#but the other three I'd at least had the name and face connected in my head

[st-just]

I was today years also when I learned what the third dude you can get in your party in BG3 actually looked like.

[rxmqnova]

Hello there!

Can you write one with Wanda x Reader, like they are together for i don't know, seven or eight months, yn is russian and practically lived her whole life in there but two years ago her parents had to move for work.

So they are in college, they knew each other in there, and then a new student came to their class, Nat.

Yn introduced herself and her girlfriend, and when Nat told her that she is russian, they inmediately became friends, the country was a connection for both of them, they missed it a lot.

Wanda was happy for Yn, because she saw the way she talked about it with Nat, but sometimes she thought Yn was happy with Nat, not because they are for the same country, she was a bit jealous, not that Yn gave her motives for that, she always respect Wanda. When the three of them went to have lunch, Wanda didn't want to go, even when yn tried to talk to her in the conversations they have, she felt out of place, she never went there, she didn't understand the things they were saying. So when they finished, they said their goodbyes to Nat and went to their room, yn felt something was wrong and then Wanda talk to her about what was bothering her and Yn reassure her that she only saw her life with her, told her about she introduced Nat to a friend of her, Maria, she doesn't have to worry about it. (You know, a little love speech) and she gave her a promise ring she supposed to give it to her in their first year anniversary.

The right one

Y/N: 20 years old ——————————————————

NO ONE'S POV It's another school day and Y/N with her girlfriend only just stepped into the classroom. As usual, they sit down at their desks and start planning what will they do after their lessons.

"Hey, hm. Sorry to interrupt. Is this seat free?" A redheaded girl approaches the pair, making both, Wanda and Y/N, look up at her.

"Yeah. It's free" Y/N speaks first, the russian accent still hearable in her voice as she's been living in New York for only 2 years. "Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you yet?"

"Oh yeah. I switched classes. I'm Natasha, by the way" Natasha smiles at the pair with hope to find new friends.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Y/N. This is my girlfriend Wanda" Y/N smiles warmly introducing both of them to the new girl.

"Hey" Wanda smiles too, giving Natasha a small wave.

"Natasha… that's a typical russian name" Y/N tells, smiling at the thought of her hometown.

"Yeah, well. I'm Russian, so" Natasha shrugs, making Y/N gasp immediately.

"No way! Me too! I only just moved here about 2 years ago" Y/N squeals happily.

"Wait. Like actually? I'm here for a bit longer, but this is really cool. Did you move here for college?" Natasha asks, continuing the conversation while Wanda just watches them, happy for her girlfriend that she has someone to talk to about her hometown.

"Nope, my parents had to move here for work, but it's really nice here. And I ran into Wanda, so that's a big plus" Y/N says, interlocking her fingers with Wanda under the table which makes the brunette smile even more.

"That's sweet, how long are you together, guys?" Natasha asks, switching her gaze to Wanda to involve her into the conversation.

"About 8 months now" Wanda answers, her smile never leaving her face.

———

That's how Natasha and Y/N became best friends. The two constantly talk about their lives in Russia which makes Wanda really happy. She loves the way Y/N's eyes always shine when she talks about her hometown with Natasha, though she feels a bit left out lately.

"Do we really have to go, Y/N/N? I'd much rather stay home with you" Wanda sighs, holding her girlfriend's hand and trying to get her to stay home tonight.

"Wands, we promised it to Natasha. She's already waiting for us. We can't just cancel it" Y/N sighs too, rubbing her thumb over Wanda's knuckles.

"Can we at least go home earlier? We haven't really been together lately and I really want to spend some time with you… alone" Wanda gives in, knowing there's no chance Y/N would stay home with her tonight.

"Sure" Y/N smiles, leaning in to kiss her girlfriend's lips. "Come on now, we're already late and I'm hungry" She says, dragging her girlfriend away.

The pair meets with Natasha in front of the restaurant which luckily isn't that far away from Wanda and Y/N's apartment, so Natasha didn't have to wait for long.

As always, Y/N greets her friend with a warm hug on which Wanda can't help but feel a little jealous. She knows Y/N would never cheat on her, but the feeling of jealousy is just there. Especially when Y/N gets so lost in a conversation with Nat and Wanda's just sitting there and listening.

This time Y/N noticed Wanda's discomfort though, just when they sat down at the table. Y/N listens to Nat carefully, trying to find an opportunity to involve Wanda in the conversation.

"Well, and then Yelena-"

"Yelena? That's your younger sister, right?" Y/N jumps in, earning a nod from the redhead. "Cool. I'm an only child, but Wanda has a twin brother" She says, looking at her girlfriend and hoping she'd say something.

"Wait, really?" Natasha asks surprised.

"Mhm. Pietro" Wanda smiles at the thought of her brother.

Unfortunately, that's all what Wanda said, so Natasha got back to her story. Y/N tries again and again, hoping her girlfriend would eventually join, but that just never happens.

It's not like Wanda wouldn't want to, but the brunette has no idea about the things the girls are talking about. Of course Y/N told her a lot from her life, but she still can't really imagine what's Russia really like when she's never been there herself.

After a few more failed attempts of trying to involve Wanda in the conversation, the pair says goodbye to Natasha and go back to their apartment.

As soon as the door of the apartment shuts, Y/N decides to break the uncomfortable silence that's been with them ever since they left the restaurant.

"Are you okay? Is anything wrong?" Y/N asks, looking at her girlfriend with worry in her eyes.

"… I just… You and Nat seem to have such a great connection and I just… I always feel a bit left out and I'm scared that one day you'll realize that I'm not the right one for you. I mean… you and Natasha just seem to be a perfect match and I always just sit there and watch you" Wanda admits, her eyes filled with tears by now.

"What? No. Wands, of course you're the right one for me. I love you… I love you so damn much and I couldn't imagine my life without you. Natasha is just a friend and we might seem as a perfect match, but that's just because we both miss our hometown and love talking about it. We're completely different people, but you and I… we are the perfect match, Wanda" Y/N smiles softly, taking Wanda's hand in hers and rubbing her thumb over Wanda's knuckles as tears are quietly running down Wanda's cheeks.

"Really?" Wanda asks quietly, a small smile formed on her face from Y/N's last words.

"Really. Do you know Maria? Maria Hill from the other class?" Y/N asks, earning a nod and a confused look from her girlfriend. "Well, I kinda introduced her to Natasha and the two actually seem to get along really well. Natasha even told me she liked her, so you really have nothing to worry about. My heart belongs only to you" The girl smiles, making Wanda chuckle a bit at how cheesy that sounded.

Y/N suddenly drops Wanda's hands, rushing to the bedroom to take something and then quicky rushing back.

"And to prove you I'm really serious about us, I have here something for you. My original plan was to give it to you for our first year anniversary, but I think this is the right opportunity" Y/N smiles, opening the little black box she's been holding. "This is a promise ring. There's no one else I would love to spend the rest of my love with than you, Wands. I'll change it for a real engagement ring one day. I love you so much, Wanda Maximoff"

The ring is now on Wanda's finger and the brunette can't help herself but immediately hug her girlfriend tightly, pulling her in for a kiss right after.

"I love you too, Y/N Y/L/N"

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

Wanda Maximoff masterlist

Masterlist

[kromeihl]

hi Mei!! I love your stories, I have a request for you.😭 Can you do an angst to fluff bully to liver with crush and reader. But the crush is a male😭😭 please and thank you 🙌

˚ ༘♡ ·˚꒰ Bittersweet ꒱ ₊˚ˑ༄

⇢ ˗ˏˋ CRUSH X FEMALE!READER ࿐ྂ

WARNING(s): Mentions of bullying, blood, cursing, embarrassing moments

I LOVE BULLY AND BULLIED TO LOVERS TROUPE! I know it's sooo cliche but hey, it's adorable and the tension– I love it 😍 Thank you so much for loving my stories 🫶🏽 So sorry that this is VERY delayed, I just got back to writing and this will be the first I will write. 😽

"Again?!" I angrily slammed my fists on my desk, the teacher quickly shushing me.

"[Name], don't you dare slam your fist on the table! What if it breaks? Is it your property?" The teacher says angrily, placing the ruler she used to point on the whiteboard, on the table.

"Sorry, teacher. It's just that SOMEONE wrote some shit about me on a piece of crampled paper!" I said, glaring at the person seated behind me.

The teacher slams her fist on the whiteboard, angrily. "[Name]! You are not allowed to cuss in my class, and even talk back to me." She furrows her eyebrows.

"Detention, after school, for TWO hours." She grabs the ruler and points it at the male behind me. "You too mister, THREE hours for you!"

He rolls his eyes, "Ma'am, are you even allowed to extend detention? Isn't it only allowed for an hour?" He talks back, crossing his arms. I glared at him, his eyes connecting with mine.

He gets the hint that, that was a look of 'Please shut up, you're making things worst.' but he shrugs it off, ugh, the nerve of this guy!

"You want to make it overnight, Mr. [Crush's Last Name]?" The teacher bites her inner cheek, an act to try and stop her anger overflow.

He simply ignores the teacher as she tries to calm down. "Please be seated, [Name]. Do not disturb my class ever again."

I angrily sat down, reading the paper again. Yeah, okay, he may be annoying but him just simply writing down random words in paper makes me feel cared for. Just kidding (not really).

'Red is red, blue is blue, you got some red shit on you.' I furrowed my brows, slowly turning to look behind me. He slowly looks up at me.

God, he sure is a bitch but an insanely hot one— I shook the train of thoughts off my head and showed him the paper, pointing at it.

"What do you mean by this nonesense?" I whispered, yeah, if it was any other day I would ignore it because he would write things like 'You're looking mad ugly today.' or 'I hope a dog bites your shoe off.' But this one was new.

He looks at me up and down, he stares at my skirt, making me crample the paper again and throw it at his face. He grunts, rubbing his eye. "Ouch!" He says quietly.

"Why are you staring at me like that?!" I say angrily, as quiet as I could. "I think you're on your red day." He shrugs. I felt my heart drop. No way, no fu—

I quickly look through my bag, but I remembered that my last pad was given to my friend last week. Shoot, I forgot to get some more at home.

I could hear him laughing at the back, "Pfftt, looks like someone got their ketchup spilled." He says slightly loud, earning small giggles from the class.

I could feel hot tears form in my eyes, I raised my hand and excused myself from the class, trying to hide the red stain from behind my skirt.

I ran to the bathroom and luckily no one was there, I felt the hot tears drip from my eyes, to my cheeks, to my chin. I continued to weep like a baby and sat on the counter, trying to open the faucet but it was broken.

I looked around to find at least tissues or anything, but none was present. I stayed there for a few moments, and the bell finally rang. I still had detention so I sat there for a few minutes, I'd probably be alone in the room so—

I heard a knock on the door. That's confusing, why do they have to knock? The door isn't locked. I slowly opened the door and saw the devil himself in front of me. "What the heck are you doing here? Wrong bathroom!" I was about to close the door but his strong hand stopped it.

"This is the bathroom where the girl on her period is at, right?" He says sarcastically. He gave you a pad, staying silent. "I went out after you did. I got out of school to buy you this. Sorry for saying it out loud in class."

You stay quiet, getting the pad from his hand as you nod. "I'll be quick." A few minutes pass and you take longer than expected. You sat on the closed toilet seat and questioned his nice acts.

Yeah he is the worst person you've met but also the best. He may be attractive but his nice acts make him look more than what he looks like..

I get out of the bathroom, surprisingly but also not surprisingly, he wasn't there anymore.

I remembered the red stain on my skirt, leaning against the wall to hide it as I slowly walk sideways to the classroom. Someone poked my side from beside me, and I let out a yelp.

"Jeez! [Crush's Name] what the hell are you doing?!" He held a plastic bag with drinks and a cloth inside, I couldn't really tell what it was. He hands me the plastic bag he was holding and I took it hesistantly.

He's being way too nice today. "Why are you being sweet?" I blurted out. He stood there silently for a few seconds, making my hands sweat.

I look up at him, he really does look handsome, even more up close. He's always been a cruel person, but I could see that it was only towards me.. Does he have some type of grudge against me?

"[Crush's Name].." I start, my heart pouding. "Did I do something that made you dislike me...at one point?" I continued, looking up at him in embarrassment. There's no way I'm asking him stuff like this.

"No." He says, what an answer. "Then why do you always treat me like I did something bad to you then? Do you just hate me for no reason?"

I could tell that he was about to burst out, he started biting his lip roughly but after he sighed. "Well, fu— I'm.. I like you." He whispered the last part.

My heart dropped at his words. "W– Huh?" I blinked a few times, I could see that his cheeks were turning red from embarrassment.

"God, hurry up and stop talking. I bought you a new skirt, got some refreshing drinks too. Go change, we're late for detention!" He says while walking off, he didn't dare to turn back.

A small smile plastered on my face.

"What a gentleman."

[msmcnevertweet]

GHOULBOYS - Where ghosts are real, or not I guess.

GHOULBOYS is a one-shot horror/comedy TTRPG for 3 players. It's about amateur paranormal investigators hunting for ghosts in supposedly haunted locales, interpreting evidence and bullshitting with their friends. I made this one! I love ghost things! Let's talk about them! But first...

Will we finally answer the question... are ghosts real?

Inspired by shows and games like Ghost Files, Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural, Phasmophobia and Most Haunted, you'll play as one of three classes:

The BELIEVER, trying to uncover evidence that the paranormal is real, and detail the nature of the supposed haunting.

The SCEPTIC, who believes that everything has a reasonable explanation, and the idea of ghosts is kinda funny. 

The PRODUCER, who’s recording this whole thing, and looking out for what the other two might miss.

It's a GMless game where you and your two friends fuck around in abandoned buildings with spirit boxes, motion sensors, and turn the gain up on your microphone incredibly loudly to hear what might, maybe have someone saying half a word.

If that sounds cool, it's $5 until the end of the month!

My friends it is time to peer closely at a blurry photo

YES IT'S TIME FOR MORE SELF INDULGENCE BELOW THE CUT.

(Potential) Spoilers for: Ghostwatch and The Blair Witch Project.

Bro bro bro did you see that bro BRO

When I was a teen posessed by the grim specter of an idea known as "Thinking I was a guy", I used to get very stoned and sit in cars with my friends and drive around at night. Being stoned with The Lads was a good way of pretending I wasn't possessed, I guess.

One time we drove to a supposedly haunted stretch of road; the story was that a woman who lived nearby had gone out onto the road late at night and been hit by a car and killed. If you drove along that road at the time of her death, you might see her, wearing the nightgown she died in.

After about an hour of driving up and down the road, we were about to give up. The driver swung into a driveway to turn the car around, and out of the pitch blackness, I saw it. White, twisted, grasping. It was just a flash, but I know what I saw. I screamed, my friends screamed, the tires of the car screamed as they span griplessly on the tarmac for that endless split second before it pulled away.

Yes of course it was a fucking tree. But for at least 5 minutes, we all believed I'd seen her. As plain as day, a dead woman in a nightgown had grasped at me on the other side of the windscreen through the darkness. The real fear lasted seconds. The adrenaline lasted a few minutes. The laughs lasted for a while afterwards.

I don't believe in ghosts. But the idea of them has the power to make us conjure them. We stare at the fuzzy frozen frame of video and think we can see a form, a face. We listen to the overpowering static hum of a shotgun mic pointed into a hallway and swear we hear a voice. We peer into the darkness, and our brains connect the dots we've decided are there. We want to be scared, especially when we can laugh about it afterwards.

It's just the Pipes

If you know the Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast, Ghostwatch pulls a similar trick. It's 1992, you've sat down to watch a live TV show doing a "scientific investigation" into a haunted suburban home with Big Name TV News Guy Michael Parkinson, Big Name TV "Robot Wars" Guy Craig Charles, and a bunch of other Big Name TV people I don't really know.

The house is supposedly possessed by a malevolent evil spirit who the homeowners kids call Pipes. They hear banging noises at night, their mom tells them "It's just the pipes." Watch along at home, phone in using the number on your screens with your ghost stories, and you know, just in case you maybe see anything on the footage that we might miss.

It's staged, of course, and staged incredibly. It's very fucking creepy. Kitchy, mundane 90's TV gives way slowly to creeping dread that never seems to stop creeping, eventually arriving at a terminus of full on Blair Witch surrealness. It drew so many complaints from people whose children were turned to traumatised wrecks that it was banned from being broadcast for 10 years.

Probably because the newscaster they saw on TV every day turned, in the course of about half an hour, from this

To this

There's not really many clips on youtube but trust me, it's good. It's slow. Give it a chance, you should watch it.

Josh? Is that you down there?

There's so many jokes about The Blair Witch Project, but that's not because it's bad. I mean, it IS kind of bad, and that's the point. Heather, Josh and Mike are just amateur film makers making a documentary on a shoestring budget, about the mystery of the Blair Witch, the details of which matter little to what happens next. The jokes are attempts by people trying to break the hold the film has on them. But it holds on tight.

It works so well because it's so sparse. The minimal, natural sets, the handheld footage, the we're-not-even-really-acting-I'm-actually-kinda-just-creeped-out performances. The characters talk like convincingly kinda shitty people, deal with getting lost like real people, argue like convincingly scared people. It explains nothing about the greater mystery, cares not for any attempt to make sense of what's going on, all it wants to do is slowly drag you to it's stark, screaming conclusion.

Like many successful horror films, it got a bunch of sequels which I've not seen, and don't care to. It doesn't need them.

Ok but what about real ghosts

There's something about a weird dollar store Trent Reznor and his bros crawling around a tourist spot that makes Ghost Adventures so fun to watch. Trant Reznot is out here shouting at ghosts with his whole chest like "I HEARD YOU DON'T LIKE BIG LIGHTS SHINING IN YOUR FACE HUH", and it's great. When the often questionable "activity" occurs, it's rarely actually spooky in any way, but the deadly serious way with which they describe the mote of light (read: dust particle) moving across the footage that it's endearing.

These shows (Most Haunted, 28 Days Haunted, et al) tend towards having a pseudo "intellectual" angle. Ghost Adventures doesn't care, it's listening to Tool in it's car outside the high school, passing you a joint and saying "Isn't it fucked up that people die, but like, aren't gone, man?" I can't tell if it doesn't take itself too seriously, or if it just doesn't really know how to be serious, but it's good.

Hey there demons, it's me... ya boi

I watched so much god damn Buzzfeed Unsolved through Covid. I watched it until the early hours of the morning, until I'd successfully creeped myself out to the point where I had to run from the living room to the bedroom in the dark to avoid the Texarkana Phantom Killer that my brain had successfully materialised just behind the back of my head.

Somehow Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural - it's sister show focused on.. well, supernatural stuff, and it's successor Ghost Files manages to be both scary, whilst also simultaneously very stupid and funny.

Both Shane and Ryan are always ready to be scared, but they're also both ready to laugh. They have a very endearing camaraderie too, like two kids in class trying to get the each other told off by the teacher, and despite the semi serious presentation, unlike Ghost Adventures they're not precious about trying to make sure you're scared. It invites you laugh and be afraid in equal measure, and it feels natural, especially in the early episodes. If Ryan is freaking out about the Waverly Hills Hospital body chute, it's because.. well.. watch the video? I would absolutely not go down there.

This tension between laughing and screaming drives the show. The balance between spooky-funny and spooky-scary is a delicate one. Ryan and Shane are great at knowing when to tip that balance, one way or the other.

It's easily the single biggest influence on Ghoulboys (I mean, of course it is?) because of this. When playing, you're always caught in this in-between moment that the Ghoulboys themselves do so well. Waiting for something to fall over, the spirit box to speak, the SLS scanner to show a fleeting figure. Whether it's scary or silly, your brain is waiting for it, ready to draw the shapes of ghosts we want to see.

Thank you for coming to my Ghost TED Talk

Man ghost stuff is so good, real or fake. I just wanted to make a funny game that occasionally made you raise your eyebrows and look at each other like "Oh, shit..." and had lots of stupid ghost hunting equipment, and I think it worked out. Thanks for reading.

Again, if you want to check out Ghoulboys, it's $5 until the end of the month. Take a look! There's a video of me and some friends playing it!

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3)

An embarrassment, frankly.

After playing Forces and actually liking it, I figured I'd give a chance to the franchise's biggest punching bag. Turns out that in this case, I agree with the popular consensus: Sonic 06 is broken and unfinished, with a messy story, bad controls, and crippling performance issues. I've heard it described as entertainingly bad, but I just can't go along that far; I had a miserable time with this game. Let's get into it, shall we?

Although I'm still not ready for my Sonic doctorate, I'm progressing well in my studies. I've played enough of Adventure to pick up that Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is trying to be Adventure 3 in all but name (and speaking of the name, this game is not to be confused with the Mega Drive game, or the Master System game, or any of the handhelds or animated shows or comics or movies of the same name... the title is the first of many stupid decisions in Sonic 06). A big group of playable characters, more open levels than what would come later, exploration of hub areas, and a heavy focus on story and cutscenes with interweaving plot threads. It's fine in theory, it's just that every individual piece breaks down in various ways. As opposed to previous Adventure games, there are just three main stories (Sonic, Shadow, and new character Silver who is basically just Dragonball's Trunks) with the other hangers-on popping up only temporarily within certain levels.

Sonic's story, such as it is, revolves around Elise, a filler character who is a gormless and feckless human princess and frequent damsel in distress; she gets kidnapped out of nowhere at least five times and dies in a plane crash once, necessitating time travel-based rescuing. Elise’s role in the story when she’s not being kidnapped is alternately mooning, pining, emotional outbursts, and having a tragic backstory. Also, on several occasions Sonic the Hedgehog literally tells her she should smile more. Textbook misogyny, WTF. On top of this is the uncomfortable subplot about a potential romantic connection between her and Sonic, which always fails to feel earned or appropriate. The one saving grace of the character is the mildly amusing idea that her design is loosely based on the chicken animal that you free from badniks in the early games.

I know it sounds harsh but Elise almost single-handedly drags down the whole "story" aspect of this game. After progressing Sonic's mode you unlock the others and theirs almost feel like real plots, centering around stopping Iblis—the mindless beast of fire who ruined Silver's future—and Mephiles—a scheming creature of shadow—before they reunite. Even these stories don't really hold together though with their disjointed plotting, time-hopping, and contrived interactions. Not to mention the utter humourlessness, and the sheer awkwardness of everything from writing to line-readings to mocapped movements. The fact that it's seemingly incompatible with Blaze's backstory in Rush was annoying to me personally, and ending the story with a closed time loop "it never happened" resolution is just the icing on the rotten cake.

I must also mention another decision made in Sonic 06: why game look like that? It falls into the trap of early HD striving-for-realism and falling far short, but it also feels unfitting for Sonic. After all, the hedgehog himself and his anthro friends are as cartoony as ever (almost expressionless faces notwithstanding), so putting them next to the human-looking humans really jars, especially the redesigned Eggman. And speaking of, his robot army is at its most militaristic and entirely whimsy-free... just another in a long line of missteps for ol' 06.

Now all this could be swallowed if the game was fun to play. You should be able to predict that indeed it isn't. Sonic's playstyle is the stinkiest of the lot, particularly the autoscrolling running sections that feel barely functional and were the biggest cause of lost lives (I did not appreciate starting over a ten-minute level due to these abominable segments). His moveset is simple, just a homing attack and not much else, and without a targeting reticle it's unpredictable. He has some sloppily implemented extra powers that are unlocked in a shop; hilariously they're supposed to drain your special bar but due to some error they just don't, so you can use them infinitely for what that's worth.

Shadow is similar, with a combo attack and ranged stunning bolts, but also has a lot of vehicle sections which while awkward are playable enough; meanwhile Silver plays like an entirely different game. His psychokinetic powers let him pick up and throw enemy projectiles and physics objects. It's janky but his slower-paced, almost puzzley levels felt ever so slightly less like the game was constantly falling apart at the seams. There's 9 playable characters in total and none of their abilities work very well; among the others Knuckles and Rouge were pretty fun with their gliding and climbing completely breaking level design, while Blaze (another big reason I wanted to try this game, an opportunity to play as my favourite character in 3D) has a fun moveset with a double jump and a homing attack that actually keeps momentum and flings you around. Like everything in the game it's slippery and totally jank but in a way that actually feels fun sometimes.

I even sprung for the "Team Attack Amigo" DLC (now only available on PS3!) which remixes the levels for play as Tails, Blaze, and Omega (aka projectile spam bot). I should say that each campaign takes you through the same nine levels, sometimes making them new, sometimes reusing whole segments which gets old. The lowest point of the low are the boss fights, another area where the phrase "barely functional" comes to mind. These are tedious to the extreme with a lot of waiting, and several of them recur in each campaign. The worst is fighting Silver, who can instantly grab you psychically and hold you for a long pause before throwing you, and then catch you again as you recover with no chance to make any input. Wonderful!

The elephant in the room for Sonic 06 is its performance. I guess being rushed to release in an unfinished state actually has its downsides, which take the form of horrendous slowdown throughout the entire game experience. Having seemingly almost any number of objects or any amount of level geometry on screen starts making the game chug, the action not dropping frames but rather slowing to a crawl as you agonisingly float mid-jump waiting for your next input to register. And this is despite having pretty severe pop-in not too far away from your character. For what's supposed to be a fast-paced action game it's frankly unforgivable. And speaking of things that you wish ran faster, the loading screens are interminable not just for their length but their frequency: deign to do a side mission and you'll sit through a long load both before and after a character gives a tiny snippet of dialogue until you're allowed to try it, and if you fail then get ready to do it all again! They really add up!

I could go on: the camera is atrocious, the music is forgettable, Elise is incredibly cringe-inducing—oh wait, I covered that already. To be fair there is one bright shining spot and it's from my new old friend Tomoya Ohtani: the main theme His World stands among my favourites from Forces, a strong melody that mixes rock and orchestral with even some rap and makes it work! Watching the credits four times may have been the most pleasant part and it's all thanks to this song. So that's my big takeaway from Sonic 06: the rumours are true, it sucks big time, don't play it unless you're a real loser like me who doesn't value their time, it's a monument to Sega's staggering incompetence, but hey this one song is really good, maybe give it a listen!

[thequeenopower]

Unplanned ; Sapnap

I don't even remember the night, never mind where I met him. But he was cute, kind of awkward, but cute. He was forward even though he seemed shy around girls. So I went home with him, it didn't seem like he knew what he was doing, but once he figured it out he was great at it. But then it ended and I snuck out before the birds began to sing.

And two months later came two lines.

I didn't expect it, I was half expecting some sort of STD but definitely not a baby. And the worst part was, I didn't have any way to contact him. I gave him a fake number and the goddamn state of Florida is so huge that I have a better chance of finding him in outer space.

I tried planning an abortion appointment but since I've never done it before, I was too far along to get the thing out so know I had two other options;

Keep it and live with it, or, give it up.

Now I was planning on giving it up, I was never fit to be a mother. I was still in college with a shitty job. I couldn't support myself, never mind a child. But there's something people never talk about when going through with giving a child up, its the connection you make with the baby growing inside you. Now I never believed I'd make a connection with it, but the second I saw his face on the ultrasound, I fell in love.

I became a better person for him, and because of him. I quit my job and worked my ass off to try to graduate sooner, which didn't quite work out. But, I was able to get a good job at a high up corporation doing their finances while continuing school part time. I was also able to get an apartment and split rent with a friend.

Then when 34 weeks came along, so did the baby.

What had happened was I was on a flight from Florida to California for a family vacation and then went into labor on the plane. They landed somewhere in Texas where I soon had my baby, Benjamin Michael l/n.

That was nine months ago, and two months ago I re-discovered his father.

~~ two months prior

"Hey, y/n! Whatcha doin'?" Ashley announces her presence which scares Benji.

"Not much. Just changing baby butts," I shake a diaper on Benji's face, it itches his nose a little which makes him giggle.

"Could I use your TV in here to watch a streamer?" I nod, knowing she only wants to use this TV so she could spend time with Benji before her trip.

The three of us got comfy on my bed as she started up the stream called, "FORTNITE TOURNY WITH PUNZ AND KARL". By someone named Sapnap. It's an odd name for a stream but maybe it was normal. I never normally had time to watch stuff anymore, if I did it was either TV shows, movies, or Markiplier, cause who wouldn't want to watch Markiplier.

The stream turns on and it's immediately on the lobby menu of Fortnite, a man in the top left corner goes on for some time talking about god knows what. For some odd reason, the stream stayed on for about 2 hours. Though I wasn't paying attention as I was doing my own thing, like school work and checking up on Benji and Ashley. It wasn't until I was done with my work that I finally laid on the bed and paid attention to the TV. The man on the screen looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. It wasn't till I heard him speak that I realized who it was.

"Nick?" Ashley looked at me confused before her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.

"No way. It can't be." I nodded as I was entranced by the man laughing and playing with a ball on the screen.

"You have to contact him and tell him! His name on Insta-"

"No, I couldn't do that to him. It's best if we just leave it at this. It'd ruin him and his career." My eyes were teary as I had finally come to terms with Benji not growing up with a father.

~~ present day <3

You had taken a trip to TwitchCon with Ashley's little sister Jenny. Ashley couldn't make it since she had an art contest at her school to be in. Though she wanted to still be able to give art to her favorite creators so she paid for Jenny and me to go. It was very hard to handle two other people but at least Jenny was 14 and was able to take care of herself when I wasn't able to.

Jenny was going to be wearing costumes for the days we were there for and the first day she was dressing up as someone called 'Dream'. So I decided she couldn't have all the fun and dressed up as a Minecraft creeper, which was three sizes too small, and Benji dressed as a Minecraft panda. It was a regular panda suit but I put a Minecraft panda head as the hood and made it so it could stay on his head.

We walked around outside for a bit before the building opened. We took some photos of people who asked, Benji getting complimented every two seconds. He would just smile and kick his feet since I was baby wearing him. Then it was time for us to go in and we got straight into line for someone, I never checked the name. It was about an hour-long wait, but it wasn't bad as Benji was mostly quiet. He did get fidgety at times which is when I would take him out and let him stand or be held by Jenny.

Finally we made it to the front of the line and Jenny was getting excited.

"He's one of Ashley and mine's favorite streamers. You have the stuff to show him right?" I nod and turn my back a little so she can take out the items from my bag.

"Hello," The man greets as Jenny excitedly walks toward him.

She gives him the pictures which he accepts and thanks. I then take a picture of the two of them. He goes wide eyed as he looks at me, as if he knew me.

"Hey, uh, cute baby." He replies. He seems unsure of what to say and kind of awkwardly stands there.

A couple seconds passed as I thanked him for the compliment. We're then told we have to move along which lets us go into the next line.

As we stand in line I try to remember who the man was. The person floats in my mind a little, it's fuzzy and only there for a few seconds at a time, like clips of a movie.

"Hey, what was that guys name that we just met?"

"His name is Sapnap."

~~

I couldn't get him out of my head for the rest of the day. It was like he was stuck there and I had no intention of getting him out. He knew, he had to of. If he didn't, then why did he stand there like a fish out of water when he saw me. I knew he didn't know Benji, but he most certainly knew me.

Jenny and I sat in our chairs at the panel, the creators sitting above us all waiting to be asked questions. Jenny asked me to go up and ask a question for her and to ask them if they had seen a certain art by her which she had accidentally posted on my account.

"Hello, I'm y/n, this is Benji," I wave his hand for him which got people to aw.

"My friend has a couple of questions, if you don't mind me asking two." They sat in silence waiting for me to ask. Sapnap whispered to a boy beside him which made the boys eyes go wide and look at me bewildered.

"So one, what's your favorite Minecraft animal slash mob?" They all answered with their respective answers, Sapnap's animal being a panda.

"And second, my friend wants you guys to check out a piece of art she created but accidentally posted on my account. Is it alright if I tell you the user so you could check it out?" The blonde one all the way to the right nodded and took out his phone.

I told him my account and he replied back with his reaction to it which got some others to ask to be shown it. As I sat down, the man's phone was being passed down the line of people. It stopped at Sapnap as he took out his phone to most likely copy the user to also like the photo.

The panel continued on for another couple hours until it finally finished. Jenny begged me to stay a little longer and go outside to meet some people we couldn't before.

I waited off to the side as she took photos and just played with Benji outside of his carrier. It wasn't long until we were interrupted by someone tapping my shoulder.

"Hey, y/n, right?" I turn towards the voice and see Nick. I nod and he smiles leaning against the wall with me.

"So we finally meet again, at last." I chuckle and see Benji looking at Nick with his big green eyes.

"How old is your son?" He looks puzzled, like he knows something but just wants the last piece to be sure.

"He's going to be nine months soon." He looks at me. Does he know? Surely not.

"Is he- is he mine?" His voice is low, like a scared kid.

I nod, not really knowing what to say. A tense air blankets us and there's nothing else said between us. It took minutes, a couple of photos that he took with fans, before he finally asked a question.

"Could I hold him?" I stare at him blankly, not knowing what exactly to do. Finally, I slowly started to move Benji towards him. He holds him under his armpits, far away from him like the second they'd touch they'd explode. I push them together which gets Benji to laugh and clutch onto Nick.

Nick smiles, realizing that this is probably the best feeling in the world. He fell in love that day, not with the woman standing next to him, but his son that was in his hands. From that day onward, he vowed to take care of them both. He put their needs before his and eventually stopped streaming for some time to fix the relationship between the three of them. After a while, he got back into streaming and showed off his newly wedded wife, who was pregnant once more, and his son, whom he explained he loved more than anything in this world, and outer space.

ill be honest, the time line is a little messed up but fuck me it was hard to find things that sewed everything together perfectly. please just go with it, im tired lol.

[fishnapple]

If you're comfortable with it, can you possibly answer all/some of these for your Ask Game? 🐦‍🔥 🔑 🌟 🦜 ⚡️🦅 (NGL, some of these are things I can relate to, for better and worse! 😂)

Hi, Hope you're doing well 🌼

Thank you for the questions. I would love to hear your take on these too.

🔑 What’s something you’ve learned about yourself in the past year?

That's I'm weak and some wounds might never go away completely, but I'm okay with it. The human heart is a resilient thing 🫀

Another one is that I have the capability to let go of something that previously I thought I would never be able to do so myself, unless some outside events forced me to do it.

🌟 If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

I'd say keep on going, the future is always better. One piece of advice I really wanted to tell my younger self is don't seek approval from people, even those close to you. They might not really want to hinder or restrict you, but everyone is different. Some can't see or accept a different point of view. Their rejection doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

🦜 Do you suffer from imposter syndrome and how do you deal with it?

I do, all the time 🫠. I have had self-confidence issues since I was a child. External validations couldn't elevate it because I'm the one being hard on myself. I figured out that this issue goes hand in hand with a feeling of self-importance, an expectation, that I should be someone doing something important, that I should always be able to keep up the "good position" that I'm in, but the fact is I'm just a normal, average person. It's fine to be an ordinary person.

The way I deal with it is to be confident in knowing that whatever I do, no matter how good I am at it, I would still feel that imposter syndrome, so I just do it anyway, in the best way I can, no matter how I feel about it inside. A part of myself can just sit in the corner and worry while another part just does whatever it wants 😂. The result always turns out better than I thought. And if someday people do find out that I'm disappointing just like I dreaded then I just have to do better then.

🐦‍🔥 What’s a belief you once held that you no longer do?

That's friendships can last forever, once you're friends, you stay friends forever. When I was a teen, I really believed that. But this belief created laziness, I didn't realise how much effort was needed to maintain a connection. And people change, drift apart, and finally fade from each other's lives.

🦅 What does personal growth mean to you, and how do you pursue it?

For me, personal growth means the increase of self-awareness. The assumption that I know myself completely is a false one. The best way to know myself is to observe myself in different situations and environments. And journaling, lots of journaling.

I find the names of The Southern Reach Trilogy's 3 novels by Jeff VanderMeer are really fitting for the journey of self-awareness. (Brilliant novels btw, the writing is phenomenal)

Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance

Those three states, annihilation of the old and false self, authority over the self, acceptance of the self.

⚡️How do you honor your boundaries?

I state them clearly, seriously. If they are violated, I will remove myself from the situation or the people who caused it. Or at least avoid them as much as possible. Having a calm and serious attitude is usually enough for people around me to respect my boundaries. Basically this is my face 😐. The more triggered you act, the more likely they want to advance further into your boundaries.

🪷

Get to know your Tarot readet - ask game

[acidh2otoby]

Agent Kennedy, Part 7

Leon Kennedy x Male!Reader

Takes place during Chris' second chapter in re6

Warnings: Violence

Part 6 > Agent Kennedy, Part 6

I've said this already a lot but this is a slow burn part. Again, you don't have to read into these 100% but I'd appreciate if you at least looked at them for future reference

Alpha Team was clearing the area in front of the City Hall. It was quiet, which was incredibly alarming.

"Sherry Birkin - National Security!" A woman's voice called out. Sherry was walking through the street showing her badge to the soldiers.

Chris walked up to her. "Sherry Birkin? You were in Raccoon City."

You looked at Piers in question and he shrugged his shoulders. You looked back at Sherry, who also seemed confused.

"How do you know that?" Sherry asked, putting her badge away.

"Claire." Chris responded, obviously having to make things more difficult than they are.

You remembered Claire mentioning a little girl named Sherry but never got her last name. You didn't think the two were connected at first but now it makes sense.

"Wait... Are you Chris?" Sherry asked, clearly knowing about the older Redfield.

"My sister's told me all about you." Chris said, smiling a little.

"Chris, that man is a wanted insurgent." Piers said, glaring at the man behind Sherry who was leaning against a disserted vehicle.

Sherry glanced back before slightly placing her hands in front of her. "Yes, he's a mercenary. But right now he's under the protection of the U.S. government. He's no threat to the BSAA." Sherry defended, it seemed she had this little speech prepared.

"Unless someone pays me to be." The man muttered but was loud enough for people to hear.

"What did you just say?" Piers threatened, trying to get up in the man's face if you hadn't held him back.

The man didn't say anything, he just turned to look at you three. Chris was staring at him with a funny look, a look that said he knew him in some way.

"What?" The man asked, clearly noticing the look as well.

"Nothing." Chris responded, but something was clearly up.

You were about to pull Chris aside and ask but HQ interrupted your train of thought.

"HQ to Alpha Team. Reinforcements are unable to land due to anti-aircraft artillery. Take 'em out!" The man said, his timing was pretty perfect since after he finished his sentence, the sound of aircrafts and firearms were heard.

"Alpha Team, copy." Chris responded, seeing where a lot of the guns were.

"What the--?! We're picking up a large bogey on radar. It's heading right for you!" HQ reported, causing your blood to run cold.

'Not one of these guys again.' You thought as you glanced at Piers, who looked like he was thinking the same thing.

An aircraft from the J'avo came into view, carrying one of those yeti monsters with it.

"We'll talk later. Right now, you need to find cover." Chris said to Sherry, but she clearly wasn't gonna listen.

The B.O.W. landed and roared before chasing you, Chris, and Piers. Sherry and the man followed you. Echo Team's captain had contacted Chris about the anti-aircraft guns and said that they'd be able to land if we got rid of them.

"Chris! We'll give you a hand!" Sherry said, catching up to Chris a little.

"Out of the question! You need to get to safety!" Chris said, not willing to hear her out.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself, and you need the help!" Sherry replied, Claire definitely had some sort of impression on Sherry when she was younger.

"Christ... My chances of survival were higher when I was a soldier of fortune." The man muttered, you weren't gonna question him but could definitely understand his thought process at the moment.

Finn had found one of the guns and set charges on it while the five of you fought off any J'avos that tried to get in the way. After Finn left to go to the other gun, you five stayed behind to kill the B.O.W.

It didn't take long once Chris and Piers realized that what you did before actually takes away its life faster than just shooting it. It started to slowly become a cycle, Sherry and the man would get it to collapse a little, one of you three would jump on its hand and attack its weak spot. Eventually, it died and all of you moved on to find Finn.

Find the next gun wasn't difficult and it was just starting to look like things were going okay. The J'avos could only attack from one place, Chris and Piers took care of most of them. They kinda left you, Sherry and the man to just stand there and make sure no one came up from the stairs. The gun was destroyed and you all were about to move on, until...

"There's another giant B.O.W. closing in on your location!" Echo warned you through your ear piece.

You turned around and saw the B.O.W. climb over a building to get to you guys.

"It's the one we lost at the Two of Hearts!" Piers said, you questioned how he was able to tell the difference between B.O.W.s that looked basically the same.

"Alpha! Prepare to engage!" Chris ordered through the ear piece.

Chris glanced at all of you guys, silently telling you that you were gonna fight it. When all of you nodded, you bolted out of the building and into another, repeating the cycle you did with the other one. Once it was dead, you went back to the building prior to meet up with Finn.

"Everyone into that underground passage!" Finn called out, seeing as other soldiers were following now as well.

The passage was filled with J'avos but they were pretty easy to take out. Thankfully, no more B.O.W.s came back and Finn was able to destroy the final gun.

"Good work out there, Alpha! Echo Team will be landing shortly." Echo said, you could hear some of the aircrafts coming back.

[kokorowoutsu]

-- RP: @skullboneandunown

skullboneandunown:

Donovan shrugs, thinking back to visiting Xavier's academy for the first time. "Apparently his first name is James? Not entirely sure." He didn't really like him, he was standoffish and a jerk. He smiles as Ashe asks about his oldest friends. "Heh. Yeah. Kris and I knew each other since kindergarten. She chose Cyndaquil when we started our journey. Silver was...troubled as a kid. He actually stole a Pokedex and a Chikorita later the same day Kris and I left New Bark Town. We hated each other at first." "For a few months, he treated his team like tools, and not like living things. It got so bad that during the Team Rocket incident I punched him in the face so hard, I broke his nose. He started getting his act together after that. Also because he got a crush on Kris. By the time I got my 8th badge, he treated his team like a good trainer would." Lui'er gives Lucky a thumbs up before sinking into the wall. He reemerges in the living room behind the chair Donovan is sitting in. "Hhhhhheeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy. Whhhhaaaaatttttssss uuuupppp? It's meeeeeeee!"

Listening to his childhood stories had Leon and Ashe amused and bemused all at once. It seemed connections came easily to some and not so easily to others ( namely Ashe who didn't even remember the names of her bullies, they were just there honestly ). "Well, honestly, i'd break his nose too." Leon gave Ashe a side eye, knowing full well she was a pacifist but... well, the fae in her was strong, that's all he'd not say. Ashe, however, soon jolted at Lui'er's arrival, throwing something at first sight of him at being alarmed.

Leon was quiet for a moment before sighing. "Well, at least he's alive, love. You feared he wasn't." Ashe was still scowling at Lui'er at this point for startling her ( even if not on purpose ). "Asshole! I thought you knew better seeing as you're always hanging around someone's shadow!"

That being said, Kumiko soon let out a trill as the time struck three. "... Ah shit. I promised Kianga we'd be back home by five. Willow's getting used to having a schedule again 'n all." She explains, turning her attention to Donovan. "At some point we'll bring Willow over so you and Flannery can get to know her more. Just... be careful about letting her outside." It was the only advice Ashe could give, and she wasn't going to take that knife away from her daughter either.

Even in this world, you needed to have something on you to protect yourself. She had known that many times beforehand. Leon laid a hand to his wife's back and gave her a look before his attention turned to Flannery. "Do you mind taking me to the room she's in?"

[nirvanaxrhodes]

"Said, I'd get sick of you, I kinda always wanted to" Let me die this little death

whoa! nirvana rhodes just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for three years, working as a/an occult researcher/therapist. that can’t be easy, especially at only 31 years old. some people say they can be a little bit intangible and sarcastic, but I know them to be adroit and dauntless. whatever. I guess I’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to the bronx ! 

►GENERAL INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Nirvana Christine Rhodes NICKNAME(S): Vana, Ana, Rhodes LABEL: The Mystic AGE: 31 DATE OF BIRTH: October 30, 1992 ZODIAC: Scorpio Sun, Capricorn Rising, Leo Moon GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female; She/Her HERITAGE: English, Maltese SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): English OCCUPATION: Occult Researcher/Therapist SEXUALITY & ROMANCE: Bisexual; Biromantic

► APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Samara Weaving HEIGHT: 5'5" WEIGHT: 114 lbs. DOMINANT HAND: Right HAIR COLOR: Blonde (dyed from dark brown) EYE COLOR: Blue SCARS: None notable. TATTOOS: Black cat (right wrist), 'made of stardust' written in script (back of neck)

►PERSONALITY

POSITIVE TRAITS: Adroit, Dauntless, Beguiling, Open-Minded, Ambitious, Prophetic. NEGATIVE TRAITS: Sarcastic, Intangible, Arrogant, Sycophantic, Self-Sabotaging. LIKES: Stargazing, burning candles/incense, thunder storms, music on vinyl, horror movie marathons, deep conversations with strangers, solving a problem before everyone else, eureka moments, curling up with a book, conducting tarot card readings, making intention jars/journaling, baking. DISLIKES: Dogeared book pages, when people wave you off in the middle of passion-dumping, when people ask for advice but don't take it then complain.

►MENTALITY

PHOBIAS: None. DISORDERS: Not diagnosed. ALLERGIES: Seasonal (Pollen), Mold

►BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Sydney, AUS CURRENT RESIDENCE: Bronx, NYC, NY EDUCATION LEVEL: MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling; is in a PhD program with an independent specialization/research in Parapsychology at NYU FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS: - Shayna Rhodes - 55, Mother, Not In Contact - Alexander Rhodes - 51, Father, Not In Contact

►FAVORITES

FOOD: Lavender shortbread cookies DRINK: English Breakfast Tea MOVIE: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Practical Magic, Scream TV SHOW: Bridgerton, Criminal Minds, Rick & Morty BAND/ARTIST: The Killers, Lana Del Rey, Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac SONG: Fall Out of Love - Salem

► EXTRA INFORMATION

JUNG TYPE: INTP ENNEAGRAM: The Troubleshooter (5w6) TEMPERAMENT: Melancholic MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral SIN: Ego VIRTUE: Wisdom ELEMENT: Air CHARACTER PLAYLIST

Well, there's a black hole inside of me, apathetic vacancy Even just a touch is war

► BIOGRAPHY

TW; Religion mention

Nirvana was born with a gift to appreciate the unusual. At least, that's how her aunt would explain her all-black attire and obscurely-colored hair phase at family events. She was always a square peg in a round hole. This was something she grew used to and actually favored her individuality. There was a part of her that pitied the other girls who attempted to fit in when she grew up being shamelessly herself. Though she was labeled as an outcast, she still had something about her that drew people in. She had a great group of friends, and her fair share of experimental relationships. In short: she didn't miss anything, but she wouldn't have cared if she did. Her aunt was the one who taught her about spirituality after Nirvana had a paranormal experience at the age of 5. Whilst being in a Catholic household, Nirvana and her aunt would often sneak in order to practice their own eclectic belief. Magic, tarot cards, seances, you name it - Nirvana has dabbled in it. What no one was expecting was for her to make a career move out of it. It started in high school, she helped assist her teacher in their paranormal investigation group. It was through this teacher that she learned about anomalies and the role of the paranormal in anthropology. Her job as an investigator was just the groundwork for her BA in Anthropology with a specialization in Women and Minority Studies where she learned more about the occult across various religions and cultures as well as witchcraft and the impact and power women have within interaction, at the University of Exeter. She then went on to gain a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Stockon University in NJ. Currently, Nirvana is working on her PhD at NYU with an individualized specialization/research concentration in Parapsychology. At this point in her career, she can be seen as an expert in the occult. She actually works to help victims/survivors of cults, is still a researcher for a paranormal investigation team, and is also hosts a podcast about horror movies, the paranormal and the occult.

► PERSONALITY (DEEP DIVE)

Nirvana is one of those people who can attract and attract and attract, but still feel alone underneath the surface. She loves knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge; If she could be a student her whole life, she would. This combination of coming across as approachable but also seeming highly intelligent, is very intimidating to most. Though, if one were to sit and speak with Nirvana, they would see she has a heart big enough to match her mind and is just an obscure nerd in her own right. She can be sarcastic and condescending if someone asks a question she deems as 'stupid'. She's known to bully as her type of flirting. She's actually not online, and prefers it that way. She's clever and witty and goes on passion-dump sprees pretty often about a new book she's reading, or about her research or podcast. She loves people who have a sense of humor. Nirvana is more introverted than extroverted and also has a busy schedule, so it may be hard to reach her at times and she's well aware of this. If she values someone, she makes sure she sets time aside for them. She's really a big mushy nerd guys, but she has so many phases and you never know what you're gonna get when you meet her. She's moon-coded, okay?

[howsitduud]

Hi there. Hello.

So, I love Death Battle. A lot. It's by far one of my favorite webshows, and like a lot of fans, there are plenty of matchups that I would give my left nut to see them tackle. So, I am officially using this blog that I'm sure nobody cares about to make my official

TOP 16 MOST WANTED MATCHUPS

as of 2023 at least. These are going to be ordered from least wanted (but still great) to most wanted, and I'll give my overall thoughts on what I'd want and why I'd think it'll be cool to see, as well as the connections and a potential track name. All thumbnails were made by me, let's go.

#16: Locus vs Din Djarin (Red v Blue vs Star Wars)

Connections: Two ruthless bounty hunters who rarely show their faces who were originally not interested in forming relationships with anyone, just acting as killers. That was, until they met someone who needed help protecting and had a change of heart, turning over a new leaf.

Potential Track Name: Beskars of the Past

I know what you're thinking: "Isn't this just Boba Fett vs Predator 2: Electric Boogaloo?" While yes, these two are similar to Boba and John Yautja, there's plenty in this matchup to give this a different feeling than that episode had. You can have actual banter between these two that doesn't rely on forced movie quotes, higher stakes if the animation is set up like Locus is hunting Grogu, and there's more interesting weapons that can be used, like Locus' shield and Din's rifle. For this matchup, I'd say give Din the Darksaber, only because a final battle between that and the Great Key would be really cool, having Din use a stronger weapon than the key, but one he's not at all skilled with. There's more than enough here to make this a solid spiritual successor to Boba's three episodes without bringing him back.

#15: Old Man Logan vs The Last Ronin (Marvel vs TMNT)

Connections: Older, more jaded versions of classic comic book heroes, jaded by experiencing the loss of most people in their lives and being forced to keep on living due to specific mutations in their bodies.

Potential Track Name: You've Changed, Man

This is among the most highly requested TMNT matchups, and for good reason. There's just enough different with this matchup that makes it a really solid and debatable version of Wolverine vs Raphael. You can do so much with the storytelling here, too. I'd personally like if the two knew of each other as the Wolverine and Michelangelo, so that both of them can have that moment where they're shell-shocked (haha) by who it is they're really fighting. There can be a moment where Logan's claws don't come out fully and he needs to force them up with his hands, to Mikey's confusion, or there can be a moment where Mikey acts way more brutal than his cartoon counterpart, to Logan's confusion. It'll be a nice way to differentiate between the two and add some storytelling and emotional elements to this script.

#14: Ghost Rider vs Spawn (Marvel vs ...)

Connections: Edgy comic book anti-heroes who were orginally ordinary men who made a deal with the Devil (or devil-adjacent) to become hellspawns at the cost of their servitude, using chains and guns to deliver their version of justice. Eventually they unseated the Devil and became the ruler of Hell. Also, it's an angel vs demon fight.

Potential Track Name: Chained to Hell

I don't even know what to say about this. It's the most basic bitch answer to anyone's favorite Marvel matchup. Both Rider and Spawn deserve a runback due to how much content that wasn't used in their episodes and how long ago they were, and both have plenty of weapons and abilities they can use to make this fight interesting. Out of all the matchups on this list, this actually has a chance of happening this season, given how people said that they pentagram in the cipher was teasing this. I hope they're correct, but I wouldn't be mad either way.

#13: Jimmy Hopkins vs Karma Akabane (Bully vs Assassination Classroom)

Connections: Two delinquent children with a long history of violence who came into a new classroom ready to cause trouble, only for them to learn the error of their ways and be on the paths for forging something else out of their lives, changing up their school's entire social hierarchy.

Potential Track Name: Juvenile Justice

I fucking love both Bully and Assassination Classroom. While other matchups like Jimmy vs Yandere-Chan or Koro-Sensei vs Monokuma work, I don't know, there's just something about this matchup that hits for me. I really like the idea of these two talking trash to each other the entire animation, both of them pulling out their non-lethal weapons like stink bombs and BB guns, and running around the Bullworth campus avoiding getting caught by prefects and teachers. I also really like the dynamic of Jimmy being more physical and using his guns while Karma is way more strategic, using his advanced training to get ahead. I don't know why, but I really like this matchup. It would be so fun to see play out.

#12: Elliot Dunkel vs Guy Hamdom (El Goonish Shive vs She-Zow)

Connections: Two teenage boys who can transform into female superheroes, originally dreading this until learning that they had a mission to protect their small towns.

Potential Track Name: She's a Superhero!

Despite the gimmicky nature of this matchup at first glance, there's a lot more to it. You can have the fight start out with both of them in their base form, where Elliot has the advantage due to his Anime-Style Martial Arts training, until Guy turns into She-Zow and forces Elliot to transform as well. I'd love if we get a brief fight with Elliot as his cat form before he turns into Cheerleadra, but I'd understand if that's too much. Speaking of too much, She-Zow has a lot of weapons and abilities at their disposal. To name a few, there's a Boomerang Brush, Lipstick Laser, Shrink Ray, Vanishing Cream, she can wink so hard she creates gusts of wind, she can make her fist grow bigger, and she can even do a Sailor Moon-esque sonic shriek. I'd love to see She-Zow bust out all of these weapons, only for Cheerleadra to just brute-force her way through all of them. Despite Elliot's obscurity and She-Zow's problematic writing, I still think this matchup is worth doing. Just don't watch the show She-Zow's based on, it's not very good. I just wanted a good matchup for my boy Elliot.

#11: Ridley vs Vile (Metroid vs Mega Man)

Connections: Villains from classic NES/SNES series with purple motifs and cybernetic enhancements that have a personal vendetta against the protagonist of their series, who they fought and almost killed on multiple occasions if not for an outside force messing with them.

Potential Track Name: Ride for Revenge

I know there's a lot of debate over who Ridley should fight, with some people saying Rayquaza and others saying Vilgax, but I personally think Vile is the best option for him. Both have great potential for banter and some cool exchanges, like a beam struggle or Vile busting out all the Ride armors to compete with Ridley physically. The big question is if Ridley would have his cybernetics or not. I'd vote yes, but only so that you can have Ridley start the fight with his full enhancements to lose them as the fight progresses, mimicking how he progresses in canon and to simulate battle damage on him. Plus, I'd love for the fight to start out like Vile is investigating a planet when Ridley starts picking off his crew one by one, similar to how he does in his Smash Bros. trailer. Metroid and Mega Man are franchises I've gained more and more appreciation for, and this matchup would be so cool to see.

#10: Yor Forger vs Beatrix Kiddo (SpyxFamily vs Kill Bill)

Connections: Two fake brides who are secretly assassins that specialize in blades.

Potential Track Name: Newlydead

I again don't have much to say about this other than "it's fucking cool." Yes, it's a complete stomp in Yor's favor, yes Beatrix only has 2 movies to work with, and yes, this is a street-tier fight between who people with not a lot of weapons to work with, but I don't care. This is the female version of Bond vs Wick, what's not to like? Yor is one of my favorite anime characters, and Kill Bill is a movie I love to death, so seeing them both be covered would be awesome. Plus, there's plenty of potential for cool moments, like both of them pushing through lethal wounds to keep fighting. In particular, I would like Beatrix to land the heart-exploding technique on Yor, but have her keep going to show how resilient she can be. Really, this can just be a cool ass sword fight and nothing else and I'd be happy.

#9: William Afton vs Junko Enoshima (Five Nights at Freddy's vs Danganronpa)

Connections: Main antagonists of their series who were behind most of the events that happened, using robot bears to kill children.

Potential Track Name: Remnants of Despair

I know, I know, lot of negative feelings towards this matchup. While I get the criticisms, I think there's plenty here to make for a great episode. Junko can take control of the Monokumas and have those protect her, as well as having plenty of weapons on her own and Alter Ego Junko. William, meanwhile, has the springlock crank, a fucking gun, a time-travelling ball pit, hallucinatory disks, and an ai alter ego of his own (I know it's technically an ai reconstruction of him, but shush). Plus, you can have major moments in this animation where they both use their intellect to get one-ups over each other. I would love there to be a scene where William has Junko dead to rights, there is no escape for her, only for her to start laughing uncontrollably and say that she loves the despair she's feeling. The only problem I forsee is how they'll tackle the FNAF story, but that's easy to work around. I kinda get why this matchup is taken with such vitriol, but I still love it and would love to see it happen someday.

#8: Kimiko Miyashiro vs Nezuko Kamado (The Boys vs Demon Slayer)

Connections: Ordinary girls who live in worlds where dangerous super-powered individuals run free that eventually became one of those individuals after their families where murdered. Due to their powers, they became extremely protective of their brothers and joined a team of people who stop the super-powered individuals, eventually falling in love with one of the members.

Potential Track Name: Josei no Seizon-Sha

This would honestly be just a better version of Mileena vs X-23. This would have to be a high-paced fight between two girls who brutally tear each other apart, only to quickly heal from these wounds and get right back into the fight 2 seconds later. There's so much potential for cool moments that you can focus on because these two don't say much. One scene I'd love to see is if Kimiko ripped a tree off its roots and pinned Nezuko's arm with it, only for Nezuko to rip her arm off to take a swing at her, regrowing the arm like it's nothing. This fight sounds way too cool to pass up and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

#7: Aragorn vs Jon Snow (Middle Earth vs Game of Thrones)

Connections: Literary rivalry between two human warrior kings in fantasy worlds.

Potential Track Name: A Song of Snow and Flames

I mean, duh, right? This has been a debate ever since both these series hit the mainstream, and not just in vs debating circles. You'd be shocked to know that I haven't watched Game of Thrones or read the original books, but I am a huge fan of the Middle Earth books and the LOTR movies, and Jon Snow is a character who interests me a lot. With the release of Sauron vs Lich King and Undead vs Dragonborn now making fantasy matchups actually cool and hip with the kids, I forsee that this will at least be in consideration for future season of the show. It's not particularly close, but it's still rad as hell.

#6: Raven vs Sailor Saturn (DC vs Sailor Moon)

Connections: Magical girls on teams of peacekeepers who are seen as misfits due to their past trauma with their abusive parents, but with the power of their friends, learned to overcome it and make their own destinies.

Potential Track Name: Titans of Silence

Raven was a character who meant a lot to me growing up, with me seeing a lot of myself in her, and the same can be said about Tomoe when I first watched Sailor Moon later on in life. Both perfectly straddle the line between cool as fuck and being genuine sympathetic characters; easily some of my favorites in their respective shows. So, imagine my joy when I realized that this matchup had plenty of great animation potential. Both have so many neat abilities they can use, it'll be cool to see them bounce off each other. Raven is a returning character, but her episode against Twilight mainly focused on emotion-manipulating magic. Here, you can focus on the more destructive side of Raven, perfectly in line with Tomoe being the guardian of silence and destruction. One scene that could perfectly exemplify this is a moment where Tomoe strikes her glaive on the ground, destroying the planet the fight is taking place on, forcing them both to fight on the bits of the exploding planet. This has a lot of potential, and I'm not alone in seeing it.

#5: Pennywise vs Freddy Kreuger (It vs Nightmare on Elm Street)

Connections: Two demonic horror icons who create nightmares and feast on people's fears.

Potential Track Name: New Nightmares

I feel like out of every single matchup on this list, this has probably the most animation potential, since both of them can do pretty much anything they put their minds to. Despite the nature of their powers, they're not bound by a single person or by being specifically in dream realms, this animation can just be a fun, chaotic, terrifying fight between two reality warping demons. What I love about this matchup is that they both have so many ways to banter with each other and insult one another. Obviously verbal insults are on the table, but both can shapeshift into characters and people from each other's past. Pennywise can taunt Freddy as anybody from Elm Street, the people who killed him, or even Jason Vorhees as a cool reference, and Freddy can turn into any of the Loser's Club. I'd love if they turned into Wes Craven and Stephen King and pretended to be their creators renouncing their creations. This matchup is only bound by the crew's imaginations (and budgetary restraints), and I would love to see what they could come up with. Just don't turn this into Jason vs Michael 2 and have it be about Jane Shlane.

#4: Henry vs The Second Coming vs Red vs Fancy Pants Man (Henry Stickmin vs Animator v Animation vs Dick Figures vs Fancy Pants Adventures)

Connections: Four stick figure characters who were pioneers of their specific genre in the world of internet animation and Flash games.

Potential Track Name: Stick it to 'Em

Yes, I'm using the name that Brandon Yates used is his track for this matchup, bite me. As for the reason I want this matchup to happen it's simple: I think it'd be really cool. I loved stick figure animations and games growing up. I spent probably all of middle school thinking about the cool animator vs animation episode that I watched or the funny things that happened in Dick Figures and Henry Stickmin, and I only just now got around to playing the Fancy Pants Adventure games, but they're still really good! I love all of these characters, so why not have them kill each other? And yes, The Second Coming is the AvA rep because he has more to work with than anyone else. Speaking of, the animation potential for this matchup is through the roof. Henry and Red have so many weapons to pull from, and TSC and Fancy Pants Man can interact with the environment in so many cool and creative ways that they're bound to be tons of cool shit that happens. In terms of who wins; Fancy Pants is obviously the Volnutt here, Red isn't doing particularly much, but I've heard plenty of good arguments for either Henry or TSC. I'm personally leaning towards TSC, only because I want a death that involves a choice screen popping up like in the Henry Stickmin games, only for TSC to completely ignore that and stopping Henry from making the choice in the first place. This matchup has only gotten better with time, and I would love nothing more than this to be Death Battle's tribute to Flash animation.

#3: Shuma-Gorath vs Starro the Conqueror (Marvel vs DC)

Connections: One-eyed alien conquerors based on starfish that can control people’s minds.

Potential Track Name: Seeing Stars

Look, I know Marvel vs DC matchups have gotten really stale ever since a certain season dropped during the pandemic, but a lot of those matchups can still be really creative. We got a glimpse of that with Ant-Man vs Atom and Wanda vs Zatanna, but Scarecrow vs Mysterio lends itself well to horror and trippy visuals, and matchups like Swamp-Thing vs Man-Thing and Dormammu vs Trigon can have the hosts explore the Marvel and DC cosmologies without seeming like huge undertakings. But for me, my personal favorite Marvel vs DC matchup is Starro vs Shuma. Both these 2 are some of my favorite villains in all of comic books, and I would love to see how high-scale Death Battle can make this matchup be. The tricky part here is getting their personalities down, since they both can oscillate between "goofy ridiculous golden age weirdos" and "lovecraftian horrors beyond comprehension." The way I'd handle it would be to have the fight start out as a campy kaiju fight between giant starfish that gradually escalates beyond the plane of reality, taking the fight to the Nightmare Realm and beyond, with both of them becoming more etherial and horrifying as the fight progresses. I don't have much to say besides that. This is by far my favorite Marvel vs DC fight and one that I wouldn't complain about being the sort of farewell to that trope on Death Battle.

#2: Nimona vs Grace Scuiridae (... vs El Goonish Shive)

Connections: Two shapeshifters who were demonized for their unnatural abilities. Both would be the target of capture for a major antagonist, meeting up with a mad scientist that they would soon grow attached to. Both can mold their bodies into whatever form they wish and both desired to go down opposite paths; Nimona wanted to become a villain and Grace wanted to become a hero. Eventually, both Nimona and Grace would end up confronting the people who tortured them all that time ago and face off against them, showing off a powerful rage-induced form that they would get lost in until one of their friends helped them calm down.

Potential Track Name: Shady Shapeshifters

I think I'm the only person on the planet to ever conceive of this matchup, but fuck it. Nimona and El Goonish Shive are two of my favorite webcomics of all time, with the movie adaptation of Nimona being my second most anticipated film of this year (second to Spider-Verse, but still). So, once I saw the similarities between these two, I fell in love with this matchup. As much as I would love to see how Death Battle tackles the stories of Nimona and EGS, it's the animation and writing that excites me the most. The start honestly writes itself; Nimona starts some shit in Moperville, Grace goes to stop her. Easy peasy. But it's the rest of the fight choreography and writing that I think could make this something special. Nimona and Grace have such different ways of shapeshifting, so it'll be cool to see Nimona's rapid beastial shapeshifting contrast with Grace adapting her own body to counter what Nimona's doing. You can have Nimona breath fire at Grace and be confused as to why she seems completely fine (since Grace's fur is fireproof), you can have a moment where they both transform into squirrels and awkwardly scratch at each other in the trees, you can even have an exchange where they're talking about their geneology and Nimona says "I'm a shark!" and Grace replies "Well, did I mention I'm part space alien?" Speaking of the writing, you can have a sort of narrative follow the fight, where Grace tries her best to pacify Nimona, who keeps getting frustrated that Grace isn't really taking the fight seriously. Then when Grace accidentally triggers Nimona's trauma from their past and/or calls them a monster, Nimona goes berserk and starts destroying Moperville (either the comic dragon or the film beast works for me, but I prefer the dragon). Then Grace looks at all the destruction they're causing to her home and starts getting mad too, transforming into her berserker form like she did against Damien. I imagine that the kill would be an accidental one where the winner starts getting emotional while the loser comforts them as they're dying. Even though there's one matchup I love more than this, given how obscure these two are in the realm of versus, this would get a much bigger reaction out of me. Speaking of a matchup I love more...

#1: Percy Jackson vs Zagreus (... vs Hades)

Connections: Two sons of one of the "Big Three" gods , who have massive daddy issues due in part to them being lied to about their parents. They eventually embark on a quest where they need to go in and out of Tartarus to see their biological mothers. Both have been trained by famous Ancient Greek heroes, both have had weapons and abilities passed onto them from the Olympian Gods, and both have connections to Achilles.

Potential Track Name: Thicker Than Water

I know what you're thinking: "What about Percy vs Harry Potter? Or Pit vs Zag?" While I think Pit is a fine opponent for Zagreus, I am not a big fan of Harry vs Percy for a lot of reasons. I won't get into them now, but I'm kind of over Harry Potter as a franchise at the moment. Hades, on the other hand is my favorite game of all time and Percy is my favorite fictional character of all time, so imagine how shocked I was that nobody else was really suggesting this matchup even though it would be really fucking cool to see. Now, there's not really much in terms of connections (more than Korra and Storm had tho :P) but where this matchup shines is the animation potential. Both Percy and Zag have so many weapons and abilities to bounce off each other, it might shock people to learn that Percy isn't just water bender man. He can shake the earth, create storms, and he has a javelin that can fire nets. I would love to see Zagreus use Hestia's boons to create wind vortexes and have Percy create a small storm to counter it, or have Percy use the water created in Poseidon's calling to whip Zagreus around. Obviously the fight would take place in Tartarus or Zagreus can't stand a chance, but I would love if the end took place near the surface world like the final boss does in the game. Hell, I think an appropriate way to start the fight would be to have Percy beon a mission from Hades himself to stop Zag from reaching the surface world. Oh, and the banter here would be awesome to hear; they're basically the same in terms of personality and how they talk. I can go on about this matchup for days, but just know that this is my favorite matchup of all time and I would love love love if Death Battle (or any vs show really) tackled this.

Not gonna happen tho :/

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DCCU Interlude: The Legion of Super-Heroes (Part 5)

Chapter Five: Increasing Fatality

Lemme tell ya, there are few things I want more in a comic book movie or TV show than a team of villains. Already mentioned my desire for this in my Superman essay series, and I even planned out a trilogy of films with a supervillain team in the midst. And again, we haven't really seen an established team like that in shows, at least not one that made an impact. Sure, Smallville had their versions of the Suicide Squad, Legion of Doom, and Injustice League, but all of those...sucked. They sucked. There might be a team in Titans, but I doubt it. And the Flash's Rogues? One day...one day. That is a mountain of rage that I will climb on this blog. One damned day.

Anyway, the Legion of Superheroes, as a big team, certainly has a lot of villains, solitary and teamed-up. I've already brought in the Dark Circle as a part of this series, and tied them with legendary Legion adversary Mordru for good measure. And throughout these write-ups, I've been name-dropping a number of other villains as well. Yet still, there's the political factions found throughout the galaxy, and even on Earth. Plus, there's the Science Police acting as opponents. I already have plenty of players on the board. And yet, some seeds can easily be dropped for a few more.

Esper Lass for example will be a part of a cult introduced as part of Saturn Girl's origins on Titan, while one of her primary rivals, Eve Aries, could also be brought in as a part of her life there. Mekt Ranzz, Lightning Lad's brother, has quite a big role in this version's origins, and will absolutely be seen and introduced this season as a part of Garth's story. Grimbor the Chainsman or Tyr could be adversaries hired to face the Legion by the Dark Circle. And I'd love Kirt Niedrigh to be seen here, maybe as somebody who loves the Legion, or even as an opponent to the United Planets organization, but there's room for him, for sure.

But no, Season 1 of this series would set up some of the most important enemies of the Legion and United Planets, showing each one of them in one way or another, until finally bringing them together in the second season of the series. That season will set up another group of antagonists, the Legion of Super-Villains, of which Esper Lass, Mekt Ranzz, Eve Aries, and Tyr are members. Add to that building tensions against aliens throughout these three seasons, and you have a fourth season antagonist set up in the form of Earth-Man. But of course, we'll be looking at the second season antagonists with first season set-ups in this post. So let's set them up one-by-one, starting with the most famous of all. Finally.

Emerald Empress: Unlimited Power

There have been many Emerald Empresses in comic books and media, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. There was Cera Kesh, the teenager given a She's All That style makeover with an Eldritch twist. There was Falyce, the SA victim from Orando who was driven insane by her circumstances (yeah, unfortunately). There was sugar baby Ingria Olav, who was literally given a knockoff Eye by her rich boyfriend. There's even been Legionnaire Shrinking Violet (AKA Salu Digby), or Young Justice's Ursa of House Zod. But for my money...there's only one true Emerald Empress. And that's the original: Sarya of Venegar.

Sarya, at full power, is absolutely terrifying. With the mysterious and all-powerful Emerald Eye of Ekron at her side, not only was she a formidable member of her supervillain team, the Fatal Five, but she was also the only member of the team to be a genuine and recurring threat outside of that group. Not the only one who mattered outside of their connection to the Five, but definitely the only one who was a genuine threat independently. She took over Weber's World, home of the United Planets, while working with the Dark Circle. She broke and shattered Legionnaires in her wake at full power. Sarya was a force to be reckoned with. For a little more about her, check out the Profile Post I made a little while ago.

But maybe the most important question to answer first revolves around the Eye itself. The Emerald Eye of Ekron contains all of the power of the Emerald Empress, and has been shown, in some cases, to literally possess the user, with Sarya being the best example of this. In this series, that will also be the case, but the Eye will be a lot more powerful...in a much different way. So, yeah, let's talk about my version of the Eye.

In truth, it doesn't really matter who Ekron was or is. Legends would exist around his particular corner of the galaxy, a sector which contains the planet Venegar amongst others. These stories range from world-to-world, referring to him as a legendary hero, a Green Lantern, an Elder God of the Third World, etc. No one story is ever confirmed, and again, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is the power of the Eye, and its resting place. Ekron was a being of willpower and magic, able to summon limitless amounts of power and energy, as well as being able to bestow that power amongst an initially willing participant.

However, this power comes at a cost of sanity and control. The party in possession of the Eye will eventually find that the Eye is actually in possession of them, seeking a mortal conduit to enact its power-seeking will. Whatever the full Ekron was, it was torn asunder eons ago, and the remaining pieces of its body were scattered throughout the sector to prevent it from reforming. In my headcanon, this is one of the early victories of the Manhunters, as commanded by the Guardians of the Universe. In any case, one of its burial sites was Venegar, where the Eye was enshrined and enshrouded in an ancient crypt, never to be opened or released...until...

Venegar is a tropical forest world, known for its resort locales and therefore fueled by interplanetary tourism. This is a somewhat recent development, as Venegar had been a poor and isolated world up through the end of the 30th century. However, around this point, a small child became lost in the deepest portion of the jungle planet, isolated from her family while they were traveling through. From there, she was called to a cave, deep in the jungle, where she first found the ancient tomb. There, the latent power of the Eye saw a child that could be manipulated into harnessing its power. She was given the ability to read the runes in the cave, then offered a wish, which was for her nomadic family to find a home.

Soon after this, the young girl's family settled not far from the jungle cave, granting the young girl's wish. This began the deepset bond between the girl and the Eye. Over the years, this girl, named Sarya, would come to visit the cave again and again, and the Eye would grant wishes for her to the best of its limited ability. Its corrupting influence worked on Sarya as well, and as she grew into a young woman, her desires became for selfish and power-hungry. At this point, her family had become fairly wealthy, and the planet itself began to gain more business due to subtle machinations of the Eye. Sarya herself wanted to be in the seat of this building power, as well as to remain beautiful and young, which was within the power of the Eye to maintain.

As Venegar grew, it gained interplanetary influence, and eventually gained the attentions of the United Planets, as the organization was just beginning to form. At this point, Sarya had worked up the ranks in Venegar's society to become a well-known figure, and high-ranking politician. Designing itself after other planets, Venegar was styled as a republic and democracy, which meant that Sarya's potential pull was somewhat limited. But at the age of 25, she had become the youngest senator in Venegar's history, and by the time she was 45, she was the clear representative for the planet on an intergalactic scale.

And it's at this point where you might be thinking, "Wait a minute...is this just Star Wars?" Good spot! Look, for all the stupid shit George Lucas did with his story over the years, the best thing throughout his films was Palpatine. His build of power throughout the original trilogy, as well as his manipulations and corruptions are the best things about the prequel trilogy, in my opinion (even if it doesn't always make sense). So, yeah, we should be getting some real Chancellor Palpatine vibes with Sarya. However, she'll be much subtler in her schemes, and her ambitions aren't quite as wide-reaching...at first.

Sarya knows that the path to power is to get Venegar incorporated as a part of the United Planets, and to become a part of that system in general. Using the wealth, clout, and newfound popularity of her world, as well as the help of her secret friend, the Eye, these goals are accomplished as planned, and Sarya becomes senator when she's 50. Her political ambitions continue, and she becomes the frontrunner for President of the United Planets by the time she's 65. Not that she looks 65, since the Eye has kept her young and vital during this time, which she plays off as a rare Venegarian genetic quirk (another part of her machinations and illusions with the Eye).

When the series begins, Sarya is in her second year as United Planets President. She's practically worshiped on her home planet, which will be prominent later on in the series, and she's well-liked throughout the United Planets as well. She's also had the piece of the cave temple to the Eye secretly brought here as a part of her homestead. Sarya seeks to expand scope of the United Planets, and struggles with convincing some worlds to join. Allowing Brande to form his Legion is a part of her plans, as is instigating war and conflict that would convince planets to join in order to gain further power and protection. This gives her knowledge and ties to many factions of the galaxy, both political and criminal. And again, that'll come into play later.

Here's the thing with power, though; it's a corrupting influence. And Sarya's long been corrupted. So, over the course of the first season, this corruption will rear its ugly head over and over again, although Sarya's actual role won't be revealed until the season finale, where the Legion will end up confronting her with this evidence. She will have been a pretty powerful ally for the Legion in public, but we'll know of her manipulations behind the scenes throughout the latter half of the season (with her role being essentially a mid-season reveal). Sarya will also be affiliated with the Dark Circle, using them and her various connections to act against the Legion, and further the cause of the United Planets as a result.

However, once Sarya's villainy is revealed, she'll be removed from her position in the United Planets, replaced by rival and politician of high standing, Winema Wazzo (mother of Legionnaire Tinya Wazzo, AKA Phantom Girl). While she's placed under watch and house arrest as investigations are set to take place, this is apparently for naught, as in the season finale, a massive emerald green explosion occurs within her living quarters. The only thing left behind is a charred body of a young woman, leaving the authorities and Legion to believe that this was an assassination carried out by the Dark Circle. Maybe that emerald green color is even seen in other parts of the season during local Legion fights, as sort of a clue to Sarya's involvement in conflicts like this.

Shortly afterwards, seemingly under the weight of the scandal, Venegar withdraws from the United Planets, and becomes closed off and isolated for the next few years. However, this is all the result of Sarya, who hadn't died in the explosion as assumed, but simply escaped with the Eye. The next time we see Venegar, it's completely changed in its political structure and prosperity. Realizing that power through legitimate channels is no longer possible, and wanting revenge against the Legion and United Planets for her ousting and failure, Sarya uses the Eye to remake her world as an empire, and claims the throne as the Emerald Empress. From her seat of local power, she will take over the United Planets the hard way: by conquering it.

Having the enslaved populace of Venegar under her thrall, she needs allies to act outside of the planet's borders. These allies will make their appearances throughout the first season, for the most part, as some of the more dangerous villains of the Legion. On their own, they comprise an episode-length threat. But together, and under the command of the Empress? That's a problem.

Mano: Right Hand of His God

Mano is, in my opinion, one of the most wasted power sets in the Fatal Five, specifically in terms of origin. See, Mano is terrifying. In his right hand, he contains enough power to destroy a planet. And he did it to his own goddamn planet. To be fair, that's definitely one of those comic book exaggerations that display a complete misunderstanding of science and the laws of the universe...but there is somewhat of an explanation for this. Mano's ability is the power to channel antimatter through his right hand, and to use it to destroy matter. Interesting.

The character usually doesn't have much of an origin (you can see a consolidated retelling of his origin in this post of mine), but he's always a mutant of some kind. I'm actually going to lean in a slightly different direction with him, and make him into a mutate. In my incarnation, Mano was a miner native to the impoverished planet of Angtu, specifically looking for the rare mineral valorum found there. While digging one day, he finds a strange blue metal. As he mines it, the exposure to it begins to change him. He also feels a pull and desire to excavate the full sample of the metal, as if it possesses power. His sanity begins to unravel, as his body begins to change.

Eventually, he's found within his mining uniform, unconscious and changed. The full metal piece has been unearthed, but it means nothing to anybody. However, those in the know would be able to identify it as a piece of armor belonging to a very important figure.

Hey, Tumblr? Quick word, real quick. Why are there no GIFs of the flippin' Anti-Monitor from Green Lantern: The Animated Series? I didn't really want to use the Arrowverse version, and I'm compromising by using the Aya version of the character, but...yeah, what the hell? We gotta get on that, people. Anyway, yeah, this is a piece of the Anti-Monitor's armor. For those not in the know, this is sort of a massive deal. Hinting, hinting, at the presence of this guy means that Crisis on Infinite Earths is a possibility in this universe. And honestly, I'm not saying it isn't possible. But that said: why?

Because the Anti-Monitor is from the Anti-Matter universe. Yeah. Why has nobody made this connection before for Mano? Basically, Mano gets his antimatter ability via exposure to a piece of the armor of the Anti-Monitor, and through a connection to the Anti-Matter Universe, which he channels through his right hand. This connection also drives him insane, and he begins to think of himself as a force of destruction, paving the way for the death of the world and universe by clearing the path, as it were. And so, Mano begins to make his way through his planet, becoming a force of destruction as prophesied, until, yes, he destroys the entire planet.

But Mano, essentially invulnerable at this point, is unharmed by this, and instead floats through space until eventually finding a new planet, one covered by the United Planets. This takes years, which makes Mano's sanity further vanish. By the time we meet him, he's completely lost his memories of his past life, and any record of him in the past is lost with Angtu. He's become a minor legend in his sector, destroying any ships or beings that come to close, and raving about his role as the herald of the anti-matter universe. His threat will be combated by the Legion, but will also represent a major challenge for them. He'll be captured by the Legion, but he won't be held for long.

Come the second season, Mano will have escaped, and the Emerald Empress will look to him as a major member of her Fatal Five. And in one of the battles with the Legion, he'll give a Legionnaire a major blow. Possibly as a mid-season event, the Fatal Five will finally form and attack the Legion. And in the process, Garth Ranzz is going to come extremely close to destruction when Mano grabs his right arm. And if you know anything about Garth in the comics (or even the animated series), that arm is gone. Honestly, he'll be lucky to escape with just that loss.

Tharok: Half-Man, Half-Robot, All Danger

If you look back to the Lightning Lad essay, you may notice that I name drop Tharok as an interplanetary gang leader. In this universe (and actually, in the comics as well), Tharok was a gang leader and a thug, with a normal fleshy body. Native to the planet Zadron, he's a nomadic criminal with various criminal ties. Mostly work for hire, his men are smugglers and thieves called the Scavengers. They mostly deal in antique weaponry and drugs, selling and moving them when necessary. They're also in cahoots with the Dark Circle, acting as their minions when the money and job is right.

Tharok is not the leader of the Scavengers when we first meet him. He's instead the second in command to an older man known only as Lynceus, who claims to be immortal. Tharok, clever in his own ways, seizes power of the course of the first season, and eventually gets Lynceus captured by the authorities, taking command of the Scavengers himself. The Legion drives the Scavengers into hiding, under the new lead of Tharok, after Garth has attempted to question him about the whereabouts of his brother, Mekt. But once driven to ground, he won't reappear for a bit. And once he does, he'll do something truly stupid.

Towards the end of the season, the Scavengers are floundering beneath Tharok's command. Truly unable to lead in Lyceus' stead, the group has dwindled to pathetic numbers. On top of this, Tharok is taking less-than-stellar jobs. One of these comes from the Dark Circle, whom Lyceus chose not to work with, due to their questionable goals. Seeing only dollar signs, though, Tharok has taken a dangerous job for an ancient Justice League era weapon, dating back to the 21st century at least. Specifically, this is the sonic cannon used by the legendary Titan, Cyborg. It's at this point that Garth and the Legion catch up to them, after waiting for their reappearance.

Garth, being the impulsive hothead that he is, immediately plows through the Scavengers to get to Tharok. He eventually finds him, only for Tharok to use the cannon as a weapon. However, the years have not been kind to this weapon, and an unstable power source is one of its many problems. The other problem is Garth, who attempts to disarm Tharok by destroying the weapon...only for it to explode, heavily damaging the entire left half of his body. And while he can be saved, the Scavengers are fully defeated by the Legion, and Tharok is taken into custody. And this is where his real story begins.

Why would I use Cyborg's arm as the weapon that explodes? In the comics, it's a nuclear weapon, but I feel like that's a little too much, realistically. Plus, why would that be a viable option to steal in the 31st century? Honestly, it doesn't have to be Cyborg's arm, but I would like it to be a reference to the heroes we know and love. But to be honest, I chose that particular weapon for poetic reasons. Because like Victor Stone, Tharok is going to have the left side of his body completely replaced with cybernetics. But unlike Cyborg, he's going to be far more dangerous.

Tharok is saved on the demand of the United Planets, so that he may be questioned for his connections to the Scavengers and Dark Circle. This is engineered by Sarya, who wants more information on how much is known about the Circle in connection to her in particular. Writing's showing on the wall at this point in the season. But the cybernetic enhancements also give Tharok a literal computer brain. Combined with the sadistic criminality of the original Tharok, and you have a robotic murderer on your hands. Unsurprisingly, Tharok will be devising several plans of escape, but he'll stay incarcerated until the second season, when Sarya will get in contact with him to join her team to destroy the United Planets and the Legion. In that time, he'll have continued his operations with a new group of Scavengers from afar, even while imprisoned, as well as engineering the murder of Lyceus in Takron-Galtos.

The new and improved Tharok is the brains of the group, able to see the flaws in any plan the Fatal Five will formulate, and adjust them to make them foolproof and as deadly as possible. Plus, his cybernetic body isn't exactly a pushover, outfitted with self-designed weaponry. With his brains, Empress' leadership, and Mano's power, this is already a formidable group. Let's, uh...let's make that even worse, shall we?

Persuader: Unstoppable Edge

Hoo boy, Persuader. This character is both ridiculously overpowered, and barely explained in a lot of ways. In the original comics, he's a former gangland leader who has an impossibly sharp axe. That's just the 31st century version, Nyeun Chun Ti, but there are also 21st century versions, like Superman enemy Cole Parker, and Teen Titans enemy Elise Kimble. Each has a different origin for their axe...maybe. In fact, the axe is maybe the most important and least-explained feature of the Persuader, so let's talk about that.

The Atomic Axe has the ability to cut through anything. And I mean anything. It's sharp enough to split atoms, it regularly gives Superman a run for his money, and it can even sever air supply, gravity, light, the soul, or reality. See what I mean by overpowered. While the OG axe is never really explained, the 21st century versions are magical, made by...a random-ass dude who's never explained. Yeah, it's not great, honestly. However, the Parker incarnation of the character does add two intriguing things, in my opinion. Again, it makes the Axe magic, which does make a lot of sense, and which I'll be using here. And secondly, it makes him a cult leader. I don't want to bring another cult into this, necessarily...so let's just use the one I've already established, shall we?

One of the weapons that Tharok's going to smuggle is an enchanted axe, carved with runes that essentially could break reality if the axe were completed. Made of a special allow of Nth metal that has some magical properties, this is an unbreakable axe that instead breaks whatever the user wants to break. Thus, only the most dedicated and focused can actually use the axe. Its origins, though, are unknown. The most likely explanation is that it belonged to a member of Earth's League of Assassins, but the reason for this is lost to time.

When Tharok comes across this during a heist early in the first season (likely the first time we see him), he happens upon this weapon by chance, and steals it for the Circle. They grant it to one of their most powerful warriors and initiates, a tattoo-covered magic-wielder named Châu Thị Nguyễn, from Earth. For the record, the name Nyeun Chun Ti makes no sense, from what I can tell, so I went for a straight-up Vietnamese name, as well as changing one more thing. When we meet Nguyễn, it's under cover of a shroud and mask. But now christened the Persuader, she is ready to face off against the Legion of Super-Heroes.

So, yeah, I'm gender-bending Persuader! Why? Well, frankly, there's only one woman on the team, so we could use the diversity. Also, the name problem. I wanted to get as close to the original name as I could, and my options are pretty gender limited, far as can see. One more thing here, too: I really want an AAPI person for this role. Mostly because the name was always meant to be Vietnamese, but also because some diversity would be nice here. Honestly, I haven't brought up race as of yet, since I haven't seen any characters where I think that matters as of yet. However, for Persuader, I'll place that limit. The only other issue here is that I'd love a particularly imposing actress here. Persuader should be a terrifying presence in their way, so that should be in mind when casting. No ideas personally on that front, but this is sort of a fantasy cast for me.

In truth, Persuader is more of a quiet and imposing threat. When we first see her, she'll be partnered up with two other major threats, each with their own iconic weaponry, and all part of or working for the Dark Circle. While Persuader is actively a part of the Dark Circle, and therefore a worshiper of Mordru and a magic user through her Axe, the others are hired to go up against the Legion. One is Grimbor the Chainsman, a more charismatic figure who'll come back as a recurring threat later on. The other is Hunter, AKA Adam Orion, a tech user and assassin. Each a threat on their own, they'll eventually team up against the Legion, with the Persuader being the clear threat between the three. At the end of this fight in question, Hunter will be dead, with his son to take his place in a future season, and Grimbor will get a new job, rather than working for the Circle. Persuader, on the other hand, will be captured and imprisoned in Takron-Galtos with Tharok, only to be freed as a member of the Fatal Five in the second season.

And that leaves one. And he's a biggun.

Validus: Complicated Simpleton

Here's the thing with Validus: his comic book origin is messy as shit. In the original continuity, he's the son of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, kidnapped by Darkseid and sent backwards in time, then given a massive mutated body and childlike mind, while inheriting the electric and psychic powers of his parents. BUT, he got better and became their child again in the present day, and the comics completely forgot this element of his origin. So, I'm also going to ignore this. Honestly, I just wanted to share, because Valifud is a great example of how soap opera dramatic the Legion comics got.

Validus is the muscle and powerhouse, with a body and mind that pack a physical punch. Of the Legion members, he's very much the most physically intimidating, but is also often one of the easiest to deal with. That's assuming you have a psychic on the team, of course. If you don't then...yeah, you may have a bit of a problem dealing with him. Dude can go one-on-one with Superman with only a little issue, and he's a solid threat. He should also be the only one who we don't see the Legion dealing with in the first season. Hints of him would be great, but he shouldn't pop up until season 2, possibly for the season premiere when we introduce some new members of the Legion.

So what's his story? Frankly, I don't know that it matters so much, but I actually do have one! He's a genetic experiment, engineered by the alien race known as the Dominators, as a weapon of war. Originally made around 100 years ago, Validus was the most powerful of his kind, made using the genetic material of multiple races, but with the ability to be easily controlled. When he grew too powerful, however, having destroyed the other members of his brood, he was put into a psychic hibernation and sent into the stars on a wandering invisible prison disguised as an asteroid. Essentially, Validus is a futuristic version of Doomsday, and actually has some of the original Doomsday's genetic material within him.

Validus would be a rumor, confirmed only to the most knowledged of the Dominator activities. However, with the formation of the United Planets, tensions with the Dominators are building once again. And as this is happening, Validus is somehow released from his prison. The slurry of genetic material within him allows him to unleash psychokinetic blasts that mimic different forms of energy, especially electricity. His strength rivals that of Kryptonians, and he's essentially invulnerable to physical attacks. I'm also giving him the ability to increase his size somewhat, but this will only happen when he meets Season 2 Legion member Colossal Boy for the second time. Validus should be a terror, but still defeatable by an experienced Legion, especially if Saturn Girl can wrest control of his empty mind.

Emerald Empress, having been President of the United Planets, is aware of Validus' existence, and was the one responsible for freeing Validus. This is part of a plan to pin this on the Dominators, escalating tensions and trying to spark another war. In her tenure as President, we'll find out that Sarya subtly escalated many conflicts, in order to make the United Planets seem more necessary to those planets in peril. Once Validus is defeated by the Legion, he's indeed traced back to the Dominators, which massively complicates matters for UP President Winema Wazzo.

Validus is brought to a moon of prison planet Takron-Galtos and imprisoned, where he'll eventually be broken out by Emerald Empress and brought into the Fatal Five. And in this fight, one of the Legionnaires will be permanently broken by Validus. And honestly, I'm not sure if I want him to live through that attack. That's mostly because, in the original comics, Validus kills Lyle Norg, AKA Invisible Kid. Like I said, though, I don't know if I want to kill him off. It's a thought, though. It's a thought.

With that said, that's essentially the story of the Fatal Five in this series, as well as setting up most of the conflict for Season Two. By building up the Five throughout Season One, then actually bringing them together in Season Two, we see this rising conflict that should generate investment and anticipation for the future. And in the same way, the Legion of Supervillains will be built up for Season Three, as well as the various political tensions building up between both seasons to prompt wars during Season Three, amongst a few other things to be built up. After all, Mordru is still a looming threat, even without the Dark Circle in play.

I'd talk more about my ideas for Season Two in one of these essays, but I'd also like to get back to my regularly scheduled programming on this channel, in truth. However, I will have one more short essay, detailing some elements of the plot for Season One. Not necessarily an episode-by-episode breakdown, but a general idea of the plot and story beats. As said, I'm not a writer, so it won't be amazing...but I'll give it a shot!

See you in Part Six!

[icybreaths]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN

——— BASICS! ♡

(PEN)NAME: Chicky

PRONOUNS: She/Her/They

ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus

TAKEN OR SINGLE: Taken

——— THREE FACTS! ♡

Awful at socializing I think. My brain blanks on what to say to people to start a conversation. It's like if it isn't a necessity or is something dummy funny like a meme I struggle to say something. I try to work around it because I want to be better, but it feels weird, like a script. Still, I try! It's easier to do online than irl.

Very much a homebody that does not like to get out.

A couple therapists I've had think I might be on the au/adhd spectrum. I would agree because there's so much there. Think it's all but put on my record at this point.

——— EXPERIENCE! ♡

PLATFORMS USED: My phone for texting rps, DeviantART, and Skype back in the day. Nowadays I use Tumblr and Discord.

——— MUSE PREFERENCE! ♡

GENDER: Female, but I have a little bit of everything; got a lot of OCs. Male, female, nonbinary, trans - I'm flexible baybee.

MULTI OR SINGLE: Single muse. I'm fixated on Jewel and always have been. It's difficult for me to divert my attention from her. She legit lives in my brain rent free 24/7. But! I have thought about making a multimuse RP blog with some of my other 'main' OCs. All of them are rooted in Bleach and I have their info already. It's just balancing my attention between them all, which is hard. Chase has his own blog and I don't even get on there enough rip.

LEAST FAVOURITE FACECLAIM(S): I don't have any? I don't mind them. I will say fcs of canons I'm familiar with can be jarring. There's a mental backflip in my head that says 'I know this face's canon story/personality but this is an OC and I have to treat it that way.' Like it's not a big deal ofc! But there is that quiet voice in my head lol.

——— FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡

FLUFF: I don't mind it. It works best with a connection to Jewel. She def has her cutie pie honey bunch moments with those close to her. And when she cares about someone the cute(tm) is inevitable. Sometimes her version of cute is bringing your muse a dead thing, ur welcome.

ANGST: Luv me some angst. Plotting helps here too. Gimme the worry, hopelessness, and sorrow. I will happily serve the gore and horrors up on a platter. Angst can rev a thread up and keep me on the edge of my seat. What's just as exciting is being able to write through those moments and get to the other side. Like damn we made a movie moment, look at us. |D

SMUT: I don't write smut, like, ever, because Jewel's v limited in terms of shipping and the specifics of what I'm looking for with her make it difficult to get to the point of writing any smut. She's had some 'almost' moments but nothing that was ever carried through. (almosts are fun though because they build tensioooon, but also boo bc that's all she's ever gotten lol) If it ever happens, I'd be happy to write it. 👀✨

tagged by: yoinked it

tagging: yoink it

[neon-lights-stardust-nights]

🔪 and 🍪, I don’t think I‘ve seen you talk about this one •o•

OH! 🍪!!!! I'm not used to having a weirdo corner, so the lack of talk mostly just comes down to the self-ship being a father/child cradle ship! I think about him more often then I care to admit.

[meme]

🔪 || How far would they go if they ever feel jealous of someone? What would they do to deal with those feelings?

Remember how I joked I had three types: Doctors, Deadly Narcissists, and Daddy Material? Well, 🍪 checks two of those boxes. And he's (barring his major crime from canon) honestly just kind of a sweet guy!

It's always the sweet ones.

He's also (to clarify) not shipped with Bone (my s/i for basically all my other secret f/os.) There is an AU of him and a younger Bone, but the main s/i I ship with 🍪 is Val. I'd use an emoji, but... Bone's name is out there already, so.

Now, the important part of this is that he's already very self-assured. He might get minor flights of jealousy, but nothing that usually keeps him up at night. Val is his little frankenstein, and nothing can take away his sunshine!

So when something actually sticks with 🍪... Well, it's just not normal. It's odd. It bothers him everywhere he goes, to a point even Val can tell something is wrong with papa. It's only when Val looks up at him with big eyes and a concerned frown asking what's wrong that 🍪 decides to really do much of anything besides fume.

As mentioned: he's a doctor. A wonderful one, too! 🍪 was originally a surgeon by trade, but has taken to doing checkups and other diagnostic nonsense to fill in a lack of doctors willing to work with certain people. If the source of his jealousy was one of those people under his care, it would be quite simple to feign complications during surgery.

I think it wouldn't be something 🍪 planned exactly--just spur of the moment. He'd be crushed by guilt all the way until he got home and saw Val's face. Then he'd at least be able to tell himself he was protecting something worth killing over.

If they weren't in any way under his care... Thanks to his willingness to work with anyone, he has connections. I similarly think 🍪 wouldn't be entirely thinking it through when he asked a powerful mob/mafia type to just get them out of his life. He wouldn't argue with the outcome though, not when Val is still clinging to his shirt.

[mikasimaginairyworld]

The Umbrella Academy: Firecracker - The Day that Was (7/30)

Umbrella Academy Masterlist

warnings: blood

word count: 2655

"So who the hell is Harold Jenkins?", Nailah asked.

Five emptied his second cup of coffee and promptly threw it behind him:"I don't know. Yet. But I do know he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now."

"How is he connected to what's gonna happen?", Luther asked still a bit in disbelief.

Five sighed: "I don't know."

"So what, you just know his name? That's it?", Nailah asked.

"That's enough.", Five shrugged.

"There's probably dozens of Harold Jenkinses in the city.", Diego commented.

"Well, we just better start looking then.", Five shot back.

"I'm sorry, am I the only one sceptical here? I mean, how do you know all of this about, what's his name?", Allison an asked while Five's face scrunched. Nailah tiled her head observing Five carefully but didn't say anything.

"Harold Jenkins. You know those lunatics that attacked the house?", Five asked clearly annoyed.

"Oh, yeah. I think I remember those guys.", Klaus confirmed scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, the ones that attacked us while you were getting drunk.", Diego added in an accusing tone.

"Yeah. Them. They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth.", Five explained.

"The Temps what?", Allison asked confused.

"My former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure whatever is supposed to happen... happens. The believe the apocalypse is coming in three days. So I went to the Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was meant for said lunatics. 'Protect Harold Jenkins'. So he must be responsible for the apocalypse.", Five finished and for a moment there was complete silence.

Then everyone started to talk all over each other. 

"Do you have any idea how insane you sound?", Allison asked. Five discreetly put a hand on his side and again scrunched his face. Nailah narrowed her eyes.

Five scoffed: "You want to know what else is insane? I look like a 13-year old boy. Which I hope won't last long. Klaus talks to the dead, Luther thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat and Nailah can theoretically conjure fire from nothing. Everything about us is insane. It always has been."

"He's got a point there.", Klaus agreed from the sofa.

"We didn't chose this life. We're just living it. For the next three days at least.", Five continued.

"But the last time we tried to stop it we all died. Why is this time any different? Why shouldn't I go home to my daughter?", Allison intercepted.

"Because this time I'm here. And we've got the name of the man responsible. Guys, we actually have the chance to save the lives of billions of people. Including Claire.", Five continued.

Allison's head jerked towards him: "You know her name?"

"I do. And I'd like to live long enough to meet her.", Five said softly. 

Allison took a deep breath: "All right. Let's get this bastard."

"You had me at Gerald Jenkins.", Diego admitted.

"Harold.", Five corrected.

"Whatever. I've already lost two people this week, I'm not losing anyone else."

"Luther?", Five asked.

"Yeah, you go. I'm gonna stay and look through dad's files. I think this has something to do with why he sent me to the moon.", Luther declined.

​​​​​​​"Seriously? You wanna make the end of the world about you and dad?", Diego asked sceptically.

"No. 'Watch for threats'. That's what he told me. You think this is a coincidence?  This all has to be connected somehow.", Luther defended himself.

"We don't have time for this. Nailah?", Five interrupted.

​​​​​​​"All on board, as usual."

"Let's roll. I know where we can find this asshole. Klaus, you're with me.", Diego ordered.

"Yeah, I'm good. I think I'll pass. I'm feeling a little under the weather to be honest.", Klaus said stumbling forward and disappearing upstairs. 

Diego, Allison, Five and Nailah all sighed heavily and left the Academy.

"I know this Jenkins dude has to have a file. We gotta get out hands on this file.", Diego said as soon as he and the rest of his siblings arrived in front of the police station.

"And your plan is to what? Walk in there and just ask for the file?", Allison asked from the backseat.

"I know the station like the back of my hand, Nai. I got this. I've spend a lot of time inside.", Diego countered.

"Yeah, In handcuffs. Doesn't count, amigo.", Nailah said from next to Allison.

"Whatever. Here's the plan.", Diego began.

"Plan? I'm just gonna blitz in and get the file.", Five looked at him amused.

"No, that's not.. You don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?", Diego protested.

"I literally just did this yesterday. My yesterday, not yours. It'll take two seconds. Why don't just go?", Five said.

"Listen to me. You are not going in there. I made a call. That's what a leader does. He leads.", Diego said in a low voice.

"For gods sake just go and get us that file before I do it.", Allison said.

"Yeah and be quiet about it, I'm trying to concentrate.", Nailah added scribbling even more in her notebook.

Diego took his sweet time getting that file. Nailah, Five and Allison had decided to leave Diego's stuffed car and wait on the curb. Allison tried repeatedly to call Vanya but to not avail. The call always went to voicemail. Nailah was still adjusting the equations.

"How's it going with it?", Five asked peeking over her shoulder. 

​​​​​​​"Fine. Do you happen to know your exact cholesterol level?"

"No? Why would you need that?"

​​​​​​​"Well, I'm pretty sure I've managed to complete the parameters to age up a human, I just need to adjust them to you."

"And why do you need my cholesterol level?"

Nailah sighed: ​​​​​​​"In my earliest research I've managed to make out the main biological components that allow you to time travel. Most are so small deviations from the normal humans that they can be ignored but your cholesterol level is surprisingly high. I guess it helps you materialise safer and faster or something. I'll just put 600 for now."

​​​​​​​"So you think you can actually age me up?", Five asked.

"Maybe. But I still need to run some tests.", Nailah confirmed.

"You're welcome.", Diego approached his siblings with a blue file in his hand. Allison took it and opened it. Her eyes immediately were. caught between surprise and shock.

"Holy shit. Nailah, you need to look at that. That's Leonard. The guy Vanya's been going out with.", she said. and Nailah confirmed. 

"And we know where he lives.", Nailah said with a small smile.

"What are we waiting for, then?", Five asked getting back in the car.

"Let's be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of.", Allison asked as the four arrived at Leonard's house.

"Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous the first time I saw him.", Diego commented.

​​​​​​​"Yes, well looks can deceive. You for example look very dangerous but are harmless like a little bunny.", Nailah said opening the zipper of her blue sweater revealing a black bralette top. 

"Love you too.", Diego snapped back.

"Besides, most serial killers look harmless at first. Just look at Five.", Allison added.

"Fair point. What does this Leonard want with Vanya anyways?", Diego asked while Allison disappeared at the side off the house.

"I don't know. How about we ask him after we kill him?", Five proposed following Diego and Nailah up the porch stairs.

"Okay, so. I'm gonna burst through...", Diego began but stopped mid-sentence when realised Allison was gone.

Diego sighed: "You know, it would be nice for people to stick...", he as cut off by Five who just blitzed inside. "...the plan." he finished.

Diego took a few steps back and jumped through the glass part of the backdoor landing brutally on his side. Groaning his slowly stood up.

"Subtle.", Allison commented walking past him. 

Nailah peeked through the hole in the door and calmly turned the knob letting the door spring open without as much as a sound: "You do. realise the door is open, right?" Nailah chuckled walking inside. 

"Yeah, well my way works just fine. Spread out. Yell if you're in trouble.", he said walking towards the kitchen.

"Ah, inspiring leadership.", Five commented.

"One of the greats.", Allison added to which Nailah only chuckled.

The group spread out looking for any lead they could find.

"Guys, you need to see this!", Allison called from the attic.

Everyone rushed towards the attic. The sight was disturbing to say the least. Figures, posters, comics and ads of the Umbrella Academy. were mutilated and crossed out all over the room.

"All out faces are burnt off.", Allison sighed.

"A bit ironic, don't you think?", Nailah said holding up a figure of her with clear burn marks where her head had been. Since snickered through the disgust.

"Not creepy at all. This guy's got some serious issues.", Five commented but paled.

"This was never about Vanya. This was about us.", Allison said. Right then Five collapsed.

"Five?", Allison asked kneeling next to him.

"Blood from his side.", Nailah said seeing her hand stained red after touching Five's lower torso.

​​​​​​​"Jesus, Five. Why didn't you say anything?", Diego asked softly.

Five coughed: ​​​​​​​"You have to keep going. So... close." Then he lost consciousness. 

"Yeah, I'm not buying that hero shit. Let's go. My apartment's closest.", Nailah said and with her siblings' help they transported Five to her apartment.

Diego and Allison dragged Five up into Nailah's apartment.

 

"Put him on the couch. You can throw the papers on the floor, we'll pick them up later. Allison, bandages are in the bathroom, Diego take his shirt off.", Nailah ordered making her way to the sink to wash and disinfect her hands.

Allison brought her the first aid kit and bandages just as Diego finished taking off the clothes from Five's torso. Nailah began inspecting the wound. Her siblings knew that even though she wasn't a doctor she was still the most qualified to tend to any wound. A painfully slow hour passed but Nailah managed to clean the wound and sew it shut. 

Nailah sighed heavily and approached her siblings who were sitting the the table watching her every move. "And?", Allison asked.

"He's lost a lot of blood. I really don't know what to do. A blood transfusion won't work because neither one of us has his blood type and. besides, his blood composition is so much different than ours it would more damage than good.", Nailah explained.

"So what we just do nothing?", Diego asked and when Nailah neither answered nor looked at him he knew she had an idea. "You know something. What is it?", he asked.

Nailah sighed: ​​​​​​​"It's the pod. Our only option is wait for Five to wake up. And we don't even know when he wakes up and if. I could adapt the pod and age him up. We would know if he survives and he would have an older body. If it works."

"So why are we not doing it right now?", Allison asked.

"It's complicated. I don't even know for certain if it'll work. Of course I'm gonna do tests but even with them I have no idea how it will affect his wound. It could infect it or it could speed up the healing. I really have no idea.", Nailah explained.

"Do it.", Diego said and Allison nodded.

Nailah inhaled and made her way to the lab after taking a small sample of blood from Five's unconscious body. Allison tried to call Vanya again to warn her from Leonard. 

"Anything?", Diego asked in the living room watching Five lay on the couch unconscious.

"There's still no answer at Vanya's place. And the receptionist at the music school said she was a no-show for her lessons today.", Allison said. Diego nodded and began making his way towards Nailah's lab.

"Hey, you okay?", Allison asked.

"Yeah. I don't know. It's just surreal, this whole situation. We don't have much time. We gotta go.", he said.

"I don't know, Diego. Five is laying here, unconscious. We need him.", Allison intervened.

"We can do this ourselves.", Diego assured.

"We already did, remember? We all ended up dead.", Allison said in a dark tone.

"Yeah, well we can't give up now.", Nailah appeared in the doorway to her lab.

"Look, if you guys help me get him out of his clothes and into the pod, I'll stay with him. You can go and help Vanya.", Nailah assured.

​​​​​​​"You think it'll work?", Allison asked hopefully.

"Well, all the sampled look good. No damage, all healthy. I think he has a pretty good chance.", Nailah said.

Diego, Allison and Nailah stripped Five from his clothes and gently placed him in the pod.

"How much are you going to age him up?", Allison asked.

"Five years. That's the absolute maximum I can do in one sitting. Not just because the pod needs refreshing but because I have no idea what could happen after that. The equations stopped making sense, especially with his genetic code.", Nailah said strapping Five in tightly,

Nailah inhaled deeply before checking the parameters again. She then pressed the button initiating the process. The machine whirred quietly for a moment then silence spread through the lab. Slowly a grey coat of particles occupied the glass lid of the pod making it impossible to see the change inside.

"What's that? What does that mean? Did it work? What do we do now?", Diego asked with slight panic in his voice.

"Now we wait. Calm down. That's totally normal.", Nailah assured.

"Go find Vanya. I'll be here the whole time watching the pod. Don't worry.", Nailah said with an encouraging smile calming Allison's and Diego's worries.

Diego and Allison left the apartment swiftly after deciding on checking out Jenkins' grandmother's old house. As soon as the door closed Nailah exhaled shakily. She looked at her hands. They were violently trembling and uncontrollable small sparks were spraying out of her fingers. 

Nailah took deep breaths trying to calm herself down. She cursed. She leaned other desk glancing at the pod. "This better work.", she whispered to herself shakily.

​​​​​​​"Nope, come on, this way.", Diego redirected Allison as soon as they exited Nailah's apartment building.

"But the car's that way.", Allison protested but Diego gently pushed her in the other direction.

"Just trust me, okay? Come on"

"But what's going on?"

"They're here for me. They think did something."

"What do they think you did?"

Diego sighed: "Murder."

"Did you?"

"No! Of course not!  Why would you even ask me that?"

"You do carry knives everywhere."

"We're gonna have to split up, okay. I'm in charge. Remember? Vanya needs you."

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?", Allison left Diego.

Diego put his hands up and let himself get arrested.

Vanya's heart was beating faster than ever before. 

She had used her powers.

She had  fought back.

She had lost control.

She had hurt Leonard.

She had hurt people.

She had ... killed.

And now she had to live with the consequences of it.

-> Umbrella Academy Masterlist

[xtrablak674]

Listen To The Music

Music doesn't lie

it said I found an angel

And now I'd like to fly.

In 1994 I worked as a production assistant on a Lincoln Center production of Hello Again, twenty three years later I watched the film of this production in my neighborhood. I was sad there weren't any cameos by the original cast or even any mentions other than a brief shot of the program from the production. I am not sure what I wanted, I think my expectation were steeped in nostalgia, this after all was my first musical and even two decades later I can sign the entire show. I am not sure if someone shushed me in the movie theatre, because I lip synced along with about ninety five percent of the movie, noting where a line had been changed around or re-ordered.

It also made me think of my recently passed mentor Leslie Loeb who had died in the past couple of years from ovarian cancer. I inboxed Michael John letting him know I had seen the film and I had enjoyed the casting changes. He responded back with a brief, but at least a response "xoxo Trevor".

I hadn't realized he was only eleven years older than me. Leslie always referred to me as Young Trev, and two decades later looking exactly the same I am still young Trev. I saw Leslie I think no more than five years ago, in my mind she didn't look well to me. He hair which she had previously always wore short was longer falling a bit below her shoulder. Her face a bit weathered. I hope I didn't make her feel her age seeing me, I can't help my ageless genes. She treated me to lunch which I arrived at limping because I had to wear these new shoes I had purchased at DSW.

We had met when I was a part of her stage crew back at the Circle Repertory Company, now closed it was the theatre where I had my post-college internship as assistant production manager working under Jody Boese, his name is one you always just say the full thing, in recent years I had re-connected with Jody but I think there was something about my FB post which rubbed him the wrong way, he liked myself was struggling with employment, which I was frankly surprised by him having the pedigree of career he had.

I love that my last memory of Leslie is something positive and the only photo I have of us together is the selfie I snapped of us after our lunch and a little light shopping in the East Village. The next time we would talk would be me looking for career guidance which she had promised to assist me with but succumbed to her illness before she could make good on her promise. I held no ill will toward her because of this. I had watched my own mother die of cancers decades earlier I realize that cancer doesn't give you a lot of choices.

When I got home I couldn't help but play the original cast recording I had sung the entire show on my way to the theatre and of course on my way back home.

So how 'bout a dime love.

It's for my doorman

We may never be saying,

Hello again.

[Photo by Brown Estate]