#i do gotta wonder how many sisters have a weapon called faith | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

touchmycoat · 3 years

Note

OP!Anon for Leverage!HX/LQG: *SCREAM* oh I adore how you wrote this - HX is so good at reading everyone and understanding how to motivate/manipulate them, except for lqg. I love how angry he got at the idea of lqg seeing him in the same light as swd, and also how lqg's just like, yep, swd's gotta die when he heard the full story. I love the idea of HC coming in like the king he is and laying down the law about XL. ahhhhhhh!!!! just imagining hx and lqg getting close after lots of shenanigans!

teamwork baby

"Xue Yang must die" is literally one of my favorite WWX quotes of all time LMFAO time to pay homage

so you know how in book 3, during the Black Water arc, HX is there trying to push his whole scheme forward? It's well-timed, well-thought-out, but the only fucking spanner that keeps jumping back into his work is XL-and-therefore-HC? Yeah I imagine working with grifter!HC is pretty much like that. He's always late or never shows up at all to briefings, or he shows up to the very end to hear the conclusion and goes "Nope, that's fucking stupid, change it." SQQ's like "Why??" and HC's like "oh, lil boy can't figure it out?"

and whenever they have an actual plan going, HC sometimes just shows up and starts doing his own thing in the middle and forces HX to keep up. This is often motivated by one of XL's jobs, and XL would ask if HC knows a little piece of intel, and HC would be like "oh you know what, I actually have a hostage right here to ask about that, one moment please :)" and utterly prioritize XL's thing. HX has to change the job on the fly so many times, and it's so fucking annoying, but it's not like HC leaves him at a dead end, so he always does find a way out.

(this got fucking long, but HX/LQG under the cut)

Bingliushen are also annoyed as fuck, but while they're godtier at their own things, none of them are mastermind-level (yet—Binghe's gonna get there, isn't he), so they just have to put their faith in HX and keep chugging forward. This is how the foundation builds, y'know? HX insists to both others and himself that he's being honest and faithful to his team because that's just the best way to handle them, not 'cause he's actually a team player and not 'cause he cares for anybody at all. And LQG's a simple guy—you save my life, I'll save yours. You act in good faith, I'll be loyal in turn.

It starts with something small. HX's suffered tremendous loss, and has been on his own for a very, very long time. He's used to taking care of himself, but we all know LQG's love language is "here, you dropped this. I've been quietly paying attention to everything you like and do, no big deal." So maybe it happens on a mission. HC has three marks to dupe in succession, and they're playing a nasty Big Pharma group, so it's hitting close to home for HX. At the last minute though, HC says over the comm, "the CEO & CFO made me. Must've recognized me from speaking to the secretary earlier. He Xuan."

"Can you still do the COO?"

"I'm not about to waste this outfit, am I."

and HX has to hop in and do 2/3rds of the grifting himself, which is fine, he's completely capable of this, he's a goddamn prodigy at hiding his murderous tendencies. but out of nowhere LQG is on the line, "Shen Qingqiu, you said you can hack the finances, right?"

"Yes, but nothing else."

"Then He Xuan doesn't have to talk to the CFO. Give me 2 minutes, I'll knock him out."

and HX doesn't stop him because sure, why not? It was more efficient for HC to do three of them at once, but now that it was HX doing it (and HX still has his own part to play), it would save them more effort if LQG goes for the blunt force solution. But it rubs HX the wrong way—what the fuck? Yeah, HX may not like grifting as much as HC, the stupid drama queen, but hasn't he proven himself every bit as capable of it? Why did LQG think it necessary to, what, bail him out?

So that night, after debrief, HX pulls LQG aside to give him a piece of his mind. "Don't ever try to override my judgment again." "What are you talking about?" "I made a call, I did not need your 'help' on the grift." "That wasn't help." "Then what was it." "You hate talking to guys like that!" "???" "You didn't need to talk to him, and I was right there. It was the obvious thing to do."

and HX still doesn't get it, not until the next day, when SQQ and HX are quietly setting up for the morning, and SQQ says out of the blue, "that's just how he cares. Liu Qingge, I mean. It's never an ego thing once he's your friend."

"I don't need friends," is HX's automatic response.

"No," SQQ snorts in agreement. "You need revenge. That's fine. Then I'm sure he'll get over it."

Which—okay—no? Bastard. That's just a passive aggressive attempt at a guilt trip, and it's not going to work. HX has already made it abundantly clear from the get-go that this was simply a job, he was the pointman, once they were done everybody will go on their way. It's not his fault SQQ dragged in a hitman with the loyalty instincts of a german shepherd, and it's certainly none of his business whether LQG treats him as friend or a colleague.

LQG will just have to be disappointed.

BUT OF COURSE WHAT GOES ON TO HAPPEN IS THAT HX sees more and more of the things LQG does, the ways LQG manages to be thoughtful. The way LQG handles visitors during HX’s mealtimes despite how much LQG hates talking to randos, bc HX has bad food days and can’t really stand eating with others. The time they had some time to kill undercover in a consultant’s office, and HX passed the time by pointing out all the things wrong with the office’s mini-aquarium set-up, so when SQQ brought up something inane about decorating their headquarters, LQG made HX draw up specs for a saltwater tank of their own. HX and everybody else kept insisting it was a waste of time, but LQG still went ahead and got it made anyways, and now it’s HX’s favorite thing in the entire HQ.

But HX wasn’t about to owe anybody anything. If LQG insists on this game, then fine, HX was going to play to win. He requisitions new toys (read: weapons) for LQG, he builds heists around the sole purpose of giving LQG a room of satisfying bad guys to beat up, he goes to the gym and spars with LQG, he even tries to give LQG’s weirdly famous younger sister’s novel a read—which was a lot. Ahem. But LQG loves his younger sister, so surely this would be the ultimate “hah! I’ve given you more than you’ve given me! I win! move.

...turns out LQG’s never read the damn thing, and just takes everything HX gives him in total stride. “We still on for tomorrow?” “...Yes.” “Cool. See you.” And HX’s over here totally overthinking EVERYTHING while LQG’s just chilling, super matter-of-fact.

Fuck, were they friends???

HX rage-panics, because he does. not. need. friends. And it has nothing to do with how everyone he’s ever loved dies, it has nothing to do with the careful balance of vengeful fury and self-hatred inside him that’s about to tip over any day now, once they take down SWD. It has nothing to do with HX being too traumatized and grief-stricken to imagine moving on from revenge, to ever imagine being simply content again.

His eating habits get worse. One day he snaps at LQG for pining so much after SQQ. “You already know he’s never going to return your feelings. It’s embarrassing to watch you insist on giving so much when he’s not going to give anything back.”

“Shut up,” LQG snaps, “it’s not about getting anything back.”

But that makes it worse. Of course HX wasn’t actually talking about SQQ, though sure, that’s annoying too. LBh obviously knows, so why can’t they take their infernal flirting somewhere private, instead of flaunting it in front of LQG all the time?? But the fault’s with LQG too, what with all the giving. He should find someone more worthy of his affections and stop wasting his time here.

HX cuts everything he and LQG has built up in one fell swoop—completely gives him the cold shoulder. Only ever talks about work, no more dry quips, no more infodumps on niche hobbies. HX wishes he could destroy the tank at HQ, but that would be way too confrontational at this stage.

Until one mission, when LQG knows HX is not in a good place, and keeps trying to argue HX out of doing something excessively risky. HX rounds on him and says, “you’re just a hired gun, so shut up and shoot where I'm pointing, or you can pack your things and get out.”

LQG goes red, then white, and storms away.

“Nice sucker punch,” HC comments idly where he’s lounging on the side. Who knows when the fuck he showed up. “Right where it hurts.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know. His five-year stint with the Sha City Demons?”

Of course HX knows about that. He’s looked thoroughly into everybody’s backgrounds. But what does that have to do with this?

“Gege is the best at this, after all. See you and I, we stopped asking questions once we knew the name, because we don’t think people are ever as pure and good as they pretend to be. But you know what Dianxia said, after I mentioned Liu Qingge’s old gig to him? ‘Five years, hm? I wonder what they had on him. In my experience, men like Liu Qingge don’t work for crews like the Sha Demons. And in order to sink their claws deeper into men like him, the Demons always make them do the worst jobs.’ Just a hired gun indeed.”

That’s right. LQG gets a Moreau backstory of his own. HX feels his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.

“Fuck.”

“I don’t know why you’re so stressed out about it. He is just a hired gun—”

“You know why. Fuck.”

“So get out of my face and do something about it already. You know where he’s gone, I know you’ve put trackers on your entire team.”

“...”

“You didn’t? No, you didn’t put one on him? My god, you do care.”

While HC’s busy sounding disgusted, HX is reeling. He just sent the best hitman in the field packing, and was an absolute dick about it. He was not a kind man, but he also wasn’t a cruel one. He believes in fairness, and everything he said simply had not been fair. It had all been his own guilt and issues talking; if he really didn’t give a damn, then he wouldn’t have...done all this.

“How much are you willing to pay?” HC says, swiping at his phone.

“What?”

“Because I don’t trust any of you, and did put a tracking device on Liu Qingge.” He sure has—HC is waving the loading tracking app in HX’s face. “So I’m asking, how much are you willing to pay?”

...And that’s the reason why HX owes HC so much damn money.

#leverage AU #he xuan #lqg #anon this is so much fun TTTTTT #i'm about to rewatch leverage 'cause of you

6 notes · View notes

iknownothingihearnothing · 5 years

Text

Game of Thrones 8.2 “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

So, we’ve come to the “calm before the storm” episode.

Literally, I guess, considering winter is finally here.

Taking bets now on who bites the big one in the Battle of Winterfell next week. A Stark is probably going to fall because it’s been quite a while since we lost one.

Sorry, Rickon.

Sansa is probably safe, since she’s not fighting, but GoT likes to fuck with us. I call 50/50 equally between Arya and Bran in Westerosi Woulette. If I had to pick one, I’d pick Bran because he is now a robot and Arya breaks my heart but...

As for the remaining players, well, Jaime always said he’d die in the arms of the woman he loved, and we all know he loves Brienne so it’d be a fitting end to his character arc. Started out as a Kingslayer, ended up dying fighting for his daughter in the arms of a woman he derided until now.

Lo how many of us would be so sad panda over the premature exit of Nickolaj Coster-Waldau from the show.

He could just as easily survive, tho! Remember, Maggy the Frog’s prediction was that one of Cersei’s brothers would kill her, and how boring and predictable would it be if it were Tyrion? Besides, he already slew Tywin.

That was only mentioned in the books, however, not on the series. Gah! All so complicated, this mythos.

Furthermore, Brienne could potentially fall in battle. Dany I see surviving just because she’s gotta kick Cersei’s butt. Or at least march on King’s Landing. Jon will probably make it, too. Gendry is up in the air.

Theon is probably a goner but we’ll see. There’s a spark of hope there. Please, for all that is holy, do not kill Tormund, he is our shining star.

Even his eyes are light.

Tormund, you are delightful.

Which means of course he’s gonna die, oh Seven Hells. No one anyone actually likes lives on this show.

Alrighty, Thronesians, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!

Last episode ended with Ser Jamie “Fuck You, Cersei” Lannister riding up into dat North on his horsey to fight for Team Alive, when, upon descending, his eyes settle upon...

You see that look on Jaime’s face? That is the look of someone who has just realized he is oh so much deeper shit than he initially anticipated.

As the episode opens, Jaime is facing a trial at the Great Hall, not unlike the one Tyrion had back in season four following the Joff’s death (presumably this one won’t end with any squishing of heads...or will it?!). Daenerys is not amused. Jaime is, after all, the dude who stabbed her father in the back and slit his throat. That’s how he got his nickname, the Kingslayer. Mad King or not, Aerys was still her father and his death led to her family losing the Iron Throne after his most trusted advisor killed him and watched him bleed to death.

It’s kinda something a person holds a grudge against, you know?

(And if they all die soon, that grudge will still be there, I’ve seen it happen and so has Sarah Michelle Gellar)

Dany is all “Your sisbitch promised us an army, there ain’t no army, broseph” and Jaime’s like “There ain’t dat, Your Grace” and it’s the first time we’ve heard Jaime refer to anyone other than his sisterlover as that title. Grudging, maybe (there’s that word again) but if he wants to fight for Team Still Breathing, he’s gotta eat some crow. And we ain’t talking about the the fellows of the Night’s Watch.

That’s my favorite gym shirt. Whenever I get tired on the treadmill, I just look down at my shirt, and laugh. And also wish I’d worn a better sports bra.

Jaime confesses she lied about sending the Lannister army North and that “we” are alone fighting the dead.. And Dany’s all “we”? And Jaime professes that he promises to fight for the living and he intends on keeping that promise. Tyrion tries to stand up for him, that he knows his brother, but Dany’s in NO mood after Tyrion’s repeated screw-ups--while Tyrion is quite the clever man, sometimes clever people can become cocky and that has seemed to have occurred with Dany’s Hand...a few times--and cuts in icily “Like you knew your sister?” Tyrion tries to reason that Jaime wouldn’t come here and put his ass on the line if he wasn’t serious. But Daenerys remains...unconvinced.

Dany has gone as icy as her hair. She is not okay with this. And right now, she has icicles for eyes.

If she survives the Battle of Winterfell, she may not need her dragons. All she’ll need to take out Cersei is stare her down like that. Hell, I’m scared and I’ve already bent the knee. Don’t set me on fire, Dany.

Sansa agrees with Dany for the first time since she arrived in Winterfell, throwing aside their little “I don’t like my brother’s new girlfriend even though she brought TWO ARMIES AND DRAGONS TO SAVE OUR FROZEN REAR ENDS” battle of wills.

Sansa lists all the crappy shit Jaime’s done to her family and Jaime insists they were at war and he’d do it again. That is when BranBot babbles “The things I do for love”, echoing Jaime’s remarks from the pilot before he pushed Young Bran out the window but in a much less human, more Twilight Zone-y way.

Jaime:

Daenerys wonders why he has abandoned his House and family now and Jaime argues that this is above loyalty; this is about survival. That is when Brienne, the badass mofo, jumps to her feet and argues Jaime’s case. Ser Jaime is a man of honor who defended Brienne against men who tried to force themselves on her. He is the reason Sansa and Arya are alive, as he passed his oath to Catelyn to keep her daughters safe onto Brienne. Sansa nods and agrees he should stay, as she trusts Brienne with her life.

Dany asks how Jon feels about it, and he concedes that they need every man they can get. Dany, obviously reluctant, agrees with an icy “Very well”, and signals to Grey Worm to arm him. Which he does, but while giving Jaime this look:

Don’t cross Grey Worm. He’s lived through getting his junk sliced off. He will eff you up, he ain’t afraid of shit.

When the trial concedes, Dany rises and looks up at her new BF, but Jon quickly gets the hell out of there. While she stands there, confused, the rest of us watching are like--

We feel bad for Dany, and we also feel Jon/Aegon’s WTFery. He just found out he’s half-Targaryen, after all, and the woman he’s been Queening is his aunt. Jon loves her, and it’s not like he can ghost her. They’re fighting an epic battle in a day or two.

Brienne and Jaime catch eyes as they depart and we’re left to wonder if it’s simply two warriors’ mutual respect or Something More.

Tyrion, ever the faithful Hand, is beseeching Dany as she storms down the hall. He believed Cersei was sending an army; he’s either a traitor or a fool. Tyrion admits he was a fool, and not for the first time. Cersei is still sittin’ pretty (and batshit bananas) in King’s Landing and if he can’t help Dany take back the Iron Throne, she’ll find another Hand who can.

Yeah, Dany be pisssssssed. It probably doesn’t help that her boyfriend’s avoiding her and she has no idea why.

Oh, to be a woman in power.

Down in the Forge, Gendry’s makin’ weapons out of Dragonglass all sweaty and stuff and Arya seems to appreciate the view.

Well. ARE YA feelin’ the call of the wild, there, milady? ARE YA?

Once she’s done checking him out, Arya asks Gendry if he’s made her weapon yet. He says he will once he’s finished making a few thousand more of the Dragonglass knives. Arya then asks if Gendry’s ever faced a wight before, and what they’re like. She is patently not satisfied with his reply of “Really bad”.

Gendry: “I know you’re not afraid of rapers or murderers or...but this is different. This is Death. You wanna know what they’re like? Death.”

Arya blinks, then picks up three of the Dragonglass weapons and nonchalantly hurls them into the wall behind Gendry. “I know Death. He has many faces.”

She asks about her weapon again, he promises to get right on it, and she leaves while Gendry stands there looking a combination of impressed, scared, and mildly turned on.

In the Godswood, Bran is sitting beneath his massive tree when Jaime decides to work up the balls (You know, the ones that Varys doesn’t have, right, Tyrion?) to confront him and apologize for, IDKKKKKKKKKKK, pushing him out a window, crippling him, and leaving him for dead years earlier.

*da-dum. da-dum. dum dum dum dum dum dum*

Jaime doesn’t beat around the bush and instantly says sorry for what he did. BranBot is not angry. The fact is, if Jaime hadn’t have pushed him out of that window, he’d still be Brandon--

--Stark.

Jaime, perplexed, is all, “You’re not?”, I guess thinking that Bran has been possessed but nah he is just “something else, now”. Bran Stark got an upgrade and he is now BranBot 2.0.

Jaime asks why he didn’t tell anyone it was him. He replies that Jaime couldn’t help them win against the dead if he was killed horribly before the battle began which is a--

Then Jaime inquires about after and BranBot is all “How do you know there will be an after?” and Jaime’s like:

I’m gonna start collecting caps of Jaime just reacting to bad news. His faces are delightful.

In the courtyard, Tyrion and Jaime reunite, though it’s certainly not reminiscent of dem Stark feels; Lannisters don’t express emotion that way. Perhaps through goblets of wine and a sarcastic comment.

Like Tyrion’s when three Northern men gathered above them literally spit at Jaime’s presence:

They walk talking about Daenerys for a bit--yes, she is different than her father; yes, Tyrion does believe in her--and bemoans that he overestimated Cersei’s claim that her new child “changed her”, which, of course, it has not. But no, she was not lying about that in particular. Jaime claims that she lied to everyone, him most of all, but Tyrion ain’t falling for it. “You always knew exactly who she was and you loved her anyway.”

Upstairs, they continue talking. Tyrion says idly that they’re going to die at Winterfell. It’s not the death Jaime would’ve chosen, nor Tyrion. Tyrion always wanted to die at eighty, with a belly full of wine and--Jaime repeats--a woman’s mouth around his cock.

Ah, brothers.

While Tyrion continues that at least he’ll get to deny Cersei the pleasure of killing him herself, Jaime walks to the edge of the balustrade and watches Brienne train Podrick. I don’t think I’m imagining the doofy little smile on his face.

Downstairs, Brienne is instructing Podrick on the follow-through with a fond smile on her face. The lady who didn’t need a squire has now grown pretty attached to him. Like a kitten you were forced to take care of.

Jaime shambles to her side and she confirms that she is commanding the left flank. They talk normally, weirdly normally, for a minute until Brienne’s all--

Brienne has had enough of this niceness nonsense. Jaime has never been in Brienne’s presence for this long without insulting her, not one damn time. Jaime asks her if he wants him to insult her, like maybe Brienne has a masochist kink we’re not aware of (why not? The dragons have a cuckold-mommy porn one), and she’s like:

And we at home watching are--

--cus she actually kinda does a little bit if she held this torch for Jaime this long knowing he kept lobbing insults at her like spitballs. And Brienne’s so shocked at this blatant display of Nice Jaime she goes like--

Just like us wominz, amirite? We only like guys when they’re assholes. He lost a hand for you! So unappreciative. Drop your sword fighting bizzness and get back in that kitchen! Make him a sammich with it.

(Just in case that wasn’t obvious; if I had a nickel for every person who misread my disdain, I’d at least be able to pay for my own Pac Man machine with them)

Elsewhere in Winterfell, Dany is gazing into the hearth, I guess because Ye Olde Westerosi Netflyxxe hasn’t been invented yet, when Jorah enters behind her and asks his Khaleesi to forgive him. He’s made lots of mistakes, that she has already pardoned him for, but he confesses that when he learned she made Tyrion her Hand instead of him, it broke his heart. She didn’t know she’d ever see him again, but Jorah insists she made the right choice. Though Jorah never thought much of Tyrion--the Seven Faced God knows he never shut up between Meereen and Volantis--but he has a clever, strategic mind, something Dany needs to win back the Iron Throne. She insists, with that scary AF icy stare, that he’s made mistakes, but, well, haven’t they all? And if Jorah would stick up for the dude who stole his position, Dany figures he’s got a point.

And Jorah also has another request.

That second request is obviously “Get Sansa on your good side because we kinda have to stay here for a bit and the Northerners won’t trust you if she doesn’t”. So Dany goes to extend an olive branch to Sansa, and at first, it seems to be working. They bond over their shared history of family weirdness and being badass ladies who literally rule. “Who are doing a damn good job at it, as far as I can tell.”

But Dany has noticed that they’ve been at odds with each other, because of Jon? Sansa replies that men to dumbass things for women and they’re easily manipulated, but Dany’s here, having only knowing “Get the Iron Throne, damnit!” all her life, after meeting Jon, with two armies and dragons. Who manipulated whom? Sansa smiles and agrees, she should have thanked her when she arrived.

Logic, Sansa. It’s not just for the Vulkans, you know.

They gossip like girlfriends for a minute, even clasping hands over the table, until Sansa asks what’s gonna happen afterwards. If they defeat the dead, destroy Cersei? Dany will take the Iron Throne, but Sansa wants to know about the North. It was taken from them, they took it back, and they swore that they’d never bow to anyone ever again.

Well. I guess Dany and Sansa aren’t gonna go shopping or getting mani/pedis together any time soon.

Their little “chat” is fortuitously interrupted by Lord Wolkan, who escorts Dany and Sansa to a newly arrived Theon. Bending the knee, Theon informs Dany that Yara has sailed to the Iron Islands to take them back in her name, but he came to Winterfell to fight for the living. Is...is everyone cool with that?

Sansa surely is.

If you remember, and if you don’t, you’d be forgiven because this show has more layers than an onion, Theon saved Sansa from Ramsay, altering her fate being stuck as Lady Bolton. But let’s be real: Theon doesn’t have much of a chance in Westerosi Woulette.

In town, Davos is assuring a pants-shittingly terrified Northener, while ladling soup, that he’s a soldier now and if he, Davos, a man who had spent his life avoiding war, could survive some epic battles so could he. Oh, Davos may be a goner, too. He’s been bragging about his dumb luck too much and the Seven Faced God doesn’t like that.

A little girl named Teela wants to fight, too, like her brave brothers. But Gilly convinces her that she’d be relieved to have her down in the crypt protecting her and her son.

The horn sounds and the hunting party arrives back at Winterfell! Huzzah! Jon aims to greet Dolorous Edd but Tormund intercepts him with a bear hug and a “My little crow!”

Oh, Tormund.

The Merry Men inform Jon that the Umbers are fighting for the Night King now. And so is anyone west of Winterfell, most like. The dead will be here before sun up.

They’ll prepare. They’ll train until their knuckles bleed.

But first...

Tormund appreciates him a powerful lady.

On the outskirts, Jon narrates as our armies test out the many weapons created especially for this battle at the Forge. Including this awesome catapult:

Gonna save the motherfuckin’ day, yeah.

In the war room, all our players are assembled. Jon and Sansa posit that the dead follow the Night King because he made them, so if he falls, they’ll be easier targets. Jon figures ol’ Nighty won’t be showing himself and he’ll stay hidden but BranBot negates that. He’ll come for BranBot, as he has come for many Three Eyed Ravens before him, because Nighty wants to erase the world and BranBot is its memory.

Oh, BranBot. You make it too easy.

BranBot offers himself up as bait to lure in the Night King, and Theon in turn offers to protect him. Because he took the castle from him once and he’s gonna make up for that.

Tyrion also suggests joining Davos in fighting fire against ice, but Dany negates that. Though Tyrion has fought in battle before, Dany needs Tyrion for his mind if they all survive this. He needs to live and thus will be in the crypt with Sansa, Gilly, and Co.

It’s kinda Dany’s way of saying “I know you fucked up in the past but I have faith in you as my Hand again...largely because Jorah gave me a stern talking-to.”

Then, they talk about the dragons. Should they be in the field or protecting BranBot? Would dragonfire work against the dead? They turn to BranBot, who seems to have all the answers, but not even Westeros’ answer to a SIM card knows. No one has tried in the past.

There’s a melancholy pause, like everyone at that damn table knows their fates are sealed. But Tormund, as always, prefers to look on the bright side:

Starting the #TormeoandBrienniet hashtag now.

Everybody begins to disperse. Dany looks at Jon expectantly but Jon only nods with a quick “Your Grace” and Dany’s left there like--

Dany may be in the race for the Iron Throne, First of her Name, Breaker of Chains, Queen of the Andals, whatever the hell, but she is still a young woman in her twenties with her second boyfriend after the premature loss of her Dothraki hubby (RIP Khal Drogo), and her second only love (sorry, Daario Naharis). Behind all those Targaryen walls, she’s still just a girl, confused why her boyfriend is being a dick. We’ve all been there.

After everyone else disperses, Tyrion turns to BranBot and comments that he’s had a “strange journey”. BranBot’s like “yeah, man”. Tyrion wants to hear all about it, and it’s a good thing they’re holed up in a vacancy in the middle of winter so he has plenty of time.

Outside, Grey Worm approaches Missandei. After Dany takes the Iron Throne, there won’t be much need for them. While he’s loyal to his Queen and will fight to the death for her, once her enemies are defeated, he wants to take Missandei and go...away. From the North, from K.L., from Westeros entirely, not that I blame him one iota. Missandei would like to go to the island of Naath, where she was born and raised before being kidnapped and made a slave. And Grey Worm promises to take her there, where he will protect her and her people.

Upstairs, Jon is commiserating with Sam that, no, he has not told Dany that, technically, they are related yet. But the important thing is we see a glimpse of Ghost for the first time since the end of season 6!

I hope Jon has many treats for Ghost. Are there any Ye Olde Westerosi Mylkbones?

Mr. Edd joins them on their watch. Jon suggests that Sam join Gilly and Little Sam in the crypt, but Sam wants to fight. After all, he was the first to kill a White Walker. He’s killed Thenns!

Mr. Edd: “Thenn.”

And Sam has stolen books from the Citadel. He is a rebel, damnit! Well, Mr. Edd muses out loud, if Samwell Tarly is a Slayer of White Walkers and a Lover of Ladies, now they know how fucked they are.

Inside, Jaime and Tyrion are staring at the hearth (that hearth is so entertaining!), Tyrion musing that he’d like to see his father’s face when he discovered that his two sons were about to die fighting to defend Winterfell. Tyrion remembers the first time they were here. Jaime was a golden lion and Tyrion was a whoremongerer. Correction: Jaime was sleeping with his sister, and Tyrion had one friend in the world who was sleeping with his sister. But Jaime’s golden lion days are dunzo, and Tyrion’s whoremongering ones are not an option anymore.

Brienne and Podrick join them and, soon, so do Davos and Tormund. Tormund suggestively says to Brienne that this may be their last night alive and she stutters that she’s glad he’s here fighting with them and survived Eastwatch.

He then tells Jaime, the King Killer, about why he’s called Giantsbane. He killed a Giant when he was a lad, then got into bed with his wife, who thought he was her baby and suckled him to her breast for two months.

Jaime:

They could not have died without knowing that Tormund fed from literal giant tiddies for two months.

Outside, Arya confronts the Hound, who offers her a drink (and is, at first, wigged out at how quiet she is). Why is he here? He’s never fought for anyone but himself, yet he joined the Brotherhood, and he went beyond the Wall to catch a wight with Jon.

Beric Dondarrion soon joins them, addresses Arya as “my lady”, and begins babbling about the Lord of the Light. The Hound rolls his eyes and tells him the Lord of the Light would wonder why he brought him back all those times just for him to chuck Beric over this wall. The Hound passes him a drink and Arya begins to leave, throwing over her shoulder that she ain’t spending her last hours with “two miserable old shits”.

Ah, Arya. Never change.

You know, if you survive tonight.

Instead, Arya goes off to practice shooting arrows when Gendry shows up with her freshly made weapon. First, they start talking about Melisandre, what she wanted with him, and he confesses to being Robert B’s bastard and she needed his blood for a spell. There were leeches and shit.

Arya wonders if that was the first time he’d been with a woman, and when he protests (like no, having leeches all over your dick isn’t exactly a good time, or maybe it is for some people, I don’t know your life) she probes him further: has he been with loads of women in K.L. or what?

Gendry’s like “Uh yeah” and she asks how many. He buffs his knuckles on his chest, hi-fives someone off-camera, and replies “I didn’t keep count” and she calls bullshit. “One? Two? Twenty?”

And then this happens:

Arya can never be accused of not voicing exactly what--or in this case, who--she wants.

Get it, grrl!

Gendry looks both flabbergasted and delighted.

Arya demands Gendry take his bloody pants off because she’s in charge here, damnit.

I read an interview Maisie Williams gave just after this episode aired of her reaction after she read that script. At first, she thought David and D.B. were joking, as they were wont to do, but when she realized they were srs, she about shat herself and wondered if she needed to go to the gym. Sophie Turner, her bestie, has been teasing her relentlessly. She just posted a video of herself saying Joe Dempsie “got that pussayyyyyyyy”. Must feel weird for him. He’s known her since she was a little-un and now he has to do that thing on camera with her.

Around the hearth, our unlikely group of allies are still sitting around chatting. Tyrion comments on all the battles the people gathered here have survived. Ser Davos--the Battle of Blackwater and the Battle of the Bastards. Ser Jaime--fabled hero of the Siege of Pyke, fabled loser of the Battle of Whispering Wood (these are awesome battle names). Lady Brienne, who is not a Ser because women cannot be knights, defeated the Hound. Tormund scoffs to blast tradition! If he were king, he’d knight her ten times.

I’m sure he would.

But Jaime insists a king is not necessary; any knight can make another knight. So after some stubborn disbelief from Brienne--who claims she doesn’t even wanna be a knight, thanks, it’s cool, though we all know she totally does--the lady rises with an incredulous look on her face and kneels before Jaime while everyone else in the room watches.

Tapping his sword against her shoulders, Jaime recites:

In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave,

In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just,

In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the innocent.

Then, she rises, a knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

The title of this episode both refers to Brienne and Jaime, methinks.

Brienne could very well die in a few hours (sob) but at least she fulfilled her life’s wish--she became a knight.

Outside, Jorah and Lyanna Mormont are arguing. She fully intends to fight and he’s balking at the idea. She’s the future of their House, and she’d be safer in the crypt.

But Lyanna, that monument of badassery, is dressed up as a knight and has no inclination to hide in the crypt. She fought before; she can do it again. But she wishes her cousin good fortune in the battle to come.

Bad. Ass.

Sam appears with his family sword, Heartsbane. He wants to give it to Jorah to use in battle because lort knows he can’t wield it himself. Jorah’s father taught him how to be an honorable man, taught him what’s right, and Jorah will wield the sword in his name.

Before Sam departs, he leaves Jorah with thus:

Inside Winterfell, our drunk allies have run out of wine (Lannisters without wine is like a car without an engine), so Tyrion suggests a sing-along. Unfortunately, neither Davos, Brienne, nor Tormund know any songs. (Lol could you imagine what Tormund would sing? It’d be something about giantess bewbies) But Podrick does.

I’m told that Florence + the Machine sing this song in the credits. But, yanno I’m Deaf Chick.

As the song plays, everyone is off doing their own thing. Sam, Gilly, and Little Sam are in bed. Sansa and Theon are outside playing a game and exchanging cow eyes.

This is why I think Theon has a wee chance. He could end up Sansa’s...well, Jon is the Warden of the North. Would he be...Lord Greyjoy? Lord Winterfell? Man...of Winterfell?

Arya is in bed with Gendry.

Grey Worm and Missandei kiss passionately before he goes off to join the rest of the Unsullied to prepare for battle.

Really. There is so much love in Winterfell tonight. Whether it be friendly, let’s get drunk together love, experimental love, burgeoning love, or desperate love.

Who is not particularly feelin’ the love right now? Dany. So she goes to the crypt to confront Jon, who has been, to her, randomly ignoring her all day.

Jon is looking up at the sarcophagus of Lyanna Stark when Dany enters. When he sees her, he offers a pained smile, and she approaches with evident relief, but it obvs doesn’t last. Now is the time to tell her. She asks who he’s looking at, and when he tells her, she murmurs that she was told her brother was decent and kind, but he raped Lyanna, which we know is false. Jon corrects her; they loved each other and married in secret. When Rhaegar was killed, Lyanna had a son. Who was given to Lyanna’s brother on her deathbed, with a promise that he’d protect her son.

Dany’s face as she realizes Jon is talking about himself:

He tells her his real name, Aegon Targaryen. She’s like “That’s impossible! Who told you this?” He says BranBot and Sam, the first who, er, :”saw” it with BranVision and the second who read about the marriage at the Citadel. At first, Dany tries to push the notion that the story could be made up, known as it is only by Jon’s brother and his bestie. But Jon knows deep in his gut that it’s true.

Dany: If it is true, it’d make you the last male heir of House Targaryen. You’d have a claim on the Iron Throne.

Jon:

Jon is kinda freaked that Dany doesn’t seem to give a second’s thought to their being related and all. And she should know that he doesn’t want the Iron Throne. Like, at all. But I read an interview with Emilia Clarke that defended her character’s reaction. And it makes sense. Dany grew up in an incestuous environment. Hell, she was supposed to marry her own damn brother. But the Iron Throne...she’s been working for that her entire life, it’s all she knows, to get back what rightfully belongs to her House. And here is Jon coming out of left field and he has a claim on it and he doesn’t even want it!

Alas, they don’t have time to discuss their relationship. The White Walkers are a-comin’! A horn sounds and Dany and Jon race to the roof of Winterfell to join Tyrion. Battle is about to begin.

Indeed.

This episode was great! It really delved into the psyche of our favorites, explored where everyone’s at, allowed them to just be for a while before all hell breaks loose. It makes the inevitable deaths we fear on Sunday all the richer, and more painful.

Aye. Sunday’s episode is gonna be epic. And terrible, in the best way.

#game of thrones #game of thrones recap #game of thrones 8 #Lena Heady #nickolaj coster-waldau #isaac hempstead wright #maisie williams #Sophie Turner #gwendoline christie #kristofer hivju #peter dinklage #iain glen

2 notes · View notes

martyrsfall · 7 years

Text

his mother’s eyes ;

‘he stares down at the silent blue marble of the earth and thinks of his sister, as he will at every important moment of his life. he doesn’t know this yet, but he senses it deep down in his core. so much will happen, he thinks, that i would want to tell you.’

- celeste ng, everything i never told you

His mother’s eyes had been his favourite place to hide as a boy. Whenever panic had riddled his form, it’s to the green hues he’d look, searching for comfort and love, for a sign that everything would be alright. And his searches would always be fruitful, his mother staring back into the brown of his own, a soft smile on her face as she hushed him, reassured him in only ways she could. A gentle brush of fingers over the top of his head, a small kiss upon his forehead. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she’d tell him, “nothing’s gonna hurt you, baby. I will never let them hurt you.” And he’d believe her, just like that, the thumping of his heart slowing down, the sweat that glossed his skin simply fading away. His mother said everything was fine, that he needn’t fear. And so, it would be.

Onyx and cruel is the most he could remember of them now, blackened with hatred as the horror inside her murdered every bit of light she had left. He hadn’t seen his father with the same look, too scared, too afraid to look up at the man behind him; his hero pushing the barrel of a gun against his head. He’d blocked it from memory, refused to revisit it even when his dreams brought the night his hopes had died back to haunt him. Zeke had idolized their life once, viewed hunters as if they were some kind of hero.

He’d learned better.

It’d taken months for Zeke to be able to look at Zoe again, her features bearing the same as their mother’s, her eyes just as green, just as gentle despite all they’d seen. It was too much to stare into them, seeing the woman that had raised him staring back, the woman he’d shot dead without mercy, without hesitance so soon before.

And even with so many years passing, Zeke still couldn’t do it for long. He’d give Zoe all the attention she needed in the world, but he could never truly meet her eyes, not really. A quick glance here and there before he focuses on the bridge of her nose, perhaps a stray hair hanging down upon her face, maybe her smile instead.

Perhaps it was the fear if he looked too long, he’d see her change too.

Leaning over the engine of the car, Zeke wipes his hands on his shirt, the oil and grime leaving dark and slick lines across the fabric. It was routine maintenance now, a little bit of TLC for a home that had carried him for thousands of miles. She was an old girl, beat up and battered in more ways than one and if the world was right, perhaps she’d of been retired by now. If he’s honest, he’d considered it more than once before Zoe had gone missing, but after, he hadn’t the heart to part with the only thing he had left connecting him to her.

It doesn’t stop him from talking shit to the old thing though, standing straight with a shake of his head. “Fuckin’ thing,” he grumbles, reaching up to grab the hood, slamming it down with a loud bang of frustration. “I just fixed you. Why you gotta fuck with me now, huh?” He taps a tire with his foot, crossing his arms over his chest in some stance of defiance. “We’re gonna fall out one of these days, I’m tellin’ you--”

“Ezekiel.”

“Jesus fucking christ.” The hunter, for all his bravado and confidence, quite literally almost jumps a foot in the air, hairs on the back of his neck standing on end like some frightened cat. He spins on heel to find Zoe and he places a hand on his chest, the other pointing at his sister with a huff of breath. “You scared the shit outta me, what the hell Zo.” He doubles over slightly, puts his hands on his thighs as he steadies himself. It’s playful, a tad dramatic and childish. It’s a curious thing, however, how she’d managed to sneak up on him though. The courtyard made every footstep sound loud and clear to the hunter, able to hear someone approaching before they’d even made it outside. Zoe hadn’t made a single sound. He could hardly hear her breathing, even now as she stood so close.

“Ezekiel,” Zoe says again, her tone far more serious, his name leaving her lips so sharp it surprises him. The look on her face is enough to bring his little display to an end, standing taller again, the protective big brother side of him settling into place. Had something else happened within the house? He couldn’t say he’d noticed. He couldn’t even say he’d been paying attention. Every part of him simply didn’t want to. But now? He can’t drag the worry away, put the job to bed. Had he ever given it up so easily like that? When did he start letting his guard down like this?

“What’s wrong?” Zeke asks, his brows furrowing slightly as Zoe’s expression ceases to give anything more away, her features... empty, lacking the life and determination they usually carried.

“It’s your fault,” Zoe tells him, “everything is your fault.”

Zeke’s expression hardens, his eyes looking to his sister’s in search of something more than emptiness and accusations. “Zo, I don’t--” “You let them die. Why didn’t you do something?” “Who? Zo I--” “Why didn’t you find me, Ezekiel?”

Brows furrow, watching Zoe closely. This wasn’t... like her. Sure, there had been times when she’d questioned the things he’d done. Maybe at one time, there’d been resentment there, rightfully so, for killing their mother. But somewhere along the line, she’d understood. She’d accepted it, perhaps even forgiven him.

She says his name again, his full name, and it’s now that Zeke notices how she holds herself differently, how the tone of her voice isn’t the sound of his adoring baby sister looking to him like he’s her hero. Zoe never called him ‘Ezekiel’. Ever. And so a hand moves slowly to the pistol holstered at his side, eyes narrowing towards the woman in front of him, a question hanging on his lips. One he never gets the chance to voice, for Zoe answers it for him first with her eyes.

Black; the colour of coal. Cruel and onyx, void of all the love she’d ever showed him.

His mother’s eyes.

“Ezekiel, where have you been? Where were you?” she asks him, taking a few steps forward, a wide grin on her face, one too cruel to belong to Zoe. “Where were you when I needed you the most?”

It’s a sickening thing, to draw a weapon on his sister without hesitation, the hunter in him and the reflexes from years of training and fighting kicking in. He points the gun at Zoe, the safety already off, finger hovering over the trigger in steady hands. His body knows how to work. It’s muscle memory and experience. His mind, however, is falling apart.

Not again. Not again. Don’t do this to me again.

“Let her go,” he says, his voice wavering, gravelly and lacking the fierce confidence it usually had. It betrays him, showing his fear. “Let my sister go. There’s more than enough bodies in there for you to take, goddammit, let her go.”

“No.”

Zeke had given up on God a long time ago, standing within a church in the middle of no where, candlelight dancing upon the dark walls. All his life, he had questioned, had wondered if there was more to all of this, more than the demons and the monsters he’d dedicated his entire being to killing.

He had prayed to the man on the moon when his father had died, standing beside his mother as they burned his corpse in a lonely, abandoned field. He could still feel his father’s blood sticking to his face, the splatter from his mother’s shot drowning him in red. He’d asked then, watching the fires lick and consume his father’s body, that God watch over them. He’d begged Him not to take his mother too, to let his sister grow up. ‘Please let us live,’ he’d asked, ‘please.’

He’d prayed when he murdered his mother; a shot between the eyes just like she’d taught him. He’d asked the heavens for forgiveness, asked him to let his mother know that he loved her, that he never wanted to do it. That he’d had to, that it was the only way to keep Zoe safe.

For all the jobs his mother had given him, protecting Zoe was the most important one. “Keep her safe, Zeke,” she’d said the day she was born, pressing a kiss against his forehead. “Promise me.” “I promise,” he’d whispered back, Zoe in his arms, looking down upon the newborn like she was some kind of angel. He’d murmured the promise into the soft tufts of hair on her head over and over, swearing he’d never let anything hurt her.

And then, Zoe left him too.

“God has plans for us all, my son,” the Father had told him, placing a hand upon Zeke’s shoulder like his words would mean anything, like he could find comfort within the church, standing before a statue of Christ who held his arms wide open, as if he were welcoming him home. “You must have faith.” “Fuck his plans,” Zeke had snarled back like a rabid animal, something ugly and unkind. “He doesn’t deserve my faith.”

But now, in this moment, it’s all the man can give. Because that’s simply all he is, isn’t it? A man with a burden that sits too heavy upon his shoulders. A man thrust into a life that, perhaps at one time, he’d of been happy to live, where he’d looked to hunters as heroes, defenders of the weak, destroyers of monsters. Please. Please help me, Zeke begged in his head, watching how his sister began to approach, power crackling at her fingertips. Power that wasn’t hers. Please don’t make me do this.

“This is how it ends,” Zoe -- no -- the demon cooed, laughter in its voice, “this is how it will always end. It began with you, Ezekiel, and it will end with you.”

Please. Please God, don’t make me do this.

“Zoe--” He rests his finger on the trigger, tells himself the same thing he told himself the night he killed his mother. ‘She wouldn’t want to hurt anyone. She wouldn’t want to hurt you. She’d ask you to do this. She’d understand.’

“If you can hear me--” Zeke continues as Zoe raises her hands, dark energy flooding to her finger tips. He feels his chest begin to tighten, his breath catching in his throat.

No, no no no, don’t make me do this. Please. Oh God, please.

“I’ll find you again. I’ll always find you.”

Please. I’m begging you. Don’t make me do this.

Zoe grins, raises her hand, rushes towards him to attack.

Please.

“I love you, Zo.”

Zeke doesn’t hear the gunshot, doesn’t feel the way his finger squeezes the trigger one, two times. The world moves in slow motion around him. The bullets leave the barrel of the gun in flashes, move through the air in line with each other, find the space between Zoe’s eyes. He watches the crimson burst from the back of her head in a a cloud, falling like soft rain behind her. The black in her eyes shift back to green, the dark taking the light of life that lingered for the briefest second with it.

She falls backwards, and Zeke drops his gun.

He catches her, because he would always catch her and falls to his knees with her in his arms. She’s limp, something warm running down his arm, her hair wet and slick. A trickle of red bleeds from the hole in her forehead, the hole he’d put there and Zeke looks down upon her face and into those eyes. His mother’s eyes. Zoe’s eyes.

Dead.

A pained sob filled with anguish rips from Zeke’s throat as he pulls his little sister closer, holding her against him, tucking head beneath his chin, the tears falling from his eyes dripping down onto her cheeks. He wails, the sobs wracking his form, cries her name over and over whilst he rocks her back and forth in his arms. She lays still within his grasp, doesn’t protest to how tightly he hangs onto her.

‘Gotta breathe, Zeke.’

So breathe. Come back. Come back. Come back--

She doesn’t, and he’s left alone again. She’s another body, another name on the list of people he’d killed, murdered, hadn’t been able to save. Now, he had the blood of his entire family staining his skin, their deaths his fault.

Zeke tilts his head back and lets out an agonizing scream.

#; para #event: house of horrors #death tw /#this is rly bad i struggled so much #i kept cryin and walkin away lmfao #SO IM NOT TOUCHIN IT ANY MORE U GET WHAT U GET #it's not my finest work but i simply can not

10 notes · View notes

kuletxcore · 6 years

Text

Spiritdimension Neptunia Frontier 1.4: The Highest of Mountains

“Okay, then.” IF started, “We gotta see what’s stopping the flow of share energy to the rest of the city.”

IF produced two cell phones from her belt full of spare phones.

“Alex, you and Lara go investigate the north of the city,” IF ordered while giving Alex a pink cell phone, “Compa, you and Hotaru check the southeast, Maya and I will investigate the southwest. Both of these phones have my main number on them so call me if you find anything.”

Hotaru took hold of the white cell phone and nodded along with everyone else. They then broke off to find the source of the anomaly.

“Hotaru…” Compa began, while they were walking through the city.

“What is it, Miss Compa?”

“What is your world like?”

Hotaru paused in thought, “Well, for starters, we don’t have any goddesses or monsters. We don’t have Share Energy, either.”

Compa nodded, “It must be nice to not have to deal with monsters.”

“Miss Compa, If you don’t mind me asking, what was this world like before that Sin Monster arrived?”

Compa sighed, “It was a relatively peaceful world. Of course, Nep-Nep and the other goddesses found ways to make it interesting. Each country was amazing in how they ran themselves: Planeptune always looked so futuristic and shiny, Lastation had a lot of hard-working people making a lot of neat weapons, Leanbox always held itself like a nice countryside, and Lowee was a winter wonderland where it looked like it was always Christmas.”

“It sounds like something from a Fantasy Novel.”

Compa tilted her head to one side, “Do you read a lot, Hotaru?”

Hotaru nodded, “My family moved around a lot, so I read a lot of books to pass the time when we would travel… I guess that’s why I don’t really know much about my world….”

The two walked quietly for a while, looking for anything strange.

“Miss Compa?” Hotaru started, “What were the Goddesses of Lowee like?”

"Say, Miss IF... Is your name really like that? Only two letters?"

“Hm?” IF turned to Maya, while still walking, “Well, it’s actually short for Idea–... You know what, just call me ‘Iffy’. Everyone else does.”

Maya chuckled, “Alright, Miss Iffy, whatever you say.”

“Don’t call me ‘Miss’, I’m not an old lady yet.”

Maya chuckled again. The two both walked the city for a while, Maya climbing through the various rubble and cracks with ease.

“You’re pretty good, Maya.” IF complimented.

"Thanks, Iffy. Freerunning and parkour really helps. Do you do stuff like this sometimes?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, but I often go in my garage fixing my bikes."

Maya’s eyes lit up, “You ride!? Aw, man, we gotta ride together sometime!”

IF stumbled in surprise, but got similarly excited, “We totally should! I even have an Extra… Bike…” IF suddenly trailed off. “On second thought, maybe we should hold off on that.”

“Aw come on, you can’t just tell me you have an extra bike and leave me hanging!”

“Trust me, if you saw my extra bike, you would know it would need a lot more than just a tune-up.”

"Lara?" Alex asked suddenly.

"Yes, Alex?"

"Have you ever dreamed of somebody else's life as if it is your own?"

Lara raised an eyebrow, “Can’t say that I have. Why?”

“It’s weird… I think I’m dreaming about Nepgear’s life. This isn’t the first time the Deity of Sin attacked this realm. I even remembered defeating it so vividly."

“Wait, that was Nepgear?”

Alex nodded, “Yeah, It’s all so overwhelming. ASIC, Ultradimension, Zerodimension, The Gold Third, even Heartdimension… I remember it all like it was yesterday…”

“Do you experience hallucinations? Is there anything else you got from Nepgear aside from her memories?” Lara asked out of concern.

"No, but I think I picked up all her skills at some point. I even used her Beam Saber as if I had trained with it for years. It's really weird..."

“I wonder if that’ll happen to all of us…” Lara curiously thought.

“At least Nepgear’s nice,”

“Does she talk to you?”

“No… It’s more like, I can feel her reactions to things. Like right now she’s apologizing for my dreams.”

A faint red glimmer caught Alex’s eye. She looked in that direction and sprinted to the red patch. Laying on the ground in front of her were red X-shaped crystals. Alex went to pick one up but hesitated at the last moment.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Lara asked.

“Anti-Share Crystals. Everything in my mind tells me to not pick it up…” Alex explained.

Against all better judgment, she picked up the dark eerie crystal. Surprised that she didn’t double over in pain, she took out the pink phone that IF gave earlier.

"I need to contact the others. I don't know who's planting these, but they're bad news!" Alex exclaimed as she dialed IF's main number.

"Hello, IF? There are Anti-Share Crystals here. I'm not affected or weakened by it." Alex explained to IF. "Please do. I need everyone in here, and I don't know what it contains. Thanks, Iffy." Alex hung up after the call.

"And so we wait for the others to arrive."

Unbeknownst to the two girls, they were being watched from the shadows. Dark blue eyes, burning with contempt and a hint of sadness considered the two Champions.

“Hmph, Leave the Underling in charge for one minute and look at what happens…” She crossed her arms and walked deeper into the shadows, “I’ve already willed it: these champions will not win.”

"Alex!" The two teams met up with Alex and Lara. Alex was still holding the Anti-Share Crystal. "Hey, IF. Compa. We've been waiting for you guys." IF held out her hand, prompting Alex to hand the crystal over. IF then inspected the crystal.

“Definitely an Anti-Share Crystal,” IF confirmed, “How are you holding it? These things are outright deadly for CPUs” “Maybe because Lexi is still human even though she can transform into Ge-Ge.” Compa theorized. Alex picked another crystal off the ground, inspected it, and then crushed it in her hand. The red dust blowing away in the wind. Lara, Hotaru, and Maya did the same. "Hey, it isn't so bad. Now to destro–" A red flash erupted from the dark mist that formed out of the destroyed crystals. When it died down, a Fenrir stood, ready to attack. "What is that?!?" Hotaru exclaimed in terror of the massive hound. "I totally forgot about a monster spawning when you destroy a bunch of Anti-Share Crystals!” IF shouted, “Alex!" Alex nodded, "Right!" She activated her transformation, however this time the share code seemed glitchy and out of control. "Let's do thi–... Wait, why is my voice the same? I should sound like Nepgear by now!" Lara fished out a compact from her pants and handed it to Alex. Alex looked at her reflection and saw her own face instead of Purple Sister’s. The only things that remained of Purple Sister were the light blue eyes and the power button irises. Alex inspected herself further and found that she was just basically herself wearing Purple Sister’s outfit. “W-what? Why do I look like this?” “I guess it’s because of all of the Anti-Share Crystals in the area,” IF concluded, “I guess Lex just ‘half transformed’ or something. You feeling alright?” “I… Guess so…” The Fenrir took a swipe at Alex. She was able to take it, but it hurt more than the other attacks. Alex unleashed a Mirage Dance on it, but it wasn’t as effective either. “Okay, maybe I’m not at a hundred percent. Although I can still fly,” “Keep it up, Lex, You still have Gear’s powers.” IF encouraged. “We have faith in you, Lexi,” Compa added, “We have faith in all four of you... The four of you are the champions that will save Gamindustri!” Alex started to glow, “I feel… warm… My wounds are healing!” IF smirked, “That’s Share energy for ya!” Alex nodded as she discovered another aspect of her powers. She then called out to the girls, "The rest of you should destroy the rest of the Anti-Share Crystals. I'll handle this beast!" IF joined in, summoning her Qatars, “I’m not letting you have all the fun, Lex!”

As the two fought the Fenrir, the others fanned out and tried to shatter as many crystals as they could. Of course, in doing so they summoned more giant wolves. However, with each Anti-Share Crystal destroyed, more and more of Nepgear's power returned to Alex, as she started handling each wolf with relative ease. "This is the last one!" Maya shouted as she crushed the last Anti-Share Crystal. "Thanks, Maya!" Alex said as she started to glow. Suddenly, Alex exploded in a wave of Share Energy. The monsters that surrounded her were pushed back, and the girls witnessed something amazing. Alex's face morphed, and her hair lengthened, changing color to pink. Her hands became daintier and her arms became slightly toned. Her legs filled out the tight boots, her waist pulled in and her hips widened, giving her an hourglass figure. Her shoulders became more pronounced, and her chest grew, filling out her skintight suit. “Pretty…” Hotaru intoned, full of wonder. “That’s going to be all of us,” Lara commented. “I… I guess that could be cool…” Maya murmured “Welcome Back, Ge-Ge!” Compa cheered. "I can feel the Share Energy coursing through my veins!" Alex exclaimed in her new voice. She pointed her gunblade up and let out a shot, which then split up into multiple beams, and rained down on the monsters. She then slashed the beasts one by one. Share code appeared around them as Alex dealt critical damage. "Share Code, Digitize!" The entire area livened up with color and everyone cheered. That was until Lara pointed off in the distance. “Do you guys see a girl wearing a mouse hoodie?” IF groaned and Compa sighed, they both knew exactly who Lara was talking about.

“Welp, there’s another plan ruined by the Goddesses, chu” Warechu said leaning against a tree.

“Ugh, I do not want to be the one to tell the boss!” Linda whined. “Well, I’m sure as hell not telling her, chu.” Linda looked out and saw one of the girls pointing in their direction. "Shit, we've been spotted! We need to go!"

The group saw that the girl and a black mouse ran away. "They're going to the city!" Lara shouted. “Of course they are.” IF sighed, “Come on, let’s go get them!” “Who are they?” Lara asked. “Um… Underling and Warechu, I think.” Alex said, closing her eye while she tried to search her memories, “Nepgear and the others fought them before.” “A lot of times.” IF added, “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d find them here.” The team chased them through the city until the heroes cornered the mouse-themed culprits on a random closed alleyway. "Tch, why are we even running?” Underling said, “We know we’re gonna lose.” “We’re not–” Warechu started and then sighed, “Yeah… You’re right, besides nothing these chumps do would be worse than what she’s going to do.” IF lowered her qatars, “Wait, you’re giving yourself up?” Underling smiled, “Ya know, it might be stupid of me, but I wanna at least say I tried to fight you guys!” Suddenly, Warechu attacked IF from behind using a trash can lid he picked up. "Ngh! You..." "If you want me and my knowledge of the Lastation Spirit so hard, then come at me!" “Lastation spirit?” Lara asked. “You blabbermouth!” Warechu yelled. Alex raised her sword as Underling did the same with her steel bat. The two rushed each other to start the battle.

== Nepstation ==

Neptune: Nepstation! It’s no mystery that I’m your host, Neptune! With me is none other than Alexandra Rose and Lara Strife!

Lara: Alex… what’s going on here?

Alex: I think Miss Neptune calls it the “totally non-canon Episode Preview”

Nep: Yeppers! You can talk about anything from the chapter we just presented above.

Lara: Right, so... Who is this "Warechu" anyway? Is that some kind of Pokémon?

Alex: Um.. sort of? He and Miss Underling are sort of the Team Rocket?

Lara: Oh… It’s sort of unfair that you have to fight them on your own though.

Nep: That's true. Also, you'll get your sister spirit soon, Lara. Alex won't be the only one fighting anymore.

Lara: Really?

Nep: Yep! But first, we need to talk about Parallel Universes...

Alex: What? Where? We ourselves are proof that Parallel Universes exist. What are you talking about?

Nep: I'm saying that transforming into HDD is a full thing, you can't say you only "half-transformed", Lexi! It’s not an “A” Press! How do you expect to be a main character if you can’t keep these basic rules of speedrunning straight?

Alex: But... Nevermind. Roll the next chapter preview, please!

Neptune: We’re wrapping up the First Planeptune Arc when our four champions defeats Underling and lets her spill everything she knows! Next time: The Road to Lastation!

#SNF #Spiritdimension Neptunia Frontier #Digimon Frontier #hyperdimension #Neptunia #Hyperdimension Neptunia #Fusion #Fanfic #AU #Alternate Universe #Megadimension Neptunia VII

1 note · View note

dailyaudiobible · 5 years

Text

06/04/2019 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 22:1-23:23, Acts 2:1-47, Psalms 122:1-9, Proverbs 16:19-20

Today is the 4th day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a pleasure, it is an honor, it is the joy to come around the global campfire together with you and spend some time stepping away like we do every day from whatever's going on and just orient ourselves to God through His word. So, that's exactly what we’ll do. We have been spending time moving through David's story, King David, in the book of second Samuel, and we have just begun the book of Acts yesterday as we move forward into this story of the formation of the church and what happened right after Jesus ministry. So, we’ll get to that in a minute, but first second Samuel chapter 22 verse 1 through 23 verse 23. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the book of acts today we witnessed earthmoving monumental things, right, Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the church. So, Jesus followers had been praying together and waiting in one place, and according to tradition, this place is the same upper room where Jesus enjoyed His last supper. And the promised Holy Spirit fell upon them with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and tongs or flames of fire over their heads and those present were given the ability speak in other languages. And then there were pilgrims from all over the known world. And if this upper room is the same upper room then it was on Mount Zion. And, so, pilgrims from all over the world would've been around and they heard the testimony of God's kindness spoken in their native tongue, which caused an incredible stir because these people were Galilean and how could they speak all these different languages and communicate so clearly? But Pentecost in the book of Acts gives us the first clue that the gospel was something that was to be spread throughout the entire world. It wasn't to be exclusive. It was to be spread to every nation and tongue. So, like, in this day and age we can say, “yeah, dah, like, of course, that's exactly…isn’t that one of the great missions of our faith?” But what this would mean at that time, like at this flashpoint, the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and God's goodness being spoken in all these other tongues, what this is gonna ultimately mean is gonna cause an incredible amount of controversy among the early church. And we’ll get to that as we journey through the book of Acts and into the letters of Paul. We’ll see all of this very clearly. The confusion triggered by the many tongues being spoken caused hearers to marvel but it caused others to scoff and accuse Jesus followers of being drunk. And this revealed the way that the message of hope in Jesus would continue to be opposed. So, as it was for Jesus, so it will be for the early believers and so it still is today. So, Peter gives this first recorded mass introduction to the gospel of Jesus and 3000 people believed and were baptized as a result. And, so, we can immediately see the change in Peter after having gone through Jesus death and burial and resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. He's transformed and 3000 people, according to the book of Acts, were baptized into the faith that day. And, so, many scholars concluded that the only place, anywhere around there, anywhere even around Jerusalem for the most part, anyplace that many people could have been baptized would've been the mikvah or the ritual cleansing baths found at the temple complex. And the ruins of some of those mikvah are still there, just below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as well as the southern steps that would've led into the temple place that Jesus would have taught, a place that Jesus would have walked. And, so, it is known to be the birthplace of the church, a place we visit when we go to Jerusalem each year. So, our time in Acts today was the flashpoint that began what we know as Christianity, right? People were not known as Christians at first. This term would be actually a Gentile term that will be coined in Antioch once the gospel began to spread out but the story that we read from Acts today is the origin story of the church that collected itself around the teachings and ministry and belief in Jesus and it's the same Holy Spirit that leads and guides us. And we’re on the same mission to bring light and good news. So, we have clearly moved out of the Gospels and clearly moved into the book of Acts, but now what we are reading is the story of the early church and its mission. It connects the dots to us because it is the same church and we are on the same mission. So, we may be reading the stories of those who have gone before us in earlier times, but we are now reading our own story and we are to collaborate in this story with the same Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We can often read these stories and their magnificence, and we read them as the exceptions to the rule, we read them as like something that You did that was magical at a time long ago and we would sure love to see that again, we would sure love to see Your power poured out again as if those things have passed away as if You were a different Holy Spirit as if Your power has diminished since then. Forgive us for this. You are the Spirit of truth and You have been sent by our Savior to advocate for us, to comfort us, to lead us into all truth, to lead us deeper into Jesus, to reveal the narrow path that leads to life. So, come Holy Spirit, even as we read of the stories of the origin of the faith we invite You to renew us in our faith today. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and, of course, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And we mentioned, we announced yesterday the global campfires coming back together for 2019 at the family reunion 2019. It was a tradition that we began last year and had a blast at the Family Reunion and so we’ve just decided to do it again, but we needed to find a place to have a little more access, a little more people. It sold out last year so quickly. And, so, we went and searched. We found a great camp up on the lake, not too far from the airport, not too far from Nashville, very very convenient, wonderful place to stay, wonderful place to play. It's going to be amazing. And, so, the Family Reunion for 2019 will take place August 31st through September 2nd 2019, which is Labor Day weekend here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. If you're staying on site the cost will depend on, you know, what kind of accommodations that you want. So, check them all out. We recommend everybody comes. Stay together, play together be together, eat together, get to know each other, like deepen the relationships with people that you may have been praying for and only know by voice for years. Make those connections and your brothers and sisters who are going through the Scriptures with you, have them in your life. This is this is what community and family is all about. So yeah, we recommend you come and hang out and stay and check all that. If you’re staying off site, the cost is $55 per person. It includes two evening meals, plus our time together in the evening as well as use of the grounds, which are spectacular. If you’re staying on site, there are a number of options. You just gotta check it out. It’s gonna be a blast. You can find out about the Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion 2019 at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. And based on the fact that we've only announced it once, looks like we’re gonna have a good time, a lot of you want to come, and we’re so excited to host you just have a wonderful time together in community here in the rolling hills of Tennessee where we spend our lives.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. The link is on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DABbers, my name is Anna and I listen on a regular basis and this morning I was listening, and I heard Norman call into the prayer line and he was calling to encourage Christine who had been separated from her husband and Norman gave the testimony of how his own wife had prayed for the restoration of their marriage. And Norman and Christine I was so moved by both of you and both of your situations because my birthday, my 40th birthday, is in six days and I have not been married yet, but I have been praying for my husband since I was even a little girl. I remember being five years old and one day to be married and imagining my husband and talking to God about what it would be like to be a wife and a mother. And I know that it’s how has designed me, and I’ve kept myself pure and I’ve prayed and I’ve journaled to my husband and written him letters and I know that God is faithful. Even this morning, today’s the 2nd of June, even this this morning we heard the Scripture from Psalms that says I gave my burdens to the Lord, I carried my situation to the Lord and he answered me and I believe that God is gonna answer me but would you all pray with me for my husband that this would be the year that we come together and start building the kingdom of God together. Pray for my husband. Whether he knows the Lord or not, I know that God has given me word that he’s gonna love the Lord. I ask that you would pray for him, that he would come quickly, and that no weapon formed against our marriage would prosper. I have full faith in God’s good answer me. Thank you.

Hello dearest DAB family, this is Lori formally from North Carolina now I’m from all over the place. Recently we sold our house and all our stuff and bought a truck and an Airstream, and we’ve name them Stanley and Living Stream and now my husband John and my cat Rosie and actually our cat Rosie are traveling all over North America. So, we know God is up to something with this whole new adventure, but we just don’t know really much at all. So, we would really appreciate your prayers for our safety and that we would definitely follow the Spirits leading for navigation in the earthly and heavenly realms and that God would give us eyes to see and ears to hear what He would want us to do and accomplish for His kingdom purposes while we’re on this new adventure. And even more importantly than that, I just want to say how important it is for us, especially now that we’re on the road to know that we’re part of such an amazing extensive family and we’re so grateful for this podcast and grateful for the Hardin family. But more importantly than anything we’ve already asked, I want to just ask you to pray for my sister Sheila. She’s been suffering from a degenerative spine issue for much of her life and lately it has been slowly stealing her mobility to the point where it’s getting very scary. And I just pray that you will join me in praying for her divine healing, just as God killed my brain heal ocular tumor back in 1982. And more important than her physical healing I want to pray and ask you to pray with us that she would come to know and love Jesus. That’s my heart cry. So, thank you so much for your fervent and effectual prayers my dear family. And also want to give a shout out to Angel in California…

Hey DAB family, this is blessed like me here. I want to share a message about God’s power. In Psalm 22 I was reading and at the end it said, “and I will praise and worship God’s power.” I was just thinking on how much influence that could do to our faith if we were to praise God’s power, if we were to just really, really understand that once we praise God’s power God can never get smaller to us, He can only get to get to us. God is a powerful God but how often do we praise His power. Praise God’s power so when you’re walking through the Valley or you’re walking through a dark spot in life you can know, you can have a light that will light up and say, “I serve a God that is powerful, I serve a God is able, I serve a God that’s with me and works through me and is a powerful God”. And once that happens, oh my goodness, it’s like dynamite, it’s more than dynamite because we serve a God that is powerful. Blessed like me coming here with a message of power, God’s power. Praise His power, but I’m also thanking every one of you for your prayers, for your love that you do for one another, that is a powerful thing to do as well. Love you guys, love you Brian and Jill for this awesome memory…ministry…I always get that wrong. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Blind Tony for mentioning my name and bringing me up often. I’m listening at times but not always. Love you and thank you for this ministry Brian.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family, this is Jordan from Georgia. I haven’t called in a while. I called in about some health issues and my horse dying. I wanted to give an update. My health issues are still very prevalent. I think that’s the right word __ but I just felt like I needed to call in today. I’ve felt like this for a while and I don’t know why but I feel like there’s somebody out there who needs intense prayer, very intense prayer. I’ve been trying to think of the words to say but I just can’t think of it. But if you’re listening, God will put this on your heart and He will let you know that this is for you. I pray that you will stay strong in what you’re going through, that you will know that no matter who you think is not there, God is there for you, and no matter how hard people may try to tear you down, there is no tearing down a stronghold that is made with God. If you guys could keep me in your prayers that would be amazing. I just wanted to let you guys know how, despite the amount of tension I have in my day-to-day life, I turn this on every night and I feel an intense amount of joy for the last seven minutes whenever everybody’s praying. I feel like I’m constantly being prayed over even though none of it is for me necessarily. And it’s just amazing to see this kind of family come together. So, I pray you all have an amazing and wonderful day.

0 notes