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jackdawyt · 4 years

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Today I’m continuing my new mini-series paving the road for the anticipated release of the next Dragon Age game. Through these videos, I’ll be delving into very particular honed-in lore and plot threads that are rather telling for the future narrative of Dragon Age.

Last episode I discussed the blighted mineral known as Red Lyrium as it spreads throughout the land, tainting everything it touches, wreaking havoc on the eco-system of Thedas. However, today we have a subjectively worse rival that already has plans for Thedas and its people.

A most prideful, hot-headed fool lingers. One who you could consider to be an enemy, friend or lover. But ultimately, and most importantly, he’s a man who in the end is sorry, and believes he’s only doing what he must for the sake of his people. Of course, we talking about Solas and his plans for Thedas.

In order for us to look forward regarding what Solas’ future scheme may entail; we’ve got to recollect everything that has been instrumental in his plan to restore the elvhen kingdom by destroying the Veil.

“Cry havoc in the moonlight, let the fire of vengeance burn, the cause is clear.” (Solas, DA:I).

Solas comes from a time when everything sang the same. A time before the Veil was created. When the ancient elven kingdom of Arlathan flourished. Elves were seen as immortal, powerful mages that ruled the lands. The most impressive of their kind were the Evanuris, whom the Dalish call "The Creators".

The Creators

“Long ago, there were two clans of gods. The Creators looked after the People. The Forgotten Ones preyed upon us. And one god who was neither. Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf. He was kin to the Creators, and in the days of old, often helped them with their endless war against the Forgotten Ones.” (Merril, DA2).

The Evanuris “were said to bestow all life's gifts and dole out its punishments” (WoT V.1). The pantheon consisted of nine “gods”:

Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance

Mythal: the Great Protector

Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead, the Guide

Dirthamen: Keeper of Secrets

Andruil: Goddess of the Hunt

Sylaise: the Hearthkeeper

June: God of the Craft

Ghilan'nain: Mother of the Halla

Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf

“Fen’Harel was clever. He could walk among both clans of gods without fear, and both believed he was one of them.” (Merril, DA2).

While it’s unclear what exactly happened, the Elven Pantheon declared war on anyone who dare oppose them.

"It started with a war. War breeds fear. Fear breeds a desire for simplicity. Good and evil. Right and wrong. Chains of command. After the war ended, generals became respected elders, then kings, then finally gods. The Evanuris." (Solas, DA:I).

Codex entries point to a longing feud with both the Titans and the Forgotten Ones:

“One day Andruil grew tired of hunting mortal men and beasts. She began stalking The Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss.” (Codex entry: Elven God Andruil).

"Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!" (Codex entry: Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads).

Regardless of who or what was defeated, the Evanuris were victorious in their conquest. This triumph was the beginning of the pantheons’ corruption - with their hubris - the Evanuris became a villainous tyranny.

In their lust for power, members of the Evnauris plotted against Mythal and killed her. This act would bring forth the elven kingdoms doom known as “the Betrayal.”

The Betrayal

“You said the elven gods went too far. What did they do that made you move against them?” (Inquisitor).

“They killed Mythal. She was the best of them. She cared for her people. She protected them. She was a voice of reason. And in their lust for power, they killed her.”

A crime for which an eternity of torment is the only fitting punishment. (Solas).

This chain of events set Solas’ scheme in motion – to avenge Mythal and right the Evanuris’ wrongdoings.

Solas rebelled against the pantheon, he worked to free slaves bound by vallaslin, granting them sanctuary from their tyrannical masters.

He created the Veil, a magical barrier that separated the foundations of magic that Arlathan was built on. The Veil’s creation brought destruction to the Elvhen, countless marvels reliant on the Fade crumbled, the people lost their immortality and the majority of their magic.

Then Solas banished each of the Evnauris to the Beyond, where they linger forever in torment.

This was the great quickening that the Dalish elves in Thedas still believe today. The disarrayment and destruction of the elven empire. However, ‘twas not Tevinter, nor the pride of mortal man who destroyed the elves.

A few even claim their ancestors were immortal, and it was only the arrival of humans- "shemlen" or "quicklings” that brought death to the "elvhen" people. (WoT V.1).

It was indeed Solas who destroyed the elvhen world.

"It was not the arrival of humans that caused us to begin aging. It was me. The Veil took everything from the elves, even themselves.” (Solas, DA:I)

After creating the Veil, Solas fell into a deep slumber.

"I lay in dark and dreaming sleep while countless wars and ages passed. I woke still weak a year before I joined you." (Solas, DA:I).

Having slept for many years, Solas awoke. He witnessed the transition of his proud and immortal people, now reduced to the fringes of human society.

Once the greatest empire in Thedas, now a cluster of baboons with a false understanding of their existence. They spread false tales of the Evanuris’ feud, praising the false gods, and condemning Fen’Harel. Wearing vallaslin as worship, without realising their slave mark origin.

The elves today can’t even speak the same complexities of their old language, while the remains of Arlathan are nothing but a shallow husk, its memory long since gone, along with the majority of magic.

“My people fell for what I did to strike the Evanuris down, but still some hope remains for restoration. I will save the elven people, even if it means this world must die.” (Solas, DA:I).

While the blame falls to Solas for the elven people’s decimation, what the Evanuris had planned would’ve destroyed the entire world. Solas believed creating the Veil was the lesser of two evils.

“Had I not created the Veil the Evanuris would have destroyed the entire world.” (Solas, DA:I).

While Solas woke up still weak, he has plans to restore the elven people to their former glory. Originally, Solas planned to use his orb of destruction to destroy the Veil, re-establishing the world of his time. However, his slumber had made him too weak to unlock the orb, so using his agents, Solas indirectly gave his orb to Corypheus.

Corypheus, being an ancient and powerful darkspawn would then unlock the orb and die in the resulting explosion. However, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Corypheus uncovered the secrets of effective immortality, and the Inquisitor was the one who gained the orb’s power – the Anchor.

The Anchor

As a result, Solas joined the Inquisition with the sole purpose of defeating Corypheus and getting his unlocked orb back, so he could resume his plan to destroy the Veil. (which explains why he knew so much about the Anchor in the first place).

Of course, this plan too was unsuccessful because the orb was destroyed by failing rocks with the defeat of Corypheus. However, Solas did not expect to find someone he could relate to, as much as he did with the Inquisitor.

“You change everything.” (Solas, DA:I).

He cared for this world, and some of the people in it. And that truly surprised him. But that vulnerability is only going to make his plan harder. No matter how much the Inquisitor tried to sway him, Solas walks the journey of death, he would not have anyone close to him see what he will become.

“I walk the dinan'shiral. There is only death on this journey. I would not have you see what I become.” (Solas, DA:I).

If the Veil is successfully destroyed, the Evanuris (and whatever else lingers in the Beyond) will be released, after suffering years of torment. With their freedom, surely, they’ll unleash havoc on Thedas once again, exacting revenge at the one responsible for their imprisonment.

"Wouldn't the false gods be free?" (The Inquisitor, DA:I).

"I had plans." (Solas, DA:I).

In order for Solas to grant Mythal vengeance, he will need to silence the Evanuris for good. For this plan, Solas has taken an aspect of Mythal’s power so he can rise as the Dread Wolf.

The Dread Wolf

With that power now invested, Solas can transform into the Dread Wolf. In this form, the wolf is “lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).

Solas as the Dread Wolf has taken residence in the Fade where spirits and demons serve him willingly. He has an enigmatic ritual for the Fade that has been set in motion. Since his orb’s destruction, Solas has been looking at other alternatives for tearing down the Veil.

“As the Avvar do. But whatever fear the name Dread Wolf carries, he has earned. While we might visit the Fade, it is his natural home, and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in my dreams now, accusing me of crimes I never.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Currently, Solas hunts the Red Lyrium Idol, which apparently belongs to him, and he has a purpose for it. Other than that, not much else is known about it, not even its location.

"The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it." (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 490).

“He intends something for the Fade, and if he wants the idol, then whatever he intends will be terrible.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Solas has always had a network of agents working for him behind the curtains. However, the length of Solas’s spies has greatly increased. Many of the Dalish Elves truly believe in Solas's cause and have joined his fight and even the Ancient Elves have been acquired for his schemes.

“And now we know that the Dread Wolf has agents working for him.” (The Bard, The Dread Wolf Take You).

The elves who haven’t joined his ranks have begun to call his army - “Fen’Harel cultists”

Fen’Harel Cultists

“Each one of those damned Fen’Harel cultists. ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back.’” She caught my questioning glance. “They tried to recruit me a few years ago. I said no.” (Half Up Front, page 470)

Solas’ agents, or cultists, whichever takes your liking, already tried to manipulate a war between the Qunari Ben-Hassrath and Tevinter kinsman. An agent of Fen’Harel placed a Tevinter rogue on Qunari lands as a bomb destroyed the Qun’s new darvaarad.

Fortunately, the Ben-Hassrath discovered this plot before it was too late. However, If this plan was successful, it would’ve caused immediate chaos for all of Thedas.

“A Tevinter altus, striking at a Qunari settlement that had yet to enter hostilities? Ben- Hassrath wouldn’t be able to sit the war out anymore. Utter and complete chaos.” I felt nauseous. What I’d almost done, almost been responsible for. (Half Up Front, page 478).

And finally, most recently in a desperate attempt to intercept Thedas’ top spy factions, Solas disguised himself as an Orlesian Bard with a blonde wig and all the trimmings.

Interception

An Executor, Carta Assassin, Mortalitasi Mage, Inquisition Spy and, of course, Solas were present.

He listened as each faction shared their knowledge on the Dread Wolf, before the Executor could speak, Solas killed them. Then he attempted to lie about his knowledge on the Wolf, but was quickly caught out.

He turned the Mortalitasi and Carta Assassin to stone, and revealed himself to the Inquisition Spy known as Chater.

Out of his disguise, Solas appeared tired and sad. He knows that many oppose him and that they are not fools. Telling the Inquisitor what he intended to do was a moment of weakness.

“He sighed. “It was a moment of weakness. I told myself that it was because you all deserved to know, to live a few years in peace before my ritual was complete. Before this world ended.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).

He admitted he’s prideful, hot-headed and foolish. Most importantly that he’s sorry for what is to come next.

“I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice faltered. “Say that I am sorry.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).

I’ve already addressed the most apparent plot points that regard Solas’s future scheme like the potential destruction of the Veil and dealing with the Evnauris. But other plot points linger that intertwine with Solas’s plan:

Solas's Ritual

As I already stated, Solas has started a ritual ongoing in the Fade with the help of spirits and demons. It’s a very ambiguous ritual, however, we do know that binding spirits and using blood magic undoes both the work that Solas has planned for the Fade, and the ritual that has been set in motion.

“And as clear as the Dread Wolf’s anger at what we had done— the Mortalitasi binding spirits he considered his own, the Tevinter mage using forbidden blood magic— was the feeling that we had disrupted his own work.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Perhaps more of these types of magic is needed to disrupt his ritual? This would make the Mortalitasi and Tevinter Magisters great allies in the coming war.

The Inquisitor

Solas’ journey in modern day Thedas started with our Inquisitor, surely his journey should end with them too. The Inquisitor swore to either attempt to redeem or stop Solas, this narrative needs to reach its end. Will Solas and the Inquisitor reach a happy climax? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean our Inquisitor will easily give up. The two characters need closure to end their story for good.

Mythal’s Vengeance

I feel like I need to reiterate that Solas did not absorb Mythal’s spirt, he only took an aspect of her power before she placed a piece of herself in an eluvian, as she finds her next vessel. This means that whoever drank from the Well of Sorrows are still bound to Mythal, Solas did not possess or absorb her soul, she is still alive.

All Solas did, with Mythal willing, was absorb an unknown quantity of her power so he could rise as the Dread Wolf and fulfil her bidding to slay the rest of the pantheon. I truly believe Mythal has a greater scheme at play, and Solas has fallen ridicule to her, he’s blind sighted because of the bond they share, but I believe Mythal has darker intentions, and they’ll soon come to play once Solas destroys the Veil.

So, what does come next for Solas? There are a lot of future topics we’ve touched on, but all I can say is we should expect to see him transform into the most villainous Dread Wolf as he stops anyone who dare intercede with his scheme. Not only that, but he has an army of spirts and demons in the Fade, with his agents on the field in Thedas. The tensions are rising, perhaps soon enough we’ll witness the magic come back, as Solas rises to destroy the Veil. The Evanuris are too going to be out for vengeance, only time will tell if we can save our friend before it’s too late.

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miracul0us-multishipper · 5 years

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Welcome to the back (Part 14)

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Two days earlier, on Monday:

Felix had locked himself in a bathroom stall, seconds from breaking down. He couldn’t breath, throat constricting with a scream he’d successfully kept in for over a year now. Bordeaux was gone, as far from him as legally possible, and yet he’d found a way to watch him like a hawk, wherever he was. Felix buried his face in his hands, as if they could shield him from the scornful gaze he felt on him. He couldn’t do this, couldn’t face him, couldn’t let Rossi-

“Felix!”, a voice whispered from behind him and he jumped up. A ridiculously oversized pair of glasses was visible through the window beneath the ceiling. Attached to it was an obviously fake nose, and behind it glistened the most beautiful eyes Felix had ever seen.

“Marinette!”, he almost sobbed as his savior pushed herself through the window. Why was she wearing a bikers helmet? And was that a cape?

“It’s Marino!”, she grumbled, faking a lower voice. “I’m a boy! Which is why I am able to, you know. Get into the boy’s bathroom.”

“What?”, Felix frowned, the realized. “Oh! Uh, we’re alone, Marc checked. But Lila’s waiting outside the door, so don’t be so loud.”

“You mean I dressed up for nothing?! Aw, man!”

With a groan, she pulled the helmet off. He couldn’t resist but straighten the tangled strands (helmet hair, Kagami had told him during their last chess match). Marinette’s hair was so soft!

He shook his head, focusing on the matter at hand.

“I need your help!”

“I sure hope so. I’d be hella mad if I crawled through that window for nothing.”, she deadpanned, then took of the glasses and turned serious. “What happened? Marc only told me you barricaded yourself in here and wanted to see me. He thinks you’re having a heart attack! Or that you...”

She blushed, and Felix cursed Marc’s big mouth. If he’d said anything about confessing or the likes of that, he was a dead man!

“N-nevermind. Now tell me what’s up.”

“Lila’s blackmailing me!”, he hissed, panic starting to rise up in him again. “She’s found my father, who hates my guts, and now they’re working together! I can’t- Marinette, I don’t know- I don’t want-“

“Shshsh, sh! It’s alright!”, she whispered when he started to lose control again, pressing her hand over his mouth. “Don’t get too loud, remember? Everything’s going to be fine, I promise. Just... breathe, okay? Slowly.”

He did as told. His hands were still trembling, but his thoughts became clearer again. That, and the fact that Marinette was very, very close, lead him to two realizations.

One: No matter what was going to happen, Marinette would be there for him.

Two: If she didn’t take her hand from his mouth very quickly, he’d do something very stupid that involved both their hands and mouths, but in an entirely different context.

Focus!

“René Bordeaux is my father.”, he tried to set things straight. “He’s working as chief editor at TV1, and he’s the producer of this goddamn contest. He intercepted your report and gave it to Rossi, who filmed herself mimicking everything you did and likely managed to make it look professional. If I don’t cater to her every whim, Bordeaux will publish both videos and proof with some stupid, faked time stamp that hers is the original. He’ll frame you as a copycat.”

“I’d be ruined.”, she breathed in shock. “That would be game over for me!”

He nodded.

“I’m playing along for now, but I don’t know how long I can keep this up. I’d do everything for you, Marinette, you know that, but my father...”

He swallowed.

“He scares me. I can’t let him control me like this!”

“I know.”, Marinette assured him, taking his face in both her hands. “Felix, I know. We’ll find a solution, I promise.”

“How?”, he whispered. He knew Marinette, knew that she could make the impossible a reality by sheer willpower as it seemed, but he couldn’t fathom a way she could get him out of this.

“We’ll take this slow.”, Marinette ordered. Her eyes had that calculated shine he loved so much and he calmed a bit. “First, we’ll have to keep Lila placated.”

“She wants me to humiliate you in front the class. I’m supposed to become her boyfriend, Marinette.”

He shivered in disgust.

“Her boyfriend!”

“Ew.”

“Exactly!”

Marinette tapped her chin.

“But that’s a good thing, actually. The humiliation part, I mean, not you being her boyfriend. She wants me to suffer, and she’s so convinced of her own brilliance that she’ll buy any suffering I can show. She’s desperate to win, desperate to believe she won. Get it?”

“I’ll play along. You’ll act all hurt, and then Lila won’t pay any attention to you.”, he concluded. “Then what? Rossi’s one thing, but Bordeaux-“

“What does he get out of all of this?”

He blinked, his mind racing.

“I... I don’t know. He hates me, I don’t know what he wants with me.”

His eyes widened.

“My mother! He’s obsessed with her, maybe he needs me to have his sick kind of reunion with her.”

“That’s a start.”, she nodded. “Any idea what he’ll do next?”

“Hm.”

His father was a bastard, but he was predictable. He was flashy. Arrogant. A one-man show. As Felix knew him, he’d want to meet him in person to torment him. Bordeaux knew how his son felt about him. And since he wanted to display his power over him, he likely wanted that meeting on his terms, his ground.

“He’ll make Rossi deliver me to him.”, Felix deducted. “Either to his home or his work place. Not the public, where we could be seen. No, and not his home either! That would give me access to something personal, and he doesn’t want me too close.”

He nodded.

“TV1. That’s where he’ll meet me.”

“The awards show.”, Marinette realized. “That way no one will bat an eye if two students stroll through the building. He’ll wait at the TV1 tower, during the awards show.”

“We have time and place.”, Felix summed up. “But the tower is huge! There’s a million places he could-“

“I’ll get us the outlay of the building.”, she interrupted him. “I can come and go as I please, I babysit Nadja Chamack’s daughter. Oh! Nadja Chamack!”

She clapped her hands.

“I have an idea. Trust me, Felix, everything will be alright.”

Lila’s obsession with Felix turned out to be useful. She was so fixated on him, she didn’t notice how Marinette quietly took Alya aside.

“She’s lying.”, Marinette announced without any further intro. Alya flinched, but didn’t roll her eyes like she would’ve done a week before.

“Why do you think that?”

“I’ve seen Ladybug yell at her in the park, on her first day. Lila threatened me when I confronted her. And just now, Felix asked for my help because she’s blackmailing him.”

Alya opened her mouth, but Marinette was faster.

“No, you’re going to listen to me now. You’ve known me for what feels like forever, and I trust you. That’s why I am telling you this. Lila is manipulating anyone, and I won’t let her get away with it. But I need your help.”

She took Alya’s hand.

“Alya, I’m begging you to trust me! Please, believe in me just this once. If we don’t prove Lila’s a liar, she’ll hurt Felix and I can’t let that happen. Please, Alya. Please!”

Alya’s gaze trembled and she gulped.

“Marinette, Lila can’t... I... She...”

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath, calming her mind. When she opened them again, they were hard with resolve.

“Okay.”, she said, and Marinette sighed in relief. “I trust you. Tell me what to do.”

Convincing Max to help them was a lot easier. She had intercepted him before class, to ask for his help.

“Max, wait!”, she asked and pulled him aside before he could reach the door. “I need to talk to you. We need your-“

“I’m in.”

She blinked, taken aback.

“W-What?”

The computer ace pushed his glasses up and crossed his arms.

“I said I’m in. Whatever it is you’re planning, I’ll help you.”

“How do you know I’m-“

“Oh please.”, Max sighed. “I’m not blind. Everyone can see how Felix looks at you, and how he looks at Lila, who has revealed herself to be more than shady. There’s no way he’s playing lovebirds with her on his own volition, and, knowing you, you will not be complacent. So I’ll help you.”

“Me too!”, Kim’s voice seconded and Marinette turned around. He, Nathaniel and Alix has walked up to them out of nowhere.

“Yeah!”, Nathaniel agreed. “Marc told me Felix had a breakdown because of Lila. I mean, the guy’s creeping me out but no one messes with my boyfriend’s friends!”

“Ditto!”

Marinette looked at them, heady with an elevating mixture of joy, pride and relief. They were believing her. They had chosen her!

My friends have my back!

“Madame Chamack!”, Marinette greeted the reporter when she came to pick up Manon. “Do you have a second?”

“Of course!”, she replied, hugging her daughter. “What is it?”

“I have a story for you.”, Marinette announced, praying to Tikki for good luck. “About your superior, René Bordeaux.”

Nadia’s eyes widened and she took out her phone. One could get the impression she didn’t like her boss.

“Do tell. A story?”

She nodded.

“But to bust him, I’ll need your help.”

Nadja looked at her with a calculating interest.

“Well,” she said. “I trust you with my daughters wellbeing. It would be hypocritical not to trust you with this.

She smiled adventurously.

“What do you need?”

“This is the TV1 tower.”, Marinette explained in the commanding officer voice she’d learned from military movies. Additionally to the ones she’d already convinced, Alya had brought Juleka and Rose to Marinette’s place, and Nino had shown up with Ivan and Mylène. How Chloé and Sabrina had gotten in, nobody knew, but they sure weren’t going to send them away.

“Wait, where’s Adrien?”, Nino asked and reached for his phone, but Marinette slapped it out of his hand as if it might explode.

“NOT COMING!”, she hissed, before catching herself. “And you can’t tell him anything!”

“But...”, he faltered, “why?”

She sighed. Nino adored his best friend, he wouldn’t like the truth.

“You’ll see when everything’s over.”, she simply said and straightened.

“Back to the plan!”

She snapped her ruler against the blueprint she’d hung over her schedule. (It did have its advantages to have a yo-yo with unlimited scanning abilities.)

“This is the TV1 tower,” she repeated, “and this is the floor the Awards are going to be filmed on. It’s a live show, so Lila will have to be present in the studio. There’s only a few small time windows she could deliver Felix to his father.”

She stepped aside, revealing a time schedule she’d gotten from Nadja Chamack.

“The most likely time will be around 8.40 o’clock in the evening, during the first ad break. It only lasts ten minutes, which limits the places she could go to.”

She pointed to a couple of rooms on the layout of the floor.

“The way to Bordeaux’s office takes five minutes running, which means it would be impossible to get there, talk, and return in time. No, the location of the meeting has to be on the same floor. It’s either going to be Jagged Stones studio, the studio for the news, or this empty recording room.”

Rose raised his arm and she pointed her ruler at him.

“Yes?”

“The recording studio is out!”, she informed, proud that she could help. “We wanted to tell you already, but didn’t have the time yet. Kitty Section has gotten permission to use it this weekend, but there was a technical problem with the power, so we had to reschedule.”

Ivan nodded.

“No one’s allowed to enter during the repairs.”

“And scratch the news channel as well!”, Nathaniel chimed in. “Mireille told Aurore who told Marc who told me that they have to prepare everything for the 9 o’clock special. They’re doing a documentary on cloud formations or something.”

Marinette beamed.

“Perfect! Jagged’s studio, then. I can get us in!”

She pointed at Max and Nino.

“Here comes your part: As the tech savvy’s of our task force, you’ll take care of the cameras. We don’t know where Bordeaux will stand, so-“

“Actually, we do!”, Alix said smugly. “We’ll use the Rebellious-Kid strategy.”

Marinette leaned her head to the side.

“Eh?”

“It’s what I use on my dad when I don’t want him snoopin’ around in my room. We’ll make everything messy, with cables and equipment lying around - except for one spot in the middle and the way up to it.”

The skater blew her bangs out of her face and grinned.

“We’ll guide them right into the spotlight.”

“Brilliant!”, Marinette cheered, accidentally hitting Alya with the ruler. “Oh, sorry.”

Her best friend sighed exasperated, but smiled.

“So, we have them in the spotlight.”, she repeated. “Then what? How do we make them spill the beans?”

Marinette smirked.

“Believe me, they’ll do it all on their own. It’s the same as Bob Roth; it worked then, it’ll work now. And if they missed something to gloat about, Felix will subtly guide them to the right topic.”

“Quick question, though.”, Mylène spoke up. Her hands were fidgeting nervously. “Not that I don’t trust you - I do! - and if you need our help, we’ll be there. But, uhm. Isn’t filming them without their consent... illegal?”

Chloé chuckled, drawing the attention to her.

“Oh please. If it brings that annoying liar down, I’ll hire every lawyer in Paris to cover us.”

She sighed.

“But if it calms you, that won’t be necessary. The only legal threat is Bordeaux, and as a public figure, he’s basically public domain. Lie-la won’t have enough money to out-sue me.”

“Uh, thanks Chloé!”, Marinette said hesitantly, not sure if it was a good idea to encourage her. “But there’s a way to prevent a law suit.”

She patted Alya on the shoulder.

“Lila wants a platform where she can boast about herself, and Miss Ladyblog here can give that to her. In return, Lila will have to sign a declaration of consent. Got it?”

Alya gave her a thumbs up.

“Copy that.”

“What’s the rest of us supposed to do?”, Kim urged them on and Sabrina nodded impatiently. “We want to help as well!”

“I need you to suck up to Lila.”

A collective groan went through the room.

“Stop whining!”, Chloé ordered. “If you start avoiding her all of a sudden, she’ll know we’re onto her!”

“Easy for you to say!”, Alix complained. “You’ve been glaring at her since the beginning, you won’t have to start being nice now!”

“So? That sounds like a you-problem!”

“Guys! Chill. Let the Lady speak.”

Marinette sighed.

“Thanks, Nino. I know you don’t like this, but it’s vital to our mission that we keep Lila in the dark!”

“I don’t even like Felix, and now I gotta cuddle with someone Marinette calls a liar for him.”, Kim mumbled and Alix shoved him.

“Shut up. Ya wanna leave him at his old man’s mercy? That guy’s an abuser, judging by what Mari told us!”

“‘Course not.”, the jock gave in immediately. “Didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then we have a plan!”, Marinette concluded proudly and slapped her ruler on the table. “Let’s take some cookies from downstairs and get to work!”

Everyone cheered.

“Marinette, you know I’d give you the keys to my jet if you asked.”, Jagged assured her nervously. “Well, and if you were old enough to fly it. But this does seem a bit much.”

He was looking around in the studio, where her classmates were scurrying around like a plague of mice. They were ripping cables out of plugs, repositioning cameras and microphones, and Kim was obviously having the time of his life with a promo guitar. Marinette had to admit, they were being a bit too... enthusiastic.

“We’ll clean everything up again, I promise.”, she said, just when Chloé walked past them, carrying another black curtain for the walls.

“It’s a revenge project!”, she huffed out, overly exhausted from carrying a single piece of fabric. “Lila’s blackmailing Marinette and stealing her work. Also, she lied to me about Ladybug.”

Her grin was malicious.

“So now we’re bringing her down!”

Jagged Stone froze. Marinette would swear to the end of times she saw his eyes glow.

“Gimme that!”, he ordered Kim and snatched the Promo guitar right out of his hands. “Rock’n’Roll!”

With that, he crashed the instrument on the ground, cackling like a maniac.

“Let’s freaking demolish this place! Penny, cancel my appointments for the day! We’re raining anarchy on that whatever-her-name-was!”

Penny sighed heavily.

“There goes movie night.”

Marinette patted her on the back, caught between pride and regret. Maybe bringing Jagged together with the force of chaos that were her classmates hadn’t been such a good idea.

Marinette was nervous. She believed in her friends, and she trusted in her own capabilities. The plan was good! It was basically foolproof, as long as no one let something slip.

Still. When she arrived at the TV1 tower, wearing her self made beret and a matching outfit, she was itchy with fear.

“You can do this, Marinette.”, Tikki whispered from her hiding place. “Don’t lose face now!”

She nodded. If Lila caught wind of her odd behavior, she’d get suspicious. Marinette had to get a grip on herself. Felix was counting on her!

And, on a more selfish note, she definitely couldn’t handle seeing him with Lila anymore. The girl was all over him, as if he were some sort of pet or toy! While Marinette had known she’d make Felix say something hurtful to Marinette, back in class, she still hadn’t expected it to... hurt. Stupid of her, but she couldn’t turn the feeling off. Seeing Lila bill and coo with Felix just made her want to puke.

She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. The others were in the studio already, where the interviews would be filmed. They couldn’t afford to be seen together unless absolutely necessary, to keep Lila in the dark. The halls were mostly empty now, just a few TA’s running around to carry out last minute orders. She would use the time alone to steady herself before joining the audience in-

“Woaaaah!”, she yelped. Her foot had missed a step and sent her tumbling down the stairs, where a pair of arms caught her just in time.

“Marinette?”, a familiar voice asked in surprise and she froze. Hectically, she stood up and put some distance between herself and her savior. (Pah! Savior, how ridiculous.)

“Adrien”, she said coldly and straightened her clothes. The boy winced at the cruel sound to his name.

“Marinette, I wanted to talk to you.”, he hurried to say. “I know you were avoiding me, but I wanted to say that I’m-“

“We’re past apologies now.”, she brushed him off and turned to leave. “And you should have taken the hint. I’m done waiting for you to grow a spine.”

“Please”, he insisted and grabbed her elbow, forcing her to stop. “Marinette, I’m sorry for what you’re going through. And I understand that you’re hurt, I really do. Lila’s lies are affecting me as well.”

“Oh, poor Adrien.”, she scoffed. “His life in shambles because of lies he himself spread. Throw your pity party elsewhere.”

“Don’t do this, Marinette.”, he whispered and she hesitated. He sounded... terrified. “Please don’t push me away. I... I don’t want to be alone again.”

She knew his home. Knew his broken family, his solitude in the golden cage Gabriel Agreste had built him. So against her instinct, she turned around again to hear him out.

“Keep this quick, will you?”, she mumbled and he lightened up.

“Marinette, I thought a lot about you lately,” Adrien said. A while back, these words would’ve meant everything to her. Now, she only felt numb. “And about how things used to be.”

He took something out of his pocket and showed it to her. The colorful beads of the Lucky Charm she’d given him made his hand seem pale in comparison.

“I know you like Felix a lot. And it wasn’t my place to tell you to push him away. But I do want our friendship to be like it used to be, when you gave me your lucky charm. It means a lot to me, and so do you!”

He smiled.

“I... I hoped that we could go back to that, somehow. Now that the whole Felix thing has resolved itself on its own.”

Resolved on its own?! Not only had Adrien failed to realize that Felix had never been the problem, but now he called Lila’s obsession with him a solution?!

“Look,” she said, trying to hide her annoyance. “I get that you don’t want to be left behind. But you can’t... What are you staring at?!”

Adrien jumped, snapping out of his fixation. The lucky charm fell out of his hand and clattered to the ground. He had glared at her chest in disbelief, as if hypnotized. No, not at my chest, Marinette realized when she grasped for her collar. Her necklace had slipped out when she’d fallen down the stairs, and the Miraculous was out in the open. She closed her hand around it out of reflex, pulling away when Adrien raised his hand to touch it.

“Marinette...”, he murmured, eyes fixed on her hand. “Is that...?”

He looked up to her face, his gaze unreadable.

“That’s a very pretty pendant.”, he said slowly, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. His voice was devoid of emotion, sending chills up her spine. “Would you mind if I borrowed it for a second? I’d like to take a closer look.”

Marinette stumbled back, Adrien followed the movement.

“Where did you get it?”, he asked in a tone that was far too friendly for his expression. “Did you make it yourself? Or was it... a gift, perhaps?”

She swallowed, her back hitting the wall.

“I-I need to go!”

Her voice was thin and threatening to break. Adrien’s scarily hollow smile widened.

“It won’t take long.”

He reached for the ring.

“Just give it to me for a moment. And then you can go to the others.”

Her mind was screaming at her to run, but she was cornered. Adrien’s gaze was a dangerous kind of hungry.

“Just...”

His hand came closer.

“...a quick...”

The green of his eyes was hidden by the blackness of his blown wide pupils.

“...look.”

His fingers touched her hand, and suddenly her blood seemed to be replaced with pure, crackling electricity.

“No!”, she shouted and slapped his hand away. Muscle memory kicked in and she gave him a shove, hooking her foot behind his knee and sending him onto the floor. “Don’t touch me!”

Her fingers were clutching the ring as if her life depended on it and she backed away from the groaning boy on the floor.

“You made your choice!”, she yelled at him. “You decided what was more important to you! It was right versus easy, and you picked the wrong side!”

She was breathing heavily, realizing she had been seconds from losing the Black Cat. Maybe he was more observant than she knew, or maybe he had read something in his father’s book, but Adrien knew the truth about the ring.

He had wanted to take it from her.

He had cornered her, and wanted to take it from her.

“I have no idea what’s wrong with you!”, she hurled at him when he tried to get up. “And I don’t care about it anymore! Anything that happens now is your own fault, and if the others turn your back on you for lying to their faces - then because you turned your back on them first! I am done with you, Agreste!”

Adrien held his shoulder, aching from where it had cushioned his fall. His eyes were back to their usual green, but she took another step back all the same.

“The- The others?”, he panted. “But why would... I... I didn’t mean to... Wait.”

He looked at her, fear flashing in his eyes.

“Marinette.”

She gulped when she noticed she might have said too much.

“What did you do?”

There was no answer for him. Marinette turned on her heel and ran.

By the time the interviews were over, Marinette’s pulse had slowed to its normal rate again. The ring rested safely beneath her shirt, and she forced herself not to think about Adrien. For now, her attention was needed elsewhere.

“Okay, go go go!”, she hurried her classmates as soon as Lila had left the studio and the ads began. They only had a few minutes to get to their places. Felix, who had been informed of their plans by Marc in the boy’s bathroom, would buy them time by arguing with Lila. While they were talking in the main corridor, Marinette and the others would sneak out through the back door, slip into Jagged’s studio and hide behind the curtains they had hung up. Nadja Chamack opened the door for them.

“This better pay off!”, she muttered under her breath and gestured to the back. “Everything’s ready. Your friends have set up the main camera, and my Camera man Charles and I will film from our hiding place.”

She pointed at Max.

“Green guy’s taking care of the live stream. Everyone in Paris will see what’s happening.”

Marinette nodded.

“You won’t be disappointed.”, she promised and pulled the curtains closed.

“Now we only have to wait.”

#miramu writes #welcome to the back #wttb #felinette #felinette fanfic #ml felix #ml marinette #marinette dupain cheng

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Transcript - 70. Clinton-Era Star Trek

Liz: And why are we passing up an opportunity to criticize Rick Berman? We love that shit!

Anika: Let's always criticize Rick. Definitely everything wrong is Rick Berman.

You can listen to the original episode here.

Anika: Welcome to Antimatter Pod, a Star Trek podcast where we discuss fashion, feminism, subtext and subspace, hosted by Anika and Liz, and Cali the cat. This week we're discussing the pilot episode of Star Trek Voyager, "Caretaker".

Liz: So it's the 35th anniversary or something. No, that cannot possibly be it. 25th?

Anika: 30th. 30, isn't it?

Liz: No, I was thirteen when I first saw it, and I'm thirty-eight going on thirty-nine. So it's got to be the 20th. Right? No, 25th...

Anika: No, it's definitely not -- um, it could be 25th. Because the 20th, I did a panel for the 20th. And that was probably five or six years ago?

Liz: I feel like 1996 plus 25 might be 2021?

Anika: I don't know! Math!

Liz: Welcome to Antimatter Pod, the podcast where we don't do maths.

It's the 25th anniversary of "Caretaker", and I'm really really curious to know, when was the first time you watched it?

Anika: I don't remember! I remember watching "Emissary". I did not see "Encounter at Farpoint" first, I saw it, years after having seen Next Generation.

Liz: Which is really the way to do it.

Anika: Yes. And Enterprise, also, I have no actual memory of watching the pilot, but I probably did. I probably watched Voyager and Enterprise live, but I don't actually have a good handle on it. If it was 1995, I was -- yeah, I didn't have a Star Trek group at that point. I was in college, you know, so I was, like, making new friends.

Liz: You weren't ready to unleash the full force of your geekiness?

Anika: Yup. I mean, I was a ridiculous person, you know, there's no way that I wouldn't have been known as a geek by pretty much everyone.

Liz: I actually have very vivid memories of the first time I watched "Caretaker", because I received it on VHS as a Christmas present the year I was thirteen. I really remember how much I liked Janeway, and I wished -- like Kate Mulgrew has a very unusual voice, and that was sort of everyone in the family's reaction. And I'm like, Yeah, it's a weird voice, but I love her, shut up.

And the next day my parents' marriage ended, so...

Anika: Wow. Okay!

Liz: I don't think these things are really connected. But in my mind, and in my heart, they very much are.

Star Trek wasn't really my main fandom at the time. TNG had ended, and I was very deep into having feelings about seaQuest DSV. So -- there are probably still dozens of us.

Anika: I loved that show.

Liz: It was so great. We could talk about my OTP for seaQuest next. But yeah, that was my first encounter with Voyager, and I didn't really become a capital letters Voyager Fan until a few months later, when we accidentally got season two videos.

Anika: Accidentally. Yeah, I don't know. It's a good pilot episode. Not a good episode.

Liz: I want you to expand on that.

Anika: So the thing about pilots is, there are very few good ones out there. It's really hard to introduce a show in a way that isn't cliched, and isn't, like, a bunch of people expositing about everything you need to know about them to each other. It's a -- it's hard. It's hard to do it well.

Liz: Yes. If you want to see a bad pilot, I highly recommend the pilot for Babylon 5. It is unwatchably bad.

Anika: Voyager still has plenty of pilot problems, like, "Caretaker" still has plenty of pilot problems, but they cover a huge amount of ground. They introduce so many things, and when you think about all of the stuff that has to happen in this episode versus, say, "Encounter at Farpoint", which is really just a bunch of people introducing themselves to each other -- that's literally all that happens in "Encounter at Farpoint".

Liz: And not even by name.

Anika: And then Riker watches what happened in the opening scene? I mean, that is a terrible, terrible pilot, and a terrible episode.

Liz: My friend and their partner have decided to start with Star Trek at "Encounter at Farpoint". And I'm like, I love you. You are good people. You don't deserve this.

Anika: Don't do it! No.

But -- so what I like about "Caretaker" is that everyone except B'Elanna -- and I will tell you more about that in a little bit. But everyone except B'Elanna has an introduction that is not them introducing themselves to each other. Or to the audience. They don't stand and say, "Hello, I am Harry Kim."

There's like little bits and pieces, like the -- what we learned about Harry Kim is what Janeway says about him to Tuvok, you know. What we learn about Tom Paris is that, you know, he's in prison. And the first time we see Janeway is Tom looking up at her, and it pans up and she's got her hands on her hips. And she's like, "Hey, I'm totally in charge, and I'm here with Obi Wan Kenobi to rescue you."

So it does pilot things. We get that there is tension between everyone and Tom Paris, like, literally everyone and Tom Paris, there is tension. And we get that there is tension between the Maquis and the Starfleet people, we get that Janeway and Tuvok have a very close, established relationship. Like, there's a lot of established stuff going on?

The Janeway and Tuvok stuff is so much better than the Picard and Crusher stuff, like, I can't even -- they're worlds apart in terms of how they play.

Liz: And not just because the language of setting up a platonic friendship between a man and a woman is different from setting up a romantic tension. Seven years have passed, and the writing is different. And Janeway -- the woman is the one in a dominant position. And it's just better.

Anika: It's just better, it's just better. But the actual story is not. Like, the whole Caretaker thing, it's clearly a plot device, it's very deus ex machina for "we have to get them lost in the Delta Quadrant. Like, we have to get them to the Delta Quadrant, and then we have to get them lost here."

And so, while it is entirely Janeway's choice, she's the only one with agency. She takes it away from everyone else. There's no meeting to discuss any of these things. And it's all very driven by this "there was, a guy, an ancient guy who, like, steals people and keeps them as pets. And his favorite people, like, he needs to" -- it's just ridiculous. Like, he's seeding himself so that someone -- so his child will be stuck with this horrible job of taking care of his ant farm of Ocampa.

Everything about it is bad. Like, nothing in that whole story is good. He's a bad person. And it's so wildly ridiculous. Like, he dies before they can even begin to understand how any of it happened? Like, they just blow up the array?

Liz: It's sort of like the writers going, "Oh, shit, we really don't want to ask too many questions about this guy, we'd better kill him as fast as we can."

Anika: Exactly. So. So if you start to think about this story at all… Being a pilot that introduces you to these characters and this situation, it's bad. But if you're just watching to be introduced to these characters and this situation, it's good.

Liz: I have never thought about it in those terms until you said this in our preparation, but I think that's a really, really good point.

And I'm going to confess that I have not re-watched "Caretaker" to prepare for this episode because I have seen it so many times, I can quote big chunks of it by heart. And, honestly, it's actually not that rewatchable. Deep Space Nine is not my favorite Trek, but I have seen "Emissary" so many times, and I enjoy it every single time. After a while, watching "Caretaker" starts to feel like a chore.

Anika: Yeah, because what's actually happening is not interesting.

Liz: Yeah, yeah.

Anika: And it's just full of holes, and I just get mad at everybody if I start thinking about it.

Liz: That's before we get into the bit where the Kazon exist.

Anika: Oh, the Kazon. They tried so hard to make the Kazon happen. And it just never happened.

Liz: Re-watching season two for my blog, I was struck by the fact that, with a different writing team, the Kazon could have been really fascinating and nuanced and interesting. And instead, it's basically white people having a moral panic about Black people. You know, they explicitly said that the Kazon were, like, "They're based on East Los Angeles area gangs!" And I'm like, Sure, okay. That's potentially interesting, but you're all white people. And, you know, we find out that thirty years ago, they freed themselves from slavery. And that's why the--

Anika: Thirty years!

Liz: I know! I know! That is my own lifetime! [But] that's why they're low tech and dysfunctional and desperate. And they're not given even an ounce of empathy, or sympathy, or even consideration. Even "Initiations", which I think is a good episode, and certainly, by far the best Kazon episode, there's just -- there's one good Kazon, and that's it.

And I do think part of the problem is that we never see their women, we never see them in any situation other than hostility. But mostly, I think the problem is that the writers are racist.

Anika: And the one good Kazon is a kid.

Liz: Yeah, yes.

Anika: It's almost like it's like a white savior -- or a Chakotay savior story, you know, like, Dangerous Minds--

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: -- where Michelle Pfeiffer goes into the inner city to save it.

Liz: The mental image of Chakotay as Michelle Pfeiffer is amazing. And yeah, that is a really messed up genre, and the only good thing it ever gave us was "Gangsta's Paradise".

So, yeah, that limitation in the perception of the Kazon is built right there into this pilot. And a lot of people go, you know, "It's so stupid how they have spaceships and they don't make -- they can't replicate or create their own water." And it's like, this would have been a great opportunity to explain some of their history instead of going, "Surprise! It's actually really racist!" a season later.

Anika: Yep. It's just really bad. Everything's bad about the Kazon. They're not great. They're not good villains. And anything -- every time they are almost interesting, they're almost instantly not interesting and/or racist at the same time.

Liz: It troubles me that the series with the first female captain is also the first series where sexism and misogyny are treated as anything other than a joke. We've had the Ferengi for years, and it's always been, "Haha, they like women to be naked." And it's only now that suddenly these writers are forced to empathize with a female character, that they're like, "Oh, maybe that attitude is ... bad?"

Anika: Maybe it's bad. We never see a Kazon woman.

Liz: Right, are they living in -- is it a Kazon Handmaid's Tale thing? Or are they warriors in their own right? Do they have their own politics? Are they trying to pull the strings from the background and maybe doing so more successfully than Seska because they're further in the background? We don't know. We'll never know.

Are we the only people who look at Star Trek and go, but what if the Kazon came back?

Anika: So we're definitely the only people who look at Star Trek and think, what if the Kazon came back?

But Cullah was almost an interesting character. And, really, the most interesting he ever was was when he took the baby, and, like, cared. That he cared about any of that happening, that he cared about Seska dying. It was like, Oh, my gosh, this is a real relationship all of a sudden. So it's just interesting. And they had a lot of interesting Macbeth scenes that were fun, that could have been so much better if they'd leaned into that instead of what they did.

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: But we're we're getting beyond the scope, because we're supposed to be talking about "Caretaker", and Cullah is not even in it

Liz: Turns out we could do a whole episode on the Kazon

Anika: Whoops!

Liz: That's really gonna get the listeners.

Anika: Let's talk about our first impressions of the crew.

Liz: So the scene where Tom looks up, and there's Kathryn Janeway with her bun of steel and her hands on her hips, and, you know, in her very first scene, she tells us that she was a scientist before she was a captain. I fell in love.

And yet, the pilot is really eager to tell us that just because she's a woman in command doesn't mean she's ... not a woman.

Anika: She has the world's most boring fiance.

Liz: Oh my God.

Anika: I hate -- like, my favorite part is that they're talking, they're facetiming on the viewscreen and all, and she's lliterally doing work while talking to him. Like, this is the last -- and they don't know that it's gonna be the last time for seven years, or whatever, but it's still gonna be months. And yet, she's just doing her work, and he has to tell her to look at him, which is hilarious. But he's also -- he's so milquetoast, I don't care.

Liz: He's just sort of your standard extruded Star Trek male love interest.

Anika: And then there's puppies. She loves her dog.

Liz: She loves her dog. She likes to be called ma'am rather than sir. It's a very 1990s "don't be too threatened" scenario, which is interesting, because you contrast that with Major Kira, who, I think, as the second lead, rather than the primary lead of the show, has more freedom to be abrasive, and unlikable, and unfeminine.

Anika: Yeah. But even in Deep Space Nine, like, Jadzia is super feminine. In presentation, at least, and the more it goes on, she gets -- the more they were like, "Don't worry, we also have this pretty one." Like, Nana Visitor is gorgeous, just, you know, don't yell at me. But--

Liz: After the pilot episode, she went and cut off her hair into -- it's not even a pixie cut. It's a really butch style. And she did that without getting the permission of the producers. She was just, like, that's how Major Kira would have her hair.

And then, over the next seven seasons, they worked really, really hard to force Kira into a feminine mold.

Anika: You're right, they absolutely do it to Janeway [too]. She has that whole Jane Eyre holoprogram thing that -- everything she does in her free time is, like, from the 19th century. It's just very weird. She's super old fashioned in her forward thinking scientist future ladyness.

Liz: I think a lot of that is down to Jeri Taylor, and the fact that she was already, for the '90s, older than the generation of feminists who were defining the movement at the time. I realized once that she's only a year younger than DC Fontana.

Anika: It's interesting. Kate Mulgrew was forty when she started Voyager, but according to apocrypha, she was playing five years younger, like, she's not supposed to be forty.

Liz: No, I've heard that too, that Janeway was meant to be about thirty-five. Which, I mean, I guess? Maybe?

Anika: [What that] means is that she is admiral super young. That's what I take out of it. So good on her. It's just weird. It's like, why? I don't know. It's just very Hollywood. It's very, "Oh my gosh, we can't have a forty-something woman in a starring role. We can't possibly do that. So, okay, we got this one and, and we're gonna go with her, but she's not really forty. You can still be attracted to her. You're allowed, everybody."

Liz: You know, "We've got her in a corset so she's thin, and she's in high heels so she's tall and she'll walk in a sexy way."

It really struck me, the first time I watched Discovery, the first time I watched "The Vulcan Hello", how feminine and comfortable Michelle Yeoh looked with her hair in a ponytail -- and it's a very loose ponytail -- and she's wearing flats. I was like, Oh my god, this is what Janeway could have been.

Anika: Right.

Liz: Now, I know that the next character on our list is Chakotay, but I think we should talk about Tom, because he and Harry the POV characters for this pilot. It's sort of telling that Chakotay is sidelined from the beginning.

Anika: I always say that there are three co-protagonists in this pilot. Tom, Janeway, and Kes are the people who have a point of view and an arc.

Liz: Yeah, you're right.

Anika: And everybody else is just sort of in their orbit.

Liz: Even Kes barely has agency.

Anika: It's a giant cast, so they couldn't -- and again, B'Elanna is not -- like, the B'Elanna that I know and love is not in this pilot. She's just not even actually there. There is a B'Elanna in this pilot, but it is not even close to who she is. And she's barely on screen. She's just an angry Klingon lady, that's all she is.

Liz: Who almost flashes her whole boob in one scene.

Anika: But she immediately -- like, the very next episode is a B'Elanna episode. So it's sort of like, "We didn't put any effort into her in the pilot, because we're gonna, you know, we're gonna have a whole episode about her. It's gonna be okay." And it's great, "Parallax" is a way better story.

Liz: Yeah, I don't think that's necessarily a bad choice. That's like Discovery taking six episodes to introduce it's whole cast. And I think B'Elanna is better served by that, but it's interesting how objectified she is in this story.

Anika: Yes.

Liz: To get back to Tom, I listened to the Delta Fliers episode on "Caretaker" when it came out. I'm sort of at peak Star Trek podcast, so I've gotten behind on them. But that's Robert Duncan McNeill and Garrett Wang talking about their memories of each episode. And--

Anika: It's very fun.

Liz: --among the things that I enjoyed were Robert Duncan McNeill calling himself out for how sleazy Tom is towards women, particularly Janeway. But he blames himself and I'm like, I'm pretty sure you are following a script, dude. Like, this is not your responsibility.

But also, he says at one point that Tom Paris was considered as a potential love interest for Janeway, and that they were going to cast someone older for the role.

Anika: I've been saying that since the beginning. Janeway and Paris, as we all know, are my OTP of Voyager. And I'm not off that! I ship that! Like, I ship literally everything. But it's always going to be -- Janeway and Paris are going to be the most important to me, in terms of Voyager characters, just partly because, again, I was, what, 20? And I -- not even--

Liz: Yep.

Anika: It was formative, you know, it's like, I loved Voyager so much, and I loved Janeway and Paris. The first fan fiction that I read and wrote was Janeway and Paris. Iit's just gonna be them.

And so the idea that they were ever considered, quote, unquote, canon, it just makes me feel like I wasn't a crazy person reading into the entire first two seasons.

Liz: No.

Anika: I firmly believe that you can see a relationship behind the scenes in the -- you know, up until he starts having a thing with B'Elanna.

Liz: No, in fact, there's a point in season two where Robbie is like, "I think this is around the time they stopped pushing Janeway and Paris and started moving towards Janeway and Chakotay."

I found that really interesting, because the other thing that we know about the development of Voyager is that they always wanted a Nick Locarno type of character. They always wanted Robert Duncan McNeill in the role. And, honestly, that doesn't mean that they never considered casting someone older. We know that there were legal issues with having the Nick Locarno character, and that's why he's Tom Paris.

And, you know, it's like how they auditioned men for Janeway and women for Chakotay at one point. Like how DS9 auditioned white men for Sisko, you throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks. But I think the AU with an older Paris would have been interesting.

Anika: I'm fine with it as is. I like the ten-year age gap, personally, but I don't even mind -- I wouldn't mind the five-year if she's really thirty-five. Whatever, fine. Then we're closer to a five-year age gap. But I like the idea of her, like, meeting him when he was a kid and then forgetting that that happened.

Liz: Not giving him any thought, and then meeting him as an adult and going, oh.

Anika: "Whoa."

Liz: Yeah. That would have been really cool because it's a sort of borderline creepy storyline that we see a lot with men and younger women. And I don't remember ever seeing it with women and younger men. And I like an age gap, and I like a relationship where there -- there are problematic elements to be negotiated.

Anika: Yes, exactly. Oh, my favorite things.

Liz: But also I think Tom Paris in the pilot is a deeply terrible person, and I hate him.

Anika: Oh, yeah.

Liz: So many of my friends are watching Voyager for the first time and going, Wow, Tom Paris, he is the worst. And I'm like, Yeah, but wait a few seasons, he's going to be the suburban dad of everyone's, I don't want to say everyone's dreams, but he's going to be peak suburban nice dad. And it'll be great.

Anika: You said that Robbie says that he blamed himself for being skeezy -- see, I give Robbie all the credit for him not being skeezy. I'm on the other side, where I really feel like they tried, they tried to make Tom Paris that guy, the guy that I don't ever like and never want in my Star Trek, and they keep trying to put him in Star Trek. Like, every series has that guy. And it was Tom Paris.

And he was just not capable of playing it. He put so much warmth into these horrible lines and situations that you couldn't -- you couldn't read it that way. And so there was, like, oh, there's something deeper here, he's not just hitting on people, he's lonely. He's not just, like, he's not getting, you know, doing -- he's not trying to hit on the captain in her pool [game] or whatever, he's actually trying to make a friend. He's telling her that she matters to him because she's giving him these second chances.

I read all of my Janeway/Paris stuff into these early seasons where he has horrible storylines, because the actors aren't acting like he's a skeevy, horrible person.

Liz: No, and all of Tom's good qualities are -- or seem to be -- Robert Duncan McNeill's good qualities. You know, he's open, he's generous. He's kind of funny, kind of a dork, but self-aware about it, and very passionate about holding up the people that he loves. That seems to be Robert Duncan McNeill. And that is who Tom Paris becomes.

But I also think, like, what you were saying about how he's not flirting, he's trying to make friends, I also think that his background in terms of having neglectful and emotionally negligent parents, he needs people to like him. And if the only way he can do that is to make them attracted to him -- to build an attraction -- that's the strategy he'll use.

Anika: It's such a psychological thing that really happens, and again, often with women.

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: I gotta say, this might be a good place to say, where Voyager does an incredible job of giving all of the men various feminine traits or, like, you know, stereotypically woman-centered things that happen--

Liz: Right, right, Chakotay is sensitive and domestic. And Tuvok defines himself to a large degree by his parenthood, and Neelix is the cook, and the Doctor is a caretaker, and Harry -- with Harry, I feel like a lot of it's bound up in anti-Asian racism, to be honest, and the emasculation of Asian men. But he is another very sensitive and gentle guy who doesn't really like -- he likes to be romanced, he doesn't like to be seduced.

Anika: It's great. And then, you know, the women -- we get B'Elanna in the engineering role. And she's also angry all the time.

Liz: Yes.

Anika: And Janeway is a scientist and in charge, you know, she's the authority.

Liz: And Seven -- Seven, when she's comes, in is sort of her own thing altogether. But she's the Spock. She's the Odo. She's the Data. And it's notable that the most classically feminine of the characters is Kes, and she's the one who is treated as a failure and discarded and in the fourth season.

Anika: Yeah. They don't know how to write for her, is what it comes down to

Liz: I think it's that thing where they don't know how to empathize with women who don't act in some way, like men. And this is all very binary and very steeped in stereotypes and generalization.

Anika: But it's very '90s.

Liz: It is so '90s.

Anika:

I can say, as a child of the '90s -- I can still call myself that -- that it's what we were grappling with. Like, the '80s were -- there was this whole power fantasy stuff, right? And then the '90s were, you know, grunge and riot grrrls. And so there's just -- this show, like, yeah, it's using all those stereotypes, and so that's why I'm calling them feminine traits. I don't think that cooking or being a good parent or having soft hair or being a musician is feminine in any way.

Liz: No, but we are dealing in stereotypes.

Anika: It's gender coding. That's what I'm talking about.

Liz: Relatedly, one of the reasons Janeway's character is considered 'inconsistent', and I'm using air quotes because I don't think that's actually -- I don't think she's the worst in terms of inconsistent writing and Star Trek captains. But -- (Archer) -- but part of the reason for that--

Anika: My trash boy.

Liz: --is that all the writers had a different feminine stereotype or archetype in mind when they were writing Janeway. Some people saw her as a schoolmarm and Jeri Taylor saw her as an earth mother for some godforsaken unknown reason. And it seems like no one was really able to go, "Hey, what if we get past the stereotypes and archetypes and just write her as a ... person?"

Anika: It's just bad. And it's true. There are definitely inconsistencies where she -- the one that I always point out is that she has this super faith thing where she literally has a scene where she explains the concept of faith and God to Harry Kim. And then, a season later, she has to go save Kes from whatever horrible thing is holding Kes hostage.

Liz: And suddenly she's a TV atheist.

Anika: Yeah. And it's like, what are you talking about? That is not Janeway. It's just wrong. You can't have it both ways. And so there are inconsistencies.

I think you're right, that it's a problem with different people having -- like, putting different ideas of who Janeway is onto her.

Liz: And certainly, Archer is at his worst when they try and force him into an equally narrow masculine box.

Anika: Yeah. Right.

Liz: So, the patriarchy. It hurts men too!

Anika: But I do think that, yeah, Janeway isn't alone in her inconsistencies. And I also think, of every Star Trek character, or every captain, she has the most reason to be inconsistent.

Liz: One hundred percent. Because she's the only one--

Anika: She shouldn't be--

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: She shouldn't be consistent when she's holding the entire, like, the idea of Starfleet and the Federation herself. She's gluing it together in a place that doesn't know what any of those words even mean.

Liz: And she can never get a break. Picard can take a holiday and go to Risa, and wear skimpy shorts, and have a fling, and have adventures. Janeway has to do all that in the context of her ship.

Anika: Right. And she's always captain. She never gets to not be captain, even if she's in the holodeck hanging out.

Liz: Yeah. Basically, Voyager is 2020, and Janeway is working from home.

Anika: So I cut her a little slack.

Liz: Hah, I cut her a lot of slack.

Anika: And I write into my own little headcanons that it is all of this psychological stuff that she's dealing with. Uou know, I say, Oh, well, she was depressed then, so she was making these choices. So.

Liz: Honestly, Janeway makes sense to me. There are inconsistencies, but she holds -- like, she feels consistent emotionally. And that's what's important.

Anika: Right.

Liz: Let's talk about Chakotay, who you've described here as the most stereotypical Native character ever.

Anika: It's just really sad.

Liz: I -- yeah.

Anika: Like it's sad on every level, because now, creating a Native character now, which they should definitely do, but putting that character into Star Trek, that character automatically is stuck with the Chakotay baggage. And that's just so upsetting. We're never going to get this clean, quote unquote, Native character, because of this mess that we got with Chakotay, where he -- like, it was already bad, the TNG episode isn't any better. That episode is really bad.

Liz: That's the episode "Journey's End", which sets up either Chakotay's home planet or one very much like it, colonized by Native Americans, because that is absolutely how Indigenous people work.

Anika: So bad. And then they get kicked out, kind of like in Picard, you know, Starfleet's like, "You gotta leave now, because the Cardassians own this place." And it's like, but they don't really? And no one really does?

So, right, it puts them on the wrong -- it's just all it's all bad. It's all bad. And it's all very much a white person writing what they think an Indigenous person is.

Liz: Right.

Anika: All it did the dream watching, and--

Liz: The vision quest...

Anika: --none of it is true. That's where I end the sentence, none of it is true to the idea of an Indigenous character. And it's just it never gets good in Voyager. I want to like Chakotay, and I have troubles.

Liz: To their credit, they hired a consultant. Unfortunately, the consultant was a white fraud, a Native faker, who was already notorious for being a fake, and Native American groups had been warning Hollywood for years that he was actually a white guy. So they start off on a bad foot.

They audition a lot of Native American actors and decide they're too, quote unquote, on the nose, meaning too Native American. So they cast Robert Beltran, who is a very talented Mexican American actor, who doesn't seem to have any Native heritage. I don't know how Indigenous identity in Mexico works, but to my knowledge, he doesn't really participate in Native culture, or anything like that. So, yeah, they just went for the nearest brown guy, basically.

Anika: And the thing is, if he was Mexican American, and not Native, that would be better,

Liz: Right, or just a Mexican American character who has some Native heritage that he is learning about, like, that is a really interesting story. But like, so much of it is dated even for 1996.

Anika: Right. That's right, exactly.

Liz: I remember as a kid cringing every time they use the word Indian, because even then I knew that the new and appropriate term was Native American. And just the whole "I hear in some tribes, if I save your life, you belong to me" -- that's a setup for a slash fic. It shouldn't be canonical.

Anika: Yeah, everything about poor Chakotay is poorly done. And the further we get from Voyager, like, the more time goes on, the -- [it gets] more blatantly bad. It really starts to stick out.

Liz: I understand what you're saying, that everything they do from now is tainted by what they did with Chakotay. But I really do think that new Trek, the Trek Renaissance, needs Indigenous representation.

Anika: They should definitely do it.

Liz: Yeah, like Discovery films in Toronto and there is no shortage of hugely talented Native Canadian -- I think it's Canadian Aboriginal? Of Indigenous Canadian actors. And and, obviously, Evan Evagora in Picard is half-Maori ... but he's playing a Romulan, so.

Anika: I'm not saying they shouldn't do it because of all this baggage. I just feel sorry for the actor.

Liz: Yes.

Anika: I feel badly for the person who has to deal with it.

Liz: Also because they're inevitably going to end up on panels with Robert Beltran, and honestly, he seems like a dick.

Anika: Everything I've seen of Robert Beltran has been very, like, dismissive, I guess, is the best way -- like, when people bring up to him that, you know, maybe it wasn't the best representation of an Indigenous population, he sort of gets defensive and doesn't listen.

Liz: Yeah.

So let's move on to the greatest character in all of Star Trek...

Anika: Tuvok?!

Liz: Tuvok! Yes.

Anika: I have a Tuvok standee in my house now. I love it. It's just -- Tuvok is amazing. Best Vulcan by far.

Liz: Yes.

Anika: His relationship with Janeway is so precious to me. I just love everything about it. I love how warm it is right off from the beginning. I love that he is just as -- he does crazy stuff for Janeway, the way that Kirk does crazy stuff for Spock. It's that same level of "that's insane," and I love that. I love that they have that relationship. And I'm forever sad that they are the least represented in fan fiction. Like, even, like, platonic. I'm not saying -- I do, I would ship them. But...

Liz: But we don't even have fic about them having adventures.

Anika: Right? There's just -- I mean, Tuvok, yes, best character in Trek. Chemistry with everyone is highly -- [but] he's the least represented in Voyager. It's very upsetting to me because it cannot not be racism. There's just -- I don't have another explanation for why Tuvok is so ignored.

Liz: I have a theory, but I think the primary reason is indeed racism. But I also think it's that Tuvok enters the series as a man who already knows who he is, and his regrets are mainly behind him, and he doesn't really change much over the course of the series, save that he unbends to an extent to reveal his affection more than he did at the start. But, on the whole, he's not the most dynamic character.

And I love that about him! I love his stability, I love the respect that he has for everyone, even Neelix, who often doesn't deserve it. And I think he is a character who is almost the heart and soul of the show in a way that's easily overlooked because he is entertaining and fun to watch with every single other regular character.

When I put it like that, the only reason he is overlooked -- aside from -- like, I really do think a lot of it comes down to racism

Anika: Yeah, he absolutely is stable. And he absolutely does -- he's a supporting character in every way? He supports, but it's sort of like, so shouldn't he be supporting people? Can't we still write fic about that? I don't understand.

Liz: Now I'm thinking that if he was a white guy, he would probably be the male bicycle of the cast. Like I realized the entire cast minus Neelix is basically the bicycle, but now I'm side-eyeing fandom extra hard.

Anika: I just love Tuvok so much. And I have written Tuvok, but I've definitely written for January and Paris. So I'm also part of the problem, I guess.

Liz: I will confess that I completely overlooked him until my current rewatch, so I am not excusing myself from anything here.

Anika: I try to give him, you know, his due, at least in my ensemble fic. I don't actually write much Voyager fic right now.

Liz: No, no. I haven't for years

Anika: And also T'Pel, too, I'm, like, on a mission to give T'Pel literally any characterization whatsoever.

Liz: Someone somewhere out there is going to write me a Janeway/Tuvok/T'Pel fic, and I'm going to be very grateful.

Anika: Nice.

Liz: We're almost at an hour. Let's talk about Harry Kim. Every time I watch "Caretaker", I'm blown away by how beautiful Garrett Wang is, and the floppiness of his perfect '90s non-threatening boy hair. It's magnificent.

Anika: That's absolutely true. One of my photo caps, he just has amazing hair. One shot, you know, my, like, tagline for Janeway is that her hair is fabulous. And I was like, Oh, HIS hair is fabulous, and I compared it to Poe Dameron.

Liz: Oh, no, you're not wrong. I said something in my "Q and the Gray" post about how the only redeeming feature of that episode was Harry's floppy hair. And then I mentioned that when I linked to it on Twitter, and Garrett Wang replied, and I -- I cannot be acknowledged by the actors in that way. Like, I want to objectify you, you don't get to respond. This is a one-way relationship.

Anika: Poor Harry Kim. Harry Kim is another one who is routinely overlooked by fandom. But unlike with Tuvok, there are like the rabid Harry Kim fans who will come to his defense and do write him, usually with Tom, but--

Liz: I understand that there is a thriving, powerful of Tom/Harry shippers, and I don't ship it, but I fully respect them.

Anika: And so he has his own little corner, I guess, of the fandom. But it is still true that, in wider fandom, if you're gonna ask non-Voyager fans -- but Trek fans -- they'll point out Harry Kim as a waste of space, that he has no characterization whatsoever--

Liz: Lies!

Anika: --that, literally all they know about him is that he was never promoted during the series. And it's just, it's gross.

Liz: Which is, again, racism.

Anika: Which is just really bad.

Liz: Because Rick Berman did not like Garret Wang.

Anika: Exactly. What I do when I'm watching Voyager, and I really saw it -- like, Voyager actually does a good job -- you know how we were always complaining about making the bridge crew annoyingly prominent in Discovery? Voyager does a really good job with their giant ensemble. And to be fair, they're all like actual regulars.

Liz: They are, which I do think was a mistake.

Anika: They're supposed to be prominent, but little things. Like there's this great part where we learn that Harry wears a mask to sleep, and why. And, of course, he has his clarinet and his love of music, that he, saved up replicator rations to make a clarinet because he left his actual one at home.

And he has his fiancee, and when he is in that little bubble reality where he's back on Earth, and he has like a favorite coffee place, and he has a favorite coffee order. And it's like, those are the details that I want. You know, they're like throwaway -- not important to the plot. They just tell you who Harry is.

Liz: And what he values.

Anika: And he's a really sweet guy that cares about community, and knows people's names, and pays attention to little things. I don't understand the criticism that Harry Kim doesn't have character, because he has so much character.

Liz: What I don't get is this idea that Harry Kim is bad with women. He is wildly successful with women. He just finds it uncomfortable when women come at him aggressively. Like--

Anika: Yeah!

Liz: --that's it. And I think, again, this memetic idea that Harry is bad with women is racist, because it comes up in the script, and people accept it as reality, but it's not remotely true.

Anika: It's not true. And it's weird. He has plenty of little one-off relationships.

Liz: Right!

Anika: It's strange. It's strange. And also this idea that he's not promoted. That's not on Harry.

Liz: No. That is, in universe, on Janeway and, in reality, on Rick Berman

Anika: Right.

Liz: And why are we passing up an opportunity to criticize Rick Berman? We love that shit!

Anika: Let's always criticize Rick. Definitely everything wrong is Rick Berman. And, you know, all of them. Brannon Braga and Jeri Taylor aren't -- they're better than Rick Berman, but they aren't great.

Liz: No, no, I'm very fond of Braga because I share his tastes for weird science fictional time travel stuff. Buuuuuut...

Anika: There's stuff. There are things that are questionable. And obviously Rick Berman is a trash person and not the way that Jonathan Archer is.

Liz: No, he is a trash person in the low level #MeToo way.

Anika: Right. But back to Harry.

Liz: Yes.

Anika: Harry had a fiancee, so I don't exactly understand how he's bad with women. And in the new Janeway autobiography, he gets back with her.

Liz: Oh, nice!

Anika: I was like, Oh, that's actually -- like, I always sort of I make fun of [Libby] almost as much as I make fun of Mark, but that's really not fair to Libby, because she--

Liz: She has a personality.

Anika: In the one episode we get with her -- yeah, she has a personality, they actually have a really sweet relationship that I'm sort of, like, I can cheerlead that, you know? And since I don't like any of his canon relationships in the show, it's like, sure, he gets back together with Libby. They have a happy life, that's great.

Liz: Yeah, I love that for him.

Anika: I'd also -- while we're because we're allegedly talking about "Caretaker"--

Liz: Oh, yeah.

Anika: The pet names, the way that B'Elanna and Harry call each other Starfleet and Marquis, every once in a while it comes back up, and every time I'm happy, and I love their relationship the way that it -- like, it's not actually in the show. But their relationship that is seen in those tiny moments where they call each other by these pet names, and they support each other and, like, share, Tom is really great.

I just wish that they had built on the potential of those characters and that relationship, and that we got more of that friendship.

Liz: And it really feels like they were setting the groundwork for a canonical romance. And I have to believe that the only reason they didn't go through with that was, again, racism.

Anika: Yeah. Racism.

Liz: Because it had faded well into the background before they worked out that Roxann Dawson had amazing chemistry with Robert Duncan McNeill. And I like Tom and B'Elanna, but I also would have liked Harry and B'Elanna.

I just think at some point early on, they decided, "Actually this Asian kid, we're not going to do anything to support him or uphold him."

And, you know, allegedly he was the one -- almost the one who was fired at the end of season three, and then Garrett Wang made it onto the People's most beautiful 50 Most Beautiful People of the Year list, and they ditched Jennifer Lien instead.

Wang has said that that's not entirely accurate, and I think I'll have to dip back into Delta Fliers when he discusses that, because certainly Jennifer Lien seems to have had problems even then.

Anika: Yes.

Liz: And I hate that her career came to an end because I wonder if she would have been in a better position now than if she had -- if it had not [been her that was let go]. For those who don't follow Voyager actors in the news, Lien has not acted for a long time, and I think is living in Texas, and has racked up a bunch of criminal charges. And basically -- "don't do meth" is the moral of the story.

Anika: Her story reminds me a lot of Grace Lee Whitney's.

Liz: Yeah. And you know, Whitney really struggled with addiction for a very long time, and got through it and her career revived, and she wound up having a successful and happy life. So I hope that comes true for Lien as well. Is this a good segue to talk about Kes?

Anika: Yes. I love Kes, and they from the beginning did not know how to write her. They did not know what they were going to do with her. I hate her introduction. I love Kes as, like, the girl who's climbing up the rabbit hole.

Liz: The fairy princess going on adventures.

Anika: But I hate the fact that we meet her as battered and bruised, and a prisoner, and being saved by Neelix, who's lying to our heroes in order to do it. Everything is bad about that. That's not just -- that's just not good.

Liz: I think even if Janeway had been the one to save her, it would have been better.

Anika: Yes.

Liz: But yeah, I think the whole Neelix/Kes relationship was--

Anika: Oof!

Liz: --poorly conceived. Yur note here is that Kes is an abuse victim and also a literal child. And to be honest, I never have any problem accepting the Ocampa for fully grown adults at the age of one, and they are sexually mature and emotionally mature -- or as emotionally mature as an adult twenty-year-old can be, and there's nothing skeevy happening here. But nevertheless, the gap in age between Ethan Phillips and Jennifer Lien is so great?

Anika: Right.

Liz: I think if they had cast someone younger as Neelix, it might have worked, but it was so far from being a relationship between equals.

Anika: The issue with the actors' ages is, because they're both playing aliens, and they're both playing aliens that are new, even -- like, they're not even Vulcans or whatever, that we're aware of, we don't know how how old either -- like, I guess we know that Ocampa live to be seven-years-old. But until she comes back in "Fury", I was always sort of like, What's seven? You know, we made up time, seven in the Delta Quadrant could be eighty, we don't know. You know, it's another thing that you shouldn't think too much about in science fiction.

And then, Neelix. The thing is that even if he is a young -- what is he? Talaxian? Even if he is a young Talaxian, he has a ship, he has a job. He was in the military for a while, and left.

Liz: I was gonna say, his history in the military makes me think he's considerably older than, say, thirty?

Anika: Yeah. He's lived too much to have this. And she literally lived her two years underground, being one of the Caretaker's ants in his ant farm. [Note from Liz: we regret to report that Kes is, in fact, one year old in "Caretaker". She turns two in "Twisted" and WHY DO I KNOW THIS WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP?] She has no experience whatsoever. So putting those two together is the -- it's just not balanced in any way.

Liz: No. And I, as much as I love an age gap, there are certain conditions that have to be in place for me to be on board. One is that, in experience, or intelligence, they have to be equals. And two, the story has to acknowledge the unevenness and the consequences of that. And Voyager tried really, really hard not to.

Anika: Right.

Liz: It felt dishonest in a way. And then there was the whole Neelix jealousy subplot that came along a season or so later. It really served both characters poorly. I like Neelix? But I like him best after Kes breaks up with him in season three.

Anika: I like him best, really, after Kes is gone. Unfortunately,

Liz: No, no, that makes sense. I think sometimes a relationship holds a character back, even the memory of it. And it's easier to overlook the skeeviness of the Neelix/Kes relationship once Kes is gone.

Anika: And the issue is that Neelix's other closest relationship is with Tuvok, who is another person who -- like, Tuvok is Mr. Boundaries, and Neelix doesn't know what a boundary is.

Liz: Yeah. That's my other beef.

Anika: So my -- like, I get why they put those two characters together, and why they built up that relationship. But when you look at the way that Neelix treats Kes, and the way that Neelix treats Tom, and the way that Neelix treats Tuvok together, it doesn't make Neelix look good.

Liz: No, no, you kind of have to take him -- you really have to compartmentalize him.

And it's a shame, because I love Kes, and I really identified with her when I was a teenage girl. Obviously I identified with Janeway, and weirdly, I sort of overlooked B'Elanna because she was so angry, and I was very much in denial about being an angry teenage girl. But I love her now, obviously.

But one of the reasons that they thought Kes was unappealing was that she was too much aimed at the teenage girl demographic. And in the costume book, they describe her as dressing like a teenage girl. And I'm like, you keep saying that like it's a bad thing!

Anika: Hollywood -- society as a whole -- really looks down on teenage girls.

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: And, you know, a politician says something that you don't like, and they say, "Oh, just like a teenage girl." And it's like, what? What are you talking about? So yeah, it's just bad.

Liz: I'm just saying, you know, who were the first to be into the Beatles? Teenage girls.

Anika: Well, teenage girls are great, and we should always support them. I have that -- that's one of my, like, reusable hashtags, #SupportTeenGrls, because it's just, it's just silly. It's silly not to.

Liz: I think that Kes could easily have coexisted with Seven. Like, I think it would have been really fascinating.

Anika: Yeah! You've said this before, that they should -- like, they should have had, like, five regulars and a bunch of supporting characters. And that's true.

Liz: If they had gotten to season four and dropped, say, Kes and Harry down to recurring, so there's not the pressure to have them in every episode and not the pressure to give them stories--

Anika: And Neelix! Why are we keeping Neelix?

Liz: Oh yeah, no, Neelix has to go.

Anika: Just saying. But for some reason, they were really against all of, like, that.

Liz: Ironically for a science fiction show, I think Star Trek in the '90s was really afraid to change.

Anika: Yeah, it's because, you know what happened with Terry Farrell, where she was like, "Look, I don't want to be a regular. I still want to play this character. I just don't want to be a regular," and they were like, "No." And--

Liz: You say "they", but--

Anika: --they wrote her out and brought in someone else. Yeah.

Liz: It's Rick Berman.

Anika: We all know who.

Liz: This is a great episode for criticizing Berman. I love it.

Anika: Itwould have made so much more sense to spread the love. But ... I don't know, they wrote B'Elanna really well, so I gotta give them that. B'Elanna is my -- you know, B'Elanna and Seven -- but Seven is, like, on a whole other level. B'Elanna is--

Liz: Seven is extraordinary. B'Elanna is also--

Anika: --an incredibly well-written character over seven seasons. She goes on a journey. And they check back in with her at the same time, you know, every season. And it's really clever, and it's really well done.

I don't know how they did so well with B'Elanna when they did so poorly with others. But they did. And maybe -- I said that she's angry all the time, and that's a, quote unquote, masculine trait. And so maybe it just was easier to do -- like it was easier for the writers to write that. But you said that you didn't initially identify with B'Elanna.

Liz: No.

Anika: I want to repeat something I said on a panel some years ago now, where I said, B'Elanna is my Spock.

Liz: I remember you've talked about that before, and I think it's a really great point. And I think having a character who is as angry as her, and as conflicted about her identity, and whose story carries over seven seasons -- and it never really comes to an easy resolution. She goes forward, she goes backwards. She has good days, she has bad days. I think it's an absolute masterclass in writing a key supporting character over time.

Anika: That she is consistent in her inconsistency, that all of the inconsistencies that come up in B'Elanna 's story are there -- are pointed out, are part of the plot, are, like, "We're gonna deal with this now."

And she's consistently going back and forth in different ways, and she never gets over her -- like, she never fully gets over her identity issues. She's dealing with, an anxiety issue pretty much throughout the entire -- even in the seventh season, she's still dealing with that anxiety.

Liz: Yeah!

Anika: And that's true to life. And so it's just really well done. I think that if they had paid more attention to her, they would have screwed her up.

Liz: That's exactly what I was going to say.

Anika: It's exactly the right amount of attention.

Liz: I feel like B'Elanna's story succeeds because she's a supporting character, and she's not the focus of attention the way Janeway and Seven are. And therefore, there's not the pressure riding on her, and not the level of attention, and they can just go through and quietly tell a good story, you know, the way they did with Worf in TNG. Worf's story back then was very -- pre-Deep Space Nine -- was very consistent and very well-told. I mean, you need to have tolerance for Klingon shit, but I'm a bit fond of Klingon bullshit.

So -- so we have not discussed the Doctor.

Anika: Oh, the Doctor. Well, he is barely a person in this first episode.

Liz: He's just Cranky Siri.

Anika: He's literally the program. He doesn't do anything new. He grows -- that's a character tha goes on quite the journey over Voyager, you know, it's kind of required of that character to grow in many ways.

Liz: But what's interesting is that he wasn't planned to be a funny character, and that was something that Robert Picardo brought to the role. And it almost leads to him taking over the series. Like, I find the Doctor very wearisome. And this argument that Seven of Nine takes over, when the Doctor is there every second episode. Seriously?

Anika: Yeah, Seven takes over in a way that, like, Tuvok, Chakotay -- B'Elanna's pretty -- like, B'Elanna's always second tier, that's where she exists. So she doesn't change. Tom arguably -- but Tom still gets to do all his Tom stuff.

But Harry, Chakotay and Tuvok, definitely, are sort of put in the shadows by Seven. You're absolutely correct, the Doctor has just as much character stuff. But he's been there all along, I guess. Like, you don't see it as a change, because what happens is his story doesn't go back the way that Tuvok's and Chakotay's -- he's not put in that box.

Liz: I think it frustrates me with the Doctor, whereas it doesn't with Seven, because I feel like, with Seven, they were doing something genuinely revolutionary in terms of the character and the way her story was written. And it obviously built on a lot of great writing from other science fiction series.

But Seven was new, and the Doctor is just, you know, mash up Data with McCoy and you've got the holographic doctor.

Anika: I am interested that you said that he wasn't meant to be funny, because I can't actually imagine him as not funny.

Liz: No, I know!

Anika: Like, what even would that be? That would literally be like, you know, Siri talking to me. That's not interesting.

Liz: I get the impression that he was basically conceived as Medical Siri. And I guess because it was the '90s and we didn't have Siri, then no one realized how boring that concept would be. And I think the idea always was that he would grow -- go on this journey of personhood, but it's Robert Picardo, who made it a journey of comedy personhood.

Anika: I like it. I like that. I can't imagine it another way.

I don't love the Doctor, I think I agree with you that it's just sort of tired. It's like, we did Odo, we did Data, we did Spock. And Seven brings something different to those same tropes, whereas the Doctor doesn't, really.

The Doctor is basically Data again, not the same personality, but it's sort of the same idea. He's also put on trial to prove that he exists, and he's also used in poor ways. I like the Doctor-centric episodes that aren't about his identity, but are more about how his identity fits into his community.

Liz: Yes, no, that makes sense. And, yeah, I don't dislike the Doctor. I just get tired of him by the end of season seven.

Anika: I mean, I think that's fair. I think that he also has a harsh personality.

Liz: Yeah, a little goes a long way. And honestly, I don't think he's a very good doctor. So ... he's not ... yeah.

Anika: I wouldn't want Siri to be my doctor either.

Liz: No, and we know that he was programmed by one of the biggest creeps in Starfleet.

Anika: Yes!

Liz: And I'm not even talking about Reginald Barclay!

Anika: Well, yeah, it's kind of amazing that he is a nice person at all, really, when you think about it?

Liz: Sheer luck, and also the influence of Kes.

Anika: Yeah, I was gonna say, it's the people. And that's why those are the more interesting episodes. Because someone building an identity is not as interesting as someone becoming more of themselves because of the interactions that they're having.

Liz: Right, yes.

So your note here is, "Janeway's choice. If this were a Cardassian ship, we'd be home now. If this were a Klingon ship, we'd be home now. If this were a Vulcan ship, we'd be home now. Why are humans?"

Anika: I'm just saying.

Liz: Which brings me to my thought, like, we don't see Seska in this episode, but I have to think that the whole Caretaker shenanigans -- it's just a very bad day for her. She's thrown to the other side of the galaxy, she's abducted, she's put through tests.

Then it turns out that Tuvok was a spy, and she didn't even notice, and that it has to be embarrassing, even though he didn't notice her, so at least they're even.

And then this Starfleet captain goes and traps them on the other side of the galaxy, and she has to wear a Starfleet uniform, and she's going to be on this ship for seventy years pretending to be a Bajoran?

Anika: Seska's worst day ever.

Liz: Uh, yeah, basically.

Anika: But, yeah, so obviously I was quoting Seska in the "If this were a Cardassian ship, we'd be home now." One of the best lines, best episodes? Yes. But, one hundred percent, Klingons and Vulcans would also not have done this. And probably Andorians. It's pretty much very human to do this.

Liz: It is. And I think it reflects the way that we have a strong sense of justice and decency and also a dash of paternalism.

Anika: I guess it's also a super American choice?

Liz: That brings me to my note here, "the Social Security controversy", because this episode ends with Janeway telling the Caretaker that, you know, children have to grow up and the Ocampa have to learn to stand on their own feet.

And a lot of -- this aired around the time that Bill Clinton was tipping a lot of people off Social Security, and a lot of left-wing and liberal viewers interpreted this episode as having a subtext -- basically an anti-Social Security subtext.

And it's interesting, because all through the series, Voyager does sort of have this odd, low-key reactionary tendency. You know, refugees are a bit scary. These former slaves are scary, and not white, and all of that stuff. And it's really built into the pilot.

Anika: Yeah, it's definitely there. And, you know, Voyager is my Trek, I guess, as you say.

Liz: And that's how we can criticize it.

Anika: And that's how we can criticize it, right. And I am very critical all the time.

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: Of many of the things both within the storylines, and things that happened behind the scenes and outside of -- and like, why things happened the way they did, and the storylines and stuff like that, all of that.

I can't watch an episode without thinking about the different things, and the way that I saw it when, again, I was a very young adult (in terms of science, not an adult at all) and yet, being asked to make decisions that they kept saying would affect my whole life. "Where do you want to go to college? What do you want to major in? What are you going to do with your life?" You know, and it's like, I don't know.

Liz: "I'm a kid, man."

Anika: And Voyager was my show at that time. And I was also -- like, I've mentioned before, on various places, I went through a -- I was -- I had a mental breakdown during Voyager. As Voyager ended, within six months after Voyager ended, I was hospitalised. So it I think it was even -- because -- if it ended in May that -- yeah, it was like, less than.

So it's just really -- I was becoming a person when Voyager happened, and on the backside of it, on the other end, when it was over. And I literally named myself after Seven of Nine. So when I say that Voyager shaped my personhood, I mean, it literally. Watching this show, at that time of my life, it shaped how I think, and how I feel, and how I see. And that's why I can look back on it without my rose colored glasses, and say, Whoo, that's really rough.

And I'm on Tuvok's side, whenTuvok was like, "This is not our job. We are, we are -- like, that guy was overinvested in this nonsense, and you're just -- you're just continuing that, and you have even less reason to be doing this."

That's why I love Seska so much. That's why I'm always talking about Seska, because Seska's the one who's pointing at it and saying, "This is -- like, letting the Kazon do whatever they want is a wrong decision. But what you're doing is also a wrong decision." And--

Liz: I don't think Janeway is necessarily wrong. I think the Kazon would have probably wiped out the Ocampa if they were left to their own devices. I think, if you can prevent a genocide, then you should do so.

Anika: Everything I know about the Kazon ... I don't think that they could--

Liz: You don't think they're capable?

Anika: 'Cos there were two ships.

Liz: Yeah, that's true.

Anika: Like how would -- I don't see people who have to steal water being able to take out the Ocampa.

Like, the Ocampa not being able to defend themselves is a problem, that is true, the Ocampa not being able to leave their planet. But I guess my point is that the Caretaker is the one who put them in that position.

Liz: Right.

Anika: And Janeway still, like -- yeah, they blow up the array and the two Kazon ships, but then they still leave. Like, the Ocampa are still hanging out on their planet, right?

Liz: And they don't even know about the danger. They don't even know that the Caretaker is dying.

Anika: So I don't see how Voyager taking care of this one threat, and then bouncing, is actually better for the Ocampa.

Liz: It's so typical of '90s Trek.

Anika: I guess there's no right choice here is the real -- the real answer is, there's no good choice, and so I'm fine with Janeway's choice. I just think--

Liz: As opposed to killing Tuvix, which is the only right choice.

Anika: I'm just saying that the idea -- like, Janeway's saviorhood is super -- you can tell that her dad was an admiral, you can tell that she lives and breathes Starfleet. And that's interesting, and that's good, and that makes her a great character. I just am that person who says, also Starfleet can be bad sometimes.

Liz: Yes. And also, I think that if this had been a Next Generation episode, there would have been a meeting about it where everyone argues the rights and wrongs of destroying the array and incorporating the Maquis into the crew. But because they're so set on establishing Janeway as a, quote unquote, strong female character, there was no room for that consultation. She needed to make that decision or else they thought it might be sexist, I guess?

Anika: I guess? She just comes off as like --

Liz: High handed.

Anika: Yeah. It's just, literally Tuvok is like, "Hey, maybe let's not do that." And she's like, "No, I'm gonna do that." And then--

Liz: I'm sorry. When Tuvok speaks, you should listen.

Anika: Right?

I mean, the truth is, in more than one episode, Tuvok, like -- in the teaser, Tuvok will say something, and then it'll turn out to be correct. And the entire episode would not have happened if we just listened to Tuvok.

Liz: See, this is why Tuvok needs to join the cast of Star Trek: Picard. Like, maybe their episodes would be shorter, but they will have a much easier time getting things done.

Anika: They also need an adult.

Liz: And obviously Picard is not -- you know, he's the cool granddad.

Anika: But yeah, so I just think it's very human. It's very American. It's very, it's very '90s, as you say. Absolutely. Like that is -- and it's interesting to look at it from our lens of now, to look back and think about how the entire series is based on this one decision.

Liz: Yeah. I don't think I know enough to really say this with any intelligence, but I'm not going to let that stop me! It sort of highlights the difference between liberalism and leftism? And I think Voyager thinks it's very liberal, and is actually very centrist.

Anika: Right, which is what liberalism is.

Liz: And that is so 1990s. This is Clinton-era Star Trek.

Anika: Very much so.

Liz: Yeah.

Anika: Well, that was fun!

Liz: We have talked about "Caretaker" for about as long as "Caretaker" runs. I'm so proud of us!

Anika: Whoops! Um, before we wrap up, I have one thing I wanted to say.

Liz: Yes?

Anika: This aired in 1995.

Liz: Oh, shit!

Anika: So it's actually the 26th anniversary.

Liz: Oh, that's so interesting!

Anika: But since 2020 was--

Liz: 2020?

Anika: --you know, let's just skip over that, we can call it the 25th.

Liz: 25th with an asterisk. Yeah, that makes sense, because I was born in '82. So I was thirteen in the summer of '95. Cool. Okay. I'm really glad that we got this sorted out.

Anika: I was like, okay, when did I graduate? I was trying to figure out exactly how old I was. And so yeah, so I looked up the air date and, yeah.

Liz: My very first memory of being aware of Voyager was a column about Genevieve Bujold quitting the role. And I had a scrapbook where I cut out and saved any Star Trek related articles that happened to cross my path. I saved this article because it was basically, overworked, underpaid journalist thinks that being a starship captain sounds much easier and doesn't know what Bujold was complaining about.

What I took from that column at age about twelve is, Ooooh, another Star Trek, and this one has a lady captain! I don't know if I can ship a lady captain because any of the crew will be subordinate to her in rank. Oh, well, I'll watch it anyway, and I'll probably like it. Anyway, when's seaQuest on?

And look where we are now.

Anika: That's so funny.

Liz: I think I was a weirdly sexist little kid, actually.

Anyway, thank you for listening to Antimatter Pod. You can find our show notes at antimatterpod.tumblr.com, including links to our social media and credits for our theme music.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @antimatterpod, and on Facebook, and every single episode I say I'm going to be better about sharing episodes on Facebook at every single support night I forget.

If you leave a review on Apple podcasts, or wherever you consume your podcasts, the more reviews the easier it is for new listeners to find us.

And join us in two weeks, when we will be discussing the classic TOS episode "City on the Edge of Forever".

#star trek: voyager #antimatter pod #podcast transcripts

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jewish-gay-elves · 3 years

Text

Oh, Calamity

“I don’t believe in the Maker,” he says, breaking the silence that followed your coupling.

A soulmate/reincarnation au fic where I play around with the idea of soulmates without identifying marks or timers that have to find each other every lifetime!

Words: 4803, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of the Stephan Cousland: There's Never Much of a Choice for You

Fandoms: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age (Video Games) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Alistair (Dragon Age), Male Cousland, Goldanna, Cailan Theirin, Anora Mac Tir Relationships: Alistair/Warden (Dragon Age), Alistair/Male Warden (Dragon Age), Alistair/Cousland, Alistair/Male Cousland Additional Tags: ok just wanted to cover all my bases on the ship tags lol, also goldanna/cailan/anora's presences in the fic are v limited, like a sentence each p much, Songfic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Reincarnation, please let me know if there should be more tags!, also please ask if you have questions!

“I don’t believe in the Maker,” he says, breaking the silence that followed your coupling. You lift your head and rest your chin on his chest, mulling over his words. Morrigan is always scolding you for saying the first thing to come to mind, and this feels like it requires a more thoughtful approach.

“Okay,” you say, and it is. Truly, it is okay. His belief or lack thereof in the Maker has no impact on how much you both care about each other. Your own faith in in the Maker hasn’t been the most unshakeable, who are you to decide whether or not he’s wrong? You can feel the tension in the arm he has around your waist lessen until his grip is as gentle as it was before. He was never really one to go in the Chantry and it makes sense to you now why not. You thought he just wasn’t really one for all the anti-magic shtick that they preach.

“One of my tutors, he came from Rivain,” he begins, offering an explanation. “While we still had Aldous, my parents wanted Fergus and me to have a more rounded education. He kept his lessons mostly academic, but I enjoyed his company so much I often stayed after and he told me of Rivain and their beliefs,”

You rest your cheek against his chest again, still listening but curling closer to him. He waited a minute, just listening to you breathe before continuing.

“He said that everything in Thedas and beyond were made of energy. Humans, elves, dwarves, qunari, and all the other beings. That energy exists in a cycle. Once the energy in a being has been exhausted in say, an old man, it would go then to a newborn. This continues the cycle, with the same energy and souls from before, just reborn. He said the stress of childbirth erased the memories from the past life, making it harder to remember things from before,” he explained.

“Have you ever remembered anything from one of your past lives?” you asked, wondering if stray dreams may have influenced his belief in the Rivaini.

“No, and I doubt I will remember anything from before. This is a fairly new line of thinking in Ferelden and if it’s true I doubt that any of my past lives believed in it. I think that increases the chance of never remembering those lives, just thinking that nothing came before solidifies the experiences in this time. As sad as it sounds I’m not even sure I’d like to remember those lives,” he said, puzzling you.

“Well, why not?” you ask, lifting your head to look at him again.

“I can’t know if those lives were as lucky as this one to have been able to find you,” he says, lifting a hand to your cheek as you two look at each other. You both lean in for a kiss and you think to yourself that it’s hard to imagine never meeting him in any kind of life.

When I was younger I was certain I’d be fine without a Queen Just a king inside his castle, with an ocean in between Now all I do is sit and count the miles from you to me Oh, Calamity!

You sit on your throne, looking out at the crowd gathered in light of festivities. Teagan stands by your side, Maker bless him. Eamon and young Connor are back in Redcliffe, Isolde caught fever and Connor insisted Eamon stay with them until she recovered. The other nobles are all drinking heavily, well into their cups and you are painfully aware of the missing Arl of Amaranthine. You know he passed on the title back to the Howes and Nathaniel years ago before he even began his search for a cure but, he should be here.

You can see Fergus from your throne speaking to the nobles around him, some minor lordlings from South Reach looks like. They must be discussing politics for you can see Fergus’ top lip twitching. His brother had the same twitch that tells when either of them are about to seal a good deal. Probably speaking of possible marriage arrangements for Fergus’ boy.

You wonder if he thinks about his first son often but as the lordlings turn to retrieve more drinks you see a wave of grief pass over his face before the mask is back in place. You were able to return Highever to the Couslands but in the years since you’ve wondered if they even wanted it back. Nothing either of them said to you indicated otherwise but whenever you visit and they are both there they get certain looks on their faces. As if they were forced to eat Orleisian cheeses.

He must have noticed your eyes on him because Fergus turns to look up to where you sit. The grief is still in his eyes as he gives you a nod before returning to the festivities. You always wondered if he blamed you for having to remarry and raise heirs, knowing that his brother was otherwise occupied as Warden Commander and would never have given Highever heirs of his own willingly.

Seeing as you won’t be making heirs either and that the throne was mostly going to one of his sons you doubted that he could hate you forever. You make a mental note to later write to Fergus about the idea. Provided that you spoke to your fellow Warden about it as well. As soon as he returned of course. Because he would return, he’s the Hero of Fereldan for Maker’s sake, and also because you have had a cold spot in your bed for far too long. Teagan leans over and makes to whisper in your ear.

“Stop thinking about the Prince-Consort, you have the most unwelcoming look on your face,” he says before leaning back. You shoot him a grin upon seeing his sly smile.

“I’m that transparent am I?” you ask rhetorically, straightening your back with only two or three pops compared to the normal five or six. The chair (Eamon says you must refer to it as the throne but in all honesty, it’s just a chair) is far too uncomfortable and you wish said Prince-Consort was here to complain to but that will have to wait for another day.

We get older by the hour, watch the changes from afar. Keep forgetting to remember, where we’ve been is who we are. Now all I do is wonder why we ever set the scene Oh, Calamity

You lean against your shovel, looking up at the sky. Your eye is drawn to where they say the Breach once tore the heavens asunder. You think back to the stories the older servants tell of being children while the world was thrown into chaos by the Archdemon.

They say that among the rubble of the Temple of Sacred Ashes the Inquisitor arose as the Herald of Andraste with a hand sparkling green with ancient Elvhen magics. That they had been touched by Fen’Harel himself. Your knowledge of the Elvhen Parthenon is limited, but the savior of Thedas being touched by the Dread Wolf seemed a bit ironic to you.

It had been almost a century since the sky was closed by the might of the Inquisition and while it still had power, Ferelden no longer felt torn. Struggling to choose between the Inquisition and the throne. While the Inquisition started in Ferelden it had no power over country affairs. King Alistair and his Prince-Consort, may they rest at the Maker’s side, supported the Inquisition in that it would close the Breach was sure to remind them that true power in Ferelden laid with the crown.

To be honest you preferred the late monarchs of Ferelden, may they rest at the Maker’s side, to the Inquisition. The two surviving Grey Wardens of the Battle at Ostagar, saved by a Witch of the Wilds to unite Ferelden and prevent civil war in order to fight the darkspawn.

No one quite knows when or how the two Wardens got involved after ending the Fifth Blight, or whether or not they weren’t together before slaying the Archdemon. But they stood together against the nobles at the Landsmeet, declaring King Alistair the rightful heir and their engagement to each other. You always thought it was very romantic, the last two Grey Wardens standing together against nobles and darkspawn alike.

“What a lazy arse you are Marc!” a voice you recognize as Quint’s called from behind you. You turned to see him walking down the hill towards you, his hands dirty from where he was likely gardening in front of the main house all day, an equally dirty spade tucked between his belt and trousers. You gave him a smile as he approached, knowing that the work day was likely over and he was coming to collect you for dinner.

“I happen to know that you like my arse, whether it’s lazy or not,” you said back to him. Your mind’s eye flickered as he smirked at you, a delicate golden circlet with lavish jewels appearing on his head, the spade at his side now a decorated sword. You frowned, shaking your head to clear the vision. As he reached you he slid his arms around your waist.

“You alright, love?” he asked cautiously. You smiled for him, returning the gesture and wrapping your arms around him as well. You wondered if Quint had ever had a moment like that. As if a memory placed itself over the current view you had. Doubtful, Quint was likely more focused on his next meal.

“Fine, I’m fine. Just tired I guess,” you said blinking the strange vision out of your eyes. “Let’s go see what Cookie’s whipped up for tonight shall we?”

“Hey I heard that the Lord has a visitor from Rivain staying for a while,” He starts telling you earnestly, already coming up with all sorts of wild tales.

It’s such a shame that we play strangers No act to change what we’ve become Damn it’s such a shame that we built a wreck out of me Oh, Calamity.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had one of these visions Neil! There has to be some meaning behind them I just can’t figure out what!” you exclaim, curling your hands into fists against your temples. Neil sits on the cot a foot or so away from where you are curled in on yourself.

“Okay, okay, Wil I believe you,” he says extending his hands out in a placating manner. You peer at him, lifting your head from where you pushed it against your knees. He’s looking at you earnestly with his wide honest eyes and you find your initial fear of him ridiculing you disappearing.

“Just start from the beginning, when did they begin?” He asks you patiently. You take a deep breath and lower your arms to wrap around your calves. You collect your thoughts and decide to be honest.

“I think I’ve always had them, but I could never remember them until after I met you,” you start out. “It’s like I’m living another person’s life, but it just overlaps my own. I’ll see my papa start walking towards me but then his face isn’t his but instead its some Rivaini dressed in the Grey Warden uniform from before the Fifth Blight. My mother gets replaced by someone in servants clothing patting my cheek. And you, you have five different faces. All of them look like they lived centuries ago. There is maybe a century between each of them, with the oldest one from before the Breach.”

“Lived before the Breach? Wil that was back in what, 9:34 Dragon?” Neil says concern clear on his face.

“The Breach opened in 9:41 Dragon,” you correct him.

You’re scared to tell him that he doesn’t take on the face of just anyone from before the Fifth Blight but the face of the Warden who defeated that Blight. You’re scared to tell him that sometimes you look in the mirror and it’s not your face that greets you. That you have five different faces as well. And the oldest face that you see is one drawn in countless history books from the royal portrait archives to your classroom textbook. King Alistair, the last of the Theirins to sit on the throne before he gave it to his Prince-Consort’s nephews, he looks at you in the mirror. He’s always much younger than in the portraits but you know it’s him.

You’re scared that if you tell Neil he will remember the history lessons that covered King Alistair and his Grey Warden Prince-Consort. That they would only be known as the first two men to rule Ferelden as a couple together if they hadn’t also defeated a Blight. You’re scared because this is too new with Neil, you aren’t even sure if you like like him that way and what if he doesn’t like like you like that either? He’s been your only friend since you moved to Lothering a year ago. You refuse to lose a friend like him for something- something like this!

Neil is just as quiet as you, now that you’ve finished your tale. A moment passes before he scoots nearer to you on the bed and slings an arm around your shoulders and drawing you closer to him.

“We’re going to figure this out, ok Wil? I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but we'll figure it out,” he says and it disturbingly sounds like a promise falling from his lips and you look at him in surprise. He has a soft smile on your face, and a little twitch in his upper lip and you’re almost overcome with another déjà vu vision but you tamper it down and stay in this moment where there is just you and Neil.

You find yourself nodding with a grin spreading across your face. His good mood and attitude becoming infectious as you sit on the little cot.

“C’mon, let’s go downstairs, I remember Ma said there was a visitor from Rivain who checked in yesterday,” Neil invited you, standing up and offering you a hand up. You gladly take it and you both head downstairs together.

I’ll remember nights alone, waking up to dial tone Always found my greatest moments in the sound of your hello. Now I struggle to recall the reasons you would come to leave. Oh, Calamity

You didn’t want to call Elijah, you didn’t want to call Elijah, but you wanted to call Elijah. Damn it, you thought to yourself, picking up your telephone. You impatiently pushed the rotary around waiting until it finally put you through. Thankfully, it wasn’t either of Elijah’s, frankly lovely if not a tad overbearing, parents who answered the phone.

“Hello, this is the Philips?” he said, sounding a bit confused by the late call.

“Elijah, it’s me. Benjamin,” you replied. This was a bad idea, you can already tell. You both don’t really know each other how can you be sure it’s him? Your parents always said it took a little while to know if someone was your soulmate. They told you it took time before you could be sure that the overlapping faces were truly the person you were meant to be with. That sometimes, if you rushed it, it wouldn’t be right. But you’re scared, scared it’ll never be right and if you never say anything you’ll never know what you missed.

“Oh hey, Ben. What’s up? Did you forget something at my house?” He asks, not picking up on your nerves at all. You can’t tell if he’s just dense or extremely considerate. Either option is endearing to you and makes the lump in your throat that much harder to speak around. Should you even tell him?

“Uhh no, no I’ve got everything, I just, wanted to call?” it comes out as a question and you want to hang up and then beat yourself over the head with the receiver. You can hear him pause and huff out a laugh of sorts. You want to smile because you’ve seen that laugh in person and can imagine him doing it in your head but it was at your expense and you are so nervous.

“Well, so you’ve called me. Are you feeling okay Ben?” he asks and you almost panic because he can tell, he can tell can’t he, that you don’t know why you called and you want it to be more than what it probably is but you are propelled by fear and nerves and find yourself confessing.

“Eli have you ever met someone and felt like you know them? Like you meet them and something clicks and it feels like you’ve known them all along?” you ask nervously, your voice cracks in the middle but you power through because you are not going to let your sixteen year old voicebox ruin this for you. You listen to Eli suck in a breath of surprise and pause before cautiously picking out his words.

“Ben, I uh. I have felt that way about someone before,” he says to you and you can feel your heart slowly crawl its way out of your stomach and into your throat. You want to ask who, and whether or not it is you. Whether or not he knows what you’ve been going through. However it seems as though you let your indecision carry on too long because Eli is speaking again.

“I’ve felt that way about you Ben, and I don’t know if you ever would feel that way around me but, the dreams stopped after I met you Ben. I don’t see my soulmate in the Fade anymore and I’m scared about what that means but I think I caught a flash of him on your face the other night when you smiled at me and I. I don’t know what this means but I, I would very much like to find out.” he rambles, his voice barely louder than a whisper, almost too quiet for you to hear over the blood rushing in your ears.

“Elijah, oh Elijah, I want to find out too. I want to find out so very badly,” you say twisting the cord between your fingers, nervous about what you’re about to ask him. “Do you maybe, want to go to the fair with me tomorrow then? And come over afterward?” you have the cord wrapped so tightly around your finger that you think it’s starting to cut off circulation but you’re too busy waiting for a response to answer.

“Yes,” he breathes out, like it was the only way to respond “Yes, I’d love to go to the fair with you Ben,”

It’s such a shame that we play strangers No act to change what we’ve become Damn, it’s such a shame that we built a wreck out of me. Oh, Calamity

You always dreamed of a man when you were younger. A man who was as gentle as the breeze and as strong as the oaks in your backyard and he was the right kind of funny. A man who was sharper than knives and had a tongue to match his quick wit. He didn’t always look the same, his hair would change color and length, he’d get short and then tall and then short again. His eyes however, no matter what color they were, always looked at you with the gentlest expression.

You’re five years old and you only see him when you sleep, wrapped in the Fade together. You both play tag chasing each other round floating bookcases and sheer cliffs.

In time you realized that this was what your parents called “nature’s way of showing you your other half”. There were more technical terms for it now but you weren’t really interested in that. You were excited about this other half business. As a child you wondered if he liked playing with toy cars too, or if he was one of those boys who’d rather build towns only to wreck later, pretending to be great archdemons from old.

You’re twelve years old and your mother finally sits down and talks to you about how sometimes it doesn’t happen. That you aren’t always guaranteed a happy ending due to location and distance.

Your teachers explained that as you grew older, your soul began to recognize that it was missing something. Missing your soulmate, to try and amend this, your body produced dreams and visions of previous lives and people who your soul had found time and time again. Your body doesn’t know what your soulmate looks like this cycle so you can’t see who it is now, but you can dream, and remember. That’s why you see the boy in your dreams.

You’re nineteen years old and lonely and tired of searching and tired of disappointment. Despite this, no matter who or when someone offers a night to alleviate the pain a bit, you decline and dream of your boy who smiles at you with the same sad look in his eyes that you’ve started carrying in your own.

You wake up the morning before your birthday alone in your apartment when your brother calls to tell you that he’s found his soulmate. He invites you to dinner to meet the girl and you accept it, happy to share this moment with your brother. You get there and are reminded that in this lifetime happiness is for the man once called Cailan who died before he even knew he had a brother. Happiness is for the woman once called Anora who watched her father get executed in front of her. Happiness is not for you.

You’re fifty-four years old and playing with your nephews despite your angry knees and their arthritis. Your only niece sits with her mother because the mud just wasn’t her cup of tea and you can hear the perceptive little ten year old ask “Momma, why isn’t Uncle married like you and Daddy?”

When the alzheimer’s starts to take you, it gets hard to remember your niece’s name even though she was always your secret favorite. She still visits you but it’s hard on her and you can tell. She reminds you that she’s in college for her Master’s degree but you still don’t know what the degree is. You are forgetting a lot of things these days, but when you close your eyes the same familiar face greets you every time and you feel young again.

You’re eighty-seven years old and that is the best description of you. Old.

If I catch you on the corner will you even know it’s me? Will I look familiar to you? Do you offer me a seat? Can we find a new beginning? Do you turn the other cheek? Oh, Calamity!

Job hunting sucked. End of story, no other options, game over, it sucked and that was it. Thankfully Gwen (you wonder if she remembers yelling at you in that dingy house back in Denerim) said that you only had to do it for a few hours and three hours seemed long enough to you at least. You walked to the closest café, pulling the messenger bag higher on your shoulder as you turned the corner. The day was nice enough; maybe you could stop and sit down at one of the outside tables.

After ordering (a tea of some sort and a cheesy croissant) you went back outside looking for a table. Sadly other patrons must have had the same idea that you did and most of the tables were already full. A particularly rowdy group of teens had already occupied one corner of the outside arrangements and you’d like to sit as far away from them as possible. You walk over to see if perhaps there are more tables around the side of the building, you’re out of luck but no one’s sitting in such a dense group as at the other tables.

You gaze around and finally you see someone sitting with a laptop and a few papers. You aren’t sure how friendly they are but they seem a better choice than the dodgy old man who glares at anyone who comes near. You walk up to the table with the man and his laptop, not the old guy, and hesitantly get the attention of the man sitting there.

“Oh uh hello, uhm may I sit here? This café is strangely busy and I’d rather not sit by all those teenagers. Not that I have a problem with teenagers but it’s a tad distracting when they scream random memes. Am I rambling? I think I’m rambling, I can find another table somewhere else,” the words fall out of your mouth in a somewhat coherent pattern and you hope he understands what you said.

“No, no you’re alright. Please, sit,” he says with a gentle smile, he even shuffles his papers closer to himself so you can set down your cup. You sling your bag over the back of the chair and sit down across from him. After sitting you smack yourself in the forehead before speaking again.

“Where are my manners today I’m sorry, my name is Van, pleased to meet you,” you say, extending your hand across the table to shake his. He has a strong grip and you’re glad you can return it in kind.

“The pleasure is mine, you can call me Ryan,” he says to you. After a moment, he watches you as you meticulously take apart your cheesy croissant. You flush under his gaze in embarrassment.

“Sorry, I’m just a little curious as to what you’re doing?” he asks looking over your mangled food.

“Oh! Well, you see, they hide the good bits under all this bread in some attempt to even out the flavor. However the truly tasty part is the lovely cheese blend they make here and I think they should just sell that on it’s own but the dear owner disagrees with me. Quite strongly in fact,” you explain to him. He chuckles at your explanation and then adds his own input.

“You know, the last time I met someone so in tune to the finer aspects of good cheese, he was a very strange man who spent time remembering his former life in a monastery where the boys had some fascination with lamp posts,” he says, and your eyes snap open to take in his features anew, yes there’s the twitch of the upper lip. You smirk back at him and take a second to remember a highlight in your relationship.

“Well, have you ever licked a lamp post in winter?” you drawl out hoping that your voice in this lifetime sounds similar to when you first said it back in the ninth age. He full out grins back and stands up to lean over the table and grab your shirt tugging you in.

“Congratulations on coming back to me again, my King,” he retorts, ignoring your question.

“I think you’re the one I should be saying that too Mr. Grey Warden who simply had to push me out of the way so that he could deal the last blow to the archdemon,” you snark back at him, remembering that fateful night. He just rolls his eyes at you and closes the distance, leaving the past memories in favor of making new ones.

It’s such a shame that we play strangers No act to change what we’ve become Damn, it’s such a shame that we play strangers No act to change what we’ve become Damn it’s such a shame that we built a wreck out of me Oh, Calamity

“Almost makes you wish we could just fight another Blight and be done with it?”

“I’d take a Blight over a hundred awkward first dates, maybe not actually. There are too many darkspawn during those. And with our first dates I’m more likely to get laid now,”

“The one thing the movies never have, a shambling horde of shrieks and genlock to ruin our day,”

“The movies do end up with me back at your place more times than not surprisingly, seeing as you were the last one to lick a lamp post in winter between the two of us,”

“Oh we’ll see who’s licking the lamp post this time around Warden,”

“You know I’m not one of those anymore, especially since it’s been what, five centuries since the order died out?”

“Yes but this is probably our twentieth first meeting and it gets confusing if I try to remember all of the names you’ve had,”

“True enough, you royal bastard,”

Oh, Calamity, come back to me.

#alistair theirin #writing #stephan #stephan cousland #m!cousland #dragon age #dragon age origins #goldanna #cailan theirin #anora mac tir #songfic

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glassprism · 4 years

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Sorry if this has already been asked, but did you have any (well, strong) opinions on the Greece production? I guess since most of the visuals aren't new there's not much to say, but maybe more cast-wise, like Amy who came pretty much straight from doing a flagship replica? I hope you are doing well during this time and are able to stay safe, I saw the batman(I think???) paper fam and thought it looked super cute

I actually watched through the videos I have of the Norway and Greece productions a little while ago, so I definitely have some opinions on it, though less on the cast, since I was watching to view differences between the original and non-replica productions, not so much for the cast.

This ended up being long, so under the cut.

Overall, the Norway and Greece production clearly seem to take some inspiration from the original and the restaged tour and use it to build off the foundation of the Romanian non-replica. The key thing is that they do it terrifically well and definitely make it their own thing or incorporate neat touches that I liked. The Overture, for example, features the cast members from the past running out, setting up the show, etc., just as in the tour. Something else I liked was the beginning of ‘Think of Me’, where you can see cast members growing frustrated with Christine’s shyness and starting to leave, only to reappear in awe as her voice strengthens. It’s also clear that some inspiration from the original comes into play with the ‘Think of Me’ blocking; instead of Christine just standing there as in the Romanian production, she actually has a scarf and plays with it throughout the song. I’m still not that huge a fan of ‘The Mirror’, where the Phantom appears at the window, but I will admit it gives us a nice visual of the Phantom “looking in” to a world that has rejected him and which he cannot inhabit, done effectively with Espen Grjotheim’s body language.

Another big similarity with the restaged tour is of course the drum set during the title song, with the Phantom and Christine going down the steps. This felt a bit wasted in the restaged tour, as the tour has the pair spend a lot of time with the pair just hovering at the top aimlessly, followed by a boat ride that lasts all of five seconds. The Norway/Greece production, however, have the pair walking down the steps throughout, and actors in both really enhance Christine and the Phantom’s feelings, with Christine alternating between following the Phantom or cowering against the wall and the Phantom coaxing her after him. Probably the only flaw is that it looks kind of funny to have the Phantom yell, “Sing for me!” while simultaneously rowing the boat (though you have to admire his breath support, I suppose).

‘Music of the Night’ is another that appears to have great similarity to the restaged tour, with the Phantom handing Christine his music and singing to her while she looks over the sheets (which is also a holdover from the Romanian production). What sells it, though, is the way the Phantom actors play out the scene: Espen Grjotheim in particular sings to Christine almost in desperation, his arms constantly reaching out to her, at one point crawling right up next to her; it’s clear that music is the only thing he feels he can give Christine and that by accepting it, she is implicitly accepting him. This is an element that I did not see in the restaged tour (maybe because it spends so much time with Christine blindfolded or waltzing about), where it seems the Phantom cares solely about his music, not Christine. Put simply, in the restaged tour Christine is just a vehicle for the Phantom’s music; in the Norway and Greece production, the music is a vehicle to Christine. It’s kind of amazing how just a few changes in the blocking and acting can make that change much more palatable. (Also, at one point the Phantom leaps on his chair and it’s kind of hilarious in an enthused-puppy sort of way.)

I have to admit, I did not watch much of ‘Notes I’, ‘Prima Donna’ and Il Muto, partially because there’s only very short clips of it, though it looks a bit reminiscent of the 2004 movie, with the full cast running around at points. Buquet’s death plays out similarly to the original, only with no shadows, just a reveal of the body. The rooftop scene also plays out pretty similarly to the Romanian production, with Christine and Raoul utilizing the drum set to run up to the roof. In terms of set, it is a bit boring to see the same one again, but the symbolism is very apparent - with the Phantom Christine descends down, with Raoul she ascends up. ‘All I Ask of You’ is sweet but not too memorable, though I still find it very funny that Raoul proposes then and there. (Slow your roll, Raoul, you’ve only been singing for ten minutes.) The Phantom’s reprise is nice, and the Norway chandelier fall is epic. Can’t say the same for the Greece one, sadly.

‘Masquerade’ as a scene works well enough; the fact that it takes place in a mirrored hall is reminiscent of the restaging, while the stark color scheme seems inspired by the 2004 film / Polish production. Christine’s costume is pretty, even if the symbolism is a bit on-the-nose (yes, Christine is an angel! She is a savior, etc.). ‘Notes II’ and ‘Twisted Every Way’, as far as I can tell, take place in the same hall. Christine sitting on a chair for part of it feels direct from the original; the rest of the cast leaving when she breaks down feels a bit from the Polish production. Having Christine and Raoul alone in that moment gives it some nice intimacy. I’m still unsure about ‘Wishing’ taking place on the rooftop (the production is really lacking some set changes), as it looked rather cramped for the actress, though I suppose there is some symbolism to it (Christine running upwards, perhaps to get closer to her father in heaven). As others have noted, I am glad that the Greece production changed ‘Wandering Child’ so that the Phantom stands over Raoul and Christine, whereas in Norway it was Raoul who initially appeared at the top. The height difference adds a lot more to the Phantom’s threatening presence.

‘Point of No Return’ is probably the scene I get most nervous about, as many productions will either have too little intimacy or too much. For the most part, I thought the production did a good job of walking the line between the two, though the first half did err a little on the side of too little; however, the actors kind of made up for it by focusing their attention on each other and not running around the stage too much, which can make the scene feel too confused. This did a good job of building the tension, which when finally resolved, also did well at not becoming too sexy; the two basically just grabbed and held each other. The “unmasking” was a bit strange though, with the Phantom seeing something offstage (the police) and then unmasking himself as a distraction. I did like that you can hear Raoul (I believe) shout, “No, don’t shoot her!”, emphasizing that it’s Christine’s safety, not the capture of the Phantom, that’s foremost for him.

‘Final Lair’ opens with the Phantom rowing Christine to his lair (having previously been chasing her down the steps in ‘Down Once More’); Christine subsequently spends much of the first part of the scene in the boat, and it isn’t until Raoul is caught and tied to the boat’s mooring pole that she gets out, or rather is flung out by the Phantom. The Phantom (Ben Forster in this case, since I lack footage of the Norwegian productions for these scenes) spends a lot of time ranting, while Christine (Amy Manford) alternated between huddling against the wall and pleading with him. At one point she picks up the music sheet (”You deceived me!”), which feels inspired once again by the tour. But with the context from ‘Music of the Night’, it also plays out better, as if Christine had been lured into thinking that he was a good person, with a beautiful world, because of his music, only to find out, nope, he’s a terrible person. Kiss plays out like the original, but after the Phantom frees Raoul he and Christine row off really fast, so there’s no last scene where Christine returns the ring. Instead we are left with the somewhat ambiguous image of Christine in her angel costume.

Overall, this is probably one of my favorite non-replicas, because of what they changed but also how well the changes work. It’s definitely a bit of a mix of different ideas, some of it’s own but some also clearly inspired from other productions, but melded together so that it’s still cohesive and coherent. The cast is uniformly great, though the Norwegian cast stood out a little more to me, maybe because Espen Grjotheim’s body language and Astrid Giske’s warm voice and clear facial expressions were just that good. I only wish I had more than just clips so I could get the full experience.

#gp reviews #Anonymous #GP gets asks

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judyhopps934-mt-zd · 5 years

Text

Thoughts on Kwamibusters

Warning: Spoilers! That's all.

Plagg's cheese addiction goes too far to the point that he leaves Adrien's bag and heads to Mrs. Mendeleiev's class.

And wait, there's more! Tikki tries to talk some sense into Plagg because he apparently does this EVERY DAY! I swear, his cheese addiction has gone too far! He even calls it "magic cheese" that "reappears" everyday!

At some point, Mrs. Mendeleiev apparently spotted Plagg because she apparently had this all set up: hiding behind the desk with a net and saying "I got you now" or some sort of variation of that.

While trying to catch Tikki and Plagg, Mrs. Mendeleiev had made a fool of herself and made the Miracu-class wonder what was going on. Which is a mood when one hears a thud. Then there's Miss Bustier, who tries to get their attention, which is a teacher's mood. Overall, that was all a mood.

Tikki and Plagg (to some extent) should be fortunate that Kwamis cannot be captured on video or photographically because apparently, Mrs. Mendeleiev had set up a camera. But they are obviously not off the hook as Mrs. Mendeleiev saw them.

More Tikki and Marinette bonding please! I like how Marinette sees Tikki as the one friend she can be real with. Reminds me of my dynamic with my best friend in which we are honest with each other.

Plagg being on the roof was mood. He just chilling there as if nothing has happened. But don't worry. Tikki reminds him that they are in danger of exposing their owners' identities and in danger themselves.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Plagg, Plagg, Plagg. You truly are calm in a situation that has dire consequences. But let me explain that later.

Mrs. Mendeleiev apparently goes as far as to appear in Alternative Truth TV: Where nothing is really true or false. This Plagg. This is the worst that could happen.

Kim being obsessed with the show is relatable. Him acting as the talk show host was fun to watch and he annoys Mr. Damocles in the process. An added bonus. He's asked to sit and be quiet so many times. Couldn't help but laugh.

He's also super energetic about Mrs. Mendeleiev's appearance on the show and cheers on for Alix's brother as well.

I understand Alix being annoyed with her brother for being on the show to prove that Egyptian Pyramids are actually spaceships. I hope my brother never does this otherwise I am moving to another country and changing my surname. She's barely holding it together and I felt some secondhand embarrassment. Why must her brother do this?

I am not surprised that Adrien and Marinette are shocked that Mrs. Mendeleiev discovered their kwamis with an accurate description. Interdimensional beings that can go through matter and like aged cheese (I'm looking at you Plagg!)

Adrien saw Marinette leave during the show. Reasons for suspicion are starting to pour in.

And can we talk about the drawings? That went from 0-100 real quick. Their thought might be "Definitely my kwami".

And I gotta say, Mrs. Mendeleiev has better artistic skills than me. I am really bad at drawing.

Marinette for the first time in a while was not the one that had to learn a lesson. This time its Tikki who learns a lesson. We've never seen Tikki be reprimanded before, so take notes.

I seriously love the bond between Mari and Tikki. They are willing to forgive each other for their mistakes, no matter how serious the consequences are.

Mari also figures out that Chat Noir attends Francois-Dupont and that he must be one of the boys after Tikki mentioned Plagg. But withheld from trying to uncover more so she would not have to give up her Miraculous.

Which reminds me: WHEN DID IT BECOME PART OF THE RULES THAT IF EITHER ONE OF THE HEROES IN OUR FAVORITE DUO THAT THEY HAVE TO GIVE UP THEIR MIRACULOUS???? It was initially for security reasons that they would not reveal their identities, but if it's by accident, they still have to give up their Miraculous???? There's a major plot hole here that I'm gonna keep thinking about and no I will not stop internally screaming.

And another thing, Marinette seemed very sad about the idea of relinquishing her Miraculous. The sense of responsibility and the feeling of saving Paris I feel gave her a sense of serving a purpose. I mean who else would feel like they are serving a purpose by being a superhero, savior of [insert place]? What I'm trying to say in my confusing sentence is that she enjoys (to a great extent) being Ladybug and does not want to give that up.

Before we get to the Adrien and Plagg moment, the panel of judges for Alternative Truth believed Alix's brother with a 3/3 vote, but Ms. Mendeleiev did not get any votes, making her statement false. She does not take this well. (Because why would she take it well? She was humiliated on TV for goodness sake?) This is when she gets akumatized and Hawkmoth tells her what they are called.

Alya feels embarrassed for Mrs. Mendeleiev, whereas Chloé was humiliated for herself because Ms. Mendeleiev is her teacher??? Your teacher was humiliated on TV, so stop making it about you Chloé!

And speaking of Chloé, how did she not recognize Tikki and connect the dots??? I saw on Tumblr and on the YouTube comments that in "Princess Fragrance", she met Tikki and found out that she belonged to Marinette. She would've been able to figure out that Tikki is a kwami and Marinette is one of the superheroes at the very least. But then again, Ms. Mendeleiev's drawing was...okay.

Adrien just jumped in and said Plagg was irresponsible (me). And how did Plagg react? He was like "Kwamis can never be caught" and basically called him and Tikki party poopers. (Well, he called Tikki Sugarcube, so that leads to my next point).

He figures out that Ladybug is someone he knows already at school. This is when Plagg panics.

Adrien and Marinette leave the bathroom at the same time and Adrien noticed Mari, but both run back when they hear the news alert.

Back to Mendeleiev, she turns into Kwamibuster, which is obviously the paradoy reference to Ghostbusters (if you are into that sort of thing). And speaking of references, she reminded some of us about Mr. Crocker from Fairy Odd Parents. Although she is not the crazy lunatic that Crocker is.

May I mention that the screen was split and we ended up getting a united look at the news, with one half of the screen being from Mari's end and the other half from Adrien. I loved that so much! Can we get more of that please?

Before Adrien transforms, he asks Plagg if Marinette was Ladybug. YES YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT! Oblivious Adrien figured it out and was happy about the thought. And Plagg RUINED EVERYTHING! He was like "NoooOoo" and gave the speech that figuring out Ladybug's identity means giving up his Miraculous. Also, note how he was anxious to be sucked into the ring. And we know how Plagg normally feels about it. Also, his advice: ignore the problem. For once, that's actually good advice.

Ladybug saves Alec (I believe that's his name) from falling 50 feet from the safe and he gets out of the safe, seemingly star struck that Ladybug saved him. Either he was in shock from almost dying or from being saved by an icon. This was something new to watch since normally everyone else does not shout "Ladybug saved me!" in the way he did. I might be overthinking it.

"Ladybug defies the laws of science." -> Chat Noir. This was his best entrance line in my opinion.

Ladybug and Chat Noir argued over whose kwami is responsible for this mess. Ladybug's argument is that Plagg was irresponsible. Chat's argument was that Tikki was there too. Ladybug's rebuttal was that Tikki was trying to keep Plagg in line and that Chat and Plagg are a perfect match. You know if you think about it, superhero personality and kwami personality are sorta linked.

Ladybug gets zapped and detransforms. Chat goes to check up on her, but she says she's fine. He respects her privacy and helps her escape. See? Even Chat knows priorities. Although she would not have been caught if he didn't distract her from escaping Kwamibuster. (This is causation, I am in a Law and Society major, and I have a Criminal Law test next week. Moving on!)

Chat gets blasted too and escapes as well. And that leads us to...

...BANANA NOIR ORIGIN STORY! One of the hosts was wearing a banana suit, which Adrien found in the end to hide his identity while he escaped. And this is the origin story because...

...this episode took place before "Feast", where we see Banana Noir (I'm sorry, I'm still laughing.) Why do we know this? Because after Feast, Master Fu went on the run (to some extent). Marinette went to Master Fu's place in this episode to strategize.

Master Fu, I know you were the one who implemented the identity rule! I'm onto you!

Anyways, THIS IS THE MULTIMOUSE EPISODE! Marinette literally wore every single Miraculous that was in the Miracle Box, to which Master Fu warns that too much power could mess with her head. Now we wonder if Emeline wore the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous at the same time and something went wrong??

But we know Marinette well enough that we should trust her with her plans. I mean to echo Wayzz, Marinette had never let them down. Also, there were some Miraculous that were worn only to free the kwamis so that they'd help her.

MULTIMOUSE TRANSFORMATION ROCKS!!! I STAN! (This is just as awesome as Lady Noire's transformation)

This excitement is short-lived though because Multimouse ends up feeling lightheaded when she was about to head out. But she rises and marches forward. YOU GO GIRL!

The Kwami Swarm (Stampede?) comes flying in, to the delight of Kwamibuster and Hawkmoth.

Multimouse introduces herself separate of Ladybug, though she is flattered. Adrien trusts her to get Plagg back, which is awesome!

[Kwami 1], [Kwami 2]: unify! The unification of the Miraculous was AWESOME!

Multimouse (well, a few of her copies) were captured on purpose so she could unify with Plagg was the most genius idea ever!

The one with Chat's Ring returned it to him so he would no longer be in the Banana costume, which he was glad to ditch (even though he kept it in theory).

Mirage!

The mirage involved fixing everything and being able to show that Marinette was Multimouse, but a separate person from Ladybug. I sense the problem that because Marinette in a sense is Multimouse, Hawkmoth could use that to his advantage. But what is the possibility that she will be Multimouse again. Also, Chat was the only one there! So that's that.

Chat was like "I don't know what my kwami was doing at that elementary school." Ladybug in a sort of deadpanned tone: "It was a high school". I couldn't help but laugh. He said it was a high school before, he goes there, and it was the simplest plan to hide his identity compared to Ladybug's.

If Marinette and Ladybug were two different people, I'd ship them, no doubt. Chat, you got competition...

I am a bit annoyed at Chat because he wasn't able to recognize that Ladybug and Marinette look similar, but then again, he probably followed Plagg's advice so he'd be able to keep his Miraculous.

Mr. Cat. MR. CAT??? Excuse me Ms. Mendeleiev, but his name is Chat Noir, not Mr. Cat.

Thank you Chat for reminding Ms. Mendeleiev that she should keep it a secret for the sake of Paris. THANK YOU! Also, "wee!" as in "flying through the city is fun!" (Someone on YouTube pointed this out).

Now remember! The whole thing was a Mirage. That means the akuma wasn't purified yet and everything had yet to be repaired. This is when everything is fixed for real.

Few things to note: Marinette was tired before resorting everything to reality. She deserves a nap after this.

Also, the Lucky Charm this time was a bowl used to contain the Akuma. It is less convoluted than all the other Lucky Charmd from before. But then again, the whole plan was complex.

And to cap it all off, Marinette is the most powerful, smartest person in all of Paris, or even the world. She was mentally and physically capable of wielding multiple Miraculous at once and came up with the most genius plan with multiple moving parts. Our girl is making history in the Miraculous History books. In this essay, I will.

Overall, 10/10 because of Multimouse and Adrien hitting the jackpot on who is Ladybug. The one thing that ticked me off was the whole identity rule that seemingly came out of nowhere. Like where did that come from??? We could have had progress on the identity reveal, but no! It all has to be a secret. I feel like this will go on for the rest of the series. But everything else was awesome and I enjoyed it so much that I watched it three times today. And I spent 4 hours writing this.

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buddaimond · 5 years

Link

Kristen Stewart is having a huge moment in her career with Charlie’s Angels coming to theaters in November and Underwater coming in January. But so far the 29-year-old has been focusing her energies on promoting her independent movie Seberg, the tragic story of American actress Jean Seberg whose life was essentially destroyed by late ‘60s FBI surveillance when she supported the Black Panthers and had an affair with one of their leaders. Stewart is keen to spread the word about Seberg on the 40th anniversary of her death at age 40.

In Venice, at the world premiere, she admitted “we should definitely know her for more than her short haircut and movies.” Stewart then moved on to the Toronto, Deauville and London Film Festivals. Though her biggest splash was made at the Zurich Film Festival, where she gave a Masterclass, a press conference, and where I sat down with her for an exclusive interview. Seberg comes out through Amazon in December.

COLLIDER: You seem to be doing more promotion for Seberg than Charlie’s Angels. Is there a reason for that?

KRISTEN STEWART: It’s funny you mention that as I was thinking about that this morning. Maybe it’s just been a minute since I was really proud of a smaller movie that I’ve done. I’d like people to see this one and unless you go to festivals and engage with the cinematic culture that could give you that opportunity to be seen, there’s no way to do that. So I support this movie, I think it’s good, and I think it’s a good time to tell the story. It’s been cool to travel with it because I also just love the festival vibe. I like traveling around and talking to people about movie stuff. It doesn’t feel like I’m selling a film. It feels like I’m supporting it and getting it out there for sure, but not in a way that it feels like my job. It’s a nice way to complete the experience of making a film. You get this opportunity to articulate the reasons why you made it and it completes the process.

How did you come to work on the film, which is the second film by Australian, London-based theatre director Benedict Andrews? It’s about the life of Jean Seberg but is not a straightforward biopic as it concentrates on the fraught period of her life.

STEWART: I spent a bit of time on the jury with Cate Blanchett in Cannes (2018) and I’d just met Beno and was thinking about working with him and she immediately said, “Do it!” She’d worked with him on stage, he’s done a lot of opera, a realm I knew very little about. His first film Una was so incredible and so contained, just an undeniably original movie. When we had our first meeting about Jean he felt so precious and particular and his protective nature felt really contagious and he made me want to get to know her. At that point I’d only seen Breathless and learning about the story I was wildly blown away by the fact that we don’t know what happened to her and why she receded and became somebody we lost too early.

Is it possible now for an actress or even a woman who is political to be blacklisted by the US government as Seberg was?

STEWART: No, I don’t think so. A lot of people are speaking against Trump, a lot of people are speaking against things they’re not into and they’re speaking very loudly. There are just too many of us now.

Seberg was also crucified because of her sexuality, for being with a black (married) man. Your life has been in the tabloids so you must be able to relate to that.

STEWART: Yes of course. I come from a staunchly moral country as if we all share those rules. As if there could possibly be a set of rules that applies to everyone and their own individual happiness, which is absurd. But at least we’re talking about it a little more than we ever have.

It’s actually a good time to be a woman in this business with #timesup.

STEWART: I think it’s such an exciting time to be a woman who’s allowed to make films right now. There are so many stories that are going to be unearthed that have otherwise been ignored for a long time. Not that some of those stories won’t be told by men. There will be a trickle down effect. Some of my favorite experiences have been with male directors. We’re just becoming more honest about the female experience and that’s very exciting.

How was it making Charlie’s Angels directed by Elizabeth Banks, who also plays Bosley in the film? Was it fun?

STEWART: It was really fun. Liz is really funny. It was her idea to revive the movies. I’d never worked with her before but I’ve always been a huge fan. Tonally we’re so different—she can squeeze a joke or a laugh out of anything and I’m the furthest from that. So I was so shocked that she saw me like that, like, “Hey you’re a goofball and I think we should play around together because nobody does that with you.” And I was like, “What? But you’re right, nobody ever does that with me.” So she got in there and it was this really tender act and I was so thankful and ultimately she wrote a really warm, grounded—also very silly, stupid, sometimes slapstick—but also really well-intentioned movie. It’s rad. She took this story we’ve grew up with and took the superhero aspect out if it and made the girls really relatable and accessible but also very aspirational. There’s this network of women across the globe who are connected and are really unstoppable. So it’s not like there are these three unattainable women who can fly or do kung fu while suspended in the air. No, these girls are actually smart and it’s about women who are friends and who are good people working together. It’s like a women-at-work story that’s also absurd sometimes. It didn’t lose the kitschy thing because she’s fucking silly.

Are you a goofball yourself?

STEWART: Mmm, sometimes.

Did you enjoy the comedy/action?

STEWART: My character is wily. I’m the really irresponsible older sister who takes care of these girls. Sabina would take a bullet for you but she never really knows what time it is or where she’s supposed to be. So it was fun to be just a dumb-ass.

Do you want to do more of the fun dumb-ass? I guess it has to be with exactly the right person like Ellzabeth?

STEWART: I would love to play around a little bit more. I like serious movies but yes of course.

You’ve directed a short film and a few music videos and now you’re about to direct your first feature The Chronology of Water based on the memoir by Portland-based writer Lidia Yuknavitch. Why has this story captured your imagination so much?

STEWART: It was such an incredible experience reading the book. Sometimes you encounter material that articulates something you aren’t able to yet feel within you and it’s striking as hell when someone does it for you. It’s an exceedingly cool time for women to tell stories right now, the perspective is changing and I thought this was so real. This woman is a brilliant writer and uses language and plays with words in a way that I’ve never seen before. Also there’s a coming-of-age story embedded in this thing that is so confronting and not just raw for the sake of being startling, but is actually real. I don’t think it’s impossible for the male perspective to tell epic female stories, it’s just that this is so embedded in this book about a woman processing pain and shame and repurposing it and creating art as savior. It’s sort of this art-as-savior and swimming-as-solace story. It’s a real-word, body-fuck story. The way she inhabits a body and the way she speaks about it is unlike anything I’ve ever read. So I want to see it; I’ve never seen that in a movie.

Are you writing the script or are you working on it together with Lidia?

STEWART: It’s definitely a collaborative process, but I’ve adapted it. It’s such a choose-your-own-adventure story. Whoever would have ended up making it, it has to be your own take on it. There’s so much to be had, it’s so non-linear, it’s so transient. It’s like water; it’s impossible to slip down the same stream.

Will you star in it or will you stay behind the camera?

STEWART: I’m not really right for it. Whoever plays the lead needs to play 17 to 40, so it’s a really wide range. I don’t know who that is at the moment. Hopefully I’m going to direct it next year.

With Twilight did you know how big it would become when you agreed to play Bella?

STEWART: The books were a big deal in the young adult novel realm, but it wasn’t in popular culture yet. I hadn’t heard of the book at that point and thought I was auditioning for a normal movie. It didn’t stand out as this gaping opportunity, it was just something that I liked. That was a cool audition process too. Catherine [Hardwicke] and I worked together for ages auditioning a bunch of other people for all the other parts. It was very normal—until it wasn’t.

What did you enjoy about playing Bella?

STEWART: When you read that book you are her. It’s such an immersive experience. So more so than with other parts the way to get close to it and make it feel true was to really own it and make it my own rather than be faithful to a text. I guess you can say that about most work, but this in particular was fun to be there. I was a teenager, it was such a visceral time to be alive and any 17-year-old knows what I’m talking about. It was just about capturing something so immediate, that first awakening, that ownership of your body and desire, all of it. It’s like having people tell you that it’s wrong and what you shouldn’t do. It’s a fierce commitment to something you believe in and was such a cool story to tell at that age.

You made five Twilight movies. Do you still see other cast members? Do you have a big WhatsApp group?

STEWART: We all have a group chat (jokes). But we all see each other, I run into people all the time. I can’t make it to Taylor’s Halloween party, which bums me out, I’m going to be in New York. Rob’s great, he’s doing well, he’s going to be Batman and I’m very proud of him. It’s nice. In terms of the group we’ve all disbanded now for so long. I have individual relationships with everyone, but it’s not this thing that you would assume binds us in this way where we go, “Remember that?” We’ve all become real whole people who still know each other. I’m really thankful for that.

#twilight #Kristen Stewart #Collider #Charlie's Angels #Seberg #the chronology of water

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chaniters · 5 years

Text

Fallen

Sidestep makes his case against Elyise before Reaper, and reveals the data rod. Things take a twist for the worse.

Following @kruk-art Awan’s fiction i’m writting! Only a few more parts to the end.

_____________________________________________

His empty skeletal sockets stare right into you, a red shimmer the only indication that there’s something inside. He listens to you without saying a single word. You can sense his mind rushing to assimilate all the information you’ve brought to him.

Reaper’s angry… no, he’s furious, but doing everything he can to remain calm.

You’ve told him everything, laid out all the evidence. He’s the one who handed Elyise her new costume, gadgets, a new suit, a movie, sponsored her to join the rangers...

Of course, he’s mad at the possibility that he got played.

“I’m glad you brought this to me first Sidestep” he in a glacial, calmed tone. “But there must be some other explanation… Anyone could have just bought those drill drones, my company sells them everywhere.”

“I’m sorry. I know how much you appreciate her, but you have to face the facts… I wish it didn’t have to be like this”

“No. I refuse to believe this Sidestep. It’s can’t be...!”

“That’s not all Reaper. I’ve got this,” you say extending your hand. “The Loanshark had a data-rod with her name on it. It’s encrypted and I couldn’t open it so far”

He runs a hand through his white forehead, before letting out a long sigh.

“This just keeps getting worse,” he says frustrated, shaking his head. “Fine. Give me that” he states in the end.

“Here,” you say passing it over. He studies it with his skeletal fingers, before pushing the lever that makes his wheelchair move forward towards the mainframe. A panel opens revealing a slot, in which he inserts the rod.

“Charon, can you identify the encryption in this rod?” he asks.

“Of course master. Processing.” it states. It takes much less time than you’d expect. Charon must be more advanced than anything the farm had before you left.

“It corresponds with an outdated version of an encryption system originating in the Ministry of State Security of China, master”

“Good. Please begin decryption protocols and show us the contents once you are done.”

“Processing” Charon replies, the red logo on the screens flashing a few times.

He seems really devastated. You can’t bear to look at him in this state, trying to deny Elyise’s involvement with all his being. You wander through the room instead.

You’ve never seen an Artificial Intelligence before, and Charon does not disappoint. Your hacking toolkit of a phone looks childish compared it with the futuristic mainframe. So this is what money can do...

As the story goes, this one was created by the Defenders Society former scientist, Vitruvian, before he decided to switch to the dark side.

There are all kinds of memorabilia in the old Headquarters of the Defenders Society, including old pictures of the team’s composition through the years.

Reaper looks… skeletal, just like now in them, though his bones look whiter in the past. He’s surrounded by legendary heroes. Miss Luck, Vitruvian, Hood before he joined the Rangers, Captain Blaze, Lady Airstrike… the list goes on. The last one has only a handful of members, the year Hood left to turn into a Ranger, and then there are no more pictures, as the team dissolved after Reaper retired.

He waits by the mainframe while you examine the trophies until Charon announces the decryption’s complete.

“Let’s get this done,” he says disgusted “Charon… whenever you’re ready”

“It would seem to be video footage master. Allow me to play it”

_____________________________

The screen lights up with a black and white video, displaying an unsteady visual from what seems to be some sort of hovering drone camera, filming an alley with a small store on the left.

A limousine stops on the street at the far end, the doors opening. A man and a woman come down, their backs to the camera. The man wears a suit and a round clear mask, and as he turns to say something to the driver, you can see it’s a smiley mask.

He wraps an arm around the woman, who seems rather reluctant, motioning her to walk forward. She looks back at the limousine with concern in her face… and there’s no doubt about her being a younger Elyise. She says some words to the man, who simply shakes his head and keeps motioning her forward, his other hand in his pocket…

Suddenly the glass window of the shop explodes, as a hulking figure comes trough, falling flat on the pavement. It tries to incorporate letting you take a good look at it. It’s a man inside a power suit that becomes easily recognizable. Psycopathor.

Another figure comes trough, walking over the glass. Marshall Hood, arms raised. His powers make the debris start floating around Psycopathor, who looks to be about to get it. Hood doesn’t seem to have noticed Smiley man or Elyise…

The Smiley man shoves Elyise forward, and she stumbles a few steps ahead. She looks back at the Smiley man as if to plead for something, but he simply looks at his watch. She has a defeated look on her face as she turns to face Hood.

Extending both palms towards him, she advances, making all of the floating debris falls down back to the floor. Hood turns to her, startled, but quickly responds, waves his own palm in her direction forcefully. The camera shakes violently. The Smiley man takes one step back, as everything in the alley seems to be vibrating.

Hood and Elyise stare down at each other as their powers clash. Several empty glass bottles on the ground explode under pressure. Hood looks as if he was exerting an incredible amount of strength.

Elyiss falls on her knees, visibly screaming something, but the Smiley man steps behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder as if to encourage her to continue.

She stands up and manages to advance again onto Hood, who seems to be weakening by the second. Finally, it’s Hood who stumbles backward, his abilities negated.

Psycopathor, having had time to recover, gets to his feet and leaps at Hood, who’s too slow to avoid him while resisting Elyise… Psycopathor takes Hood into the arms of his power suit, in a brutal bear-hug, crushing him. Hood seems to be screaming something…

Psycopathor finally lets go of him, his suit bloodened. Smiley man pats Elyise’s hair, satisfied with her work, advancing onto the fallen Hero as he tries to crawl away from Psycopathor. Smiley sends a few kicks at Hood’s stomach.

Elyise leans on a wall and throws up on the floor as he does.

Smiley forces Hood to roll over with his shoe, as he screams in pain. He kneels to whisper something in Hood’s ear before standing up again.

He puts on a pair of gloves from his pocket… and then produces something else… a gun.

Two quick shots, one to the chest, one to the head, and Hood is put out of his misery. It’s over.

Smiley hands over the gun to Psycopathor, who crushes it with his powered gauntlets and throws it aside. Smile walks up to Elyise, pointing at the limousine.

Elyise takes a last look before rushing behind them.

The car starts, and they are gone. A few minutes after, you can see another man walking up to the fallen Hood. It’s Charge, who tries to reanimate him. You can see him looking for a heartbeat in his chest… crying for help…

The drone turns and flies away, following the limousine. It comes down to its level, next to the back seat. Smiley opens the window, catching the camera with his hands, and the video ends.

_____________________

You are speechless.

“Who… “ you start.

“Hollow Ground”. Reaper answers drily. “Smiley mask was his thing for a short while back then. He likes to follow trends”

“So Elyise…”

“And Psycopathor yes…”

The slot opens once more and the rod comes out, Reaper taking it back in his hand.

“Alright, you’ve made your case Sidestep. We need to arrest her. Do you believe she’ll resist?”

“Given everything she’s done…” you say still looking at the black screen. “If she’s using her own mother as a weapon then I wouldn’t take my chances.”

“I understand. Tell me, does that gun of yours, have a stunning setting?”

You nod slowly.

“Let me see it… I’m not sure it can go through her suit” he asks, his mind unsettled by the idea of shooting an ally.

“Here,” you say.

He fiddles with it for a moment, before raising his glowing gaze.

“I’m sorry, Sidestep”

“For what…?”

Too late you realize his thoughts of regret were never about shooting Elyise.

The blast is almost instantaneous, making you recoil with every muscle as you watch him hold the smoking gun, still aimed at your chest.

“I’m afraid I already knew about Riley’s past sins. She was so eager to achieve some form of redemption… Her mother used her, then Hollow Ground did the same... and when she decided to stop running and face her demons, she came to me. People looking for a savior are very easy to manipulate you know? She was the perfect tool, but it was her mother who became the true star in the end.”

You try to move, but your arms are legs don’t respond as they should and your suit smells of burnt plastics and nanofabric. You are struggling as it is to cling to consciousness and the words coming from Reaper’s mouth aren’t helping.

“I’m sorry for the charade... should have knocked you down sooner, but I needed to see how much you knew… Also, I had never seen how my friend actually died,” he adds looking at the data rod. “This was a good reminder of what’s at stake”

You try to speak, but your mouth’s completely numb.

“I’m impressed that you went this far, even if you were following the wrong lead. Didn’t think the Loanshark would be in good enough condition to rat on Elyise, I mean Catastrofiend hit him really really hard! Got to love the miracles of modern medicine, right? This will force me to rush my plans quite a bit”

“W.. why?” you manage to gurgle, your tongue still numb with static.

“That’s really your question right now?” he says rising from the wheelchair he clearly doesn’t need. “What happened to the more obvious stuff like ‘What are you going to do with me, Reaper?’ Shouldn’t you be worried about that instead?”

“Tell me… w... Why…”

You can sense he is smiling, as he kneels down to talk to you.

“I really like you kid. Why… alright, I’ll tell you why. I’m doing this because this country is going straight to hell, and I’m the one who’s going to save it. I’m doing this because people like Hollow Ground...” he says pointing at the screen “...still exist unchecked! But no more. In just one month I’ve slaughtered his entire organization and run him out of town. This city is now drug-free. Catastrofiend is the future! It can sense the drugs wherever they are! Just Imagine the possibilities.”

There is something different in his mind as he speaks. Something new, unraveling like a nightmare that had remained hidden…

“Y..ou are … mad.”

“That’s a funny word Sidestep. Perhaps I am. Perhaps I’m mad with rage. Perhaps these drugs ruined everything I’ve done in my life. All my friends, dead or turned to criminals and murderers. All my aspirations ruined. I don’t even have a face to look in the mirror thanks to them… And I tried to convince myself I could achieve my goals through peaceful means, but you saw how that ended, right…? Didn’t it make your blood boil? I sensed the fire in you, that day the hospital burned down. It’s time to take the gloves off and let everyone get what they have coming. The Corporations, the politicians, the cowards like Hollow Ground and Psycopathor… I will make them all pay. Their power comes from drugs, so I’ll take it away.”

“You can’t... do that...” you say almost in whisper.

“Oh I can. With the Catrastrofiend’s help, I’m going to ignite the flame and start a war on drugs the likes this country has never seen. I’ll save the whole world If they let me, Sidestep. I really hope you’ll want to be on board with it.”

His mind is different. Something happened to him… something bad. It reminds you of… that monster’s thoughts. Whatever he’s planing it will make the massacres look tame.

“I trusted… you…”

“I haven’t changed. It’s this world that keeps sinking lower and lower. You must have seen it already…”

F… fu... ck… you…” is your best answer, given the circumstances.

“Shame. That’s the same thing Elyise said. You have really bad timing, you know? If you had joined forces this could have gone very differently. I just hope that the two of you’ll come to your senses eventually. I’ve got places to be so sweet dreams” he says pointing the gun at you once more.

All you can do is close your eyes as the second painful blast puts your lights out.

______________________________________

My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

#fallen hero: rebirth #fanfiction #Awan Cormac #fallen hero spoilers

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