. A soft boy but tough when he needs to be. Fucking excellent at catching wild horses. Gonna go into Trading one day but can’t resist that Madam Nazar and got his Collector bag first. Face #19

4. Teddy Bell (both were sent to live with other families), son #2. Soft cause he was raised spoilt. Dumb of ass, good of heart. Aspires towards owning a moonshine shack for the aesthetic.  ALSO face 19 (well they are brothers)

My next group. 

5. Belle le Fleur. Bad Ass Bounty Hunter. Kicks 90 different kinds of ass. I thought maybe if I made an ‘unattractive’ character I could make them be without honor somehow. It was working, then she gave all that up to save the girl from ugly old Tumbleweed man (every time). She’s working her way down though. Face #16

6. Jackson Cody. Feral with a heart of gold? Same theory as with Belle, but he’s a fucking cinnamon roll. Also working his way down. Also face #16. (One day I’m gonna clean him up and he’s gonna marry Belle and they WILL live happily ever after) 

7. Lucky Rose was from a Western au I was a part of and I had to make her, my beloved adopted dotter. I love her so much. She looks like a sweet little princess but she’s my only bab who WILL pull out a gun and shoot a motherfucker in a race (only if they shoot first) and then laugh over your corpse as she crosses the finish line. Yesterday some brawny player decided to sit on her horse and she beat the shit out of him right in front of God and everybody right there in Blackwater. Have I mentioned I love her? Face #3 because. 

8. Cayo was a challenge I did with my nephew- we were each going to make a character to honor my dad, who would have been such a bad ass in the Old West. He is def a bad Mo-Fo - my first to reach low Honor and working his way through Sam Finch’s stuff. Number 19 AGAIN. 

(omg I’m samefacing my boys the way I do when I draw HELP) ANYWAY

OK. So then I forced myself to do some things different. 

9. Helene Boucher, who is the Rhodes Bounty Hunter lady’s sister (headcanon ok?). Father started out as a butcher, then spent a spell in California mining for silver where he found a pocket that made him quite wealthy. He quit while he was ahead and turned his earnings into a meat processing plant in New York. She was sent to Europe to be educated (as they’d given up on her rebellious sister) and came home to save her kin from the dirty nasty Wild West. Only her sister didn’t need saving... Now she’s working on being a Bounty Hunter herself though she spends a lot of time playing piano at Moonshine shacks and might end up doing that too. Face #4

10. Billie is the daughter of a scam artist preacher Missionary and his kidnapped woman wife. Her mother was among the first wave of Koreans who came to the United States via Hawaii. The missionary had gone to try and convert the native Hawaiians to his hair-brained version of his religion and ended up being run out but taking a souvenir in the form of a person (I don’t like him either). Unlike literally everyone else in the Old West, he failed at gold mining AND converting natives and headed east to the “more civilized” new England. When her mother realized she was pregnant, she escaped to Saint Denis, finding work at a restaurant, leaving Billie to roam the streets, dressed as a boy (for her protection). Billie pickpocketed, to bring money home for her mother, and it often landed her in jail, which angered her mother- who wanted better for her. When her mother remarried and was finally secure and happy, Billie took off to find adventure and get into trouble and stuff. Face #15 

11. Antonio started as an attempt to make a certain celebrity, but when he got in the game looked nothing like what I wanted so I wiped him and started fresh. (ironically, people tell me this one looks like three different celebs, none are the one I was aiming for). Anyway I have no backstory for him other than he’s Italian, just a whole Himbo, and left New Jersey to find a wife but only seems to find trouble. Due to his always being matched with villianous bastard types, he is the lowest level honor I have. He has to do each Sam Finch quest numerous times cause he is JUST. SO. DUMB. I love him though. Face #2

12. Max is the son of an Japanese immigrant who came to Chiapas, Mexico, to grow coffee, and a Mexican woman (she lived on a neighboring farm). They eventually came to America and tried to run general stores across the Heartland but did not feel very welcome there and did not do well. They ended up in Saint Denis where they run a successful restaurant and Fish market. Max did not have a lot of supervision and was often bullied, but when he hit puberty all the work hauling fish nets made him huge and people quit pickin on him. None of this had an effect on his character. His momma taught him well and he is def my one character who will die to protect someone calling for help. People think him dull because he keeps his mouth shut but he knows four languages and is incredibly perceptive. I might make him a moonshiner for funsies. Face #20

(wow why did they get so much backstory? Trust me they ALL have a novel’s worth I was just inspired to get it all down while it was in my head.) 

[atamascolily]

Lily reads Star Wars: Red Harvest (part three)

Previously: Sith happens and orchids are snarky, to the point where @threadsketchier dubbed this one “Miette”:

Orchid: “you make me cold??!?1!  oh, JAIL FOR MOTHER!  JAIL FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS”  

Unfortunately, the orchid and its Jedi keeper have been kidnapped by a bounty hunter and are en route to Sith Hogwarts... so of course we cut to Geonosis to meet the Hard-Boiled Jedi Detective who’s going to track her down.

...who also happens to be her brother???

Geonosis: once a hellhole, always a hellhole. We learn that Coruscant got sacked by the Sith a while back, but that’s pretty much it in terms of backstory or context for people like me, who are fuzzy on what’s supposed to be happening in this part of the timeline. Oh, well.

Anyway, there's a belligerent Jedi named Rojo Trace, who is based on Liam Neeson's character in Taken, right up and including parroting some of his dialogue. I'm just gonna call him not!Qui-Gon, because he's basically Qui-Gon but with even more issues, and... a biological sister who is also a Jedi?? How does that even work??!! Suffice to say it will not be explained, because explanations are for losers.

Not!Qui-Gon is grumpy and a loner and Not a People Person, which is HILARIOUS given how the Jedi are supposed to be diplomats and peacemakers.

She stepped toward him, casually brushing his arm with her own. “I have to confess, I’ve always admired the Jedi Order, but I’ve never had the opportunity to get to know a Jedi Knight personally.”

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen today,” Trace said.

She frowned a little. “But—”

Before she could continue, Trace moved past her, turned, and jumped straight into the crater.

Yup, definitely Qui-Gon in literally everything but name.

Also, he's a psychometrist by profession:

Trace exhaled, reminded now of other terms he’d heard used to describe the Republic’s role in crash sites like this. The officers might call them investigators, but the enlisted men on the ground had other names. Names like corpse counters and dirt tourists.

The nicknames meant little to him. That was the job; everything else was a distraction, including female officers who wanted to get to know him personally. He was aware of his reputation for being cold and impersonal: it didn’t bother him in the least.

LOL, attachments are for other people. Not THIS Jedi. The only thing that’s missing from the usual hard-boiled detective stereotype is the drinking problems! The only person he cares about is his sister Zo, and he has a vision of her screaming as she's kidnapped, so he's going to track her down and rescue her! Because he's a tracker named Trace! (LOL, I see what you did there.)

What’s his relationship with Zo? Why does he care about here so much? How did they both end up as Jedi? Why did she go to the AgriCorps and why did he take this particular job? What was their training like? How often do they talk? What are Rojo and Zo’s relationships with the rest of the Jedi like? I have so so so so so many questions, none of which will ever be answered in the text.

This character has the potential to be really interesting, but the author provides me with zero personal details to explain why Rojo Trace is the way he is, and how he got to this point, so instead it’s like every action movie Liam Neeson ever made. Strip away the Determinator tropes and there’s not much left. 

Meanwhile, Zo comes to in the Whiphid bounty hunter's trophy room, which is full of decaying skeletons and skins and super gross, along with space!dermestid beetles gnawing on the flesh of recent kills. I'm reminded of the Imperial governor in the Truce of Bakura whose desk is one giant tooth and wants Leia's for his private dental collection. And, of course, the orchid macguffin.

The initial process of communication was never easy. At first it had felt almost unnatural. Yet with practice, through countless mornings spent sitting alone with the orchid, she’d soon reached a level of mastery that eased the transitory awkwardness into a smoother and more organic leap.

Are you there?

Within its glass vessel, the plant finally twitched, brightening slightly in recognition of her presence. Zo watched its dust-colored stem inclining toward her like a beckoning finger. At the same time she felt its life essence stirring within her, filling an almost physical void directly behind her breastbone and between her lungs, a place she thought of almost colloquially as her soul. At the same time she heard the first coarse whispers of its voice, gender-neutral, incoherent at first and then becoming clearer, like a foreigner adapting to the nuances of an entirely new language.

Zo? What happened? Are we well?

Zo gave a rueful smile, felt the lump on the back of her head. I wouldn’t exactly say that.

The orchid shares what details it can about their captor:

Solitary, a bloodthirsty species, and aggressive.

Zo waited, processing the comment. The orchid had a gift for understatement, and she couldn’t help but wonder about the criteria for this assessment.

And a flower collector to boot, she told it.

If the orchid had an opinion on this, it didn’t voice it.

The orchid stayed silent. Staring at it, Zo began to realize how her fully wakened presence had already affected the trophy room’s biosphere. The naturally occurring moss on the ship’s ceiling had started spreading at a noticeably accelerated pace, sprawling to swallow up the exposed bolts and seams in the interior walls. There was some kind of switch plate just above her head with a sign written in another language—the Whiphid’s mother tongue, she assumed—but it was already so moss-covered that she couldn’t make out the letters. Scraps of green rot within the skulls had begun extending their first initial tendrils up as well, reaching outward through eye sockets and trepanned holes. Simply by being here, she’d jump-started the growth of the Mirocaw’s incidental flora.

This is so cool, and I wish we'd see more of this, but sadly, we have to go to Sith Hogwarts, which is traumatizing for everyone, but especially the orchid, who is, as we established, A Delicate Flower.

In her arms, tucked against her, the orchid had started to make the same repetitive clicking sound over and over again, as if it were stuck on a thought, a compulsive stammering noise that she didn’t like at all.

Meanwhile, not!Qui-Gon arrives at the scene of the crime and sets to work:

The silver-haired agricultural-lab attendant stood with his hand extended. Trace paused just long enough to give it a perfunctory squeeze, his eyes already scanning the area, taking in everything at once as they walked across the landing bay. The ship he’d commandeered was a generic midsized star skiff, big enough for a crew of eight, small enough to escape scrutiny, retrofitted with ion engines and a Class One hyperdrive for long-range travel. He traveled alone.

OF COURSE HE DOES.*cue “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day*

So here's the explanation of the (lame) reason why Zo can't be separated from the orchid macguffin:

Emmert nodded. “The Murakami orchid is renowned for its Force abilities. It possesses power, but it requires a keeper, someone with an equally high midi-chlorian count, to keep it fully alive.”

How the fuck did this plant evolve? Did someone breed it to be like this? They had to have bred it for this, there's no way this could happen in nature. Why did they do that? Because it was cool? Because they could? Because it’s useful for something besides nefarious Sith alchemy? If it was bred by the Sith, that would explain a lot, but why would the Jedi being growing it if it were a creation of evil? Is the orchid going to become evil? (Please don’t let the orchid be evil!) WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING HERE??

And how far away can its keeper get from it before it dies (or turns into a zombie, given the “fully alive” remark)? Can it switch keepers? What do midi-chlorians have to do with anything? How does that... even... work...?

Never mind, because not!Qui-Gon is also space!Sherlock:

“What’s that?” Trace pointed at the screen, at a series of pale bluish green discolorations along the [photo of the] Mirocaw’s portside. The marks had an oddly phosphorescent glossiness, almost as if that portion of the ship’s outer plating had been streaked with a layer of iridescent oil.

“Carbon scoring?”

“No.” The Jedi Knight shook his head. “That’s Thulian vapor residue—it’s a galactic anomaly, a mixture of post-industrial airborne pollution and crystal fog. You only find it in about three places outside the Mid Rim.”

Emmert gave him a blank look.

“Have my ship ready,” Trace said. “I’m leaving in five minutes.”

At least he's efficient, I'll give him that.

[rekkingcrew]

Rek DMs, Some Thoughts

Buckle up, it’s Edge of the Empire tabletop Roleplaying time.

Yeah, I know I don’t post here much. I’m still doing the devaron’s angels thing, which is scratching a lot of my online itches, and I’ve got a part time job and full time parenting. 

I’d really planned on doing regular updates of what happened each session. Aaaaand that didn’t happen. Which is a shame, I’d love to be able to have those summaries to look back on. But here’s the short version:

The gang, who are a crew of space chancers and criminals rolling around in a stolen police ship, were doing odd jobs together for a while, including some for the empire. Their contact, a Pantoran spymaster whose cover was as a children’s entertainer, congratulated them on their most recent heist job (where the campaign started in medias res), and gave them a new job: deliver a mysterious sealed orb to the leader of the peskiest rebel cell in the general area, led by a Rodian pirate by the name of Cheng Maxeda. They said maybe, took the orb, and then checked around and picked up a delivery job for their local Hutts going the same direction for some extra cash. 

They were brought in because the Hutt shipments had been interfered with by somebody. Their Hutts weren’t sure who, but were damn sure they were going to pay. The gang defeated a whole crazy mess of people who were being lead and bolstered by a falleen who had been surgically altered to boost their pheromone output. Then they picked up the package and made the poor decision of looking inside. It was the carbonite frozen but still living body of the cop who’d previously owned their ship that they were now knowingly handing over, because they couldn’t bring themselves to cross the Hutts. 

Moral issues aside, it was an easy job, they got well paid, the team failed a bunch of social roles and divulged more information than they should have to the Hutt point man, and Brick, the party’s wall of meat, got signed up for a pit fight. He won his round, but imperial troops broke up the match before he could win completely. TK cornered but lost a rebel bomber, and Eshi got contacted by a rebel who recognized him from a bit of backstory. Nyla chased down one of the other gladiators, an old clone with a sword who’d entered the fight because the prize included a bacta dunk and he had a friend who was hurt and dying after being caught by the Hutts trying to bust up a slaving operation. And that’s when the bomb went off, destroying some major imperial instillation bits and projecting a 40 foot holo-image of Cheng the punk rock rodian pirate queen striding across the smoking crater proclaiming she had come to liberate the outer rim. The party was presented with three job options: 1) after Brick’s pit win, the Hutts were down some muscle for a convoy and ready to pay reliable thugs 2) the rebels were looking for a study ship to bust up the hub of a spy satellite network 3) the clone and his weequay buddy (Edge and Horm) still wanted to stop the slave convoy (which was, as the party figured out, job 1). They opted for job 2, leaving town amidst a firefight with the imperials, and brought along Edge and Horm, providing Nyla with a sword fighting trainer who’d studied under a jedi, without being a jedi himself. 

The guys busted up the satellite base by hijacking a shipment truck coming in (I’d provided them information for a couple of routes, including asteroid hopping amidst giant vacuum-proof winged frog monster creatures, and they figured this best matched their skillset). Inside they found tech that looked a whole lot like our droid character TK, a completely brainwashed cyborg engineer, and the control rods that were their target. TK, who is a droid with multiple program personalities, suddenly and without warning displayed a program personality they had never seen before and destroyed the computer mainframe, remembering nothing afterward. The cyborg also had hardware a good deal like Nyla’s, and contained a message begging for help from someone held against their will and being moved between facilities. They blew up the station, retrieved valuable tech, and flew off, triumphant, to get their payment from the rebels. 

The rebels welcomed the gang, who got to know the faction a little bit better. TK nearly started a gunfight, Nyla got a haircut, and Brick and Eshi developed mouse droid beer pong in order to provide historically unique droid bits to an eccentric collector for the last bit Eshi needed to build his machine from the prototype he’d stolen from the corporate sector in his backstory, which runs on two kyber crystals and provides a similar benefit to the force power “foresee”. He used this to figure out the sphere they were carrying contained an intensely virulent ship killer plague that would likely kill them as well, and they resolved to throw that in the sun. The gang foiled an assassination attempt on Cheng and got a new assignment: break her old pirate buddy out of maximum security prison (again, they were presented with several possible assignments, some of which tied in to other plots.) Nyla and Cheng also worked out mutually that they were both force sensitive. 

The prison break went off well. It was a sort of siberian gulag set up on an ice planet, plus some eight foot carnivorous burrowing worms- yeah, those walls are pretty short, prisoners, but where are you gonna run? The gang picked up some extra supplies by agreeing to break out a Hutt operative while they were there anyway. After some exciting sky battles, Nyla and Eshi turns the ship’s forward shields into a battering ram. They made short work of the guards inside, but discovered that there was an unexpected other party there- a wookie bounty hunter who was looking into the disappearance of the guy they handed over to the hutts. That guy was a tough fight even for the team’s big heavies, and they set a load of prisoners free to help them- taking the risk that the maximum security violent shipjackers would not decide to jack their ship to escape. Luckily between the two heavies and the giant devaronian pirate they just released, they were able to intimidate them into just accepting a ride off planet. Nyla, meanwhile, fought the wookie’s cat beast in an enclosed tunnel and nearly died, but won a pretty hard solo battle, enabling her to pick up the Hutt contact and a delirious nautolan who she had a force feeling about. Eshi forgot he was a reptile and went out in the ice with no coat, then defeated his own personal corpsec bounty hunter’s attempts to come at him with robots. With great success, they headed back to rebel space, got paid, and received a message that their former imperial employer was officially fucking pissed at them. Also, the nautolan was force sensitive and having visions of the inquisitor who tried to murder Nyla. 

Faced with mounting tension and the inability to continue lying to each other, the team pretty much spilled all their secrets to each other in the absolute most fun room mate meeting I have ever witnessed. Nyla is a force sensitive ex-imperial pilot ace, TK has an extra personality, Eshi has an I-assassinated-a-king level bounty and a machine that tells the future, Thirteen (the bothan spy) knew all this and told no one, Brick likes light beer, etc. They decided they really need to murder the children’s TV spy master as their next move. Their bothan spy provided them with a dossier on him and his six lieutenants. Nyla and Thirteen went to go meet the spymaster and try to throw him off, and had to fight the stealth assassin lieutenant, which they survived. Eshi hacked the slicer lieutenant and stole her state of the art surveillance droids. Brick checked up on the Hutt-embedded spy and learned she was a pretty awful person. He also ended up scheduling a rematch with the douwutin he beat in the pit fight, who the Hutts later dropped a word in that they wouldn’t mind if he just happened to kill in that fight. The group’s one cop friend, a red-string and corkboard conspiracy melitto, got attacked by assassins, because the spies and the governor were working against each other. Nyla and TK accidentally killed the master of disguise spy lieutenant without realizing who he was. They turned the surveillance droids on the Hutts and found out the Hutt-embedded spy was working against the spymaster as well. 

The spymaster was scheduled to attend the Chancellor’s day gala on Naboo, which is fancy far outside of anything the party is probably capable of pulling off, but I wanted to give them the opportunity to try. One of the spy lieutenants there, a slimy alderaanean lesser noble, has found a packet of forbidden information that had been stolen and hidden there, and the spymaster is going in person for the hand-off. Rebuffing an offer from the planetary governor, the group made a very temporary alliance with the Hutt spy to kidnap the noble spy and use him to force a meeting with the spymaster on their terms. And that’s where we are now. 

___

All in all, I’m really pleased with how this is going. I’m having a lot of fun and my players are absolutely great. I’d... assumed that would take less time to type up, and it’s leaving out a whole lot of stuff. I started this in October, so that’s about seven months worth of weekly sessions. That it breaks pretty easily into arcs, I feel, speaks pretty well for what I’d intended of it. I have SO MANY FUCKING named NPCs. It’s over 50 at last count. Factions are helping a lot. Each faction has a main plot that’s going to move along no matter what the PCs do, hitting beats whenever I need something interesting for the background. 

I’d like to keep making some posts here about what I’ve learned, what’s worked and what hasn’t, and about each player and their character. I personally think it’s interesting, and it helps me collect my thoughts. But for now I think I’m going to bed. 

[multiverseforger]

The Dragon was found in a burning field by Lt. Frank Darling. At the time, Chicago was being terrorized by villainous "superfreaks" (Larsen's collective term for superpowered characters), namely the criminal gang called the Vicious Circle, led by the mysterious Overlord. Realizing that the Dragon's superhuman powers would be a terrific boon to the police in battling the Vicious Circle, Darling asks the Dragon to join the police. At first, the Dragon refuses and takes a job in the warehouse of Darling's cousin. After a number of serious incidents, including the murder of the superhero Mighty Man and the brutal mauling of SuperPatriot, Darling takes drastic action. He pays Vicious Circle members to threaten his cousin in the hope that it will prompt Dragon to reconsider his offer. Although this achieves Darling's desired result, the two criminals, Skullface and Hardware, kill Darling's cousin and detonate a bomb in his warehouse. The Dragon joins the police, but Darling is now under the thumb of the Vicious Circle, causing him to steer the Dragon away from Vicious Circle activities.

Later, the Dragon gains a girlfriend, Debbie Harris, only to see her shot dead in his apartment by her jealous ex-boyfriend Arnold Dimple. The Dragon falls into a deep depression as a result. Dimple returns to plague the Dragon on several occasions as the Fiend, who makes a deal with the devil to gain supernatural powers.

Chicago PDEdit

As well as being kept away from Vicious Circle activities, the Dragon was loaned out to other police forces across the country to help them in dealing with superpowered criminals. While on loan to the NYPD, he first met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, whom he assisted multiple times in later comics. Also during his time in New York, a large prison break occurred and a number of powerful and dangerous criminals were killed. This is the first time the Chicago PD lost a star witness against the Overlord; Hardware, who intended to give evidence against the criminal, was shot dead.

Though Captain Darling's Freak Force program failed, the Dragon carried on a lasting relationship with one of its former members: Rapture, a former prostitute with electrical powers, who would later have his child. Meanwhile, the Overlord's second-in-command Cyberface broke away from the Vicious Circle to form a rival organization. Cyberface was later arrested but, like Hardware before him, he was killed before he was able to testify. Ultimately, Cyberface was resurrected and later led the Vicious Circle under the control of the Horde, another recurring villain.

Later, the Dragon made his first attempt to arrest the Overlord, who easily defeated him and left him impaled upon a church spire. The Dragon was believed to be dead, but regenerated from his wounds afterwards. This is not the only time the Dragon was missing and presumed dead; it becomes both a recurring theme and running joke in the series. During his recovery, the Dragon was attacked by a person under the mental control of a strange worm. Under the domination of this creature, the Dragon went on a rampage during which many innocent bystanders are injured or killed. He was finally stopped by the vigilante Mace, and the worms were traced to the Horde. The rampage resulted in a massive negative backlash against the Chicago Police Department, and the Dragon's biggest naysayer, R. Richard Richards, took this opportunity to attack the Dragon with a robotic weapon dubbed the "Dragon Slayer". Later, the Dragon encountered the She-Dragon, a young superpowered woman who modeled herself after him.

Following an attack on the police station and the murder of Cyberface (who is later resurrected), the Dragon led a SWAT team to finally take down the Overlord. The battle was harsh, and every member of the SWAT team perished except for the Dragon, who was skinned alive. Even in his weakened state, the Dragon finally unmasked the Overlord as Mafia boss Antonio Seghetti, who subsequently falls to his death.

After aiding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a second time, the Dragon narrowly survived another attack by the Fiend, which left him nearly crippled after his bones healed incorrectly. To make matters worse, Chicago was in the midst of a brutal gang war that arose as a result of the Overlord's death. The Vicious Circle, once kept tightly organized by the Overlord, had since separated into several factions that were battling for criminal supremacy. The Dragon was found by a friendly cabbie and Mighty Man, who used his super-strength to re-set the Dragon's bones. After recuperating from this ordeal, the Dragon fought another prison break, this time in a maximum security facility torn open by a newly-resurrected Cyberface. This battle marked the end of the gang war, and Cyberface assumed command of the Vicious Circle.

This victory was followed by difficult times for the Dragon. After a number of crossovers with other Image Comics characters including WildStar and The Maxx, the Dragon encountered Spawn and ultimately was sent to Hell by the Fiend. The Fiend can possess living bodies, and his powers are fueled by the capacity for hate of those possessed. His last victim was Debbie Harris' mother, who was unaware that the demon possessing her was the spirit of her daughter's murderer. While in Hell, a fist-fight occurred between God and the devil. As God finally overcomes the devil, he warned his defeated opponent: "Don't fuck with God." Just as the amnesiac Dragon begins to ask about his origins, God returned him to Earth.

Afterward, things grow steadily worse for the Dragon. He was unable to save ill fellow officer Phil Dirt with a blood transfusion. Meanwhile, Rapture (pregnant with the Dragon's child) suffered internal damage when the baby kicked—the unborn child having inherited its father's strength—and Rapture entered premature labour. The Dragon was not able to reach the hospital in time, and the baby appeared to have died. However, in truth, the infant was taken by the Covenant of the Sword, a shadowy organization bent on world takeover.

After a crossover with Hellboy, the Dragon was caught up in the Mars Attacks (Image) and Mars Attacks/Savage Dragon event, in which he was responsible for destroying the Martians' bases on Mars using a Martian growth ray. This resulted in their retreat and possible extinction. While he was gone, the Vicious Circle had taken control of the city. Returning home to a devastated Chicago, the Dragon was captured and publicly crucified by the Circle. The Dragon survived and defeated most of the villains, but the Dragon's new superior, Captain Mendoza, suspended him for having been missing for so long. During his suspension, the Dragon spent a few months as a bounty hunter and helped rebuild the city after the Martian invasion.

S.O.S. yearsEdit

Behind the scenes during this period, Rob Liefeld departed from Image Comics. The Mars Attacks Image event and the Shattered Image crossover were used as a way to phase out characters created by Liefeld from the collective "Image Universe", including Youngblood. In the pages of Savage Dragon, Larsen has the Dragon approached by the United States government to form a superhuman task-force to replace Youngblood. After negotiations, the team is dubbed the Special Operations Strikeforce, or S.O.S. This team includes much of the super-powered supporting cast of the book, including Jennifer Murphy, a super-strong, invulnerable single mother first introduced in The Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence miniseries. Despite being the founding member of the team, the Dragon spends little time as a member.

Later, on a dying parallel Earth, a murderous despot named Darklord begins to swap parts of his Earth with parts from the Dragon's. The Dragon leads a team of S.O.S. members, including Jennifer Murphy and his former girlfriend Rapture, to this world to stop Darklord. Rapture is killed by Darklord, and the Dragon and Jennifer are separated from the rest of the team. While the remaining members of S.O.S. manage to stop the transfer and escape back to their own Earth, the Dragon and Jennifer are forced to find their own way off of the dying planet. While they make their escape, Dragon attempts to find this Earth's Rapture, only to find that world's Debbie Harris instead.

The threesome is lost in space for some months, and the Dragon is once again presumed dead, eventually landing on Godworld, where Debbie dies but is revived as an angel. The Dragon and Jennifer are caught in a battle between Thor and Hercules, and then sent back to Earth by All-God; Debbie does not return with them. Following this, the Dragon fights a Dr. Doom-like armored dictator before returning to Chicago on leave and striking up a casual sexual relationship with his former partner Alex Wilde.

In the giant-sized issue #50, many of the series subplots are resolved, and in a climactic battle among most of the series cast, the Dragon is killed by the mystic Abner Cadaver; however, the wizard is murdered midway through this by William Jonson, and the Dragon is bonded with him.

William Jonson and the new OverlordEdit

Main article: She-Dragon

The series changed its title to Savage She-Dragon for five issues, featuring her as the main character during an attack by the God Squad to retrieve the various super-freaks that were descendants of gods. This led to the S.O.S. returning to Godworld and its accidental destruction by S.O.S. member and former Deadly Duo member Kid Avenger. During this time, William Jonson realizes he and the Dragon are sharing bodies, and shortly thereafter the Dragon finds he has the ability to take over Jonson's body, so they become a masked superhero. While he is helping the She-Dragon, Jonson's fiancé, Rita Medermade, is kidnapped by Jonson's brother Ralph and they both encounter an individual wearing the Overlord armor. While rescuing her, Jonson is shot, Ralph is killed by the Overlord, and the Dragon is given full possession of his body.

Abner Cadaver returns—made up of parts of dead God Squad characters, Darklord, and the Dragon's arm—and engages in battle with Fon~Ti, the mystical being who was once the Horde. After Fon~Ti's victory, he separates the Dragon from Jonson and returns the Dragon to his normal body. Having admitted their love, Jennifer and the Dragon begin to date. After a fight with Impostor, posing as Rapture, the Dragon proposes to Jennifer, and their wedding follows in the next issue, in which Jennifer is apparently killed by the new Overlord. In truth, she was replaced with Impostor beforehand by the Covenant of the Sword. Though he had only been semi-active before, the Dragon officially resigns from the S.O.S. and became the legal guardian of Jennifer's daughter Angel. In the following issue, the Overlord subplot is tied up after the Dragon defeats his new team. The Dragon kills the Overlord, and he is revealed as supporting character Vic Nixon, who had worn the armor to spy on Rita; the armor then corrupted him. After this, the Overlord armor is destroyed.

Single parent and Damian DarklordEdit

Following the resolution of the new Overlord plot, the series spent most of its issues wrapping up all the remaining subplots. This was preparation for the eventual revamp in issue #75, with the Dragon as a single parent looking after Angel and eventually losing a custody battle for her because of his dangerous lifestyle. The Dragon dated a television producer named Marcy Howard, resumed his casual affair with Alex Wilde, and dated Ann Stevens before she is murdered, while a number of super-powered children and adults were kidnapped by the Covenant of the Sword.

After losing custody of Angel and Ann's murder, the Dragon and Mighty Man (now former Freak Force member Dart) began searching for the missing SuperPatriot. This led them to the Covenant of the Sword, which had in its possession the SuperPatriot, Jennifer, and the Dragon's child. The Dragon and Mighty Man are captured, but eventually rescued in a large battle similar to the one in issue #50 in which a number of characters are killed.

It was revealed that the Covenant was formed by Damian Darklord, a time traveler who was the enemy of a vigilante named Super-Tough. This man became Darklord and started life as Damian, the son of Liberty, SuperPatriot's daughter who was raped during the Mars Attacks event. Damian also built and detonated the "Nega Bomb" made up of super-powered individuals that de-powered every non-natural "freak" in the world. The Dragon then kills him.

This Savage WorldEdit

With issue #76, the series changed into a Jack Kirby-inspired post-apocalyptic/dystopian story. The Dragon is stuck in a new reality he created by killing the infant Damian Darklord, which prevented him from going back in time, and with most of the mutated and monstrous populace of this world trying to kill him. The Dragon finds his house to be a crater and believes Jennifer and Angel are dead. The Dragon has encounters with WildStar (Image Comics) and Madman and finds out that during his time possessed, without Mace to stop him, he went on a much longer rampage, killing Alex Wilde. The Dragon also discovers that Cyberface is now President of America and has the SuperPatriot under his control. The Dragon organizes a group of old enemies and allies to defeat Cyberface. After fulfilling a commitment to Rex Dexter—who helped him overthrow Cyberface—by saving his daughter, the Dragon returns a hero and finds his way back to Chicago and is reunited with Jennifer and Angel, who had in fact survived.

The Dragon then finds his old world had survived as well as the Savage World. His counterpart from Darkworld, this Dragon, was defeated, but the Dragon's old Earth was destroyed by a world-devouring Galactus-like being named Universo, despite the best efforts of the Dragon and his son, Malcolm, who are left floating in space after its destruction. The Dragon is able to save Alex Wilde from that world. After this, the Dragon marries Jennifer and lives with her, Angel, and Angel's new "pet", Mr. Glum, who is secretly plotting to kill the Dragon.

To coincide with the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Larsen created a corrupt politician Ronald Winston Urass, who engineers a successful write-in campaign to elect the Dragon President of the United States. However, once his criminal intents and relationship to the criminal Dread Knight are exposed, the Supreme Court disallows these votes. This leads a vengeful Urass to attack the Dragon using the armor of his father, the Dread Knight, who was an old foe of the SuperPatriot's.

Behind the scenes, Erik Larsen was made publisher of Image Comics, causing a nearly year-long publishing gap between issues #121 and #122 of the series. The title resumed regular publication in January 2006, with the first story involving a vengeful scientist from Iraq sending an almost unstoppable robot to kill the President.

Mr. Glum's plans for world domination were realized using the power of the God Gun (a weapon able to grant three wishes to its user). Glum fires the gun and asserts his control of the planet while the Dragon is incapacitated in a hospital, having lost his rapid healing abilities. Glum was, at the time, on the run with the Dragon's stepdaughter Angel after he caused her to grow to more than 100 feet tall, and she accidentally destroyed her house and crippled her mother. The two become partners and Angel adopts a murderous, merciless personality, while Glum set the people of Earth to work with the impossible task of making the planet look like his face (as his old world did).

The Dragon is revived with his healing abilities restored and is able to defy Glum's control because of a loophole in his wish that means he cannot control extraterrestrials. The Dragon is unable to get close enough to Glum due to the various robots and villains Glum has under his control. However, the intervention of a number of characters from the comic series Wanted, who had come to steal the God Gun, allows the Dragon to destroy the weapon, negating Glum's wish.

During the story, Vanguard's spaceship is destroyed, freeing Universo who was imprisoned on it. He begins to suck the energy from Earth once more. Universo and its herald are killed by Solar Man, a Superman-like hero who became murderous and was wished out of existence using the God Gun, a wish undone by the Dragon's destruction of the weapon. The She-Dragon also returns from Dimension X with the Angel from the Dragon's original world of origin. They are being pursued by the Darkworld Dragon and a new villainess, Battleaxe.

Back to BasicsEdit

After Angel and Malcolm's return to the new world, the Savage Dragon is left to face a new array of troubles. With Jennifer having disappeared and presumed dead, two superstrong kids ill-equipped to face the return to normalcy after months spent in isolation (Angel has learning deficits and Malcolm is nearly illiterate), and no income to care for his family, the Savage Dragon returns to the police force.

Meanwhile, a new Overlord takes over the Vicious Circle, resuming his attacks over the city, and the Savage Dragon, hospitalized after a fight, is ambushed and killed by a new freak with the power to steal the memories and the life force of his enemies. Due to the huge amount of lifeforce held by the Dragon and his powerful immune system, the freak absorbs all of his memories and physical characteristic, becoming essentially a new iteration of the Dragon. The Impostor Dragon has the remains of his former body packed in a preservative solution by Rex, and resumes his normal life.

Even this new lease at life appears to be short-lived, as the new Overlord, after trying to bargain with the Savage Dragon for his allegiance, literally blows his head and torso away: the Impostor Dragon, brought in the Vicious Circle laboratories for analysis, revives himself as a crazed, unstoppable, deformed powerhouse with conflicting memories, bent on nourishing himself on the superpowered Angel and Malcolm.

Still knowing nothing about the actions of the Impostor Dragon, Angel and Malcolm seek a way to revive the body of the Savage Dragon, despite being faced by Rex with the prospect of creating nothing more than a soulless being or a mind-addled monstrosity, due to the brain matter lost during the attack. They set off to ask Nurse Stevens for the last blood sample of the Dragon, hoping to use its regenerative abilities to speed up the recovery and the resurrection of the Savage Dragon corpse. The Vicious Circle, however, overpowers them, stealing the blood sample to create an army of Dragon clones.

As a last resort, after being faced by the Impostor Dragon who attacks Rex and is frozen in the preservative solution, Rex and Malcolm agree to transfuse part of Malcolm's blood into the Dragon's corpse. The Dragon revives, but has no memories of his former life.

Dragon WarsEdit

Concerned about the new, harder attitude of the Dragon, the new Overlord sends the Dark Dragon after the Savage Dragon. Showing a callous disregard for human life, the Savage Dragon ultimately reveals to have regained every shred of his past memory as Kurr the Emperor (see above), and after beating up the Dark Dragon, he eats his brains, killing him for his defiance.

He then proceeds to alienate from himself Malcolm, planning vengeance over the Vicious Circle, now using the Dragon's blood to empower his members. The new Overlord decides to strike a truce with the police department as seen in #159.[7] He lends the help of all the superfreaks in his command to stop Kurr. As the last attempt fails,[8] Kurr sheds his facade, proclaiming his identity and retelling his origins (see below), for the first time in-universe speaking, to Malcolm and Angel. Battling his way through several enemies, including Vanguard, an unnamed Shapeshifter taking the She-Dragon's appearance, Glum, the original Angel, and other friends and foes from his past, Kurr cleanses Earth of human life using a special venom.

After he battles and kills Malcolm, the Impostor Dragon wakes up, this time with the Savage Dragon's personality fully in charge, and avenges his offspring and world by killing the Kurr-Dragon. Damian Overlord proceeds to restore his original look and body, giving the Savage Dragon the opportunity to greet his species and leave the cleansed Earth in their care.

Distraught by the consequences of Kurr's actions, he pleads with Damian Overlord for the power to travel back in time and kill Kurr before he unleashes the potion, thus creating another divergent timeline where his family is still alive. Damian grants his wish, mercilessly killing him shortly thereafter as "Savage Dragon is a dangerous wildcard for the world". Despite a red herring implying Damian transplanted Savage's personality into WildStar's body, in the "restored" timeline Kurr's alien son, along with a "mysterious gentleman", takes away Virus' corpse (as he is now calling the Impostor Dragon), taking it on to his spaceship, where Virus and Kurr are used to return the Savage Dragon to life. The Savage Dragon decides to keep his resurrection hidden to Earthlings, and to make amends with his species, offers to help them to find a suitable planet.

After the Dragon Wars, Malcolm Dragon has taken the Savage Dragon's role, along with his sister Angel, acting as protectors of the city. A schism in the superfreaks has brought the Overlord working with the police department, with a part of the freaks still engaging in villainy, and Malcolm to keep them in check.[