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ofillyria · 4 years ago

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I have been toying around with A LOT of WIP ideas recently and I’m not really sure where I want to focus my energy or which ones I want to add to my WIP list or make intros for. So I figured I’d make a masterlist of all of my ideas that I have a rough plot and character list for so y’all can peruse! If there’s one that jumps our at you, a few you like, or any that you have questions on please please flood my inbox! There’s no better way to get me jazzed about a WIP than to send me asks! I’m putting them under the cut since there’s so many!

NIGHT TWELVE: Vi crashes into enemy territory and is taken in by the army. She's given an assignment: win the heart of the wealthiest woman on the planet to procure war funding. But she's already fallen in love with her superior officer.

DAVID’S PEAK: In the small, Oregon town of David’s Peak people are being mysteriously abducted, and blame is placed on possessed park ranger Diane Atwood. She has a choice: prove herself innocent by finding the real culprit, or say goodbye to the friendly voice in her head.

YOUNG DEMONS: After failing her first spell Cecily Young swore off magic. Her power is building, brewing. The repressed magic is manifesting as a hurricane set to destroy Louisiana in a month's time. She must find a way to expel the magic in time, without tearing herself apart in the process.

THE GODLING TRILOGY: Lea is the firstborn child of Morpheus, making her the most powerful godling in a millennium. Which means she’s the perfect scapegoat for Zeus to send to do his dirty work. Including murdering the ancient being known as Nyx, who’s determined to plunge the modern world into eternal night.

BERSERKERS: Gal pals turned fearsome warriors. When the clique dons their fur coats they gain the strength of the animals they wear. It’s time for revenge on selfish exs, bigoted teachers, and abusive parents,. That is, if the consequences don’t catch up to them first.

THE BLITZKRIEG BREAKER: When Teddy’s clock repair shop becomes both the epicenter of a magical war and the London blitz, he is tasked with keeping a strange device out of the wrong hands. In a world filled with demon dogs, falling bombs, and a mysterious shapeshifting witch it’s hard to know which threat to focus on.

HELL’S EMPTY: Sometimes, the dead get restless. There are a few who manage to slip through the cracks and back into the world of the living. On autopilot, the soul takes the first available body and become a zombie. Over time the body, incompatible with its new soul, will begin to decay. Desperate to live, but falling apart, these creatures seek new fresh bodies to enter, even it means killing to get them. Luckily, hell, like any good business, has a lost prevention specialist. And she’s ready to go hunting.

WASTELANDERS: In a post apocalyptic wasteland, a team of two girls band together to fight to survive. When crossing the desert from ration station to ration station they encounter a man on the side of the road, he claims that his car was stolen with his young daughter inside. The two girls venture to find the lost girl in a no holds barred rescue mission through deadly dive bars, life or death road races, and russian roulette tournaments.

TRAGEDY ANNE: Anne, a bandit known for terrorizing the rich folks of Round Rock, caught wind of the local mine owner’s plan to blow out the dam. Even if it means washing out Round Rock in the process. Anne wants to save her hometown but no one will listen to a lying, cheating thief.

SOUL: SOLD: Six years ago Jac sold her soul to a demon so that she could say goodbye to her mother. But now her contract is up and she only has a week before she becomes a demon herself. The plan: find the family heirloom, use it to barter with the crossroads demon, and avoid damnation at all costs.

AMELIA BRIGHT PETSITTER TO THE ABSURDLY RICH: Amy loves her job: nice houses, free food, and cute puppies. But when she’s accused of stealing jewelry from a rich client everything falls apart and her reputation is destroyed. She has to prove her innocence. Hopefully, before the super hot CEO she’s dogsitting for returns from a business trip.

THE TEMPEST PROTOCOL: Mira’s mission is to study the defunct pleasure planet which orbits a black hole. But the mission is overturned when the owner of the planet returns and kidnaps Mira’s team. Mira has to rescue her crew before they are all swallowed by the looming void or murdered by the psychopathic resort owner.

THE ELECTRIC PIGHT - Winona is an archaeologist that studies the fallen society of the 21st century. When her brother returns home severely injured, she’s determined to use old world medicine to save his life even if she has to travel for days to find it. But the way to the city of old is guarded by militiamen, cannibals, and rabid dogs. Winona’s attempt to save her brother and prove her theories right might kill her first.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD - Bee has been demon of the month over nineteen thousand times. She’s assigned a meager corruption mission and saddled with a newbie demon. Now, she’s determined to prove to Satan that she doesn’t need a partner. She has to find a way to kill her ‘husband’ without it looking suspicious. All while corrupting the perfect 1950s suburbia around her.

HELL FIRED - When one of the groundskeepers for the underworld goes on maternity leave her coworker has to find a suitable replacement. So they set up a reality show competition and the last person standing wins the role of right hand man to Hades’ right hand man. Which is sort of an honor.

ARTEMIS AND APOLLO - Agent’s Artemis and Apollo have been working together for nearly twelve years. He’s the impulsive rogue and she’s the one who actually gets the job done. But now that she’s getting married he’s worried the agency will realize his incompetence. Instead of fighting it, he’s determined to make their final mission together the wildest ride possible.

FUN FUN AT THE BOARDWALK - Daniel works at the Santa Cruz boardwalk and knows for a fact it’s haunted. The giant stuffed animals have started to roam at night and recently, one tried to kill him. He has to round up a team to help him fight back but first, he has to make people believe him.

VIENNA - After being exposed to radiation from the sun an astronaut returns to earth to find that she is imbued with starlight. She’s recruited into an organization of mutants and tasked with rounding up others like her. But the more she uses her powers to render outside threats inert the more she risks burning out and turning herself into a black hole.

10 PERFECT DATES - Katherine Day’s website claims she can set up the most romantic date possible just for a small fee of $200. Rory, an investigative journalist, is determined to prove this offer a scam. So they buy 10 and ask Katherine to be the one to join them on these so-called ‘perfect’ dates. Rory thought this would be a disaster worth writing about, but the only problem is Katherine herself seems like the perfect person for Rory.

SOUL SEARCHING - A witch and her disembodied wife search for a body that can house the wife’s soul. The witch becomes a spiritual guide to people in comas, entering their minds and helping them through to the other side to open a space for the wife to have a body again.

CRITICALLY MISSED. After the death of David’s father he invites all of his childhood friends back to his childhood home for a reunion game of dungeons and dragons. When they start to fight they are interrupted as they are pulled into the game. The old friends are forced to fight off giant spiders, ogres, and long buried resentment. If they die in the game do they die in real life? And is an epic takedown worth risking your brother’s neck?

These ones don’t have titles yet so I’m just gonna give some comps so you get the vibe:

WES ANDERSON x THE HALF OF IT - Mindy’s life is going exactly how she wants. She has perfected her waffle recipe, a successful b&b, and no friends. But when her mom decides to get remarried Mindy is faced with the reality that the world goes on without her even when she constructs an eden for herself. So she enlists the help of a childhood friend to teach her how to deal with change.

STRANGER THINGS x PARANORMAN - Ryann drowned, and was resuscitated minutes after being declared dead. Now the kid sees ghosts: unmoving, unblinking figures staring at a singular location. Ryann must discover why the spirits are back and what it is they want that’s in the Courthouse.

TOMB RAIDER x UNCHARTED - The Bloodright Chalice is the last unrecovered piece of known treasure, and Kel is determined to find it. With the help of a tagalong history nerd, she must fight off mercenaries, navigate perilous terrain, and withstand the draw of a magical artifact.

KICKASS x DAREDEVIL - Kimberly Price is trying to be the hero her powers deserve, but her moral ambiguity keeps leading her off track. Upon discovering an underground crime ring, Kim discovers her big break and that the mob boss, a mutant like her, can break any bone in her body with his mind.

INCEPTION x ARRIVAL - Dr. Parson has been having dreams recently of waking up next to a woman who he doesn’t know and she claims to be his wife. His new research partner on the particle accelerator is revealed to be the very same woman he’s been dreaming of since the beginning of the project. He knows more about her than he should and it feels like an abuse of power, but he cannot help but fall in love, or rather stay in love. But how can he be honest when it would paint him as insane and ruin both his relationship with her and his plans for the project?

#writeblr #writers of tumblr #writblr #writing #allwip

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aweebwrites · 6 years ago

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Celestial Influence Pt3

(I'm sorry guys! I was sure as heck that I posted this already! I hate Tumblr... Anyway @vlanderzine here it is!)

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Pt1 of 2

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"I don't think that's the best idea Jay." Lloyd says, looking over his nunchucks he was showing him. "Have you forgotten about the radiation incident?" He asked him with an arched brow.

"Considering it was only two weeks ago and a huge portion of the Sea of Sand is still under quarantine… No." Jay says and Lloyd handed him back his nunchucks before standing. "But this is why you'd go back there to do it! Come on! Don't you want your own totally epic weapon?" He urged, standing with Lloyd.

"Yes, but not at the price of worsening the situation." Lloyd says, shooting him a look.

"But we don't know that for sure! I mean, I didn't go off creating EMPs when I created this baby!" Jay says with a grin, gripping both handles, his eyes started to glow as the lightning between the two bars began to glow brighter.

"Cool it Jay." Lloyd says, unphased by the lightning arching up and down his arms. "No lightning inside." He says and Jay settled again, placing a hand on his hip.

"But the answer is still no." He says before Jay could pester him still.

Jay watched him walk off with a huff.

Buzz kill.

He headed out to the training yard to watch Kai and Cole working out. Nya had taken Zane to Borg Tower to EMP proof him just in case. Jay frowned, remembering his episode. It was all forgiven but maybe Lloyd had a point. He should be more careful… He couldn't help but wonder however…

Which of the others would be next?

"Hey Jay!" He zones in on Kai who was smirking at him. "You, me, hand to hand combat. What do you say?" He questions and Jay smirked.

"Oh you're on!" He grinned, walking over.

"This is an opportune moment to see just how much your new abilities have changed your fighting skills." Wu says and Jay looked across to see him seated, pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Alright. Let's see what you've got." Jay says, taking a defensive pose across from Kai as Cole walked over and sat next to their Sensei.

"Do you really think Jay's fighting style changed? I mean, our fighting styles haven't changed since we unlocked our true potentials so long ago. Sure the lava arms changed mine but…" Cole trailed off, considering the possibilities.

Wu was quiet for a while.

"I will not lie to you. The powers you are all unlocking is beyond anything I thought you six could achieve." He says quietly and Cole looked at him surprised. "It is at an intensity that rivals my father's, a feat I once thought only Lloyd could achieve. Jay utilized creation on his own and created his nunchucks. Just that weapon holds power equivalent, perhaps even greater, than the Golden Nunchucks of Lightning." Wu continued and Cole gasped in shock.

"But- but how?! Isn't the First Spinjitzu Master the most powerful person in like… Ever? He made those. Jay, Lloyd. They can't be that powerful…" He says then looked down in thought. "Can they?" He asked in a whisper.

"My father is not the strongest being in the 16 realms. There is always opportunity for there to be others." Wu told him then looked to his two students who were sparring together. "See for yourself." He gestured before them and Cole looked up, watching in amazement as Jay blocked every blow Kai tried to land.

Jay on the other hand, was amazed. It was as if Kai was moving in slow motion! He watched as Kai's foot slowly came up towards his head, then grinned. He grabbed his ankle once it was close enough and pushed him back, snickering as he fell over.

"You can't win Kai. You're moving in slow motion to me!" Jay says as he rested his hands on his hips, watching as a frustrated Kai got up.

"Yeah?" Kai says then yelled as he suddenly sent a fireball at Jay.

Those were a lot faster than Kai. Jay quickly side stepped it- but blinked once he was suddenly a lot farther than he intended.

"Woah! How did you move so fast?!" Cole blurted and Jay looked at him surprised.

"I did?" He whispered then looked down at his hands then his feet. "Kai, shoot at me again!" He told him and Kai ignited flames into his palms with a smirk.

"Gladly." He says then grunted as he sent a barrage of fireballs at Jay.

He saw them at the same slower speed and side stepped, watching as lightning arched along his legs, carrying him far more quickly than normal. Not as fast as Griffin but pretty fast! He grinned.

This is so cool!

"Ha! I'm practically invincible!" Jay yelled, skidding to a stop once Kai finally stopped shooting fire at him.

"Do not get overconfident Jay." Wu says, gaining his attention. "You may have great power but that certainly does not make you invincible." He warns and Jay nodded.

"Right. Forgive me Sensei." Jay says with a bow.

Just to be an asshole, Kai threw a fireball his way but Jay saw it coming and disappeared in a flash of light. Another flash came a second later along with a huge crash of thunder that startled them, all of them looking at the other side of the Monastery that held a scorch mark exactly where Jay was now standing. He then looked down at his hands, wide eyed.

"Nice! Teleportation!" Jay grinned, excitedly.

Kai shook his head but couldn't help but feel a little envious.

"I wanna says I can't wait to get mine but… I'm not too sure about that." Kai says, resting a hand on his hip as she straightened.

"Me and you both." Cole agrees.

"Hey, it isn't all that bad! I mean, sure that EMP took out power Ninjago wide and the area within 50 klicks of the Anacondrai tomb will suffer from radiation for centuries to come but-" Jay paused as Kai and Cole rose a brow at him. "Ok… So maybe you guys have a point…" He says sheepishly.

"With great power comes great responsibility, my students. You are learning this now." Wu spoke up, gaining their attention. "All of you unlocking this new power is inevitable but what happens during is up to the support you give each other." He stood then, accepting Cole's help.

"I must leave soon to journey." He says, surprising his students.

"Journey? To where? Why?" Kai asked with a frown, confused.

Why would he want to leave at such a time for them? They were literally all ticking timebombs and they could go off at any time!

"Uh Sensei, I'm not sure that's the best idea." Jay says warily.

"Yeah Sensei! You can't leave now! Things are hectic as is!" Cole protested.

"It's a journey I must make and make alone." Wu says calmly and patiently in the face of his students' panic. "This journey is the only means of finding out what is happening to your powers." He told them, spotting the lightning that arched along the glowing blue lock of Jay's hair.

"... And your bodies." He added as an afterthought then turned to the Monastery. "I will not always be here to guide you all. You must all come to realise that soon. For now, my journey is inevitable. All you need is to put faith in each other." He says then headed in.

All three ninja looked at each other.

"... Not like we have a choice." Kai sighed.

Yeah, something told Cole this will end badly.

_______________________

"Wait, what?"

"I'm not too sure about that idea…"

"That does not sound like a wise decision." Nya, Lloyd and Zane says after the other half of the team told them the news of Wu's journey to come.

Lloyd had taken a nap so they hadn't had the chance to tell him before hand.

"Don't worry, we were thinking the same thing." Kai says from his place slouched against the couch.

"Sensei has a point through." Zane pointed out.

"What? That leaving us on our own when we're nothing more than ticking timebombs is a good lesson?" Jay scoffed.

"Think logically. We don't know for sure if this is where our power growth ends. This could be the beginning of something more. Something…" Zane paused, meeting his friends' eyes. "Something far worse. The information Sensei would receive is vital. It will allow us to know what to expect." He pointed out and they all paused to consider.

"... Zane makes a solid point." Cole spoke up. "Maybe we can even get a sneak peak of why we're even getting new powers. Like, we only get upgrades to defeat an enemy. What's coming that's so powerful, we need powers this intense?" He says, frowning now.

"You're scaring me, not gonna lie." Jay says with a nervous laugh.

"We don't know that for sure though." Lloyd spoke up. "We'll look out for each other until Sensei gets back. It's not like Sensei is the one to get things to calm down to begin with. We'll be fine." He reassured and they nodded at each other.

With that in mind, they waved their Sensei off later on as he went on his special journey. They closed the Monastery gates soon after then looked to each other.

"Now what?" Kai asked them.

"Video games?" Lloyd suggested and they grinned.

"Video games!" They yelled, racing inside.

Wu glanced up once he heard their combined yell then continued the path down the mountain, shaking his head. Video games. He held his head up again. He only prays where he goes, they will have the answers.

__________________

The Ninja groaned as the alarm went off at 5 am the next day but pushed themselves out of bed.

"Hurry up! Let's go!" Lloyd yelled as they stumbled around, grabbing their weapons and sliding on their gi.

They rushed out to the balcony and Nya took the wheel steering them towards an isolated village not too far out.

"What's the situation?" Kai asked as Jay got started in coffee.

"There are reports of a raid in progress at Dornon Village. Several children and women are said to be held hostage." Zane reported, reviewing the message sent and tracking the phone to make sure it wasn't a trap.

They've received several alerts like this that ended up to be a trap for them after all. They still went but made plans that prevented them from being jumped. This one seemed like the real deal.

"That's sick." Jay says in disgust.

"How long until we get there?" Lloyd asked, walking towards the edge of the ship.

"ETA 5 minutes." Zane told them and Lloyd nodded once, eyes narrowed at the land before him.

His eyes flashed as he gripped the railing if the Bounty, angry. Those kids don't deserve to be scarred like they no doubt are being right now. He'll stop those monsters.

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Arriving at the village like they did, things were… Eerily calm. Not a soul was out and about. Before they could even disembark the Bounty, roped spears shot out, shooting into the hull of the ship, the heads spreading inside the ship and hooking into the ship as the bandits made their presence know, yelling as they began pulling the ship down with their machines, laughing as they climbed up the ropes.

"I can't fly us free!" Nya yelled as she struggled to pilot the Bounty away.

"We've got company! Lots of it!" Kai yelled, looking overboard at the swarm of bandits climbing up the ropes.

"Crap." Cole says, gripping his hammer tightly.

"Lloyd? Jay?" Zane says warily, gaining the others' attention.

The too stood on opposite sides of the ship but they were both ominously quiet, heads hung low. Jay lifted his head then, eyes glowing as lightning began to spark and dance around him, his feet lifting off the ground as his hair went up, glowing blue. Lloyd lifted his head too, eyed glowing green as smoky energy flowed from the corners. Green, smoky energy billowed off of him as his hair raised, the ends taking on that glowing green colour as well. The patterns crawled up their necks, swirling at their cheeks at the same time, Lloyd's horns protruding from his forehead yet again.

They watched with a cross of horror and awe as a ball of glowing green appeared before Lloyd. He ripped his hands in, molding and crafting that green energy into a sword, one made of gold with green swirls and patterns he held firm right after.

"Leave this to us." Lloyd says in that same echoing voice before both jay virtually disappeared, responding on the ground with a loud crash of thunder, startling the bandits on the ground.

They charged at Jay who only spun his nunchucks, watching them get closer. He then struck the ground with it, sending a huge pulse of electricity through the ground that stood itself at the beginning of the village itself, successfully knocking several unconscious while stunning the rest. Lloyd on the other hand flicked his fingers at the ones who make it on deck, leaving them floating off into the air helplessly. Once he was sure that was all, he floated off deck, gathering them all in a mid air ball. He looked at the tip of his sword then touched the ground and floated towards Jay, unloaded by the large tree that suddenly erupted from the ground, the branches from the rapidly growing, ancient looking tree, locking them in a natural prison.

He then lifted his head, looking towards the village.

"There are more inside. The people are at risk." He says, to Jay, both of them touching down on the ground now, powers still active.

"I have a plan." Jay smirks and walked off, Lloyd following behind him.

Their friends stood there at the edge of the Bounty, mouths opened in shock and awe.

"Should… Should we ah… Stop them?" Cole asked after a moment to recover from pure shock.

"... Uh. It appears they are in control of their powers. Lloyd hasn't emitted a single trace of radiation and that was a very controlled electrical surge Jay put out." Zane says after a moment, replaying the scene to confirm. "They do in fact have the situation handled." He says, in awe of their extreme power levels.

"Then it looks like it's up to us to clean up." Nya says, leaning over the balcony, at the bandits who were down and out for the count.

"Might as well get started. We have our work cut out for us." Cole sighed then moved to disembark.

Kai looked at the bandits then towards the village when an electrifying green flare of light caught his attention. He frowned.

They have it handled, huh?

_________

"I'm surprised you haven't bragged once Jay." Cole says as they made their way back from the village, several police cars coming in to take the bandits off their hands.

"I wouldn't think it's something to brag about. I wanna talk about it, sure but that could trigger one of you and I'm not too sure we're ready to handle that yet." Jay shrugged, leaning against the side of the Bounty.

"Oh come on. It's fine. At least tell me what it's like?" Kai urged, wanting to know.

"Yeah, come on. I'm curious." Nya agrees from the steering wheel.

"We can handle it." Cole pitched in.

"I am rather curious about the experience." Zane admitted and Jay glanced at Lloyd who shrugged.

"Alright I guess." He gave in and Nya set the ship to autopilot as they gathered around. "It's hard to explain but the Bounty being attacked so suddenly kinda kicked something into gear." Jay began.

"Kinda like a fight or flight response but like, with our powers." Lloyd pitched in. "I feel it. The energy, the power, deep inside. It felt anxious and insistent. Like it wanted me to use it. I was curious and kinda… Reached for it. Then it just spread out all over!" He grinned, gesturing with his hands.

"Yeah! It kinda felt like when we unlocked our true potentials that first time. I could feel the power all over. I feel super strong, super fast, super everything!" Jay grinned. "And even cooler, it felt like Lloyd and I were connected somehow!"

"Yeah! It was… Crazy. But… Ever better… I think I know how to use it at will now." Lloyd says, watching as he clenched his own fist, a flare of green energy briefly passing over him. "Only, I'm not too sure what else it can do. The telekinesis is cool though." He says, allowing his eyes and hand to glow green as he lifted the team off the Bounty, all of them releasing surprised sounds before he set them down.

"The sword is nice too." Jay grinned, gesturing to say weapon Lloyd still held.

"Yeah. It is." He says, holding it up and stroking his hand against the back of it.

"Oh. We're here." Nya says, noticing the Monastery coming into view.

"Nice. I can continue that game from last night." Jay says, all but bouncing in place.

"Do you think of anything else but games?" Cole says with a roll if his eyes and just like that, both of them began to bicker.

Kai watched them in silence.

'I felt it, the energy, the power…'

He shook his head then took a deep breath, releasing it moments after. He shouldn't be thinking like this. With great power comes great responsibility. It's a good thing he doesn't have it right now. It's just… He clenched his fist as he disembarked with the others. He felt really useless back there, not even lifting a finger like he had. The police showed up before he could even touch a bandit.

He hated feeling useless.

__________

"Lemme get that for you." Kai says, opening the door to the next room for Nya.

She rose a brow at him.

"Kai, are you alright? I mean, I don't mind how suddenly helpful you are around the Monastery but it's concerning." She says with a frown.

"I was starting to wonder if I was going to be the one to point it out." Jay says from the couch, playing videogames with Cole. "I mean, don't get us wrong Kai. It's awesome that you pitch in more than usual. But considering everything that's going on with us…" He says, glancing over at them as he played still.

"Do you wanna, you know, talk?" Cole asked, glancing away from the screen momentarily.

"What? No. Everything good. I just feel like helping out is all." Kai lied, plastering a grin on his face.

"I've never heard a bigger lie." Lloyd says unimpressed and the others looked at him surprised.

They would have believed Kai if Lloyd hadn't said anything.

"Yeah. Be honest with us. Or at least one of us." Jay says playing one handedly as he focused on Kai. "If you just need to ah… Blow off some steam, I know a few deserts and unpopulated mountains you could check out." He shrugged with one shoulder.

Kai clenched his fist as he looked down.

"What does it matter? I should- I know I shouldn't. But I… I…" He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, making everyone stand and sit a bit straighter.

They had thought of something like one of them unlocking their new powers here. It's why all their valuables and most of their belongings were on the Bounty and the ship itself was always in standby and ready to leave at all times. The Monastery didn't have the best rep for staying built after all.

"Ninjago would probably- most definitely be better off if I didn't have powers like yours but… But I…" Sparks began to flare from his fists as the temperature increased and they all stood sharp, on alert. "I…"

"Go. Now." Lloyd ordered Nya, Cole and Zane who looked at them wide eyed.

"But what about you guys?!" Cole protested standing firm.

"We'll be fine! Go, now!" Jay snapped at them and his serious tone had them hurrying out without further question.

Kai opened his eyes then, revealing glowing pools of orange red as he sneered.

"I hate feeling useless." Was all he said before it all went to hell.

In the literal sense.

A huge explosion went off, as if the mountain itself erupted, throwing the quickly retreating Bounty through the air, almost throwing the screaming ninja off the ship.

"Ugh! Gotta! Keep her steady!" Nya yelled, gripping the wheel still from where she was trying not to be flung off the ship.

She gripped the wheel tighter then used it as leverage to get her feet back on the ground then pulled it up as hard as she could as the ship took a sharp nose dive.

"Come on, come on!" She yelled as the ground rushed up towards them rapidly.

Almost! Almost! She yelled as the ship finally managed to change directions, the bottom barely skimming the ground. She panted as she got it to a safe altitude then looked back at the others.

"Are you two alright?" She asked them from where they were, still clinging to the railing and equipment.

"We are unharmed for the most part." Zane spoke after a while as Nya wiped sweat away from the struggle to right the ship and the wave of heat hitting them.

"... I might need clean gi." Cole says, still clinging to the railing and Nya huffed out a laugh.

"Guys…" Zane says as he moved towards the back of the ship.

Cole and Nya shared a look then followed. They gasped at the sight awaited them.

The Monastery was no longer there. In fact, half the mountain wasn't there. And what remains was covered in lava, the bright red liquid still visible from their distance. One of the most striking things was the sun directly behind the mountain.

It was red.

Worry struck Nya then, watching it unfold as she… As she just ran. She grits her teeth together as she stood there.

"... We should send out a warning to keep everyone from panicking." Zane whispered and they nodded.

On the mountain itself, Jay and Lloyd floated, the shields that threw themselves up on their behalfs dropping as they beheld the destruction, fully powered up. There goes the Monastery.

Again.

They looked up and there floated Kai, his hair glowing bright orange that transitioned to red at the ends. Red swirls curled around his cheeks, looking like a narrow flame had curled up and nestled there. The heat he threw off was intense and while both green and blue ninja could sense that, the heat didn't bother them very much.

"We have to stop him before all of becomes a floating lake of lava." Jay says as the red sun pelted the lands, the area around the mountain becoming black as trees began to quickly burn away.

"He says he doesn't like feeling useless. We know where to start." Lloyd says, glancing across at him and Jay nodded before they floated higher to face their friend, lost in the power like Jay first was. "You aren't useless Kai and you know that." He began and Jay nods.

"Yeah! The team would be nothing without you! You guys always do so much for us. We were just returned the favour is all." Jay picked up and Kai looked to them.

"I hardly do anything. I should have. The only reason you could tell something was off is because I'm not usually helpful!" He yelled towards the end, the heat energy he put off, pushing them back a bit.

"That's crap!" Lloyd cut in, startling the fire elemental. "You always help out, no matter what. Sure you don't open doors for us when our hands are empty and we're uninjured but you are there for us and that's all that matters!"

"Besides!" Jay picked up, both of them getting close again. "The only reason we knew you were lying is because of these powers. It's hard to explain but you'll figure it out now. You're like us now. You have power and you're gonna totally rock with it!" Jay says cheerfully and Kai looked between the two.

He smiled at them.

"Language." He says to Lloyd before his eyes fell shut.

Jay and Lloyd anticipated that, catching him as the effects of his power disappeared. The sun returned to its normal yellow colour and returned to its place in the middle of the sky as the lava settled, starting to cool on its own. That won't be going anywhere and neither will the scorched land around the mountain. Both Lloyd and Jay looked down at Kai, at the red orange glowing streak of hair in his bangs.

"Heh." Jay huffed with a bright smile.

"Welcome to the team." Lloyd says with a small smile.

"I'll get us to the others. Don't let him go." Jay says and Lloyd nodded.

They vanished in a flash of light.

____________

"Considering that the sun is back to normal, I'd say the others were successful." Zane says as they looked up from the Bounty a few miles away from where the Monastery was.

"Good." Nya sighed but frowned as she looked down.

She always runs. He hated running. She wanted to be there for her brother. After everything they've been through, she wanted to be a strong support, not- not sand that runs away the moment you touch it. It was why she became the Samurai, it was why she embraced being a ninja. For them.

For him.

They all jolted when a huge flash of light flared then the loud clap of thunder sounded. They quickly looked around and there stood Jay and Lloyd.

"Kai!" Nya yelled, rushing over to her unconscious brother.

"He'll be fine. He should wake up in a few minutes." Jay says as she fret over him.

"I'll take him to bed." Lloyd says and Kai floated on his back, following after Lloyd and Nya followed behind, fretting over him still.

"So. How'd you do it?" Cole asked, intrigued now that the panic was over.

"Turns out Kai doesn't like feeling useless. It only took Lloyd saying 'crap' and some reassurances." Jay shrugged then looked serious. "But I think I know what sets off the transformations." He says and Zane nodded, coming to the same conclusion by what Jay had just said.

"Doubts. Doubts are the key." Zane says and Cole looked at him confused. "For Jay, we unintentionally made him feel insecure about his powers, for Lloyd, he doubted his place amongst us and now for Kai, he doubted his worth." He explained but Jay shook his head.

"Not exactly." He says lightly, cinfusint both ice and earth elementals. "Power-lust is the key." Jay says simply and they continued to look at him confused.

"Yeah I felt insecure about my powers but more than anything, I wanted to be powerful, to be recognised. Lloyd wanted power so he could feel like one of us again and Kai wanted power to feel useful." He explained and Zane nodded, thinking this through.

"Resolving or soothing the doubts that come with it is what stops the whole episode." Jay shrugged.

He wasn't the one who has gone through the experience. He's better off listening to Jay.

"It's kinda ridiculous when you think of it but a wise teacher once said: friendship is magic." Jay says seriously and both Zane and Cole looked at him blankly.

"On the positive side, we can have controlled episodes. Meaning controlled locations." Zane says after a moment and Jay nods.

"And since Lloyd and I are pretty much immune to the effects, so is Kai. Which means we can be in the midst of the more… Effective ones. Like your winter effect." Jay says, gesturing to Zane as Cole listened in, absorbing the information.

"... So basically we're gonna intentionally trigger the changes?" Cole asked them and they looked to him.

"Yes. But I think it's best to give everyone a break. No doubt people are panicking as we speak." Zane says and they nodded.

"Cool… Can I go first?" Cole asked eagerly and they laughed, Jay returning to normal during.

Meanwhile, Nya stroked Kai's hair as he laid there on the bed. The stream of glowing red orange was very hot to the touch. She made sure to avoid it. Lloyd watched her carefully, having a feeling she would be next. Maybe sooner than he thinks. They should go somewhere isolated and soon. But first…

"He wouldn't have wanted you to there. You would have gotten hurt." He spoke and Nya frowned.

"I know… Doesn't stop me from wishing I could have done more than run away." She whispered, stroking his hair still.

Lloyd watched her for a second longer before heading up.

"Zane, set sail. Somewhere close to water and isolated preferably." He says the moment he was on deck.

"What's going on?" Cole asked as he watched Zane move to do so.

"I have a feeling Nya will be next. Soon." Was all Lloyd says and Zane put the ship in full gear.

"Why close to water though?" Jay asked, confused.

"Our powers aren't soft core in the slightest. We're already in a close enough spot where the Endless Sea can be affected and something tells me she won't just make a flood…" Lloyd says as he looked ahead. "The water might just come to her..." He whispered.

Back in their onboard room, Nya doubted. It was all out of her hands. She knew that. She knew. But… But… She looked down sadly, hand stilling in Kai's hair. She just wished… She was strong like the others. She could have been there than run away.

"Ugh…" She looked up once the sound escaped Kai.

"Kai!" She says relieved as he blinked his eyes open.

"Oh. Hey sis." He says, looking across at her then smiling.

Tears filled Nya's eyes, alarming Kai.

"Woah, what's wrong?" He asked, sitting up to hug her.

"I should have been there!" She says, shaking her head.

"What? No. You couldn't have! Leaving was the best thing or else i would have hurt you!" Kai defended as tears fell down her cheeks.

"If I wasn't so weak! If I were stronger! I- I could have been!" She hiccuped.

"Nya-" Kai cut himself off, noticing something floating in front of him.

A closer look revealed it to be a drop of water.

"What…" He whispered then looked back to Nya, noticing water droplets forming around her.

Oh.

Oh shit.

"Ny-"

"I hate running!" She yelled, cutting him off as her eyes glowed blue.

"Oh crap." Kai whispered before the entire room was engulfed in water, filling up the ship from the inside.

The ship lurched from the sudden weight of the water and began to quickly drop from the sky, water pouring endlessly from the opened windows and began pouring it's way on deck.

"Oh no!" Zane yelled, trying to stabilize how fast they were plummeting.

"I'll land the ship! Jay, go check on Kai!" Lloyd instructed, his eyes glowing as he called forth his telekinesis, allowing the green glow of his power to wrap around the ship. "Here we go." He breathed out then grunted as he began to slow the ship.

Jay dove into the water, using his powers to travel through it rapidly, finding them in no time. Kai's glow was distinct as was Nya's. Could they talk under water? Or breathe? He opened his mouth to try- only to immediately choke. He used his current to escape through the window, floating im place as he cough, taking in deep breaths.

"Ok. Breathing water is a no." He wheezed then held his breath and shot back in.

Kai watched helplessly as Nya floated amidst the water, the swirls her cheeks held glowing as her hair did with different shades of blue. The roots of her hair was a far darker blue than the near transparent tips of her hair as she floated there. The ship jerked a little once it hit solid ground and he watched as she streamed through the small window like water itself. He tried to go out after her but didn't have that capacity. He looked around then closed his eyes and focused his head. The water began rapidly boiling around him, leaving nothing left but steam.

"Nya!" He yelled now that the water was all gone, rushing out onto the deck.

Already he could see Lloyd and Jay on scene, trying to get to her from atop the swirling pillar of water she floated above. He looked down at his hands, at the back of them that held the same glowing swirls of his cheeks then clenched his hands. He jumped over the deck, flew his way over.

"Nya!" He yelled out to her, Jay and Lloyd giving her way.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled and Kai shook his head.

"No! You have nothing to be sorry for!" Kai yelled back over the roaring sounds of water. "Nya you're already the best sister I could ask for! You had to go then! I would have hurt you!" He yelled, trying to let her see reason.

"Because I was weak! I'm always weak!" She yelled, closing her eyes and looking away.

"Uh g-guys…" Cole says and they looked down at him then looked towards the sea a few clicks away.

They all paled, seeing the height of the sea moving towards land. A tsunami. An absolutely massive one.

"... What are the chances of that hitting New Ninjago City?" Lloyd says after a moment.

"Going by the width and height of the wave, it's guaranteed to not only hit the city, but to put the entire city underwater." Zane reported, backing away a little in fear. "If unstopped, more than New Ninjago City will be underwater."

"We have to stop it." Kai whispered as He watched the rapidly approaching wave.

"We'll deal with New Ninjago City, you help Nya." Lloyd says, grabbing Jay's arm and without prompting, they disappeared in a flash of light.

"Please hurry! Nindroids sink and Coles can't swim in tsunamis!" Cole yelled, holding onto Zane terrified.

Running would be pointless and frankly, he felt safer closer to his overpowered friends who could save their lives.

"Nya! Listen to me!" Kai says, floating over and taking her cheeks in hand. "You are strong! It takes strength to become Samurai X, to become the water Ninja. Especially to know your weaknesses! You can't change the past but the future is different! Look at you! You have power too! You're strong too!" He yelled and she blinked at him.

"I've been nothing but a burden. You should be angry, agreeing! Why- Why-?" She says, getting choked up.

"You aren't a burden but isn't it obvious?" Kai asked softly, a small smile on his face as she looked at him confused, her glowing tears floating around them.

"I had fun being your friend pal!" Cole yelled, watching the waves, less than 5 km away now.

"And I, you!" Zane yelled before they hugged each other tight, knowing the impact would hurt.

Zane made a mental countdown.

6, 5, 4, 3, 2…

He squeezed his eyes shut.

_______________

Pt2

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bloodyshadow1 · 7 years ago

Text

Blood of the Covenant

After the Hunger is defeated, Lucretia has only one last task to complete. One last act to make up for the things she’s done, both to the world and to her family.

It’s rushed and unedited since I wanted to get it out before the last episode airs since I can’t upload it at work. Will be cross posted on archive later, but I don’t have time to format everything. Warning for suicide, dark thoughts, and language. Adventure zone spoilers obviously. Bout a 4500 word read if your interested

It was over, it was finally over. Over a hundred years had passed since that day they left their own world. It had been far from an easy journey, the seven of them had all died more times than they could remember, suffered more hardships than any other beings in a hundred universes could have faced, but it was over.

Lucretia just stared out at the remains of the ruins of the Bureau of Balance headquarters in disbelief, her home. The massive ship that had once looked like a second moon had crashed to the earth during the battle. It had been an intentional maneuver to help destroy the Hunger and had paid dividends in the end, but still, for the former leader of the Bureau of Balance it was hard to see home for more than a decade destroyed. It had never felt the same as the Starblaster, but it had been safe and it had allowed her to do what she thought needed to be done. It turns out that it wasn’t her spell though, the one that would cut off the world from Hunger as well as anything else, was needed, but instead faith in her friends, her family.

The Hunger, John Merle insisted, was gone, not quite dead since it was an abomination of anti-life, but gone, gone for good. They had defeated it, the seven of them along with their friends and allies, they had done what no one would have thought they could do and won the game of cat and mouse. But they did, they beat the Hunger, it was an epic battle combining strength of arms, arcane brilliance, and willful words and that will all that will be spoken of that. After all what matters is that the Hunger was gone, all the different worlds it absorbed have been restored and Lup finally defeated her archenemy Greg Grimaldis and liberated her $15, so why go on about a battle that was over.

Still, in trying to stop John, Lucretia knew she had done unforgivable things to her family, stripping away their memories, tearing apart their bonds, placing them in dangers for reasons they didn’t know because she made them forget…, in the end it amounted to nothing. She knew that what she had done to Taako and Lup, what she had done to Davenport…what she had done to the three of them was the worst of it. Perhaps if her spell did work to defeat the Hunger than she could at least justify her actions, but no, it turned out that much like the Grand Relics her Bulwark Spell was unneeded. All that was required was faith in your bonds, three surprisingly competent goofballs, and a whole lot of luck to defeat the devourer of worlds.

But now wasn’t a time to look back now was a time to move forward, and for Lucretia that meant making things right. While everyone else celebrated and embraced over their joy of being alive the former director sifted through the remains of her office searching for something important.

Normally, she wouldn’t risk scavenging a ruin like the Bureau of Balance Headquarters, it looked like the whole thing was going to collapse any minute, not with her few remaining hit points at least. Luckily for Lucretia though low hit points weren’t something that concerned her at the moment. Also lucky for her, her office was whole for the most part though a mess. If she had the time to think she would have made a note that it would definitely need a thorough cleaning if it was to ever be used again. But Lucretia knew that it would never be used again, at least not by her. After a few minutes of scrounging she found what she was looking for, a small white oak box with silver trimmings and a platinum lock. She knew it would survive even the apocalypse with the amount of money she spent on it, it was something even Garfield couldn’t get his hands on for her, she had to go elsewhere. Other than the strength of the wood and metal protecting what was inside Lucretia cast numerous powerful nonlethal spells upon it that would spring and trap whoever tried to open the box without permission. As of now there were only four beings in the world, in all worlds that could open this box, save for Lucretia: Merle, Magnus, Taako, and of course Davenport. If she had ever found them she would have added Barry and Lup to the list as well, but the point was moot seeing as the box was a contingency for if Lucretia had died before she had a chance to make things right. But now since she survived the apocalypse the contingency part was no longer needed and she could finish things herself.

She opens the lock easily, it popped open as soon as her fingers touched it and opened the chest to reveal its bounty. Inside were a neat stack of letters bound in twine two small black diamonds, and a dagger with seven birds on the hilt. The second diamond had been the most recent addition to the chest, once the need for other seekers had proven pointless she had suddenly forced to deal with a surge of new regulators. After all, just because the former seekers were unable to do their duties didn’t mean that they had to be unemployed, or that Lucretia could allow them to run around freely with all the Bureau’s secrets. If she had they might have used their skills, they acquired under her employment and sought the relics out without her being able to keep an eye on them. That left Killian, Carey, and NO-3113 time to take care of a special project for her, which lead to the creation of the second diamond.

The letters were the oldest of the items in the chest, at least at first they were. Originally there were six letters, one for each member of her family, she hoped against all hope that once everything was over the other six members of the IPRE would all be alive and reunited with each other. Each letter held a brief explanation for why she did what she did for the good of the world and an apology. The explanation was the same in all of them, she didn’t want to highroad herself, she was wrong and even if it was for the greater good what she did to her family was still evil and could never be forgiven. The apologies were each unique though just that she was sorry for what she did and that she had to make sure that they knew, even if they didn’t forgive her. She put those letters in the chest over ten years ago, thinking it would all be over in a matter of months, but it didn’t. Try as she might the years stretched on and on and as the years grew so did the letters left in the box.

Originally when she realized she couldn’t gather the relics alone she tried to remain detached to her employees, establishing early on the lines between employer and employee. But even as she wore the mask of Madame Director she couldn’t stop being Lucretia underneath it all, the scribe who spent a century on a ship that was powered by bonds, with six people she loved more than anyone else in the world. Such a thing changes a person, makes them crave the closeness and joy they get from even a small smile on the face of someone they care about. It forever left her unable to become distant and cold towards people on the inside at least. There were letters for Carey and Killian who had become practically her left and right hands as time passed, for sweet Avi and poor Johann, for Patrilda who could fry anything and did so with a smile on her face, a letter for Robbie more of an apology for locking him up for something he didn’t have control over, for Leon who despite whatever the boys put him through remained loyal to the B.O.B.’s ideals which was more than could be said for Garfield, the traitor. There were even letters for the dead and the damned, to Magic Brian (Lucretia had seen the writing on the wall with that one and wondered if it was the drow’s similarities to Taako and Lup that made her believe he could be trusted), poor Leman who deserved more than to be another notch on a serial killer’s belt, to Captain Captain Bane a good man who she put in harm’s way like so many others. She knew she should have taken the letters addressed to the dead but just the first attempt had torn her heart out so much that Lucretia had surfaced and reflected on all the bad the Director had caused.

“Huh, funny enough I thought I’d find you here,” a familiar voice that was equal parts arrogant, ridiculous, and endearing broke through the silence of her office. “The world’s saved, all worlds really thanks to us, mostly me, Magnus, and Merle, but I mean all of us did something,” Taako said checking his fingernails trying to appear super casual, despite the fact that Lucretia’s back was turned. “We’re hurt and exhausted, I’m almost out of spell slots even the ones I got back after we drank Baby Fisher’s stink water, but for the first time in over ten years the seven of us are together and we’re all still alive. Well not Barold or my twin sister who I just remembered a few hours ago, thanks for that,” he added venomously. “They’re you know…, sort of dead sort of alive,” he added losing himself in his tangent, “is gonna make things really awkward when the BF comes around. But like I was saying the seven of us still alive after defeating the thing that’s been chasing us for over a hundred years, destroyed our home dimension, and killed us all several times, we should all be celebrating or at least relaxing, so imagine our surprise when our local introvert on board wasn’t around,” he said sarcastically. They all knew she wasn’t one for large gatherings, and after all she had done they knew she wasn’t exactly excited to face them or anyone again.

“So we all split up to find her, you know for different reasons some of us,” he emphasized by tapping the The KrEpStAr against his shoulder ominously. Lucretia’s Staff, the Bulwark Staff had been left dead and barren after she used her spell to seal the Hunger away for good, she still had a cheap wand, more fit for the hand of Angus McDonald than her own, but she knew she wouldn’t need it. Her dagger would suffice for what happened next.

“Barold went with Magnus seeing as they’re more neutral and forgiving side of things. Lups around her somewhere, but I left her behind, she’s not really used to being in a fleshbag again. Rude, I know but I wanted a few moments alone with you before she could interrupt. After all she’d be all like, ‘Taako don’t be an idiot, you can’t kill or maim Lucy, she did what she thought was right and didn’t mean to hurt anyone,’ and I don’t feel like being mature about this right now. Merle and Davenport made up the short guy coalition and are searching along the ground. Captianport is still really steamed after what you did, I can’t blame him, I mean I still think what you did to me and Barold was worse,” Lucretia had known Taako long enough to know when he was lying, but respected that he wouldn’t be able to ever believe someone’s pain was worse than his own. “But still he must have been in hell. I mean really Lucy, lobotomizing our dear captain and then making him your butler, that’s really messed up.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Lucretia said softly, her voice full of guilt and regret, “I never meant for any of this to happen. I thought it would have been a matter of weeks, a year at the most to keep you in those amnesiac states-,” but she just stopped before she could finish. “No, no more excuses and trying to highroad people,” she said turning to Taako and placing her box on her desk, “what I did was wrong, I thought what I was doing what was right for the greater good, but I was wrong all the same. I hurt the people that I loved and I’m sorry,” she said meeting Taako’s gaze. Surprisingly the other wizard didn’t look angry, more annoyed or upset, but it wasn’t anger that flowed out of Taako’s eyes.

“Why Lucretia,” Taako asked, but as soon as Lucretia opened her mouth he waved her away, “no, I mean I know why you did it, but still dammit why did you do that too us,” tears started to run down his face as he pointed the KrEpStAr at her. Surprisingly the Umbra Staff was far more intimidating, probably because Lucretia was fine with dying, even knowing she deserved to be killed, but that was before she could work her magic to protect this world. Now, it was just something that needed to happen one way or another. “We were you family, I know we weren’t blood or anything gross like that, but after a hundred years of thinking of everyone else as dust I started thinking of you as my sister. So why, how could you do that to us,” Taako was a proud male elf, he didn’t beg for anything, and he certainly didn’t do it now. And if you asked him about this moment later on he would deny it, even if it did sound a lot like begging.

“Taako, you know no answer I could give would be good enough,” Lucretia said simply. “What I did was wrong, even if I had the best intentions it doesn’t change that I was wrong, and everything I did ended up being for nothing. I won’t blame you if you want to kill me, and I won’t try to stop you either, she said opening herself up for whatever spells Taako wanted to cast on her.

“Gods dammit Lucretia why do you have to always be such a dramaqueen,” Taako shouted in frustration. “I mean I only wanted to fucking talk to you and you have to pull this sacrificial superficial redemption crap.

“You’re the one pointing your very powerful magical object at me Taako,” Lucretia shot back just like she would have during their voyage on the Starblaster.

“I’m Taako, I’m supposed to be dramatic and junk, it’s my thing. You’re the boring bookworm side-character that everyone seems to love despite not talking much. Stop trying to steal my gimmick,” he said wiping his eyes ineffectually the tears just kept falling. “I don’t know if I’m going to kill you alright, so just stay there until I figure things out,” he gestured with his glaive for emphasis.

“What the hell,” another familiar voice said breathing heavily, “is going,” she started to say but she was breathing to heavily to complete the sentence she wanted to get out. “Holy shit I forgot how lungs work and am really regretting running here after this one took off,” Lup finally managed to get out after panting for a good minute and gesturing to Taako as he and the former Director stared at his sister. “No, but seriously,” Lup said finally managing to stand up straight, “what the fuck is going on here you two. Why are you pointing a your Krav Maga at Lucy over there,” she said pointing at her brother, “and why are you just standing there with your hands in your box ready to take it,” she said angrily gesturing to Lucretia. She paused for a moment before realizing what she said, “okay for the record, that wasn’t supposed to sound dirty, I know I’m the master of the innuendo but it’s not the time for that, just like it’s not the time for more violence and death.”

“Way to make things awkward there sis,” Taako said lowering his glaive a bit, his wizard arms weren’t exactly made for holding things up for long periods of time anyway. “Besides, we were just talking.”

“Sure you were just talking after abandoning me in the Bob Ruins and pointing your gaudy spear at Lucy,” Lup shot back. The two loved each other of course, being not only siblings but twins, but still being so similar they were bound to fight. Taking advantage of their little spat Lucretia saw her chance and picked up her dagger and did what had to be done. It had hurt, not nearly as much as the Hunger’s final form had, but slitting one’s wrist did tend to hurt regardless. Still, even low on hitpoints she could take a lot of bleeding damage even if she refrained from purposely stabilizing, no it was the dagger’s affect that would end things.

Her slight wince broke up the conversation between the T-Twins, quiet as it was, “what was that? Lucretia did you say something,” Lup asked curious.

“Nope, nothing,” Lucretia said rolling a 1 on her bluff check, “just going through some things in my private chest-,” and before she had the chance to regret those words. She could have said anything else and they might have bought it, but bring up something private or a secret and Taako and Lup were all over it.

For a good few minutes she was bombarded by, ‘what’s in the chest, what’s so private, does it have anything to do with me, what’s in the damn box already woman,’ before she held up her hand to silence them. “They are my personal affects, I started to add to the chest after founding the Bureau of Balance, they were for after the Hunger was dealt with.” Luckily, she rolled a nat 20 on her sleight of hand check so she was able to palm the dagger into her robes. Letters, mostly to those who mean a lot to me letting them know my feelings, though some have instructions on how to proceed once everything was over. I wasn’t planning on giving everyone their memories back until after the relics were destroyed and my shield was up so they are a bit out of date especially since there are those who are you know dead with letters addressed to them. As for your question Taako, yes, there is something in here for you,” she said turning the small chest so the twins could see into it.

“Those are some pretty nice diamonds,” Taako admitted, “but unfortunately I’m dating someone. Oh and I’m mad at you, plus it would be like marrying my sister, and have you seen my sister, gross.”

“Oh come on Lucy, two diamonds for this chucklefuck but none for your real favorite Taaco sibling, how could you,” Lup said dramatically.

“You wish Goofis.”

“To be frank,” Lucretia interrupted and continued before they could make their normal ‘I thought you were Lucretia,’ joke. “One of them was for Magnus, his was easier to track down than yours, but I had Team Sweet Flips track him down for you after you came back from Refugee.”

“What,” was all Taako could say, “who,” I stand corrected.

“The other person who took everything from you,” Lucretia said picking up one of the diamonds and gave it to Taako. “One drop of your blood will release the prisoner trapped inside the crystal. I knew I couldn’t make up for what I’ve done, but this is all I can do to make up for what happened,” she said weakly, the blade’s curse and the bloodloss was starting to take effect.

“Sazed,” Taako said softly and more seriously than he had ever said anything in his life.

“And a man named Kalen,” she said gesturing to the other diamond. “I tracked him down myself when I came upon the ruins of Raven’s Roost when I checked on Magnus. I didn’t realize that Sazed was the one to kill all those people when I checked in on you at Glamour Springs. I just assumed there was an accident in the cooking, I must have checked every corpse I could find begging for you to not be one of the victims,” she mused. Unfortunately that was when Lup took notice; the blood on the diamond didn’t help.

“Lucretia, what have you done,” the elf lich said grabbing Lucretia’s arm and tearing her sleeve down to reveal the cut.

“You know,” Lucretia said lightheaded from the bloodloss, “I’ve been asked that so many times today that it’s sort of lost meaning from all the shitty things I’ve done. You’re going to have to be specific.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Taako shouted.

“Again you need to be more specific, oh, my wound. I promised you I would answer for what I’ve done once the world was safe, I’m a woman of my word if nothing else. I wasn’t sure if you wanted revenge or not so I used the artificing we all learned to give the dagger special properties so that I would fall eventually. I would never make you bloody your hands if you didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to take away the option of giving you your revenge if that is what you wanted.”

“I-I didn’t want this,” Taako said panicking.

“Dammit Lucretia my idiot brother’s right, you are a drama queen,” Lup said tearing off a piece of Lucretia’s robe to make a bandage for Lucretia’s arm to stanch the bleeding.

“It’s not poison if that’s what your worried about, I know how traumatized you’ve been of poison so I wouldn’t do that to you. I learned how to place curses on objects from a witch in exchange for a kiss during the decade we’ve been here. It’s a powerful one that will kill me within a few minutes if left unchecked, but it’s no less than I deserve.”

“What the hell Lucretia,” Taako yelled again feeling helpless, “I’m angry and junk, but I don’t want you to kill yourself. I wanted to berate you for a couple years until I finally stopped being pissed, you can’t die now.”

“I deserve this Taako, too many people hurt because of me, too many people lost their minds because of what I tried to do, the Hunger almost destroyed another world because of me,” she said stubbornly.

“We’ve all done horrible things, remember the robot world that we almost destroyed on my suggestion. I mean yeah we knew the Hunger was going to destroy the world anyway, but it didn’t give us the right to do the Hunger’s job for it. I’ve lied, I’ve stolen, I’ve been horrible to my beautiful magic boy, just a bad person sometimes, but we’ve also done a lot of good. It doesn’t make it right, but living means you can make up for the bad, so stop this dumb making things right by killing yourself shit, it’s not funny, it’s not cool, it’s just another death on our feet.”

“That’s epic Taako, but I’m a monster, not sure if I lived I wouldn’t sacrifice more lives for my beliefs,” Lucretia said before doubling over in pain as the curse started to take effect.

“No seriously stop talking like that Lucretia, this is bullshit,” Lup said panicking realizing that the bandage she was using to try and keep Lucretia alive wasn’t working. “Screw it,” she said picking up her wand and blasting a wall out with a tongue of flame. “There’s a reason why wizards don’t do healing, we need our cleric.”

“If you keep blasting like crazy the HQ is going to fall apart even worse, the two of you could get hurt. Stop this foolishness before you get yourself killed,” Lucretia protested.

“The fact that you don’t seen the irony in what you’re saying vs what you’re doing astounds me,” Taako said as he put on his imaginary thinking cap over his wizard hat. “I’m getting you to Merle, he’s going to heal you and take that curse off of you, then you’re going to get some r&r for a few days while you recover and once you do I’m going to slap the shit out of you for being so stupid. There’s only one room for an idiot wizard on this show and it’s already filled. If you already knew about Sazed than you know I don’t share.”

“T-Taako,” Lucretia started to say, but Taako didn’t let her finish.

“You know what, Taako might have taken this shit, but I’m not Taako anymore,” Taako said and before Lucretia could say anything he doubled in size and she was surrounded by darkness.

Lucretia’s head was pounding, which was strange since she should be dead, she didn’t get what was happening, but all the hells in existence couldn’t hurt this much which logically meant she was alive. Her throat was raw and her eyes watered as they opened she saw the other members of the IPRE around her bed. “H-how,” she started to say, but once again Taako didn’t let her talk.

“I cast polymorph on myself and became Dupree, a T-Rex, and carried you out of the HQ in my mouth. Brought you to that asshole,” he pointing to Merle, “who healed your wounds and removed your dumbass curse you inflicted on yourself because he has a great relationship with his god now, glad he didn’t have it on our adventures, but whatever. As angry as I am with you Lucretia, I don’t want you to kill yourself you dumbass, so don’t do it again.”

“B-But,” Lucretia started to say, but once again no one let her.

“Nope, we’re not getting into anything right now,” Davenport said incredibly gentle for someone who was so angry at her. “We’ll resolve things later when you’re strong enough to be yelled at Lucretia. Until then just get better, we can’t afford to lose anything else, not after we’ve finally won.”

It wasn’t forgiveness, not that Lucretia was expected to ever be forgiven, but it showed they cared. That was going to have to be enough for now, “fine, no more crazy stunts, I’ll get better so you can yell at me,” she promised, and she always kept her word.

Okay, so I know the ending is a bit rushed, but I wanted to get this out before the final episode. I hope you enjoyed it. It might be a bit sappy, but after everything everyone’s been through, not only do they deserve a bit of wrath, but they deserve years of happiness.

#the adventure zone #the adventure zone spoilers #happy ending #lucretia #madame director #lup taako #taako taaco #lup #taako #after the adventure zone #post canon #taz #taz spoilers

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celestialmazer · 8 years ago

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The Everglades, White Sands, and Carlsbad Caverns. PHOTOGRAPHS BY RYAN MCGINLEY Brad Pitt Talks Divorce, Quitting Drinking, and Becoming a Better Man by Michael Paterniti VIDEO

“Summer is coming and, in America, that means it’s time to hit the national parks. So we took Brad Pitt and photographer Ryan McGinley tumbling across three of them: The Everglades, White Sands, and Carlsbad Caverns. Then we sat down with Pitt at home in L.A. for a raw conversation about how to move forward after things fall apart.

Brad Pitt is making matcha green tea on a cool morning in his old Craftsman in the Hollywood Hills, where he's lived since 1994. There have been other properties in other places—including a château in France and homes in New Orleans and New York City—but this has always been his kids' “childhood home,” he says. And even though they're not here now, he's decided it's important that he is. Today the place is deeply silent, except for the snoring of his bulldog, Jacques.

Pitt wears a flannel shirt and skinny jeans that hang loose on his frame. Invisible to the eye is that sculpted bulk we've seen on film for a quarter-century. He looks like an L.A. dad on a juice cleanse, gearing up to do house projects. On the counter sit some plated goodies from Starbucks, which he doesn't touch, and some coffee, which he does. Pitt, who exudes likability, general decency, and a sense of humor (dark and a little cockeyed), says he's really gotten into making matcha lately, something a friend introduced him to. He loves the whole ritual of it. He deliberately sprinkles some green powder in a cup with a sifter, then pours in the boiling water, whisking with a bamboo brush, until the liquid is a harlequin froth. “You're gonna love this,” he says, handing me the cup.

Serenity, balance, order: That's the vibe, at least. That's what you think you're feeling in the kitchen of Brad Pitt's perfectly constructed, awesomely decorated abode. Outside, children's bikes are lined up in the rack; a blown-up dragon floatie bobs on the pool through the window. From the sideboard, with its exquisite inlay, to the vase on the mantel, the house exudes care and intention. And it carries its own stories, not just about when the Jolie-Pitts were a happy family, but also from back in the day, when Jimi Hendrix crashed here. It's said he wrote “May This Be Love” out in the grotto, with its waterfall (Waterfall / Nothing can harm me at all…). “I don't know if it's true,” says Pitt, “but a hippie came by and said he used to drop acid with Jim back there, so I run with the story.”

And yet Pitt is the first one to acknowledge that it's been chaos these past six months, during what he calls a “weird” time. In conversation, he seems absolutely locked in one moment and a little twitchy and forlorn in the next, having been put on a journey he didn't intend to make but admits was “self-inflicted.” The unfortunate worst of it surfaced in public this past September. When he was on a flight to Los Angeles aboard a private plane, there was a reported altercation between Pitt and one of his six children, 15-year-old Maddox. An anonymous phone call was made to the authorities, which triggered an FBI investigation (ultimately closed with no charges). Five days later, his wife, Angelina Jolie, filed for divorce. By then, everything in Pitt's world was in free fall. It wasn't just a public-relations crisis��there was a father suddenly deprived of his kids, a husband without wife. And here he is, alone, a 53-year-old human father/former husband smack in the middle of an unraveled life, figuring out how to mend it back together.

And yet the enterprise known as Brad Pitt inexorably carries on. In November, the movie Allied came out, starring Pitt and Marion Cotillard. At the premiere he was described as “gaunt,” and rumors of an affair with Cotillard, and an on-set encounter between her and Jolie, had been so virulent that Cotillard took to social media to deny them, underscoring her love for her own partner, with whom she was pregnant with their second child. Meanwhile, Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, found itself winning an astonishing third Oscar for Best Picture, with Moonlight. (Pitt spent the Oscars ceremony at a friend's house.) This month Netflix will release Pitt's War Machine, a satire based on the incidents surrounding the firing of General Stanley McChrystal. In the film, he plays a gruff, ascetic stand-in for McChrystal, General Glen McMahon, with both big-gestured comic panache and an oblivious unknowingness that seems to be a metaphor for the entire American war effort.

But on this overcast spring morning, catching Pitt at this flexion point, I would say he seems more like one of those stripped-down Samuel Beckett characters, in a blank landscape, asking big questions of a futile world. Even the generalities he employs for protection seem metaphoric. (He mentioned his estranged wife's name only once, when referencing her Cambodia movie, First They Killed My Father, telling me, “You should see Angie's film.”) The loneliness of this new life, he said, is mitigated by Jacques, who spent most of the interview beached in a narcoleptic reverie at my feet, snoring and farting. (“Did you ever have the uncle that came over with emphysema, and had to sleep in your room when you were 6?” he says. “That's Jacques.” And then: “Come here, boy. Friends for life!”)

When I ask Pitt what gives him the most comfort these days, he says, “I get up every morning and I make a fire. When I go to bed, I make a fire, just because—it makes me feel life. I just feel life in this house.”

GQ Style: Let's go back to the start. What was it like growing up where you grew up? Brad Pitt: Well, it was Springfield, Missouri, which is a big place now, but we grew up surrounded by cornfields—which is weird because we always had canned vegetables. I never could figure that one out! Anyway, ten minutes outside of town, you start getting into forests and rivers and the Ozark Mountains. Stunning country.

Did you have a Huck Finn boyhood? Half the time. Half the time, yeah.

How so? I grew up in caves. We had a lot of caves, fantastic caverns. And we grew up First Baptist, which is the cleaner, stricter, by-the-book Christianity. Then, when I was in high school, my folks jumped to a more charismatic movement, which got into speaking in tongues and raising your hands and some goofy-ass shit.

So were you there for speaking in tongues? Yeah, come on. I'm not even an actor yet, but I know… I mean the people, I know they believe it. I know they're releasing something. God, we're complicated. We're complicated creatures.

So acting came out of what you saw in these revival meetings? Well, people act out. But as a kid, I was certainly drawn to stories—beyond the stories that we were living and knew, stories with different points of view. And I found those stories in film, especially. Different cultures and lives so foreign to mine. I think that was one of the draws that propelled me into film. I didn't know how to articulate stories. I'm certainly not a good orator, sitting here telling a story, but I could foster them in film.

I remember going to a few concerts, even though we were told rock shows are the Devil, basically. Our parents let us go, they weren't neo about it. But I realized that the reverie and the joy and exuberance, even the aggression, I was feeling at the rock show was the same thing at the revival. One is Jimmy Swaggart and one is Jerry Lee Lewis, you know? One's God and one's Devil. But it's the same thing. It felt like we were being manipulated. What was clear to me was “You don't know what you're talking about—”

And it didn't fuck you up? No, it didn't fuck me up—it just led to some eating questions at a young age.

The best actors blur into their characters, but given how well the world knows you, it seems you have a much harder time blurring these days? I have so much attached to this facade. [gestures]

But then, in War Machine, you find the little gesture that makes the Glen McMahon character ours. Like the way he runs, which is hilarious. The run to me was important because it was about the delusion of your own grandeur, not knowing what you really look like. All pencil legs, you know. Not being able to connect reality to this facade of grandeur.

The other equally distinctive characteristic is Glen's voice. Where did it come from? You know, it's a little bit of a cliché, but I just enjoyed it too much: There's, you know, of course, Patton in it. But I could not get Sterling Hayden out of my mind. I'm just fascinated with Sterling Hayden, off-camera, between films, and I couldn't escape that. There's even a little bit of Chris Farley in mannerisms. And then Kiefer Sutherland in Monsters vs. Aliens, you know, doing the cartoon voice. It just wouldn't go anywhere else; it kept coming back there.

Have you ever felt the need to be more political? I can help in other ways. I can help by getting movies out with certain messages. I've got to be moved by something—I can't fake it. I grew up with that Ozarkian mistrust of politics to begin with, so I just do better building a house for someone in New Orleans or getting certain movies to the screen that might not get made otherwise.

You're good at playing that kind of character, the one that doesn't have a truly accurate vision of himself. It makes me laugh. Any of my foibles are born from my own hubris. Always, always. Anytime. I famously step in shit—at least for me it seems pretty epic. I often wind up with a smelly foot in my mouth. I often say the wrong thing, often in the wrong place and time. Often. In my own private Idaho, it's funny as shit. I don't have that gift. I'm better speaking in some other art form. I'm trying to get better. I'm really trying to get better.

And the movie really pokes at this, too, right—America's hubris? When I get in trouble it's because of my hubris. When America gets in trouble it's because of our hubris. We think we know better, and this idea of American exceptionalism—I think we're exceptional in many ways, I do, but we can't force it on others. We shouldn't think we can. How do we show American exceptionalism? By example. It's the same as being a good father. By exemplifying our tenets and our beliefs, freedom and choice and not closing borders and being protectionists. But that's another issue. You want me to tell you something really sad? I thought this was so sad. We were looking at—let me say, a certain war film that was looking to promote itself. The European posters had the American flag in the background, and it came back from the marketing department: “Remove the flag. It's not a good sell here.” I was, like, Man, that's America. That's what we've done to our brand.

You've played characters in pain. What is pain, emotional and physical? Yeah, I'm kind of done playing those. I think it was more pain tourism. It was still an avoidance in some way. I've never heard anyone laugh bigger than an African mother who's lost nine family members. What is that? I just got R&B for the first time. R&B comes from great pain, but it's a celebration. To me, it's embracing what's left. It's that African woman being able to laugh much more boisterously than I've ever been able to.

“For me this period has been about looking at my weaknesses and failures and owning my side of the street.”

When did you have that revelation? What have you been listening to? I've been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean. I find this young man so special. Talk about getting to the raw truth. He's painfully honest. He's very, very special. I can't find a bad one.

And of great irony to me: Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear [Gaye's touchstone album about divorce]. And that kind of sent me down a road.

Intense. But beautiful—and quite honest.... You know, I just started therapy. I love it, I love it. I went through two therapists to get to the right one.

About These Parks: To choose the locations for this summertime celebration of America’s national parks, Brad Pitt, Ryan McGinley, and GQ Style all collaborated on potential destinations. Pitt requested the lunar dunes of White Sands National Monument. Ryan McGinley had previous experience shooting in the underground labyrinths of Carlsbad Caverns National Park. And we nominated the swamps of Everglades National Park. Then we came together and covered all three over a stretch of eight days in March.

Do you think if the past six months hadn't happened you'd be in this place eventually? That it would have caught up with you? I think it would have come knocking, no matter what.

People call it a midlife crisis, but this isn't the same— No, this isn't that. I interpret a midlife crisis as a fear of growing old and fear of dying, you know, going out and buying a Lamborghini. [pause] Actually—they've been looking pretty good to me lately! [laughs]

There might be a few Lamborghinis in your future! “I do have a Ford GT,” he says quietly. [laughs] I do remember a few spots along the road where I've become absolutely tired of myself. And this is a big one. These moments have always been a huge generator for change. And I'm quite grateful for it. But me, personally, I can't remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um—cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I'm running from feelings. I'm really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know—things I wasn't dealing with. I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that's part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.

Was it hard to stop smoking pot? No. Back in my stoner days, I wanted to smoke a joint with Jack and Snoop and Willie. You know, when you're a stoner, you get these really stupid ideas. Well, I don't want to indict the others, but I haven't made it to Willie yet.

I'm sure he's out there on a bus somewhere waiting for you. How about alcohol—you don't miss it? I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.

So how do you just drop it like that? Don't want to live that way anymore.

What do you replace it with? Cranberry juice and fizzy water. I've got the cleanest urinary tract in all of L.A., I guarantee you! But the terrible thing is I tend to run things into the ground. That's why I've got to make something so calamitous. I've got to run it off a cliff.

Do you think that's a thing? I do it with everything, yeah. I exhaust it, and then I walk away. I've always looked at things in seasons, compartmentalized them, I guess, seasons or semesters or tenures or…

Really? So, this is the season of me getting my drink on.… [laughs] Yeah, it's that stupid. “This is my Sid and Nancy season.” I remember that one when I first got out to L.A. It got titled afterwards.

So then, you stop yourself, but how do you—I don't know why this comes to mind but I think of a house—how do you renovate yourself? Yeah, you start by removing all the decor and decorations, I think. You get down to the structure. Wow, we are in some big metaphor here now.… [laughs]

Inside Brad Pitt’s GQ Style Cover Shoot

Metaphors are my life. You strip down to the foundation and break out the mortar. I don't know. For me this period has really been about looking at my weaknesses and failures and owning my side of the street. I'm an asshole when it comes to this need for justice. I don't know where it comes from, this hollow quest for justice for some perceived slight. I can drill on that for days and years. It's done me no good whatsoever. It's such a silly idea, the idea that the world is fair. And this is coming from a guy who hit the lottery, I'm well aware of that. I hit the lottery, and I still would waste my time on those hollow pursuits.

That's the thing about becoming un-numb. You have to stare down everything that matters to you. That's it! Sitting with those horrible feelings, and needing to understand them, and putting them into place. In the end, you find: I am those things I don't like. That is a part of me. I can't deny that. I have to accept that. And in fact, I have to embrace that. I need to face that and take care of that. Because by denying it, I deny myself. I am those mistakes. For me every misstep has been a step toward epiphany, understanding, some kind of joy. Yeah, the avoidance of pain is a real mistake. It's the real missing out on life. It's those very things that shape us, those very things that offer growth, that make the world a better place, oddly enough, ironically. That make us better.

Would there be art without it? Would there be any of this immense beauty that surrounds us? Yeah—immense beauty, immense beauty. And by the way: There's no love without loss. It's a package deal.

Can you describe where you've been living—like, have you been in this house since September? It was too sad to be here at first, so I went and stayed on a friend's floor, a little bungalow in Santa Monica. I crashed over here a little bit, my friend [David] Fincher lives right here. He's always going to have an open door for me, and I was doing a lot of stuff on the Westside, so I stayed at my friend's house on the floor for a month and a half—until I was out there one morning, 5:30, and this surveillance van pulls up. They don't know that I'm up behind a wall, and they pull up—and it's a long story—but it was something more than TMZ, because they got into my friend's computer. The stuff they can do these days.... So I got a little paranoid being there. I decided I had to pick up and come here.

“If I'm not creating something, putting it out there, then I'll just be creating scenarios of fiery demise in my mind.”

How are your days different now? This house was always chaotic and crazy, voices and bangs coming from everywhere, and then, as you see, there are days like this: very…very solemn. I don't know. I think everyone's creative in some way. If I'm not creating something, doing something, putting it out there, then I'll just be creating scenarios of fiery demise in my mind. You know, a horrible end. And so I've been going to a friend's sculpting studio, spending a lot of time over there. My friend [Thomas Houseago] is a serious sculptor. They've been kind. I've literally been squatting in there for a month now. I'm taking a shit on their sanctity.

So you're making stuff? Yeah, I'm making stuff. It's something I've wanted to do for ten years.

Like what? What are you working with? I'm making everything. I'm working with clay, plaster, rebar, wood. Just trying to learn the materials. You know, I surprise myself. But it's a very, very lonely occupation. There's a lot of manual labor, which is good for me right now. A lot of lugging clay around, chopping and moving and cleaning up after yourself. But I surprise myself. Yesterday I wasn't settled. I had a lotta chaotic thoughts—trying to make sense of where we are at this time—and the thing I was doing wasn't controlled and balanced and perfect. It came out chaotic. I find vernacular in what you can make, rather than giving a speech. I find voice there, that I need.

All the bad stuff: Do you use it to tell your story? It just keeps knocking. I'm 53 and I'm just getting into it. These are things I thought I was managing very well. I remember literally having this thought a year, a year and a half ago, someone was going through some scandal. Something crossed my path that was a big scandal—and I went, “Thank God I'm never going to have to be a part of one of those again.” I live my life, I have my family, I do my thing, I don't do anything illegal, I don't cross anyone's path. What's the David Foster Wallace quote? Truth will set you free, but not until it's done with you first.

Is the sculpting a Sisyphean thing: rolling the rock up the hill, action obliterating all thoughts? [Jacques interrupts, nuzzling] I know you've been lonely. I know you've been lonely....

I find it the opposite. Well, I guess so, in that there's a task at hand. You have to wrap your stuff up at night and bring order back to your chaos for the next day. I find it a great opportunity for the introspection. Now you have to be real careful not to go too far that way and get cut off in that way. I'm really good at cutting myself off, and it's been a problem. I need to be more accessible, especially to the ones I love.

When you go dark, do you retreat, disconnect? I don't know how to answer that. I certainly shield. Shield, shield, shield. Mask, escape. Now I think: That's just me.

You were talking about the Glen character in War Machine and the idea of delusion, that we have to create our own mythologies, our own stories, to explain the things we're not proud of. At a real cost to ourselves.

How do you not delude yourself? I worry about that— You don't have to worry about it. [laughs] Delusion is not going to let you go. You're going to get smacked in the face. We, as humans, construct such mousetrap mind games to get away from it all. You know, we're almost too smart for ourselves.

Okay. But if you had a slideshow of all your worst moments as a human, you wouldn't want anyone to see that slideshow. The way you've had to live for years, that slideshow has been public. But so little of it is accurate, and I avoid so much of it. I just let it go. It's always been a long-run game for me. As far as out there, I hope my intentions and work will speak for themselves. But, yes, at the same time, it is a drag to have certain things drug out in public and misconstrued. I worry about it more for my kids, being subjected to it, and their friends getting ideas from it. And of course it's not done with any kind of delicacy or insight—it's done to sell. And so you know the most sensational sells, and that's what they'll be subjected to, and that pains me. I worry more in my current situation about the slideshow my kids have. I want to make sure it's well-balanced.

“People on their deathbeds don't talk about what they obtained. They talk about their loved ones or their regrets—that seems to be the menu.”

How do you make sense of the past six months and keep going? Family first. People on their deathbeds don't talk about what they obtained or were awarded. They talk about their loved ones or their regrets—that seems to be the menu. I say that as someone who's let the work take me away. Kids are so delicate. They absorb everything. They need to have their hand held and things explained. They need to be listened to. When I get in that busy work mode, I'm not hearing. I want to be better at that.

When you begin making a family, I think you hope to create another family that is some ideal mix of the best of what you had and what you feel you didn't have— I try to put these things in front of them, hoping they'll absorb it and that it will mean something to them later. Even in this place, they won't give a shit about that little bust over there or that light. They won't give a shit about that inlay, but somewhere down the road it will mean something—I hope that it will soak in.

It's a different world, too. We know more, we're more focused on psychology. I come from a place where, you know, it's strength if we get a bruise or cut or ailment we don't discuss it, we just deal with it. We just go on. The downside of that is it's the same with our emotion. I'm personally very retarded when it comes to taking inventory of my emotions. I'm much better at covering up. I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality—the father is all-powerful, super strong—instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles. And it's hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven't been great at it.

Do you know, specifically, logistically when you have the kids? Yeah. We're working at that now.

It must be much harder when visitation is uncertain— It was all that for a while. I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called. And you know, after that, we've been able to work together to sort this out. We're both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, “No one wins in court—it's just a matter of who gets hurt worse.” And it seems to be true, you spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you're right and why they're wrong, and it's just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refuse. And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.

That's what I was going to ask— If anyone can make sense of it, we have to with great care and delicacy, building everything around that.

How do you tell your kids? Well, there's a lot to tell them because there's understanding the future, there's understanding the immediate moment and why we're at this point, and then it brings up a lot of issues from the past that we haven't talked about. So our focus is that everyone comes out stronger and better people—there is no other outcome.

“I know I'm just in the middle of this thing now—not at the beginning or at the end, just smack-dab in the middle. And I don't want to dodge any of it.”

And the fact that you guys are pointing toward that—that clearly doesn't always happen. If you ended up in court, it would be a spectacular nightmare. Spectacular. I see it everywhere. Such animosity and bitterly dedicating years to destroying each other. You'll be in court and it'll be all about affairs and it'll be everything that doesn't matter. It's just awful, it looks awful. One of my favorite movies when it came out was There Will Be Blood, and I couldn't figure out why I loved this movie, I just loved this movie, besides the obvious talent of Paul T. and, you know, Daniel Day. But the next morning I woke up, and I went, Oh, my God, this whole movie is dedicated to this man and his hatred. It's so audacious to make a movie about it, and in life I find it just so sickening. I see it happen to friends—I see where the one spouse literally can't tell their own part in it, and is still competing with the other in some way and wants to destroy them and needs vindication by destruction, and just wasting years on that hatred. I don't want to live that way.

What in the past week has given you immense joy? Can you feel that right now? It's an elusive thing. It's been a more painful week than normal—just certain things have come up—but I see joy out the window, and I can see the silhouette of palms and an expression on one of my kids' faces, a parting smile, or finding some, you know, moment of bliss with the clay. You know, it's everywhere, it's got to be found. It's the laughter of the African mother in my experience—it's got to come from the blues, to get R&B. That'll be in my book.

Are you going to write a book? No! I find writing too arduous.

But do you worry about the narrative others have written for you? What did Churchill say? History will be kind to me: I know because I'll write it myself. I don't really care about protecting the narrative. That's when I get a bit pessimistic, I get in my oh-it-all-goes-away-anyway kind of thinking. But I know the people who love me know me. And that's enough for me.

Do you remember your dreams? Yeah. A few months ago I was having frightening dreams and I'd consciously lie awake trying to ask, What can I get out of this? What can I learn from this? Those ceased. And now I have been having moments of joy, and you wake and realize it's just a dream, and I get a bit depressed for the moment. Just the moment, just glimpse moments of joy because I know I'm just in the middle of this thing now and I'm not at the beginning of it or at the end of it, just where this chapter is right now, just smack-dab in the middle. It's fucking in the middle of it and, you know, I just don't want to dodge any of it. I just want to stand there, shirt open, and take my hits and see, and see.

There's obviously incredible grief. This is like a death— Yeah.

There's a process— Yeah, I think for everyone, for the kids, for me, absolutely.

So is there an urge to try to— The first urge is to cling on.

Then? And then you've got a cliché: “If you love someone, set them free.” Now I know what it means, by feeling it. It means to love without ownership. It means expecting nothing in return. But it sounds good written. It sounds good when Sting sings it. It doesn't mean fuck-all to me until, you know—

Until you can embody it. Until you live it. That's why I never understood growing up with Christianity—don't do this, don't do that—it's all about don'ts, and I was like how the fuck do you know who you are and what works for you if you don't find out where the edge is, where's your line? You've got to step over it to know where it is.

For the photo shoot you went to three national parks in a week. It sounds like a boondoggle. What's the definition of a boondoggle?

I think of it as a sort of ridiculous adventure— Sounds very Ozarkian. Like something I should know but I don't. Yeah, it was great. Ryan [McGinley, the photographer] had us jumping in the Everglades, you know, like gators. I figured, Well, if they do it on Naked and Afraid, I can do it. But they had the old wrangler, he's got his snake pole and it's got this grabber, like something Grandma would use to pick something off the top shelf, but fine. He took a little walk-through, and if he didn't get eaten, then reportedly I wouldn't get eaten. At least that was the logic behind it all, but he said to me, “When you get to be my age, never pass up a bathroom. Never trust a fart. And never waste a boner.”

Whoa. Then White Sands? I've never seen anything like it. I mean the dunes are so sculptural and modern and simple and vast and just incredible shapes. To see them white and reflecting white—the sky's actually darker than that ground. It's an odd, beautiful place.

And then the third? We did Carlsbad Caverns. If we're going to do a celebrity shoot, let's make something, work with an artist, see what we come up with. It's always more interesting.

After all this, do you feel constrained as an actor in some ways? No, I don't really think of myself much as an actor anymore. It takes up so little of my year and my focus. Film feels like a cheap pass for me, as a way to get at those hard feelings. It doesn't work anymore, especially being a dad.

On the pie chart, what is acting? Acting would be very small slice.

Do you see yourself as having been successful? I wish I could just change my name.

Come out as a new person? Like P. Diddy. I can be Puffy now or—what is Snoop? Lion? I just felt like Brad was a misnomer, and now I just feel like fucking Brad.

What other name would you have put on yourself? Nothing. When outside success comes, the thing I've enjoyed the most is when there's a personal discovery in it. But when I find it repetitious or painfully boring, it's absolute death to me.

When you're talking, you kinda rub your thumb against your fingers a lot—it's just an observation. I don't know. I'm tactile—I'm a tactile individual. “I like to feel things up,” he said. [laughs]

Yeah, in high school he was the boy voted most likely to— To feel you up. [laughs] I don't know, I guess it's back to feeling. I think I spent a lot of time avoiding feelings and building structures, you know, around feelings. And now I have no time left for that.

When is the acting still exciting? I would say more in comedic stuff, where you're taking gambles. I can turn out the hits over and over and I just—my favorite movie is the worst-performing film of anything I've done, The Assassination of Jesse James. If I believe something is worthy, then I know it will be worthy in time to come. And there are times I get really cynical, you know. I spend a lot of time on design and even this sculpture folly I'm on, I have days when—it all ends up in the dirt anyways: What's the point? So I go through that cycle, too, you know? What's the point?

Oh man, that's a big question. I know what the point is—it's communicating, it's connecting. I believe we're all cells in one body; we're all part of the same construct. Although a few of us are cancerous. It's helping others. Yeah, we help each other, that's it.

So what's on the agenda later? I'm anxious to get to the studio. I think it was Picasso who talked about the moment of looking at the subject, and paint hitting canvas, and that is where art happens. For me I'm having a moment of getting to feel emotion at my fingertips. But to get that emotion to clay—I just haven't cracked the surface. And I don't know what's coming. Right now I know the manual labor is good for me, getting to know the expansiveness and limitations of the materials. I've got to start from the bottom, I've got to sweep my floor, I've got to wrap up my shit at night, you know?

A metaphor again. But it works. Right now I've got to hammer my own nails.

Michael Paterniti is a GQ correspondent. This is his first piece for GQ Style.

This story appears in the Summer 2017 issue of GQ Style with the title “Monumental.””

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itsiotrecords-blog · 7 years ago

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To be fair, not every celebrity on this list ended up choosing their final resting place, but in spite of that, they are, to be sure, strange and/or incredible places all the same. Below is a diverse list of TV writers, novelists, actors, martial artists, musicians, fathers of musicians, royalty, journalists, businesswomen, and the creator of likely the biggest entertainment company in the world, if not at least the best known entertainment company in the world. Each of these men and women— and one special dog— have either been made the lady of the lake, been given a gigantic new prescription for their glasses, stolen a man’s heart… literally, snorted or been smoked, traveled to outer space (or at the very least been blasted across the desert), and have appeared dead on screen… not to say they simply looked dead on screen, but the last anyone saw of them, they were on screen, and actually dead. So here are fifteen weird places celebrities have found themselves in death.

#1 The Game Of Death True, Bruce Lee‘s actual final resting place is in Seattle’s Lakeview Cemetery, where thousands of people go to visit him and his son, Brandon Lee (buried alongside his father), but there is a creepier, much more exploitative resting place of sorts for this martial arts master. Dying, shortly before the famed Enter The Dragon hit the box office, Bruce Lee appeared in several other films, post-mortem. Surely this is not an unusual occurrence, with partially shot films continuing production with stunt doubles, or just cutting with the footage they have, like in Brandon Lee’s final film The Crow, but there is something more sinister behind Bruce Lee’s final shots as a film star. The Game of Death, famous for the yellow jumpsuit that Uma Thurman similarly wears in Kill Bill, and for the epic fight between Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, got away with using actual shots of Lee’s corpse, from funeral footage, being cut into the film. So if one is ever looking for Bruce’s final film resting place, one need only watch Game of Death.

#2 The Field Where Music Died Buried in the Lubbock Cemetery in Texas, one might not know of Buddy Holly’s final resting place for all of the commotion over the Clear Lake, Iowa memorial, looking over the site of the infamous crash that killed Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly, on February 3, 1959— the day the music died. Along the sorrowful site, which includes an engraved guitar and record memorial, there is a gigantic tribute to Buddy Holly by way of his signature glasses. If one didn’t know any better, one might think that Buddy Holly wasn’t buried elsewhere at all, but left no remains in the crash and therefore had erected an enormous structure to remind people of the significance of his poor eyesight. Smack dab in the middle of farmer’s fields, one has to wonder if this symbol of tragedy is not taking up valuable real estate for the continued growth of that “American Dream” so readily believed in circa 1959.

#3 Princess Diana’s Monumental Memorial Park Buried in an Althorp estate in Northamptonshire, Princess Diana has become the mythical Lady of the Lake. Her resting place is on an island in Round Oval Lake, in a gigantic park (that the general public is allowed to visit one day out of every year), dedicated to the, for some reason, still adored face of the royal family circa the nineteen nineties. It’s not all that weird to have a resting place in a park, but in a park that people can visit only once every year; an enormous park, dedicated solely to her, with its own lake, riddled with ducks and four, specially placed black swans, topped off with an almost palace-like Grecian structure overlooking the island resting place from the mainland of the park… If not weird, it is at least a bit overzealous, to understate the enormity of the memorial. The royal family has not had any great significance since before the Great War, and Diana of all, was loathed by the majority of the royal family when she married into it anyway. Seems a bit weird.

#4 George Harrison Takes A Dip In The Ganges Once described as “liquid love of life”, the Ganges is a supposedly mystical river in India where good karma flows through the bodies of those who bathe in its waters; a gift from the almighty, graced upon believers and skeptics alike. Never quite escaping the Hare Krishna phase of the Beatles’ legacy, like the rest of his band mates had after the LSD wore off, George Harrison, after being cremated by the friendly folks at Hollywood Forever (facilitators of perhaps the most frequently visited cemetery in the world), was taken to the sacred river, and cast about its waters, as well as at Allahabad, where the Ganges and two other holy rivers converge. The Hindu belief is that spreading one’s ashes about holy waters aids in the process of releasing the soul from one’s body, and escaping reincarnation, to make the final journey to Heaven. Who knows where Harrison is now, besides mingled with the ashes of many others, but My Sweet Lord, he did go peacefully.

#5 Blasted Across The Desert One of the most famous funerals of the twenty first century, to be sure, after taking care of the planning, taking interviews about how his funeral would be carried out and how his remains would be disposed of, and then finally setting the phone down after chatting with his wife and blowing his brains out with a .45, while she was still on the line, Hunter S. Thompson ended his life, but not the significance of it. Shortly after his death, actor and good friend of Thompson’s, Johnny Depp set out to foot the bill for the great tower, atop which sat a double-thumbed fist, holding onto a button of peyote, and through which a cannon would fire the famed journalist’s ashes. With a fabulous fireworks display of red, white, and blue, Hunter’s remains went out the very same way he did: with a bang! The unfortunate missing part of the above video is the moment where, as the cloud of smoke and ash billows over the cheering crowd, one of the onlookers tells his friends to “breathe deep… breathe deep!”; so badly did he want Thompson to be a part of them.

#6 You Know I Snorted My Father, Right? Alright, so this isn’t a celebrity resting place by any direct means, in that Keith Richards has not yet, however surprisingly, been found dead. That being said, this is still the case of a celebrity resting place because while his father was no celebrity, Keith certainly is, and he is now, himself, at least partially, the resting place of his father. “I opened my dad’s ashes and some of them blew out over the table, just because of the suction of the lid, you know what I mean? I looked at my dad’s ashes down there and— what am I gonna do? ‘Do I desecrate them with a dustbin and broom?’ So I wet me finger and I shoved a little bit of Dad up me hooter.” That’s right! Keith Richards snorted his father with, upon further elaboration in an interview, a bit of cocaine because let’s be honest, if you’re already a drug fiend, and you’re already putting your father up there, you may as well get a fix at the same time. Not having snorted the entirety of his father’s ashes, Richards put the rest “round an oak tree, which is coming up a treat.” So a celebrity resting place in a sense, Keith Richards continues to boggle minds.

#7 Just About As Ugly As Ichabod Crane… Making it all the way to the ripe old age of eighty seven (well past ripe in her case), Leona Helmsley was once as big a mogul in the business world as Donald Trump, if not even bigger. Instead of bankrupting herself so many times as Trump, she was caught evading taxes, since “Only the little people pay taxes” according to her view of the world. This billionaire, dubbed “The Queen of Mean” for her incredibly bitchy persona, Helmsley only served twenty one months of her sixteen year sentence, paid her seven million dollars in fines, and had her employees do her pot-prison community service for her. Amazingly not dying of a heart attack at her sentencing in trial, she did eventually suffer from heart failure, leaving twelve million to her dog, and nothing for her grandchildren. Where would such a monster end up? Well, many likely wishing her headless, and absolutely more hideous to look at than Ichabod Crane, Helmsley was laid to rest in Sleepy Hollow, in a 1.4 million dollar mausoleum. It’s doubtful that Washington Irving ever expected such a hideous creature to truly come to the little township North of New York City.

#8 In The Vault, Like So Many Classics What’s weird about this one, is how very not weird it is. The lavish, luxurious Marilyn Monroe, known the world over by men and women alike (and known very well by a number of famous men), after all of her flash and pizzazz, was laid to rest in the Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery, and while she is accompanied by some greats like Dean Martin, Peter Falk, and Frank Zappa, it does seem like a less than lavish way to go, being stuck in a wall of vaults, surrounded by other corpses of former glory. That being said, Monroe’s presence along the crypt wall has certainly raised the price of real estate there, causing a bidding war that jacked the price of the vault above her to a staggering 4.6 million dollars. Surely many wanted to be on top of Marilyn in her time, but in death it seems a steep price to pay for such an honour. All the same, visitors to the site adorn the vault with well-plied, lipstick kisses, which makes one wonder… were there that many women who really loved her, or are there that many men willing to make a last impression?

#9 Shelley & Her Lover’s Heart It’s not so much the resting place here, as it is what is in the resting place. Famed author Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein), was buried in St. Peter’s Church in Bournemouth, U.K., way back in 1851. Nothing weird about that. What is weird, however, is what Mary took with her when she died. Having drowned many years before Mary’s death, the famed poet Percy Shelley was cremated… all but his heart turned to ash. Unscathed (speculating calcification from TB saving it from the flames), the heart was turned to Mary, who kept it with her in a silk shroud. Unfortunately here is where the story deviates, depending on who is telling it, but the story once went that, wrapped in paper, Percy’s heart was placed in the casket with Mary Shelley. Unfortunately this incredibly romantic story turns out to be a poetic fantasy as the poet’s heart was interred with his son’s body, wrapped in the pages of Adonais (one of Percy’s last poems) in the family vault. So in a sense, his heart was reunited with his wife, but not until some time after her death.

#10 Sewn Into A Pillow After an incredible number of years, toting around a jar of ecstasy pills, snorting cocaine off any surface possible, and indulging in a big breakfast of anti-depressants, it’s no wonder that Michael Hutchence of INXS fame was found dead, hanging behind the main door of his hotel room. Whether auto-erotic or not, Hutchence died of asphyxiation, and thus ended an incredible career of excess. After very publicly and dramatically accusing ex-husband Bob Geldof of murdering Hutchence, and declaring that she would dye her prospective wedding dress black for Michael’s funeral, love Paula Yates attempted suicide, hooked up with a heroine addict in rehab, then fought for the ashes of Hutchence. Split between three urns: one for his mother and father respectively, and one for Paula, Hutchence was morbidly carried around everywhere that Yates went, until she finally sewed his ashes into a Gucci pillow of hers, so that she could still sleep with him. And who knows: maybe some of the prozac, booze, cocaine, and prescription meds are still in the ashes to help comfort her. As for the rest of poor Hutchence, he remains in his mother’s home, and in the ocean blue in the Sydney harbour in Australia.

#11 To Infinity And Beyond Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, as well as, eventually, actor James Doohan (Scotty), had the journey of a lifetime, after their deaths, continuing as they did in their work lives: among the stars. Celestis, a company that capitalizes on the grieving families of the deceased, offers the chance for the dead to “experience” space travel. Of course services are given on a sliding scale starting from “missions” to space that then return to Earth ($1,295), to Earth orbitals ($4,995), to Lunar orbitals ($12,500), and finally journeys to deep space ($12,500). Again, these prices are all “starting from”, so the more money you pay, the more fun your loved one’s ashes will likely have in space. Regardless of the ridiculously priced comfort people pay for in terms of grieving, there is certainly no better way for the likes of Roddenberry (his wife also) and Doohan to go than out into deep space, where they spent so much of their lives pretending to be. Though one might wonder what becomes of all of this space junk (especially to those in orbit), since what goes up, must eventually come down, as society has learned one too many times with satellites, and the like.

#12 There’s No Place Like Hollywood… The lovable Terry (Toto), was a Cairn terrier, with a not-so-original name, likely based simply on her breed. That’s right, HER breed. Born at the outset of World War II, and dying shortly after its end in 1945, Terry had performed in nearly a dozen movies with Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracy and, of course, the tragic Judy Garland. After her death, Terry was buried behind owner Carl Spitz’s property, where a number of other four-legged stars were laid to rest (Spitz being one of the forerunners for animal training in Hollywood). During the expansion of the Ventura Freeway, the property was purchased, and the burial grounds were destroyed, and one can only hope that the pet cemetery haunts motorists to this day on the massive freeway. Regardless of the fact that Terry’s remains were disturbed, and covered over with concrete, she remains immortalized as her most famous, male persona with an erected monument to Toto in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

#13 Give Me To The Highest Bidder Novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor Truman Capote, one of America’s most celebrated (especially for the renowned Breakfast At Tiffany’s), is perhaps one of the first deceased celebrities to be able to claim (if he were alive) to have had his remains sold off. Yup, Capote, after his death, was given to best friend Joanne Carson (Johnny Carson‘s ex-wife). Carson died only last year, and plenty of items went up for auction, including the remains of Truman Capote, packed neatly away in a beautifully carved Japanese box. Not wanting to merely sit on the shelf in death, it seems Capote will be getting his wishes, as the successful bidder for his ashes intends to travel with him, for sure. After his cremation in 1984, Truman was valued at $6000, but just last year was sold at auction for $45,000! A number of other Capote items went on the block as well ranging from clothing, to ice skates, and even prescription bottles that Carson had for some reason, that left the auction for $5000. Always living large, it seems that Truman Capote is still worth quite a bit to people, and will not find some new home in the arms of an anonymous bidder.

#14 Tupac Got Smoked… Literally Tupac‘s remains went just as Tupac himself did: he was smoked. Granted, when Tupac died it was because he was smoked by bullets in a drive-by shooting, but this grandiose hip-hop artist, riding with Death Row Records run by the absolutely, certifiably insane Suge Knight, was hit four times: twice in the chest, once in the arm, and once in the thigh, as he stood out the sunroof of the car he was in. The crime still remains unsolved, and while Notorious B.I.G. was accused of being involved in the shooting, he denied everything, swore he was in the studio recording that night, and was himself, a year later, shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Dealing with the thug life, as well as the drug life, it’s no wonder that Tupac Shakur, upon being cremated, was partially divvied up among friends, rolled up with some primo ganja, and smoked. Made ever closer to his friends, Tupac went out in both the thug life and the drug life, smoked both ways in the end.

#15 A New Meaning To Disney’s Frozen Resting in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, it is indeed very sad to learn that the claim that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen is in fact false. How perfect would that have been? That being said, the reason that there are so many claims about Walt being frozen is because of the claims of Bob Nelson, president of the California Cryogenics Society. Before Disney died, rather quickly, of lung cancer, it is claimed that he was in discussion with Nelson about wanting to be preserved until such a time that he might be cured, and then continue to live on (in spite of how shady the workings of cryonics are, even to this date, never mind how they were in 1966). Realistically, Walt Disney Sr. was cremated, and not frozen, no matter how perfect that would have been for Disney today, given all of the hype, even still, over Disney’s Frozen. I suppose we’ll just have to “Let It Go”.

Source: TheRichest

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shawnsjames · 8 years ago

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Shawn FINALLY Reviews Netflix’s Luke Cage

For over a year people have been asking me to review Netflix’s Luke Cage. Unfortunately due to my limited resources and long-term unemployment I wasn’t able to review the show when it originally debuted However, thanks to the help of a family member with a Netflix account I was finally able to take a look at the series. And I have to say it’s the best adaptation of a Black superhero to ever grace any form of media.

Unlike other Marvel Studios’ projects, Netflix’s Luke Cage is not an attempt to directly translate a comic book. It’s an adaptation that re-imagines Luke Cage and his supporting cast for the 21st Century. So viewers shouldn’t expect Luke Cage to follow the letter of the original concept or the original 1970s Blaxploitation era premise. However, it does capture the spirit of Marvel’s inner-city hero and his mission as he starts his adventures in the all-new, all-different world of the Marvel Cinematic universe.

What makes Netflix’s Luke Cage unique isn’t that it’s just a re-imagining of Luke Cage, but who is doing the re-imagining. The Luke Cage of this adaptation isn’t being written and designed by White men like his 1970s comic book counterpart. No, this Luke Cage has been written and designed by Black men for Black audiences. And because we are getting the story of a Black man from Black men at a Black production company it completely changes the narrative and the perception of the character.

From the Black male perspective we’re given a thorough more comprehensive story of Carl Lucas than we would have ever gotten in any of the Marvel comic books. On Netflix’s show, Carl Lucas is a richer more multidimensional character. A former police officer from Georgia who has been framed for a crime he didn’t commit, he’s an Inivisible Man looking for a place in the world where he can’t be seen. After getting powers as a result of an experiment gone wrong at Seagate Prison, the quiet soft-spoken man is looking to rebuild his life and move forward. Working two jobs, one at Pop’s Barbershop in the daytime and at Harlem’s Paradise as a dishwasher at night, he’s just looking to get his bills paid. He’s the Invisible Man watching a situation erupt as Corrupt City Councilwoman Mariah Dillard and her gangsta cousin Leon “Cottonmouth” Stokes plan to make money off its people by exploiting the community. When a deal to sell weapons leads to things getting hot on the streets, the humble Cage becomes a reluctant hero who comes out of the shadows to protect the innocents caught up in an effort to protect his community from those who would exploit it.

In this adaptation he’s not a hero for hire. But a Black man looking to do the work Black men do every day to support and protect their families and communities from the predators who plague it. What makes this Luke Cage different from his comic book counterpart is the foundation of his core values. This Luke Cage is a decent, working class man out to maintain his intangibles of manhood such as his dignity, his self-respect and his self worth. He is a man of conscientiousness and character, what makes him a hero is who he is on the inside, not the powers he has. He’s a good man trying to make the best of a bad situation and doing his best to do the right thing in a world where everyone is out to do wrong.

Netflix’s story of Luke Cage isn’t just a story of a superhero but a story of Black men and Black manhood. That’s one of the things I liked most about this series how it made a focus on the role of Black men in the community as leaders and protectors. It’s a story that rarely gets told because there are very few Black men left in the community to tell it and tell it from their perspective.

Moreover, the series makes an effort to present the traditions and culture Black men used to pass down to one another. Not only did the producers focus on places like the barbershop, the basketball courts and other places Black men gathered and congregate, but they presented the history of these places and why they were important to the development of Black manhood and Black masculinity. It’s in these places that Carl Lucas is taught what he needs to be the man and the hero he becomes by the men in the community.

From what I’ve seen so far, there’s a lot I like about Netflix’s Luke Cage. It’s a contemporary reimagining, an adaptation that’s true to the spirit of the character, and a positive portrayal of Black men that presents a balanced picture of the Black. Moreover, it also presents who the real enemies of the modern day Black community are, Black democratic politicians and street hustlers who pretend to be the friends of all those in the community. The producers of this show clearly did their research on Black history and Black culture, weaving those elements seamlessly into this comic book adaptation.

It’s that fusion of Black culture, Black history and Black tradition that make Netflix’s Luke Cage a unique program. I understand why everyone loves this show and why it practically crashed the Netflix servers. This show is almost like the second coming of The Cosby Show back in 1984. After an over two decade long drought, we finally get a program made with black characters by Black people that presents a balanced picture of Black life onscreen. I’m hoping that the success of Luke Cage leads to a resurgence of positive Black media in America. As I see it, the whole landscape needs to change from all the buffoonery we’ve seen over the last decade and a half from minstrels like Tyler Perry, Shondra Rhimes, and Lee Daniels.

I also liked seeing all the beautiful sistas that are in Cage as well. The women of Cage are sexy, strong and intelligent, and we see a SPECTRUM of beauty from women of all skintones, from light skinned women like Reva Connors to dark skinned sistas like Misty Knight and the chocolate sista chasing after Luke in the barbershop. Black is beautiful and it put a smile on my face to see all those sexy sistas presented right at the side of Cage in this adaptation!

That being said, there’s a couple of things I don’t like about Netflix’s Luke Cage. I hate the fact that just as I’m getting to know a character they wind up dead on this show. And I hate all the gory deaths. But I understand that the producers of cage have a reason for all this By making us CARE about the characters they’re showing us the value of Black life by showing us how careless the bad guys are regarding taking other Black lives. It seems like Luke is the only one who really appreciates human life and the value of it, but maybe that’s because he’s seen so many people he care about lose their lives to those who didn’t care about the lives of others.

Production on Netflix’s Luke Cage is top notch, right on par with any of the Marvel Studios films. I know the filmmakers wanted to capture a 1970s vibe with their camera work but cinematically, the visuals in Luke Cage capture the energy and spirit of life in Harlem in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Every time I watched an episode of Luke Cage it made me reminisce about the times my father would take me to Tommie’s Barber Shop on Fredrick Douglass Boulevard for haircuts. Back then in that era before crack cocaine, there was still a semblance of community in the Black community, and while Black people were poor they still had pride in themselves.

Netflix’s Luke Cage isn’t “Too Black,” the big problem is that most people haven’t seen a balanced picture of Black life in media in over twenty years. Back in the 1980s when Black men like Spike Lee, Robert Townsend and Bill Cosby had the money, we got balanced and different pictures like this all the time. But after the OJ Simpson trial all we’ve gotten in Black media from Black producers like Oprah Winfrey, Shondra Rhimes, Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry is a slanted picture of Black life from Black feminists featuring stories of dark skinned Black Brutes abusing Black women, light skinned saviors, Black people as perpetual victims and Black women lusting after White Men. Netflix’s Luke Cage rebalances the picture and changes the narrative. We need more stories like this from Black production companies and we need them ASAP.

I’ve been loving the acting on this show, it’s some of the best I’ve seen in a Marvel Studios production. Mike Cotler dominates the screen as Luke Cage. His soft spoken performance captures the voice of the character in the comic. He gives Cage a richness and multidimensionality that go beyond anything ever presented in the newsprint of a Marvel comic. Simone Missick steals every scene she’s in as Misty Knight. Her portrayal takes the character to another level Mareshela Ali is intense as Leon “Cottonmouth” Stokes, smoldering in every scene he’s in. Frankie Faison is amazing as “Pop” Alfre Woodard is powerful as Mariah Dillard. Thanks to the acting, every episode feels like a big-budget epic movie.

Watching the work of this Black-owned prodco, I wish I had the money to hire them for an adaptation of The Temptation for John Haynes, I know they’d do an amazing job adapting that novel and bringing it to life onscreen. I could easily see this prodco making that movie and directing stars like Keith David in the role of Lucifer, Salli Richardson-Whitfield as E’steem and Michael Ealy as John Haynes. I know everyone’s old now, but that was my dreamcast for that book about 12 years ago when I wrote it.

I highly recommend everyone go out and see Netflix’s Luke Cage. It’s a GREAT series that reinvents the Black superhero for the 21st Century and takes a character that was made to be a stereotype and reinvents him into a balanced, positive portrayal of a Black man and a role model for Black men. If you’re a Black person you’re gonna feel a sense of pride watching this series. Watch this show then watch it again. It’s that GREAT!

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