One Mother Meets Another Mother

Volume 1: Fantine; Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes To Deliver Into A Person's Power; Chapter 1: One Mother Meets Another Mother

There was, at Montfermeil, near Paris, during the first quarter of this century, a sort of cook-shop which no longer exists. This cook-shop was kept by some people named Thénardier, husband and wife. It was situated in Boulanger Lane. Over the door there was a board nailed flat against the wall. Upon this board was painted something which resembled a man carrying another man on his back, the latter wearing the big gilt epaulettes of a general, with large silver stars; red spots represented blood; the rest of the picture consisted of smoke, and probably represented a battle. Below ran this inscription: AT THE SIGN OF SERGEANT OF WATERLOO (Au Sargent de Waterloo).

Nothing is more common than a cart or a truck at the door of a hostelry. Nevertheless, the vehicle, or, to speak more accurately, the fragment of a vehicle, which encumbered the street in front of the cook-shop of the Sergeant of Waterloo, one evening in the spring of 1818, would certainly have attracted, by its mass, the attention of any painter who had passed that way.

It was the fore-carriage of one of those trucks which are used in wooded tracts of country, and which serve to transport thick planks and the trunks of trees. This fore-carriage was composed of a massive iron axle-tree with a pivot, into which was fitted a heavy shaft, and which was supported by two huge wheels. The whole thing was compact, overwhelming, and misshapen. It seemed like the gun-carriage of an enormous cannon. The ruts of the road had bestowed on the wheels, the fellies, the hub, the axle, and the shaft, a layer of mud, a hideous yellowish daubing hue, tolerably like that with which people are fond of ornamenting cathedrals. The wood was disappearing under mud, and the iron beneath rust. Under the axle-tree hung, like drapery, a huge chain, worthy of some Goliath of a convict. This chain suggested, not the beams, which it was its office to transport, but the mastodons and mammoths which it might have served to harness; it had the air of the galleys, but of cyclopean and superhuman galleys, and it seemed to have been detached from some monster. Homer would have bound Polyphemus with it, and Shakespeare, Caliban.

Why was that fore-carriage of a truck in that place in the street? In the first place, to encumber the street; next, in order that it might finish the process of rusting. There is a throng of institutions in the old social order, which one comes across in this fashion as one walks about outdoors, and which have no other reasons for existence than the above.

The centre of the chain swung very near the ground in the middle, and in the loop, as in the rope of a swing, there were seated and grouped, on that particular evening, in exquisite interlacement, two little girls; one about two years and a half old, the other, eighteen months; the younger in the arms of the other. A handkerchief, cleverly knotted about them, prevented their falling out. A mother had caught sight of that frightful chain, and had said, “Come! there’s a plaything for my children.”

The two children, who were dressed prettily and with some elegance, were radiant with pleasure; one would have said that they were two roses amid old iron; their eyes were a triumph; their fresh cheeks were full of laughter. One had chestnut hair; the other, brown. Their innocent faces were two delighted surprises; a blossoming shrub which grew near wafted to the passers-by perfumes which seemed to emanate from them; the child of eighteen months displayed her pretty little bare stomach with the chaste indecency of childhood. Above and around these two delicate heads, all made of happiness and steeped in light, the gigantic fore-carriage, black with rust, almost terrible, all entangled in curves and wild angles, rose in a vault, like the entrance of a cavern. A few paces apart, crouching down upon the threshold of the hostelry, the mother, not a very prepossessing woman, by the way, though touching at that moment, was swinging the two children by means of a long cord, watching them carefully, for fear of accidents, with that animal and celestial expression which is peculiar to maternity. At every backward and forward swing the hideous links emitted a strident sound, which resembled a cry of rage; the little girls were in ecstasies; the setting sun mingled in this joy, and nothing could be more charming than this caprice of chance which had made of a chain of Titans the swing of cherubim.

As she rocked her little ones, the mother hummed in a discordant voice a romance then celebrated:—

“It must be, said a warrior.”

Her song, and the contemplation of her daughters, prevented her hearing and seeing what was going on in the street.

In the meantime, some one had approached her, as she was beginning the first couplet of the romance, and suddenly she heard a voice saying very near her ear:—

“You have two beautiful children there, Madame.”

“To the fair and tender Imogene—”

replied the mother, continuing her romance; then she turned her head.

A woman stood before her, a few paces distant. This woman also had a child, which she carried in her arms.

She was carrying, in addition, a large carpet-bag, which seemed very heavy.

This woman’s child was one of the most divine creatures that it is possible to behold. It was a girl, two or three years of age. She could have entered into competition with the two other little ones, so far as the coquetry of her dress was concerned; she wore a cap of fine linen, ribbons on her bodice, and Valenciennes lace on her cap. The folds of her skirt were raised so as to permit a view of her white, firm, and dimpled leg. She was admirably rosy and healthy. The little beauty inspired a desire to take a bite from the apples of her cheeks. Of her eyes nothing could be known, except that they must be very large, and that they had magnificent lashes. She was asleep.

She slept with that slumber of absolute confidence peculiar to her age. The arms of mothers are made of tenderness; in them children sleep profoundly.

As for the mother, her appearance was sad and poverty-stricken. She was dressed like a working-woman who is inclined to turn into a peasant again. She was young. Was she handsome? Perhaps; but in that attire it was not apparent. Her hair, a golden lock of which had escaped, seemed very thick, but was severely concealed beneath an ugly, tight, close, nun-like cap, tied under the chin. A smile displays beautiful teeth when one has them; but she did not smile. Her eyes did not seem to have been dry for a very long time. She was pale; she had a very weary and rather sickly appearance. She gazed upon her daughter asleep in her arms with the air peculiar to a mother who has nursed her own child. A large blue handkerchief, such as the Invalides use, was folded into a fichu, and concealed her figure clumsily. Her hands were sunburnt and all dotted with freckles, her forefinger was hardened and lacerated with the needle; she wore a cloak of coarse brown woollen stuff, a linen gown, and coarse shoes. It was Fantine.

It was Fantine, but difficult to recognize. Nevertheless, on scrutinizing her attentively, it was evident that she still retained her beauty. A melancholy fold, which resembled the beginning of irony, wrinkled her right cheek. As for her toilette, that aerial toilette of muslin and ribbons, which seemed made of mirth, of folly, and of music, full of bells, and perfumed with lilacs had vanished like that beautiful and dazzling hoar-frost which is mistaken for diamonds in the sunlight; it melts and leaves the branch quite black.

Ten months had elapsed since the “pretty farce.”

What had taken place during those ten months? It can be divined.

After abandonment, straightened circumstances. Fantine had immediately lost sight of Favourite, Zéphine and Dahlia; the bond once broken on the side of the men, it was loosed between the women; they would have been greatly astonished had any one told them a fortnight later, that they had been friends; there no longer existed any reason for such a thing. Fantine had remained alone. The father of her child gone,—alas! such ruptures are irrevocable,—she found herself absolutely isolated, minus the habit of work and plus the taste for pleasure. Drawn away by her liaison with Tholomyès to disdain the pretty trade which she knew, she had neglected to keep her market open; it was now closed to her. She had no resource. Fantine barely knew how to read, and did not know how to write; in her childhood she had only been taught to sign her name; she had a public letter-writer indite an epistle to Tholomyès, then a second, then a third. Tholomyès replied to none of them. Fantine heard the gossips say, as they looked at her child: “Who takes those children seriously! One only shrugs one’s shoulders over such children!” Then she thought of Tholomyès, who had shrugged his shoulders over his child, and who did not take that innocent being seriously; and her heart grew gloomy toward that man. But what was she to do?

She no longer knew to whom to apply. She had committed a fault, but the foundation of her nature, as will be remembered, was modesty and virtue. She was vaguely conscious that she was on the verge of falling into distress, and of gliding into a worse state. Courage was necessary; she possessed it, and held herself firm. The idea of returning to her native town of M. sur M. occurred to her. There, some one might possibly know her and give her work; yes, but it would be necessary to conceal her fault. In a confused way she perceived the necessity of a separation which would be more painful than the first one. Her heart contracted, but she took her resolution. Fantine, as we shall see, had the fierce bravery of life. She had already valiantly renounced finery, had dressed herself in linen, and had put all her silks, all her ornaments, all her ribbons, and all her laces on her daughter, the only vanity which was left to her, and a holy one it was. She sold all that she had, which produced for her two hundred francs; her little debts paid, she had only about eighty francs left. At the age of twenty-two, on a beautiful spring morning, she quitted Paris, bearing her child on her back. Any one who had seen these two pass would have had pity on them. This woman had, in all the world, nothing but her child, and the child had, in all the world, no one but this woman. Fantine had nursed her child, and this had tired her chest, and she coughed a little.

We shall have no further occasion to speak of M. Félix Tholomyès. Let us confine ourselves to saying, that, twenty years later, under King Louis Philippe, he was a great provincial lawyer, wealthy and influential, a wise elector, and a very severe juryman; he was still a man of pleasure.

Towards the middle of the day, after having, from time to time, for the sake of resting herself, travelled, for three or four sous a league, in what was then known as the Petites Voitures des Environs de Paris, the “little suburban coach service,” Fantine found herself at Montfermeil, in the alley Boulanger.

As she passed the Thénardier hostelry, the two little girls, blissful in the monster swing, had dazzled her in a manner, and she had halted in front of that vision of joy.

Charms exist. These two little girls were a charm to this mother.

She gazed at them in much emotion. The presence of angels is an announcement of Paradise. She thought that, above this inn, she beheld the mysterious HERE of Providence. These two little creatures were evidently happy. She gazed at them, she admired them, in such emotion that at the moment when their mother was recovering her breath between two couplets of her song, she could not refrain from addressing to her the remark which we have just read:—

“You have two pretty children, Madame.”

The most ferocious creatures are disarmed by caresses bestowed on their young.

The mother raised her head and thanked her, and bade the wayfarer sit down on the bench at the door, she herself being seated on the threshold. The two women began to chat.

“My name is Madame Thénardier,” said the mother of the two little girls. “We keep this inn.”

Then, her mind still running on her romance, she resumed humming between her teeth:—

“It must be so; I am a knight,

And I am off to Palestine.”

This Madame Thénardier was a sandy-complexioned woman, thin and angular—the type of the soldier’s wife in all its unpleasantness; and what was odd, with a languishing air, which she owed to her perusal of romances. She was a simpering, but masculine creature. Old romances produce that effect when rubbed against the imagination of cook-shop woman. She was still young; she was barely thirty. If this crouching woman had stood upright, her lofty stature and her frame of a perambulating colossus suitable for fairs, might have frightened the traveller at the outset, troubled her confidence, and disturbed what caused what we have to relate to vanish. A person who is seated instead of standing erect—destinies hang upon such a thing as that.

The traveller told her story, with slight modifications.

That she was a working-woman; that her husband was dead; that her work in Paris had failed her, and that she was on her way to seek it elsewhere, in her own native parts; that she had left Paris that morning on foot; that, as she was carrying her child, and felt fatigued, she had got into the Villemomble coach when she met it; that from Villemomble she had come to Montfermeil on foot; that the little one had walked a little, but not much, because she was so young, and that she had been obliged to take her up, and the jewel had fallen asleep.

At this word she bestowed on her daughter a passionate kiss, which woke her. The child opened her eyes, great blue eyes like her mother’s, and looked at—what? Nothing; with that serious and sometimes severe air of little children, which is a mystery of their luminous innocence in the presence of our twilight of virtue. One would say that they feel themselves to be angels, and that they know us to be men. Then the child began to laugh; and although the mother held fast to her, she slipped to the ground with the unconquerable energy of a little being which wished to run. All at once she caught sight of the two others in the swing, stopped short, and put out her tongue, in sign of admiration.

Mother Thénardier released her daughters, made them descend from the swing, and said:—

“Now amuse yourselves, all three of you.”

Children become acquainted quickly at that age, and at the expiration of a minute the little Thénardiers were playing with the newcomer at making holes in the ground, which was an immense pleasure.

The newcomer was very gay; the goodness of the mother is written in the gayety of the child; she had seized a scrap of wood which served her for a shovel, and energetically dug a cavity big enough for a fly. The grave-digger’s business becomes a subject for laughter when performed by a child.

The two women pursued their chat.

“What is your little one’s name?”

“Cosette.”

For Cosette, read Euphrasie. The child’s name was Euphrasie. But out of Euphrasie the mother had made Cosette by that sweet and graceful instinct of mothers and of the populace which changes Josepha into Pepita, and Françoise into Sillette. It is a sort of derivative which disarranges and disconcerts the whole science of etymologists. We have known a grandmother who succeeded in turning Theodore into Gnon.

“How old is she?”

“She is going on three.”

“That is the age of my eldest.”

In the meantime, the three little girls were grouped in an attitude of profound anxiety and blissfulness; an event had happened; a big worm had emerged from the ground, and they were afraid; and they were in ecstasies over it.

Their radiant brows touched each other; one would have said that there were three heads in one aureole.

“How easily children get acquainted at once!” exclaimed Mother Thénardier; “one would swear that they were three sisters!”

This remark was probably the spark which the other mother had been waiting for. She seized the Thénardier’s hand, looked at her fixedly, and said:—

“Will you keep my child for me?”

The Thénardier made one of those movements of surprise which signify neither assent nor refusal.

Cosette’s mother continued:—

“You see, I cannot take my daughter to the country. My work will not permit it. With a child one can find no situation. People are ridiculous in the country. It was the good God who caused me to pass your inn. When I caught sight of your little ones, so pretty, so clean, and so happy, it overwhelmed me. I said: ‘Here is a good mother. That is just the thing; that will make three sisters.’ And then, it will not be long before I return. Will you keep my child for me?”

“I must see about it,” replied the Thénardier.

“I will give you six francs a month.”

Here a man’s voice called from the depths of the cook-shop:—

“Not for less than seven francs. And six months paid in advance.”

“Six times seven makes forty-two,” said the Thénardier.

“I will give it,” said the mother.

“And fifteen francs in addition for preliminary expenses,” added the man’s voice.

“Total, fifty-seven francs,” said Madame Thénardier. And she hummed vaguely, with these figures:—

“It must be, said a warrior.”

“I will pay it,” said the mother. “I have eighty francs. I shall have enough left to reach the country, by travelling on foot. I shall earn money there, and as soon as I have a little I will return for my darling.”

The man’s voice resumed:—

“The little one has an outfit?”

“That is my husband,” said the Thénardier.

“Of course she has an outfit, the poor treasure.—I understood perfectly that it was your husband.—And a beautiful outfit, too! a senseless outfit, everything by the dozen, and silk gowns like a lady. It is here, in my carpet-bag.”

“You must hand it over,” struck in the man’s voice again.

“Of course I shall give it to you,” said the mother. “It would be very queer if I were to leave my daughter quite naked!”

The master’s face appeared.

“That’s good,” said he.

The bargain was concluded. The mother passed the night at the inn, gave up her money and left her child, fastened her carpet-bag once more, now reduced in volume by the removal of the outfit, and light henceforth and set out on the following morning, intending to return soon. People arrange such departures tranquilly; but they are despairs!

A neighbor of the Thénardiers met this mother as she was setting out, and came back with the remark:—

“I have just seen a woman crying in the street so that it was enough to rend your heart.”

When Cosette’s mother had taken her departure, the man said to the woman:—

“That will serve to pay my note for one hundred and ten francs which falls due to-morrow; I lacked fifty francs. Do you know that I should have had a bailiff and a protest after me? You played the mouse-trap nicely with your young ones.”

“Without suspecting it,” said the woman.

#les mis #les mis letters #volume 1: fantine #book 4: to confide is sometimes to deliver into a person's power #chapter 1

niqhtlord01

Welcome back you blood thirsty fans to another round of ROOSTER TEETH CHAMPIONSHIP!

Today we have an odd pair stepping into the scene. Both skilled fighters, expertly trained, and with gear so specialized they could make any cosplayer cry in despair.

In one corner we have the lady of death herself, the shadow on which all grimm fear, the reaper of a thousand monsters; give it up for Maria AKA THE GRIMMMMMMMMM REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPER!!!!!!! And in the other corner we have the crocodile that finally walked on two legs, the eye doctor of despair, the grin that’d make the devil himself blush; let’s here it for TTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!! Reaper: *Walks in with both scythes flying into her hands* Ruby: OMGOSH, another scythe user! Reaper: It is the most efficient weapon after all. Ruby: *Extends scythe* Can I get your autograph afterwards? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tock: *Walks in activating her clock* Kazu: Wait a minute......ticking clock....crocodile...... Tock: If you’re finished looking like a half wit times a wasting. Kazu: *Cracks knuckles* If you’re rival is a hooked man I think we are due for a lawsuit. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Reaper: *Walks in with both scythes flying into her hands* Roman: Well, at least you’re not little red for a change; though not much of an improvement. Reaper: And here I thought criminals likes silver. Roman: *Flips cane and gun cap opens* Personally I prefer gold. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Tock: *Walks in activating her clock* Grif: What the hell happened to your teeth? Tock: What the ell happened to your voice? Donut: *From crowd* Oooooooh burn!! Grif: *Hefts rocket launcher* Shut up doughnut! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Nomad: *Walks in with wind blowing up poncho* Tock: Not az much fun when your prey can’t scream. Nomad: *Looks shocked and horrified* Tock: *Grins* Le’z see if you’re a real mute after all. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Weller & Caliban: *Weller walks in handing Caliban several books.* Reaper: Stand aside, I do not wish to fight an old man. Dr. Weller: Neither would I, we can be very harsh with our honesty and are fully aware of how gross and sagging we are. Reaper: *Has scythes circle her* What a strange man you are; I think I might like you. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Tock: *Walks in activating her clock* Sarge: In my day we had a way for handling misbehaving youngsters. Tock: Whatchya going to do, bend me over and spank me? Sarge: *Cocks shotgun* Not exactly. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Reaper:* Walks in with both scythes flying around her* Raven: You should be careful; don’t want to poke an eye out with those. Reaper: Are you serious? Raven: *Draws sword* Too soon? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Tock: *Walks in activating clock* Julian: I don’t think you want to fight me. Tock: Says the man on borrowed time. Julian: *Hologram flickers* Alright, I gave you an out. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ren: *Draws both weapons* Reaper: For one appearing so calm your body reads rife with chaos. Ren: Would you be calm when your world burns down around you? Reaper: *Pulls both scythes to her* No; but I would get angry. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Toth: *Walks in unsheathing knife* Tock: Fancy tooth pick you got there. Toth: You’ll be picking it out of your chest after I burry it in you. Tock: *Grins and activates clock* Oh I like you. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Reaper: *Walks in with both scythes flying around her* Sun: So is the mask fake or did you dig up a body for fashion? Reaper: With a name like “Grim Reaper” what do you think? Sun: *Extends staff* I think you need to get out more for starters. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tock: *Walks in activating clock* Church: Why is it every woman I meet is a psycho!? Tock: Your a bit of a mental case yourself from what I hear love. Church: *Draws sniper rifle* I might just make a nice pair of boots out of you to kick your ass with! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reaper: *Walks in with both scythes flying around her* Doc: Would you like my professional evaluation? Reaper: I do not heed the words of madmen. O’Malley: *Hefts rocket launcher* Good, because I recommend putting you down! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cammie: *Walks in, picks up nugget* Tock: No wonder the client wanted half price for a kid. Cammie: I’ll pay you full to shut it before I beat the shite out of ya. Tock: *Activates clock* Oh, they’ll get their money’s worth now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Nemesis: *Nano-tech cloud forms Nemesis* Reaper: And what are you supposed to be? Nemesis: De-e-eath. Reaper: *Grasps both scythes* Sorry, that’s my job. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tock: *Walks in activating her clock* Locus: I studied your work, and it’s almost impressive but for one thing. Tock: Oh yeah, what’s that? Locus: *Activates cloak* You talk too much. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Reaper: *Walks in with both scythes circling her* Felix: All that hard work only to be cut down by some lowly mercs. Reaper: Is that pity I hear in your voice? Felix: *Draws knife and pistol* Hardly; more like ironic amusement. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tock: *Walks in activating clock* Reaper: Do you even care what you are helping to undo? Tock: Not really s’longs the money’s good. Reaper: *Pulls both scythes to her* You play right into her hands. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

alaffy

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Ep. 25 – The Devil Within

Nick wakes up, chained, and in a circle. Ambrose tells him exactly what drugs he had in his system and Sabrina tells him he almost died. Also, that he released the Dark Lord. Nick needs to get clean. Ambrose knows of a spell that can get someone clean in about 30 days, but they don’t have that amount of time since the Pagan’s are coming back in three. However, the egg that Ambrose has been watching has certain powers that affect time and, by using the egg, they can get him clean in a day. Nick repeatedly tells Sabrina he hates her. Ambrose starts the spell and they leave the room. Sabrina asks if this is a good idea and Ambrose says it the only way. Sabrina says that Nick needs her and the Covent needs Nick. Ambrose agrees, but for now he needs to see if he can help the Weird Sisters. Meanwhile, Sabrina is going to check on Roz.

#chilling adventures of sabrina #sabrina spellman #ambrose spellman #hilda spellman #zelda spellman #madam satan #lucifer morningstar #father blackwood #prudence blackwood #harvey kinkle #roz walker #theo putnam

sarahreesbrennan

riddleme2 asked:

Could you speak about Nick's heroic moment that impressed you? You mentioned Sabrina's heroic moment that impressed you (Lupercalia) and Harvey's heroic moment that impressed you (saving the witches) so I wondered if you had a Nick moment!

Buckle up kids, it’s time for me to get emosh about Nick Scratch!

Yes I do have a Nick moment, and I am happy that you asked about him! (Apologies for taking so long to reply to this and other CAOS questions I have in the queue, life has been a frenzied whirligig.) I know the rules of love triangles, and one must play fair.

(It has been interesting writing a proper love triangle, which I hadn’t before, and seeing the many reactions to it. I have one friend who was for Harvey in book 2, but in book 3 she switched to Nick. I have one friend who still loves Harvey and was mad he only got one POV chapter in book 3. I have my father, who is scandalized by the thought of love triangles and wishes for people to Commit to Each Other, and is firmly Team Nabrina and Harvalind without knowing either of those ship names! I Cannot and Will Never tell my father about the sex demons.)

I think everybody noticed the moment where Nick Scratch sacrificed himself to Satan to save Sabrina and also the world. It’s such a big moment and a big sacrifice that it instantly makes many forgive him for all his mistakes. And it’s the very end of that part, and I’ve noticed with Netflix binges even more than with usual TV, the end is the bit that sticks most with people and leaves the deepest impression. You can’t just click on the next episode. You have to sit with what happened.

That moment of heroism wasn’t overlooked. But early in Part 3, we see inside Nick’s mind in hell, and after weeks of torment he’s still fighting. Wrestling the fallen angel, as Jacob wrestled the angel, and saying no, he won’t give up. The kind of heroism that struggles on, and on, even when it’s tough and thankless, is more difficult than impulsively going down in a blaze of glory. It’s hard to feel good about that kind of fight. It isn’t glorious, it isn’t flashy, and it takes bedrock strength and rare courage. I was so impressed by that moment, and I did worry it would be lost, since Nick’s wild acting out from trauma and satanic possession follows. That inspired Nick’s plotline in Path of Night--to think about how Nick was tormented, and how and why he was able to resist the Dark Lord.

#chilling adventures of sabrina #caos #nick scratch #nabrina #sabrina spellman #prudence blackwood #harvey kinkle #theo putnam #roz walker #zelda spellman #ambrose spellman #hilda spellman #path of night #caos books #lilith #prince caliban

korkrunchcereal

Dawn

Night falls, and Cyvar Wrenth must break his oath to fulfill another. Though it is dark out he does not need torchlight, for he knows the castle’s ground as if his own hands. Besides; the glow beyond the walls gave plenty enough light. The castle has been abandoned save for twenty-one men and women, Calithielwen and of course himself. The others have fled. Part of Cyvar wishes for such freedom of duty; to have a choice.

But he’s never had a choice.

The air is damp here, far below the castle. There is no torchlight, for it is an area forbidden to all but the lords of the Castle and Cyvar. He is grim faced as he marches down the hall he has walked many times. He is not alone this time, however. Twenty footsteps echo behind him, each step a desecration of sanctity and oath. He does not care they walk these parts, just as he does not care they witness him open the locks of the treasury.

Aralan. Arasa. Balor. Cyena. Aphora. Nerus. Forya. Malwen. Varrigan. Illana. Saiyena. Caliban. Caledor. Silora. Droman. Argelos. Vira. Gilloux. Jasara. Tyran. They are names he puts into memory; names he has instructed the last member Tal-Euorva to remember.

Names that were doomed to die.

#World of Warcraft #Skullcrusha writing #Aurelian Indaris #The Phoenix War #RIP Castle Indaris

bryancroidragon

My Top 10 Favourite Witches

I don’t have much to say about this. A witch can make a good villain, a witch can make a good hero, a witch basically fill many a role. Also, I recommend this graphic novel...

Four excellent stories, one of which is “Vasilisa the Beautiful” featuring Baba Yaga herself. Without further adieu, lets get started.

Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft, herself. Ironically, the whole “Goddess of Witchcraft” thing didn’t really catch on until later. She was originally Goddess of Magic, Crossroads,Ghosts and Necromancy... Actually with the magic and necromancy bit it is no wonder how she ended up getting elevated to just witchcraft. In my Top 10 Dragons list, I mentioned a story I am working on titled “Tales of the Wyverns.” Hecate was actually going to be an antagonist of the wyverns Ravage and his sons Argos Maximus and Draconis Imperiosus but I ultimately made the decision to restrict the wyverns to fighting yetis and slavers and have the gods and goddesses not being referred to any actual name and instead just their title. Oh, well, maybe a different story all together will work better. I have been toying with the idea of writing a story for Tumblr so maybe I just might make Hecate the main antagonist.

The Three Witches from “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Are they neutral? Are they evil? Are they whatever they wish to be? Who knows? The great fun in seeing a production of this play is seeing how the Three Witches are portrayed. The first production I saw, set during a modern war, featured them wearing gas masks but other looks include goth high school girls in gangland Australia and snake-women in a post apocalyptic future with samurai, cyborgs and mutants. Another good thing about each production of the play is seeing if they are actually capable of magic, are merely charlatans taking advantage of the superstitious belief in something as dated as fate or even just people whose potions cause strong hallucinations.

Coming from Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is either a help of a hinderance in the stories she appears in. One of the most famous stories she appears in is “Vasilisa the Beautiful” where she makes the title character perform three impossible tasks. The image comes from the adaptation of that same story featured in “The Storyteller: Witches.” I had previously been introduced to the character in “Bartok the Magnificent” and I recognized the name when it was mentioned in an episode of “Inuyasha” but reading an adaptation of one of the stories she appeared in is just great.

A posthumous character from “The Tempest”, Sycorax never appears on stage but is spoken of by characters in the play with this cruel witch being the mother of the demi-devil Caliban and the one to have imprisoned the air spirit Ariel inside a tree. She is a malevolent figure who was banished from her home of Algiers for good reason considering her later imprisonment of Ariel. Of course, considering she was able to avoid execution she probably threatened to curse the people of Algiers if they did execute her.

While nearly one hundred percent of the monsters in the “Scooby-Doo” franchise are faker than vows made in wine there are a total of six that scared me as a kid and one of these six is the Ghost of Witch McCoy. She might not be scary anymore but still she was scary and if it had been a different franchise, she would have been real.

It would be false for me to say that I had ever played the “King’s Quest” games. Then I started watched @starprincesshlc‘s Lets Play of “King’s Quest 2″ and I was introduced to one witch that should not be overlooked. Hagatha, if I had done my research correctly, is a cannibalistic witch with a jealousy for beautiful women, which actually makes her more terrifying but thankfully this isn’t one of those kinds of games, of course I am sure they is some game out there that features such a thing. She is kind of the evil fairy from the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty” and with the whole tower thing she is also the witch from “Rapunzel.” She is a great villain and I actually enjoyed her presence when she was on screen.

GIF by mizworldofrandom

Honestly, not including the Wicked Witch of the West would be a disservice. I don’t even know who I was introduced to first, her or Queen Grimhilde but then again I probably spoiled who is coming next on this list. The Wicked Witch of the West is most likely the first witch we are ever introduced to and honestly she is terrifying and the one that started this green skin craze among witches but that is a film only thing. Read the book or if you can find the audio book that was read by Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow himself, or even read the graphic novel adaptation from Marvel with art done by Eric Shanower of “Age of Bronze” fame.

GIF by adventurelandia

Queen Grimhilde, post-transformation, is one of the definitive wicked witches. Although she isn’t in that form long she is a memorable witch and one of the witches we are introduced to at an early age. I haven’t much to say about her but she did make the list.

GIF by leonardo-diego

When I was a kid in the 90′s, it seemed like the Family Channel played “Sword in the Stone” all the time and so I grew to love the character of Madam Mim. She is funny but at the same time scary and I look forward to seeing how she will be portrayed in the remake and I can only hope that she ends up dying like in the original novel from the disease Merlin was carrying when he turned into a germ. Fidelity to the source material must come first, go back to the root, the original book.

10.

If you were to ask me which instalment of “The Chronicles of Narnia” is my favourite one of the answers would be “The Silver Chair.” The Lady of the Green Kirtle is a fascinating villain that causes us to wonder about just how many “Northern Witches” there are. Jadis was the White Witch and she is the Lady of the Green Kirtle. That Jadis is not a native of the world of Narnia we know meaning she is most likely a Northern Witch by naturalization or adoption but that just begs the question about the others. Where did the Lady of the Green Kirtle come from? Is “Northern Witch” a term for any female humanoid magic user that is rumoured to be half-Jinn and half-giant? Is she actually Jadis as some people think? Who are these other Northern Witches? Have others terrorized Narnia and the surrounding territories throughout the years not chronicled in the series? Do they all have a color theme? These are all legitimate questions that I do not believe are ever answered and it is because I wonder about this character more than I do Jadis that I ultimately give her a place on this list.

That is my Top 10 Witches, I’ll do an honourable mentions some other time.

#hecate #macbeth #baba yaga #the tempest #scooby doo #hagatha #wicked witch of the west #snow white and the seven dwarfs #madam mim #narnia #the silver chair

niqhtlord01

Round 2 for Rooster Teeth Championship! A clash of cultures, a battle of histories, a war of baked snacks. OH what madness we bring, and what songs we will sing! WFL: *Walks in dragging chainsaw, sparks flying everywhere* Grif: You do realize I have a gun right? WFL: With your aim I feel as threatened as a parent facing a child with a slingshot. Grif: *loads rocket launcher* Well it’s a big damn slingshot. Jaune: *Strikes dramatic pose with sword before the sword falls out of his hand.* Cammie: So you fight monsters with a sword and shield? Jaune: Pretty much. Cammie: *Nugget hops on Cammie’s shoulder* Not gonna lie, that’s pretty badass. Julian: *Hologram appears* Church: Did you die and come back as a ghost as well? Julian: It’s weird how close you are on that. Church: *Pulls out sniper rifle* Yeah, a lot of that going around lately. Sheila: *Rolls on to the stage* Penny: Well hello there Ms. Tank. Sheila: My name is Sheila, destroyer of worlds. Penny: *Swords emerge from her back* Well that’s a problem. I like this world. Nora: *Smashes through nearby wall with hammer* Tex: Cute, but I don’t need a hammer to break walls. Nora: But I bet you don’t look nearly as cool when doing it. Tex: *cracks neck* I like you. Yasamin: *Walks in cracking neck* Yang: Heard you like copying me. Yasamin: How do you figure? Yang: *cocks shotgun wrists* Wears yellow, likes punching things; even I can put two and two together on that. Lopez: *Walks in attaching his head to his body* Adam: Do they think a tin can can beat me? Lopez: *In Spanish* This tin can can whoop your ass with both arms detached. Adam: *Slowly draws sword* I’m going to take it you just insulted me, bad move. Ruby: * Whirlwinds in with raining rose petals* Nemesis: Why are youuuuuuyyouyyooou not scared of me? Ruby: I fight giant monsters all the time. You’re nothing special. Nemesis: *Starts twitching rapidly* AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I llllllliiiike you. Rufus: *Walks in handing data slates to Caliban to hold* Cinder: I see you took another form Ozpin. Rufus: Either you’ve mistaken me for someone else or you are in dire need of retinal correction surgery. Cinder: *Pulls burning sword from air* Cute. Roman: *Slow walks in twirling cane* Sarge: I see you are with the white army, you filthy pale bastard! Roman: Excuse me, white army? Sarge: *cocks shotgun* I always knew this day would come. The color wars have begun!!! Valentina: *Removes camouflage cloak* Kaikaina: That was pretty hot. Valentina: Really? That was hot for you? Kaikaina: *Pulls out dual smgs* What part of women taking off their clothes ever isn’t? Caboose: *Enters and puts a flower in his gun barrel* Ruby: Why do you hate me? Caboose: You know what you did tiny person. Ruby: *Twirls scythe* I will never apologize for eating cookies. NEVER! Ozpin: *Walks in looking at pocket watch before putting it back in pocket* US: You ever fought nanotech old man? Ozpin: No, I don’t believe I have. US: *Coin flips into air and transforms into nanotech* Oh, then you’re going to love this. Church: *Looking down sights of sniper rifle* Nemesis: Arrrrre are areeeee you a copy? Church: Hard to say. Been a ghost possessing people for so long I lost track. Nemesis: *Starts twitching rapidly* Ki-ki-ki-kill the COPY!!!!!!!

brigdh

Reading Wednesday

The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh. A space opera more concerned with ethics and friendships than battles and politics. The Pride of Chanur is a merchant ship crewed by the Hani, a lion-like species in which the females are in charge of trade and diplomacy while the males stay back home and fight one another for control of powerful households. Captain Pyanfar is on a typical trip, docked at a trading station, when a strange, naked alien that looks like nothing she's ever seen (though readers will quickly recognize it as a human) runs onto her ship. Another species, the Kif, soon demand its return, but Pyanfar refuses, as much because she dislikes the Kif and is happy to annoy them than for any deep reason. That choice lands her and her crew in escalating danger, as the Kif are determined to get the alien back and will declare war to do it and other species are drawn into the conflict. A great deal of the book is about the difficulty of translation; even with long-contacted species like the Kif, the Hani are forced to communicate in short, broken sentences and deal with deep cultural differences. With the humans, they're starting from the ground up, and matters like gestures, clothing, and food are as prone to misunderstandings as language itself. How do you even tell the difference between an sentient alien and an animal, if you have nothing in common? I loved this sociological part of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't like much of the rest of The Pride of Chanur. I didn't connect emotionally with any of the characters, I found the descriptions of space travel deeply confusing, and I have no idea at all how Hani society is supposed to function. For example, it seems like the male fights over households are supposed to be one-on-one, but then we're given a description of a whole crew invading and pillaging an enemy house. Is that illegal? Are there laws regulating these fights? What does a new male leader mean to the daughters and sisters of the former ruler – are they cast out too, or do they just have to obey a new boss? All of this is pretty important to the climax, but I just couldn't figure it out. The Pride of Chanur has its positives, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequels unless someone talks me into it. Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. The fourth book in The Expanse series, and so inevitably this review will contain spoilers for previous books. After the events of Abaddon's Gate , humanity suddenly has access to thousands of solar systems, most with inhabitable, Earth-like planets. And yet in a very believable, petty example of human nature, we're fighting a war over just one. The Cibola in the title is metaphorical; it's one of the mythical 'cities of gold' the Spanish conquistadors searched and killed for in their early days in the New World. The idea of being beyond the law, of pillaging fortunes from a new land, is a major theme in this book, and Cortez and his methods get name-dropped at least twice. A group of refugees, homeless after Ganymede was torn apart by war, riots, and alien monsters, settle on a planet they name Ilus. At the same time, the UN grants the Royal Charter Energy corporation the exploration and exploitation rights to the same planet, which they've named New Terra. This immediately sets up several consequential questions that no one has the answer to: since the refugees beat RCE to Ilus/New Terra by a year, do they have rights of priority? Does the UN even have the authority to give out contracts over these new planets? Where do Mars and the Outer Planet Alliance stand? Who owns the lithium ore the refugees have already mined and transported into space? And since the rest of humanity is months or even years away from Ilus/New Terra, can anyone stop RCE and the refugees from killing each other before politicians settle the matter? James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are sent in to act as mediators, since a) Holden is, by this point, a popular celebrity, and b) as an Earth native and former OPA operative, he can be seen as neutral. Unfortunately matters quickly grow beyond his ability to control them, particularly when the defense system set up by long-dead aliens wakes up and adds a third front to the killing-everyone campaign. As always in The Expanse series, we have a set of new POVs. Unfortunately this time I didn't like any of them as much as usual. Holden repeats again, and our others are Basia Merton, Elvi Okoye, and Dimitri Havelock. Basia was formerly a minor character in Caliban's War, the father of one of the other kidnapped children. His son died, and in reaction to that Basia has become fiercely, perhaps stupidly, protective of his surviving family. They are some of the refugees, and Basia's grief leads him to make several dangerous choices when confronted by the RCE. He's a sympathetic character, but I just didn't find him as captivating as Avasarala, Bobbie, or Pastor Anna. Havelock was also a minor character before; he was Detective Miller's partner in Leviathan Wakes. Now he's second-in-command of security for the RCE. It's just too bad that his boss is Murtry, a straight-up sociopath who doesn't care how many people he has to kill to give RCE an advantage. Havelock explicitly says that he's overly influenced by the people around him, and so goes along with Murtry's plan for far too long. As a character arc, this did not work for me at all. There is some suspense in waiting to see if Havelock will grow a spine and do the right thing, but it's not nearly as intriguing than if he was genuinely convinced of Murtry's ideas and had to change his mind, or was in some sort of physical danger that prevented him from helping the heroes. Finally, we have Elvi, an exo-zoologist working as part of RCE's science exploration team. More than anyone else, she understands Ilus/New Terra and how very different it is from Earth, despite superficial similarities. She makes several important discoveries that save lives, but she's dangerously naive regarding politics and human relationships. She also falls desperately in love with Holden and begins to act like a besotted teenager; this is believable as a reaction to the stress and life-threatening circumstances she finds herself in – and the narration does make it clear that's what's happening – but it was still somewhat annoying to read. It was hard to take her seriously as a respected professor when she was blushing and stammering over her crush. Overall, I didn't like this book as much as the previous ones in the series. It just wasn't as exciting and the characters weren't as likeable. On the other hand, I did really enjoy the found-family vibes between Holden and his crew: Naomi, Amos, and Alex. (Which reminds me: I forgot to mention the AMAZING scene in Caliban's War where Holden literally proposes marriage to the whole crew. He's half-joking, suggesting it more as a way for them to easily become co-owners of their spaceship than to actually enter into a poly romance, but I still loved it.) We have Amos nearly murdering people when Naomi is taken hostage, Naomi issuing vicious threats when Alex's safety is endangered, and Holden going to new extremes to protect Amos. It's just a whole circle of love and family-of-choice and it is my very favorite trope. I'm totally giving this book an extra star just for that. In general, Cibola Burn is a step down in quality from previous books, but I'll still be reading the sequel. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant: Survival Tips for the Horticulturally Challenged by Veronica Peerless. A really excellent how-to guide for houseplants, possibly the best book on the topic I've ever seen. It's split into two halves, with "The Basics" offering general tips and "The Houseplants" giving specific guidance on 119 common species. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant is aimed towards newbies, but it also included tricks that were new to me, such as how to save an overwatered plant by wrapping its soil in newspaper. I particularly liked the troubleshooting offered in "The Houseplants"; it explains, for instance, that yellow leaves on one plant might mean it needs more water, while yellow leaves on another species might indicate that it's getting too much sunlight. It's easy to look up your specific plants and get tips on how to best care for them. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant is available as both an ebook and a physical book, but I'd highly recommend the physical book. It's beautifully laid out, with a collage-like style that mixes photographs and abstract cutouts. A great book for anyone who raises houseplants, 'horticulturally challenged' or not! I read this as an ARC via NetGalley. One Way by S.J. Morden. A sci-fi thriller set in the near future: 2048, to be exact. Mars has been visited, and it's time for humanity to build a permanent base there for the ease of future astronauts. But how to do it? Robots are expensive and prone to breaking down, whereas human labor is even more expensive and when they break down there's likely to be lawsuits from family members. Xenosystems Operations, the company who has contracted with NASA to build the base, hits on the perfect solution: convict labor. After all, it's not like they can escape; they'll be on fucking Mars, and there's not a lot of spare oxygen or rocket ships for them to steal. XO runs a private prison in California (named Panopticon; subtle, Morden), so all they have to do is select a team of seven people with life-sentences who are willing to serve the rest of their time on Mars, give them a few months of training, and send them on a one-way journey – even once the base is built, they'll be a need for maintenance and janitorial services, since astronauts have more important things to do than unclog drains or charge batteries. In exchange, the prisoners get work they can be proud of and a bit more freedom in their daily lives. Frank is our narrator and main character. Sentenced to life for murdering his son's drug dealer, Frank is a former construction worker, an obviously useful background. He and his team of six other prisoners, each with their own specialities (transportation, plumbing, electricity, computers, hydroponics, and a doctor), plus an XO employee to be their guard/boss, quickly find out that XO has cut every possible corner to save money. They have no redundant supplies in case of wear or mishap; broken or missing necessary parts; barely enough food to get them through; problems with producing their own oxygen, water, and power; and not enough training for emergencies. Unsurprisingly, this quickly starts to take its toll, and people die in easily preventable accidents. Except by the third death, Frank suspects that they're not just accidents – someone on the team is deliberately murdering the others. He has no one he trusts, help from Earth is months away, and in the harsh environment of Mars the smallest mistake can kill, so Frank is left to figure out the murderer by himself before he's the next victim. Morden is an excellent writer of tension; there's several wonderfully dramatic scenes involving characters in spacesuits running out of time on their oxygen supplies that were heart-pounding and thrilling. Unfortunately he's not a great author of mysteries. The murderer is SUPER obvious, so much so that it makes Frank look dumb for taking so long to figure it out. At the point where Frank discovers a bunch of empty oxycontin packets around the murderer's bed and still doesn't think it might be him, I had to groan out loud. (Of course, being a drug addict doesn't make one a murderer, except that this is totally the kind of book where it does.) I also had problems with Morden's science writing; I think he expects his average reader to know more about space than I, at least, do. There was a lot of techno-jargon I didn't know, and I never could manage to picture what the base Frank and the others built was supposed to look like. On the other hand, I am highly predisposed to like a book that's this critical of the use of convict labor for corporate profit, and the excerpts scattered throughout of XO's private communications really make it clear how far down the path of evil a bit of greed and pure capitalism can get you. Hooray for a nice dose of contemporary politics in my escapist reading! I do want to note – because I didn't know before reading it – One Way is not a stand-alone. A sequel is due out soon. Nonetheless, One Way ends at a good point, with almost all of the plot threads wrapped up. You won't feel like you've gotten only half of the story if you read this book alone. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

[DW link for easier commenting, if you prefer]

#books #book reviews #james s.a. corey #cj cherryh #S. J. Morden #gardening #the expanse

rax-writes

Enchanted - Part I

Fandom: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Pairing: Caliban x Reader

Warnings: None

Notes: I’ve been thirsty for this blond bastard since he popped up in the show, so it’s about time I write for him. // So this is slightly OC, because the reader is a Spellman and it gives some backstory on that, but I still tried to keep it predominantly a reader insert.

GIF by gaybuckybarnes

As the only trueborn daughter of Edward Spellman, conceived during his very brief, loveless marriage to his late bride, you had grown accustomed to being treated differently. Your aunties fretted over you endlessly, despite being well aware of the fact that you were an extremely proficient witch. You were given unearned, unquestioned respect by each member of the Church of Night, as well as every witch and warlock you met. Typically, they asked you endless questions, being that your father had intended for you to be his successor, prior to his untimely death and Faustus Blackwood’s treachery-ridden rise to the position of High Priest. This meant that you had been a sponge for each and every one of Edward’s theories, teachings, and creeds, as well as his extensive knowledge of spells, conjuring, potions, and other witchcraft.

You prided yourself on being a witch of above-average skill and know-how, although that did not mean you were keen on being subjected to impromptu interviews about it all. Additionally, it seemed as though every single creature you encountered knew your father, which often meant they were twice as heaven-bent on killing you, as he had not been one to take mercy on monsters. All in all, it was rare that you were treated as you – not Edward Spellman’s daughter.

That is, until you encountered a certain self-proclaimed Prince of Hell.

calbrina

UNEXPECTED [Caliban x Reader]

SUMMARY: The reader is about to be offered as the pagan virgin sacrifice. Not if Caliban has a say in it, though.

Warnings: not really, reader has a nightmare at one point

Length: around 3300 words. I know. I'm sorry that this turned out to be such a monster! 😅

This was requested: A Caliban x reader where instead of Harvey being taken as a virgin sacrifice the reader does. Please and thanks in advance 😊

Requested by the lovely @rachelle3musicals

Also, just as a little heads up: this is the first imagine I've ever written, but I hope I did alright! Also, English is not my mother tongue, though I hope I didn't make too grave mistakes!

Have fun reading and please, tell me what you all think about this! :)

xxx

UNEXPECTED

So. This was it.

This was how you were going to die.

You’d never given that much thought to how you were going to die before – you were still in high school, after all! – but still, you’d never imagine that you’d die like this.

Being offered as a virgin sacrifice to some pagan nature God. One thing was for certain though: you wouldn’t go down without a fight.

And so, even though you felt the fear and panic creeping in on you, freezing you from the inside, you struggled against the rough hands forcing you onwards.

You couldn’t see where they were dragging you towards, due to the fact that they’d blind-folded you, but you could still hear Roz’s, Harvey’s and Theo’s anguished, panicked screams.

This didn’t really help you, though, no, you only felt your panic intensifying.

Surely, it wasn’t really going to end like this, was it?

Before you could form another thought – a better survival strategy, other than aimlessly struggling against your captors – the people dragging you towards Satan only knew what, stopped.

For a moment, you were too stunned about this, to think clearly, but then you realized: this was it! This was your chance to escape them!

It seemed like you’d only twitched and they were pulling at your arms again.

“Not so fast”, one of your captors grunted.

Damn it, they really were much stronger than you. You definitely would have to take that promise that you’d made to Sabrina and Roz about joining the cheer squad and practicing together with them, seriously after all of this was over.

Though at the moment it definitely looked like worrying about cheer practice and your muscle strength would be the least of your problems, considering the fact that you were currently held captive by some crazy pagans who wanted to offer you as a virgin sacrifice to some pagan god.

One could always try with a little humor, though.

You had been stuck so deep in your own thoughts, that you hadn’t even noticed that your captors had untied the ropes that had previously bound your hands and legs together. And they’d even lifted your blindfold!

But why were Harvey, Roz and Theo screaming your name with even more panic than before? That didn’t really fit together, did it?

You only realized that your captors were pushing you up, planning to now bind you against a tree, when it was already too late.

The tree’s vines were already twisting, stretching out towards you, pulling themselves around your arms, squeezing, so that your captors barely had to do anything anymore.

For a few, horrible moments you were too stunned to react. You couldn’t, wouldn’t believe that this was actually happening to you. Before, with the pagans dragging you along into the unknown, it had been bad enough.

But then, you’d had the slightest hope of escape left.

Now though, reality was dawning on you in form of the tree’s vines slowly, but surely squeezing out all the air out of your lungs, your life out of you.

And all you could do was cry out in pain, completely defenceless, completely hopeless.

“Stop”, an unfamiliar voice suddenly said.

It didn’t stop. You didn’t have the strength left in you to open your eyes, you could only struggle against the tree’s unrelenting vines, whilst screaming out in anguish and fear. You were so desperate; you didn’t even notice the struggle going on underneath the tree that was draining your life out of you.

But then, something changed.

The tree stopped.

You could breathe again.

You could move again.

You hadn’t died.

As all of these things began to dawn on you, you could hear an agitated conversation going on around you.

You opened your eyes – only to feel the need to close and then open them again, just to make sure that what you were seeing was actually happening.

Caliban.

He was right there, Caliban. Self-proclaimed asshole-prince of hell. And he was climbing up towards you.

Was he the one who had saved you? But why? Why would he do that? There we so many questions, yet now that the worst was over you felt utterly tired. And dizzy.

Everything was spinning before your eyes.

Maybe you’d really died and you were already in hell? That would explain why Caliban was there as well, at least.

But then you suddenly felt two hands carefully touching you, pulling you out of the tree’s dead clutches.

It really was Caliban. He was there, right before you, pulling you out of the tree and lifting you up.

“What?”, you croaked.

He only gave you a Cheshire cat’s smile in return.

And the last thing you felt before the darkness fully enclosed you were his strong arms, carrying you, and his warm chest your head was rested against.

Maybe Sabrina was right – maybe hell really wasn’t so bad after all.

xxx

You had no idea how much time had passed when you woke up again.

To make things worse, you had no idea where you were. In a bed, sure, but you had no idea where.

Then the memories came rushing back at you. The pagans and their crazy virgin sacrifice. How they’d trapped you and your friends and in the end decided to make you their virgin sacrifice.

You didn’t want to think about those horrible moments where you had indeed been sure that you were going to die, so of course, your mind had to settle on Caliban.

Why on earth had he been there? And, what was even more intriguing to you, why had he helped you? He hadn’t needed to. There wasn’t anything he could gain by saving your life except your gratitude – which, surely he didn’t care about at all.

Why had he helped you?

You really couldn’t wrap your head around it. You had only seen him twice before, both times very brief and both times it had seemed like he’d barely noticed you because he had been so focused on Sabrina and winning her favour.

You had your suspicions – theories, more likely – why he’d helped Roz: to impress Sabrina.

But this time, Sabrina hadn’t been there.

So why had he just saved your life? It just didn’t make sense.

You tried to get up – you needed to find out, where you were and how much time had passed.

But you’d barely sat up when the pain hit you like a knife being twisted around in your chest. It hurt. You could barely breathe.

You couldn’t help it, you cried out in pain. Immediately you bit down hard on your lips.

But then, suddenly, Caliban was there, right at your side. It seemed like he’d just appeared out of thin air, like you’d seen him do it before.

He steadied you, slung an arm around your waist and propped you up against him whilst you gasped out in pain.

“I take it you’re awake after all”, he said, voice tinged with irony. His warm breath fanned over your neck, but you weren’t about to get distracted by that.

“Why did you save me?”, you asked him instead, meeting his gaze. You’d intended to sound eloquent, but the only thing you could manage was a croaky, rasping voice.

“A simple ‘Thank you, Caliban, for saving my life’ would’ve been sufficient enough, Y/N, you know?”, he said.

You snorted in exasperation – your chest wasn’t thankful for it. Trying to draw breath was utter pain. Caliban caught your gaze again, you still couldn’t figure out the look in his eyes.

Surely, it wasn’t concern? No, that was ridiculous. It was Caliban, after all. Maybe the tree hadn’t only tried to snuff out your life but had also killed some of your brain cells.

Yes, that had to be it.

“Oh c’mon, don’t pretend it was for some noble reason, we both know that that wasn’t the case, Caliban”, you said.

Whatever you’d thought you’d seen in his gaze before, it was gone, immediately. He glared at you.

“Don’t assume to know my intentions”, he growled. You could feel his voice vibrating against your back.

He still had his arm around you, you were still pressed against him.

You were still glaring at each other.

“How are you feeling?”, he abruptly asked you.

“I – what?”, you answered, completely confused.

He rolled his eyes at you, his expression clearly telling you that he wasn’t going to repeat his question.

“Fine”, you replied, gritting your teeth, trying to smile through the pain. You didn’t know why, but you knew that you didn’t want Caliban to find out that you were still in severe pain.

“Oh really?”, he said, quirking an eyebrow at you, tone implying that he didn’t believe you at all.

You intended to huff out in exasperation, but instead the only thing you could manage was a miserable rasping sound. This damn tree had really tried to suffocate you and if it hadn’t been for Caliban, it would surely have succeeded.

You clutched a hand to your chest, just wanting the pain to stop.

Your eyes landed on Caliban again. His gaze was fixed on you, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration.

Then – somehow, the pain became somewhat bearable. Your eyes widened in surprise.

“Your friends are all fine, by the way”, Caliban suddenly said, before you had the chance to thank him.

The tenderness – which you most definitely had imagined – was gone from his face, back was his usual arrogant expression.

You felt utterly irritated and annoyed, both because of him. You couldn’t figure him out, you really couldn’t. That was frustrating you more than you would’ve liked to admit.

“And you’re at Theo’s uncle’s farm, in case you were wondering”, he added. He continued speaking, not even giving you the chance to say anything.

“You should get some rest, though Sabrina and I both did what we could. That tree did some serious damage to you.” He paused, and his gaze found yours again. He seemed as if he wanted to say something else, but then he just said:

“I take it that you’ll be fine on your own. There’s been someone here to check on you every few hours though, so… Anyways, I have other things to do this as well, now that you’re…”, he stopped, looking annoyed with himself.

He slowly got up, carefully taking his arm away from your waist. You immediately felt the absence of his warm body, which had been pressed up against your back.

“Caliban…”, you began, but then you stopped too, not sure what you even wanted to say.

His gaze found yours again, and then, just like that, he was gone.

“Aaargh”, you groaned out in annoyance, angrily glaring at your pillow as if that would somehow solve your problems.

You just couldn’t figure this guy out, seriously though. There he was, acting like an arrogant jerk the first two times you’d met him, and then he saved your life, only to be annoyed at you because you didn’t worship him afterwards.

Granted, maybe your reaction to him saving your life really hadn’t been the best. You still needed to thank him for saving your life, you realized. Though, you still wanted to know why he’d saved your life.

Damn him for acting so irritating, one second being a complete jerk and then the other second it almost seemed like he cared about you, which… surely couldn’t be true, could it? You were only an ordinary mortal, after all, most definitely not of interest to the Prince of Hell.

And, really, damn him for being so incredibly handsome. Your cheeks felt aflame, just thinking about how you’d been pressed up against him just mere moments ago.

You pinched your nose in frustration.

Somehow you felt like what had happened with the pagans had been nothing at all compared to the conversation you’d just had with Caliban.

He was irritating you so much, it was beyond frustration.

xxx

You felt the tree’s vines sneaking up on you, tangling themselves around your body, and you knew: this time there would be no one there to save you.

This time, Caliban wouldn’t show up.

This time, you were truly going to die.

“NO!”,

“Y/N, please, listen to me, it’s just a dream, please wake up, damn it!”, you could feel hands on your shoulder, trying to shake you awake.

You jerked up and your head nearly collided with Caliban’s bare chest. How had he gotten here so fast – could he possibly have known that you’d been having a nightmare?

Also, was this guy ever wearing a shirt, like at all? Not that you didn’t appreciate the view, though.

“Caliban!”, you gasped out, at the same time as he asked you:

“Y/N, are you all right?”

“Could be better”, you said, a feeble attempt at trying to lighten up the mood. Caliban didn’t look convinced at all.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there earlier…”, he said and it somehow sounded like he hadn’t actually intended to say this out loud at all.

“Thank you”, you said, deciding that a thank you was definitely overdue at this point. Instead of the self-satisfied, arrogant expression you’d expected, he only looked at you in confusion.

“Thank you, for saving my life. And for uh, you know…”, you gestured vaguely with your hand at the two of you.

Your hand brushed his chest. His breath caught for a moment and your eyes met. You hadn’t realized how close you two really were.

A loose strand of hair fell in your face and you wanted to brush it away with your hand, but Caliban’s hand was there first.

You looked at each other again.

You could feel his heart beating, you hadn’t taken your hand off of his chest yet. You vaguely wondered why.

Caliban looked at you and you felt shivers going down your spine. You really couldn’t figure him out – though suddenly you weren’t so sure if that really mattered all that much anymore.

“Y/N”, he said and you were glad that his voice sounded slightly husky and irritated, because you took that as a sign that you weren’t the only one confused in this situation.

Were you only imagining things or had you two somehow moved closer together and you just hadn’t noticed it?

Because suddenly it seemed like you just had to lean in slightly and you could’ve touched the tip of his nose. Or his lips.

Why on earth were you suddenly thinking about touching his lips? This was Caliban after all! Caliban, whom you didn’t even like – that’s what you were trying to tell yourself, at least.

“Why did you save me?”, you asked him, voice just slightly more than a whisper. You didn’t know how you knew, but somehow you were sure you’d get an answer this time.

He sighed. His eyes captured yours again and this time, you really could’ve sworn that your breath actually stopped for a second, when you looked into his eyes.

Was it even allowed to be that beautiful, to have such wonderful eyes?, you dimly wondered.

“Y/N….”, he began, and he suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Again, he looked at you, as if trying to figure you out, as if he was trying to solve a puzzle and you were the last missing puzzle piece to make it complete.

Caliban, Prince of Hell at a loss for words. Now, this was something you’d definitely never expected to see with your own eyes.

And, truth be told: you somehow kind of liked it that you seemed to be the reason for his speechlessness and irritation.

This suffocating, life-draining pagan tree really had gotten to some of your braincells after all, you were sure of it.

“Y/N…”, Caliban said again, but this time, it was barely more than a whisper. Now, he seemed like he was already regretting the words he was about to say.

“Surely, you won’t believe it”, he began, voice suddenly bitter and cold, “but I like you. I didn’t save your life to impress Sabrina and to convince her of my good intentions – though, I won’t lie, that’s definitely a side-effect I don’t have anything against – I saved you because I like you.

I saved you because I couldn’t stand the thought of you dying.”

You were stunned. Truly, stunned. Speechless, for once.

You’d expected anything, really, but definitely not this.

When your eyes met again, you didn’t only feel shivers going down your spine, no, you could also feel goose bumps building on your arms.

Damn this stupid, hot, clay Prince of Hell, who kept on irritating and frustrating you! And damn him for being so close to you…

He inhaled sharply and you could feel his breath on your skin.

“Caliban, I…”, you began, unsure of what to say.

He clearly mistook your searching for words for something else, you hadn’t even intended to hurt him with your words.

“Go on and make your clever remark, about how this surely can’t be my real reason, because I’m the worst, isn’t this what you’re thinking right now?”, he said bitterly, not looking at you this time.

However, he still hadn’t moved away from you, your hand still lay on his chest and you two were still extremely close – so close in fact, that you only had to lean in just a little bit to kiss him.

You weren’t really sure why you’d done it, it wasn’t only because you truly couldn’t stand it to see Caliban so bitter and disappointed. No, you had to admit it to yourself, it was also because you’d wanted to kiss him.

You’d really, really wanted to kiss him.

If were you being really honest with yourself, you’d wanted to do so, since the moment you two had moved so closely together, but it was his confession that had really sparked the desire to kiss him in you.

And also – as there was no point in denying it anymore – you also liked him. Had your feelings for him started out with constant annoyance and frustration, you now felt like lighting up whenever you saw him.

For one, terrible moment, you were utterly convinced that you’d done the wrong thing, because Caliban didn’t react, it felt like you were really kissing clay.

You were already in the motion of pulling away – and then springing up from the bed and running away from this humiliation – when suddenly, he kissed you back.

Damn.

Kissing – truly kissing Caliban – felt like the ground was being taken away from under your feet, but in a good way.

It was intoxicating.

Where you had been unsure and not entirely convinced in your action, when you’d leaned in to kiss him, and had only lightly touched his lips with yours, there was none of that hesitation in Caliban after that initial moment.

The kiss was feverish and heated and somehow almost felt desperate. You two were surely desperate to get even closer, he put his arm around you and pressed you against him and somehow, your hand that previously been lying on his chest found its way into his hair.

You could have gone on kissing him like this forever, it just felt so right, but after some truly glorious moments Caliban broke away, breathless, but smiling.

“That was…”, you panted, again, searching for the right words.

“Incredible?”, he suggested with a lazy grin, a hint of the usual arrogance back in his voice.

You rolled your eyes at him, which only caused him to grin even wider.

“So, you’re still a virgin, right?”, he suddenly asked, smirk only growing wider at your exasperated huff.

But then you only smirked back at him – and kissed him again.

#caliban x reader #caliban imagine #caliban #caliban caos #Imagine #caos imagine #Caliban x you #Calibae #Caliban Sabrina #sabrina netflix #caos sabrina #caos pt 3 #sam caflin #writing #my writing #request

the-neverletmegoxo

The Fae and the Prince

GIF by 1liv

Author: I am flipping! Thank you for all of the likes! This means so much! Part 5 is a GO! PS I just realized that the protagonist’s mom has the same name as Queen Freya.. there is no relation... at least I don’t think. :)

ALSO ALSO! I do not own any of these GIFs.. whoever does-- they’re great :)

xoxo

Summary: Another attack.. and finally.. the beginning of the carnival!! EEKK!

Part 5:

You rushed out of the café and made your way to your house to get ready for the Carnival. You knew your mom would still be at The Prickly Thorn, the flower shop she owned, until 5:00pm, so you made sure you were ready before then, in an effort to avoid her. You couldn’t imagine talking to her about saving the world with your father. You didn’t even know how you would do that and you didn’t want to.

You trudged into your bedroom and threw your backpack on your bed, along with yourself. You were so exhausted from all the information you had absorbed in the past 24 hours. You closed your eyes and immediately your mind went to Caliban. How good looking he was in those “mortal” clothes. He stuck out like a sore thumb, but it suited him.

You got up and went to your vanity to add a bit of mascara to your lashes and burgundy lipstick to your lips. It was Saturday for crying aloud, you needed to let loose and enjoy your evening. While adding a teensy bit of blush, your mind wandered to your moment with him in the library and how intimate you had been with him… how his hands snaked through your hair and—.

A sudden clatter broke your daydream. You shot up from your chair and walked hesitantly towards the door. You slowly turned the knob and pulled the door towards you. You had a direct view to your kitchen and saw something you’d never thought you’d see rummaging through your cupboards. It was a Hellhound.

Your breath sped up and you quietly shut the door. You ran to your bed and called your mom. If she came home, literally, all Hell would break loose.

“Mom? Mom, it’s Y/N. Please do not come home. I can’t really explain why, but I guess you’d understand but just trust me!”

“Y/N what is going on? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m good, I’m gonna leave the house now—.”

“You’re still there! What is happening?” she snapped.

“Hellhound, mom. A Hellhound is in our kitchen.”

“Fuck. Your father said this would happen. Ok do not make any noise and see if you can get out of the house through your window, go to the school parking lot and I will meet you there.” “What do you mean ‘dad said this would happen’?” you said in a frightened tone.

“I’ll explain when you get to the parking lot, just hurry, Y/N. It will be able to sense that it’s not alone.”

With that, you hung up the phone. You grabbed your bag and shoes and made your way towards the window over your bench. You carefully undid the latch, and threw your bag out the window. You put your right foot through and went to grab the ledge to hoist yourself down, when a hand grabbed yours. Instinctively, you looked up. ‘Thank god. Caliban.’

“Hi.”

“Hello, fae” he said delectably. He grabbed your waist and lifted you through the window with such ease. He lowered you down to the ground, hands still around your hips. You pushed yourself away from him to grab your bag, but he grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the forest. He understood you were in trouble, but you didn’t know how he knew.

The two of you raced to the edge of the forest, praying that that put enough space between you and the monster.

“How did you—you got here so—“, your voice trailed off. Unsure of what your first question should be.

“I sensed you were in—distress.”

“How? How did you know that?”

He glanced down at the ground. You weren’t sure if he just didn’t know the answer or just didn’t want to share it with you.

“Whatever,” you said in annoyance, “I have to go meet my mom at school.”

He looked down at you, a woeful look on his face. You tugged your hand out of his, shocked that you had left it there for so long. You left Caliban, once again, alone.

How is it that you had a dream about a Hellhound and Caliban and the next day... you shook away the thought as you walked away from him. You ran to the school, assuming that your mom had probably been there for quite some time. You saw your mom’s car, her leaning against the driver’s door.

“Mom!” you yelled running towards her.

“Oh god! Y/N! Are you ok!?” She grabbed you and pulled you in for a hug. After for what felt like an eternity, she pushed you back and examined you to make sure you were clear of harm. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“God, Y/N I am so, so sorry that that happened. I should have told you about all of this sooner. I didn’t think something like this would happen so soon.”

“It’s ok, mom, but can you please explain what dad said is happening, you know, with the world and all.”

She nodded her head and the two of you hopped in her car. She explained to you what was going on with the pagans and how their lust for power was throwing off the axis of the earth. She went on to explain that something was going on in Pandemonium, but your father didn’t go into detail.

‘Probably for the best’, you thought. You were worried if your mom found out about Sabrina’s rise to the throne and you helping her… would cause some family strife.

“There’s something else, Y/N… something worse than what I’ve just mentioned.”

“What could be worse than Green Man pagans and Pandemonium chaos?”

“Remember the stories I told you when you were a little girl? The stories of Greek mythology?”

“Yeah,” you said hesitantly.

“Well, it’s real… Not that that should be much of a surprise, but the Titans, who tried to overthrow the gods and goddesses… They’ve come back and they are not very happy.”

“Shit,” you said under your breath. “Why now? Why is everything happening now?”

“You father said, it is because of the spring equinox, but you’re right, why now, this can’t be the only reason.”

“Ok, ok, Mom, you’re going to go to the Spellman’s you’re going to tell them everything, everything you told me. They can help you. They’re witches—,” Your moms eyes went wide, “It’s shocking, I know, but I can’t explain everything now. I have to go to the carnival to help Sabrina with something else right now. You go there and stay put, because home is not safe. It’s for the best right now. I’ll be back tonight to stay with you.”

Your mom nodded her head, knowing you were right. The two of you hugged and you jumped out of the car and waved as she drove towards the mortuary.

‘This has to work. Surely the Spellman’s can help you and your mom out.’

Before you knew it, the sun was slowly setting. You were almost to the carnival, when you heard the sounds of go-carts striking into one another, the dumbbell chiming the bell at the top, and the smell of funnel cakes.

‘This will be fun. A good distraction. You just need to be aware of the pagans.’ You didn’t know exactly what they looked like. You just heard Sabrina’s description of them when they crashed the Hare Moon celebration.

Roz’s laughter pulled you from your thoughts. “Y/N!” Theo yelled toward you. You picked up the pace and ran towards the gang. “How are you? I feel like we haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I’ve been better, long story. I’ll explain later. Right now let’s enjoy some cotton candy and games!” You, Roz, Harvey, Theo, Robin, Sabrina and Nick headed through the entrance and soon separated to enjoy different parts of the carnival.

You realized that you were the only one without a date, but you didn’t mind. It was nice to be alone for once. The carnival games didn’t really sound all that appealing. You weren’t in the mood to ride the Love-Boat, nor the Ferris Wheel, mainly because you were scared of heights. Without realizing how far you had walked, you were at the end of the carnival. The only thing nearby was Fortune Telling.

‘What harm could it do? I mean, I pretty much know everything that’s going to happen,’ you thought.

Without a second thought, you walked through the draped tent.

deanothecheynosaur

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 (2020)

SPOILERS

Ok, I have already completed the season, but I'm still gonna break it down episode by episode and give my thoughts during in retrospect. If you have not seen Parts 1 or 2, I recommend you start there.

Chapter 21: The Hellbound Heart

So, Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) is trying to get Nick Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood) back out of hell and separated from Lucifer (Luke Cook). If you had forgotten, during part 2 Sabrina found out that Lucifer Morningstar was her biological father, and they trapped Lucifer inside of Nick. She enlists Roz (Jaz Sinclair), Harvey (Ross Lynch), and Theo (Lachlan Watson) to help. Besides the fact that their all besties, I have no idea what help Harvey or Theo would be. Theo is at least loyal and listens to reason. Harvey just goes off all the time. Roz is the most useful with her "cunning." Anyway. Before they figure out how to get to Hell, Mrs. Wardwell (Michelle Gomez) comes back to Baxter High with a new obsession with Dante's Inferno. But she's not possessed by Lilith (Michelle Gomez) anymore; Lilith is too busy defending her title as Queen of Hell. Also, props to Michelle Gomez. She flawlessly played two very different characters this season. Meanwhile, Zelda (Miranda Otto) and Hilda (Lucy Davis) are trying to save the coven because their powers are all fading. They aren't sure what to do with the remaining students or what to tell them. All of their powers are a gift from Lucifer, but he's not really in the position (or the mood) to be giving them any powers. Down in New Orleans, Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) and Prudence (Tati Gabrielle) are on their mission to find her father. When they come up short, they turn to Voodoo Priestess Mambo Marie (Skye P. Marshall) to help them with a different kind of magic. Dorian Gray (Jedidiah Goodacre -that is quite a name-) helps Sabrina and friends to get into Hell as long as they bring him a magic flower. They go in without any real plan, as you do. Seriously. Not even a map. Wtf. Luckily, they walked into the Shores of Sorrow and met Caliban (Sam Corlett), who told them to follow the river of blood because "all blood leads to Pandemonium." That's the capitol city of Hell I guess? They have lots of fun on the way, and when they get there, Lilith says that Sabrina has to deal with the Kings of Hell for her, but Lucifer tells Sabrina that she has to take the throne for herself. It has to be a Morningstar. Well, she does, but the Kings aren't convinced. Then our friend Caliban shows up again, naming himself Prince of Hell, and challenging Sabrina for the throne. It is worth noting that Caliban is ridiculously hot. And generally shirtless. Sabrina accepts the throne to get Nick out of Hell. Which is problematic for a lot of reasons, but most of all that she decides to do this BEFORE separating him from Lucifer. So she's just gonna keep Nick/Lucifer tied up in the dungeon until she finds another flesh acheron to hold Lucifer. What could go wrong?

I really expected it to take longer for Sabrina to get to Nick, but considering the very twisted maze part 3 went down, getting to Pandemonium is pretty minor. Also, Sabrina's whole "I'ma do what I want and not tell my aunts so they don't stop me" is getting old.

Chapter 22: Drag Me to Hell

This one is a little less convoluted. Sabrina finds out that one of her duties as Queen is to drag souls to Hell. Specifically souls who have made a deal with the devil. We can infer from this that the only people who go to Hell are those who have sold their soul, so it would be far easier to not go there than some people in the real world would have me believe. The first soul, a cute old man who wanted to be chess Grand Champion, Sabrina decided to show mercy and sent him to heaven. Didn't go over super well with the Kings of Hell. Also, Sabrina is now a cheerleader at Baxter High. They call themselves the Ravenettes. There's a dance team from my high school called the Raiderettes, so that confused me for a sec. Lots more singing pop songs then actual cheers though. Reminds me of the Jailhouse Rock scene in Riverdale. I digress. Zelda has decided to reopen the academy and that she and Hilda were going to teach. Hilda was more voluntold. Agatha (Adeline Rudolph) doesn't really respond well. Prudence and Ambrose discover that Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) is in Loch Ness, which is apparently super magical and can bend time and space? Idk, but I was highly disappointed that we didn't see Nessie. They see him at the very end of the episode looking like Mr. Bean at the end of the live action Scooby-Doo movie. They take him back to Greendale and use him to hold Lucifer so Nick can be free. Because what the world needs is Blackwood and Lucifer together. Back to Brina. Her second soul to collect (apparently this is a daily task for the ruler of Hell but she only does these two so there's a plot hole) is the ice cream man, Jimmy Platt (Matty Finochio). He tells her that he would like to extend his contract again by eating the heart of an innocent child. Sabrina confronts Lucifer about this later, apparently it didn't have to be a child, just an innocent soul. Adult virgins, beware. Sabrina tells Jimmy no (obvi) but Jimmy has already hidden the kid. So now she has to find this kid and collect his soul before the end of the day or there will be a coup in Hell. Sabrina wisely decides on just Roz to help her with this one. Roz is also the one who warns Sabrina against transporting herself into a freezer with no more information, but as per usual Sabrina goes anyway. Jimmy put warding sigils on the walls, so she's stuck and powerless. Luckily, Lilith knows what the fuck she's doing (as opposed to Sabrina who only thinks she does) and saves Sabrina. Sabrina takes Jimmy to Hell, but nobody is impressed. Caliban officially challenges her to find the unholy regalia- the three most powerful infernal objects, starting with Herod's crown.

This is a pretty typical Sabrina episode- she's way in over her head, but she either doesn't realize it or won't admit it. I'm never quite sure, but it seems like she genuinely doesn't know. I also don't remember if it's this episode or the next, but Harvey is suddenly feeling under a lot of pressure to have sex with Roz. But it never shows Roz being pushy about it, so idk wtf is going on in Harvey's head (besides convincing himself he's over Sabrina).

Chapter 23: Heavy is the Crown

For this one, Sabrina enlists Ambrose to help her find the crown because Ambrose is the most well read warlock ever due to his permanent house arrest. It's in Riverdale. They use a special compass to find it in a maple tree that the Blossom's use for syrup. If you've seen Riverdale, this probably has more significance and is less surprising. They steal the crown (somehow without realizing zombie King Herod is still in the tree). Sabrina wants to destroy it, but Ambrose wants to tap into its power to help the coven. Unsurprisingly, this does not work out well for them initially because Herod follows the crown and would very much like it back. Zelda is failing at getting respect from the students at the academy, and there's weird Lucifer beetles crawling in ears and controlling people. In other news, a carnival came to town! Obviously this has something to do with the larger plot because otherwise it would be a side note. Harvey, Roz, Sabrina, Nick, and Theo are all going together. Theo wants to invite the new guy, Robin (Jonathan Whitesell), because Theo is crushing hard. Robin is nerdy cute, I guess. I did think it was cliche to give the queer guy green streaks in his hair though. Harvey says tells Theo to invite him as part of the group, which Theo does, and Robin agrees. They all go to the carnival: Roz, Sabrina, and Theo ignorantly happy, Harvey struggling with his masculinity, Nick struggling with his ordeal, and Robin just happy to be there. Roz "sees" the carnival ringmaster as a satyr (or a faun depending on your preference for Greek or Roman deities, but they do tend to prefer Greek in this show), but she decides she was imagining things. Mrs. Wardwell talks to the fortune teller Circe (Lucie Guest) to try to find out what happened to her during the three months that Lilith was using her "skin suit." She doesn't get any concrete answers because that's not how fortune tellers work, Mary. Harvey stumbles across a snake charmer dancer woman in a tent full of pervy dudes and is almost entranced. Hilda goes to the carnival with her bf Dr. C, who proposes. Idk why she needed to throw her cotton candy on the ground during that, but I'm also on a sugar detox, so... Prudence and Ambrose are cleaning up Blackwood's mess by putting a living doll spell on Judas and Judith to hide them and putting his weird time warping monster fish egg thing in a fish tank. Yeah. No Nessie, but a weird egg. It's fine, I'm not bitter. Back at the carnival, Sabrina and Nick get attacked by Herod (who stole his crown back from Ambrose but knows it was Sabrina stealing it initially). Ambrose saves them, but Caliban pops in, steals the crown, and wins the first round of the challenge. At the very end, we find out why the carnies are important: they're pagans who worship the old gods and trying to resurrect The Green Man to rid the world of flesh since the Satanic witches have all but lost their powers. There is more than one voodoo practitioner, idk why they're not considered more of a threat because they're much more independently magical. They need a virgin to complete the rebirth, and that's why Robin (dun dun dun) was hanging out at the high school. Our potential virgins are Theo, Harvey, and Mrs. Wardwell.

I chose not to believe that Robin was actually bad because I want Theo to be happy. I chose to believe that even if he was using Theo, Robin was just trying to take his virginity to prevent him from being the sacrifice. Also, Sabrina is basically trying to force Nick to be normal even though she compared his symptoms to PTSD. Girl stop. He needs a sec.

Chapter 24: The Hare Moon

Zelda and Hilda have decided that the coven needs to celebrate the hare moon for the coming of spring to bolster good will. Sabrina isn't enthused (maybe because it requires her singing a song of summer into the forest to release a rabbit). Lilith tells Sabrina that they need celestial power to restore their strength, so she goes to Dorian, who has an angel trapped in one of his paintings (as all art collectors do). Sabrina drains some blood from the angel for her coven, but leaves in the process because she hears some screaming. Then she stumbles upon Nick and some sex demons doing BDSM. She's less than thrilled, especially since Nick low-key blames her for it. And Dorian has drank 90% of the angel blood, but they can't take anymore with killing him. So Hilda suggests using the little blood to make an oil mixture and take a moon bath under the hare moon (rub oils all over your skin and lie outside under the full moon) to absorb the celestial energy from the moon. During the daytime ceremony, they meet the pagans. Things don't go well. Zelda makes a bunch of petty insults, Hilda pisses off Circe, and Nick kills me the snake that bit Dorcas (Abigail Cowen). Circe puts a curse on Hilda to become a spider, and

douxreviews

Constantine - Series Review

I come not to praise Constantine, but to bury him.

Well, okay. A little of both.

#Constantine #John Constantine #HellBlazer #Legends of Tomorrow #Matt Ryan #DC Comics #Arrowverse #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews #something from the archive

kbrown78

Yearly Wrap Up: 2018

Sorry this post is so late, it took awhile to get all the information I needed and I kept going back and forth on the format I wanted to do for this post, but I finally have an end result I am happy with. In this post I will be going over all the books I read in 2018, all the stats, completion of 2018 reading goals as well as 2019 reading goals. Also fair warning, this is going to be a long post. So to begin with I'll talk about my 2018 reading goals and of I was able to accomplish them. This year was the first year that I did the Goodreads Challenge, I thought it would be good to see how many books I could read in a year. My initial goal was 50 books and I ended up reading 80 books, so I was definitely able to tackle my Goodreads goal. Unfortunately that was the only reading challenge I was able to finish. One of my reading resolutions for 2018 was to finish a reading challenge and I did that with the Goodreads one, but I also did the PopSugar 2018 Reading Challenge. That one provided a large number of reading prompts that I hoped would help expand the genre of the books I was reading (which was another reading resolution of mine) and of the 50 prompts I was only able to complete 34, which is not bad, it's more than half, but I still wanted to complete all of them. As I mentioned I wanted to expand the genre of books that I read, since I mostly read YA fantasy, and I do think I achieved that goal by trying to read more adult fantasy, science fiction, different fantasy sub genre's, and a few books in other genres, but I will go more into that when I do a break down of all the books I read this year. I also wanted to go to more book events and that did not really happen. I only went to 1 this year and the rest I was unable to go to for various reasons, so I need to get better with planning in order to go to more events this year. I did want to be more active in the book community and I definitely think I achieved that, with providing regular posts and book reviews. I was originally going to do a channel on YouTube but I suck with editing software and I honestly prefer writing. Finally my #1 resolution for 2018 was to tackle all the books in my physical TBR, with books from 2017 and 2018, I was able to narrow down my overflowing basket to just 5 books. Since I now have a rule where I have to read 10 books before I buy a new one (holiday's are an exception) I'll probably have the rest of those books read by the end of 2019, so that all new books in my TBR pile will all be from 2019. Now that I've summarized my status on all my reading goals for 2018, I'm now going to start going into the actual books. I'll begin by listing all the books I've read and putting them in different groups based on their star ratings. Then I'm going to go into the statistics of all the books, like genre, authors, status, and other things.

Ratings:

5 Star Books: These are without a doubt my favorite books of the year, the cream of the crop, and some of them are possibly my new favorite books or series of all time.

A Natural History of Dragons (Memoirs of Lady Trent #1) by Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents (Memoirs of Lady Trent) by Marie Brennan, The Tethered Mage (Swords and Fire #1) by Melisa Caruso, The Defiant Heir (Swords and Fire #2) by Melisa Caruso, East by Edith Pattou, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu, Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire, Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire, The Star Touched Queen (Star Touched Queen #1) by Roshani Chokshi, Crown of Wishes (Star Touched Queen #2) by Roshani Chokshi, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

4.5 Star Books: These are the books that I did really love and couldn't find much fault with but I couldn't fully connect to the story (would still recommend all).

A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2) by Becky Chambers, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1) by C.J. Redwine, The Voyage of the Basilisk (Memoirs of Lady Trent #3) by Marie Brennan, Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1) by Seanan McGuire, The Call by Peadar O'Guilin, Robots vs Fairies

4 Star Books: This one is a bit split because some are books that are solidly 4 stars and lean more toward the 4.5 star rating, and other were saved by a fantastic ending from a 3.5 star rating. There are things that could have been improved on within the story but overall I enjoyed reading all of them.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire, Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi, Vivian Apple at the End of the World (Vivian Apple #1) by Katie Coyle, A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1), Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2) by Sara Raasch, Frost Like Night (Snow Like Ashes #3) by Sara Raasch, Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki Leon, Invisible Planets translated by Ken Liu, In the Labyrinth of Drakes (Memoirs of Lady Trent #4) by Marie Brennan, Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K Rowling, Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs, Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity #1) by Elizabeth Wein, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

3.5 Star Books: This is a bit of an unusual rating because it usually means that I was expecting to be disappoint by these books, and while there were still issues that I couldn't ignore, I surprisingly enjoyed.

The Registry (The Registry #1) by Shannon Stoker, Caliban's War (The Expanse #2) by James S.A. Corey, Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes #1) by Sara Raasch, You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

3 Star Books: These were books that I thought were decent, but they had flaws in them that I was unable to over look.

A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas, Walk on Earth a Stranger (Gold Seer #1) by Rae Carson, Like a River Glorious (Gold Seer #2) by Rae Carson, Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha) by Tomi Adeyemi, An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard, After: 19 Stories of Dystopian and Apocalypse, Illuminae (The Illuminae Files) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) by Mark Lawerence, Sabriel (The Abhorsen #1) by Garth Nix, Monstress Volume 3: The Blood by Marjorie Liu, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski

2.5 Star Books: These are books that I had a lot of issues with but were redeemable enough that I would still give them a try.

The Collection (The Registry #2) by Shannon Stoker, Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake, Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3) by Laini Taylor, The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch #1) by Rin Chupeco

2 Star Books: These are books that I had lot of issues with but it didn't upset me enough to make me want to quit it. These books and downward I personally wouldn't recommend reading, but that's just my opinion.

Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodrigez McRobbie, Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor, Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle (Vivian Apple #2) by Katie Coyle, The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Trilogy #1) by Patrick Ness, Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey, Bitterblue (Graceling #3) by Kristin Cashore, Sandry's Book (Circle of Magic #1) by Tamora Pierce, Lirael (Abhorsen #2) by Garth Nix, Torn (The Unraveled Kingdom #1) by Rowena Miller, Into the Bright Unknown (Gold Seer #3) by Rae Carson, Front Lines by Michael Grant, American God's by Neil Gaiman, The Falconer (The Falconer #1) by Elizabeth May

1 Star Books: These, sadly, are the bottom of the barrel. I had a hard time finding good qualities with these books and some of them I got so frustrated by I ended up quiting them.

The Wicked and the Divine Volume 1: The Faust Act, Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) by Victoria Schwab, Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard, Rebel Angels (Gemma Doyle #2) (DNF) by Libba Bray, The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides, Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) by Veroncia Rossi, The Library at Mount Char (DNF) by Scott Hawkins, Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold #1) (DNF) by Kim Wilkins, The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan, Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)(DNF) by Ann Leckie (I didn't hate this book, it was just too weird and confusing to carry on)

Statistics:

This is the part where I'll break down authors (gender and ethnicity), status (finished or not finished, companion, stanalone, special cases), and genre of the books.

AUTHORS: (Not counting anthologies with multiple authors, also series counts as one)

Male: 16

Female: 42

White: 48

POC: 10

STATUS:

Finished (If the book was part of a series that ended than had a companion series follow it, I'm still counting that as a finished series, also I'm counting anything 2 or more books as a series): 8 (A Court of Thorns and Roses, Gold Seer, Monsters of Verity, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Vivian Apple, Snow Like Ashes, Ignite Me)

Unfinished and Completed (Unfinished means that I haven't finished reading the series, uncompleted means that all the books in the series haven't been released yet): 12 (Gemma Doyle (won't be completing), The Knife of Never Letting Go (won't be completing), The Wrath and the Dawn (won't be completing), The Facloner (won't be completing), Under the Never Sky (won't be completing), Abhorsen, Memoirs of Lady Trent, Imperial Radch (won't be completing), Harry Potter, Front Lines (won't be completing), The Registry, Circle of Magic (won't be completing))

Unfinished and Uncompleted: 10 (Legacy of Orisha, The Witchlands (won't be completing), The Bone Witch (won't be completing), The Expanse, Swords and Fire, Book of the Ancestor (won't be completing), The Unraveled Kingdoms, Three Dark Crowns (won't be completing), October Daye, Blood and Gold (won't be completing))

Companion series: 8 (Wayfarers, Wayward Children, Star Touched Queen, The Illuminae Files, Code Name Verity, Graceling, Nightfall, Ravenspire)

Stand Alone (includes non fiction): 13 (Princesses Behaving Badly, Beauty Queens, An Unkindness of Magicians, Uprooted, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Uppity Women Speak Their Minds, The Virgin Suicides, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, You Are A Badass, The Library at Mount Char, American Gods, The Red Tent, The Legend of Holly Claus)

Anthologies/ Short Story Collections: 6 (After: 19 Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Robots Vs Fairies, Invisible Planets, Tales of the Peculiar, The Language of Thorns)

Comics/ Graphic Novels: 2 (Monstress Vol 3: The Blood and the Wicked and the Divine Vol 1: The Faust Act)

Special cases (Special cases are for books that I'm leaving as a self contained standalone even though they have a sequel): 2 (East by Edith Pattou, The Call by Peadar O'Guilin)

GENRE: I'm going based off of where these books are shelved in stores, even if I don't agree with some of them.

YA: 44

Adult: 33

Fantasy: 42 (A Court of Wings and Ruin (Epic fantasy/ Romance)(YA), Every Heart a Doorway (Portal fantasy/ Contemporary fantasy/ Mystery)(A), Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Gothic fantasy/ Mythic fantasy)(A), Beneath the Sugar Sky (Portal fantasy)(A), Walk on Earth a Stranger (Historical fantasy)(YA), Like a River Glorious (Historical fantasy/ Romance)(YA), Into the Bright Unknown (Historical fantasy/ Romance)(YA), A Crown of Wishes (Epic fantasy)(YA), Day's of Blood and Starlight (Epic fantasy/ Portal fantasy)(YA), Dreams of God's and Monsters (Portal fantasy/ Epic fantasy)(YA), Children of Blood and Bone (Epic fantasy)(YA), Truthwitch (Epic fantasy/ Romance), A Great and Terrible Beauty (Historical fantasy/ Portal fantasy)(YA), Rebel Angels (Historical fantasy/ Portal fantasy/ Romance)(YA), The Bone Witch (Epic fantasy/ Romance) (YA), The Wrath and the Dawn (Retelling/ Romance/ Historical fantasy)(YA), East (Retelling/ Historical fantasy/ Romance)(YA), The Falconer (Historical fantasy, Steampunk, Romance)(YA), Uprooted (Epic fantasy/ Retelling)(A), Tales of the Peculiar (Fairy tales/ Short stories)(YA), The Tethered Mage (Epic fantasy/ Mystery)(A), The Defiant Heir (Epic fantasy)(A), The Library at Mount Char (Urban fantasy), Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book (Children's fantasy)(YA), Sabriel (Epic fantasy/ Gothic fantasy)(YA), Lirael (Epic fantasy/ Gothic fantasy)(YA), The Star Touched Queen (Retelling/ Romance/ Epic fantasy)(YA), Nightfall (Thriller/ Low fantasy)(YA), Monstress (Epic fantasy/ Horror/ Comic)(A), The Wicked and the Divine (Urban fantasy/ Mythology/ Comic)(YA), Torn (Romance/ Epic fantasy)(A), Three Dark Crowns (Epic fantasy/ Gothic fantasy/ Romance)(YA), Rosemary and Rue (Urban fantasy/ Mystery)(A), A Natural History of Dragons (Fantasy of Manners)(A), The Tropic of Serpents (Fantasy of Manners)(A), The Voyage of the Basilisk (Fantasy of Manners)(A), In the Labyrinth of Drakes (Romance/ Fantasy of Manners)(A), American Gods (Urban fantasy)(A), Daughters of the Storm (Epic fantasy)(A), The Shadow Queen (Retelling)(YA), The Legend of Holly Claus (Juevnile fantasy)(YA), The Language of Thorns (Retelling/ Short Stories)(YA)

Science Fiction: 10 (The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Soft SF)(A), A Closed and Common Orbit (Soft SF/ Biopunk)(A), Record of a Spaceborn Few (Soft SF/ Generation Ships)(A), Leviathan Wakes (Space Opera/ Crime Noir/ Alien Invasion)(A), Caliban's War (Space Opera/ Alien Invasion)(A), Invisible Planets (Anthologies/ Translated/ Soft SF/ Hard SF)(A), Ancillary Justice (Hard SF/ Space Opera)(A), Under the Never Sky (Survival/ Romance)(YA), The Knife of Never Letting Go (Survival/ Alien)(YA), Illuminae (Survival/ Soft SF/ Cyberpunk)(YA)

Science Fantasy: 3 (contains magic and technology): 3 (The Paper Menagerie (Short stories)(A), Robots vs Fairies (Anthologies)(A), Red Sister (Grim dark fantasy/ Epic fantasy)(A))

Dystopian/ Post Apocalypse: 8 (survival's the name of the game): Our Dark Duet (urban fantasy/ post apocalyptic)(YA), Vivian Apple at the End of the World (Contemporary/ apocalyptic)(YA), Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle (Contemporary/ apocalyptic)(YA), After (Anthology/ dystopian/ apocalyptic), The Registry (Dystopia/ Action)(YA), The Collection (Dystopia)(YA), Ignite Me (Dystopian/ Science fiction/ Romance)(YA), The Call (Contemporary fantasy/ Portal fantasy/ Horror/ Apocalyptic)(YA))

Literary Fiction (lacks magic or new technology): 6 (Beauty Queens (Contemporary/ Satire)(YA), Code Name Verity (Historical fiction)(YA), Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Philosophical fiction)(A), The Virgin Suicides (Contemporary)(A), Front Lines (Alternate history/ historical)(YA), The Red Tent (Historical/ Biblical fiction)(A), The Giving Tree (Poetry)(YA))

Non Fiction: 4 (Princesses Behaving Badly, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, Uppity Women Speak Their Minds, You Are a Badass)

2019 Goals:

I did a T5W outlining my 2019 reading goals, and I promised I would talk about them more in this post. So I'm going to conclude my Yearly Wrap Up post by discussing what I hope to accomplish in my 2019 reading year. For starters I have a goal that I'm carrying over from 2018 and that is to read a wider genre of books. I wanted to accomplish this last year, but going into 2019 I have a better idea of what specific genre's I would like to try more of. This year I really started to transition from YA fantasy to Adult fantasy, but I haven't given up on YA yet. I want to try some YA contemporary and magical realism, but as of right now I only have specific picks in mind for this. I want to read more historical fiction and historical fantasy, like the Golem and the Jinni. I enjoy reading about settings from different time periods, especially if they have magical elements, I just need to be careful about finding books that don't get heavy handed with a crappy romance. I want to read more science fiction, specifically Adult Science fiction, since I haven't come across a YA science fiction that intrigues me. I'm sill trying to learn what exactly I like in science fiction, but I know I like character driven stories, like Becky Chamber's series. I knew I would like to attempt the New Weird and Hard science fiction genre's but at the same time I'm a little intimidated by them. I also want to get back into literary fiction, including adult dystopian's and classics. I used to have no problem reading classics and would read 1 or 2 a month, then I just got burned out by it, but I want to pick up that genre again. In terms of fantasy, I still expect that to be the genre that I read the most of put there are still some things I would like out of 2019. I've already said that I'm leaning more toward Adult fantasy and wanting to read more historical fantasy, but I would also like to read more fantasy standalone's. That's something I wanted to do in 2018 but sadly did not find any new ones that I really loved. I also want to read more anthologies or short story collections, in any genre really, because that was something that I discovered that I really liked in 2018 and want more of. The next reading goal I want to accomplish in 2019 is to complete is to finish at least 5 series. For this I'm counting anything that is 3 books or more as a series. I finished 7 series in 2018 but 2 of those were duologies, and I feel like those are super easy to finish. There are several series that I started I won't be completing or the series isn't completed yet. Fortunately most of the series that aren't completed yet I already know I'm not going to continue, and the rest are either being completed this year or have a large number of books that I need to get through for me to catch up with the series. With that being said there are at least 3 series that I will definitely be finishing this year: the Memoirs of Lady Trent, The Registry, and the Swords and Fire series, and I have also already completed one series, so this is goal I can definitely tackle by the end of the year, maybe even half way through the year. Something else I want to accomplish this year was to go to at least two book events, but that's going to be difficult to do. Most of the bigger book events or conventions, are over 8 hours away. I could also attend book signing events but all of the others that I want signatures from are either not doing events or are doing ones not within a close driving distance for me. That might change as the year progresses, but for now I'm not expecting to be able to accomplish this goal and will instead invest my time in completing a reading challenge, which I was not able to accomplish this year. Another goal for 2019 is to read more diverse books. I want to read more books with POC people as POV characters, or disabled characters, or on the LGBTQ spectrum. I think I've been progressively getting better about that over the years but where I really want to focus on is more diverse authors. As you can see from the statistics section my reading from last year was heavily skewed toward white authors. I want to change that and work toward at least having more POC authors, and almost all the brand new books on my TBR pile are from POC authors and I'm excited to get to most of them (although all authors I've read this year so far are Caucasian). I would also like to read more books by authors that are diverse in other ways beside their ethnicity but it's more difficult to identify those things. Like last year there's only a few couple authors that I'm pretty sure qualify in that way, but I'm not absolutely sure. My final reading major reading goal of 2019 is to get through half of my reread TBR pile. About half way through last year, I decided to go through all my books that I hadn't tabbed and reread them. I wanted to do this for a few reasons. I have a small bookshelf and large container and that's about all the room I have for books, including my non fiction ones. As I read more new books and find new series that I enjoy, that means that there will need to be more room. So rereading books will hopefully help me be able to tell which books I should keep and which ones I should give away. I also want to reread all these books in order to better review them and have a fresh opinion of them. At the beginning of this year I have about 50 books, and I know I'm not going to get through them all this year, so I set a more realistic goal with tackling half of my TBR which would be about 25 books. The last thing I want to talk about is the reading challenge's I'm currently participating in. On Goodreads I have set the yearly amount of books I read to 50. That was my goal last year, and I ended up reading 80 books, so I think setting it at 50 again is something I can manage. I'm also doing the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge, which I tried to do last year but failed to complete. How I want to accomplish that this year is by always reading a book that is can be applied to one of the prompts, that way I'm knocking out these prompts as quickly as possible. The last reading challenge I'm doing is a group on Goodreads called The Reading Frenzy, which I joined toward the end of last year. They have several monthly reading challenges, but this year it has been announced that every month there will be a pick my TBR Reading Challenge, which means every month you will be randomly matched with a person, and will pick one book for the other to read that month. I look forward to doing this, just because I like that random element to it, and this will help my slim down my Goodreads TBR (as long as I can get a physical copy of the book). So that sums up my 2018 reading year as well as what all I hope to accomplish in 2019. I look froward to it, and hopefully it's going to be a good year for everyone.

Thank You Everyone

Keep Calm and Keep Reading

#yearly wrap up #books #reading goals #2018 #2019 #reading stats

phthalology

Destiny 2: Reprise

For @saltineofswing.

You are Taeko-3. You have been eaten. Not just eaten: you have been digested, stored like fat for the hungry machine of the Hive. Where am I? You ask yourself. Your voice does not echo, not even with the imagined/true tenor of yourself inside your head. You are almost entirely sure that you are paralyzed and alone, and your own inner voice is comforting.

You expected death. Your fireteam looked for you before you disappeared. Of course they did. When they stopped calling, you knew what they thought and almost believed it yourself. You are dead. You are a Guardian, so this doesn’t scare you much. It’s the becoming that scares you, the steady press of time toward a webbed-foot Caliban monster-future.

But you know that future, the dark and short one, won’t come.

You think something other than death might be coming for you. You put up your hands to meet it, and all of your senses with them. That is what it means to be a Warlock, for you: to unite all of yourself in a single direction, body and mind.

The mind is the difficult part.

#Destiny #Euclid-319 #Taeko-3 #writings #Ikora Rey