#their combined parenting styles would have saved middle earth

[mmelolabelle]

Adar had to die because if he, Gil-Galad and Elendil were all in Middle Earth at the same time there would have simply been too much Dad Energy ™️ for the populace to handle. They would have defeated Sauron through sheer “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” force alone.

[gamer-logic]

Since my state, Georgia, is having the annual Peaches to Beaches event which is two days of statewide yard sales, I thought it would be interesting to show how America, the states, and any other countries wanting to participate both 1p and 2p would be during this event. So here you go!

Georgia is happily selling fresh produce like boiled peanuts and Vidalia onions and peach-based deserts. Her homemade peach cobbler and ice cream are to die for!

Antonio (Spain) also sells many fresh tomatoes, olives, and other vegetables. He doesn't understand why no one wants his Olive Juice though.

Hawaii and Alaska make a killing selling lemonade at their stand with a free complimentary handmade flower crown with every purchase. While using their sheer cuteness to attract everyone including one of those sweet biker gangs. It's really surreal to see a huge gang of buff, tattooed, tough-looking guys in leather wearing flower crowns and drinking lemonade. Allen's also there to supervise and ward of creep. Also, to provide people more 'incentive' to buy their lemonade.

Texas breaks out the Texas BBQ and is in a Barbecuing turf war with Jett (Australia). They draw huge crowds for the five-alarm chili as well and hold a competition who can eat the most without burning out their tongues and/or passing out.

Florida sells some of the weirdest stuff you'll ever see. "Want a full-scale model of a gator made entirely out of bottle caps? Only ten bucks! Want a portrait of Florida Man painted with orange juice? 15 bucks!"

Nevada also tries to sell weird and sketchy stuff to scam everyone. "This piece is the genuine article folks! One napkin gently used by Elvis Presley himself! Just 500 bucks! Also, gets into a haggling war with Lars (Netherlands). Somewhere Alfred's dad instincts go off and he reminds himself to ground Nevada.

California, Oregon, and Washington collaborate and California sells anything vegan or made with avocadoes and the autographs of Hollywood stars, Oregon sells his old tye-dyed shirts and records, they also made him sell his old groovy hippy bus from the sixties he'd never got rid of no one knew they had. Oregon can be a bit of a hoarder, so they had to tie him to a chair and gag him because he wouldn't surrender the bus without a fight. Washington also tries to sell and drink cups of coffee, but in the hot Southern heat, this doesn't end well.

Louisiana sells anything Cajun-style from frog legs to fresh gumbo, to beignets. Also has a full collection of Mardi Gras masks and shrunken voodoo heads on sale for two bucks a pop.

Gilbert (Prussia) gets tricked by Nevada and gets a ton of stupid things he doesn't need. Ludwig (Germany) tries unsuccessfully to keep him on a metaphorical leash.

Ludwig always checks the quality of things he sees and buys dog toys and supplies for Blackie, Berlitz, and Astor. Later, he actually buys a kiddie leash for Gilbert.

All the while Lutz (2p! Germany) is asleep in a lawn chair with his hat on his face after drinking like six cold beers from this really good booth. All the while, Klaus (2p! Prussia) finds an antique Teutonic Knights flag from a vendor whose family was from Germany.

Vash (Switzerland) buys antique guns from Alabama and Roderich (Austria) also checks out some of Tennessee's guitars. He's horrified upon seeing Alabama's banjo and washboard.

Mathew (Canada) and Emma (Belgium) combine their powers and tag team to sell the best pancakes and waffles on earth with genuine Canadian maple syrup.

New York sells tons of baseball memorabilia and collectibles. Allen, trying to save his bad-boy image, tries to be discreet when buying some while taking Hawaii and Alaska around to get something with their lemonade money. James also gets some hockey memorabilia with Michigan and Minnesota who also got snow cones.

Alaska and Hawaii see a giant deluxe dollhouse but are almost in tears when they don't have enough money. But they end up getting it for free because no one can resist their weaponized puppy dog eyes. Also, no one can resist a growling Allen. Using the leftover money, they buy cute little rainbow umbrella hats for everyone and have Allen wear one who begrudgingly accepts it.

James, walking by with an armful hockey gear and flannel shirts, bursts out laughing when he sees this. In revenge, Allen forces him to wear one too and help him carry the dollhouse, much to Hawaii and Alaska's delight! "I said go my way puck head!" "No, it's my way, you vegan loving hoser!" A passing Francis (France)' is in stylish horror when they also make him and a nonchalant Luis (2p! France), holding a case of vintage wines, wear them too. Hawaii and Alaska go around giving umbrella hats to everyone including a sleeping Lutz they pass by.

Loving (Romano) practically has to supervise Feliciano (Italy) and keep him from buying anything too stupid on impulse or get scammed. They still end up with stacks upon stacks of cookbooks, kitchen wear, and a Mona Lisa made entirely out of Macaroni. They also get umbrella hats.

Flavio (2p! Romano) browses through clothing racks to get ideas for his vintage line. Also checks out the handmade fabrics like quilts. "Such craftsmanship! This pattern is so unique and chic! I simply must have it! What's your price Bella?" The nice old woman selling the quilt just smiles, "Oh just about five dollars young man." "Perfect!" Flavio hands the quilts off to Andreas (2p! Spain) who's practically buried underneath the fabric. Luciano (2p! Italy) facepalms while holding a new knife set in its case. "Oooh! Look at those adorable hats I just have to have one." Cue three more umbrella hats and a humiliated Luciano. "Just kill me now..."

Katyusha (Ukraine), Elizaveta (Hungary), Lillie (Liechtenstein), Natalya, (Belarus), Katya( 2p! Ukraine) and Anastasia (2p! Belarus), and Michelle (Seychelles) explore with armfuls of clothes, new ribbons, and a gun case for Switzerland (Lillie), cast iron frying pans (Elizaveta, watch out Prussia!), farm tools (Katyusha), Jewelry and unmentionables (Katya), dresses (Anastasia), an assortment of switchblades (Natalya), and one of those singing fish on a plague (Michelle). It's definitely an interesting group.

Kiku (Japan) and Kuro (2p! Japan) find a nerd booth selling comics, manga, and Japanese weapons like katanas. Kuro test swings a blade and tries to slice the table so hard it breaks the blade, "Hmmm, not sharp enough for me, got anything else?" He throws it on the pile of broken blades he's already tested. Kiku stockpiles on limited-edition manga and he and the vendor end up getting into a huge, heated by Kiku standards, debate on who's waifu is best. Further down, Alfred reads every Marvel/DC comic while keeping an ear out on every state's location. He checks on Texas via his glasses and notices he's beating Australia in the chili contest. "That's my boy!"

Wisconsin wearing a cheese head sells anything cheese-based. He's got cheddar, goat cheese, string cheese, cheese spray, gorgonzola, grilled cheese, cheese curds, Mac n' Cheese, cheese sculptures of all world monuments, you name it he's got it! He also starts a war with Iowa's corn dishes and Idaho's potato dishes. They eventually end up flinging cheese, potatoes, and corn after they start dissing each other's foods. "Take this cheese brain!" "Nice aim, I-da-ho!" "I told you not to call me that!" "I'm gonna go children of the corn on y'all's behinds!" Poor Nebraska is stuck in the middle.

Alfred (America) hears the commotion and using his parent radar, immediately knows who it is and reminds himself to ground Iowa, Wisconsin, and Idaho later along with Nevada who, though still grounded for sure, makes him feel a little proud of since he managed to out haggle Netherlands.

New Mexico and Arizona also sell Native American handicrafts along with things like dreamcatchers and giant inflatable aliens. While Delaware, being the boring stick in the mud that he is, walks by with a framed and complete U.S. quarter collection from a vendor.

Kansas sells out of every sunflower she had courtesy of Ivan (Russia). Ivan and her the team up to buy out every sunflower seed from here to kingdom come. Viktor (2p! Russia) buys all the vodka he can find and a new shovel while Xiao (2p! China) tries giving people tattoos for 10 bucks a pop.

He tries to convince Yao (China) to get a hello kitty one to match the giant plushie he's holding, with the encouragement of Leon (Hong Kong) and Yong Soo (South Korea) who all collectively agree he needs to quit being such a grandpa. They also like calling him an antique-like the items on sale. " Aiyah! I'm not that old, aru!" "Yeah, you are Sensei." "Don't deny it! Da Ze!" Respect your elders!" "Tattoos originated in Korea da ze!" He totally is that old.

Oliver (2p! England) holds a bake sale and has people lined up for blocks to get some. Arthur (England), after having his scones shut down after it poisoned some unlucky squirrels, fries selling authentic magical items like unicorn hair or pixie dust. Everyone thinks he's a little crazy but he did sell a good bit of old magic books he needed to get out of his house, after making sure no one could actually use them of course.

The Nordics also went perusing for antique and handmade furniture when Mathias (Denmark) spots two full sets of Viking costumes and tries to get Lukas (Norway) to try them on with him. Lukas wasn't amused.

Berwald (Sweden) and Tino (Finland) also find a great handmade table to get after inspecting the workmanship and a full Lego set for Peter (Sealand), now if only Mathias would stop squealing like a little kid at the full piece lego death star. Emil (Iceland) keeps thinking he's the mature one until he spots a mini top hat and cane for Mr. Puffin.

In the end, everyone ends up wearing umbrella hats courtesy of Hawaii and Alaska, loving all the strange things they bought or counting the profits they made. Alfred (America) is proud of his kids and visits everyone one of their stands. He ends up looking pretty funny with an umbrella hat (HW, AK), a washboard, (AL),a picture of Florida Man, (FL), a balloon alien (NM, AZ), a tye dye shirt (CA, WA, OR), hockey stick shaped glasses (MN, MI), a giant stack of comics with a replica Thor hammer and Captain America shield on his back, all in a shopping cart (NV), and a giant turkey leg in his hand (Tx). Unsurprisingly, it was a tie between Oliver, Texas, and Australia for who earned the most with their food. Georgia just smiled as this was another great year for her state and people!

[nntssy-old]

Writer’s Month 2021, Day 1 - Protective

Fandom: One Punch Man Characters/ships: Garou/Metal Bat (not really shippy though), Zenko, Tareo, Bang Word count: 1709 Rating: T?

A/N: Assume they’re  already on friendly terms, and Garou occasionally hangs around Metal Bat’s apartment/house.

*****

Tareo was about to answer when Garou sensed some sort of intrusion incoming. From above. On instinct, he stooped down, spreading his arms and keeping the little ones behind. Just in time to shield them from some sort of projectile landing just in front of the three.

No one was moving until the dust settled revealing someone's lower body sticking out of the ground in the middle of a little crater.   

No one would survive that.

There was some lingering sense of deja vu though. 

Still, Garou straightened up and was about to lure reluctant Zenko and Tareo away — the rule about violence and all that, and kids should have no business with corpses in general — when he heard some groans coming out of the pit as the legs clad in a dusty black wiggled.

Well, not many.

"Big brother?" Zenko's uncertain voice broke the silence further. Tareo looked at her in confusion and disbelief. Garou only quirked his brow. 

As if in response, the waggling of the black-clad body intensified, as the person was apparently trying to get out of the entrapment of the earth. Garou came closer to grab the legs and pull them up.

"Big brother, indeed," Garou commented smugly as he recognized the mess of dusty clothes, blood and swears that was hanging upside down in his hands and squirming violently. No wonder the butt looked familiar. "Not many people will survive diving headfirst into the asphalt." 

"Now, will ya put me the hell down, you @$#*&%@?" Garou was all too happy to oblige, and the hero was unceremoniously dropped the next instant.

Zenko rushed to her brother as he was straightening himself up, still looking at Garou angrily and muttering things under his breath. The string of curses stopped the moment Bad noticed her presence. His face quickly turned to concern as he noticed Tareo as well.

"Ya should get outta here, now! It's dangerous here!" he shouted looking at the sky in a mild panic — supposedly in the direction he came falling from.

As if on cue the city siren went off. It meshed in with the sound of buildings crumbling as a giant worm-like something emerged above them.

"Get the kids outta here!" Bad repeated, preparing to get straight back to fighting whatever that was, despite his sister clinging to his leg. Now it was directed at Garou.

"Maybe it's you who should crawl to safety," the other answered, glancing the hero up and down, "and I will deal with the monster." He looked at the worm-like creature looming in the sky. "You're already pretty beaten up, might not be up to the task," Garou finished with a grin.

"We don't have much time to lose." The creature started to move seemingly in their direction. "And running isn't exactly my speciality, so…"

"What is that suppo—" Garou started, but a loud screech interrupted him. At the same moment, he felt Tareo's trembling hands on his right leg.

"Quick!" Metal Bat was already shoving Zenko into Garou's arms, but she protested and didn't want to let go of her brother's jacket. "I dunno whether it can see or not, but I think I pissed it off big time, so it might come for me." He unclutched Zenko's hands. "Now, go!" Bad said with the kind of finality in his voice and eyes that perhaps only a parent figure would develop.

The worm-like monster was now pretty determinedly rushing at them. Indeed, there was no time to lose. Garou threw Zenko over his shoulder, picked Tareo under his other arm, and took off doing what he had done way too often in his life — running away.

***

Bang was coming back from his brother's dojo when the sirens went off. He started debating with himself whether he should assist with the threat — he was retired, after all, but still couldn't just walk away when people were in danger.

But his line of thought was interrupted. His former disciple — the same disciple he hadn't seen since that day — just ran past him — strangely, not in the direction of the most danger — carrying two kids. Garou was arguing with the girl over his shoulder and therefore didn't notice his former master.

Suspicious, Bang decided to investigate what could potentially be a kidnapping. Because Garou was involved, and he still felt responsible for his former protege. What were the chances he would just run into Garou like this another time? 

They have probably dispatched several heroes to handle the situation already.

***

Putting what he considered a safe distance between them and the monster, Garou stopped. They were up on a hill in some park in the next city. It had a nice view over a city that was being ravaged.

"Alright, this should be far enough," he said lowering both kids on the ground.

But the girl did not let go of him completely, still clutching at his shirt, the sharp and determined look on her face not unlike her brother's.

"Go help him."

"Help who?" Play dumb. It will buy you some time.

Zenko only glared in response though. Those dark eyes of hers looked way too much like her brother's at the moment. Fierce. Stubborn.

"As much as I hate to admit it, your big bro can take care of himself, Little Bat," he said, looking in the direction where supposedly the fight was. "Not to mention, if anything was to happen to you, I would need to find another place to freeload." He made a quoting gesture in the air. No. If anything was to happen to Zenko, that would be the least of his concerns. Metal Bat would hunt him to the ends of the continent and maybe even farther, he was pretty sure of it. In the past, Garou would've been excited at the prospect, but now… not so much. Moreover, he wouldn't want the kid to get harmed. He looked down on Zenko, who was glowering at him with arms crossed, and Tareo, who was watching the monster's rampage from afar and sweating profusely. Either of them.

Another building fell in the distance. Could be either the monster's or the hero's work with more or less equal probability.

"Go help him," Zenko said again with pleading eyes, "please."

Oh, she has decided to change her tactics.

Garou was trying to look anywhere but on her face, while coming up with a convincing response, but truth to be told, the current monster was almost the size of the Elder Centipede who was taken down with a combined effort of several S-class heroes, or so he heard, and Bad had been already looking like shit when they had left him, and it had been half an hour already since…

"We will go to the nearest shelter. There should be one nearby… Really close..." Zenko kept piling up arguments, while yanking at his pant leg.

Garou's eyes were glued to the horizon. With every passing minute, the idea to return seemed more appealing. He wasn't one for patience after all.

"There are probably other heroes there already." It was the only thing he came up with in response. 

Garou was so distracted thinking about what was happening far away that he didn't sense someone approaching until it was too late. Too late to hide, that is. 

"My-my… It seems every time we meet you get more children around you..." a familiar elderly voice interrupted his thoughts and Zenko's nagging. All three of them tensed and were looking towards the approaching old man — his old master, Bang.

Suddenly, with one audacious thought, it all clicked together. Instead of seeing another problem to solve, Garou's mind came up with a solution. So before the old man started with uneasy questions, he took both kids by the hand and pulled them towards Bang. 

"Hey, old man… You wouldn't mind looking after these kids for me for a little bit, would you?" And before anyone could say anything, he took off.

His relationship with Bang wasn't the best, but he knew there were very few places safer than in his teacher's care.

Unless you were a criminal. Or a monster. Or both.

***

Going back was faster without an additional load of two kids, one of which was very much against leaving. Finding Metal Bat shouldn't be hard — he probably was in the epicenter of the destruction, no doubt causing at least half as much damage as the monster.

It seemed, Garou found him just at the right moment: Bad — apparently slammed into the ground previously — was about to stand up, and the worm-like monster was gearing to dive down and swallow the hero. Even a single thought didn't pass through the former Hero Hunter's mind before the instinct took over. In a split moment, he dashed forward. The monster hit the ground, but the two of them were already a dozen meters away.

***

In one second Bad was trying to gain his footing, in the next he was swept away again. This time it was different though. When the world stopped moving, he was able to make out the golden eyes and a familiar wolfish grin through his dizziness. He was held by Garou. Bridal style.

"The hell are ya doing?"

"I just saved you, dipshit."

"Put me down!"

"A 'thank you' would have been nice. But as you wish…" And Bad was unceremoniously dropped down.

"Where are the kids?" he asked standing up.

"Safe. We ran into Bang. And your sister insisted that I come and help you." Garou quickly glanced over Bad. "You look like a bloody shit, by the way."

He felt like that too, but he would agree with the Hero Hunter only over his own dead body.

"So," said Garou as they both stood now — half-facing each other, half-facing the giant worm who tore back up through the ground, "what do we have here?"

"Don't remember agreeing to yer help," argued Bad slinging his bat over the shoulder.

"No one was asking you." The other stretched his arms with a crunch.

A loud screech rang through the air.

They never fought together before, only against each other. 

This can be interesting.

[writingtoforgetreality]

Stranger´s Help - The Devil´s Daughter Chapter Two (Lucifer Morningstar x Daughter!Reader)

[Lucifer-Masterlist], [The Devil´s Daughter-Masterlist]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter 

Summary: Your first day in LA did not go as planned. You faced human problems you had not even thought about before. Luckily, there was one person who did not just walk by without helping you and somehow you found yourself in a stranger´s car.

Words: 1,797

Warnings: Lucifer Season 5 Part 1 spoilers, language, (Y/A) = your age, (Y/H/C) = your hair color, (Y/E/C) = your eye color, (Y/S/C) = your skin color, somehow sadness, slow burn (sounds romantic but this series is platonic, I swear)

If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤

You did it. You really did it. Right now, you were surrounded by huge buildings, hundreds of people and loud cars. The trip was short but because of your adrenaline still exciting. Completely overwhelmed by everything, you walked down a street, just taking it all in. This was the first time you ever felt free. Truly free. How could heaven ever compete to that? You could not believe God wanted to keep this from you. It was his creation, should he not be proud of it? He surely was but why did he have such a problem with an angel wanting to explore his beautiful creation? After a while of just walking you had a sudden realization. Maybe you had planned your “escape” for the past (Y/A) years but clearly you forgot the necessities. Humans needed money, something you did not think of at all. At least you were not wearing a special heavenly uniform since you were never really a part of it. Your clothes were rather normal. Still, you felt somewhat cold. Maybe Michael was right. You should have thought this through. Humans paid for their food when they were hungry. They did not have an archangel bringing you a meal in your chambers. Things worked differently down on Earth and you were slowly realizing that you should have thought about all of this sooner. You could not go back now. Not even for a couple of minutes to pack again. That would simply be embarrassing. No, there had to be another way. For now, you just kept walking. Yet you could not help but bring your arms around your body, hugging yourself, to prevent the cold from taking over. It did work at first but soon you were starting to have goosebumps all over your body. The fact that the sun had started setting did not bring you much comfort either. You did not want to give God the satisfaction of being right but you had to admit that, right now, you were kind of screwed. The hotel signs you passed made you want to go inside, pay for a room and just wrap yourself in one of the blankets. Your lack of money made that rather hard, though. Your instinct also told you not to head into the dark alleyways that seemed like the entrance to hell itself. Another hour passed and your feet started growing tired, the sky seemed to turn darker by each second. A break would be very helpful and since you did not know what else to do you sat yourself down on one of the benches right next to the street. Still hugging your body, you hoped the night would go by quickly and the sunrise would bring you warmth again.

Finally, you had the time to really think about that day. That special day you had waited for so long. Honestly, you did not think it would turn out the way it did but it was still so much better than heaven. Tomorrow, you would make sure to somehow make some money. You were not entirely sure how that worked but there had to be a way, right? Finding a workplace that paid enough should be easy but you would deal with this in the morning. For now, you just tried not to freeze. Lost in your thoughts, you did not even see a car pulling over, coming to a halt right in front of where you were sitting. The headlights blinded you, your eyes only adjusted to the dark of the night, making you squint. One door opened and you saw a dark figure approaching you. The longer you focused on it the more you could make out. It was a man with short, styled hair. His smile was welcoming and somehow you found yourself smiling back at the stranger. He was the first one who really looked at you. The first one who did not just walk, or in his case drive, by but really took in your appearance. How your (Y/H/C) hair fit your (Y/E/C) eyes and your (Y/S/C) skin perfectly. Even in the dark, he could see your unsuitable outfit and how you were shaking from the cold. As he walked his way over to you, he took off his leather jacket. He did not hand it to you right away though, not wanting to scare you. He was not entirely sure of how old you were but you did look pretty young. Younger than him, he noted.

“Hi. You look like you´re cold. Here, take my jacket.” his voice was soothing, it had a calming effect on you. Your hands slowly came up to grab the piece of clothing from him, still warm from when he had it on. Immediately, you put the stranger´s jacket on, thankful for his generosity.

“Thank you.” you whispered. Your voice sounded hoarse because you have not used it in a few hours and it was only then when you realized how dry your throat was. You had not drunken anything since your arrival.

“I´m sorry, I didn´t even introduce myself. I´m Dan.” he held out one of his hands. Unsure of what his intention was, you did what felt right. Putting your own hand in his, shaking it.

“(Y/N).” was all you said. You did not even mean to sound rude or anything but your tiredness combined with your lack of hydration started to take a toll on you.

“(Y/N)? Pretty name. Are you here with someone else?” he sat himself next to you, making sure to keep a safe distance, again, not to scare you. Your appearance looked taken care of so Dan assumed you were not homeless or anything like that.

“I´m alone.” your eyes focused on your shoes. His presence did not make you feel uncomfortable but he still was a stranger. Why should you trust a stranger? Just because he gave you his jacket?

“All alone at this time? LA can be quite dangerous at night, especially for a girl like you. Where´s your home? Do you want me to drive you to your parents?” slowly he came closer, watching if you flinched away. You did not.

“I don´t have parents, neither do I have a home.” it was the first time you looked in his eyes.

“Um, o-okay, um, what are you doing here then? Do you have anywhere to go?” Dan was confused by your confession, also by the fact that you delivered it in such an emotionless way. A girl without parents and without a home? He had to help you. He could not just leave you you all by yourself.

“Exploring the city, I guess.” you honestly answered. More background information could not be shared. He would not understand it so why even bother trying.

“Okay, (Y/N), if you want, you can come with me. My home isn´t far from here and it´s certainly warmer than this bench. Also, I got food at home. I´m pretty sure you haven´t eaten?” the last part came out as a question but was rather a statement he needed reassurance of. You confirmed it by lightly shaking your head. Dan stood up, took one of your hands in his and led you over to his car. He opened the passengers door for you and helped you in. When you put your seat belt on, he closed the door and went over to the drivers side. As soon as his door was closed as well he turned up the heat, hoping you would feel some warmth soon.

At first the car ride was a bit uncomfortable due to none of you saying a word. Soon, though, you felt the urge to thank him so you did.

“No problem, really. It would´ve been wrong of me to just let you sit there in the middle of the night, especially when you have nowhere to go.” Dan repeatedly looked over to you. He heard your hoarse voice and, to your luck, he had a water bottle in the center console. His right hand grabbed it and held it out in front of you. Eagerly, you took the bottle, opened it and took a big sip. Your throat stopped burning and again, you thanked the man next to you for his help.

“Not to sound curious, you don´t have to answer, but why don´t you have a home, (Y/N)?” Dan took his time, wanting to choose the right words. Your face was stern. Obviously, you could not tell him the truth but you were not really fond of lying either. Lying had always been something you despised. At the same time you did not want to leave Dan completely in the blue. He kind of saved you and you owed him an explanation. You were not about to tell the entire truth but you would not lie either. Maybe just leaving out one or two details, that was not lying.

“Well, Dan, it´s not as easy. My father abandoned me when I was still a baby. I never knew my mother either. So my uncles and my grandfather? Um, they looked after me. The thing was...I wasn´t happy. I didn´t have any freedom and it bothered me to be controlled so excessively. One thing came to another and I decided to leave them behind. They were fine with my decision. Most of them at last. Now I´m here.” as you finished you could feel yourself tear up. Why were you so emotional all of a sudden. You never were much of a carer, why now? That was in the past, you should focus on your future in LA.

“That´s...a story. Are you planning on going back?”

“No, definitely not. I´m fine, I don´t need them in my life.” that made Dan turn his head. He thought about telling you how you did need someone. He was helping you right now. But he did not want to anger you or else.

“I know, I know. I know what you´re thinking. I should´ve planned this better. I´ve realized that by now.” you looked over at him and met his eyes. His lips were in a tight smile, feeling somewhat sorry for you. Maybe you were trying to hide it but he could see how broken you were over the fact that you were alone, without anyone looking for you.

“We´re here.” Dan stopped in front of a nice looking house. Due to the dark you could not make out a lot of it but the headlights showed a little bit of the entrance. This house was bigger than your chambers, that was for sure. You did not want to rely on a human being. Just for one night, you told yourself. Tomorrow, you would be up and going.

~to be continued~

Next Chapter

Published (08/31/2020) by Cathy

Tags: @fandomqueen2003, @natashaashleymarvelromanoff, @severewobblerlightdragon, @tenderlyunlikelyexpert, @zoseph, @comicbucky-s, @dad-ee-drea, @xbarrjallenx, @marvelofwitch, @aceofspace95, @julessbrown (let me know if you want to be tagged <3)

[risingsouls]

Recruited: Chapter 22

[This one’s shorter than they have been, but I’ve been craving this interaction for WEEKS (along with so many others that are MILES down the road but you know. Once again, moral of the story is that Vegeta’s a shit.

As always, head over here to read the rest!]

Vegeta

The ebbing excitement of Frieza's defeat and how he would soon possess the key to becoming a Super Saiyan himself was all that kept the monotony of Earth from driving him insane. He had only a few prospects for entertainment: tormenting the help with his attitude or making ridiculous demands, taking a chance on a stroll through the halls or around the grounds of Capsule Corp. (which he typically avoided since it typically warranted unwanted attention or somehow suggested he wanted company), or taking off and exploring the planet. But none of it kept his interest for long, and his Saiyan instincts begged him for a fight before too long. A more physical one than whatever verbal altercation he managed to pick with the heiress (her parents didn't quite have her temper, making it difficult to try the same with them when they popped in) or the help. However, potential sparring partners were perhaps more scarce than anything of true entertainment value the backwater planet could offer. Which meant the 130 days before Namek's dragonballs reanimated would drag mercilessly.

The Namekian and Kakarot's brat would refuse him no matter the reason. He considered causing trouble that would force them to engage him, but he tamped down such desires, knowing Kakarot would be less willing to comply if he hurt any more of his friends. Which left Nabooru.

Throughout their time on Earth, the Gerudo barely left her room. Once every few days or so she would fly off for a few hours and return, but otherwise, she stuck to the confines of the borrowed bedroom. He kept tabs on her through sensing her energy, listening to her footfalls when she moved about--to the balcony jutting from side of her room, the bathroom, idly pacing here and there--her occasional sobs in the night, and listening to her conversations with the woman, her parents, or the servants that brought her meals or checked up on her. Some of the help even gossiped to him about her, revealing their concern about how little she ate or spoke, how she remained so secluded in her room with little interest in company or seeking out entertainment, and the occasional irritability. It was the only time he indulged their prattling; he dismissed them promptly when they started asking too many questions about either of them, but especially when they tried to pry into his business.

Within a week, his boredom convinced him to seek her out and prod her into a spar. He argued with her twice and lost his patience when she spurned him both times. But he finally pushed the right buttons the third time, stoking her temper and giving her more reason to want to fight him. An improvement in his eyes; it irked him to see her moping around, lacking the fire he could almost say he was once fond of. It burned out too quickly, though, and her lack of spirit only made the gap that had grown in their power all the more obvious. It wasn't enough to sate his hunger for battle, but it was better than nothing at all.

Outside of leaving on her own, the only time she left for an extended period was when the Earth woman talked her into shopping for clothes that fit her properly since nothing the heiress or her mother owned fit the taller, curvier, more muscular warrior. Before, in the few times he bothered physically seeking her out, he found her dressed in ill-fitting clothes in both size and style or simply wrapped in a sheet. From his eavesdropping, he heard they procured a few outfits. One less after she foolishly wore one of them to spar with him. They returned via her balcony, the clothes not intended for combat in tatters and hanging on by literal threads. It was then he ventured to ask her why she didn't simply wear her armor like he did despite its damage, why she bothered with the asinine shopping trip she hadn't enjoyed in the slightest. She answered him shortly and honestly, holding the last shreds of her top and undergarment to her chest in a sorry attempt to maintain coverage: she couldn't stand to wear it any more. He didn't need to ask her why.

From then on, however, she wore her armor for the few spars he got out of her.

Time inched ever closer to the 130 day mark, and Vegeta found himself more impatient by the day which exacerbated his need for combat. Solo training sessions in the far north or barren deserts weren't enough, no matter how he tried to make them suffice, and most days he didn't have the patience to fight Nabooru for the piss poor excuse of a spar she offered in her state. But he needed his itch scratched. Perhaps if he could really get under her skin, she might put up a better fight. And, with the notion that Kakarot would return in a few more days, the key to unlocking his own transformation nearly in his grasp, his stir-craziness only intensified. He didn't even care about the late hour as he sprang from his bed and strode to his door. He ignored the help that attempted to accost him on the short jaunt to Nabooru's room. He didn't bother knocking and simply let himself in.

His brow furrowed for a moment when he found the room void of its occupant, certain he hadn’t sensed her leave or heard anyone convince her to leave for some inane reason. The lamp on the bedside table was all that illuminated the room. A tray with an untouched plate and a glass of water rested on the desk. With the curtains to the balcony open, he could see the city skyline and light polluted night sky. But, more importantly, he found the woman he was searching for, seated at the table with her back to him.

With his intent in mind, Vegeta grabbed the tray and marched outside. He threw the sliding glass door open and pushed it closed behind him with his foot. If she noted his arrival, he missed any indication of it in those few seconds. Her gaze remained locked beyond the balcony’s railing, faraway and unseeing. For a moment, he was transported back to Namek. He heard the crack of her neck, the thud of her body as it was tossed next to his with little more care than a bag of garbage. Her fiery gold eyes dulled, cold and lifeless, staring but without seeing his shocked, despairing visage. The same chill raced up his spine, and if he still had a tail, the hair on it would certainly be standing on end.

Back in the present, back to the still figure seated in front of him and her distant stare, her lack of any reaction or remark to his sudden entrance, how not even a spar could reinvigorate her, one thought pervaded his thoughts: she hadn't been revived. Just reanimated.

A growl rumbled in his throat and he dropped the tray in front of her. “Eat. You’re going to need your strength. I want to spar.”

The clatter of the plate and silverware on the tray and the glass of water nearly tipping over caught her attention. She swept her hair--let down instead of in its usual ponytail--away from her face with her hand and stared up at him. Expressionless save for the blink of her eyes.

“It’s late. And I’m not hungry.”

Vegeta folded his arms, gloved fingers tapping on his bicep. “Perceptive tonight, aren’t we?”

Her eyebrow twitched the barest hint and she looked away. She picked up the fork and prodded a piece of fruit around the plate. "Are you going to watch me until I do?"

"If it gets results." He lifted himself up on the railing, one boot perched atop it and his knee bent while his other leg hung over the side. "I'm sick of you running out of energy so quickly. You're abysmally behind me in power. The least you can do is last a little longer."

Nabooru pursed her lips but said nothing, her posture slumping a fraction more and causing her hair to slip back into her face. She didn't bother to remedy it, despite strands of it pooling on her plate. The tines of the fork scraped against the ceramic, grating on his sensitive ears. He considered blasting the damned thing from her hand.

Finally, she speared a cubed piece of fruit onto her fork. Her nose crinkled at the bridge and she shoved it into her mouth. She chewed in such a way that made him wonder if she was going to be sick, her expression a combination of disgust and anguish as she swallowed. Considering the variety of food on the plate, he guessed it wasn't the taste that particularly made her nauseous.

Minutes passed and she went for another. "Ugh, stop." Fruit halfway to her lips, she stared, confused. He answered the unspoken question: "If it's half as painful for you to eat as it is to watch, spare us both the agony."

Nabooru hummed and, with a steadying breath, ate the second cube before shoving the tray away from her. Arms wrapped around her middle and she found interest in the opposite corner of the balcony. Typically by now her discomfort with his presence, with him witnessing her in such a vulnerable state, would have channeled into irritation. An order to leave her alone. An attempt at an insult. Some excuse or another for why she didn't want to spar with him. She usually offered plenty of footholds for his own tactics toward getting a rise out of her and the spar he desired. But her silence stretched on further than usual, and he wondered if she had caught on to his strategy and now devised her own to oppose it.

At last, her attention returned to him, her arms falling limply at her sides again. He raised an eyebrow slightly when her spine straightened. She had something to say. He could see it in the furrow of her brow, the periodic nibbling on her dried out lips, and the flexing and curling of her fingers. His own irritation spiked the longer she kept quiet and, just as he neared his breaking point and snapped, she spoke, her voice hollow and near inaudible:

“You really had no idea?”

It took an embarrassingly long few moments to understand her meaning. So vague a question could cover any array of topics, and with how little lasting attention he paid to anyone the last few months only widened the pool of possibilities. Thus, when it did click, when he reached back to Namek again, to the source of Nabooru’s drastic metamorphosis since their resurrection, the meaning behind it was obvious. She had one thing on her mind. Though, considering she had yet to outright bring the demise of her people up to him, least of all his involvement in it, he had quietly assumed she wouldn’t. That it was too painful to discuss. Or that she wasn’t comfortable talking about it with him. Which was all well and good for him; despite his experience, he had little he wanted to say on the matter. Words of sympathy meant little in the long run, apologies over her loss did nothing to bring back her home or people. Coddling her with promises of good fortune to come or using the nonsensical adages of everything happens for a reason, that perhaps things are better this way for some stupid, cosmic reason, was a worthless waste of time. He didn’t appreciate them and he knew she wouldn’t either.

“I didn’t know it was your planet he had me destroy.” Vegeta turned his gaze in the direction of incessant honking somewhere off in the city. He tapped his fingers on his knee. “I imagine it was when he sent you, Nappa, and Raditz off to deal with Shikoo and his crew and forced me to endure taking care of those few planets with him. He never mentioned their names. The only reasoning he gave for one planet was a more vague version of the story he told you.”

After some quiet contemplation, Nabooru offered little more than a nod in reply. Unwittingly testing his patience. “What does that matter?” he snapped. “Knowing that I didn’t know it was your planet I destroyed doesn’t change anything. Your race is still dead and your planet is gone whether you blame me or Frieza for it.”

“I know...I know,” she said, the repetition muttered with far less conviction.

“Then why bother wasting our time?”

She glanced down at the table and tucked her hair behind her ear. She shifted in her seat. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s because I hate everything else right now. This building and everything in it. These clothes. The food. Anyone that tries to talk to me. Myself. I don’t want a real reason to hate the only person familiar to me.” She peered up at him through her lashes. “Even if you make it easy with how obnoxious you've been.”

Vegeta snorted, eyes rolling to the sky. At least she made an attempt at humor, even if it was at his expense. "You're one to talk. All your moping is just as annoying and incredibly unbecoming. Pointless as well."

"And here I thought misery became me."

"Are you ready to spar now or what?" he growled, losing his patience with the back and forth. It suggested progress in her state of mind, but he wasn't in the mood to waste his time exchanging banter with her. It wasn't as fun when she was so self-deprecating about it. "Maybe getting the tar beat out of you will do you some good."

"At least I would feel something."

The prince hopped down from his perch and crossed the balcony to the door. "I'm taking that as a yes, so I expect you to meet me at our usual spot once you change."

When she didn't move, he considered yanking her to her feet, shoving her into her room, and swapping out her clothes for her armor himself. He would carry her to their sparring spot if he had to. But he refrained and wrenched the door open, mumbling under his breath.

"And don't you dare keep me waiting too long." He stepped a foot inside and paused, gloved grip tight on the handle. A memory from her early days on his team resurfaced. The first time they had a proper conversation that wasn't exclusively about work or interrupted by Nappa, Raditz, or some other outsider. New to her plight, of being away from her people and in a position where she was led to believe their fate hinged on her performing a job she morally abhorred, she sought advice from him, someone who had dealt with the reality of never reuniting with his people again for decades. While back then she had a glimmer of hope to return to her home and admitting his own coping mechanism likely transformed her eventual homecoming into her own goal to keep her sane and moving forward. Though one she could not use now, he still supposed his advice might still be pertinent even if she had already come to the conclusion herself.

"If you hate yourself so much, maybe you should remember the advice I gave you by the lake. As a start."

Before she could reply, he stepped into her room and closed the door behind him. Only when he crossed the room to the exit did he glance over his shoulder. Nabooru had turned in her seat. Her head was tilted slightly, and though she stared after him, her gaze soared beyond him, to that moment that felt like the distant past, he imagined.

Still, he chose not to linger and see if his words had any particular effect on her. If she remembered that day at all. If he would see a spark ignite in her eyes again as she found something, anything, to coax her back toward normal. He said what he felt was necessary. What she did with his advice was up to her. He had far more important tasks to worry about, the top of his list becoming a Super Saiyan.

[echodrops]

Home and a Half Pidge Headcanons

An ask I got yesterday reminded me that I never posted the HaaH headcanons for Pidge like I promised, so here they are! (I’ll answer the actual ask as soon as I can with some new material instead of headcanons I already had written... oops...)

Anyway, without further ado, some headcanons for Pidge related to my fic Home and a Half!

Pidge:

- Grew up in the picture of the nuclear family: mom, dad, two kids, dog, nice upper-middle-class house in a quiet neighborhood, dinner on the table at 7:30pm on the dot… Of all the paladins, Pidge had the most stable and “average” childhood… at least on paper.

 - In reality, there is not a single person in the Holt family who isn’t eccentric as fuck. Grandma Holt? May or may not still be an active intelligence agent for MI6. The dog? Woofs in Morse code. Auntie Ariana? Has actually seen the Jersey Devil. Colleen Holt? Has killed a man. If you ask Pidge, she’ll say that her upbringing was perfectly normal and she’ll genuinely mean it, but this is a consequence Pidge having no idea what “normal” even means.

 Rest under the read more to save your dash:

- Not actually a girly-girl when she was young. Although they’re eight years apart and thus unlikely to be mistaken for one another, very early on Pidge got frustrated by how similar she and Matt look, and she definitely did not want to wear his tacky hand-me-down clothes, so she pitched a royal fit and insisted on wearing dresses and hairbands so that her family would have to buy Pidge all her own things. (They probably would have bought them anyway if she’d just asked calmly, but Pidge was three at the time, and they were all very impressed by her grasp of cause and effect.)

 - Of course, when Matt disappeared on the ill-fated Kerberos trip, those tacky hand-me-downs ended up being some of the most important items in Pidge’s life. Even outside of infiltrating Garrison, wearing Matt’s old clothes was one of the few comforts Pidge would allow herself—when she cut her hair and put on his baggy shirts, for a second, looking in a mirror, she could almost convince herself he was still there—

 - Pidge has no intention of changing the way she dresses or styles her appearance until she’s reunited with Matt and her father. After that? Well, they may not be the coolest looking things ever, but Matt does have a point that baggy t-shirts are very comfy…

 - And okay, because I’m sure everyone expected this headcanon first: Pidge and gender is a surprisingly uncomplicated subject. Side note before I go further: I’m sure everyone has their own headcanons for this and none of what I say here should be taken as rejecting or invalidating any other fan’s views on Pidge. The only thing invalid in the Voltron fandom is canon. Anyway, I personally like to imagine that Pidge is very ambivalent on gender. There is so much else going on—the war, Sam and Matt being missing, freaking giant robot space cats—that sitting down and sorting out the question of “Do I identify as male, female, nonbinary, or anything else?” is just really, really low on Pidge’s to do list. Pidge thinks of Pidge as “Pidge” and even that’s rare because Pidge doesn’t sit around thinking about herself or what other people think of her.

 - In fact, what strangers think is, in general, extremely low on Pidge’s radar. Although she used to be more self-conscious due to bullying from both classmates and her teachers, the combination of her parents’ consistent support and Matt’s… extreme tactics (“I’m telling you Pigeon, nanobots in their lunches will solve all your problems.” “That’s illegal, Matt.” “Nothing is illegal until you get caught.”) Pidge (mostly) overcame the phase of being affected by other people’s opinions. Who cares what strangers think? Absolutely none of them will ever be even close to as smart and talented as her family anyway. (My IQ is three times yours, your argument about my gender is literally invalid.)

 - By the way, I’m using “her” simply because that’s what I’m used to seeing in the fandom and to keep the fic and headcanons consistent, but in the functional world of HaaH, Pidge answers to any pronouns and doesn’t have a preference for any set in particular over others. In fact, Pidge is used to going by different sets of pronouns coming from different people, and might be “he” to one person, “she” to another, and “they” to yet someone else. Pidge is just… Pidge.

 - Again, with the war and Voltron and missing family and literally everything else going on--and the fact Pidge is far more practical than all of the rest of her fellow Team Voltron members combined--she isn’t wasting time and energy doing something as troublesome as falling in love with an alien. (“Keith, can’t your melodrama wait until after we win the war?” “My drama waits for no man.” “Then please explain how you and Lance manage to engage in synchronized dumb-fuckery at least three times a week.”) Eventually, after life has settled down and Pidge has had some time to think about it, she’ll realize that the reason she somehow managed to avoid any romantic entanglements in space isn’t because she’s just much more mature than her teammates (although this might be true)—it’s that she’s just not really interested in romantic engagements with anybody, period. 

 - Pidge’s one true love is discovery; she feels far more passionate about knowledge and learning new things, encountering new puzzles, and grasping new concepts than she does about anything else. In between all her creations and codes and experiments and observations, it just doesn’t feel like there’s room—or that there needs to be room—for a romantic relationship with a real person.

 - Pidge will make room for friends though, if and when they insist on worming their ways into her life. She tends to be a fairly private person who has never really had a large friend group (back on Earth, before Garrison, there wasn’t anyone but Matt and her parents who really understood her, and she didn’t have much in common to discuss with children her own age), but once someone earns Pidge’s trust, she does open up and form close bonds and she will give her all to help and be there for her few, but close, friends.

 - Meeting Hunk at Garrison was a huge revelation. Up to that point in Pidge’s life she had never really met any young person outside her own family with a soaring genius-level IQ that was a match for her own. Although she and Hunk bicker frequently because their approaches to science are extremely different, she’s still over-the-moon to have someone who doesn’t stare at her like she’s talking gibberish whenever she goes off on one of her tangents.

 - If you ask Pidge, she will violently swear up and down that Lance never and in. no. way. reminds her of Matt, fills in for Matt in the lame-older-brother role, or helps her miss her brother just a little bit less. That did not happen, never had a chance of happening, what are you even talking about—

 - But if you ask about Shiro, she will be flat-out honest and admit she totally thinks of him as Space Dad. It’s not her fault. Shiro literally hero worships Sam Holt (still to this day!!) and may or may not have taken on more of his mentor’s mannerisms in order to fill the leadership role for Team Voltron. Sometimes Shiro will say or do something and Pidge will be absolutely dumb-struck because he got that from my dad is an actual thing she has to deal with.

- “Pidge” is actually a derivative of “Pigeon.” Everyone in the Holt family has a bird-based code name. Mr. Holt is Eagle Two.

 - People often get the impression that Pidge is scatterbrained because she can talk about ten different things at once and pounces on leaps in her own logic that other people just can’t follow, but her thoughts and speech are very organized. It’s not her fault you couldn’t understand her system of organization if you tried.

 - Put Pidge on the spot on a subject she doesn’t know, though, and watch the awkward jump right out. (“Oh, you meant the pop band Galileo, not the person. You know, that’s really an easy mistake to make. You can hardly blame me when you stop to consider all the similarities between modern chord progression and the trajectory of supermassive objects like—”)

 - And if it’s not awkward, it’s defensive. Pidge may be hyper-intelligent, but she’s still very, very young, and it’s hard not to get snappish when challenged by people whose opinions she really does care about. She has a far quicker temper than Matt (who is a “revenge is a dish best served cold” champion), a trait she shares with their mother. Colleen, in turn, blames it on her having been born in New Jersey. Pidge has flipped so many tables on the Castleship that Coran and Lance eventually went around and bolted them all down.

 - Do not even so much as hint that Sam and Matt Holt might be dead instead of just missing in space. Keith is still scared after his last attempt at reasoning with Pidge about her family’s fate.

 - Has a bad hoarding habit. Back on Earth she had her parents there to insist she clean her room at least once a week, but in space, things are getting a bit crazy. The Castleship closets and cabinets can hyper-condense their contents and she’s STILL running out of room for all the neat doodads and parts and scientific wonders she finds on their adventures across the galaxy. Is definitely in the “Look, there’s still a mostly clear path to the door; it’s fineee” category. It’s not like she finds it hard to let things go once she’s gotten attached to them or anything. Nope. Definitely not.

 - Pidge’s mess is absolutely of the “everything has a proper place” type though. Move anything with her name on it and you will feel her wrath.

- As the only one of the Earth paladins to have technology on her when they were unexpectedly swept off to war, everyone on the ship relies on Pidge’s laptop for their monthly dose of Earth nostalgia. Good thing for them Pidge and Matt’s pirating skills put Pirate Bay to shame, and she’s got basically every Earth movie from 1980 to the present. She even has every episode of the timeless classic F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (Keith hates that show with a burning passion that even he cannot explain.)

 - Speaking of technology Pidge had on Earth—every single person in the Holt family is (and has been for decades) aware of the existence of aliens. Pidge’s family tree has been involved in communications, radio wave technology, and interpreting space observations since those fields were first invented. When Earth first identified patterns of waves that obviously corresponded to alien communications going on outside Earth’s galaxy, Pidge’s great- great- grandfather was there. When world governments covered up the discovery, he was the loudest voice of dissent. Since then, the Holt family has been deeply involved in military and space operations across several countries, operating from within an oppressive system they fundamentally disagree with, using their positions of authority to monitor the Milky Way and beyond, keeping tabs on what the aliens might be saying—and what messages Earth might be inadvertently sending back.

 - Of course this is top secret work—secret even from the Garrison and government where the Holts were employed. Other kids learn how to play piano and soccer; Pidge and Matt learned how to hack virtually impenetrable military databases and hide their data behind uncrackable ciphers instead.

 - But the Kerberos Mission was supposed to be safe. They’d all monitored the chatter so closely—there hadn’t been anything hostile anywhere even near Earth’s galaxy, no sign at all of any technologically advanced race like the Galra in years and nothing about one little Earth mission that would disturb any other intergalactic travelers anyway… Why would they...

 - Pidge is surprisingly athletic for a self-professed nerd. With youthful energy to burn and a family to save, Pidge took to Allura and Coran’s intense Altean training like a duck to water, and while she’s not quite Shiro or Keith when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, she can definitely holds up better than Hunk or Lance.

 - Favorite color is actually yellow, and if Green wasn’t totally The Coolest™ lion, she’d be sort of salty about Hunk getting the Yellow Lion instead.

 - Absolutely capable of cursing up a blue storm, and hasn’t been friends with Hunk quite long enough yet to remember to censor herself around him all the time like Lance does with his “Holy crow!”s. She’s trying, dammit!

 - Big on pets. Gets attached to pet-shaped creatures (whether living or robotic) very easily. 110% kept the space caterpillars, who live happily free-roaming the piles of space junk in her bedroom. The space caterpillars and the space mice do not get along, however, as the space mice do not take well to having their status as the favored fuzzy team mascot squad threatened. In their micro-Cold War, which is occurring without any of the ship’s humanoid occupants being aware, the space caterpillars are currently winning.

 - The caterpillars’ names are Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton.

 - Remember that one post about Lance drawing angry brows on the space caterpillar and siccing it on Keith? I very much accept that as canon. Pidge was Not Happy™ when she found out what Lance had done and she is NOT letting anyone else near her caterpillars again any time soon. Is very, very careful not to let Niresh see the space caterpillars so that they don’t end up stolen right from under her nose.

 - Speaking of the kids, Pidge is super awkward with them and skedaddles at the first sign of tears. Next to Allura, there is probably not any member of the team worse suited to babysitting duty. That said, as someone who has lost members of her family in the war, Pidge is probably the member of the team who most directly understands Dulsara’s anger and the children’s loss. That doesn’t mean she’s really ready to let herself sympathize with the Galra though, at least not until she finds her own family first.

- Pulls all the most bullshit moves in Monsters and Mana. Whenever the team reminiscences on the truly legendary moments from their campaigns, somehow Pidge is the star in all of them.

And that’s all I’ve got for now!

[spacecrone]

Sorry, Cassandra.

So, it's definite then

It's written in the stars, darlings

Everything must come to an end - Susanne Sundfør

I first learned about the climate crisis in 2008, as an undergrad at Hunter College, in a class called The History and Science of Climate Change. For the next decade I would struggle with how to process and act on the scientific paradigm shift climate change required: that human activity could disrupt the climate system and create a planetary ecosystem shift making Earth uninhabitable to human life. I became a climate justice activist and attempted to work directly on The Problem which was actually, as philosopher Timothy Morton writes, a hyperobject, something so systemic and enormous in size and scope as to be almost unintelligible to human awareness. I’ve cycled through probably every single response a person could have to this knowledge, despair, ecstasy, rage, hope. I’ve landed somewhere close to what I might call engaged bewilderment. For me, his particular locale has a soundtrack, and it’s Susanne Sundfør’s cinematic dance dystopia Ten Love Songs, an album that tells a story of love and loss in the Anthropocene. Sundfør is a sonic death doula for the Neoliberal project, with a uniquely Scandinavian version of bleak optimism. To truly grapple with this time of escalating transition, we need to really face what is, not what we hope or fear will be, but what is actually happening. A throbbing beat with shimmering synths around which to orient your dancing mortal envelope can’t hurt.

Susanne Sundfør’s Ten Love Songs was released a few days after Valentine’s Day in February of 2015, six months after I had been organizing Buddhists and meditators for the Peoples Climate March.  I was already a fan, having first heard her voice as part of her collaboration with dreamy synth-pop outfit m83 on the Oblivion soundtrack. Oblivion was visually striking but felt like a long music video. The soaring synths and Sundfør’s powerful voice drove the plot more than the acting, though I loved how Andrea Riseborough played the tragic character Vika, whose story could have been more central to the plot but was sidelined for a traditional Tom Cruise romantic centerpiece. But since the movie was almost proud of its style over investment in substance, the music stood out. The soundscapes were as expansive as the green-screened vistas of 2077  in the movie. It was just nostalgic enough while also feeling totally new, a paradox encapsulated in the name of m83’s similarly wistful and sweeping Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.  I am not exempt from taking comfort in style that signifies a previous era, and I am also not alone in it. It’s a huge industry, and while the MAGA-style yearning for a previous era is one manifestation, maybe there are ways to acknowledge culture as cyclical in a way that doesn’t sacrifice traditional knowledge to some imagined myth of perpetual progress.

When Ten Love Songs came out the following year, I listened to it on repeat for days.  Sundfør seemed to have absorbed the music-driven sci-fi into a concept album, with m83 providing her with a whole new panopoly of sounds at her disposal. Like Oblivion,  Ten Love Songs told the story of a future dystopia with high speed chases, nihilistic pleasure-seeking and operatic decadence against a backdrop of technocratic inequality. It mixed electro-pop with chamber music and I listened to it on a Greyhound ride to Atlantic City in the middle of snowy February. I hadn’t felt like this since high school, that a full album was a sort of soundtrack to my own life, which I could experience as cinematic in some way while the music was playing. This situated me in my own story, of studying climate change as an undergrad and graduating into a financial collapse, working as a personal assistant to an author writing about ecological collapse and ritual use of psychedelics, to joining a Buddhist community and organizing spiritual activists around climate justice. 

Ten Love Songs is a breakup album, with lyrics telling of endings and running out of time. But it didn’t read to me as an album about a single human romantic relationship coming to an end. It felt like a series of vignettes about the planet and its ecosphere breaking up with us, all of us. People. Some songs like Accelerate, one of the album’s singles, throb in an anthem to nihilistic numbness and speeding up into a catastrophe that feels inevitable. Fade Away is a bit lighter, tonally and lyrically, (and if you listen, please note the exquisitely perfect placement of what sounds like a toaster “ding!”), but is still about fading away, falling apart. The way the songs seem to drive a narrative of anthropocenic collapse built on science fiction film scores, the combination of orchestra and techno-pop, absolutely draws on Sundfør’s experience collaborating with m83 for the Oblivion soundtrack, which itself combined Anthony Gonzalez’s love for the adult-scripted teen dramas of his own 80’s adolescence. In Ten Love Songs, Sundfør takes what she learned from this collaboration and scores not a movie but a life experience of living through ecological collapse and all of the heartbreak and desire that erupts in a time when everything seems so close to the knife’s edge.

I am reminded of another Scandinavian dance album that was extremely danceable yet harbored within it a sense of foreboding. The Visitors, ABBA’s eighth studio album, was considered their venture into more mature and complex music. The two couples who comprised the band had divorced the year before it was released, and the entire atmosphere of the album is paranoid, gloomy, and tense. The cover shows the four musicians, on opposite sides of a dark room, ignoring each other. Each song is melancholy and strange in its own way, unique for a pop ensemble like Abba. One song in particular showcases their ability to use an archetype of narrative tragedy and prophesy to tell the story of regret. Cassandra is sung from the perspective of those who didn’t heed the woman cursed by Zeus to foretell the future but never be believed. 

I have always considered myself a pretty big Abba fan, something my high school choir instructor thought was riotously funny. I was born in the 80’s and nobody in my family liked disco, so I seemed like something of an anachronism. But pop music, especially synth-oriented pop, has always felt like a brain massage to me. It could get my inner motor moving when I felt utterly collapsed in resignation to the scary chaos of my early life. But I only discovered the song Cassandra in 2017, while giving The Visitors a full listen. It felt like I had never heard the song before, though, as a fan I must have. But something about 2015 made the song stand out more. It starts with piano, soft tambourine, and the ambient sound of a harbor. It has a coastal Mediterranean vibe, as some Abba songs do, foreshadowing Cassandra’s removal from her home city, an event she foretold but could not get anyone to believe. It’s a farewell song of regret, echoing the regret the members of Abba felt about their own breakups. 

We feel so full of promise at the dawn of a new relationship. Only after the split can we look back and say we saw the fissures in the bond. The signs were there. Why did we ignore them? This happens on an individual level but the Cassandra paradox is an archetype that climate scientists and journalists are very familiar with. This particular Abba song, and the Visitors album overall, uses this archetype to tell the story of a breakup in retrospect. With climate change, the warnings have been there, even before science discovered the rising carbon in the atmosphere. Indigenous peoples have been warning of ecological collapse since colonization began. Because of white supremacy and an unwavering belief in “progress,” perpetual economic and technological development and growth, warnings from any source but especially marginalized sources have been noise to those who benefit from that perpetual growth model and from white supremacy itself. Is there a way to undo the Cassandra curse and render warnings signal BEFORE some major event turns us all into the chorus from Abba’s song, singing “some of us wanted- but none of us could--  listen to words of warning?” Composer Pauline Oliveros called listening a radical act. It is especially so when we listen actively to the sounds and signals of those we would otherwise overlook.

When I look back at my life in the time that Sundfør’s Ten Love Songs and m83’s movie music seems nostalgic for, the late 1980’s in New Jersey,  I was a child with deeply dissociative and escapist tendencies, which helped me survive unresolved grief, loss, and chaos. I recognize my love for Abba’s hypnotic synth music as a surrendering to the precise and driving rhythm of an all-encompassing sound experience. I also see how my early life prepared me to be sensitized to the story climate science was telling when I finally discovered it in 2008. I had already grown up with Save the Whales assemblies and poster-making contests, with a heavy emphasis on cutting six-pack rings so that sea life would not be strangled to death. I knew what it was like to see something terrible happening all around you and to feel powerless to stop it, because of the way my parents seemed incapable of and unsupported in their acting out their own traumatic dysregulation. Wounds, unable to heal, sucking other people into the abyss. I escaped through reading science fiction, listening to music like Abba and Aphex Twin loud enough to rattle my bones. I wanted to overwhelm my own dysregulated nervous system. I dreamed of solitude on other planets, sweeping grey vistas, being the  protagonist of my own story where nothing ever hurt because ice ran through my veins and the fjords around me. My home planet was dying, and nobody could hear those of us screaming into the wind about it.

Ten Love Songs woke up that lost cosmic child who had banished herself to another solar system. Songs of decadence, songs of endings, songs of loss. Though that album was not overtly about climate change, Sundfør did talk about ecological collapse in interviews for her radically different follow-up album Music For People In Trouble. After the success of Ten Love Songs, Sundfør chose to travel to places that she said “might not be around much longer” in order to chronicle the loss of the biosphere for her new album. It is more expressly and urgently about the current global political moment, but the seeds for those themes were present and in my opinion much more potent in the poppier album. But maybe that’s the escapist in me.

The old forms that brought us to this point are in need of end-of-life care. Capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchal theocratic nationalism, neoliberalism, they all need death doulas. Escapism makes sense in response to traumatic stimulus, and for many of us it may have helped us survive difficult circumstances. But if we are to face what it means to be alive on this planet at this moment, we might be here to be present to and help facilitate and ease the process of putting these systems to rest. And maybe this work is not at odds with a dance party. The ability to be visionary about shared alternatives to these dying systems is not inherently escapist, when we are willing to take the steps together to live into those new stories. What would happen if cursed Cassandras, instead of pleading with existing power structures to heed warnings that sound like noise to them, turned to each other to restore the civic body through listening, through bearing witness to each others unacknowledged and thwarted grief over losses unacknowledged by those same systems of coercive power?

Engaged bewilderment means my version of hope, informed by Rebecca Solnit’s work on the topic, comes from the acceptance that things will happen that I could never have imagined possible. Climate change is happening and there are certain scientific certainties built into that trajectory. Some of it is written in the stars. But as with any dynamic system change, we do not know exactly how it will all shake out. These unknowns can be sources of fear and despair, but there is also the possibility for agency, choice and experimentation. The trajectory of my individual life was always going to end in death. Does that make it a failure? Or does it render each choice and engagement of movement towards the unknown an ecstatic act? As the old forms collapse, no need to apologize to the oracles. At this point they are dancing, and hope you’ll join.

[toongrrl-blog]

Part One of Barb Series: Why Barb Died (Character Device Talk)

*Please watch the Betty Draper Francis video first, for extra credit, check out the channel’s vid on Jack Dawson and come with knowledge of Beth March*

Happy end of the 2010s! Before I discuss what Barb could have brought to the Party in Stranger Things I need to discuss how as a character she needed to die.

1. Beth March

In one scene in Little Women, the girls and Laurie discuss their ambitions for adult life. Oldest sister Meg wants to marry and have kids, oldest middle sis Jo wants to become a known and successful writer, youngest sister Amy wants to become rich and famous as an artist and maybe a socialite, and middle child Beth wants things to stay the way they are for her, with her loving family at her side. What’s wrong with this? What the other three sisters have in common is that they are hoping for adult lives which include a lot of change, responsibility, independence (either as a career woman or running a household with little kids underfoot), new experiences, and even new people in their lives (Meg would need to meet a guy to marry and have kids with him, Jo would need to meet people in her professional life, Amy would entertain guests and appeal to patrons). Shy Beth is a talented pianist, vet, and doll collector and is very charitable but she doesn’t seem to want to take the risks it would take to grow as a person and thrive and mature or be noticed for her own merits aside from “Angel of the House” and the future looks pretty hostile; so by the end of the novel, Beth has died in her early 20s while sisters lives have changed (Meg married and had children in a cottage while gaining confidence as a homemaker, wife, and mom; Jo sells her writing and meets a professor who wants to start a school where she becomes headmistress after they marry; Amy goes on a Grand Tour of Europe and marries wealthy and happy).

The series Stranger Things, on a whole, is a coming-of-age series that borrows from the John Hughes and Steven Spielberg films of that era that captured the joys and pains of growing up, while Joyce’s and Hop’s storylines borrow from conspiracy thrillers around that era and somewhat from Hitchcock films. All these films captured ordinary people undergoing extraordinary (E.T., North By Northwest, The Goonies, The Stepford Wives) and life altering events (Jaws, The Breakfast Club, Silkwood) that force them to encounter challenges and make decisions they wouldn’t normally make in their mundane lives. Joyce ends up facing a monster with an axe and even makes demands of people who could wipe her off the Earth, the boys have to ride their bikes to evade murderous men in vans and hide a young traumatized girl, Nancy has to learn to create and use deadly weapons and use her skills of sneaking out for something besides sex, Jonathon has to cut his and another girl’s hand to lure a monster to their trap, Hop sneaks into a morgue just to slit a dead boy’s corpse and find cotton stuffing, Will has to use what knowledge and skills he has to survive another world filled with creatures out to kill him, most of the kids throughout the series have to lie and break laws to save their town. 

While the official guide does list Barb as being a varsity softball player and a mathlete and Shannon Purser concurs that Barb would have been the Velma of the group if she lived, there is one big thing that separates the Velmas from the Barbs and Beth’s of the world: Velma takes risks, she would trespass private looking property and dilapidated buildings to solve a mystery. Barb is a loyal friend and honest and studious and smart, but she’s ultimately the good girl archetype: cautious, obedient to her elders, predictable, conservatively and femininely dressed, chaste. An archetype that Nancy is trying to flee (not that the alternative of being a girl who sneaks out with her boyfriend to makeout is going to help Nancy at all) to avoid ending up like her mother. Barb has the fangs (talent and means) to be a Party member, she just lacks the nerve to jump and sink those fangs.

2. Commentary on the Patriarchy and the Tyranny of Beauty Standards

Most of the female characters in the series don’t fit the strict criteria of their Reagan era Indiana small town regarding what makes a good woman. Joyce is a single mother who doesn’t come with well-coiffed hair and she appears to be hysterical and is a working mother in a time and place where all these factors would label her a “bad mother”, Nancy is a frank young woman who takes risks and even asserts her sexuality and herself when plenty of people (like the shitheads at Hawkins Post) would prefer her to be a delicate virgin in pastels, El is physically stronger than the boys with her powers and she is very direct in her manner despite her soft-spoken demeanor, Max is a girl who is interested in arcade video games and skateboarding and brightly colored summer clothing and reads her Mom’s Cosmo cover to cover and is assertive, Erica is an assertive young girl who can talk truth (and shade) to adults and has a knowledge of My Little Pony and Cold War Politics, Robin is snarky and has a style that makes her stand out from most girls in Hawkins and is a teen genius, Kali’s rage and Joan Jett-esque appearance would make the preppy and pastel and autumnal tone wearing residents of Hawkins in Cardiac Care, Suzie has defied notions about girls in science and math and even the Mormon beliefs of her parents by french kissing and dating a non-Mormon boy like Dustin, and Karen despite her appearance of hot housewife perfection is dissatisfied with her marriage and comes close to cheating on her husband. 

In contrast Barb is pretty much the most conventional character: she dresses conservatively in ruffles and pink, she is seemingly chaste, follows the rules diligently and worries about getting punished by the Holland and Wheeler parents, and has a more common body type found in cis-gender women (correct me if I’m wrong, hopefully I don’t offend trans pear shaped women) and not often found in the older members of the female cast. But despite Barb’s body being common among women in general and specific to her region (the American Midwest is noted for starchy and creamy and fried foods and is historically farming country, where pioneers would find her strong for work in and out of the log cabin and give birth to the necessary amount of children i.e. extra hands for work), the delicate and slender builds of Joyce and Nancy, the classic proportionate and slender grace of Robin, and the leggy and toned image of Karen are closer to the female standard of beauty in the 1980s. In Barb’s lifetime (1967-1983), the image of beauty was dominated by leggy, toned, slim, busty women or lean women with minimal breasts: no room for tall, broad, pear shapes like herself. And in 1983, Molly Ringwald wasn’t yet a household name that freckled redheads with dry wit and atypical images could look on with pride. Hell I remember reading a copy of Color Me Beautiful where they recommend that women with heavy hips and small waists (similar features of Christina Hendricks and Shannon Purser) shouldn’t cinch their waistlines, the celebration of Marilyn Monroe pinups with round hips, pillowy thighs and tummies, rounded tushes were long gone by then. Basically Barb being her natural self, was not seen as “feminine enough” and combined with her glasses and style (any plus sized or early developing gal can tell you that it is hell to find junior styles that suit your body size and shape) have ruled her as “uncool”. 

There is also that Barb does a lot of things that the boys do: being slightly geeky, a loyal friend, has innocent and wholesome interests, chaste, and is quiet (like Will) but she still gets killed. One can sense that #JusticeForBarb came out of an anger with misogyny in media and society that tells women to be a certain way and punishes them whether they fit a mold or not. Women are still underpaid in the workplace, underrepresented in government, still deal with unequal and toxic relationships, are shamed for being virgins or for having sexual experience (Carol pokes fun at the idea of Barb finding the sex sounds too much and yet contributes to the slut shaming graffiti of Nancy), are told on one hand to look a certain way to attract the male gaze and shamed when they indulge in sexual desire (something Nancy can attest to with her glamorous mother who offers to lend her black heels and focuses on Nancy’s beauty before a funeral, the same mom who was angry her daughter had sex), they are either too fat/skinny/busty/flat/frizzy/straight haired/pale/slutty/prudish/dark/feminine/masculine/full-butt-ed/quiet/loud/naive/cynical/smart/dumb/angry/happy, and they deal with a media that sells a very narrow standard of beauty to the point that when they see a drop dead gorgeous actress or model with similar features they feel seen.

Oh Bondage, Up Yours!

*Read this is not a “Barb is a slut shamer!” piece yes that was shitty but she was a teen girl in a small 1980s town and she ISN’T starting a (paraphrasing Kimberly Nicole Foster quote) “no whores allowed campaign” OR trying to pass a law that demands women keep their ectopic pregnancies to full term*

3. End of Innocence

When Barb died, it marked the end of Nancy’s childhood and her needing to grow up. That was the night Nancy went straight from childhood (Barb), teenager (sex with Steve), and then shortly became an adult when she realized that Barb had disappeared. For many women (like myself at ages 9 and 10), the moment they get their period or grow breasts or reach a certain age, marks a dramatic end of their childhood. Suddenly many are told to police their behavior and language around boys, even policing the food they eat or their bodies. There is also extra responsibility and stress, demogorgans being one of them. Nancy is now having to deal with the sorts of issues that adult women dealt with on Mad Men along with scary monsters threatening her town and the fact her parents are not as happy as they look to the world, there is a gap between the experiences of her and Mike, she has a baby sister who probably was conceived to save the marriage, and Nancy can’t confide or trust either of her parents (who are absorbed with their own issues). Now Nancy is making big decisions that Barb, with the sheltering and seemingly close parents, will likely never deal with. Nancy is even taking fashion risks with clothes that are more functional, stylish, show off her figure, and can even withstand flayer blood and exorcising her boyfriend’s little brother.

4. A Huge Threat

Barb was intended to be a character that we connected with, someone to be built up somehow. There was a character like this in a movie: her name was Marion Crane. She was a secretary who has been supporting herself and her little sis since their parents died, patiently waiting for her boyfriend to make more money at his job so they can marry and stop sneaking around sleeping with one another, in desperation she steals a lot of money from her workplace, drives to California where she meets a mild-mannered but strange young man who manages a distant motel in the vicinity of a Victorian house where an older woman is croaking about promiscuity, after talking with him over a dinner of sandwiches in his taxidermy themed office, she goes to take a shower and has decided to return to Phoenix to return the money, then a strange figure comes with a large butcher knife in horribly out of date clothes and starts stabbing her to death.

This was from the Hitchcock film Psycho, the forerunner of the slasher genre that dominated the earlier half of the 1980s, and it premiered to shocked audiences in 1960. The meaning of the grisly murder of Marion, a character the audience was following from the beginning of the film, was that Norman Bates was a huge threat and intensified the need for Marion’s killer to be brought to justice.

The same thing can be said about the deaths of Benny and Barb, to show how much a threat the demogorgan and Hawkins National Lab were to the townspeople of Hawkins (and the world as a whole), basically such big threats that a little boy can be kidnapped from the safety of his home, a young teenage girl could be snatched up and killed from a suburban swimming pool, and a kindly cook and owner of a local diner would be executed for knowing about a runaway child. 

5. The future of Women in Stranger Things

Not all is lost, Barb’s death forced the Duffer Bros to take a look at how women were written and treated in their series, and even helped spurred tv viewers (who ordinarily wouldn’t pay attention to social issues) to take a deeper look and interest in how people especially women are treated. For some reason I like to think: Max, Robin, Erica, and Suzie are a way of recognizing Barb’s potential within the series and even what viewers saw. 

Now stay tuned to where I figure out how Barb could have been beneficial to the party.

[monsterproblems]

Genre: Sci-Fi’ish Comedy

Premise: In a future where the world has been overrun by monsters, a young man risks his life to get to the woman he’s fallen for.

About: Brian Duffield is one of my favorite writers. One of his scripts, Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch, is on my Top 25. And through no fault of his own, another of his projects, Jane Got A Gun, found itself in the middle of a production circus when on the first day of shooting the director of the film just decided not to show up. This resulted in actors dropping out, other actors switching roles, and a full-on game of production musical chairs. Monster Problems was picked up last year. It’s unclear where it is in development. I’ll tell you this right now, though. If I were a studio, this is one of the first scripts I’d green light.

Writer: Brian Duffield

Details: 113 pages (undated)

Okay, so I want you to imagine Sleepless in Seattle. Mixed with a John Hughes film. Mixed with Harry Potter. Mixed with Pacific Rim.

You may be saying, “Carson, that is an unbelievable combination of films. There is nobody in the world who could make that work.”

Ladies and Gentleman, may I introduce you to Brian Duffield. The only person in the world who can make that work. And honestly, I’m in awe of the guy. I really am. I don’t know anyone else on earth who has this kind of imagination, that is also good with character, who can also create a believable and touching romance, who can also add hilarious comedy and lots of heart, whose writing style is sparse yet packed with information, who can ALSO tell a great story, and who always surprises you with his choices.

You just don’t find that kind of writer often. If ever. And it kind of depresses me. Because we’re all supposed to have weaknesses. Those weaknesses are what make other writers feel like they shouldn’t commit suicide. It’s important for them to be able to say, “Okay, sure he can do comedy. But he can’t develop characters like I can.” Duffield can do it all. I guess maybe in Jane Got A Gun, things were a little slow. Maybe when he’s not able to use comedy, his scripts aren’t as entertaining? Maybe that’s a weakness? I guess. Or maybe he purposefully slowed things down in “Jane” because he didn’t want to make all us other writers feel bad.

So what’s Monster Problems about?

This guy, Joel Dawson. A really good guy, this Joel. But he’s been dealt a shitty hand. He lives in this underground bunker with 37 people and he’s the only single guy there. Everyone else is always making out and having sex while he’s just… dreaming of what it would be like to have a girlfriend. Oh, and then, of course, it’s a hundred or so years in the future where the world’s been overtaken by monsters. Bad hand once again. It’s safe to say poker’s not Joel’s thing.

The one thing Joel’s got to look forward to is a girl. Her name is Aimee. She’s got red hair. He knows that because he asked, though he’s never seen her. See, Aimee is in another bunker 30 miles from his. And they can only contact this bunker for a couple minutes a day due to battery issues. And because the hope of being with Aimee is the only reason for Joel to put on his pants every morning, he decides to do the unthinkable – go to her.

Now that might not sound difficult to you or me. 30 miles puts a lot of stress on your quads but it’s doable. Here’s the problem. Monsters. And this isn’t the monster problem you see in Pacific Rim. Or that indie movie, “Monsters.” You know when Will Smith says in the “After Earth” trailer, “Everything on this planet has evolved to kill humans?” And then you went to see the movie and nothing on this planet had evolved to kill humans?

Well imagine a movie where that was actually the case. The second Joel leaves the bunker, he’s attacked by a strange dog-like critter, a raptor-thing, a giant frog, a giant spider, giant killer moths, a weird seven feet tall ghost-like centipede thing, a three headed T-Rex, a giant sea creature, as well as a few other beasts so strange they’re impossible to describe! And all Joel is armed with is a crossbow and a mangy dog he finds along the way.

Joel fights for his life, almost dies a thousand times, saves his dog, gets saved by his dog, meets a father-like figure, meets an astronaut robot, almost dies a thousand more times, etc. There aren’t many things Joel doesn’t experience on this perilous journey. But will he make it to Aimee? And what will happen if he does? Will she be everything he hoped for?

This script. Was awesome.

Period.

It was awesome. Where do I begin? Oh, I know. I’ll begin at the end. Duffield arcs the dog character. You read that right. Duffield GIVES A CHARACTER ARC TO THE DOG! Remember the scene in Cast Away where Wilson, an inanimate object, floats away forever? And you were crying, desperately hoping your date or parents didn’t look over at that exact moment and see you drowning in tears?

There’s a moment that rivals that here with the dog. The dog, you see, was found clinging to the dress of his long-since disappeared female master. He won’t leave with Joel until Joel brings that dress with him. And he’s so stuck on that dress. He cares more about that dress than he does Joel. And then in the end (spoiler), that dress gets stuck in the ocean, where Joel is battling a monster, and he has a choice to either go after the dress or save Joel. And he picks Joel. He changes. The dog arcs. Not barcs. Arcs. And it was so fucking good you cried just like when Wilson died.

Oh, and did I tell you about the astronaut? Yeah. One of my favorite scenes all year has this robot astronaut, split in two, only wires holding her together, pulling herself across the terrain, bumping into Joel, explaining she only has 16 minutes left before her battery runs out. And the two just share her last moments together before she dies. And it’s heartbreaking. And I don’t fucking understand how anybody comes up with this stuff. We can talk about structure until the screencows come home. But you still have to have imagination. You still have to come up with unique choices. How does Duffield bring a nearly dead cut-in-half female robot astronaut into a story about monsters taking over the earth and make it work? I don’t know but it fucking makes me jealous.

And then there’s the ending. I’m not going to get into spoilers, but let’s just say what you thought was going to happen doesn’t happen. That ALSO is a trait of great writers. They take you to the place you think you’re going, then totally change things up on you. You realize the writer is in control. Not you.

There were a few other reasons I loved this script. The main character is a lovable loser. But when he befriends this dog and loses his loneliness, we officially fall in love with him. It’s really hard to have a character befriend a dog or save a dog and not like him. As ridiculous and simplistic as it sounds: we like people who love animals. Who will protect them. It’s crazy how obvious this is, yet when it’s done well, as it is here, it makes the character irresistible.

And I love stories where the obstacles are impossible, where the writer is never easy on his hero. His hero has to earn every step he takes. Remember in After Earth, where the main character is basically guided by his father the whole way? So he didn’t really earn anything? He just follows orders. Here, Joel earns every step he takes. He finds the solutions to all the problems. He outruns or outsmarts or outbeats all the monsters.

And the sheer number of monsters he has to take on is ridiculous. At one point he’s trying to get over a rickety bridge when giant moths with needle teeth attack him, teeth that inject deadly venom into him, while a 3 headed T-Rex is trying to kill him, while he drops his only weapon, his crossbow, into the monster-infested waters below. There are so many moments like this where you wonder, “How the hell is he going to get out of this alive?” And because the odds are so heavily stacked against him, we hover over the page with baited breath, reading as fast as we can so we can get the answer.And then at the heart of this script is… heart. See that’s the thing. All these big effects movies have zero heart, have zero characters we really care about. I mean does anybody in the world really care about Shia LaBeouf in Transformers? Here, we care about Joel. We care about his dog. Because Duffield knows that none of those effects will matter. This is about the character. And you will like Joel. You will love Joel. You will love this journey he goes on. You will be shocked by the ending. And when it’s over, it’ll be one of the few times you’ve finished a script and wished there were more pages to read.

[ ] what the hell did I just read?

[ ] wasn’t for me

[ ] worth the read

[x] impressive (TOP 25!!!)

[ ] genius

What I learned: The key to writing these scripts is mentally stripping out all the big creatures and monsters and robots and effects, and remembering that it’s a personal journey. Focus on making that personal journey work first. Make your audience fall in love with your main character and want them to succeed. And then build that effects world up afterwards. This is such simple advice and yet this is the first time I’ve seen it done in maybe two or three years? If you’re a big-budget writer, get this right and you’ll be golden.

What I learned 2: Choose action over dialogue to build a relationship. — Let’s say you only have one scene to make us care about a key relationship in your script. In this case, we’ll use Joel and the dog as the characters. Scene Option 1 has Joel talking to the dog over the fire. Scene Option 2 has both of them being attacked by a monster, and Joel has to make a choice between either saving himself or trying to save the dog. ALWAYS choose the second scene option. Action always accelerates a relationship faster than dialogue. Obviously, scripts are long so you’ll have the opportunity to do both, but always favor action over dialogue when you can.

[elizabethrobertajones]

Hot take: 13x23 is 5x18 “Point of No Return” but they’re married and they’ve adopted the anti-Christ. And also no Adam.

counterpoint: Jack is Adam but filtered through 9 years of Dabb regret for introducing both Jesse and Adam to the story and then constantly being asked about them when neither were intended to play any further part in the narrative but THIS is the child he would sculpt from that experience if Buckleming are gonna force more creepy baby stories on him :P 

5x18 starts with Dean defining himself by all the things that are the dismal tools of his trade and core identity, boxing them up to give away (technically the Lisa exchange was also written as the opening of the episode but it got shuffled over one episode to be the end of the previous, which I think is a solid decision but I’ll throw it in here for sake of argument). Dean is primarily defined by his leather jacket, gun and car keys, all of which hark back to John and the identity that he crafted to be half a John knock off, half what he thought John would want Dean to be which may be better/different than John but only to John’s own specifications. Stripped down of all that he wrote his “where we’re going we don’t need roads” letter to Sam and Bobby, meaning for that to be pretty much it.

In the open of 13x23 the “good times” define Dean in a completely different way. He has Sam and ~a~ Bobby, but also his mom, Cas and Jack. Cas plays a pretty small role in the very open of the episode, not being included in that letter, and it makes sense to me in the way that Cas is still very much a fellow solider rather than a family member - he’s very much deep in the stuff that even just the next year will have solidified him to Dean as so important that season 6 hurts like it does, but they’re still in that forging fire and having crucial bonding conversations - my favourite from season 5 is literally in the previous episode. 

And it’s interesting in the open of 13x23 that we see a sort of ~normal life resumes~ period for them, which includes Dean driving around hunting, but he’s doing it with Sam and Cas and Jack, and it’s so wildly different from the grim identity as a hunter that he inherited from John. They’ve made it their own way to the point that they have an angel that’s got their backs and a lil nephilim baby who is making a normal werewolf hunt devastatingly easy to the point of being kinda comical. (Obviously that’s not a lasting thing since Jack is depowered by the end but they got to enjoy it). And this leads to a dead opposite version of Dean’s suicide note, where instead he daydreams out loud to a present Sam, taking their life from a POV where he can think about a HAPPY endgame, the beach holiday, the drinks with lil umbrellas, and Cas is there. Then he wanders off and is parental towards Jack.

The whole Lisa and Ben endgame was also one of isolation and removing hunting and personal life, but the Good Times construct a world where Dean has it all - present parental figures rather than an absent memory, his brother, a spouse and a kid. Jack overlapping with Dean’s parenting of Ben in his emotional landscape doesn’t subtract from his life - Jack’s the reason he can even wonder if he and Sam and Cas can take his beach vacation he has been craving out loud basically since John died. Where they’re going they still need the car but only to get around for good reasons, you know? 

So these being the two underlying mindsets Dean has before attempting to/actually saying yes to Michael is fascinating because one of them strips him bare as removing all his personhood, putting the weight of the world on his shoulders, and painting him the idea of a paradise where the lucky few survive and everyone lives happily in Heaven. Michael’s endgame is in Pamela and Leah’s descriptions that convince Dean in the 2 previous episodes - that maybe it’s not so bad that some people get to go to Heaven. But Leah then goes evangelical club of lucky 1000 people style Heaven ascending, and this is where the spoilers about Michael in season 14 overlap with her message so obviously 5x17 might be a key thematic episode as well, as 5x16, 17 and 18 make Michael’s mission and intent so extremely clear. (5x13 too but brr, there’s so much that happens in that exchange I’d need another post :P).

AU Michael sees them as Paradise AU, while they’ve been viewing his world as Apocalypse AU, and I think those 2 perspectives are a very clear meta commentary on the way that his vision was presented back in season 5 as well - that he was going for that full Christian judgement day where the sheep and the goats are separated or whatever, and the planet is cleansed. He already attempted it in the Apocalypse AU but it clearly went awry and it sounds from spoilers like he’s gonna have a second go at realising this properly? I haven’t really been paying clear attention to the spoilers but it stood out to me having Dabb tease the sort of stuff I’ve been describing because that was barely implicit in season 13 since of course AU Michael made such a hash of the apocalypse on his first go at it. But of course for budget reasons he’s being more careful and less openly destructive in Paradise AU. And the very fact that the main SPN verse is Paradise AU to him is utterly fascinating when layered over season 5 and what we glean of Michael’s plan post-Lucifer killing, which our original Michael seems to see as an irritating first step even back then. 

And then to get to season 13, Dean in this wonderful happy good place is going to be the time he ends up saying Yes because it’s not the weight of the world on his shoulders - I mean, yeah, it is, but. It’s the weight of his family. And Sam and Jack are the ones who are taken - the haemorrhaging brothers Zach casually used as leverage in 5x18 - and we get Dean bargaining with AU Michael just like he bargained with Zach and Michael in 5x18 to worm his way to a change of mind and a “no”, he ends up in the place where to save his brother and son the only option is a yes in another room.

Carver being Carver - and we have his whole showrunning to use as a focus lens on this - went the route of that codependency debate about whether Dean would even care to save Adam or just Sam’s sweet bacon and manipulated Adam into feeling like they wouldn’t care, that they were the cause of all his problems, and Adam was caught in the middle, lied to, and wanting to see his mom again and Zach’s abuse of him in this way to get what he wants is the mirror of Lucifer getting to Jack and trying to prove he can be a good father while attempting to sweet talk Jack enough to agree to zap them off Earth and away from Michael’s plan. It DOESN’T get framed as a Sam and Dean us or them, the break comes before that when Jack for himself sees Lucifer being an abusive ass, and disowns him, and rather than a loss of Adam it’s a distinctive gaining of Jack as a permanent family feature. 

The confrontation with him, Sam and Lucifer goes on to finish making that extremely clear, with Sam and Jack competing to die for each other - not for Dean - and showing the bonds and strength they have as their own father and son relationship that has grown outside of the Sam n Dean codependency that Michael manipulated to make it look like even in the last moment they had “lost” Adam to it, rather than him stealing him from under their noses. They did actually intend to rescue him, though I think the staging of it was more like a careless moment of Dean helping Sam through the door first, it wasn’t a Huge Choice To Ditch Adam - though that careless priority of Sam comes back around in 6x11 as well so it’s not like a non-element, it was still not like, a Fuck You Adam I Only Care About Sam. 

Obviously in 13x23 with Jack the focus of the abduction and Sam leaping in on it HEROICALLY, there’s of course the sense that is heightened for us the audience that Sam is in trouble as well but while 5x18 had a Save Adam thing and this was a Save Jack thing, in every other way the emotional lines come down about family as a unit not a playing favourites game OR any commentary whatsoever on codependency except in its absence, while 5x18 is one of the only episodes to even actually use that word to describe Sam n Dean. It happened to be Sam and Jack in this situation but any combination of his peeps could have triggered this response in Dean, I feel. This is just the narratively neat way it played out.

And, of course, to get to the worst part… Which i still can’t even handle even when it’s been the focus of my icon for at least a month… Cas having to deal with Dean saying yes, after 5x18 was such a huge argument and point of pain between them, the one time Cas has turned violently on Dean was for attempting to give up and say yes to Michael in that episode, and it caused him a complete loss of faith, and was his impetus to help them get to Adam but in the cattiest fuck you possible in that last moment outside the warehouse. He describes going into the suicide mission to clear out the angels as not having to deal with watching Dean say yes, so of course in 13x23 his role is to chill with Dean as his accepted husband, third wheel, whatever else, part of the beach vacation, unquestioned part of the family, only for Dean to suddenly do the thing in front of him that in 5x18 had been their lowest point, personally and emotionally and interpersonally. When they had no faith in each other, and were both suicidal and miserable. 

And Cas is left in moments having to deal with losing potentially his entire family - son, brother, husband - to Lucifer and Michael, and it’s like they’re right back at the start. So much has changed and it’s not about faith, it’s not about believing in each other… He and Jack are part of this Winchester family and their investment is so different. But it’s seeing Dean make this sacrifice for family in front of him when of all of them Cas and Dean know the stakes of saying yes to Michael the best in the sense of having fought it out like that before. Because it’s the thing that forged them. That on the other side of it, Cas told Dean he wasn’t the broken shell of a man he thought he was or whatever he said in 5x21 when apologising for his lack of faith in his surprise that Dean hadn’t said yes. That last minute reconciliation and forging of what was the core of their bond from then on…

I think for Cas, still, his belonging is a bit more tenuous and Jack helps - he’s helped all of them by the brief “good times” montage at the start - but he’s always doubted his place in the family and the role he has and Dean’s always been his strongest connection, and having Jack and a settled few weeks to months with all these people around feels like a good way to give Cas time to feel truly in a part of the family unit. But even in 13x06 you can see they all have all their different bonds and dynamics and with Jack there it gives Cas another purpose and connection and Jack is also firmly connected to Sam and Dean. It’s sort of a joke that they’re all his dads when Rowena says it, but it’s seriously not untrue. For lack of any other relatable life experience and the circumstances of Jack’s existence, Dean, Cas and Sam are his fathers for the roles they’ve played to him, and those new bonds are like a thicker glue between TFW that none of them can really argue their way out of when it comes to emotional doubt about belonging. If Cas struggles to see the Bunker as home and his purpose on earth, then Jack DOES, and can clearly name his family, who matters to him, what he wants and where he wants to be, by the last moments that Lucifer steals his grace, Jack is avowedly a part of their world, and that’s a link Cas now has that sort of chains him there one step further than he ever had before that his doubts are going to have to listen to. And, you know, 10 seconds later Jack is gone and Sam is gone and Dean is saying yes to Michael. 

It makes Cas in 5x18 even more interesting just because this is the moment of shattering for him, and thinking back to how he was and what he stood to lose then is both deeply personal but so removed from what he has in season 13 that it’s hard to grasp at it, except that it’s so so connected to Dean and Dean only, that in the same way that losing Jack and Sam at once challenges the codependency set up that Zach presented via Adam, you have Cas no longer laser focused on Dean. And yet, of course. He stays behind with Dean to see him say yes, because in 5x18 that was his laser focus of emotional characterisation and as much as Sam and Jack mean to him, this is how to hurt Cas to his very very core. And still, even in this new family, shows the pressure point is Dean, and this very personal history they share when it comes to saying yes to Michael. How Dean represented Cas’s faith, and when they lost their faith they lost it together, and then gained it back together, because of each other. Leaving Cas to watch that happen… ugh, it’s illegal. I don’t even have words for the magnitude of what Dabb put him through and I’ve been wrangling with it all summer and now it’s September and it still hurts on a cosmic level :P 

And yet in the end the episodes end the same - hubris and losing a character to Michael, who still manages to sneak a victory and a vessel out of the scenario, even after Dean bargained with him and stabbed a smarmy adversary and seemed for a moment like the biggest badass and a fuckin hero to Sammy and defended their family and independence and place in the world. But in this case, Dean had already let Michael through the door, and he didn’t have to settle for a second rate vessel. Dean always bargains with himself and this time, the bargain that he gets to kill the bad guy in exchange for Michael’s cooperation failed, and like in both scenarios Michael took his vessel by force and trickery, because for Michael, the “yes” has always been a pretty hypothetical necessity in the first place >.> 

[converginglives]

Aither

Full Name:  Aither di Straiti

Nickname: A, Black Queen, Katar

Meaning:  while I don’t remember where her last name came from, I designed her 11 years ago, her first name came from a book I have that said Aither means “soul, true breath”. Her original full name was Aither Andrista di Strahti, meaning “soul’s necessity”.

Pet name: Aisha, Aiyusha, and Aithyusha

Gender: female

Orientation: pan all the way, demiromantic

Age: 17 at the beginning of the series

Birthday: January 6, 1980

Birthplace: Boston, MA

Astrological sign:  Capricorn, Earth Goat, Birch, Aries

Immediate Family: all dead

Distant Family: didn’t have any

Parenting: we’ll see

Upbringing: prior to my parent’s death, I was part of a gray-collared family, upper middle class

Coming of age: 14, after I left the foster system because I refused to  stay with an abusive family.

Evolution: street fighter and hacker that used the library to earn money and become an entrepreneur and landlady.

Species: human last checked

Ethnicity: American white mutt

Facial type: oval-heart

Eye color: gray

Hair color: black, most the time, occasionally other colors

Hairstyle: ever changing but almost always long in some manner

Skin tone: cream peach

Complexion: light with freckle and occasionally a tan

Makeup: yes, to match her outfit

Build: slender and athletic,

Height: 5′1

Birthmarks/scars: plenty, doesn’t mean she’s telling everyone

Distinguishing features: wide eyes and innocent face

Health: while I spent a few years malnutrition, I am over all healthy

Energy: way more than I want most the time

Memory: assigns people numbers which are used to recall them easier

Senses: slightly sharper than hearing, the rest normal

Allergies: not saying

Phobias: not saying

Style: teasing and comfortable

Mode of dress: more often then not skin tight so people think they see everything but in truth there is stuff hidden within the clothes

Grooming: almost always, though sometimes

Posture: often leaning a bit, though how she is leaning depends on where she is.

Gait: forefoot strike, smooth and often described as predatory

Habits and mannerisms: direct, honest, quiet unless she feels something needs to be said, always armed

Scent: amber, cinnamon, and chocolate

Mood: ever shifting, many call her cold and calculating when 

Attitude: “will stab whoever needs stabbed” sums it up, with a side order of snark and sass

Stability: her home in the apartment and Jon.

Expressiveness: more often then not!

When Happy: nearly any time she’s with Jon, Dae, Lily, or Sparks.

Current residence: New York City, her floor of the first building she redid.

Community: the Network

Family:

(adoptive brother)  Jonathan Valentinovich Markov  

(triad)  Lidiya Stepanova Raskova,  Dayesi Vladimirovna Malinina

(in-laws through Jon) Luc Eduard Taren, Isaac Bernard (I guess I will claim Isaac even if stabbing him sounds better)

Friends:

Sparks Afanas Anatolievich Balakhnov

Falco Mace

Lettie Miller

Tichina Esmeralda Mattos Tyler

Awanata Carver

Quin Porter

There are others who are not yet named. Each major player within Aither’s division of the Network are considered friends or she wouldn’t trust them to run the departments they do. This does not include businesses that buy into the Network safety net unless there is intentional friend making

Enemies: boy, oh boy, is that a long list

Pets/familiars: no

Collections: knives mostly

Prized possession: picture of me with my family

Religion: no, but I will defend someone else right to theirs as long as they are not using it as an excuse to harm people.

Motivation: safety and peace, keep from being bored

Priorities: her family

Philosophy:  “will stab whoever needs stabbed” and “what would Jon do in this situation?”

Etiquette: she’s got the teachings of someone with proper etiquette but rarely uses it

Culture: hodgepodge of different things due to living on the street for a time, spending so much time with the Network, plus her family

Influences: memories of her birth family, her time living on the streets, Jon, her loves, and the Network. 

Traditions: a bit varied as she combines things from the different parts of her life

Superstitions: yes, several, not talking about them however

Main Goal: creating a safe haven 

Minor Goals/Ambitions: 

Continue expanding her territory

Learn something new

Keep her agreement with the various police departments

Lessen violence in her domain

Help clean up areas

Deal with corruption

Not be bored

Career: hacker and  business owner

Biggest Failure: the time she failed to save the Bronze twins from the local gang. She retaliated with a vengeance. 

Secrets: more than she can count, though rarely from Jon, they might keep things private for a time but eventually they discuss it

Worries: why would she worry?

Best dream: the entire family together and happy, safe

Hobbies/interests: knives, books, computers, gaming, music, science, math, 

Skills/talents: computers, parkour, negotiations, people reading, knife fighting

Likes: chocolate, fruit, platonic cuddling, sex, a good fight, relaxing, dancing, walking, spending time with those she considers friends

Dislikes:  gang violence, attempting to control others for money, ketchup on hamburgers, cooking, clothes she can’t easily move in

Pet peeves: depends on her mood, though she’d say ‘people’ and not be lying. 

Quirks: always has a knife on hand, intentionally dresses so folks focus on her being a girl

Savvy: street smart

Can’t understand: casual emotional bonds, gang violence

Strengths: good at people reading, analytical, math genius, 

Flaws: sharp and fast temper, lacks mercy, possessive, 

Tagging:   OC Celebration Week August 2018 Day 1

[drtoaster]

RULES: tag ten followers you want to know better!

TAGGED BY: @theycallmekaibara​ (thanks man!)

TAGGING: @napsoldier @rogue-knifehead @thebloodofosiris @dimensionalguardian (I’m too lazy to do ten so feel free to steal)

NAME: Jakob (it finally occurred to me that anyone who actually wanted to know this could probably find it on here anyway so fuck it.) STAR SIGN: Cancer HEIGHT: 5′7″ (I think it’s been a while so it could be 5′8″ by now) WHAT’S YOUR MIDDLE NAME? - I don’t gots one lmao. It was gonna be Henry at one point apparently.

PUT YOUR ITUNES SPOTIFY ON SHUFFLE. WHAT ARE THE FIRST 4 SONGS THAT POPPED UP? Apple stuff is overpriced and I don’t like Spotify so I’m going to scroll round in my saved music and pick four at random.

Foster The People-Pumped up kicks

The White Stripes- Seven Nation Army.

Caravan Palace-Rock It For Me

Theme song from Gigantor (I fucking love Gigantor)

GRAB THE BOOK NEAREST YOU AND TURN TO PAGE 23. WHAT’S LINE 17? “Roasted hazelnuts added a rich aroma to the smells wafting around them.”

EVER HAD A POEM OR SONG WRITTEN ABOUT YOU? I hope not.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PLAYED AIR GUITAR? I can’t remember.

WHO IS YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH? I don’t really do celebrity stuff.  Does Rtas Vadam from Halo count? I’d have a piece of that.

WHAT’S A SOUND YOU HATE + SOUND YOU LOVE?

HATE: That fucking quiz show my grandma watches every fucking afternoon with the volume turned up to twenty fucktillion decibels.

LOVE: Thunderstorms.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? Nah. I don’t have anything against people who do because I have seen weird shit happen but I think there’s better explanations.(Except for poltergeists. Even I can’t make head nor tail of what’s going on there.)

HOW ABOUT ALIENS? Those fuckers better exist and they better be hot. 

DO YOU DRIVE? I wish.

IF SO, HAVE YOU EVER CRASHED? I mean mentally and physically yes, but never a car.

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I legit can’t remember the last time I read anything that wasn’t for university. I’d guess probably one of the Edge Chronicles books or maybe The ocean at the end of the lane?

DO YOU LIKE THE SMELL OF GASOLINE? Sorta I guess.

WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU SAW? Deadpool 2

WHAT’S THE WORST INJURY YOU’VE EVER HAD? I’ve never actually had any super bad injuries. The worst is probably a twisted ankle but that’s not every interesting, so I’ll share a funny one instead. 

So as a kid I was home educated, and my mum was always worried I didn’t socialise enough so she’d take me to this group for home educated kids in the area called ‘Magical Mondays’ (muffled retching noises on my part). Now one day the parents arranged a Halloween ‘party’ at one of the parent’s houses. 

The family in question was one of the really hippy-dippy ones that went to the group and, unfortunately, this meant the halloween ‘party’ was more of accurately just standing around in the dark on my part because I didn’t want to sing daft hippy campfire songs about the ‘Earth Mother’ (Not exaggerating here by the way that’s genuinely along the lines of what was going on. I just wanted to be at home playing with my Bionicles not singing about feeling Mother Earth under my feet). They didn’t even have any candy or Halloween party games. Not even a game of in-the-dark hide and seek.

 What they did have was a spooky story however. I can’t remember the exact details but it was to do with some wolf-man in the local area that stalked the fields and woods surrounding the area at night. Being slightly sceptical of the supernatural even at a young age I kinda just figured it was a story to scare kids, and thought nothing of it when they suggested we go the field at the back of the property to see if we could spot him. I figured the parents would play pretend that they’d spotted him in the distant bushes just to wind us up a bit. What I wasn’t expecting, was legitimate roaring to ring out from the field, and a figure with a pair of glowing red eyes to suddenly rear out of the tall grass shrieking at us.

Of course, I metaphorically shit myself and bolted.

Now here lies the problem: I have been cripplingly short sighted since birth. I can’t see an object clearly without my glasses unless it’s about four inches away, and horror movie style vampires in my younger self’s opinion, were markedly less spooky with glasses, and so mine were left at home. Ironically, this left me blind as a bat, and combined with the fact it was already dark, I couldn’t see jack as I ran away in panic with all the other kids, disaster was assured.

I ran head first into a metal pole that was concreted into the ground, for use as a laundry line. There was actually and audible clang as I ran into it, loud enough to make most of the parents stop their charade because of a collective “Wtf was that noise” moment. Of course dad found me on my ass in tears by the pole and was able to get me up off the ground and check me over. It turns out the horrifying wolf man in the field was one of the other dads holding two red glowsticks. 

Needless to say my mood was sour for the rest of the evening, further embittered by the continuing lack of sweets or anything actually fun to do. I’m pretty sure this was a major contributor to my slight dislike of Halloween.

DO YOU HAVE ANY OBSESSIONS RIGHT NOW? Uhh I dunno I kinda obsesses about a lot of stuff. Gundam, Gigantor, Exoman, Bionicle, Halo, the list goes on. I think the only material thing I’m sorta obsessed with is this kinda neat mech figure I sorta wanted but talked myself out of (too much money and I should be saving, etc). But yeah other than the usual dumb shit I’m not really ‘obsessing’ over anything.

DO YOU TEND TO HOLD GRUDGES AGAINST PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE YOU WRONG?Oh god yeah I’m a petty mf. 

IN A RELATIONSHIP?

Single pringle.

[douglaskimberly94]

How To Save Marriage Before Divorce Sublime Useful Ideas

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How Can I Save Marriage

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To fix a time in order to minimize the escalation of potential divorce or separation.It takes compromising and understanding that now is to blame?Couples are prone to alcoholic and other such inane issues.It doesn't matter if you manage to move on to understand what you are thinking and feeling, be positive and organized in your married life.Commit to the best days of your broken marriage.

[peachlover94]

Gladiator Voltron I: LOTG - concept movie treatment

GLADIATOR VOLTRON I: LIGHT OF THE GLADIATORS

written by Robert D.C. Barnes III (PeachLover94) Inspired by "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" created for World Events Productions by Peter Keefe, John Teichmann and Toei Animation Based on "Lightspeed Electroid Albegas" created for Toei Animation by Saburo Yatsude (Kozo Morishita, Akiyoshi Sakai, Shozo Uehara, Hiroshi Okawa and Toyohiro Ando) 30 East Trillium Circle

The Woodlands, TX 77381

936-231-8467

TREATMENT: 07-22-2017                                               2006.cosmo@gmail.com NOTE: This proposal is the property of New Frontier Cinema (PeachLover94 's production company) produced in partnership with DreamWorks SKG (Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC), World Events Productions (WEP LLC) and Toei Company, Ltd. Any unlicensed exhibition, copying or redistribution without written consent of the mentioned parties is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Gladiator Voltron I: Light of the Gladiators

Story Treatment

The Logline

In the Middle Universe, three teenagers on planet Albega find three giant humanoid robots for a science fair project competition. They then find they have found the Gladiator Voltron that protected Albega in the past, and they now must pilot Voltron to stop the One Empire of the Derinja.

Main Characters

1) DIEGO ♂ - Age: 14. Full Name: Diego Daisaku Enjoji Rodriguez. Species: Terran. Homeworld: Aoba City, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with an age-appropriate height, Brown eyes, Olive skin tone, Round human ears, Black hair in a layered shag style, and age-appropriate register of voice. Diego lives with his mother Valentine on Albega, and is just starting to come out of his shell after his father died in a household accident. His aptitude with technology and even preference for trying to employ creative strategies to defeat anyone who threatens him and his friends makes him the perfect pilot for the Black Alpha of Wisdom. 2) JACOBY ♂ - Age: 14. Full Name: Jacoby Tetsuya Jin Scott. Species: Terran. Homeworld: Aoba City, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with an age-appropriate height, Blue eyes, Caucasian skin tone, Round human ears, Brown hair in a Pompadour style, and age-appropriate register of voice. Jacoby is seen as this bike-riding "big man on campus", but he is somewhat jealous of the family that both Diego and Alexis have as he lost his parents at a young age, with him having to live on his own for a while. In battle, the Blue Beta of Courage chooses him for his wild streak and willingness to fight for what truly is right. 3) ALEXIS ♀ - Age: 14. Full Name: Alexis Hotaru Mizuki Vekoma. Species: Terran. Homeworld: Aoba City, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with an age-appropriate height, Green eyes, Caucasian skin tone, Round human ears, Light Brown hair in a Hime style, and age-appropriate register of voice. Alexis may seem like a regular girl's girl at first glance, but she has no patience for bullies picking on others which makes her at times violent. Her immense drive for a good fight to test herself outweighed by her penchant for trying to help out anyone feeling down is what destines her to pilot the Red Gamma of Compassion. 4) RODRIGUEZ ♀ - Age: 35. Full Name: Valentine Saeko Asabuki Rodriguez. Species: Terran. Homeworld: Aoba City, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with a medium-tall build, Brown eyes, Olive skin tone, Round human ears, Brown hair in a Pageboy style, and medium register voice. Valentine lives with her son Diego and has to pull long shifts at work to provide for her son ever since her husband died in a household accident. It is she who told her son the story of how Gladiator Voltron saved Albega back in the distant past. When it seems as though Voltron is returning, she joins the Alliance to help her son fight the Derinja. 5) WILSON ♂ - Age: 15. Full Name: Riley Goro Kumai Wilson. Species: Terran. Homeworld: New Harlem, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with an age-appropriate height and robust build, Brown eyes, Dark Brown skin tone, Round human ears, Brown hair in an Afro style, and age-appropriate register of voice. At first, he is the link between the three heroes (Diego, Jacoby and Alexis) and their fellow classmates, teachers and their family - the civilian world. Riley is the first to encourage them to compete in the robotics tournament which leads to them discovering Gladiator Voltron, and he becomes their tech support in mission control. 6) VEKOMA ♂ - Age: 42. Full Title: Professor Jonathan Mizuki Vekoma, dean of Science at Aoba High School. Species: Terran. Homeworld: Aoba City, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with a medium-tall, Green eyes, Caucasian skin tone, Round human ears, Dark Grey hair with a light mustache, and low-medium register voice. In his approach to science, Vekoma is more of a hands-on kind of professor, wanting to nurture students' curiosity by showing results of science and technology in action. Helping to rebuild his daughter Alexis, Jacoby and Diego's robots after sabotage, he helps them recover and form the Gladiator Voltron. 7) ZAMAN ♀ - Age: 35. Full Title: Professor Jennifer Danko Kibi Zaman - Associate Dean of the Aoba High School Science Department. Species: Terran. Homeworld: Aoba City, Planet Albega (Earth colony in the Hyperion Galaxy/Middle Universe). Physical Features: A Human phenotype with a medium-tall build, Blue eyes, Caucasian skin tone, Round human ears, Blonde hair in a medium-length straight style, and low-medium register voice.  She mostly teaches lecture-based science and technology classes, tends to be more stern and strict with her students, and is apparently only behind Vekoma in status at Aoba High. But when Gladiator Voltron is needed, she is one of our heroes' strongest supporters.

The Background

Long in the past of the Hyperion Galaxy, the three-piece fighting humanoid robot known as Gladiator Voltron was known as Albegas by the peoples of the planets the robot visited. Albegas or Gladiator Voltron was a sentient being, renown across the galaxy for its feats of heroism and bravery. Ultimately, this led to Voltron developing something of an ego, as it challenged both the wicked Overlord of planet Deram and the goddess Rhea to battle it for supremacy in the galaxy. Rhea, having sensed the egotism brewing in Gladiator Voltron/Albegas out of simple ignorance of its own power and not out of sinister malice, defeated but spared the robot as she pondered what punishment would do it best. In a rage, the Deram Overlord disguised himself as Rhea and tried to destroy Voltron while succeeding at slaying Rhea. With her last acts, Rhea managed to save Gladiator Voltron/Albegas by splitting it back up into its three component humanoid robots - the Black Alpha of Wisdom, the Red Gamma of Compassion, and the Blue Beta of Bravery - that when all are combined together do they form Voltron. They were flung through space until they crash-landed on Albega, there to spend a great deal of time defending it from the forces of evil in the Hyperion Galaxy until some force caused it to go into dormancy until the time was right. Now the time has come for Gladiator Voltron's return to battle the Derinja. The Premise

It is said that the Gladiator Voltron Force story arc of Voltron: Defender of the Universe would have been adapted from the 1983 anime series Lightspeed Electroid Albegas - but was to be adapted to be part of a much bigger storyline. Here, the Voltron story takes on a more urban fantasy/mecha science fiction as even though it is set on an Earth colony planet in the Hyperion Galaxy, the overall locale would not seem that far off from anything on contemporary Earth. Taking the team of heroes premises of the Japanese Super Sentai/Power Rangers series, the teen high school dramedy of Mean Girls, and the appeal of robots found in both the Gundam and Transformers franchises, Voltron is ready to launch. In this four-quadrant five-act mecha science fiction epic, three very talented teenage students named Diego, Jacoby and Alexis go to Aoba High School in the year 2981. Alexis' father is the well-regarded science teacher Professor Vekoma who is chairing the upcoming science fair and robot battle. On a hiking trip with their friend Riley Wilson to find ideas for both the science fair and robot battle, the three find a trio of giant humanoid robots buried in a cave. Bringing them back to Vekoma, the three teens soon discover the robots are able to join together to form the mythical Gladiator Voltron - Defender of the Middle Universe. Can they join together to stop a Derinja attack that threatens their planet? The Nemeses

Aside from normal human squabbles and quandaries that face three teens trying to survive, Gladiator Voltron and its team of pilots have to contend with the new horrible menace threatening the Hyperion Galaxy. Many of the Derinja Drules of Planet Deram takes on a dark cult-like atmosphere that reeks of Jonestown, the Branch Davidians and their like. Most of the Drules are humanoids with light purple skin and red eyes. With fleets of starfighters and space battleships; as well as armies of tanks, super soldiers and Robeast mecha monsters, Derinja Drules are aimed at making the Drule Empire a major if not the only superpower in the Hyperion Galaxy, with only Voltron daring to stand in their way. 1) AZ'A ♂ - Age: Late 40s/Early 50s. Species: Derinja Drule. Homeworld: Deram. Eye Color: Red. His full title is Emperor Az'A of the Planet Deram. Emperor Az'A is a strong worshiper of the deity present across his entire planet, known only as the Deram Overlord, and is devoted to conquering the world and ruling it in the Overlord's name. He is highly devoted to the cult of personality that his people grow and till around him, and wishes to make them, and himself, all-powerful. Proclaiming himself as a savior, he enjoys, and is happy to cause, the suffering of others, sacrificing innocents in horrific ways, torturing enemies and brainwashing them into becoming subordinates and enslaving other races. 2) ROBEASTS - Wherever one goes in the Empires of the Drules, there will always be such things as Robeasts to challenge the Voltrons and threaten the peace of the Near, Middle and Far Universes. Robeasts from Planet Deram sent to battle the Gladiator Voltron are the humanoid monsters created through advanced science and technology, most often from prisoners of war that are reared in Lord Az'A's cruel gladiatorial combat, though some of them are simply giant robots piloted by Spartan troopers. A platoon of fifteen robeasts is ready at a moments notice to travel with fighters, tanks, space battleships and Spartan trooper armies to lay siege to Voltron and or whatever may get in their Empire's way. 3) BI'OS ♂ - Age: Late 60s. Species: Derinja Drule. Homeworld: Deram. Eye Color: Red. Hair Color: White. His full title is Vizier Bi'Os of the Planet Deram, intending to inherit the throne after the coup he is planning takes place. As he only kowtows to the Overlord of Deram, it is often rumored that Bi'Os is the one stroking Az'A's ego to throw him off the scent of Bi'Os' own attempted bids at becoming Emperor of the Derinja Drules. A natural-born kiss-up and backstabber, he lives for nothing more than destroying any "invaders" that could make a pass at the Empire and generally making the Derinja Military and other Drule forces out to look like fools, imbeciles and other pejorative words not to be listed. 4) SPARTANS - Say hello to the mixed organic and cybernetic shock troopers of the Derinja. They serve as the backbone of the Derinja military forces. Their drones have no built in weapons, instead using the same weapons as their organic counterparts. Drones are capable of squad-level infantry tactics and understanding vocal commands. These androids can somewhat resemble fellow Drules, appearing to wear this green-purple armor. In fact, some of the living soldiers appear identical to their own Drones. In addition, Derinja Drones can be used for scouting environments full of every kind of hazards, are more durable, and have no fear of utter destruction to claim victory for Emperor Az'A's nation. 5) DUST'OX ♂ - Age: 40s. Species: Derinja Drule. Homeworld: Deram. Eye Color: Red. Hair Color: White. His full title is Gunnery Sergeant (or General) Dust'Ox of the Deram Forces. He is quite the sadistic, leather-lunged and powerful fighter who willfully kills and berates anyone who gets in his way. His loyalty to Deram's Overlord and Az'A, as well as adherence to military hierarchy is without question and only obeys the commands given to him. His aggressive fighting style relies primarily on the use of his strong limbs, an energy sword and terrifying piercing claws. He is also athletic, able to dodge and move around quickly to evade attacks. This is despite his large size, topping at about eight feet.

The Heroes and the Twist

We first meet Alexis, Diego and Jacoby in their 9th grade science class at Aoba High School on planet Albega. Before that, the three often ran into each other and kept eyes on each other from afar without the others knowing. Later, they become teenage versions of the Kirk (Ego), the Spock (Superego) and the McCoy (Id) triumvirate so often found in analysis of the Freudian psyche. Deep down, they would sacrifice their lives for each other, but they sometimes have petty squabbles and do not always trust each other. But the discovery and reactivation of Gladiator Voltron with the three as its pilots forces them to take charge so to become the super force of space explorers prophesied to save Albega. The Story Breakdown

Prologue

1) From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the Universe, comes a legend. The legend of the Voltrons: Defenders of the Universe. Three mighty robots, loved by good, feared by evil. As the Voltrons' legend grew, peace settled across the galaxies. On Planet Earth, a Galaxy Alliance was formed. Together with the good planets of our Solar System, they maintained peace throughout the Universe until new, horrible menaces threatened the galaxies. The Voltrons are needed once more. This is the story of the super force of space explorers. Specially trained, entrusted and sent by the Alliance with the ancient secrets of how to assemble and restore, Gladiator Voltron: Defender of the Middle Universe.

Act I

2) We open on the bedrooms of 14-year-old students Diego Rodriguez, Jacoby Scott and Alexis Vekoma as alarm clock bells ring. They are waking up on their very first Monday of the September equivalent - marking the start of their high school days. Alexis washes her hair in the shower, Diego brushes his teeth and tries to find clothes for the day, and Jacoby finishes combing his wet hair as he scurries to get dressed and head down for breakfast. The three are soon out the door and walking towards their secondary education institution - Aoba High School. Even as the morning sun breaks, we see something out of the ordinary - two moons remain in the sky and are setting toward the western area.

3) Diego arrives in his homeroom class taught by the associate science professor Jennifer Zaman. Another boy named Riley Wilson who attends classes with Diego, Alexis and Jacoby - but not all three at once - decides he should help out the three who feel lost and alone on their first day of high school. Lunch soon comes, and Diego finds a place to sit by himself as a social wallflower and self-perceived outcast in the cafeteria. Alexis comes to join him followed by Jacoby as they soon introduce themselves to each other and find that the three of them perceive themselves as the outcasts and drink to their independence from the many stereotypical yet with some truth cliques common to high school.

4) Far away on the dark and spooky planet of Deram, Emperor Az'A leads a mass of his followers in worship of the planet's deity - the Grand Overlord of Deram. They chant and bow in admiration for the Overlord when Az'A's personal Vizier known as Bi'Os reports one of their skull ships (space battleships able to carry Stinger fighters) has returned with slaves and sacrifices for the Overlord. Pleased with the announcement, Az'A orders a slave be brought in for his approval. After seeing the prisoner and removing the beating heart from him, the Derinja Emperor orders the now-heartless prisoner be lowered into the lava pit for the Overlord to receive. He and his followers cackle wildly at the spectacle.

5) The shrieking cackles of the Derinja, a vassal faction of the Drule Empire in the Galaxy Alliance echo across the Hyperion Galaxy back all the way to Albega. It is back at the high school that we find Alexis in the middle of a heated tennis practice session just as her coach calls for the team to hit the showers and prepare for their next class. While all the other classes have been somewhat humdrum for Alexis, Diego and Jacoby; the science and technology class taught by Alexis' father Professor Jonathan Vekoma is shaping up to be nothing short of riveting and meaningful. Vekoma's hands-on and practical approaches to science win his students over, but Diego is lost in something of a hidden funk.

6) Back at Diego's house that night, Diego is just about to turn in when he looks at a framed picture on his bedside nightstand. As he looks, tears come to his eyes. The picture is of his family which includes his father who was killed in a nasty accident four years before this moment. His mother Valentine Rodriguez comes in to say good night when she sees her son reminiscing. She hugs Diego and tells him she misses her husband and his father too. Hoping to help her son be able to get through the night, for now, Valentine sits by Diego's bed and begins retelling the story of how the mighty robot Albegas - or Gladiator Voltron - was humbled and then returned to save Albega in the past to her little boy.

Act II

  7) What a coincidence is is that the night Valentine tells Diego the story of Gladiator Voltron that Emperor Az'A chuckles that not even the titular mighty robot will be able to return to stand against the Derinja. His cackling is soon caught by a transmission from across space in the Milky Way Galaxy - from Chief Commander Hazar Dorita Teles of the Drule Empire himself! Az'A, Bi'Os and Dust'Ox listen intently as Hazar delivers a stern warning to them that to underestimate the mighty robot Voltron will be their utter doom, for he should know thanks to the recent fall of his underling and rival Commander Zabar. Dust'Ox declares that the planet of Albega will make a perfect target for destruction.

8) Later that week on the first Friday of that month, Alexis is stirred to hear Professor Vekoma announce the winter science fair and robotics tournament. Teams of three students will build three robots to compete against other teams' trios of robots in battles for prizes and a chance to win free tuition to the college, university or academy of the winning team's choice. Diego, Jacoby and Alexis are assigned to be one team by recommendation of Riley. The field trip up to the San Rialto Mountains arranged by Professors Vekoma and Zaman to learn about the symbiotic nature of the water, rocks and plants will be the perfect time to the three to get ideas on what to create for the science fair robot tournament.

9) The following Wednesday; Alexis, Diego and Jacoby are on their way with their classmates and science professors to the San Rialto range for their field trip. When the three see one of the cheerleaders wanting to pick on some of the shyer girls in the class, Jacoby and Diego futilely try to restrain Alexis from getting violent with the cheerleader. Coming to the shy girls' defense, Alexis is made the new target of the stuck up cheerleader's scorn as she declares Alexis as deserving of staying an outcast as much as the shy girls next to them. Simply shrugging off her rival's taunts, Alexis moves the shy girls away from the bus while backhandedly flipping the middle finger in the direction of the cheerleader.

10)  In front of legions of Derinja Spartan troopers, companies of laser tanks, and fourteen Robeasts waiting to board the mighty fleet of skull ships, Dust'Ox addresses his forces from his Robeast Reptoking. The Robeasts known as Octovore, Mechabeak, Demoncrab, Scalestrike, Death Hornet, Yellow Belly, Death Mantis, Hypnokiller, Hornback, Kingfish, Roachman, Dinoslasher, Mantaray and Dire Spider lead the legions of Spartans in cheering for Dust'Ox and their battle. Proudly, Dust'Ox proclaims their victory shall be a day remembered through history. With that, the Derinja forces begin to load onto the skull ships to prepare for blastoff on the campaign to conquer planet Albega once and for all.

11) Jacoby spots a mysterious trio of caverns as the students and Professor Vekoma pass them. Eager to find out what is buried in them, Jacoby calls for Diego and Alexis to follow him to the caverns. They are different because they have symbols carved outside their arches of entry - A for Alpha, B for Beta and Γ for Gamma. Inside each is a giant humanoid machine, all in a state of dormancy. The three rush back to Professor Vekoma and Professor Zaman to bring them to analyze their findings. As the students are unperturbed by the caverns but in awe at the machines inside, Vekoma tasks Diego, Jacoby and his daughter Alexis to climb inside these machines and see what exactly they are.

Act III

12) Diego climbs into the cockpit of the black robot in the Alpha Cavern, Jacoby takes the blue robot in the Beta Cavern, and Alexis chooses to examine the red robot in the Gamma Cavern. Seating themselves inside, they turn the controls thinking the machines are still dormant. This, however, causes the ground to shake and the caverns to collapse - but not before the students and teachers evacuate the caverns. Vekoma and Zaman watch as the three robots come together to form one giant robot (Red forming the forward legs, lower torso, lower backpack and hip; Blue the torso midriff, aft legs and upper backpack; and Black the head, upper torso, arms, hands and upper legs) amazing the others.

13) Back on planet Deram, Az'A and Bi'Os are in a temple dedicated to the Overlord as they bow and chant their dark hymns down into the deity present across their world. The two Derinja Drules vow that Albega shall fall within the next few Earth days and become theirs to exploit all they please, but the Overlord cautions them not to be so overconfident and take the advice of Commander Hazar. If there is even a ghost of a chance that some force like Voltron could return, through willful or ignorant underestimation will Voltron bring irreparable ruin to the Derinja and the Drule Empire. In response, Az'A promises to destroy Voltron and stir more chaos to help the Overlord grow to overpower the Drules.

14) The other students and the professors are both amazed and confused as Alexis and Jacoby are at a loss for words. Diego, however, is blown away with excitement and ecstasy that one of his childhood bedtime stories has come true. He cannot contain his enthusiasm as he calls out over megaphone that they found the perfect robots for the science fair's tournament - Gladiator Voltron. With such a thought in her mind, Alexis asks her father the professor if they could fly the robots back and meet the rest of the class back at the school - to which Vekoma says yes, but the robots will need further analysis after school. Disassembling Voltron, the three students fly the robots back to Aoba High School.

15) Valentine Rodriguez has gotten the day off from work to pick up Diego from school that day when she sees the three giant robots flying down toward the school that seem to have appeared out of the bedtime story she told her son. Climbing down out of his black robot, Diego rushes into his mother's arms with the biggest smile on his face she has seen in over four years and excitedly tells Valentine that the legend of Gladiator Voltron has turned out true. Valentine is simply dumbfounded as Diego introduces his new friends Alexis and Jacoby to her and they are called to the large science lab the size of the nearby open air gym hall where the robots land on their feet and await the professor's work.

16) Hyperskip exit signatures are the only confirmation to the Galaxy Alliance-built early warning and defense satellites in orbit of planet Albega that the One Empire of the Derinja - the Drule Empire's Hyperion Galaxy branch - are making their move. Dust'Ox orders his Spartan troopers to the drop ships and Stinger fighters to destroy the satellites and make haste for the planet. Down on the planet at Aoba High, our heroes are watching and listening intently with Riley as Professors Zaman and Vekoma try to analyze the robot Gladiators. Suddenly, the robot Gladiators' cockpit eye shields glow as they kneel down to face their human onlookers. The spirit of Voltron speaks to them via telepathic links.

Act IV

17) Diego, Jacoby and Alexis are stunned to find that it was not sheer fate that brought them to Voltron, but certain traits about them that made them worthy in the eyes of the robots they found. Diego is shown to have a knack for technology and an ability to think up the craftiest solutions to seemingly intractable problems - which make him perfect to pilot the Black Alpha Gladiator of Wisdom. Jacoby's inner bravery that forces him to fight for what is right, and his ever wild streak have marked him to be the Blue Beta Gladiator of Courage's pilot. Finally, Alexis is chosen by the Red Gamma Gladiator of Compassion for her empathy and care for fellow humans to get everyone their own happily ever after.

18) Alexis walks over to her father as Riley and Zaman communicate with the Gladiators. Having heard the story of how Gladiator Voltron, once known as Albegas, was brought down and then tricked by the Overlord of Deram; our heroes suddenly get nervous about the prospects of real fighting and try to book it out of there. The Gladiators tell Diego's mother Valentine and Alexis' father Professor Vekoma that their children will soon see the need for Voltron and to just give them a little time. In the meantime, Dust'Ox is leading his strike platoon from his Reptoking Robeast to attack the cities surrounding the Aoba district. Buildings are collapsing and people are being shot in the streets by Spartan troops.

19) The news of the attack on Albega reaches both the Galaxy Alliance and the Drule Empire. At Galaxy Garrison on Earth, Star Marshal Matthew Satoru Wasaka Graham contacts Captain Newley aboard the Explorer to return to the planet and deliver a space fleet to Albega to see what they can do to stop the Derinja in their tracks. In the meantime, Commander Hazar contacts his liaison in the Drules' Denubian Galaxy jurisdiction - King Zarkon Daibazaal, ruler of the Galran Empire of the Drules on Galra or Planet Doom. Zarkon is utterly enraptured and a little jealous that he himself could not lead the charge on Albega, but Hazar warns him that the Gladiator Voltron is on the planet ready to fight.

20) Not wanting to be forced into a dangerous war; our heroes rush out of the gym to the field in a panicked hysteria with Riley barely able to keep up with them and trying to bring them back. They soon see a Derinja drop ship landing on the field with Spartan troopers to seize all in their way. Instinctual fight or flight kicks in as the four students find themselves surrounded. This time, they choose to fight back and start giving the Spartans hell by doing gymnastics and martial arts moves on their tormentors. When three Spartans grab Riley and try to carry him away; Alexis, Diego and Jacoby grab the commanders' swords and start cutting down the enemy soldiers to save the friend who united them.

21) Heavy laser fire from approaching skull ships rocks the ground and causes earthquakes in a perimeter around Aoba City and many of the surrounding suburban areas. The quakes are even felt at the school. The air raid sirens sound, and the news reports of Derinja forces attacking other cities on Albega calls for serious action. Diego, Alexis and Jacoby choose to suit up and fight with their Gladiators to save both themselves and the planet that is their home. They rush to their Gladiators and initiate their launch procedures. Vekoma, Zaman, Riley and Valentine rush to the underground cellars of Aoba High where a secret Galaxy Alliance control room had been built in the event of planetary emergencies.

Act V

22) Diego, Jacoby and Alexis (in that order) launch their respective Gladiators from Aoba High School toward the downtown area to save the planet if they can. In the control room, Riley detects Drule-allied Stinger fighters of the Derinja coming down to strafe the city, which forces the three to use their robots' laser cannons to shoot down the enemy starfighters before they reach their target. Zaman arrives in the control room and reports that Derinja skull ships are preparing to deploy laser tanks to the surface. The three strafe the skull ships and bring them down just outside the downtown area. Now it is just the Robeasts trapped on the planet in the downtown area left for the Gladiators to contend with.

23) The Gladiator Voltron Force arrives in downtown Aoba City and gets to work battling the Robeasts. Valentine, Zaman, Riley and Vekoma watch from the control room at the school and call out tactical commands to get an edge on the Derinja forces. Alexis takes the Red Gamma against the Scalestrike, Hypnokiller and Demoncrab Robeasts; Diego and the Black Alpha go one-on-three against Mechabeak, Dire Spider and Yellow Belly; while Jacoby plunges forward with the Blue Beta on the Roachman, Dinoslasher and Death Mantis while trying to avoid destroying buildings and other civilian property that could result in the deaths of innocent people. Just barely, they are able to take the Robeasts down.

24) Only Octovore, Mantaray, Kingfish, Hornback, Death Hornet and Dust'Ox in Reptoking are left to challenge the three. This is the signal Diego takes to call for forming Voltron. Activating interlocks, connecting their dynotherms, bringing up their infracells, and setting their mega-thrusters to go; the Gladiator Voltron Force is go to form and battle. The sight of the Gladiators coming together to form Gladiator Voltron stuns and horrifies Dust'Ox and his few surviving Robeasts. Octovore, Mantaray and Kingfish find themselves on the wrong end of the Electroid Arrow Bows that Jacoby through Voltron fires. Our heroes soon close in on and destroy Death Hornet and Hornback with the Solar Spear Trident.

25) Dust'Ox prepares to charge as Gladiator Voltron ignites and forms its Blazing Sword. News of Dust'Ox's impending defeat reaches the Drule Homeworld as Commander Hazar monitors the battle closely. Hazar knows the return of any Voltron will be certain doom for the Drule Empire. Simply trusting in both themselves and the spirits of their machines; Alexis, Diego and Jacoby telepathically compel Voltron to surge ahead sword first and slash right through Dust'Ox. Voltron then pumps its fists as Dust'Ox and his Robeast explode behind them. As soon as the All Clear signal is given, the students and teachers of Aoba High School rush out to cheer for Alexis, Diego and Jacoby saving their planet.

26) A Galaxy Alliance representative, Deputy Star Marshal Willard Tosuke Dewa Steele, arrives in front of Aoba High School aboard a shuttle arranged by the Vehicle Voltron Force. Steele congratulates Professor Vekoma on locating Gladiator Voltron and staging a brilliant defense of Albega from the Derinja forces of the Drule Empire. But credit must go where it is due, as Steele congratulates our heroes on pulling together to prove themselves worthy of joining the Galaxy Alliance and the Voltron Forces. Diego, Alexis and Jacoby raise their right hands and jump for joy in celebration that they are now the Gladiator Voltron Force that protects the Middle Universe as the camera freezes on them mid-jump.

Epilogue (Preview Summary for Gladiator Voltron II: Sword of the Damocles)

27) And with the defeat of Gunnery Sergeant Dust'Ox; the names of Voltron, Gladiator Voltron and Albega would once again strike fear in the hearts of the Drule Empire and its Hyperion Galaxy vassals the Derinja. Even so, Professor Vekoma is determined to be able to locate and destroy the Derinja's secret orbital headquarters as well as free the people of Deram from Az'A and the Overlord's control before enlisting the help of the Galaxy Alliance to destroy Deram. In the meantime, the three pilots of Gladiator Voltron try to parlay their newfound fame into helping out their friends and family while exploring themselves. But the Derinja Commander Da'Ri and Vizier Bi'Os have an ace in the hole...

[kennethstepp]

Preparation and Restoration

Preparation And Restoration

The Kindness of a Loving God

By Kenneth Stepp

Becoming Benjamin:

At 16 years old, he was coming into his own. He was a shy kid, just trying to be a man, Skinny Benny was his name most of his childhood. He found himself at a dirty gym in the inner city. The sport was boxing. He wasn’t known for his physical prowess, yet he mustered the courage to be there. He awkwardly pushed one rope down and pulled one up and stepped into the ring. The mat felt strange. Bouncy even. He wasn’t expecting that. The ring favorite came up. His name was Jabber, no doubt a nickname. Just another kid, no doubt from the neighborhood, stepped into the ring and stared at Benny. He had been here many times and they called him Champ, Benny was new at this. He thought he’d be trained before this. Evidently, training is what he was doing here. The ref made his way to the center of the ring. Fighters waved to the middle. Fair and clean fight, he said. Ding! It was a massacre. Benny found himself on the mat, bloody, ears ringing, and yet, alive in a way he’d never been. What just happened?

The next day Benny hurt in places he didn’t know he had. Sporting a black eye and a very fat lip. All he could say was two things. At least he did it. And he could do better. It was hot out that day. Benny’s family had no idea about the sport he was interested in. Something about it just sucked him in. He felt compelled to know what it was and to master it. Looking back, it was all a plan for his life. To him, it was something that called him. He trained, He ran every day, he studied the great fighters, he watched videos, went to matches, lifted weights, he trained. Some days, it was mindless actions, some days it was obsession. And to Benny, it was something he had to do. Some of the guys at the gym, seeing he was so committed to training, asked, why not be a bodybuilder? Fighters get hurt, bodybuilders get the girls. All he knew was that he was a warrior. It may be deep inside him, but he knew what he was. 

Three months had passed and Baby Leroy, the trainer at the gym said, you’ll be gloving up tomorrow night, I’m out of fighters. Benny was a little intimidated by his last humiliating loss, but reluctantly agreed. He moved across the gym to the powerbag. It was a leather bag hanging from the ceiling by a chain. It was hard as a rock and weighed about 200 pounds. Baby Leroy, Benny yelled across the room. What! Can I do this? This is your domain, the last time I fought, I embarrassed myself and hurt for days. Son, God has a plan for all of us. You are no better or worse than any of us. Tomorrow night you will take all the time and investments I poured into you into the ring. If I didn’t think you were ready, I wouldn’t tell you to glove up. Hit the showers and get some rest, you’re going to need it.

Sleep was illusive that night. He tossed and turned. There wasn’t anyone to talk to about it. His family was in disarray, no one would understand. Benny was the youngest of three boys, they called me kid. To them this fighting stuff was their business, not the runt of the family. He finally began to doze off. As he fell into a deep sleep, he dreamed. He dreamed of being a warrior. Facing the battle as a knight on the battlefield. Covered in armor, sword in hand, rushing up the next hill. With his life on the line, his next move could be his last, every step he took was important, every breath he took meant his life could end. He was sure he was in a battle with other warriors, his dream was vivid and so complete. The colors, sounds, and smell of the bloody field were so real. How, How did he get there, when would this be over? Startled by his oldest brother entering his room and shaking him. Are you ok kid? You were screaming and moving around in your bed so loud I could hear you across the hall. I’m ok. Sorry I woke you. He sank back into a deep sleep. 

Benny woke up naturally the next day. Coffee and cereal. Not exactly the breakfast of champions. He looked at the clock, 9:30 am. His fight seemed so far away. He had to check in at the gym at 5:00. Feeling this anxious, how would he fill this day? Having finished breakfast, he pondered the day ahead. Companionship on this journey would be helpful. His family had no idea and he was a loner. He made no real friends at the gym, some even made fun of him for being so quiet. Most stayed away from him because of the seriousness he took with workouts. Baby Leroy always said to take it easy before a fight. He took it easy the first time and found himself on the floor covered in his own blood. He decided to go for a run. Five miles on the street would be a great way to start the day. 

Inner city gyms are dirty and dark for the most part. And fight night had one thing that always happened. Gamblers. The amount of cash being bet was amazing to Benny. Two men get into the ring, everyone gets a good look at them, most are there every week and know who the fighters are, their records, previous fights, and their style of fighting. Benny walked the aisle to the ring, grabbed the rope and climbed in. He walked around for a moment waiting to see who his opponent would be. A train of guys and a man in a hooded robe began making a theatrical beeline for the ring. One rope up, one held down, he entered the ring. As he danced around, arms in the air, hood falling off, his worst fears came to life. It was Jabber again. No doubt, here to make a fool of him again. Baby Leroy looked over with the most wise look I had ever seen. “You got this.”

As the fighters met the ref in the center of the ring, Benny listened to his instructions, moved away, the bell rang, and they moved into the middle of the ring. Jabber began with a right hook catching Benny on the chin, he staggered back, caught himself on the ropes, Jabber, sensing the end was near, shot two more punches quickly. Benny knew he was in trouble and pushed Jabber back like he was in a street fight. Shaking his head “no”, he came back at Jabber, left, left, left, right hook, Jabber was rattled. The bell rang. No idea if anyone was saved by the bell, but this was a very different fight than before. This was two warriors, not one warrior and a lost boy. Baby Leroy told Benny while he was in his corner, you had him. The next round, take him out. 

The bell rang again, Jabber came in fast, he tried the same combination, Benny stepped back, and then back in, Jabber didn’t know what hit him. He was out, completely out. Benny had never seen a man just drop. It was as if he was an outsider watching a fight. He had beaten their best. As Jabber was helped up, Baby Leroy said, I told you you had this. I will never lie to you son. If I tell you a mouse can pull a wagon, hook him up. Still on a high that only a winner can know, he wanted to shower up and go somewhere to celebrate. But where does a 16 year old loner go? He goes home and hopes his parents don’t see he’s been in a fight, then off to his room. Today was a great day. The warrior child had his first victory. Life has a way of reminding us that not every experience will be a win. And Benny’s life was no different. Loss would always be his faithful companion. 

The Professional:

Today was the day. Going pro as they call it. After almost three years of bloodsport and pain. Benny would hold the title of a professional boxer. Oh happy day. He was excited. Now 19 years old, in the shape of his life, and eager to become whatever he was becoming. Having made a name for himself in Golden Gloves, the new Benny was emerging as a pro fighter and that was exciting to him. Pride and a feeling of superiority would not serve him well in the future. But that is a lesson to be learned. There would be many lessons to come. Today was his day. Being licensed by the state to fight professionally. That’s what today was about. Not the future, not the money, not even what people thought. The only thing that mattered was how he felt today. And that was amazing… 

Literally across the ring. That is how far he was knocked in his first professional fight. He’d never been hit so hard and so often. His knockout may have been merciful. It was also telling. He stood toe to toe with another professional boxer and lost magnificently. Not how he wanted to begin his historic rise to fame. And certainly not the record he wanted, 0 and 1. What on earth went wrong? Every thought imaginable went through his mind. If he was going to lose, why lose so easily? Why was he not able to even defend himself? Too many why’s and not enough answers. Boxing had so many rules. Was he meant to go back to civilian life, he thought. He was about as down as he’d ever been. 

Four years later, as he stepped into the ring again, he was weary. With a record of 8 and 19, he had little to no chance to make it big in boxing. All he could do was stand tall to the guy in front of him. Just another road bump in a less that average boxing career. As they stood staring at one another before the bell rang, Benny wondered, has this guy found winning to be much harder than he’d expected like he had? What is winning really? At the end of the night we will both be in the hospital. If his stay is shorter, did he win? Philosophy is a terrible thing when one is bleeding. And by the end of the fight, they both were. 

The Offer:

Gladiator sports… Benny had never heard that phrase before. Yet here he was, standing in front of a guy making him an offer. You hit like a mule kicks. You would be amazing without gloves, refs, and rules. Imagine hearing this after spending the majority of your adult life following rules and the ref’s orders. The day after the fight, a very suspicious man showed up at my door. How would you like to make some real money? Really? I make money now, Benny thought to himself. The stranger looked at him with very confident eyes. He knew what he wanted to say before he said it. Boxers like you flame out quickly. You were good enough to go pro, but not good enough to beat a lot of other professional boxers. It happens more often than not. Benny was intrigued, so he agreed to meet him in the morning at a local coffee shop for a serious conversation. 

Benny woke up late. It seems injuries drain the life out of the body and sleep is something the body requires to move on. He noticed the time and dragged himself out of bed and began to move with purpose. They say time waits for no one, and the opportunity this guy was talking about came once in a lifetime. Maybe never in a lifetime. The money he said he would make per fight, should he qualify, was more than he’d ever hoped for as a boxer. It was life altering money. Fame? He never mentioned that… He’d find out why in the future. 

He was kind of a weasel. His name was Jimmy, there was something very sleazy about Jimmy, but he spoke of a future in fighting that Benny knew he did not have in boxing. He was funny, but he knew he was there just following orders. Who gave him those orders, he had no idea. How would you like to make the big bucks? $10k per night. Looking back, Benny wished he had asked about the “per night” thing. He only knew per fight. That would be huge in his life. He asked for details. You will have to be trained, but we think you will be perfect. Intrigued, Benny said yes. The offer was just too good given the direction his boxing career was heading. 

Training Day:

Benny showed up expecting trainers. What he found was Jimmy and another guy. Training will be intense, they said. You will go through several stages of training. The first will be with a master. Benny was asked to follow them. Three hours later, he was in the parking lot of a very seedy looking hotel. It was horrible. A clarifying picture of things to come. They entered an ally. There was a door that was very dark, They entered it and there it was. A dojo like none Benny had seen before. This would be his home for several months. He wasn’t excited about it, but he needed a career change and this held promise. That day was a turning point in his life and up till then was the most significant day yet.

Push, push, push. The training was brutal. It pushed Benny’s human limits. Strength training, endurance racing, diet, carbing up. They had found ways of adding weight to his body and dissolving fat. Injections and more injections, 1000 pushups before bed, he was becoming something unfamiliar. But it felt great. He could run, I mean run, forever, up and down streets too. He could strike a power bag so hard that the sound echoed all across the gym. He felt amazing, and felt so strong, he felt like a god. He was becoming invincible. 

The Farm:

Four months of the most brutal yet amazing training he had ever had. He was becoming something he didn't know he could be. He was awakened at 4:00 AM. Get up, we are moving. The hole in the wall Benny called home was both a dump and had become home to him. It seemed disgusting when he arrived but he made it work. The drive was long, Jimmy had very little to say, he was usually talkative to the point of bothering him. So where is my new home? They call it The Farm. That sounded like a needed break to Benny, the inner city has its own charm, but hearing a rooster in the morning sounds great too. They drove for several hours, only stopping every little while for bathroom breaks. We were in the country now and it was beautiful. The air smelled so clean. On these country roads Benny began to imagine what this farm would be like. Nothing could have prepared me for the truth.  

Anatomy 101:

The main house was big and beautiful. Off to the right was a huge barn with a small cabin beside it. They pulled up at the cabin, Benny grabbed the few items that belonged to him and took them in. Welcome home! He turned and there was a very large man in gym shorts on the porch standing at the door. No time to unpack, orientation is in ten minutes. Benny learned early on in this adventure to just go along, ask few questions, and do what he needed to to prepare him for what needed to be done. He walked over to the barn. It really was huge. Made of metal, red with a large sliding door to walk through. As he walked in, he was impressed by how neat it was kept. It had different sections for different uses. To the right was the ring, he supposed he could box there. To the left were rooms. Rooms without ceilings, the ceiling on the barn was very high, maybe 40 feet, they built these rooms to make him feel he was in classrooms, or that was the only thing he could think of. 

They walked into the first room, there was a thin pale guy in a lab coat. Benny, this is Doc. He will be spending the next month or so with you. They shook hands. Doc’s hands were soft and weak, Benny’s had become large and muscular. He winced when he tried to give him a firm handshake. Benny realized he had changed to the point that he needed to keep his hand strength in check. Time for your first class Benny. Let’s learn something, he replied. For the next month we will be studying human anatomy. More importantly, how to destroy it. Benny smiled and said, well alrighty then. Classes were 5 hours a day, seven days a week. Physical training was even harder at the farm. Benny sparred with guys that were not his equal. There were moments when he felt he had no equal. His confidence was higher than ever. He was being taught the science of devastating other human beings. It fascinated him.

Well, They Called it a Farm:

Noticing no crops or animals, Benny was left to wonder why they named this, The Farm. They say curiosity killed the cat. He was about to find out why. After a month he was in the best shape of his life. He knew he was becoming something amazing and maybe a little scary, He knew he was being prepared for something amazing too. He followed Doc to another room, it was new to him. They walked in, it was cold and dark, it was refrigerated and had a ceiling. He flipped the lights on. Ten dead bodies lay on their own tables. The Farm was a body farm. And in retrospect, he was the cash crop. Himself and others like him. He’d find out later, there were very few. Today we will learn how to maximize damage to real humans. If he had not come so far, he’d leave right now. Looking back, this also desensitized him and taught him how to bring pain, lots of pain. They had to prepare his body to hurt other peoples bodies. They were definitely on track. Bone breaking, mastoid strikes, liver strikes, anything that could win a fight was what he learned. It was brute force meeting science. He had to admit, it felt great.

Fight Day:

They drove for over 12 hours. It was beautiful. They were in Connecticut, he thought. The state signs were a blur. What day is this Jimmy? Friday, we’ll be staying in a nice hotel tonight, you’ll love it. It was all that. This was the finest hotel Benny had ever seen. Benny had his own room, Jimmy said to enjoy it. Tomorrow night is your first fight. Benny still had no idea the type of fighting or the person he’d fight. He knew one thing. He would not want to be that guy. Benny felt like Superman. And that is who his opponent would be fighting. He actually couldn’t wait. 

The Contestants:

The warehouse they were holding this fight in was large and in town. Benny was in an office inside of the warehouse. Put this on, Jimmy said. It was a baggy tee shirt. There was no ring, he was puzzled how they were going to have a fight without one. As he sat in a chair, it was a business chair behind a desk actually. Benny asked Jimmy who he would be fighting tonight. Just a few locals. A few? Jimmy, I am unsure I can take on a “few” guys at once, he said. Relax, you fight one at a time. Your job is to make it look close each time before you put them down. Make it look good. Benny knew what that meant. This entire journey had always been on the job training. As he walked out of the room he noticed the energy first, then the gambling, everyone made a human circle and he was walking towards the center of it. The names of the men they threw at him that night meant nothing to him. In all, one at a time, seven men entered the circle to fight Benny. Seven men were carried out. The hardest part of the night was making it look close, and not slipping on all the blood. He had become superhuman. 

Payday:

They stayed an extra day at the hotel. Benny had to admit, it was a welcome break. He woke up and called Jimmy’s room. Let’s do something today Jimmy. Sounds great, I’ll be over in 30 minutes or so. Jimmy and Benny had never spent any time together other than work. Their drives were quiet. He never seemed to want to be there. They took a taxi to the city, it was refreshing. Choosing a cafe with outdoor seating, they relaxed. Jimmy handed him a check. It was made out to a company, B Power Inc. It was for $10,000.00. What’s this and who is B Power Inc? That’s what you made last night and B Power is a company they set up for you. Tomorrow I’ll take you to open a bank account. He’d never seen so many zeros. Growing up in the inner city in abstract poverty, this was shocking. We will be moving to Atlanta Georgia this week. Why Atlanta? Why not was all he got from Jimmy. Let’s get going.

Atlanta Georgia:

Growing up in Kentucky, made the North Georgia mountains look amazing. He’d never seen such green mountains. They were majestic in a way. Beautiful and clean. He pictured living in a cabin on a mountain top overlooking a river or lake. Maybe one day… They drove through Kennesaw Georgia and headed west, Kennesaw was a quaint little town north of Atlanta. The fact they have a law requiring every citizen to own a gun intrigued Benny. The south. A bastion of civil war history and beautiful small towns everywhere. Down a country road again. Where are we going Jimmy? Home, our home. He’d be sharing a home with Jimmy. He did not see that coming. Another farm. Horses, goats, ducks, and chickens, he loved it. The house was nice. He counted 4 bedrooms as he walked through it. Two masters, one was mine. I hope I’m here a while, Benny said in a cheerful voice. 

The Life of a Gladiator:

Over the next few days, Jimmy and Benny were becoming friends. One night they decided to grill some steaks and have a few beers. Dinner on the back deck watching the horses play together was wonderful. How did I get to this place Jimmy? What have I walked into? You were chosen. You have a high IQ, hard to find in the boxing game. You pushed yourself physically. My job is to spot guys like you. Then manage them. What have you walked into? A machine, and you are a small cog in a huge wheel. They run a gambling machine. You my friend are a gladiator for the machine. You’re a ringer. What we call, a “fightist”. From what I can tell, we have 6 to 10 people like you at any given time. Your first fight made them over $19 million dollars. You received ten thousand, I get a little less. Every place you’ve been, including this place, belongs to them. They promote the fights to very wealthy people, some as far away as Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Some fights take in over $100 million dollars. They created you to win every fight, but make you wear a baggy tee shirt to make it look like you're not “all that”.

Every Two Weeks:

Benny’s employers had an interesting business model. He remained curious as he studied it. He trained everyday, He knew no other life now. Training was a habit, routine is his constant companion. His mind worked differently than most. He’d find out years later why. Today was a travel day. Where are we off to? Jimmy smiled and said, New Orleans. You’ll love it. Benny had healed up nicely from his last fight, he felt great. Honestly, looking back, he always felt great. It’s been about two weeks Jimmy. Is that going to be a thing? Every other Saturday night we fight. Some are bigger than others. This fight will be a big one. We are hosting some very wealthy people from the other side of the planet. Should be fun. Benny smiled. For whom will this be fun for? Jimmy laughed and said, you on payday. Remember to save your money. Shelf life in this business is brief. 

Shelf Life:

Two years. They told Benny, that was longer than most made it as a gladiator. What does a warrior do when there are no more wars to fight, no battle to be won or lost? No contests to stand up to? He had money, he had a great mind and an amiable personality. He moved back to Kentucky and bought a small home on some land. Privacy mattered to him. His home sat far enough from the country road it was on that people didn’t notice he was there. He trained outside most days. Chopping wood for hours. His mind would drift to business. He decided he should open a business of some kind. The search for his passion was on. History, training, and art were what he found gave him energy. Art and history would be his chosen career. He began going to antique auctions in the mountains. He started storing the gems he bought and looking for where to market them and how. 

Atlanta Calls Him:

Atlanta never left Benny’s heart and mind. After a lot of preparation and study, he settled on Atlanta again. He took a trip down south and began visiting areas that would make not only a great home, but a place that would be good for an antique and art store. Most days were spent just visiting these lovely little towns. He combed through ads daily until the print became blurry. He wanted to find a place that would not only be a great spot for retail, but would also have some history to it. The search was daily and obsessive. He knew when I saw it, he’d know. 

Madison Georgia:

Morning coffee and a real estate magazine. This had become his reality of late. As he looked through the colorful ads and hoped something would catch his eye, there it was. A house in Madison Georgia. It looked perfect. Built in 1886, it was everything he’d been looking for. He called the agent immediately. It was a typical sunny day in the south, it was Spring, everything was blooming, He arrived in Madison anticipating something good was happening today. He drove through the prettiest little town he’d ever seen. Madison was a wealthy small town, south east of Atlanta. Founded by James Madison before he became our president. Antebellum homes were everywhere. And he was going to be looking at one of them. He pulled up to the house. Wow! That was the only word he could say at the moment. 

Home:

The agent was filling him in on the history of this house. Her words fell on deaf ears. Benny was lost in the old architecture, the gingerbread on the three sided front porch. He was home. He was also going to have his business here. He would live upstairs and have his antiques and art downstairs. When can I move in? Well, we have to see when we can close. I’m writing a check. I’ll be ready to move tomorrow. Happy but confused, she said, let me see what I can arrange, her smile never left her face. In three weeks Benny was open for business. Marketing came naturally for him. Business began booming. You would think he’d be happy. He missed being a warrior. But that life was behind him. What to do now?

Benny Sees Bad Guys:

Benny had a BMW that he’d bought when he first retired from fighting. He ran an ad in a local publication. He received a call from a man who wanted to come and buy it. The car was over $20,000.00 and he wanted to pay cash. Of course I’ll accept cash, Benny answered. Why not? He came with his tribe. Africa somewhere was where his accent came from. He paid Benny for the car and left. A week later he received a call from a federal agent about the BMW. The car had been involved in a plot to scam a bank in Michigan for millions. The only thing the agent had to identify anyone was that Benny’s card was inside the glove box of his old car. It was a real estate deal that involved money laundering. Benny was instantly fascinated. The agent said he’d be in town soon and wanted to see Benny while he was there. He was intrigued. He began investigating this Stranger who bought his car. Turned out, it was a skill he had. And a passion.

Another Beginning:

Benny dug in, he began looking into everything about the guy that bought his car. He had about an hour long conversation. He was relaxed with him, like most are. He remembered every word. One thing he remembered was the area he lived in Atlanta and a bar he and his friends frequented. He went online and studied surveillance techniques. Figuring they were night owls, He watched. The next night was the payoff. There he was, with all his tribe in tow. It was a little after 2:00 am, they came out and headed home. Benny followed from a distance. They pulled into a townhome complex. He hung back, waited a few minutes and drove in. He knew they were here somewhere and only had to find the van they were in. There it was in the driveway. He went by, took a snapshot of the tag and wrote down the address. He had created an entire file on his foreign friends. Where they went during the day, places they liked to eat, their lives in a nutshell. It was exciting and fun for him. 

The Offer:

The agent finally arrived in town and called. Can you meet me today? Of course. Benny gave him the address of a restaurant in downtown Madison with outdoor seating. They met at 1:00 pm. Sitting at a table outside, the sidewalk was made of brick. Quaint and something Benny particularly enjoyed. They shook hands and went right at his case. He said he needed to find out who this man was, he has hurt so many over the last 24 months. Benny handed him the file he compiled on them. Have you ever been a cop? No, just have a knack for finding people. I enjoyed it, he said. Three nights later they raided the townhome and took down what turned out to be a bank fraud network. Benny was pleased to get a bad guy off the street. He thought that was the end of it till a couple weeks later he received a call from a man he would forever know, as Rocky. I represent the American government and would like to buy your lunch. Benny had no idea how his life would change after that day. 

Meeting The Handler:

Rocky was Italian and funny. Too much energy, but very likable. Looking back, he was a recruiter. I represent federal law enforcement. I’d like to know if you would consider working with us from time to time? I looked your tax records up, I know you do not need the money. It’s cash and we are generous. You are right. I am ok financially, Benny answered. But before I accept or reject your offer, what would I be doing? Investigations, building cases, making arrests. Pretty simple really. Benny’s imagination was piqued. I think I would like that, he said. We’ll set you up with everything you will need. I’ll call you soon. Wait. What agency do you work for? He smiled that broad smile, “all of them”. Again, Benny was intrigued. He really looked forward to his call. 

My First Case:

Two weeks later Rocky called. Meet us at FBI headquarters, ask for Rocky at the front desk. He already had their address. It was north of Atlanta. Benny was uneasy, but excited to see a new chapter opening in his life. The antique business was great, art moved him, but something was missing. Maybe it was taking risks, maybe it was excitement. Or perhaps he’s just addicted to fear. The idea of doing something that might end in him dying was invigorating. The idea of thinking that confused him a little. Am I normal, he asked? The jury was still out on that one. All he knew was he had something exciting to look forward to and nothing was going to stop him from doing it. 

Agent In Charge:

Rocky introduced him to Senior Field Agent Michaels. I’ve been assigned this case, I’ll be the agent in charge. I will be the agent you work with. You will not work with anyone but me. Rocky cannot know anything about my case. With that, Rocky excused himself. It was just the agent and Benny. The case was about an elusive con man named John. He left a trail of victims for over 10 years. He’d never been caught, he was good at taking things that weren’t his. He briefed Benny and handed him a copy of his file. Benny suddenly found himself so thankful for his two employees. He could take a case any time and they had his back. People like that are so hard to find. The case was impossible for the FBI to end because this guy moved every two weeks. He had two armed bodyguards, so it really made Benny’s head tingle with excitement. Time to dig in.

The Take Down And Arrest:

His first case took him 45 days. It turns out, that would be the longest one he’d have for the next twenty years. He set up a sting and he fell for it. He made the arrest himself at Aaron Rents in Buckhead, near downtown Atlanta. It will forever be burned into his memory. He thought the federal Marshals were meeting him there. They were stuck in traffic, it was on him to bring this to a conclusion. He walked into the store, it’s him, he told the two employees that Benny had prepared earlier. He began moving towards the door. Benny stepped in front of the door and locked it before he could leave. He pulled his weapon and ordered him on the floor. He had no cuffs, he yelled at the guy behind the counter to throw him a roll of tape. He taped his hands behind his back and took him to the back room. He stood him up by the back door. He began asking questions about where his gang was and the address of their operation. He just said, “I want an attorney”, and smirked. Benny grabbed his throat pinning him against the wall. Do you think I’m a cop *&X$#@, his eyes looked as big as dinner plates. He saw fear like he’d never seen before that day. He gave Benny the information. He would have told him anything really. He gave up his entire crew out of fear. He was now a rat. The marshals arrived minutes later and were amused to see a broken man sitting in a chair with his hands taped behind his back. Benny was surprised to learn he only served 3 years. 

She Touched Me:

Benny was minding his store one day and in walked a girl. She was a vision. She began looking around, if you don’t find anything you want just ask, smiled Benny. There is more in the back. I’m Pam, she stuck her hand out, Benny, or Benjamin, if you were family. She bought a couple of small pieces and left. She also took a piece of his heart with her. That had never happened before. Their conversation sat directly into his heart. Women buy antiques all the time. Benny met so many of them and didn't feel a thing. This girl got his attention the second she walked into his shop. His hope was that she saw something else here she liked. He busied himself the rest of the day, but Pam stayed on his mind the rest of that evening. 

He woke up before the sun the next morning. Something he felt was residual effects of his years of training. He still worked out. The intensity wasn’t the same. His friends considered me freakishly in shape. For him, he knew what being in shape was. He remembered, he always remembered how strong he became. And being able to run all day and never tire. He remembered when no other man had a chance against him. His confidence had not waned in the least. He was still becoming something. His entire life had felt like preparation for something. What? That remains to be seen. 

Hunting Humans:

Rocky kept him busy. His spare time did not exist. His skill set seemed to be hunting. Bounty hunting for the feds. He doubted anyone saw that coming. I know Benny didn't. Hunting became a way of life for him. It served up the excitement he needed and locking up bad guys couldn’t be a bad thing. He spent most weekends hunting. The FBI gave him access to all of their databases. Had he wanted to do domestic work, that would have been a handy tool. But chasing wayward spouses seemed repulsive to him. Not needing the money helped make decisions about what he spent his time doing easier. His antique and art business was growing and he had plenty of time to pursue other passions. 

Expert Witness:

Rocky called last night. Calling at night was odd for him. He always felt he was put on his agenda most days and he was at the top of his call list. Benny usually heard from him before 6:00 am. I want to introduce you to someone in the morning, Rocky stated. So that morning, Benny stood at the federal building in Macon Georgia. Hello Benny, Rocky called and apologized, he won’t be joining us. In Benny’s mind, everything happens for a reason. Rocky was an operative. If he wasn’t here, it was because being here would hurt the outcome of the op. The man who greeted Benny was a federal prosecutor. He needed help with a money laundering case. He led Benny into his office and handed him a case file. As he read through it he saw an easy case in his opinion. Why do you need me? This case is a no brainer. He sat back in his chair and looked at Benny. I’ve had him here before. I had a first hand witness just like I do now. In that case, my witness died before trial. I have another first hand witness this time too. They do not know his identity. I’m asking you to be him. I need someone who can stay alive till this guy is behind bars. Rocky said you might be perfect for this. Benny’s new friend was asking him to follow a script on the stand. Lie under oath. You will be Ben Stone while the trial goes on. Benny smiled, I’m in. The trial begins next week. Here’s your script. Rocky wasn’t here so that there would be no witness to him asking me to lie under oath. 

The Trial:

The following week came quickly. Benny arrived at the courthouse prepared for his role as an expert witness.  As the proceedings began, he studied the courtroom and everyone in it. People interested him. He guessed that everyone says that, but his fascination with them is borderline obsessive. He wanted to know about everyone he met. The defendant looked very sociable. Like a nice guy. Unlike the jury, Benny had an opportunity to browse his file. He was a dangerous man and capable of great evil. They wrapped up the first day, Benny was told he did a great job. Evidently it was good enough to cause his defense attorney to ask for a plea deal. The first day was the last. They wrapped up. The guy received a sentence of 6 years in the federal penitentiary. There would be more courts, more scripts, more bad guys seeing Ben Stone on the stand. Benny would remember every last one of them. 

She’s Back:

Minding the store that day was boring. He was alone most of the day, few customers, and very little to do. He toyed with the idea of closing early. At that moment he heard the ding of the bell on the front door. Pam, hello, you came back. Yes I did. I was in the area and thought I’d see if anything interesting came in. I went to an auction in Tennessee last week. I picked up a few paintings you may like, come this way. As they walked towards the back of the store she asked, is there a good place to eat in town? Yes, several. A few are stand alone restaurants, owned by locals. That’s the best kind, she said. It’s after 5, what time do you eat? Pam, I was just thinking of closing early and going to dinner. How about I show you around my beautiful town? I’d love that, she said with a grin. Closing up quickly, they jumped in his truck and headed out for a night he would remember the rest of his life.

Love Happens:

Pam and Benny saw one another every chance they could. He’d never been in love before. This was new territory for him, did he know how to love? Would she love him back? Days, weeks, months, they turned into years. They loved one another. Marriage was the inevitable end to this journey. The end. They were married at her home. A small wedding and a wonderful honeymoon. They decided on Charleston South Carolina for five days. It was one of the happiest times of their lives. He was so in love. He knew she would be his soulmate forever. Love is a powerful thing, many never find it. He felt he was the luckiest man alive. Other moments to be thankful for were on the way. He had just begun his most interesting adventure. 

Having My Baby:

Three years passed like three weeks, business was booming, they had grown so much as a couple. Benny didn’t know he could be so happy or love so much as today. It was so busy at work and his bride had asked him to come home early. Dinner at home and a movie, cuddling with his girl. Who wouldn’t want to come home early for that? The drive home seemed long that day, they had been talking about selling the house and moving closer to his store. It’s a conversation that is getting ready to move to the front of the line. He pulled into the garage and walked in, Pam had a way of always having something awesome cooking, the smell is always wonderful. She made their house a home… 

Thank you for dinner baby, thank you she said. I have news she said with excitement. What’s the news sweetie? I'm pregnant! Not even for a nanosecond did he think about it. That’s awesome Pam. They had been trying to have a baby for over a year. His previous life led to injuries to his baby making parts and we were having difficulties conceiving. This was amazing news for their family. He was on another adventure, but this time he had a partner in crime. The love of his life will take this one with him. Happiness was magnified that night.

Family Matters:

Her name is Madison Elizabeth, they will call her Madi. She is the most beautiful person he had ever seen. This might be the best day of his life. This was the most impressive achievement in his life. Did he really achieve something here? Ha, who cares, he was so happy. This little girl would be his life, the reason he did anything important, she will be one of his main purposes in life. He was a father now. He had a great dad. He only hoped he could be as good as he was. He remembered that he couldn’t wait to call him and give him the news. Everything changed in their lives when Madi arrived, everything. 

Changes:

He came home from work, Madi heard him and made a beeline for daddy, it was the happiest moment of the day for Benny, everyday. She was two now and was their world. Benny, we need to talk… Pam had a beautiful heart and those words never rattled him. What is it baby? How would you feel about going to church? I hadn’t thought much about it, he said, but sure. Raising Madi in church seemed like a great idea. Any thoughts on a church babe? We received this flyer yesterday. Rock Falls Church, it’s just two miles from us and it’s a contemporary style church. I’m in baby. Find out what time we should be there and we’ll go. 11:00 am sweets. Casual dress. Benny couldn’t wait. 

Changes were coming. Many. Benny embraced positive change, he always had. Their lives had a cadence to them. They were a family that went to church regularly, They were active in their community, and they took a mini vacation every month. Life was good. It couldn’t get better than this. 

It Gets Better Than This:

Benny will never forget the day he walked in the door and Pam had a frightened look on her face.  Baby, are you ok? Is something wrong? I have something to tell you and how you feel about it will decide if something is wrong. Pam, spill it. You can always say anything to me, you know that. I’m pregnant, she blurted out. Benny was fired up, he wanted another child, this was perfect. He would be his last child. She saw the excitement in his eyes, she smiled and said, I knew you would be happy. Like he says all the time, changes are coming and these kinds of changes were amazing. 

Life In Motion: 

Ben Jr came on the scene and gave them another love of their  lives. He was amazing. As the years flew by, they found that he was so smart. He just figured things out. His mind worked like Benny’s and he looked like a mini Benny. Scouting would become a big part of the family. Madi would grow up and become a Gold Scout, Ben would achieve his Eagle Scout award. They raised two wonderful humans. Two responsible, smart, active people. They didn’t raise children, they raised adults. Pam and Benny did well by them. 

Trouble Brewing:

They enjoyed a great lifestyle. Benny had become comfortable with others running his store, it had grown to the point that he was looking for a second location. Years ago he converted the part of his home he lived in, into an upper showroom, Ebay, and online sales rose every year. Crazy growth and it seemed the music would never end. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. He just never thought theirs would. Times they were changing. Not good change, the bad kind. After an assessment and some forensic accounting, Benny was done. His employees became addicted to meth and stole everything he had. In the end they lost everything. Their homes, properties, and social standing. Most will understand that last one. The only thing left to do was to file for bankruptcy relief. They were left with nothing. They had to move into a rental house, everything had changed. They were changing. Their relationship was changing. She looked at him differently. 

Moving On:

It was over. Every dream, every great night, event, vacation, and anniversary. They were done. He just couldn’t make a comeback. Making a living always came easy for him in the past. Today, he wasn’t capable. Today he was alone. Pam had to go back to work, she worked three jobs. She barely got by.  Benny rented a bedroom in a stranger's home. And even then, he barely made it. He was miserable. What does a man do that no longer has a clue what to do next. He could barely make enough to eat. He began shrinking his life so that he owed less. He became a minimalist. Still, he was broken and broke. He needed to make a living. He’d tried everything. He applied for many jobs before his marriage fell apart. None wanted a has been or a used to be broken man. A man who use to be something. He was a shell of that man. How could he go from where he was to where he is? The solution doesn’t manifest itself. Every day is Groundhog Day, all the same. 

The Past Is The Future Again:

Benny woke up early and headed to a nearby lake. He needed to make a decision, it could be the most important of his life. Money was gone and none was coming in at any future date. He was looking at being homeless. The thought was awful. The only asset he had was his old truck. Would that now be his home? He met a guy that knew his history, he gave him a number of a guy, a biker. There was a fight club that was involved in gambling. It was run by a biker club. Underground, illegal fighting. It had been many years. Could he still survive in the ring? He made the call. The man on the other end of the phone said he’d meet with him. The first fight is free my man. That will be your resume. If you can fight, you’ll get $1000.00 per fight if you are good. He gave Benny a place and time. No phones or recording devices. Benny already knew that.

Out Of Retirement:

Saturday night, a warehouse, and a bunch of drunks. Benny showed up and checked in. Tonight would be free and tonight will tell him if I still had what it took. Uncertainty had never been his companion before. But there he was, big grin and all. A guy knocked on the door. You’re up. Benny came out and walked towards the circle of people. His opponent was already there and waiting. He was a bit bigger and a lot younger than him. Benny was just a middle aged man in a young man's game. He began to taunt Benny. For some reason him telling Benny what he was going to do to him made Benny smile. He could not stop smiling. Ding! They moved towards one another, he swung a right at Benny, he stepped back, he hit nothing. He was angry and losing control. Benny used an old trick, he kicked forward into the front of his hip, predictably, he grabbed Benny’s leg, Benny pulled his leg in and struck his mastoid with a hard right. He was asleep. I still have it, Benny thought to himself. It felt like old times. 

Becoming Thunder:

The fight game was going well. Benny was slower and older, so he got hurt, but he continued winning. He won easily, although he was slower, the science remained the same. The money was good. $1000.00 every Saturday night in cash. He could live well on that. It wasn’t a permanent solution. But money to live indoors and eating every day was the goal at the moment. Because the fights were illegal, no one used their real names. They use nicknames and the biker in charge picked them. Benny’s handle was, Thunder. This because he was slow but powerful. All thunder no lightning. Benny liked it and thought it was an honest handle. He won every fight. It didn’t take long to go through their best and beat them all. Gambling on Thunder’s fights began to change. Instead of betting on Benny or the other guy, they bet on how long the fight would last before his opponent was out. The music wasn’t great this time, but he didn’t want it to end anytime soon. 

The Event:

It was a beautiful Saturday. Benny visited a gym in Atlanta. It was inner city and seedy. But he liked it. He always felt it gave him an edge. He had a light workout that day because it was fight night. He showered, packed up and headed outside. He had to park a block away on the street. Walking through gang territory was never a good idea. A handgun doesn’t care how much you trained. He was walking down the street past an ally. Motions made him look. There were 7 guys kicking what looked like a couple of cops. Benny approached, the officers were hurt badly and they weren’t stopping. Benny was running now, He made to the guy holding a gun kicking the male officer, Benny hit him hard, he fired a shot that sunk into Benny’s right thigh. He stepped back and instantly threw a left hook and what might have been the hardest right uppercut he ever delivered. He hit the ground and his gun slid towards the others. Another guy was picking it up so Benny moved as quickly as he could towards him to take him out, he fired a shot into his stomach, it burned but he knew he had to move. He shattered his face, he was out, then Benny methodically began taking out the ones that didn’t run. The gang on the ground and Benny getting foggy.

He grabbed the female officer and threw her over his shoulder and dragged the male officer at the same time. He leaned him against the front tire of their cruiser and laid her on the hood. She was waking up. Benny asked if she could hear him, yes I can she said. He placed the gun in her hand and told her to radio for help. He could barely stand or even lean. I’m done sweetie, he said. Protect yourself. Benny remembered nothing after that. 

Almost… :

Waking up in the hospital dazed and confused. His first words. Are the officers ok? The nurse was startled. You’re awake! It turns out he was in a coma for over a week. No one expected him to survive. He felt so weak. His room was full of cards, balloons and well wishes of all types. The doctor came in and asked how he felt. Lost, that was all he could think of to say. How am I doc? Well, I’ll know more in a couple of days. Benny wasn’t patient at all. And he was ready to go home. The next two days dragged on. He waited but  was ready to go home. He had to get out of here. He almost died, but he was asleep the whole time. Processing was needed, but he will do that alone. He heals quicker than most. Maybe it’s the steroids he still takes, maybe it’s genetics. Maybe it’s both. 

Another week in the hospital was brutal. He hates hospitals and he likes to do for himself. When the doc came in and asked if there was anyone home to take care of him, I’ll be home and will take care of myself, was all he could say. His doctor stared at him for a long minute. Ok, you will be out of here shortly. But your life has changed. I’ll let you figure out how on your own.

My Story:

Youtube is an amazing thing. It turns out a couple of people watched Benny fighting and getting shot twice. They filmed it on their phones and it went viral. He was now, internet famous and a lot of people now knew Benny. They didn’t know the whole story. Calls flooded in. Everyone wanted to interview him. Before he did anything, he had to process what had happened to him. People inhibit that process. Days went by and thoughts of what really happened. He found himself talking with God. He began praying again, he was a prayer warrior back in the day. God did something here. He had to know what. His processing took a turn. 

God’s Preparation:

Prayer. It’s a direct connection with God. Seeking Him is seeking His purpose for your life. Benny’s purpose was to be prepared to save those officers. He’ll probably never know why. God really does work in unusual ways. Looking back on his life, he could see how He prepared him for that day. 

He prepared him for this. 

Benny’s Recap:

He had me train as a boxer as a 16 year old lost kid. He instilled the tenacity that even after being shot I kept going. 

He made me fearless when He sent me traveling the nation fighting strangers in strange places. 

He made me fierce by having me make myself feel invincible. 

He taught me to love by giving me Pam and my kids.

He taught me how unimportant I am by breaking me financially.

He taught me to value others by allowing me to unconditionally love my family.

He reminded me I was a warrior by allowing me to fight and win again.

He prepared my heart to give my life away when I lost my family. 

Benny wrote; I had my story. It was the story God wrote for me. It was God preparing me for His use. This was my story and this story will be told. Of all the offers for an interview. My old pastor called to check on me. After I told him my story he was quiet for a moment. Would you consider telling your story on Sunday at Rock Falls?  That wasn’t what I expected. If God is in this then where I grew with God seemed a good choice. Yes, I’ll be there. 

Restoration: 

Walking into Rock Falls Church seemed like old times. I hadn’t been here in years. It was by all definitions, a mega church. But very personal. They did it right. People didn’t get lost here. I went straight to Pastor Dan’s office. It was so good to see him again. You ready for this Benny? As ready as I'll ever be. The music ended and Dan walked on stage. He spoke for a moment and said, I have a very special guest today. Some of you will remember him, most of you have seen a video of him saving two Atlanta police officers. The sound level rose. Give a warm welcome to Benny. The entire church stood and clapped. I stood watching them. How humbling it was. Dan and I sat on stools and he asked me questions. My story of how God prepared me for that one moment. How decades of preparation prepared me for less than one minute of use. How I prepared even through loss. Especially the loss of my family. 

Pastor Dan began talking about God’s timing and God’s redeeming love. He then looked at me and asked the big question. How can I pray for you? Dan, I wasn’t expecting this question. He’d never really thought about it. What does his heart want? I lost my wife and I lost my kids. Benny began crying, hardly able to talk at all. God please restore my life. He fell to his knees. Dan knelt with me, the church was so quiet. 

Daddy… 

Benny turned to see my Madi standing to his left

His son Ben, his Eagle Scout stood beside her

You could hear a pin drop

Pam stood up. Through her tears she spoke. We love you Benny, come home…

Pastor Dan motioned for my family to make their way to the stage. They came up and all we all could do was cry and hold one another. 

Benny looked at Dan and said I’m sorry to take so much time. 

He was gracious. 

If all we do today is watch you guys love on each other, it was a good day at church. 

---------------------------------------------

This is a story of God’s unconditional love. How He uses our actions, even our mistakes to prepare us for our purpose He has for us. This is also the story of how He restores us out of the love He feels for us. 

[edwardxjay6482-blog]

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This pattern should end. This drove here CS:GO since it would really constitute the hitboxes larger, in Fortnite, go on the new game engine, that clearly smushes the character model down. Any perceived effect they have with your own ability to show is a excuse. The designer may consider trail in Fortnite's footsteps and including another, limited-time game approaches to performance with the BR formula, or perhaps map-changing ingredients that keep the game environment light. Or Respawn might understand PUBG also create new, smaller plans with another server sizes to socialize things up.