#she would live by the motto 'you either die or i kick you out'

[fazcinatingblog]

Oh you guys I passed my CPA exam. I guess this means I have to continue. Boooo.

[mxgilray]

Loki Season 1 Thoughts

Overall, I really liked this series. It has some issues without question, but I sincerely don't think it's the dumpster fire so many viewers on this site treat it as. Did it go how I expected? Not at all? Did I enjoy the heck out of it and look forward to it every Wednesday? Hell yeah!

Loki's Good Guy Personality

A big complaint many have had with it is how much Loki's demeanor has changed and how his emotional growth feels rushed or his personality is ooc. Truth is, he saw his entire future, saw what his angry, power hungry, I-work-alone persona would get him in the end, and it snapped him back to reality. He has always been shown to be quite emotional and craving attention and lacking in self assurance, it's just in the past movies he's masked it with violence and fake narcissism, and he's always been a secondary character so his perspective is rarely shown. But if you really pay attention it's obvious he isn't truly villainous; we all know that, it's largely why he has such a huge fan base.

Right after meeting Mobius, Loki got an infodump of his future, saw his parents both die, found out that free will means jack shit, and learned he's absolutely powerless in this realm. On top of that, this is 2012 Loki, fresh off of being under Thanos' control, suddenly being shown that the guy who controlled him is going to end up killing him. Frankly,, I think it all broke Loki. He was too shook up by it all and by the sheer helplessness he found himself in at the TVA that he let all his barriers down momentarily. Just long enough for him to open up to Mobius about his motivation and his lack of self confidence. And you know what I bet? Loki felt relieved after talking to Mobius. A weight was lifted, because he bore his heart to someone and wasn't rejected or laughed at or treated like a psycho. And after letting his walls down fully, Loki didn't feel the need to put all of them back up. He stayed guarded around other people, but he didn't need to pretend around Mobius. Mobius has seen under the mask, so Loki doesn't feel pressure to perform as an all knowing, all powerful God around Mobius. That freedom is life changing.

People who gravitate towards broken, pseudo-villain characters do so because we relate to their internal conflict, their mental illness, their need to fake it around everyone close to them. Their turmoil and depression and self destructive behavior are familiar and we see ourselves reflected in their actions. Now, when a person really truly let's their guard down, drops all their layers of facade, and embraces themself, they tend to change demeanor and even personality pretty drastically. It's jarring in real life, so of course when it happens to a fictional character who you usually relate to it is going to be jarring, maybe even more so because it feels like a change you yourself would never go through. I know this sounds bad and people might get at me for it, but...

I believe the issue here is that a large part of Loki's fan base doesn't want him to get better. They don't want him to move past his mental illness, to learn how to cope with anger and disappointment in healthier ways, to be happy. They like his damaged persona, they like the internal conflict. Maybe it's because they're still at that low place themself and feel like a relatable character is getting taken away from them, maybe it's because they don't understand how much being at peace with yourself can alter a person and to them it feels like he's been changed too much. To those of us mostly on the up and up from battling depression and mental illness, it's comforting to see Loki getting a chance to be genuinely happy and accepting of himself.

Sylki and Lokius

First things first, I'm not anti anything. Ship what you want, idc. Personally, I do not see the Sylki dynamic as romantic, but I get why people read it that way. I thought the series did a good job of showing unrequited love, namely Loki falling for Sylvie and Sylvie feeling zero romance towards him. This was aware of his attraction and in the end used it as a distraction so she could get the upper hand. The show played up the potential romance because we are viewing things from Loki's perspective and he's become smitten as a kitten. I do think in the long run they'll have a more sibling-like dynamic, one Loki realizes that you can feel extreme love and care for a person without it being romantic. I enjoyed how the show explored their relationship, though I do wish they hadn't had every character under the sun mention their moment on Lamentis-1 like it was some big deal to bond with someone you're about to die with.

I'm bitter towards the development of Lokius. It had a strong start in the beginning, and in ep 5 had some potential reignited, but then they had Mobius not know who Loki is at the end. I'm still hoping they're playing the long game with this ship and that it'll come to fruition partway through season 2. The chemistry is there, and Mobius knows Loki very intimately and isn't put off by his past. Loki also feels much more at ease around Mobius than he does around Sylvie. It's the comfort of a deep loving bond with Mobius verses the nervousness of a new crush that he feels for Sylvie.

I don't think Loki is quite aware of his feelings for Mobius, simply because it's based in friendship and mutual respect and isn't a hot and heavy lust. Plus, as soon as he was away from Mobius he was thrown into a near death experience with Sylvie and developed a surface crush during their heart to heart. Since Loki's still figuring out what genuine feelings are beyond anger and sadness, he sees the simplistic crush he has on Sylvie as love and the intimate bond he's been forming with Mobius as friendship. He doesn't understand his own feelings yet, but I think he'll figure it out next season. I mean, he was probably already rethinking his feelings for her after she kissed and betrayed him, mentally kicking himself for expecting her to not pull a Loki betrayal like he would've in the past.

The Time Variance Authority

I really like the concept of the TVA, the structure of it, the methods they use, the deeply fucked way they recruit employees, the cult like motto, shady Miss Minutes who is definitely playing her own long game, and the blind acceptance TVA agents have of the Time Keepers' will. It's all very well done... until your dig into the core, aka He Who Remains. They built up the idea that the Time Keepers created the TVA to prevent a multiverse war and that they created agents to enforce their will. Then the creating agents turned out to be fake, the Time Keepers were fake, I expected the reason for the TVA's existence to be fake to. It felt too simple to have it genuinely exist just to keep the multiverse in check. Why the anonymity, unless it's to keep from having agents target and prune versions of himself which.. songs like a decent solution. HWR made it sound as though the multiverse war was just a bunch of versions of himself screwing shit up, so why isn't the TVA's focus on eradicating every other variant of this guy? Sounds a lot easier and nicer than fucking with the free will of every other living being. So either Marvel made a bad call when choosing what HWR's motive was for creating the TVA, or he was lying about it all to cover up something sinister.

Overall Storyline

I'm fairly happy with the plot as a whole. There were some pacing issues and I think a few missed chances for deeper conversations between various characters. While I enjoyed the Loki variants, I honestly would've been happier seeing Tom playing most the variants (except Kid Loki and Classic Loki since they are clearly different age ranges). If there is supposed to be one sacred timeline, it seems off to me that Lokis would be allowed to vary so extremely without it causing a nexus event(an alligator, whose nexus wasn't that he's an animal who obviously can't do any magic much less command Thanos' army, but that he ate someone's cat) and not just in appearance but in life path (ie boastful Loki collected all the infinity stones but it wasn't till he had 6 that he caused a nexus event even though him gaining control of the Soul, Power, and Time stones should've each caused nexus events since on the sacred timeline he never interacts with those 3 and taking any one of them would've fucked up a lot of other timeline parts)

I love the display of Lokis raw power, and 2012 Loki coming to the realization that he's way more powerful than he ever thought. And it wasn't just Classic Loki who spent thousands of years alone honing his skills, 2012 Loki reversed time on a goddamn falling building! I also liked the small magic, the fireworks, the tablecloth blanket, Loki yanking Sylvie away from HWR with just magic.

As someone who is both bisexual and genderfluid, I would've really loved more concrete representation. The comment about there never being another female Loki hit me in the gut; it undermined the Easter egg "Sex: Fluid" on Loki's TVA file. With how big a deal Sylvie being female was made out to be throughout the season, I expected her gender to play a key role in taking down the head of the TVA, like it was foretold that only a female Loki could end it all or some shit.

I don't mind the idea of Loki finding love in a straight passing relationship. I don't even mind the selfcest all that much. It just feels so obvious to me that Sylvie is written as not having any romantic inclination towards Loki, while Mobius is clearly written as falling in love with someone he shouldn't and trying to maintain an heir of professionalism to keep from wrecking his bond with Loki. I really really hope they come through on season 2 and give Lokius the canon relationship and proper representation they deserve.

Mmkay I thinks that's all the thoughts I've got right now. If you've been feeling cheated or clowned by how things went this season, maybe my perspective of things can help ease your pain.

[mercurysstars]

The Shadow Thief (part 3)

Summary: What happens when Peter has to work with the girl he hates to possibly save the world.

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Swearing, Blood, Violence.

A/n: Sorry it took me so long to post again! I’ve wrote like 3 different versions of this chapter because I didn’t know what direction to go in just yet.

_

"Woah, dude. Did you see this?" Y/n held out Peter's phone shoving it in his face.

Y/n had gone over to Peters house early that morning to get the last finishing touches on their project done. So they both reluctantly decided to walk together to school.

Peter snatched his phone out of Y/n's hands as they crossed the street. "How did you even get my phone? It was in my hands." She shrugged and pointed back at the article.

Peter scrolled down the page. Incoming reports say Avengers went on a mission and since gone MIA. How didn't he know about this? And why didn't the Avengers at least tell him they were going to be gone. Peter was confused, to say the least. Were they in trouble? No, they couldn't be they are the earth's mightiest heroes. Right?

"They probably just had to extend their mission and forgot to report back in." Or at least he hoped. He didn't want to think of the latter. He decided after school he would go to the compound and make sure everything was alright.

"If you say so." They walked up the stairs to the second floor of the school.  Peter opened the door and they both walked into English. Y/n took her seat next to Mj and Peter next to Ned.

The thought of the Avengers missing did worry Y/n a bit. She wasn't a big fan of superheroes but she also was not, not a fan. It was complicated. Sure she liked the security of having someone to save the day. But she hated that they pretended to be better than everyone else. They judge criminals as they themselves have never done anything wrong. They tend to blame everything on everyone else and never take responsibility.

Y/n felt a nudge to her arm. She turned her head to face Mj. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"No, no it's alright I'm just thinking," Y/n said. She pulled out her laptop and opened her and Peter's presentation to have it ready just in case they had to go first.

Their opening slide was a picture of Anne Frank surrounded by a pretty border and Anne Frank’s name in cursive in the middle. Peter insisted their project had to look nice and not like some shitty last-minute one like she had originally done. Y/n had teased Peter relentlessly about it saying maybe he should be a graphic designer instead of Spider-Man. And he of course huffed and pretended to ignore her.

"Well, you just looked worried. Anyways tell me if you need any help." Y/n gave Mj a grateful smile. Y/n knew Mj could have this cold, hard exterior but she knew she secretly cared.

The bell rang signaling the first period started. The teacher stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the room clasping her hands together. "Good morning class. Today is the first official day for our presentations. We'll be picking who goes first by random. Any questions?"

One girl toward the front of the classroom stuck up her hand "Yes, Betty."

"Did you see the news? About the avengers?" The class erupted within hushed conversation everyone stating their theories of what happened and their worries.

"Alright, class settle down. I did see but we will continue like normal." She said. It kind of seemed like to Y/n she didn't care at all but she didn't really think anything of it.

The phone rang and the teacher quickly excused herself. Y/n picked at her fingers mindlessly. The teacher muttered a few words into the phone and hung up "Y/n, Peter." Her eyes snapped up at the sound of her name "They want you down in the office. And bring your things."

Y/n furrowed her brows. Her eyes met Peters "What did you do?" He mouthed just as confused as her.

What did she do? What the hell did he do. She hasn't done anything wrong. Well, at least nothing she gotten caught for.  "Dude if anyone did anything it was you! I've only been here for like 3 weeks." She whispered-yelled back.

He put his hands up defensively. Y/n shoved all of her things in her bag and zipped it up. Mj raised an eyebrow at her and Y/n just shrugged with a clueless look on her face.

Y/n walked over to the door opening it with her free hand while her chrome book was in the other.  Peter followed not too far behind. They step out and began to walk down the hallway shoulder to shoulder not a word muttered between them.

The hall was empty. No teacher, no janitor, no late students, not even the common lost freshman. It was strange to Y/n. She turned to Peter "This is weird. It's almost like it's too."

"Quiet." He finished for her. Peter felt off. His spidey sense wasn't alarming him with anything but it was almost like a gut feeling you'd get when some strange guy came up to you at a party being a little too friendly.

"Yeah." Exactly. They continued down the hall both on high alert. When they passed a window Y/n could see two men dressed in suits around the corner through the reflection.

"I think they're following us." She whispered to Peter. Y/n has picked up a thing or two of trying not to be noticed but the men behind them didn't seem like they cared much for subtlety. They had their eyes set on Y/n and Peter taking wide quick steps.

This time his spidey sense went off. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Peter reached for his web-shooters "We need to get out of here."

"You think?" Y/n back said in an aggravated tone. The next time they passed by a window she could see them screw something together slowly by their side.

Y/n glanced down to get a better look, it was a gun. All she could hear was the beating of her heart thumping loudly in her ears. Thinking quickly Y/n shoved Peter into a locker. A bullet whizzed past where his head once was and made a tiny thump when it hit the wall.

His eyes went wide momentarily stunned before he sprung into action. He shot out a web, grabbed the gun out of the man's hand, and flung it across the hall, making sure he couldn't get to it.

The men paused for a minute before muttering something to each other end breaking into a spring toward them. Well mostly at Peter luckily for her but still in her direction. Peter began to fight the one whose gun he had stolen hand to hand. The man got in a punch to Peter's face. Peter tripped him and tied him up with his webs.

The second man was coming toward her. Before she could second guess herself Y/n took her chrome book and slapped the man across the face with it. The man was momentarily shocked and Y/n opened an unlocked locker hitting him in the face. She watched him slide down the lockers unconscious.

More men turned the corner and came down the hallway. Y/n kicked a waist-length garbage can with wheels toward them as a small distraction. Peter grabbed Y/n pulling her into an empty classroom.

Y/n locked the door before she grabbed Peter and dragged him further into the classroom into a supply closet. They both crouched behind a mop bucket leaving the door cracked for a tiny bit of light.

"Would you like to tell me why there's someone outside this classroom trying to blow my brain out!" She huffed.

"Don't ask me. For all, we know they could be after you!" They both flinched as they heard the door handle shake.

"They were attacking you. Shooting at you. And you'd have a bullet in the back of your head if I didn't push you out of the way if I might add." She poked him in the chest.

The men began to start kicking at the door trying to break it down "Maybe if we figure out who they are we can get out of this."

"You know what I have an idea." Y/n reached back and grabbed the gun out of the waistband of her pants. Y/n started not to care much for introductions when they tried to assassinate her. Her motto was to shoot first ask questions later because she was not going down without a fight.

"What the hell Y/n! Where did you even get a gun?" Peter tried to put some distance between them but failed and ended up bumping into a shelf.

"Calm down bug boy I'm not going to shoot you." She rolled her eyes "I grabbed it off the guy while I smashed my laptop over his head."

"You are not shooting anyone!" He exclaimed. He was going to die with a psychopath. A literal psychopath. What would his uncle Ben say if he could see him right now?

"Fine whatever. How many webs do you have left?"

"Only one." He muttered.

"Only one! How the hell do you only have only one web left?" Oh lord. She was going to die in a janitor's closet with an idiot.

"Oh well, I'm sorry I didn't know I would have someone trying to paint the walls with my organs. I must have forgotten to mark it on my calendar!"

"Oh god, Okay." Y/n rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

She took the clip out of her gun and counted the bullets she had. Two. Okay, she could work with that, Somehow. She just had to live long enough to beat Peter up for almost getting them killed.

She turned back to Peter "Alright here's the plan so we are going to jump out of the window and see just how far that web can exactly get us." She could hear the pounds on the door getting more frequent and if she was being honest she was surprised it held this long.

"Are you crazy! You going to get us both killed." He didn't need the answer because he already knew she was. He swore he could see the shadows swirl around her for a moment but as quickly as it was there it was gone.

"Do you have any better ideas because I'm all ears, Parker?" He didn't say anything and just ran a hand through his hair letting out a frustrated sigh.

"That's what I thought." Y/n knew there was a good chance that they get hit by incoming traffic like a bug on a windshield but it was either that or the SWAT team outside.

"Let's get this over with." Said Y/n. They both stepped outside of the closet. The men outside the room gave the door one last kick and it broke off of the hinges. "Go." That was all Peter said.

Y/n shot the window with the two bullets she had. Peter ran over to Y/n and grabbed onto her tightly. They jumped through the window shattering it. Peter shoots out his last web hooking onto a nearby tree. At the peak of the swing, Peter let go of the web. They flew over the traffic narrowly avoiding the cars.

When they finally reached the ground they hit it hard. Peter took most of the impact but Y/n still hit her head. They continued to hold tightly onto each other as they rolled through the grass from the momentum of the swing.

They came to a slow stop and Y/n landed on top of Peter. She slumped off to the side of him and sat up. Peter did the same but with a groan feeling all of the bones in his body.

He noticed blood began to trickle out of Y/n's nose. "You got something." He pointed to her nose.

She wiped under her nostrils with her fingers and then again with the bottom of her shirt without a second thought "Oh, Thanks."

Peter rested his head on his knees. What was he going to do? As much as he didn't like Y/n he felt bad for dragging her into this. "We need to get going they are going to come looking for us soon."

"Where are we going to go?" The light was starting to become too much so Y/n put her hand over her eyes to shield her from the sun. She was starting to get a headache and just wanted to lay down. Peter stood up and dusted off his shirt and pants.

"Avengers compound." He held out a hand to her. She took it and he pulls her up onto her feet. They began to walk toward the street.

"I just don't know how we are going to get there." He added. They made it onto the sidewalk. Y/n was stumbling around so Peter kept his pace slow so she could keep up with him.

Y/n stopped walking "What do you think of this car?" She nodded to a 1997 Honda Accord.

"It's cool I guess." He said confused the car was a little old but he didn't say anything.

"Alright good. Now hand me your web-shooters." She held out her hand toward him.

"Okay?" He didn't really know what she was trying to get at. Peter just assumed she hit her head too hard but he complied anyway.

Y/n crouched down facing the car. She broke his web-shooters over her knee taking out two long curved metal pieces. She handed him back the rest of his broken web-shooters. Peter stared at her wide-eyed as she stuck the two metal pieces into the lock of the car.

"What are you doing." He hissed. Peter walked closer to Y/n trying to cover her as she picked the lock to the car.

"I just gave our problem a solution." She said without looking. She continued to twist the pieces around until she heard a little click. She gave a little cheer and opened the door.

"Yeah by stealing someone's car. Need I remind you is illegal."

" I like to think of it as borrowing. Besides I will happily leave you if you wish." She rolled her eyes. God, her head was throbbing.

Y/n took the plastic cover off of the steering column. There were three sets of wires and she grabbed the middle one. Y/n cut the red and blue wire. She touched the wires together until she heard the car start. She smiled to herself and lastly twisted the wires together.

She turned to Peter "Are you getting in or what?"

Peter looked around and then sighed "Fine, but I'm driving."

"What? No way, you don't even look old enough to drive." She crossed her arms.

"You have a concussion so I'm our best bet at not dying." He gave Y/n a sarcastic smile.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes but got out of the driver's seat.

"You know if you keep rolling your eyes they are going to get stuck like that." She flicked him off and he laughed.

Y/n basically collapsed into the passengers seat. Peter closed his door and started the car. He pulled into the street and Y/n rested her head against the window. The cool glass felt nice against her forehead. She notice a bruise on Peter's pale cheek from when he got hit earlier.

Every now and again he would glance at Y/n to see how she was doing. He figured she must not feel the best because she hasn't said one witty remark since they got into the car.

He hoped by now the Avengers were back at the compound and could Tell them what's going on and who was following them.

He looked over to her again and she had her eyes close. He jabbed her with his elbow "Hey, don't fall sleep. You might not wake back up."

"Hmm Okay." She said but didn't budge.

"I'm serious Y/n, open your eyes." Peter was starting to get worried. It wasn't that he cared about her. But he didn't know what to do with a dead body. Or at least that's what he told himself.

"Don't get your panties into a bunch, my eyes are open."

They pulled into the road of the compound. When it came into view Y/n suddenly sat up wide eyed "Holy shit."

"What?" Peter took his eyes off of Y/n and followed her line of sight.

"What the fu-"

Part 4

Taglist

@fandom-strumpet • @ginger-swag-rapunzel • @libraries-and-coffee

[lloydskywalkers]

What do you think would have happened in season nine if Nya and Lloyd hadn't found out that the others were alive? Like maybe an AU where they never stop to look at the old pictures, and Mystake never told them for whatever reason.

listen. lisTEN in all honesty i think they would’ve made it through, Lloyd and Nya and co. would’ve just been a lot more depressed through it - i have an entire fic i actually wrote that deals with this very idea for the first nine chapters, and they make it through...mostly okay. HOWEVER - and you put this idea in my head so this is entirely your fault - here is my alternate take:

(let me just slap on the *implied character death* warning i’m soRRY)

The unfortunate thing about committing yourself to a motto that swears you’ll never quit is that it doesn’t account for dying. Lloyd wishes, sometimes, they’d added a clause to that. Something that determined whether or not dying counted as quitting, or if you’re exempted from it, because not quitting is exactly what led you to dying in the first place. Lloyd supposes it doesn’t really matter anymore though, does it. 

There’s no one left to call him out on it, anyways. 

It’s a suicide charge from the start. No one had called it that, back when they drew up the last-ditch plan in the slums of Ninjago City, but the unspoken weight of it was there. It’d been written in the cold lines of Pixal’s face, in the blankness of Skylor’s expression, the hollow look in Nya’s eyes. Lloyd’s not sure what he’d looked like, but he was sure it’d been much the same, because Nya had clung to him so tightly before they left that it couldn’t be anything else but a goodbye. 

She’d promised he’d live, if she could help it, but Lloyd hadn’t seen much point in it. 

Dareth had begged them to wait, but there wasn’t much point in that, either. What would they be waiting for, anyways? No one else was coming. There was no one left to end it but them — if they didn’t succeed, that was it. It had almost been comforting, knowing that they wouldn’t be around to face the consequences of their failure this time. 

 And then Nya had gone and gotten to his father before him. 

He should’ve seen it coming. Nya had sworn she’d protect him as long as she had breath in her body, and Lloyd hates her for that promise. He hates her so much, hates her even as his tears soak her hair and she doesn’t move, not to reassure him, not to promise it’ll be alright, not to swipe his tears away with her power as she likes to do. His fingers are shaking so hard as they clutch at her wrist that he can’t tell whether she still has a pulse or not, but he has to — he has to know. He doesn’t want to, but he has to, he has to know if he’s lost her like the others—

His father’s sword comes bearing down at him, stained in Nya’s blood, and Lloyd barely manages to twist her beneath him and move, before his back burns in fiery agony, a strangled scream escaping his lips as Garmadon’s sword drags a gaping wound from his left shoulder to mid-back. 

For a half-second, Lloyd thinks he’s dodged the worst of it. Then his father laughs, twirling the sword through the air once, and Lloyd realizes he’s toying with him. 

“What did you hope to gain, by murdering her?” Garmadon’s voice blends with the heavy winds that sweep the tower, and Lloyd’s hands tremble violently from a mixture of pain and panic as he tries to staunch the wound that streak across Nya’s middle. “Did you think her loss would cripple me?”

No, Lloyd thinks, through blurring tears. He didn’t. But he didn’t kill Harumi, either. Garmadon did, like he killed his uncle, like he killed his brothers, like he might’ve just killed Nya—

Lloyd swallows a choking cry as his father strikes again, barely evading the slash this time. He pulls Nya tighter to him, and wonders if he’s doing her a disservice by trying so desperately to keep her alive. Wonders if he’s doing himself a disservice. There’s nothing left for them here but the fragile hope that Skylor and Pixal made it out, and Lloyd’s long forgotten what hope feels like. Anything left here beyond his father is hurt, and Lloyd’s so, so very tired of hurting. 

At least, on the other side, they’ll have Kai again.  

His father scoffs, unfamiliar eyes cold and cruel as he sneers down at him, and Lloyd feels like he’s burning alive. 

He’s being selfish, again. He can’t rest yet. 

He sets Nya down, carefully as he can, and prays fervently to whoever’s left to hear him that the subtle rattling he feels is her breathing, not his shaking hands. And if that prayer’s answered, he hopes she’ll forgive him. 

Nya’s spear is unsteady in his hands as he stands to face his father, but not unfamiliar. She’s shown him how to use it. Lloyd only needs to land one hit. 

“I would’ve done almost anything for you,” he rasps, through burning eyes. “Did you know that? I’d have died instead of you that day, if you’d let me.”

Garmadon’s lips curve. “Don’t let me stop you now, then.”

Lloyd dodges the first strike. And the second, and the third, because he’s fought this version of his father before and he knows what to expect now. 

The fourth lands somewhere high on his ribs, and a fierce pain sears savagely enough to match the one in his back, sending Lloyd staggering back with a gutted cry. Garmadon stalks forward, tall and ominous and powerful, and Lloyd’s feet slide back across the tower rooftop in terror. 

“I’ll give you a choice, how about that,” Garmadon says, as the rooftop edge draws closer. “You can die fighting, or you can die falling. I’ve heard it’s the dragons’ way to fall.”

One hit, Lloyd reminds himself, as his vision swims. Just the one, that’s all. 

“I’d fall, if I were you,” Garmadon says, his voice a mockery of the kindness Lloyd once knew. “I won’t show you the same mercy I did at the prison.”

Or, maybe, it doesn’t even need to be a hit, Lloyd thinks.

“I wonder what father would say, could he see me now,” Garmadon continues, his eyes blazing. “The last of our bloodline, down to me and you.”

Just one step further, Lloyd tells himself. 

“It’s almost a shame,” Garmadon’s sword flashes at it rises once more. “To cut our family down to one.”

“Yeah,” Lloyd blinks through heavy tears. “It is.”

Garmadon swings. Lloyd steps and twists, Nya’s spear flashing low and he sweeps it into his father’s legs. There’s a jerking wrench as Lloyd kicks out high, another flash of agony as his father’s flailing sword slashes across his shoulder, and a panicked cry. 

The cry is quickly lost to the wind as Garmadon falls, plummeting from the tower into the hazy fog of smoke below. Lloyd bites back a cry of his own, and hopes instead that his father was right about falling. 

It’s apparently the only mercy he can give him, in the end. 

The gravity of what he’s done hits him, and Lloyd staggers forward, his knees buckling as a heavy dizziness hits him. Nya’s crumpled figure blurs and distorts in his vision, and Lloyd’s hands scrape and burn as he struggles to pull himself across the rooftop to her. 

He’s so heavy, though. Everything’s so heavy, like he hasn’t slept in ages. The searing agony that’s been pulsing from his ribs doesn’t hurt so much, anymore. In fact, he can’t feel any of the battering bruises that line his body. Even the gaping heartache’s fading into the cold kind of numbness that spreads throughout him, leaving his limbs heavy and senseless. 

It’s almost nice, Lloyd thinks. Not feeling so much anymore. 

He drags himself another foot forward, coughing wetly. An ugly red stains the back of his hand, but there’s so much of the color now he can’t tell where it begins and ends. He blinks hard, willing his arms to go further. If he can reach Nya — if he can just reach Nya—

Lloyd’s arms give out just as dark spots begin to stain his vision, and he barely manages to roll onto his back. He can’t. He can’t reach Nya and he can’t save his brothers and he can’t save himself and he can’t, he—

He’s done enough, right? 

He hopes so, Lloyd thinks, as he watches the sky flicker in and out. His dimming eyes catch on a burst of bright light from somewhere in the fading blue, just before darkness fully claims his vision.

It’s not so bad, he tells himself. There’s a dull roaring in the distance, but it’s a nice sound, one that reminds him of something he’d heard when he was younger. That’s not so bad to go out to. 

He already thinks he hears Kai calling his name again. 

[pretend-writer]

Down Below (Chapter 63)

Summary: After being sent down on Earth with the other prisoners from the Ark, Y/N Reyes faces series of events and learns about survival. With new things happening around her, she is now starting a new chapter in her life.

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader, Raven Reyes x sister!reader

Word Count: 2.1k words

Warning: swearing, mention of death, violence, cannibalism

Down Below Masterlist

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'Why are you telling me this now?' Bellamy kept his head low, starring at the ground while sitting on the bench in his cell.

Finally telling him the truth about the Dark Year was pretty tough, considering the fact that that was the reason why we fell apart. He was going into the fighting pit and it seemed like the right thing to do.

'Figured I'd tell you since we're in a pretty fucked up situation.'

'It doesn't add up. What does Kane have to do with any of the things you told me?'

The flashback pained me, it's been over 4 years since the betrayal but it still hurt. 'Days later I told Marcus the truth about everything. He didn't believe me and instead sided with that monster.'

'A monster?' Bellamy huffed, standing up as he walked towards me. 'You had a choice to back away from everything and you blame Abby?'

'Are you kidding me?'

My eyes began to water as I remembered all of the hidden memories that I tried so hard to shove deep down. I never cried about the Dark Year but perhaps since it was the first time I've ever spoke about it out loud, it finally felt real.

'A grown adult who was supposed to protect us threatened to kill my friend if I didn't do as she said, told me to do something absolutely disgusting. You know exactly how it feels to be manipulated. Bellamy, you know!'

'You could've told Kane right when that happened. That doesn't excuse you for what you did for the rest of the years you've been in the bunker.'

'I was told to be brave, be strong. Look out for grown adults that should be able to take care of themselves. I was only a teenager, just a stupid teenager and was betrayed by someone I was supposed to look up to.' I took a deep breath and shook my head. 'What was I supposed to do? I felt alone. I had to keep doing what we were doing to survive.'

Bellamy flared his nose, I couldn't tell if he was angry or frustrated. Either way I knew it wasn't a good sign. 'I told you that I'm always here for you, why didn't you ever tell me?'

'How was I supposed to tell you that I've killed people down there? That someone manipulated me and I fell for it? Considering that I've been trying to be good all these years before the bunker, it's embarrasing. I lost trust in everyone, everyone but Octavia. Then you showed up, then got my sister taken away. What was I supposed to do?'

'But you're my gir-' He paused, I knew exactly what he was going to say. Given the circumstances I guess it was all over. 'I thought we had an understanding that we'd always be able to trust each other.'

'Well, things change especially after six years. You know now, Blake. It's easier for you to judge when you're the outside looking in. You didn't know how bad it was. Every trigger that I pulled is in my hands forever and I have to live with that.'

Bellamy started at me, 'I don't feel sorry for you.'

'For fuck sakes I'm not asking for you to be sorry for me, you ass!' I screamed, 'You could be dying in a few hours right in that fucking fighting pit. I-I'

'You can just end it, you know that right? Instead you're here trying to give me this sob story.'

I rolled my eyes, 'You know what, do whatever the hell you want. I mean that was your motto after all. Just go to the fucking pit for all I care.'

'It's not like I have a choice!' Bellamy yelled as I turned my back against him and stormed to the exit.

Stopping right as I was about to grab the door to leave, I quickly turned around. 'What do you want me to do, huh? Stop the fighting pit? You broke the rules and this is the consequences you have to face.'

'You said you're the one that started the fighting pit so fucking end it! It doesn't have to be this way.' Bellamy face palmed, kicking the wall as he grunted. 'You and Octavia just want to do whatever is convenient for you two. Come down here and try to sweet talk me when I'm about to die.'

'Octavia came down to see you?'

'Yep, of course she did. Now she wants me to be her sweet brother and beat Indra in the fighting pit, when all she have to do is stop th-'

My eyes widened, shocked to hear that Octavia was willing to sacrifice her mentor and someone she deeply loved for her brother.

Indra was someone she truly loved besides Bellamy, she considered her as family. Yet Octavia was okay to tell her brother to kill her.

Bellamy saw my reaction and chuckled, 'Abby played you but so did Octavia. She had you wrapped around her finger.'

Talking about the Dark Year already had me in the verge of tears, I didn't want to be sad over Octavia either. Especially in front of Bellamy.

Just thinking about the possibility of Octavia could throw me under the bus next as if it was nothing made me think of the past six year we had together. I've killed people to protect Octavia from Abby, would she do the same? Or would she throw my life away just as she was doing with Indra's?

'Reyes, I'm not fighting Gaia and Indra in the pit. I'm not stooping to you guys' level and start killing people.'

I was busy thinking about my friendship with Octavia, I barely heard what Bellamy said. This all suddenly felt so stupid to me, what was the point of even fighting anymore?

All of the people I've cared about were gone; Marcus, Bellamy and now Octavia. Raven probably would just laugh at my face once she sees what I've turned into. She would be shameful of me, I would never expect my sister to stay by my side after all of the mess I've made.

'Do you think I like doing all of this shit? I don't enjoy seeing people die or killing them. I sure don't want to see you die.'

'I don't know who you are anymore, Reyes. I don't know what you like or hate, I don't even know if you love me.'

'Of course I love you.' Why wouldn't I? After I lost everything down here, Bellamy was the only person I ever thought about. 'You were the reason I kept going. The reminder of your voice telling me to survive, for you.'

Everyday down at the bunker, I always thought of the what-ifs. What if I stayed with Jasper in Arkadia and spent the rest of my shortened life happy? What if I refused to give Echo or even Emori the suit and went up to The Ring with Bellamy?

I know that one thing was for certain; any of the choices would've been better than spending six years of hell under this bunker. It turned me to someone I hated; I was no better than my parents, Pike or even Emerson that traumatized me for so long. I've become them.

'Bellamy...' I called for his name, 'The day we first met, I hated you for treating people the way you did. I hated what you did with Pike and I judged you for that. All those times of me preaching to be good and now I've become worse than any of the people that we've ever met. I'm sorry that I've changed and I'm sorry that you had to see me like this.'

Even when Abby blackmailed me to kill Wonkru, I knew it was wrong. Just as Marcus always said, we always have a choice. I had a choice to stand up and call her out, instead I hid behind and took innocent lives. I've failed at becoming a great leader and now, I realized that all the anger I had these years was toward myself.

Looking at Bellamy one more time would've just pained me even more, I had to walk away from his cell. Instead, I walked straight to look for Octavia. I had to try to talk her out on the punishment her brother was going to face.

The idea of Octavia basically throwing Indra's life away still didn't sit right with me. I was more sad and upset than angry that she would do such thing.

As I was headed toward Octavia's office, I felt a tug on my arm. 'Y/N!'

'Monty?' I was surprised to see him, also surprised that he was willing to talk to me. 'W-what are you going here?'

'I was looking for Octavia but found you instead. Look! Look what I have.' His smile always cheered me up; Even at times like this he was positive.

Before I asked him what it was, he brought out a pot filled with flowers. 'Why do you have that?'

'Flowers, Y/N! Can you believe it?! How long has it been since we've seen something this beautiful?' He grinned widely, 'Cooper gave me her hydrofarm right before she died but guess what? It still works. We can have enough crops growing to feed us. We don't have to storm into Shallow Valley and instead, we can live here.'

I couldn't find a word to say as I was processing everything that Monty said to me. All these years when we feared for our life ending stopped right at this moment.

We had never had any source of food other than eating human meat for a very long time. The fact that we didn't have to fight our way into a warzone to live made me feel relieved. This was a feeling that I haven't had in a while.

Monty noticed that I hadn't reacted to his good news, 'Are you alright?'

'Yeah... yeah.' I paused, then looked at Monty as I bit my lips. 'How do you do it? Be a good person all the time and being everyone's light?'

His brows raised, perhaps he was surprised that I wasn't acting hostile for once. After all, I have been a bitch ever since we crawled out from the bunker. 'Long time ago, a certain someone was walking in the same shoes as me.'

'No, no Monty. I've always had my ups and downs starting with the whole Jasper situation.' I chuckled, a bit embarrassed. 'I was a mess and I guess I am right now too. But you Monty, you're always so pure and have good judgment.'

Monty gave a light smile, 'It's hard especially at a time like this. I miss the last six years in the Ring where we had none of this chaos.'

My heart broke for him; Spacekru was happy up there, thinking and expecting that Octavia and I were doing great down here too. Instead they came down to this disfunctional family and was dragged into the mess that we made.

'I'm sorry for making you guys' life a living hell. You guys don't deserve this.'

'I can't really say it's not your fault because it kind of is.' He chuckled, 'But seems like you've slowly started to show effort already. It doesn't sound like Skafaiya that I'm talking to.'

'Definitely not her and I think I'm done being Skafaiya.' She was someone I thought was a savior for Wonkru, instead she was terror that everyone feared.

'Seeing you again after saving you guys from the bunker made me think that you've lost your ways forever. I thought that the Y/N that everyone loved and respected was gone.' Monty nodded, 'Turns out I was wrong.'

A smile formed on my face, appreciating the way he handled everything considering that he had every right to hate me. As I was about to thank him, I smelled something burning.

Monty and I looked at each other, confused to why something was burning inside the bunker. Curiously, we both followed the smoke that eventually led into the hydrofarm.

There stood Blodreina, smirking as she stared at the fire as it burned down our last resort of food. The whole farm were now into flames; everything that Monty built for us to survive was gone.

‘Octavia!’ I placed my hand on her shoulders, worried that she was too close to the fire. ‘You’re going to hurt yourself.’

‘What did you do!’ Monty yelled with his fist balled up.

‘No, no she didn’t do this.’ I disagreed with Monty, knowing that there was no way Octavia would demolish our options to survive. ‘O, you didn’t do this right?’

She bit her lip as she turned her head to my direction. ‘Wonkru is going to march into Shallow Valley and take what we deserve. Burning this farm down is the only way to survive.’

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tag list; @jodiereedus22, @coffeebooksandfandom, @bellamyblakemorley, @wisestydia-15, @dbtvluv , @hurricane–amelia , @lexalexy , @olkathefoxi, @lena-davina, @kellbell44, @thehakunamatara, @akelly4477, @morgannope, @littlegirl-fox, @captainam-erika-trash, @greygarbage, @nathaliabakes, @eternallyvenus, @rauwz, @broco8, @eridanuswave, @minamisulemisa

[secret-engima]

Some Random Reasons I Really Like the Boruto Anime.

(because yes it has it’s problems but honestly I’m tired of trying to enjoy my fandoms with everyone whinging that it’s “not as good as the original”. As if the original two Naruto shows weren’t utter dumpster fires with moments of Pure Awesome to keep it alive and half the fandom isn’t there solely to pick through Kishimoto’s junkyard world building looking for shiny bits to incorporate in their fanfics.  Which is not to say I don’t like the Naruto shows, but seriously ppl you can’t whine about how bad the fillers and slow pacing and weird world-building of Naruto was only to turn around and scream that Boruto is horrible of TRYING TO BE DIFFERENT. Let’s inject some positivity in here. Anyone who has no need for Boruto positivity can kindly move on with their lives and let me have my shiny fandom. Moving on.)

-Reason 1. Mitsuki exists. He is Best Boi™ and I adore him.

-Reason 2. The characters are not carbon copies of their parents, but neither are they polar opposites. They have some of their parent’s traits and some of their own unique traits and honestly it’s so refreshing to have a show that isn’t “Main Character X Take 2: This time with a New Color Scheme”

-Reason 3. Have you SEEN how many girl characters there are in this show? Even if most of them are side characters? Have you SEEN the fact they can actually DO STUFF other than flip their hair and whine about boys? One of them can use seals! And has CAT POWERS!! Another one was the antagonist of the first story arc! And was actually cool! And also got reformed rather than just being yote off the nearest cliff! The main female character is actually useful without being either a whim or a jerk!

Reason 4. The school system has been revamped in ways that make SENSE. The Naruto cast (especially Iruka as the new headmaster) looked back on their early life and went “You know what? It’s REALLY DUMB that we were so unprepared for shinobi life. Let’s change that.” And they did! Students actually learn water and tree walking BEFORE they get thrown into life and death situations! They know jutsu other than the Basic Three! They get to know basic sealing and learn that Summoning jutsu exists! There’s a student who knows medical ninjutsu, so that’s obviously an optional course or something kids can take! They also have an option to NOT BE NINJAS. If they decide partway through they don’t wanna be ninja’s, there’s a civilian middle school program incorporated into the academy! Do you know what that also means? Civilians who get to know BASIC SELF DEFENSE. So even if they aren’t Ninja, they at least know how ninja work and how to not Insta-die the next time someone breaks into their village!

Reason 5. THERE’S AN INTER-SCHOOL TRANSFER PROGRAM. Way to show just how tight the alliances of the different villages are. Even if it’s only mentioned here and there, it’s SUCH a cool thought with so much fanfic potential.

Reason 6. Chocho, flipping, Akimichi exists. Yes, she can be a little annoying with her running gag of “I’m so pretty” but like- SHE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY. And she knows and can use the clan jutsu really well! DO YOU KNOW HOW EASY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN for them to either make her utterly hideous and go “Hur hur look at the fat girl thinks she can actually be pretty lol” OR make her constantly whimpy and shy and lacking any confidence at all because “oh look at the poor girl, she’s FAT so she must feel UGLY all the time, and have no confidence because what FAT PERSON has any confidence unless they’re delusional?” Both of those would be so freaking stupid and defeating. But INSTEAD they make Choho 1. pretty and 2. self-confident. She dresses nice, she looks nice, she’s not stick thin like say, Sarada, but she is actually pretty and she OWNS it. She owns her love of food, and her clan jutsu, and just- herself in general. And yea they use it as a running gag sometimes when she plays it up a little too much, but like- there’s a body positivity character! Right there! Who is also a girl who kicks butt! One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen of the naruto show is that the girl characters are flat and useless and underused save for like- Tsunade. Here you have a useful girl who is also body confident! And that’s not even touching on Sarada “can use both super strength and the sharingan and owns this fact” Uchiha.

Reason 7. Boruto’s issues are not his dad’s issues. There are ... lots of “kid sequels” i’ve seen/read/heard of where all the problems are basically the main character’s problems rehashed. And yeah, the villains so far are that I’ve seen are callbacks to the main show, BUT. EMOTIONALLY. Boruto’s issues aren’t the same. Boruto doesn’t have the “nobody likes me I must earn their respect” issues Naruto did. Or the orphan issues. He has a loving mom, he’s a loving big brother (who makes mistakes and does argue with his sister, which #realistic kthanks), and he is popular. Being alone isn’t his problem. Being unpopular or hated isn’t his problem. His problems are that he doesn’t know how to bond with his always-busy dad (which- of course Naruto is always busy, that’s just the show writers continuing the Overworked Hokage gag from the original show, and yes Naruto uses his Shadow Clones to help with it but come ON he’s running a military force AND a booming village) and that he hasn’t had the same life experiences Naruto had at that age. He’s learning to mature in a different way. If Naruto and Naruto Shippuden were about children who grew up too soon in a brutal ninja world, then Boruto is about kids who grow up in the AFTERMATH of that world. The world where their parents never want their kids to suffer like that and so, just a little, coddle them. It’s kinda like the aftermath of the big wars. The kids who grew up during that war are adults now and their kids have COMPLETELY DIFFERENT life experiences and priorities. It’s just how it works, and I appreciate that.

Reason 8. We have a girl Uchiha who wants to be Hokage. I love the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden shows, but it got ... a LITTLE tiresome that Naruto’s dream was also the dream of both his dad AND his mom and I think also kid Jiraiya at one point? Like- it seemed like at that point the show was going “Of course you want to be hokage! It’s in your blood!”. Boruto couldn’t care less bout being the next Hokage. He’s lived what it’s like to be the Hokage’s kid (something Asuma, if he’s still been alive, could have sympathized with I’m sure) and he doesn’t want to be that person. Sarada on the other hand has lived the live of having no real dad figure until recently, and as such Naruto’s “all the village is my family” motto really rings home with her. She wants to be the next Hokage, not Boruto, and frankly that’s refreshing.

Reason 9. Shino the teacher. I’m pretty sure this is a controversial point but honestly I really liked this. I do have some issues with how the og characters are portrayed (looking at you Kiba and Anko), but Shino I have no issues with. This is an intelligent, helpful boy who grew up struggling to bond with people and who grew up with people constantly interrupting him/not listening. And this gag does make its frequent appearance in Boruto, but that’s not Boruto’s fault that’s actually a case of the show being consistent with its predecessor so, you know, go blame Kishimoto for how his students didn't listen to him in the early episodes. BUT. As the episodes go on, it’s so clear the students do love and respect their teacher. They wouldn’t talk to him if they didn’t. They might not see him as a terrifying warrior, but he’s their TEACHER. Even Mitsuki comes to respect Shino, going out of his way (spoiler) to fight Shino in the graduation exam because Mitsuki saw Shino as someone worth testing himself against. Mitsuki. Orochimaru’s “perfect clone bby”. Thought Shino was badass enough to fight. And also on the student body in general, OBVIOUSLY they listen to him off screen, because if they didn’t then they wouldn’t have learned the things they did and have actually succeeded in the graduation exam, now could they?

Reason 10. Naruto and Sasuke are still utterly epic WITHOUT stealing the spotlight the moment they come on screen. I’m not that far into the show, so maybe that changes, but from the arcs I’ve seen (mostly the Shin arc), Naruto and Sasuke are utter powerhouses, but they don’t ... they don’t just hax the show. In the same way Jiraiya didn’t hax everything and steal the spotlight from Naruto, neither do Naruto and Sasuke, but we still see they’re awesome (after all, they were perfectly capable while fighting all the Shins, and just- the moment one of them got a look at Kuruma it was OVER and it’s SO clear in that moment that Sasuke and Naruto were holding back because they didn’t want to kill a bunch of kids. Naruto or Sasuke on their own could have MASSACRED the Shins, but didn’t, because they’re former protagonists (and reformed antagonist in one case) like that.

So... tl:dr Boruto is not Naruto or Naruto Shippuden but considering all the massive plot holes and world-building errors that happened in those shows, as well as the utter lack of use of its female characters, that’s not a bad thing! Boruto has some stuff wrong with it, and some things that I can see annoying/ticking off fans who had their heart set on another path, but the show has potential, the characters are utilized much better than I expected, and as someone who did not grow up on Naruto and so doesn’t have shiny nostalgia glasses spot welded to my face, I think it’s a really good show.

Honestly if it wasn’t a sequel of such a monolith, childhood-forming show, I think it wouldn’t get NEAR as much hate, and the fact that it gets such flak because it dares have its own unique take on the post-Naruto Shippuden years rather than trying (and inevitably failing) to cater to the whims of every single fan out there makes me sad. If you want to see more of Naruto’s world and see female characters actually get some cool moments to themselves, then give it a try. If you’d rather go with your own Naruto HCs for what happened at the end of the war, then that’s FINE, just don’t get mad at those of us who enjoy Boruto for the glorious animated fanfic AU it is.

[paodequeijofeliz-blog]

I would do it all again

Ride or Die Fanfiction (characters and main story belongs to Pixelberry Studios).

Pairing: Mona and MC (Annie)

Information: this takes place after the first book.

Summary: After what happened at the parking lot, each member of the crew tries to build a new life, following the “every man for himself” motto. But Annie doesn’t agree with that and tries to pull them back together, especially Mona, who she has been waiting for too many years.

Warnings: some Angst talk about not being good enough. 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

I would do it all again - Part 6 (ANGST)

“Whatever you choose is fine.” Mona barely glanced at the phone, mumbling the words as her attention was focused on fixing the toaster. Annie kept the screen pointed at her for a few seconds, hesitant, before taking it away and scrolling around the options again.

“Okay…” she sighed, going back to the living room. “I’ll order burgers then.”

The last couple of months were so hard on their relationship. They seemed to be building such a high level of trust before, but something happened in between, and the teacher just couldn’t find out what. Her girlfriend was flipping from distant and rude to extremely loving all the time, each day a surprise. Sometimes, she would go outside to answer a call and come back so cold, quiet, that Annie was too afraid to ask who was on the other side of the line. But then, in the next day, things could change again. Mona would wake her up with a kiss and go back to her normal self.

That cycle was not healthy. Not at all.

Annie tried to talk about it, but the subject was too sensitive. She could tell there was something bothering the Lebanese. The mood switches, short answers, those weird phone calls… Perhaps the parole and the auto shop were too much pressure on her shoulders. The teacher convinced herself that was the reason, there couldn’t be any other explanation. So, she tried to make things easier, to address the parole issue carefully, spend more time at home than at work, help Mona around even if she had no idea of how to fix stuff. Just to be there, hoping her girlfriend would eventually talk about whatever was wrong with them now.

That night, the teacher was patiently sewing a button back on her favourite shirt when a noise captured her attention. Annie thought she heard voices downstairs. It was late, but Mona had been cleaning the shop for hours that day, maybe it was just Toby or Ximena on a videocall. She happily slipped herself inside a robe and went there to check, maybe even convince her girlfriend to finish it tomorrow and come to bed. It was no fun going to sleep on her own, not when there was a gorgeous woman walking around the house.

Slowly, Annie followed the sound to the back of the shop, where they had a small kitchen recently reformed. It was her idea to keep it, so no one would need to go upstairs every time they needed water or coffee. Considering how lazy Toby and Mona could be, that was a smart thing to do.

But before she got any close to the door, an unfamiliar husky voice started talking. It wasn’t a videocall.

“Bullshit and you know it!” A woman. She sounded angry, frustrated. “Why are you lying to yourself, M.? I know you better than this. Don’t be so dumb.”

The teacher swallowed hard in the hallway. That didn’t seem like a nice guest. And it didn’t matter who it was, nobody would talk to her girlfriend like that. She marched towards the kitchen door, furious, ready to put up a fight…

“You don’t love that stupid girl, sweetheart.” Said the husky voice again.

Through a crack on the door, Annie saw the strange woman holding Mona by the waist, pressing her against the kitchen counter.

That sight made the teacher freeze in the hallway, unable to move or say anything. Just listen. Listen to a tall, strong, and hot stranger in a leather jacket saying the meanest things there could be. Arms still involving Mona, their faces so close, it made Annie feel a bad taste on her mouth.

“Go away, Ada. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But the woman didn’t move an inch, only tilting her head to force their eyes to meet. Mona wasn’t fighting but didn’t seem to enjoy the proximity either. She was just standing there like a tense statue, hands inside the pockets.

“I know you. And this… Place? This hole you’re trying to fix, that’s a joke, M. Are you seriously convincing yourself this is what you want? A steady job as a low paid mechanic in an old dusty shop with two ex-convicts? Earning the bare minimum to live here? You’re a woman for luxury, hon. Sports cars, jewels, fancy dresses, the best hotels, that’s your thing, that has always been your thing. Is this dump gonna give you enough money to afford it? No, the real question…” Ada got even closer now, lips brushing against Mona’s. At that point, Annie already had her vision blurred by the tears, so she wouldn’t be able to tell if they kissed or not. “The real question, babe, is why on earth are you dating a woman that can’t give you what you deserve? And a fucking teacher. Seriously? The most boring thing ever? She’s not even hot enough to explain it.”

Annie fought against the tears, desperate to see what was happening, but she couldn’t make them stop coming. Her hands went to cover the mouth, afraid to make a sound. Something inside of her wanted to hear the whole thing. Some sort of hope, whispering, it will be okay… Mona will defend you… At any moment now…

“I know that sooner or later you’re gonna get bored of this cute marriage role play going on here.” Ada had icy green eyes, piercing through the Lebanese like a hypnosis, dragging her back to the worst memory of her past. “I took care of you when we were in prison. I will take care of you now. It was our agreement, you gave me your word when we killed that girl. Now, let’s go home. I can give you exactly what you want.”

Silence. A long, hurting, meaningful silence.

That was it. Annie still had the shirt on her hands, and the touch of the fabric made her feel like the most stupid woman in the world. Everything around her, every single object, even the walls, it was all making her believe she was an idiot. A dreamer. A child. A naïve woman who did it all wrong. She had six years to plan their lives and even with all that time, still managed to screw it up. Whoever the stranger was, her words glued in the teacher’s head, mocking her feelings.

It made her feel small. Like a little toy a kid was tired of playing with.

Anna walked away from the door. Her heart couldn’t take another word. Tripping and stumbling along the hallway, she finally reached to the old car. Her chest was burning in pain when she turned the engine on, opening the new electric gates with the remote control. When Mona heard the sound and got to the front of the shop, the car was long gone, driving in full speed down the road.

“No, no, no, no!” she kicked an empty trash can, hands roaming through the hair, trying to think faster. Suddenly, Ada was there too, a cocky smile on her face. “Get away from me.”

“C’mon, what’s with all the drama? Let her go. Good for you. Now we can continue from where we stopped…”

“Get the hell away from me!” Mona’s voice had a dangerous tone. Without waiting for another word, she just left Ada behind and went to the one person who could help solve the situation.

Dominick woke up with the sound of someone banging on his door. His heart raced as he took a bat from under the bed, glancing at his son’s room with concern. The left hand was holding the weapon tightly when the right turned the knob to open the door, but both relaxed when he recognized Mona’s face. She was about to make fun of his Monsters Inc. pajamas, but there was no time to waste.

“I need your car. It’s an emergency. Now.”

“What happened? Is Annie ok?”

“Now, Dom! I don’t know, probably not, don’t make difficult questions, damn it!” her eyes scanned the living room, then she jumped to take the keys from the table. “I’ll bring it back before dawn, I promise!”

“Wha…”

“No time to explain!”

Every second was counting. Mona had a few ideas of where Annie could’ve gone, but the more time she wasted, the worse would it be to fix this mess. When the Lebanese drove past the auto shop, Ada had disappeared already. At least, for now.

Think, you idiot. Think. Her fingers flexed and held the steering wheel again. The adrenaline was making everything a blur. What’s the first place she would go? The library? It’s closed. The park? Too dangerous at this hour. She’s crying, so it has to be somewhere calm. Where would she feel safe…?

Then, it her. So obvious.

Mona turned the wheel to take an exit on the right and stepped on the gas. The road was desert, making it easier to speed, but it had some dangerous curves that forced her to be more careful.  

Half an hour later, she was parking at the back of the university. There was no student or teacher in that darkness, only two securities, a janitor taking out the trash and…

Harold. Annie’s old silver car parked just a few spots away.

I’ll fix it. Said Mona to herself, taking a deep breath. I’ll fix it all.

[algaesway]

第3章

Chapter 3. Spite: Part II.

Wei Wuxian wanted to wash his face to get a good look at this person who had kindly sacrificed themselves for him. However, there was no water in the room for either washing or drinking. 

The only basin-shaped thing in the room was a chamber pot, which was hardly appropriate for cleansing one’s face. 

He pushed at the door only to discover that it had been bolted shut from the outside. He supposed they didn’t want him to get out and start running around. 

It seemed like the whole world was conspiring to deny him any joy of reincarnation! 

Since there was nothing better to do, he sat down and crossed his legs to meditate and get used to this new body. Time passed quickly in meditation. When he opened his eyes, rays of sunlight were leaking in through the gaps around the door and the windows. Although Wei Wuxian had regained enough strength to get up and walk around, he still felt dazed and disoriented. Bewildered, he thought to himself: ‘Mo Xuanyu’s spiritual powers are low enough to be completely negligible, so steering his body shouldn’t be this hard. Why can’t I get it under control?’ 

Only when he heard a strange noise from his stomach did he realise that this had nothing to do with spiritual powers. This body was simply not used to abstaining from food, so it was incapacitated by hunger. Unless he’d manage to get out and forage for some food, he might just become the first demonic spirit in history to be reborn into a sacrificial vessel only to immediately die of starvation. 

Wei Wuxian was just about to try thrusting through the door when he suddenly heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Someone kicked the door and barked: ‘Here’s your food!’ 

Despite shouting this, the person made no move to actually open the door. Wei Wuxian looked down to see a smaller door-within-a-door opening up. A set of small bowls had been set down on the other side. 

The house-servant shouted: ‘Get a move on! Stop dawdling, eat up so I can take the bowls back!’ 

The inner door was a bit smaller than a dog flap - there was no way it would fit a person, but it could be used to deliver meals. He’d been given rice with two side dishes, all of which looked unpalatable. 

Wei Wuxian stirred the chopsticks that had been stuck into the rice, allowing a wave of sentimentality to wash over him. 

The Yiling Laozu had returned to the human realm only to be trampled on and chewed out. For his welcome banquet, he was served some cold and indelible leftovers. Yet he was supposed to bring on some reign of blood and terror, to ruthlessly massacre the whole clan without sparing a single hen? What a joke. He was like a tiger bullied by dogs after leaving his mountain, like a dragon deceived by a shrimp in shallow water, like a phoenix robbed of his feathers and turned into an ordinary rooster. 

Outside the door, the house servant spoke again. This time, he sounded like an entirely different person, his voice softened by a smile: ‘A-Ding! Come here.’ 

From the distance, a girl’s bright and delicate voice asked: ‘A-Tong, are you on meal delivery duty again?’ 

‘Why else would I be hanging around this cursed place’, A-Tong scoffed. 

A-Ding approached the door as she spoke: ‘All you have to do is to bring him one meal a day. You have plenty of opportunities to slack off without getting scolded for it. How can you complain it’s “cursed” while enjoying such a leisurely life! All the while I’m here slaving away all day long. I never have the time to go out to play.’

‘It’s not like delivering meals is my only job! And nobody is going out to play these days, with so many walking corpses around. Everyone is keeping their doors tightly locked and hiding inside’, A-Tong grumbled. 

Wei Wuxian was crouching against the door, listening in while trying to eat with the mismatched chopsticks he’d been given. 

It seemed that things had been getting pretty turbulent around the Mo manor recently. Walking corpses, as their name suggested, were dead people who had been re-animated. As far as transmuted corpses went, they were relatively weak and commonplace. They hardly posed a threat to the living, moving sluggishly and staring with lifeless eyes. Yet their mere presence was enough to terrify common people, not least because they emanated a nauseating stench of putrefaction. 

Wei Wuxian, however, considered them his most loyal servants and obeisant puppets. The mere mention of them made him feel warm inside. 

‘If you want to go out and play, all you have to do is to take me with you, and I’ll protect you’, A-Tong teased. 

‘Really? You’ll protect me? Stop bragging. Am I supposed to believe that you could really beat back all those things outside?’ A-Ding said. 

‘If I can’t beat them back, nobody can!’ A-Tong retorted angrily. 

‘How can you be so sure that nobody can do it? Let me tell you something. I heard that the cultivators who arrived today are from an extremely illustrious clan! Madam is welcoming them in the reception hall now, and everyone from town is dying to get a look at them. Listen - can you hear how noisy it is out there? I don’t have time to bicker with you, I might be called in to help any moment now’. 

Wei Wuxian listened with rapt attention. Sure enough, he could hear a din of loud voices drifting in from the east side of the house. After considering his options for a while, he got up and kicked the door hard. The latch snapped open with a satisfying clank.  

The two servants, who had been busy making eyes and giggling at each other, screamed as the door suddenly flew open on them. Wei Wuxian threw out the bowl and the chopsticks he’d been holding and walked away without looking back. The sunlight was surprisingly bright, piercing his eyes and stabbing at his skin. He raised a hand over his face, shutting his eyes for a moment.  

A-Tong, who had just shrieked in a voice even shriller than A-Ding’s, pulled himself together only to realise he’d let himself be frightened by the lunatic everyone felt entitled to bully. Emboldened, he decided this was an opportunity to regain the face he’d just lost. Leaping in front of Wei Wuxian, he shouted while waving wildly with his hands - as if scolding a dog - ‘Get back in! Get back in! Back where you came from! What do you think you’re doing, showing your face outside!’ 

This was worse than the treatment one would expect for a beggar or a fly. It seemed that this was how the servants of the Mo family normally treated Mo Xuanyu. He probably wouldn’t have put up any resistance, effectively allowing himself to be bullied without restraint. Wei Wuxian knocked A-Tong to the ground with a light kick and said with a smile: ‘Who do you think you are trying to humiliate here?’ 

With that, he walked off, following the din of lively voices. There was quite a crowd of people gathered in and around the eastern courtyard and the East Hall. As Wei Wuxian stepped into the courtyard, he could hear a woman’s voice ringing louder than the others: ‘There is a junior disciple in our family, too, with deep ties to the cultivation world….’ 

That must have been Madam Mo, trying to pull all the strings she possibly could to build bridges back to the cultivation clan. Wei Wuxian didn’t wait for her to finish speaking. Squeezing through the crowd of people to get inside the hall, he waved enthusiastically and said: ‘Coming, coming, here I am!’ 

A middle-aged lady was sitting in the hall, wearing extravagant clothes and giving off an air of carefully maintained gracefulness; there was no doubt that this was Madam Mo. She was seated next to her husband, and opposite her sat a group of boys who wore white robes and carried double-edged swords on their backs. A sudden spell of silence descended on the crowd at the appearance of an eccentric stranger with a messily painted face. Wei Wuxian pretended not to realise he was stealing the scene. ‘Who called me? I heard someone talking about a person with deep ties to the cultivation world. Surely that can only refer to myself!’ he said brazenly.  

There was too much powder on Wei Wuxian’s face, and whenever he cracked a smile, some of it sprinkled off. One of the white-robed boys was clearly amused, and a small exhale of almost-laughter escaped his lips. The boy seated next to him, seemingly the leader of the group, didn’t find it funny. He gave the laughing boy a judgemental look, making him flinch and go quiet at once. 

Following the noise, Wei Wuxian’s eyes scanned over the group, and he was startled by what he saw. He had assumed that the servant girl from before had just been exaggerating, but it turned out that these guests truly were from an ‘extremely illustrious’ sect. 

The boys were wearing flowing, light-coloured robes with graceful sleeves and sashes. They were beautiful and possessed a cold aura of spiritual power. Just one glance at their uniforms was enough to know that they were disciples of the Gusu Lan sect. Not only that, they must have been connected to the Lan clan by blood, because they all wore white forehead ribbons embellished with cirrus cloud patterns. 

The Lan clan’s motto was ‘righteousness and rectification’, and the implicit meaning of these forehead ribbons was ‘self-regulation’. The cirrus cloud was the Lan family crest, and wearing it was forbidden from those outside the clan. Visiting scholars and disciples from other families would wear a forehead ribbon without the crest. Seeing the Lan uniform gave Wei Wuxian a toothache. In his past life, he had often mocked this uniform for its resemblance to mourning clothes. There was no way he would mistake it. 

Madam Mo hadn’t seen her nephew for quite a while, and it took her a long time to recover from her shock. After finally realising who this garish person coated in greasepaint was, she felt a flash of anger. Beside herself with fury, she whispered to her husband in a low voice: ‘Who let him out? Put him back immediately!’ 

Madam Mo’s husband forced himself to flash her an apologetic smile, but as he stood up, his face immediately darkened in anger. He was just about to grab the intruder and drag him out, when Wei Wuxian suddenly threw himself to the floor, making his limbs heavy on the ground. He became completely still, and even though servants were called in to push and pull at him, nobody could make him move. If only there hadn’t been guests around, they would probably have trampled him to death. Madam Mo’s husband glanced at her face, which was becoming increasingly twisted with anger, and started sweating profusely. He shouted: ‘You damned madman! If you don’t get out of here at once, I’ll teach you a lesson!’ 

Even though everyone at the Mo manor was well aware that there was a lunatic in the family, Mo Xuanyu had secluded himself in his gloomy room for years, too afraid to see anyone. Seeing him suddenly emerge from the shadows, looking like a wicked ghost in his heavy make-up, raised furious whispers all around him; people were expecting some kind of a spectacle. 

Wei Wuxian said: ‘Fine, I can go.’ Pointing his finger at Mo Ziyuan, he continued: ‘Just tell him to return the things he stole from me before’. 

Mo Ziyuan was stunned by the nerve of this lunatic. He’d been taught a lesson only yesterday, yet he had the gall to barge in here today. His face grew pale and then red. ‘You’re talking rubbish! When exactly have I stolen your things? What use would I even have for your things?’ 

‘Right, right, right! You didn’t steal them, you pilfered them!’ said Wei Wuxian.

Madam Mo had a moment of realisation. Mo Xuanyu had clearly come prepared for a fight, his mind completely lucid. He was trying to humiliate them on purpose. Suddenly overwhelmed by anger, she shouted: ‘You came here on purpose just to make a scene, didn’t you?’

‘He’s stolen and pilfered my things, I just came to get them back. Can that really be called making a scene?’

Madam Mo didn’t have a response at the ready, but Mo Ziyuan was quicker, lifting his leg to stomp on Mo Xuanyu. At that moment, one of the white-robed boys with a sword on his back made a tiny gesture with his finger. Mo Ziyuan lost his balance, his leg suddenly stumbling at nothing, and he fell down on himself. Regardless, Wei Wuxian rolled over on the ground, pretending as if he’d really been trampled on. He pulled the front of his robe open, showing everyone the footprint on his chest that had really been inflicted by Mo Ziyuan the previous day. 

The onlookers were enthusiastically following the drama. There was simply no way Mo Xuanyu could have kicked himself on the chest. Yet he was one of their own blood! How could this family be so ruthless? It was clear that his insanity hadn’t been this severe when he’d first returned. The more his family mistreated him, the more deranged he had become. In any case, it was a good show. In fact, it was even more entertaining than the visiting cultivators!

With so many pairs of eyes fixed on them, Madam Mo could neither hit Mo Xuanyu or shove him out. She could only swallow her indignation and attempt to force a bland compromise: ‘You talk of stealing and pilfering? Such vulgar words. When it’s between family members, couldn’t you just look at it as borrowing? A-Yuan is your little brother, can’t you let him take a few of your things? As an older brother, how can you be so petty? You’re making a fool of yourself, throwing a childish tantrum over a trifle like this. It’s not as if he wouldn’t return your things to you later.’ 

The white-robed boys looked at each other at a loss. One of them, who had just been drinking tea, almost choked on it. Growing up in the Gusu Lan sect, these boys had grown used to austere elegance. They had probably never witnessed a farce like this before, nor heard such insightful argumentation. This was probably an important life experience for them. Laughing hysterically in his mind, Wei Wuxian reached out his hand and said: ‘Give them back, then.’ 

Of course there was nothing for Mo Ziyuan to return, because he’d either discarded or destroyed everything. Not that it made a difference, because he would have been too prideful to return them in any case. With an ashen face, he shrieked: ‘Mother!’ and glared daggers at her, as if to accuse: ‘Are you really just letting him humiliate me like this?’ 

Madam Mo glowered at her son in return, trying to prevent him from making the scene worse than it already was. Not giving up so easily, Wei Wuxian spoke again: ‘That reminds me.. He shouldn’t have stolen my things at all, but he especially shouldn’t have stolen them in the middle of the night. Considering the fact that everyone here knows I like men - he has no shame, forcing me into a suspicious situation like that.’ 

Madam Mo gasped and shouted: ‘How dare you say that in front of everyone! You’re the one who has no shame. A-Yuan is your cousin!’  

Wei Wuxian was an expert at behaving badly. In the past, he’d had to restrain himself to protect the honour of his family, but now that he was already a verified lunatic, he didn’t have any face to worry about. Head held high, he spoke with the force of absolute conviction: ‘He’s perfectly aware that I’m his cousin, yet does nothing to avert suspicion. In the end, who is the more shameless one? Maybe it’s not a big deal to you, but please don’t ruin my innocence! I still want to find a good man!’ 

Mo Ziyuan screamed and started swinging a chair at him. Seeing him finally explode in rage, Wei Wuxian got up in one smooth movement and dodged out of the way. The chair hit the ground and was smashed to bits. The large crowd that had gathered in and around the East Hall had been delighting in the Mo family’s humiliation, but now that things had taken a more violent turn, they all fled before they could get into harm’s way. Wei Wuxian ducked towards the Lan Sect boys, who seemed dumbfounded. He yelled: ‘Did you all see that? Did you see? He’s a thief and a violent brute! An utterly heartless person to boot!’ 

Mo Ziyuan was just about to pounce on him when the leader of the Lan disciples stopped him, coaxing: ‘Young master.. If you have something to say to him, then say it.’ 

Madam Mo realised this boy was trying to protect the lunatic, and it frightened her. With a forced smile, she said: ‘This is my younger sister’s son. He’s a bit.. troubled. Everyone at the Mo manor knows that he’s insane and that his ridiculous stories should not be taken seriously. Cultivator, if I may suggest..’ 

Before she could finish her sentence, Wei Wuxian, who had been hiding behind the back of the head disciple, peeked out and said: ‘Who says the things I say shouldn’t be taken seriously? The next time someone tries to steal something from me, I will cut their hand off!’

Mo Ziyuan had been restrained by his father, but hearing these words made him furious again, and he struggled to break free. Wei Wuxian slithered out of reach like a fish swimming downstream, running out of the hall. The head disciple rushed to block the door, preventing anyone else from going after him. He then tried to switch everyone’s attention back to the actual reason they were here, speaking in a serious tone: ‘Um.. Well, we will be borrowing your West Garden this evening, Madam. You must take heed of the instructions I gave earlier. After nightfall, you must keep your doors tightly closed and remain inside. You must not approach the courtyard.’ 

Madam Mo was trembling with anger, but no matter how much she wanted to force that door open, she couldn’t go against her benefactors’ wishes. She could only say: ‘Yes, yes, thank you for your trouble..’ 

Mo Ziyuan couldn’t believe his ears. ‘Mother! That lunatic slandered me in front of so many people, and we’re just going to let him go? You said before, you said he’s just a..’

Madam Mo snapped: ‘Shut up. If you have something to say, say it after we have returned to our rooms!’ 

Mo Ziyuan had never lost his footing this way before, had never felt this humiliated and rejected even by his own mother. Seething with resentment, he snarled: ‘That madman will die tonight!’ 

After Wei Wuxian had finished his show of insanity and walked out of the hall, he took his time wandering the grounds of Mo manor, brazenly putting himself in the spotlight. He delighted in the way passers-by were shocked by his face. He was starting to gain a tangible understanding of the joy of being considered a madman. Begrudgingly, he realised that the thought of washing off the hanged-ghost makeup no longer felt so appealing either. He reasoned with himself: ‘In any case, there is no water, so how am I supposed to clean my face?’. He smoothed down his hair and glanced at his wrists. The cuts had not faded in the slightest. As expected, such a trivial degradation was far from satisfying Mo Xuanyu’s thirst for revenge. 

Would he really need to annihilate the Mo clan completely? 

….Honestly speaking, that might not be so difficult, after all.

Deep in thought, Wei Wuxian wandered back to the main buildings of the Mo manor, walking in small, springy steps. As he was passing the West Courtyard, he saw the Lan disciples standing on the roofs and eaves of the surrounding buildings, solemnly discussing something. Intrigued, Wei Wuxian retraced his steps, entering the courtyard and stretching his neck to look up at them. 

Although the Gusu Lan Sect had been one of the key participants in the siege and annihilation campaign at Luanzang Mound, these disciples were too young to have even been born at that time. They had nothing to do with it. Wei Wuxian stood still and watched them, trying to figure out what they were doing. As he watched, he was suddenly gripped by a feeling of unease. 

The fluttering black flags that the disciples had put up on the roofs and eaves looked awfully familiar. 

These flags were called ‘Yin-summoning flags’. When carried by living humans, they would attract recently departed souls, vengeful ghosts, fierce corpses and evil spirits within a certain range. Whatever was summoned, it would only attack those carrying the flags. Because the flag-carrier was essentially turned into live bait, they were also called ‘target flags’. They could be hoisted on houses, on the condition that there were living people inside. In that case, the range of the target would be fixed to include everyone in that house. They had one more nickname, ‘black wind flags’, because dark yin energy would collect in their vicinity, spiraling like ink-black gusts of wind. Since the Lan disciples had arranged all the flags in the Western Courtyard and forbidden everyone from approaching it, they were clearly planning to attract the moving corpses there and capture them in one sweep. 

As for their familiarity.. How could they not seem familiar? After all, the inventor of the Yin-summoning flags was Wei Wuxian himself! 

All the cultivation clans might have been itching to kill him, but apparently they had no qualms about using his techniques for their own ends. 

One of the disciples stationed on the roof noticed him watching them. ‘Please go back. You shouldn’t be here now.’

Although he was being shooed away, it sounded like the disciple really didn’t want him to be harmed. The tone could not have been more different to the one the Mo servants used on him.  Wei Wuxian caught him off guard, leaping up and grabbing one of the flags.  

Alarmed, the disciple jumped down to chase after him: ‘Stop meddling with it! This isn’t something you should be touching!’ 

Wei Wuxian was the perfect picture of a madman with his disheveled hair and his limbs flailing as if in some deranged dance, running away while shouting: ‘I won’t give it back! I won’t give it back! I want this! Want this!’ 

The disciple overtook him in a couple of strides, grabbing his arm and saying: ‘Will you give it back or not? If not, I will strike you!’

Wei Wuxian was holding on to the flag as if his life depended on it. The head disciple, who had been arranging the flag formation, noticed the commotion and jumped down from the eaves, light as a feather. He said: ‘Jingyi, leave it. Let’s just get it back nicely. There’s no need to get into a quarrel with him.’ 

Lan Jingyi said: ‘Sizhui, it’s not like I actually hit him! Just look at what he did - he destroyed the whole flag formation!’ 

During the two disciples’ heated conversation, Wei Wuxian was able to inspect the Yin-summoning flag in his hands. The motifs had been drawn correctly, and the incantations were complete. There were no signs of carelessness or negligence; the flag was completely fit for use. It had been drawn by an inexperienced hand, and would only attract spirits and moving corpses within a five-li radius. Nevertheless, it was good enough. 

Lan Sizhui smiled at him and said: ‘Young master Mo, it will be dark soon. We will be capturing moving corpses, so it will be dangerous at night. You should head back to your room now.’ 

Wei Wuxian eyed the boy up and down. He looked gentle and elegant in a pristine way. There were traces of laughter in the corners of his mouth. This boy had the potential to become a widely praised cultivator, Wei Wuxian thought. He had also arranged the flag formation in perfect order, revealing an impeccable education. Who could have raised a boy like this in the dreadfully old-fashioned Gusu Lan clan? 

Lan Sizhuan spoke again: ‘So, this flag…’ 

Before he had finished speaking, Wei Wuxian had already thrown the Yin-summoning flag to the ground, huffing: ‘It’s just a lousy flag, what’s the big deal! I could draw one much better than this!’ With that, he broke into a run and dashed away. His bragging made the boys listening from the roof laugh so hard they almost fell off. Even Lan Jingyi chuckled as he picked up the Yin-summoning flag and dusted it off. ‘This guy is completely crazy!’ he said. 

‘Don’t say that. Let’s rush back to help the others’, Lan Sizhui said. 

Wei Wuxian continued to loiter around the grounds until nightfall. He then returned to Mo Xuanyu’s small house tucked away in a courtyard. He ignored the broken latch and the complete mess that had been made of the room, picking a relatively clean spot on the floor to sit down and meditate. 

This time, his meditation didn’t last until daybreak. His attention was pulled back to worldly things by a loud racket outside. 

He could hear frantic footsteps and alarmed shouts approaching his room. Wei Wuxian listened to the same phrases being echoed over and over again: ‘Charge in and drag him out!’ ‘Report him to the authorities!’ ‘There’s no need to report anything, just beat him to death!’ 

As Wei Wuxian opened his eyes, several house-servants had already rushed into his room. He saw that the courtyard was brightly lit with flames. Someone was shouting: ‘Drag this insane murderer to the hall, so we can let him pay with his life!’ 

(translation notes)

[durrzerker]

Taskmaster: The Line. Chapter 3: Misunderstandings

Hey all, sorry for the delay on Chapter 3! I was moving! New place, happy to get back on the weekly schedule.

--

I swear to god, this happens every time I try to do something nice, Taskmaster thought to himself as he desperately ducked back from another swipe of Wolverine's claws. Laura Kinney had been coming on hard and fast for nearly thirty very long seconds by now, assaulting him with the unique blend of ferocity and finesse that he'd come to characterize her fighting style as. He had battled her before, and he knew her moves well by now, but that doesn't fix his broken ribs; he's having a difficult time. "Damn it, Kinney! I told you, this wasn't ME!"

He couldn't afford an offense right now. It was a lot easier to survive if he focused on the assault underway. He use his photographic reflexes to read her movements, the familiar and new alike, predicting each blow. A claw thrust is deftly blocked at the wrist, pushed upward by his own; he didn't know if she was aware his shield was true vibranium, and he didn't want to play that particular card unless he absolutely had to.

Wolverine swung her boot towards Taskmaster in reply. He made a sour face behind his mask and fell back, pirouetting and lifting his sword to intercept a kick at the shin, forcing her to stop lest she lop her own leg off.

"Your word means nothing, Taskmaster." Laura's tone was biting. "The first time we met, you shot my sister - my KID sister."

"I thought she was a fucking midget!" He replied in reply, exasperated.

Damn it, that came out wrong. Why was he so bad at this? Furious at his comment, Wolverine was swiping both arms across, one after the other, in a tightly guarded rush. She wasn't berserk - he could see the clever way that she was guarding herself during each swing, keeping her balance in a manner that allowed her to lunge backwards if he finally countered - but she was clearly furious, and his comment hadn't helped.

Taskmaster took another step back into the alleyway, but soon he was hitting the fence. Quick as he was, Kinney was just as fast; he couldn't climb fast enough to avoid getting claws in his back for his trouble. Sighing reluctantly, he finally committed to fighting back, even as he made another plea for her to calm down. "I MEANT I don't hurt kids, damn it - Alchemax gave me bad intel on that job! Said they were just mindless defects." Wolverine was coming at him again, and with nowhere else to go, Taskmaster made his move. She went high, so he ducked low, feeling the air from the swipe of her claws passing over his head. It hurt his damaged ribs to be crouching this low, but it was necessary. Lifting his shield up, he uncoiled his legs like a spring, crashing into the woman hard enough to send her flying until she landed in a backwards roll. While she was shockingly strong for her size, Taskmaster was as well - and had over a hundred pounds of muscle on her. As far as advantages went, it was a small one; he'd seen her take down bigger people than him. Still, he could use it when fighting defensively.

"Yeah? What do -you- think, kids?" To her credit, Wolverine wasn't ignoring his words outright. Watching him warily, she spoke over her shoulder to the children that she'd mistakenly thought he was kidnapping. He'd been watching them confer for awhile, and truth be told, he wasn't all that surprised when Mara replied, jabbing a thumb behind her at her injured comrade, "Taskmaster broke his leg."

Rounding on Taskmaster, Wolverine lunged again.

"God DAMN it, you little brats! What's that all about?! I was helping you!" But he knew exactly what this was. The kids, coldly pragmatic like only trained assassins could be, were waiting to see how this played out; whoever won would be more useful to them, and they had no compulsions about letting either Wolverine or Taskmaster get injured - or worse - finding the answer to that question.

"Cold-hearted little shits..." He didn't have much time to ruminate on it, though. Now that he'd actually hit Kinney back, she was stepping up her game. An onslaught of swipes and kicks, turning her into some kind of bladed whirlwind, forced Taskmaster to give up what little ground he had gained with his shield thrust. Catching her wrist on one roundabout swing, the mercenary pivoted at the hip; thrusting his elbow back, he locked and flung her over his shoulder in a rare technique he'd borrowed right from Shang-Chi. Truth be told, that was one of the only martial artists he trusted to be useful against Laura; he was pretty confident that relying on many of his usual moves would get him killed, because as good as those people were? She was better.

Case in point, he'd barely released her when she was springing back at him, having landed in a crouch and adjusted her momentum with so much speed and force that it had surely broken her ankles - a cost she could afford, a move that even he couldn't copy. "Damn!" Tony barked, turning as best he could. A claw aimed for his sword arm sank instead into his collarbone, causing him to yelp in pain as the kinetic-absorbing fibers were pierced like paper by her adamantium. Forced to drop his weapon as his muscles started to seize, Taskmaster glared at Wolverine, lifting his now one good arm up at her. "Yer making a mistake, Kinney...I'm the only hope these kids got."

"You're really sticking to that story, huh?" She asked. "I might even believe you, Masters; I've never known you to keep fighting like this when you couldn't win...but I don't trust you enough to risk children over. I won't kill you, but I can't let you take them. Honestly...I'm sorry." She looked it, too, hesitating ever so slightly; and then she closed in, little more than a blur.

"Yeah...me too." Last time they'd fought, he hadn't taken her seriously. Maybe it had been her size, or her youth, or just the fact he'd been leery of that whole job; but he'd paid for it when Wolverine had surprised him with her foot claws, burying one of them in the center of his friend. He'd promised he wouldn't make that mistake again; live and learn. That was the only motto that mattered. He really hadn't ever seen someone who fought quite like Laura Kinney, and when Taskmaster found someone THAT impressive, there was only one thing he could do.

Wolverine swiped her claws upwards, looking to cut the straps of his shield right off his arm; Taskmaster could see the precision and finesse of the blow, but he was already in motion. With incredible flexibility for a man of his size, the bulk of his body shifting in a downright feminine way, he pirouetted backwards away from her strike. As her blades cut only air, Wolverine widened her eyes in surprise; she recognized that move, but too late.

The retracting boot-claw that Taskmaster had installed, a perfect mimickry of Laura's own, unsheathed directly into her jaw, spearing its way up into her brain. As the other end emerged from the top of her skull, she went limp, and then a sickening squelch filled the air as he ripped the blade free.

Barely finishing out the backwards flip, Taskmaster staggered on landing, nearly collapsing. "Ergh...damn, that hurts to do with a broken rib. Sorry, Kinney...but you'll be up and at 'em in a few hours. Not much that can keep you down." With that, he finally started to rise, rounding on the children. "As for -you- little opportunistic gremlins...really just wanted to wait and see who'd win that one, huh? I try to help you, and you sic the fuckin' Wolverine on me. Maybe I -should- just leave you here."

"...We're still waiting," Adeja replied, looking past him.

"Wha--?"

A few hours? Apparently not. Half her face missing, brain visible through her pierced skull, Wolverine leapt atop Taskmaster's back; before he could even react, her claws were pressed to his throat. She was a sickening sight, scalp peeled and one eye completely blind -- but she was healing fast, and clearly  "I suppose I'm flattered," she said, her voice slurred some due to the fact that it was still healing from the hole that he'd staked through it. "You thought I was worth copying."

"I never settle for less than the best," Taskmaster replied honestly.

"Well, thanks. Still, you missed one detail: I would -never- have turned my back on an opponent with a healing factor."

"...Me either," Tony said through gritted teeth, glaring at the adamantium pressed against his neck. "But I can't have these kids running off in Bagalia; there's a thousand ways for them to die here. Was afraid they'd get spooked after seeing me stake you and bolt."

Narrowing her eyes just as the damaged one regained its sight, Laura dropped off his back. "...You're actually serious. You really are trying to help them. Never thought I'd see Taskmaster, of all people, put himself at risk for someone else." Setting her jaw, Wolverine pulled her cowl off, unable to get it to properly sit on her head thanks to how torn up it was. With alarming speed, she redirected that stern energy towards the mischievous children.

"You withheld critical information. You made me hurt someone who was trying to help you - and help me. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

Mara replied without hesitation, "He probably deserved it."

Pursing her lips and glancing sidelong at Taskmaster, Laura shrugged a bit. "I can't really argue with that. Sorry, Masters. Regardless, can you keep going? Looks like I got you good there."

"Ah, don't flatter yerself," Tony replied. Big words, considering he was prodding thoughtfully at the place she'd stabbed him and wondering how long it'd be until he could lift that arm again. "I was injured way before you got here."

"I'm not sure that's the braggadocio you think it is."

"Ah, shut up. I can keep going. You're going to help, then?"

"I'm going to help -them-, Taskmaster. If that means tolerating your presence in the meantime...so be it."

The two regarded each other for a long moment, tension in the air. Even if they'd found reason to stop fighting, it was obvious that they were a long way away from being friends. Before they could break eye contact, a groaning from between them drew both of their attention to the ground.

It was Black Ant, finally starting to wake from when Laura had ambushed him and knocked him unconscious. Rising into a sitting position, clutching his head through the cracked armor of his helmet, the LMD took one look at Laura muttered, "Just our luck. We stumble onto a bunch of kids and get jumped by the poster child of damaged children."

"Yeah, well, stay focused on the mission, Eric," Taskmaster proclaimed. That drew Black Ant's attention to him, then back to Laura.

"Jeez, you two really fucked each other up."

"Maybe, but she gets to actually heal hers." The throbbing of his shoulder had Tony envying, however briefly, Wolverine's healing factor; then he remembered what one had done to Deadpool and immediately got over that little sentiment."Get up, Eric. We lost a lot of time with this little distraction, and we gotta get moving."

Nodding in reply, Eric pushed himself up to his feet, wincing. "Damn...What'd you hit me with, a brick?" He asked Wolverine.

"...My fist," she replied simply.

"Right, right, adamantium."

"No, just my fist."

"Shut up."

As Taskmaster opened one of his pouches and grabbed a sewing kit, Laura stopped before the children. "You had your fun, but if you want to be safe, you need to actually listen to us from now on. No more playing tricks, and no more lying about who is hurting or helping you."

"We didn't lie. Taskmaster really did break his leg."

"...Even so."

Five minutes later, they were ready to set out. Taskmaster had crudely stitched up his wound - all the photographic reflexes in the world couldn't make self-surgery smooth - and Black Ant had recovered from his bout with unconsciousness. Surrounding the children in a triangle formation, Wolverine, Taskmaster, and Black Ant set out towards the center of Bagalia City.

None of them were aware of just what was waiting between them and their destination.

[zombeesknees]

o benevolent angie bee, may i request your assistance in convincing a friend to give the fast and the furious a shot? my major selling points are a) gal gadot and assorted other gorgeous kickass ladies and b) FOUND FAMILY NARRATIVES, but so far she's not buying it. so: on a scale of one to leverage, where do you rank the trope-y, ridiculous, incredibly wonderful found family experience that is this franchise?

OOOOOOOOH BOY. Okay, so, this is absolutely gonna be a B-List column in the near future, but here’re the high points I use to sell this series on folks:

You like Found Families? This is the BIGGEST FOUND FAMILY EVER. You either die a villain or live long enough to join the Toretto/O’Connor clan, man. This family is so strong that it sucks people into it, redeems them, and then sits them down for Sunday BBQs and blood oaths.

Seriously. The Found Family trope was made for this series. These characters are so ride-or-die for each other it’s amazing.

Speaking of tropes, this series is full of ‘em. There’s the amnesia trope. There’s Robin Hood-ing left and right. There’s a cop who falls for a criminal (albeit in a brotherly fashion rather than a romantic one) and abandons his old life to join them. There’s secret babies. People return from the (assumed) dead. There’s epic romantic sacrifices. It’s wild.

The representation is OFF THE CHAIN. This is a series that has token white guys in it, where 95% of the cast are POC. The women are BADASS, and allowed to be pretty and feminine even as they drive cars through police blockades. Suki has a bubblegum pink car and drives in stilettos and KICKS WHOLESALE ASS. The aforementioned Gal (enough said). Mia is a mama bear who would kill a man to protect her family. Letty is self-destructive as fuck and the perfect partner for Dom. The characters are allowed to be messy and fucked up and can still redeem themselves later (see: Vince).

F&F constantly calls out the difference between legal and right. Cops are often the bad guys, because the system is often broken, bad people have all the power/money/etc., and sometimes POC have to do stuff society deems “illegal” in order to feed their families or protect their brothers.

You’re not a huge fan of constant car chases or explosions? Okay, that’s fair. But the great thing about the F&F series is that it encompasses almost every action sub-genre. Movie #1 is an undercover cop story. Movie #2 is a buddy cop story. Movie #3 is a teen drama (with YAKUZA!). Movie #4 is a revenge flick. Movie #5 (and my personal favorite thus far) is a heist movie. Movie #6 pits our heroes against an international terrorist. Movie #7 is a revenge flick from the opposite direction. Movie #8 has CHARLIZE THERON AS A CYBERTERRORIST and the Fast Fam become secret government agents to take her down. I MEAN.

They just keep. Getting. Better. I know that sounds crazy, because most series prove the rule of diminishing returns. But the Fast franchise is that rare beast that keeps satisfying every time. Each installment has made more at the box office than the last one, as they travel the world and cast more and more people from other countries, and the car stunts and action choreography just gets more polished and exciting with each new movie. And, sure, they get more ridiculous, too — we’ve gone from the Big Action Moment being out-racing a train in #1 to DRIVING A CAR THROUGH TWO HUGE SKYSCRAPERS in #7 and FIGHTING A SUBMARINE THROUGH ICE in #8, but that’s just the nature of action films. And it’s FUN, DAMMIT.

Re: the cast continuing to expand great: this franchise has Vin Diesel, The Rock, Jordana Brewster, Luke Evans, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel (aka Missandei of Game of Thrones), Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Elsa Pataky (aka Mrs. Chris Hemsworth), Gal Gadot, Don Omar, Kristofer Hivju (aka Tormund of Game of Thrones), Gina Carano... It’s really wild how many awesome people are in this.

The male characters are allowed to be emotional. You see the guys CRY, which is so goddamned rare in action films. There’s so much LOVE between the characters (and the cast, too; if you REALLY want to sob, look into everyone’s reactions to Paul Walker’s death and how Vin basically lost his mind in the aftermath and NAMED HIS DAUGHTER AFTER HIM). You can really feel the camaraderie in these.

When I’m trying to get people into the franchise, I actually skip the first three films — the tone changes so significantly after the first two and #3 is pretty much only good for Han reasons. #4 is dark, yeah, but it also sets the stage for the rest of the series and introduces the characters pretty well for first-timers.

And once that’s been seen, #5 is just SO DAMN GOOD!!! You get the whole crew together. It’s the one that really solidifies the Found Family aspect of the series. The Rock shows up. It’s laugh-out-loud hysterical at times. The action sequences are WILD. And it’s the Fast Fam vs. an awful dictator, pulling a huge heist via cars, so what’s not to love about that???

I hope this helps, and that your friend agrees to sit down and give them a chance, because I was reluctant, too, once, and now I’m so glad I let my eyes be opened to the Greatness that is the Fast Films (family motto: “There’s no problem that can’t be fixed with the judicious application of cars.”). 

Also there’s a spin-off — HOBBS & SHAW — hitting theaters in August with The Rock and Jason Statham taking on IDRIS ELBA. And... If that ain’t magical, I don’t know what is.

[kickassfu]

I’d Follow You Everywhere

Got this prompt from @missberryisbest and I tried??:  Q figures out how to save El, but it means fulfilling his original promise to stay at the castle at the end of the world with the monster in a different body. He leaves Eliot a letter about it. Eliot goes “fuck it” and decides to also live at the castle because “where you go, I go, Coldwater”

I’m sorry El.

I wasn’t sure on how to start this letter, debated if I should even do it but...I couldn’t do this face to face, I think if I saw you right now I’d never leave you. So here it is, the ramblings of a dumbass in love.

I was never going to bring up my love for you ever again, you made it pretty clear that we should leave those memories as just memories, so why would I put myself out there like that again? But then I lost you, and had to see a monster wearing your face, and that broke me. Still you were alive, and that meant hope, and for you I’d do anything.

Which why we’re here.

With you hopefully reading this letter, and me not being there.

I made a deal. Which might not make you particularly happy, but I don’t give a fuck, it got you back, and that’s all I wanted. Besides I just gotta keep my original promise, of being the monster’s jailor in Blackspire; real easy, no one has to die and they give you your body back, perfect solution.

It’s not your fault, please don’t blame yourself, even though I know you will anyway.

I really am sorry.

I wish things could’ve been different.

I will always love you,

Quentin.

Eliot had to read it three times, for it to even register in his brain. Self-sacrificing idiot, and he couldn’t even be mad, ‘cause he’d do the same for him without thinking twice - but he was mad. Because it was his self-sacrificing idiot, doing it so he could come back.

Now what?

He was supposed to be braver; he was supposed to tell Q he loved him, that he wanted to try again and be happy with him. How could he ever be happy without him? Well maybe he could, eventually, but did he want to?

Holding the letter to his chest, he sat down on the couch, before his legs could buckle under him embarrassingly. Eliot thought of what he could do, what he should do, what he wanted to do, and honestly none of them were the same thing.

Killing the monster didn’t go very well the first time around, so probably not the best idea.

Getting another jailor would be pretty impossible as well, and he couldn’t force someone to do it.

All he wanted to do, is be with Quentin, it didn’t matter where or how, but he couldn’t just up and leave Margo - not again, not ever. Q and Bambi were equally important to him, and his motto from now on was no man- no one left behind. Also closing himself with the monster that took him hostage and kept him locked inside his own head, not a particularly smart move.

His options were almost nonexistent, he just couldn’t think, everything was too much.

A soothing hand touched his chin, gently making him look up, “Are you ok El?”

“Did you know?” he asked, gripping the letter even tighter.

“Q told me there was a possibility of bringing you back, but when he told me the plan I told him not to do it. Losing someone to get someone else back is shitty mathematics no matter how you look at it. I told him we’d find another way, but that fucker disobeyed me and went through with it anyway.”

Eliot grabbed her hand, and she sat next to him to comfort him - to comfort herself.

“What am I gonna do, Bambi?”

Taking a deep breath, and with tears in her eyes, she said, “Go to him.”

“Don’t be stupid, I’m never leaving you.”

“I’ll come visit, even if it’s in dreams. We’re fucking magicians Eliot, we can do anything.”

“Except save the people we love from literal monsters.”

Taking his face in her hands, she looked him straight in the eyes, “I will figure it out, you know I will. Just go be happy with him while I find a way, it’s fine.”

“It’s not.”

“Keep being stubborn and I’m going with you, and trust me I won’t let you two bone. I’ll be the annoying roommate that walks in whenever you two get frisky.”

“As if the monster isn’t gonna do that exactly.”

Smiling, she kissed his lips, “El, go. It’s ok. I’ll get you both back.”

He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. He wanted to go, he wanted to be with Quentin. Eliot really would follow him to the ends of the earth, how freaking cliché.

“You better come visit everyday, somehow, some way, because I couldn’t live without you either.” Eliot said, hugging her with all the strength he had, kissing her hair.

“I know.”

XXX

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

Quentin looked surprised, but mostly confused, heartbroken, and just a mess of emotions.

“Well, I was expecting a hug, maybe some kissing, a confession of undying love...but this works too.”

“I didn’t save you so you could be trapped with the monster again. Goddammit El, why the fuck did you do this?”

“Because I wanted to be with you? Because I love you? Because without you happiness is so much harder to get? There are so many reasons, and that you’re even asking this, after you literally threw your life away for me, is idiotic.”

“But-” his words were cut, when Eliot put his finger on his mouth in a shushing manner.

“But we can live together for 50 more lifetimes, and I’d be lucky. Besides Margo will figure something out, she practically forced me to come. And we both know how scary, and wonderful, she can be.”

Well he was there, so there really wasn’t much he could do now, it wasn’t like he could kick him out.

Quentin suddenly pulled him closer, kissing him softly, he then hugged him - he had missed his warmth, his weight. Such a familiar action, charged with so much tension and wanting, and need.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re ok.”

Putting his chin on top of Q’s head he smiled, “Yeah, me too.”

[tessatechaitea]

Black Condor #5

Five issues and five pure cheesecake covers.

Crud-for-brains? I'd wager my life savings that Brian Augustyn was an early Adventures of Pete and Pete fan.

The guys on the cover are just four young dude-bros stealing from drug dealers. They burn the drugs and take the money to give toward good causes. And probably also to buy cool shit for themselves. They're only human! Probably. I haven't read far enough along to know what they're really doing with the cash. Black Condor will find out after he beats the shit out of three of them. Sorry. I've been gone for awhile. You wouldn't have noticed since my long absence fell between writing the previous paragraph and this current one. And unless you ran off to take a desperate shit right at the same moment, the time between these two paragraphs was negligible, minuscule (I decided to use both words because I'm so proud of my ability to spell my native language (I considered misspelling "native" and "language" but decided that was a boring old joke which has carried more water than Capri-sun (that's a new joke and it's not very good because it doesn't make sense. But at least it's new))). But I was caught up in playing a stupid computer video game about dungeon delving dice trapped in a horrific game show. Spoiler: the dice never get to fuck. But I'm back now because this is blog is the only thing that keeps me sane anymore. You might think that because this blog was my link to sanity, I'd be more earnest. You might think I'd want to be grim and serious and discuss political, social, and environmental matters with the gravity and seriousness they deserve. But that's all the stuff that's doing my head in. So I'd rather pretend that I'm angry at comic books. Here's a secret for the few of you reading this who made it to this specific paragraph out of all of my paragraphs: I wish I were friends with Scott Lobdell. I bet he's kind of an asshole but he's the kind who, if he was getting his ass kicked at a bar for being smarmy and pretentious and smug (smug because he's a rich writer whom a lot of thirteen year old boys (and men with thirteen year old boy minds) think wrote some of the seminal X-men stories), he'd completely understand if you didn't step in to defend him. He feels like the kind of guy who knows what he really deserves (a righteous ass beating) and wouldn't think the world unfair should he ever receive it. Then he'd probably buy drinks for the people who beat his ass, and I'd look him in the eye and shrug, and he'd laugh, and we'd continue to not mention that time we jerked each other off when we were fucking wasted on single malt scotch and peyote. Black Condor and Ned decide they need to find the girl with humongous afro before she hurts people who don't deserve it the way the color changing white supremacist Nazi rapists did.

What does he mean by "completely autistic"? In 1992, I'm guessing that meant nonverbal with loads of stimming and maybe the ability to play any piano concerto immediately after hearing it once.

Karin was experimented on by Black Condor's grandfather's Society but she failed to gain the ability to fly. She did, however, gain mental abilities as powerful as his own. He's concerned that, being autistic, she'll hurt people with her mind rage. Please. She almost certainly just wants to be left alone by everybody in society expecting her to think and act in a specific way that she can't think and act, nor would she want to if she had the ability. Just leave autistic people alone, normals! They don't need help. Just because your autistic kid isn't giving you the kind of unconditional love you were looking for when you decided to have a kid that you would eventually love only conditionally based on how they loved you doesn't mean the kid needs to change. That's on you and your needs. Maybe just find a way for the kid to express themselves (or not! Who knows sometimes?!) and let them do and act as they please. Unless what they want to do is fuck the dog. I'm not saying autistic people fuck dogs but I am saying we're all individuals, you know? Use your common sense! And if your kid is fucking the dog, autistic or not, don't let them near the dog! The Merry Men on the cover (oh hey! There were Merry Men in the Sky Pirate issue! Brian Augustyn either loves old tales of daring adventure or LSD) have been robbing drug dealers to help fund a homeless camp run by a priest named Gamble. The priest isn't involved in the theft; he chastises them about their plans to get money illegally. But they assure him the money isn't tainted and he decides to believe them when they dump thousands of dollars on his desk. Doing the right thing is hard when doing the wrong thing will solve all of your money issues. If you're a weak minded jerk, that is! I totally would never sell out for thousands of dollars so hopefully nobody embarrasses themselves by offering me loads of money to write positive comic book reviews for their publications. Father Gamble refuses the money because he just can't be sure it was honestly come by. I would be less suspicious of the money and more suspicious of the white college kids trying to donate thousands of dollars to a homeless camp. What's really going on in this camp?! Why are these young men so interested in keeping it funded so it doesn't get shut down? Four probably rich white boys risking their lives to help the downtrodden? Sorry but this is the most aggressively fantastic comic book I've ever read. And I'm not using the informal definition of "fantastic."

"Which member of this organization could possibly be giving all of this information to these white boys and why am I exposing my plan to kill them before plugging the leak?!"

Maybe that's racist suggesting that the white guy in the gang is giving the information to other white guys. But this comic book has already asked me to believe too many fanciful plot points so I'm glad Augustyn decided the white guy was absolutely the inside man. The white guys name is Herbie and his boss, Mr. Soto, already knows he's the leak. I'm glad Mr. Soto is as smart as I am. Or as racist. Probably smart though! They follow him as he's trying to meet up with the college Merry Men to warn them that they're in danger. Luckily for Herbie, Black Condor happens upon the scene as he's searching for Karin. And even though Black Condor doesn't give a shit about this guy and his problems, he figures even a reluctant hero wouldn't just stand by and watch some jerk get what's coming to them. After Black Condor saves Herbie, he has to take him to the hospital because he was pistol whipped. Meanwhile, the rich white kids aren't warned that they're about to die so they drive off into the trap to steal more money that Father Gamble won't be accepting for his charity.

What a dumb asshole! Even the most ignorant of ignorant jerks knows there were only three musketeers! Unless he's so familiar with the book that he's including d'Artagnan along with Porthos, Mythos, and Harpos.

I never read The Three Musketeers because I was born in the late 20th century and exciting stories to thrill young boys wasn't a popular genre anymore because we had Batman and Green Lantern. Although I did once play the text adventure version of the book. When I did that, I poked fun at the idea that the author of it was writing the game so that people would remember Alexandre Dumas and yet it's the only reason I know anything about him! Although now I know a little bit more about him because I Googled his name to make sure I was spelling it correctly and now I know what a fancy lad he was!

Now I want to listen to an audio version of his book where every few sentences, the person reading it just says, "Oooooooh, my!"

The Musketeers (maybe I was wrong to assume they were more like the Merry Men?!) manage to get away with only one of them shot in the ankle (the others weren't shot at all, if that wasn't clear). They decide the best way to save their own lives is to lead the gun men on a chase through New York back to Father Gamble's homeless camp. They already know he doesn't want any trouble so why are they taking this gunfight back there?! What is Father Gamble's hold over these young men?! Luckily for everybody in the homeless camp, Black Condor is there still searching for Karin. He'll save everybody's lives reluctantly! Unluckily for everybody, Karin is also there and the gunfire and chaos freaks her out so much that she has a mind-storm! That's the thing she had before that killed four of her attempted Nazi rapists. And that's where the comic book ends! Lucky for older me, younger me bought the next issue so I wouldn't be stuck with this cliff hanger! Lucky for younger me, older me doesn't have a time machine so that fucker has gotten away with some pretty abhorrent behavior which I couldn't correct by going back in time and punching him in the nose. Unlucky for him, he's going to be a virgin for a long, long time! Ha ha! Take that! Ow. Older me just hurt older me's feelings. Black Condor #5 Rating: B. A solid rating that I probably wouldn't have given this comic book back when I was twenty-one. I don't think I understood just what this comic book was doing and wound up only remembering it as a comic book about a reluctant hero. I didn't realize how much of it was Black Condor trying to live his now much more complicated life while also continuously doing the right thing. Even when he just wants to hole up in the woods and say "Fuck it!" to everybody and everything, he still shows the heart of a hero when he's needed by people nearby. And he's fucking sexy hot too.

[thelifestyleeditor]

I HEART WORK

Who are you: Chris Tonnesen

What do you do: I’m a photographer.

Where can we find you? Website | Instagram

Describe your work in 5 words? Food, interiors, travel, sweat and tears!

Can you tell us a little about what you do? I work as a freelance photographer and work primarily with food and interior photography. I am based in Copenhagen and most of my clients are from here, but I also work with international clients.

What took you on the road to being a photographer? It wasn’t a straight road - it took me a few years to figure out that photography was where I would find my passion. I recently looked at a 9th grade school paper on what I thought I would study and it said cookery. In high school, I always played around with my Mum's point-and-shoot camera, manipulating the images into obscurity in a hacked version of Photoshop. No one told me photography was something you could study, or in any way, was a desirable career path. So I went on to study in a business college - it lasted a year! That year I only kept my sanity because I bought my first DSLR camera and started photographing concerts on most weekends. At the end of my second semester, a friend of mine said she was moving to Copenhagen to study photography, and that was when it clicked – photography was something you could study, something you could do for a career! No one had ever told me that. So I quit college, packed my bags, and went to study it in Copenhagen. I ended up discovering that within photography there was a magical thing called food photography, this was my second click – I’ve not looked back since!

Where is your office/studio and what is the view out of your window? My studio is on the outskirts of Copenhagen, in the up-and-coming North West area – outside my window is an old factory-like backyard with a mix of mostly mechanics and a few small creative businesses.

What is the first thing you do when you get to work/a shoot? The first thing I do when I get to the office is sit down and meditate for 20 minutes. Spending the time this way helps me sort out the day, my energy, and start off with a clear view. After that I drink coffee, black!

Describe a typical day at work? There is none, which is amazing! I do typically try and get home before 6pm so I can relax and recharge – work/life balance is very important to me. I normally either have clients coming to the studio for a day of photography, or I am going on location. Otherwise, it’s an office day were I edit images from shoots, sort through emails, drink loads of coffee and do all the other work required as a photographer.

What cameras do you like to use? I have always worked with Canon, and for the moment I use the 5DSR with an array of Canon and Sigma Primes. My favorite is the 85mm/1.2L from Canon, it’s a little fiddly and requires some room to manoeuvre – but I love the sharpness and how it pulls everything together nice and tight. For travel I have a Fuji X-T2 which is a little lighter and easier to carry around. You feel a little less intrusive with it because it’s smaller, which can be great when doing travel photography.

What can’t you work without? My huge Gitzo carbon tripod with a gear head. It’s heavy and big, and a pain to drag around – but there is no obstacle it can’t overcome or table it won’t fit over. It can become almost 3m high and I will love it until I die of a broken back!

Why do you love what you do? Mostly because I get to work with the things I love mostly – food and photography. But also because I get to meet so many inspiring people, whether it’s the incredible stylists I work with regularly, the chefs in kitchens who rock their world, or people who are in some way experts within their own craft. In these meetings an incredible synergy can arise, and it’s such an amazing way to work.

One shoot you won’t forget and why? A few years back I went to the Faroe Islands at the end of November to work with Restaurant Koks. It’s the most dramatic place I have ever visited, and the rough nature reflected instantly on the trip – from the highs to the lows! The sun rose at 9.30am and set at 3pm, so there really wasn’t any daylight to work with and that was hard on me because it was early in my career. But those lows were lifted by the amazing highs of the beautiful countryside, the amazing people, both locals and the staff at Koks, and how amazing the photos turned out. It really was a rite of passage and it’s a trip I will never forget.

Who or what inspires you? At this very moment I am deeply inspired by the woods, all the brown and burned colours and tones. I can always find inspiration in nature and I try to connect with it as often as I can, whether by a stroll in a park or by diving into the cold oceans for spearfishing. But sometimes a direct inspiration can also force you to be inspired by the opposite. Mostly, natural light, soft shadows and toned down hues are my go-to, but sometimes I also get so tired of it that I just HAVE to do hard light and strong colours. Yin and yang I suppose!

What is the best advice you have received? It sounds stupid saying it’s the best advice, but my old master Line Klein always said, “Never discriminate the rich, if they want to pay you a lot, let them”! It can be hard to put a price on your own head, but it’s good to sometimes tell yourself that your work can be worth more than you think. Having a few well-paying gigs can free you up a bit to work on more fun and lesser-paid jobs.

One moment in your career you will always remember? The day I started as a freelancer and had to start from scratch, figure everything out and digging out that big green button that said GO. That moment where you realise this is it...that will probably stay with me for a long time.

What is the best part of your job? Getting to eat amazing food and discuss it with the chef right there and then.

And the worst? Answering a load of emails forcing you to look at the screen all day.

What’s your proudest career achievement? The book project ‘On Eating Insects’ with Nordic Food Lab published on Phaidon. A book created with the most talented people and with an approach that is more than consumerism.

Which phrase do you overuse? “We’ll make it work, don’t worry!”

What single thing would improve the quality of your life? Probably an assistant or student to help with the workload. There is always more to do than you are aware of - I always feel just a bit behind.

What have you learned the hard way? Small tripod and big cameras don’t match – they will topple over at some point!

If you could do another job what would you like to do and why? Coming back to that 9th grade paper – I would work with food, no doubt anymore.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to be a photographer? Follow your passion whether it be food or fashion – and work at it hard. Find some people you can work with – my career kick-started by working with a restaurant pop-up group for free for two years.

Can you tell us about any other projects you have in the pipeline? I have just finished shooting a vegetarian cookbook that has turned out amazing, its called Flere Kødfri Dage (More Meatfree Days), and a book on baking with Meyers. I am also doing a big commercial shoot in Oslo with Northern alongside my most favourite and trusted stylist Per Olav Sølvberg. I also plan on doing a lot more with wildlife chef Adam Engel, more food in nature please!

Any favourite Instagram feeds you are enjoying at the moment? I’m trying to cut back on Instagram, so I will have to decline to answer. Alternatively, I’m really enjoying reading the Swedish magazine Fool.

If you could be someone for a day who would it be? I’d be Christopher McCandless (he was featured in the film Into The Wild), just before he over-reached his abilities in Alaska – I think he must have experienced freedom like few do.

How do you spend your downtime? I love hanging out with my girlfriend...she is amazing! Going into nature foraging and cooking. I practice free-diving twice a week to wind down and because it is the most amazing feeling going into the ocean with nothing but a big breath. And late at night I melt my brain with HBO or Netflix!

Can you give us a great tip on how to take better photographs? If you are new to it, then try using indirect natural light which is easy to use and allows you to focus on your composition and technique, instead of a complicated light setting. Read up on composition; rule of thirds, golden ratio, dynamics and suchlike.

What would you like to be doing in five years time? Working as a photographer still...what else?! Maybe living very close to the ocean and forests.

If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it? I’d spend it with the people I love, the people who inspire me - getting fueled up on the stuff that isn’t work related.

What’s your personal motto? Photography isn’t life and death, we’ll make it work!

How would you like to be remembered? As a guy with a smile on my face, always.

Thank you Chris for talking to The Lifestyle Editor.

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 4x02 Heavy Lies the Crown

The season 4 premiere wasn’t that great, but this is much better and much more typical of the overall quality of season 4.

The Polis storyline is, for a change, actually quite good. I’ve always thought that season 4 did a much better job with most Grounder characters than season 3 or even season 2. And the storyline in and in relation to Arkadia is great, with Bellamy, Clarke and Raven having to do make difficult choices. In particular, Bellamy finds himself in the position to make a really tough choice, and the choice he makes really encapsulates his leadership style and worldview.

The title is another literary reference – after Dante and Poe, now it’s Shakespeare – although it is a misquote of the line “Heavy lies the head that wears the crown” from Shakespeare’s Henry IV. They supposedly chose to name it that way because they thought it sounded better – or maybe they just thought that would make it more obvious to the viewers that the theme of the episode was the difficulty of being a leader.

The flashback that opens the episode would have fit better as the opener of 4x01, which was much more about the fallout of the City of Light and people who died because of ALIE. (No surprise, since it was originally meant to be in 4x01.) It’s the introduction of another interesting new Grounder character, Ilian, whose family suffered a really tragic fate – ALIE made Ilian kill them or torture them in order to force his mother to take the chip. Seeing it all happen helps build sympathy for Ilian and makes it easier to understand his later actions. It’s also one of the few times we see Grounder farmers. I like the fact that the show isn’t focusing just on Grounder warriors  anymore and that we get to see more and more of Grounders of different professions and worldviews.

In Polis, the leader who has to make decisions is Roan, who is preparing to meet the challenge of an ambassador of one of the other clans, Rafel, who is trying to use the fact that Roan is still recuperating from his injury and isn’t full strength, Roan is a good character to watch because he’s smart and capable, and morally grey – he isn’t one of the bad guys, but he can be ruthless and sneaky if he has to. The fact that he’s a very different leader from his mother certainly helps. This is emphasized when Echo, who is sparring with him, goes on about how awesome Queen Nia was, in her mind, for being so ruthless and murderous and not giving a damn about anyone other than Azgeda; After being questioned why he decided to accept the Sky people as the 13th clan, Roan finally tells Echo the truth about Praimfaya and that they need Sky people to survive it.

Talking about Roan’s chances in single combat, Octavia says Lexa kicked his ass when he wasn’t wounded, but she doesn’t know that the Nightblood basically gives you superpowers, which is only revealed later during S4

Kane is again the Chancellor – but we don’t learn if another election was held or not. He is mostly acting as a diplomat, however – he’s more of an ambassador, while Clarke pretty much acts like acting Chancellor in Arkadia.

Kane tries to reason with Rafel, and makes the good point that, if they are going to blame Sky people for the City of Light, they should also credit them for destroying it. But don’t expect Rafel to listen to reason. So Octavia eventually solves Roan’s and everyone’s problem by murdering Rafel, which is later portrayed as a heart attack. I should be generally against assassinations and Octavia using violence and murder to solve problems, but, you know what, I liked this solution.

Major development forward for the Kabby relationship: After the kiss last season, there’s a rather steamy, by CW-standards, sex scene and, while there is no “I love you” in so many words, the relationship between Abby and Kane is strongly affirmed. Initially, after their sex scene, we see that Abby used to wear her wedding ring on a necklace. She’s unsure or uncomfortable with putting it on again, as Kane sees it, but Kane tells her Jake is a part of her, But later Kane realizes that she is not wearing it – and they kiss, as Abby has just shown him that she has really moved on from Jake and committed to him.

Abby decides to go back to Arkadia to help Clarke and the rest find a solution for Praimfaya

In Arkadia, Clarke, Raven and Bellamy arguing over what to do; Raven is concerned thatthere are not enough volunteers to repair the ship. She also has insecurities and feel she shouldn’t be main engineer - Sinclair should be, but he is dead, Clarke replies that she’s in a similar position since she’s no Chancellor. However, they’re all basically back to their own season 1 roles, when they were the only ones on the ground and leaders of their people.

One of the most pleasant surprises about season 4 is that it found a purpose for Jaha and started using his character in a much better way, and even managed to make me finally interested and enjoying his character, even though he hasn’t actually changed his personality. This is probably because 1) he is not in position of power now, 2) he wants to and manages to be useful – as an engineer, which is his original profession, and 3) most importantly, he has a number of interesting interactions with the main characters that he didn’t get to interact much before, like Clarke, Bellamy and Raven. In the season when they are faced with particularly difficult leadership choices, which are similar to the situation on the Ark – having to make choices who will live and who will die because it’s impossible to save everyone; having lie to people in order not to cause panic – Jaha is both there to offer his perspective and advice (which may be good or bad), and as a cautionary tale: he is what they all used to hate and what they really don’t want to become, but now they are afraid they may be becoming like him.

The crux of the episode is Bellamy’s mission (with Monty, Harper, Bryan and Miller) to go into the Azgeda territory, to the remains of the Farm Station that Azgeda occupied, and retrieve a hydro generator that would help produce water for the people in Arkadia during the five years of radiation. They start off hoping to get it peacefully, by showing Roan’s seal. They get a hostile reception instead, but eventually the head Azgeda guy agrees to it. However, things change when they learn that the people working at the station are slaves…

…Let’s take a moment to emphasize the fact (for the benefit of all of those who like to portray Sky people/Arkers as the Bad Guys and Grounders as Good Guys, that, in addition to everything else we know Azgeda did under Queen Nia’s rule, like killing Arkers indiscriminately, including children, from the moment they landed, and blowing up a bunch of Arker civilians as a part of a political power play that wasn’t even about them, they also practice slavery, enslaving both Arkers and other Grounders.

…This is a big moment where the group has to decide whether to prioritize getting the hydro generator, or blowing it up to free the slaves. Bryan argues in favor of the latter, especially since he recognized one of the slaves as a friend of his, called Riley. (Now, I know that the fandom likes to make fun of Riley because of the way that this character was made important in spite of never being heard about before, but this is more of a problem in 4x05. I don’t see any problem here – we never saw any of the Farm Station before season 3, either, and we knew very few of the people on the Ark in season 1, and many we knew are dead. And the actor does a good job playing someone who has been traumatized and beaten down by slavery and abuse.) The group split votes – Bryan and Harper for freeing the slaves (Harper compares their fate to her experience of being put in a cage in Mount Weather), Monty and Miller for getting the hydro generator, so Bellamy makes the decision and chooses to free the slaves.

This decision is something I need to talk about a bit more. I love the way season 4 in particular has so many situations where there is no obvious right or wrong choice - neither choice is great and wrong in some way while good in another way, and you can make good arguments for either alternative. This is one such case. Personally, while I understand and respect the position that the hydro generator should have been the priority and slaves ignored, I was happy with Bellamy's decision, was rooting for him to make that choice, and it's what I would probably do. Regardless of how things turn out in the end, I think this is the better principle to live by: "We save who we can save today". (Which also reminds me of the decision Bellamy made in 2x04 – save the person who is in the most immediate danger and need.) There are many leaders in this show, maybe too many, who advocate the Big Picture thinking, which is a legitimate position if moderate, but taken too far, it can lead to (in the name of some hypothetical better future) present oppression, killing the people you're supposed to protect, executions for all sorts of silly reasons as on the Ark, letting innocent people die from enemy bombs, or cold blooded murder of an innocent person for "pragmatic" reasons - as Jaha did in season 2, using the motto "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". I don't trust anyone who uses that motto to justify killing other people rather than sacrificing themselves (which was how that character we all know and love used it in that well known movie that the quote comes from). And I don't fully trust anyone who does things in the name of an abstract notion of "people" or "my people" while not caring enough about individuals that make up that abstract collective

I liked Bellamy’s decision before I knew how things would turn out, and would like it regardless of the eventual consequences. But as it turns, out, if they had saved the hydro generator, it would have been for nothing, since Ilian will blow up Arkadia in a few episodes. This way, those people who had been slaves a couple of months of nice life back with their families.

Another minor in-character moment: when they are about to take the Grounder ex-slaves to their villages, Bellamy is again taking care of a little girl in the group.

Raven is angry over Bellamy’s decision, and Clarke at first seems to disagree, but eventually accepts it, and Bellamy he sticks to it and takes full responsibility. Clarke finally decides to tell people a half-truth: she tells them about Praimfaya, but claims they will be able to save everyone, even though, without the hydro generator, they can only save 100 people there. Raven gets to display my least favorite character trait of hers, getting all judgmental and b1tchy and sarcastically telling Clarke: “Your father would be so proud!” I dunno, Raven, if you think the people should be told the truth, why don’t you simply tell them? No one is stopping you.

Both Raven and Jasper compared Clarke’s decisions to that of Jaha and the rest of the Ark leadership. Except they forgot the minor detail that she hasn’t executed anyone, imprisoned anyone, or sent anyone to die.

Jasper is now in a very different, but still similar mindset from the one from season 3: he has embraced the “Seize the day” approach, and seems very cheerful, having a shower, singing, asking Monty to bring weed, and telling Clarke he doesn’t want them to survive, he wants them to live. But he is like that only because he knows it will all be over in a few months.

The song Jasper plays is “I Don’t like Mondays” by Boomtown Rats, which includes the line “Silicon chip inside her head”…

This is the last episode where Bryan appears, which is a shame, because he was an interesting character, and his and Miller’s relationship actually got some focus and development, unlike Miller’s mostly off-screen later relationship with Jackson. The actor got a role in another show, but instead of getting killed off, he was just written out quietly – he simply never appears after this episode, and we never learn of his fate. The first time I watched this, I didn’t even realize that the argument between him and Nate at the end of this episode was the end of their relationship, so I was later wondering “so where is Bryan?” when Nate and Jackson became a couple out of the blue. Rewatching this, I can see how this was the end of the relationship. I like the fact that Bryan (who, we have it confirmed now, is now the only survivor, aside from Riley, from the initial number of around 160 people who were on the Farm Station when it fell to Earth) refuses to condemn Pike and still feels loyalty to him – because it would be really unrealistic if everyone now had the same opinion about him. Bryan confirms that he basically never stopped supporting Pike, who he felt loyalty to because he saved his life and they spent several months fighting together, and simply chose his boyfriend over him. But I think the main reason why the relationship broke was not just political differences, but because, after Miller didn’t support or understand Bryan’s decision to prioritize freeing the slaves, Bryan felt that Miller doesn’t understand what he went through with the rest of the Farm Station people in those 4 months and the trauma and effect it had on him.

Timeline: It has been 9 days since the season 3 finale, which means it’s about 8-9 days since 4x01.

Body count:

In the flashback (which is technically in the timeline right at the end of season 3 or the beginning of 4x01), Ilian’s father, brother and mother got killed by ALIE-controlled Ilian. Add them to the list of people who died because of ALIE, We don’t see how the father died, but Ilian killed his brother and almost killed himself, and tortured his mother, and she eventually died of injuries.

Rafel, Trishanakru ambassador, killed by Octavia. (Good riddance- he was really annoying. We’ve seen way too many irritating whiny Grounders who rant about how Sky people are to blame for everything. That’s so last two seasons.)

Several Azgeda slavers got killed in the explosion of the hydro generator.

Tybe the head slaver, beaten to death by the freed slaves. Bryan revealed that he was the one who killed Monty’s father, saying he was therefore Monty’s kill, but Monty chose to do justice in a different way, letting the ex-slaves decide Tybe’s fate.

There are some pointers about the number of surviving people – from a list that Clarke made of the number of people that need to be saved. It’s a partial list: we learn that there are about 500 people Arkadia, 4000 in Polis (out of which 400 children), 300 in Tondc, and we see several smaller places with just a few people. Just counting the numbers we see, we get 4877 Grounders  in addition to 500 Arkers (obviously, neither are exact numbers, since the numbers for Polis, Tondc and Arkadia were rounded), but it’s clearly not a full list, as we don’t see the numbers for,  e.g. Boat people, Shallow Valley people, and many other villages and towns, so I don’t know if the numbers of Grounders in this part of Northern American territory is around 5000-6000 or more like 10.000.

Rating: 8.5/10

[bobaghoul]

Okay you caught me lol But how about this: The papas and cardinal catching a sister/brother of the clergy talking shit about them

I’m sure most of them would be hurt, but they all have different methods of dealing with it.

Papa Nihil:

Um excuse me, little one? Who do you think you’re talking about? 

He won’t be the one to approach you though- Sister Imperator will. 

Oh boy (Y/n), get ready to have the longest lecture of your life. No one talks shit about him and gets away with it! 

To have the nerve to talk shit about him while being a member of his damn church, you should be ashamed of yourself! You’re ungrateful, and you’re so lucky they don’t just kick you off of church grounds right now! 

By the end of her lecture, you’ve learned your lesson (and a few more life lessons thanks to her). 

She will drag you by the ear to apologize to him, which spreads second-hand embarrassment to anyone seeing you. 

This isn’t the worst that could happen, so it’s best if you stop after that.

Papa I:

Why would you talk shit about my precious boy? 

He’s really hurt you’d say mean stuff about him, though he’d probably be too nervous to confront you about it. 

But, he WILL tell his brothers that you’re talking shit about him.

(Y/n), do you want to die? 

Whether is was a yes or a no, his brothers are going to find you and beat the shit out of you (not really). 

Papa III would probably try to give you a lecture, but Papa II would straight up smack you on sight. You think talking shit about their older brother would just slip by like that? No. 

They’d also probably drag you to Papa I and make you apologize, begging for his forgiveness. Papa I wasn’t expecting them to really do anything, so he was really taken aback by your disheveled form. 

He’ll softly tell you that it’s okay, as long as you don’t spread negativity throughout the church anymore. Yeah brothers were extra, but he still loved them.

Papa II:

Oh, you picked the wrong Papa to talk shit about. 

“Talk shit, get hit.” Is a motto he lives by and he will not tolerate trash-talk from anybody. 

One moment you’ll be passing by him in the hall, and the next he has you pinned to the nearest wall by your neck. 

“You know, words pass by quickly around the clergy.” He’ll warn, tightening his grip on your neck, “I know you are foul-tongued, little one. But I think I need a little reminder..” He gives you a piercing glare, “What have you been saying about me?” 

He makes you repeat all the stuff you’ve been saying about him, threatening your life if you left a word out. 

He doesn’t give a shit what you’ve said, he just wants to see you look more and more ashamed of yourself with each sentence you squeak out. 

Afterwards, he’ll pull back. “Pathetic, you’re all bark and no bite. Get on your fucking knees, beg for my forgiveness. You’re lucky this is just a warning.”

Papa III:

He’s more surprised than hurt or angry. People don’t usually say mean stuff about him, so this was kind of new to him. 

He won’t be mad, but he is interested in what you have to say about him. 

He probably won’t do anything about it either, since he knows he won’t be liked by everyone. 

But since you are a member of the clergy, he’s going to make sure you don’t talk shit again. 

He’ll tell his ghouls to give you a warning, which actually meant they were going to kick your ass. 

After getting your ass beat, he’ll approach your weak figure. 

His gloved hands cradle your face and he’ll start tutting, “Oh boohoo, you should know that spreading negativity is bad.” A smirk tugs at his features as he examines your injuries, “You know, I think there’s a lesson to be learned. Don’t you think?” You nod.

“Then apologize.” After apologizing, he’ll let you go with a warning. 

“The next time you spread lies, I’ll make sure no one sees you ever again.”

Cardinal Copia:

Sister Imperator would probably do the same thing she did for Papa Nihil, but she knows that Copia can handle himself. 

Next thing you know, a ghoul drugs you. 

You wake up tied to a table with a cage strapped to your stomach and a big rat underneath it. 

“I’m quite aware of the mean things you’ve been saying about me, (Y/n).” How he knew your name was a mystery. 

You freak out and realize what the outcome of this would be, immediately sputtering out a string of apologies. 

With the snap of his fingers, the rat slows its quick pace. 

Quickly, your apologies get louder and you start to pull against the restraints. You’re close to tears, begging him to make it stop, but it seems your fate has been sealed. 

“So you’re sorry?” 

“Yes!” 

“You promise to not do that again?” 

“Promise!” 

Then, there’s a moment of silence. 

To your surprise, he bursts out into laughter. 

“You think I give a shit about what you say about me?” He wipes a tear from his eye, “My rats can’t even hurt a fly, they’re pets for goodness’ sake!” Now you were just embarrassed. Taking another look at the rat, it really wasn’t doing anything. 

He’ll let you go and shake his head, “But really though, don’t be mean. No one likes a trash-talker.”

[herroyalhighnessqueenmomo]

Comic Strip (Peter Parker x Reader) Pt.1

Summary: You live in the real world as a journalist in New York. On the side, you'd love to be an actress but you've been struggling. You live with your best friend. One day you were in trouble and was all of a sudden saved by Spiderman. You think its just a guy in a costume but it's actually him. You end up having to go on an adventure of a lifetime to an alternate universe where comics actually exist.

Your alarm woke you up. You groaned getting up. You turned it off and went to the bathroom. You did the routine of using the bathroom and brushing your teeth. As soon as you finished you got dressed. You wore a white button down shirt, black dress pants, a black blazer, and black flats for now. Heels usually hurt your feet a lot so you only put them on when you got to work. You were currently a web intern at a magazine company. That meant you always had to look your best to impress. It was a very difficult job if you couldn't keep up. After your internship your goal was to become a print journalist. This meant you'd be writing a lot of articles and giving interviews. Being an unpaid intern is very difficult in New York while you were in college. Luckily your best friend was helping to support you. Both of you went to NYU. She was offered a side job in modeling that paid her well. Whenever she could she'd help you with anything you were behind on in your classes.

So far the both of you were pretty successful but you had to admit you lived a very stressful life with little to no time to relax.

You soon finished your nude glam makeup look. Afterwards you put on your accessories. You hated going out without proper accessories. You even had a motto. 'Accesorize or the outfit dies.' You soon exited your room and smelled coffee. You went to the kitchen to see your best friend Maia serve you some coffee in your traveling mug.

"Thanks." You said as you put creamer and sugar substitute. You stirred the mix with a spoon. Once you finished you put the cap on.

Maia then handed you a paper bag. "Whole grain banana nut muffin."

"I hope it tastes good still after it got tortured by whole grain." You stated.

She rolled her eyes. "As long as we're living together I'm not letting you eat trash. That's the deal remember? I support us and you eat healthier."

"Unfortunately. But my internship is almost over and I will get a job and then I will eat a Big Mac." You stated threateningly.

She shook her head in disappointment. "That's.not.food. that will kill you."

"At least I'll die happy."You stated and grabbed your set of apartment keys. You grabbed your coat and purse then walked out.

Maia would always try and get you to eat better. In a way you really appreciated her trying to take care of your well being but some of the stuff just didn't taste all that good. Maia did however try and do her best to make the food taste better because she knew you hated healthy food due to the lack of dazzling flavor. You actually were doing better with your food habits and you did feel better about yourself. Your hair and skin looked much better. You wouldn't admit it but you might try and stick to more healthy foods after your internship.

You got to the subway station and went on the train to the city. On the train you started eating your muffin. It actually tasted similar to a regular banana but muffin, which you were thankful for. You drank some coffee while you opened your issue of a Spiderman comic that was in your purse.

As surprising as it may seem to outsiders that a grown professional woman still read comic books, you didn't give a rat's ass. You loved reading them. Your two favorites were Deadpool and Spiderman. You had a huge crush on Tom Holland, the actor of Spiderman.

The train finally stopped at your station. You got out coffee in hand. You put your comic back and drank your coffee on the way to the building that you worked at. You had finally arrived and quickly got to working. You were writing down interview questions for the next guest your company would have. Personally you were hoping that your boss would let you be the one to interview them. By the time you finished and sent it to your boss she gave you a new task.

"Um, Ms. Elliot, this errand will clash with the time of the interview." You stated.

She had turned around with a toss of her dyed deep red hair. "I'm aware of that. What is the problem?" She gave you a blank stare.

Your confidence that you mustered up was quickly leaving your body. "Um, well I figured that since I have been working for this company for a while and I've been working really hard lately, I was hoping that I-"

"Come on spit it out. Time is being wasted."

"I was hoping that could be the one to do the interview." You finally finished with your heart in your throat.

She began to laugh. "Sweetheart, you're just the intern. You don't get to do interviews, you get the chance to get the hell out of here and do I what I asked while you still have a job."

"Sorry."

You ran off and out the building. Turns out you needed to pick up something from an address. You used the GPS on your phone. It led you to a conspicuous and cliche alley way. This made you very uncomfortable. All of a sudden a group of guys burst through a door and grab you. You let out the loudest scream you could. You weren't planning on going down without a fight. You kicked and screamed and ended up getting thrown on the floor. You hit your head pretty hard. You expected to be killed but for some reason the guys ended up getting thrown off of you. You looked to see a flash of red.

You watched the scene unravel in confusion. Your vision was a little blurry because of how hard by hit your head but the guys were getting tied up with what looked like webs from a spider. Your eyes traveled to a man dressed in a red suit. It was unmistakably the suit of Spiderman.

The man turned to you. "Hey, are you okay?" The voice was almost boyish. It sounded cute but familiar.

"I-I'm fine, um thanks. You're Spiderman?" You asked not fully gaining any form of understanding.

He nodded. "Yes, I am. This might sound weird, but you're going to have to come with me."

You scrunched up your brows in even more confusion. "I don't even know who you are."

"Yes you do, I am Spiderman. You just said so." He stated.

You shook your head. "Well, I meant you're dressed like him. You can't actually be Spiderman. Superheroes aren't real."

He sighed. "The doctor said this wouldn't be easy." He muttered. "Alright if I take off my mask and reveal my secret identity would you come with me?"

You looked at him as if he was either crazy or perhaps stupid. "What secret identity? Everyone knows that Spiderman's real name is Peter Parker."

He ran and shushed you. "Don't say it so loud."

"Say what so loud?" You really didn't understand what was wrong with him. "You're a comic book character. It's common knowledge!"

He was extremely silent. You groaned and pulled out your comic book and pointed at the cover. It was of Spiderman swinging from a building. He grabbed the comic book. Peter was scrambling through the pages frantically.

"Hey watch it! I just got that issue. You're gonna rip it." You warned him.

He looked up at you. "So you're telling me that I'm not real? I'm just a character? Dr. Strange didn't tell me much about you. He just said we needed you to fight Thanos."

You had a look of confusion. "How am I gonna fight him? I am powerless, I don't know how to fight, I'm not even smart enough to create tech." You reasoned.

"Well you are Y/N Y/L/N, right?" He asked you.

You gave a nod. "Even if you were the real Spiderman where would you take me?"

"Back to my world." He replied.

You scrunched your brows. "Take off your mask."

"But I-"

"If you take it off I'll go with you." You offered.

He hesitated but decided to reach for the top of his head and began pulling. As soon as you saw his face you almost fainted.

"You're Tom Holland."

He looked confused. "Tom who?"

"So this isn't a publicity stunt? You're actually spiderman?" You asked not believing it.

He nodded.

You squinted. "Fine, I'll go with you, but my best friend is coming with me."

You went to your apartment and called Maia. You told her it was an emergency. She came to the apartment as fast as possible. However,while you waited for her you began to pack yours and her bags.

"What's wrong? What's the emergency?" She asked as she entered the apartment. Her voice revealing her concern.

You pointed to Peter. Her eyes went over to him and confusion quickly made its way on her face.

"Why the hell is spiderman in our apartment?" She asked.

"Apparently he's taking us to his world to help him defeat Thanos." You answered.

"Is this a joke?"

"Nope."

She shook her head. "Well I'm not going anywhere with a complete stranger."

You turned to Peter. "Take off your mask."

As soon as he did Maia's jaw dropped. "Okay is this a dream? What's happening?"

"I don't have much time to explain. Dr. Strange is supposed to be opening up a portal soon we have to be able to leave." He replied putting his mask back on.

"Okay but I have to pack my bags." She said.

"Already did."

"You did?"

You nodded and handed her, her suitcase. All of a sudden the three of you see a spark in the we middle of the air that expanded into a circle. In the center of the circle you saw what you recognized was the building Dr. Strange usually was in. You and Maia exchanged glances of pure shock.

"Come on we don't have all day." You heard a voice say from the other side of the portal. You recognized that it was Dr. Strange's.

Peter walked in first. You and Maia were both nervous. You had your bags in one hand and each others hands in the other. The both f you counted to three and walked through.

As soon as you entered, the portal disappeared behind you two. The both of you looked around in astonishment until you were hit with a pounding headache.

"Strange what's happening to her?"Peter asked.

Dr. Strange walked up to you. His hands sparked up into round runes. "We had to bring her into this world because she is a mutant. Her genes were dormant in her world. She lived in a world where there are no powers. In this world her powers are one of the strongest. Everyone get down."

They all looked confused but got down Your headache was beginning to be too much. You let out a scream that took out the power in the building. Everything was getting thrown around. Your headache finally subsided and you passed out.

When you woke up you saw a paper lantern hovering over your head. You thought it was all a dream but now you had no idea where you were.