#would he become a prisoner essentially? what about after? there’s no way miles would let it go unpunished/unaddressed

[mangoisms]

also i know i said i’d talk about my thoughts and never did and there’s still Too Much BUT. i will say. spoilers ahead. that i think the whole canon thing is bullshit. just because with miguel, he replaced a dead man. right. the miguel o’hara of that universe died. and he came and replaced him. and i think if we wanted to give any kind of stock to the design of the universe, then miguel’s death was supposed to happen and another miguel replacing him was not and that’s maybe why that universe collapsed.

but for all the others? like inspector singh? he didn’t actually die. and they didn’t go back in time and bring him back, miles just saved him. for all the foreboding black stuff we saw, i think that was just spot’s influence/leftovers from him using the collider. because he was obviously messing with some stuff that could very well screw with the fabric of reality.

and as far as canon goes… it’s literally lyla making an algorithm. it’s a little like correlation does not equate causation, i think. some stuff happens to them so frequently they think it becomes canon. like losing someone they love. and apparently, losing a police captain (which is a whole other thing). they compare notes and it’s like oh wait… this is canon! but it’s just so weird how miguel extrapolated what happened to him (not a canon event?) to everyone else.

like i may be misremembering here but…. it sort of seems like. his universe collapsed. obviously. because he replaced a dead man. and then he… what? started to realize the ways spiders’ lives overlap in terms of defining moments? started to consider it canon? it’s just. it’s a Big Leap. and it really really really is so so so insane when miles asks, so am i supposed to let my dad die? and the way miguel looks at him says, yes. like. man. that is so bleak.

miguel really reminds me of bruce in a lot of ways. not that bruce would be okay, i think, with such an overt admittance of letting someone die without trying to intervene but… setting up such a stringent system and refusing to diverge from it. being so set in what he thinks will happen. and i mean. who knows. if pushed to that kind of decision where it does seem like the multiverse vs. one person…. i don’t know. i’d like to say no, he wouldn’t allow that but at the same time…. the greater good and all that. just food for thought i guess

[ladyeliot]

Stay with me

Prequel to  It will always be you.

Pairing: Tony Stark x Avenger Female Reader

Summary: Because of the consequences of your actions, 117 nations come together to create the Sokovia Accords. Now a decision hangs over you, whether to sign them or not, whatever you do will have repercussions.

Warnings: Angst.

Word count: 3702

A/N: Civil War. Some of the dialogue is taken from the film. Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

Reader Powers: Psionic. You use psionic force to track any sentient being. You also create psychic shields to protect yourself. You can project psychic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind, causing them pain.

The evidence was clear, the position you were currently in had come about because of some very poor performance on your part, the news had echoed the catastrophes you had caused, especially the attack on Lagos, the governments had lined up to stop it and come to a common agreement to keep you under their command. Deep down you all knew that day would come, though you were confident it would be further away. It had been almost four years since Tony Stark had rescued you from your past, from being a contraption held in a laboratory for research. You had been offered a future where you no longer had to run or hide, you had been offered freedom, a purpose in life, but that bundle of paperwork in front of your eyes was meant to make you a prisoner of the government once again.

The discussion had been getting louder and louder, the different opinions countering each other were causing the nerves to come to the fore, alternating the atmosphere. Although the resolution was clear, there was nothing to be done, you were either with them or against them, becoming a fugitive wanted by the whole world. The Sokovia Accords were established by the United Nations and ratified by 117 nations, and what they proposed was to regulate the activities of the altered individuals, namely that the Avengers would cease to be a private organisation, and from now on would operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, and only when and if that panel deemed it necessary.

There was no turning back, the consequences had been placed before you for the acts you had committed, it was a one way street, not a return. Secretary Ross had been in charge of presenting you with the whole set of papers that would have to be signed by you, but convincing you all to agree was not going to be so easy. 

“So let's say we agree to this thing,” Sam said, unresponsive to the situation. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“A 117 countries want to sign this,” Rhodes reminded him.  “117, Sam, and you're just like, ‘No, that's cool. We got it.’”

Unlike them, you chose to keep a few metres away from the meeting table, remain silent and meditate with yourself on the proposal, not that you didn't know the pros and cons or the consequences of not signing the agreements, but that you wanted to analyse the situation from different points of view without the others questioning your opinions.

"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," Natasha said, turning her gaze to Tony.

“It's because he's already made up his mind,” Steve's tone seemed harsher than usual.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony countered sarcastically, then turned his gaze and gestured in your direction.  "She does seem to have made up her mind what her decision is."

You felt the gaze of everyone present focus on you, who unlike him preferred to be absorbed in the shadows, hiding from the attention of your companions. But in the end, perhaps his words were true and you had made a decision, a decision that you were not going to allow anyone to choose for you.

"I guess it's not as simple as you're trying to make us believe Tony," your tone was calm and affable, knowing that you were about to receive a sarcastic and ironic counterattack from him.

"Simple?" he gets up from the sofa raising his hands, walking towards the kitchen area, where you were sitting on a stool. "You think it's simple for me?" he pulls a mobile device out of his pocket and sets it down right in front of you on the top, the device projecting an image of a smiling young man. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia."

You look down, you understand perfectly what he means, you remember what happened in Sokovia, you remember because you were there, you saw with your own eyes what happened and also the consequences of your actions. But you knew that any decision had consequences and they could have been much worse if you had not acted, although there were also causes for your own fault.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony continued, looking directly at you, his tone rising and stiffening. "I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

After his last word, silence filled the room, everyone in the room was reliving the ghosts of the past. Tony definitely realising that you weren't going to look up to return his gaze decided to head back into the room with the others.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes..."

You felt his voice trailing off, then Steve seemed to come in to debate various points, but you could barely focus on what each of them was saying. An internal struggle was going on inside you, and you couldn't wait to see who was going to win.

"I have to go."

You looked up after hearing those words spoken by Steve, his body rose energetically, dropping the agreements from his hand. That was the beginning of all the consequences that were to come after we had made the decision not to sign.

Your steps were decisive, you walked through those long corridors that had become your home for the last few years, knowing that you would most likely never see them again, or at least not for an indefinite period of time. You truly believed you had made a decision, a decision that could become the decision of a lifetime, a before and after in the life process you had created for yourself. You believed that you knew the consequences, that you would be willing to face them as they came. You knew there were going to be setbacks, obstacles, but you didn't expect one as big as him to stand in your way.

"So you've made your decision?" the figure of Tony stood in the doorway of your room, a serious look on his face seeming to immobilise you. "Are you going to leave with Steve?

"I think it's for the best," your words were blunt, as you packed your most essential belongings into a rucksack.

His body entered your room just before the door closed behind him. You knew Tony well enough to know that his next words to you were likely to make an impression on you, but your mind was made up.

"Did you hear anything I just said in the living room?" he pursed his lips and ran his fingers nervously over them.

"Don't make this difficult for me," those words left your lips almost as a plea.

You barely looked at him, your back was turned to him and your eyes were focused on the inside of that backpack that seemed to have no end.

"I suppose you know that your decision is a single ticket," his words were firm. "That you're basically signing your own fucking sentence."

"No," you dropped the backpack and turned to him to find yourself face to face. "That's exactly what I'm running from," you sighed. "I think you of all people know that I know what it's like to be someone's property, that I've been for far too long and that's what really scares me," your pupils dilated as you remembered every single moment you'd lived hidden from the world, being an experiment. "I don't need guys in ties fighting for their own interests telling me what to do or where to go, because my freedom ends when they command me," the seriousness on Tony's face had relaxed, he kept his gaze on his feet and nodded. "I want you to know that I'm going with Steve because you had already made your decision."

The tension spread slightly around you, so much was hidden in those words, much more than what was shown. The complexity of the situation went far beyond signing or not signing the agreements, it was the break-up of a group, of friends, of family, something that could never be put back together again.

"I... I don't know if I'm going to be able to protect you," Tony clenched his jaw as he denied to himself, resting his brown eyes on yours again.

"I never asked you to."

You knew perfectly well how much your words must have hurt him, and what he meant when he said he couldn't protect you. There were so many hidden things in the air, but this was not the right time to start that conversation, maybe it was too late, nothing was going to change things so you asked yourself to please not make things more complicated. You turned around and nimbly zipped up your backpack, everything you had of great sentimental value was inside.

"I'm sorry," you whispered, hanging the backpack over your right shoulder and looking up at him.

"You're not sorry," his tone became serious, but at the same time indifferent, he was hurt. His gaze turned away from yours.

"This isn't what I wanted to happen," you whispered hoping that wasn't the last image you would see of him before you left.

"So, all you have to do was stay," those were the words that almost caused something inside you to stir, but you only gave a small, wistful smile as you looked at his face.

"You know I can't," you whispered hoping he wouldn't extract his share of indifference towards you again. "Please don't make it more complicated for me, because I can't deal with you right now.”

It was impossible to explain to you at that moment the dilemma that was building up inside you. On the one hand your ethics and your values were what prevented you from signing those damn papers that limited and curtailed your freedoms, it was something you assumed. On the other hand, how could it be so hard to leave Tony, why, what was going on right now that you couldn't face?

"Maybe you should just leave now," Tony slipped his hands into his Tom Ford trouser pockets and focused his gaze on the door to your room.

You nodded slowly, your brow furrowed and your lips parted as you didn't expect those words at all, you were ready to start an internal struggle, but he had already sentenced the conversation.

"Alright," you muttered, taking a step backwards, away from him. "Bye Tony."

As you got closer to that door a lump settled tighter in your throat, like a dramatic movie you expected him to say something to stop you at any moment, but he didn't. The door opened and allowed you to leave. The corridors seemed miles long, perhaps because time was slowing down. A black car could be seen from the wide glass windows, there were Steve and Sam waiting for you. A guilty smile appeared on your face as you walked back through the hall, bidding farewell to those present.

As you stepped outside, the air seemed to open up your lungs again, which had been stuck after the last goodbye you had said to Tony. Sam was inside the car, and Steve took care of getting your rucksack into the boot, along with his shield and Sam's wings.

"Are you all right?" muttered Steve, to which your response was a gentle nod.

As you rested your hand on the handle to open the car door, you couldn't help but direct your gaze towards the top of the building, right where you had left Tony a few minutes ago. But there was definitely no sign coming from that spot to stop you from continuing on your way.

The next few days the situation became more complex than anyone here would have expected. Agent Carter's funeral passed without incident, Natasha appeared to inform you that she was leaving for Vienna to sign the agreements, that there was still a chance for you to change your minds, but none of you did. Perhaps it was for the best, because during the signing an attack happened on the spot, an attack that changed the course of things. All eyes were on the Winter Soldier, Bucky, that directed Steve, Sam and you to Bucharest in a supposed attempt to get to Bucky before the authorities did.

"They're on the roof," Sam reported over the intercom.

"Steve get out of there right now," you said hiding on the roof of the building next door. "I can sense you but I can't surround your body with psychic energy unless you come out into the open."

That day was one of the worst failures you had ever managed to pull off, perhaps it was obvious that things didn't go quite right when feelings ran high, and it showed in Steve, especially when law enforcement trapped you in that tunnel.

"Stand down, now," War machine appeared before you to end the fatal chase and set you on your way to Berlin.

You knew what would follow, there was only one way out or the consequences would be far more extreme, either sign the agreements or become prisoners of the law. Things were different for you, Captain could have his shield removed, Sam could have his wings removed and T'Challa, who had appeared in pursuit out of nowhere could have his suit removed too, but you and Bucky were far more dangerous, especially as your powers and dangers were in the mind.

When you arrived at the facility in that armoured truck Bucky was put in an extreme protection capsule, that marked memory making you remember the past time.

"What's going to happen to him?" asked Steve walking beside you in the direction of Everett Ross, Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces.

"The same as you. Psychological evaluation and extradition," he focused his gaze on you.  "Miss Y/L/N, let's hope you'll be cooperative."

You understood his words, you knew the fear you could cause, force could be controlled, the mind was much more complicated.

"Of course," you affirmed with all your good intentions.

You didn't know where, but you assumed that in a few minutes you were going to meet him again in some remote part of that building, you could feel it. First it was Natasha who approached you, and then when you stepped inside the control room there was Tony, talking on the phone.

"[...] consequences?" he turned his body towards you, his gaze fixed on you, which made you cross your arms and look around, avoiding her. "Of course there will be consequences."

"Consequences?" asked Steve with a serious look on his face.

"Secretary Ross wants to prosecute the three of you. I had to give something."

You walked away from them, realising that you had two armed men following your every step around that room. You watched the monitors, every corner of the planet seemed to be controlled by them, there was nothing they could miss, you could even see yourself reflected in one of them.

"Is it worth it?" you turned your face to find yourself face to face with the one who had made you doubt your decision a few days ago.

He took his right hand out of one of his trouser pockets and made a slight gesture for the two security officers who had been assigned to you to move a little away from you, offering you some privacy.

"What do you mean?" you cocked your head to one side. Your voice was stiff, you were tense enough about the situation to offer him a friendly tone.

"I don't know, was it worth risking everything to find yourself back here with possible legal charges?" you didn't deny it, Tony's words hurt.

"Are you rejoicing?" you squinted, uncrossing your arms and turning your whole body towards him.

"How do you think this will all end?" he ran his index finger down the side of his mouth, his nervousness showing. Those words made you shudder. "Now you have a chance, don't let it slip away."

"Please, don't make this worse than it already is," your pleas were in vain. The last thing you wanted right now was a lecture from Tony.

"This wouldn't even abe problem, if you wouldn't make one out of it!" his voice was authoritative.

Your refusals and hesitations had gotten on his nerves, it was evident in the way he was addressing you. That was the last thing you wanted to do, to cause trouble, but it was clear that you were on the defensive against any verbal attack Tony might offer you. Sparks could almost fly between your gazes, which were still on after the conversation was over. You had no idea what was going to happen next, so you were grateful that Natasha caught Tony's attention at that moment, breaking into a battle that wasn't going anywhere.

The hours passed really slowly, so you found a space in a glassed-in conference room to settle in, under, of course, the watchful eye of the guards in charge of you, until you were called in for your psychological analysis.

"Do you need anything?" the door closed behind him.

"Are you playing good cop?" you asked watching as he dropped his blazer on a chair and sat down right next to you. "You're not giving up, are you?"

"I'll take every last cartridge," he leaned his elbow on the table and dropped his chin into the palm of his hand. "You know, I was just remembering earlier when we all went to that Italian restaurant in Soho on your birthday, and then we were at the concert by.... Oh, what was the name of the band? "

"What are you trying Tony?" you cocked your head to the side with a small smile on your face.

"I'm trying to... how do you say?" he rested his index finger on your lips. "Signing a peace agreement? Trying to get to your sensitive spot, because you have one, right?"

"I don't know, I guess if you have one I might as well, huh?" you arched an eyebrow, intertwining your fingers on the table, causing him to make a gesture of placing his hands on yours, but he never got to touch them by restraining himself, so you ignored the gesture.  "Do you want to sign a peace agreement with me, or do you want me to sign the Sokovia Accords?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly through his nostrils. He was completely frustrated, you knew it, you could feel it, he had rarely been involved in those situations that were out of his control.

"Listen," he paused slightly, bringing his fingers to his chin. "I think it's time that I..." he tore his gaze away from yours, let it wander, searching for his words as he gestured with his right hand. "I've tried many times, to do this but.... God, this really is the worst time to do it." He looked around nervously and then crossed his arms, but quickly pulled them apart. "Whatever. We're... well, I... it's likely that I, maybe, can feel..."

You would remember that moment all your life, especially since you wouldn't know until many years later what he meant to say to you. At that moment the lights went out, the monitors stopped working and everything was dark around you, only red flickering lights would have made their way into your darkness. Your head swivelled around you in search of whatever it was that was going on, Tony got up from his seat and placed his glasses over his eyes.

"Friday, give me the source of the blackout," he said to himself.

Finally your eyes focused on Steve and Sam, who were standing next to Sharon in the next room. You listened as Sharon informed them of Bucky's location, and a last glance towards you informed you that they were going to head that way, but just as you were about to leave that meeting room a hand came down hard around your arm.

"Stay with me," the trembling words that came from his lips seemed to shake your insides.

"I can't," you mumbled through your teeth almost with all the pain in your heart.

His fingers loosened, allowing you to leave the room as quickly as possible, but you took one last second to contemplate his face and how many feelings were hidden in it. You knew you only had one chance, everyone present was distracted enough to find the reason for the blackout, you had only a few seconds to get out of the room without being seen, and a couple of minutes before they noticed, so you didn't take long to do it.

A new decision piled up on your list, always facing the consequences you had acquired, and fighting against the feelings your heart presented to you. It wasn't easy, you hadn't given it much thought either, but what you did know was that you didn't regret having done it, at least so far.

Taglist Open (DM)

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[itskatastrophe-x]

Far Off Places (CH 3)

Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4

Word Count : 2,103

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You woke up in a panic, sitting upright rapidly and crying out in pain. You winced and scrunched your face up, hands shooting up to your arms in a hug. You didn’t have any physical wounds, but you could still feel everything from the dream-state. This was the worst by far compared to any other dream you’ve had. None of them were as dangerous and harmful as this one, but you knew it had to be done. You tried to envision what the person looked like right before you woke up, but all you could remember was the lime green and concern in whatever the person was saying. That was another anomaly. The people in these kinds of visions would never be able to see you until you interacted with them, essentially NPC’s. So how was it that this one person could see you and talk to you. Out of the hundreds of dreams, this was the first time that this has ever happened. What made them so special?

A rapid, loud banging echoed in the house, and you didn’t realize what it was until you heard the door being busted in. Panic set in and you grabbed for your axe next to you, but set it down when you heard Techno’s voice ring out. You called out to give you a moment, prepared yourself quickly, then went downstairs to meet the three males in your doorway, panic evident on their features. “We heard screaming. What happened?” Techno walked further into the house, hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. “Did someone break in? No one should know where we are, ”Phil said, looking around the room in worry. You wrapped your arms around yourself, suddenly aware of how cold it had become. Techno came back and threw a blanket over you, huffing out a “clear” before standing next to Ranboo. “Maybe you guys could come in and I can explain. I’m not in danger, so you don’t have to worry, but I do have another thing I need to share.” They all looked at you curiously as they followed you to the den to light a fire and get comfy.

“I don’t know where the dreams came from or when they really started. I think they were always around, even as a kid. When something memorable happens, whether it’s good or bad, I can relive those moments through dreams. If they’re bad moments, I can essentially play detective to find what went wrong or find evidence of who did what specific thing. That’s what happened last night. The night my kingdom burned down I had no evidence, no clues, no information. Last night, I had one of my… Visions? Dreams? I’m not sure what you would call it. The only downside to these things is that any pain felt in the dream state, I feel in real life. The screaming you heard was probably because I was burning alive last night. The physical damage doesn’t stay, so visually I’m fine, but I still feel my skin stinging and it can last for hours, days, or even weeks.” You pause to let them process everything. “Questions?” They all shook their heads so you went into further detail.

“So last night I visited my kingdom as it burned down. I knew I had limited time and also knew the more damage I took, the harder it would be to recover in real life when I woke up. I had to speed run my search, essentially. I didn’t find much at all, honestly. I mainly spent the whole night running through flames and tripping over holes where the ground had been blown up. That is… Until I saw someone in the distance run past the road I was on. I followed the figure through the streets but ended up losing them. I had way too much happen and the smoke was clogging my lungs and I fell over. I almost passed out but heard rapid footsteps and a muffled voice, and right before I woke up I looked up and all I can remember… Is green. The strange thing is, though, is that in every single vision prior to this, the people are NPC’s. They don’t interact with me unless I interact with them first. So the fact that whoever this person was could see me and tried to talk to me is… Scary? I’m not sure if I should be worried about that or not. These visions never end up like that. That person is the only person I saw alive and unscathed and also tried to help me.” 

“You said… Green?” Ranboo’s voice was laced with concern and he seemed more panicky than he did before. He always seemed on edge, but now he looked downright terrified. It worried you and you nodded hesitantly. “And you only ever see people that were at the scene prior to the dreams?” You nodded again and they all looked at each other. “What? What’s wrong?” Phil scratched the back of his neck and Techno huffed loudly as he got up and left the house. Their responses were concerning, to say the least. “Well,” Phil started. He took a moment. “The only people we know that are or wear green are Sam… And Dream.” You could feel the air stiffen and Ranboo got visibly more upset. “We try not to talk about the latter, but seeing as you’re new around here and you could be facing something bad, we need to talk about it. Ranboo, if you need to leave, then you can.” He sighed but showed no signs of moving. “No, if anyone has information to share, it’s me.” Phil nodded and looked at you, Ranboo keeping his eyes on his hands that held the leather bound book he had shown you yesterday.

“Well, for starters, Sam is a prison guard. He also helped build the prison, as well as a lot of the other bigger builds in the main part of our cities. He’s normally a very neutral sided person, but lately his fears have been clouding his judgement and he’s been… Making questionable choices. He let a kid visitor die in the prison with the prisoner.” They both got quiet until Phil cleared his throat. “I mean, the kid, Tommy, was revived… By said prisoner… But the fact that Sam let it happen in the first place is horrible.” He stopped again and Ranboo sniffled. “So, who is this prisoner then?” Ranboo looked up at you, malice and hatred clear as day in his two toned eyes. “Dream.” You looked at him inquisitively. “But, if Dream is in prison then how would he be an option for who I saw? These people never show up in my dreams unless they were there at the place I visit. Who is he? Why is he in prison? I have so many questions.” 

“And we can answer them,” Ranboo stated. All sense of calm he had was completely gone. Just by his body language and the tone in his voice you knew already that what Dream had done to land himself in prison was horrible. “Dream is… Dream is possibly the worst person you could ever come in contact with. He’s murdered, stolen, manipulated. The list goes on. I’m sure you know of the three life rule.” You nod and he continues. “He took two of Tommy’s lives in wars in our lands. Tommy ended up putting Dream in jail after taking two of his lives. They decided that for some reason we still needed Dream. He said that Dream had… Some kind of revive book. We’ve lost a few people very dear to us so Tommy wanted to keep Dream around until they could get the book. Well, Tommy visited Dream in prison not too long ago, and while Tommy was in the cell with Dream explosions started going off and he was put into lockdown for a week. Remember the part where I said Dream was a literal murderer. He killed Tommy. Beat him to death. Then revived him.” He trailed off and you looked at him in shock. “There’s no way. Absolutely no way! After someone dies the third time that’s it! How could anyone revive someone?” Ranboo shrugged. 

“Tommy came to us after and… He’s not the same anymore. Something must have happened when he was dead. He was so worried about one of our friends being revived, like genuinely horrified. It takes a lot to scare Tommy but he changed. Dream is to be feared. He-” Ranboo stuttered and got a bit more finicky with his book. Phil looked at him and rubbed his shoulder to try to calm him down. “Dream has some sort of control over us. And me I think. I’m not exactly sure. I go into what I call ‘enderwalk’ sometimes. I can’t remember anything from when it happens but I don’t think it’s bad. I write in my journals a record of everything that happens since I lose memories. I also used to… Hear Dream’s voice inside my head. Now that he’s in prison, though, I hear him less… But I’m also going into this enderwalk state more often. Let me say it again, Dream is to be feared.” Ranboo looks up at you, his features looking more sad than before, almost sorry. You notice the scars on his face but decide to say nothing, as to not offend. “So then, how do you think he could be an option?” Ranboo relaxes slightly, but not all the way. 

“Dream has a counterpart to him. A second personality that we think is what gives him these abilities and all this power. Dream XD. Dream XD is a god, almost. It’s very possible he could have targeted you, for whatever reason, to enter your mind. I’m not sure how or why he would target you. You said your journey was three days long, which means you came from at least one hundred miles from here. How he would even know who you are, I’m not sure of that either. He could have reached out to find someone vulnerable or showing weakness, and that could have been you.” You let out an exasperated sigh and rest your elbows on your knees and put your head in your hands, trying to process all this new information. Phil put his hand on your shoulder, and you allowed the gentle touch to sooth you. “I’m worried about the next time you sleep,” he says quietly. “If it happens again… If you get to meet this person and if it is Dream, be very cautious. We don’t know what he wants or why he wants you. He’s dangerous and manipulative so please be very careful and think about what you want to say to him before you say it. Pick apart his words and don’t fall for anything.” You think for a moment and look up at them. 

“I hate to be like this, but I shouldn’t trust any of you either. And there’s no reason to trust me. Believe me, I want to fully trust you. You all seem so nice. But we’re still strangers. I’ve had my guard up here, too. Why should I trust anything you three have to say anyway?” The room goes quiet and Phil takes his hand back. Ranboo tries to disagree but Phil cuts him off. “No, Faer is right. You can’t trust us, as much as we can’t trust you. But you have to at least give us a shot. We can protect you. Techno is… A loose canon sometimes, but he means well and if he knows I mean to protect someone, then he protects too. He tried killing Ranboo when he first showed up here, but when he realized I had taken him in, he started protecting him with his own life. He means business.” You nod but stay silent, the only sound in the room being the crackling of the dying fire and dogs barking softly from a distance. Phil gets up from his seat and looks down at Ranboo, who was reading through the book on his lap, quill in hand, completely lost in thought. “Ranboo, are we going?” Ranboo doesn’t respond, too lost in thought to notice, so you speak up. “It’s ok. He can stay as long as he likes. I made this room as cozy as I could on purpose. I write as well and planned to use this as a sort of getaway.” Phil nods and you walk him to the door where you both say your goodbyes.

[votederpycausemufins]

Alright, we’re reaching the end. let’s at least see if I can reach 100k words!

@petrichormeraki 

and also @helleborusangel I’m worried about you. You haven’t touched your tumblr in about 2 and a half weeks. if anyone has heard from them, please let me know, I am worried aaaaaaaaaa.

An explosion shook the room, making Grifter use his wings as cover for both himself and Sense. A moment later he flapped his wings to clear the air and see what had caused the explosion. He growled upon seeing a group of people at the door, recognizing that most of them were hermits. Standing there were both Xisuma and Xannes, Joe, Zedaph, Scar and Cub. There were also two non-hermits, one of which being Techno since he had brought the other hermits. The last was someone Grifter recognized all too well. Kristen. And she was also holding onto both Grifect and Sefter.

Grifter tried not to look angry or yell and attack, even using a wing to keep Sense back. “Oh thank goodness you all came! This is going to help so much!” Grifter couldn’t say more before a trident was thrown at his head, him barely dodging it. “What are you doing, I’m the good guy here?”

“I have a hard time believing that.” Xannes huffed, but Grifter gestured to where Nightmare lay dazed on the floor.

“No, you don’t understand. He’s the bad guy in this situation. He was after both Theseus and Tommy. I was told I had to deal with him. I didn’t have any choice!”

Xannes scoffed. “A likely story.” And weapons were pointed at Grifter. The avian’s eyes continued to go between Nightmare as well as Kristen as she held his kids, but he held his arms up in surrender.

From behind the group, Xisuma made his way over to Tommy. Grifter paid no attention to him, But Sense did, pulling out a weapon. Techno was the first to move to stop the attack, but Grifter beat him to the punch, using his wing to hit the weapon out of Sense’s hand. “As I said. Good guys here. Unless of course you are here to hurt Tommy, then things change.”

“You destroyed half of the server.” Techno said.

“I made sure to take precautions. None of this is permanent. Everything is backed up and I made sure everyone could respawn. Meanwhile you’re got Grian running around with one of his sons, not even worried about the bug in his system.”

“What-” Someone started to say, Grifter wasn’t sure who, when Nightmare moved. Grifter moved out of the way, having been watching the admin. Nightmare’s attack missed, but he quickly adjusted, his axe aiming for Xisuma’s neck. Sense pulled out another weapon and pointed it at Nightmare, firing it. The blast hit Nightmare’s wrist, making him lose his weapon, but in order to take the shot, it also went through part of Grifter’s wing.

“There…” Grifter said, holding his wing. “Believe us now?”

Weapons slowly moved from pointing at Grifter to pointing at Nightmare. A quick glance around the room let him know that Xannes seemed to be the only one left with his guard up, but that was fine, he wasn’t the most dangerous one here. Cub and Scar both had vex magic, but only both of them working together had been enough to break Grifter’s barrier, so while they could potentially be dangerous, they also weren’t the biggest threat. Techno was probably the least threatening of the bunch, Xisuma as a close second. He may be admin, but this wasn’t his server, so for now he was essentially powerless.

But the last three were much more dangerous. Kristen had the same aura around her that his dad did, meaning she would have to be death here. But it also didn’t help that she wasn’t the only one with that energy. And then of course ‘Joe Hills’. He was arguably the most dangerous, but he also had an easy weakness right now. 

“Do any of you know someone named Eret?” Grifter spoke up, glad to see Joe look up and over at him.

“I do. Why’re ya askin’?”

“We couldn’t quite get down there, but there seemed to be some prison cells and someone with that name was there. I was pretty sure the name was familiar, but of course, since this is another dimension, I figured I’d ask you guys.” Grifter explained, then hissing slightly as Sense tried to help with his wound.

Joe briefly looked over at Xisuma, who nodded. After taking one last look around the room, the man left the room. One down, two to go. Kristen was off the table with the boys in her arms, but if push came to shove, they could take care of themselves. Grifter used a bit of magic to heal himself, noticing that the world setting had been changed, letting people naturally heal and respawn again. He quickly changed that back and readied his magic for an attack.

Both of the Convex noticed something was up and they started to say something, but Grifter was faster. He flew into the air just enough to get a height advantage before attacking Zedaph with such a powerful attack, he broke through the floor. At the same time, Sense pulled Xisuma away from Tommy, messing with his helmet and breaking the filters on it. 

Xannes tried to grab Grifter, but the Listener was prepared and he drew a swirl symbol in the air, and a moment later Xannes was gone. Grifter was left panting and he couldn’t do much more after using so much magic. Sense was busy taking care of the Convex, so he couldn’t help much more. Grifter barely managed to get out of the way of Techno attacking him, but it just moved him closer to Kristen. 

“What did you do with Phil?” She asked, just making Grifter chuckle.

“Nothing bad. And even if it was, I doubt it would affect Dad.” He laughed again. “So, why are you here? I would have thought you’d stay away.”

Kristen didn’t answer as Sefter’s hand changed into a sword and he stabbed her in the side. Her shock made her drop both him and Grifect, who quickly ran to Grifter’s side. “Awe uwu okay dad? Uwu wook tiwed. I'm sowwy I messed up.”

“Aww, it’s okay pumpkin. You did just fine.” Grifter patted Grifect’s head and Sefter faced Techno, ready to fight him. “Now now everyone. I’m sure we can all stand down at this point.”

“You were the one to attack first.” Techno huffed, making Grifter pout.

“You all barged in here ready to attack me with my children as hostages. Now they are free and everyone is fine.”

“Xisuma is suffocating!” Cub yelled, and Grifter rolled his eyes and used a bit of magic to fix the helmet.

“There, is that any better?” Grifter huffed, still panting a bit. “You’re all ready to work with Xannes but I try to help and suddenly I’m the worst thing in the world.”

“Even he hates you.”

“And he also hates his brother, but you guys are fine with him. But sure, make that the defining answer.” Grifter grumbling, trying to ignore the nudge in his side from Sense. “Now how about we just all calm down, I deal with my job, and we all go home safe and sound.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Scar asked, and Grifter nodded his head in Kristen’s direction, as well as Zedaph’s as he was just pulling himself out of the hole he had been stuck in.

“What are we talking about?” Zed asked, looking around, not having any context.

Kristen gestured to Grifter. “He’s got a request from Death that he needs to finish.”

“What? I never gave him anything like that. Was that you?”

“No, I assume it came from one of those in his world.”

“Oh yeah, that would do it. Oh by the way, look who I found!” And Zedaph helped Grian, Ranboo and Grumbot out of the hole. 

“Oh for fucks sake!” Grifter growled. “I just managed to salvage this two fucking times. Why aren’t you all dead?”

As soon as he had said that, everyone turned on Grifter once more, though this time he wasn’t trying to wriggle his way out of it. “Perhaps we should-” Sense started to say before the Listener slapped him. “Shut up! I don’t care how it happens, I am getting rid of that son of a whore admin! Now stay alive long enough to come back.” And three portals opened up next to Sense, Sefter and Grifect, pulling them in. 

“Fine. Gloves are off now.” Grifter said, staring directly at Grian, who knew exactly what that meant. Grian moved to pull Grumbot closer to himself while Kristen was the first to move and attempt to attack Grifter.

Before she could cause any harm, Grifter placed down some TNT which immediately exploded. The explosion blocked her view just long enough for him to move elsewhere and get the upper hand, shoving her to the floor. “Oh please, Dad’s already terrified I’ll kill him and become the next death or something. And seeing as how my uncle never shows his fucking face, I’m guessing he keeps shaking in his little pink lined boots.”

Xisuma was the next to attack, but Grifter kicked at the man, boots starting to tear at the seams. “And your brother is too much of a cocksucking ditz to cause any sort of trouble for me. Hacking skills or not. I had to deal with plenty in Deevo. And that’s when I was still learning everything!”

Grifter was whacked in the back, causing loose feathers to go flying. He turned to see that Techno had attacked with an axe, blood now dripping down the avain’s back. “You’re an improvement over the original at least. Euro’s one of the biggest cowards I’ve seen. I can hear when he kills himself from a mile away. It’s too bad he keeps getting to respawn, but when death doesn’t want you dead, it doesn’t happen.” One of Grifter’s wings hit Techno, the feathers stiff and sharp, opening wounds all over the piglin hybrid.

Next, vex magic attacked the Listener from both sides, leaving him cornered. “You two. Hah, now this is a challenge. Sort of. But I don’t give a fuck right now!” And Grifter pulled out a shovel, not having a better weapon readily available. He walked towards Cub, not caring as the magic started to burn away his clothes, revealing the discolored skin beneath. Cub did his best to increase his power and move away, and for a few moments it worked, pushing Grifter back, but then the shovel connected with his skull, knocking him to the ground. A few more whacks followed from Grifter for good measure, staining the metal red.

“Now, who’s up next?!” The Listener asked with a laugh, turning to face everyone. His outfit was a mess; torn and bloody, hanging limply on his body while his boots lay shredded to the side, talons having replaced his feet. His eyes were glossy, cataracts covering them leaving him essentially blind, but his ears had shifted, changing into something few had seen, the ears of a warden.

“What the heck?” Ranboo asked, having stuck by Grian’s side. “What is that?”

“Listener.” Grian responded, horrified. “When Watchers, and I guess also Listeners, use too much magic, their body shifts to better use it. I’ve apparently gone off the deep end once or twice and ended up something like that. Basically, if he was dangerous before… it’s worse now.”

True to what Grian had just said, Grifter moved swiftly, at Zedaph’s side the moment after he took a step. He was thrown against a wall, winding him before a metal clamp covered his mouth, making it so he couldn’t speak. As he pulled at it while also catching his breath, Grifter yanked out a handful of his feathers, blood pouring from the freshly plucked wing and the Listener’s own hand. He threw the feathers at Xisuma, them acting as throwing knives sent at the admin. A good number of them missed, but a few hit and sliced into his armor, fortunately also missing his helmet.

Kristen attacked Grifter next, getting an upper hand and using some of his own stray feathers as weapons. The Listener just stared at her, smiling as the edge of the blade like feathers pressed into his skin, drawing blood. “You aren’t going to kill me. Are you? You can’t. That’s how it works~ You’re the one who can’t interfere~ That’s your brother’s job. And oh, sounds like he can’t do that right now, can he?”

Kristen was going to do it. In this situation, she wasn’t bound by the laws of death. Grifter wasn’t from this dimension, so she had free reign. But the Listener’s words got to her, and for a split second, she looked away. Suddenly, Grifter’s wings moved and a number of his feathers were embedded in her chest, him laughing evilly. “Now don’t die~ I wouldn’t like that happening. Especially since he’s busy.”

Techno tried attacking Grifter again, but he was just swatted to the side. Scar was at Cub’s side, having pulled out some crystals to heal him. Zedaph was busy trying to free himself and Kristen was dealing with her own wounds. Grifter stepped closer to Xisuma before picking him up and breaking one of his helmet’s filters with his hand. Though it wouldn’t kill the admin, it would certainly cause him plenty of pain. 

Tossing Xisuma aside, Grifter finally made it to Nightmare. “Now, I should have been finished with you ages ago!” The Listener spoke, his voice filled with stifled laughter. “But this ends now. Dream? He’s easy. Everything’s already in a console because he was a little bitch who used children for his own benefit. I may not have many lines to draw, but I still have some.”

Nightmare started screaming as green magic surrounded him. For a moment, a figure of a second person stood next to him before it dissolved, disappearing completely. “Next, we need to get rid of those silly little admin powers you have because Dad wanted you dethroned.”

As Nightmare started to scream again, Grifter was attacked from the side. Out of all the people he expected, this was the last. Tommy stood, balanced mostly on his uninjured leg, holding a sword he had gotten from Xisuma. Grifter tisked a few times at Tommy, crossing his arms. “Theseus, Theseus, Theseus. What are you doing? Trying to get your revenge? That’s the same fucking mistake that put us in this situation in the first place. Why’d Dad even let you out?”

“Wrong person.” Tommy said weakly. He was light headed from blood loss as well as standing there, but he still swung his sword in an attempt to hit Grifter.

“Right, right. Well, I’m not called a Listener for no reason.” And then a wing swiped across the ground, hitting Tommy’s feet out from under him. “Stay out of this before you make it so much worse.”

Grifter turned back to Nightmare, continuing to use magic on the admin. No one had enough energy left to do anything as they listened to his screams. Slowly, they grew strained before it was finally quiet again. Grifter frowned and kicked Nightmare, the limp body giving no resistance. “Aww, it’s broken. Hmm, I guess I can have a little more fun with it.”

He started stomping on the body, making absolutely sure Nightmare was truly dead, damaging the body beyond recognition. The whole time, Grifter was smiling and having fun. Around him, everyone was slowly tending to each other’s wounds, the Listener not caring. Kristen checked on Grian who was helping her with the feathers still stuck in her. Zedaph assisted Xisuma with his helmet, managing to not make it more complicated than it needed to be. At the same time, he helped Tommy out a bit as the two were right near each other. Scar was still helping Cub, and for lack of anyone else to help out, Techno stayed near Ranboo and Grumbot.

Finally, Grifter stepped away from Nightmare, hands on his hips as he ‘looked’ at his work proudly. “Well, that could have gone better, but it was still nice! Now, since you all caused so many problems, who do I get to have fun with next?” When no one answered, Grifter pouted before turning to Tommy. “Hmm, let’s see-”

Before he could say anything else, Kristen was in front of Tommy and Grian was attacking Grifter from the back. Grifter growled, using plenty of magic to attack them back, nearly killing Grian in the process. But just as it looked like Grifter was going to win, he was suddenly thrown against the throne with enough force to break it. “Now why’d you go and start without me?”

Joe had entered the room, followed by Eret. “I’m sure we could have found a much more non-violent approach, left everyone in much better shape.” He stopped over at Zedaph, helping get the metal covering his mouth off. “I’m guessing he’s dead?” Joe gestured to Dream’s body.

“Eh, that’s Krist’s side of things, not mine. I’m busy keeping an eye on her husband.” Zedaph replied, jabbing his thumb off in the general direction of Phil. “That’s part of the reason she’s here is because I filled her in.”

Joe nodded and walked over to Kristen, who was sitting on the ground next to Tommy. “Zed said to check in with you. How’s he looking?” Joe gestured to Dream’s body again.

“It’s a bit complicated with the fact that a hels person got mixed up with things, but for all intents and purposes, they’re both dead.”

Joe nods. “And how’s Tommy doing? Not too hurt?”

“No, he’s doing fine. I’m… more concerned about Grian.”

Joe looked over his shoulder to look at Grian. In attacking Grifter with Kristen, he was using magic he really couldn’t easily use, leaving him in a similar situation to Grifter. At that moment in time, Grian had plopped himself down on the ground and was summoning plenty of wheat. “Oh yeah, he’s fine. I’d say you should get him to stop using magic right now, but it’s nothing dangerous and he could use a break. Maybe stick around a bit.”

“I’m not sure. With my job-”

“Zed takes breaks all the time. You can let yourself have a few too. I mean, you must’ve taken a few to have a family, take some more to spend time with them. I know that’s what I’m planning to do.” And Joe half gestured to Eret, who was currently looking over the damaged room.

Kristen wanted to say more, but then Grian came over and started dragging Tommy away, Kristen quickly following behind. Grian had used the wheat to make plenty of hay bales which were spread out in the approximation of a nest. Tommy had been placed down within it in a rather cushy area, glad for something other than the hard ground.

Grian doted on Tommy for a bit more before hopping away, leaving Tommy chuckling. “Pfft, bird brain.” He then leaned back, putting his hands behind his head and looking over to Kristen. “So, seeing you is different.”

“Hi Tommy.”

[thebibliomancer]

Justice League Indispensable: JLA #222: Beasts II: Death Games

January, 1984

I’ve noticed over two-hundred and twenty plus posts that villains love being tall and dangling heroes from their fingers.

That tactile sensation... It must feel amazing. And a little squirmy.

Not much else to say about the cover. Except that Hawkman’s legs seem to not exist.

Anyway.

Last time on Justice League: the Justice League have been dealing with a lot of weird animal/people hybrids. Has Dr. Moreau finally been adapted into DC? Probably not. But Flash, Elongated Man, and Hawkman all get badly injured in separate locations by these Ani-Men. And Firestorm catches a catgirl named Reena robbing the Empire State Building. She asks him for sanctuary so he takes her to the JL Satellite to spill the beans on the Ani-Men.

This time: Superman is in the hilarious position of interrogating catgirl Reena who has forgotten how chairs work.

Just sitting on the table. Probably getting hair everywhere.

Firestorm tells Superman to chill out with the hardnosed animated Justice League approach (I mean, he doesn’t, but animated Superman also needed to chill out, amirite?) because Reena volunteered to help.

Reena says she has no choice but to trust the League and that she’s lived in DAILY TERROR for the past few months.

She asks if any of them have heard of Repli-Tech?

Dang, shame Batman is off having recently formed the Outsiders because I bet he knows all the companies. All of them.

Ooooorrrr Aquaman does?

Aquaman: “Repli-Tech Industries... They were one of the first of the genetics companies to go public on the stock exchange, weren’t they? I remember they made quite a splash a year ago... But I haven’t heard anything about them since.”

Oh, Aquaman, you punster, you.

So Reena lays down some exposition about how Repli-Tech was a hilariously mismanaged company, where the executives forced a rapid capital expansion beyond its market niche and how a recession just bankrupt the overextended company.

But despite the dismay and panic of the other execs, hilariously mustached CEO Rex Rogan had a daring plan to save the company!

Rex Rogan: “Dr. Lovecraft and his genetic discoveries were the basis for our initial success, developing new forms of medicine -- new fertilizers -- even new fuels! He’s come up with a way out for all of us, involving a new, experimental form of DNA manipulation. It could kill us -- but the alternative is disgrace, financial ruin, and imprisonment.”

Oh, sure. Of course. Why not trust a guy called DR. LOVECRAFT.

But due to faith in Rex Rogan, CEO, or just fear of prison, the whole board all agrees to this wild plan.

And the wild plan?

Dr. Lovecraft uses SCIENCE to put them all in cocoons where they are transformed into furries.

Rex Rogan Maximus Rex: “We are reborn -- we are above the beasts, and above mankind! We will do more than merely survive -- we will conquer -- we will rule!”

Then with company guards also enhanced by Dr. Lovecraft, Rex has them steal a whole bunch of shit which is used to protect Repli-Tech from bankruptcy.

Huh.

Uh. I don’t really get how becoming furries was an essential part of this plan.

If the plan was just to steal a bunch of shit to make up for poor financial management. But live your best lives, Repli-Tech board of directors.

Anyway, having super hunky animal powers is handy when the superheroes inevitably become involved which oops look its happening. It happened last issue and this issue so good thing they had turned themselves into furries.

(Do the Repli-Tech board of directors not have to make any public appearances? They’re a publicly traded company, apparently.)

Also, Maximus Rex buys a warehouse to turn into an arena for some death games where humans fight beast-men for the amusement of the rich and powerful like politicians and corporate executives.

Not really sure how this specifically saves the company but I think that’s more of a personal project for Maximus Rex, lion hunk.

The blood sport did make Reena start thinking that maybe Rex was the asshole.

‘Uh no shit’ chimes in Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman who determine now is a good time to interject that Reena is just as much of a monster for sitting idly by as people were killed in blood sport.

Firestorm, Superman, and Zatanna counter ‘hey lets hear the rest of the story, mkay?’

Reena grew unable to stomach all the death and as luck would have it Rowl, one of the Repli-Tech guards recently transformed into an animal hunk also found the whole situation gross.

He helped Reena escape but wound up captured himself.

He did manage to high kick a scorpion man though. So that’s something.

Anyway, Rowl getting caught is why Reena was breaking into the Repli-Tech office in the Empire State Building. She wanted to find evidence!

Hawkgirl: “I don’t believe it. Not a word. She’s obviously a plant -- she said herself, she was Rogan’s mistress, that she always did everything he told her. Why should we believe she’d turn against him?”

Firestorm: “Look at her, Hawkgirl -- me, I believe her.”

Aquaman: “We can’t ignore what she’s told us, Shayera.”

Even Superman goes yeah lets believe the catgirl. And I’m sorta wondering about all the male Justice League members believing the catgirl while two out of three of the woman leaguers are like uhn uh I don’t trust that darn cat.

But we shortly see that Reena was telling the truth about Rowl, if nothing else.

Guards at the Arena snooze gas Rowl to drag him from his cell into the Arena.

A Guard: “Y’know, I used to be friends with this guy, when he was still human. Rex gives him a chance to be something special, and he goes and blows it helping some damn cat.”

Rowl comes to in the center of the Arena with the crowd roaring for his blood.

He tries to talk to the crowd, win their sympathy by saying he used to be human like them but they’re rich dicks who want to see someone horribly murdered for their amusement.

Trying to talk to them was a non-starter. And Maximus Rex even mocks him for trying.

Maximus Rex: “Human you may have been -- but you were never like them. Smell the air: it’s so thick you can taste it -- the oily sweat of a blood-hungry mob! They want a death, Rowl... They want your death!”

Maximus Rex asks the crowd what Rowl deserves and they chant DEATH and KILL HIM so Maximus Rex jumps down to the Arena floor to see to it personally.

He’s kinda like Roman Emperor Commodus from the historically adjacent movie film Gladiator who liked to gladiate instead of just watching Gladiator gladiate.

And unlike movie Commodus, Maximus Rex is no slouch.

Right off the bat, he blocks Rowl’s ultimate technique, a jump kick.

Poor Rowl is doomed.

And he doesn’t even know it yet. He manages to hit Maximus Rex once and thinks he’s winning.

Rowl: “You’re just as you were in the boardroom -- you’ve no stomach for a real battle! We used to laugh about you, Rogan, down in the ranks! All of us -- we called you a gutless wonder!”

Maximus Rex retorts by disembowling Rowl.

Maximus Rex: “So, Rowl... Which of us has no stomach now?”

Savage af.

Then he knocks Rowl down and RIPS OFF HIS HEAD TO SHOW TO THE CROWD??

Geez! This is a gory story! I mean, we don’t see anything really except for some dark blue blood but geez!

A lion man just ripped off a jump-kicking wolfman’s head in a gladiatorial arena for the ultra rich!

You’re bonkers, superhero comic books!

RIP Rowl, Justice League #222 (1984) - Justice League #222 (1984).

Back at the Justicey part of the plot, 22,300 miles above the Earth, the League receives an emergency message from Dr. Hamid of Cairo Hospital.

Or he says he’s Dr. Hamid of Cairo Hospital.

He looks like Tony Stark, that Ironman guy from Marvel.

Anyway, he got the JL’s top secret broadcast code from a device on Hawkman’s uniform.

Yeah. Hawkman. Remember how he was attacked by a giant scorpion last issue? Well, he’s in the hospital with an acute case of too much scorpion venom in him. And Dr. Toby Stark fears he may not last the night.

Hawkgirl is understandably upset and wants to rush to his side as fast as possible. And since the League has cool teleport booths, that’s... still not that fast because the booths only go to other booths and Cairo Hospital doesn’t have a booth.

She also asks Wonder Woman to go with her.

Superman wonders if Hawkgirl is maybe too emotionally torn up to go see her scorpion’d hawkguy.

Zatanna: “I won’t stop her, Superman. Will you?”

WHILE GIVING AN EXPRESSION THATS LIKE ‘please do not drag me into drama.’

Reena tries to commiserate with Hawkgirl but Shayera is having none of that.

Hawkgirl: “Your people did this. If Katar dies -- you killed him!”

Oof.

Zatanna tries to contextualize Hawkgirl’s outburst by explaining that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are just super close but Reena says she understands because she and Rex were that close.

And that despite everything she still loves him and it makes her feel like shit.

Oof.

Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl arrive at Cairo Hospital and Dr. Hamid tells them that Hawkman isn’t the only one who got scorpion’d.

Dr. Hall and his students were attacked by giant scorpion man to rob some archaeological relics they found. Several of the students are in the hospital after being stung and two have already died.

As for Dr. Hall, why he’s just plum gone missing. (Because he’s Hawkman)

From his hospital bed, Hawkman weakly (because of getting scorpion’d) apologizes for the argument they had before he left for Cairo and Hawkgirl claims she doesn’t even remember the fight. Because nothing makes you put aside hurt feelings like possible death by scorpion.

Dr. Hamid tells Wonder Woman that Hawkman is very likely to die unless they can get some giant scorpion man venom to develop into an anti-toxin.

And while they walk by, a random janitor mopping the floor reports the presence of the Justice League members to his ring.

HMMM.

I think that I suspect that this humble janitor is in fact actually a plant for the Rex Squad.

Yup.

Yuuuup.

That janitor was up to no good.

With two Hawks down with sleep gas, its left to the Rex Squad unit leader to handle Wonder Woman.

ITS A HECKIN RHINO MAN!

Of course, a hero as strong as Wonder Woman isn’t going down to a single rhino punch.

It takes a second whole punch to knock her out.

Womp womp.

Rhino Man: “Gas her and shove her in the ‘copter with the others, Mac. The boss wants ‘em all for a little TV show he’s planning. Way I hear, it’s gonna be a ratings smash!”

Rhino puns.

About an hour later, the Justice League subteam nicknamed Sit On Their Thumbs is still in the satellite wondering why Wonder Woman hasn’t called to tell them how Hawkman is doing.

But gosh darn it, if they don’t hear from her in two more minutes in time for the regular hourly check-in, then they’ll just have to do something maybe!

But they get a signal from Hawkgirl’s code and Aquaman main screen turns on... to reveal a big sneering lion man who is not Hawkgirl at all.

Reena: “oh god... he’s found me.”

Maximus Rex, full incoming ham: “Yes, Reena, I’ve found you. When this is done, you’ll suffer the fate of all who betray me. But first, tell your new friends who they face! I am MAXIMUS REX, LEADER OF THE NEW ORDER!”

Firestorm: “Y’know... Somehow, I’d already guessed that.”

Snrrk.

But Maximus Rex warns them not to mock his lionness and has the camera swung over to reveal that he has Wonder Woman and the Hawks as his hostages.

Hawkman is definitely going to die (from being scorpion’d) but Maximus Rex is Magnanimous Rex and instead of immediately killing them, he’s going to turn them into furries too.

Maximus Rex: “I think the Amazon would make a very proper pig, don’t you?”

Man, this guy must have loved the “This Little Piggy” episode of Justice League Unlimited.

Buuuut he won’t turn them into furries and make them fight in his Arena if the Justice League do him some small favors.

First thing, turn Reena over to him.

Second thing, “I want your full cooperation with my plans.”

When Superman tells him ‘obviously no’ Maximus gets mad.

Oh, Maximus the Mad. That’s a catchy name for him.

Maximus Rex: “In the hours to come, you will regret this decision, Justice Leaguers. My new order is the future. You cannot turn the tide of destiny. It will sweep over you... Draw you under... Drown you in the sea of history! Ours will be a struggle to the death -- your death! HA HA HA HA”

He is.

Frothing a little.

And as the mad lion lad continues just belly laughing on this collect call, Superman shakes his fist determinedly.

Superman: “Enjoy it while you have it, Maximus. We’re bringing you down.”

I mean, sure, half of the League is captured or in the hospital already from tangling with these Ani-Men but the League is probably due for an upswing, right?

Or maybe they’ll all get captured and I’ll get to see what the Justice League’s fursonas are.

My guess for Superman is the noble capybara, friend to all.

Follow @justice-league-indispensible or @essential-avengers​ which is my real liveblog. I’m sorry, this has all been a lie. A jape. A delightful jest. An April Fool. Like and reblog maybe. The more notes this gets the more I go oh no look at what kind of response Justice League gets and I’ve backed the Avengers horse, the April Fool turns out to be me! That’ll show me.

[dailyaudiobible]

10/04/2021 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 2:31-4:18, Colossians 1:1-17, Psalm 76:1-12, Proverbs 24:21-22

Today is October 4th, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I am Brian, it is great to be here with you today, it’s great to be with you every day. But today is today and it's great to be here with you today. As we come around the Global Campfire and let it all go, whatever that thing is that snagging at us that are those things, these pressures, these obligations and responsibilities. These fears, these uncertainties, we are allowed to carry them around as much as we want. That's not necessarily a healthy thing to do and we are also given permission to not carry them around. But let's at least give ourselves permission to not carry them around right now, like we’re around the Global Campfire now, we’re safe right now. And, what’s gonna happen now is we’re just going to read the Scriptures and let them wash into our lives and so often something that we need is there and so often when we leave this place, the things that we have to pick up and carry, they don't have the same weight. Things shift and so let’s just let it all go as we move forward in our journey and take the next step forward. Which leads us back into the book of Jeremiah, which we just began yesterday. So, we’re just getting going in Jeremiah. When we get to the New Testament, we have new territory there as well. But first Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 31 through 4, verse 18.

Introduction to the Book of Colossians:

Okay, so we concluded the letter. Paul's letter to the Philippians yesterday. Which brings us to the 12th book in the New Testament, which is another letter from the apostle Paul, this one to the Colossians and the Colossians were people who lived in the city of Colossae which was not a place unfamiliar to Paul. It’s about 100 miles from where he spent a lot of his time in Ephesus and Colossae is, I don't know that it’s an archaeological ruins or site, at this point it’s been identified, but not really excavated. It sits in modern-day Turkey. But during Paul's life, Colossae wasn't an archaeological ruin at all. It was a bustling city and it had everything that you can imagine that bustling city in the Roman Empire would have, a lot of mingling of culture, a lot of mingling of philosophical ideas, a lot of mingling of spirituality and some of this mingling had made its way into the Colossian church. And so, Paul writes this letter as a response and similar to Ephesians and Philippians, Colossians is generally considered to be a prison epistle, so another letter that Paul wrote while he was awaiting trial before the emperor and the letter generally has two sections, to two themes. The first is a doctrinal issue. There had been people coming into the church and we’ve seen this before. This is a little different though, people would come into the church, they were fellowshipping in the church, but also teaching things like Angel worship, and some just other rituals that were not part of what Paul was teaching. And so, Paul addresses this in this letter by showing us once again this high, high Christology, this awareness that Christ is supreme over all creation, over all angelic beings, over everything. He writes in his letter that the universe, the very universe is created by and through Jesus and is…is sustained through the Lordship of Christ. And then Paul also addresses something we’ve seen before this, circumcised versus uncircumcised controversy that was dominant in the early church. We’ve seen it in other letters where people come in and I like no you got obey the Jewish customs, you’ve got to essentially become Jewish, then follow the Jewish Messiah, follow those customs, which Paul was very, very much against. We've had lots of conversations about that, in Colossians Paul is still against that teaching and so we’ll once again hear him make corrections and once again we have a letter that was sent to actual people in an actual congregation giving us insight into what was happening in their congregation. And since we have a collection of letters from Paul, we see the themes, the commonalities, the different things that the early churches were facing and for that matter, their distinctions and the different cities. But we get a really good glimpse at the struggles that were going on among our brothers and sisters that are our spiritual ancestors. And as we read these letters, we find that maybe context changes a little. The cities definitely change, the regions definitely change but the things that we find ourselves wrestling with, in dealing with, within ourselves and with…with in our fellowships, within our communities of faith, we still have this kind of stuff going on and so these letters, Colossians being the one that were about to read, serve as opportunities to be corrected, to find a path again, to get our NorthStar back and walk in a direction that is profitable for the kingdom of God. And so, we begin Colossians chapter 1 verses 1 through 17 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this new territory into this letter to the Colossians that we are entering into, we ask that You lead and guide our hearts and we might understand what we need to understand, plant the seeds of the Scriptures in our lives. And may they yield the fruit of the Spirit, that we may have a bountiful harvest not only for our own hearts, may it spill out into our marriages and our families, may it spill over into our faith communities, may it spill out into this world that we may be that city on a hill, that we may be a light in the darkness, that we may illuminate the narrow path that leads to life. Come, Holy Spirit into all of this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that's the website, it’s where you can find out what's going on around here, how to get connected around here, how to pray for one another. I mean there's all kinds of resources in the Daily Audio Bible website. You can access all this using the Daily Audio Bible app as well. There is little drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. So, things like the Daily Audio Bible Shop where there are resources for the journey that we find ourselves on. Now that we’re moving into the final quarter of the year there are a number of resources there in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Also, the Community section, that is, that is how to get connected. The different social media channels that you can follow Daily Audio Bible on and that is that's, if you taking the journey, that's a good thing to do because that allows us to make announcements, etc. etc. and so check that out. The links are all in the Community section.

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi, Daily Audio Bible family, this is God’s Life Speaker. I am calling on behalf of my son, Joshua, who you all have prayed for, for years now. He's 21 and at graduate school and he has been in a state if not well for quite a while and last night I was talking to him and it just broke out into prayer with him and we just need whatever is taking him down, fighting for his soul, to go, to be cast as far as the east is from the west. Family, please let’s stand together for these mental health issues these young people are having in the name of Jesus. We ask that Your mighty hand come over Joshua and anyone that is in need of being delivered from this spiritual realm that is of darkness and they feel they're in a pit and cannot come above. But You’re there and we love You Lord and you're allowing this to go through Your hands. In the name of Jesus, we ask that You would deliver these people, bring them up, may they long to love You. May they overcome these things, may they be refined and may they be magnifying Your name. I ask it in Your son's precious name. Amen.

Good morning DABer family this is the Burning Bush That Will Not Be Devoured for the Glory of our God and our King. I am calling for our sister Alyssa from Montana. Sister, I am praying for you. I prayed for you when I heard your prayer request and for those that didn’t hear, she is legally blind. She had COVID recently and lost her senses of taste and smell, and that is definitely hitting her a hard. My sister, I want you to know that I prayed for you and I believe that the same God who raised the dead can restore your senses. And so, Father God, I pray Oh Lord, that you restore her senses and…and give her just divine healing of her body that she will be whole, Father. And God, I thank You Oh Lord, because you love Alyssa and I pray that you just guide her as she awaits Your miracle. Thank You God for miracle after miracle in the name of Jesus I pray, Amen. We love you, my sister. May God bless and keep you and cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace and giver you your sense of smell and give you your sense of taste. God Bless, bye.

Hello there, DAB family. I love this community. Thank you so much. This is my first time. I just wanted to reach out to my Aussie friend there, in Canada. But my Aussie friend there that just requested prayer for his, I believe it’s his brother or friend. I know about mental illness. My mother had schizophrenia so, it is very difficult to have a loved one with this illness and just pray protection over him, bring him home Lord Jesus. Bring him to his place of peace, Lord and just comfort him right now, in his grief Oh Lord. The grief, can sometimes overwhelm but you have given us peace, so bring him to that place. Lord Jesus, and I also want to pray for the mom that reached out from Wyoming. I pray for wisdom and strength for your daughter to make the right decision. That she will just know from your wisdom as a mother, that she would listen to you and open her heart to take Godly advice. I pray Father that she will make the right decision. I also would love prayer for my…my daughter in Australia and my son, who are now not talking to me. They’re just going through, they’re adult children, they’re going through hard time with this pandemic. Just please pray that God would touch their hearts and they would come back to Him. Bless you all. I love you all.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Becky in Orlando and I would like for all of our Daily Audio Bible prayer warriors to come and circle around our new sister in the Daily Audio Bible family. Her name is Myra, she’s from New Jersey and I just met her in one of our hotels. Myra has been dealing with some horrible things that have happened to her where she just got attacked while she was in New Jersey. And she’s dealing now with PTSD. And if we could just pray for Myra. Anyway, I’ll start us off, Dear God, if you could please send the Blessed Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to tend to Myra, to give her comfort that only Jesus can give to her, to mend her wounds, both psychologically and spiritually. And, we know that this can be done because You are just the most amazing God and I pray that she listens to the Daily Audio Bible everyday and that it brings her comfort. And I pray that anybody else that’s listening to this would be able to get just the word that Jesus knows and God’s knows, the Holy Spirit knows all the plans that we have that He has for our lives. Sometimes the picture, we can’t see the big picture but He has such big plans and we don’t understand what His plans are for us at the time. So, please allow God’s plans to you know to unfold in her life and I pray that she just keeps on listening. So, Myra, from New Jersey, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible family and God Bless you, my sister. Alright, thanks Daily Audio Bible prayer warriors around the world. Alright, bye.

Hello, this is Nelly. I just want to let you all know that I’m praying for you all. And it’s such an encouragement to be part of this Community. I just pray that you also pray for me as I’m struggling with very dark and depressing thoughts. It’s been such a struggle. I haven’t been able to sleep. I’m just asking for prayer, thank you. I love you all.

[tsukihimeyfan]

Sozin’s Comet’s Deus Ex Machina (and ways to fix them)

I’m sure that most of us AtLA fans can agree that the four part Finale was one of the best moments in animation history, with astoundingly well choreographed fight scenes, fantastic emotional beats, gorgeous animation, and frankly breath-taking music. However, I’m also sure I’m not the only one who was frustrated by one aspect of it in particular, the one blot on an otherwise perfect finale: what I like to call the “lion-turtle and pointy rock” ex machina.

The saddest part is that there was very little they had to change to get to a satisfactory, ties-everything-together ending. For example, take Energy-bending and the Lion-turtle. I saw a post a while ago where they suggested that energybending could’ve been related to what Aang learned from the swamp and the Guru, and it just makes SO much sense (Note: I saw the post months ago and I can’t find it anymore, so if anyone knows who first posted that theory please let me know so that I can give credit where credit’s due). After all, Aang seemed to use the energy of the swamp to sense where Appa and Momo were, and later, during Appa’s Lost Days, Guru Pathik says this:

Meaning he, a non-bender, is capable of reading the energy of others, and of locating people bonded to them from miles away. Let’s not forget that he had also previously sensed everything Appa had gone through with the same ability. Sounds like a really useful skill, wouldn’t you say?

Also, looking at both “sensing” occurrences, they look remarkably similar, so we can be reasonably sure that they’re both employing the same method.

It would’ve been so easy to have Aang take a moment to ask how Guru Pathik met Appa. After all, as far as the Gaang knew, Appa was taken by merchants to be sold in Ba Sing Se, so he shouldn’t have had a chance to meet anyone at the Eastern Air Temple. Did the merchants pass through the temple on the way to Ba Sing Se? Did the Guru try to set Appa free? Pathik would then have to explain how Appa had already escaped on his own, and he helped him find Aang by reading his energy. Aang could then ask the Guru to teach him this ability so that if they ever get separated again he’d be able to find and help Appa easily. Boom - energybending basics acquired.

A highly spiritual person like Aang would no doubt have little problems mastering the sensing ability, especially since he’s used a limited version of it before at the Swamp. Also, if we think about how much the spiritual mentors in the show have tried to drill it into Aang that all things are connected,

we can assume that after mastering everything Guru Pathik could do he would eventually be able to sense even people vaguely connected to him from far away. Being the Avatar, the bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds, would almost certainly also help him master energysensing abilities no other had before. 

Maybe they could’ve added a few 30 second scenes here and there of Aang meditating to hone his energysensing skills. Also, during the whole Boiling Rock debacle, imagine how great it would’ve been if Sokka had asked Aang about his dad and, after pressing his hand to Sokka’s forehead and following his bond to his father, Aang was able to tell him that his dad was alive and well, and that he was somewhere in the direction they’d come from, though at that point he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint his exact location.

“I’m sorry Sokka... I can’t tell exactly where he is yet... I know that’s not really helpful...”

“No, knowing he’s alright is plenty. Thanks, buddy”

After Sokka and Zuko rescue Hakoda, I could picture Aang practicing harder than ever until he could use Hakoda’s bond to Bato and the others to locate them in a prison in Caldera City (which would’ve made rescue before ending the war difficult to say the least, and would explain how they were all there for Zuko’s coronation so fast)

Later, during Aang’s trip to the mysterious island, it would’ve been so cool if, instead of handing him the ability, the lion-turtle just told him this:

... and maybe showed him visions of his energysensing training when he did the forehead-touch thing. Then, during the battle with Ozai, maybe after redirecting the lightning away from Ozai Aang could think to himself “I can’t... he may be a monster, but he’s still my friend’s father!”. Then, he suddenly realizes that just like with his friends and family, Aang has a connection with Ozai too, and that if sensing someone’s energy happens by putting a bit of his energy into them, maybe he can use the same route to take some of Ozai’s energy away from him.

Imagine how amazing it would’ve been if they’d added those little snippets of Aang’s energybending training all throughout book 3, without giving it that name, and then Aang used what he’d learned from Guru Pathik and Huu and what he’d taught himself to rediscover a technique that hadn’t been used in millenia all by himself! (well, with a little “nudge in the right direction” from lionturtle-sensei) We were SO close, all the building blocks were there but... *sigh* we ended up still so far. 

Continued with solving “pointy-rock-ex-machina” under the cut

In Book 2, we’re told that to master the Avatar State Aang has to “let go of his attachments”, but that plot point is dropped completely and all he has to do is get hit in his lightning scar and BAM! Avatar State unlocked, no letting go required! 😒 

He was still just as attached to Katara as he was during Book 2, if not more so. So, in the interest of trying to figure out how to tie up as many loose ends as possible, we could try to hit two birds with one stone by fixing another thing at the same time that wasn’t addressed either. 

We could start with a conversation between Aang and Katara where he apologizes for kissing her when she clearly didn’t want him to at some point during Sozin’s Comet Part 1 - The Phoenix King.

“I accept your apology Aang” Katara’d say, “but from now on make sure to respect people’s boundaries, Ok? Especially girls’ boundaries :) We can talk about this more after everything’s over”

At this point, maybe Aang could be left to think and reflect on his relationship with Katara, on his attachment to her, and on how he’d started thinking about her as “his” almost without any input from her.

Maybe Aang could begin to really understand what Guru Pathik was trying to teach him when he said “you must let go”, and the difference between love and unhealthy attachment to people.

He’d therefore be going into the fight with Ozai with that fresh on his mind.

Then, as the battle raged and he grew increasingly desperate, maybe he’d try a few times to force himself into the Avatar State only to fail miserably. 

At this moment

when he’s been overpowered and cornered (and also has a little bit of “downtime” to think), he could start desperately trying to figure out a way to enter the Avatar State, and wondering why he can’t do it. Katara’s been healing him every day! The scar doesn’t even hurt anymore! Why doesn’t it work???

Then, he'd realize that it doesn’t really make sense for a lightning strike to lock his 7th Chakra, since according to what Guru Pathik taught him chakras are locked or unlocked through changes in emotional and spiritual state, not physical. 

(Note: this is also backed up by what little I know of irl chakras and activating Kundalini in the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy. If anyone knows more about it please feel free to add to this or correct me. I’d love to learn how the concept of chakras in Avatar contrasts with its real life counterpart 😊)

Also, if the lightning had messed with the Avatar State some other way, like by blocking his chi for example, he shouldn’t be able to bend properly either.

So what could’ve caused his problem with the Avatar State? 

Of course! After Katara saved him, Aang became even more focused on gaining her love, and grew even more attached to her than he’d been before! Of course he can’t enter the Avatar State! 

Now, I’m a Zutara shipper all the way, and this would work much better if that had been canon, but this could work even with a Kataang endgame since, as I said before, Aang kind of become obsessed with the idea of making Katara “his” no matter what, a clear earthly attachment, instead of loving her unselfishly and letting her love him in her way:

Notice that he said “we kissed” even though he kissed her, and then “I thought we were gonna be together”, an assumption he made without asking her anything once. Same as in this scene:

Mastering the Avatar State doesn’t mean not loving anyone romantically, as we can clearly see through Avatar Roku’s example (also the “if you want power abandon your loved ones” message is stupid and I don’t like it at all. This would be better imo)

Even during the process for unlocking the chakras, the Fourth Chakra tells us that finding love isn’t contrary to spirituality, and can even be a source of spiritual strength. However, I’ve always thought it was a bit strange that the “new love” Aang found to fill the hole left by the deaths of his people was.... just Katara

Because what Aang lost was essentially all of his family and friends right? So wouldn’t it have made more sense for Aang to envision Sokka, Toph, Appa and Momo as well? You know, his old family vs. his new family?

I didn’t fully understand what exactly was wrong with it until I read some of tumblr user marsreds’ metas on the matter, and I have to agree with them that it seems Aang was sort of focusing on his love for Katara so much partially as a way to cope with the loss of his people. To keep it out of mind. That’s not how you build a wholesome romantic relationship, and it doesn’t seem like the best way to deal with grief either. No wonder his Seventh Chakra was blocked.

I would’ve loved to see Aang realize at the moment of truth that in order to access the Avatar State he simply had to let Katara go enough so that he could love her selflessly, so that her wants and needs, and the needs of the world, could come first. He needed to become able to accept her answer, whatever it was, when she gave it. He needed to come to understand that his happiness wasn’t completely (or even mostly) dependent on getting into a relationship with Katara. He had a family he’d found all on his own, made up of friends who adored him and who would’ve given their lives for him if necessary. He was not alone in the world any more. Even if she told him no, he would in all likelihood find new love and be happy.

(in fact we have proof and there’s a perfect candidate right there in the Fire Nation but I digress)

The rest of the finale could’ve played out exactly the same as canon, and in the end Aang would’ve had a better understanding of himself and some inner peace. They could’ve also given us an inkling that Aang would later get to mourn over the deaths of his people properly, surrounded by his loved ones (maybe, ideally, in a hypothetical Book 4-AIR?. God, I wish)

I’ve seen some posts about Aang letting go of his attachment to the Air Nomad’s teachings instead (with maybe that very decision to put the needs of the world above his own being what unlocks his Seventh Chakra), and those are magnificent ideas as well, but I myself would’ve preferred if it went this way because I think there’s something beautifully poetic and satisfying about Aang staying true to himself, finding an alternate solution to violence that would still protect the world, and using the wisdom of His People to put an end to the very war that caused their destruction, while simultaneously giving the worst possible punishment to a man as power-hungry as Ozai

...and leaving him the same way he’s left many of the Fire Nation’s victims in the past: trapped, powerless and forgotten.

I also feel like this ties up all the loose ends better, since it was his attachment to Katara specifically which stopped him from mastering the Avatar State in the first place. And, Kataang endgame or not, it would’ve sent a wonderful message about building and maintaining healthy relationships, perfect for the show���s target audience of preteen and teenage kids.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

[lotornomiko]

The Broken Hearted Comfort Chapter Six (Slightly not safe for work here and there...)

Another one!

The Queen's prison tower hadn’t been a place that was easily found, even for one with a skill that was as downright miraculous as it was mysterious, when it came to locating that what was needed. There was an innate bit of magic at work here, both in the hiding of that imposing building, and in the ability that Mr. Smee often called into use. But even he seemed to not be able to truly explain that trick of his trade, and the many years that had been added to an already long life span, had only helped make it grown stronger in strength, rather than see it weakened. One day it might mature strong enough to find even that which was the pirate Hook’s ultimate goal, a spell or a weapon strong enough to destroy even that of the Dark One. For now, he’d settle for the second best thing, a treasure the likes of which few if any would ever lay claim to. That peace of mind, the ability to cope, and the woman who it was all tied to, the man desperate for that beauty. For Belle.

The tower constructed of its many stones and white mortar, was spiraled so high up into the sky that even hours later it should have remained visible to the naked eye. However there was magic at play here, the fog and the mountains swallowing it up whole, so that not even a betraying glimmer of it was exposed. It and they were deep in that ranged and ragged terrain, miles away from any town, from any real mark of a human’s civilization. Such was the journey to and from Regina’s prison, that horses had been needed, the sea still little more than a day’s journey from where they now were.

It was more than a trifle unsettling to be this far out on land. To be this far away from that of his ship, and the protection of its magic, and that of its cannons. It was an upset that his crew echoed, the men uneasy with the realization that they had all had, that of the vulnerability, and that of how easily it could be to see them all trapped on this, a most inhospitable of lands. Such was their worry and distaste, that it was a palpable thing, flavoring the air with a kind of tension that unnerved the horses that they rode upon, the most frightened of the beasts trying to balk with their every step, leaving at least one pirate struggling to bring his mare under control.

Some horses, however, seemed to be thriving on the tension, hooves striking dirt and cobbles with an unearthing precision, as they all but flew with a speed born of wings that they did not actually have. The wind stirred in those mounts wake, Hook keeping a firm hold on the reins, but otherwise was content to let the big, bulky stallion have its fun, so long as the creature kept up so punishing a pace towards the sea, rather than run further from it. Some kept pace with him, while others of his crew, the ones struggling with their rides, faltered from somewhere in the distant behind, and more than one man had a careful grip on their weapon, that of their swords, or that of the muskets. They were prepared for a fight, for the pursuit that had not yet come, everyone on edge and cautious for the evil queen could strike at ANY time, and with that powerful magic that was all Regina’s own, she could appear before them in an instant, and with an army of well armed soldiers to back her up. That she hadn’t thus far, was good fortune for the pirates, and nothing but mere chance, that foul woman not yet having learned of just what had happened at her secret tower.

She might not even concern herself with Belle right away, not with the number of other men and women freed from her keep. With ALL of the queen’s prisoners having been set loose, it was the hope that she’d not only not know where to begin looking, but be unable to decide on just who to go after first. Whoever was most valuable most likely, though as to who that could actually be, not even Hook had a clue. It certainly couldn’t be Belle, could it? When even she insisted that he, and that of the Queen, that of everyone being so wrong about her own value. Yet any other details surrounding her capture and imprisonment, Belle would not reveal, keeping such secrets closely guarded to her chest. But there would be time later to coax and seduce the story from her, God willing they made it to the Jolly Roger and soon!

It still bothered him, the not knowing, Hook a naturally inquisitive kind of guy, even when not going out of his way to make so powerful an enemy. He kept playing it over in his mind, so curious and determined where Belle was concerned, and about her own perceived lack of worth. The value the lass insisted she was lacking. To a man who was rapidly finding her becoming just about everything that he had needed, the pirate had deemed his beauty more priceless than just about any treasure or magic. He may not truly understand it, but that brief taste the night in the alleyway, had seen the woman become that which was essential for Hook. Not just for his lust, but for his sanity, for that of his peace of mind. She had made the grief more than manageable, thoughts of her consuming him whole. She both distracted him and maddened his blood, and the captain could acknowledge that he still wasn’t any closer to being in a stable state of mind. Off hinged, and so long driven and made crazed by his losses, and that need for revenge, and the burdens weighing him down, he had almost always been that of an obsessive kind of person, having spent hundreds of years upon years holding onto his pain and those motivating needs. It and the fact there was so many dependent upon him, left no true rest for him, Hook having to see this to its end, to see that murderous monster dead.

Most days were harder than that of the others, century after century stretching on, with no real end in sight. Locked in his self loathing and misery, if not for his own vows, surely he would have died by his own hand by now. Something had truly broken inside him at Milah’s callous death at Rumplestiltskin’s hands, an irreparable piece shattered, that had ushered him down that plunge of madness. Free falling through such insanity, that craziness had only been tempered and honed by a few hundred of years spent on grieving and on hate. Lodged in that endless mire of darkness, the first guiding light to have appeared, that of Belle, had the man latching on in fierce fixation upon her. It and she had thoroughly consumed him, and the longer he had gone without her, the stronger the obsession had become.

If possible, it had led him to become even crazier in need. To the point he did the outrageous, daring to lay an attack on that which was the private prison stronghold of a very evil Queen. Even with it only being about a year’s time having passed since their return to the Enchanted Realm, such was Regina’s reputation when it came to cruelty and misdeeds, that Hook and his pirates had heard plenty about many of her wrong doings, and the power that fueled her. She may not be the Dark One, but the woman was comparable in the trouble she unleashed, the pain and the loss she had caused, whole villages slaughtered for her mad ambitions.

The Evil Queen was a danger, one that they should have been avoiding rather than risk having her be brought down upon them. He and his crew had enough of a problem with Rumplestiltskin’s threat, and yet Regina was a problem he had gladly invited in, the brown haired beauty that currently lay cradled within the safety of his arms, the factor that would have Hook willingly risk adding to their enemies again and again. Such a lovely lass of such breathing taking physique, that plush and currently pliant body was nestled against him, her face pressed into his chest so that his wildly racing heart beat could have lulled her into an uneasy sleep. Like this, so quiet and unassuming, so vulnerable seeming, she cuddled almost trustingly against him, in a way that he knew she would never if awake.

She just didn’t understand. Didn’t understand or appreciate his need, or that of the trouble that Hook and his men had been through. That of the dangers that they had undertaken in coming to liberate her from the tower. Or that of the enemy that would perhaps hunt them for the rest of their lives, so much having been risked, and she was hardly of mind to reward him. It actually rankled him something fierce, her lack of gratitude, even as the man kept trying to tell himself that soon that would all change. That soon Belle would come to understand, and be thankful, even appreciative. It was something, a belief that Hook had to hang on to, for if he didn’t have that, the pirate did not know just WHAT he might do. Just what he would resort to, his lust not something of mind to always be nice, to the point that he remembered the fantasies he had entertained, and the very real chance for them to happen for real now. He was uneasy at the thought, but unable to truly reconcile that potent sexual desire against the idea of Belle’s spirited refusals. Nor was it tempered entirely, by the strangely protective feeling that he was embracing with Belle asleep against him. He simply wanted too strongly, and had been tried too greatly for that.

Sullen and tense when she had been awake, this current adventure with Belle had been a far different experience when the woman had been awake. Spiritedly resolute in the silence that she had maintained, the lass had sat rigid in the saddle, trying her best to not so much as brush her back against his front. She had wanted to stonewall him with silence, and she had gotten it, once the pirate had realized the woman wasn’t about to be won over, or even goaded into a response. Not even by his most teasing and lewdest of suggestions and comments!

They had ridden for hours in that tense atmosphere, and had still had hours of it yet to go, when Belle had suddenly given over into sleep. Had it been boredom or something more? He didn’t know and didn’t much care, thrilling to the moment after first recovering from his shock, Belle having cuddled up against him as best she could in the saddle. It wasn’t a conscious action on her part, no matter how much he might wish otherwise, the beauty too angry and full of mistrust, to have ever relaxed so otherwise. She wouldn’t have approved of how much he was reaping enjoyment from the act, such a soft and lush body having a potent effect on HIS.

Having been aroused from the second he had entered into her cell, and claimed a few kisses and touches from her, such a pliant vulnerability, only made him feel ever the more excited. Hard in fact, almost all the blood that had surged to his groin, making for an unbearably tightness in that now granite like flesh. Left wanting and hurting for too, too long, his erection was one that bordered on pain, and only the act of sinking into the wet warmth of a woman’s flesh would help to alleviate such extreme discomfort. If it had been any possible, his state would have urged the horse to run even FASTER to his ship, but the stallion was already at its limits and lathering with a fine sweat from such exertions.

He held in a frustrated sound, that he helped bury further by nuzzling his face into Belle’s hair. His nostrils flared with the scent of it, with her, the woman clean smelling and sweet even after all that time spent as the Queen’s prisoner. Such flavor and the silk soft texture of it, and he couldn’t control himself, thrusting his hips in such a way to rub his groin against the beauty’s side. He wasn’t at all discrete about it, so that any of his crew could have caught on real quick to the liberties that Hook was taking. Not that any of the men would have had much to say about Hook and the things that he was doing. Especially not to his face! All were aware that something weird was at play here, something that might be downright magical, given the distraction this woman had driven their captain to. No random flight of fancy, Belle was something that had hooked the pirate, and had formed a lasting obsession AND birthed the kind of possessiveness to him, that his ship mates were doing their very best to avoid so much as looking Belle’s way.

That possessiveness had surprised Hook as much as any of them, that feral reaction something he could not truly control. It had triggered most dangerously in the tower, when Hook had first come dragging Belle down to the lower floors. The pirates that made up his crew, had naturally been curious, a great deal of wondering and speculation having been privately had about the woman that had caused their captain to lose his head over. The pirate and the beauty had been greeted in turn by a multitude of those interested and judging eyes, and there had been a heated appreciation in more than a few as they had looked Belle over from head to toe.

A propriety rage had overtaken him in an instant, Hook aware of how little the ragged blue prison tunic had covered on her, and the lust that such bare legged beauty was inspiring. It had been irrational and downright insane, the urge upon him to attack his own men and it was all that the pirate could do to control himself in that moment!

He had actually growled, and had stepped in front of Belle to hide her from the sight of his men's predatory gazes. And then Hook had shrugged out of his long, leather duster of a coat, insisting that the lass put it on over that too short and exposing tunic of hers. A tunic that wasn't made of heavy enough material to protect against the night's cold. Belle still had to be freezing, even wrapped up in his coat.

More than a little entertained by the thoughts of the warming up that he would do her, the horses could be pushed no harder. Some were already too close to the point of collapse, and eager though he was, Hook also had a strict no crew member left behind policy in act. He would not personally abandon any of the men who had volunteered on this excursion with him, though they couldn’t say the same of the ones on the ship. The pirates who had remained on the Jolly Roger, were under the captain’s orders to set sail at the first sign of true trouble, Hook not so heartless even in his obsession, to let a bunch of women and children also die or be captured just for his own peace of mind.

It would be a relief when the cry would be taken up, the men with him at last spying a most welcome sight. With the azure of the night sky fading, and streaked with purples that soon gave way to vivid pinks, and then the oranges and yellows of a sun that had not yet risen in full, the tallest mast of the Jolly Roger was made seen. Its sails were already unfurled and billowing with the dawning day’s breeze, if not for the anchor that held it in place, it would take off like a shot of lightning, riding the wind as though it was born of wings. It was ready to fly at a moment’s notice, Smee and the rest of the Roger’s crew, anxiously waiting for a sign of any kind. Good or bad, and none were in the clear yet, Hook unable to give in to that excited hope just yet. Not even with the faint smell of the sea in his nose growing stronger, for they had to get closer, and be on board yet before they could be considered safe. They needed to be out to sea, to be brought far enough away as to be lost to even the Queen.

With a click of his tongue, and shifting of his body, Hook used his knees to guide the horse in the direction it must go. At this current pace, the pirate estimated that the ship would be reached just as the sun crested high enough to chase away the last straggling remnants of the previous night’s sky.

From behind him came the sudden cry of one of his pirates, but it wasn't one born of panic or of fear. The man had spotted the ship as well, and was expressing his relief that they had nearly made it. Similar sounds came from his other pirates, the noise enough to rouse Belle. She shifted against him, but did not immediately try to spring away. Belle simply wasn't aware enough to realize just who she lay against, and why, and Hook felt jealous to think she might have been dreaming that he was the man who had broken her heart in the first place.

Hook wasn't all that curious about that man. He thought him an immense fool, an idiot for wasting his chance with a woman like Belle. He didn't understand how anyone could NOT have treasured Belle as the gift that she truly was, yet Hook could also recognize how extremely lucky he was for that man's stupidity. After all, that man's mistake was that of Hook's salvation, and the pirate captain meant to not only claim but keep Belle with him.

Once it would have astonished Hook, the idea of him wanting to keep ANY woman after the loss he had suffered with Milah. But he felt different now, having lost what was left of his good sense. Of what was right, and what was wrong, Hook practically forgetting he had no future, wasn't intending to live once he found and got his revenge on the crocodile.

And then his private thoughts scattered fully, Belle having jolted awake with a gasp. Hook was ready for her, tightening his arms around her. Not to hurt so much as to prevent her from falling off of the horse, the girl practically violent in her attempts to lunge backwards.

"Careful, sweet." Hook murmured to her, giving her one of his more amused smiles. But his heart beat just a bit faster, and he wondered why. Was it the frantic look she had given him and their surroundings, as though Belle was still considering making a break for it, even with the fact that she was on top of a horse moving fast enough that the fall would have most likely killed her? Or was it something else, something that had nothing to do with the danger she might pose to herself?

Belle placed her hands on his forearms, gripping him almost as tight as he was her. "How....how much farther?"

"Not much farther at all." Hook told her, nodding at something over her shoulder. Still gripping his arms, she shifted carefully, turning and getting her first sight of the Jolly Roger. Hook sat a little taller in the saddle, proud of the beauty that was his ship, knowing that it was an awe inspiring and majestic sight, with its wood carved from enchanted trees that had gone all but extinct in this day and age.

"So that's it then..." Belle murmured, almost too soft for him to hear. "That's how you'll make your escape..."

"How WE'LL make our escape." He corrected her. She stared a bit longer at the ship, before turning back towards Hook. Her expression nearly unreadable, Belle had more questions.

"And then what? Where will you---we go from here?"

"Does it matter?" Hook asked, and she nodded. "We won't make for land at first. We'll lay low on the open sea. Perhaps a few weeks at most, but it might just be enough time for the Queen to forget about you."

"She won't." Belle said, practically sighing. "Not so long as she continues to be misguided about what she thinks holding me will get her."

Hook seized upon the opening she had just given him. "And that is?"

"It doesn't matter. She's wrong." Her expression remained flat, unreadable. "She'd have killed me when she realized it too."

"If that much is true, then you owe me for more than the rescue." Hook spoke musingly. It was the wrong thing to say, the wrong thing to so much as imply, judging by the fierce look that she had given his way.

"I'd hardly call this a rescue." Her tone was dry. "Not when you've abducted me for your own ends."

"Would you really have preferred to stay in the tower?" Hook asked, honestly curious not to mention frustrated by her.

"No, but..."

"But?" He prodded.

"I'd rather not be dependent on anyone...least of all you."

Hook frowned. "I know I didn't handle that night as best as I could." He said to her. Emotion flared visible in her eyes, such anger and hurt that Hook felt almost guilty to see it. "But don't you think you are overreacting to what happened?"

Stony silence was all that he got from her, the woman still glaring. "You approached me." A frustrated Hook then reminded her.

"A mistake I will never get over!" Belle snapped, and the hostility of her tone was almost enough to make Hook flinch. He was also mildly insulted, truly thinking she was overreacting a tad too much for what had happened.

"You told me not to stop." Hook said lowly.

"And look what it got me!"

"I didn't realize you were a virgin until it was too late." Hook told her.

"Not that it mattered to you, once you knew." Belle grumbled, still maintaining her fierce glare. Hook could only grimace, privately agreeing with her there. It hadn't mattered, Hook hadn't cared much about anything but his own pleasure and satisfaction, not even trying to slow and gentle his actions to cause the young woman the minimal amount hurt that could be expected in such a circumstance.

"I'm..." He swallowed, the words hard to get out. Hook wasn't a man used to apologizing, least of all about sex. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking...."

"We BOTH weren't." Her look was sour then. "Regardless, that time in the alleyway should have never happened."

Hook remained silent in response to that. Because he knew, KNEW, that she was right. It shouldn't have happened. Belle's life might have been better off without Hook in it. And though he had saved her from the Queen, an evil that would have been searching for the lass regardless of Hook's own involvement, the pirate also knew he could offer her nothing. Nothing that was real, nothing that was permanent. If he had been a better man, a man that wasn't consumed with taking what he wanted, a man that wasn't driven by such baser impulses, Hook would have set Belle free once they got away from these mountains.

But the pirate wasn't, and Hook wouldn't. He'd keep Belle with him right to the bitter end, knowing he couldn't offer her happiness, couldn't offer her a future together. It was purely selfish of him, Hook basically intending to use Belle as a coping mechanism and an outlet. And that knowledge of what he intended? It showed in his eyes, Belle staring at him frozen for one moment, before she turned away with her own gaze unsettled.

Wondering what it was that she was now thinking, what Belle must be assuming about his intentions, Hook still couldn't muster up the nerve to ask her outright. They'd ride the rest of the way to the sea and his ship in silence, and then a welcoming cry would be heard. They had been spotted, the ship's lookout letting out such a loud exclamation that it had alerted the other pirates to Hook's arrival.

The men with him were calling back, already letting the pirates aboard the ship know of their success. By the time Hook pulled up to shore, the plank walkway had been lowered, several pirates rushing down to take hold of the horses.

Hook slid off the back of the stallion almost before it had come to a full stop. Belle was reluctant, but allowed him to help her down, nearly falling against him before she got steady on her legs. He could hear the hush come over the crowd, curious pirates leaning against the ship's railing in order to catch sight of the woman who had driven their captain to expose them to such risks.

Belle actually seemed to shift closer to him, as though nervous of the attention that she was getting. She didn't quite touch him, but she seemed to think him less a threat than the men and women who were looking at her now.

"Its all right." Hook said softly, trying to reassure them both. "They're just curious." He started to draw her towards the plank walkway, when the excited whinny of a horse was heard. Belle whipped around, a question voiced.

"What are they doing with those horses?"

"Setting them free." Hook hastened to explain. "We don't want the Queen to track them to the stable that we borrowed them from."

"By borrow, do you mean steal?"

"I might." Was Hook's lazy answer. "The Queen is not known for her mercy. If she thinks the stable willingly helped us, she'd slaughter everyone tied to it, regardless of the fact they would not have known what we had intended to do." She looked surprised then, and Hook hid a smile. "I'm not heartless. I wouldn't involve innocents in this...unless I had too."

His words didn't exactly endear him to her, Belle frowning. Hook couldn't claim to understand her response, not knowing what was on her mind. He couldn't know that she was thinking of her kingdom, that of her father and their people and what Belle had assumed was Hook's intentions towards them all.

Seeing she wasn't going to speak anymore, Hook began urging her to walk up the plank with him. There was a slight tug of resistance from Belle, but ultimately she followed, the eyes of the pirates all focused on the two.

Once on board, Hook could tell his crew was still brimming to bursting with questions. And for some, like the women, they were oozing with curiosity about Belle herself. He could guess what it was that they were thinking, and just what it was that they were wondering about. Things such as wondering what was so special about this young woman, that she had driven their captain even more insane, making him obsessed with the acquiring of her.

"Get ready to sail!" Hook then shouted. His words were both an order and a reminder that they couldn't linger here any longer than necessary. It jolted the crew into action, most running to their designated duties, ready to help the ship leave even faster.

It took nearly ten men to lift the heavy anchor, their muscles straining, voices groaning as they hauled on the heavy chain. The sails already filled out with the wind, quickly had the Jolly Roger moving, with Hook's third in command manning the wheel, using it to guide the ship past the rocky outcroppings that littered close to shore.

Hook didn't linger to watch the departure, instead dragging Belle to his private cabin. As captain of these pirates, one of the privileges that Hook enjoyed was that of having a room all to himself. A large, nearly spacious room, filled with various luxuries and wealth. That was everything from chests of gold and jewels, to fine tapestries, and trinkets.

Belle nearly jumped, when the door slammed shut behind them, hardly put at ease by Hook's smile and nearness. Her expression had turned frantic again, her eyes darting about as though still looking for an escape. The pirate had yet to realize that the woman was rather scared of him, believing instead she was merely angry over what had happened between them. It didn’t leave him any more certain on how to smooth things over with her, and right now, alone in his private room with her, Hook couldn't think straight. Couldn't think past the fact that he needed to kiss her, and had been hard and painfully aroused for most of their escape together.

"Belle, sweet...." He spoke in such a husky tone, already moving to catch her around the waist. She immediately put a hand on his chest, clearly intending to hold him at bay. Such a touch only goaded him onward instead, Hook bending to kiss her. At the same time, his hand moved, fingers nimble as they worked open the coat, then eased it off of her. Belle didn't fight its removal, but neither did she assist.

Nor did she fight the kiss, letting Hook have complete possession of her mouth. He groaned, his agony and his ecstasy mixing together. And then he lost complete control, touching her all over, his hand groping, pulling at her tunic so that it rode higher on her thighs. His hook then caught at the back of the ragged fabric’s collar, ready to rip it down and expose her fully.

The fabric actually began to tear with a loud rip of sound, Hook ready to gather Belle up and carry her to the bed when he felt it. Felt the sharp point of a weapon against his belly, the hand that held it shaking ever so badly. Startled, he broke the kiss, and saw the look of determination in Belle's eyes. The weapon continued its press, the lass making her threat known. It was so completely unexpected that it was not only surprising, it was absurd. Hook at first didn't know what was stronger, his urge to laugh, or his shock. But ultimately the laughter won out, Hook realizing his kitten had claws.

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

To Be Continued....

8/30/2021 Kinda dragged my heels on starting the update of this one. Most of the start was completely rewritten. Like several pages worth. Its so hard to not rewrite everything, X_X

-----Michelle

[busdriverwithagun]

The bus arrives at the front gates.

A woman in a green camouflage uniform walks up to the bus. She knocks on its door.

The window of the the limousine hologram is rolled down by guns holomatter avatar.

Identification please.

Oh right. Right right.

Gun pulls out a counterfeit ID card from his pocket.

The solider takes the card and inspects it. After checking both sides, she runs her hands over it to check for any marks.

She hands the ID card back to gun.

Go on through.

Gun flashes her a brief smile before rolling the holograms window up and driving into the base.

She looks over her shoulder as she drives away before sighing in relief.

Thank god everything survived that fall. Would’ve had to go in as a prisoner or some shit otherwise.

Oh, like you would complain. You would find it fun.

No I. Uh. Ahem. Oh would you look at that, we’re here!

Gun quickly seized the opportunity to escape arty’s comments by walking the holomatter avatar out of the bus.

A pale man in a lab coat walks out to greet gun. Gun glances at him before pulling a pair of glass out of their pocket and cleaning them off with a handkerchief.

Ah, Mr. Foirerm! Welcome, welcome! I hope your trip was…

The researcher looks at the surrounding desert.

Uh. Pleasant?

Gun looks at the glasses and puts them on after determining they are clean.

It certainly reminded me how lucky I am to have air conditioning.

Oh! Good, good good good. In that case!

The researcher gestures in towards the base.

Lead the way.

As gun enters the base, a line of text is written out on one of the panes of glass on the glasses.

‘Good’ has certainly taken another meaning lately.

‘Indeed it has’, gun thinks to herself.

These bus cryptids have been getting increasingly harder to deal with. Just this morning, two of them showed up, blew a hole in our wall, and left with three of our jets!

Your jets? I thought GBIs speciality was buses?

Oh, it is. We’ve had to… diversify to hold those damned cryptids at bay. A war is becoming more and more likely, and we don’t have much chance of winning it without a military. Unfortunately, we can’t make a military without diverting essential resources from our current operations. So, I decided to ally with an existing military! And what better one than the most powerful military on the planet?

The researcher wears a proud look on his face. An unearned one, gun thinks to herself.

‘The only think someone wearing a GBI logo can be praised for is defecting.’

So. I trust that’s been going well?

Oh, yes, absolutely! The military funding at our disposal combined with our research has yielded incredible results.

The researcher continues walking before stopping in front of a room with three metro buses.

These are the Crown Jewels of the cooperation between us and the US. They not only have advanced artificial intelligence driving them, but also the ability to shift forms. One moment, they’re a bus driving down the road. The next, a fighter jet taking off. These buses are going to make those cryptids regret the thought of crossing GBI.

My god! That’s. That’s incredible! A couple hundred of these things alone could make bus cryptids practically nonexistent!

The researcher raises his pointer in contradiction.

We only have the three, unfortunately. The… metals required to make them is not something we have large supplies of currently. It’s a very challenging resource to find, making mass production unattainable.

He goes around to the other side of the bus.

Still! Three of these things could still win us a war!

Oh, abosultely!

After glancing after the man in the coat, gun quickly turns one of their avatars fingers into a small drill. Once a hole in the hull of the bus is made, gun makes a hole on the side of the avatars arm appear so they can take out the small drone stored inside. After placing the drone in the hole, gun fills up the hole before walking around the bus to join the researcher.

Drone is active. Beginning scan now.

Gun speak in a whisper to arty.

Hold off on the scan until I leave the base. I don’t want to them connect the dots of me being here and the drone appearing.

Gun clears his throat to get the researchers attention.

So! Where we, exactly?

Oh, right right! My apologies, I was just admiring the hull. It feels like nothing more than typical steel! I can’t help but be proud of it in all honesty.

The researcher gestures towards the door.

Anyways! This way.

As gun followed him down the hallway, she makes the avatar sneeze to activate the X-ray function of the glasses.

Bless you.

Gun, under the guise of inspecting the minimalistic architecture, takes a quick look around. It takes practically no time whatsoever to find the closet computer.

Gun slows their pace. They bend over and clutch their stomach.

Ohhhh. This. Yea no this isn’t good.

Are you alright?

I’ve definitely been better. Where’s- ack. The bathroom?

On your left. It should be labeled clearly.

Gun walks to the bathroom, keeping his hand on his stomach the entire way. He checks the hallway, and sees that it’s empty. He then quietly runs to the security room.

Alright hands goes through the door aaaaaand…

The avatars arm goes through the door and unlocks it.

There we go! Ok, time for the fun part then.

Gun opens the door. A solider swivels in their chair and attempts to rise out of it. Said attempt is swiftly denied by a bullet to the head.

Gun enters the room and removes the corpse from the chair. She briefly glances at it and grimaces.

Hm. Deserved better than to be cannon fodder.

As gun sits down, he pulls a usb drive out of their shoulder. They plug it in, and begins his search for access to the base intranet. A couple minutes pass and he has still found nothing.

Gun, you need to go soon. The bathroom excuse will only hold up for so long.

Not before I find these schematics. I can’t let the higher ups at GBI get their hands on something like this.

Well, you’re not going to find them in the security room. Besides, the contamination alert will force him to leave his computer behind. You’ll have easy access at that point.

Alright. Fine. They can wait, I suppose.

Gun wipes the security logs from their break in to the base and gets up to leave. They put the corpse in the supply cabinet and walk through the door, closing it behind them.

After entering the hallway, gun continues to fake stomach pains. She keeps her hand on her stomach and hunches over a bit. Finally, she meets up with the researcher again.

You feeling better?

Not in the slightest. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to cut this four short.

Are you sure? I still haven’t sh-

Gun holds their hand up. They put their fist in front of their mouth and moves their head like their about to throw up.

Oh oh oh nevermind. We can reschedule. Do you want me to walk you out?

Gun nods.

They walk down the hallway.

So. How far along are these buses of yours?

Oh, I’ve only gotten some positive test results last week. Still checking to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.

Does anyone else know about them?

No no, not yet. I don’t want to promise a weapon that I’m not sure is functional.

That’s a fair point.

They arrive at the entrance to the base.

Well, this was an exciting trip. A shame I didn’t get the full experience. Another time, hopefully.

Do have a safe trip!

Gun walks the avatar into the bus. Once on board, he shuts the avatar off.

Ok. Arty, just go ten miles out. I’ll make the alert from there.

Got it.

The bus drives away. After ten going 7 miles out, it drops the cloak.

God, they stood no chance! Didn’t even pat me down or walk me through a metal detector!

Gun laughs to themselves.

Oh, it’s been too long since I’ve infiltrated a building. Arty, do tell me when we get to the ten mile point will you?

Uh huh. Sure.

Ignoring vis tone, gun turns her attention to the symbol on the holomatter generator. It doesn’t resemble anything she’s ever seen. No, actually, it does remind her of… space, for whatever reason. Strange.

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Hi I was hoping to ask for your advice on writing. I’m trying to write from headcanons to little short fics (like one shots) from the readers pov but I’m finding it difficult to do so smoothly. Any idea how to do the transition without it coming out as a fanfic readers worst nightmare?

Well, I cannot guarantee the quality of my “advice” but I will give it a shot! 

Apologies for you folks that hate my big essay length posts, but I do love infodumping about the writing process :P 

So just click “J” to skip the post (if you’re on mobile...sorry just exercise your scrolling finger a bit more)

- - - - - - - - - - 

So I’ll start with the distinctions between a headcanon and a fic. On one hand, you got simpler sentences, that summarize a broader idea or scene. You might have visualized the entire thing in your head, but at the end of the day all you do is write down a few sentences or pieces of dialogue that give the broader basis of an idea and/or scene. That’s not to say writing headcanons is easy, but it is, bluntly, the simpler method.  

Writing, obviously, is more complicated. Not only are you trying to convey a more abstract idea to your reader, but you’re doing so with more layers and complexities, given that what you are trying to write is generally more detailed. You have to not only account for what your basic premise is, but the method in which you convey it. So, in a “good” fic, it typically doesn’t just focus on the basic “what is happening right now” in a scene, but can give subtleties and intricacies with its tone, themes, point of view, connotation, foils, imagery, symbolism, sentence structure, diction, context, figurative language, narrative, foreshadowing, setting, irony, character arcs, and the thousands and thousands of other layers that go into constructing story. 

And I say “story” there deliberately, as I think the best way to summarize the differences is that a headcanon is a plot, while a one-shot is a story. Your one-shot has the ability to tell different messages, details, and themes, and give several points of interest to your reader, while your headcanon is limited to the structure of its initial premise.

[And before you English nerds bash me for my definition of story and plot, please know that I am using my film teacher’s old definition, which (to quote this quizlet I found) is “Story is all of the elements of a narrative that are involved, both shown and un-shown on screen. Plot is only all of the elements of a narrative that are shown on screen.” So yeah, it theoretically could be rewritten as a headcanon is a scene, and a one-shot is a story, but I’m just nitpicking at this point half of you don’t care and want me to move on anyway, apologies!]

So how do you transition between them? Well, in honesty I don’t exactly have a sure fire way for you, saying I do would be very hypocritical. However, what I can do is point out the “gap” between headcanons and fics, and perhaps from there you might be able to forge your own path..? 

Chances are, if you’re already familiar with writing headcanons, you’ve already knocked out half of the work. See in a story, specifically in our case, fic, you have eight elements that construct it. You’ve got

Plot

Setting

Conflict

Character

Point of View

Tone

Style

and Theme

With a headcanon, (assuming it’s slightly more specific than “Headcanon that this character likes peaches!”) you’ve already got plot, setting, conflict, and character down. 

Plot: being the actual premise of your story. What happens, why things happen, how other characters react, the beginning and ending, etc.

Setting: Being the location and time of your scene/plot. The setting might be a contingency to your story, such as a prison break that takes place in prison, or maybe it is the time that is essential for your High School AU fic

Conflict: Typically goes hand and hand with your plot, although not always (obviously, plot and conflict aren’t essential when talking about fics, *winks at the nsfw side of tumblr*) But if your headcanon does have a basic plot, then it probably has some sort of conflict whether external (The Calamity kills everybody) or internal (you’re character is going through grief)

Character: This whole aspect is practically already done for you. Whether by canon from the video game or media you got it from, or perhaps by fanon, with the collective fandom agreeing on certain traits about your character(s) in question. Obviously, if you got an OC, that’s another thing, as you have to create their traits, and construct a believable way that that character reacts and makes choices throughout your plot, depending on how you characterized them

So congrats! In writing up your everyday headcanon, you’re now halfway there to making a full on fic! Obviously, 50% is still a lot, which is probably the reason you were seeking advice in the first place, so now we should move on to the other half, and arguably it is this other half of elements that give the entire distinction between a headcanon and a one-shot. So in theory, if you get these elements down, you’re on your way to writing that much faster!

Quick additional note: Another way to think of your headcanon is as an outline. While not in every case, a good way to jump from your headcanon to a fic is to stick with the major elements of your headcanon, and weaving your writing style in between. Think of the headcanon as your skeleton, and the story being the meat and muscle. Idk if that makes sense, blame my old English teacher for the metaphor

Alrighty, so for demonstration purposes I’m gonna use the very first headcanon I’ve ever written as a basis. Bear with me for a moment:

“Zelink Headcanon: Zelda Just Wants Some Snacks

Everyone always jokes and adores about how Link eats so much and cooks great food in the game (he’s gotta carbo load guys, he walks like 9 miles everyday!)

However I propose, equally hungry and feral Zelda

After Link and Zelda defeat Ganon, one of the first things they do is stop by the nearest cooking pot and eat

She hasn’t eaten for 100 years!! She’s gotta be starving!

Link just cooks up some meat skewers

“…wait I forgot the Goron spice, gimme a sec…”

But Zelda just immediately snatched it off the fire and eats the whole thing in two seconds

Link keeps trying to go out of his way to make really nice food but Zelda is just like “I DON’T CARE RIGHT NOW PLEASE LINK”

So yeah, their first date is basically just Link cooking Zelda a buffet until his inventory empties out”

Again, this headcanon has already given us half of the answers. 

We got our plot: Link, a talented chef, is cooking food which Zelda scarfs down without fear and hesitation

Setting: They are by a cooking pot, perhaps in the wilderness, away from the prying eyes of nosey villagers. This takes place sometime after the initial defeat of Calamity Ganon.

Conflict: Link keeps trying to cook “good” food, but despite the Princess’ royal upbringing, she has no care for the whole “show” of cooking with spices and garnish. She is starving, willing to eat anything

And Characters: Link and Zelda. You know... (Today unfortunately is not the day in which I construct a thorough character analysis of the two...perhaps one day...)

So, now that we have this, we start adding the meat and muscle of our story with point of view, tone, style, and theme. These elements, could be summarized as your writing style. Yes, writing style is more intricate than those four elements alone, but they do fit in with its broad definition. 

So, in essence, a way to transition between headcanon and fic is to find out what kind of writing style you’re comfortable with. 

How do you do that? Well... shocker, I know, you gotta write. 

Write first, plan the elements of your one-shot later!! 

Allow yourself to write complete utter garbage. I know you said that you don’t wanna create a “fanfic reader’s worst nightmare,” but if you become more concerned with the quality of your content before you even start writing, you will never ever ever get anywhere. You’re gonna be stuck in writer’s block for eternity, so just let the garbage and nightmares out and write. You’ll never improve if you don’t have something to improve from, you feel me? 

So, now that your mind is open and ready to write anything, whether garbage or gold, let us dive in to the parts of your writing style. 

Point of view: Do you prefer writing in third person? First? Second? Each have their pros and cons. Second person is good for your “x reader” inserts. First person is good for your narrator’s characterization. Third person is good for describing elements of your surroundings that might not be inherently obvious to your characters or audience. There are hundreds of other pros and cons to the different POVs that you can search up online, but it’ is ultimately up to you to decide which method you like best. 

When you find the method you like best, make sure you use it to it’s full potential! Use foreshadowing with your third person POVs. Use connotation, and diction to further characterize your narrator in first person. Elevate the mood and senses of a scene when in second person.

Tone: Now, this element is often confused with another literary device, mood. The difference being that you as the author have more control over the tone, than the mood. The tone, is the attitude that you as the author (or as a character/narrator, depending on your POV) have towards something. For example, your tone might be suspenseful if you withhold information from your reader, or if you have a certain choice of diction. It is typically better to look to the type of genre you’re writing for to identify what kind of tone you want. 

Mood is the feeling that the reader experiences from your writing. It’s really much more simple, a beloved character dying give a depressed mood. A cute couple hanging out will give the reader a happier mood. This is your angst and fluff feelings, if you will. (Although, please remember than mood and tone are not a binary thing, it is a spectrum, as broad and diverse as the capabilities of human emotion)

Style: Ok yes this is a bit meta, me explaining how to use style to help you construct a writing style. Blame the bendable definitions of the writing world. So just think of this as the face of your writing. The more obvious and apparent part that is unique to you and your personality. 

Think cake. Your story is a delicious cake, it is a chocolate, Zelink cake. Now, your style is the way that you present this cake. Pink frosting? Yellow? A full cake or just a slice? Chocolate ice cream cake? Chocolate lava cake? Five tier cake? Cake pops? These possibilities are the infinite ways your style will present the story.

Style, sometimes called voice, is the combination of your use of tone, mood, POV, syntax, diction, and other literary device that you commonly use in your writing. This isn’t something you learn, it’s just something you do naturally when you write. It’s what readers will like about your fics, because they like the way that you use this or that, or the way you describe this thing or that person. It’s something that can change and improve over time, but in essence, it’s what readers can read and identify as you, without even looking at the username.

Style isn’t something you have to remember, per say, like other literary devices, but it is something to be aware of as you should try to keep it consistent through your whole story. Sometimes have people have different writing styles depending on their own mood, or what they’re writing about. That is fine, so long as you keep it consistent through your whole work. A good trick for this is to listen to music that fits with the style of your writing. Use that one catchy love song whenever you’re writing cute headcanons or fluffy one shots. Use that anime opening theme for your adventurous fics and fight scenes. This way, you are keep in a consist atmosphere and your brain will be in the “Oh! It’s time to write ____ stuff!” mood. 

So just be aware of when you’re in a descriptive style, a narrative style, argumentative, or whatever style you like using. You style might even derived of the way you already create headcanons!

Theme: This is a big one. Have a cohesive theme can easily bring any story from good to great! I like to think of it as you’re story’s destiny, or reason for existence. 

Theme is an outlier for the other elements in that not only is it not necessary for your fic, it is also not necessary for your writing style either. It’s really not necessary... at all. Yet, people always use theme in their writing, even accidentally. 

Theme is your story’s underlying message, or lesson. Yes, yes, if you paid attention in your basic English class you probably already knew that, but this is a big pet peeve of mine. 

The theme of your story isn’t “true love,” the theme isn’t “innocence”, or “failure”, or “trauma”, or whatever. Theme isn’t a broad idea, it’s a specific question and an answer. 

For example: The theme of Breath of the Wild isn’t “exploration” or “time”. The theme is there is always something to seek and find, so long as you have the curiosity and courage to find it. The theme is despite the eternities of time, we still found each other. 

Your theme shouldn’t be a broad, one word answer. What about love are you trying to convey? What specifically about failure are you saying?

Theme is the entire reason why the entertainment medium exists, because artist found a way to create something compelling and interesting while also connecting them to real life things. 

When you give your reader something to really chew on, even days after they finished reading your fic, then you did a brilliant job. Essentially, you want to use theme in your story because it is what will stick with our readers even years after they’ve read your work.

While that’s all sentimental and sappy, that’s still not your biggest problem, is it? You still need to practice, you still need to learn how to use the things you’ve learned to actually write. So, a summary of what I advise you should do.

Look over and improve your old headcanons, and keep making more! Keep making headcanons and litte prompts, and let them grow bigger and bigger, and more desprictive. This could help you ease into actually writing paragraphs a bit more

Find out what you like to write. Yes, you probably already have a fandom in mind, but think back to those first four elements. What types of plots are you comfortable with, what settings, characters? Genius is only the work of enthusiasm, if you don’t like what you’re going to write, you’ve already failed

Write, write, write. Practice, practice practice. Let yourself write complete and utter garbage and nonesense. Then read it over. See what you don’t like about it. Then change it and write again. I MEAN it when I say you should write garbage. Write a completely terrible, nightmarishly cringe scene. See what you don’t like. Then rewrite it again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a scene or something from your fandom. Let it be your description of a shirt, let is be some cringy poem from 7th grade. Just write and learn how you like to write. It will be so much easier in the long run

Read stuff. The stuff you read usually seeps into how you write. When you get used to reading things a certain way, you usually unconciously try to imitate it when you write. So, got a favourite fic writer? Read their stuff over and maybe even analyze the elements you like (again, think back to those eight elements I talked about) and hey, writers like it when you analyze their stuff so maybe even hit them up and talk? We like book reports we swear, most of us don’t bite. 

When you finally think you’re comfortable with your writings, maybe think about what kind of themes you’re into, or what kind of messages you want to say. It doesn’t even need to be that complex. Could be as simple as “I love this ship because it shows that you can still have flaws and be loved” Again, themes are the rEASON for eVERYTHING in the entertainment world

For further demonstration purposes, I’m going to come up with further elements for a hypothetical fic I would write based on that Zelink headcanon. So I’ve got the plot, setting, conflict and theme down. Hmm... I’ll probably use a third person POV as that is what I’m most comfortable with. With third person, I can better highlight the descriptions of Link and Zelda’s surroundings taking in the atmosphere and the aromas and and tastes. The tone will be more happy, focusing on the fun of Zelda and Link’s banter, I’ll try to create a mood in which the reader is laughing along with them, and enjoying the scene. My style will be more descriptive, again with the tastes and smells and other senses of the scene. However, I might go into a more narrative style for Zelda and Link’s banter and dialogue. While typically some people don’t want to use two different styles, I am personally familiar with the styles and know how to write them so as to blend them together more seamlessly. I might have a hint of angst at the end of the fic, as a little climax, given that the setting of the fic is after the defeat of the Calamity. I might through in some themes about how it wasn’t the material power of Hylia or the Master Sword that saved Hyrule, but the courageous and wise bond between Link and Zelda. Then...idk, a little romatic kiss for resolution because this is a fic and I can throw in some fanservice because my writing my rules. 

Babam! I just converted a headcanon to a fic.

So yeah, go write your headcanons. Then maybe next a paragraph. Then next a scene, and then you’re well on your way to one-shots and chapter fics. Happy writing and good luck!

[meta-squash]

Brick Club 1.5.13 “Solution of Some Questions of The Municipal Police”

Oh man. This one got long.

The spectacle continues. Fantine and Javert do not walk to the precinct alone; they’re followed by all the jeering spectators that were watching the fight. They are still yelling, laughing, genuinely finding amusement in Fantine’s humiliation. Fantine has returned to the mechanical lack of self she had before the fight. In the course of this chapter we’ll see her continuously oscillate between outbursts of presence and self-assertive distress, and moments of frightened distance and emotional shut-down.

“Curiosity is gluttony. To see is to devour.” Hugo keeps reiterating this. One of the worst things, aside from being an actual antagonist, aside from being an actual actor in the ruin of a person, is to be a bystander, a rubbernecker. There are no innocent bystanders, and by standing there, watching, finding glee and entertainment in the suffering of others, you are part of the problem. Curiosity is good, when it’s curiosity in pursuit of a solution or an answer in order to help someone. Curiosity is bad when the interest is purely voyeuristic. (I want to know why Hugo decided to use “to see” (voir) rather than “to watch” (regarder) in this sentence.)

Hugo’s discussion of the relationship between sex workers and cops is so sharp. The police have complete control over what happens to sex workers, who they choose to let go and who they bring in, how they are punished and for how long. I imagine, in cases that don’t include Javert, there’s a lot of “I won’t detain you if you sleep with me etc” type behavior from other cops. (Perhaps this is why Javert is so scary; he can’t be bribed or convinced and doesn’t use his status as leverage like that.) The police can “confiscate at will those two sad things they call their industry and their liberty.” This line just gets to me. The only thing people as poor as Fantine feel they have left is their way of making a living, and their freedom to be alive. Everything is else is on loan or in debt. And the cops can take those last two things at any moment. Not only that, but their industry and their liberty are both intrinsically connected to their bodies. Their industry isn’t something they can leave at the end of the day; they are always existing within the body that is also the main component of their livelihood.

I don’t know enough about legal proceedings of the era, but Javert is judge and jury here, condemning Fantine all by himself to six months in prison. On the other hand, Valjean (and Champmathieu) must go to court at Arras in order to be sentenced. Is this Hugo doing his Artistic Liberties handwavy thing, or could this have actually been done? It seems odd that some people could be sentenced by a random policeman and others have to go to court in front of a jury.

“It was one of those moments in which he exercised without restraint, but with all the scruples of a strict conscience, his formidable discretionary power.” Javert is extremely aware of his role in all of this. What’s fascinating to me about Javert is that he isn’t going around convicting people willy nilly, randomly making up crimes and things to fit a quota the way cops do in present day. With Fantine (and later, with Valjean, and even with the Thenardiers) he sits and he considers and he thinks about what he’s witnessed until he’s sure he’s seen a crime. The problem is, his morals and opinions are so rigid and unchanging that he could probably find crime almost anywhere, because he’s completely inflexible about what things are good or bad. Also, this arrest of Fantine is apparently a “great” (grande, as in big) thing, which I find interesting. Prostitution is essentially legal, so perhaps for him it’s a big thing because he finally has a reason to arrest someone whose legal profession he morally disagrees with? Or perhaps Fantine isn’t registered while most others are? Or maybe it’s big because it’s not just an arrest of a sex worker, but of a sex worker who has committed violence against a well-to-do gentleman? I don’t know.

“He was conducting a trial.” Nearly every time Hugo uses this phrase, when an individual character is conducting a trial of someone or something else, the resulting judgement is incorrect or too extreme. This happened with Valjean’s trial against religion, Javert is doing it here and will do it again at the end of the novel, Marius sort of does it to Valjean after the wedding. Each time a person’s worth is judged by a single person, the judgement falls short.

Fantine is terrified of prison, but part of her fear isn’t prison itself, but the wages. She’s more worried about the welfare of Cosette than herself. This makes sense to me. To her, prison itself probably doesn’t feel like it would be too much more miserable than her current state. The only increase in her misery would be her worry for Cosette and her inability to pay for her daughter’s care.

“Without getting to her feet, she dragged herself along the floor, dirtied by the muddy feet of all these men, clasping her hands, on her knees.” What an intense image. This is the condition of poor women: forced to beg for mercy from men who have power over them, while crawling through all the problems caused by those men’s uncaring and manipulative actions, dirtied by the utter lack of assistance from anyone with the actual power to help, and scoffed at when they clasp their hands and kiss the coattails of their oppressors.

Fantine’s monologue to Javert makes me so sad because she goes back and forth between “I did nothing wrong” and “maybe I was wrong to react the way I did,” when her reaction was so completely right. She asks, “Do they have the right to throw snow down our backs when we are going along quietly without harming anybody?” and I feel as though, in Javert’s eyes, they kind of do, because he disapproves of her profession in the first place. Fantine also brings up her illness here and in her other monologues, never as an excuse or even as an attempt to elicit pity, simply as an explanation. She also says “I wasn’t immodest with him, I didn’t speak with him. That was when he put the snow on me.” She literally tells Javert that she wasn’t trying to engage with Bamatabois in any way, that she was completely ignoring him even as he tried to incite her. The last chapter doesn’t mention how long he was mocking her for, only that her pacing brought her back to his spot “every five minutes,” which means he must have been out there harassing her for quite some time before he shoved snow down her back and she snapped. And yet, here she talks herself in a circle, suddenly turning around and saying “Perhaps I was wrong to get mad.” It’s just so sad that she’s completely in the right and yet she doubts even that.

And Javert doesn’t hear a word of her explanation or her pleas. She realizes this, and instead tries to use Cosette. But this isn’t her using Cosette to save herself, this is using Cosette to save Cosette. She realizes that if she goes to prison she won’t be able to pay for Cosette. She tries to use her “poor starved child,” tries to ask for pity for Cosette. If Javert won’t pity her, a sex worker, maybe he’ll pity her as the mother of a little girl. But considering Javert’s childhood, he probably sees Cosette as equally as bad as her mother, because she’s the child of a prostitute, born out of wedlock, living in poverty with some random innkeepers two hundred miles away.

“I’m not a bad woman at heart. It’s not laziness and greed that have brought me to this; I’ve drunk brandy but it was from misery.” God, this line. I don’t even know who would think something like greed or laziness (but especially greed) could bring someone into this line of work. Maybe if she was, like, a well-known professional sex worker in a Paris brothel she could make good money, but as a random woman walking the streets in a garrisoned town? She clearly makes practically nothing. And poverty like this isn’t lazy at all. Every second not spent sleeping is spent trying to make money, worrying about being able to pay rent or debts or to find food or some way to keep warm or whatever. I hate that even today people still think poverty comes from laziness.

“Great grief is a divine and terrible thing that transfigures the wretched. At that instant Fantine had again become beautiful.” I don’t really know what to do with this line. It feels like a weird fetishization of poverty and suffering?

“She would have softened a heart of granite; but you cannot soften a heart of wood.” Why can’t you soften a heart of wood? Because wood only rots when it gets soft. I do find it interesting that Hugo calls Javert’s heart wooden, but uses statue imagery for him for the rest of the chapter.

Javert declaring that "The Eternal Father in person couldn’t help you now” is a heavy line. The law is above even god here. If god appeared right now and told him to free Fantine, Javert is saying he wouldn’t do it. A page later we see him reluctantly stand down to Valjean, which negates this statement, but it’s interesting that at this instant, he says wouldn’t even be moved to mercy by god. And it’s true, he’s not moved to mercy, ever. At no point is it ever his decision to let Fantine go. He does not bow to pleas for mercy, but he will bow to authority, even if he questioned it a moment before.

Valjean enters without being noticed and watches the exchange. I feel like this is a weird reversal of Hugo’s “to see is to devour” from earlier in the chapter. Valjean is watching, but not out of voyeuristic curiosity. He intends to actually act, to do something about what has happened and help someone who needs help.

Throughout the last few chapters, Fantine has grown rougher with each loss. Her speech and personality has changed, she drinks, she is louder, less polite, and more childish. She’s lost her “modesty” and with that any pretense. There’s no more masking. She’s not trying to fit in, because that’s not happening anymore.

Somehow I’ve glossed over this line each time I’ve read the book, but when Fantine spits in Madeleine’s face, Hugo seems to imply that it reminds Javert of his suspicions re: Madeleine’s true identity. Javert sees this action and makes the connection between convict-Valjean and Fantine, and instead of seeing the sacrilege of a prostitute spitting on a mayor, for a moment he sees an interaction between two outlaws of society: a convict and a prostitute.

I’ve noticed that Fantine talks to herself in reaction to being freed in the same way that Valjean talked to himself when Myriel was first kind to him/when the bishop told the gendarmes to set him free, and the same way Eponine talks to herself. There’s a marked difference between moments when characters “talk to themselves” but it’s obvious that it’s a narrative mechanic of them thinking in their heads, and when they actually talk to themselves while other people are present. For Fantine and Valjean, it’s in moments when they are in great emotional shock/distress that they speak aloud to themselves while other people are present. (I’m not sure what to make of that in terms of Eponine, who always seems to be speaking mostly to herself.)

Fantine starts out this monologue talking to herself, but then she turns it into talking to Javert. It’s interesting that her utter rejection of Valjean means that she’s actually turning to Javert to speak, despite being absolutely terrified of him only moments ago.

Fantine announces that she’s not afraid of Valjean. Of course she’s not; in her eyes he’s done everything to her that he can. He has caused all her suffering and doesn’t have the power to cause anything more. She’s still afraid of Javert because he still has the power to hurt and ruin her. He can fine her or send her to prison, and condemn her for as long as he likes. She doesn’t know anything about Valjean, except that she assumes he doesn’t care. What she knows about Javert is that he does care, only that care is on the side of punishment, not one of mercy. It’s interesting then that she continues to try and appeal to his better nature (one which he does not possess) or to his pity (which he also does not possess). She also continues to try and convince herself that it is Javert who has decided to let her go, not Madeleine. It’s almost as though she thinks that if she can convince herself that he’s the one letting her go, she can also convince him to actually do it.

Fantine’s monologues keep coming back to wages. She specifically criticizes the way that the prison contractors do wrong to poor people by paying them so little for so much labor. Her discussion of her own expenses is also still applicable to modern day. She still owes money to the Thenardiers, but she’s up to date on her rent. This is still the experience of the poor: you deal with more immediate expenses first, and debts come second, even as they continue to rack up.

Both Fantine and Javert are thrown off balance by Madeleine’s declaration. Fantine spends her entire monologue before attempting to leave trying convince herself that it is Javert that has let her go. It is only when she hears Madeleine confirm that he was the one who declared it that she is thrown off-kilter, having to reconcile her opinion of Madeleine with his (perceived) actions. Javert is thrown by someone in an authority position acting the way that Madeleine is; this is the first time we see him actually question authority and refuse to act on an order.

“...that order, law, morality, government, society itself, were personified in him, Javert?” This is the only time, I think, where Hugo implies that a character is consciously becoming a Symbol. The fact that Hugo even suggests the potential for Javert to see himself as the embodiment of law, morality, society, etc is unique, because no other character sees themselves as the embodiment of such big concepts. The closest might be Valjean seeing himself as a Bad Person Forever, but even that is a much smaller concept, in that Valjean is looking at his past self, not at himself as the entire concept of Criminals Everywhere. But Hugo only gives two choices when it comes to Javert: either he is questioning authority for the first time in his life, or he is consciously becoming a Symbol. It turns out to be the former, but both of these things are really extremely significant.To become a conscious symbol, or even to have the potential of becoming a conscious symbol, is a unique level of conceptual engagement for a character, almost like starting to break the fourth wall. And questioning authority is a First for Javert here, significant because it starts the ball rolling and he continues to question Madeleine’s authority from here on out, even if it’s only to himself and not to his face.

“The insult does not belong to him, but to justice.” Okay so Hapgood translates this line a little differently, but WOW I love this FMA version a lot. Just the idea that something as small as an insult doesn’t even get to belong to the person it was directed at, but instead can be entirely claimed by the law. Now, I know that this line is supposed to mean that Fantine’s insult to Madeleine was by default also an insult to justice due to Madeleine’s authority position, but I always read it as the law taking this insult for its own use. Like, “This societal outcast insulted someone, so now we can arrest her, because any sort of social indiscretion from someone like that belongs to the law” or “this insult, because it was made in the presence of police by someone in custody, now belongs to the law rather than her or her target.” (It also reminds me of modern day cops, who arrest or threaten to arrest people simply for hurting their little baby feelings despite doing nothing illegal.)

Fantine goes through a parallel struggle to Valjean here. The man she hated so much (Madeleine) was her savior, just as the religion Valjean doubted and hated had been his. I mean, literally they have the same “two paths, one of light and one of darkness” symbolism, the same angel/demon symbolism, the same conflict about whether or not they must change their whole soul and beliefs, the same absolute terror, and then the final feeling of hope and gratitude. She kneels in front of Valjean the same way Valjean knelt in front of Myriel’s door.

This is also the first time we see Valjean’s benevolence in speech, action, and monetary terms. He rescued Fauchelevent, but we don’t seem him speak to Fauchelevent after that despite the purchase of his horse and cart and getting him a new job. We never see him speak to anyone else that he helps, especially since his usual mode is Reverse Robbery (thank you Mellow for that term btw) rather than in-person benevolence. But we do get him not only rescuing Fantine from prison, but speaking to her, offering her monetary help, offering her pretty much any assistance towards happiness. I wonder if the difference between Valjean’s interaction here with Fantine, and his interaction with Fauchelevent or any other person he gives money to or helps, is that this is the first instance that he feels guilty or personally responsible. Every other act of charity, including Fauchelevent is just that, selfless charity just because. But this, Fantine, is Valjean righting a wrong that has been done. Even though it was without his knowledge, he still seems to feel responsible.

Once again, we have a moment of hope for Fantine that is immediately dashed. Fantine is free, she’s going to get her daughter back, she can leave her miserable life for something better, her debts will be paid, she can be happy. Only she faints, and she spends the rest of her time in hospital until her death.

[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

Do you know how crazy it would be if there were an AU where all of the Perry-centered AUs anons have pitched to you over the past few months were all stitched together? Say there was as alternate universe where Perry is a robot and OWCA has many copies of himself and he's raising an organic platypus baby with whatever the heck a capybara is, and that's all without context!

okay I literally have three asks that I should be answering before this one if I go in like wait-list order (is that even English who the fuck knows at this point) but this one is KILLING ME and I have an answer it immediately okay hold on I gotta go check my list of asks to see what we gotta work in and I’m totally including headcanons with the AUs to make this into the biggest and best trainwreck of all time

Okay so we start with day one: OWCA’s training regiment at The Academy is super harsh, and it turns Perry into the supersoldier he is. This is, of course, because Perry is a robot.  One day, robot Perry stumbles upon Phineas and Ferb, and the kids play around with his wiring and give him Feelings™. Essentially, this means that the kids saved him from a cold, dark, meaningless existence. They don’t know it yet, but Perry was actually sent to them to keep an eye on them, though OWCA did not anticipate that the boys would mess with his software. 

Perry goes missing one day, and OWCA panics and makes a whole new Perry robot to replace him, thus inventing the Perry clones. Each agent has to upload their memories every now and then, which means Monogram can just insert Perry’s mental hard drive into a new Perry robot. I guess somehow in the process the og blueprints got a little fucked up because they now match what Phineas and Ferb did to Perry, and while OWCA had questioned it at Perry’s last physical, they note that Perry is doing better than ever -- though he is a little more benevolent, which they’re not sure they like -- so they don’t really question it.

As the years pass, more and more Perrys go missing or die or get captured or whatever, and at this point, OWCA just has a whole fucking army of robot Perrys chilling in the OWCA basement so that whenever a new one needs to replace an old one, he’s ready. He lets all the platypuses run around Danville, possibly after they escaped on their own, and now all the platypuses in Danville are Perry clones. Across the 2nd Dimension comes along now, and in the 2nd Dimension, the clone robot Perry program has already been shut down because 2D Doof would be too powerful with an army of Perryborgs. Perry does a really good job at keeping the mindless platypus facade up at first, even though 2D Doof knows it’s him because he recognizes Phineas and Ferb from Perryborg’s locket. They mostly manage to work together without Perry revealing himself until the very end, when they’re having that last-ditch effort back in the first dimension to stop 2D Doof from taking over. 

Okay this is where I’m getting a lil confused because I have four ways this could go right now: Coby the Capybara starts working for OWCA, the og robot Perry from before the clones thing shows up, the butler!Perry doesn’t write “I fight evil” au, or the au where Perry gets zapped by the ultimate-evil-inator in Where’s Perry. They all gotta make it in here eventually, but I have spent like ten minuntes trying to decide whether I want Coby or the og Perry to come back first, and whether either or both of them should be back for butler!Perry or evil!Perry, and I do not fucking know so I’m just gonna wing it and hope for the best lmao

First comes Coby the Capybara. I guess he’s now also a robot, right? But he doesn’t have any clones? I think is how these headcanons work? So Perry has no idea why the fuck this new guy is so happy and annoyingly optimistic because he’s literally just a robot but whatever, as long as Perry can stay away it’s all good, right? But Coby basically inserts himself into Perry’s life, and while most agents don’t have host families, OWCA makes an exception here because the Flynn-Fletchers have basically already adopted him and it can’t hurt to have two agents keeping an eye on those kids, right? And they don’t really get along that well at first because they’re so different. Usually it’s Perry that gets annoyed at Coby, but sometimes it’s the other way around. For instance, Coby gets really fucking annoyed at how Perry doesn’t let him have any fun. So what if he gets needlessly risky when it comes to almost revealing his secret identity? It’s fun, something that Perry has apparently never heard of. And while Coby is fooling around with all Perry’s shit, he finds the pictures from the second dimension, and he’s about to go chew Perry out for being such a fucking hypocrite until he reads the lowkey diary entry that goes with the pictures where Perry admits to being scared out of his mind the entire time and how it crushed him because he can’t let it show that it got to him at all because he’s a robot and he’s not supposed to have feelings. I choose to think for maximum angst reasons that Phineas and Ferb didn’t play around with his wiring because unlike when Perry first wandered in, they knew Coby was a conscious animal. Still, Coby knows Perry has human-like emotions, even if he can’t quite understand them, and he knows he can’t imagine what Perry had to go through. Coby is a lot nicer around Perry and doesn’t risk blowing their covers as much after that or at least not where Perry can see it, and as time goes on, Coby also becomes a much better agent, too, until they’re basically equals, and, more importantly, they’re family. 

I think I’d rather the evil Perrys come before the og Perry comes back but I do also wanna throw Coby in just for kicks, so we’re gonna skip on over to the ultimate-evil-inator Where’s Perry au. The Flynn-Fletchers and their friends are all in Africa, but, unlike Coby, Perry couldn’t get the time off. He gets hit by the inator, obviously, and turns evil, and he strings Heinz along to get what he wants. To briefly summarize the description from the post, basically Perry uses Heinz just long enough to take over the tri-state area, and to do so, he needs to capture everyone he deems a threat, which includes everyone from OWCA. 

The kids come home to find that somehow their dumb little platypus took over, and they decide they’re the tri-state area’s only hope so they set off to stop him. This is where it differs from the og ask: now we’ve got Coby in the picture. Coby works for OWCA so obviously he knows the ins and outs of the city better than these kids do and he makes it to wherever Perry’s hiding out before everyone else. Perry has his robot army grab him, but Coby demands that Perry let him talk and for some inexplicable reason, Perry does. Coby basically begs him to back down (and it doesn’t work). He reminds Perry that these people did nothing wrong and they don’t deserve this (and it doesn’t work). He tells Perry that this is just a victory for Heinz, even if the poor dude’s now in prison, and that Perry’s not supposed to let Heinz win (and it doesn’t work). He pops open his collar locket and shows Perry the picture of the two of them with the three kids, and begs Perry not to let anything happen to them because they’re family... and it still doesn’t work. Perry orders the robots to execute Coby, but then Phineas, Ferb, and their friends show up and start talking over each other a mile a minute except Ferb but his silence is just as wholesome in Perry’s eyes and Perry looks between the kids and Coby and he realizes that this is Not Good™ 

Perry just drops to all fours, orders the guards to release everyone, and pretends it never happened. Coby’s kinda taken by surprise, but he’s not shocked -- Perry is nothing but a family man, even if he can’t admit it -- so he also drops to all fours and pretends nothing happened. The kids are really confused, but hey, everyone’s happy so it’s all good, right?

But now that we’re basically talking about the entire summer, I feel like this is a great time to talk about what happens after he becomes evil and then becomes good again, and how that sets him up for the next time he becomes evil because the poor guy can’t catch a break. I know I touched upon it in the reblog that’s linked with the post, but because of all the AUs, it’s more complicated than that (not because it has to be more complicated but because I like overcomplicated things). At least in the original AU, OWCA would probably expect Perry to feel a little down, but now that he’s a robot who’s not supposed to have feelings, he has to pretend it doesn’t bother him, and I have to imagine that would make him feel even worse. He’s a little wary around not only Heinz because he’s seen for the first time what his nemesis is capable of without remorse bearing in mind that the second dimension didn’t go the way it went in the movie so he never saw the worst of his dimension’s Heinz, but also around the kids because he’s afraid of them getting hurt if he gets too close, especially because OWCA doesn’t know he actually cares about them.  

And that’s where everybody’s favorite capybara comes in. Coby himself may not have real feelings, but he knows Perry does and he does consider Perry to be family, even if it doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing to him as a robot as it would to anyone else. Coby tries really hard to cheer him up and to assure his friend that he’s here for him if he ever wants to talk, but Perry turns him down every time because even though Coby can handle himself, Perry doesn’t want his own dumbassery to put him at risk. Still, even if he doesn’t consciously realize it, having Coby around makes him feel a little more welcome, even after that whole debacle. 

And then we’re gonna go with Butler!Perry, because why not make him turn evil twice? But again, because Coby’s here, I’m gonna change up how it goes just a little. So basically Remains of the Platypus goes how it usually does, with Heinz turning Perry into his butler and Carl trying to give Perry his hat and Monogram is eating cheese and all that ish. But as the au says, Perry doesn’t write “I fight evil” on his chest, so he doesn’t remember that he’s one of the good guys after Carl spills juice all over his shirt. Heinz sends Carl back to OWCA and spends the next few days gloating because haha I have your favorite agent and in your face, Francis! and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. 

Coby has been trained not to ask questions, and, as a robot, he’s really not supposed to break protocol or people are going to start asking questions. But the boys are starting to get really nervous and honestly, so is he, so he finally says “fuck it” and during his next mission briefing, he asks Monogram where Perry is. Monogram explains the whold predicament and basically says that as long as Perry doesn’t want to come back, their hands are tied. Coby’s hands are tied, too, in the sense that he has to take the case he’s given regardless of his own feelings and preferred agenda, so he reluctantly accepts his case and does his shit, and then he heads to DEI to see Perry. Heinz is just kinda vibin, probably watching TV and Perry’s, like, massaging his feet or something idfk Heinz is a weird dude. Coby breaks down the door and Heinz would do something about it but he’s also really investing in his relationship in the soap opera so he tells Perry to go take care of it. This time, since the problem is that Perry doesn’t remember anything and not that he’s legitimately evil, Coby manages to bring back his Perry by taking Perry’s collar off and showing him the locket and idk maybe he has to show Perry that he has a locket like that, too, just for the cuteness factor. Perry snaps out of it, and he and Coby beat the shit out of Heinz before heading back home together, and fortunately no one at OWCA questions it because they’re just glad to have Agent P back. 

Now Perry’s really wary around Heinz because this is the second time he’s turned him evil and, unlike the in original au, it wasn’t Heinz who decided to change him back. Their nemesisship takes a really big hit here, and nothing Heinz does can fix it. At the same time, though, Perry’s almost feeling better now than he did before, because even if he can’t trust his nemesis, he knows he can trust Coby. They truly are an inseparable duo...

Until they become a trio?

One day, a new platypus robot walks in the yard and he looks like a mess. He’s covered in scratches and wounds so deep that his wiring is coming through and sparking and it looks like he’s about to explode at any minute. That ends up being the original Perry robot, and he’s not very happy to see another platypus in his yard. Phineas and Ferb see him and they take him in because he obviously needs help, and once they’ve fixed him up, they decide they’re going to keep this new platypus and name him Bartholomew. Everything is sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows because yippee-doo, their family grows, right?

But Perry and Coby aren’t stupid. Contrary to popular believe, robot animals don’t wander into yards for no reason, no matter how many times the boys think it’s happened to them. So the three of them finally get the chance to talk, and it doesn’t really go well. Neither Perry was aware that there were Perry clones, and though they can sort of figure it out because they both have their one-of-a-kind locket with a picture of them and the boys as babies (though Perry is very disappointed to realize this is actually a picture of Bartholomew as a baby, not him), they’re not happy about it. The three of them head down to Perry and Coby’s shared lair and demand answers from Monogram, who basically explains that yes, they did clone Bartholomew, but they’d been looking for hi for days and the boys were getting antsy. They didn’t want to put the kids in danger if they discovered something they weren’t supposed to, so they basically said fuck it, let’s make a new Perry. Monogram neglects to mention that they’ve done this numerous times before and that every Danville platypus is a Perry clone.

Bartholomew and Perry don’t get along at first, and since neither of them have any reason to dislike Coby, he ends up being the mediator most of the time. Monogram tries to assign both platypuses to the same mission once, and Coby shuts that down immediately because they would literally murder each other. Bartholomew never met Heinz so that stays Perry’s thing, even though they’re still on pretty rough terms. Coby and Bartholomew do their own stuff, and for the most part, the two platypuses only interact when they have to -- when the boys want all their pets together or when Monogram needs to see all three agents.

And then Monogram realizes that he doesn’t really need three agents to watch two boys, so he reassigns Bartholomew to the Regurgitator case. He figures Perry’s been there the longest and Coby’s more familiar with the older Phineas and Ferb. Bartholomew’s been gone for so long that he’s probably the least useful one there. Monogram delivers the news to him alone, and when he refuses to take no for an answer, Bartholomew rebels. He explains the whole predicament to Perry and Coby, and while Coby sympathizes, Perry agrees with Monogram. Neither of them want to do anything to help, so Bartholomew basically says “fuck it, I’ll give you a reason to help me,” and reveals his identity to Phineas, Ferb, and Candace. At that point, there’s no reason for Perry and Coby to keep theirs a secret, because the kids are smart enough to figure it out themselves. Now that they’ve all revealed their identities, they’re all at risk of relocation if OWCA catches them (except Bartholomew who’s probably in more danger than them because he directly defied orders to do this, but come on, after the shit he’s seen, he can deal with them). In a desperate attempt to keep the family together, the three of them, accompanied by the kids and all their friends, start an uprising against OWCA. Perry decides to meet up with an old friend, Dennis the Rabbit, for a little help because he knows Dennis is just as pissed at OWCA as they are. 

I feel like that should be enough to reform OWCA, but because we still have a fuck ton of AUs left, it’s just enough to convince OWCA to lay off the punishments a little bit. The family gets to stay together, but only if the kids lose their memories. Just for kicks, Dennis gets to join the Flynn-Fletchers’ pet squad, too, but he comes with a collar this time that has his name so Candace stops calling him Mr. Cutie Patootie. Otherwise, everything goes back to normal, and now there are four animal agent robot thingies living with the Flynn-Fletchers, which is exceptionally weird because, again, the agents don’t typically have host families. Still, at least they kids are being watched, right?

One night, Heinz breaks into OWCA for one of his schemes, and he discovers the Perry cloning program. He only gets to read some of it because most of it is classified, but he gets the gist. He’s not sure what to do with this information, so he just kinda leaves and pretends he never saw it. But when he sees Perry the next day, he decides that’s not something he can just leave alone. He tries to get access to the files with Perry’s DNA and with Carl’s, but neither of them work so he somehow copies Monogram’s handprint and uses that. He’s in the middle of reading all about the program and all the different Perrys they’ve made and how different ones have been lost and/or destroyed, and then Monogram walks in. In the original au, Heinz destroys the machine, destroying the clone Perry in the process, and runs from OWCA to find the real Perry. I don’t particularly want this Perry to die, nor do I want Heinz to go on a wild goose hunt when the original Perry is literally Bartholomew and probably like two miles away, so that’s not gonna happen. Instead, Heinz promises he’s not going to do anything with this information and he leaves.

When he fights Perry the next time he tells Perry all about what he found. He admits that he tried hacking in with Perry’s handprint and with Carl’s and that he eventually had to use Monogram’s. He explains that the whole idea makes him incredibly uncomfortable and feels too evil, even for him, and that he almost destroyed the machine because it would end the program, but he decided against it because he likes Perry a lot, even if it’s just a clone of him and even if the feeling obviously isn’t mutual, and he wasn’t going to do that to the guy. He just figured this is something he should make sure Perry is aware of, because it sounds like it could have consequences.

It doesn’t have any dire consequences, but it does make Perry very happy. He’d been really iffy around the guy after the whole “turning him evil” thing, so this means a lot. Heinz had no reason to tell him any of this. He really just admit all these things that he knew could make Perry very uncomfortable just because he thought Perry should know the truth, and that’s not even taking into consideration that he has no idea how OWCA would respond if they knew Heinz had told Perry anything. Of course, Perry already knew about the cloning program (though not about the Danville platypuses; that one is new), so he’s not too phased by it. That helps bring their relationship back closer to the level of trust they used to have.

Perry goes home and explains it all to Coby, Bartholomew, and Dennis. None of them are comfortable with the newfound knowledge that there are, like, 50 Perrys out there, but hey, that’s life, right? Bartholomew kinda stops hating Perry as much now that he knows there wasn’t just one Perry that replaced him, and that’s it’s really been a big cycle that OWCA is prepared to continue if given the opportunity. When Bartholomew stops being as mean to Perry, Perry starts liking him a little more, and it kinda helps mend their relationship too.

And now it’s Last Day of Summer, except after the boys get sucked out of the universe, Perry does, too. He’s too disoriented to really process what’s going on until the boys have already noticed that he’s standing there on all fours, so his cover’s officially blown. Together, they have to figure out how to get back home. The rest of the day pretty much goes as it does in the episode, and in the end, one is okay. Heinz turns good, which means Perry now has to meet him in secret because he’s a robot and not supposed to have friends but that’s okay. He can deal with that. 

For some reason or other, Perry accidentally “has babies” because he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when three platypus eggs appeared. They end up being Horatio, Ornithorhynchus (Ornith), and Anatinus (Ana). Hey, you said all the AUs, and there are two Dad!Perry AUs so thsi is what we got lmao. Horatio is a lot like Perry overall, Ornith is a lot like the Agent P side of Perry, and Ana is a lot like the mindless pet side of Perry. It’s a lot of work trying to balance looking after three baby platypuses, especially because they’re actual platypuses and he’s literally a robot. Fortunately, he does have his friends to help, and Bartholomew kinda likes having these kids. It almost reminds him of Phineas and Ferb back when Bartholomew first met them. 

But OWCA tries to get the babies to join no matter how many times Perry tells them to fuck off. One day Perry comes home to find OWCA trying to recruit them behind his back and he’s furious. He throws his hat down and quits because if they’re not going to respect him, he’s not going to respect them. That’s kinda OWCA’s first real glimpse into the fact that Perry has feelings because he’s done a good job at hiding them until then, and they don’t really like it but there’s nothing they can do. When the rest of the agents come home and hear what happened, most of them quit, too, but Coby doesn’t. OWCA is going to want someone to keep an eye on the boys regardless of whether Perry, Bartholomew, and Dennis are up for the task, so he might as well take the L so OWCA doesn’t try to run them out of the house and replace them with a different agent. 

Horatio feels really guilty because he thinks this is all the his fault, so he runs away under the impression that Perry will have an easier time dealing with this if there are only two platybabies instead of three. Now Coby has to balance watching the human kids with taking on his cases and making sure Ornith and Ana don’t wander off. Perry, Bartholomew, and Dennis all have to track Horatio down, and they end up finding him at Doofenshmirtz Good Inc. because Heinz saw him on the street and after the clone Perry debacle, he’s a little wary of seeing non-robot baby platypuses on the street by themselves. He’s a little bitter that no one ever told him that Perry had kids, so Perry assures him that he can meet Ornith and Ana soon. He also gets to meet Bartholomew, which blows his mind even more than the platybabies because holy shit it’s the original Perry, so they lowkey become friends too (but not as close as he is with his Perry). Also just for kicks I’m gonna say he befriends a different platypus clone completely unrelated to this and names that Perry “Steven.”

Shit gets real complicated when the kids from the second dimension cross over into the first. Perry immediately informs Perryborg that his cover is still intact and hands him the pamphlet, and Perryborg has to explain it all to the kids. They can’t admit that they know something that the first dimension kids don’t, so they have to pretend they’ve never met before and hit it off like new friends. Meanwhile, Perry has to explain this to his friends, because the only one with any semblance of an idea that this went down is Coby. Perryborg kinda wants to befriend the platybabies, but they’re kinda terrified of him because, you know, he’s a big scary robot that can obliterate sticks. Perryborg’s jealous of Perry because he has this whole big family to himself now, and because he didn’t lose years of his life with them like Perryborg (and Bartholomew) did. It was enough to upset Bartholomew when he came back, and it’s enough to upset Perryborg. Meanwhlie, Perry’s jealous because Perryborg gets to be himself instead of pretending to be a mindless pet, and Perry wishes he could do that, too. In the end, they both decide that they’re probably bette off how they are now, and when the second dimension kids head home, Perry and Perryborg part as friends.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

This is 4400 words and has taken me many, many hours so if anyone actually reads this whole thing I am very sorry but this was my idea of a “quick fix” for yesterday’s depressive episode lmao anyway gtg gonna buy some more discount halloween candy 

[jewish-privilege]

...Regardless, the reality of perceptions is lived most poignantly in the depths of one’s heart, so I have to admit that it was painful to have to wonder with each time we found ourselves lost and driving up to a new face, and a new location to get directions back home, how we would be received.

Fast forward to three months after our move [from St. Louis to Boston], as I and a team of colleagues are preparing to host our national conference at a Boston hotel. We are filling welcome bags to give to some 300 student guests that will arrive shortly from around the country and realize that we have run out of the snacks that we are using to fill them. As the team lead, and one of two local staffers with a car, I elect to run to the nearest Costco to pick up a case of snacks. As I google the location and print out the directions, I manage to swallow my fear of getting lost, as I tell myself that the Costco is less than 20 miles from the hotel.

As I get into my minivan, I take a deep breath, scan the directions and say to myself, “You got this!”...

At one of the last left turns before reaching my destination, I notice a police car behind me, but I pay it no mind since I’m pretty sure that driving as slowly as I had been since leaving the hotel, I haven’t violated any speed limits. As I near the Costco, I see the gas gauge on my tank is a little low, so I decide to stop for gas. As I turn into the lot and begin looking in my purse for my credit card, I notice that the police car  has now pulled behind me and started flashing its lights.

I look behind me and wait to see if the officer is going to approach my car. When minutes pass and he doesn’t, I decide to get out of the car and get my gas. While walking to the gas tank, a white police officer emerges from the car and yells to me from behind his door, “Excuse me, you’re going to need to get back in your vehicle!”

I turn to look at him and say “Why? Is there something wrong?”

“I said get back in your vehicle!” he yells in response.

Thinking that something about my slow driving may have prompted this encounter, I say, “Officer, did I miss a sign or something when making my turn, I’m actually trying to get to Costco around the corner to buy …”

This time, with a drawn gun in my direction, he screams, “I said get back in your vehicle NOW!”

I get back in my minivan and try to call my husband — no answer. I beep him and leave my number as another two police cars arrive and surround my vehicle. I start to cry. All sorts of images pop into my head as fear sets in around the fact that despite the fact that I’ve got a team of highly educated white Jewish professionals waiting to take my direction back at the hotel, I’m here now, a black person, dressed in sweats, and being held prisoner in my own vehicle for reasons unknown.

...Out of desperation, I decide to call the police on the police. I call the Watertown Police Department and ask to speak to the captain on duty...

After a short hold, I do succeed in getting a captain on the line and manage to tell my story. The captain then puts me on hold for a short while before returning to inform me that although it might appear I am involved in a racial incident, he would like to assure me that this is not case. It seems a person driving a vehicle with my description had been called in earlier that evening for a hit-and-run. The officers had pulled me over and sequestered me in my car because I had been driving slowly and they thought I might have been driving drunk.

As I hear this, more tears come and I find myself saying through sobs to the officer, “And what about my person, outside of my skin color and baggy sweats, do you feel validated your officers in making this assumption? Why have I not been asked any questions? There is another white man here talking to your officers and they have not said a word to me outside of ordering me to stay in my car. Do you realize that had I not returned to my car, I could be dead right now around a false assumption?”

...I get out and say to the officers loudly, “I just spoke to your captain and I need to take a record of what is going on here.” As I go over to the police car behind my vehicle and snap a photo of the license plate, the officer that told me to get in my car repeats that I need to return to my vehicle. While shaking from head to toe, and with tears streaming, I say to him, “I spoke to your captain, and I will go back to my vehicle after I have pictures of my and your cars.”

Despite more yelling from the officer, I proceed to go to the vehicle of the gentleman that had arrived on the scene and take pictures of his car and then pictures of my own. While I am doing this, I notice that the police have also started yelling at another white man who has been parked getting gas at the opposite side of the pumps since I arrived at the gas station.

Although I didn’t see him initially, I realize that he has been standing off to the side watching the entire episode. The police were vociferously asking him to leave and he seemed to be saying to them that he was not willing to comply. At some point this man left the officers and came over to ask me if I was all right. I looked at him through tears and said I was OK. He handed me his business card and said, “I’ve been here the whole time and when I saw that the police wouldn’t listen to you, I stayed to see that you were all right. They are asking me to go now, but if you need me to be a witness for you to say what happened here, just call and I’d be happy to help.”

As I looked into the eyes of this stranger, the events of the evening shifted significantly for me. I realized that despite the grief I felt over the presence and ongoing threat of racism in the new millennium, there was also hope in the presence of this white ally that seemed willing to stand with me and even put himself at risk to ensure that justice was really for all and not just for himself.

Over the past year, as issues of race and racism have exploded and taken center stage in our national discourse, many of my white colleagues have asked me: “What can white people do in this moment?” Given my own experiences, what I find myself saying most often is that it is essential for white people to find ways to stand with people of color in their vulnerability and be a witness to racial injustices that are often going on around them every day.

What gave me hope, when I encountered the uneven hand of the police myself, was that a white stranger stayed by my side to see that justice did not betray me that evening, even though it brought negative attention from the police his way. When white people agree to stand with people of color no matter how uncomfortable the realities at the intersection of race and class may make them, the would-be perpetrators of injustice become accountable not just to their victims but to the world that is watching them as well.

...As I reflect on my own experiences of the inequities of race, I do my best to add hope and context to these occurrences by reminding myself and my would-be allies that oppressive circumstances hold many dimensions, perpetrators, victims and bystanders, and that witnesses and allies are often sharing the same experience of tragedy with different roles to play that can deeply affect the ultimate outcome.

...There is a courageous journey at each end of the spectrum: An oppressor can face fears that have taken years to accumulate and make change in a moment; a victim can face the fear of personal threat, sometimes even death, to insist upon the truth and justice of human dignity; a bystander can feel helpless in a moment of tragedy but inspired to never let what they have seen happen to anyone else again; allies or witnesses can act, often in the moment, to use what power they have to interrupt an oppressive act’s power to rape other human beings of their dignity...

[the--sad--hatter]

Mischief, Meet Your Match - Chapter Five (Loki x Reader)

WARNINGS: Violence, Swearing, Smut, Loki

SUMMARY:

Sam would say your liking for bad boys has gone too far.

Tony would kill the God of Mischief with his bare hands.

Steve would lock you in your room and never let you out.

Natasha would probably just throw you off the roof.

But there’s just something about Loki that draws you to him, and you couldn’t help it even if you wanted to.

MASTERLIST

By the time you reached the outskirts of the city Loki had taken to ignoring you, annoyed by your constant barrage of questions. Not that you really noticed, you were talking at a hundred miles an minute and he wouldn’t have been able to get a word in if he’d tried.

 “How am I going to you know… talk to them? And what are their customs? Mischief what if I offend them?” You asked with considerable concern.

 This was your first foray into Alien territory, you didn’t want to screw it up and upset anyone.

 His fingers closed around your wrist and he pulled you backwards, spinning you so you were facing him.

 “What are you doing now?” You sighed.

 He only smirked and stepped in closer, his arm wrapping around your waist. The once steady beat of your heart picked up until your heart was thrumming like a trapped hummingbird against your ribs.

 “Mischief?” You choked out in a whisper.

He dipped his head until his lips were just a mere breath from yours and against your better instincts your eyes fluttered closed in anticipation. He whispered something against your lips, something you didn’t understand and a cool tingling started in your lips, spreading through your body like an electric shock. Your head felt clouded and heavy.

 Abruptly he released you. It was so sudden you almost fell over and scrambled to regain your balance as he turned on his heel and strode away.

 “There, now you needn’t worry about the communication barrier.” Loki said over his shoulder.

 “Wait, what?”

 “Allspeak Kitten. You can understand and be understood by almost any being in the universe now.” He elaborated.

 Your fingers brushed over your lips as you frowned. It was a spell, he had enchanted you, not kissed you.

 “Wait, you’re saying I can talk to Aliens? I’m going to be able to talk to them?” You gasped.

 “You are aware I myself am what you would class as an Alien? As is my brother.” He said dryly, taking the time to look back at you like you were an idiot.

 “Thor’s not an Alien, he’s a puppy.” You scoffed as you caught up with him.

 “And me?” He probed.

 “I could spend a lifetime trying to figure out what you are and not have any answers.” You told him.

 “What a waste of a lifetime, especially since yours is so short.”

 “Don’t worry Mischief, I wouldn’t really waste my life on you…...”

 You trailed off mid-sentence because someone walked out of a doorway and across your path. The person was about 4ft tall, green, had a trunk with a snail-like shell around it and two eyes raised on stalks above it’s head, and didn’t appreciate you staring it.

 “What the hell are you looking at?” They snapped.

 “You.” You said dumbly.

 You hadn’t meant it to come out rude or antagonistic but they seemed to take it that way, ducking their head down and hurrying away.

 “Oh. Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that.” You said, looking after them forlornly.

 “Ciegrimite, native to this planet.” Loki supplied helpfully.

 “Cool!” You said, awestruck.

 The further into the city you got, the more that awestruck feeling grew. It was a cluster of new sounds and smells, some you could find similarity in, some completely foreign. There were aliens that were indistinguishable from you and Loki, though some had blue, green or purple skin. There were various beings though that were absolutely nothing like you as well though and everytime you saw one, you got a little giddy.

 “Who’s that?” You asked, tugging on Loki’s sleeve like an excited child.

 “A Calurnian. I’m not personally acquainted with her though so I can’t tell you who it is.” He said with only a hint of mocking.

 A small furry brown creature that came up to about your waist saw you peering at it and before you could look away before offending it, it waved at you. You waved back enthusiastically, ignoring Loki rolling his eyes beside you.

 “Druff. Idiotic things, they possess no more than a childlike intelligence and have an even shorter lifespan than you do.” He whispered.

 “What? How long do they live?”

 “Three years, give or take.” He shrugged.

 You looked back at the small being sadly. Three years wasn’t long at all, no wonder they had childlike intelligence, they never even grew up.

 “It’s not all beautiful after all is it?” Loki taunted.

 “Beauty isn’t measured by quantity Mischief.” You snapped.

 He seemed taken aback by the sudden souring of your mood.

 “Enlighten me then Kitten, how does one measure beauty?” He challenged.

 “You don’t.” You said simply.

 If he needed it explained, then he was never going to understand. You kind of got it though, when you lived for millenia then things lost their charm and excitement and your standards got higher, being raised as Royalty probably didn’t help either. You were actually glad that you would never live long enough to become that numb to things.

 “This is one of the seedier taverns in the city, well know to be frequented by pirates and mercenaries.” Loki said, nodding towards a one storey shack.

 Even if this world was unfamiliar to you, you could tell that the tavern wasn’t a nice place. It had a very bad vibe and the raucous yelling and sounds of fighting coming from it put you on alert even before Loki had pointed it out.

 “What are you doing now?” He sighed in exasperation when you didn’t follow him but started scoping out an alleyway instead.

 “I though you were like the King of Sneaky? If I watch from here, I have a clear view in through the windows. It’s better than stomping in and attracting attention.” You explained, perching on top a railing so you could see the whole inside of the tavern from your vantage point.

 Loki might have argued if it weren’t for the brisk professional manner you had taken up. You had slipped into mission mode.

 “Yes, it’s better if you stay out here. You can be my secret weapon.” He agreed with a slight nod of his head, acting like he had come up with the idea.

 “If you need me, scratch your right eyebrow. If you need me to get ready, scratch your left.” You ordered.

 “How droll.” He sighed.

 “Ok, counter offer, I’ll wait for somebody to stab you. Soon as I see you bleeding, that’ll be my signal to come in.” You offered.

 “Everytime I think we’re making progress you say something like that, I’m starting to think you don’t like me.” He quipped dryly.

 “I like you.” You said with a casual shrug.

 He narrowed his eyes and waited for the punchline but there wasn’t one.

 “Even after I kidnapped you and forced you to play bodyguard to me?”

 “An alien waved at me, I’m pretty over the kidnapping thing as long as I get home soon. And you’re not the worst company in the world.. or the universe.” You informed him with a teasing smirk.

 “So there’s hope for us yet then.” He deduced with a grin.

 He leant on the wall so he was towering over you with his considerable height, his eyes twinkling and his lips upturned.

 “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I like you but I don’t trust you. I’d say I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you but I think I could actually throw you quite a bit further than I’d ever be able to trust you Mischief. You’re still the god of lies, and fire and chaos, and you tried to take over my planet and attacked my family. I’m working with you because I have no choice but don’t forget that I’m still and Avenger and you’re still a villain.” You said, reminding yourself more than him.

 Everything you had said was technically true. He was the bad guy and you were trying your best to be a hero. You were helping him because you were essentially his prisoner. Neither of you could afford to forget that. You guessed Loki wasn’t pleased with the reminder because his expression went cold and he turned around and walked into the tavern without another word.

 And if you felt guilty for hurting his feelings then it was just weakness on your part and you needed to do better. Making friends with Loki was not on the agenda. All that was on the agenda was getting home.

 You needed to get back home, to Steve.

 ~~~Two Hours Later~~~

 Loki exited the tavern furiously. He had been forced to threaten his way out, leaving at least two bodies in his wake and you, you hadn’t deigned to show up. He stormed over to the alleyway he’d left you in and as he suspected, found it void of your presence. There was a slight chance you had been taken but he suspected that if you had somehow been unable to fight off an attacker you would have at least made such a scene that he would have heard it. No, he knew what had happened. You had abandoned him.

 Ire coursed through his veins at your unreliability and callousness. He thought you had reached an accord and you had scuttled off like a cockroach the second his back was turned. You were really arrogant enough to believe you could survive in this place without him, lightyears away from your home and your precious Avengers without any backup.

 He bit down a groan of frustration and began searching for you, trying to think like you would to figure out where you had gone. He searched all through the marketplace assuming you would be entranced by the stalls of shiny worthless junk but he turned up no sign of you. He could just leave you here but that was too close to mercy and he wanted to make you pay for your betrayal. He’d been kind and this is how you repayed him.

 So what if he had kidnapped you, you had tried to trick him first. In fact, you were the reason he had been captured in the first place. Even if you thought you had just been defending the little hunk of space debris you called a planet you had no right. And he hadn’t hurt you, he had even let you attack him without repercussion. He had used his magic to gift you allspeak, something usually reserved for Asgardians, and just because you’d been so worried about being able to talk with the insignificant beings who traversed this place. Well he hoped that you enjoyed being able to understand them before they slit your throat and threw you in a pit. Though the thought of that happening did make him quicken his pace.

 Because he was the one who deserved to kill you, not because he was worried.

 His search for you came to an abrupt conclusion when instead of him finding you, you literally fell at his feet. Or to be precise, someone bodily threw you out of a tavern and into his path.

 “Mishiff?” You slurred, squinting at him from the ground.

 He stared down at you, half furious, half perplexed.

 “Kitten.” He said lowly, his tone dripping with venom.

 He knelt down and grabbed a fistful of your shirt, dragging you to your feet, glaring daggers at the ginormous bovine like creature that had unceremoniously thrown you in the dirt.

 “Leave. Now. Before I make you pay in blood for laying a hand on her.” He snarled at it, his eyes flashing dangerously.

 It seemed to understand the danger and slowly backed away. When it had retreated back inside the Inn he looked down at you.

 “’Lo.” You said amicably, blinking up at him.

 “You’re drunk.” He seethed.

 “Yup! They have strong stuff here, gets even super shoulders drunk.”

 “Of all the stupid, ignorant, lowly creatures in this universe you are the one I trusted and you abandoned me if favour of getting drunk.” He clarified, deadly calm.

 “You didn’t trust me with a thing, you napped me by *hiccup* accident. You were just being a dick so get off that high…. Thingy… HORSE!” You screeched, trying to turn around and looking confounded by the fact you couldn’t seem to move.

 He noticed a few people watching the commotion and swore under his breath.

 “Move.” He snarled at you, pushing you ahead of him and swearing again when you stumbled and he was forced to catch you.

 He sighed and kept a grip on your waist, dragging you off the streets.

 “Where we going?” You asked giddily.

 “Out of sight,” He hissed.

 “Oh, I’m in trouble now!” You yelped.

A/N - What are we thinking so far?

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[dreamcast-official]

y’know what

big rant abt how i would change gemini paradox to be better under the cut (some notes on integra too bc y’know.... maybe integra should’ve been more significant in paradox’s storyline....... just a guess)

first things first remove the creepy obsession she has with ryuho and shiryu. just. get rid of it. just throw it out the window bc it’s unnecessary nd when it comes to ryuho it’s honestly kind of gross but i know how to fix it so don’t worry

after that to fix the obsession storyline we age her down. make her like 15 idk. then we turn her weird obsession into a. still obsession ig but of a different kind

y’know how before she met shiryu as a child she just told her parents they would die if they went out and how it’s implied they died and she and integra were the only survivors? yeah change that up so that shiryu can have his big damn heroes moment and her parents ALSO survive. thus baby paradox and integra come up to him to express their gratitude and paradox goes the extra mile by asking how she can be just like him (keep that in mind.) so he uh,,,,,gives a speech idk and that stays with her. since we aged her down here then ryuho would have already been born at this point but i dont know math so lets assume he was also already being trained by shiryu

AND THAT IS WHERE WE GET TO THE “HOW TO FIX THE CREEPY OBSESSION STORYLINE” PART

make it so that her number one goal in life is to be just like shiryu. she went to sanctuary for the one purpose of finding a way to become his student. however, while she’s there, she finds out he already has a student and isn’t interested in taking another one. pair that up with integra having just yelled at her for whatever reason and that’s when she loses her shit and unleashes her “hatred” persona for the first time (idk what to call it other than a persona bc it most certainly isn’t an alter)

fast forward to mars’ invasion of sanctuary, instead of just not saying anything about having seen the invasion, she WILLINGLY follows them and offers herself up so she can snatch up the gemini cloth before integra can; remember, shiryu is a gold saint here, and her main goal is to be just like him, so ofc she’s gonna take the opportunity to be one step closer to getting there.

(also sidenote but i had one particular design element in mind: a mask that hides half her face and changes from left to right [and from comedy to tragedy] depending on whether she’s in her “love” persona or her “hatred” persona)

FAST FORWARD AGAIN to her fight with ryuho. she still needs to be unsettling bc... i vibe with that part but since we’re removing that whole creepy obsession of hers she’s now incredibly (and violently) jealous of ryuho for being shiryu’s student but she disguises it as being overly friendly (think “you’re my new best friend” but like.........very creepy bc this is a very powerful 15 year old) AND once ryuho stutters out that he didn’t like being the dragon saint, that he didn’t like to fight... she loses it.

and ONCE SHE LOSES HER SHIT, that’s when we get the first instance of her cool mask switching sides on her face and changes from comedy to tragedy and her hair changes colors and ryuho’s fucked.

whatever the battle carries on as usual except she doesn’t jump into her “you’re my new best friend” thing with kouga, she just immediatly pummels him into the ground

SEASON 2

she still willingly becomes a pallasite, but the guards at the prison which i forgot the name of don’t comment on her being creepy and doing weird shit, they comment on how could a 15 year old girl possibly be so dangerous as to be kept there-

then she tells them “you’re both going to die in ten seconds” and that’s when gallia shows up and bla bla bla

(another design note: her hair is down, it’s two-toned, she’s not wearing her mask at all anymore, she’s essentially Lost It and Given Up)

so when she goes up against ryuho again she says “look at me. laugh at how i’ve fallen. you’ve rejected my friendship once, and i’m not one to give second chances.”

THEN WE GET INTEGRA and id talk about integra more but like im tired lol

but also like..........dont forget paradox and integra are 15 here and they’ve been thrown into the responsibility of being gold saints which. has GOT to be insane

[jcmorrigan]

Tales from the Scrap Heap: Nothing to Lose but You

I decided to start “Tales from the Scrap Heap” as a little series on my blog for fanfiction ideas that I never got into print. Because my brain is really, really good at coming up with way more long-form plots than I can ever realistically hope to publish. I have to be picky about which plot bunnies I follow and which I don’t. The stories here are the ones that I considered and ultimately didn’t motivate me as much as what I have up on my AO3 account.

For the first one, I’m aware I’m putting myself in the Discourse Box here but it’s a Voltron: Legendary Defender fic. However, it’s for the absolute only ship I have never seen contested, largely because I don’t think anybody remembers these guys: Vakala/Remdax. Something about them really intrigued me (probably that they’re silly x straitlaced, have a size difference, and bicker constantly, which is almost a full row of JCMorrigan OTP Bingo). If you don’t remember, they’re the two aliens who found clone!Shiro on the ice planet shortly after he escaped (this is when we thought he was real!Shiro) and decided ultimately not to eat him and instead to give him a shuttle to escape back to Voltron. Anyhow, one day I just had too much Worldbuilding Juice and decided to come up with a little history for them, and because they’re rebels hiding in a remote location in a seemingly neverending war, it is one of the darkest story ideas I have. There’s a happy ending for our two leading men, but because this is indeed a wartime story, what I came up with to explain why they were on that ice planet and so willing to even cannibalize any Galra who showed up ended up having elements of colonialism, prison/labor camps, fugitive life, and a worldbuild flavoring that implies some noncon happened somewhere at some point. So if these things are not what you want to read in a hypothetical Voltron fanfiction outline, please keep movin’. Anyway, this is the one story I most regret never finishing because I had so much of it fleshed, but my Voltron muse is long gone and I have no enthusiasm, so here’s what I would’ve written, had I the energy.

·      Title is “Nothing to Lose but You” because the point of this story is these two go through the wringer and are literally all each other have. It’s that kind of story

·      I decided to call the planet Vakala and Remdax are from “Taxalai,” and the name for a resident is “Taxalan.” Taxalan society has a heavy emphasis on technology (which is why Remdax not knowing how to work a computer or being able to remember a password is such an oddity and so frustrating to pretty much any other Taxalan), and pretty much everything is computerized to some degree. Screens everywhere.

·      We open on Vakala, who is living in a mansion that used to belong to his family but has since been taken over by an invading Galra general. This was going to be an OC who I could just make nasty, but then I got re-introduced to Morvok, the Galra’s resident black sheep, and I will take any excuse to write Morvok so let’s just say it was he who took over Vakala’s family manor and just sits on the couch all day regaling people with stories of his greatness (none of which are true).

·      Vakala himself is a servant to Morvok, having to bring him whatever he wants and be at his beck and call.

·      One day, Vakala decides he’s done taking orders and declares he is no longer going to be in a position of servitude in his own house. Morvok simply dismissively says to “Take this one away wherever you take the ones that act up so I don’t have to look at him.”

·      And Vakala is arrested by a Galra squadron and brought to a prison camp many, many miles away.

·      It’s night when he’s delivered, so he’s brought right to the cramped barrack where a bunch of Taxalans who have been there longer are stacked in bunk beds. Vakala’s first night there, he screams and claws at the door that’s been sealed behind him, begging to be let out because he’ll follow orders this time.

·      The other prisoners there are veterans, so they all tell him to shut up because they’re never gonna listen. All but one.

·      Enter Remdax. He’s from another part of Taxalai – Vakala’s voice sounds more American to me while Remdax is definitely British, so I assume they have to come from different parts of the planet. They also have different physical structures that may suggest ethnic divides, though their color palette affirms they’re both of the same planetary origin. It’s also worth noting he has both eyes still at this point. This is very important.

·      Remdax is here because he was part of an anti-Galra rebel squad that was largely made up of his friends and family. The Galra found and closed in on their base, and Remdax ran out and got himself arrested for the purpose of slowing down the Galra officers enough that his friends and family could escape – which they did.

·      Anyway, that exposition would come some time later. For now, what’s happening is Vakala is having a panic attack in the middle of the night and everyone’s telling him to shut up because it’s futile. Except for Remdax. Remdax stands up and essentially says, “We’ve all done the same thing when we first arrived. Let him feel what he feels.”

·      And he approaches Vakala to try and calm him down verbally – just by saying his feelings are validated, and yes, it’s really awful, but he’ll survive, and Remdax will do his best to make sure Vakala survives. But he can’t really tell him it’s “okay” because it is quite clearly not.

·      Vakala eventually gives up and goes to sleep, quite depressed and for good reason.

·      The following morning, Vakala is put to work on an assembly line making Galra weaponry. This is what all the Taxalans in this particular camp must do. It’s very mechanically inclined, not many screens, not the way Taxalans usually work.

·      I don’t know if pacing-wise, it would be better to have this happen the first time or later, but Vakala ends up trying to pick up a cooling metal part way too soon and burning his palm horribly. He has to finish the rest of his shift one-handed.

·      Again, the other imprisoned Taxalans avoid this situation, largely because anxiety is high as-is, but Remdax steps forward once more, trying to care for the burn as best as he can. And he has zero supplies, so the best he can do is run a whole lot of cold water over Vakala’s hand and wrap it up in fabric he tore off his clothing.

·      Vakala ends up underperforming because of this injury and receives some punishment later. I didn’t think too much on exactly what – had I fleshed this out fully, I’d at least imply strongly what happened

·      Remdax has a bit of a crisis over this because he invested in protecting this guy, he failed, and there was literally nothing he could do. He’s in here for self-sacrifice in the first place, so he keeps thinking there’s always something he could do to help someone else if he gives something up for himself. But sometimes, he doesn’t even have an opportunity to do so, and it’s driving him into panic.

·      It’s shortly after this that he starts getting into his head that maybe the only way to help Vakala and himself is if he finds a way to escape.

·      There’s a day in which Remdax and Vakala are assigned to work outside on the grounds, and down comes an inspector from another sector on a shuttle. Remdax sees the opportunity and waves Vakala over.

·      They only have one shot, and it will unfortunately mean leaving the rest of their people behind, which is a horrible sacrifice, but it’s either they go on their own or nobody goes at all.

·      Remdax rushes the Galra inspector and attacks him. They get in a physical brawl while Vakala hurries in and hijacks the ship, which isn’t difficult for his technologically-inclined mind.

·      During this fight, Remdax either knocks out or kills the Galra inspector, but in the process, the inspector stabs one of his eyes completely out.

·      Remdax hops onto the ship and they have to go right away or else lose their freedom and maybe their lives forever. Vakala is freaking out because Remdax’s eye is bleeding, but Remdax is trying to act casual and make jokes about it because Vakala needs to be calm enough to drive.

·      They get off Taxalai on that stolen shuttle and land on the nearest planet, which I never named.

·      They’re aware they’re fugitives at this point.

·      They end up in a metropolitan area, where they check into a hotel so they have somewhere to sleep. I hadn’t worked out how they pay for the first night – maybe with favors, because Vakala eventually ends up a receptionist at this hotel and earns good wages, so maybe he gets his foot in the door by saying “I’ll do anything” and the receptionist is already pulling double duty and just goes “Do the second half of my fourteen-hour shift”

·      They have to finish wrapping up Remdax’s eye in that hotel room as best they can. Thankfully, it doesn’t get infected.

·      Immediately their first thought is to go out and find a way of bringing in income. As I said, Vakala makes a good receptionist and is excellent at filing client data on computers, so he ends up with a good-paying job that way.

·      Remdax takes a job down at a garage working with vehicle mechanics and engines, since that’s what he’s better at. Not in the manufacture of those parts (never again), but in fixing up broken vehicles. (I would’ve made it something more interesting than simply cars for this planet because Voltron planets are all about interesting possibilities for new civilizations.)

·      There’s some down-time where they live rather domestically this way, just earning enough to buy simple food and extend the stay in their small and shabby hotel room, but also bonding and becoming better friends.

·      A lot of people assume they already are a couple. Remdax in particular gets asked about his “husband” at the garage and he has to keep denying it.

·      There’s one night where they’re just having a relatively good time, taking a night to relax and appreciate that they can do nothing and be okay, and Remdax very gingerly brings up he wants to ask something of Vakala that might be too much. Vakala agrees to hear him out, and all Remdax wants is to be hugged for a bit while he thinks about how far they’ve come. So they hold each other, just lying on the bed and muttering to each other about the way things used to be, the way things are now, how lucky they are to have each other.

·      It’s actually some time later that they start seeing each other in a romantic light. Before this, they were a lifeline to each other, and in the heat of the worst moments, they couldn’t even really think about romance – they had to be preoccupied with survival. But now that their life is settling down and they’re starting to pack away funds for a small house, they start thinking…we’re basically life partners. Are we attracted to each other?

·      Answer: yes.

·      They kiss one night over a pretty meager dinner spread out picnic-style on their bed.

·      Shortly after this is when the Galra troops come into the city, looking for the two fugitives who attacked an inspector and fled custody.

·      Vakala and Remdax end up having to escape out the window, flee down the fire escape, and hijack a ship from Remdax’s garage.

·      They’re floating between worlds yet again.

·      They are eventually found by another ship, and they fear the Galra have finally captured them – but it’s a ship of rebels who’ve had similar stories. Vakala and Remdax are two of the Galra’s most wanted, and these rebels realized they would make great additions to the team in exchange for some stability.

·      So they work out a plan where Vakala and Remdax man an outpost on the ice planet, one of the most remote they have, that monitors Galra communications.

·      The rebels drop in supplies regularly and also have left a shuttle in case of emergency.

·      Vakala and Remdax both haaaaate the cold and so use the first week or so as an excuse to snuggle a lot.

·      And things go pretty okay. Remdax is still technologically illiterate and Vakala is just like “Are you even a Taxalan”

·      This is where they start bickering, which they like because finally, finally the stakes are low enough where they can afford to just rag on each other and still like each other at the end of the day.

·      They get more physical at this stage, too, but of course I can’t write a lemon to save my soul so it’s just a lot of implications

·      Things start going wrong when a Galra officer finds the base on a planet. This is far too dangerous and they both know it. If this guy gets two steps further, their location is blown and they are both dead. So Remdax kills him.

·      It’s been a while since their last supply delivery. And they figure it’s best not to waste anything…so they decide the Galra they killed has to go into food reserves.

·      Vakala nearly has a full-on panic attack while cannibalizing another person, even if that person was dangerous.

·      Some time later, another Galra shows up, but this one’s different. She claims to come in peace, and introduces herself as Acxa.

·      Remdax is ready to murder again, but Vakala holds him off because he can recognize Acxa isn’t a full-blooded Galra and in fact, he’s pretty sure there’s Taxalan in her genetic makeup based on how her face looks.

·      Acxa confirms. Her grandmother was a Taxalan and forced to be a servant of a Galra commander who impregnated her (here is the strongly implied noncon).

·      Acxa offers to help, swearing to secrecy. Vakala and Remdax deny her help but let her get away with her life, wondering if they’d made the right decision.

·      A month with no contact and they’re fairly secure Acxa didn’t snitch.

·      Then in comes Shiro, and canon events happen. These would be briefly recapped.

·      The important thing to note is that they let Shiro have their only shuttle, and that was a boo-boo, but it’s okay because the rebels are gonna drop off supplies anyway, so they shouldn’t need it.

·      And then the other rebels never show up.

·      I’m not sure if I’d have them literally be dead or leave it up in the air, but their supplies are cut off. They ration out their remaining food for the next few years. There’s at least one more Galra who shows up that they have to eat. And it does last a few years, until the end of VLD canon.

·      They’re starving to death. Skin and bone. And we get them eating their last ration over the fire and since they’re both used to cannibalizing Galra by now, their minds are on the obvious. Each is ready to kill himself so the other can live longer.

·      For dramatic effect I might have let them get close to pulling the trigger before the sound of someone showing up alerts them

·      They go outside, hoping they’re saved and not screwed…

·      And wouldn’t you know. It’s the paladins of Voltron. Also Acxa.

·      Allura has already been exchanged for the restoration of all realities (which Vakala and Remdax have no idea happened because when you’re in a reality that disappears and reappears, that has no bearing on your memory because you literally did not exist and suddenly existed again with no idea of the gap)

·      Altea and Daibazaal have been restored and now the paladins are working on bringing peace all over the universe

·      And Shiro remembered the two who helped his clone out because of…memory merging?...and Acxa brought up “We really need to check on those two”

·      They get Vakala and Remdax on a warm ship, find them food, get them cleaned up

·      And then bring them back to Taxalai, which has just been liberated from Galra control. We see the more unforgivable Galra getting their due punishment. The camp administrators are now incarcerated. Morvok is doing community service scooping poop at the zoo or something horrible because it’s Morvok

·      Shiro is considering his retirement, but first, he addresses Vakala and Remdax, asking if they want to govern the reclaimed Taxalai and help make it a beautiful place where their people can flourish

·      Vakala is trying so hard not to break down and cry, but it’s Remdax who hits his knees and starts bawling first

·      The final line would be about how they were finally “home” for the first time in their entire lives