#still interrogating these characters. this is a bit of an exploration piece instead of part of a fic but still so delicious

[oathkeeperoxas]

So @frostbitebakery tagged me in a last line meme, but in the spirit of six sentence sunday I am instead posting the last six paragraphs I wrote because I think they're chewy and tasty and deserve to be seen and likely otherwise won't be. Thanks Frost!

And Ice in turn looks undeniably, deeply sad. Not grieving or mauldin or hopeless or another dozen emotions that Maverick has seen of him that are shades of that feeling, but simply, obviously, incredibly unhappy. Ice carries an dissatisfaction inside him – different to the one that Maverick has, the one that has him burning like a star coming through the stratosphere, but there all the same – and there’s an underlying sorrow that accompanies that, always, but that’s not what this is. Now, he’s just sad, and Maverick has done that to him.  “We tried, didn’t we?” Ice asks, and somehow, even through that sadness, he smiles. Maverick wants to claw through the suddenly huge chasm of distance between them and cup his face in his hands, turn that smile into a true laugh, to make everything right again. To do anything to make Ice happy again. It’s intolerable that anyone hurt Ice. Even him. Maybe especially him. “Yeah,” Maverick says through a thick throat, voice catching. “We gave it a red hot go.”  “I still would do it,” Ice says, eyes deep, seeing, knowing. Not moving from Maverick’s face. Like he wants to savour every second left they have together. “I’d still want to try, even if I knew we couldn’t make it work. I’d still want to know what I know of you, Mav.”  And it hurts like a bitch. Like Ice has stood up and suckerpunched the air out of him, except that would only be a physical pain, and this one instead scours itself deep onto Maverick’s heart. “You can’t say shit like that,” Maverick says, breathless, almost choking on his grief, and Ice closes his eyes, that shade of a smile disappearing from his face. Now, he just looks tired.  “It’s the truth,” he insists. “I don’t usually get to tell the truth, but I’m not going to avoid it here. Even if it was only for a summer – I’d want you to be mine.” 

[mdhwrites]

Luz’s Character Finish Is Bad

“All I’ve ever wanted... was to be understood!” only works from a meta perspective. From the perspective that she is a nuerodivergent (though never stated in the show), LGBTQIA+ character. Groups that, yes, right now are struggling to be understood, accepted and shown love. Here’s the counterpoint: Who the fuck hasn’t shown Luz understanding in the past season and a half before then? And obviously, villains don’t count because they’re kind of, you know, evil. Unless Luz wants to say everyone in existence needs to show her understanding which is commonly a villain’s motivation as it doesn’t allow for other people to exist. Amity here is the second biggest (we’ll get to Camila when we talk about the actual scene itself) because their relationship is literally built on shared understanding and interests. This actually gets worse when you look at Amity’s character. She acts entirely ready to just live in the human realm with how excited she is about it. Obviously stops studying magic to focus more on studying human world stuff to prepare for it. She even goes as far, just like King does, to LEARN SPANISH FOR LUZ. Now... Can a brain refuse all of this? As someone with Avoidant Personality Disorder: Absolutely. Does that excuse work in the context of a piece of media? No it fucking doesn’t without some real exploration and deep dive into why/how the character dismisses ALL of it. Because otherwise, it’s the same as using magic to wave something away. They’re emotions, we don’t have to explain it. But if those emotions don’t make sense from ANY perspective within the show... It’s an audience’s right to call the show out for it. If a character who is very business like, to the point, and quiet suddenly goes on an hour long rant in front of the hero instead of just killing the obstacle in front of them like they have literally any other problem of theirs, you can ‘explain’ that as an author. Come up with excuses. It’s not the audiences’ fault for not believing those excuses though when the text actively goes against what is being shown. Which... Well, let’s talk about the potential excuse that Luz has never been shown understanding before the Isles? That until Gus and Willow, she had no friends and that King and Eda still did take half a season to start showing care for her and her interests. Okay. That’s all fair and technically works within the text of the show.

But Camila exists. And the first special detailed, pretty clearly, how much Camila has backed Luz up every step of the way in her creative journey. That Camila has never rejected her daughter and shown her as much understanding as is quite possible for a mom to show her daughter. She only held back on this ONCE. And I want to mention that the only time Willow and Gus ever ‘turn’ on Luz, is ONCE. Hell, rule of threes: Put the Bat Queen/Owlbert in there. And all three have the same complaint for Luz: You need to stop caring about your interests and goals at the point where they start hurting people. Now, actually, I do want to point out that if this were properly interrogated and a proper part of Luz’s arc, it would be an AMAZING parallel to how the Collector behaves. Make the two both characters who are so in love with their view of the world and excitement for their ideas and games that the rest of the world stopped mattering at one point. Only Luz has learned and the Collector has not. But then Camila, in the moment before Luz’s grand statement, apologizes for that bit of criticism. Apologizes for making Luz have to consider other human beings. Apologizes for the one moment that she has ever held Luz back on... And that’s dog shit. It frames this moment not so much as Luz wanting understanding as much as her wanting to be told there will never be consequences for her actions. That no one around her believes she even CAN make a mistake. The rest of Camila’s speech, and more problematically Luz’s response, or lack there of, only reinforces this concept. After all, Camila makes a very rousing, very real point about the mistakes people make. She admits to a lot of her own and ostensibly, THAT is the part of the speech that the majority of the first two specials have been building up to. Luz has been torturing herself over a mistake she believes herself to have made (which how stupid that whole plot point is is literally another blog I’ve made) so tackling that, tackling the idea that sometimes you just don’t realize the full picture of your actions and you need to know the difference, makes sense. And Luz ignores all of this. Blatantly and bluntly. She doesn’t react to ANYTHING her mom says until her mom reveals she’s a secret nerd. That she is actually one Luz’s kind which is... A problem and a half in and of itself and I’ve talked about Camila’s character too in the past. And Luz ignoring all of that begs the question of why none of that matters to her? She’s made such a big deal out of it after all. Acted supposedly near suicidal because of it. Unless... The problem wasn’t the mistake. Unless the problem was consequences she couldn’t guaranty she could fix or were too hard to fix. Too inconvenient and painful. One example of this is perhaps the cruelest thing Luz does: Amity quotes back to her about wanting to spend their future together before stepping through the portal. At that time, Luz knows that her plan is to not go through that door. To let it close with Amity on the other side. Supposedly, Luz loves this girl. There are pictures of them going on dates in the human realm despite Luz having had this question on her mind for a while now, If not the answer she came up with.

But she says nothing. She fully intended to not give Amity any sort of closure and let Amity, up to the very second they were separated, believe Luz still intended to spend their future together. The level of callousness and selfishness required to break up with someone like that, let alone abandoning ALL of her friends who would have to deal with that emotional turmoil while dealing with the new form of the Isles, is just beyond me. It’s not something you can excuse with being a teenager. It’s not something you should excuse with nuerodivergence and FUCK YOU if you do. It is simply a god awful moment for Luz’s character. Period. And outside of meta explanations, like the writers knowing Camila would go through and so knew Luz wasn’t going to abandon Amity and thus didn’t think about Luz’s actions, there’s no getting around what it says about Luz’s character. Let alone mixed with this. Mixed with her blatantly not caring about any lessons about mistakes or having a conversation about mistakes. She just wants to be told she’s special, act like she’s special and continue to believe she lives in a fantasy. That she is the hero and once she stopped believing that fantasy could come true, she was willing to let the entire Isles burn without even trying to help it.

Because understanding to Luz isn’t recognition of your ideas, beliefs, interests, struggles, etc. It is all of that plus not being critical of anything she does. That any amount, literally any amount, of push back, of suppression, means you hate her and just don’t ‘understand’ her. It’s gross, it’s bad and as someone who was born autistic and suffers from depression now... This isn’t how I want to be understood. And I would hope it’s not how most want to be understood. ======== I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join! I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat. And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[aenaxes-moved]

reverie

[crosshair x f!reader] kashyyyk is beautiful at night. crosshair takes advantage of the moment of peace to sneak away. you follow.

warnings: none, just some snoggin’ with cross (you can technically read this as gn!reader if you disregard the petname)

w/c: 2.2k

a/n: NO SPOILERS! this is me coping with the current crosshair situation :’-) i wanted to explore his softer side because dammit he’s got feelings (he might be a little out of character but my house my rules heheh)

“Nice hideout you have going on.”

“Had,” Crosshair corrects without looking up, too focused on carefully wrapping a rag around the scope of his firepuncher laid carefully across his lap.

Had you heard him speak one short year ago, when you were fresh out of GARMC orientation and shunted straight onto the Marauder, you would have certainly taken the sniper’s curtness for frigidity. And you had, for your first few months with Clone Force 99, taken his flat intonation and pointed tone with a timid squeak every time he’d come in for a bacta patch or hypodermic needle.

But things were different, now.

There is no deflated resignation that he’s been discovered, hidden a good few paces away from where Tech sits entranced by the wizened green Jedi master. Nor is there icy snarl curling at the edges of his lips, that you might deign to interrupt his alone time with Darling (nobody got between Crosshair with a microfiber cloth and Darling, not even Wrecker). Instead, he acknowledges you in his cool nonchalance, beckoning in the most backhanded of ways. You grin, seizing your welcome and ducking under a thick loop of vine into the small clearing where he sits perched on a boulder.

“Was Master Yoda talking too much?” you laugh, dropping down onto the balls of your feet as you peer up at Crosshair (who still won’t tear his laser focus from polishing over the dark metal of his rifle). You wrap your arms around your knees and grin when he groans.

“General Yoda is fine; it’s Tech that keeps prattling on with him,” Crosshair mutters, scrubbing a touch more aggressively at the base of the scope.

“Oh, Cross, let him have his fun,” you chide playfully, finally earning you a disdainful glance and a raised brow. “It’s not every day that you get to interrogate one of the oldest sentient beings in the galaxy.”

“Did you just call the general old?” Crosshair snorts, flipping his toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other.

“Crosshair, how dare you accuse me like that!”

“You said it,” he shrugs, and you catch a glimpse of a fleeting smile before he turns his head back down, away, towards his rifle.

You huff, and for a moment after, there’s silence. Mostly because you know that even your best retort would be effortlessly shot down, but in part to just indulge, to look quietly at the ornery sniper you’ve come to call a dear friend, to take in him and all of his tall, confident quietude. You both know that he knows what you’re doing, drinking him in, but he says nothing every time.

It’s in these brief reveries that you catch him in his softest, purest, state, methodically cleaning the firepuncher, disassembling, reassembling, replaying the soothing knowledge and practice that every piece had its rightful place. Things would align. Even with his chin turned down, his features nearly obscured by the shadows of the jungle canopy, there’s just enough light yet to make out the slight upward turn of his lips, a wry smile around his toothpick as he unclips his scope.

“So why are you here?”

The daydream is broken, and you flicker your eyes up to his with an embarrassed cough when you notice he’s been staring back. And if his smug half-smile has anything to say, it’s a triumphant and coy I caught you.

“Well,” you laugh, quietly pushing down the rising heat high in your neck. “I wanted to try to see the night sky on Kashyyyk before we leave, but I’m too scared to go alone.” You plaster on the sickliest of smiles you can, batting your lashes up at Crosshair in the way that would have Wrecker at your beck and call in seconds, but one that you know has no effect on his brother.

“Bullshit.” Crosshair rolls his eyes, but he’s already snapping the scope back onto Darling and sliding down from his perch. “Only things in the galaxy you’re scared of are porgs,” he says as he fastens his rifle into his pack and slings one strap over his shoulder, offering his free hand down to you.

“They—they have weirdly sentient eyes, okay!” you snap a bit hotly. You blame the warmth blooming across your cheeks on the fact that only Crosshair knows about your fear of the terrifying little fellows, not that he’s squeezing your hand and hefting you onto your feet.

“Why not ask Wrecker to take you?” Crosshair asks, letting go of your hand—to your relief and dismay all at once—and brush off whatever undergrowth sits dusted over your shoulders. “He’s sappy.”

“He’s busy making friends with the Wookiees.” And butchering Shyriiwook while he did it.

“And Hunter?”

“He’s also making friends with the Wookiees.” It’s not entirely untrue, if learning how to whittle blades out of branches counted as friendly bonding.

“Echo?”

“Also... making friends... with the Wookiees.”

You both know Echo has probably long since fallen asleep after a dose of painkillers for his fall during a particularly messy bit of the firefight. You could have actually told Crosshair the truth, but a part of you won’t take your chances—depending on Crosshair’s mood, he’d send you back to wake up his newest brother and return to shining up the stock of his rifle. But instead of calling your bluff, Crosshair simply shakes his head and sighs, extending his hand to you.

Mind suddenly and miserably blank, you stare mutely at his outstretched palm, an offering, then up at him.

“Come on, you said you were scared,” Crosshair teases, a lazy, sloping smirk curved over his features. He beckons you with a single flick of his fingers. Smug bastard, you think.

“My hero,” you snark back, but you’re quick to close the distance. Even if it takes bearing a bit of his snide sideswipes, you’re surprised at how easy it is to set aside your headstrong pride and simper for the sniper’s attention (though he’s giving it much more freely than you had anticipated). Palm to palm, the cool fabric of his blacks between you, you secure your grip around him as snug as you can.

Crosshair leads you quietly through the underbrush, going so far as to lift drooping vines and push aside especially tall ferns for you, all the while keeping as secure a grip on your hand as your grip on his.

It’s comforting, even while tamping through the darkness. You trust all of his brothers with your life, but maybe, just maybe, you trust Crosshair just that much more as he leads you deeper into the jungle.

After an short trek, you arrive at another clearing, the ground barren and drier than the damp, brush heavy terrain you had come to know during the Kashyyyk campaign. It’s no bigger than the armory floor spread on the Marauder, but as Crosshair pulls you into the clearing, you realize it’s not the earth beneath your feet that commands your wonder.

Crosshair nods his chin up, and your eyes are quick to follow. It’s the pearlescent glow of the three moons high above the treetops, shining clear and soft down through the canopy skylight.

Two moons float above in the bluish gray darkness of the galaxy, the third moon peeking from behind a few trees, in between them, a delicate freckling of stars, twinkling planets, comets ambling quietly through space. You’re barely aware of the grin spreading across your face as you soak in the night sky. It’s everything you had hoped it would be.

And with Crosshair at your side, it’s just that much more.

“Found it while I was scouting,” Crosshair’s voice comes, soft through the ambient silence of the jungle. Even in your rapture, you can feel his eyes on you, lingering on the green earth and watching your wonder far up in the sky.

“It’s amazing,” you breathe, and you squeeze his hand. You tear your eyes away from the starscape above to meet Crosshair with a smile. “Thank you, Cross.”

The sniper is quiet as you meet his gaze, trained on you with an indiscernible expression, a depth in his dark eyes you have only seen once before when you caught a glimpse of him at the helm, looking quietly into the expanse of space laid out before him.

It’s peace, you decide. A stillness, a calm, the quietest respite in the midst of this war. You gently rub over his knuckles.

“Close your eyes, y/n,” Crosshair finally murmurs, barely above a whisper, his gaze unwavering. And your eyes are already fluttered shut when you hear something hit the underbrush and a crunch of dirt under his boot as he steps forward and loops an arm around your waist. You squeeze your eyes shut a bit tighter as you press up against the battle-worn plastoid of his chestplate and feel his fingers splay over your hip.

Warm, rough fingertips gently pinch your chin and tilt your head up just so. A soft breeze wafts over your cheeks, carrying with it the woody musk and cloying pollen of the forest around you, and it is in that moment that you realize that he had dropped his glove onto the forest floor, had left it there and chosen to hold you in his bare hand, smoothing his thumb over your skin.

“There’s a good girl.”

The only warning you get is a ghost of a breath gently exhaled onto your skin before there is warmth, pulled close and steady and sweet as Crosshair gently tugs on your bottom lip.

He’s soft, you think mindlessly through the blissful haze between your ears. You faintly register the taste of the lavender balm you had bought him planetside on Crucival as he trails his hand up from your hip, over the dip in your back, and up to cup the base of your neck, pulling you closer.

All that teething’ll dry you out you had told him, and he’d scoffed something along the lines of soldiers—especially clones—not needing or wanting luxury goods. And yet you taste the telltale floral notes on his skin. You foggily wonder if he keeps the little tin on his ammunition belt as he kneads firm, steady fingers into your neck. You’ll gloat about it later.

There’s lavender, and then you taste him, just a trace, when he drags his tongue over the plush skin of your lips. At some point, you’ve brought your hands up to curl at the base of his head, threading through neatly cropped silver strands, and you part your lips. Finally, finally you can taste him on your own tongue.

He’s battle weary, laced with the slightest tang of synthetic wood treatment bleached into his toothpicks, anxiety bitten and jaw clenched. But here, now, only the faint residues of that tension remain in his impossibly gentle, unhurried motions. Running his thumb from your chin to the corner of your jaw, he tugs, tilting your head and gently tugging your tongue into his mouth.

Warmth blooms through your chest, steady and soft, a pulsar light glowing through the darkness, and you pull him closer.

He pulls away first, if only by virtue of your fervent wish that this moment might never end, nipping lightly your bottom lip in parting. And when the heat radiating off his skin is no longer close enough to warm you in the cool forest night, you slowly open your eyes, hoping that you won't wake to the durasteel ceiling of your bunk glaring down on you.

It's not a dream, Maker bless.

Crosshair stands before you, barely half an arm's length away and already flicking another toothpick between his lips as he smiles, open and soft in the moonlight. Without his persistent scowl, his piercing gaze, he looks so, so achingly young. And, if only for a moment, free of the burdens of war. Just a simple man bathing in the starlight in the jungles of Kashyyyk.

He's beautiful.

"Hi, Cross," you whisper, voice doing little to hide your lingering daze, and you watch, eyes wide with starry wonder, as Crosshair shakes with quiet laughter, eyes closed and shoulders sloped low.

"Hi, y/n," he chuckles. He fixes you with another unreadable look, this one different from the first. It's softer and mellow, vibrant in thrumming waves of bliss, content.

But before you can decide, he reaches down to pick his glove off of the jungle floor, tapping off the dirt on his hip and then, without hesitation, stuffing it into his ammunition belt. There's a brief flash of purplish metal in the pocket he chooses. The balm. You were right.

He catches your astonishment with a soft huff and clips the pocket shut.

"All that teething does dry me out," he teases, but there is only quiet acknowledgement, gracious and still as he extends his ungloved hand to you in the waning moonlight.

You stare at him, dumbstruck.

"The general probably knows we're gone. Come on," Crosshair's smile shifts, assuming a much more familiar smirk to accompany the sharp, snarky lilt that washes over him. He flicks his fingers at you, rolling his toothpick between his teeth. "Be a good girl for me."

There's the Crosshair you know.

"You're insufferable," you mutter, the heat blazing on the tips of your ears as you duck your head. But you reach for him anyways, reveling in the slow slide of your skin over his palm, your fingers finding home intertwined with his.

"Such a good girl," he chuckles, lifting your knuckles to his lips for the barest of chaste, fleeting touches.

"I will make your next hypoderm hurt like hell," you grumble.

"Oh, I look forward to it."

[hawkland]

(Mostly) Destiel Fic Recs #5

This is a LONG recs post because it’s been a while since I did an update and I fell hard into reading one author’s work (DeanRH). In fact I could easily do a rec post just of their fics alone, but for this round I’m just going to pick out a handful of my absolute favorites so far, the ones I’d recommend to start out with, along with more other authors’ works I’ve especially enjoyed lately.

Absolution at the Five-and-Dime by DeanRH (125k)  - this is perhaps THEE DeanRH fic to start with if you want a good, long read with a little bit of everything (Roadtrips! Intriguing casefic! Americana! Tasty Dean/Cas pining! Wing!kink and unique angel lore! Kinky soul fisting and tentacles!) It’s kind of two of parallel stories in one: the first, a flashback to Dean and Sam's first year hunting on their own (as well as trying to avoid hunting, and John in general); the second on how Dean and Cas finally get together during an unusual case and when Dean is able to really let go of his past trauma and accept himself/accept love from Cas. 

What I love about DeanRH’s work is that they write from the unique point of view of a drifter, so they understand living on the road, traveling place to place, and the highs and lows of that life like no others I’ve encountered in SPN before. (The author’s notes are often as much fun to read as the stories themselves). They also write a kickass angel!Cas and never lose sight of his non-human traits and background. Their writing style is unique - almost poetic in nature, and I know some readers have found it difficult to get into. But it works really well for me in their SPN fic...gives it the flavor of oral story telling as might actually happen at a drifter’s camp (with one story written exactly as such). Be warned this particular fic does play up the idea of John Winchester being mentally abusive and Dean having to turn tricks when he was younger in order to support him and Sam, so there is some dark stuff. But as someone who grew up with mentally abusive parent, reading this was extremely cathartic to me and believably written (unlike some stories that go too over the top with abusive John, or just don't understand how that kind of abuse leaves lifetime psychological scars.)

The rest of this round’s recs below the cut.

Carnevale by DeanRH (18k) - Actually the first fic by this author I read, because I just couldn’t resist a story set in my favorite place in the world, Venice, Italy. Castiel is the Angel of Venice, banished there for so long he does not even know or remember the reasons why. But Carnevale season is the one time a year he can let his wings out - figuratively and literally. And during this particular Carnevale season, he meets an intriguing masked young American tourist there with his brother and their one night stand turns into something far more powerful than either expected. This one’s hot, romantic, and achingly sad at the end as it all ties together unexpectedly with canon-verse...though with a hint for the future so it’s definitely not totally sad. I loved how DeanRH clearly understands Venice as a fellow lover of the city, the side of it most tourists never see unless they spend a long time there. This story made me cry just from wanting to be back in Venice again.

Ice cream was sweeter, food more satisfying, everything was an epicurean delight. There was just something magical about Venice, and he had lived here in the city for hundreds of years, so the shine should have worn off by now.

But it didn't, and there was always something more, something wonderful to discover around the next corner. The painted eaves of a church. The beauty of two women dancing with flowers in their teeth across the Piazza San Marco one day, overcome by the sheer joy of just being there. The way the university students still created Venetian masks, like Castiel's extravagant volto mask and Dean's humble servetta muta, with crafts that had been handed down across the generations. The morning silence that lay against the stones.

Hard Landing by DeanRH (26.9k) - A bit similar in theme to Carnevale. A pre-series Dean and Sam are sight-seeing in Spain when an angel, struck by a babel-spell, crash lands right in front of Dean. A strange yet seriously hot encounter with the angel turns into something much more complicated when the brothers return home and realize something more serious is afoot and they are both trapped in the middle of it. This is another story where things are very much not as they seem at first (as fun as that is!) It features master strategist Cas at his best, with a side helping of delightful trickery care of Gabriel and Balthazar as they deal with Lucifer, Michael...and a few others along the way.

The Sacred Band of Thebes by DeanRH (14.5k) - The last DeanRH fic I’m gonna allow myself to include in this round up, because it’s just very soft and sweet and beautiful - for a story about Dean & Cas being magically transported back in time to ancient Sparta! This is another story infused with a great knowledge of place and history, with some wonderfully delightful original characters added in that make it all the more enjoyable to read.

And now on to some other authors, I promise!

IPAMIS OL OLPRIT by emmbrancsxx0 (56k). A really wonderful fic that take a different look at what might have happened with a temporarily resurrected John Winchester during Season 14. Dean & Cas are in an established relationship here, and John here isn’t too happy about it — though mostly because he sees Cas (and Jack) as monsters, the kind of monsters he spent his lifetime hunting. This is a great fic for the emotional complexity of how John, Dean and Cas are all handled. John isn’t a cardboard evil dad, Dean is struggling between his loyalty to his father and to Cas, and Cas is increasingly bitchy/frustrated at Dean still being so desperate for his father’s approval (and all the more complex for not just being a quietly suffering perfect supporting boyfriend.) There’s some great action sequences in this too along with the emotional angst and a delicious dose of hurt!Cas if that’s your thing (as it is for me :D)

Abrenuntio by Neonbat (51k). A very dark but compelling AU take on the/a apocalypse universe. Dean, Sam and John are all alive in this post-angel war-apocalyptic world. They are part of a group of human survivors fighting against the angel army when they manage to capture “Blue” — a particularly feared angel of death. Dean is tasked with bringing Blue in for interrogation and he becomes a prisoner in their camp after John is killed. As mentioned, this is a pretty dark/sad fic (with some rather gruesome torture scenes) but I still found it quite compelling as a look at how things could have gone in some other parallel universe. And somehow the author manages to make the Dean/Cas relationship come together despite them starting out as complete enemies. This is one of those AUs that works for me because the core of the characters really shine through despite the differences in the setting.

if it all fell to pieces tomorrow by spocklee (37k) - a gorgeous post-Empty rescue fic that takes an approach I haven’t really seen explored in detail before (despite being something I’ve actually thought about as something that could’ve happened.) What if Cas has spent so long denying himself happiness, and then trapped in regrets and false-rescue scenarios created by the Empty, that he can’t trust that his rescue is real? And so he runs off to be on his own - literally stealing the Impala because he can’t handle being in Dean’s presence one moment longer - and only slowly comes to terms with the idea that it’s over now and he can be happy with/around his friends and family. This one’s both deliciously angsty and at times funny/sweet, looking at Cas’s relationships not just with Dean but with Sam, Jack, Claire, even Eileen. It does some fun stuff with other returned angels and demons who now find themselves back on Earth (and human), and...I just really enjoyed this one a lot.

Both Saved and Lost by angelfishofthelord (13.7k) Gen Cas character study, absolutely gorgeous and sad and one of those fic I couldn’t stop thinking about the day after reading it. AU where Apocaverse!Cas isn’t immediately killed by our Cas during 13x22 but instead hitches a ride back to the main ‘verse. Dean and Sam want to keep him alive for information on Michael; Cas is torn and trying to figure out just how similar—or different—they really are. Some great angel stuff here (I also highly recommend this author’s Jack & Cas “dadstiel” fics, they’re equally lovely and heartbreaking at the same time.)

flesh of the mighty by Mudprophet (2.7k) - THEE “What exactly did Dean eat in Purgatory, anyway?” fic you’ve probably already heard about. *cough* I’ve been trying to work up the courage to read this one for a while and finally gave in and OH MY CHUCK I’m so glad I did. It’s perversely disturbing and beautiful at the same time, Cas is wonderfully DERANGED and ALIEN in that way that I love it when fics managed to convey just how much angels are NOT human. Do heed the tags.

Full of Grace by ilovehowyouletmefall (11k) - Another one for the weird-as-fuck-angel!Cas lovers’ list. Heaven/canon-compliant fic where Dean knows he should feel happy and at peace but he just...isn’t, even with Cas and all of his friends and family there. He finally goes looking for Cas when he’s been absent for a time and, for the first time, gets to not just see but experience his true form. Another one that hits some kinks I knew I had and others I didn’t...until now. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

don't ask me where i've been by saltwound / @1x06 (8k) - I can never resist a good 09x06 fiction gap fic! What makes this one really stand out is how well it captures Cas’s internal voice - his struggles adapting to human senses, limitations and emotions versus what/how he experienced things as an angel. The longing and feelings between Dean & Cas here are so achingly beautiful and I just wanted to cry when Cas says he misses hearing Dean’s prayers, so Dean, he...oh, I’m not going to spoil it. *happy sigh* Just read it.

this room is wrong by DarkHeartInTheSky (12k) - Sometimes I like torturing myself with some good 15x03 divorce arc angst and this fic hit that button just so. It’s an alternative take on where Cas might have ended up after leaving the bunker and features some great Cas & Sam friendship feels, when Sam sets out to try to bring Cas home. It’s all the stuff you’d wish the writers would’ve let them talk out in canon.

Well that’s more than enough for this round! Go forth, read and give some great writers some kudos & comment love!

[dmsden]

Location, Location, Location - The Wreck of the Selkie’s Sorrow

Avast, my Gentle Readers! Time for something a little different in our Location, Location, Location series...a shipwreck to be explored! So queue up some sea chanties, find a good shipwreck map to use (there’s a really nice one at http://www.fantasticmaps.com/free-stuff/), and prepare for a tale of drowned men and monsters in the deeps. This adventure is balanced for 5 level 4 characters.

The Sorrowful Selkie left port 3 months ago. She was picking up cargo in far Nath-Hilum and returning to her home port of Fairhaven on the Calengard coast. Unfortunately, she ran afoul of pirates just a few days out, and a terrible battle ensued. Even more unfortunately, the battle attracted the attention of sahuagin, who have come to try and claim its treasures for themselves.

It’s a foggy, stormy day, and the water is choppy. The DM would do well to make sure they have the rules for underwater combat handy for the later parts of this adventure.

Location 1: The Beach

The PCs first spot the wreck a bit offshore. They see some sailors standing about on the nearby beach, and they might well assume that these are survivors from the wreck...but they couldn’t be more wrong! These are pirates from the Bloody Sunrise, the ship that put the Sorrowful Selkie down. They have two rowboats that have been pulled up on the beach. The Red Dawn is not in sight, because she dares not challenge the Calengard naval forces. In fact, these pirates are paranoid that the players are Calendard soldiers. They will act very jumpy and suspiciously, and, if possible, will try to get the jump on the PCs. You can use the stats for a Bandit Captain and 4 thugs to make a medium difficulty for the PCs. They have 5d6 copper pieces each, and the leader additionally has 3d6 electrum pieces.

“Location” 2: What Happened Here?

If the PCs take one of the pirates prisoner, they can interrogate them to find out what’s going on. These pirates aren’t cowards, but they are terrified of Calengard justice, which is notoriously hard on piracy (an easy Insight check will suggest that.) A medium Intimidate will get them talking (or an easy one if the threat of Calengard justice is used). They will admit to serving Captain Rhekmun the Red, a hobgoblin pirate who captains the Bloody Sunrise. The Bloody Sunrise is waiting for them out in the fog to give a signal with a horn. (Note: If the PCs want to tangle with a whole pirate galleon, that’s a whole other adventure). They will explain that they engaged the Sorrowful Selkie, as they’d heard it was bringing back cargo and treasures from the south. As far as they know, the crew abandoned the ship after it ran aground on the reef, and they’re just here trying to salvage what’s left.

Location 3: The Open Sea

The water is rough, and it might be difficult to get out to the ship. The PCs can wait until the water calms, but the wreck will likely sink into deeper waters before then, or the Bloody Sunrise might come to see what became of its crew. This is a skill challenge - the PCs need 8 successes before getting 3 failures. Some possible options are below, but the DM is more than welcome to let the PCs use magic or whatever else they come up with.

Waterborne Vehicle Proficiency: Someone who has proficiency in handling boats or who has the Sailor background, or something similar, immediately gives them two automatic successes, as it’s assumed they help guide the rest of the group.

Athletics to help row the boats more quickly through the storm. (Only 2 PCs can help row each boat.)

Nature or Survival checks help judge the waves and reef and pick out the clearest path to the ship.

Perception checks to watch out for the jagged reef as it sticks out of the water.

You can judge that certain spells might make automatic successes, lower the difficulties of checks, etc.

On a failure, the boats capsize in the storm. The PCs still make it out to the wreck, but they have picked up a level of Exhaustion. They must also make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take a second level.

Location 4: The Wreck

The PCs make it to the Sorrowful Selkie and realize that it’s only a matter of time, maybe 20-30 minutes before the waves rip her off of the reef and toss her into the depths, her treasures lost forever. They can make Investigation checks to determine that the rowboats are all gone, and there’s no sign of any of the crew. She is abandoned. The treasures must be in the rear part of the ship, which is partly submerged. The PCs will have to swim down to investigate and try to recover them.

The real danger comes from a raiding party in the water. A sahuagin priestess leads a group of 4 sahuagin and their pet hunter shark. Make sure you have those underwater rules ready. The sahuagin aren’t betting their full lives on this. If the priestess and shark are killed, the others are likely to retreat. Likewise, if all the normal sahuagin are killed, the priestess will retreat. The shark will retreat if there are no more sahuagin left to command it.

“Location” 5: The Prize

If they win, they get access to the cargo of the Sorrowful Selkie. Even though some have been stolen by sahuagin or slid from the cargo hold down into the depths, they can still get a fine trove. 1700 cp, 900 sp, and 60 gp are kept in a watertight cask. In addition, there is 350 gp worth of cargo. The DM can decide what form this takes and how hard it is to haul and recover from the sinking wreck, but I think it’s worth letting the PCs have it.

If the DM wants to spice up the ending, maybe MANY sahuagin with sharks show up and they could make the trip back to shore a chase. This is awfully one-sided, however. Instead, perhaps the PCs find the Captain’s Log, which explains where the crew retreated to, thus giving a launching point for another adventure.

[xoruffitup]

TROS (Mis)Characterizations: What Was and What Could Have Been

What started as responding to an anon ask turned into an entire meta... but working out all these thoughts has at least eased a bit of my TROS pain. :’) 

From my perspective, TROS managed to destroy not only the characterizations built so far in the sequel trilogy, but also the entire story built upon these characters (mainly Reylo) as we knew them. While talking to a family member about the movie a few days ago and voicing my grievances with the story, he pointed out how someone could watch TFA and skip to TROS without realizing they’d missed much. That’s mostly true and entirely gutting.

Since I had an ask to talk about how TROS regressed in terms of characterization, I’ll start with the most hurtful of defacements: All of the nuanced vulnerability that made Kylo/Ben our most beloved character. We had absolutely nothing in TROS like the complex masterpiece moments of TLJ. Think back to “You are a monster.” / “Yes I am” – delivered with glowering menace as Kylo stalked closer, simultaneous to the tell of fragmented uncertainty in a quivering bottom lip and chin, all while his eyes remained completely riveted on Rey. Think back to “You’re not alone” – delivered with a wet sheen to his eyes in a soft cracked voice, but with self-loathing still smoldering behind his expression. Until the scene with Han, Kylo was shrunk into an entirely two-dimensional cookie cutter “villain” figure in TROS, seemingly more committed to the dark side and the First Order than he ever was to begin with in TFA. (I say “seemingly” because his true motives and interior dilemmas are frustratingly unclear in the entire first half of the movie. Cue me loathing the mask more than ever.)

Though Kylo seems uncharacteristically committed to the Supreme Leader role in TROS, considering he ended TLJ in a supplicating position fixing regretful eyes up towards Rey, luckily TROS did at least maintain the Force bond. …or at least the concept of it, because in execution the Force bond scenes achieved approximately nothing of what TLJ so uniquely excelled at: Creating a sense of intimacy, understanding, and forbidden tenderness between Rey and Ben. Instead of soft-spoken entreaties and promises across the soft glow of a fire or the dappling light of rain (ugh, remember the way light and shadow literally played out in contrasts across Kylo’s face during “I am a monster”? TLJ is a cinematic wonder, pass it on), we get scenes where the two yell and spit spite at each other. Most frustrating is how absolutely out of touch Kylo’s dialogue is with the Ben who was revealed through previous Force bond scenes. In a regression that makes absolutely no sense after Ben’s big proposal of “It’s time to let old things die: The Jedi, the Sith… I want you to join me” – he literally has the most reductive, bland, and meaningless lines such as “I will find you and turn you to the dark side.” ……..? Kylo has literally never been that boring or straightforward ever, not even since the TFA interrogation scene. He offered to be her teacher, sure, but never on terms that simplistic or blatantly combative to Rey’s will.

What I’ve always passionately loved and defended about Reylo is that Kylo never forced Rey to do anything harmful or against her will. Even pushing her to the painful moment of admitting the truth (or so we FUCKIN’ THOUGHT) about her parentage during the throne room scene did, in the end, help her character come to terms with repressed trauma and move forward in her journey of self-determination. (haha look at me, still stuck in my feminist goggles as if they haven’t been ripped off my head by TROS…) The point is: The TLJ Force bond was never a means of threat. It was never a tool for Kylo to say something as blatantly antagonistic as “I will find you and turn you to the dark side.” (Wow, did a Kindergartener write that? Come the fuck on, JJ.) And I was deeply disappointed to see the Force bond reduced to a tool used only to tell a part of the story unrelated to Reylo; rather than being the means of developing their relationship in and of itself.

This feeds into my overall biggest grievance with how Kylo/Ben was handled in this film. Similar to the Force bond – Ben’s character was reduced to a secondary prop piece who mostly served only as a narrative device in advancing the Rey-Palpatine plotline. Look, I imagined for months ahead of TROS the kind of candid Force bond conversations we might hear. Like “No one (knows me)” / “But I do.” (Where the FUCK did that line go?! Apparently JJ doesn’t know her…) Or perhaps Ben apologizing and opening up to Rey about how unhappy he is in the dark, how alone he feels. Instead…. we got shit like “You’re his granddaughter.” Like how dare they disrespect Academy Award Nominee Adam Driver’s talent like that?

Now, looking past the fact for a moment that the Rey-Palpatine addition is insulting, unoriginal, and sexist; there could have been a very interesting dynamic here. We would have the grandson of Vader and the granddaughter of Palpatine feeling very different pulls to both light and darkness, Force bonded together as they struggle with the weight of these legacies. Kylo, I imagine, was probably partially excited when he learned it, because maybe this means that Rey would understand him fully and perhaps this time, once she learned the truth, she would finally be with him. But nope, we don’t get nearly that much of a look into Kylo’s head. He does say at one point “You can’t go back to her (Leia), just like I can’t,” but the line missed the mark a bit for me because TROS still had Kylo appealing to Rey from the perspective of “Join the dark side as if we’ve done away with all that grey morality complexity we introduced last movie” – rather than from the perspective of “Neither of us should feel alone ever again.”

I’m rather unspeakably bitter that we had no exploration into what Palpatine’s return meant for Ben. I imagine he would have gone a bit wild upon learning that the man who was responsible for his grandfather’s fall was still alive. And the revelation of “I have been every voice you’ve ever heard inside your head”? This was enough to bring Ben Solo stans to tears before we even watched the movie, and yet it was treated completely off-handedly. Ben never even gets his own moment of coming to terms with Palpatine’s return. No “My grandfather killed you – how is this possible?” Nothing like that at all – even though he’s the character who would be most affected by his return in terms of legacy implications. Nope; Ben’s first encounter with Palpatine at the beginning of the movie – the same encounter where we learn Palpatine has apparently been behind all of the dark side grooming, manipulation, and isolation Ben has suffered since he was literally in the womb – quickly veers towards “Kill the girl / She is not who you think she is.” Early warning here that Ben Solo as a character in dire need of resolution is about to be treated with utter apathy by this film.

Here’s where I need to pause for a moment of self-awareness. While arguing with my Dad about this movie (he loved it), he threw at me that he thought I was being anti-feminist because I disliked the ending of Rey being alone. I quickly did my best to disabuse him of the idea that feminism = women being forever alone. This did make me think though about the implications of TROS veering away from the dual protagonist story framework that had been established up to this point; in favor of a narrative with Rey as the single and clear protagonist. The two main reasons I had such a knee-jerk reaction against this shift were A) It left a bad taste in my mouth after Rey ended TLJ emboldened by her acceptance of her past and unremarkable lineage; and B) It upended Reylo as the foundation of the entire story – also which we’d been led to expect. And I’m not just talking TLJ – I’m referencing back to JJ’s own Director’s commentary for TFA where he says “Now back to the story we really care about” when the film goes back to Rey and Kylo’s forest battle; who described Kylo as “a sort of prince,” and insinuated “you get the feeling there’s more going on here” when Kylo decided to spirit off Rey on Takodana. JJ set all the fucking clues here and then apparently forgot about each and every one.

However – am I perhaps not being fair to Rey in my disappointment that she doesn’t end the film in domestic bliss with Ben? Was I expecting something beneath her potential? Can I really say it’s a bad thing that the narrative rearranges itself in this film to focus chiefly on her? 

The reason it all sits so wrong with me is because Rey’s characterization became bastardized for the sake of her solo narrative. Her character was essentially entirely effaced. The emphasis of her journey thus far pointed towards the crafting of one’s own identify; to the fact that might and greatness can reside within anyone, and it is up to that person alone to decide what kind of life to live with such power. Rey’s development at the end of TLJ indicated she’d found freedom from her past, and was now fully embracing the act of forging her own path without any constraints or shadows. But then, this road she’d been paving for herself was abruptly switched in TROS to one already completed and well-traveled, lined with unoriginal identity struggles and a copout for assigning Rey’s instincts of aggression and passion to the hereditary and ungendered “dark side.” This sudden switch stripped away all of Rey’s unique identity struggles, as well as her agency to define her own story.

Confining Rey to such an unoriginal and unfortunate struggle also required that her own goals and desires be changed as well. When faced with a legacy of evildoers, Rey’s story immediately shifts away from being focused on her, and rather to remedying the mistakes of men who came before. Rey’s own story was about a thousand times more interesting when she was in the center of it. As a twitter post I saw a few days ago but now frustratingly can’t find said very aptly: Male viewers found “Rey Skywalker��� satisfying because they see a happy ending as being the “best” or the most powerful. Female viewers see a happy ending as being truly seen, understood, and valued for the person one is. (If anyone knows the source, please let me know...)

Rey used to say she wanted to learn “her place in all this.” That doesn’t indicate a thirst for greatness or power; but rather for belonging and connection. She has spent most of her story so far thinking back to her parents, then spent a solid 2 minutes in TROS looking longingly and smiling at the alien babies on Pasaana, which hello motherhood signaling. She has been happiest in moments when she felt valued and connected to those around her.

The idea of having greatness bestowed upon her by some external entity (aka a man) was already examined and rejected in TLJ. (Read: throne room proposal scene.) But in TROS, this act of external determination is thrust onto her regardless of her will. In so doing, her possession of a legacy rewrites and predetermines all of her goals, battles, and the key facets of her identity. She no longer has the freedom to embrace and cherish her found or chosen family; instead, her goal is to rid herself of the “family” that’s been thrust upon her – making what’s now presumably her happy ending of being disconnected from her assigned family the complete opposite from everything her character previously yearned for. Standing alone in a desert with the company of only half-remembered spirits is likely what filled the nightmares of young Rey of Jakku.

This is, of course, why the dual protagonist/Reylo narrative we expected to see in this film was so compelling. While doing none of Rey’s decision-making for her or removing any agency from the formation of her own identity; her force-bonded relationship with Ben offered Rey belonging, understanding, and purpose. Ben was the only character who could understand how debilitating and frightening it was to feel her Force sensitivity come alive and waver between the light and dark; just as he was the only one who could comfort her in that conflict without infringing on her independence. Once we saw dark!Rey in that D23 footage, I think every Reylo imagined scenes where Palpatine begins to sink his control into Rey’s mind and Ben rushes to her side to pull her back towards the light, because he knows all too well what those voices are like inside his head and he’d rather hear them all again than watch Rey suffer it.

From several perspectives, Reylo fighting and defeating Palpatine together is also the only ending that makes sense from a holistic storytelling perspective. (I mean both of them wielding blue sabers against Palpatine and fighting together in tandem – rather than that single crowd-pleaser shot of them hefting their complementary lightsabers together before Ben gets brushed off into a pit…) While Ben is the legacy character, representing all that our beloved original characters fought and suffered for; Rey is the new-generation character, representing a new age and the banishing of old mistakes which continued to perpetuate conflict. Only these representatives of new and old; of royal legacy and self-made upstart; could truly banish all of the harm committed in the galaxy by Palpatine and remedy all the loss and suffering effected throughout the Skywalker line. To have only a single character recently revealed to be related to Palpatine facing him alone (no matter how “badass” that might make said female character seem by superficial standards), rather than a union with the single remaining descendant of the Skywalker line himself is simply unsatisfactory and directionless storytelling. It is Palpatine’s manipulation towards three generations of Skywalkers that was the sole catalyst for all of the warfare, struggle, and conflict we’ve witnessed throughout this entire 9-film series. To not even engage with Ben Solo-Skywalker’s troubled relationship to that heritage and to completely fail in realizing the emotional catharsis and resolution that stood there waiting is nothing short of infuriatingly shortsighted storytelling. J.J. claimed in several interviews that this film was crafted with the entire preceding story in mind, as a cap to everything that came before. I have absolutely no idea which story he was referring to.

And so, from the perspectives of this film alone, the sequel trilogy, and the entire 9-film saga as a whole – Yes, I do claim that it was a poor decision in terms of story telling and character integrity to reconfigure the narrative to focus solely on Rey. For the reasons just mentioned, it was an utter disservice to Rey’s character arc. To reduce all of the tragedy, charisma, and youthful potential in Kylo/Ben’s character to a secondary narrative device is nothing short of shameful. Not to mention wasting all of Adam’s potential for playing truly heart-wrenching scenes of Ben’s penitent soul-searching. I will never forgive the fact that Ben had literally not a word of dialogue after his quick conversion scene halfway through the movie. Not only does he play no major role in the final battle with Palpatine, but aside from charging in heroically and doing a phenomenal Solo Shrug, he isn’t allowed a single moment of interiority. He has no speech to Palpatine declaring his change of heart and his reclaimed heritage. Perhaps most painful of all – he and Rey never even have their Big Talk where we expected Ben to apologize for the doings of Kylo Ren and for both of them to affirm their desire to be together and their devotion to each other. Adam did a pretty amazing job demonstrating all that in how he cradled Rey’s body and couldn’t even bear to look into her lifeless face (RIP my heart). But no matter how phenomenal and tender the Reylo kiss was, how luminous Rey’s smile was when she said “Ben,” and how achingly loving his eyes were when he looked at her – I can’t help feeling crushingly cheated that their love itself wasn’t what enabled the victory. Rather than the strength they lent to each other through a union that defied light-dark dichotomy (as it should have been and as the story was previously leading towards), it was rather Rey’s miracle heritage that won the day. The fact that Ben never says a damn word when he stands before Palpatine, or when Rey kisses him and he finally realizes she does care for him too – makes both their bond and Ben’s entire character feel like a throw-away prop only there for Rey to wear so long as this feeble story needed it.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on what made TROS’ plot so underwhelming and lifeless compared to TLJ or even TFA. The difference between TLJ and TROS in the simplest terms is that TLJ’s narrative was character-driven, whereas TROS subjected its characters to a narrative. Rather than a huge space battle, TLJ’s biggest moments are Rey and Kylo’s throne room proposal and Kylo and Luke’s showdown on Crait. Both of these moments had huge emotional stakes for the characters involved, which was what made them epic. TROS’ narrative, meanwhile, uses twists like the Rey Palpatine reveal to manipulate its characters in inorganic directions, and builds towards a finale that is unrelated to any of the long-standing challenges our heroes have confronted throughout the story. TROS derided its characters down to mere tools for a superficial spectacle of a story. TLJ, on the other hand, made its characters the story. It’s no wonder I found myself strangely numb and disconnected the first time I saw TROS.

Now, I’m just angry and disappointed. Disappointed that such brilliant, wonderful characters were wasted. Angry that we’ve imagined a hundred endings more appropriate and fair to the characters we hold dear. I am trying to appreciate what I can from the film and hold on to the few beautiful moments, but I definitely plan on writing my own fic version of how TROS might have played out, had it upheld the complexity and integrity of its characters. Even still, I’m quite sure we all know and understand Ben Solo much better than J.J. or Chris Terrio, so in our hearts Ben will find the happy ending he deserves.

[rattyoakenbitch]

Hey there! can I request an angst-smut starring Fili and the human reader? she was sucked into Middle Earth, taken from her life back on earth as one of the most well acclaimed surgeon in her country, Fili recognized her as his One yet all she wants is to get her old life back because she has worked so hard for it (even though she enjoys her adventure with the company), Fili asked her “Can you pretend to love me back just for tonight?” as they make love for the first and last time Thank you!

hii! thank you for the request! it’s my actually my first, so i was a bit nervous while working on this. there won’t be as much smut as you may have expected because i wouldn’t consider myself to be good at writing it. and this may be a bit longer than i intended it to be. there is a timeskip so i don’t have to write a whole lot, in case you wanted to get to the fili x reader part quicker. hope you enjoy it! <3

pairings: fili x modern reader

warnings: slight smut, angst

You awake, feeling your head pound. You looked at your surroundings, and nothing seemed familiar. You didn’t even remember how you got there. You stood up and dusted yourself off. Your blue cargo pants were dirtied, along with your white top and cardigan. You decided to get a better look at the place; It looked like a forest, but you lived in an urban area, and there was no way God just decided to move a forest right by your city. Despite your weak state, you continued to explore. In other situations, you’d be very excited. You always dreamed of having your own little adventures, but all you wanted to do was go back home. Off in the distance, you saw a light, and heard faint chattering. You cautiously approached the camp, and ducked. There were three hideous trolls circled around a campfire. You nearly threw up at the repulsive stench they emitted, and the fear arising in you. There was no way this could be real. You tried pinching yourself and smacking yourself in the face, but to no avail. As much as you were in denial, thinking this to be a nightmare, something felt real about it.

The trolls continued to argue back and forth, unaware of the smaller creature behind them. You watched the “child” intently. You really couldn’t do much but watch the events unfold. The gathering of trolls soon caught the child and started to interrogate him. “What are ya? An oversized squirrel?” Stuttering, the small man responded, “I’m a burglar- a Hobbit!”

Okay, this wasn’t a child. Whatever this Hobbit creature was, must be some sort of teenier version of a human. The trolls continued to chase the Hobbit, and eventually got a hold of him. Then, one of the trolls let out an ear-piercing, pained shriek. “Drop him!” Your eyes darted to the source of the voice. Below the injured troll stood a short man, dressed in some medieval looking clothing, with a stubble beard and chocolate-brown hair cascading down his shoulder. He wielded a sword and pointed it up to the troll fearlessly. “You what?!”

“I said,” the man swung the sword around his hand effortlessly. “Drop him.” As the troll was told, he dropped the Hobbit.. right atop man. At that, a whole group of abnormally short men (ranging from 4′5 - 4′9) leaped out of their hiding spots and charged at the trolls. The battle was short lived when the Hobbit was captured again. The trolls demanded the men surrender, or they’d tear the Hobbit apart. So surrender they did, and soon enough, they were thrown into sacks. While some men were set aside in a pile, the other group were tied onto a spit above a fire, making a Dwarf kebab.  Among all the clamoring, one troll suggested, “They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage!” The troll continued to circle the Dwarves with a hungry look in its eyes.

“That does sound quite nice,” the first troll agreed.

“Eh, never mind the seasoning. We ain’t got all night! Dawn ain’t far away. I don’t fancy being turned into stone.” You processed the troll’s words, and an idea popped into your head. It may not work, but you wanted to give it a shot. Taking a breath, you stepped out into the light.

“You’re making a terrible mistake!” All eyes were on you now. The pile of Dwarves watched you curiously, scanning you from head to toe. One particular Dwarf’s eyes lingered on you. Though you couldn’t see him all of him well, you noticed the intricate braids in his long, blonde hair, and his stunning eyes. You snapped out of your short daze when one Dwarf from the kebab spoke up.

“You can’t reason with them! They’re half-wits!”

“Half wits? What does that make us?!”

“No, I meant with the seasoning!” The biggest troll leaned over to get a look at you.

“What about the seasoning?”

You raised an eyebrow, “Haven’t you smelt them? You’re going to need something stronger than sage if you want a better meal!”

“What do you know about cooking Dwarf?” another troll asked, eyeing you suspiciously.

“Shut up! Let the kind lady speak,” the troll in front of you said.

You stammered, now not knowing where to go with this. “Uhm, the secret to cooking Dwarf is.. to skin them first!”

More shouting arose from the Dwarves.

“What a load of rubbish! I’ve eaten plenty with their skin on.”

“You’re right,” the smallest troll said, picking up the fattest Dwarf from the pile. “Nothing wrong with a bit of raw Dwarf!” Before he got the chance to stick the Dwarf in his mouth, you interfered.  “No-- Not that one! He looks infected!”

“You what?”

“He’s got parasites..”

With a disgusted look on its face, the troll threw the Dwarf back onto the ground. “In fact, they’ve all got parasites! It’s a risky business and I wouldn’t eat them if I were you,” you shrugged. As confident as you sounded, inside, you were trembling in fear.

“What would you have us do, then? Let em all go? You don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to?!”

“This little ferret is taking us for fools!”

“The dawn will take you all!” You all spun around to look at a tall figure standing on a rock, staff in hand. He looked like one of those cliche wizard characters from the storybooks you read as a child. Then, the wizard stabbed his staff into the boulder, splitting it to let the sunlight flow into the forest. Soon as the sunlight came in contact with the trolls, they were turned to stone. You blinked, processing what had just happened. “Is this for real?” You mumbled to yourself. At this point, you were convinced you weren’t dreaming, and definitely in a whole other world.

“Hey, you saved us.” You turned your head and met eyes with the blonde Dwarf who was eyeing you earlier. He was still looking at you curiously. After all, you were from a different world and probably dressed way different than the way women dressed here.

“Oh, uhm, it was nothing,” you muttered nervously.

“What’s a woman like you doing out here?”

“Well, it’s a long story..”

Since then, you’ve been traveling with The Company. The blonde Dwarf, who turned out to be named “Fili” and his brother “Kili” were very interested in stories about your world. You explained to them how you managed to get there, why you dressed the way you did, etc. It didn’t take much convincing and they all believed you. You grew closer with Thorin’s Company, especially Fili.  The way he looked at you made your heart flutter like no other man has. Fili was very kind, not to mention brave and at times, playful. You made a strong connection with him, and you almost wanted to stay in Middle Earth just for the sake of being with Fili. But every day, your family, job, house, and all the things of your world crossed your mind. You knew you had to find of way of getting home. It would break both of your hearts if you eventually found a way to return to your own world. So you started to become more distant with Fili, hoping not too catch feelings or get too attached. Fili was quick to catch on as soon as you started to cut conversations short and distance yourself from The Company. One night when he had the chance, he figured he’d confront you about it.

You sat alone in the dark, away from the campfire where the rest of the Dwarves were gathered, singing to yourself. You were unaware that Fili wasn’t far off, just coming to talk to you. He stopped when he heard you singing.

Oh, I hope some day I'll make it out of here Even if it takes all night or a hundred years Need a place to hide, but I can't find one near Wanna feel alive, outside I can fight my fear Isn't it lovely, all alone? Heart made of glass, my mind of stone Tear me to pieces, skin and bone Hello, welcome home...

“That was beautiful, Y/N.” Startled, you nearly jumped from your seat. You realized it was Fili who spoke, and calmed down. Without another word, he came to sit beside you.

“Oh, thanks. It’s just a song from my world..”

He hummed, “Do you miss your world?” You didn’t make eye contact with Fili, and instead continued to stare off into the sky.

“More than anything. Gandalf said he’d take me to Rivendell and speak with some Elves to see if there’s a way I can get back home..” Fili felt his heart shatter. You were going back home? As much as he liked you, he knew it would be selfish to make you stay in a place you didn’t belong in. 

“Y/N, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something..”

You give him a confused look, and turn to face him. “And what’s that?” He took a breath and opened his mouth to speak, but stayed silent and shook his head. “Fili?”

“I don’t know if this is a thing in your world, but us each of us Dwarves have a One. Which means we only have one love, and we don’t marry after that, so..-”

“Fili, what are you trying to say?” you ask, heart beating fast. Is he about to say what you think he is? 

He sighs and takes your hand in his. “As soon as I saw you in the forest, I knew you were my One. You may not feel the same since we’re born in different worlds, and I know you’re going to have to leave, but please..” Fili gives you a sad look, causing tears to well in your eyes. 

“Can you pretend to love me back just for tonight?”

“I don’t have to pretend,” you say. At that, he pulls you into a sweet, passionate kiss. You don’t fight back, and wrap your arms around his shoulder while straddling him, deepening the kiss. Fili’s hands wander up the tunic you had borrowed from him, cupping your breasts. You let out a small moan into the kiss, encouraging him to keep going. He parted from the kiss, and placed his soft lips on your neck, slowly moving down to your collarbone as if he was trying to memorize your skin. You pulled your arms away from him and quickly undid your tunic, throwing it off you. Fili moved back to get a good look at you, causing you to blush.

“Y/N, you’re beautiful.” The way your named rolled off his tongue sent tingles done your spine.

“Your turn,” you say boldly, catching him off guard. He quickly undos his own tunic, shrugging it off him. You ran your hands up and down his chest, causing him to shiver slightly. He again dove in to attack your neck with kisses, now more eager but no less gentle. He continued to litter your chest with kisses and love bites, until he made it to the waistband of your pants. Fili looked up at you with longing eyes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’ve never been more sure in my life, Fili. Please.”

He went back in for another kiss and slowly lowered you onto the grass. Without parting the kiss, Fili tugged at your pants, and eventually pulled it off, leaving you in your undergarments. He again leaned back to get a look at your body from head to toe. Fili began rubbing your inner thighs, but moved up to caress your face lovingly. 

“I’m going to miss this..”

“Then treasure it tonight, my love.”

[letterboxd]

Horse Power.

The Nest’s writer-director Sean Durkin talks about creating atmosphere, watching films without judgment, and the best movies of 1986.

Downfalls in Hollywood movies tend to be chaotic, dramatic and a lot of fun along the way. From Citizen Kane to The Wolf of Wall Street, outsized ambitions are realized on screen in castles, exotic holidays, wild parties, sweeping us up in the extravagance of it all, before the inevitable crash. The Nest takes a slower, far more British view of ambition and its effects on family—or, as Charlie writes, “this movie is a reminder that people who call themselves entrepreneurs should instead be stay-at-home dads”.

The new film from writer-director Sean Durkin, the brain behind cult-survivor slow-burn Martha Marcy May Marlene, is less “strap in and enjoy the ride”, more “slow disintegration of all sense of sanity”—a tense psychological drama focused on the person who usually gets hurt the most: the wife. And that horse-lovin’ dream wife Allison, as played by Carrie Coon, is a character to behold (and the subject of many obsessive The Nest reviews on Letterboxd).

Just as Durkin takes time to carefully explore Martha’s vulnerability in his earlier film, in The Nest, he closes in on Allison, as she and their children adjust to 1980s life in an English manor, far from the comfort of Allison’s American home, while wheeler-dealer husband Rory (Jude Law) chases a new opportunity.

There are thematic similarities in both films; a case to be made that ambitious men wreak a comparable mental destruction on their families as cult leaders do on their followers, breaking them down with charm, persuasion, false promises. There’s also something about the juxtaposition of periods in the film—the fifteenth-century manor vs the ’80s bangers on the soundtrack—that adds to The Nest’s unnerving atmosphere (other parts of the soundtrack are composed by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry in his first film-score credit).

Keen to understand more about Durkin’s influences and memories, Jack Moulton put him through the Letterboxd Life in Film interrogation.

Carrie Coon as Allison O’Hara in ‘The Nest’.

The Nest feels like a very personal film. In what ways are the emotions of the premise personal to you? When I was making Southcliffe in 2012, I was back in England where I spent my childhood and I hadn’t been back in close to twenty years. It really struck me how London and New York felt very similar now but they didn’t when I was a kid. I thought maybe I wanted to make a film about a family that moves in that time and how a move can affect a family. As I wrote the script, I became a parent, so it became as much a reflection of modern adulthood as it did about my childhood in the ’80s. Although it’s a period piece, I wanted to make it feel very close to today to look at the celebrated values of the time and how those are still very relevant.

The mansion the family moves into is the titular ‘nest’, and the use of space and atmosphere contribute so much to the film’s subtext. What were you looking for when location scouting for the house? Was it an easy or difficult process? Yeah, it was difficult. It was like doing an open casting call. I had a very specific idea in my head but [my production designer] was able to put it into actual architectural terms so we were able to find a house that a successful commodities broker would live and commute from in Surrey. We needed something beyond that, but if you go too far, you get small castles. Once we located the right exterior, there were a bunch of [houses] that would’ve been great, but when we got inside, there were no open spaces. I wanted to have long hallways to be able to see through multiple rooms to create that isolation—the opposite of the cozy American house that they were living in before, to really highlight the good life they left behind.

Carrie Coon and Jude Law in ‘The Nest’.

We love the soundtrack; not just the choice of songs but the way that they’re mixed. Can you give us some insight into the song selection? When writing, I build a playlist that I write to. This one was a mix of personal memories from childhood—like Simply Red, which takes me back to falling asleep in the back of my dad’s car—so there’s a way into writing there on a sensory level, and then I build upon it with songs that I love from the time. I was listening to Richard Reed Parry’s Music for Heart and Breath album a lot and he ended up being the composer of the film, so his music was always part of the heart of the movie as I was writing it.

I would spend my drives to set with my assistant talking about music and he would turn me onto some stuff that would make it into the movie. It was a mix of a long-running preparation and things that I pick up in the moment then making that all work at the right level so it feels of the world. Like with The Cure, we actually played that off a tape cassette when Allison walks into the room.

Since your debut feature in 2011, you’ve had a prolific career in television and as a film producer; you’re a founding member of Borderline Films with fellow directors Antonio Campos and Josh Mond. Do you see yourself more as a producer who only occasionally directs films yourself? No, I don’t really consider myself a producer. I’ve produced movies for filmmakers and friends and I help people where I can. I’m not someone who’s out getting properties and thinking about how to put together a film, I’m only thinking about my own work as a writer and a director. Between finishing Southcliffe in 2013 and The Nest in 2018, I had a five-year gap where I was developing lots of projects one after the other—two features and a television show—that were both so close to [being greenlit] but something fell through, which was really bad luck.

What film made you want to become a filmmaker? The Goonies and Back to the Future were those movies as a kid that first made me want to make movies and tell stories, but the moment where I realized what filmmaking is was seeing The Shining. I saw it for the first time when I was eleven or twelve and a friend showed it to me because his older brother had the VHS. It was my first time understanding atmosphere and direction and I just had a sense that I could do it too. It was a really crucial moment, and I kept that thought to myself for a very long time.

Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély shoots Carrie Coon in Soho.

What’s your scariest film that is not technically horror? AKA, your area of expertise. Oh man, scariest? Something I’ve watched recently is The Vanishing and it’s probably one of the most unsettling films I’ve ever seen. It was incredible to rewatch it because I’d last seen it when I was in college—I watched everything back then—and I’d also seen the American remake, so when I watched it this time, I was trying to remember things [that were different] from the remake. I was like “he’s gonna get out, right?—oh no, that’s in the American version!” I find it an astonishing movie. There’s a real human element to the pain of the killer.

Let’s nerd out: what’s your top film of 1986, the year that The Nest is set? [Laughs] I’ve no idea what came out in 1986. Can I look up a list and I’ll tell you? Let’s see, films of 1986… This is fun! Alright, “popular films of 1986” I’m seeing: Blue Velvet, Short Circuit, Stand by Me, Platoon, The Color of Money, what else have we got here? River’s Edge… Pretty in Pink… Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—Ferris Bueller’s gotta be up there. Big Trouble in Little China! That’s it! I’m sure there’s other things, but from my quick search, I’d say Big Trouble in Little China. That was a movie that was always on in my house because it was one of my dad’s all-time favorites.

Which is Jude Law’s best performance? I love The Talented Mr. Ripley so much. I constantly rewatch that movie—it’s perfect. I also loved him in Vox Lux recently.

Sean Durkin and Jude Law on the set of ‘The Nest’.

What is the best film about marriage and why does it resonate with you? Shoot the Moon was really influential for me. I’d say it’s a bit more about divorce and family than it is about marriage but [it depends on] if you take the ending to mean that they’re going to stay together—I kind of do. You could say a separation is part of a marriage. I love that movie for how it finds light in humor. Albert Finney is struggling with his masculinity where, even though he’s the one who left, he still thinks he owns it all, and Diane Keaton is quite liberated by this scenario. It’s like their journey to find language again. I find it very beautiful.

Which film was your entry-point into international cinema? I’m trying to think back to what I would’ve seen, there certainly wasn’t a lot growing up. In college I really discovered Michael Haneke and Michelangelo Antonioni. L’Avventura made a huge impact on me. I think [because of the way] the mystery kind of dissolves and it’s about the journey, not the solution.

What film do you wish you’d made? I don’t. Filmmaking is personal and it’s so much an expression of perspective when done with care and love—though obviously, there’s stuff that’s just churned out. I never see something and say “I wish I made that”. One of the things I find hard is when people critique films and say they would’ve done this differently. I’ve become very sensitive to that over time because every choice you make as a filmmaker is so specific and thought out. I try to consume movies without knowing anything about them or making any kind of judgment. I just let them be what they are and wash over me.

Which newcomer director should we all keep our eyes on? I don’t think I’m looking out for new stuff necessarily. Once I get to see something, everyone else already knows about it. One person I would say is Dave Franco, who I just worked with on The Rental. I was an executive producer and I was a creative bounce-board for Dave through the process. It’s his first film and it’s astonishingly directed. We were getting dailies from the first week and we were like, “This is his first movie? This is insane!” I think he will do some exciting things.

Finally, what’s your favorite film of 2020 so far? I was absolutely blown away by Eliza Hittman’s film Never Rarely Sometimes Always. I miss having retrospectives at local theaters, which I’m always keyed into no matter the city I’m living in. I’ve started watching a lot of Criterion Channel and I watched a movie recently that’s taken over my brain: Variety, by Bette Gordon, from 1983. It’s set in New York City around Times Square, and it’s this incredible journey that this woman goes on that captured my mind.

Related content

Sean Durkin’s Life in Film list

Sean Durkin’s Sight & Sound Top 10

Clarissa’s list of films that burn slowly

Everything Carrie Coon watched during quarantine (and the best of that huge list)

Tracy Letts and Carrie Coon’s 24-Hour Movie Marathon

Follow Jack on Letterboxd

[anthropologicalhands]

Ellie’s Works in Progress

Last year, writing was very intensely difficult. Blame the pandemic, stress, or just a natural consequence of my skills not keeping up with my expectations--no matter how I think about it, that whole experience just felt awful.

So it’s good to see such a shift for this year already. January was a wonderfully productive writing month, in so many ways. Getting back into YYH has really been good for inspiration, and I have all kinds of stories I’m excited to explore.

In addition, I’m ready to branch out and try different writing techniques when approaching stories, to see if I can find some new tools to add to my kit.  I also want to develop a good writing habit and keep myself accountable, and that includes setting deadlines and other things to hopefully see these fics all the way through. I’ve started using a word/work tracking document to catch word counts on different projects, through it isn’t as convenient for shorter oneshots, and I’m going to give writing posts like this a go and see if they help. 

Ongoing Projects

Yusuke asking Hiei why he trusts Kurama - ready for revision (might need rewrite) In canon, between the Four Saint Beasts Arc and Rescue Yukina Arc, where Yusuke wants to know why Hiei forgave Kurama’s betrayal. I’ve already written a draft, but not sure if I feel very confident with the characters’ voices because this was the first thing I wrote for them.

Hiei meets Youko Kurama in the woods during the Dark Tournament - ready for revision Youko Kurama isn’t really a character as such in the series, but given how Hiei reacts to the idea that Kurama has transformed back to full power, I thought it might be fun to see what a discussion between them would look like, because while I think Hiei likes the idea of Youko Kurama, I don’t think he really would like the actual manifestation all that much. Keiko and the King of Makai - ready for revision A widowed Keiko has a meeting with the King of Makai (aka Yusuke), twenty-some years after the series ends. I wrote it entirely in chronological order, instead of my usual jumping around between interesting scenes and then writing connective tissues. A friend is reading it through right now, and I’m really excited to hear her comments. I don’t know, it feels like a very me fic. The many dates of Kuwabara Kazuma - ready for revision  This one is just going to be fun! Kuwabara decides that the best thing he can do to be a man is to try and get over Yukina and date like a normal person. And, poor guy, it doesn’t go so well. I got some great notes back, so I need to do some revisions to make it meatier. Internally, I’m weeping a little bit, because it’s probably going to expand at least another 1000 words, but the story will be better for it. Kurama stays as a guest at Mukuro’s fortress - currently writing It makes me so sad that there isn’t much fic where Kurama and Mukuro just talk. Even outside of the Hiei question, I think they could potentially have such interesting conversations with each other. I’m approaching the main climatic scenes - I can already see how this fic is shaping up differently from my expectations, but not too drastically. Plus, Mukuro’s voice is very fun. It is, however, going to be twice as long as my original predicted word count. Hiei questions Kurama’s choice to stay in Ningenkai - currently writing A sectioned/fragmented fic about Hiei interrogating Kurama about the mundane aspects of Kurama’s human life, and how he starts to understand what Kurama likes about this world.    Keiko turns into a demon AU - brainstorming  Inspired by two utterly gorgeous fanarts. After one harrowing post-canon adventure, Keiko becomes a demon and everyone deals with it. Boyband AU - brainstorming This is my comfort AU - it is so cracky and goofy and ridiculous and based on a kdrama so I need to figure out what changes if the setting is Japan, but I love it so much. Besides, YYH has always been such a boy band anime, so I think it’s only fair. I have no idea if this one will ever see the light of day, but I love it so.  Soulmate AU - brainstorming, starting to write. Because why not. This is under the premise that humans have soulmate marks, but demons don’t. Given how many characters end up straddling the border of demon and human in one way or another, I just want to explore how that works even further. The Mystery of Minamino Shuuichi - outlining A third-party POV fic that rapidly got out of control. This one will actually have chapters (gasp!) and therefore needs some planning to even begin to have a chance to make it. I’m actually going to try a long-form outlining technique I found via twitter. I’m really interested to see if it will work with my own habits. At the very least, I love that this outlining style might give way to try writing more beautifully/skillfully, which is something I desperately want to try. 4th Makai Tournament Fic - nascent brainstorming A post-canon romp as all the YYH characters gather together nine years post-finale at the fourth Makai Tournament, and all kinds of stuff ensures. This fic is still very, very unformed in some ways, because I originally wrote a few short ficlet pieces and then realized that they were all part of the same canon and actually, probably part of the main story. Depending on how the outlining works out for the mystery story, I think I’ll also try that technique here, because I am terrible at plotting for chapters and need any help I can get!

On Hold

Telepathy AU - ready for revision One day, I will revise this fic and get it out into the world. Maybe not this month, but next month.

Writing Goals

Some stuff has come up in my personal life that makes me hesitant to put any February due dates on any of these fics, though I really hope that will be possible for some of the drafts I’m currently revising. Instead, I’m going to just push through to move along as many of these stories as I can and reassess at the end of the month.

[aion-rsa]

The Batman Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The Batman trailer is finally here, accompanied by Nirvana’s “Something in the Way.” The two-minutes-and-a-half of footage presents a nightmarish new take on Gotham and the Dark Knight, an impressive feat considering only 25% of the movie has been shot so far, according to what director Matt Reeves said during the DC FanDome digital event.

Matt Reeves’ Batman reboot explores the early days of the Caped Crusader’s career, about two years into it, and focuses on a younger Bruce Wayne who is haunted by his past as well as a new villain who’s leaving victims all of the city for him to find.

We see in the trailer as Batman is hunted by a serial killer who is leaving him letters at every crime scene, teasing that the movie will feel more like a detective story than the usual action take. The trailer also gives us our first look at several villains, including Penguin, Catwoman, and a gang that seems to call back to a group first introduced in an animated series.

While the trailer makes quite a few things clear about this new Batman movie universe, there are a few lingering questions left in the promo’s wake. So we’re going breaking down the trailer to see what’s really going on in The Batman. And if there’s anything you spot in the trailer that we missed, let us know in the comments!

Before we get started, take a look at the trailer again:

Okay, let’s get started:

The trailer kicks off the character reveals right away, giving us our first look at The Batman‘s version of the Riddler — at least I’m pretty sure this is him. The riddle-obsessed villain isn’t really known for wearing a full facemask with glasses over it, but as you’ll see throughout the trailer, this movie seems to play like an extended fever dream full of grotesque baddies set against an almost overbearingly dark Gotham City.

This is the perfect version for this new take on the Riddler, who seems more like a serial killer here than the grinning megalomaniac we know from the comics, video games, and Batman Forever. In fact, Paul Dano’s Riddler looks about as far the opposite of Jim Carrey as you can get.

The trailer definitely sets up the Riddler as the main villain of the piece, a killer obsessed with getting to the Batman by leaving behind corpses and messages for the Dark Knight at his crime scenes. Above, we see one such victim, his face wrapped in tape with the words “No more lies” written over it.

Uncovering a lie seems to be a major aspect of the movie, as its a message the Riddler repeats to the Batman several times in the trailer. It suggests the Riddler knows something about the Caped Crusader that no one else does. Does the villain know that Bruce Wayne is the masked vigilante? Or does this lie run much deeper than that?

The fact that the Joker movie also dealt with the idea of the Wayne family’s hidden past — in that case, that Thomas Wayne may have had an illegitimate son — and that this movie could have at least one potential connection to last year’s Taxi Driver-inspired character piece makes me think the Riddler knows a secret about Bruce’s past. The Riddler, who seems to be speaking to Batman throughout the video, tells the Dark Knight at the end of the trailer that “he’s a part of this,” meaning whatever the villain is doing was designed to punish Bruce for something.

Reeves has said that his take on Batman is more of a detective story than an action movie, and this trailer definitely delivers on his promise. We see Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon investigating the crime scene the Riddler leaves behind at the start of the trailer, while a forensics team takes photographs and gathers evidence.

One piece evidence is a green envelope left behind for Batman. Inside is a card with a riddle that I can’t quite make out, but it’s undoubtedly meant to lead the World’s Greatest Detective to the next clue in the Riddler’s twisted game. We also see that the Riddler has also picked up a few things from the Zodiac Killer’s book of riddles, as he leaves behind a code for the Bat to crack.

A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of a framed newspaper at the crime scene gives fans of The Dark Knight and The Long Halloween a nice easter egg to mull over. We already knew John Turturro was set to play crime boss Carmine Falcone in the movie but now we know that his comrade in crime/rival Salvatore Maroni also exists in this universe and has been busted for transporting drugs at some point before the start of the movie. Was Maroni one of Batman’s early targets? Maybe we’ll find out.

Here’s an excellent look at what the top half of the new Batsuit looks like. It’s pretty much a suit of armor, although the cowl and cape seem to be made out of leather. And as we already knew, this Batsuit has a collar, which is a pretty neat addition to the usual suits designed for the movies.

This scene also confirms that by year two of Batman’s career, he’s already on good terms with Gordon and the GCPD, although something tells me that relationship ain’t gonna last very long…

I have no idea who this is, but I’m going to guess it’s The Batman‘s version of Commissioner Loeb, the corrupt head of police that preceded Gordon. Since the movie is getting a GCPD-centric spinoff on HBO about the corruption inside the police force, I’m going to assume this version of Loeb will be a bit closer to the power-hungry chief introduced in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One.

We also get a look at the new Batcave, which is about as minimalist as the Dark Knight’s secret lair can get. In fact, it looks more like a garage than a secret underground science lab/high-tech surveillance station. It even looks like this version of Bruce spends more time working on his Batmobile than on his computer piecing mysteries together. Can you even call that a Batcomputer? It looks like a workbench with a dual-monitor PC setup. Does this dude even get wi-fi inside his underground mechanic shop?

Bruce is at someone’s funeral for someone I don’t recognize when a car comes crashing through the church. Inside seems to be a man with a bomb and a letter for Batman strapped to his chest. Does the Riddler know Batman is attendance already or does he think this latest scheme will lure him there?

Either way, we also get our best look at Pattinson as Bruce. It’s interesting to see a version of Bruce who doesn’t sport slicked back billionaire hair. Instead, Pattinson wears more of an emo slick — very fitting for the mood of this trailer.

We get our first look at Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle doing what she does best: stealing. Reeves said during DC FanDome that this version of Selina hasn’t quite morphed into Catwoman at the start of the film and is instead still being shaped into the master thief we know and love.

The trailer shows us a brief snippet of Selina taking on Batman, suggesting that the characters will be at odds with each other in the movie. But could this be the start of a love-hate relationship like what we’ve seen in past takes on this duo? This should be interesting.

We also get to see Colin Farrell’s absolutely incredible transformation into the scarred Oswald Cobblepot, who, according to Reeves, is still working his way up the crime ladder in this movie. He’s not yet the powerful crime lord known as the Penguin, but it sure seems like he causes plenty of havoc for the Bat nonetheless.

Here’s why I mentioned that Joker connection earlier. The gang of face-painted goons that challenge Batman in the trailer sure look inspired by the Clown Prince of Crime. My initial reaction was that The Batman was doing the Jokerz, the Joker-worshiping gang introduced in the Batman Beyond animated series, but what if these guys were actually inspired by Arthur Fleck’s actions in the ’70s-set movie?

We know that by the end of Joker, Arthur has a cult following rallying around him, despite the fact that he’s admitted to murdering quite a few people by that point. His followers, who don their own clown makeup and masks, see Arthur as a freedom fighter, someone fighting for justice in a corrupt city where the rich have it all and the poor have nothing. It wouldn’t be surprising to see that Arthur has become a symbol all these years later, inspiring the next generation to go out into the streets and cause their own chaos.

I know WB has said that both The Batman and Joker exist in their own universes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the studio was suddenly anxious to tie these two movies together after the massive success of the latter. If Pattinson ever does take on the Joker, you can bet your Batarangs that WB will try its very hardest to make it the Joaquin Phoenix version of the villain.

Anyway, we eventually watch as Batman beats the ever-living shit out of one of these clowns. It’s a bit…much.

While Batman and the GCPD seem to be on good terms at the start of the trailer, things have certainly taken a turn later. We first see Bats getting into a scuffle inside an interrogation room surrounded by cops and then later escaping a building while police officers shoot at him. That second shot actually seems to recreate the famous panels from Year One where the Dark Knight escapes an abandoned building surrounded by the GCPD with the help of a swarm of bats, a scene that also inspired an action sequence in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

Why are Batman and the GCPD suddenly at odds? It’s possible this is part of the Riddler’s plan to destroy the Bat. Has the villain framed the Dark Knight for something? Or has Batman gone too far in his search for justice?

The new Batmobile is front and center towards the tail end of the trailer. It’s a very cool and surprisingly realistic take on the Batmobile unlike what we’ve seen in past movies. This muscle car definitely looks like something Bruce would have worked on himself inside the Batcave.

Finally, we get a look Batman sans mask. There’s no elegant bachelor under the cowl in The Batman but a beaten down, soot-covered man who looks more troubled than any other Bruce before him. Pattinson’s Bruce almost looks more inspired by The Crow than Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, or Michael Keaton before him. It definitely looks like he’s taking the character in a new direction.

We’ll find out for sure when The Batman hits theaters on Oct. 1, 2021.

The post The Batman Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/34lFNgZ

[kylosrehn]

aos for the ask meme. or, if you've already gotten that (or you just wanna do both) the wider MCU.

the first character i ever fell in love with: Skye. Or Ward. I can’t really remember which came first. Probably Skye because she was so relatable and quirky and positive but I also loved grumpy pretending-not-to-care SO Ward. 

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: Skye… or Daisy I guess. I started losing interest around halfway through S2 with the whole Afterlife plot (and then just stopped watching the show altogether after the S2 finale lol) but S3 was the one that really left a bad taste in my mouth. And the start of S4 with emo vigilante Daisy. I don’t dislike her, but it’s a far cry from the love I had for her in the early days. Same with Jemma, actually. I really liked her in S1, this cute, quirky if slightly awkward scientist willing to bend the rules when she believes it’s the right thing to do. Afterwards things got… complicated. I like her more on her own, outside of FS scenes (which, when does that ever happen?) Can she/they ever have a storyline that doesn’t involve saving the other one? For science? No?

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Hmm… I don’t think I have one? Once I decide I like something, I fall for it pretty hard. lol. I guess Daisy/Lincoln. That’s a funny one, because when they sort of started flirting in S2 I liked the idea of them together, and I thought they had a lot of potential. But once it actually happened I wasn’t into it at all. It felt kinda rushed and I just didn’t really see any chemistry between them. It was an ‘expectations vs. reality’ sort of thing for me.

my ultimate favorite character™: Oh gosh… Fitz, I guess? I mean, obviously I’m trash for Ophelia but I actually wasn’t all that fond of the whole Aida arc at the beginning… I liked her more in the Framework, and all the potential she had as a human (or Inhuman, whatever.) It’s funny because he sort of grew on me. I admittedly didn’t pay much attention to him in S1 because I was so wrapped up in Skyeward, but once they killed that storyline and started developing his character from the nerdy sidekick/comic relief to an actual, fleshed-out character dealing with brain damage, then yes I became involved. Still mourned the untimely demise of Skyeward in S2 though.

prettiest character: Fitz or Ward if it’s more ‘handsome’ pretty. Out of the ladies… Daisy, I suppose? Also Stephanie Malick because personal bias - yes I’ve loved Bethany Joy Lenz since One Tree Hill and they totally should’ve let her stick around for longer than two episodes god damn it.

my most hated character: I’m not particularly fond of Jemma. Or what they’ve done with her, I suppose. But god damn it if there’s one character I hate it’s Ruby. Really glad that arc is over.

my OTP: This one’s pretty obvious. Skye/Ward and Fitz/Ophelia. Hehe. 

my NOTP: Fitzsimmons sorry not sorry.

favorite episode: (In no particular order): 5.14, 4.16 and 1.17. Self Control and, frankly, all the Framework episodes, are strong contenders, but that’s my podium. 

saddest death: I’ve got to say Fitz. Mostly because it was so sudden and I honestly wasn’t expecting it at all. I genuinely didn’t think they’d have the balls to kill off one half of FS, especially on-screen. I was literally expecting him to miraculously pull through and just have his legs amputated or something. It felt so surreal. Of course, then they brought CryoFitz back into play so really it was all just one big cop-out (figures) but the shock factor was definitely there. It was just the right amount of sad and downright distressing and even unsettling, with the way he didn’t fully comprehend what was happening and just…slipped away. I also really liked how they didn’t cheapen the moment by making it all about FS, which was… honestly such a nice surprise? I preferred the shocked and unaware approach they took, and how he spent his last moments with… kind of the two most unlikely people - May whom he hasn’t ever really bonded with, a relationship which is made especially awkward by their experience in the Framework and the ‘super villain interrogation’ in 5.15; and Mack, who literally told him days or even hours earlier that he needs ‘fixing.’ It was all very weird and bizarre and surprising, and definitely felt like a solid punch to the gut. At least, until they straight up announced they’re going to essentially retcon it… Eh. Also, Ophelia? Maybe less sad and more just downright disturbing and gratuitously violent and graphic. 

favorite season: If Season 1 and 4.16-20 and 5.14 could somehow be merged into one season… that would be it. lol. Overall, I have to say S1. Most people hate it and call it the weakest season and, sure, it felt very formulaic and had this predictable ‘monster of the week’ format at first but it was genuinely enjoyable to watch. Every other season after that I just found myself getting angry at something. lol. I actually liked pretty much every character in S1 to some degree and because nothing was set in stone or made explicitly canon yet, there was a lot more freedom shipping-wise. There was no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ ship, or ‘no you can’t like this character because of X, Y, Z’ it was just whatever you were into. For a while it seemed like pretty much all combinations of the Bus Kids ships had a decent chance of sailing. That’s a pretty damn good feeling. 

least favorite season: Hands down Season 5. I wasn’t a fan of Season 3 either (though admittedly I did like certain episodes/aspects of it) and Season 2 could’ve done without that whole ‘Real SHIELD’ plot but Season 5 takes the cake. I mean… seriously. It was a let down, especially after the hugely successful Framework arc (the show’s strongest point so far imo.) So naturally there was a lot of expectation and it kind of fell flat. They had maybe 2 or 3 strong episodes. The rest was riddled with plot holes, blatant fan service, lines that sounded like they pulled straight from fanfic, radical and often inexplicable shifts in character behaviour from one episode to the next that could be classified as borderline character assassination, frequent lack of continuity, too much time spent on characters that ultimately turned out to be irrelevant/got quickly killed off, writers seemingly forgetting what had happened in literally the previous episode, etc. There’s really no excuse for that mess. lol. Not to mention the at times pretty obvious budget cuts and the lack of decent lighting which made the space pod downright unwatchable at times. Really feels like the weakest, most disjointed and confused season of all. Which is a shame. Because it could’ve been great. But it just really… wasn’t.

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: I don’t want to say Jemma but… Jemma? I guess part of the problem is that I feel there tends to be a discrepancy between the actual canonic on-screen representation of Jemma and fanon Jemma, at least in my experience. She (and Daisy) seem to get put on this imaginary pedestal a lot of the time and given leeway and all these concessions that other characters aren’t allowed. Sometimes I think I hate fandom’s approach to and treatment of certain characters more than I hate the actual character. Also, Mack and Bobbi? I feel like they’re pretty massive fandom faves as well and I never really got invested in them. I don’t hate them, they’re just… Meh. 

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Leopold, the ultimate trash fave. Hehe. He’s just so deliciously messed up and complex and it’s so much fun to explore all of that. He’s like the one villain AOS completely unintentionally got right. Magnetic, charismatic, complicated. Sure, he only ever really shows up in about five episodes but in those five or six episodes they build a really solid character. We’re not told or shown everything, but that’s the point. Sometimes the implication is enough - and it’s super fun to fill in those gaps. And those suits. I mean, c’mon. lol

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Literally no one on this show is a cinnamon roll anymore. lol. I think Ophelia easily could’ve had a really satisfying redemption arc if the writers were actually willing to get into that instead of just shelving their more complex characters and turning to the safe option of ‘let’s kill the baddie.’ Ward could’ve possibly been redeemed too (up to a certain point at least) but I guess part of his appeal is that he didn’t want to be? Uh… and out of the still alive ones (kind of??), Fitz. He’s had a really tough time literally since S2. I also liked Mace and Radcliffe and I kind of wish they got to stick around for a bit longer.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: Fitz/Ophelia. Obviously. I guess one of the more weirder ones is Hive/Stephanie. That’s… not remotely canon (I mean, I guess they kissed? lol) but in my headcanon Framework verse it is. Let’s be honest, there’s probably tons more because I always latch on to the more obscure stuff, but I can’t really think of anything else at the moment.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Philinda and Mackelena. I don’t ship either but I guess I can kind of see the appeal and I wish them all the best for the sake of the shippers because both of these pairings are frequently overshadowed by… well, the main ship. I can totally understand and sympathize with their frustration. 

[kyluxficexchange]

                             Valentine’s Day 2018 Collection

                 (For anyone living in East Asia and celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year!)

Authors have been revealed (for the better half of a day), but due to RL I had a few problems logging on to post this before now, but thank you for your patience with me!

A gentle reminder that while we don’t enforce it as a rule, we greatly recommend readers leave a comment or kudos on their gift- feeling great about validation is universal! It’s been a wild ride, thank you all for bearing with me and sticking along. I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day, and that you have a lovelier week.

Beneath the cut is a master-post of fic recs for your reading enjoyment!

All 56 works currently in the collection are included below. If you’d like specific recs for certain tropes/features/themes, you can throw us an ask. If you’d like your work removed from the rec-list, just message us!

CONTENTS, fics for---           valentines day fluff           soft & classic kylux           long journeys           canonical AU           modern AU           benarmie & techienician           comedy(?)

                         VALENTINES FLUFF

Works that are in-character set around Valentines day. Generally modern day! Soft and sweet. A bit late to read these for Valentines Day but we can still make it for White Day!

Blind Date

Phasma sets Hux up on a blind date. She has no idea he and Ren already know each other. And hate each other.

     feat. kylo taking yoga classes, ‘careful, ren’, and copious amounts of humour. phasma is?? a god???, and the banter between kylo and hux is everything. hux’s pov involves a level of sarcasm that is delicious to behold.

Can You Come Get Me

After a vicious fight with his father, Hux needs a place to go. Ren is more than obliging. Not your conventional Valentine's Day, but far better than he had hoped for.

     feat. brendol hux’s A+ parenting, a little bit of whump, and heart-shaped pancakes. there’s a lovely sweetness to ren that really endears the reader to them both.

Crossed Wires

In a modern setting; Armitage and Ben have a very important dinner together.

     feat. benarmie and proposing! is it actually set on v-day? i don’t know but it makes it even fluffier. matt and techie are also present, and the sibling dynamic is to die for.

Don’t Play With Your Food

For the prompt: cannibal and serial killer, cute boyfriends.

     feat. food porn, knitting solving every relationship trouble (knit one purl one two). a romantic comedy falls somewhere between absolutely adorable and somewhat horrifying. maybe it just jumps seamlessly from one to the other.

possession

The one where Kylo and Hux both find themselves on Chandrila with lackluster dates for the local equivalent of Valentine's Day, a bit too much alcohol is imbibed, feelings are had, and animosity gives way to something else.

     feat. a ton of great dialogue, hux in a dress, and alcohol porn. alcohol description porn. just... description porn. the writing is amazingly immersive, the worldbuilding is beautiful, and there is a bar scene which trumps all other bar scenes.

                         SOFT KYLUX

Canonical kylux with (mildly) fluffy endings and lots of hurt/comfort. Possibly not as soft when compared with other fandoms and ships, but equally delicious.

Open Letter

General Hux tries to deal with his negative thoughts after the First Order's latest defeat. Kylo Ren offers some help.

     feat. post-tlj angst and eventual(?) catharsis- at least, the first step to it. hux’s pov and inner monologue is super well written- in this work he’s a lot more vulnerable, and the author really plays on his sense of self worth, to great effect.

Sealed with a Kiss

Armitage is shaken up by Snoke's punishments, so Kylo has to go to him.

     feat. hux being substituted for a pair of maracas, a bit of whump and some hurt/comfort. it’s not quite fluffy- neither of them are nice enough for that- but there’s softness scattered throughout that the bluntness of the text really highlights. also humour, which gets pulled off far too well.

Slow Hands

Hux yearns for Supreme Leader Ren, but he knows it can never happen.

     feat. post-tlj catharsis and the best kind of hurt. the first half is unparalleled unrequited love kink. the pacing and narrative is just perfect- there’s a level of raw emotion conveyed through the writing (on hux’s end) that is quality™.

Tame Your Nightmares

When Hux passes out on the bridge, Supreme Leader Ren takes this matter into his own hands. Together with Hux, he tries to find a solution to Hux's sleep problems.

     feat. kylo being an asshole but a nice asshole, solid REM sleep becoming my kink. a lot of them sassing each other in this fic- the snark gives way to vulnerability at certain moments and it’s A++.

Moon-Shaped Pools

Posing as a couple while on an intelligence-gathering mission to the Pleasure Planet of Chagar IX proves to be enlightening in more ways than one.

     feat. stranded together on a pleasure planet. the atmosphere of this fic is just otherworldly. literally otherwordly- the nature of the place they’re in changes their dynamic and the way they act around each other, and it’s wonderful to see.

Cocooned

prompt: Stranded somewhere not so fun, Kylo takes care of Hux's small wounds with a level of care that makes Hux feel ~uncomfortable~. In a good way.

     feat. a summary that doesn’t live up to its 6,000 words of great dialogue and worldbuilding. basically post-tlj snuggling. the setting really forces the two of them to interact in ways that would not otherwise happen- which results for lots of fluff and hurt/comfort.

The Breaking Point

Supreme Leader Snoke commands his apprentice to dispose of the General. Ren questions his orders.

     feat. a great exploration of ren’s character. his inner monologue is spot on, every emotion is acute and real, and being able to follow his thoughts and feelings to their (perhaps inevitable) conclusion is just a gift.

Constellations

Kylo Ren is in quite a state when he wakes in the medbay following the destruction of Starkiller Base. Luckily for him, he isn't alone.

     feat. post-tfa angst, kylo and hux expressing their feelings to each other. in a feelings way and also in a ‘lets rule the galaxy together’ way. the characterization is spot on and puts a twist on their mutual vulnerability- they’re both just so well written.

Disaster Recovery Plan

In the aftermath of the debacle on Crait the First Order is trying to run an evacuation and recovery operation from the stabilised remains of the Supremacy. But the Mega Star Destroyer is in worse condition than anyone realised, a fact Hux discovers only just in time to save his own life. Seriously injured he finds himself in unexpectedly close quarters with the new Supreme Leader...

     feat. star destroyer class mega, hux whump, recovery and getting together, and hux watching kylo sleep. post-tlj. i just want to say this fic hurts to read because it’s so emotional and the author conveys the characters so well, but things get better for them!

A Few Chocolates

Snoke had forbidden Kylo from experiencing things that Hux never expected. It seems like a good place to start winding closer, manipulating the new Supreme leader. Instead Hux ends up finding out that maybe he doesn’t hate Kylo as much as he thought he did.

     feat. communication over bribery and chocolates. idiots falling in love. hux’s pov is written superbly- the way the two of them come together and the slow build of their relationship reads seamlessly and organic (even with hux’s intent to manipulate going on).

I Am More Than My Scars

Grand Marshal Hux is distraught when he discovers what kind of training Supreme Leader Ren is engaging in to keep himself bound to the dark side, and suspects the involvement of the deceased Snoke.

     feat. non-sexual intimacy, the same tag that is used in the fic but i can’t express how much i love it: they are soft with each other in a way it’s rare to see in most canon fics. it stuck in my mind for days and i love this take on hux and kylo, and how their harshness wears away when they’re alone together.

                         CANONICAL AU

Works set in the Star Wars verse, but with slight twists- on characters, setting, etc.

Blind to his own brilliance

Upon suffering a life-threatening injury, Kylo discovers something about his General that will definitely lead to something more.

Oh, and he also gets a kiss.

     feat. force-sensitive hux living up to the title of the fic, and ren being appropriately impressed. such beautifully written prose i die. following kylo’s pov, it’s easy to see, and easier still to miss any inkling.

Reciprocity

Ben and his family are attending a masquerade ball in celebration of the Peace treaty that will unite forces across the galaxy. Ben is bored and looking for an escape from his mother's political circles.

     feat. a ben solo still with his parents??? my heart. an interesting look into the characters if they’d never met via snoke, and if kylo ren never existed- the worldbuilding in the background is fascinating, and hux in this fic is a less polished, more open version of himself that i love.

Pulvis et Lux

Emptiness. Hux shook in his quarters, clutching a tiny position sensor to his heart. It was dead now. Cold, quiet, and useless. The last five years he had cherished it like a tiny piece of his lover, knowing that, however far he strayed, Kylo Ren was alive and within his reach.

But now he was lost to him, and Hux was left with a tiny piece of smooth metal and a large corpse, bloodied and burned.

    feat. angst in buckets, character death, and force ghost kylo. and rings. it’s a fic about mourning and not quite letting go. proving wrong the age old saying of ‘death do us part’. still without a doubt a fic to stoke the tragedy boner.

                        CLASSIC KYLUX

Kylux that is decidedly not soft. Sometimes dark, sometimes not so dark, but the classic dynamic from early on in the fandom.

Connections Never Sought

“You’re serious. You want to know? The last time you asked me about the Force, it was because you wanted to know if I could interrogate your prisoner from another system.”

     feat. too many feels, a new level of kink without... actually getting explicit?? (how), and feelings being resolved via sex. hints of softness that neither of them act on, with rey as an unintentional voyeur.

so indefinite as to be indefinable

It goes like this: their shadows become misshapen, tall and hungry and swallowing the dark- in the unlit corners of the room, monsters trying to eat each other.

     feat. purple prose, angst that eventually turns less angsty. prose for days, and both of them being idiots falling in love- with mutual pining thrown in for good measure. once again, classic characterization- which mingles with some fluff.

An Uneasy Alliance

After the events on Crait, the newly self appointed Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and General Armitage Hux struggle to find their footing with their new power structure and the imbalance it creates. Hux feels the sting of his ill treatment at Ren's hand and fears the worst is coming.

     feat. more prose that will slaughter you, power imbalance, and so much pining. these two sorting out their issues with communication and stabbing- their characterization really calls back to the first wave of kylux fics that came out after tfa, and it’s beautifully written.

you know why

An assassination attempt, some rather unexpected heroism from Hux, and the magic of bacta. This day really isn't going the way Kylo Ren expected. Whoever thought that building an empire would be this difficult?

     feat. slow but not soft kylux, multifaceted. also delicious smut. ren and hux straddle the line between ‘adorably fluffy’ and ‘not nice at all’- hux is almost frighteningly unreadable at times, and kylo is (in comparison) far too easy to read, which just fuels their dynamic here further.

Reveille

Kylo and Hux have an arrangement. So what if some woman can make Hux smile?

     feat. jealousy and brilliant characterization. miscommunication happens in spades and catharsis is somewhere beyond the tunnel- kylo is emotionally oblivious, and hux is probably at a loss because of it.

                        FOR LONG JOURNEYS

Long fics over 10,000 words. If not for a long journey, then read them with a good mug of coffee and snacks on a rainy day.

Dangerous Mistakes

Kylo Ren is dangerous, and has long been a thorn in the side of General Hux. He's always hated him and always will. Or will he?

     feat. enemies to lovers and hux reading romance novels. there’s a wonderful darkness that never quite abates in the fic, neither hux nor ren are very nice people- both of them drawn to each other for reasons they don’t seem to wholly comprehend.

Lead To Follow

Five years after leaving the world of competitive ballroom dancing, Hux is comfortable in his life as an instructor - until one bad student has to shake everything up.

     feat. a primer on ballroom dancing, hank the investment banker, and both of them being incurable and helpless romantics. finn/rey and leia/holdo are background ships that work together really well. also trans!hux! the dialogue and description are so well written, i honestly can’t imagine how much research and time went in to this fic.

man in black

“So, you really want to live here?” Finn frowns, dark eyes gazing out of the front window. Rain streams down the glass, each droplet creating a trail - like silvery scars on frosted skin.

“I don’t really have a choice.” is the reply.

     feat. putting pineapple and sweetcorn on pizza and small town southern gothic. mild horror, mildly creepy hux. there’s a lot of suspense- it reads a little as mystery/light horror novel might read. it was completely riveting to read, the narrative slips and slides in some parts- kylo is an unreliable narrator, in an unreliable reality.

our love is a ghost (that the others can’t see)

Ren likes flowers. Hux finds out.

     feat. canon-verse with soft kylux and beautiful writing. pressed flowers, fresh flowers, hux gifting ren flowers. a lot of restrained emotion that finally, finally gives way towards the middle and end.

tell me we’ll never get used to it

Kylo may not have recognized his co-star's voice, but he sure as shit remembers that this Armitage Hux guy was the best one night stand he's ever had in his life.

     feat. actor AU, great puns, all the background ships. it’s a multi-media project with graphics/edits and different styles of writing- and aside from the amazing writing, it’s the most fun thing i’ve read in forever. there were throwaway lines that had me yelling for ten minutes straight. bonus points for bodhi and cassian being partners.

Sustenance

Kylo Ren has spent the last five years fighting in the desert, leading the Southern Front for Emperor Snoke’s war against the Resistance. Global conquest is near at hand, but things take a turn for the worse when General Armitage Hux is captured and delivered far north to a Resistance stronghold in the Davarn Mountains. Ren has never ventured that far north himself; nor has he ever met Armitage Hux, but the severity the Emperor heaps on this situation implies there’s probably more to the man than what meets the eye.

Whatever the case may be, Ren takes the mission without question. After all, the sooner he sets things in order with the General, the sooner he can return to his own quest of cutting down the Resistance army.

He just fails to anticipate how difficult this mission turns out to be…

     feat. an author who claims never to have written steampunk before, but writes it amazingly well. close to 28k, definitely for a very long train journey. the moments of softness between kylo and hux are nestled between plot-heavy segments and beautiful worldbuilding. background characters are fleshed out, the setting is beautiful, it’s a fully fledged short novel that could even be read standalone.

                         SMUT

Porn with and without plot. (my thoughts on smut are generally incoherent whoops, i might add onto this section later.)

Atonement

Ren stares at the carpet. “Tell me what to do,” he says.

“Last time I tried that, you nearly rendered me unconscious,” Hux snaps, hoping he sounds more incensed than hurt.

     feat. bottom kylo and bondage.

An Attempt on His Life

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren summons for his General to discuss a private matter of the utmost importance. Hux assumes this is where he dies after his treasonous thoughts from "that night".

     feat. more bottom kylo and post-tlj sorting out of feelings. calling hux armitage. A+++

Do it The Right Way

Hux just wants to sleep at night, too bad his neighbor keeps him up with his loud, incorrect masturbation. Hux is just going to have to guide him through how to do it properly

     feat. hux being Done.

Hold On

Hux holds out one gloved hand, beckoning Ren away from the cave’s starless winding passages, back toward the salt and red earth and open sky.

Ren goes to him, because there is a choice— but not really.

     feat. hot mess kylo ren and a lot of dom/sub. the writer’s prose is beautiful.

Impromptu Meeting

Kylo was beyond exasperated with his top General, Armitage Hux and his lack of respect. Kylo was not an Alpha to be mocked and a simple beta should know so. He'd have to have a long talk with a certain ginger.

     feat. A/B/O-verse, omega hux and alpha kylo. (dubious/non-consent)

Mutual destruction

“Scared you could still lose this battle? That I could get what I want?”, Hux teases and it’s probably the wrong thing to say but he doesn’t care anymore. He wants this to get bloody and messy and he wants to be able to claw and hate with all he’s got. Ren has to see it in his mind because only seconds later the knight’s angry lips cover his mouth and the kiss is entirely painful and yet the best they've had so far.

     feat. too many feels, semi-transactional sex, and classic kylux. also bonus shout-out as the author didn’t have a giftee while writing- leave a comment /o/!

Negotiations

Or Negotiations with a Man Baby

Hux and Kylo have been fucking for awhile now. But then an awkward moment leads to them actually talking about their sex lives and trying new things.

     feat. (daddy) kink negotiation, the promise of lingerie. light-hearted and humourous at parts.

People Like Us

Kylo has to make it up to Hux after he roughs him up in front of his subordinates.

     feat. neither of them being nice, both of them getting what they want.

We can talk it over, and over, and over

“Whatever you just did,” he moves again, “Do it again.”

There are lines that the Force can break down, lines that can bring people closer together, lines that turn a feeling into an experience.

     feat. inappropriate use of the force. they’re surprisingly domestic- fluffy but there’s an undertone of something not-entirely-healthy sprinkled throughout. it’s an interesting twist on what a relationship between them might look like.

                        MODERN DAY FICS

Featuring office romance, actor AU, a little bit for everyone.

Best Intentions

As if Ben’s hopeless crush on his uptight but gorgeous coworker isn’t problematic enough, a well-intentioned mistake has gotten him into a mess of trouble.

Luckily for Ben—and unluckily for Hux—he has a plan.

     feat. office humour, accidents, and double shot lattes with almond milk. the coffee descriptions are to die for, as is the millicent cameo. it’s sweet to see them together, and to see them communicating with one another (nearer to the end).

The Future In-Laws

Han and Leia Organa-Solo pay a visit to their son and his fiancé in London.

     feat. armitage speaking his mind about brexit, han and leia coming to visit their kids. the americanization of aubergines into eggplants. han and leia are wonderful in this fic; hux is the anxious fiance about to meet the in-laws, and the whole fic is just slow and very sweet.

More Than Words

Armitage is a cynic about love because of his father's relationship with Maratelle and Armitage's mother, but when a friend signs him up for a blind date, he meets Ben. Despite Ben's parents having a completely dysfunctional marriage, he remains an optimist about finding his soulmate. It might not be love at first sight, but there's definitely something going on…

     feat. hux not being optimistic on his blind date with ben. ben recommending the fish. wb yeats turning over in his grave. ben is a romantic and hux claims to be a cynic, and the whole fic (from hux’s pov) reads in a far too romantic manner- the pacing is perfect and the writing even more so.

Nearly Missed

After two years of travelling the world trying to find himself, Kylo Ren is as lost as ever. When he returns home for a brief visit, he is unexpectedly reunited with his best friend and long-time secret crush, Armitage Hux.

     feat. fluff and angst, kylo returning from a trip of self-discovery in which he discovered nothing. kylo and armitage communicating with each other. i really enjoyed reading hux taking a different path in life- the idea of how different he could be as a person if this or that had changed.

Northern Exposure

When Hux's personal assistant abandons him without warning he is forced to take on an emergency employee to replace him. Kylo is without a doubt the worst assistant Hux has ever had, and possibly an escaped convict, but there's something about him that catches Hux's attention.

     feat. hux being an inappropriate boss, borderline workplace harassment but they still get together. kylo’s past is a mystery, hux wants to chop trees down, and the background characters are to die for- everyone is astonishingly fleshed out considering the wordcount, and the writing style fits hux’s pov perfectly.

Slow dance with the best man

Hux is dragged to his subordinate's wedding and decides to take advantage of the free drinks. But the best man is tall, dark, and handsome--and he has his eyes set on Hux!

Or, a Harlequin romance novel au

     feat. a never-ending cycle of finding romance. hux is quite literally swept away by ren, and both of them dramatically fall in love.

Totality

Hux is an astronomer, and Kylo an astrologist. They bicker about the stars and fall in love during an eclipse.

     feat. a meet-cute and the sweetest romance i’ve ever read. the amount of characterization stuffed into 1300 words flabbergasts me- there’s so much of it in the dialogue itself that it doesn’t need description to be conveyed.

Still Water

The men are working together and they're both reserved.

     feat. office romance and champagne in plastic cups. hux is reserved but confident, and kylo is more unsure of himself, making for an interesting dynamic!

Cut Above the Rest

Kylo needs a haircut. Poe knows a guy. Kylo's not sure what he's getting into.

     feat. hair stylist hux with a mysterious past and kylux having their first meeting. light-hearted and fluffy. hux is dramatic and slightly(?) creepy, it only serves to make them both more endearing.

                         BENARMIE & TECHIENICIAN

Self explanatory, but this also works as the ‘tooth-rottingly fluffy’ category.

birds of a feather

Techie has never met anyone like Matt before, but he's never met anyone like himself, either.

     feat. techienician, a lot of fluff, and pigeons. i love how techie is written, his pov is just so very stylized and unique- his character comes through via the narration alone. pure cinnamon buns in love.

Good Morning, Angel

Techie is a permanent patient at a hospital and Matt is the new nurse there. (Cue Matt falling for him without even realizing it within the first ten minutes.)

     feat. more techienician, patient techie and nurse matt looking like a sketch of the zodiac killer. tooth-rottingly fluffy. matt is super caring in this one- seeing hux through his eyes is absolutely endearing.

Wedding Daze

It's his brother's wedding, Armitage should be happy. Instead he's reminded of just how lonely he is. And then he sees the other best man. It may have been six months since they worked together, but there's no mistaking Ben Solo.

     feat. there’s background techienician that is just super soft and sweet (marriage !!), and then the dynamic between armitage and ben which parallels and contrasts that. the dynamic between the siblings themselves is perfect.

                         COMEDY(?)

At least, light-hearted and sweet, no hurt in sight. If anything, fics that will make you laugh when you need it.

Lost Cat, Fat.

Hux decides to keep Millicent inside so she won't get any extra feedings. But someone else is looking for her, too.

     feat. millicent adopting a second dad without armitage’s permission and misunderstandings over parenting. hux and ren’s interaction here is just adorable, and i love the narration from hux’s pov- he and millicent make a wonderful pair.

Disappointment Comes After Success

General Hux has a lot on his plate, especially now that his former co-commander and ex-lover is the new Supreme Leader. He drinks the bitterest tea and arms himself with pettiness and hope.

     feat. post-tlj misuse of the supreme leader’s power, hux being close to losing it, hux deserving better, and hair-washing kink. so much hair-washing kink. i don’t think i ever stopped laughing to myself reading this.

Fate’s Accountant

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren's reign of terror starts off poorly and continues on a downward trajectory from there. Badly as he doesn't wish to admit it, he needs his estranged lover/former co-commander's help to put everything back together again both personally and professionally. Surely, Snoke had something laying around here that will be sufficient enough to bribe him. What gift best says, "I'm sorry I've been an incompetent asshole and I want you back"?

     feat. ‘gracious government mix’ the chocolate giftbox, darth knight tantrum trying to make things up to hux. every single sentence is comedy gold. feels lurk under the surface to be discovered and rediscovered on second and third rereads. the pinnacle of fic.

What doesn’t kill you

..... makes you fall in love.

     feat. the trope of 5 4 times plus 1, and me indeed falling in love with this fic. phasma being the hero and friend we don’t deserve. hux tries to kill kylo with successively worse results. or eventually better results. i cackled to myself the entire time and i’m glad hux ended up laughing too.

Stranded

Kylo is snowed in at an airport. And the world's most arrogant prick is too. This is just Kylo's luck.

     feat. a wonderfully written setting, description porn, and sock garters. seeing hux from kylo’s pov is just... a gift. kylo is a gift, hux is a bit of an asshole, but a snarky asshole, and it’s so well-written i cry. also the smut is such a bonus.

EDITS: 01. added a fic that had been missing before: i am more than my scars.

[centaurianthropology]

The Magnus Archives ‘Return to Sender’ (S03E16) Analysis

With what feels like two separate stories slammed together in this episode, it was never going to be my favorite.  And though we have some tasty meta, I was left feeling a bit disappointed, and more than a bit confused on several points.  Come on in to hear what I think about ‘Return to Sender’.

It was inevitable that, after the extreme high water mark that has been the first part of season 3 (the initial bloc of episodes contained some of the strongest material to date from the show, in my opinion), having an episode that really didn’t land for me was inevitable, and would inevitably feel jarring.  That was ‘Return to Sender’, which felt like two good episodes both trimmed way down and slammed together.  It was the same problem I had with ‘Section 31’ last season.  There were several stories in that one, all potentially promising, and all severely undernourished to the point of not being memorable at all.  

‘Return to Sender’ only has two such stories, but they still have that distinct feeling of not being long enough to realize their full potential.  Both feel important.  Both feel like they have a lot to say, both about the plot and about where Sims is as a character right now.  So it’s a real shame that the whole thing feels rushed, and major beats fly by without being given the weight I felt like they deserved.

I’ll talk about the two separately first, and I’ll dig into what meta we can glean.  Then I’ll talk about why the episode, when taken as a whole, didn’t really work for me.  

The first story, which seemed to work better for me, involves Jon going to investigate the previous location of Breekon & Hope.  We find out that Breekon & Hope was the name of the company before the delivery men we know took it off the former owner and took the names for themselves.  We also know that they are all but confirmed to have been the two strong-men from the Circus of the Other.  Given that, their purpose, which had seemed to me to be a bit more freelance, is actually to move important artifacts around in service of the Stranger.  

As Sims himself mentioned in this part, it’s a bit light on meta, but understandably.  I never thought Breekon & Hope were going to be wealths of information, being more ferrymen than players in the game.  Why he felt so hellbent to find their story, I’m not sure, though I figure it’s the Archivist driving him on, making him desperate for any new story.

Indeed, the real intrigue in the first part is Sims’ reaction to standing in this location where someone died, having collected the statement from where Elias left it for him. He himself is bothered by the notion that the death seems inconsequential to him, that his major irritation comes from Elias being a showy prick, rather than the fact that a man struggled and died in that place.  Sims sounds more like Gertrude in this part of the episode than he ever has before, and following on the heels of me dubbing him Head Asshole of the Magnus Institute last week for not even bothering to check in with Martin and the rest of the assistants, this seems properly worrisome.  His humanity seems to be slipping away at an accelerated rate, and he’s not even trying to hold onto it.

So, yes, the story was a bit light on meta, but it was a good story, and well told.  It was nice to hear Jon read a statement again.  It was interesting to see him realizing how quickly the Archivist is eclipsing Jonathan Sims.  Spooled out a bit, maybe with a confrontation with Elias or something, and I think that this would have been a really good episode.

But instead, brace yourself for whiplash, because we transition directly into the second story. These two are nominally tied together with the log book Jon found at Breekon & Hope, which has allowed him to track the shipments of the Stranger’s packages.  This, again, would be a really interesting idea.  Concluding the Breekon & Hope episode with the idea that he’s going to start using that book to trach these packages would have been a good hook.  

Instead, we hard cut to him at the taxidermy shop from ‘Still Life’, apparently working without any sort of fuss or fear with Daisy.  Um, what? I don’t expect this show to hand-hold me or spoon-feed me information.  Far from it.  But a bit of context is always a good thing.  How long is this segment after the former one?  Does Jon have Daisy’s number in his phone?  Did he contact Elias, who sent Daisy to pick him up?  Is this the first time they’ve worked together? Certainly they seem weirdly comfortable in one another’s company all of a sudden, which is quite the change from Daisy wanting to shoot him in the face.  Also there was no mention at all of Basira, like Daisy asking after her and Jon not having an answer because he hasn’t bothered to check on Basira since she was taken hostage?  That would have been an ideal conversation for these two to have.

But, no.  Sudden jump to them confronting Sarah Baldwin, and I feel really bad for that character.  Having her shoehorned into the end of this episode after some great buildup early in the series feels like a disservice.  I’m hoping we get more of her later to let her shine, because this came and went too fast to leave any sort of notion who she is now or what the Anglerfish’s thing might be.  

We’re also missing the bridge between Sims being at least concerned with his slipping humanity in a rather detached way, and the stone cold Sims we get in this latter half.  He’s shaking off any threat Daisy might pose, and the only time he broke his cool was at the mention of Sasha.  He didn’t seem to mind that Sarah Baldwin escaped, nor was he shocked.  He’d got her statement, the story, and that was all that mattered.  The hunger for information was good, but needed room to breathe in the middle of everything else happening.  

And we’re also introduced to the taxidermy skin from ‘Still Life’ again.  Apparently it’s a critical piece of the Unknowing, and to slow that down Gertrude had murdered the former owner of the shop and stolen the skin. And then, in a move that felt more like Jonathan Sims, idiot extraordinaire, than anything else in that latter half of the episode, Sims just out and out admits he has no idea where the skin is.  Sarah bolts, ready to tell the Stranger that the new Archivist is a moron, and that’s that.

Like I said before, each of these halves could have been a really good episode unto itself.  The first would have been a quieter episode, but I could have dug that.  The latter would have been fairly fraught, but Jon actively interrogating a being—not asking for a statement, but a proper interrogation—would have been a really cool thing to explore over 20 minutes.  Jon and Daisy having to uncomfortably work with one another would have been interesting.  Giving Sarah Baldwin more time to draw out the creepiness of the Anglerfish, still one of the most frightening entities from this series, would have been phenomenal.

Instead, everything felt like it was rushed, and all the story threads got the short shrift in order to pack them in.  I think that both parts of this were probably necessary, and maybe the numbering of the episodes just didn’t work for them to be two episodes and still get to the mid-season finale on episode 20 of this season.  But I really wish they had found a way.

I don’t want to make it sound like there was nothing good here.  Though it was rushed, I now imagine that the Stranger’s efforts to retrieve the skin are going to lie at the center of the mid-season finale.  I also think that Jon doesn’t yet realize how dangerous that information is.  If I can figure that out, you bet that Nichola Orsinov can.  And you bet she’ll be sending some visitors to the Archives to retrieve that skin.

And the assistants STILL don’t know anything, what with Jon apparently now partered with fucking Daisy of all people.  Without the key information about the Unknowing and the Stranger, the assistants don’t know not to help some envoy of the Stranger.  They don’t know not to let someone from the circus in.  And Nichola would almost certainly view killing them all as an added fuck-you to the Beholding, so you know she’d do it if she could.  And even if Elias could stop any direct incursions by the Stranger, what if the Stranger were to approach someone like Tim?  What if Nichola were to offer Tim freedom in exchange for a creepy old bit of taxidermy skin?  He’d go for it in a second.

And speaking of Elias, we also have the most interesting line of the episode from Sarah Baldwin: “Is that what he’s calling himself now?”  This, alone, was the one line I’m happy they breezed past.  It was the one beat that didn’t feel rushed, because it should be something that spools out over many episodes.  So as far as pacing goes, that beat did land really well for me.

It seems pretty clear that whoever Elias Bouchard was before, the thing wearing his body is at least no longer him in entirety.  There likely was the original stoner Elias, but he was either replaced by someone else or willingly took on the mantle of something else, making him a hybrid of his own personality and that of something else.  And honestly, I have to wonder if that personality isn’t Jonah Magnus. What if the founder of the Institute found a way to pass from body to body, either completely consuming or living in symbiosis with the current head of the Institute?  It would lend a lot more weight to Elias’ arrogance so far, if he was the beating heart of the Magnus Institute by literally being the beating heart keeping Magnus alive.  And when he dies, he would pass into the next head of the Institute. When he said that killing him would kill everyone there, he wasn’t talking about the body of Elias, perhaps, but the mind of Jonah Magnus.

Or at least that’s the theory I’m running with.  It’s by far the most interesting meta coming out of this episode, as Elias continues to be one of the most intriguing aspects of season 3, even when he isn’t there.

But whoever Elias truly is, I get the feeling that he’s not as in control as he thinks.  He loves playing games, proving how observant he is to Jon.  He wants Jon afraid and impressed.  But Jon’s getting a bit sick of it, and the one thing Elias really can’t seem to control is Jon’s bad decision train.  And that train feels like it’s about to come into station.  Jon’s diminishing humanity is something Elias is clearly pushing, but I don’t think it’s nearly as good a thing as Elias imagines it to be.  It’s endangering his assistants, and rather than using them as touchstones and ways to cling to whatever sympathy and caring he has left in him, he’s running around with Daisy, who isn’t exactly a boost to anyone’s humanity.  And without the emotional connection, he’s clearly missing obvious conclusions.  He’s too focused on the story, and not enough on the people.  

As we come up hard toward the mid-season break (which will follow episode 20 of season 3, for anyone who didn’t know yet), I get the feeling they’re going to leave us with either a cliffhanger or a real shakeup of the current situation.  We know that the first half of this season has been Jon going out and trying to be proactive.  He’s letting the notion that he’s supposed to save the world go to his head. He’s drifting further away from caring about others and falling further and further into the hunger for information. He’s becoming Elias’ sort of Archivist, and I don’t think that’s going to work out well.

Conclusions

Like I said, this felt like about half of two good episodes accidentally put in a tumble dryer together. We get the first half, which explores Breekon & Hope and Jon’s ever-diminishing humanity, and we have the latter half in which Jon is somehow working with Daisy, who is apparently cool with that now.  And Sarah Baldwin is there.  And she gets away to tell the Stranger that the new Archivist has no clue what his predecessor did with the skin that’s critical to the Unknowing.  So a lot happens in a rather disjointed manner, leaving me feeling unsatisfied.  The informational bits we got were good, sure, but lacking in context and grounding. Too much happened too quickly with too little reason to string it all together.  And to waste a character like Sarah Baldwin on what amounted to a cameo feels like a damn shame.

I know these episodes can’t all be to my taste, and that’s fine.  Really, it’s a testament to the high quality of this series that an episode like this, where my problems stem from writing decisions rather than character actions, feels so jarring to me.  I’m guessing this was a one-off thing, made necessary by getting all this information out by the mid-season finale.  I’ve very little doubt that next week we’ll be back on track, and I’ll be loving every minute.

Hopefully Jon, as a character, gets his head out of his ass in time to realize what he’s just done. I want to believe that he’s at least smart enough to realize that the Stranger is going to believe that skin is at the Archives, and will likely either try to infiltrate or attack it directly. It would be nice if Sims remembered that there are people at the Archive that he might remember as being friendly with him at some point.  

And Jon needs those people, because without them his humanity is slipping away fast.  So valuing them and keeping them informed? Sort of a thing he has to start doing if he’s going to be this dumb on the regular.

[lizabethstucker]

Asimov's Science Fiction (March/April 2017)

Digging into my backlot of science fiction magazines. A mixture of verse and stories. I've only reviewed and rated the stories. This particular issue is the 40th Anniversary one! 3.8 out of 5 "Soulmates.com" by Will McIntosh Daniel wants someone to share his life with, to love and be loved by. When he meets Winnie through a dating app, he thinks she could be the one almost immediately. Emily, his former girlfriend and current best friend, is more suspicious, doing a deep dive on who Winnie could be. Which, considering they never meet in person despite Winnie being in Atlanta and Daniel in Athens, not that long a drive, is valid. Starts extremely slowly, assumingly to establish the characters. Not my favorite way as most writers don't do a good job at it. I'm not entirely certain that this is actually science fiction, despite the use of Artificial Intelligence. As to Daniel, I found him to be incredibly childish, blind, immature, and boring. He learned absolutely nothing from his experience. I struggled to complete this novella. 2.5 out of 5 "Number Thirty-Nine Skink" by Suzanne Palmer It started simply enough, an expedition designed to bring life in balance to an empty planet. Then the humans left suddenly, leaving Mike willingly behind with Kadey whose programming makes the creatures populating the area. When Mike dies of cancer, Kadey continues her work. Until the night something changes. Poor Kadey, struggling with loneliness, possibly incomplete programming, and the knowledge hidden from her regarding why the humans left. Sad, yes, but with a more hopeful ending that is also a beginning. Lovely story, so well written. 4.5 out of 5 "Three Can Keep a Secret..." by Bill Johnson & Gregory Frost A convoluted tale of assassins, misdirection, love, greed, and con-artistry with an almost noir feel to it. It's almost impossible to give a synopsis that isn't chockful of spoilers. The first person narrator isn't totally reliable, but still intriguing in what he shares. I loved this more than I expected with this strange little story. FYI, in case you don't know, the title is from an old saying. Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead. 4.5 out of 5 "The Ones Who Know Where They Are Going" by Sarah Pinsker A child must suffer so the city can be happy, or so they say. One particular child is taken from her mother, locked away in the dark with no social interaction beyond the delivery of food. As time passes, language is lost and memories of a happier time begin to fade. Then one day the door isn't shut tightly and the child gets out of the tiny dark room. She crawls up the stairs, each step bringing back a particular memory, heading for freedom. But at what cost? Rip my heart out, why don't you? Two and a half pages of the most gut-wrenching narrative. The tightly woven writing is painfully descriptive. And the ending! Oh, the ending. I just cannot deal with it. 5 out of 5 "Invasion of the Saucer-Men" by Dale Bailey Teenagers have been foiling alien invasions for some time. After all, the adults are either locked in their homes consuming television or would dismiss the very idea of aliens. The newest landing of a flying saucer bonds together teens out at the local make-out point. Per the author, his idea was to take the cheesy sci-fi and horror movie titles of the 1950s and treat the core idea with some emotional and thematic nuance. Here we have a group of teen archetypes, from the football star to the nerds to the beauty. There are also the followers that are always found in high school. This brings back memories of too many cheesy nights at the drive-ins in my county. I've always found my sympathies fell with the aliens most of the time, faced with humans whose first response to the unknown was always violence. Horrible ending to this story. Horrible. CW: extremely graphic attack. 3 out of 5 "Kitty Hawk" by Alan Smale After receiving word of her brother's death, Katharine Wriht travels from Ohio to North Carolina to help her other brother. Instead of Orville preparing to pack up for the trip home with his beloved

brother's body, he is trying to continue with the flight experiments that killed Wilbur. Katharine finds herself engaged in helping, even learning to fly herself. This is a complete AU of the Wright Brothers and the birth of flight, through World War I and the suffrage movement. The writing is evocative of the time period and the dangers of experimental flight. I don't know why it didn't click with me, but I struggled quite a bit in reading this imaginative tale. I can see others enjoying this greatly, just not me. 3 out of 5 "Cupido" by Rich Larson Marcel is a genius at chemistry. He came up with a way to make pheromones specific to the pair he's paid to bring together, either by one of the potential couple or by a third party. The majority of the money he charges goes to pay for his grandmother's colon cancer treatment. As word gets around, he finds himself moving to smaller cities to avoid identification. As yet, what he does isn't illegal. He didn't expect to find himself attracted to his potential mark. Frankly, I don't consider this to be science fiction at all. The science is already viable. Add the consent issues which would be called dubcon (dubious consent) and I'm too busy cringing to enjoy. In my mind, Marcel is anything but a hero. 3 out of 5 "A Singular Event in the Fourth Dimension" by Andrea M. Pawley Olive was removed from the reducer pile, adopted by a childless couple to help stave off loneliness. Now that the second grandmother is living with them and Mama was pregnant, Olive is worried that she will be sent back to the pile, no longer needed. A loving, imaginative little android who believes in fairy dust, even if the fairies never seem to do anything magical like in the stories. Love doesn't have to be limited to just humans or blood relations. Sweet and touching. 4.5 out of 5 "The Wisdom of the Group" by Ian R. MacLeod There are theories and studies about group-think, how certain groups can intuit a trend or coming situation without any real knowledge. With the right group, the members could get wealthy or probably save the world, depending on their inclination. Samuel has been part of such a group since brought in by his professor while still in university. Now, years later, Samuel is wealthy, has a liv-in lover, three dogs with unfortunate names, and a gorgeous house in Washington state. But something is wrong, something that seems to be originating from Samuel. The response is usually to cut the wrong out of the group. A complicated basis for a disturbing story. I had to sit on this one for a while in order to determine what I felt about it. Definitely strong writing, could almost be considered psychological horror. I don't know if I would ever say that I liked it, but I recognize the work done and the uniqueness of the story. 3.5 out of 5 "After the Atrocity" by Ian Creasey Abu Hameed, the terrorist behind the attack that left ten thousand people dead, has also died during interrogation. The solution? A machine that can make exact copies, complete with memories, of an individual. Violet Ruiz, operator and creator of the machine, even made a duplicate of herself in order to work 24/7. As Hameed's copies die during the enhanced interrogation, more copies are needed. Soon Violet II wonders about the ethical implications. Well thought out consideration of just how far a nation is willing to go in search of revenge wrapped in the disguise of intel. Patriot Act, enhanced interrogation the Greater Good, dismantling both Habeas Corpus and the Geneva Convention, anyone? 4 out of 5 "Goner" by Gregory Norman Bossert In order to explore space, humans had to be converted from flesh into nanotechnology based creatures. The pilots call themselves Goners. Char's best friend's father is a Goner. Already fascinated with the idea of flying, Char uses a sliver of Pilot Clark to begin changing. While this is complete in itself, the story also begs for more. What is happening to Char? Will he be allowed to live his dreams despite his age? S fascinating a concept. 3.5 out of 5 "We Regret the Error" by Terry

Bisson A series of news corrections from the future. So many corrections, even some corrections of corrections. Taken individually, these are amusing. Pieced together, there is a much deeper story playing out. Oh, and a nice dig at Disney's well-known history of not paying some of their artists for their work. 3 out of 5 "Tao Zero" by Damien Broderick Teenagers, incredibly smart ones, have unprotected sex after winning $370 million in the Mega Millions lottery. The celebration leads to a child, the narrator, and the money to try to trap the Tao, the Way that cannot be named, inside a machine. I tried, I really tried to read this without success. After rereading the first two pages over and over in an attempt to struggle through, I put the story aside, hoping to pick it back up when refreshed. Didn't work. DNF

[swanslieutenant]

If the Stars Align - Chapter IX

Summary: The Musketeers AU. Danger lurks around every corner in the French court and as a Musketeer in service of the royal family, Killian’s duty is to protect them from any and all threats. As his relationship with Queen Emma develops into something more than just friendship, threats against the queen escalate and put everything they hold dear into jeopardy.

Rating: M

Content warning for the story: violence, mature themes, minor character death.

Art by @hook-and-star-ink​ , @acaptainswaneternity and @seastarved. Follow this to check all the pieces currently published and give them some love!  

Catch Up on tumblr: ch1, ch2, ch3,  ch4, ch5, ch6, ch7, ch8

AO3: ch9

As the nuns promised, the convent is secure and unable to be breached. The bandits attempted to break into the convent by scaling the walls and a few of the nuns scared them off by pouring hot water (intended for a bath for Emma) over their heads, sending them shrieking and screaming back down the hill.

After that, the rest of the bandits retreated, slinking back into the forest like shadows. There’s a thin plume of black smoke rising above the treeline, wafting away from the convent with the wind, and they know the bandits haven’t left yet.

Killian stays downstairs all afternoon, helping out where he can and trying very hard not to think about Emma upstairs; if he does, he knows he’d turn right around and walk back upstairs.

To keep himself busy, he checks on Aurora in the convent’s small nursing quarters. She’s better, unconscious from sleep now instead of the hit to her head, and the nun in charge tells him she will be better in a few days and not to worry.

Though the convent looks secure, he, Robin, and Lancelot explore it further, trying to find any weaknesses. The entire building is sturdy, but the wine cellar appears to be the least secured. An old delivery door, unused for years, is only blocked off by several crates of old, dusty wine. To counteract the weak point, they shove even more crates and heavy wooden benches from the chapel above in front of it and set up a rotation of watching the door through the night.

At dinner, with Tink having volunteered to watch the wine cellar while they have something to eat, the four Musketeers sit down with Emma and Mother Superior at a small table in the dining hall.

No one says anything, picking at their cabbage soup until its lukewarm and lumpy. Everyone is too on edge to have much of an appetite, not when there are dozens of bandits outside the gates, waiting for them.

Killian feels a twinge of guilt as some of the nuns pass by the dining hall, peering in with looks that range between fear and anger. The Musketeers have brought this threat to the door of the convent, and though Killian knows there was no other option, it doesn’t sit right with him. He may not share their religion, but their devotion to their values has offered them shelter and now they could pay for that with their lives.

Reinforcements are at least two days away at the most. If David is riding as hard as he can and if he rides all night, he should be back in Paris by tomorrow night, meaning another whole night for reinforcements to get here by the late afternoon of the second day. 

Two days of sitting here, not knowing what is going to happen next.

His eyes slide to Emma, staring unseeing at her soup and fiddling with her spoon. They haven’t had a chance to speak since the afternoon in her room, and since they noticed the bandits’ fire, the mood in the barracks has darkened. Any earlier lightheartedness has gone up in smoke with the flames.

“I can’t eat,” Emma says after a while of silence, pushing her full bowl away. “Mother Superior, will you take me to see Aurora?” 

Mother Superior pushes away her own uneaten bowl. “Of course.”

Killian starts to rise but Robin stands at the same time. For a moment, they stare at each other, before Robin waves Killian back down.

“Finish your supper, Jones. I’ll go.”

There’s not really a way he can argue, so he sinks back down. Killian catches Emma’s gaze, a flash of disappointment in her eyes, but she doesn’t say anything either as Robin leads the way out of the room.

When the three of them are gone, any pretense of eating the awful soup is over. Killian, Will, and Lancelot split up their duties for the night’s watch. They’ve got two areas they want for surveillance – the wine cellar and Emma’s quarters. The view to the outside gates is best from Emma’s quarters, so whoever guards her will also be watching that wall too.

Killian is, of course, hoping to be assigned upstairs, but to his disappointment, Lancelot sends Will up there, ordering Killian down into the wine cellar instead.

When he trudges downstairs, Tink is seated on a barrel, staring with glazed over eyes at the sealed door, and she jerks in surprise as Killian enters the room. He chuckles at her, and she lets out a sigh of relief and hauls herself to her feet.

“Thank God. I’m starving.”

He snorts, and drops down onto the barrel she just rose from. “Thanks for the warm welcome.”

She’s already headed to the door, her stomach growling, but she pauses, looking back to him, a strange look in her eyes. Killian tenses; he’d hoped she’d forgotten her desire earlier to catch up, but it appears not.

“Tink,” he starts, warningly, but she ignores him.

“You have to tell me how you ended up in this situation, Killian.” She gestures at his fleur-de-lis pauldron, shaking her head in disbelief. “A Musketeer? Really? I thought I’d lost my senses when I saw you earlier.”

Killian sighs, not wanting to get into it right now (or ever), and he stares at the wall instead of her. “It’s a long story.”

Tink snorts, and her growling stomach forgotten, moves across the room and plops back down on the barrel beside him. “I think I can make the time.”

He doesn’t say anything, and Tink rolls her eyes.

“Fine. I’ll start the story, shall I? Last I saw you, you and Liam were going off to London, to join the English Navy. All seemed set in stone, so what happened?”

This is exactly why he didn’t want to talk about it. He stiffens at the mention of his brother’s name, and Tink notices, her brow furrowing.

“What? What’s wrong?”

A lump grows in his throat, and he has to clear it several times before answering. “Liam. He’s ... he’s dead.”

Honest shock crosses her face, and she closes her eyes briefly and Killian wonders if she’s praying for Liam’s soul, long gone already to the depths of Davey Jones.

“I’m so sorry, Killian. What happened?”

He hesitates; he hasn’t talked about Liam for years, mostly to keep his past as an Englishman private, but also because it’s too painful. He lost his brother, his only companion, his mentor, his captain, in the blink of an eye, no time to say goodbye. Talking about it makes his hands shake with anger, his memories dipping down a dark path, and it’s better to just avoid it and pretend he never had a brother.

But he can’t do that here; Tink knew Liam too.

“We did join the Navy,” he says, voice rough. “And, for a while, it was wonderful. Liam excelled to captain, and I to lieutenant. The way we were going, we’d have made the admiralty in no time.”

He thinks of the way he’d once stood, proud as anything with the English crest on his chest, and his chest aches as he tells the next part of the story. “But one day, we were out on a mission, and we were attacked by Spanish privateers. It was awful, and Liam ... Liam didn’t make it.”

Tink sucks in a deep breath. “Killian. I’m so sorry.”

Killian can almost feel the rage he felt then, resurfacing as he remembers why he left the Navy after Liam died, and he clenches his hands into fists.

“Even though they were Spanish, the English king refused to condemn the privateers. He was trying to broker a treaty with the Spanish, and feared this would put it all on hold. The lives of ten Navy soldiers wasn’t worth it to him. So it wasn’t worth it to me to stay with England either.”

“So you returned to France and joined the Musketeers?” She says it incredulously, and he nods.

“It’s more complicated than that, but I didn’t want to join a merchant ship again and the French Navy is almost non-existent. I’d been trained as a solider so ... here I am. Serving the French royalty instead of the English.”

Tink sits up a bit straighter, and narrows her eyes at him. “And they’re okay with you being English?”

Killian doesn’t answer, and Tink shakes her head darkly. “Killian.”

“Emma knows. And the captain of the Musketeers. But no one else does.”

She sighs, and levels him a severe look. “I won’t say anything, but Killian ...”

He knows she’s thinking of the current war with England, the anti-English sentiment he’s sure has made its way out to her convent, and he smiles tightly.

“I’ll be careful, Tink. I’ve been so far. Don’t worry.”

She looks unconvinced, but her stomach growls loudly again. It’s clear she wants to interrogate him further, another loud growl has her getting to her feet with a sigh, and she leaves him alone to his thoughts, still shaking her head in dismay.

The moment she’s gone, Killian pulls out his flask from an inner pocket of his coat. It’s already half drained of rum – the days on the road having done its trick – but he takes a generous swig of the remainder, letting it burn its way down his throat and into his belly.

He tries to focus on anything but his past as the night goes on, the hours dragging and long. But now that it’s been drudged up from the depth, as unforgettable as a hurricane, he has no choice. 

He wonders what Liam would think of him now, sitting in the bottom of an old convent, guarding the French queen against bandits trying to kill her. He probably would laugh and tell Killian to get his head on straight and get the hell out of here. Liam had had no love for the French monarchy, preferring to pledge his loyalty to the monarch of their English roots ... how ironic it was that king who had let his death go unremarked or avenged.

If they’d been apart of the French army and Liam had died in that service in the way he did, Killian knows Emma would never let the treatment he received happen here. With his rank and the way he died, he’d have been honoured as dying for his country, not ignored and swept under the rug as if he never existed.

Killian leans his head against the wall behind him, tucking the flask back away after another swig. He wonders what Liam would think of Emma. She’s good and kind, like him, so he bets they’d have gotten along. Liam would have been honoured to serve a good queen like her instead of a selfish and cruel king.

Speaking of Emma, he wishes he could go upstairs, to talk to her, to see how she’s doing. There’s not much he can do for her in terms of reassuring her worries, but he’d be at least able to offer her some company, and maybe he himself wouldn’t feel as lonely as he does now.

But as if the universe is trying to send him a message, somehow, he doesn’t end up on a rotation standing guard outside Emma’s room, instead spending most of the night watching the cellar door. It’s the opposite of restful, alternating between his thoughts dragging him back to Liam’s death and the creaking and cracking of the old convent making him feel like every nerve he has is on full alert.

It’s exhausting, and hours later, when Will comes to relieve him, he trudges back to the makeshift bedroom set up for them in an old study room, his eyes drooping. He drops onto a cot, asleep before he’s even fully horizontal, drained by the day.  

A hammering sound permeates his dreams, sometimes as galloping horses or the rocking of a ship against heavy waves. When he wakes, warm morning sunlight lighting the room, the sound continues and he realizes it’s not just in his dream.

When he’s dressed, he stumbles into the large antechamber outside the chapel, the room they’ve set up as their makeshift headquarters. Lancelot, Will, Emma, Mother Superior, and Tink are seated around a table, papers scattered all about it, and they look up in unison as Killian enters.

“Finally,” Will mutters, rolling his eyes. “It’s half eleven already.”

Killian ignores him, dropping into the free seat between Lancelot and Tink. “What’s going on? What’s that sound?”

“They’re building something,” Lancelot grits out, glaring out the window.  

Goosebumps raise on the back of Killian’s neck. He can’t see anything but the convent courtyard when he looks out the window, and he frowns.

“What is it?”

“We’re not sure yet. Robin’s upstairs, keeping an eye on it.”

Apprehension growing, Killian looks over to Emma. She’s frowning, a crease of worry between her brows, and Killian knows that whatever these bandits are up to, it’s not going to be good.

As the day goes on, they realize what the bandits are building – a scaffold. Killian joined Robin at the top of the north tower after he had a quick breakfast (or lunch, as Will so sweetly put it), and they’ve been watching the progress of the bandits for hours now.

“They can’t get in through the walls, so they’re gonna try to go over.”

Tink thinks they should drop torches on the half-assembled structure, but Mother Superior is afraid the dry grass outside will ignite and surround the convent with fire. Emma suggests the hot water again, and they do attempt that. Killian and the other Musketeers crawl along the top of the large wall, pushing sloshing buckets ahead of them, but one of the bandits catches sight of them and fires his musket at them, so they’re forced to retreat, full water buckets abandoned on the top of the wall.

After that, they’re unsure of what to do. Robin and Lancelot retreat to keep watch, and Killian, Will, Tink, and Emma assemble the nuns in the chapel. It’s looking like this is going to descend into a fight, and they need all the weapons they can get. 

Its a pretty disappointing haul – there are gardening tools (shovels, stakes, weeding hooks, and hatchets), fire stokers, and kitchen knives. Tink finds three rusty swords and Will finds an old barrel of gun powder hidden away at the back of one of the storerooms, but other than that, they’ve only got the weapons the Musketeers had when they came in.

Emma is quiet the entire search, her eyes darkening each time one of the nuns returns with a new garden tool. When they’ve collected everything, laid out on the kitchen table, it’s more pitiful than Killian could’ve imagined.

He and Will exchange a dark look, but Tink hardens her jaw and takes it upon herself to arm the rest of the nuns. Will follows after her, muttering about cleaning the rust off the swords, but Killian lingers in the kitchen, noticing Emma hasn’t moved.

“Emma?” he asks, moving closer. “Are you coming?”

She looks up from the weapons, her eyes watery. Killian steps forward instantly, hand out to comfort her.

“What is it? Are you okay?”

She steps back, away from his hand, her voice hoarse as she says, “This is all my fault.”

“No, no, it’s not –”

“It is,” she snaps, wiping at her eyes. “They’re after me. Aurora’s injured, all these nuns are in danger, you’re in danger. We have no weapons other than shovels and rusty swords, and those men are out there building a scaffold to storm this convent, and it’s all because I’m the queen.”

“Emma –”

She turns away, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Just give me a minute please.”

He hesitates, hand still outstretched towards her. He doesn’t want to leave her, not when she looks like she’s going to burst into tears, but she’s stiff and tense, angled away from him, and he respects her wishes, turning away and closing the door quietly behind him.

After that, Killian doesn’t get a chance to talk to Emma until dinner. He gets busy helping Robin and Lancelot show some of the nuns basic defensive moves, and though Emma comes out to watch, her eyes ringed in red and mouth dipped in a frown, she doesn’t join in.

Dinner that night is the strangest one Killian’s ever had. The nuns have warmed up to the Musketeers after the afternoon defense lessons, and they join them in the dining hall, sitting interspersed between the Musketeers, soldiers and nuns sitting together as equals.

As well, despite their earlier unfriendliness, most of the nuns have warmed to Emma and are now clustered around her, asking her all about her life in Paris. Some are younger daughters of nobles, eager for news of any shared acquaintances, and others are girls from simple country origins, wide-eyed at the description of the lavish Parisian life. 

Though a lingering unhappiness lurks in Emma’s eyes, some brightness returns to her as she talks about the dances at the Louvre, the swans in her garden, the wedding they were supposed to be attending.

But that only lasts until the end of dinner, when the conversation fades out and is replaced by the incessant hammering of the bandits outside. She pushes away her food, and goes up to her chambers, Lancelot following her for the first shift of guard duty, and the other Musketeers spread out for their own positions.  

Killian starts out in the cellar, and like last night, every creak and crack of the convent settling is as loud and as threatening as a shot. The hammering continues all night, becoming such a constant rhythm that in the moment it does pause, Killian keeps imagining he still hears it.

After a few hours, Lancelot clambers down the stairs, startling Killian half-to-death. Lancelot laughs at him, patting him on the back and shooing him away.

“Get some sleep, Killian. You’ll need it for tomorrow.”

Not one to argue with that, he treks off to the makeshift bedroom. Robin is the only one there, sound asleep on a mat on the floor, and Killian settles himself down on his own, trying to get comfortable on the stone floor. The blankets are lumpy and smell vaguely of mothballs and with the danger outside, sleep is a long time coming.

When he does manage to drift off, his dreams are composed of the past few days of sword fighting with Emma, her bright smile and the warm sun glinting off her blonde hair. But they twist into darker nightmares, the bandits are scaling the walls of the convent while everyone’s asleep. The bandits are a mix of the men he saw out on the road and the rogue Bastille guards from last month and they slaughter everyone inside with razor sharp knives, screams reverberating through the stone walls, Emma’s the loudest of all.

Killian jolts awake, not sure if it’s from the screams in his nightmare or something else, but for a moment he lies there in the dark, completely disoriented. As his eyes adjust, he realizes there’s a candle in the room, a silhouetted figure moving through the shadows, and his stomach clenches. He sits up, squinting in the darkness, and as the figure shifts, the candlelight catches his face, illuminating the features of Will Scarlet. Relief floods Killian, and he lets out a hard breath of air, and running a hand over his face, dropping back onto the mat.

Paranoid much, Jones?

“Wake up, mate,” Will hisses, nudging Robin’s sleeping body with his foot, and Robin jerks awake.

“Wha – what’s goin’ on?”

“It’s your shift with the queen.”

Killian, suddenly feeling wide awake, sits up again. They may just be nightmares, but the sound of Emma’s scream is still reverberating in his, and he needs to see her, to reassure himself it was just a dream.

“I’ll go,” he whispers to Robin, who is still trying to unravel himself from a pile of blankets. “Come get me at dawn or so; I’ll sleep in the morning.”

Robin squints at him, but shrugs and drops back into the blankets, rolling over with a snore.

Other than the hammering going on outside, the convent is quiet. His footsteps seem twice as loud as usual, heavy and echoing down the halls and the staircase as he goes up to the eastern tower.

The door to Emma’s bedroom is open, a candle flickering inside. He expects her to be sound asleep by now, but she’s wide awake, seated in the single dining chair, knees up to her chin and staring out the window.

“Emma?” Killian asks quietly as he stops in the doorway, making her jolt in surprise. “Are you alright?”

“I can’t sleep,” she replies, looking back out the window and leaning her head on her knees. “Not when ... not when they’re out there.” She looks away from the window, her eyes finding his. “Will you sit with me?”

He retrieves a chair from the receiving chamber, setting it beside hers and sitting down. She’s returned to staring out the window, hugging her knees tight, and she’s quiet for a long time, the hammering of the bandits the only sound between them.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks quietly after a moment.

“Henry,” Emma whispers, and Killian’s heart clenches at the sorrow in her voice. “He’ll be wondering where we are. We should have arrived at the halfway point by now.” She pauses, clutching her legs tighter. “I’m afraid he’s going to grow up motherless like I did.”

“He won’t,” Killian promises. “You’re going to see him again, Emma.”

She sighs. “I admire your optimism, Killian, but I don’t share it.” She leans her head against the back wall, and closes her eyes. “Henry, Mary Margaret, Ariel, my other ladies. All the people I love ... I don’t know if I’ll ever seem them again.”

“You will, Emma. I promise.”

Emma continues as if she didn’t hear him. “If I’m not around to protect Henry, Gold will corrupt him. He’ll turn him into a puppet like he’s done to Neal. There are some days I don’t even recognize him anymore, and I can’t let him do that to Henry too.”

Killian is quiet, not sure what to say, and Emma opens her eyes. She regards him quietly for a moment, and then says, “Do you remember that little stream I showed you on the hunt, with the little pile of rocks? Where I hurt my hand? That’s where Neal and I used to go to talk about our dreams for France before Gold got his claws in him. We’d put a little rock there every day we went out, a marker of another day spent planning to make the country great. But now ... its just a reminder none of our dreams were achieved.”

Killian frowns, hating the bitter edge to her tone. “What were your dreams?”

Emma drops her feet to the floor with a sigh. “There were so many. The prison sentences would be re-examined, as would when death was a suitable punishment. The nobles would have stricter guidelines on how much grain they could take away from the farmers and how much they could tax them. All the wars we were fighting would be settled, and all those husbands and fathers and brothers could return home to their families.” She pauses, biting her lip, and her voice is soft when she speaks again. “I wanted to open more orphanages, and make sure they were properly regulated, with adequate food and warmth for the children, to make sure they were all safe and well-cared for.”

She smiles then, lost in memory, and it’s easy to imagine her as the younger woman she had been then, much too young to have the weight of the world on her shoulders but trying her hardest to make it a better place for all.

He rests his hand on hers across her thigh, and squeezes it. “I wish you had gotten a chance to build your France. And when we’re out of here, I know you will one day.”

Though sadness lingers in her eyes, she smiles at him, and tilts her head curiously. “Why do you always say things like that?”

He lifts her hand, pressing his lips to it in a gentle kiss. “Because I believe in you.” 

“Because I���m the queen?” she asks wryly. “That’s what’s gotten us into this mess.”

He chuckles. “No, Emma. Because you’re you. If you put your mind to something, whether its telling Cardinal Gold to go to hell or teaching a Musketeer how to dance or learning to fight or living another day to build a better France, one way or another, you’ll get it done.”

The look in her eyes changes, from reminiscent to charged in a moment, and Emma slides forward in her chair so their knees bump.

“There’s one more thing I want to do,” she whispers, and she grabs his collar, pulling him forward and pressing her lips to his.

This kiss is different than their others, less rushed and desperate, tender instead. She edges forward again, and Killian pulls her onto his lap. He breaks away from her lips to kiss up her neck and the side of her jaw.

Emma groans, and she fists her hand in his hair, dragging his face back up to hers to kiss him again. Her tongue slides across his lips, sending fire through every nerve in his body, but she’s a tease, moving to kiss his cheeks, his jaw, her panting breaths ghosting across his skin.

“Bed,” she whispers, and he stands, carrying her in his arms to the small bed, and dropping them both down onto the bed. Emma pulls him closer, hands drifting to the belt at his waist, untucking his shirt as she continues to kiss him.

Though he’s already straining to press Emma into the small mattress and feel her body underneath his, moving from the chair has knocked some reason into him and he pauses. Emma was mourning the potential loss of her future not five minutes ago, and he doesn’t want to take advantage of her emotional state.

He leans his head back, breaking free of her kisses, even when she leans further up to try to continue.

“Wait, Emma, stop.”

“Why? What are you doing?”

He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Emma, you’re upset. We shouldn’t do this. Not when you’re so unhappy –”

She was confused, but there’s a flash of understanding in her eyes, warmth growing in them, and she leans forward to kiss him again, so forcefully Killian forgets what he just said.

“I am upset,” she says when she pauses for breath, leaning back to look into Killian’s eyes. “But I am not doing this because I’m upset. I want this, Killian, I want to be with you before it’s too late. We might not have a tomorrow.”

He searches her eyes for any trace of doubt or uncertainty, but there’s only determination, desire, and a feeling he doesn’t dare put a name to; he’s not sure his heart could survive it.

Emma abruptly pulls back, a shadow crossing her features and a heavy stone wall shuttering over her eyes.

“Unless you don’t want me. I know I’m the queen, I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything because I say so –”

“No, Emma, that’s not it. Of course I want you.”

He leans forward, caressing her cheek softly, and draws her back to him, pressing his lips against hers. It’s a slower kiss, both of them taking their time to explore each other, and he wonders if she looked into his eyes, if she’d see the same expression in his he sees in hers.

When they pause for breath, Killian looks at Emma seriously once more. “You’re sure?”

She smiles, tugging him down beside her and pressing her lips against his own wide grin.

[4evafitstore]

Tangle Tower’s animations and voice acting make it an engrossing murder mystery game

It can be difficult to find time to finish a video game, especially if you only have a few hours a week to play. In our biweekly column Short Play we suggest video games that can be started and finished in a weekend. When we talk about production values in video games, it usually means big-budget titles like The Last of Us or Red Dead Redemption 2. The kinds of experiences where the studio can put additional time into seemingly minor things like making sure characters walk up stairs in a way that looks normal, or having horses realistically poop. They aren’t things that greatly affect the moment-to-moment gameplay, but instead help to create an illusion of realism, allowing for more immersion. In Tangle Tower, there is so much production value put into the game’s animation and voice acting that I actually forgot I was playing a game for about the first hour. Tangle Tower is a murder mystery adventure puzzle game set in a mysterious mansion on a strange, secluded island full of unique plant and animal life. You play as Grimoire and Sally, a team of private detectives called on to look into the murder of Freya Fellows. Freya was killed in a locked room at the top of one of the mansion’s two towers while she was painting a portrait of her aunt, Flora Fellows. Unraveling the mystery involves uncovering a lot of the strange goings-on and strained relations between the Fellows family and Pointer family, who cohabitate in the mansion. The gameplay is a bit like a combination of the Professor Layton and Ace Attorney games. You’ll be interrogating all the interesting characters who inhabit the mansion with different clues you’ll find, while exploring the mansion’s rooms in a way similar to the investigations in Ace Attorney. However, some clues are hidden behind intricate, puzzle-like locks, which, unlike many Professor Layton puzzles, feel more appropriate to the situation and less like an abstract puzzle from a book. For instance, there’s a model of the solar system in the observatory that has a secret locked drawer in it that only opens when the model is arranged in a specific way, involving how the planets cast shadows. The clue you find in it becomes important not just for what it is, but also for the fact that it was hidden in the first place. Collectively this makes it feel less like a puzzle and more like a secret lock you happened to stumble on and cleverly figured out how to unlock. The really great thing about Tangle Tower, though, is how engrossing it is. From the screenshots, it is probably hard to understand how that could happen, as the game looks like a pretty standard visual novel / adventure game, but there are lots of things it does that cause you to get swept up; at times it feels less like a game and more like watching an animated murder mystery. A big part of it is the animation and voice acting for each of the characters, which lets you know very quickly what sort of person they are. There’s also just so much of it. It rarely feels like you are seeing characters repeat animations, even when they are, since the bigger gestures and flourishes are timed perfectly with the voice acting. And each character has voice-over for every bit of dialogue, not just for the few questions you have or during big scenes, but for every piece of evidence you present them and every person you can ask them about. Often, even the way they deliver that information says so much about them as a character, like how Poppy Pointer recites these Emily Dickinson-esque poems whenever you ask her about someone else in the mansion. This not only conveys how she sees everyone else, but also plays into her goth musician aesthetic. What makes all the animations, performances, and writing fit together is that by default they just play. Normally with this sort of visual novel, even when there is voice acting, the player has to press a button to move to the next line of dialogue. Often in these games, there are options to make it play on its own, but with autoplay as the default in Tangle Tower, the dialogue and animation take center stage. You can just sit back and be absorbed in watching it (in fact, the trailer above has some great examples of this.) It was so absorbing that I found myself going through the paces of playing the game, searching rooms, and solving puzzles almost reflexively in order to move on to the next bit of dialogue or animation. It wasn’t until I had to stop and think about a puzzle for more than a few moments that I realized how immersed I had been. The closest comparison might be if you’ve ever been sucked into reading a comic or a book. Even without the excellent voice acting and animation, Tangle Tower is still an interesting murder mystery full of complex characters and relationships, with an assortment of puzzles that are the right amount of challenging, varied, and narratively cohesive. But the production values of the animation and voice acting push it from being a good murder mystery into something memorable. Tangle Tower was created by SFB Games. You can get it on Apple Arcade with a subscription, or for $19.99 on Nintendo Switch, and Steam (Windows and Mac OS.) It takes about 5 to 6 hours to finish. Read the full article