#Sophia is the bad-cop

[fahbev]

Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object pt2

Pt 1: https://www.tumblr.com/bahfev/715070691717840896/unstoppable-force-meets-immovable-object?source=share

(Guys idk how do that thing where the link is words can someone explain?)

“Right, I forgot why I was here. It definitely wasn’t for a drink.” Yal-sre stood up, seeming much more intimidating than when Sophia had approached them.

“Oh.” The bartender backed away farther, making themself smaller as well, “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“Actually, Aolli, I think there is. If you come with me out back, there are some answers I’d like to order.”

The bartender - scratch that - Aolli gulped, and dipped their head. Sophia was again impressed by the very Earthly body language. “Coming right up, Sir.”

—————————————————————————————————

“Hoooh, this just got interesting!” Sofia stood up.

“Sophia, you needn’t follow.”

“Actually, I do need follow. No way I’m just sitting here bored outta my mind while you deal with your drama outside.”

“You’ll only scare them.”

“What was it you just told me again? They’re already scared of you no matter what. Come on, if it’s information you need I can be the ‘bad cop’.”

“Exactly! I am scary enough on my own; I don’t wish to be cruel. You being there is excessive. You can’t follow.”

“Yes I can. Unless... you want to try to stop me? I’m always up for a challenge,” Sophia grinned and cracked her knuckles. Aolli seemed to pick up on her show of aggression and whimpered. So odd, when Aolli was so clearly not Earthling. Yal-sre seemed more to notice her words themselves as a threat.

“You’re right. I can’t stop you. Aolli, come with me. Sophia, do what you will.” Yal-sre ushered Aolli toward the door. Sophia followed in suit.

“Now that’s what I like to hear.” Chatter began full force as soon as the space orcs left the bar.

“Please- I swear I- I’ll tell you everything I know just please don’t hurt me!” Aolli shrank into a ball on the ground, paws over head.

“Listen, I won’t hurt you-“

“I will!” Sophia interjected.

“-Sophia, stop. I just want to know where my sisters are.”

“Ooooooooo, you took their sisters? You should be more careful who you mess with.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know where they are, I swear!”

“Liar,” Sophia accused.

“You took them away,” Yal-sre continued. “I watched you double check the locks and cart them off like animals. Where are they?”

“I don’t know! I’m telling you! I was just following orders, and I don’t work for them anymore! I’m- I’m a bartender now!”

“Good for you; that’s not what I asked.”

“So,” Sophia crouched down in front of Aolli, “You gonna spill the beans? Or do I have to squeeze them out of you one by one?” Aolli squeaked. How pathetic.

“Beans?” Yal-sre asked.

“Yes, beans. Spill.”

“I- I can tell you where I took them, but they won’t be there anymore.”

“How do you know that?” Yal-sre asked.

“It wasn’t a permanent location, it was more of a- like a trade center! I just took them there and handed them off to someone else. I don’t know where that person took them!”

“Dammit!” Yal-sre tensed in... anger? Frustration? Fear? “Do you know... can you at least tell me if they’re alive?” Yal-sre’s voice softened. Sophia stood back up.

Aolli uncurled themself a little; “I don’t know, I’m sorry. They should be alive, but I haven’t heard anything of your sisters since I handed them off. I can’t guarantee nothing’s happened.” Yal-sre stepped back, and hunched their posture.  “I’m sorry,” Aolli repeated.

“No you aren’t.”

“Yes, I am. I- yes I’m scared of you, but that’s not why I’m apologizing. I really do regret my past. I’ve done shitty things, but we used to be friends and I still care about you.” Aolli did sound genuine, but-

“What? You used to be their friend? That’s a betrayal if I’ve ever seen one!”

“I know! I know! I’m sorry!” Aolli flinched back into their protective ball.

“It’s...” Yal-sre said, “... a little more complicated than that. But in essence, yes.”

“Damn.” Sophia turned to Aolli, “HEY BITCH!” she grabbed their shoulders and began to shake them forcefully, “WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?”

“AIEAISAIEOAI-!”

“Sophia stop!” Yal-sre reached out as if to stop her by force, but seemed to think better of it. Their words did the trick, though. Sophia huffed and shoved Aolli backwards into the wall before stepping back. Aolli continued to whimper and shrank impossibly smaller. 

“We’ll get your sisters back.”

“What?”

“We’ll find them.”

“What if they’re already dead?”

Sophia scoffed; “It’s gonna take a hell of a lot to kill a rragletatch. Plus, Aolli said they should be alive, it’s dumb to assume someone is dead just because you haven’t seen them in awhile. We’ve gotta assume they’re alive.”

“You say ‘we’.”

“Yes, I’m helping you. Whether you like it or not.”

“Why?”

“I’m bored.”

“That’s a really bad reason to make big commitments to dangerous things, but ... thank you? I don’t... even know where to start.” Yal-sre looked down at the floor.

“I’ve got an idea...” Sophia gave Aolli a wicked grin. Aolli looked up from their flinch-ball position, before reading her expression and tucking themself back.

“Aolli can tell us where they last saw your sisters, and we can start asking questions around there.”

“I- it’s fshhhhAK: Naychshhh on planet Nayerzwu. That’s where I dropped them off.” Sophia pulled out her mobile device and enabled dictation.  “Set route for fshhhAK: Naychshhh: Nayerzwu.”

“You may have mistyped your search, fshhhAK: Naychshhh: Nayerzwu does not exist. Would you like to see similarly named cities in Naychshhh: Nayerzwu?”

Sophia gripped her device like a boa constrictor killing its prey. She glared daggers. “You lied.”

“NO, NO, NO! I didn’t lie! It’s just not on any maps, it’s uncharted! Off the books! That’s why it was used as the centerpoint for the illicit stuff, they knew we wouldn’t be caught in a place that ‘didn’t exist’!”

“LIAR!” Sophia roared.

“Eeeek!”

“Now, wait, Sophia-” Yal-sre interrupted, “That does sound plausible. They could be telling the truth.”

“Fine. Give us precise directions, and we’ll see.” Sophia loomed over Aolli.

“I- I don’t think I can. Most of the way there is also uncharted. I was shown the way there by someone, and I remember my way mostly by my senses than anything else. I’m not lying I swear! Please don’t hurt me!”

“Are you definitely, 100% certain you’re not lying?” Sophia just had to make sure.

“Yes! 100%! Please believe me!”

“Okay. Then you are going to take us there.” Sophia said.

“...”

“... what?”

—————

guys i’m not good at editing. If there’s any parts where you can’t tell who’s speaking, please tell me!

[rosyredlipstick]

forbidden nanny au where upper west side producer mitchell has 9 siblings to take care of and hires new nanny connor stoll to watch the children yes there's 8 seasons yes the burn is so slow it roasts connor and Mitchell both alive yes they're pining the ENTIRE time

[nando161mando]

This cop stands so cool until Sophia the Robot makes a run for it

[nigesakis]

Dave K on what the characters' modern jobs would be (Q&A 4)

Franklin: failed politician who own a basketball team

Crozier: provost at a public university who does one "fantastic" ethics course per year

James: specialist surgeon ("surgeon energy" "like being that good at something")

Hickey: a lot of things ("people in daily life remind me of Hickey") (nodded at every idea from the comments including life coach, tv producer, youtube channel, tattoo artist, real estate broker, therapist

Silna: public defender who becomes a prosecutor, "still with the spirit of a public defender but prosecuting, um… bad actors."

Goodsir: modern take of an ethnographer ("like a Studs Terkel or someone on TikTok who stops [...] houseless people in the street to ask them what they carry with them and why")

Little: commercial architect, would rather design houses but isn't successful

Hodgson: children's television host

Irving: family man, deacon at local church, running successfull business

Blanky: incident commander for the coast guard

Collins: carpenter who sculpts

Jopson: advocate, example named is for the rights of houseless veterans ("doing service for people who really needed it")

Hartnell: high school science teacher who the students have crushes on

Bridgens: teacher

Lady Jane: starting a company for themed river cruise ships where you learn about things like local literature etc ("massive success")

Tozer: cop or gym teacher / also agreed with comment: firefighter

Gore: professional mountaineer (agreed with comment)

Sophia: journalism (agreed with comment)

[protectoratenova07]

what are the bad undersiders opinions you’re seeing outside of tumblr? curious

Just as a precursor, this isn't any specific person or section of the fandom. You'll find these opinions anywhere and they've been around for years and I probably shouldn't get as annoyed as I do at it but whatever. It's (I'm paraphrasing btw) stuff like:

"Taylor would have been a hero without (evil/bitch/stupid) Lisa." Ignores the very legitimate issues Taylor has with authority and ignores Brian, who was the actual main reason Taylor joined the Undersiders. Lisa did lie in a few different ways to mislead Taylor, but nothing major enough to trick her into being a villain.

"Aisha could have been a hero if she knew what the Undersiders were REALLY like." Aisha would get annoyed that her brother can be cool and only does it when he's not around her. Also, she knows, but people ignore that or else they would be forced to realize Aisha has an actual character instead of a manic pixie girl they can ship with whatever hero of the week they want.

"Brian is stupid for joining the Undersiders and not the Wards." I've talked about this before, but no he fucking isn't. Choosing to not become more like his dad is actually a good thing. Also pretends that cps is both a) not incompetent at best malicious at worst, and b) ignores how they're considering the Laborn's mom again as an alternative to Brian to house Aisha after their dad failed so badly.

I'm beginning to realize the main theme with these is that people don't want to think about how the Undersiders have legitimate reasons to not like authority.

"Alec is evil for not turning himself in after escaping." The heroes have only ever made his life worse and I'm sure the cops didn't make it any easier in the time between running away and joining the Undersiders. Also, blaming people for shit they did under mind control is a dick move. Despite Worm having lots of comic book fans they don't seem to remember every annoying mind control arc or the Purple Man.

"Taylor (and the other Undersiders) would have been happy and fine if they joined the Wards." Lol, lmao. Ignoring Sophia for Taylor and Coil for Lisa, I don't think any of the Wards had their lives improved by joining anyway. Even if, for some magical reason, the PRT helped them with their parents they'd have issues with the organization itself. Not to mention their risk of dying gets upped tenfold by joining. Piggot is more than happy to use her child soldiers until they break.

"Lily got manipulated into leaving a good career with the heroes." Foil mention?!? I know, but I can't forget that half the time this is brought up, they always mention her career. Fucking bleak. Also, Parien isn't even her full reason for leaving. She left before confirming her relationship with Parien, because what she really got tired of was the heroes not being heroes. It's why she investigated Armsmaster, why she listened and respected Parien's choice to get help from Skitter. There was more I think, but yeah.

Nothing really to say about Rachel or Sabah. People don't talk about them that much. Oh, wait

"Rachel would have gotten help if she got captured and been a Ward." That wog was specifically if Rachel got captured early on, is only with Boston, PRT therapy actually helping (lol), and she still doesn't have anyone close to her tying her down to Boston so she could end up like Foil.

There's more. I could write pages on Lisa alone, but it's been a few days and I'm not currently in the mood to be annoyed rn.

[awhalesrider]

Where Did You Sleep Last Night

A translation to my old fanfic on AO3. Apologies in advance for some clumsy wording and bugs in timeline.

Pairing: Johnny Silverhand/Female V (Valerie)

Chapter Summary: V had a bad birthday, and Johnny offered some sleep aid.

Additional tags: During canon, Pre Pistis-sophia, Soft Johnny

Getting a room is usually for a wild night.

That's true.

They rarely slept outside because it wasn't worth it - he spent too little time understanding a merc's lifestyle in the 70s. V was kicking around like a puppy. With those few eddies earned, she could barely afford a full meal and throw a few chromes on her body. It's kinda dumb for a merc worrying about the next meal and the next day to pay for someone else's bed. According to V, she’d rather get a good fuck. The only reason why they spent money on this shabby hotel for the first time was because of the thunderstorm, heavy as shit.

Johnny Silverhand stepped on V's wet footprints and stood behind her. He looked inside. The birthday suite was just as bad as he imagined. A sour smell mixed with the moisture of rain rolled out as soon as the door was opened. The air rushed straight to their head. There are generally only two possibilities for this situation - either time has rotted inside like a corpse, or there really was a corpse. Either way, it's all fucked up.

V stood at the door for a long time. "'kay..." She grabbed her half-wet hair, trying not to show her disgust too obviously. But Johnny could easily sense the resistance from the instinctive reaction of her throat and nose. She took a long breath: "Not that bad, right?"

Not that bad, you serious? Johnny had to admit that V got talents in self-persuasion. But they would have to continue to fight against her senses. Preem for both of them.

Unfortunately he's not the one in charge.

"C'mon, Johnny." She said, more like trying to convince herself than trying to convince him. The high frequency of self-talking always seemed to make her feel better.

"Let's see what we have here."

The door slid shut behind her. V found the switch with a few coughs. The light, however, only made the abstract badness a little more realistic. Prolly this is the characteristic of a roadside love hotel - kinda arrogant frugality: tattered curtains, dirty carpets, old toys, and super dream equipment on the table as if the cleaners quit after washing the sheets without taking those leftover gifts (mainly used syringes and condoms) in the corner for the next guests.

"Gonk's gettin five-star service. " Johnny decided to remind her of another option at the right time, "Another lesson for our merc."

V sighed, "Know what? Whatever you gotta say – say it."

"Never heard the old saying? East or west, home is the best."

"No, no...Johnny. It's raining like shit outside. And didn't I tell you cops are locking down Watson? Maxtac is prolly having a party there too." V gave a bunch of good reasons, though she was obviously frustrated about it, and she should be,'cause no one would get themselves in a stinky room on a night like this - well, maybe he would fifty years back. But she's not him, and she didn't want to be him.

"Well, then, got two lucky misters spending the night with ya." He pointed to the two dildos on the table that were performing a fencing match.

"Haha, very funny." V laughed dryly and took them away. She flipped him a finger and Johnny returned it back. She ignored him and opened the window.It was raining just right. V threw the two outside onto the awning to shower.

Johnny smiled. She was always very creative when it came to little revenge on nobody. The rain soaked into their palms. V turned around, taking a moment to wash away those flowers of blood, and she began kicking the garbage into a corner where she couldn't see it.

Poor girl, being angry for only two seconds, was now busy cleaning up the mess without getting paid. Should've spent the time roasting some brains of NCPD who blocked her way.

Johnny leaned against the wall.

Never thought brain-dead made mercs rush for biz at a loss.

Johnny came up with some jokes at this moment, like "somebody deserved a wanted poster hanging on her neck with what she's done, and now she's trying to be a law-abiding citizen". But V was a little too quiet as she walked around the room, not even commenting on the endless complaints in her head and yelling "Johnny you are not helping".

He got a bad feeling.

V kept the window open, making the smell in the room less unpleasant, but the strong wind, thunder, and wetness made them feel as if they had just moved to a different place to get caught in the rain. V tried to pretend that she did this on purpose, but their sensory pathways were exposing the truth: She had a loss of sensation in her lower limbs for a while, and she could not manage to stand up on her own.

This is no good. Johnny thought. The biochip was taking advantage of her injury, forcing her to retreat. But he could do nothing about it except watch the effect of the combat stimulant fade in her body.

V took off her jacket, and then the coat with blood spots. She put them on the bed sheet, and then the smell of blood temporarily covered the smell of old bedding. She sniffed, put her gun next to the pillow, and slowly lay down. Merc fumbled in her waist bag for a bottle, impatiently letting the alcohol pour rudely into her torn wound. Johnny saw the dark sweat marks on her close-fitting vest blurred into large patches, and the pain was vividly soaking her again. And V just lay there quietly, holding her arms tightly, waiting for this torture.

She was too tired to sustain any confrontational behavior, which was not good in any sense. Johnny dropped his previous attitude.

"V." He sat in the chair next to her, staring at her tense shoulders, "Can't sleep like this."

"Shut the fuck up, old man." She turned towards him. The words from her mouth seemed damp, wearily sticking in the air. Johnny noticed that the bullet pendant was sliding down her wet chest. V didn't look at him, as if she couldn't lift her eyelids at all. She was just clenching her teeth, insisting on digesting the painful groan. She shrank to the corner of the bed, with her shoulders trembling in the cold air, avoiding the radiation of the "flash bomb" that enveloped the entire city.

"Just… Stop talkin' for now, okay?" She tried to steady herself by holding the pendant, with her voice barely audible in the rain. "Need to meet the VDBs in Pacifica tomorrow... and I'm really tired."

Alright. Johnny stood up and walked away a little, hoping that she was not tired of living.

The windowpanes were clanging in the wind, and he watched V close her eyes in the noise and pray to get accepted in dreams. Fate is not such a cruel bitch if V could get what she wanted. Unfortunately, life is always hard, and most people in this city can't afford the ticket to a sweet dream. Only death has a kind heart not to turn people away.

Her eyelids twitched. The intense pain began to peel away from her body, getting replaced by waves of neuralgia, which was not life-threatening but still a continuous torture. The disrupted cognitive system made her fall into a trance similar to a hangover. Merc was still far from her dreams, but she was already having nightmares. Some noise was running wild in her blood. The strong wind blew into her brain, blowing into a mess of thoughts, some of which came from his memory fragments, but more of them were the bloody parts of her own story.

Fuck. The sting in his chest grew stronger, but he wasn't sure if it was her feeling it.

V suddenly opened her eyes, with her forehead covered with sweat. Her wet red hair was stuck to her temples.

"... Johnny." She spoke in a low voice.

 See? Here's who shut his mouth just now.

"Johnny?" But she called him again, as if she hadn't heard his thoughts, or felt in need of more response. Kinda disturbing, that, like a string of trills hanging alone on a music sheet.

"What? Need a napkin to draw unicorns, Matilda?"

"Kiss my ass." Said V, searching him with her eyes. Preem, at least she had regained the energy to curse. He met her gaze and felt a little ease of the dull and heavy pain in her chest.

"By the way, I'm Leon when it comes to professionalism."

Johnny raised an eyebrow with a little surprise. The film was half a century older than she was, but she knew what he was talking about. Maybe she was good at appreciating antiques.

"What now?" He asked, as a reward, "Our cold-blooded killer needs a bedtime story?"

He expected V to say something more, but she didn't.

"…Yeah, I guess." She just nodded and turned over, as if she's tapped out after trying to maneuver on the tattered sheets.

"Let's talk." She looked at him and continued to persuade him, "Do me a favor. Today's my birthday. It's now or never."

They both sadly realized that the joke was likely to become a reality, but she was still like any girl in 2020 who's a little off her rocker, except not that empty and fanatical, but still treating him as a confession window in the church. People would fill the desperate indifference with burning fuel.

Maybe she should really join the Animals if they would still like a rain-soaked puppy after seeing her sober self.

"Fine." Johnny compromised too quickly, and as he sat close to her, he began to strongly suspect that this was some scam created by the mental link between them. "'bout what?"

He felt strange after a second. Dumb questions. They were inseparable for 24 hours every day, and their brains were so small that their souls would collide with each other at any time, just like when he knocked her to the ground when they first met, she pointed at his nose and called him a dickwipe the next day. People always have noise in their heads. They should have talked a long time ago. In fact, they did: about Arasaka, Mikoshi, Soulkiller, and how to save her life.

"Anything. Just...don't be quiet." V narrowed her eyes. The lightning left a bleak white mark on her face, and she spoke again amid the chaotic thunder.

"...I...dunno, Johnny. I'm scared… for a little. " She smiled. The curve of her lips turned into a heavy expression. But it's unlike the kind she was good at expressing or he was used to dealing with. The smile was almost unattractive, but he suddenly felt that he had encountered a huge problem.

Johnny fell into a rare moment of silence.

"Of what?" He sat down and asked in a low voice, "Thunder?"

"Ugh, fuck off."

The joke was inappropriate, but it worked, obviously making her a little happier. "Think I'm a baby girl crying for her mother?"

Johnny snorted, "Whatever you say."

How old was she? Not even thirty. Many people in Night City didn't live to that age. He didn't deny that if anyone told his story, thirty might be considered his "old age". But she was still a girl, a stupid little thief who hadn't seen much of the world. Not old enough to die anyway.

"Okay." V ended the topic resignedly with a strange expression on her face, as if not knowing whether to cry or laugh with the fact in their head.

The rain made a series of sounds on the iron sheet outside the window, and she immediately wanted to break away from the silence in the room.

"…Wanna guess why I can't sleep?"

Johnny looked up at V's pale face, still unsure whether he should be her doctor.

"Too busy in your head?"

"Didn't even think about it seriously, did you?" she questioned like she was complaining, but her voice seemed to have reached the edge of blurred consciousness, with sleep or death on the other side.

"Same at first." She took a breath and finished her sentence. "Y'know, seeing your past all the time... Not the 'fuckin' something up' part. I mean, sex, gigs, radio-hacking..."

"Havin' fun, huh?"

"Hah, it's a mess. Bright light, loud music...gets me all dizzy, and... When I opened my eyes, cops were chasing me for blocks. My brains were 'bout to be shaken out." She released the hand that was tucked in front of her chest from the pendant and stretched it towards the direction where he was sitting. "But it's not bad... It's crazy but... alive. So... not exactly what kills my sleep."

Johnny sat near her without a word, waiting for her to explain.

"Don't wanna fall asleep," she said slowly, "cuz I'm afraid that...I won't wake up again."

"…"

V raised her eyelids and stared at his chair in a daze, then looked at him again. The scene of rain and fog outside the window appeared in her eyes.

Okay, merc's really going to give him a hard time. Her face and her thoughts got him amused but worried. Johnny found that V always confused him, even though he knew her thoughts better than anyone else. What? You are worried about your life every day, and you have been busy for a long time just to get rid of this fucking chip in your head. And now you are treating the time bomb as your guardian angel?

"Feel like dyin' when I fall asleep, Johnny." Her fingertips drew helpless swirls on the bed sheet, obviously not sober enough to answer his question, "A few days ago... I mean when I could still get some sleep, I thought I wasn't afraid of this... and anything. When Dex DeShawn asked me if I wanted to die at the age of thirty or get old in bed, I thought it was only about where to close my eyes. But I ..."

V closed his eyes again.

Building. Thunderstorm. Fall. Delamain. Smell of blood. Sad eyes. Bullet in the skull.

The dream screamed past his eyes. Johnny heard her spirit trembling as if she would collapse at any time due to info overload, which was a hundred times more painful than lying on the operating table without anesthesia.

"...Always dream about that day in the car... Every time I thought Jackie's just... falling asleep... Dunno how he felt at that time. Is it the same as I am... or you were...?" Her whole body was tense, and her breathing became disordered. "Pain, cold, nausea, like a nightmare, right?"

"So I was wondering... I was wondering why can't I just go flatline?"

The thunder almost shattered her words.

Johnny looked down to the floor, wondering if V noticed that she sounded like sobbing, though she wasn't. That's so not V, 'cause she was the kind of tough, sharp, brave, and capable person who was liked by everyone - of course they liked her. And she was the kind of fool that fixers favored, the kind of friend that edge runners loved, a kind of brave coward who forgot how seriously she took death. She's willing to eat the blood on the tip of a knife as long as she is given enough eddies or a true heart.

"…It's not that simple." He had no choice but to say this first, but he still didn't have much of a clue.

"Huh?"

"Been dead for fifty years, 'course I know more."

"But now I'm the one with only a few days left。" She pointed out.

The pain then hit him, much more severe than he expected. It was spreading to her limbs and organs and almost everywhere. Johnny couldn't even tell which part he was responsible for. He didn't like it, and he didn't like her saying so, because it reminded him that it was him killing her for all times, even today.

Johnny walked to the window, lit a cigarette, and heard the countdown ticking in her mind. Prolly this was why she didn't want him quiet. It was rare that they didn't break out into an argument, but still, they fell into silence with confrontation.

V had every reason to want an end. After all, she had come this far.

But she has survived until now. He always thought she was the type who liked to risk her life, taking jobs without careful consideration, and going through fire and water for everyone who regarded her as a friend. And now she wanted to dig a grave for herself in advance? This is not V.

Or maybe this is her?

Johnny let out a long exhale. The smoke and rain slowly mixed together, and he tried to calm himself down.

"…Emptiness." He told her.

"What?"

"Feeling of death." He turned around, putting the sentences together in the severe pain flowing through him, "Thought it was a stupid BD playin' for 24 hours? That's too fucking silly. You'll understand when you've been dead for a while... No sound, no perception, nowhere to rest for your consciousness. Last bit of existence's been taken away, like a fuckin broken plastic bag flying everywhere, and no one will give a fuck to ya."

V's eyes rested on him quietly: "…What are you tryin' to tell me?"

"I'm telling you getting some fuckin' sleep is never the same as dying."

The chair legs made a sharp sound on the floor, and he sat down in front of her again.

"... and stop thinkin' 'bout putting that bullet back in your brain. It's not any better than you are now."

Johnny leaned back in his chair and realized what he just said was a pure mistake, as if he was comforting a frightened child from a nightmare. Sounded like something that would be filmed in an animation half a century ago, the kind of unrealistic fairytale. But he was completely involved in her feelings and emotions. Nicotine was not enough to relieve his anxiety. Johnny continued to be annoyed that he had no right to accuse her of a bunch of depressing words, and he couldn't help wanting to finish what he said.

"Listen, V." He pinched her chin with his hand, forcing her to look at him more closely, but it seemed more like he was trying to pull her out of the suffocating fear. "Havin' your nightmares means you are still alive. We have a chance to think about how to be buried in the future. You hear me?"

V also stared at him, holding his wrist tightly and breathing rapidly. Her lips tightly pursed: "Sounds more like telling me not to be afraid of dying?"

"I'm telling you not to be afraid to live, V." Johnny let go of his hand and stood up, feeling his thumb brushed by warm rain.

"…and then get some ideas of makin' your days less fucked up next year."

He threw the cigarette on the ground and extinguished it, and the spark jumped into her eyes. V looked at him, and her cheeks finally turned red again because of her attempt to disengage herself. After a long silence, she finally smiled, but also really shed tears.

The sound of rain outside the window gradually weakened. It took a long time for V to speak this time.

"…Without you." She said with her voice hoarse.

It seemed that she finally remembered the solution they had agreed on at the beginning. Johnny was not sure whether he heard more certainty or more regret, but weaving a dead person into the story was a good sign for a dream anyway. This was exactly her current symptom.

Her breath was no longer so heavy, and Johnny could feel that the tingling in her nerves was gradually leaving. The dark water stains on her chest had not yet dried up, and were illuminated by the dazzling white light into a shining river, flowing slowly with her breathing.

Are you asleep, V?  He asked, never needing to speak but intending to reach out anyway.

Thunder exploded again not far from them, but this time V was not awakened. She lay quietly, holding the bullet in her chest with her fingers, and seemed to fall into an eternal sleep.

He had to admit that he was a little scared now.

As if by magic, his fingers reached behind her ear.

Her pulse beat beneath her warm skin. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"…G' night, Johnny." V said, exhausted, but alive. She smiled for the first time today. Her red hair fell down in a relaxed manner, like a cluster of flames pouring down on him in the whistling wind, and his chrome hand that had felt the heat of countless explosions was withdrawn as if it was burned. Johnny heard her sigh softly, like blowing out a candle.

The electronic projection of him dissipated, like a light smoke.

[icespur]

Akiren choosing to wear a wedding dress for Akeshu/ShuAke wedding: 

very late Part 2 to this post below:

I've had this sitting in a Google Doc for a while, I've just been too lazy to post it

(Mementos Mission Manga Scene Spoiler warning)

So while Unapologetically spoiling myself on Persona 5 content, I came across a Manga Spinoff called Mementos Mission. There's a scene where Akira (Protagonist’s name in the Manga canon is Akira Kurusu), teams up with Akechi on an investigation and he's advised to come in disguise and Akira’s version of disguise is “Oh, I just happened to have a female cop uniform in my wardrobe, along with curly hair extensions, lipstick and makeup. I'll wear that.” 

Akechi reacts like most people would, and after recovering from a laughing fit, questions what the heck he's wearing. 

And Akira is so nonchalant about it “You said to come in disguise and this is what I had on hand 🤷‍♀️.” 

The outfit is also available as a DLC costume pack in Persona 5 Dancing In Starlight. 

Point is, Akiren canonically crossdresses and has no issue with it. 

So what if he willingly wears a wedding dress to an Akeshu/ShuAke wedding scenario? 

Originally, the Wedding Dress option was just supposed to be plan B. If for some reason the Metaverse proves to be too dangerous to hold the wedding and they're forced to have it in the real world, Akira could just crossdress as a female and take the role of The Bride. 

Luckily Metaverse Wedding is manageable enough. During the private dressing process the Girls took it upon themselves to play Bridal Boutique for Akiren. 

Fast-forward to the Wedding. Akechi is waiting at the altar, Grim Reaper officiating (it was originally supposed to be Yaldabaoth but Grim showed up and it seemed letting him be a part of the ceremony was the only way not to get K.O.ed by him). Random assortment of shadows sitting in the crowd that the group managed to convince threaten to attend. Sophia is playing the role of the pipe organ, humming a wedding tune. Ryuji is one of Akiren’s best men, Yusuke is busy in the role of Wedding photographer—-um, “Artist”. Since cameras don't work in the Metaverse, Yusuke has to hand photograph the moments by painting them which he is more than enthusiastic about, this man is going to paint the most detailed works of art ever, who needs a silly camera? 

Morgana is on ring bearer duty. unfortunately since Sojiro can't enter the Metaverse, Cop PeePaw Zenkichi Is playing the role of “father that gets to walk Akiren down the aisle” 

Jose is the flower boy. 

Sumire is one of the girls not playing “Bridal Boutique” and is instead one of Akechi's best—-women? She felt bad for him barely having any Bests on his side so she insisted. The rest of Akechi's Bests entourage consists of docile cognitive beings of Sae Niijima, and a couple of his agents. 

Since fashion isn't her area of expertise, Futaba also willingly opted out of playing Wedding Boutique and stood next to Ryuji in Akiren’s Bests line up, along with Lavenza. 

Akechi didn't have anyone close to walk him down the Aisle. Shido was an obvious no go. “Absolutely Mcfucking Never In This Lifetime Or In Hell, Docile Cognitive puppet version or not” - in Akechi's own words. 

So Igor happily decided to fill that void. The long nosed hunchback was an unsettling sight for Akechi but Akiren reassured he's a decent dude. 

The moment comes, doors swing open for the second Groom to reveal—-

Akiren in full wedding dress and veil, hair extensions to further sell the feminine look, along with black lipstick. He's wearing a casual warm smile, absolute zero sense of shame in this man. 

Zenkichi and Ryuji do double takes, Futaba bursts out in a fit of cackles.

Behind Akiren, the girls, minus Futaba and Sumire, stand behind him, all with varying expressions from defeated, embarrassed, and holding in laughter.

“For the record, we didn't force him to wear this. Once we managed to convince him that wearing his Shujin school uniform is not appropriate attire to get married, he suggested a wedding dress. Despite us explaining it's not necessary and a Tuxedo will do just fine, he was already picking out dress options, so we just went along with it.”

“He also pulled black lipstick and curly black hair extensions out of his pocket and ominously claimed “My time has come.” He wouldn't give us an answer as to where he got them from, I can only assume they've been in his pocket all day.” 

Akechi just lets out a defeated sigh, and facepalms. Oh, that's right. His soon to be husband is a fucking dumbass

A lovable, amusing, cute, undeniably sexy dumbass, but a dumbass all the same. But—--he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

[final-girl96]

Broken World: Chapter Five

The Quarry

We slowly drove up the winding dirt road that led back to the quarry. In the distance, you could see a crystal clear blue lake. It was so beautiful and looked so peaceful. It was almost like the world wasn't falling apart, the dead pouring from its seams, ripping and tearing to get out so they could grab any living thing with their decaying hands and rip their rotting teeth into its flesh.

Shortly after, as we grew closer and closer to the camp that sat just up on the hill from the lake, an RV came into view. An umbrella sat over a folding chair, and that chair sat the speck of a person, who slowly started to stand. The closer we got, the more I could see. There were a few cars parked behind the RV, tents scattered around in a little tent city. A couple of places had fire pits, one for cooking, one for the group to sit around. A separate firepit sat separate from the others a little ways.

People started to gather as Glenn came to a stop. An older man with a white beard and a bucket hat stood in the front with two blonde women off to the side. On his other side stood a man with dark hair wearing a gray tee shirt with some kind of symbol on the left breast. A dark-haired woman with a small boy standing behind her stood not far from him. "They're all nice people. You'll fit in just fine," Glenn said before getting out of the car. The hair haired man and the man with the white beard walked over to him.

I sighed, looking down at my lap. My badge hung from a chain around my neck. The only time I ever took it off was when I would clean up and go to sleep. It was somewhat of a security blanket for me, I suppose. It was something that told me I was going to be okay and I could survive this mess. But it was also a reminder of the reason I didn't have the one person I wished was by my side. I had to remind myself that I worked hard to get this badge and Daryl Dixon could go fuck himself.

I looked back up to see the dark haired man pointing at me. Glenn turned around and gave me a small smile, nodding his head to come over and meet everyone. I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped out into the Georgia heat. I walked over beside Glenn and looked at the dark-haired man in front of me. He looked down at my badge and then back up at me. "You're a cop?" He asked. I looked at the symbol on his shirt. It was for a police department in Kings County.

"I was a detective," I said. He nodded his head. "I'm Officer Shane Walsh," he held out his hand and I shook it. "YN Stone. I hope you don't mind Glenn bringing me back with him. I did bring some guns and ammo, along with some food and water." The man with the white beard came to stand in front of me and shook my hand. "I'm Dale. You're more than welcome." His soft smile helped put me a ease. He seemed like he was the reason of the group. The person who gave purpose and hope to everyone.

Dale introduced me to everyone, Andrea and Amy, who were sisters. The Morales family, Sophia and Carol, and Carol's husband Ed, whom I got a bad vibe from. Jim, Jacquie, and T-Dog. A few others in the camp and then finally Lori and her son Carl. I learned Lori's husband and Shane's best friend were also a cop. He had been shot a few weeks before everything happened and was in a comma went shit went down. Shane tried to go back for him, but there was nothing he could do with all the machines he was hooked to, and then the hospital was bombed.

They had an extra tent available for me to use, which I was grateful for. I looked around while I helped unpack the supplie Glenn and I brought back. I noticed a truck that looked oddly familiar, but I just shook my head and put it out of my mind. There were apparently two other people, but they were out hunting for the group. That night, we sat around the fire and exchanged stories, and I was asked a lot of questions.

"So you were a detective?" Andrea asked. I learned that she was a civil rights lawyer before the outbreak. I nodded my head, "Yes. I was a homicide detective," I said. "You're kind of young, aren't you?" She asked. I chuckled and looked down at my lap. "Um…yeah, I'm only twenty-six. I had to work really hard to get where I was. But it was a dream of mine, and I wasn't going to stop until I made it happen." After a while, everyone went to bed, and Shane climbed on top of the rv to keep watch.

I lay on the cot in my tent, staring up at the canvas ceiling. It's been a while since I had any kind of interaction with people. It felt nice not to be alone. I was so grateful that Glenn showed up. Everyone here seemed super nice. Well, apart from Ed, Carol's husband. Carol is a sweet woman but very timid. One look at Ed told me he wasn't a good man. I could also sense secrets in the group. Especially between Shane and Lori.

I shook my head to clear my mind. My fingers curled around my badge, and I closed my eyes. I don't know how long I laid there like that, but eventually, I fell asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep, I've never been one to sleep too deeply. I was a light sleeper and woke up at any nose I heard. It was going to take some time getting used to sleeping in a tent outside so close to the woods.

I know they said that walkers don't come up this way, but one day, they'll run out of food in the city and start looking for more elsewhere. I tossed and turned on my cot for a couple hours, trying to get some kind of sleep, and when I failed, I sat up and left the tent. The air was a lot cooler now that it was dark. But by the time the sun came up, it would be warm again and only get warmer as the day went on.

I looked over at the RV to now see Dale sitting in the chair on top of it. I slowly walked over and climbed the ladder on the back of the rv, climbing to the top. "Mind if I join you? I couldn't sleep," I whispered, not wanting to wake anyone sleeping inside. He gave me a soft, kind smile and nodded his head. I walked over and sat near him. I dangled my legs over the side of the rv and looked out over the lake. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" I hummed in response. "It really is. I don't think I've ever seen such blue water before," I said. We sat in a comfortable silence until the sun started to come up.

[artemis-b-writes]

Wandering Part One

*Song title inspired by In The Woods Somewhere by Hozier- I do not own the writes to this song I am using it solely for creative purposes*

Tw: nasty gore, violence, death, strong language

- - - .-. -.. . .-. … / …. .- …- . /-.. . . -./ - -. .. …- . -. /-. . ..- - .-. .- .-.. .. - -.. ./.- - .-.. .- -. - .-

Chapter two- In The Woods Somewhere

Victoria didn’t sleep much. It wasn’t the fact that she didn’t trust Dale. Which, she didn’t trust him at all but it was a roof over the kids heads for the night. Something about that Andrea girl didn’t feel right to her. Carl and Sophia were curled up on each side of her on the RV floor. Sophia softly cried most of the night but Victoria assured her that the girl would see her family again.

“Carl, wake up, it's time to go.”

Carl groaned and rolled over. Victoria nudged his face again and he jolted up. His body relaxed when he remembered he was with her.

“Here’s your gun back, thanks for letting us stay the night but the sun's up so we’d better get going.” Victoria shook Dale's hand, she truly was thankful for his kindness as they were facing unknown territory with seemingly rabid humans running around.

Dale called out to the group that they should find him again when their families were found because a group would be safer. Victoria nodded her head and gave him a thumbs up as they kept walking through the woods. Victoria and Carl were used to hiking in rougher territory but Sophia was not so Victoria kept her on her back most of the walk.

“Maybe they went to water?” Carl asked.

“Mmm, that’s not a bad idea…plus we’ve been walking for a few hours. Let’s see if we can’t find a creek with running water so we’re not drinking anything stagnant.”

“What’s wrong with stagnant water?” Sophia asked.

“Well…if it’s standing or stagnant water it can hold a bunch of nasty things in it that aren’t good for you. But if the water is running, those nasty things can’t get a hold and live as well.”

They cut through and found a running creek, Carl and Sophia ran down as fast as their legs could carry them to the water. Carl fell to his knees and began to soak up as much water as he could. Sophia gingerly cupped her hands to the river, and then to her mouth.

“Jeez Carl, you act like you haven’t had water in weeks” Victoria couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of her brother's head fully drenched in the river. She fell next to Carl and began to drink from the river as well, when the group was satisfied they decided to follow the rivers trail hoping to find their families.

After a few hours Sophia got tired so Victoria pulled the girl onto her back. It was starting to get dark and Victoria worried about not having shelter. She was relatively strong but wasn’t sure if she could take on more than one of those things at a time.

They made her think of the old zombie horror movies she would watch with her friends but these weren’t zombies they were…different. Victoria could’ve sworn the one she’d killed the night before tried to talk to her. It wasn’t just like the cartoons she’d seen where they just moaned and groaned. They still carried some remnants of life.

“I’m hungry.” Carl's pleas broke Victoria from her thoughts.

“Hmm. We’re coming back up to the road, maybe we can find a gas station or raid an empty car on the highway.”

“Isn’t that stealing?” Sophia piped up from behind Victoria

“Probably. But I don’t think there are any cops on the road and we have to worry about surviving kiddo.”

The group slowly made their way back onto the highway, scoping any source of food in the area. Victoria made sure to keep the kids close since there were crazed people running around. They found a few abandoned cars and were able to get some snacks from them: beef jerky, chips, and some canned goods. Most things people carried preparing for the unknown. This is something no one could prepare for.

“So now what?” Carl's mouth was full of chips, but somehow Victoria understood his question.

“It’s getting dark. We need to find a place to hole up for the night.” Victoria pulled Sophia onto her back as the group weaved through the cars, she tried to shake away the unnerving feeling that kept tugging at her.

They were being watched. “Here, stay here and let me check this RV and make sure it’s empty. If anything happens, scream.” The kids nodded.

Victoria tightened her grip on her hunting knife and crept into the RV, the drivers area and cabin were empty. Despite seemingly finding shelter, Victoria still felt uneasy. As she made it towards the back bedroom, a scream made her whip around and dart back to the street.

“VICTORIA!! HELP!”

Victoria jumped from the RV onto a woman who was trying to attack Sophia, stabbing her several times in the back of the head. “GET. OFF. OF. HER!” The woman crumpled to the ground. Sophia sobbed on the ground and Carl held her. Victoria inspected the woman and she looked the same as the man from the night before, except there was a nasty bite mark on her neck.

“Soph, let me look at you okay? I have to make sure she didn’t hurt you.” Victoria knelt down and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Sophia was clean.

“Hey are yall okay?” A voice came from behind, Victoria spun around and pinned the voice to the car next to them.

“Tori?”

“It’s Victoria, Nathan, you know I hate that nickname…but I sure am glad to see you! What the hell is going on?”

Victoria released her death grip on her friend Nathan. They took Government together and she was the only reason he was passing.

“I don’t know…Hey Tori you’re covered in blood, none of that is yours right?”

Victoria looked down and sure enough, she was covered in the blood of the woman she’d killed. “No no, it’s all that crazy bitches blood I promise.” Nathan’s younger brother Evan ran up and met the group, they were all staying on the road in an RV, somehow missing the herds of crazy people running around.

“Hey big ask but, can we stay with y’all for the night? I’ll be lucky if I get Sophia to leave in the morning but we’re not far from Shane’s truck and I need to find my mom.”

“Yeah sure…wait just your mom?” Nathan shot Victoria a concerned look, her features darkened and her smile became a pursed line. “Oh..yeah of course, my parents love you so we’ll make room. We’re only a couple miles down the road.”

Nathan threw Carl on his back and Victoria kept Sophia close as they walked through the dark, crowded road. They walked in silence, the only noise being Sophia’s muffled cries.

Then the rain started.

“Well at least you’re getting a bath” Carl half heartedly joked “mom wouldn’t want to see you all nasty.” Victoria couldn’t help but smile. Carl was always one to make everyone laugh when things were hard.

“So where were y'all headed?” Nathan shouted over the thunder. That thunder would haunt Victoria forever. If only she could’ve heard them coming.

“Atlanta! Although Shane kept spouting some nonsense about Fort Benning!” She shouted back. Nathan laughed, his dad had the same plan apparently. Although his dad was smart and not an asshole like Shane. She went to ask Evan about school when her steps faltered.

Evan was back behind them, he couldn’t scream because one of those things had bitten through his throat. The sight made her want to vomit. Except there wasn’t just one, there was a whole pack. Tearing his flesh off like paper, tearing through him like his muscles were made of jelly. Victoria could feel the bile raising in her throat.

“EVAN!” Nathan put Carl down and began to make his way to his brother. Victoria stopped him.

“Nate. Nathan! He’s gone.” She choked down a sob, he was only 14. Not much younger than her and not much older than Carl. But he was gone now, just a shell of who he used to be. Victoria made the decision to grab Nathan and drag him away from the growing pack, instructing Carl and Sophia to run ahead.

She didn’t have anything else on her mind but survive. Even though Nathan screamed at her to let him go, he was in a weak state which meant he was easy to drag off.

There was yelling all around her. Sophia screams were mixed with her own terrified screams and Carl was telling Sophia they needed to run and there was no time for crying.

“Nathan, give me your gun.” In their running Victoria noticed a glock on Nathan’s hip.

“What?!”

“Give me your gun Nathan please.”

Nathan stopped running, and fiddled with the holster to give it to her. When one of them came up from behind. Before she could react, a man came up behind Nathan, its jaw snapping his collar bone like a twig, he cried out in pain. Victoria stabbed it in the head and threw Nathan’s arm over her shoulder as they kept running.

“I’m…slowing you down.”

“Shut up.”

Truth be told he was slowing them down. But maybe that lady that attacked Sophia had been bitten after? She’d picked up the tip about aiming for the head from Andrea and that small tip was saving their lives. Everyone was drenched and shivering as the rain continued to pour and the pack kept following them.

“Oh my god Nathan!” An older couple ran up to the group, it was Nathan’s parents.

“What the hell happened?” His father questioned at the sight of his dying son.

“We cannot stop to talk we have to keep moving.” Thunder cracked over their heads, Sophia yelped and grabbed Carl.

“Where is Evan, Nathan, where's your brother?!” Nathan's mothers eyes were wide. Her face was a mix of confusion, pain, and sadness.

“Mrs Carter I’m sorry, we have to keep moving to shelter.” Victoria pleaded, her voice was hoarse from yelling over the storm. But the Carters didn’t keep moving…instead Mrs. Carter began to sob, her voice getting louder and louder. Mr. Carter grabbed her and told her they had to keep moving but it was like she was molded to the ground.

“Mom…mom she’s right we have to go.” Nathan was practically breathless, he was dying. This only made Mrs. Carter cry more and before they knew it the group was surrounded. Nathan threw Victoria away from him as another one of those things took him. He yelled something before he went.

And in an instant Nathan’s body dropped to the ground with the crazy man that grabbed him. Mrs. Carter fell to the ground, holding her hands over her mouth.

“Carl, grab Sophia and run into the woods!”

“Not without you!” Carl cried, holding Sophia’s hand which had a death grip on his arm. “Go, I’m right behind you!” Carl and Sophia darted off into the woods.

Victoria turned back and stabbed another one of those things trying to get away to her brother. The Carter’s held each other as they were surrounded. Victoria did them a favor and shot them both before the dead could get to them. She was just a teenage girl, where had this murderous side of her come from? Sure when she killed those things they were dead but the Carters….

She didn’t take much time to dwell on it; she needed to find Carl and Sophia. Victoria darted into the woods, killing two more of those things because they were in her way.

“Carl! Sophia!” She could hear those things all around her, a lump started to build in her throat. Carl was smart, he’d hide somewhere safe…right? Victoria kept running, hoping the kids ran into their families.

They’d essentially walked in a big circle so maybe they could’ve run into Dale, Victoria was certain he would take the kids in until she found them again. She had to keep her thoughts hopeful or the fear would consume her.

Her thoughts certainly kept her from paying attention. As she ran through the dark woods she tripped on a raised root, spraining her ankle in the process. She rolled into a clearing cursing everything around her. This is just wonderful. Stuck in the woods, separated from Carl and now she had her fucking ankle to worry about.

She attempted to get up and fell back on her ass, cursing at the hot white pain that shot up her leg. Victoria pulled herself back up and clenched her jaw, trying to keep any weight off of her foot.

“Carl! Sophia! Where are you?” She cried out. Crying out from frustration, from pain, from desperation. The storm continued to rage all around her. Then she was knocked to the ground. No. No, no, no, no.

Victoria struggled against the weight above her until she was face to face with a rotting corpse. She screamed out, pulling her arms up to keep its face as far away from her as possible. It tried to snap at her hand, attempting to pull her arms off of its body.

How was it doing that? She wished she could plead with the shell of a man who was trying to kill her. She didn’t see him as a person but truly as “it”. Victoria screamed out again for help. At this point she was begging for any help she could get. Another snap of its jaw, she could feel the hot breath against her neck.

“No, no, no, please.” She begged. In this moment she remembered she had a gun…oh fuck. She’d lost the gun she’d gotten off Nathan when she fell on that stupid fucking tree branch. Her arms were getting tired, she was tired. No. She had to keep fighting. She tried to kick her legs up in hopes of pushing it off.

Victoria pushed the side of its face as hard as she could, it’s cheek sliding off it’s face like hot butter leaving its teeth fully exposed. Blood from his bloodied tongue dripped onto her face, and she lost her grip trying to wipe the blood away from her mouth and eyes.

“Hey!” Its head was picked up and cut off, spraying blood everywhere. Victoria looked up at her savior with wide eyes. He held a machete in one hand and the things head in the other. He dropped the head and extended a hand to Victoria. “You Victoria?” He asked gruffly. She shakily nodded.

“Y-yeah I’m V-ictoria.”

“Good, they’ve been looking for you all night. Carl and Sophia are safe, they told us to look for you by the highway.” Carl and Sophia were safe, thank god. “I’m Daryl by the way.”

Victoria was silent and shaking violently. She was covered in blood, and none of it was hers. Before she knew what was happening Daryl was holding her up as she got sick. She explained to Daryl that she couldn’t walk with her ankle and so he pulled her onto his back and they made their way back to camp.

As the rain started to fizzle out Victoria started to recognize the terrain, and a certain small clearing in the hills.

And just as she’d hoped, there stood Dale at the top of his RV with a pair of Binoculars. He waved someone down when he spotted Veronica and Daryl, Daryl set her down when they got to the RV but she still kept a firm grip on him. He wasn’t much taller than she was. He seemed to have a closed off personality but she felt safe with him.

“Dale!” She hugged him tightly. “Where are the kids?”

“Over there” he pointed to Carol and her mom holding their children. “they’re pretty shaken up, what happened out there? I just saw y’all this morning.” Dale’s face held a strong look of concern.

Victoria’s shoulders slumped, where would she even start? She started to shake again and could feel Daryl grab both her elbows to hold her up. She felt sick again, and shut her eyes tightly hoping it would ease her swimming head.

“Victoria!” Before she could process what was happening, Shane was pulling her into a tight hug. And while the only person she wanted at that moment was her dad, she couldn’t help but break down knowing she was safe the arms of someone familiar.

She held both hands over her mouth as her sobs wracked her body. Everything that had happened in a matter of a couple hours- if that, was finally starting to set in.

Sophia being attacked, the Carters, the man in the woods, the blood. She cringed at the way her thoughts raged through her head. It was almost too much for one person to bare. She accepted at that moment that she would never be the same again, and it absolutely terrified her.

“Shane I- It almost,” Shane shushed her and just petted her hair until she was finished crying. Lori took her and got her cleaned up. Washed all the blood off and got her into clean clothes without question of the horrors she’d just faced. Victoria never knew her mother to be the silent type but maybe after seeing Carl she knew better than to ask.

After she was clean, Lori took her into Dale’s RV and held her while Shane stabilized her ankle. When he was done he left, Lori said that Victoria could stay on the RV couch because she’d be safe until she could put weight on her ankle.

Carl came into the rv and silently crawled into her lap, forcing himself to fit so that she could hold him. She rubbed his back in small circles with one hand and with the other played with his hair. It was something Lori always did for them. And despite how absolutely terrified she was, Victoria could feel her eyelids getting heavy.

Andera came in from her watch and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Victoria and Carl passed out on the RV couch. And while it would be the last time Victoria slept peacefully for a very long time, her adrenaline crash kept the nightmares away this night.

AN: after 50 million years and watching my tutorial just as many times I finally figured out how to copy the link for chapter one! I am actually so sorry for the gore guys but it’s only going to get worse from here I’m afraid😔🙏🏻

Hope yall enjoy regardless of how nasty this story is going to be😁

Taglist: @ebodebo

[hopefulatrocity]

From The Ashes-Chapter 7

Note:  Note: First off, thank you for your likes and comments. This is a lot later post than I intended it to be. I’m working really hard on Chapter 9 and it’s taking me longer than I thought. That chapter is when Pheonyx and Daryl officially start the search for Sophia.  So, they’re alone and there isn’t a lot of show dialogue for me to bounce off of. I had a couple days of writer's block and I’ve been working slowly on it. I keep rearranging how I want their conversation to go and also rewatching the season over and over to make sure I’m characterizing Daryl correctly. I want it to be believable. Long story short, I don’t want to post chapter 8 until I have 9 done, so it might be a bit until I’ve posted it. I think once I get over this hump, since it’s the first one on one scene with Daryl and Pheonyx(with Kismet as his wingman) that I’ll be able to write faster. Hopefully. Also sorry for how short this is. The last chapter and this one was originally one chapter but I want to keep my chapters around the same length(3-4k) and it ended up over 6k. So I split it up. 

Chapter TW/CW: internal homophobia, transphobia, descriptions of past abuse, denial of sexuality?(Not sure how to describe it), self-deprecating thoughts, parental death.

Dividers by: @firefly-graphics and @omiyours

Banner by: @liminal-creations​ 

Next

Masterlist

DARYL'S POV

As Daryl was making his way away from the service, fully intending to head straight into the woods to continue the search for Sophia, Rick caught up to his long strides and cut him off. The cop stood in front of him and Daryl narrowed his eyes at the man. 

“Before you head out, I want to get the group together to make a plan for the search.”, Rick said. 

“Ain’t got time for that, man. Shoulda been out at first light lookin’ for the girl.”, Daryl snapped, annoyed at being held up. 

Rick placed his hands on his hips, one hand hovering on the grip of his Colt Python. “Just listen, please. Hershel’s stepson has offered his help for the search. And I’d like you to partner up with him.” Daryl was about to cut in, but Rick continued,  “He’s an experienced tracker and hunter, and he knows these woods better than any of us do. He says he’s been working with his dog on scent tracking, too. With both of you, and the dog, looking for Sophia, I think we have a better chance of finding her.” 

Daryl shook his head, irritated. He worked better alone. His focus needed to be on finding the girl and he couldn’t do that with someone else following him around. Having the group with him yesterday was bad enough. The woods were his domain, his comfort zone. Some stranger on his coattails, mucking up the trails, and making noise while he was trying to concentrate, wasn’t something he wanted to deal with. Not when a little girl’s life was on the line. 

As if reading his mind, Rick said, “Just talk to him. That’s all I ask. If you don’t want to work with him after that, then fine.” 

Daryl wanted to tell him off, or to just walk away. Before he could, Rick was turning and waving a hand to call over Pheonyx, who had been walking back towards the house from Otis’s tribute. Daryl noticed a slight hesitation and stiffening of the man’s body as he looked between Rick and himself. But it was gone in a blink of an eye. The hound dog followed behind Pheonyx and they both stopped in front of the two men. 

Rick smiled at the younger man. Daryl felt his ears warm as Pheonyx lifted the corners of his mouth in return. The heat spread to his face as the other man’s green eyes met his own. The light shade of green reminded him of the pair of fern plants his momma planted in front of their trailer when he was 7 years old. The old mobile home had been extremely run down. Paint was peeling off the walls and several windows had cracks or were missing from his Pa’s violent outbursts. The small grass patch in front of the trailer was often overgrown and full of weeds. But his momma wanted to fix the place up. Unfortunately they didn’t have a lot of money for paint, or pretty flowers to plant. They didn’t have a lot of money for anything really. Momma worked as a waitress at the local diner but most of the money she made, his Pa stole to use for drugs or alcohol. He remembered the day she brought home those little ferns though. His Pa had been off on a bender for a week, like usual. She carried the tiny plants in with a huge smile on her face. They'd been on clearance at the local hardware store because some of the leaves were dried out but his momma was convinced it just needed a little love and care. That afternoon, Daryl and Merle helped her clean up the yard. Merle borrowed the neighbor’s push mower to mow the small yard and Daryl helped Momma weed the area around the front door. He and Merle dug the small holes on either side of the door for the plants, stopping to throw dirt at each other occasionally. When the ferns were planted, the trio stood, Momma’s arms wrapped around both boys’ shoulders, and looked at the trailer. It was still shitty. The paint was still falling off and there was still cardboard on the windows. But the little plants with dried leaves made it look like home. Over the next couple of years, as his mother’s depression and alcohol problems grew, so did the plants. They grew so big that his Pa forced him to cut part of them down because he kept tripping on the long leaves when he would stumble home at night. Despite that, the plants thrived and every time Daryl saw them, he was reminded of that day with Merle and momma. The look of joy on her face. It was one of the few happy memories he had with her. And it was all destroyed the day the trailer caught fire.

The ferns burned away. Right along with his momma. 

Daryl felt his heart ache at the reminder of his mother. But the green of Pheonyx’s eyes still reminded him of that happy day and he was almost entranced. He barely even registered Rick standing next to him. 

“Pheonyx, this is Daryl Dixon. He’s the tracker I mentioned yesterday. He’s been headin’ up the search for Sophia. Daryl, this is Hershel’s stepson. Both Maggie and Hershel say he is an expert on the property and woods surrounding it. He’s offered his services-”, a loud bark from the mutt sitting at Pheonyx’s side had Rick pausing for a moment. “And his dog, to help find Sophia. I’d appreciate it if you two would work together to head up the search for her.”

The arms he had crossed over his chest tensed. As entranced as he was by the man across from him, he couldn’t work with him. In all honesty, he was slightly scared of the emotions he was feeling. They were unraveling the identity that he had clung to for so long. He hadn’t even spoken to Pheonyx yet and his stomach was already in knots. He had to stay far away from him. Maybe then, the feelings would go away. He wanted to lash out at Rick, at Pheonyx, the emotional turmoil raging in his head. But that wouldn’t do anything besides alienate himself further from this group. It might even put them in jeopardy of being kicked off the farm. And he couldn’t do that to them. 

“Work better alone”, he grunted at the man, not even looking at Rick. 

Pheonyx gave a nod, not taking offense to what he said. “So do I. But I spent last night creating a plan for the search. We can split up tomorrow but I need your help at least for today. I’ve been working with Kismet,” he tilted his head towards the dog at his side, some of his brown hair falling over his forehead. Daryl fought the urge to reach out and brush it back. “, on scent tracking for the last month. I need you to take me to exactly where she and Rick split up. He can follow her trail from there. It hasn’t rained so he shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

The sound of the younger man’s voice was like a soft blanket draping over his sweaty shoulders, it eased the tension in his muscles on contact. The sound wasn’t deep but husky and light. Creeping around his head like smoke from a campfire and easing the ever-present vigilance that Daryl had grown accustomed to. Almost losing his train of thought over the drug-like effect of Pheonyx’s voice, Daryl looked towards the sheriff, wondering why he couldn’t be the one to show the other man where Sophia went missing. As if reading his mind, Pheonyx continued, “Rick needs to stay here for Carl and Lori. And Shane fucked up his ankle at the high school. Or else one of them would take me.”

Pheonyx was right about Rick. Daryl couldn’t, in good conscience, ask the man to leave his son, who had just been at death’s door the day prior. And his stomach clenched at the idea of sending Pheonyx off with Shane. Daryl wasn’t entirely certain about Pheonyx’s gender identity. He could just be a biological male with more feminine features. But he suspected the man was transgender. It was no issue to him, but he had a fair idea that it would be an issue to Deputy Douchebag. Shane wasn’t as openly hateful as Merle was, but he was judgmental and sexist. Merle was a loud hateful person. He screamed and hurled slurs, made threats but he rarely ever reached the point of violence, unless he was high. But Shane, his hate was a simmering cauldron, just on the cusp of boiling. Quiet little bubbles that could easily lead to an exploding pot.   At the Quarry, the man kept camp duties fairly segregated in regards to gender. Women weren’t ever allowed on watch or runs, and were mostly kept to cleaning and cooking duties. Shane made the argument every time that the women weren’t trained and therefore would be liabilities. But he also refused to do gun training for anyone, citing lack of ammo as the reasoning. He didn’t go on long winded rants like Merle did. He chose sly comments and verbal digs as his weapons of choice. Offhand comments about “women’s work” and snorts when Andrea offered help with watches or runs. While Shane had never specifically said anything about LGBT people, Daryl just had a feeling that the man’s views would not be friendly. And with his suspicions regarding Otis’s untimely death, Daryl refused to put Pheonyx in the possible firing lane. Why he cared so much about a man he just met was something he was trying to avoid thinking about. 

Despite his personal preferences of working alone, and avoiding any more contact with Pheonyx to quell the feelings building in his chest, Daryl had to admit that having a scent tracking dog would give them a leg up in finding Sophia. Looking down at the dog, he had to contain a snort. The pup was on his back, body curled around, chewing on his back leg like it was a rawhide. He met Pheonyx’s gaze. 

“That mutt is a tracker? He don’t look like he’s got much goin’ on behind those eyes.” 

Pheonyx’s eyes drew together in confusion and he looked down at Kismet. Daryl noted a blush spreading across his tan cheeks when he realized what the dog was doing. At the sheepish look, he couldn’t contain his snort, and he heard Rick chuckle along beside him. 

The younger man nudged the dog with his boot, causing him to roll over into a regular down position. Daryl heard him mutter something unintelligible. Pheonyx stood firm though, the conviction in his expression settling in Daryl’s chest. 

“Okay, Kismet may not be the brightest crayon in the box, I’ll admit. But when he’s got a job he works hard. Unfortunately, you guys don’t have the luxury of shopping for a certified dog. I stand by him though. We’ve only tracked wildlife so far, but I would bet my life on this ‘mutt’”

Despite the voice in his brain telling him it was a bad idea, Daryl nodded his agreement to work with him and the dog. His heart sped up a bit at the thought of working closely with Pheonyx, but he brushed it off. He’d work with him to find Sophia. Then that was it. He’d back off and these intense feelings would fade. 

He hoped.

Next

Masterlist

Taglist: @yoongibaybee, @edgyboi10000

[assorted-nothingness]

You know what else the first episode did well? That season 1 didn’t? Had less Sylvie.

Now, wait a second, before anyone thinks they can jump on this with hating Sylvie, No. Stop. Ssshhhh. Cease. I will not tolerate hating women in this house, thank you very much. Sylvie is fine. Sylvie is Great Actually. She’s a fascinating character with a compelling backstory and strong motivations and is portrayed beautifully by Sophia Di Martino.

But she’s not a Loki.

She shouldn’t be, in my opinion. She should very obviously be Enchantress. Like, I honestly thought that’s what they were hinting at the ENTIRETY of season 1, what with her always rejecting being called a Loki variant. And it would be SO EASY to make that happen. Just make her Enchantress. Please Marvel, I’m begging you. Fix at least one of your mistakes. Make Sylvie Enchantress, because she’s a terrible Loki. Make it the Big Twist of season 2! “You’re not a Loki…” Le gasp! Owen Wilson Wow! And she can even be in the final fight all, “I’m not a Loki. I’m an Enchantress…” Oooohhh wow so shocking that she is blonde and uses primarily enchantment magic….

But no! Sylvie as a character is not necessarily a problem (other than that unfortunate calling her a Loki part). No, the problem is that there was just far too much Sylvie in the Loki show. Yes yes, you may say, “But she is a Loki, so that means she reasonably should be in it as much as our Loki.” And to that I say, COP OUT. That’s a cop out and you know it. Marvel did not sell this show on Sylvie. Marvel did not get people to subscribe to Disney+ for Sylvie. Marvel did not hype people up with promotional material of Sylvie, in either season 1 or season 2. No no, they sold us all on L o k i. “Ooooh look we’re making a Loki show about Loki! Wouldn’t you like to see that? Sike! Two episodes in we’re going to put all of the narrative focus on SYLVIE! And she gets to make the final decision that changes time! Loki is LITERALLY thrust out of it! Haha wouldn’t that be great??” 😑 No, Marvel. No, it would not. It is actually what most of us would call bad writing.

If your media is titled after a certain character, it should be about that character. That’s like, basic stuff there. Although the show managed to mostly follow Loki’s perspective throughout, it did not give Loki any agency in his own show. He was dragged along. Decisions we’re made for him. He did not get to Act, he could only React. And I might get that for a secondary or tertiary character, but he’s the Main character. Like, come on.

[shabbytigers]

“musculoskeletal problems idk”

“middle age idk”

look, my current issues are muscle in nature but it’s not muscle fatigue, it’s chronic and driven by shitty skeletal infrastructure. muscularly speaking i am several dozen chronic spasms, knots, and compensatory cascades, ranging from years to decades old, clumsily jerry-rigged together with scotch tape and elmer’s glue in order to prop up a trenchcoat.

(bathetic aging late transitioner whinge below the cut. scroll. i’m 11 weeks into what needs to be a 10 week max T depot cycle and it and i both suck very much)

aging:

things stiffen and freeze up. you get out of school and college, there’s a lot less random ambient encouragement to do sun salutations, so you stop doing them. eventually you try to do one and your back no longer smoothly uncurls itself in order vertebra by vertebra, there are little cliques of vertebrae that stick together and move as one. various muscles slowly tighten and knots appear, mostly quiet but worrying when prodded on a massage table, and they don’t go away. some years ago i noticed my left achilles tendon hurts for the first forty to sixty minutes of walking. eventually i got credible advice to stretch my calves out about it, do that regularly, helps a bit, but it’s still a thing. just a lot of that sort of shit on and off

and i do think that’s mostly The Human Condition and just how middle age generally is

—

in my case tho there are some extra twists!

imagine that nature delivered unto you unsolicited a sophia loren type situation. super wide pelvic bone, chest such that you eventually figured out to shop the uk or poland for functional support garments (the us industry is/was appallingly bad), narrow waist, and short torso, on which your ribs bottom out just a few cm above the mighty pelvis. a zero brakes silhouette: no latitude on torso free of major curvature.

this frame is not functionally optimized for dynamic action (might have worked well for having babies idk)

it makes it quite effortful and costly to perform such radical bold actions as: standing or sitting up straight. two weeks after violently deaccessioning 1400 grams of chest tissue last fall, i realized i could sit upright in a kitchen chair at a table in comfort, with no urgent need to move to the squashy reclining-friendly furniture as soon as food was over. it was like a miracle. i’m angry

so over the decades i’ve accumulated a lot of assorted fuckery in the neck and shoulders and lower back and so on just in the course of wrangling this egregious motherfucking lemon of a vehicle around and as a bonus, both my kneecaps are malaligned such that my stability going down steep hills is poor: big fun with an exaggeratedly asymmetrical weight distribution!

—

in hindsight everything wrong with me except the knee deal is secondary sex characteristics. but the problem felt so specific and idiosyncratic for so long—i didn’t conceive of it as ‘built like a woman’ so much as ‘built like a janky jessica rabbit’—that it didn’t occur to me for a long time to scribble gender assignment as such on the issues whiteboard. my cohort was ill equipped for such introspection and i had the impression from 1992 thru the mid 10s that ‘trans’ meant people like venus xtravaganza and that it wasn’t my lane (i’m sorry but fuck the movie paris is burning with a chainsaw)

of course, given that deep infrastructural issues like wide pelvic bones aren’t actually fixable, i’m not sure how much it would have helped to cop a clue sooner. other than, you know, maybe not spending so much of my life completely checked out idk :)

[canonicallyobserving911]

Seven Several Sentences Sunday

Fanonwriter2023 on AO3

Where CANON and FANON collide!

Here are several sentences from Part 8 in the Bad Cop vs. Good Cop Parents Series.

__________

Eddie’s in the process of putting the steaks into the freezer when he hears Chris scream, “DAD!”

The sound he hears in Chris’ voice causes him to immediately abandon what he’s doing and he runs towards the sound while leaving the freezer door open.  His breath hitches in his throat as he continues to search every room for their two children.

Chris screams again, “DAD!  COME QUICK!”

Eddie’s eyes are frantically searching every room for them.  He feels like he’s running a marathon and even though he’s run longer distances than this before, he’s almost completely out of breath.  His lungs feel like they’re on fire as he tries to get to their son and daughter.  He checks the living room first but when he doesn’t see them, he heads down the hall enroute to the family room.  He’s sure it’s the only place Chris’ blood curdling screams could be coming from because it’s where the largest TV in the house is located.

Once he enters the room, both Chris and Liz are staring at the TV screen and he notices Liz is still holding a half-eaten chocolate chip cookie.  They’re both motionless and their eyes are glued to something they’re seeing on the TV screen.  When he turns his head to face the direction they’re looking in, he sees the words “Breaking News” at the top of the screen and there’s a Los Angeles ladder truck in flames.

His eyes move so he can look at the captain’s seat and that when he sees it’s completely engulfed.  The truck is burning so badly only two of the firehouse’s identifying numbers can be read on it and they’re “18”.

He can’t tell if it’s 18, 118, 218, 318, or 1118 because they’re all firehouses located in Los Angeles County.

His phone starts ringing and it’s like everything starts happening in slow motion.  His head feels like ginger ale is rolling around in it and even though he can see Chris and Liz are ok, everything else in the room looks completely fuzzy.  He doesn’t have to look at the caller ID to know someone from the LAFD is calling and his suspicions are confirmed when he looks down and sees, “LAFD Headquarters” on the display of his cellphone.

It's the telephone number they use to contact spouses whenever there’s an emergency.

Everything after that happens fast.  The Assistant Chief is calling and he’s familiar with him because he just so happens to be his brother-in-law, Chimney Han.  He was promoted at the beginning of the year from Battalion Chief and now he works directly with Chief Alonzo who will be retiring in a few months and after he does, Chimney will be promoted and will become the new LAFD Chief.

All he can think about is the last time Buck was in the captain’s seat of a burning firetruck.  His voice becomes strangled as he answers the phone and he doesn’t have a chance to say anything before Chimney starts talking.

When he lifts it to his ear, he hears Chimney call, “Eddie?”

Eddie's eyes widen and he inhales as he meets his son’s eyes and motions for Chris to change the channel and keep an eye on Liz so he can take the call in another room.

He’s trying not to panic but he’s having a difficult time of it and once he steps into their bedroom, he closes the door and asks, “Where's my husband? Be honest with me Chimney... how bad is it?”

What happened to Buck?

Also, what kind of BS is Margaret Buckley going to say about Buck and Eddie's daughter, Daniella Elizabeth Buckley-Diaz since she's the only one of their children she ever asks about? 👀

__________

I'm working on part 8 in the series and I hope to have it completed soon. If you missed the last two parts, based on the sentences above, it appears the meeting Buck and Eddie had with Maddie, Adriana, Sophia and their spouses along with Chimney and Albert is about to come into play in a big way. And it seems like Margaret Buckley is about to cause trouble.

___________

Bad Cop vs. Good Cop Parents

Parts 1-7 are available on AO3.

59K Words; Currently 7 completed works. 

A multi-part fanfic series about Eddie and Buck parenting their teenage son Chris and their daughter Daniella.  Usually, Eddie's the bad cop parent and Buck's the good cop parent but occasionally, their roles reverse. Also, as different situations occur, they are both bad and/or good cops.

Becoming the Bad Cop Parent

7.3K words; Rated General Audiences:  Or Buck gets a call from Christopher's school and for the first time he has to be the bad cop parent.

“Growing as Good Cop Parents”

8.8K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences:  When Chris makes it home after hanging out with his friends, Buck smells and unmistakable scent and everything that happens afterwards, helps him and Eddie realize they’re growing as good cop parents.

“Bad Words and Bad Cop Parents"

6.0K Words; Rated: Mature:  After Chris accidentally drops the “F” bomb in earshot of Eddie and Buck, they have a family meeting and hijinks ensue as they work on eliminating “bad words” from their vocabularies before they have an addition to their family.

"Grateful Good Cop Parents"

9.2K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences:  Buck and Eddie are anxiously awaiting the birth of their daughter, Daniella Elizabeth Buckley-Diaz.

Brokenhearted Bad Cop Parent

10.2K Words; Rated: Mature: As Eddie prepares to return to work, Daniella’s reaction to his adherence of the LAFD dress code makes him feel like he’s a bad cop parent but Buck’s there to comfort both of them.

"Guys, Girls, Curls and Good Cop Parents"

5.7K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences: Buck, Eddie, Chris and Daniella all have thick hair but Buck’s, Chris’ and Daniella’s is curly and it tangles easily. Since Daniella’s getting older, her hair is growing and Buck and Eddie have to find ways to not only comb and style it but they also need to find the best products to use.

"Both Being Bad Cop Parents

10.7K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences: Buck and Eddie have to tell both Chris and Daniella “No” but neither child likes it.

Parts 1-7 are available on AO3.

[zeroducks-2]

So I know that all the apprentice Dick stuff isn't really canon and it only happens in tt03 and that in 'reality' there was a Renegade arc... But I dont know anything about Renegade beside the fact that its a thing. Maybe you could tell me more about it?

It would be my pleasure! Sorry it took me so long to answer, tumblr ate my post and I had to rewrite it >_>

The first thing to know is that despite fanfictions/fanarts tend to portray Renegade!Dick as the "follow-up" to the Apprentice Arc, or anyway conflating the two stories (kind of mashing up stuff from tt03 and the comics), the two situations couldn't be more different from one another. They are in fact completely unrelated both thematically and narratively speaking.

In the comics, the Renegade idea comes from Dick, Dick is the one that insists on sticking around Slade, and Slade never forces/coerces him into doing anything (he has barely any participation in the whole thing). It's actually more about Dick and Rose than Dick and Slade, and in fact the "Renegade" alias itself is very nearly a thing, in the sense that Dick comes up with randomly it at some point, Rose uses it once and that's about it. Slade never even calls him that, sticking to "Nightwing", "Grayson" or just "kid".

A quick sum-up: Dick needs info about the society of supervillains but can't infiltrate them, because Slade is on their roster and he knows Dick's real identity, therefore he would recognize (and out) him easily. So he comes up with the idea of trying to convince Slade that he's a bad guy now and he can be trusted by villains - really Slade never actually trusts him, but in the process of testing him Rose grows very fond of Dick, and eventually Dick manages to thwart the society's plans and kick Slade out of Bludhaven. More or less.

That's not my favorite iteration of Dick, and especially not my favorite iteration of Slade and Rose, but all in all it's a fun, enjoyable story that's very in line with the overall mood and style of the (in)famous "Nightwing 1996" run.

Since we're here I'll go on to provide a more lengthy explanation of the plot with screenshots for poignancy (and because they're fun), but if you're already satisfied with the answer and you don't want more spoilers, go ahead and click away :)

The "Renegade" arc.

I'm going to start out with Issue #110 which opens with Dick leaving Sophia Tevis, the daughter of a mob boss, and her mother in a safe place for Sophia's safety.

Dick is having a rough time with just about everything in his life. This happens soon after the whole situation with Blockbuster and Tarantula and the aftermath of that, also he recently broke up with Barbara, lost his job as a cop and has gone no contact with Bruce. Tim drops by to check on him, and during their conversation, Dick finds out that Bruce was going to adopt Tim.

Dick is very bitter, and Tim keeps justifying Bruce this or that way, as usual enabling his behavior (no hate towards Tim whatsoever btw, that's just how their dynamic tended to function). At some point Tim goes out of his way to reel Dick back in the situation...

...And Dick gets understandably very upset

I love how he's about to yell at Tim but then tones it down. He keeps doing it throughout the whole story, swallowing his emotions and then apologizing when "he sounds too much like Bruce".

Despite everything Dick insists on doing his job as Nightwing and refusing everyone's help, at the point that he's embittered enough for it to be believable that he'd be in a "I lost everything, I want to try a new path" situation. The problem is, as I mentioned before, Dick can't infiltrate the society and uncover their nasty plans because they have Deathstroke on their payroll.

So Dick decides that the only way he has to do this is convince everyone, especially Deathstroke himself, that he's done being a hero, he wants to be a bad guy, he's been slapped in the face one time too many and he'll prove it to him. Only Dick has to talk to Slade for this to happen, and this leads to what's surely my favorite two panels of the entire story:

The infamous "message received" text on the mirror of Dick's bathroom as he showers. Dick is totally unfazed by this btw, makes me think this isn't the first time it happens

Slade, dramatic motherfucker that he is, decides to show up in the middle of the night together with Rose (I'm sharing the panels again cause they're really cool)

A fight ensues but Dick is outnumbered and in his civvies, so it's brief enough. Have I mentioned that Slade is also an idiot? I think I didn't, so here's Slade being an absolute idiot:

I love this panel. I want to print it and eat it I am so normal about it

By saying "undercover with the bad guys" Slade is referring to the fact that Dick has been cooperating with the Bludhaven mafia, fact that actually helps Dick sell the whole "I'm a bad guy now" narrative. Which is what Dick insists upon, saying that he has no more reasons to fight the good fight. Slade isn't impressed, but he still offers Dick a bargain:

Basically the idea is that Dick will prove himself trustworthy by watching over Rose, teaching her, and making her involved in his own things, and so he does; what follows is a number of short episodes in which he and Rose go around doing apparently random tings, bantering in the meantime.

The reason why I say this is not my favorite iteration of Rose Wilson is because she's VERY BABY. Which isn't bad per se but I prefer a version of Rose which is less naive. Also, "Nightstroke".

In the meantime Dick has found out that the place where Sophia Tevis was hiding for her safety wasn't safe at all - her mother has been killed by cops and the kid has been put in a state home. Dick promised to go get her, and this is what he brings Rose along to do.

They rescue Sophia and Dick hides her in yet another place, and makes Rose promise that she won't say anything to Slade about Sophia and what they did. The first thing baby does when she sees Slade is tell him everything.

Basically Rose is trying to make it so Slade will love her, or something like this. I'm actually not sure, their relationship here is a bit confusing to be honest.

So what keeps happening is that Dick brings Rose along - since he does not have a choice on that - while doing his things, pretending it's bad guys things while it really is good guys things. But, he does give her some valuable lessons and the two do grow quite close in the meantime.

The issue is that Slade isn't easily fooled, and to make sure he's got Dick under his thumb, he kidnaps Sophia Tevis to use her as a bargaining chip, and to make sure Dick won't do anything that goes against the society.

The brown haired kid is Sophia, but really this looks more dramatic than it actually is since nothing really changes, or maybe we could say it even backfires - Dick keeps doing his things, and if Rose wasn't convinced initially, now that she knows Sophia is being threatened (and she knows Dick cares for her since Rose helped him save her), she believes Dick more easily when they investigate the society's business and Dick says "it's all part of the plan I swear I'm not doing anything detrimental to your father, if I did he'd kill me and he'd kill Sophia".

And finally we have Dick calling himself Renegade: Rose insisted on calling him Nightwing since there was no alternative, so Dick comes up with Renegade just to get her to stop using "Nightwing"

Soon Dick finds out that the society is planning to use the Bane toxin to create supersoldiers or something like this, and in the meantime he bumps into Arsenal who's legitimately concerned about him (especially because there had been news circulating about Nightwing cooperating with the Bludhaven mafia, and he's been pushing his friends and family away). Dick is forced to knock him out, and eventually Roy tells Oracle, who tells Superman, and it ends up with everyone really worried for Dick.

I'm not really sure how Slade knew Superman would have been involved (I might not remember about it but yeah, Slade knew Supes was going to get involved) and devises a plan to neutralize him: He fixes Dick's glove with a radio transponder and surgically implants kryptonite in Rose's missing eye. During the following confrontation with Superman, Dick nonchalantly says "yeah I'm a bad guy now fuck you", knowing that Clark can hear his heartbeat and can therefore tell that Dick is lying - but Clark reacts in a very upset way, Rose gets scared and jumps him.

A brief scuffle follows but soon enough Superman lets them go, and Dick goes confront Slade with Rose, informing him that he uncovered the society' schemes and that his plan backfired.

Then Dick tells Slade something something along the lines of "Rose loves me and listens to me, while you implanted toxic kryptonite in her eye socket, so if you don't go away from Bludhaven I'll put her against you".

and somehow it works, Slade "admitting defeat" and letting Dick go, but threatening him with "you don't know what you're messing with".

Which actually is what happens soon after with the destruction of Bludhaven, Slade dropping chemo on it and all of that. But that's another story.

So here you have it, the brief story of Renegade and how it existed as Dick's alias for a short time. It's not much something that comes from Slade, more like it tangentially involves Slade while Dick is doing his thing. Again for whoever is interested in reading it first-hand, it spans from issue 110 to issue 115 of Nightwing 1996.

[lakesbian]

what do u think Taylor would say to Alec if she did find out abt Sophia before Alec despawned?

the less dramatic option is if she finds out while she's still a ward pre-behemoth--i think she would be like. 'prediction about him maybe turning into his dad vindicated but ive already done all i could to set him onto the right path...can only hope everything goes ok there while i continue being a cop here.' & then mention it to brian at behemoth, which results in them riding aisha and alec's sillay friendship behaviors during behemoth even harder, which makes it even more horrific for everyone involved when 45 minutes later alec dies for the fraction of a chance to save aisha.

the more dramatic option is if she finds out while she's still on the team. i think she'd be liable to pull a taylor and confront him about it in front of everyone like thats SO fucked up alec i cant believe youwould do that when i explicitly told you not to....meanwhile lisa (Knew it was happening and was like cool that solves the sophia problem 4 her 👍) is standing there like 😁(<- lisa equivalent of a deeply alarmed grimace). i think she would probably just keep her mouth shut and let them go at it LMAO. this would be interesting to see because alec genuinely thinks he did her a big ole favor, to the point of wink-wink-nudging her about it. even after he realizes he went too far he still doesn't grasp that the Entire Thing was bad and thinks he did her a favor!! so it would b very funny to watch him standing there like ":( why is taylor being so mad at me....comparing me to my dad and everything....thats so mean :((" trying to issue some flustered defense of himself & ending up exceedingly frustrated as he realizes he can't really explain why he thinks it's okay or make any other argument beyond pointing out that she too does bad things. and he instinctively looks at aisha 4 backup and shes like no yeah we talked about this ithink its like. uncool to revenge torture people. and then the fact that SHE knew but didn't say anything becomes a Whole Thing. alec definitely going home pissed and Stewing about it but ultimately sucking less over the event

[twh-news]

Loki season two review – by far the best Marvel TV show in years ★★★☆☆ | The Guardian

Tom Hiddleston’s lovably narcissistic Norse god is back with Owen Wilson for a spectacular time-hopping caper that may just save the MCU from certain death

If ever there was a time for a second season of Loki, it’s now. The first outing was a witty romp through time and space, in which Tom Hiddleston’s lovably narcissistic Norse god charmed the pants off viewers. There were wild cameos (Richard E Grant as a weird alternate Loki!). There was sizzling chemistry (the bromance with Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius!). There was even the tender blossoming of love (with Loki’s metaverse alter ego Sylvie – almost certainly the most poignant romance a TV character has ever conducted with themselves). So, naturally, the Marvel Cinematic Universe chose to follow up this televisual triumph with a disastrous series of flops, culminating in June’s Secret Invasion: a slog of a show that felt like the death knell for the franchise’s entire TV future.

[Possible spoilers ahead]

Luckily, Loki’s action-packed return suggests it is more than prepared to rise to the challenge of shaking off Marvel’s track record of TV tedium. We’re taken to the exact moment the previous season left off: the aftermath of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killing He Who Remains – the shadowy figure behind temporal police the Time Variance Authority (TVA). There are slow-mo chases, car crashes in flying vehicles and Loki constantly running into effigies of He Who Remains. One thing is instantly clear: you really can’t avoid season one if you expect any of the following to make sense.

A good chunk of the opener consists of Hiddleston vanishing into another timeline. His body briefly turns into something that looks like it belongs in Stranger Things’ Upside Down, while he makes the sound of a man who has eaten some seriously out-of-date scampi. “It’s horrible,” quips Wilson’s Agent Mobius. “It looks like you’re being born, or dying – or both at the same time.” There are temporal loops, baffling causality chains and the establishment of what will be a series-long plot about stabilising a “temporal loom” – whose explanation is so convoluted the characters may as well be repeatedly chanting the word “MacGuffin”. Compared to the first season’s simple thrills, it’s all a bit overcomplicated – a disappointing choice of direction, if predictable.

Less explicable is the decision to do away with the beating heart of season one – the surprisingly lovely romance between Loki and Sylvie. This time, they’re on very separate paths, with Di Martino’s character reinvented as a time-hopping assassin, while Hiddleston moves ever further from his character’s mischievous past to buddy up with Agent Mobius in a bid to fix the McTimeWotsit. This makes for more zingtastic back-and-forth between Hiddleston and Wilson, but it robs the show of emotional heft. And with Loki proving ever less of a bad cop to Mobius’s good cop, there’s less edge to that sparkling comic chemistry too.

Nonetheless, the performances are as excellent as ever. Hiddleston is fantastic in every mode, from debonair to monstrous or ashen after a brutal insult from Sylvie. Di Martino is a bubbling pot of empathy, eyes constantly dewy with sadness, when she’s not spilling over into murderous rage. Wunmi Mosaku’s reprisal of her role as a TVA agent is ineffably intense – from taking down fugitives while wearing a tangerine ballgown to subjecting goofy colleagues to a Paddington-esque hard stare. And Owen Wilson is … Owen Wilson: a twinkle in the eye in human form.

When it spreads its wings, Loki’s second season manages to have plenty of fun. By episode two it feels like a time-travel thriller, with Loki and Mobius being shot into period-specific missions. There’s a retro spy caper in 70s London, our heroes suiting up like extras in Gangs of New York for a hot pursuit through 19th-century Chicago and an attempt to track down Sylvie in a 1980s McDonald’s in which romantic tension simmers over retro cash registers. The design is spectacular throughout, particularly the gloriously stylised TVA building in which every computer monitor looks like a microwave’s great grandparent, corridors are lined with tarnished aquamarine filing cabinets and even their IT guy (played by Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Ke Huy Quan) is dressed in a Ghostbusters-esque boiler suit that drips with vintage cool.

A few episodes in, things are settling into an enjoyable enough – if not tremendously exciting – groove. Then there is a gigantic cliffhanger that upends the narrative, wrongfoots the viewer and blows the show wide open. The final two instalments aren’t available for preview, so it is hard to say whether this will kickstart the show into scaling the heights of its first season. But either way, one thing is certain: this is easily the best Marvel TV series in years – for all that’s worth.