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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Mythic Quest Season 2 Pulls Off Another Standout Flashback Episode

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This article contains spoilers for Mythic Quest season 2 episode 6.

According to co-creator and lead actor Rob McElhenney, the Mythic Quest team didn’t go into the show’s second season on Apple TV+ with a plan to recapture the energy of season 1’s infamous flashback episode, “A Dark Quiet Death. But they ended up doing so all the same.

“We’re always trying to just stretch and do something different,” McElhenney tells Den of Geek. “It’s never a function of like, ‘Oh, that flashback episode worked, so let’s do another flashback episode.’ It’s more like, ‘Well there are no rules.’”

In Mythic Quest season 1, the desire to operate under no set storytelling rules led to the stunning fifth episode “A Dark Quiet Death.” That installment was a flashback to the mid ‘90s in which two game developers, “Doc” (Jake Johnson) and “Bean” (Christin Milioti), met, fell in love, made some art, then sold out and fell out. The half-hour was seemingly unconnected to anything else in the Mythic Quest mythos, save for a scene at episode’s end when McElhenney’s lead game designer Ian Grimm purchased the cavernous studio that Doc and Bean once used to make their indie titles.

The episode was a thematic companion to Mythic Quest’s main storyline and an exploration of the insidious interplay between art, commerce, and human ego. Now, season 2’s sixth episode, “Backstory!” explores some similar themes via an extended flashback that actually involves a character the show’s audience is already familiar with.

As played by Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham, Mythic Quest lead writer C.W. Longbottom is equal parts caricature of an aging blowhard sci-fi writer and a realistically tender depiction of a man intent on finding story wherever it might lurk. “Backstory!” takes things back to Los Angeles in 1971 when “Carl” Longbottom is fresh off the bus from Clear Lake, Iowa, and eager to begin his junior copy editing job at famous sci-fi magazine Amazing Tales Publishing.

Playing the young C.W. with equal parts wide-eyed wonder and bitter creative disappointment is Josh Brener, who most audiences likely know as Nelson “Big Head” Bigetti on HBO’s Silicon Valley.

“I was worried at first because, you know, it’s somebody else portraying you, so you’re kind of in their hands,” Abraham says. “It was a treat though. I got in touch with the actor to let him know how much I admire his work and how good he made me look. He had soul and heart and I think that’s essentially what C.W. is. You actually love this guy. You want him to win in the end and I think he does.”

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The plot of the episode surrounds Carl’s relationship with his new copy editing peers Peter Cromwell (Michael Cassidy) and A.E. Goldsmith (Shelley Hennig). The trio begin as allies (or a “tripod” like the aliens in their beloved H.G. Wells’ creation) and attempt to get one another’s work published by Amazing Tales. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that A.E. and Peter’s fiction is much more suitable for public consumption than Carl’s strange, illogical hard sci-fi.

“Carl, it’s not enough to propose a future where things are different. They have to be inevitable and unexpected at the same time,” A.E. tells the young writer, trying to help him.

Unfortunately Carl is in no position to hear her. Sure, it makes no sense that humans in the future would have flesh packs on their back when backpacks would work just fine. But Carl wants humans to have flesh packs on their back because that’s how his imagination wants them to carry things.

Eventually, after A.E. and Peter find creative and professional success, Carl resorts to a soft form of plagiarism when he adopts all of the extensive notes that none other than Isaac Asimov provided on his manuscript and publishes them as his own. That’s enough for Carl to take home a Nebula Award, but A.E. understands precisely what happened.

Carl, however, does find some semblance of real success in the form of an eerily accurate prediction. At his lowest, after Asimov essentially rewrote his story, Carl drunkenly takes off down the street in an uncharacteristic Southern California downpour. While walking, he sees a game of Atari Pong running on a model television in a storefront window. His eyes light up with the possibility of future storytelling. He then tells his peers that one day stories won’t be linear, but rather bolts of lightning.

“The inevitable march of technology will not be stemmed. Enough iridescent geometry to create an entire world…no, worlds. We will give birth to creatures the likes of which have never been seen! Naturally, none of these worlds will mean anything on their own. They’ll need to be infused with story.”

And infused with story they’ll one day be, as Ian Grimm and Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao) track the aged C.W. down at a renaissance fair to write the story for their new Mythic Quest game.

“Backstory” was written by special guest writer Craig Mazin, a prolific and powerful Hollywood presence who is now best known for creating HBO’s classic Chernobyl miniseries. This is Mazin’s first time penning a script for Mythic Quest but he did guest star in several of season 1’s episodes as the highly inappropriate games tester Lou.

Mazin also appears in this episode as Sol Green, the publisher of Amazing Tales. Mazin and McElhenney gave Sol the same last name as Lou to suggest that one is a grandfather of the other. But McElhenney is not discounting the canonical possibility that Craig Mazin is simply just an eternal force of nature.

“Again, there are no rules, so who gives a shit? Lou could be a character who has existed since the beginning of time,” McElhenney says. “To me, it’s the spirit of Mazin that lives on throughout the millennia. He’s like that in real life. I mean, that really is what he’s like.”

In addition to the presence of the writer of Chernobyl as a potentially immortal being, “Backstory!” differs from its “A Dark Quiet Death” flashback predecessor in one major way. This isn’t the end of the Carl Longbottom story. Next week’s episode, “Peter,” will continue the tale of C.W. Longbottom’s sci-fi writer life, this time in the present. And playing his friend-turned-rival Peter will be yet another actor of note.

“We essentially do a play between two Oscar winners: William Hurt and F. Abraham Murray,” McElhenney says.

It looks like Carl was right: stories don’t have to be linear. They can be bolts of lightning too.

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New episodes of Mythic Quest season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.

The post Mythic Quest Season 2 Pulls Off Another Standout Flashback Episode appeared first on Den of Geek.

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science-lings · 5 years ago

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Crazy AU maybe? Tony is a King who keeps pissing off his court by not having an actual heir, just adopting multiple poor orphan kids and making them princes/princesses. The more the court complains, the more kids he accumulates

Okay so, first of all, this ended up a lot longer and a lot off prompt than I originally planned, second, it’s important to note that this is in my already established fantasy AU world. Honestly, I just wanted a reason to write more for it. I actually tried to write it in the Tumblr reply box thing but it kept on getting deleted. Those were the more on prompt drafts so I apologize for not making the prompt my complete priority. However, I think you’ll like what’s in store anyway.

The prompt was just so much already part of the original AU itself that I had to just continue with it. I hope you guys enjoy! the rest of the AU can be found HERE

Lord Anthony Stark had always been a strange but brilliant man. Even when he was just a squire he was too intelligent and inventive to be wasted as a knight. His father, Lord Howard Stark was a retired knight of the king. Given countless sacks of gold and his own section of the kingdom to rule over so that the lazy king wouldn’t have to do it himself.

Anthony grew up like a prince. A clever and envied boy that was much more than his parents ever saw him as. He was trained to fight, even if he wouldn’t be a knight. He made a friend of the son of a farmer, who would eventually become Anthony’s greatest ally.

Before he was old enough to be coronated, his parents were killed by men sent by the king. The king had grown tired of Lord Howard’s greed and lacking of loyalty and hoped that his only son would do better. He had never met the boy but if he was smart, he would stay out of the king's way.

So, Anthony Stark became a Lord and molded his little section of the kingdom into what he thought was best rather than what his father would’ve wanted. However, the king's eyes were always on the young lord, in the form of a large man named Sir Obadiah Stane. He too was a knight too old to fight, but he didn’t want land like his old friend, he wanted to bide his time to gain all he could from the golden goose that was the last Stark. He made himself the Lord's advisor with only the word that he worked with the boy's father.

When the boy became too much for the old knight, Sir Stane decided to get rid of him. He gave the Lords gold to a group of notorious bandits to attack the man while he was out traveling. Little did he know that the last Stark was much more than a beautiful prince.

Anthony Stark came back with not only his life but with an infant scarlet and golden dragon gripping onto his shoulder and several mystical eggs in his bag. Stark had cared for the baby dragon until it could help him out of his prison with its breath of fire.

Lord Stark imprisoned Sir Stane and everyone lived happily ever after.

The End

Lady Virginia Potts finished her story as she rocked her baby in her arms.

“You’re boring her my lady.” Her husband whispered from the doorway, the only light being a candle he was holding.

“She loves dreaming of dragons and hellfire my lord.” Virginia smiled as Lord Stark approached her.

“Just like her mother.” Anthony leaned down and their lips met for a brief sweet moment.

“Is everyone else settled? It would be a miracle to herd them all to rest.” Virginia said as Anthony took their child from her mother and set her in her crib, knowing that her godmother Margret would be but a room away.

“I handled it. It turns out that convincing squires who have been training all-day to have exotic pastries was not too difficult. I’m mostly sure that they’re at least preparing for bed now.” Anthony said as he took his wife's hand and walked with her in the castle halls.

“Are you going to be stationed outside of Peter’s room again, in case he has another nightmare?”

“I’m planning on being nearby, as you said, just in case.” He admitted.

“I admire your intentions but you need sleep too-” Lady Virginia was interrupted by a servant stumbling towards them. He had the kings crest of a gold fist surrounded in violet. Sir Rhodes and a female guard followed loosely behind.

“I apologize, my lord and lady, I’ve been sent by the king.” The young man stumbled. The Lord and Lady shared a look and looked at the king's servant, knowing that their lives were likely about to get more complicated.

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

In the morning, they all set off for the king’s castle. Their horses were clearly marked in the gold and scarlet cloth embroidered with dragons, signifying their adopted family brand. Only little Morgan was left at the castle, with dozens of maidservants at her side as well as all of the lord's dragons.

The eldest member of their odd family was sat straight on her horse, Margret’s graying hair still immaculate in the early dawn. Harley and Riri leaned heavily into their steeds and yawned at increasing intervals. Peter was more used to strange sleeping schedules so he seemed fine but he led the group with the knowledge that his magic could predict the worst before his words could warn them.

It took two nights of travel to get to the king's castle. Two long nights of storytelling and playing with magic so that they didn’t die of boredom. Two very long days and nights of slowly getting more and more sick of sitting on the back of their horses.

They were almost relieved when they got to the king's castle. Almost. The king was an asshole so they weren’t that excited.

The king's daughters were waiting outside of the castle in dark purple dresses trimmed in gold. Princess Gamora had long dark hair in gold ribbons and darker skin than what was common in the region. Her adopted sister Princess Nebula had no hair at all and odd blue tattoos on her pale skin. They both had stone-cold expressions and neither of them looked comfortable in extravagant dresses.

“Your highnesses,” The lord greeted with the mask of a charming smile.

“Lord Stark. It is a pleasure to meet you and your ward. The king is waiting.” Princess Gamora said. Anthony saw something more behind her eyes, he knew she was hiding something.

“I suppose we shouldn’t keep him waiting then.” Lord Stark suggested as he dismounted from his horse. He helped his wife off of her horse and watched as Harley tried to help Riri and almost fell to the ground. Margret rejected Peter’s offer of help and hopped off of her own horse with no trouble at all.

The king’s guards accompanied the group into the towering castle. Anthony noticed Gamora’s eyes wandering around nervously before snapping back in front of them. She walked by Lady Virginia and at one point discreetly slipped something into her palm. The lord didn’t make a scene and only placed the information at the back of his mind. He was about to introduce his whole family to the most dangerous person in all the kingdoms after all.

The throne room was a little dramatic, even through Anthony’s eyes. There was no lack of gold in intricate designs and decorations. Violet cloth and colorful jewels were placed everywhere they could fit. Images of the king completing his conquests decorated the walls like a proud pharaoh. A single glorious throne sat at the end of the room. In it, was the king, in his large armored glory.

King Thanos was larger than any normal man, many people thought him half giant. No one would dare say it out loud as there would be consequences for slander against the king. Scars adorned his face like he had gotten into an altercation with a lion. He had no hair but his head was covered by a gaudy crown with jewels every color of the rainbow.

“Lord Stark! I was beginning to lose hope that you were coming. I was looking forward to meeting your ward. You do have… quite the assortment.” Thanos said, his booming voice filling the room easily. His tone suggested polite friendliness but Anthony knew better than to trust the king.

“I could say the same about you my liege, it’s a pleasure to be invited back.” Lord Stark forced out. “However, I don’t think you invited me over just to meet my family…”

“You’re right. I invited you here to take your family. You’ve become a problem.” Doors slammed closed and the dozen guards and the princesses all pointed their weapons at the visitors. The Stark’s mostly stood unwavering. Anthony, Riri, and Harley all drew their swords in an instant while Lady Virginia held a small knife that none of them recognized. Margret pulled out a small handheld automatic crossbow wielding poison darts and paralyzing toxins. Peter stood weaponless in the center, knowing that revealing his magic would be a death sentence if they couldn’t beat the king’s forces. The king wasn’t one to throw away anything he could use, he would keep them alive if they gave him any sort of advantage. A man who could sooth a raging dragon was an advantage.

Lord Stark stood unafraid with a fiery look behind his eyes, full of rage at the sheer audacity of the king to threaten his family. Actually, he was afraid. He couldn’t stand his makeshift family being in danger. But he did know that they were a force to be reckoned with. Even without dragons.

There was a moment of tense silence. Those on the kings side waiting for orders and the Stark’s were not going to start the fight, even though the fight was inevitable. The king seemed to enjoy the fact that the Stark’s were completely surrounded, outnumbered, and moments away from permanent captivity.

“I let you get away with so much, I refuse to be any more lenient. You should be grateful, I’m keeping you alive, you’re still useful to me. Your children however… will only stay alive if you behave. I do not want to waste dungeon space on them…” the king said in that infuriatingly condescending way.

“We surrender. Just don’t hurt them.” Lady Virginia dropped her knife and made momentary eye contact with Princess Gamora before looking straight at the cruel king with the same steely expression as her husband.

Lord Anthony dropped his sword, hoping that he was making the right decision. He would do anything to keep his children safe. The Stark’s surrendered. Even Margret grumbled as she put down her handheld crossbow. She muttered something about being able to take them.

And just like that, the Stark’s were defeated. For now. It wouldn’t last very long.

_______

Peter sat in his cell with his eyes closed. He was trying something. It wasn’t working. The elders in his village would do this thing where they could remove their spirits from their bodies and contact the other clans of magic users in the land. But there were no more elders and no more village and Peter had no idea what he was doing. He had never done anything like this before and he didn’t know if he even could.

He wished he could talk to the dead. Talk to his parents or his aunt and uncle, the elders, just someone who could help him. He wasn’t that kind of magic user though. There were necromancers out there that could but Peter wasn’t born with that kind of magic. He didn’t have any help. That made everything a whole lot harder.

After what felt like the thousandth time of trying, he got a little frustrated. It’s not like he couldn’t get out of the cell, he totally could do that easily. But right outside his cell was way too many guards that he wasn’t sure he could beat with his current energy level. It turned out sleeping on the ground for a few days and trying to nap on a horse wasn’t the best way to get enough energy for a big fight.

He could barely see Lady Stark and Harley through the little windows in the side of his cell. Everyone else was too far away. He tried to think of a way to get them out of there, but the slight sluggishness of his mind made it almost painful to try. He was tired of putting all of his energy somewhere that bore no fruit.

Peter slumped down against the rough stone wall in exhaustion and found himself dozing off. His head hurt and he was only alive because the king thought it would motivate Lord Stark to do something for him. He wished he had stayed back at their own palace with Morgan. Then he could at least bring the dragons to the rescue. He had only just barely gotten them to trust him and they were still weary of the servants and anyone that wasn’t a Stark.

He fell into a momentary sleep against the wall until a loud noise woke him up. This loud noise ended up being a guard yelling for him to wake up. He scrambled to his feet before actually being able to perceive the situation.

The princess stood outside of the bars that kept him in. Instead of a dress, she wore dark leather and had her long dark hair down in perfect waves. She looked just as cold as before as she spoke.

“The king has asked for you Peter. I’m here to escort you to him.” Gamora said calmly. “If you try anything, I have been ordered to kill you.”

“I understand,” Peter gulped nervously. The door to his cell opened and a guard yanked him out.

“Are you sure you want to take him alone Princess?” The guard asked.

“I can handle a child. Do you doubt me?”

“Of course not your highness.”

“Good. I will take him to my father now. I would keep my mouth shut if I were you.” The princess hissed and grabbed Peter’s arm. As she led him away, he looked back to see his everyone except Lady Virginia looking alarmed. Lord Stark was grasping the bars of his cell like he was willing the metal to bend for him. Everyone else looked like they were trying, and failing, to hide their worry. Peter smiled a little in an attempt to ease their worry but he was sure that they were right to fear for his safety. The king was known for his hatred of magic. If they knew he had magic than he was likely headed to his death. Fun.

Princess Gamora led Peter through the endless halls of the castle, but not towards the throne room. The princess avoided the guards to a point of pressing him against the wall and using her body to casually hide his when they went by. This was when he realized that she may actually be helping him.

She snuck him up the tallest steeple of the castle and led him to a dusty room that she unlocked with a rusty strange key. Peter was shocked when he recognized what the room contained. There were crystal balls and magical artifacts thought to be lost in the destruction of the king. Weapons that could only be used by people with magic in their veins and even a full alchemy setup. He had never seen one so complete. Even Uncle Ben only had a partial set.

“Why are you helping me?” Peter turned to the princess.

“I want the king dead. I want to live in a way that I do not have to fear for my sister’s life and I am sick of seeing the destruction he brings. I want to be free.”

“Then I am glad to be of service. I’ll do my best to repay my debt to you.” Peter smiled as he saw a small relic. He recognized it immediately. It was an orb of contact. It was used to contact the sorcerer supreme and the leaders of each tribe of hidden magicians. Needless to say, he grabbed it immediately.

The room around him disappeared and he felt completely weightless. A well-lit table appeared in front of him and each seat had a symbol that mirrored the tribe whose leader sat there. Peter stayed at the head of the table. At the other end, he appeared. The sorcerer supreme. A tall angular man with a black goatee and streaks of white in his hair. He wore a large scarlet cloak and an eye amulet around his neck.

One by one, they began to appear. The strongest magic users that Peter had only heard about. This was when he started to get nervous. Maybe this was not as urgent… fuck it, he was in the kings castle, the king who enjoyed commiting mass genocide on people with magic and as far as he knew, was the last survivor of his magic tribe. He needed some help from these people.

The famed Scarlet Witch sat in the seat representing the tribe Mutae, A woman wearing purple robes and massive bright red hair sat in the seat representing the tribe of the Inhumans, An asian woman with scars all over her face and simple clothes sat in the seat for the tribe of the Kree, Captain Marvel, not a leader but a powerful magic user sat in one of the seats, Freya of the Asguardian tribe, and a dozen more sorcerers that Peter couldn’t even name.

Every seat was taken except for his tribes. Conforming to him that he was the last one left. He looked up at the most powerful people in the world and straightened his back.

“I am Peter Stark. The last survivor of the Tribe Arachne, and I need a little help.”

_________

Gamora shut the door to the witch's quarters. It wouldn’t be long until her father found out what she did. Someone would notice. She just hoped that she could give the kid enough time. She didn’t know what he was doing but she knew that it was time for a new king. She kept her palm on her sword’s hilt and casually strolled down the spiral staircase.

On the way, she ran into her sister. Nebula looked at her sister expectantly.

“Do you have the kid?”

“Does it look like I have the kid?”

“You know what I mean.” Nebula hissed. “The Black Order noticed that he’s gone. I think they’re onto us.”

“I’ll get them off our tail, just make sure they don’t get to the kid.” Gamora ordered, receiving a quick nod from her sister.

Nebula ran up to where the boy was and found him floating in the air and looking up at the ceiling with his eyes glowing gold. He was also holding a strange colorful glass sphere that had a strange white glow to it. She had seen the object before but it had never glowed. Moments later, the kid gently landed on the ground and his eyes faded a little. Now only his iris’ glowed. He smiled at her in that kind of optimistic way that somehow lightly eased the sense of dread she had ever since they came up with the plan.

“What do you have?” She asked.

“I have help.” Peter held out the hand that didn’t have the orb. In it was a glowing orange stone. Peter looked around the room before picking up a golden jeweled staff, He put the gem into the end of the staff and it started to glow with the same energy.

“What is it going to do?”

“It’s going to send the king somewhere where we will never have to worry about him ever again. Can you help me get to him?”

“Yes. Stay behind me, don’t do anything stupid.” She ordered. Peter just shrugged. It took a little bit of waiting before he could actually do something, but now that he could, he was nervously ecstatic.

While he was talking to the sorcerer supreme, he asked what it would mean for the kingdom if he were to reveal his magic and if his pseudo father took the throne. The man had just smiled at him and said that with the dragon king on the throne, they would be free. He said that he had seen what would happen to the kingdom with the Stark’s on the throne and reassured him that everything would be okay.

All he had to do was defeat King Thanos.

Piece of cake…

_________

After Peter was taken away, Lord Stark felt sick to his stomach. What were they going to do to him? Did they know he had magic? Is he going to come back? Anthony was not a stranger to overthinking but this was a little excessive. He may have been spiraling.

When Princess Gamora came back down without his kid, he only got more worried. He obviously wasn’t the only one by the sound of Harley and Riri’s frantic whispering. It was Margret who spoke first though. It was actually more of a demand.

“Where is Peter! Where did you take my grandson!” Gamora looked at her calmly with a tiny hint of a smile behind her eyes.

“Leave us! I have some words from the king for the Starks.” The heavily armed guards looked at each other before bowing to their princess and leaving the room.

“Peter is safe, I’m getting you out.” She said when the king's guards were out of earshot. She took out a ring of keys and started to unlock Lord Stark’s cell.

“Why are you helping us?” Margret asked.

“Because… the king… stole me from my family and killed my parents in front of me. I never thought I would meet someone as powerful as him. And then I heard about the son of a knight that rose from the fire of dragons. And the rumor came to light that he made a horse grow wings and leave an entire camp of bandits dead on the ground.” Gamora started to unlock the other cells.

“So you want us to kill the king?” Harley questioned as he was released.

“No, I want him to.” Gamora turned to Anthony.

_________

Thanos was in the throne room waiting for them. No visible guards and no weapons even though he clearly knew they were coming. Naturally, Lord Stark was pretty cautious. The king must have something up his sleeve. He would never just stay out in the open like that unless he genuinely didn’t know he was coming. Peter thought that was unlikely.

The king was incredibly intelligent but as proud as the king of everything could be. The king had conquered everything. He had conquered everyone. Everyone except the Starks. No one could conquer the clan of dragons. At least not with Anthony as the head.

The king was proud. He believed he knew what was best for everyone and was the ultimate authority. He believed himself to be a god. Everyone else was under him, either for him to crush or to force into compliance. He feared magic because there was a chance that people who had it could become more powerful than him.

The king had the largest army of magic hating barbarians in the history of the kingdoms that forced those with magic to completely go into hiding. The initial massacre was massive and successfully make every magician fear the king. Even the Sorcerer Supreme disappeared. They got used to living in the shadows and never being safe. The genocide of Peter’s tribe was only another reminder that they were never safe from the king.

After all of that, Peter stood in the throne room with only the king's youngest daughter behind him and a new powerful weapon that Peter barely knew the extent of. He didn’t know if Gamora was coming back or if Thanos’ personal guards were on their way.

It didn’t matter. Peter had so much rage pumping through his veins just seeing the king that it made his fear slip to the back of his mind. It took a moment to realize that it wasn’t all his rage. It was the rage from the stone. The Sorcerer Supreme called it the ‘Soul Stone’ so Peter felt that the rage came from the souls of the magic users that Thanos had killed without mercy. He had never felt such fire in his soul. It was like the mind-numbing fear he felt when he watched all he had ever known burn to the ground was replaced with pure anger.

Peter was never a destructive person but at that moment, looking into the king's soulless eyes, all he wanted to do was burn the castle to the ground and hope Thanos was burnt to a crisp in the process. His body felt too small for the unwavering rage inside of him.

“Welcome back child, I was wondering who would be first to escape. You Stark’s, are quite… stubborn.”

“I think you messed with the wrong people. My people.” Peter growled. “And I think, it’s time for a change. A change in power.”

Peter’s eyes glowed with the fury of every soul the king had destroyed. Every witch he had burned, every person defeated in battle, every civilian of every village he had set ablaze. Peter felt all of them. They were all with him in the little glowing stone. There was a lot of power in not being alone. There was a lot of power in so much pain. Peter was born from pain as all the Stark’s were.

Golden ribbons of light sprouted from Peter’s skin. The energy swirled in the air and created an image around him. Lines of warm yellow power outlined a massive reptilian head in front of his own. Small curled horns grew from the forehead of the light creature and the rest of its body emerged from the base of its skull. Around Peter was the body of an adolescent dragon made out of magic. In a flash of light, the dragon gained scarlet and blue flesh and its golden eyes faded to reveal Peter’s warm brown ones.

Dragon Peter roared and for a slim moment, he saw fear in the king's eyes.

_______________

Once everyone got their weapons back, Lord Stark and Princess Gamora led the group up the stairs, heading towards the tower, where she last left Peter. Servants and maids hid behind doors and pressed themselves against the wall. But they weren’t afraid, they didn’t intervene. They didn’t tell any guards and only sent curious glances their way.

Everything was tense but calm until there was the muffled sound of a screaming roar that Tony knew better than any person in the kingdoms. It was the roar of a dragon. He had no idea how a dragon got there and the slight shake of the grounds made his heart jump.

“The boy-” Princess Nebula sprinted towards the group. “He went to confront Thanos.”

“By himself?” Harley exclaimed.

“That’s not exactly out of character for him,” Riri muttered.

“A dragon is a little bit dramatic don’t you think?” Lady Virginia suggested.

“He’s been hanging around us, what did you expect?” Anthony shrugged as they walked quickly to the large doorway leading to the throne room, which was more of a titanic hall than a room. It was large enough to hold a dragon pretty comfortably anyway.

Gamora opened the door quickly to the sight of the back of a dragon the colors of Peter’s favorite outfit. Red and deep blue with a little bit of gold. The dragon whipped its head towards them and Lord Anthony got a glimpse of its eyes. They were brown and human. No dragon had brown eyes. No dragon had slitted pupils. This wasn’t just a dragon, it was Peter.

“Kid?” The lord muttered as the dragon nodded. Dragon Peter then turned back to Thanos and roared again. The king himself had gotten a hold of a massive stone-crushing double-bladed sword and he held it in front of his stupid bald head as some sort of sheild from Peter’s burst of white-hot flames.

________

King Anthony Stark was not just a great man, but a great king. The kingdom sighed in relief when the previous king was confirmed dead and his daughters released from their torment. The specifications of which the tyrant king was defeated were only known to those who had laid eyes on the event.

Followers of Thanos crept into the darkness and were sure to return but for the moment, the Starks were alive and at the center of the kingdom. The new royalty were mostly accepted among the people. The new king didn’t threaten them harshly if they questioned his questionable law. The new king had several advisors and was planning to have a group of qualified individuals at his side to help protect his kingdom.

Witch hunters went out of business in a flash as the most aggressive magic hater was out of the picture. The new king spent a mountain of his fortune on keeping as many magic users safe as he could and banned hate crimes towards them as a whole.

The deep violet and the golden fist that decorated the castle was replaced with rich scarlet and images of dragons. The fear that was gripping everyone under the king’s rule had eased and it was like the sun had risen for the first time in decades after everyone had gotten used to the constant darkness.

Of course, just because the king was dethroned didn’t mean that all the evil was defeated. The black order had vanished and there were still plenty of allies of the old king that were hiding across the ends of the land. They would be back, the new king was sure of it, but they would bide their time. The Starks were powerful enough together that approching them now would be suicide. They defeated the single most powerful man in the land without the dragons they were known for.

For now however, they were safe. Gamora had packed all of her things and was determined to find an adventure. She said goodbye to her sister before setting off on the dangerous roads towards the lands of Asgard.

Nebula had nowhere to go and she wasn’t planning on following her sister wherever she was heading. King Stark was happy to let her stay until she decided on what she wanted. Unlike with Thanos, she had a choice. It meant more to her than the man who gave it to her would ever understand.

Anthony didn’t expect to become the king when he left his castle, in fact, the idea hadn’t even crossed his mind until well after Thanos was defeated. He only wanted his family to be safe. Becoming king was not exactly part of his plan but with neither of the princesses wanting the throne and Lord Stark being part of the previous king’s assassination, was the obvious choice for the role.

Of course, the Lord accepted, if not for the fact that anyone would be a better ruler than Thanos, but because he was wise enough not to rule alone. Anthony was aware that he would never know what was best for everyone. There were things that he didn’t understand. Things that he would never fully understand. Because of that, he had the idea of making a team, a ‘knights of the round table’ kind of team. He wanted to get the best of everyone and they would help him protect his kingdom.

King Anthony Stark sent out the wax-sealed invitation letters only a day after being crowned King by Princess Nebula herself. No one else was qualified and it implied a peaceful transition of power even though Thanos wasn’t exactly dethroned peacefully.

And so, the reign of the titan king was ended and the dragon kings began. As long as the dragon king sat upon the throne, there would be light.

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mirkwoodshewolf · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 8; 5 years later

*Author’s note*

Hey all, well been a long time hadn't it? I am so sorry for this delayed chapter. I got so involved with other requests and then school that I had to set this aside even after getting half the chapter done already and then finally finishing it just a second ago. So I apologize for the ending of this chapter, I didn't know how else to end it but I hope it's not too terrible for you all. I hope to get the next chapter up quicker than this one but we will just have to wait and see. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this next part of Mother Raksha :)

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

_____________________________________________________________

*3rd Person POV*

Five years. Five years since Thanos had revealed that he had only used the stones after destroying half of the universe, just to destroy the stones. The Avengers were devastated, families were beyond hope. But as the saying goes; ‘Life goes on’ and for this case, it’s as best as it can. People who had survived tried to continue to make a living.

Some joined other families to help raise children that had lost their parents, some joined in group talks to discuss everything that has happened and how they are slowly trying to move on, however there are some that couldn’t move on.

They feel the guilt of why they are still alive and hundreds of others including those that they loved had to get snapped away into oblivion. Why those people, not them?

At the Avengers facility, Natasha who had grown her hair back out and was back to it’s natural red state at the roots but at the end was the blonde hair she had sported five years ago.

She sat at a desk cutting up her midnight snack, a peanut butter sandwich while on four holograms in front of her were as followed from left to right; Rocket and Nebula, Okoye and Morowa, Carol Danvers (who was sporting a new haircut as well, a sort of mohawk style hair), and Rhodey.

“Yeah, we boarded that highly-suspect warship Danvers pinged.” Rocket said sarcastically.

“It was an infectious garbage scow.” Nebula stated in disgust.

“So, thanks for the hot tip.” Continued Rocket as they both turned towards Carol.

“Well you were closer.” She said.

“Yeah. And now we smell like garbage.” Complained Rocket.

“You get a reading on those tremors?” Natasha asked Okoye and Morowa. Morowa, sporting the reigning Queen of Wakanda crown on her head stated.

“It was a mild subduction under the African plate.”

“Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?”

“Nat. It’s an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it, by not handling it.” Answered Okoye.

“Carol, are we seeing you here next month?” Nat asked turning to Carol.

“Not likely.” Captain Marvel answered.

“What? You gonna get another haircut?” questioned Rocket.

“Listen fur face. I’m covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth are happening everywhere. On thousands of planets.” Rocket then began muttering in understandment, knowing that she was right. She then turned back towards Nat and spoke the honest truth, “So you might not see me for a long time.”

“Alright. Uh, well…..this channel’s always active. So, if anything goes sideways….anyone’s making any trouble where they shouldn’t….comes through me.” They all agreed and then one by one each transmission ended.

*Morowa’s POV*

I removed Ramonda’s crown from my head revealing my newly short cut raven black hair. I sighed heavily and leaned up against the throne. Ever since that day five years ago, with all members of the royal family gone, I was forced to take the throne of Wakanda.

All the tribes have been trying to survive and adapt from the blimp. Many of us lost family, for me it was like a triple blow. I already lost my first family, with T’Challa, Shuri, (y/n) and Ramonda it was a double blow, and now…..Rauri and the Chimeras.

One day after Rauri, Dean and Mitchell returned from finding Thanos. All of them were gone, the remaining chimeras all just left without a note or a word.

And so far no one has been able to find them, I’ve had the remaining Wakandan spies that were still spread out across the world looking for them, I even sent out other Wakandans to find them, and so far nothing.

I refused to tell Nat because this wasn’t something she needed on her plate right now. I knew the chimeras better than anyone, and they weren’t gonna listen to an Avenger, they needed the Alpha female’s mother.

“Morowa, you’ve done all you could do.” Okoye tried to assure me as I felt her hand at my shoulder.

“But is it really enough?” the doors opened and walking in was M’Baku and two of his Jabari members, Azizi and Kamari who were forced up the ranks after his true second and third in command were snapped away.

“My Queen.” He greeted solemnly in Wakandan.

“Brother.” I greeted back. “Any word?”

“We may have found something.” I looked at him desperately and he continued, “There’s been rumor sightings from one of my Jabari spies in Ireland, in a wooded area just 10 miles from Bristol.”

Of course, Bristol was where both he and Connor were from. Guess he thought with the wider greenery passages, he’d be able to fit what’s left of the chimera pack there.

“Okoye, you’re in charge till I get back.”

“You’re going to find them?” she asked me.

“That or die trying.”

“Morowa, my sister. Are you sure that’s a good idea? When Rauri returned with Dean and Mitchell, none of them reverted back to their human forms. And in his mouth Rauri carried the body of Thanos. How do we know he’ll want to see you?”

“That’s the risk I’m willing to take. I’ve…..I’ve already lost so much in my entire life. Five years ago I lost twice as much. I promised (y/n) that I would look after her husband from doing something reckless. And you both know that I never break a promise.” They both nodded.

I grabbed my old Dora Milaje spear and wore a similar teeth collar that Shuri had made for T’Challa as an improved Black Panther design, however it would turn into my Jaguar armor.

I opened up a portal to Bristol and I turned towards my two friends and remaining brother and sister.

“I leave Wakanda to you till I come back. And if I don’t……the throne belongs to both of you.”

“Yes my Queen.” They both said in Wakandan. I crossed my hands over my chest in the Wakandan salute and they did it back to me then I stepped through the portal and closed it up behind me.

It was cloudy and foggy, not good weather for tracking down a bunch of grieving probably pissed off animals. I walked along the acres of woodlands and ranging hills. I must’ve hiked for what felt like hours till I finally came across a pair of tracks. I raced up to them and knelt down. I stroked along the outlines of the paws till I realized that they were bear tracks.

“Dean.” I whispered. I heard the sound of a twig snap and I quickly ducked for cover behind a nearby boulder and kept low. I began hearing the huffing sounds of a bear and when I slowly turned to look past the boulder there I saw a great grizzly bear that was twice the size of a normal one. It was Dean.

He turned towards me but I quickly ducked back and I could hear him softly roaring and sniffing the air. I bite my bottom lip as I tried not to make a sound, especially since I could hear his sniffing and growling coming closer.

Very slowly and as silently as I could, I slide around the boulder, in case he decided to peek over and would find me. But it wasn’t until I heard the sound of a dog’s howl in the distance. Dean ceased his sniffing and took off running.

I looked over the boulder and trailed after him. I couldn’t let him out of my sight but through all the fog and mist, I could hardly see where I was going. But using my mystical arts abilities it made guiding through the mist slightly easier as I tracked him down.

I didn’t want to suddenly cause a change in the weather, that would just startle him further and then I’d never be able to find him while also maintaining control of the weather. I soon came to an open field and it was just dead silence.

No birds, no small critters, nothing not even the wind.

Suddenly out of nowhere I just felt something charging at me. I leaped over in the air to see this giant mass of fur running under me. I landed on the ground and soon standing well over 10ft was Dean in his bear form.

“Dean.” I said warily. He growled at me before finally roaring and leaned forward to swipe his huge paw at me. I cartwheeled backwards and warned him as I took out my spear. “Don’t make me do this Dean!”

He suddenly charged forward his mouth wide open as he let out a roar so I put the handle of my staff between myself and his mouth as he forced me down and the two of us were at war with each other. He shook his head trying to take the spear away but I kept a strong grip.

I knew I had to snap him out of it, but at this point it was like all humanity was gone from him, all that was left was the grizzly bear. So when I found an opening, I lifted my spear up with my left hand to ensure his head raised up, so that with my right I palm-strike him in the chest, in order to reach deep down and push his astral form out.

I soon saw his human astral form come out as his bear body collapsed right on top of me. I let out a groan and tried to get his body off of mine.

‘Wha—what the hell is this? Morowa how did—when did you get here?’

“Explain later.” I groaned out.

‘Here I’ll—’

“It’s no use. Your astral form is useless in the physical world.”

‘The what form?’ I groaned as I finally managed to get out from underneath the giant soulless bear. I panted and as he reached out I told him to back up as I stood myself up.

“The astral dimensions is a reality where the soul exists a part from the body. Your current form can’t touch or affect what is out here in the physical world. You are in one of the billion realities known only to the sorcerers.”

‘So basically I’m a ghost?’

“In a way. But now’s no time for a sorcery lessons. Where’s Rauri?”

‘Wouldn’t we all?’ he said. At this point I was confused.

“What do you mean?”

‘It’s exactly what I mean. No one has seen Rauri for over 2 years now. One morning Mitchell and I went to talk to him only to see a note telling us that we were in charge.’

“Goddamnit Rauri.” I muttered. “So where is everyone else?”

‘We made camp base about 5 miles East. Rauri said it’s along the very village where he and Connor used to grow up in. Thought it’d be the best place to live since it’s been abandoned since Hydra invaded their village.’

“Take me there.” He sighed heavily.

‘You sure about that Morowa?’

“From the moment you all came to Wakanda and were saved from Connor, (y/n) made it her responsibility to look after all of you. She’s my daughter and now that she’s gone, that makes all of you my responsibility.” Dean just looked at me grimly before saying.

‘Alright. But I warn you it’s not gonna be pretty.’

“I understand what I’m about to see.” I then slowly swerved my fingers into a fist lifting his bear body up which absorbed his astral form and Dean’s bear eyes soon woke up.

Instead of the soulless black ones, they receded and had a more human spirit to them.

‘Hop on.’ I mounted his back and he took off eastward.

As we now came to a clearing, what I saw stunned me. For mounted along a pike of quills, claws and teeth marks was a skeleton of sorts. A skeleton belonging to only one deity.

“Is—is that…..”

‘Yeah. The skeletal remains of Thanos. Since the rest of the chimeras didn’t get to have their fun, Rauri brought his beheaded corpse to us to have our own go at the bastard. Animals take grieving very seriously. We also have this up as a warning. To warn anyone still around who somehow venture this far to turn back, for here lies the beasts that ended the bastard who started all this.’

I felt a shiver of fear run up my spine as Dean walked further into the thick forest. Already I could hear the sounds of animal growls. Then I saw them.

The remaining big cat chimeras all lowly growled from their dens. Already I caught some glimpses of bones near them, the same sized bones as from the Thanos display. Their eyes were cold and soulless like true big cats eyes were as they all began growling and roaring as we walked past them.

“You weren’t kidding Dean.” I muttered.

‘While humans all around the world have tried to move on. Animals don’t. Thanks to these animal instincts the pain humans went through five years ago is ten times stronger. Animals never forget, nor can some of us forgive.’ We stopped at a small rock formation and I hopped off of Dean but stuck close to him. ‘You all remember our Alpha female’s mother Morowa.’

At hearing my name I only got roars and snarls in response. Not just from the big cat chimeras but the crocodile ones, some of the ape chimeras all huffed agitatedly and I got thunderous rumbles from the elephant chimeras.

“You shouldn’t have brought her here.” We turned around and coming out of the darkness of a cave nearby was Mitchell. He definitely looked different the last time I saw him, he grew his hair out down to his shoulders and he started to slightly grow in a beard. Around his neck was a necklace that looked like fingers.

“Mitchell.” I greeted him with a simple nod.

“No offense Morowa, you can’t be here.”

“I know, I only came to talk to Rauri and find out where exactly you all went to.”

“Well….”

“I know Dean told me that Rauri left. And you have no idea where he could’ve gone to?”

“Not a damn clue. Though to be honest I think he couldn’t take the heat anymore. He think he’s the only one who suffered. We all suffered! I lost my girlfriend of over 12 years because of Thanos!”

“Alright Mitchell calm down.” Dean now in human form tried to hold steady.

“And you Dean, you’re whole family is gone. And you’re acting like it’s not even bothering you!”

“You think it doesn’t? My brother, my wife, my sister in law, everyone is gone from me. But if anyone needs to keep their heads on straight it’s me. And it should be you. You’ve always been the collected one while I’ve been the hotheaded one. So don’t you talk to be about suffering dog boy!”

“Alright, alright you two break it up!” I came between them. “Look; no one has forgotten about all that’s happened. And I don’t expect all of you to forget and forgive just as easily. Your alpha female and savior was my daughter. I’ve already lost my real child and my husband years before I met her, and losing her five years ago was like reopening those wounds.”

Everyone was silent and that’s when Mitchell said.

“Then what do you expect us to do?” Honestly I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Be there for each other. Cause all I’m seeing now is that you all are even more divided than five years ago. You’re all that’s left of your family. Don’t turn on each other.” At hearing my speech, the chimeras all seemed to let go of their savage animalistic instincts and turned to look at each other.

“And you two. Being the only Betas left, you both are in charge in making sure none of your pack members tear each other apart. I’ll try my best to find Rauri.”

“You promise you’ll find him?” asked Mitchell.

“I’ll keep you updated.” I hugged him and I whispered in his ear. “Just don’t fall off the deep end. Not again this time Marine.”

“I’ll try.” He said as he slowly embraced me back. I then turned to Dean and I hugged him.

“Thank you Morowa, for—snapping me back into reality.”

“My pleasure, keep an eye on these guys. They’re going to need you more than ever. You and Mitchell.” He nodded.

I hopped off the rock formation and the chimeras let me pass by. Every now and then I stroked their heads in comfort or grazed their trunks and tusks as a promise.

As I left the forest that’s when I got a beep from my kimoyo beads bracelet. I activated it and forming before my eyes was Okoye.

“What is it Okoye?”

“Nat just contacted us. She said her and Captain Rogers found something.”

“Found what?”

“A way to bring everyone back.” At hearing this my eyes widened.

“Tell me more.”

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artemisegeria · 6 years ago

Text

Love by Design (Chapter 7/?)

Title: Love by Design (Chapter 7/?)

Rating: T

Word count: 4356

Warnings: None for this chapter.

Summary: Vision makes elaborate foam art as a barista at the coffee shop that his brother owns. One day a new customer comes in, and he completely loses his cool. As she keeps coming back, they grow closer. A casual acquaintance becomes something much more.

Chapter Summary: Vision and Wanda spend a gratuitous amount of time smiling at each other and struggling with their feelings before they finally get their act together.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16272371

A/N: Excerpted lyrics from “I Want to Know What Love Is,” written by Mick Jones, appear in italicized print.

I struggled a bit with this chapter and rewrote the last couple of sections several times, but hopefully it worked out. It also kept growing and is the longest chapter so far. I hope you enjoy!

Vision dropped his bag in his bedroom, taking a moment to collapse on his bed after a long day of traveling home from his university. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He looked at his text messages to find one from Wanda. How was your trip? Did you make it back ok?

Yes, thank you. It’s good to be home.

Are you too tired to come out with us tonight?

He didn’t waste a second before replying. His exhaustion was rapidly falling away. No, I’ll be there. She gave him the location and told him they’d all be there at ten. Fortunately, Ultron was not in, so Vision did not have to come up with an excuse for where he was going.

Vision immediately saw the group. He ducked under the rope to join them. Wanda smiled at him, and the others greeted him jovially. He couldn’t help but notice that Wanda’s dress covered substantially less skin than what she usually wore. It was a deep red color with a deep vee. It was covered in delicate sequins that seemed to glow under the lights outside the club. Her soft curves were aesthetically appealing, but he worked to keep his focus on her face as she asked about his trip.

Inside the club, the lights were low and strobe lights were making a mesmerizing pattern on the bodies dancing close together. It was not an environment that Vision typically felt comfortable in, but Wanda standing close to him and the familiar jokes of the others kept him grounded. It allowed him to enjoy the beat of the music. They managed to find a corner booth that fit all of them. Wanda and Vision ended up in the center where the two sides of bench joined. Sam and Natasha immediately sped off to the bar to get drinks for the table.

When they returned with several pitchers of beer for the table, Vision accepted a cup. Now that Vision was sitting down again, his tiredness started to creep back up on him. The chatter around him turned into meaningless droning. He felt as if he just blinked once, but suddenly he and Wanda were the only ones in the booth. She smiled up at his confusion. “Hey there. I thought someone who was awake should stay to guard the stuff.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He could feel the flush of embarrassment and slight intoxication burning through him. “If you want to go dance, I’m awake now.”

She shook her head, a faint blush that was barely visible in the low light touching her cheeks as well. “No, I’m fine, but if you’re tired, I can call you a car.”

“No, no.” The sensible part of him urged him to follow her suggestion, so that he could function tomorrow, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet her smile and let the atmosphere of the club create a bubble around them.

Until he felt a tug on his arm, drawing him away from Wanda’s gaze. He looked up to see Natasha grinning at him while Clint pulled on Wanda’s arm. Natasha said, “Clint and I have to have a little chat. We’ll stay with the stuff. You two go have fun.” Wanda and Vision glanced at each other, but there was no arguing with Natasha.

They joined the rest of the group on the dancefloor. Wanda seemed to glow even more brightly under the strobe lights. His eyes were continually drawn to her, even as their positions within the group changed. Not only her body, but also her completely carefree air as she swayed to the music. They all bounced along to the upbeat music that was currently playing, and oddly enough Vision had rarely felt so at peace himself, despite the noise and the crowds. It was one in the morning before they all piled into a few cars and made their way to their homes.

But Vision did not catch a wink of sleep, pondering the new intensity of his feelings.

***

Wanda entered the shop a little later than usual. Now that school was out, there wasn’t quite as much pressure to wake up on time. The space behind the counter was empty, but Wanda noticed a large bound manuscript was sitting in front of her seat. She smiled as she flipped through a few pages.

A few minutes later, Vision emerged from the back room. His beaming smile encouraged one to form on her own face. She had never seen him so happy. “You finished it?”

“Yes, I did.” He came around the counter and ran his fingers lovingly over the cover page.

“Congratulations!” She wrapped her arms around him, and he returned her embrace much less hesitantly than the last time she had hugged him. Since she wasn’t falling apart this time, she able to focus much better on the way his arms felt around her. It was lovely, though she still wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

He pulled back slightly, but he kept his hands on her back. “I still have to go through a final round of edits with my advisor and complete my dissertation defense, but the worst is done.”

“Vizh! That’s so great. I’m really happy for you.” After a few more moments, they realized they were still holding onto each other, backing away simultaneously. He returned behind the counter.

“What would you like this morning?”

“Since we’re celebrating, I’ll have a scone with my iced coffee.” Vision made her order and leaned on the counter across from her. Wanda smiled at him. He seemed more relaxed than she had ever seen him, with the weight of his dissertation no longer so heavily hanging over his head. “So, will I have to start calling you ‘Doctor’ now?”

“Certainly not. Well, not yet at any rate. Maybe in a few months.” His boyish smile infused her with the powerful desire to close the distance between them and kiss him. She’d not felt such a strong wish in years, but she held herself back. This was not the time or place. Vision was her best friend; taking that step was not a choice that should be made lightly.

***

The lights went down as the emcee went up on the stage. “Our first group tonight is Tony, Thor, and Steve.”

Tony and Thor bounded onto the stage, with Steve following more calmly after them. The rest of the group, which had monopolized several small tables, watched them, with some whooping and others heckling. Wanda merely shook her head, but Vision could see the slight upward curve of her lips. They were sharing a table with Natasha, Mantis, and Mantis’s girlfriend Nebula. Bucky, who was smiling softly at Steve on stage, was sitting at a neighboring table with Sam and Clint.

The music started, the opening notes encouraging much bouncing of feet and bobbing of heads. The instantly recognizable opening notes of “Stayin’ Alive” filled the room. Tony stood in the middle of the group, hamming it up for the crowd and making the most exaggerated disco dancing motions, stretching his arm high into the air. Thor and Steve flanked him, gradually leaning into the movements as the song progressed.

As the night wore on, the others’ singing grew louder and sloppier. Natasha, Thor’s friend Val, and Jane’s friend Darcy sang “It’s Raining Men.” Sam and Clint belted out “You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings,” exaggeratedly waving their arms and staring into each other’s eyes. Scott and Hope performed a sincere rendition of “I Will Always Love You.”

Vision and Wanda both rebuffed repeated attempts to get them to sign up. People from other tables took the next few spots. Out of the corner of his eye, Vision saw Tony, Natasha, and Mantis whispering. When Tony and Natasha walked over to the sign-up sheet a few minutes later, Vision thought nothing of it. Until the emcee announced, “Next up is Wanda and Vision.” Wanda immediately glared at Tony, but he only started a chant encouraging them to go on stage.

They took a second to look at each other and then at their friends, who were still egging them on, but finally complied.

The emcee queued up their music, noting it was “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Vision was grateful that he was at least somewhat familiar with the song. As the opening lyrics scrolled across the screen, he tried not to think too hard about their meaning.

I gotta take a little time, a little time to think things over I better read between the lines, in case I need it when I'm older

Their voices were not too steady, and the crowd urged them to sing louder. Vision had a sinking feeling that this would only be the first of many heavy-handed attempts to manipulate his friendship with Wanda. But, despite their discomfort, they began to warm up to the singing. They focused on each other more than the crowd. It was not as terrifying as he might have thought, given the subject of the song.

In my life there's been heartache and pain I don't know if I can face it again Can't stop now, I've traveled so far, to change this lonely life

They had certainly both experienced heartache and pain. Vision was struck again by how much meeting her had brightened his life. Meeting her had opened a whole new horizon for him.

I want to know what love is, I want you to show me I want to feel what love is, I know you can show me

By the time they reached the first chorus, Vision let himself melt into the song. He smiled at Wanda, encouraged when she smiled back.

I want to feel it too, and I know and I know, I know you can show me Show me love is real, yeah, I want to know what love is

When they reached the end of the song, Vision and Wanda just looked at each other briefly before their friends started screaming and applauding wildly.

As they gratefully left the stage, Wanda spoke lowly to Tony, “I hope that was fun for you because I will get you for it. I haven’t decided how yet, but you don’t know either. I promise you that you won’t see it coming.” Vision didn’t think Tony’s look of trepidation was at all feigned, and Wanda grinned savagely as she walked away. Mantis, Nebula, and Natasha were not at their table when they sat down. Wanda’s manner immediately turned softer and more apologetic. “Sorry about my friends.” She paused and glanced up at him. “Well, they’re your friends now too. Anyway, you know they can be idiots.”

“Oh, a little teasing among friends never hurt anyone.” He attempted an easy smile back at her. “I hope the song didn’t make you too uncomfortable.” Vision could dream that she had a rather more positive opinion of their falling in love.

“Uh, it’s fine.” Wanda flushed more deeply, but Vision tried not to take it too much to heart. It was embarrassing to be called on stage with no warning, and they had never discussed shifting from a platonic to a romantic relationship. After a moment, she smiled more fully at him before turning to scowl at the back of Tony’s head. “I just need to plot some good revenge for Tony, and Natasha, too, for putting us in that situation. Death is far too kind for them.”

“Might I suggest putting them in a room of angry parents and locking the door behind them.”

Wanda chuckled. “I like the way you think.”

***

Wanda smoothed her skirt when she heard Vision’s knock on her front door. It was her turn to host everybody for game night, but she had invited him over early. Suddenly feeling a bit nervous, she let him in. He had never come to her home before. “Would you like something to eat, Vizh?”

“Yes, that would be nice. And highly advisable if Natasha is mixing the drinks tonight.”

“Sorry everything’s a bit of a mess.” She looked around at the knickknacks that cluttered her walls and coffee table. “And I don’t have much in the kitchen right now.”

“Not at all. I enjoy seeing the pieces of your life.”

She cringed as she opened her refrigerator to show him what was available. There were a few eggs, some cheese, a little bit of wilted spinach, condiments, and not much else. “I could make omelets if you like.”

“Sounds great.” She showed him where her pans, utensils, and oil were kept. When he had all the ingredients in place, Wanda watched Vision cooking unabashedly. She took advantage of all his focus being exerted on the pan in front of him. He flipped the omelet perfectly and handed her a plate when it was done.

“Feel free to eat while it’s hot. Mine will be done momentarily.” He was true to his word, and they both finished their meals and cleaned up quickly. When they were done, Wanda gestured to her couch, and they sat side by side.

“Did you hear that Clint’s wife is pregnant with their first child?” Wanda asked.

“No, but that’s wonderful news.”

“I know. Nat’s so excited to be an aunt, and Clint doesn’t show it as much, but he seems thrilled.” She had nearly cried when Clint had pulled her aside to tell her, love and excitement practically shining out of him. Wanda was happy for them, but she did feel a pang of jealousy go through her every time the subject came up. She wanted to be a mother someday, but she didn’t know how she would achieve it. She supposed there was always in vitro fertilization or adoption, but there were severe hurdles to get over both of those. And she didn’t relish the idea of being a single mother. She wanted a stable partnership to support her child or children, but she would have to meet a suitable partner first.

Vision’s thoughts had apparently wandered down similar paths. “I have always wanted to be a father.” His eyes were wistful and far away. She shouldn’t have been surprised, given what she already knew about Vision, but Wanda was still a little taken aback at such a decisive statement about having kids. It was rare in her experience to see a man think that way.

“I’ve always wanted to be a mother, too.” Wanda’s heart jumped a bit at her admission. They were getting deeper into the only subject they never really discussed, even after they learned more about each other’s histories.

“I am only afraid that I will wait too long to find someone to start a family with.” She ached for the sadness in his voice. A perfect image of Vision gazing adoringly at a tightly wrapped newborn resting in his arms filled Wanda’s mind.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m in the same boat.”

Vision looked at her sadly, eyes never wavering. “No, Wanda, it doesn’t. You deserve to have everything you want.”

“So do you,” she breathed. Her heartrate sped up as a result of the tender look in his eyes. Neither of them spoke, both unwilling to break the moment. But something in Wanda forced her to make one last attempt to cover everything she was feeling with a flippant comment. “But it’s hard to imagine creating a family with someone when I haven’t made it past a second date in years.”

She was beginning to imagine it now though. The image she had formed earlier was supplemented by a picture of herself coming up to Vision’s side and gazing with equal awe at the bundle in his arms. She shook her head to clear it of the extremely premature image.

“Yes, I have only ever met one person with whom I could imagine starting a family.” There was no mistaking how the smile in his eyes was all for her. Wanda just hoped that she was not letting wishful thinking deceive her. “It does make it all the more special when you find a person like that.”

Silence reigned again, but it was charged with expectation. There was suddenly poorly concealed terror in Vision’s eyes. She was about to ask what was wrong when he rushed forward. “Wanda, may I kiss you?”

She nodded, and he brought his hands to cup her face, staring into her eyes briefly before pressing his lips to hers. Warmth spread through her from the place where their lips met. She rested her hands on his shoulders. When they finally separated, Wanda noted that Vision was blushing. “I hope that was satisfactory. It has been a very long time.”

She nodded, just a bit dazed. “For me too,” she whispered. Wanda regained control of her words as she calmed down from the surprise of her best friend kissing her. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while. Um, thanks for beating me to it.”

“You have?” Wanda smiled at his starry-eyed expression and nodded in confirmation. “I have as well.”

However, reality was setting in. The others would arrive in about fifteen minutes. “If we want to keep doing this, it will be an adjustment though.”

Vision nodded seriously. “Yes, I would never want to jeopardize our friendship.”

“Me, neither.” Except for Pietro, Vision was the most important person in the world to her. Wonderful as this feeling was, she couldn’t mess that up out of carelessness. “So, we, uh, should probably keep this to ourselves until we can talk through some things.”

“Agreed. Are you free tomorrow night?”

“For you, absolutely.” She grinned at the deepening blush that spread across his cheeks. She was very tempted to kiss him again. But she didn’t want to get too carried away before their friends arrived. A few minutes later another knock sounded at her door, drawing them out of their own new private world.

***

Vision’s feelings had not changed overnight, and he had not expected them to. But there was the matter of disclosing his sexuality. Kissing Wanda had been wonderful, but it did not change his fundamental feelings about sex. It had been so long since he had kissed someone that he sometimes thought his feelings would change if he met the right person. But that was clearly not the case because he had never met anyone he cared as deeply about as he did Wanda.

His stomach tied itself in knots as he considered the best way to word his speech. He had never gotten to the point of revealing it to another person, but he wanted to be completely honest with Wanda from the beginning.

His anxiety was amplified by the fact that he had forgotten to ask Wanda if she was coming by this morning. He had been so distracted by the dramatic shift in their relationship and trying not to act too oddly in front of their friends. His question was answered when the bell at the front door rang at the usual time. “Hey, Vizh,” she said more softly than was her wont.

“Good morning, Wanda. How was the rest of your night?”

“Good. Yours?”

“Very good.” He smiled at her tentatively. “What will you have?”

“Hot chocolate today, please.” He made her drink and handed her the can of whipped cream, shaking his head fondly at the excessive amount she added to her mug.

“We should buy bigger mugs just so you have more room for your whipped cream.” She stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled, relieved that they could maintain the same rapport that they always had.

“That sounds like a great idea.” She took a large sip, and Vision found himself mesmerized by the bit of whipped cream that stuck on her upper lip.

He leaned forward unconsciously, reaching out with his thumb. “Wanda, you have a bit, uh…May I?”

“Oh.” She was blushing furiously now. “Sure.” Vision gently wiped his thumb over her lip. They remained still, both breathing faster than usual, until Wanda closed the distance between them. The kiss was short and sweet, but Vision felt the weight of all their feelings behind it. “So, I, um, have to go practice my cello now before our group practice later. I’m still not up to the level I used to play at. But you’re still coming over to mine tonight, right?”

He smiled at her. “Yes, I look forward to it.” She smiled back and rushed out, throwing one last wave over her shoulder. It took some hours for Vision’s anxiety to overpower the bright glow of contentment that she left him with. He comforted himself with the thought that whatever her reaction she would be kind about it, but the afternoon hours still seemed to ooze by like thick molasses.

Wanda welcomed him warmly into her apartment at the appointed time. After a few pleasantries, she offered to make tea, and he accepted, eager to have a few more moments to center himself. While he waited, Vision drifted over to examine her pictures more closely. There were several of a man, a woman, and two children. Then, a number of just her and Pietro. One in particular caught his eye; Vision didn’t think he had seen it the day before. It showed the two siblings outside on a sunny day, surrounded by other people sporting all colors of the rainbow, with Wanda in a shirt with purple, white, gray, and black stripes. He was still considering how to ask her about the picture when a quiet “Tea’s ready” came from behind him. Vision turned to her and walked back toward the couch. Wanda played with her rings when she saw what he had been looking at, and they prepared their tea in silence.

Her fingers tapped loudly against the cup as they sipped. Her eyes drifted back and forth between Vision and the picture. There was no denying the nervousness in her expression. Vision took a breath and steeled himself to say what he needed to. “After last night, there is something that I wish to tell you, but may I ask you about the picture first?”

“Okay.” Wanda set her cup down and drew her limbs into herself, watching him warily. With the way she tensed up, Vision felt he may have begun the wrong way.

“Is that you and Pietro at Pride?”

“Yeah, he convinced me to go when I visited him last year.”

“And you’re wearing the asexual pride flag?”

“Mm-hmm.” Her defensive posture did not shift, but her expression grew more open. “You’re familiar with it?”

“Yes.” He strove to speak with all the authority and matter-of-factness with which he would deliver an academic conclusion that he had reached after much study and thought. “I am intimately familiar with it, actually. I am asexual.”

Wanda just blinked at him for a minute, and Vision’s heart plummeted. He tried to think of how he could explain himself differently if the shirt was just a coincidence and she had no idea what he was talking about when she whispered, “You’re ace?” To hear her use the familiar slang term at least assured him that she did at least know the term.

“Yes.”

She looked at him as if she had never seen him before, a wide smile slowly breaking across her face. “When you said you didn’t usually date, I never would have imagined that was the reason.” Her body relaxed somewhat. “I am, too, like the shirt indicates. I’ve never met anyone who identifies as asexual in person before.”

“Neither have I. I did not want to presume; I thought perhaps you were wearing the shirt in support of someone else.” Wanda shook her head, still smiling softly at him. “I have rehearsed this for years, but I’d begun to imagine that I would never have the opportunity to say it out loud.”

“I only ever told Pietro.” Her excited tone faded at the end of the sentence, and her face set into a scowl. “And one boyfriend in college who promptly offered to ‘fix’ me. He was the last semi-serious boyfriend I had.”

Vision tentatively reached for her hand. “I’m sorry.” He had heard many similar stories and it broke his heart every time.

Wanda only shrugged. “It was a long time ago. Besides I should consider myself lucky. My friends kept telling me that he was a jerk, but I couldn’t see it until he said that.” But she turned her eyes up at him hopefully. “So, I guess you wouldn’t be bothered by the fact that I’ve never had sex?”

“Not at all. I have not either.” Vision had never thought that his inexperience was a cause for shame, but it was still a rarity at his age. It was a relief to admit that to someone who felt the same way. “Part of me did not even believe it was something real people did outside of fiction for a long time. I knew it intellectually, but I could not quite wrap my head around it.”

Wanda laughed with absolute delight and leaned toward him, listening eagerly. “Me neither. I was so confused when Pietro started dating.”

They began to interrogate each other, finally having the opportunity to discuss a number of subjects with someone who understood. When their initial stream of excited questions cooled, they rested back against the couch cushions and absorbed this new information. Vision smiled at her, overcome with relief at how she received what he had never dared tell another person before. “So,” Wanda teased, gracing him with a small, intimate smile, “any other deep, dark secrets you have to reveal before we start a new relationship?”

“No, that was all. You?”

“Nope.” She raised their joined hands to his cheek and pressed forward slightly.

Vision caught her open, inviting gaze and tilted his head closer to hers. There was only one item remaining on his agenda. “And would you like to proceed?”

“Yes.” Wanda sealed the answer by pulling him in for another kiss.

#alternateuniversescarletvision #fanfiction #au #wanda x vision #scarlet vision

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buildridernews · 6 years ago

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[Review] Kamen Rider Build - Episodes 47-49

This is it, folks - the final chapter. Or rather, the final three episodes of the show. We've got a lot to dissect, so let's get to it.

Episode 47: "A Zero Degree Flame" (ゼロ度の炎)

After the most painful week of waiting, we're back to Grease in his new Grease Blizzard form, which we know now is such a powerful form that it could kill him. As he's tearing down the Lost Smash doppelgangers, Sento, Ryuga and Gentoku make their way to another floor where doppelgangers of Remocon Bro and Engine Bro are waiting - Gentoku decides to stay behind and fight them himself, allowing Sento and Ryuga to progress through Pandora Tower.

Misora and Sawa show up with their Pandora's Box, realizing that Grease is using a new form with Shinobu's missing Build Driver. The two of them know exactly what this means for Grease, so Misora tells Sawa to keep going without her.

Rogue has difficulty taking on the gear bros, which is fair since he's now dealing with Evolt-level copies. MadRogue steps in, and while Rogue wants to be cocky against him, we learn what's really going on with MadRogue. He suddenly turns on the gear bros, revealing that he joined Evolt specifically to gain an edge since the Rider System didn't seem like it would be enough to beat him - not only that, but he wanted to avenge President Namba. As far as Rogue is concerned, they can both achieve their dreams together, so the Rogue boys team up!

Even together, they don't do a great job of taking on the combined form, so it's a good thing Sawa showed up with Pandora's Box! As it turns out, the call from "Namba" earlier was Utsumi arranging for the girls to show up with the bottles, and I love how this one line fixes any weakness in Utsumi's character: He's loyal to Namba. He never went crazy seeing the president's death, he stayed loyal. That's super interesting, especially since it means he's now an ally instead of an enemy. And the connection to Sawa makes it even better.

The plan was for MadRogue to exploit a weakness in the Kaiser System. The Same and Bike Fullbottles are specially designed to neutralize the system's attacks, which is a nice callback to the YouTube spinoff. They use finishers to deal with the gear bros, defeating them. Then Evolt's DNA leaves them, reforming as Soichi and demanding the Lost Fullbottle they got from that pair of mimics.

Meanwhile, Grease Blizzard is continuing his assault on the Lost Smash trio, practically losing control. However, he pauses once he starts letting off an aura that occurs with any Hazard Level carrier who's on the brink of death. Misora begs for him to stop but he figures this can only end one way for him. Sento and Ryuga catch this fight on a TV in the tower, and Ryuga questions why he'd invent such a dangerous weapon for Kazumi to use, because they both know where this is going - nothing left to do but continue traversing the tower.

Back with the others, MadRogue takes on Evol and reveals that he stayed with him this long so that he could input data from HIS belt. Then MadRogue starts charging up, apparently achieving the various Phases of power Evol had, then unleashes a quick barrage of attacks that legitimately shock him.

Speaking of legitimate shock, before MadRogue can deal the final blow to avenge Namba, he... starts to short circuit. His suit dematerializing, Utsumi falls to the ground with sparks coming from his chest. This is when Evol nonchalantly remarks "Oh right, you're a cyborg." EXCUSE YOU?

When Gentoku had Utsumi pose as Night Rogue... that shot in his shoulder, which caused him to fall off a bridge, was actually fatal enough that he was turned into a cyborg. That-- Wow. Okay, that's a pretty damn good twist, which once again fixes a slight nitpick of "He sure recovered well from that presumed death". And those motherfuckers made a cold opening where they joked about him being a robot! Did they make a joke then turn it into a plot point, or is this some Steven Universe foreshadow-trolling? Anyway, cool stuff.

With Utsumi seemingly dead now, Rogue tries his best to avenge him, but Evol sends him flying. With Gentoku lying before Sawa, Evol comes towards them with an attack, when Utsumi gets in the way and takes the hit for them, claiming he isn't doing this for them - he's doing it for the bottles. Gentoku and Sawa make a quick escape using the Nebula Steam Gun, leaving Evol mighty miffed.

I should take a moment and put what I said all into one paragraph: Utsumi was an interesting character to see develop. I thought it was nice seeing him come back, was totally hoping he'd become Kamen Rider Rogue due to the irony of it all, and was delighted to see him become MadRogue. Even so, his turn as a villain felt weird and kinda forced in retrospect, as did the presumed death and subsequent return - it's fascinating how this episode cleanly deals with both things and at the same time turns him into more of a heroic character, even if one that's been raised by a cult. And the cyborg thing is a nice return to Kamen Rider's origins, even if it's such a brief reveal. May he be missed.

... On a related note, back to Grease Blizzard. He finishes off the Lost Smash trio, claiming he's ready to hang out with his bros... on the other side. With all of them gone, his suit dematerializes, and that death aura ain't lifting anytime soon. He gives Misora the Lost Fullbottle he had, and it's here they have their final words. Misora still calls him Grease, and she reveals that she never wanted to call him by his real name, presumably so she didn't get to attached - it's... kind of fair since he always calls her Mii-tan.

Misora begs for him to live, and now even Kazumi is starting to tear up, because hey, his waifu is rooting for him, how lucky can a guy get? He decides he'd better brag to his boys on the other side, so... he disappears, leaving Misora to utter "Kazumin..." Wow. </3

So, Kazumi was great. I loved the actor in Kiva so I had an immediate attachment, and I feel he played a pretty superior character here - one with more depth and an interesting change in personality as the world around him changed.

But a pretty unfortunate flaw of this episode is that his death was basically spelled out from the beginning, and we had to wait a week to see it happen, so by this point the impact was not as strong as it could’ve been. It might’ve been better if Sento introduced him to his new weapon by saying it’s powerful “as is”, and having Kazumi remark to himself how it looks like the Magma Knuckle. Then when he steals the Build Driver, it’s more of an epic cliffhanger. The preview showing his death could have been framed in such a way that maybe his new form wasn’t strong enough, with the twist being that the form was what killed him.

I dunno, maybe I’m over-analyzing at this point. I just feel that the week long break hurt the impact of what they had written. Plus Utsumi’s whole twist and death kinda overshadows it since I did not see any of that coming.

Moving on... now we're in the area Evolt was in, which I guess is meant to be part of Pandora Tower even though there's no walls to be seen. The gang is all together and pretty somber after presumably learning what happened with Utsumi. It gets worse when Misora silently approaches, handing Sento the Lost Fullbottle and telling them the news...

... and it's at this point I found the scene sad and beautiful. All you hear is the wind - everyone is muted for dramatic effect, and each of them is reacting to what you assume is "Kazumi is dead." It sinks in, and they all break down. Misora falls to her knees, Sawa comforts her as she cries, Ryuga punches stone with a look of disbelief and anger, Gentoku straight up screams in despair... and Sento silently broods.

Then Soichi breaks the silence with "Yo!" and Sento turns, screaming Evolt's name. END OF EPISODE. Fucking stunning.

Episode 48: "For a World of Love & Peace" (ラブ＆ピースの世界へ)

Time for an entire episode of fighting! Everyone does their best to take Evol on, and we also get to learn what Sento wanted to tell Ryuga before at their cookout: Only Ryuga can save their world because he has the Evolt DNA to make stuff happen with the white panel. He starts using the Hazard Trigger with his Cross-Z Magma form, gets in some good hits, but in the end, Evol is still too strong.

Eventually, Evol manages to get back the two bottles and return to his final monster form, which is BAD. Evolt opens up a black hole which absorbs their goddamn moon, which... actually probably won't affect them in the long run according to Dragon Ball. But he also starts tearing at the Earth, which is definitely going to be a problem.

When Misora is begging for Vernage's help, Evolt tries to destroy her, only for Rogue to take the hit for her. He's already getting that death aura, but he takes Evolt head on.

We also once again come back to that cookout where Kazumi talked to Gentoku about being a political figure once this was all over, and... at this point I understood Gentoku - even after all he's doing to save the world, he feels like he's yet to really make up for who he was, and that's pretty damn interesting since he was under some nebula gas influence until becoming a hero. Even more interesting is the fact that Kazumi says he's forgiven Gentoku for everything, and that's pretty big of him to do. No wonder Gentoku reacted to his death so intensely...

Rogue, unfortunately, bites off more than he can chew as he tries to fight a god mode Evolt. His helmet gets broken, which only makes things look even more grim - as he seems to be falling, however, the people of the city are screaming and cheering for the Kamen Riders, which I must say, is goddamn powerful. Rogue is living by his father's words: It's not about the person in power, is about the people who put them in power. MANLY TEARS MOMENT.

While his attacks seem to be amounting to little, Rogue seems to be onto something with attacking Evolt's Evol Trigger. However... he can't fight his fate, and ultimately his transformation disengages, leaving a weakened Gentoku to question... did he measure up to his father at all after this? With a beautiful shot where Rogue's shadow can be seen on the wall next to him, Gentoku fades away...

I'll be honest, this character started out as a bit of a nothing character to me. I've said it before: After episode 1, there were at least 1-2 people telling me every week, if not every other day, that Gentoku is gonna turn out to be Night Rogue. It was obvious, and I found Blood Stalk more interesting. To me Night Rogue seemed like one of THOSE Rider villains: The one who's gonna stick around until the hero gets their first power-up form, then gets killed off. Phoenix, Javert, Graphite, just characters made to be a really strong obstacle that makes the power-up more impressive. I didn’t invest in him for that reason.

But Gentoku stuck around. He disappeared for a bit, then came back as the grim Kamen Rider Rogue. And while he was very cool visually, I described that period as "Comically edgy Gentoku" because he was just leaning too far into grim territory. But once we got the implication that he was starting to lose that nebula gas edge, and was starting to show some heroism, then he got interesting. I mean, maybe they could have used at least one line to explain his turn to comedy, but besides that, I really like him now that he's become one of the heroes. He will truly, truly be missed.

Build and Cross-Z Magma transform, powered by the screams for justice still cheering them on, and suddenly... Evolt has trouble moving. It seems that Gentoku's death wasn't in vain, as the Evol Trigger has some lasting damage. The two Rider Kick the bottles out of him again, and this time, Cross-Z Magma runs at him with the white panel to fuse them together, causing the black panel to disappear.

With the white panel attached to the Pandora's Box they brought, a beam shoots out into the black hole... and out of it comes another Earth, one without a Skywall. Evolt is given some heroic monologuing to explain that their plan was to use his energy with this beam to fuse these two Earths, forming a world without the Skywall and without Evolt's presence. Shockingly, the Genius Fullbottle's power gets absorbed, leaving Build with one less power-up.

As Build prepares to send Evolt flying, Cross-Z Magma shoves him aside, causing his suit to dematerialize. He tells Sento that he's got Evolt's DNA in him, so obviously... he should be the one to finish the job. Cross-Z Magma propels himself into space, leaving Sento screaming his name!

Episode 49: "The Tomorrow Created by Build" (ビルドが創る明日)

While the Katsuragi in Sento's head seems content with letting Ryuga sacrifice himself, Sento won't have it - from the point on, there'll be no sacrifices. Using RabbitRabbit, Build leaps into the space where Evolt and Cross-Z Magma flew into, which takes him to a wasteland. Here, we finds what he thinks is Ryuga, but surprise, Evolt absorbed Ryuga and intends to finish off Sento so that he can become powerful again.

To Evolt’s dismay, though, Ryuga fights back inside his body, giving Sento the chance to regain his composure, and gives him the silver Dragon Fullbottle. He also tells Sento something very important: Since they met, Ryuga has now become the definition of Sento's heroism, a person who can't help but smile when he's managed to save someone. Ryuga, and all the others, have built up Sento into the hero he wants to be, so he can't let them down now.

Build charges into battle, back at it again with RabbitRabbit, then moving into TankTank, all while he and Evolt trade some powerful blows that cause them to get just a hint of death aura. As they keep fighting, Evolt loses some of his bulk, and Build switches to RabbitTank Sparkling. As Evolt loses even more of his power, Build is reduced to just RabbitTank, which Evolt takes amusement in... until Build turns the tides.

With this Hazard Level, Build's Rabbit Fullbottle turns gold, and he uses it with the silver Dragon Fullbottle to unleash a powerful finisher in the Fullbottle Buster. Finally, with Ryuga holding Evolt back, Build uses these gold and silver bottles to transform into a special Trial Form that the bent decides is a Best Match, because that’s what Sento and Ryuga are! With a Rider Kick that Evolt attempts to counter, Build sends him flying to the ground, causing him to explode.

And that's it. Vernage leaves Misora's body, now that she can confirm that the evil is defeated, then that gold bracelet finally falls off of Misora's hand. The two Earths begin to merge, with strings of math breaking down the Skywall... because I guess we needed to homage the opening?

And then... silence.

...

Sento wakes up in a grassy field with an odd product placement in the form of the Cross-Z RideWatch, then looks around and realizes that the Skywall is indeed... gone. As he walks into the city and sees Prime Minister Himuro on a large TV screen, he and Katsuragi reflect on the fact that they were successful, and that this was the world their father wanted: The last 10 years have been completely different for this new world, more peaceful. Of course, this means the people Sento remembers aren't gonna remember him.

We then get a wonderful montage of things. Gentoku is his father’s aide, Sawa is a political journalist that’s having a nice professional exchange with Gentoku, Utsumi is working for Namba which is now a workshop, Kazumi and his bros hang out at our favorite coffee shop to meet the cute barista Misora, and... damn is it nice to see them all happy.

But it’s also sad, because even though Sento practically created his world, it’s a world that doesn’t know who Sento Kiryu is. Katsuragi bids Sento farewell, letting him know that it's been fun tagging along and watching him do his hero thing. By this point, he seems to have come to terms with everything, so he will cease to be a voice in Sento’s head.

Sento then encounters Ryuga, who’s hanging out with his not-dead girlfriend, and confirms that not even Ryuga remembers him. He tries to play it off then goes to the coffee shop, where it seems like Misora recognizes him... but her dad points out that he’s Taro Sato, the rock star on the poster in their shop! As Sento drinks his coffee, he makes the shocking revelation that Misora's dad actually knows what coffee is after all, and can't help but finally crack a smile as the two act like goobers over his resemblance to this rock star.

Outside, Sento reflects once more on the world he's created, and finds it pretty ironic that the man who once had amnesia is now the one person no one remembers... except the guy who calls out his name~?!

Ryuga shows up, asking what the deal is with this world. He found out there was a version of him here who's dating his girlfriend, which Sento realizes is because... Our Ryuga wouldn’t technically exist in a world without Evolt since he has Evolt’s DNA, so the Ryuga here is one who grew up normally! And is maybe 8 months younger! The two decide to ride off together, with a wonderful callback to episode 1.

The show ends with Sento revealing to Ryuga that he's written a 49 episode script about his adventures, which is frankly NOT the weirdest comedic ending a Rider show has gotten. Neo Fangire.

So... that was Kamen Rider Build. It was-- actually, it's better if I let the review end here. This is long as is, so I'll be giving my overall thoughts of the show in a separate post. Mostly positive, some small nitpicks, and perhaps it’s worth talking more about the ending. Til then!

#kamen rider build #reviews #feed

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tenroseforeverandever · 7 years ago

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Dear Father Christmas... Chapter 17: December 24, 2032

MASTERPOST

Characters: Tentoo; Rose Tyler; Jackie Tyler; Pete Tyler; Tony Tyler; OC Hope Tyler-Noble; OC Charlotte Tyler-Noble; OC Wilfred Tyler-Noble

Rated: Teen

Tags: Family!Fic; Kid!Fic; Pete’s World; Letters to Santa; Christmas Fic; Family; Fluff; Hurt/Comfort; Angst; Romance; Love; gun violence; violence resulting in death; life-threatening injury; life threatening situations

Summary: When Rose Tyler was little, she always wrote a Christmas wish list to Father Christmas. As she grew older, the wish list became more of a letter to someone she could confide in once a year, but she fell out of the habit somewhere along the way. Now, as a new mum, celebrating her daughter’s first Christmas, Rose takes up writing her Christmas letter to Father Christmas once again.

Rose’s Christmas letters are excerpts from her life with her beloved Tentoo and their children in Pete’s World, written once a year, for each of 31 years.

Chapter Summary: When Hope can’t make it home for Christmas, Rose and the Doctor decide to bring a little bit of Christmas to her.

Notes: @rose–nebula and mrsbertucci I keep trying to explain how much these ladies mean to me… and I just can’t find enough words. <3

Thanks to @doctorroseprompts for their 31 Days of Ficmas prompts. The prompt I used today was Presents.

Also read at: AO3; FF.net; Teaspoon

December 24th, 2032

Dear Father Christmas,

Presents come in all shapes and sizes; some are wrapped in pretty paper and ribbons; some can’t be wrapped at all. But, regardless what form a gift takes, it is the thought behind it that really matters, the love that went into choosing it.

A couple of days ago, I had just received word from Hope that she definitely wasn’t going to be able to make it home for Christmas this year. I had known she wasn’t going to be able to just drop all her studies and leave; I just kept hoping that somehow, miraculously, something would happen to change the inevitable. But calendars in the 51st Century don’t precisely align with 21st Century ones; holidays have changed and evolved over the years, and Christmas isn’t quite Christmas anymore, not on Earth, at any rate. And certainly not on Edifinol Beta, human colony or not.

I reckon I set myself up for disappointment, trying to be optimistic, and I wish I had been more realistic about it, ‘cause the disappointment absolutely crushed me. I just sat there, by the Christmas tree, fingering the little oblong package that was meant for Hope, blubbing my eyes out. And suddenly the Doctor came rushing through the front door, and wrapped his arms around me. He already knew what was wrong and had tried to soothe me over our bond, but somehow nothing matched the comfort of pressing close to him and breathing in his scent, of feeling his hands in my hair and his kisses on my cheeks.

I remember whinging about how Hope would never get her gift, which was absolute rubbish, but it sure felt that way at the time. Looking back, I was being a right misery, and the Doctor was just taking it in his stride, and being the best sort of comfort I could ever imagine.

Then he stood up. “Right!” he said. “Into the TARDIS. If Hope can’t come to us, then we can go to her.”

Santa, I must have looked like a bloody loony gawping at him. All I could say was, “What? Right now?”

Yup that’s what he meant. Right now!

He bustled me through the TARDIS doors (she was a wardrobe in the study at the moment) and set the coordinates for Hope’s residence at the Bontane Medical Academy. He told me not to worry about the kids: he’d already arranged for their Gran and Grandad to look after them for a few days, and he didn't think they minded, despite Mum’s grousing about last minute plans (I knew he was right) and he promised me would be back by Christmas Eve. He was bouncing around the console, triple checking the coordinates. “Allons-y!”

I must have looked a fright with teary eyes and wearing a hideous onesie that I kept for when I was relaxing at home, but the Doctor reminded me that Hope wasn’t likely to care (I knew he was right about that, too!) And when we landed and my precious baby girl came flying into the TARDIS to hug me and the Doctor, I didn’t care much either. It just felt so wonderful to see her and hold her in my arms again.

“Happy Christmas!” the Doctor cheered and the TARDIS hummed with excitement. Hope stroked her affectionately, a smile on her face.

I hadn’t seen her for a couple of months, and it seemed she had changed and matured so much in that short period of time. She was wearing her hair a new way, and her clothes were, naturally, a 51st Century design. It was strange, but it all suited her so well, like this was how she was meant to look. I felt sort of shy around her for some reason, like she was a familiar stranger, and I suppose in a way she was, living a new life on her own, beyond the reach of our daily guidance and input.

Unable to speak, I just held out the little wrapped oblong box for her to take, and then she proceeded to drive me mental with her meticulous picking at the bits of tape, pulling them away so they wouldn’t tear the paper. All my shyness disappeared. This was just my beloved, infuriating child. “Oh, just bloody open it, you daft thing!”

When she finally got inside the package, she pulled out her new sonic device. But it wasn’t just any sonic device. This device was also a multifunctional medical tool. It used transspatial technology to switch among different functional tips which included an adjustable laser setting, and a variety of different surgical implements common in the 51st Century. It had been my idea and the Doctor had spent many long hours designing and creating it.

And Hope’s response was everything I could have hoped for. She was beaming from ear to ear, and giving us hugs of thanks and love.

When we finally pulled apart, I asked her if we could take her for tea.

“I have a little time. I know this great place that serves the best chips ever! When I found it, I thought of you right away, Mum!”

“Chips it is!” Well, what else could I say to an offer like that?

We spent a few lovely, too-short hours with our very first baby girl before she had to rush off to an evening lab, off to her life, separate from ours. And, of course, I started crying again, once the TARDIS doors shut behind us.

“C’mon love,” the Doctor said, hugging me tight against him, “we have a whole day before we’re due back for Christmas Eve. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. A quiet evening in, and we can find a brilliant adventure tomorrow!” And so we spent the evening sipping hot chocolate, and sitting in the TARDIS doorway, our legs dangling into space, as we watched a nebula whirling before us, like a million of the brightest fairy lights in a million different colours.

“She’ll be all right, won’t she?” I asked him. I knew she would be, but I just needed to hear it.

“Of course she will: she has a superhero for a mum and a genius for a dad,” the Doctor reminded me, “and she’ll always be our little girl.”

I had to laugh at that. When she had opened her present today, the look on her face was the same look she had had on Christmas morning when she wasn’t even two years old. She had meticulously picked open her gift then too: a little toy sonic.

This, I realized, was what gift giving was all about: seeing the joy and wonder shining in the recipient’s face. And honestly, seeing those emotions on Hope’s face was the very best gift I could possibly have received in return.

You must have the best job in the world, Santa, knowing you bring that joy to everyone around the world.

Happy Christmas to you and Mrs. Claus, and I’d never forget to wish the elves and reindeer a happy Christmas too!

love to you all, Rose

#doctorroseprompts #kid fic #tentoo x rose #christmas #family #love #hurt/comfort #angst #romance #ficandchips #tenroseforeverandever's fic

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loki-god-of-menace · 7 years ago

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The Only Thing You Have to Lose is Your Mind

Loki does not expect Hela. He doesn’t expect Sakaar. And he most certainly does not expect the Grandmaster.

But the stakes are higher than he thinks...

Inspired by this art.

Again.

Hela’s blow had come unexpectedly. Her entire presence was unexpected, and though Loki prided himself on adaptability (if nothing else) he had not counted on her being able to destroy Mjolnir.

A part of him was glad. The sentiment was petty, but the object of worthiness that had so long defined his life in parameters of ‘unworthy’ was gone. It was little more than crumbled Uru rocks on a rather indifferent New York alley-way.

But it considerably reduced their immediate sources of defensive power, which, in their situation, he had recognized as grim. He did not know Hela. His knowledge reached a wall where she was considered, and though he had deduced magic-user and insane in the first several minutes, he was rather at a loss for all else.

Not that he could judge sanity with any merit.

They had thought Asgard. If they could return to Asgard they would be able to regroup. But she had followed them and Loki had felt something slice through his armor and explode his chest in white hot, before he was knocked clear of the Bifrost and tumbled out into space.

Again. He gasped, except there was no air to breathe. He kicked and squirmed like a fish, reaching cold fingers toward the glittering, raw energy of the Bifrost still channeling through the dark, but he realized there was a gulf between them.

He coughed, his lungs contracted, and when his body spasmed inward on itself, he noticed the gash through his armor and the thick, red of blood where his chest ought to be.

Oh. He thought. He had survived death twice and this was to be his final moments?

He shivered. Or maybe it was his muscle twitching as bones caved inward on themselves.

Death never became easier. He protested, weakly. One would think it might be after rubbing shoulders with it so many times. But it was still frigid, terrifying, and final, and no amount of reasoning, or poetic words, could take that away.

The Bifrost rushed away, taking Hela and Thor with it and Loki closed his eyes.

Again.

He dreamed.

A part of him knew he should not be dreaming if he was dead, and a separate part of him wondered if this was death.

He was rushing through a sea of stars that was space, except it was not utterly black, but warm, gentle shades of blue scattered with nebula and constellations. He did not know if he could breathe. His mind told him his lungs were collapsed and he could not breathe, but he did not care.

He was reaching. Reaching for light that was just too far from his fingertips.

What was it?

It blinded and drew him all at once. He only knew he had to reach it.

Loki awoke. His eyes flew open and he gasped; hungry for air. His lungs burned like a fire had been set in them and he coughed until his ribs ached.

Oh. He remembered. Thanos had reinforced his ribs. After breaking every one of them, healing them, and rebreaking them, the time had finally come for him to descend to Midgard and the Titan set out to modify anything they had damaged too significantly under torture.

It seemed his lungs were not crushed after all.

A pity. He put a hand to the white, sandy ground and shoved himself up, noting the bloody smear beneath him and the distinct, unmistakable sight of boots in front of him.

His vision snapped up and he was standing to his feet in seconds, reaching for a dagger beneath his hip, never minding the wound and the light-headedness that assaulted him.

The woman (yes, that was right. Her hair was twisted up in a bun; her face was marked with paint; and her hands settled on her sword) moved with almost equal alacrity and grabbed Loki’s wrist. She drew her own blade, and barked a,

“Stop.” Adamantly, but Loki only smiled, and twisted around to bring his elbow into her face.

It was then he registered she was not alone, and that the others around were all clad in obnoxious colors, armed to the teeth, and several of them had crackling, fiber-wire nets. It was also at that moment his chest heaved and he fell onto his knees.

The hiss of a net-launcher gave him time to roll out of the way, catching one of his would-be captors in their own traps, but it was a short-lived victory as the woman loomed up, her nose shadowed with blood, and swung for his head.

Loki bent to dodge, and shuddered when pain ripped through his heart.

Oh. That is not right... He groaned, and the butt of a sword crashed in to his skull.

He growled and the hard, decisive hit was repeated.

Loki roused a second time.

“There he is.” A voice drawled. There was a monotone quality to its energy, “Rise and shine, Asgardian.”

Whoever it was, they could not have been more annoying if they had been knocking on his head.

Loki exhaled, sharply, pressure clamping into his temples as his green eyes opened and focused.

The Grandmaster, clad in gold and lavishly decorated with splashes of red and blue, and shimmering paint, smiled. Somehow it managed to be all-teeth and nothing pleasant, and Loki’s gaze narrowed.

“Where am I?” He murmured, discovering his voice was rough. Suffocation had a tendency of doing that.

“Why, Sakaar, of course. My kingdom. My domain. My grand design.” The Master spread his arms out, and then stood, thrusting his chair backward with considerable flare.

Loki tensed, but the Grandmaster was before him in a few strides, flicking his chin with a finger and ‘tsking’. “Now, now. Let’s not be like that. I’ve had them heal you. Dress you! Only the finest for my... eh.” He chuckled, “guests.”

Loki’s eyes became flinty. It was true enough that they had healed him. His chest still felt strained, but not severed. His clothes were blue now - dark, supple blue leather and a draping, golden cape that fell in folds over the couch he was seated on.

What in the Nine...

“I suppose I ought to be grateful that your barbarians knocked me head in and saved me from a wound II was most peacefully dying from.” Loki bit, and the Grandmaster laughed,

“Oh, you are the sharp-tongued one. I knew that. But I wanted to see it for myself.” The Master turned and waved a hand, “Leave us.” He commanded to a stoic, armored guard and the woman that had earlier fought with Loki.

Loki exchanged a momentary look with her, before she disappeared and the door slid shut.

“Now.” The Grandmaster shifted away, a contemplative half-smile on his features, “Asgardian. Or...” His teeth flashed, “should I call you Thanos’ pup?”

Loki’s jaw tightened and he stood, “I have a choice few words to call you as well, but I have better breeding than to say them.”

The Master waggled a finger and crept closer to Loki’s space, “Deflection. Deflection. He would like to have you back, would he not?” He queried, matching Loki in height, inch for inch. He seemed to be gauging Loki’s reaction, as well as the reliability of his information. “You see, we - the Titan and I, that is - trade. In living wares, mostly. Contenders for my arena, servants for my palace of mazes.” He slipped a hand over Loki’s shoulder,

“He owned you, at one time, I believe. I almost envy him, sometimes. His methods are effective.” The Grandmaster observed, “If I a little... barbaric.”

“Says the one who pits beings against one another like dogs in a ring.” Loki bit. His skin was crawling. How much, exactly, did this Grandmaster know?

The Grandmaster nodded, but did not deny it. “I’ve watched him work, you know. Watching him break them down until they will do anything for him. How would you like to go back to that?”

Loki snarled, his insides knotting and magic sparking to life at his fingertips.

“I wonder what he has planned for you this time? Oh, how you begged him last time...”

Loki had the Grandmaster by the throat in one, vicious, fluid moment, but the Grandmaster only wheezed with laughter and pried Loki’s fingers away with surprising strength. There was a sheen of blue on his skin and in his eyes when he did so - flickers of his true nature he kept contained in his... slightly less exotic form.

“What do you want?” Loki breathed, eyes snapping.

“Oh. Nothing much. It’s just... you know how much I love a game. You see, you and I are not all that different. We enjoy a spot of chaos, now and then, and we really have no one.” The Grandmaster wandered over to his desk, and danced his fingers across it.

“We both love power, love rule...” The Master’s grey brow arched as he glanced at Loki over his shoulder. Loki, who had returned to rigid silence.

“...Love a bit of fun. So, why not a wager? A gamble.” The Grandmaster steepled his hands as he eased by down in his chair. He rocked backward on his heels, “After all, the only thing you have to lose is your mind.”

Loki despised bargains in which he held no cards; in which his ability to survive was as unpredictable as the outcome. Survival had become his sole purpose, after-all. If the Grandmaster was loathsomely right in one thing it was that Loki’s list of reasons to live had been steadily dwindling over the last six years. His mother was gone. Thor had made a vow of indifference toward him. The Warriors and Heimdall had convinced themselves he was a traitor, by every definition, and Odin had ceased to care for him before he even knew.

“...What are the stakes?” Loki asked, his voice taut and noncommital, though revealing a subtle bleed through of resignation.

The Grandmaster seemed giddy, “Your life, your brother’s strength, against my best Gladiator and Thanos.” He rubbed his lean, fingers together, “The Titan would pay me handsomely for you - in chattel and in credits - but that is no fun if you do not have a sporting chance of winning.”

Loki listened but his thoughts were halted on brother. What had he to do with this?

“...You have Thor.”

“Why of course...!” The Master hummed, “And if he wins, you are free. But if he does not...” He shook his head, “Ah, well. Until then, you are my guest. Just...” He leaned forward, resting his lips against his elevated hands, “Just do not try to leave.”

Loki’s fingers unwound from the fists they had become clenched in. He turned, looking questioningly at the door, as if he intended to test the Grandmaster’s claim that he was a guest immediately. The multi-colored metal slid away.

Loki was half-way out, but stopped and pivoted, “...What of Thor, if he wins?”

The Master ginned again. It did not comfort him.

“My finest Gladiator’s are like kings... beneath me, of course. Won’t he enjoy that?”

Loki turned aside and strode out.

No. No, he will not.

#fic #loki fic #tw: suggestion of torture #tw: blood #my fic

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sciencespies · 5 years ago

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A dusty lab in the sky

https://sciencespies.com/space/a-dusty-lab-in-the-sky/

A dusty lab in the sky

An artist’s illustration of dust grains blowing in the winds of a quasar, or active black hole. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Joe Nuth loves dust. Among astronomers, that puts him in a minority.

“The traditional astronomers—the people looking at galaxies and stars—they hate dust,” said Nuth, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s the stuff that’s in their way.”

Like the Earthly dust that gathers under your bed, cosmic dust is hard to avoid. “It’s about two percent of the total stuff, from here to anywhere,” said Nuth. But it doesn’t take up all that space for nothing.

Dust condenses into asteroids and planets. Giant dust clouds can carry gases from a dying star to fertilize a new one. Dust surrounding young planets can keep them warm, providing surfaces for water to collect and organic molecules to form. But whether any of these effects occurs depends on just how these tiny dust grains are constructed, at the smallest of scales.

That’s why Nuth is launching the Determining Unknown yet Significant Traits, or DUST sounding rocket. A collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the rocket will make a brief flight into space, carrying lab equipment into a zero-gravity environment. There, Nuth and his team will build dust grains of their very own, hoping to shed light on the outsized role these tiny specks play in our universe. DUST’s first opportunity to launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico begins on Oct. 7, 2019.

Kicking Up Dust

As prevalent as it may be, cosmic dust doesn’t form easily. Dust grains are born when individual atoms collide and stick to one another. But in space, direct collisions are rare (the space where dust forms is about 2.7 billion times less dense than air at sea level). Even when atoms collide, they may not stick. In a previous experiment, Nuth found that for every 100,000 collisions between zinc atoms, only three stick to a growing dust crystal.

A sample of cosmic dust collected from Earth’s stratosphere. The grain is about five micrometers across – approximately the size of a human red blood cell. Credit: NASA’s Johnson Space Center/Cosmic Dust Collection Program

Once a few atoms cram together, a wobbly Jenga-like tower emerges. “You’re going up a ladder of instability,” said Nuth. “Small clusters really want to fall apart.” But if you can surround enough atoms on all sides, the system starts to stabilize. You have a growing dust grain.

It’s when dust grains themselves collide that things get interesting. If they pack together like snow into snowballs, they don’t react much with light or heat. But if they instead link together into lacy, snowflake-like structures, they do much more. Such crystalline dust aggregates catch starlight like a sail, whisking gases from one star to the next. They also trap heat, potentially changing the fate of planets they cover. “If you’ve got a growing planet surrounded by a dusty blanket, that’s a different thermal environment than without,” said Nuth. “Dust affects the way planets grow.”

But how these dust grains form and aggregate together is still not well understood. Figuring that out may pay major returns across space physics.

Collecting dust

So far, Nuth has done most of his work in the lab, but Earth’s gravity imposes severe limitations. His experiments require heating materials to well over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. But such high temperatures create convection—the churning of air that happens in your oven—that doesn’t happen in deep space. “To measure dust grain growth, we need a constant environment,” said Nuth. To get that, you need to go to microgravity.

Nuth teamed up with his former postdoc Yuki Kimura of Hokkaido University in Japan to launch lab equipment into space. The payload, designed by Kimura, weighs about 330 pounds. “It’s about as big as a small motorbike,” said Kimura.

Inside, a set of metal wires coated with magnesium silicates—would-be dust particles—are waiting for launch. Once the rocket enters space and experiences microgravity, the wire heats up and the atoms and molecules diffuse away. Some collide, stick, and begin to form dust grains; others won’t. Using spectroscopy and other measures, the DUST experiment will measure when grains start to grow and link together into aggregates, noting at what temperature and density they do the best. The payload will then fall back to Earth to be collected for further analysis.

The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a dying Sun-like star that ejected its outer layers into space. The concentric rings surrounding it are clouds of cosmic dust. Credit: NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute/Hubble Space Telescope

When the dust settles

Even before retrieving the payload, Nuth will be in the lab working on the Earth-based part of the experiment. His question is whether dust grain formation could be simpler than expected.

In principle, dust grains can form from any of the 92 naturally-occurring elements in the periodic table. “But it’s very tough to model,” said Nuth. Each element has its own quirks; taking them all into account at once is a major challenge.

In previous experiments, Nuth learned that some elements block one another: If iron gets into a growing dust grain, for instance, it tends to keep magnesium out. He’s exploring this behavior in the lab, hoping to reduce a 92-variable equation into something much more manageable. “It’s much easier if you only have to worry about one or two particular materials,” said Nuth.

The results from the rocket, paired with Nuth’s work in the lab, aim to shed light on how the dusty two percent of our visible universe works. Overall, the DUST experiment reminds us that the key to the unimaginably large sometimes lies in the incredibly tiny.

The DUST sounding rocket will launch from the White Sands Missile Range on a Black Brant IX rocket. During its approximately 14 minute flight, the rocket will reach an estimated altitude of 200 miles before falling back to Earth for recovery.

Join us on Facebook or Twitter for a regular update.

Explore further

‘Dust up’ on International Space Station hints at sources of structure

Provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Citation: A dusty lab in the sky (2019, October 4) retrieved 4 October 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-10-dusty-lab-sky.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Space

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therearemonstersinthedark · 6 years ago

Text

Book 2 Luciferous

Chapter 8: Moth

A Guardians of the Galaxy Fanwork

Pairings: Peter Quill / Gamora (one-sided), Peter Quill & Nebula

Genre: Adventure, general

Word Count: 5k

Rating: T to be safe, mild gore in later chapters

Links: Fanfiction.net || Ao3

Summary: It’s time to return to Ego’s planet, and Peter is less than excited.

Author’s Notes: Title is from 'Moth’ by Audioslave

Chapter 8: Moth

Things rolled into action with surprising speed once Peter gave his answer. So much so, that they must have been prepared at least somewhat in advance. Peter felt like a stone in the middle of a hurricane as the crew members swept around him.

There was a tap on his shoulder and Peter pulled his eyes up to find Dey standing behind him.

"Let's gather your friends."

Peter and Dey were joined by Drax and Groot, and a handful of other crew members in the hallway.

The group swept into the Containment unit, and headed straight for the cell at the end of the hallway. Gamora and Nebula both sprung back out of reach as the Nova Corps entered, seeming to sense the sudden shift in attitude and sense of urgency in the air.

"Peter?" Nebula asked, taking up a defensive stance and eyeing the nearest soldier suspiciously.

"They're taking us to Ego's planet." Peter explained.

A heavy hand settled on Peter's shoulder. As he twisted his head to shoot Drax a curious look he heard the sound of the other cell door opening and weapons being readied.

"Hey!" He shouted, but the hand held him firmly in place.

"Let them do what they must." Drax's voice rumbled. "The rodent can clearly not be trusted, and now is not the time to let your foolish eccentricities delay us further."

The Guardians were lead swiftly down to the docks. Gamora and Nebula had been bound again for the transport. Nebula had a new set of cuffs which ran from her wrists nearly to her elbows, but it was obvious from how twitchy their escort was that they hadn't forgotten how easily she had slipped free last time.

Peter hovered close to Rocket, who was being surprisingly compliant. He had a look about him, like he was thinking very long and hard about something and Peter wanted to be ready to stop whatever plan he was cooking up before the already very edgy Nova Corps shot him. Rocket never did make a move, and other than some threatening looks and an obscene gesture or two, they made it to the docks with no incidents.

Saal was waiting for them at the base of a shuttle that could comfortably fit an entire crew. Marlowe was at his side, back in her regular uniform and watching over the quiet docks as though expecting trouble.

As they drew near, Dey waved his hand in some sort of signal. Saal gave a brief nod in return and he and Marlowe turned to walk up the loading ramp ahead of the approaching group who followed after without stopping. Almost as soon as they were on board the ramp was raised and Peter could hear the engines rumbling to life.

"What's the big rush?" Peter asked, trying not to let Rocket out of sight as he made his way towards Dey. He wasn't in any particular hurry to see his father again, and all this running around was rattling his already very frayed nerves.

"You're going behind their backs, aren't you?" Gamora's voice rang out from behind him. "That council of yours has no idea what you're doing here."

Dey didn't answer, but the guilt dancing across his face was enough to tell Peter she had hit the nail on the head.

"The Nova Prime's word is law." Saal said, pausing in his own conversation with some officers to address Peter's group. "The Upper Council was formed to provide guidance. They have no power to contest my decision once it's been made. They will just have to accept what has been done." With that he turned and strode purposefully up a set of stairs that Peter could only assume lead to the flight deck. The officers he'd been conversing with followed after.

"Well isn't he a piece of work." Rocket's ragged voice was dripping with sarcasm. "If his word is so all powerful, how come you're all sneakin' around? I hope none a'you idiots are banking on a happy welcome back."

"I agree with the mad beast," Drax added, crossing his arms and staring disapprovingly after the Nova Prime. "Leaders should not deceive their people. On my planet, he would be seen as a traitor, and likely executed."

"Saal isn't concerned about being the most beloved Prime," Marlowe turned a rebuking look on the Guardians. "But he's determined not to be the last."

Sometimes leaders, like parents, must step in and make decisions that are necessary, but unpleasant. Cosmo's voice rang through Peter's mind moments before the psychic dog stepped into view from a small side room. Crew members, like children, may not always like them at the time, but if the decision was truly made for the good of the people, and not the gain of the individuals, then we can only trust they will see the sense of it in time. I assure you, Nova Prime does not make this decision lightly.

"Children are easily deceived," Drax pointed out. "There is no honor in it. Children should be told immediately that they are wrong, or else they should be allowed to learn from their mistakes."

Perhaps Drax has point, Cosmo conceded with a panting smile. Perhaps crew members are not so much like children, as children are more willing to learn, and less afraid of being wrong.

"Cosmo?" Peter interrupted before their conversation could spiral too far off-topic. "What are you doing here? I didn't think you were planning to come with us?"

Behind him, Peter could hear a low growl from Rocket. A quick glance back revealed he was growling at Cosmo.

Cosmo is not. Cosmo paid no mind to Rocket's rude greeting. Cosmo is needed on Knowhere and cannot stay away that long. Is just here to help with... negotiations.

"Oh, well, we're always glad to have you." Peter smiled as best he could through the nerves.

Do not worry so, Cosmo soothed, tilting his head and wagging his tail softly. Cosmo will be watching over brother Peter and his Guardians from afar while you are interned.

Speaking, or thinking, of which reminded Peter of another matter that hadn't been discussed yet.

"How long are you guys planning on leaving us there?" Peter asked, turning towards Marlowe. "I can't stay there forever. I have promises to keep."

"You'll have to remain at least until things have calmed down after your friend's little incident. There's no way to tell how long that will be."

Peter felt his heart sink he risked a glance back at Gamora who was standing quietly beside Rocket, watching their exchange with calm indifference. Marlowe followed his eyes, her hard expression softening slightly.

"I'll continue to look into the matter you raised while you're away, but I'm not going to be making any promises of my own."

That was enough for Peter who thanked her and offered her his best smile.

The ride after that was mostly quiet and all too short. Before Peter knew it Saal was returning, jogging down the steps with a grave look on his face.

"Step back," The Nova Prime ordered as he passed, and the Guardians were ushered further onto the ship. Dey and several officers slipped forward to take up a defensive position between Peter and his friends, and the small loading bay which was giving off the unmistakable sound of accepting a new passenger. No one drew their weapons, but the gesture was clear enough.

The acid in Peter's stomach sloshed about as the decompression chamber gave a low angry hiss and the doors slid open to reveal a very smug looking Ego. Behind him, Mantis slipped through the doors as well. The empath was doing a very good job at making herself invisible as she took in the room with wide curious eyes, and Peter couldn't tell if the nervous twirling of her fingers was from anything Ego may have done, or just her usual level of uncertainty in social situations.

"Hello Peter," Ego greeted, again ignoring everyone else in the vicinity as he locked eyes with his son. "I'm glad you've come to some sense."

Ego took a step forward, his arm outstretched as though he intended to greet Peter with a hug.

"Not so fast," Saal interrupted him, stepping forward to cut off his approach. "We have some terms to discuss first."

"Of course," Ego said easily enough, but his face fell just a fraction, his annoyance plain. "Go ahead and state them."

"First and foremost, I would like to make it clear that while the Nova Corps is willing to give your offer a chance, we are by no means naive enough to simply take you at your word. Precautions can, and have been put in place should you attempt anything we find suspect. We are not so enfeebled to not be able to deal with a volatile planet or two, and we will not hesitate to eliminate you."

"Even at the expense of your trump card here?" Ego's brows rose with a small disbelieving smile.

"Even so."

"Very well then. I have been warned. I have no interest in this universe right now."

"Second," Saal continued on, ignoring Ego's dismissive comments. "We will expect to remain in contact with those we are sending to you. At least once a cycle we will send you a hail. If it is not answered we will have reason to suspect you have broken one of our other terms."

"Fine, fine," Ego huffed, crossing his arms and obviously beginning to lose patience. "I have designed a communicator of sorts into my ship. Peter may use it as he pleases. It would be good practice for him, anyways."

"Which brings me to my next order." As Saal spoke, Cosmo stepped forward.

Cosmo knows brother Peter's light very well, and will be keeping very close eye in it. Will be able to sense distress or misdeeds, even from great distance such as this. Ego will have very hard time doing anything that Cosmo is not immediately aware of.

"Learning to use the light within may be a stressful process," Ego said. "Do you intend to sound the alarm every time he is faced with growth? That will quickly become exhausting for everyone."

Then Cosmo would suggest Ego avoid, how you say, pushing it. Cosmo's lip lifted into a sneer which Ego visibly struggled not to return.

"Hold on. I agreed to come to your planet to protect my friends," Peter spoke up. "But I never agreed to let you hook me back up to the light or teach me anything."

"Do you really think you're in any position to be passing up such an opportunity?" Ego turned his piercing eyes on Peter. "Do you intend to live off of the pity of these mortals indefinitely? They can't protect you forever. They'll die trying." Ego's eyes swept over the Guardians. "It looks like they're half-way there already."

Guilt churned Peter's guts as Ego once again struck a raw nerve. It was true. He'd nearly lead them all to their deaths on Traxxon III, and hadn't stopped beating himself up over it since. The image of Gamora's eyes, wide with shock and just the barest flicker of fear just before she'd been swept out into the red sky, was burned into his mind and haunted him whenever he closed his eyes. They had all suffered terrible injuries, even Rocket who still moved with a faint but definite stiffness.

If Peter was more powerful, could he have prevented any of it? It wasn't the first time he had asked himself this question. Since even before Ego's appearance in the court he had tentatively entertained the idea of learning to use his light. Cosmo had been able to hold his own against Ronan, at least for a while, and even done some damage to the Kree warlord, something none of the other Guardians could boast, separately or together. More than that, Cosmo's powers had saved their butts on many occasions in their brief time together. If Peter could use powers like that, he might have been able to save Rocket earlier. He might have been able to save Gamora, or at least stopped her, before she contacted Korath. He might have been able to do something other than twiddle his thumbs and wait for rescue on the Oasis.

The thought of being able to take control again was tempting. He was so sick of becoming everyone's prisoner here, and it hadn't been lost on him how much his allies had suffered to save him at every turn. But how could he trust Ego not to use that for his own gain? There was no way the Celestial was doing this out of the goodness of his self-made heart. He had to have an angle, Peter just, for the life of him, couldn't figure out what it was.

Peter cast a look at his friends. The Guardians, the original ones, back together again, but hardly any better off for it. They all stood apart from each other. Drax's chest wound stood stark and ugly across his bare chest, the staples glinting in the light. Nebula caught his attention, meeting his desperate eyes with a calmness that he clung to like an island in a raging sea. He took a slow breath through his nose like Gamora had once taught him, focused on Nebula's steady gaze, and tried to shed some of the panic bubbling within him and clouding his mind. 'There's a difference between trusting someone and using them,' Nebula had said and the words echoed back at him now. The thought of trusting his father was madness, but using him... Peter thought he could find a way to live with that. He sucked in another deep breath like he was preparing to dive into an actual ocean, and turned back to Ego.

"Alright," He breathed out. "I'll learn to use the light. But I'll have my own terms. And when it's time for us to leave, I want Mantis to come with us."

"You can have her," Ego said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Behind him, Mantis startled and snapped her head up to look at the celestial with huge eyes. Her mouth opened as though to protest, then she seemed to catch herself and shut it again, ducking her head back down and fiddling with her fingers with a renewed energy.

"Just like that?" Peter asked. He had expected his father to argue the terms more, to extract some worse payment in exchange for Mantis's freedom. Instead, it felt like Ego was telling him he was welcome to the chips in the cupboard.

"Of course," Ego huffed. "I think we both know where her true loyalties lie."

Behind him, Mantis was looking increasingly confused and worried, and Peter wished he could offer her some sort of comfort. But she was glancing between her hands and Ego, and Peter could not even catch her eye to offer her a reassuring smile.

"If that's how you feel, then why keep her around?" After worrying so long about whether Mantis was even alive at all, and after everything the other Guardians had been though in this horrible reality, finding her so relatively well off felt more than a little suspect.

"You are cursed with the sentimentality of those mortals you love so much." The disapproval in Ego's voice was clear. "I figured you'd be back to try to save her if nothing else, so of course I kept her around."

"As a hostage?" Gamora cut in.

"As a peace offering."

"Regardless of your motives," Saal cut back in. "We are in agreement that she will be free to go when we retrieve Peter and the rest of the Guardians. The Nova Corps will not tolerate any deviation from these terms. The repercussions will be immediate and final. Have you any objections?"

"No," Ego breathed. "So are we done here?"

Peter could see the muscles in Saal's neck move as he clenched his jaw. Obviously, Saal was buying about as much of Ego's act as Peter himself, but he'd come too far, the Nova Prime couldn't return with the Guardians without handing over a large portion of his credibility, and probably his power, to the Council.

"Yes. I believe we are done."

A wet nose pressed against the side of Peter's hand, causing him to jump.

Be very careful, brother Peter. Cosmo was staring up at him, his warm copper eyes shimmering with just the faintest traces of unnatural light. Not just of Ego. Peter will be safe enough in Blinding place, there is nothing left there to find, and Peter is strong, but remember, do not cross into the Blind place. There are too many things that would steal your fire, and many more who would snuff it out. They cannot help themselves. Mindless things so fear the unknown.

"The 'Blind place?'" Came a derisive snort from where Ego stood watching their interaction through narrowed eyes. "How quaint. It is none of your business what I do with my son, dog, but I will not be leading him into the Nothing." Ego spat out the last word like it was something filthy. "That is no place for creatures of the Light."

No one plans for every step of their journey. Cosmo told Peter. Be careful.

With that he stepped away and joined the ring of Nova Crewmen who were busy removing the restraints from the assassins. As Rocket's cuffs were removed he feinted a snap at the hands of the nearest Denerian who flinched back, one hand reaching for his weapon. Before things could escalate, Cosmo gave the raccoon a viscous snarl, his eyes glowing dangerously. Rocket seemed to take the threat and turned away from his victim to join the rest of the Guardians at the door to the air locked loading bay which would lead to Ego's ship, spitting at Cosmo's feet as he passed.

"Wait!" Peter said when Saal looked back like he was expecting Peter to go next. "I want his collar off."

Peter glanced over at Dey who he was pretty sure still had the remote.

"This again?" Saal growled.

"There's no reason for him to wear it on Ego's planet," Peter argued, drawing himself up to his full height and trying to match Saal's hard stare with one of his own. "There's nothing he can do, and you won't even be there to use it."

"And if Experiment 89P13 attacks one of you?"

"He won't." Peter's declaration was met with a derisive snort from the raccoon, so he quickly amended. "If he does, we'll handle it. Ourselves. No collars involved."

Saal held his gaze for several beats, and Peter did his best to convey how serious he was being. He was rarely serious, so it wasn't his best expression, but it must have worked, because Saal was the first to cave, relaxing with a sigh.

"Very well. You may remove it for his internment on the planet. We will see what he does with this freedom."

Dey stepped forward, but licked his lips and held the remote up for Peter to see.

"I don't know how to do that," He confessed with a guilty shrug of his shoulders.

Peter looked back at Nebula for help, but she just twisted her lips into a frown and rolled one shoulder into a small shrug of her own.

"Gamora?" Peter turned his eyes on the older sister. "You know the codes for that thing, right?"

"Yes..." Gamora answered hesitantly. She had been studying Rocket with her brows drawn tightly together, and suddenly Peter was worried Gamora was going to refuse, or pretend she didn't know how to remove it. "It's complicated," She finally said, stepping back towards Dey with her palm outstretched. "Thanos didn't want him to be able to remove it on his own. Please allow me."

Rocket was standing very still now, watching everything through narrowed eyes. Other than his twitching tail, he strongly resembled a lifelike statue.

Dey turned to Saal, who nodded his approval, before handing it over to Gamora, watching carefully as she began inputting some sort of complicated code. Peter nearly forgot to breath as he watched as well, only remembering when his lungs began to burn in protest. After some time, which probably wasn't quite as much time as it felt, the little screen at the bottom lit up with a little chirrup and Gamora pressed her thumb against it.

Peter glanced back at Rocket. His ears were pricked forward and his eyes had grown huge. After a moment, Peter realized there was a tremble coursing through Rocket's entire body, in anticipation or disbelief, Peter couldn't be sure.

"Nebula," Gamora's voice was soft, and almost tentative, if one knew Gamora very, very well, but from the corner of his eye Peter could still see the younger sister stiffen and narrow her eyes at the adress. "The panel on the back of the collar. It will only release to one of Thanos's children."

Rocket made no move to acknowledge Nebula when she first reached down and wrapped her hand around the back of his collar. The red light underneath his chin blinked rapidly and gave out a little beep, which Rocket visibly flinched at, then popped open. Rocket returned to his frozen state as Nebula gave the collar a cursory inspection then handed it to the nearest Nova Crew member. Even the trembling had stopped.

"Rocket?" Peter asked, worried that the raccoon had simply stopped breathing altogether.

Rocket didn't answer. His jaw was hanging slightly slack, and a small trembling hand raised up towards his neck. The fur where the collar had sat was rumpled and stuck out in odd directions.

"Rocket are you Okay?"

Rocket suddenly shook himself from his stupor. His eyes darted between Dey and the man holding his collar, then he turned and vanished into the airlock without a word.

"Well," Ego said with a smile, "I believe that would be our signal to leave."

-x-

The ride down to Ego's planet was short and surprisingly uneventful. Ego, for all his eagerness to be on their way, seemed content to ignore Peter in favor of piloting his ship. Mantis had fretted for a moment over where to go, but had ultimately chosen to follow Ego to the approximate of the flight deck in his oddly shaped craft. Peter wasn't certain, but he thought he had seen a flicker of fear in her eyes when they had landed on him. Maybe demanding she be handed over without so much as a hello wasn't the best way to start off their relationship. If she honestly had no idea who he was or that this was the wrong timeline, his attempts to rescue her might more closely resemble a kidnapping from her point of view.

Rocket had vanished again to some far corner, perhaps afraid someone might change their mind about his collar, or perhaps just enjoying not being stuck in a cell for the time being. Nebula was leaning against a wall at a distance, arms crossed and quietly studying the ship with offhanded fascination. Everyone else had taken a seat on the same couch Peter recalled from his last time.

Peter stared up at the ceiling, slumped back on the couch as well, one leg thrown over the other and his hands linked together over his stomach. As he fiddled absently with his Walkman, one thought scraped at the back of his head.

"Yondu's gonna kill me."

End

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imagitory · 8 years ago

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D-Views Special: Top 5 Best Disney Cheapquels

Evening, guys! Tonight we’ll be doing something special for D-Views – a top 5 list! Many reviewers like to do lists of different movies, and I figured it’d be fun to give it a try.

Disney sequels – there are a lot more bad ones than good. Most of the recent sequels to Disney’s animated fare were produced by DisneyToon Studios, an offshoot branch of the animation department that has solely produced direct-to-video films. These films also have a pretty bad reputation, to the extent that many scornfully designate them as “cheapquels.” I may or may not talk about these films or the films that inspired sometime in depth in the future, but for now, let’s go ahead and count down the Disney cheapquels that I have seen and actually liked all right. If your favorite doesn’t appear on the list, it is possible that I either haven’t seen it (like in the case of Leroy and Stitch) or didn’t like it as much myself. Here we go!

First, let’s start with a few honorable mentions. Bambi II, although it doesn’t completely match up with the first movie and has a pretty predictable story, gives us some depth to Bambi and his father’s relationship, which wasn’t discussed much in the original. Beauty and the Beast and the Enchanted Christmas is more of a guilty pleasure – I watched it a lot as a kid, and although I acknowledge it’s not that great, the music still brings me a lot of childish joy around the holidays. Return of Jafar also has some nostalgia factor for me since I grew up with the Aladdin TV series and actually really love the angle of Iago being our main character with a story arc. Still, the animation is definitely more on the “TV series” level than a movie, the music isn’t that great especially compared to the original, and I don’t think that someone who didn’t likewise grow up with the TV show would be able to fully accept Dan Castellaneta playing the Genie instead of Robin Williams. Plus the idea of the villain coming back seeking revenge is…yeah, pretty hackneyed. Return to Neverland has a really good cast (the actors for Peter and Hook especially are spot-on replacements), pretty good animation, and a creative story line, but the music is extremely dated and doesn’t fit the movie and the octopus just...ugh. Just ugh. Now that that’s out of the way…here’s my list!

5) Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins

Admittedly this movie is less of a sequel and more of a spin-off to Toy Story, focusing around the adventures of the fictional character Buzz Lightyear that inspired the toy in Andy’s room. It looks and feels like a pilot for a TV series (which it is), but to be honest, I think this movie pilot is the best thing that series ever put out and I still find it incredibly entertaining by itself. I really like the new characters introduced – the spunky redhead princess Mira Nova, the bumbling, bookish janitor Booster, the cynical, trouble-making robot XR, Buzz’s cocky partner Warp Darkmatter, and the gruff Commander Nebula. Then you have our villain and Buzz’s archenemy, the evil Emperor Zurg. Admittedly Zurg is completely opposite to how I’d always imagined the character to be upon seeing Toy Story 2 (basically I saw him as Darth Vader with red eyes and purple armor), but even I have to admit, he can be very funny. I still would’ve personally preferred a more menacing and complex villain, but I can see the appeal of a villain like this too, particularly in a movie that’s clearly not taking itself too seriously. Hell, at one point, Zurg says he’s going to fire his laser at “the planet of widows and orphans,” and Buzz growls at him, “You fiend!” and nobly tries to fight back – as if that planet is actually a real thing. That is just amazingly ridiculous.

4) Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World

Before all of you jump down my throat…let me explain. Pocahontas is a film that I personally enjoy for its music and its visuals, and not much else. I find the characters uninteresting, the story standard and predictable, the romance to be bland and devoid of chemistry, the events to be so unlike the history in question that it shouldn’t salute it at all, and the messages to be very heavy-handed in their delivery. Generally speaking, I don’t care for Romeo and Juliet plot-lines as well, so Pocahontas overall was just not made to appeal to my sensibilities. Strangely, though…Pocahontas II actually kept me entertained. Sure, the animation is miles below the original, and there is really only one song that I would say is really good (“Where Will I Go From Here?“ and its reprise), but everything else I can’t help but feel is done better in this film than in the previous one. Rather than being conflicted about whether to marry or not or about falling in love with this Englishman she barely knows, Pocahontas is conflicted about how much to adapt to this new world she’s entered and how much to stay true to her own heritage. She’s gone to England as an ambassador trying to forge peace, all the while knowing that everything she is works against her. Not only is her race considered savage, but she is also a woman, in a land and time when men are seen as superior. In the first film, I found Pocahontas’s conflict to be pretty weak, since it’s clear from the start what her path will and should be, but in the second film, she has to compromise between two extremes rather than choose one option or another. This already shows much more thought in both the story and the main character. Also, I know some people will hate me for this, but I like John Rolfe infinitely better than John Smith, as Disney heroes go. Smith I’ve just never found that well-developed of a character – he’s basically every over-the-top heroic Mel Gibson performance you’ve ever seen, except that in the beginning he’s shown to be a little racist (and after that it’s NEVER addressed again, like it never happened – he never even apologizes or vocally acknowledges to Poca that she’s right or something). But Rolfe has a definitive personality with both flaws and strengths. He’s uptight and a little sexist at first, but he always asserts and retains his honor. He will stand up for the disenfranchised and try to find a peaceful route however he can, rather than just barreling in. He’s a little awkward and overly proper, but when he cares for someone, he can be warm and affectionate. He’s introverted and thoughtful, and he understands the proper time to be honest and the proper time to give someone their space. If you like John Smith, that’s fine – but I honestly think it was really mature of this movie to depict someone moving on from one love to another, which had never really happened in a Disney movie before. We came close with Megara in Hercules and Anna in Frozen, but their first romances are depicted as just flat-out bad. But there were good moments with Pocahontas and John Smith (even though I personally never cared about them), and they did both sincerely love each other – they’ve just changed into different people and realize that they belong in different worlds. And although I would never claim Disney’s films portraying Pocahontas have ever been close to historically accurate, Pocahontas II I still feel comes closer than the actual history than the first one does. It embraces the setting of London in that period – it doesn’t shy away from the fact that women were looked down upon – it depicts actual historical figures (sorry, Radcliffe doesn’t count: the real Radcliffe most assuredly was nothing like that) – Pocahontas actually goes to England as a peace emissary like the real historical figure did – there’s even a horrific scene featuring a bear baiting, which was a real thing from that period.

3) The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

Yes, I know this was based on Romeo and Juliet. Yes, I did just say I hate Romeo and Juliet storylines in the last section. And I still do. In fact, this is the thing I like least about this film. But the biggest credit I can give to this film is that although it’s based on Romeo and Juliet, there are notable plot discrepancies between this film and its predecessor, and many of the main characters from the last film don’t do much in the story, I still found enough to enjoy in this for me to recommend it. I like the main characters, Kiara and Kovu, and the chemistry that forms between them – Romeo and Juliet stories so often have very little behind them except “Oooh, a forbidden love, how exciting!” but these characters do actually have moments together...having fun, having discussions, and learning and growing through their experiences together. It helps us see them as an actual couple, rather than just a pair of two flighty, hormonal teenagers. I like the conflict Kovu has to come to grips with – that he has been raised to idolize and follow in the footsteps of a monster, and that he must turn his back on everything his family has taught him. I like the conflict Kiara has to come to grips with – that her father is casting out the one she loves, that war between the two prides is imminent, and that she has to stand up to her father to protect a pride of lions that have always been her enemies. I like Zira as a villain – no one could be a match for Scar, and admittedly the “woman scorned” is a trope as old as dirt, but the song she has in this movie (“My Lullaby”) is just as sinister as “Be Prepared” and it perfectly sets up how obsessed she is with avenging her pain against Simba. On the note of the music…it’s really good! It starts off with “He Lives in You,” which was written for a bonus Lion King CD called Rhythm of the Pridelands and of course later appeared in the Broadway production, but it also introduces memorable new tunes like “Upendi” and “Love Will Find a Way.” Of all of the Disney sequels, this soundtrack is by far the best, and the animation isn’t half bad either! The scene with Kiara trying to escape the fire actually gets really suspenseful and scary.

2) Cinderella III: A Twist in Time

I’m sure many of you expected this to appear on the list. This movie is widely considered to be one of the very few good Disney direct-to-video sequels out there, and…yeah, it really is a legitimate surprise! I’m not the biggest fan of Disney’s animated version of Cinderella (I much prefer Ever After and the 1998 version), but I do think it’s a classic and I enjoy some of the “twists” (haha) that this sequel did on it. Not only does it help us develop our main love interests and their relationship more – not only does it develop the king into a sentimental old man who sees his deceased wife in this young girl his son brings home – not only does it develop our villains and even turn one of them into a very likable anti-villain – but it also takes a story that should be dead on arrival and makes it kind of exciting! The animation at points is pretty impressive too, especially in the climax. I admit that I still find Cinderella and her prince pretty bland in this movie (hell, they STILL DON’T GIVE HIM A NAME! COME ON!), I find the music really lackluster, and of course the story by itself is pretty silly and contrived, but all things considered, it’s much better than anything I expected.

1) Aladdin and the King of Thieves

This film is sort of a season finale for the Aladdin TV series, and as those go, this is easily the best send-off that show could’ve gotten. I think it’s one of the best send-offs for a kids’ show ever. Unlike in Return of Jafar, a good deal of money and time was put into the animation, making it a good step up from the usual TV animation we were used to seeing from the creators, and the music was a good step up from Return of Jafar too. My personal favorite song in the film is the opening number “There’s a Party Here in Agrabah,” but I also found “Out of Thin Air” very sweet and “Welcome to the Forty Thieves” and “Are You In or Out?” very catchy. I also really like the story centering on Aladdin and his father and find it very relatable. Cassim dropped out of Aladdin’s life, but Aladdin still wants him to be in it, and although Cassim wants the same, he’s constantly flaking between his selfish King-of-Thieves-like desires and his more paternal Father-like ones. And believe me, this is something I greatly relate to – I have first-hand experience with a parent who never really knew how to be one and so therefore constantly flip-flopped between being affectionate and completely and totally selfish. Despite this, though, you do still see the genuine caring there, even if Cassim doesn’t always know how to express it, and I can’t help but feel for both Aladdin and him when they realize that they belong in two different worlds. Although they come to that conclusion, though, they know that they love each other and wish each other the best. That’s a pretty great ending. There are definitely some things wrong with this movie – most notably, the lack of action for Jasmine and the extremely drawn-out focus on Genie and his jokes – but I still find this movie really entertaining. Its action scenes are excellent and creative, and the emotion hits home for me in all the right ways. It is everything I ever could’ve wanted from the Aladdin TV series.

#d-views #disney reviews #special!#top 5 #disney #cheapquels #opinion #reviews

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phantom-le6 · 4 years ago

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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 (3 of 6)

Continuing our look into season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, here’s a third round of episode reviews, beginning with the first of three mid-season two-part episodes that during the last two seasons of the show.

Episode 10: Chain of Command (Part 1)

Plot (as given by me):

The Enterprise rendezvous with another Starfleet vessel, the Cairo, where Picard learns from Vice-Admiral Nechayev that he is being relieved of command of the Enterprise. Nechayev later briefs Commander Riker, Counsellor Troi and Lt. Commander Data that following a Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor, the Cardassians have mobilised some of their forces along the border with the Federation and their communications traffic has increased 50%. Suspecting this may be prelude to a new offensive by the Cardassians, Nechayev has assigned the Cairo s commanding officer Captain Edward Jellico to command the Enterprise as it heads to the border to engage in talks with the Cardassians. Jellico was apparently crucial in negotiating the peace treaty between the Federation and the Cardassians, which is why he is to lead the mission in Picard’s absence.

However, Picard is not the only member of the Enterprise crew being reassigned; Dr Crusher and Lt. Worf are also reassigned as part of a clandestine mission, which the three officers begin to train for as Jellico comes aboard and takes command in a formal ceremony. Jellico is much more strict and less personable in his command style, expecting immediate implementation of his orders regardless of whether they’ll take time to implement or not, and he orders Troi to wear a standard issue uniform while she is on duty. He also uses a lot of strange tactics with the Cardassians when they arrive rather than being more diplomatic as Picard might be, and Troi senses Jellico is not as sure of himself as he acts.

Picard, Dr Crusher and Worf eventually leave the Enterprise via shuttlecraft to begin their mission, which Picard reveals en route is to infiltrate a Cardassian base on Celtris III. Apparently the Cardassians have been experimenting with a new means by which to safely utilise metagenic weapons; viruses programmed to consume any DNA they encounter, effectively wiping out all forms of life on a planet while leaving its population centres and infrastructure intact. Picard was chosen because he is the only officer in Starfleet with any expertise relevant to the delivery system, Worf for his combat expertise and Dr Crusher for the medical knowledge necessary to identify and destroy any bio-weapons found.

The trio manage to convince a Ferengi smuggler to provide them with transport, and the infiltration is initially successful. However, it soon turns out that the whole thing is a trap, and the group is ambushed by Cardassian soldiers. Dr Crusher and Worf manage to escape, but Picard is captured. He is then brought before a Cardassian officer later revealed to call Gul Madred, who reveals the trap was designed so the Cardassians could capture Picard. Madred also notes that Picard is there to answer questions rather than ask them, and any answers the Cardassians find unsatisfactory could mean his death.

Review:

For a long time, Next Generation had shied away from multi-part episodes outside of season finale cliff-hangers, presumably because mid-season episodes of the multi-part persuasion were part-and-parcel of any show having an over-riding continuity, whereas Next Gen was very much supposed to be episodic television that could be dipped in and out of. However, with more and more single episode referring to TNG’s own continuity and to the wider franchise of Trek, not to mention the season 5 two-part episode ‘Unification’, it seems the way was opened to really start this kind of longer episode on a regular basis.

That all being said, it appears that if the Memory Alpha wiki site is to be believed, budgetary reasons were what led to this episode becoming a two-parter. As a one-part episode where Picard was rescued by the end, it was too expensive, so expanding it over two parts was apparently governed by financial concerns. Regardless of the reasoning, the episode is quite an interesting re-jug of the show’s normal status quo. All of a sudden, we have a new captain in command and the old one going off on a stealth mission with two other key officers, and we finally see Counsellor Troi compelled to wear a standard uniform, something she then largely sticks with for the whole rest of the show and on into the films.

The problem with part 1, however, is that while it’s got enough other things going on to keep it from being pure set-up, I also feel like the change of command wasn’t very well-handled. From what we come to learn is standard dismissive bitchiness from Nechayev and Jellico’s out-of-place harsh command style, we’re being set up to loathe and despise the change of commander, so you know from that and the fact this is all coming mid-season that the change is highly unlikely to be permanent. However, the episode tries to make us buy into the idea that it might be with a formal transfer of command ceremony. A valiant try, but for me it’s a waste of time.

To make the change of command seem more likely to be permanent, they should have brought on board a commanding officer who wasn’t acting like a militaristic hard-ass more suited to a 20th century military than 24th century Starfleet. The new CO should have had a different command style but still have gotten on well with the crew instead of rubbing them all the wrong way. Next, there should have been interim replacements for Crusher and Worf as well. Surely there’d need to be a new chief medical officer and new Chief of Security/main Tactical Officer in a situation where combat and casualties would be likely if talks with the Cardassians went sideways. As it is, every time Jellico was on screen, I was hoping for him to get blasted away by a Cardassian. For me, this episode gets 7 out of 10.

Episode 11: Chain of Command (Part 2):

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Gul Madred uses a number of torture methods on the captured Captain Picard, including sensory deprivation, sensory bombardment, forced nakedness, stress positions, dehydration, starvation, physical pain, and cultural humiliation to try to gain knowledge of the Federation's plans for Minos Korva. Picard refuses to acknowledge Madred's demand for information. Madred attempts another tactic to break Picard's will: he shows his captive four bright lights, and demands that Picard answer that there are five, inflicting intense pain on Picard if he does not agree.

Meanwhile, the Cardassians inform the Enterprise crew that Picard has been captured. Captain Jellico refuses to acknowledge that Picard was on a Starfleet mission, an admission necessary for Picard to be given the rights of a prisoner of war (along with better treatment) rather than being subjected to torture as a terrorist. This leads to a heated argument between Jellico and Commander Riker, which ends with Jellico relieving Riker of duty and promoting Lt. Commander Data to acting first officer. Lt. Commander La Forge detects residue from a nearby nebula on the hull of the Cardassian delegation's ship, and Jellico suspects a Cardassian fleet may attempt to use the cover of the nebula to launch an attack on Minos Korva. Jellico determines that their best course of action is to place mines across the nebula using a shuttlecraft. However, Riker is the most qualified pilot for the mission. Jellico visits Riker in his quarters, where he candidly criticizes Riker's performance as a First Officer and Riker does the same for Jellico’s command style. Jellico asks, rather than orders, Riker to pilot the shuttle. Riker agrees, and he and La Forge successfully lay the minefield. Jellico uses the threat of the minefield to force the Cardassians to disarm and retreat, as well as agree to the release of Picard.

With word of the failure of the Cardassians to secure Minos Korva, Madred attempts one last ploy to break Picard, by falsely claiming that the Cardassians have taken the planet and that the Enterprise was destroyed in the battle. He offers Picard a choice: to remain in captivity for the rest of his life or live in comfort by admitting that he sees five lights. As Picard momentarily considers the offer, the Cardassian head delegate enters the room and informs Madred that "a ship is waiting to take him back to the Enterprise." Picard realizes he has been duped. As Picard is freed from his bonds and about to be taken away, he turns to Madred and defiantly shouts, "There are four lights!" Picard is returned to Federation custody and reinstated as Captain of the Enterprise. Picard admits privately to Counsellor Troi that he was saved just in the nick of time, as by that point he was broken enough to be willing to say or do anything to make the torture stop. In addition, by the end he actually believed he could see five lights.

Review:

It’s in the second part of ‘Chain of Command’ that we finally see something of what Trek should be in that it tackles an on-going issue from real-life society. However, because of how part 1 was presented, it’s not so easy to see. Basically, this is an anti-torture episode, but that fact is kind of hidden by the fact that Picard is being held captive by a highly militaristic race like the Cardassians who are fundamentally villain characters for the Trek set in the 24th century. Because of that, it’s hard to see that this episode is trying to make an allegorical case against torture because torture is something to be very much expected of the Cardassians based on how TNG has portrayed them up until now. This episode was the last before Deep Space Nine’s pilot aired, so the complexity that show added has yet to materialise, and so if not for reading Memory Alpha’s page on this episode, I wouldn’t have got the message of the episode.

To my mind, an effective anti-torture episode should really show it being used by some rogue human or other and involve some genuine debate around its use. It’s more the kind of show that would have been better on Deep Space Nine after the characters of Sloan and Section 31 were introduced. Alternatively, it could have fit into the season 4 episode ‘The Drumhead’ or involved an over-zealous Starfleet security officer in another episode of this series. Because this episode was part 2 of a multi-part episode and combined such villainous behaviour with what was a villain race at the time, the message is lost and ends up appearing as just so much status quo.

We also get more of Jellico being profoundly unlikeable back on the Enterprise and the somewhat convenient return of Crusher and Worf before yet another command shake-up as Riker gets relieved of duty and Data not only becomes acting first officer, but also has to shift from the gold shirt of an engineering officer to the red shirt of the command branch. It just goes to show what a total tight-arse the character is, and much as I’d rather have seen him get a right cross to the jaw or a phaser hit before leaving, at least Riker put the idiot in his place towards the end. Ok, yes, Jellico did a good job working in getting the Cardassians to agree to return Picard at the end, but to me it was very much too little too late. When Jellico leaves the bridge for the last time, I want him ejected through a photon torpedo tube or the waste disposal rather than by transporter or shuttlecraft.

Luckily, the episode does far better with British actor David Warner guest-starring opposite Patrick Stewart in the role of Gul Madred. Apparently, Warner appeared in a couple of the original series films, but I know him more from roles like Captain James Sawyer in series 2 of Hornblower and Professor Jordan Perry in the second of the original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. Both Warner and Stewart are classically trained theatre actors, so seeing the two perform together is similar to the high quality you get out of performances between Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan when they played Professor X and Magneto in the X-Men films. In other words, there’s some great acting going on with a lot of gravitas, and it makes for great viewing regardless of the roles being played or the franchise at hand. Overall, I give part 2 8 out of 10; with a more likeable interim captain, a more blatant exposure of the issue part 2 was exploring or the unlikeable interim captain getting a bit more karma for his bastard attitude, this episode might have snatched top marks, but sadly it misses out and largely relies on Stewart and Warner to save its proverbial bacon.

Episode 12: Ship in a Bottle

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Lt. Commanders Data and La Forge are enjoying a Sherlock Holmes holodeck program when the pair notice that a character programmed to be left-handed was actually right-handed. They call Lt. Barclay to repair the holodeck, but as he checks the status of the Sherlock Holmes programs, he encounters an area of protected memory. He activates it to find the sentient Professor Moriarty character projected into the Holodeck, who appears to have memory since his creation ("Elementary, Dear Data"), including during the period while he was inactive (a feat Barclay and the others claim to be impossible). Moriarty again wishes to escape the artificial world of the holodeck and was assured by the crew of the Enterprise that they would endeavour to find a way to do so, and is irritated at the lack of results on the part of the crew and their seeming lack of effort. Captain Picard, along with Data and Barclay, attempts to assure Moriarty they are still working towards this goal but their technology does not yet permit it. Moriarty is dismissive.

Moriarty confuses the crew by seemingly willing himself to existence by walking out of the holodeck door. He explains this to the stunned Picard and Data by saying, "I think, therefore I am." Moriarty creates a companion for himself, the Countess Regina Bartholomew, by commanding the computer of the Enterprise to place another sentient mind within the female character of the Sherlock Holmes novels that he is programmed to love. Moriarty then demands that a solution to get Regina off the holodeck be devised. He takes control of the Enterprise through the computer, insisting that a way be found for her to experience life beyond the confines of the holodeck.

Barclay and Data suggest trying to beam an inanimate object off the holodeck using pattern enhancers in hopes that the transporter could re-form the object as conventional matter. However, when the experiment fails and Data finds no information in the transporter log, he becomes suspicious. Data then observes that La Forge's handedness is incorrect, just as they had experienced earlier. Through this, Data deduces that he, Picard, and Barclay are still inside the holodeck with Moriarty, and everyone else and everything that appears to be the Enterprise is part of a program Moriarty created. Picard then realizes that he has unwittingly provided Moriarty with the command codes for the Enterprise. With this information, Moriarty takes control of the real Enterprise from within the simulation.

Captain Picard finds a way to program the holodeck within Moriarty’s simulation to convince Moriarty that he and Regina can be beamed into the real world, though in fact they are only "beamed" onto another simulation on that holodeck. Moriarty, believing he has entered the real world, releases control of the ship back to Picard. He and the Countess use a shuttlecraft given to them by Commander Riker to leave the Enterprise and explore the galaxy. Picard ends the simulation and the trio return to the real Enterprise. Barclay extracts the memory cube from the holodeck and sets it in an extended memory device in order to provide Moriarty and the Countess a lifetime of exploration and adventure.

Picard comments that the crew's reality may actually be a fabrication generated by "a little device sitting on someone's table." This unnerves Barclay enough for him to test the nature of his own reality one more time: he gives an audible command to "end program" to test whether he is still in a simulation. There is no response, indicating he is indeed back in the real world.

Review:

“Elementary, Dear Data” was one of the few highlights of TNG’s second season, and apparently hadn’t been revisited before now because the show’s writers believed there was an on-going legal dispute between paramount and the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the end, it turns out to be a misunderstanding; the estate had been irritated at Paramount over the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Fortunately, the estate allowed Next Generation to use the Holmes characters again for a reasonable license fee, and thus the sentient Moriarty holodeck character came back. However, this time we see Picard, Data and the ever-amusing recurring guest character of Lt. Barclay get trapped within a simulation of the Enterprise that is created by Moriarty, which is quite a clever way of mixing things up.

However, the one thing that spoils the episode slightly is the final scene where Picard suggests the reality of Trek itself may not be real and Barclay then feels compelled to test that idea. I get that it’s meant to be a bit of an in-joke given that this is a TV show, but not only does it seem unnecessarily cruel to a well-known paranoid multi-phobic introvert like Barclay to make that suggestion, but it’s also annoying when any TV show tries to suggest the reality of its own world isn’t that at all. Once any world of fiction establishes what its reality is, to my mind that reality must be its reality at all times. You don’t wait until you are mid-way through your penultimate season and then suggest it might be a fantasy. Either it’s a fantasy from day 1, and you either also show the real world now and then or make that what you’re trying to get back to, or it’s real and any fantasies are conclusively revealed, over and done with inside of a single episode or multi-part story. Having it both ways is just indecisive and moronic. Because of this, the episode only nets 8 out of 10 where it could otherwise have claimed full marks.

Episode 13: Aquiel

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The starship Enterprise arrives at a subspace communications relay station near the Klingon border on a resupply mission. However, when an away team boards the relay there is no sign of the two officers assigned there. Lieutenant Aquiel Uhnari, Lieutenant Rocha, and the station's shuttlecraft are missing. While searching the station, the away team finds a dog that belongs to Lieutenant Uhnari. The away team also finds a substance on the floor, which Dr Crusher determines is a type of cellular residue.

The crew uncover evidence that a Klingon had been on the station leading Dr Crusher and Commander Riker to suspect that Uhnari and Rocha may have been the victims of a Klingon attack. Lt. Commander La Forge backs up this theory when he examines Uhnari's personal logs. He finds an entry in which Aquiel relays her fears to her sister Shianna about a Klingon named Morag. Captain Picard contacts the local Klingon governor, Torak, and learns that Morag is commander of one of the Klingon ships that patrols that section of the Klingon Empire's border. At this point, Torak refuses to cooperate further. Picard threatens to take his case to Chancellor Gowron, a threat scoffed at by Torak until Picard casually mentions that he served as Gowron's Arbiter of Succession. Knowing Gowron would be in Picard's debt and how the former might frown upon the disrespect shown to the latter, a nervous Torak agrees to cooperate fully.

The senior staff meets with Torak, and he produces Aquiel alive. She explains that Rocha attacked her and that her last memory was escaping from him. She doesn't remember precisely what happened. To help clarify what really occurred, Picard requests to speak with Commander Morag, the Klingon who was allegedly harassing the station. Attracted to her, La Forge befriends Aquiel, and takes her to the Ten-Forward lounge. He reveals to her that he surveyed her logs and personal correspondence as part of their investigation. Aquiel says she didn't like Rocha but did not wish to hurt him. She realizes she is a suspect in his death.

Meanwhile, Dr Crusher continues to examine the cellular residue found on the deck plate. Riker and Lt. Worf, who are examining the shuttlecraft, come across a phaser set to kill. La Forge gives moral support to Aquiel as she is questioned again.

Commander Morag then arrives aboard the Enterprise and meets with the senior staff. He admits that he was present on the station, and that he took priority Starfleet messages from its computer. La Forge returns to the station and discovers that Rocha's personal log has been tampered with. He confronts Aquiel who admits deleting messages from Rocha's log, because Rocha, as the senior officer, was going to declare her insubordinate and belligerent to Starfleet. Scared that this new evidence will condemn her as Rocha's killer, she agrees to stay aboard the Enterprise because La Forge has faith in her. He and Aquiel use an ancient method of her people to bond and share their thoughts.

While Dr Crusher examines the DNA found on the deck plate yet again, the material moves and touches her hand. It then withdraws and forms a perfect replica of her hand. Due to this, she suspects that the real Rocha may have been killed by this strange coalescent organism, and a replica of him may have attacked Aquiel in search of a new body. Believing that the organism may now have Aquiel's body, Riker and Worf race to Aquiel's quarters and stop the ritual she is conducting with La Forge. Morag is also arrested, as it is just as likely he is the organism.

With Aquiel and Morag in the brig, the Enterprise proceeds to the nearest starbase as the crew keep a close watch on them both, since the organism may need a new body soon. La Forge is in his quarters along with Aquiel's dog Maura reminiscing about her. The dog transforms and attacks him, but he is able to kill it. Later, he explains to Aquiel, who has been released, that Rocha was replaced by the organism. When it attacked her, it began the takeover process (hence her lapse in memory); however, she managed to get away in time. The creature then turned to the only other life form on the station, her dog.

The episode ends with Aquiel and La Forge in Ten-Forward, where she turns down his offer to help her join the Enterprise crew. She tells him she wants to earn her way there on her own merits.

Review:

This episode is rather ‘meh’, as it was supposed to be a La Forge character episode that gave a main cast member a long-term romance and compensated for the transfer of the O’Briens to Deep Space Nine, which meant TNG had lost the only married couple on the show and was once again basically a Trek singles’ cruise in terms of its main cast and recurring guest characters. However, it ends up being taken over by the murder mystery plot, and not in the fun way of Data pretending to be Sherlock Holmes or Picard acting as Dixon Hill. It’s a decent episode, but it’s too plot-driven with no character focus or issue exploration, which means it’s not proper Trek.

The only thing I truly hate regarding this episode is that according to the Wikipedia page about it, in 2019 the website ScreenRant claimed this episode made Geordi look like a sexual predator. Presumably this is in relation to Geordi reviewing Aquiel’s logs and personal correspondence when she was through to be dead, so all I can say is clearly ScreenRant knows fuck all about proper murder investigation. If someone is believed to have been murdered, everything about the victim and any suspects has to be looked into, and it’s not like a corpse has to worry about privacy anymore. The idea that this would lead any reviewer to categorise Geordi as some kind of pervert only shows what naïve, romanticised and childish views some people hold regarding murder investigation. Far too many people out there seem bound and determined to act like Hastings in Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories, blanching at any detection methods he considers as ‘ungentlemanly’.

In the BBC audio drama for ‘Peril at End House’, Poirot unearths love letters from Michael Seaton to Mademoiselle Nick Buckley, and when Hastings objects, saying “Poirot, you really can’t do that; it isn’t playing the game.” Poirot then instantly responds, and quite rightly, “I am not playing a game, my friend; I am hunting down a murderer.” This is the perfect example of the ScreenRant idiot’s point of view versus my own; even in the world of Trek, hunting down a murderer is a serious business and you can’t avoid potentially vital information just because it might invade the privacy of a victim or, as in the case of ‘Peril at End House’, an intended victim. If you have reason to believe the information is relevant to finding the killer, you pursue it, end of debate. Geordi just mis-handled telling Aquiel about it afterwards, but he nicely recovered and was otherwise a perfect gentleman. End score for this episode is 5 out of 10, end score for ScreenRant’s ability to comprehend proper murder investigation procedure, zero out of infinity.

Episode 14: Face of the Enemy

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Deanna Troi is kidnapped and brought aboard the Romulan Warbird Khazara. After waking up, Troi looks in a mirror and is horrified to find that she's undergone cosmetic surgery to make her look like a Romulan. Subcommander N'Vek, the Khazara first officer, privately explains that he has no intention of harming her, but needs her to pose as Major Rakal of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan intelligence service and secret police. N'Vek has secret cargo meant for the Federation, and needs Troi to act her role to convince the Khazara commander, Toreth (who is not aware of N'Vek's plan) into complying. Troi, as Rakal, is able to sway Toreth to head for a planned rendezvous in the Kaleb sector under threat of intense interrogation techniques.

Aboard the Enterprise, the crew brings aboard Stefan DeSeve, a human who had served as an ensign in Starfleet before defecting to the Romulans. Now he has returned with a message from Ambassador Spock. Captain Picard, wary of his prisoner's motives, considers Spock's message regarding a meeting in the Kaleb sector that would be prudent for the Federation's interest, and directs the ship there.

As the Khazara is en route, N'Vek shows Troi the secret cargo - Vice Proconsul M'Ret and two of his aides, held in stasis. They wish to defect to the Federation, and his presence there would aid further Romulan dissidents to flee the Empire. The plan is to transport the stasis chambers to a Corvallen cargo ship at the rendezvous point, who will subsequently deliver them into Federation space. When the Khazara meets up with the cargo ship, Troi senses its captain is not trustworthy, and N'Vek fires upon it, destroying it. He claims he was ordered by Major Rakal. Troi later explains to Toreth that she recognized the captain of the cargo ship as a known Federation spy. N'Vek, in private, explains to Troi that their only other option is to travel to Draken IV, an entry point for the Federation, where Troi can use her Starfleet codes to allow the ship to enter undetected. Troi gives this order to Toreth, who reluctantly agrees to it. However, their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the Enterprise.

The Enterprise arrives at the designated time and coordinates, but finds no trace of the cargo ship. They start a search, soon finding the wreckage of the vessel. As the Enterprise moves in, Toreth takes this as a sign of Troi's truthfulness. Troi wants to hold position, but the commander points out that with the wreckage nearby, they will be detected, and has the ship travel some distance away while the Enterprise continues to search. Troi is worried that the Enterprise will not be able to follow them, and has N'Vek create a trail of the cloaked ship.

Toreth learns of the Enterprise trailing them, and suspects that they've been detected. She orders a collision course for the vessel in order to test their reaction. When the Enterprise moves to avoid collision, Toreth orders the ship to decloak and attack. Troi steps in as Rakal and takes command from Toreth, then orders the ship to decloak and hails the Enterprise, offering to discuss the matter. The Enterprise crew, though they recognize Troi, feign ignorance and take down their shields. N'Vek fires on the Enterprise with low-powered weapons, appearing to damage the vessel. In reality, the low-power disruptor shot masks the transport of the stasis chambers to the Enterprise. Toreth, realizing that she is being deceived, executes N'Vek and retakes control of the Khazara. Before the Romulans can leave with Troi as their prisoner, Troi is safely transported to the Enterprise. In sickbay, Troi's cosmetic surgery is reversed, and she contemplates the value of N'Vek's efforts to aid the Federation.

Review:

This is the first and only call back in TNG history to Spock’s dissident movement that was showcased in the two-part episode “Unification” the previous season. It’s an interesting episode, and for a Troi episode very good, as it nicely takes us away from seeing her having to deal with her mother or whine over something strange sensed via her empathic abilities. Personally, I’d have preferred to see Troi go into this set-up fully briefed and prepped to play the role of spy rather than being landed in it at the deep end, as some of her initial scenes do verge on being highly cringe-worthy a la the Troi episodes of old. Moreover, it would have helped distinguish it more from the later Deep Space Nine episode “Second Skin” which revolved around a very similar premise.

The episode gives us a good of character development for Deanna in hindsight as well; between her recent uniform shift and having to play a commanding role on the fly, Deanna is beginning to develop skills she will later need when she takes the Bridge Officer’s Test to try and become a full commander the following season. As such, the episode is a case the show trying to get back to what it should be. I give it a score of 8 out of 10.

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hermanwatts · 5 years ago

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Sensor Sweep: Kyrik, Earl Norem, Stormbringer RPG, Denny O’Neill

T.V. (RMWC Reviews): In 1973, Tsuburaya Productions released several shows as part of the company’s 10th anniversary. The first one to see release was Fireman (or Magma Man in some markets), which began airing on Nippon Television on January 7, 1973, running until July for 30 episodes.

Warfare (Aeoli Pera): The typical special forces trainee who passes selection has a higher rank (officers were far more likely to pass than enlisted), at least a bachelor’s degree, high general personality factor with extremely high conscientiousness, no children, and verbally tilted IQs averaging in the 120s. This study looks at Ranger school but it’s true across all special operations services in the Western world. Please note that, except for measuring the ability to do pullups, these exact predictors could be used to select head girls for graduate departments in the humanities and social sciences.

Fiction (Wasteland & Sky): Interested in superheroes? If you’re reading this post then there’s a good chance you do! But how much? Check out this new bundle of hero books compiled by immortal SF author Kevin J. Anderson. The offer is for a limited time, so don’t miss out! The description for the bundle is as follows: The Up, Up and Away Superheroes Bundle – Curated by Kevin J. Anderson: If reading is your kryptonite, I’ve put together a superpowered StoryBundle—thirteen books with marvelous heroes, supervillains, secret identities, mutant powers, and extraordinary gentlemen (and ladies).

Popular Culture (Legends of Men): Why do these guys virtue signal? They’re saying this type of thing to other readers of S&S and REH and the pulps. The entire readership obviously enjoys these genres with as much or as little diversity as they already have. Past works cannot be changed and what made them popular once is more likely to make them popular again than changing the nature of what they are. So do some readers feel the need to virtue signal to other readers?

Reading (DVS Press): How many times have you seen a movie and though, “Man, the book was so much better,” or had a friend who read the book say the same to you? I can definitely say that the cases where the movie is better than the book are far outweighed by the reverse – probably in the range of 20:1. In fact, the only writer whose work seems to function better on screen than on paper is Stephen King, and even then there are plenty of books in his exceptionally large canon that are much better than their cinema counterpart (anyone remember The Dark Tower? I hope not).

Science Fiction (John C. Wright): Sometimes in this life we see justice done. The Nebula Awards have just honored Gene Wolfe with a Grandmastership. The honor is overdue, and all lovers of literature should rejoice. Gene Wolfe is the Luis Borges of North America. He is the greatest living author writing in the English language today, and I do not confine that remark to genre authors. I mean he is better than any mainstream authors at their best, better in the very aspects of the craft in which they take most pride.

Culture War (Kairos): This is why they hate Japan. This the material manifestation for why they can’t handle the Beautiful and seek to degrade before they destroy; the humiliation is intended as much to assuage the abuser’s amygdala as it is to afflict the victim’s, a “No You, Christcuck!” retort as they rip the beautiful apart before finishing the job. The cruelty is part of the process by design. The shitlords–God bless you all–at /pol/ noticed that this applies to all of the cultural attacks.

Art (DMR Books): When Earl demobilized, he went into magazine illustration, mostly for the “Men’s Adventure” mags. Such magazines have also been called “men’s pulps” and “sweat mags”. Essentially, they were magazines that somewhat carried on from the actual pulps–which died out in the 1950s–but were printed on “slick” paper. A significant percentage of their readers were veterans of World War Two and Korea who were looking for manly stories featuring action and beautiful women.

Comic Books (Diversions of the Groovy Kind): As most of you know, Groove-ophiles, Denny O’Neil, one of the most influential writers of the Groovy Age passed away at the age of 81 on Friday, June 12. Much has been written about O’Neil during the past week, and that’s how it should be. During the 1970s, O’Neil changed the way we would think about Batman in particular and comics in general forever (in tandem, naturally, with artist Neal Adams, mostly, but also with a host of other artistic luminaries from Irv Novick to Mike Kaluta to Jack Kirby to Mike Grell).

Robert E. Howard (Don Herron): Something I didn’t know much about, was a bank robbery that had occurred in the little town of Cisco on December 23, 1927, over 80 years earlier. The so-called Santa Claus Bank Robbery was a story I had heard about, of course, but the Kris Kringle business had conjured up images of a gang comprised of members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the Bowery Boys. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

RPG (Black Gate): Chaosium’s Stormbringer! was a licensed product based on Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné secondary world fantasy series. The game engine used modified Basic Roleplaying mechanics; in particular, magic worked very differently in Stormbringer than in Runequest. Characters could come from a wide variety of backgrounds; power-gamers preferred certain back-grounds over others because there was no pretense of game balance between them.

Heinlein (Black Gate): It’s almost impossible to discuss Robert A. Heinlein’s The Pursuit of the Pankera: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes without revealing and thus spoiling the plot devices of it and its 1980 prequel/sequel, The Number of the Beast—. Heinlein, first Grand Master of the SFWA, for decades acclaimed as the Dean of sf, no longer pleases everyone. Some readers, especially academic critics, have denounced both books as grossly self-indulgent and even worthless. Others, like the brilliant Marxist professor H. Bruce Franklin (in his important 1980 study Robert A. Heinlein: America as Science Fiction) catch the feel of Beast: “a cotton-candy apocalypse — frothy, sweet, airy, mellow, light, festive, whimsical, insubstantial” (199).

Sword-and-Sorcery (Ken Lizzi): I’ve read a few of Gardner Fox’s Kothar books. So when I saw his name on the cover of Kyrik Fights the Demon World I didn’t hesitate to snatch up the book. No one will claim that Fox was a master stylist. Take this paragraph from page one of Demon World. And so Makonnon quested through spatial emptiness into lands that had known him, long and long ago. He sent his mind across unfathomable distances, seeking, hunting, searching for that which so infuriated him.

RPG (Cyborgs and Sorcerers): Vancian Freeform Magic. I know that sounds like a contradiction in terms. It isn’t. You’ll see. I love the idea of free-form spell systems because they allow for endless creativity, and for me, creative problem-solving is the biggest source of fun in RPGs. In practice though, people often come up with a few favorite spells they cast over and over. This system was designed to prevent that by continually varying the tools in the free-form spellcaster’s toolbox. It’s a noun-verb system like Ars Magicka, except the nouns and verbs are not skills you’re permanently trained in.

Tolkien (Tolkien and Fantasy): The details of Tolkien’s epistolary friendship with the US editor, writer and sculptor Sterling Lanier (1927-2007) are difficult to ascertain, and various accounts differ as to the chronology and extent of their correspondence. In 1973, Lanier wrote that “it began in 1951” and amounted to some “dozen or so letters we exchanged over the years.” In a 1974 fanzine profile of Lanier by Piers Anthony, it notes that Lanier had had “ten years of correspondence” with Tolkien. In 2016, a book dealer had for sale six letters from Tolkien to Lanier, plus one from Tolkien’s wife.

Science Fiction (M. Porcius): I enjoyed my recent look at the 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories with Leigh Brackett’s “The Dancing Girl of Ganymede” and Henry Kuttner’s “The Voice of the Lobster,” so, to take a break from my rereading of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, I propose spending some time reading more stories by Brackett and Kuttner from Thrilling Wonder (we might end up checking out some Thrilling Wonder contributions by Brackett’s husband, Edmond Hamilton, as well.)

RPG (Swords and Stitchery): I have used & abused B4 The Lost City adventure & its inhabitants for years now a venerable pulp module created by Tom Moldvay. “”The Lost City” (1982) was the first adventure written entirely for the second edition Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1981). No surprise, then, that it was written by the author of that set, Tom Moldvay. ” Today I’ve been thinking about specifically adapting this module as perhaps a starter to Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition as an introductory module.

History (Outlook India): Tucked into Pakistan’s remote northwestern hills, along the border with Afghanistan, is a cluster of three villages whose residents are still trying to preserve their language and culture in the face of advancing modernity and religious conversion. The tribe, known as Kalash, is said to have descended from soldiers of the army of Alexander the Great who travelled this way in 324 BCE. However, many scholars deny the story even though it has not been established finally yet how these people, their language, dress, and their nature-worshipping culture—in marked contrast to the Islamic culture that surrounds them—evolved and survived through the centuries.

Fiction (Dark Worlds Quarterly): I used to use the words “Pulp-descended fiction” and it was the source of RAGE m a c h i n e Books. I wanted to capture that feeling that good Pulp writing gives you. What that really means is I grew up on authors who wrote during the Pulps and those who followed, they too influenced by those five decades of magazine publishing. The world has since moved on, with television and paperback novels, comic books (now called “graphic novels”). Despite this, Pulp remains with us. Not in the packaging but under the surface.

Sensor Sweep: Kyrik, Earl Norem, Stormbringer RPG, Denny O’Neill published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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con-or-bust · 7 years ago

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Tor.com prize pack of seven novels & novellas

Item Name and Description: a prize pack of novels and novellas donated by Tor.com, consisting of:

The Atrocities, Jeremy C. Shipp Time Was, Ian McDonald Memory’s Blade, Spencer Ellsworth Gods, Monsters & the Lucky Peach, Kelly Robson The Barrow Will Send What it May, Margaret Killjoy Lightning in the Blood, Marie Brennan Null States, Malka Older

Starting Bid: $10.

Shipping: Worldwide.

Other Notes: Descriptions after the cut.

The Atrocities, Jeremy C. Shipp:

Jeremy Shipp brings you THE ATROCITIES, a haunting gothic fantasy of a young ghost’s education

When Isabella died, her parents were determined to ensure her education wouldn’t suffer.

But Isabella’s parents had not informed her new governess of Isabella’s… condition, and when Ms Valdez arrives at the estate, having forced herself through a surreal nightmare maze of twisted human-like statues, she discovers that there is no girl to tutor.

Or is there…?

Time Was, Ian McDonald

Ian McDonald weaves a love story across an endless expanse with his science fiction novella Time Was

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

Memory’s Blade, Spencer Ellsworth

Spencer Ellsworth’s Starfire space opera trilogy, a gritty, adult science-fiction adventure, concludes with Starfire: Memory’s Blade

At the heart of the Dark Zone, a duel for the universe rages.

In an ancient Jorian temple, Jaqi faces John Starfire, the new ruler of the Empire. He has set all the worlds aflame in his quest to destroy humankind. Jaqi has sworn to stop him. Problem is, Jaqi isn’t much of a fighter.

Meanwhile, the sun-eating cosmic spiders, the Shir, have moved out of the Dark Zone and are consuming the galaxy. Araskar knows that he must hold them back, but to do that, he has to give himself over to the Resistance, under the command of John Starfire’s wife. And she wants him dead more than she wants the stars to live.

If Jaqi and Araskar can fight their way out, they can use a secret at the heart of the Dark Zone to free the galaxy, and end John Starfire’s new tyranny. They lose, and every star in the sky will go dark.

Gods, Monsters & the Lucky Peach, Kelly Robson

“Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach is a tour-de-force, with nuanced characters in a masterfully conceived world of stunning, mind-bending eco-tech.” —Annalee Newitz

Experience this far-reaching, mind-bending science fiction adventure that uses time travel to merge climate fiction with historical fantasy. From Kelly Robson, Aurora Award winner, Campbell, Nebula, and Theodore Sturgeon finalist, and author of Waters of Versailles

Discover a shifting history of adventure as humanity clashes over whether to repair their ruined planet or luxuriate in a less tainted past.

In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity’s ancestral habitat. She’s spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.

The Barrow Will Send What it May, Margaret Killjoy

Margaret Killjoy’s Danielle Cain series is a dropkick-in-the-mouth anarcho-punk fantasy that pits traveling anarchist Danielle Cain against eternal spirits, hypocritical ideologues, and brutal, unfeeling officers of the law. The story continues with The Barrow Will Send What it May.

Now a nascent demon-hunting crew on the lam, Danielle and her friends arrive in a small town that contains a secret occult library run by anarchists and residents who claim to have come back from the dead. When Danielle and her crew investigate, they are put directly in the crosshairs of a necromancer’s wrath — whose actions threaten to trigger the apocalypse itself.

Lightning in the Blood, Marie Brennan

Once, there was a call—a binding—and so, a woman appeared, present in body but absent in knowledge of her past self.

Making the ultimate journey of rediscovery was not without its own pitfalls—or rewards—and now Ree, a roaming archon, spirit of legend and time and physically now bound to her current form, has yet to fully uncover her true identity.

Ree has spent her last innumerable seasons on the move—orbiting, in some sense, the lands of her only friend in this world, Aadet, who has become intricately involved in the new post-revolution politics of his people. Swinging back from the forests surrounding Solaike, Ree falls in with another wandering band, some refugees accompanied by their own archon, who seems to know much more about Ree’s own origins than she ever dared to hope.

Lushly woven against a foreign, and yet familiar, fantastical setting, Lightning in the Blood is the second epic adventure in Marie Brennan’s novella series with Tor.com.

Null States, Malka Older

“Kinetic and gripping” —NPR on Infomocracy

Null States continues Campbell Award finalist Malka Older’s Centenal Cycle, the near-future science fiction trilogy beginning with Infomocracy

• The book The Huffington Post called “one of the greatest literary debuts in recent history” • Named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, The Verge, Flavorwire, Kirkus, and Book Riot • A Locus Award Finalist for Best First Novel

The future of democracy is about to implode.

After the last controversial global election, the global infomocracy that has ensured thirty years of world peace is fraying at the edges. As the new Supermajority government struggles to establish its legitimacy, agents of Information across the globe strive to keep the peace and maintain the flows of data that feed the new world order.

In the newly-incorporated DarFur, a governor dies in a fiery explosion. In Geneva, a superpower hatches plans to bring microdemocracy to its knees. In Central Asia, a sprawling war among archaic states threatens to explode into a global crisis. And across the world, a shadowy plot is growing, threatening to strangle Information with the reins of power.

#book #Ian McDonald #Jeremy C. Shipp #Kelly Robson #Malka Older #Margaret Killjoy #Marie Brennan #multiple items #Spencer Ellsworth #Tor.com

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