#his number one flaw is not letting his team in on his plans and that’s so interesting to me

[soapybutt17]

The Next of Kin

Summary: Simon needed to update his contact information, as dodgy as he was for giving everyone even a glimpse of his private life, he did so. Who would have ever thought that it would become handy after an injury left him high on painkillers and needy for his girls back home. Character: Simon "Ghost" Riley x Wife!Reader. OC Daughter (Cassandra "Cassie" Riley). John Price. Word Count: 1,615 Chapter Warnings: Mentions of Injuries. Drug Consumption. Slight Angst. Mostly fluff.

Masterlist || Request are Open

It was the annual checkup in the base, something that Simon had dreaded the most knowing what it entails. Not only was his current and past injuries being monitored but he was all too certain about the wacky doctor would also make an appearance to check on his mental state. It wasn’t a fun time as any of his other team mates point it out to be.

“Should we update your emergency contact, Lieutenant Riley?” The nurse had inquired dealing with his medical records.

A part of him wanted to say no, but remembering what was waiting for him home, he could not allow himself to break his wife’s heart as well as his own daughter if the time ever comes that he dies in the middle of battle. He would want to ensure if ever that was to happen, you would know and hope that you would move on.

“Yes,” He agreed accepting the clipboard and pen handed to him.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he wrote your name and your number under his emergency contacts.

His handwriting was decent and readable at best, chicken scratch at worst as Johnny had eloquently pointed out during reports. But there was this special care with the way he wrote your first name and his last name that you were more than happy to take as soon as you married all those years ago. Your number was ingrained to his brain as he wrote it, having forced himself to memorize in the event he didn’t have his personal phone with him and simply a burner phone for missions.

What truly took him a second to write was the blank space dedicated to his relationship with you. No one knew he was in a relationship, nor did anyone know about his marriage. It took him a full two minutes before he found himself slowly opening the flood gates of his personal life that he had tried his best to hide from the world.

“Never knew you were married, Lieutenant.”

“Never planned on letting anyone know about it.” He spoke honestly, the cold demeanor and tone enough to stop the conversation from going further about his personal life.

Little did Simon know that the upcoming mission would lead to him having to make use of the emergency contact.

~

When you had begun your relationship with one Simon Riley, you had always accepted that he would always be gone for uncertain amounts of months in a year, you had accepted that part of him. How mission would always mean the world was a little safer from the dangers of man. You accepted all the big and small flaws that came with Simon and even in your eventual marriage and the birth of your daughter, you had come to accept the danger that would come in missions that would place him badly bruised or beaten beyond repair. You would always be there to tend to each and every single wounds and be the shoulder for him to cry on when he was good and ready.

But nothing could have ever prepared you for another unknown call coming from your phone. You’ve always expected it to be your husband, checking up on you before the mission begins like he always does. But the voice of an unknown man was the last thing you would have expected.

He called himself John Price and you know the man from your husband’s few conversations when he talks about the people he works with. You had feared for the worst as soon as he had explained that your husband has just gotten out of surgery after a mission. A few broken bones and a superficial gunshot wound. But it was enough to worry you as Simon himself has been asking for you as soon as he was out of surgery and in lucid consciousness.

On most days you were calm and collected, but it was the panic of seeing the worse of your husband that had you carrying your two year old and a baby bag towards your car with a mission. The Captain had asked if you could possibly have someone come get him but you know no one else better to check up on him but yourself and your daughter that was all the more excited about being in the car.

The travel was rather long and rather tedious knowing you and your husband had agreed to live away from the city and away from any dangers that may come to you and the baby while he was gone. You had appreciated the distance, the peaceful tranquility that came with being away from the bustle and noise of the city but not this time. It had meant a longer journey and a more hectic one since the base was all the way across the other side.

Once you had arrived to the base, all eyes were on you. Many eyes had lingered on you when they heard your last name. You know for a fact that your husband’s name and reputation beholds him, but you never knew nor did you ever try to question to what extent. It unnerved you more was how avoidant everyone had been of you aside from one of the soldiers tasked with bringing you and your daughter to your husband.

Outside the infirmary room was a rugged man. The man exudes an air or control and intensity and rugged strength, but not as much as your husband did. His posture was upright, suggesting discipline and years of military training. Dressed in an all too familiar tactical gear, he gives off a no-nonsense vibe that immediately commands attention.

“Ma’am, my name is John Price.” The man introduced the moment he caught sight of you.

You spoke your name and your daughter that was surprisingly all too mum in the whole situation, you were surprised that she wasn’t crying at being in an unfamiliar environment like she usually was.

“It is best to assume that you two are Simon’s wife and daughter, I presume?” He inquired.

You took a moment to think if it was alright to agree with his statement. Knowing your husband and the array of precaution he had come to give you, you were uncertain if you could trust the man with such a fact.

“Yes.” You spoke, dealing with the consequence later as there was something more important that needed your attention. “How’s he doing?” You inquired wanting to change the subject now.

“Stable. A little loopy from the drugs, but he’ll make a fast recovery.”

You nodded, hesitation of asking if you would be allowed to see him now in his state.

“He was looking for you.” He opened the door for you and you were welcomed with your husband in bed with his mask still on.

“Dada!” Your daughter squealed upon the sight of your husband groggy still.

You watched as his head turned to look at you and your daughter.

“Love…” He grunted wincing at the pain that you were certain that was coming in full force now.

“I’m here, Baby.” You whispered approaching him, cupping his cheeks gently. “Me and Cassie are here.” You assured trying your best to hide the tears that were fighting to fall at the sight of him.

~

When Simon Riley had opened his eyes, the first thing that he had come to notice was the pain that surrounded his entire body. The next thing that he noticed was the warmth that wrapped around his calloused hand.

Turning his head he saw the most beautiful sight that he had the fortune of seeing in his life. His wife and daughter. The more pressing matter was the fact that you were asleep in an all too familiar uncomfortable plastic chair with one hand on him, and your other arm held onto your baby sleeping on your chest.

“Baby…” He grunted harsher than he intended.

Slowly blinking away, your eyes immediately turned down towards your daughter before your eyes met his own.

“How are you holding up?” You inquired immediately, trying your best not to wake your sleeping daughter still cradled snuggly on your chest.

“Like a bitch.” He muttered appreciating being able to swear with his daughter still asleep. “But I’ll live.”

“I’m glad.” You sighed, rubbing his hand tenderly. “I was so worried about you when your boss called me. I thought something worse has happened.” You whispered.

“I didn’t really want to worry you—or have you see me like this.” He muttered.

“I know.” You nodded gently letting go of his hand to cup his cheeks that still was covered with his mask. “But I’m still as glad to be here right now knowing you’re alright. Me and Cassie get to see you’re alright.”

At the mention of your daughter, Simon noticed his daughter begin to get fussy from your chest. Gently pushing himself up until he sat on his bed much to your protest, he took your now crying daughter into his arms, gently laying her onto his chest and how quick she was sated in his warmth.

“Daddy’s here, Angel. I’m here.” He began to whisper, pulling off his balaclava to kiss his daughter onto top of her head. “I’m not going soon for a while. I promise.”

He has yet to tell you about the doctor’s insistence that he takes a few months off. It would be something he would tell when you get home. Once he finishes up with the paper works, he’ll let you know of the good news. For now, all that’s important was he had you and his daughter here with him, even in his most vulnerable state.

[marvelslut16]

The Flu

Prompt number: 22 "Who takes care of you?"

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner

Rating: T(een)

Word count: 2.8k+

Warnings: Age gap relationship. Dbf. Swearing. Boss and employee.

A/N: A few hours late for day 4, but I was a busy woman today. Aaron and Jack never go into the witness protection program, they catch Peter Lewis right away.

The job was just supposed to be temporary, one to help you get back on your feet after dropping out of school, and you got to help your long time infatuation Aaron Hotchner now that Jess was moving out of state. It was a win win in your eyes, and it got your dad off your back. But that was almost two years ago now, and there was no end in sight for your current arrangement as Jack’s live in nanny. 

The one flaw in your logic was how drop dead gorgeous your boss is. Not that that is new information, you’d been drooling over him since you were sixteen when you saw him shirtless at a backyard/pool party your dad threw. But now it’s so much worse, because he’s so sexy doing all of his mundane tasks. Making coffee at five in the morning with bedhead? Sexy. Making dinner in one of his tight white dress shirts when he gets home from a case early? Still sexy. Dressed down in casual clothes coaching Jack’s soccer team? The most sexy.

As you lament, yet again, to your best friend over text about how unfairly hot Aaron Hotchner is, the front door opens. As if he knew you were talking about him, he enters the house with a thud having dropped his go bag by the front door. He slowly makes his way to the kitchen, where you are, and when he does you finally notice how miserable he looks. His dark hair is slicked to his forehead, his face pale- except for his cheeks which are bright red, and his eyes are bloodshot.

“Oh my god, Aaron! Are you okay?” your voice raising an octave, you rush over to him and guide him to one of the barstools in front of his large island.  

“I’m fine, the team overreacted and sent me home,” he almost sounds convincing, until he finishes the sentence with a loud sneeze. 

“Awww,” you rub your hand up and down his back comfortingly. “Did Jackers give you the flu?”

“No,” he argues, and tries to quietly sniffle. 

“That’s it, straight to bed young man,” your hands resting on your hips as you tell him the same thing you told Jack a week ago when he came home from school with the flu. “While you take a nap I’ll make you some homemade chicken noodle soup.”

“It’s fine (Y/N), you don’t have to do that. I’m capable of making my own lunch,” he looks like a petulant child, his hands balled in fists also resting on his hips. 

“When was the last time you let someone take care of you Aaron?” you ask, becoming annoyed that he keeps fighting you. “Six months ago when you were in the hospital, that’s when. And then you still fought it tooth and nail. Who takes care of you?”

“I can take care of myself,” he starts coughing as a result of lowering his voice in order to use his boss voice. A voice he only ever uses on you when you try to care for him too.

“You want to go back to work again soon right?” he nods. “So just listen to me. Take some Tylenol and go lay down. Please let me make you some soup.”

He finally relents and heads upstairs to bed, but not before you get him a large glass of water. Thankfully you were planning on making chicken for dinner, so you already have some thawing. You waste no time and start cooking the chicken in one pot, then you chop the vegetables. After the chicken has been shredded and the soup is simmering, making the whole house smell delicious, you sneak upstairs to check on your patient.

You’re happy to see that he’s laying in the middle of his bed bundled up in his sheets with little snores escaping him.Despite him being sick, he still looks far more at peace and relaxed in this moment then he has since you met him back when he was still a prosecutor. After a few minutes of taking him in, you head back to the kitchen and toast and butter bread to go with his soup. The soup is done ten minutes later, and you ladle a nice heaping bowl for him. 

You trek back up the stairs, walk into Aaron’s room and stand beside his bed. You’ve woken him up a bunch of times when he falls asleep watching movies with you and Jack or when he falls asleep at the island going over paperwork for work, but this feels different. You’re in his bedroom, you’re boss’ bedroom. Overcoming your nerves you reach forward and gently shake his shoulder, he wakes with a start whipping his hand to grasp your wrist in a bruising grip. 

“Aaron,” you startle, he doesn’t register that you aren’t a threat in his half asleep stupor. “It’s me, it’s (Y/N).”

“(Y/N)?” he snaps out of it, face contorting into a frown when he sees his white knuckled grip around your wrist. “Shit! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s fine,” you smile lightly, rubbing your wrist when he finally lets go. “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have woken you up like that.”

“It’s my fault,” he argues, sitting up and leaning against his mahogany headboard. “I couldn’t stop thinking about the case at work before I fell asleep, I must have dreamt about it.”

“It’s fine Aaron, I just wanted to let you know the soup is done, there’s a bowl cooling on the island for you,” you smile as you slowly back out of his room, suddenly feeling like you’re intruding. 

Aaron doesn’t say anything else, so you slip out of the room and head back to the kitchen to start cleaning up. Aaron joins you a few minutes later, wrapped tightly in his blue robe Jack picked out for him for Christmas last year. Aaron lets out an involuntary moan after taking a spoonful of soup, and you clench your thighs together at the delicious sound.

“This is the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had,” Aaron says once he’s scarfed down half of his bowl. 

“You hate chicken noodle soup,” you giggle, remembering the cute way his nose crinkled in disgust when that was the only soup at some fancy restaurant the team and their families went to last year. 

“Not this one!” he shovels in another spoonful. 

You give Aaron another helping of the soup, glad that he’s eating and hydrating himself, before putting the rest into a container and into the fridge. You have just enough time to wash the pot and counters before heading to pick Jack up from school.

“I’m gonna head out and get Jackers in a few minutes,” you tell Aaron as he starts sneezing again. “Once you finish that, go lay back down and drink lots of water.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” he murmurs thinking you won’t be able to hear him. But you do, and you glare at him for his childish antics. He finally relents, “okay.”

The drive to get Jack isn’t very long, but after the whole Peter Lewis fiasco, Aaron won’t let Jack walk home or ride the bus. And you don’t blame him. Your dad told you about Jack getting stalked during one of your weekly phone calls while you were away for school, you were rattled for the Hotchner’s. 

“(Y/N)!” Jack comes running at you when he sees you, you bend down and scoop him into your arms and carry him to the car. You’ll never get tired of how excited he gets to see you when you pick him up, it’s the same happy reaction every day. 

“How was school buddy? Get all the homework you missed last week when you were home sick?” you bombard him with questions as you unlock the car.

“It was great! We got to play soccer in gym today and I scored three times!” Jack wiggles in excitement before you set him back on the ground. 

“That's great buddy!” you smile at him as he slips into his seat. 

“Yes I got all of my make up work,” he pouts once you get into the driver's seat. “Lots of fractions, and you know how much I hate those.”

“I’ll tell ya what, you do one of your math worksheets and then we can make your dad a get well soon card,” over your time with the Hotchner’s you’ve learned that bargaining is how to incentivise the both of them. “He came home from work early with the flu.”

“Dad’s home?” Jack start’s to excitedly bounce in his seat, happy that he’ll get to spend more time with his favorite person.

“Yeah, but just remember that he’s not feeling his best so he won’t be able to do a lot,” a bittersweet smile crosses your face, it’s not fair that they don’t get to spend more time with one another. It’s not fair that Aaron has to sacrifice his personal life to make the world a better place for everyone else. 

When you walk in the door you're greeted with the sight of Aaron bundled up on the couch under three blankets, the news playing quietly on the TV. Jack gives his dad a big hug before scurrying off to the kitchen to grab a snack and start his homework. You walk up to the lump on the couch that was once Aaron and reach your forearm forward to feel his forehead, and sure enough he’s much warmer than he should be. 

“I don’t feel good,” Aaron whines, making the same pouty face Jack made all last week. “Everything aches.”

“I know sweetheart,” you let the term of endearment slip without thinking, too focused on trying to comfort Aaron. “You have a fever, you need to drink lots of water and get out from under those blankets.”

“No,” he huffs, clutching onto his blankets like he needs them to live. “I don’t have a fever, it’s just cold in here.”

“Aaron it's seventy two degrees in here, it’s not cold. You need to take the blankets off, it’ll only make it worse,” he shakes his head sinking further into the couch. “Fine, if I go grab the thermometer and it says you have a fever, I’m taking both of your blankets into the kitchen with me while I help Jack with his homework.”

You don’t give him time to respond before you head to the upstairs bathroom where you had checked Jack for a fever this morning before school. When you get back to him, Aaron has sunk further down into the couch and cocoon of blankets trying to hide from the thermometer in your hand. You eventually get it in his mouth and sure enough he has a one hundred one degree fever.

“Hand over those blankets,” you reach your hand out for them, and he reluctantly gives them to you. “Now drink some water and watch the news. And no more blankets!”

You help Jack with two math worksheets before he remembers your deal, and demands you make a card. He decorates the printer paper in every color marker and tops it off with those marker stamps you got him for his birthday. Jack even makes you sign your name on the card. 

“Is this for me?” Aaron coughs and sits up when Jack thrusts the card in his face. “Aww thanks buddy, I love it!” Jack sits on the couch with his dad for a few minutes, but after seeing the news is on he gets up and leaves. 

“You feeling up for dinner?” you ask Aaron, when Jack heads back to finish some more homework. “It’s too late for me to make something, is there any take out you want?”

“Happy Meal!” Jack yells from the kitchen

“You heard the little man, we’re having McDonalds tonight,” Aaron smiles at you as you grab your keys and call Jack to come ride with you.

The rest of the night is stress free, Jack actually listens to you when you tell him it’s time to shower and get ready for bed, all because his dad is sick and doesn’t want to make it worse. Well it’s stress free where Jack is concerned, you still have to deal with the full grown baby you call your boss. 

“Time for bed Aaron,” you tell him after you’ve dried Jack’s hair and read him to sleep. “I know you don’t want to but you need to get your rest.”

“I’m not tired,” he says, even though he grabs your hand when you hold it out to him, you pull him out of his chair and lead him up the stairs and to his room 

“Now take two more Tylenol and go to sleep,” he reluctantly takes the pills out of your hand and throws them back dry.

“There, are you happy?”

“I’m ecstatic,” you deadpan, moving to fluff his pillows for him.

“Thank you,” Aaron catches your gaze when he speaks, making sure to hold it.

“It's my job,” you dismiss his praise, not wanting to let yourself think about it too much and read too deep into it. 

“No it's not, you always go above and beyond for us, for me,” Aaron gently catches the wrist he squeezed earlier making a mental image of the faint bruise marring your skin, and vowing to never let the world hurt you. 

“Aaron,” your breath catches at the delicate ghosting of his fingertips on the inside of your wrist.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, leaning forward and now it’s his lips ghosting over your wrist. You swear your heart stops when he pushes down harder, leaving a trail of kisses around your wrist. 

“What are you doing?” you ask breathlessly, the last thing you want is for him to stop, but you also need to make sure he’s in his right mind when doing this. 

“Kissing you,” the words fall out of his mouth effortlessly, like they’re said all of the time. His mouth travels up your arm and he’s kissing the sensitive crook of your elbow. 

Aaron pulls you down next to him in bed, quickly scooping you up and cradling you in his arms. You're at a loss for words, your dream is coming true. Aaron Hotchner actually wants you as much as you want him, and it isn’t a dream. When you’re lost in thought his lips descend on yours, and soon you get lost in him instead. There’s no rush to your kiss, just a slow languid strokes of his tongue twining with yours. It’s the perfect first kiss, there’s a heat to it, but no sense of urgency to get it over with. 

“(Y/N), you have my heart,” Aaron admits breathlessly, arms wrapping around you tighter. “I know it’s wrong for many reasons, but you made my heart beat again. You love Jack and you’re wonderful with him. He loves you. I love you. You take care of me even though you don’t have to, you are the most amazing person. You’re perfect for Jack and me.”

“You have my heart too, I love you too,” you grip his chin and pull him in for another kiss. “You and Jack are everything to me, I finally feel like I belong somewhere, here with the two of you. I never want to lose this, lose you.”

“You won’t,” he kisses you one more time before pulling away completely. “But you should probably go to your own room now, wouldn’t want you to get sick from sleeping with me tonight.”

“I was home with Jack all last week, I’m fine. Plus it’s probably better I stay in here and keep an eye on you,” he smirks, kissing you one last time before resting his head on your chest.  

The rest of the week is wonderful, Aaron still argues with you when you try to take care of him, but when Jack’s at school you two let the facade down. You cuddle with him and kiss him whenever you walk past him, making out on the couch like you’re two horny teenagers. Before you know it, it’s Sunday and Aaron is feeling better so he has to go into work in the morning. As the two of you say goodnight to Jack you start sneezing and the sniffling you’ve had all day rears its ugly head. 

“I told you not to sleep with me,” Aaron teases you after you close Jack's door, pulling you with him and back into his room.

“I’m fine,” your arguing falls short as you start sneezing again.

“I think the team can do without me for another case,” Aaron smiles as you slip into bed with him. “I need to be here to take care of you now.” Who would have thought the flu would be what finally got you two together?

[tenebraevesper]

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 7)

Welcome back to Part 7 of my Shadow, Sonic, and to an extent, Nine character analysis! This one will cover Episode 21: Home Sick Home and Episode 22: The Devil is in the Tails. In addition, this and the next post will also have a lot of gifs coz I'm hellbent to analyze every detail of this show.

So, let's dive in!

''Shadow, you're alive! Help a brother up?'' ''We are not related.''

After getting knocked into the abyss Nine made, Shadow makes an epic return by saving Sonic from the Grim Variant Trooper, with Sonic being happy to see that he's alive. Shadow... doesn't get the joke, but Sonic doesn't care. Also, Shadow does the pose from Sonic X. X3

*sighs* ''Nevermind. You okay?'' ''I survived. Nine's Alphas deployed a massive army to keep me down here.'' ''Alphas? You mean the ones that can duplicate themselves?''

''If I still had that Chaos Emerald, I could've teleported out of here. But, it's lost to the Void. And, smashing hordes of Sonics isn't the worst thing in the world.''

''Up for smashing a few more of mes?''

Okay, hol' up a second there buddy! ''Smashing Sonics?'' I hope the writers knew what they were doing, because the internet is going to take this conversation WAAAY out of context... and they already did.

In any case, we get an explanation to what Shadow was doing, and while yes, we see Shadow literally flying out of the abyss without the need for a Chaos Emerald, I assume that he meant that there was such a huge army of troopers that he needed the Chaos Emerald to get out. However, by the time Sonic arrived, the number lessened, so he could escape.

In any case, he's definitely up for smashing more Sonics.

They continue fighting the troopers, and what I really love about this fight is how they basically start playing tennis with the robot, throwing it from one to the other before Sonic slams it down.

''Hahaha! Helloooo, teamwork! Up top!'' ''These troopers are one thing, but the Alphas can generate an endless army. They are the real threat.'' *sighs* *high-fives himself*

Hey, Shadow, Shads, Shad, dude! Don't leave Sonic hanging like that. At least you could've taken the moment and high-five him since Sonic just wanted to celebrate your amazing teamwork. Admittedly, I can also understand Shadow here, as he is all business, quickly pointing out to Sonic how Nine's army works.

''Rebel's plan is working. The Scavengers are through to the citadel. They're gonna cut Nine off from the Prism.'' ''Which is in Nine's lab, guarded by the Alphas. They'll never reach it!'' ''So, how do we destroy them?''

Earlier, Sonic had managed to team up with all of the Shatterverse Variants, and instead of being reckless, he left it to Rebel to figure out a plan to get them through. However, Shadow doesn't have much faith as he understands just how much danger the Alphas pose, with Sonic recognizing that Shadow is right and asks for advice. After all, Shadow is usually the one who can see the flaws more easily.

''We don't. We're going after Nine!'' ''No, we're not!''

''We''? Did Shadow just say ''We''? He did! He shows absolutely zero hesitation wanting to work with Sonic in taking down Nine, and I have to say, I'm so proud of him managing to get to this point. However, as it was shown last time, Shadow needs to acknowledge that, while he did accept that he and Sonic need each other, they also need more help.

Also, remember how Shadow attempted to reach out for Sonic when the latter grieved his loss back at Ghost Hill, but backed away? Well, Sonic shows no hesitation here, quickly grabbing Shadow's arm to stop him. Shadow doesn't even push him away or anything, just glances back before yanking his arm out of Sonic's grip and remains on the spot, listening to what Sonic has to tell him. Their communication skills have definitely improved.

''You said it yourself. If we don't go after the Alphas, we're cooked. And the only way to win this thing is if we work together. We need the others.'' ''It is the end of the universe-''

As Sonic talks to Shadow, we can literally see Shadow go through several expressions and emotional states, and honestly, this scene was killing me when I first watched it! X3

Shadow goes from ''Not this again!'' *eye-roll* to ''Yeah, that makes sense'' to ''What the hell, Sonic!'' in a matter of seconds and I'm loving every bit of it. He is so expressive and this little moment shows that he there is more to him than it seems.

That, and he's dealing with Sonic, so obviously, he'd show more emotion than usual, since Sonic seems to be the only capable of triggering such emotional reactions from him. Not to mention, Shadow is certainly comfortable enough in Sonic's presence to show these kinds of reactions.

''-and you're still thinking about your friends!'' ''Of course I am! They're all here, fighting, sacrificing themselves, for me!''

Shadow berates Sonic for thinking about his friends when the fate of the world is at stake, with Sonic arguing how of course he'd do that. They are fighting and sacrificing themselves for him, and he isn't going to let them down. Sonic will always put his friends as his priority and he is not wrong for doing that.

''All the more reason to go after Nine while he's distracted!'' ''And let my friends get pummeled when Nine only wants me? *gasp* Nine only wants me... I have an idea!''

However, I cannot argue that Shadow is wrong either. He is right that they need to go after Nine before everything gets destroyed.

Honestly, this very argument showcases best how Sonic and Shadow's minds work. Shadow will focus on the end goal and how to achieve it, while Sonic looks at the bigger picture, at the people affected by their decisions. Both are right and wrong at the same time, and both want to take a different approach, but the only way to win this is to work together.

Especially with Sonic suddenly realizing that there is a way for them to win this war.

As Sonic and Shadow go join the rest of the group, we see all of them taking down Robot Big, with Shadow and Sonic exchanging looks after seeing this feat happen. Sonic grins, giving Shadow an ''I told you so!'' look, while Shadow is genuinely surprised that the group had managed to succeed in taking down such a formidable foe.

''Gang, this is Shadow! Shadow, meet, well... everyone, I guess.''

Rebel is glad to see Sonic, with Sonic quickly introducing Shadow to everyone else, which... awww, just look at them!

Sonic literally pulls Shadow into a side-hug, smushes his face against his cheek and rubs his shoulder, showing nothing but pure affection and being completely oblivious to everything else.

Shadow in turn, goes first into panic mode when Sonic pulls him closer, not sure what is happening, but unlike last time when he pushed Sonic away, he let's Sonic hug him. He certainly shows annoyance, but I think it is more out of embarrassment for being hugged like that in the public. He really doesn't mind being hugged by Sonic, and he even stays like this until Nine makes his move.

Also, where is Shadow's arm? It literally disappears when Sonic hugs him. Honestly, I choose to believe that he placed it on Sonic's back.

D'awww, they're so adorable!

I also love how literally everyone's reaction to this is just being unimpressed (with Renegade Knux being 🤨?).

Everyone's reaction just screams ''Sonic, did you really have to introduce your boyfriend when it's the end of the world?''

Well, of course he had to. He and Shadow are closer than ever now and it's the end of the world. One might as well do whatever they want.

SONADOW FOR THE WIN!

''Well, that's... terrifying.''

However, things quickly go south when Nine starts gathering more and more energy, making the The Grim decay even faster. This then leads up to the Chaos Council's mothership to be blown up.

''Mr. Dr., are you alive? Say something!''

Fortunately, Mr. Dr. Eggman manages to escape in his robot mech, wanting to melt Nine for what he had done. I just love how Shadow is also in the circle, wondering if Mr. Dr. Eggman survived or not. It's kinda hilarious.

With Prim's team defeated and the Shatterverse Variants being back to square one, Sonic quickly tells them their plan, and one notable thing in this shot is that, after they confront Nine, he looks to Rebel, then to Shadow, who nods in response. It is as if he's not only seeking for approval, but also making sure that they all have his back.

They're all in this together.

''Finally! Prove your worth machine!''

The battle begins anew, and I love how Shadow has beef with Grim Alpha Sonic, given how the latter had knocked him down into that abyss.

Seriously, I kept an eye on Shadow during this whole battle, and whenever he's shown, he mainly seeks out Grim Alpha Sonic, which made me think about something...

How cool would've it been if Nine had made Grim Alpha Shadow as a reference to the Shadow Androids from Sonic Heroes? I think people's minds would be blown.

However, as the battle goes on, we see Sonic's team losing, with Sonic confronting Nine. Gotta say, even if Shadow lost, look at how many troopers were sent to take him down. He would definitely be able to defeat all of them, though, if it weren't for one thing...

As we learn in Episode 22: The Devil is in the Tails, Sonic had managed to convince everyone to act as if they lost (yes, even Shadow followed that plan) and let Nine focus solely on draining the Prism energy while fighting Sonic, leaving the robots without power.

This leads to a victory for Sonic's team as they defeat the de-powered robots... at least until Nine powers them up again. Nevertheless, while Sonic (and later on, Renegade Knux) is focused on getting through/defeating Nine, everyone else focuses on the Alphas.

''You aren't going anywhere.''

When Nine orders the Alphas to target Sonic, most of them get knocked back by the Shatterverse Variants, with Shadow once again facing Grim Alpha Sonic.

We can see a parallel to Sonic and Shadow's fight from Episode 02: The Yoke's On You, but unlike last time, with Shadow fighting against Sonic, Shadow is now fighting for Sonic. He does get knocked down, leaving Grim Alpha Sonic to join Nine. I also checked that episode, and both Shadow and Sonic got knocked out after colliding. I suppose the Grim Alpha survived due to being a robot.

''We're not finished!''

However, Shadow makes a comeback, destroying the robot, much to Nine's shock.

''No! HOW?!'' ''I am... the Ultimate... Lifeform'' ''Modest too!''

Shadow's statement is once again very simplistic and factual. He is the Ultimate Lifeform, of course he'd beat a robot duplicate of his rival. I also love how Sonic jumps in with a comment, mainly because I have no idea if he was just messing with Shadow and Nine, or if he was genuinely honest about Shadow being modest. It's hilarious nonetheless. X3

Nine refuses to give up, using the Prism energy to paralyze both Shadow and Renegade Knux, while Sonic uses his own ability to create a barrier as The Grim decays faster and faster.

''He's not gonna stop.''

Sonic knows that he has no choice. Nine won't stop unless Sonic stops him. So he spin-dashes into Nine, knocking him down into the light of the Paradox Prism.

I absolutely loved how we could see here both Sonic and Shadow's growth, as well as how their ideals both clash and work together, leading up to the final confrontation (and also getting more Sonadow content because, hey, why not? XP).

Considering how Ian Flynn was a consultant for Sonic Prime, this episode really gave me the impression that this was the House of Cards arc from Archie!Sonic, as in the issues where Sonic and Tails have their big fight, but was written way better, acting like a redemption for that rushed mess.

Rest assured, the next (and last Part) will show us he big finale of this show!

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 6)

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 8)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[sarnai4]

Teamwork

This is going to sound a little odd given how some of my previous posts mentioned Viggo being very dismissive of Dagur...BUT I'm going to throw this idea out there. Imagine Viggo and Dagur as actual business partners/crime buddies. (Spoilers ahead)

Now, just hear me out. They are extremely different, yes, but I think their strengths balance the other's weaknesses. Let's consider Viggo. His biggest flaw is what I like to somewhat affectionately call his Viggo ego. The man is cocky to a new level. He couldn't even imagine someone betraying him, not him because he's the genius Viggo Grimborn. He can tell Dagur to follow orders and that he's dumb and he'll do nothing. Oops, okay, he did something. Viggo can ridicule his brother time and time again and Ryker will obviously do nothing to him because who can, right? Well, Ryker apparently can turn on him. Hmm, weird. Okay, for real this time, no one else can try to touch him. Dang it, Krogan and Johann! Just had to try to kill the guy. Don't you know that no one can go against Viggo? He's amazing. Well, that's the thing, he is, but he's so aware of that fact that he sets himself up for failure by not even considering real dangers as threats. It's really Viggo's only weak area. Besides that, he's incredibly strategic, level-headed, cool, charismatic, etc. He just needs to balance out that arrogance of his. I think Dagur could help him with this.

Despite Dagur definitely being a cocky guy too, he's nowhere near Viggo's level. To put it in perspective, the guy didn't even fight back after getting choked out because he didn't want to mess up his plan. He never said anything when the Grimborns mocked him and he also let Alvin think he was in charge back in DoB. This is the type of influence Viggo needs in his life. If he's willing to listen, Dagur could help open his eyes to the people around him and how they aren't all on his side. Honestly, once Viggo doesn't have to worry about his "allies" trying to kill or betray him, he's pretty much good. That removes about 70% of his problems. Even just in the two interacting, Dagur could probably help Viggo gain some humility and learn to not underestimate people. It would be difficult for the crime boss to accept that someone like Dagur is actually smart, so it would be an important first step for him to take. Afterwards, he could probably start opening his mind more to different forms of intelligence and not just assuming, "I'm better than you and you'll never stand a chance against me," when meeting someone.

Considering Dagur, I think his biggest weakness is his temper. No, not his mind. That's not fair and honestly not true. Him being deranged has led to him being unpredictable, a valuable trait when going up against people. He's also still very capable, so it's never held him back. His temper on the other hand. Woo. Yeah, that causes some issues. He gets angry over tiny things and just cannot function anymore. Dagur, if you stayed calm, you probably would've expected the tail to the face when Heather and the Riders left. Probably would've also not retreated in fury when the A Team showed up. This is how he had his first real loss against Hiccup back when they were kids because he was so angry at the provocation that he didn't pay attention and took him on with the Skrill, electrocuting himself. He had the advantage before that because of the numbers, but he reacted too hastily. Just have to get that temper under control.

Viggo is so calm and reasonable that I could see him helping with this. Even in times when he's lost, he can respect a game well played. There are times when he's lost his temper, but it's very rare and he generally keeps a cool head. Now, he'd need to not be condescending towards Dagur since that would make it worse, but I think he could be beneficial. Viggo getting through to Dagur, finding out why he actually gets so furious about things and helping him calm down/think things through when he's in one of those states would really help him out.

So, this friendship would definitely take time to work. It also might take some situations where they're forced to rely on each other first, but I think there's potential. Unfortunately, this would ultimately be to the detriment of the world because a Viggo who doesn't underestimate his foes and a Dagur who doesn't let his anger get the better of him are a deadly duo.

[irish-urn]

As one does, I've been thinking about Dasey lately (what else do I do? Absolutely nothing) and how utterly unhinged they are for each other.

They've never really admitted their feelings in the canon of the show (because the writers are cowards) but they're just insane. Constantly. And I love that for them, truly, but how did either of them ever have a relationship?

I get the Sam thing, because Sam is a pacifist and a little bit of a coward and there's Casey and Derek's giving the all clear so Sam doesn't want to step on any toes. Casey has never had a problem with it, it's why she pursued the man (well that and it pissed off Derek and that's always a plus, he's so entertaining when he's pissy and staring at her like that), but they call it off because Casey just doesn't feel enough.

(please ignore, much like the writers, that Casey feels too much for Derek consistently throughout the show.)

Her next serious boyfriend is Max, who definitely makes sense as a guy Casey would date. He's enough of a douche, while also being attractive (ig, I don't see it) and Derek hates him. Being captain of the football team gives her an existential crisis because she completely changes herself for him, but Max is popular and the opposite of Derek. Max is supposed to be Prince Charming! But he pisses her off because he just doesn't understand. He doesn't even try to get her fucked up relationship with Derek, because he just sees it as insane and Casey being neurotic, because he doesn't get that no matter how annoying and insane Derek's being (like thinking he can fight The Fridge, what the fuck is he thinking?! Even Derek has more sense than that), she's going to fight to the death for him. Max just doesn't get it. And in the end, they break up because they're fundamentally incompatible. Max can't accept Casey, flaws and all, because he doesn't want the flaws.

(please ignore that Derek accepts all of Casey's flaws from the moment they meet, and as much as he pesters her about them, he very clearly appreciates them all like the writers did.)

And then there's fucking Truman. Not one of the better presidents or love interests. His introduction being rating women is definitely a sign he's fundamentally wrong for Casey and just her excuse to rebel, because he's not even that cute. He's just there and a "bad boy" and Casey wants to rebel a little. Truman is an ass and the worst and an obviously terrible person and partner, but she loves him because she sees the good in him. Even after he makes out with her cousin, which. Casey's a better person than me; I never would've spoken to either of them. When they break up, it's because Casey respects herself again.

(please ignore that Truman is a manifestation of all of Casey's worst fears about Derek, that he's all of his worst traits brought to life, that he parallels him in a weird number of ways for it to be normal like the writers did.)

Jesse is just there. He's boring, he's got a shaved head and facial hair for some reason, he can dance. Theoretically, this is Casey's Prince Charming. A boring, normal guy. Except they obviously don't work out because the man has no personality or spine. Throughout VWD, he just lets Derek do his thing, which is probably the only reason they last at all.

(please ignore that Jesse is literally designed to be the opposite of Derek, someone who's boring and living by a plan and that Casey should end up with logically but who it's clear she doesn't feel passion with like the writers did.)

Peter, arguably Casey's worst choice, is the absent husband who we know nothing about. Except that he plays hockey and lives like he's 15. Now, I have lots of headcanons about that, but Peter specifically seems to be someone that Casey doesn't want to talk about. There's no passion, there's exhaustion because he's not there.

(please ignore that Peter is Derek on the surface, in college, but he's nothing like him at the core of it because Derek sees Casey struggling and moves in without a second thought like the writers did.)

And then there's Derek's love interests. Kendra, who definitely was someone he only dated for status who liked him more than he ever liked her (which is truly tragic, because I love Kendra so dearly). She's supposed to be perfect for him, and on the surface, she is, but there's nothing deeper. That relationship was less intimate than most of Derek's friendships. Kendra bored him because she never challenged him on anything, she never really made him feel alive.

(please ignore that, for better or worse, Casey has always made Derek feel too much and too strongly and been there, in the front of his mind, since they met, like the writers did.)

Sally is sweet and kind and challenges Derek and forces him to deal with his emotions. She's everything that's theoretically perfect for Derek, but for whatever reason, what he feels for her is clearly never the strongest force in his life. He loves Sally, more than he's ever loved someone romantically, but I think they both know, even as the relationship is happening, it's not forever. Derek's always on his best behavior, trying to prove himself and Sally, I think she knew this was fun and young but not permanent.

(please ignore that Derek refuses to try and be anyone other than himself, whatever version he is that day, to Casey, that she's always the strongest force in his life no matter how much he loves Sally, like the writers did.)

Truly. With their behavior, how did either of them ever get into a relationship? And not canonically fall in love, have three kids, get married and live somewhere together surrounded by Casey's library (which, yes, Derek, was a necessity), the pond out back that Derek can play hockey on in the winter with the kids (well, except their son, who ironically refuses to play hockey. It's the greatest bane of Derek's life) even though Casey has 911 on standby the entire time, the basement that has somehow been turned into a half man cave half game room that is constantly full of teenage boys arguing over such things as the best Jane Austen adaptation and whether or not burping the alphabet is sophisticated, the old office (before Casey's library was finished) that the girls have turned into a sitting room, covered in whatever chaotic projects they're involved in (this week it's a robot and a skirt. Casey refuses to question it), and their entire family surrounding them? Truly, how is that not the canon of Life With Derek?

(writing this might actually make me write the fic where they have three kids and a domestic life. goddammit. I fully blame you.)

Do you mean to tell me that there are people out there who DON'T think about Dasey every day? Honestly, sounds fake.

Listen: I have been thinking about Dasey so much this week that I started and am already half-done another fic that I'm hoping to finish in the next few days when I SHOULD be writing a paper for school.

So first of all: yes to your thoughts. And to add to them: do you ever think about how utterly terrifying it must be to have these feelings? I mean, basic emotions are bad enough, but imagine having huge, fiery, irrational feelings for your STEP-SIBLING. Who is, by all accounts, the absolute worst.

And I know you and I have been very respectfully screaming at each other about Derek's self-esteem issues, but can we talk about how Casey's terrible choice in guys is a reflection of HER idea of her worth??? Like, I always understood why she liked Sam -- for all that he is passive, he's NICE and sweet and respects her (I don't think he's that cute, but attraction is irrational anyways). Max probably has a lot to do with Casey wanting to be seen as more than a keener and a grub. And Truman, well. We all know what Truman is.

(A+ analysis on Jesse too, btw)

The thing that gets me is Casey taking Truman back and Derek asking Emily out, because we as viewers are pretty sure it's the writers going, "Oh snap, we can't have Derek and Casey going to ANOTHER prom together. Once is a funny accident, two is a pattern." But if we remove the writers, what do we get? We get a Derek and a Casey who are equally as afraid to end up going to senior prom together, so afraid that Derek asks out Emily, who he has never shown interest in before, Casey takes BACK Truman, and then Casey wraps a bow of "same difference" around it just to finish it off.

They're. Both. So. Scared.

ALSO, we can scream about LWL, but I am a very vain person who thinks of her kick at the darkness series as more canon than that movie, as much as I enjoyed that movie, but we CAN scream about Derek and Casey as parents and how bruised they both are and how that movie just proved how much they need each other.

OR we can scream about Dasey's children and how I know all four of them and their lives and their very chaotic and loving household, and Derek's three girls who adore him and have him wrapped around their fingers, and Casey's little boy who everyone thought would be just like Derek because he LOOKS just like him, but he's a keener and clumsy and such a McDonald it makes Derek's chest hurt with how much he loves them. We can talk about dance sessions in the kitchen, about guitars and music sheets that don't stay in the music room, about video game tournaments and blanket forts when there's bad weather or a hard day at school or work; about stay-at-home Derek after he retires from hockey and how the basement becomes his hobby room (because once the kids are in school, he gets BORED, okay???) (Don't worry, I know where he ends up; it's in podcasting with Marti), about baking weekends with Casey, and family grocery trips.

Yes. Let's.

[thefruitiestofbois]

We just needed time- pt3

Twenty-two Seraphites. That's exactly how many people know about Ellie and her immunity. How do I know that? Because these cultist freaks were kind enough to leave a scripture full of the names of all its members who had been sent on the Prophet's mission for purification. A lovely little charter that I'd discovered the location of after beating it out of the dead Scar on my right. I'd already sorted out the last fifteen or so on the list so twenty-two were all that were left between me and the road back to Jackson.

I had one thing to be grateful for- the Seraphites involved in the mission swore themselves to secrecy before setting off from Seattle. No doubt there were probably more who knew but I still had time before they set off for Jackson. I just needed time to find them all and pick them off one by one. My cooperative friend, who was now slumped into a wall, crimson bleeding from both his eyes and mouth, had helped me learn a number of things after we escaped.

The 22 remaining Seraphites were still planning their mission in secret and consulting the Elders for the best of course of action.

They would kill Ellie if they found her. Maybe do worse.

Once a plan was in place they would depart from different locations at different times so that they had the best chance for Ellie's capture.

Now my only aim was to kill all these sick fucks before they even got out of Seattle but there were still some flaws. I didn't know where these Scars were planning from nor did I know anything about Seattle so I had not the faintest idea where to start. Luckily, I had a vengeful and muscular blonde in a braid and her ex-Scar sidekick to help. Abby deemed me harmless seeing as Joel was dead and that her only shot at an eye for an eye, or dad for a dad, was gone. Lev was glued to Abby's side- I think he may have attachment issues but I understand.

"Two Scars headed your way, approaching from the east." Abby radios in and I look through the scope of my rifle at the dirt road in front of the blitzed building I'm in. "Sorry I meant Seraphites." I chuckle at her correction because Lev definitely made her say that. We were quite the team, the three of us, we had taken out entire patrols and raided a few places in the last two weeks we had been free. Sure enough two Scars- Seraphites- were approaching, leather jackets clinging to their bodies just like all the other ones we had seen today but these two had a marking on their left arms- an imprint of a phoenix. A distinct marking of the Prophet's order.

"Hold your fire, let them walk a few paces forward first." I chime in but keep my finger dead still just in front of the trigger, just in case. As expected they walk forward to what they think is just a broken square of wooden panel before crying out as they fall into the trap beneath- a twelve foot ditch with wooden spikes dug into the walls. I sprint down the few flights of stairs still intact in the building and approach the ditch and murmuring Scars with my pistol trained on them every second of the way there when I'm out of cover. Abby and Lev do the same but instead come from the opposite side from behind a small shop with its roof blown to pieces.

We reach two frantic looking Scars who rush to draw their bows but upon seeing they're outnumbered, surrender by tossing their weapons to the floor.

"Well would you look at how the tables have turned. Nice to see you Marcus." I say, replicating his sick sadistic smile that I'd still had trouble purging from my brain.

//

Marcus keeps struggling against his restraints, friction burns covering his wrists and neck. His feet scuffled incessantly on the floor and muffled grunts sounded from his gagged mouth. His partner was already dead, her body leaving a permanent maroon stain on the floor. I didn't move the corpse, I just left it there for Marcus to watch. I'd decide when he was done.

"Seeing as your girlfriend isn't waking up any time soon, how about you tell me where the Scars are hiding before you join her for a little afternoon nap." All he does is shake his head rapidly and grit his teeth through the gag. I raise my spiked bat, like I'd done so many times in this past hour and angle it towards the side of his torso, which was already a bruised mess and his clothes were scraps clinging to his body. I'd done damage, I knew that and I also knew I could never hurt him like he hurt me for an entire week straight, so I settled for inflicting agony for the next few hours till we had to eventually discard him and move onto the next targets.

Just as I'm mid-swing, he cries out for me to stop, so I do and remove his gag. I press one of the spikes into the side of his neck, puncturing his flesh to draw out small droplets of blood before ordering him to talk.

"There's an aquarium- that's where you'll find all of them." Twenty-two Scars- well now it would be all twenty.

"When?"

Two nights from now and then they go to Jackson the next morning."

"Aren't you talkative after a few hours of torture." I say as I settle onto my knees by his side, discarding the bat to replace it with his chin, forcing him to look at me.

"If you're going to kill me, do it already you coward!" He practically roars it out before spitting on the floor by my knees.

"Oh I'm going to but I'm going to do is slowly. I'm gonna start with your eyes first," my thumbs press the centre of his eyes only lightly because I'm only just starting, "then I'm going to slit your throat and listen to the satisfying sound of you fighting for your last breaths. And then..." I give him an earnest smile before saying "I'll leave your body, right next to your girlfriend's, so the demons of Seattle can rip you both apart. Because that's all you amount to: nothing. Roadkill essentially." And with that I press harshly into his eyeballs, feeling his body fight and writhe in pain as he screams out for me to stop.

//

"Any words from the scouts?" Maria looks at Tommy who only offers a sympathetic look before answering.

"I need you to know that you ain't gonna like what I have to say." His southern drawl heavy, almost like a loaded gun just biding its time til it goes off. She nods, head hung low while forcing a deep sigh out, already knowing the answer- dreading the answer.

"Seattle's got bodies popping up everywhere, all the scarred cheek kind, some a few WLFs. But Maria they- it's the way they were killed... their eyes had been gouged out. Just like-"

"Like the ones from last year at the ski resort." Maria finishes for him. A pale shadow casts itself onto their faces. "So it's her?"

"Yeah. I mean it's gotta, who else would it be?" She swallows harshly and sets her fist onto the table, resting her weight on it before ordering Tommy to keep this from the rest of the townsfolk.

"And Tommy if you find her, you don't bring her back into Jackson before I get a chance to assess her."

//

"Why do you kill them like that?" Abby asks while the three of us are sat eating dinner. Well if you would count scraps and dried up trail mix dinner. Lev was asleep inside the store room and Abby would soon join him while I took up watch like I did most nights. I didn't sleep much anyway so I didn't mind, plus I needed Abby rested so she'd be able to help us fight off anyone or anything. She was the strongest out of the three of us by a mile. Lev was useful in making traps and silent combat, so we didn't really need them for much aside form crafting and sometimes hunting.

"Long story." Is all I state before grabbing my water bottle to take a swig. We had taken up camp inside a run down coffee shop just outside off the highway that we'd be taking to the aquarium in a few hours. It was well into the night but we were hoping to get there to scope out the place beforehand. Even with all this planning and hunting we did together I still didn't understand why Abby and Lev were still here. They could have left me the moment we were all free but they just stayed and then when I suggested, well more so announced, that I was hunting the Scars before they got to Ellie, they didn't even hesitate, they just agreed.

"You should try opening up you know. Maybe you'd have more friends that way." She jokes and I laugh but inwardly I was thinking about that word. Friends. It felt strange to think about it. Were Abby and Lev my friends or were we just three people forced into a situation together? Except they weren't forced, they were here willingly. Ellie made sure I never experienced what it meant to have real friends seeing as she practically ordered Jesse and Dina to stop hanging out with me most days.

"I don't really want to talk about it." I confess and she just stares at me for a few moments, the light of the lamp illuminating the freckles around her nose and cheeks and her pale blue eyes gleaming. She says nothing before getting up to approach me, her hands softly cup my cheeks and one of her thumbs wipes away a tear I hadn't even realised was there. I freeze. My body goes stiff and Abby just rubs my cheek again with a feathery touch in response.

"It's okay, I shouldn't have asked. Whatever it is, I'm sorry it happened. It's a fucked up world." She says so gently I don't even register she's speaking at first. I hum in response, her touch melting away small fragments of my exterior. It felt as though my actual skin was melting away from wherever her thumb had left its mark.

I jolt backwards and clear my throat as I hear Lev open the door of the store room, rubbing their sleepy eyes and yawning.

"Abby it's your turn to sleep, I can keep watch if both of you want to rest a little." Lev offers and I shake my head.

"Thanks Lev but I'm not tired, you should eat something though before we leave in a few hours." They nod before rummaging through their backpack.

"I'll head to sleep then I'm kinda tired." Abby says before walking into the store room and I don't miss the way her eyes are on me the entire time with pity and something else I don't quite know how to define.

"Are you okay with what we're going to need to do tomorrow?" I was asking because I knew the Scars that were going to be in the aquarium used to be their family.

"I'm okay with it. It needs to be done. They'll just keep hunting innocent people even after they get what they want." I take a deep breath, not even wanting to ask what I wanted but I knew I had to so I could make sure the three of us were in this thing properly.

"Why are you and Abby helping me do this? The people in Jackson mean nothing to either of you and the Scars-"

"Seraphites."

"Seraphites- sorry- used to be your family. Hell Abby came to Jackson to kill Joel so why are either of you here?" Lev breathes in sharply, almost as if their unsure of what the answer actually is.

"I think we're here because we have nowhere else to go." Well that isn't the worst of reasons. "But also because I think the three of us have an unspoken sense of companionship. We were all tortured and almost gutted together." That's true.

"Well either way, thank you." Lev was right, we were just stuck in this together.

"For Abby I think it's also revenge."

"Revenge?" I question and Lev tells me that one of the WLFs the Scars killed was Owen, Abby's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. That made things a whole lot clearer.

"Also because I think she likes you." Lev says, a small smile tugging at his lips like a teenager who had just dished the world's most scandalous gossip. Well I suppose in Lev's world, they had done that and they were just a kid.

"You think she likes me?"

"I know she does." I awkwardly nod in response. Not because I don't want Abby to like me in that way but because for a split-second when Abby had held me in her hands, my mind, for some unfathomable reason flickered to Ellie.

//

They were here. All twenty of them each with an imprint of a phoenix on their arms. Night had fallen and the moonlight beamed off of the water surrounding the aquarium almost as if it was highlighting our target for us. The faint whistle of the wind rushed past my ears but even then the silence of the night amplified the footsteps of the Seraphites as they reached the entrance to the aquarium. My heart was thudding, fast and harsh as the massive 'what if' flashed in my mind. What if it didn't work? This would all be a waste and I'd have trusted Abby and Lev for no reason.

"Hey, it'll work, we got this." Abby rubs a soothing hand on my back as she takes the binoculars away from her eyes, almost reading my mind. Or maybe she noticed the way my finger shook against the trigger of my rifle. All three of us had taken up prone positions on the broken highway just off the aquarium and if all went to plan we wouldn't have to even go down there. Well they wouldn't but I needed to, no matter the outcome.

I watched through my scope as the group struggled to find a way inside, ultimately leading them to the only way in- a door at the back near the electrical transformers which led into a kitchen or staffroom of some sort. The first stage was a success thanks to Abby's blood, sweat and tears that went into pushing anything and everything in front of all the other entrances. She lets out a satisfied huff and I nudge her shoulder to congratulate her and Lev silently punches the air. I zoom in a little and I see that only four of them have any rifles or pistols, the rest just have bows or just torches. Idiots. Who leaves safety in the middle of the night to come up with a heist without being properly armed? But then again, it probably doesn't even register to them that they could have been tracked by three vengeful ex prisoners of theirs. Let's see if their Prophet can save them tonight.

Satisfaction courses through me as they all disappear one by one into the room, the last member closing the door behind them and unknowingly sealing them in there. Abby had also made sure to block all the doors leading out of that room into the aquarium. I angle upwards, getting a specific spot above the door they entered into my crosshairs. I dismissed Lev's idea of putting an explosive in the wall but all they said was a simple 'trust me' before doing it anyway. "Am I supposed to just shoot it or what?" I turn to Lev on my left and they just nod, a malevolent smile etching itself into their cheeks.

"Okay boss." I roll my eyes and Abby shoves me with light force disapprovingly.

"Don't be an ass."

"Do it now." Lev urges and I squeeze the trigger, sending a single bullet into the spot and it explodes upon impact, triggering a cascade of explosions, the fire brighter than the moonlight and the following grey smoke snaking into the air above as rubble crushes the Seraphites. The distant screams and cries for help fade with each passing second as the aquarium starts to slowly collapse in on itself, the roof looking like a sinkhole of concrete and wiring. It fucking worked. Holy shit.

"Woah that's so cold." Lev beams with excitement and be Abby correct him simultaneously as we all stand up,

"Cool."

"What?"

"Never mind." Abby laughs out and looks to me and just smiles. A genuine smile that I've never seen before but it's infectious and I can't help but grin back. Relief sweeps through me and I feel like I can finally breathe for the first time since I left Jackson. And now I couldn't wait to go home. I'd done what I needed to do to redeem myself. Ellie didn't need to forgive me because I owed her this. I owed it to her and everybody at Jackson to keep them safe.

Even amongst the relief and satisfaction I felt after killing all those Scars, that little shadow inside of me was itching to just get down there and rip through the rubble so I could get my hands on at least one of them and make them cry blood. I shake the feeling as we're all travelling back to the coffee shop, I'd already done plenty damage to all the Scars that came before but I couldn't fully tame that gnawing inside of me just urging me to turn back around and finish the job my way.

We all wake up the next morning, not a single tired or worn out face amongst us. We deserved the rest. We'd spent weeks hunting and torturing and killing. Well Abby and Lev spent a few gruelling weeks helping me on my revenge fantasy.

As we all eat breakfast together, the air weighs heavy with the one question none of us had dared ask since we woke up- what's going to happen to all three of us now? I knew I wanted to go back home, Abby and Lev knew that from the start and I always assumed they would just set off by themselves and we would part ways. But I didn't want that. I wanted to stay with them. I wanted their companionship- their friendship. The truth was that I would miss them. I hadn't thought about missing anyone since my dad died but now, that thought of leaving them behind rattled me.

"What's Jackson like?" Lev asks and Abby's head perks up, in bewilderment at Lev's boldness but she still stares at me expectantly. Well if Lev was going to be bold so am I.

"How about I show you what Jackson is like instead?"

[brdpch]

{6} a game of cats, mice and hearts like ice

desktop: previous ✧ next mobile: previous ✧ next

synopsis: in the world of deadly games and their lives at risk, a very smart sociopath meets a very cunning stripper who claims his life as hers.

warnings: canon-typical violence, graphic descriptions of violence, sexual abuse, substance abuse, niragi, literally everything, you name it.

formatting: it's a glued-together dynamic roleplay between me and @bvrdel-mama, so the replies are separated by ♠♥♦♣, and the dialogues are written like — This. — yes, the symbols look horrible on mobile, we know.

statistics: 2,509 words 13,625 characters.

author's note: it's a mix of manga!chishiya with show!chishiya. also! what's worth noticing - in this rp there are dice involved. the mechanic is called a d20 mechanic, and it's based on dungeons and dragons 5th edition. we also use other dice rolls for other outcomes, so future events might surprise both me and my roleplaying partner. enjoy!

He was… something else. He didn't try to pull out, but instead - laughed at her, genuinely. Unmei was taken aback just a little bit, before she let go, shaking her head and smirking.

— You will never get me out of your head. — she said before Shuntarō sprinted away, not caring if he heard her or not.

The thought crossed her mind - was she wrong and was he actually a psychopath, and not a sociopath?

Chishiya wasn't an esper, as they said in japan, so he couldn't predict the future. Tagger's attention was now on Unmei, but it was okay, she already planned how she could use it to her advantage. Such a silly boy, thinking he could put her in any danger?

— Tagger is well prepared for a fight! — she shouted towards others, on her knees, getting to the stairs she seen Chishiya for the last time. — Tackle him and look out for a second or third „it”! — she added, before inhaling. — The safe zone is on the fourth floor, apartment 478! Tagger prevented anyone from coming closer, that's the location! I'm trapped here, but I'm counting on you!

What she said last could really motivate the rest of the players. It gave sense of being a team, of fighting together, of protecting that fragile little figure they all saw in the lobby.

Shaggy picked up quickly, Hawaii and Beach members one and two already teaming up against the horse-head. Unmei took her military knife out of her belt, and swung it open in one swift move, before she took careful steps down the stairs. If tagger chose them instead of the elevator, she'd be able to run up again.

three minutes remaining.

She smiled.

She really liked Chishiya.

♠♥♦♣

Chishiya laughed again, hearing the last words of Unmei to him before he disappeared down the staircase. She's a very funny girl, he thought.

His hair was falling out of the neat bun he made, so he had to re-do it. He got it just right as Unmei's voice echoed throughout the complex. She shouted the location of the safe zone, playing on the heartstrings and good will of other participants - very risky as people, normally egoistic, under pressure turn into even more self-centered caricatures of themselves. On the other hand, her lost foreigner persona was really convincing and may work.

Shuntarō grabbed his stun gun and bumped the tempo up when rushing through the floors until he got onto the 4th one. Here, he tried his best to keep himself crouched and unnoticed. It seemed that the bait worked on horse-heads, because apparently there could be more than one tagger - all of them should be focused on Unmei. Or at least at the player who just shouted the solution to everyone. He turned the corner and he saw the apartment number he was looking for. The marathon girl was pretty close too, climbing on the walls and jumping around like a rabbit caught in a net.

♠♥♦♣

His logic was good, yet a bit flawed. Unmei already knew other players were going to cooperate. Shaggy and his friend offered help in the first place.

As Chishiya made his way to the door, Shaggy and Unmei did too. She's heard gunshots in the distance, and to her liking, a pretty far one. So Beach members and Hawaii really tried to take the horseman down.

Good.

She kept herself alert anyway, thinking that with an unlimited amount of players could come an unlimited amount of taggers.

one minute remaining.

She made a run for it, feeling as if her lungs were burning. Oh, how she hated physical effort - running in particular.

Shuntarō could hear Unmei's steps somewhere behind him.

— [english] You really are my type. — she exclaimed. — Clock's ticking, though! Hurry!

♠♥♦♣

The lanky basement dweller came to the door at the same time as him, they exchanged glances and opened the door, but Chishiya stopped when he heard the barefoot footsteps running up to him.

His gaze snapped when he heard Unmei's voice behind him - there was a brief shadow of smirk on his face, but then his eyes widened. One of the horsemen with a machete just turned the corner from one of the staircases, and was running up directly towards Unmei.

Chishiya grabbed his stun gun in his left hand, he then took Unmei by her right shoulder and pulled her into the room, switching places with her just as the horseman swung their blade directly over his head. Chishiya dodged the sharp edge of the machete by inches - it made a tear in his favorite hoodie - but then managed to jab the stun gun directly into the attacker's torso. The horseman stood there for a second, convulsing in place, their weapon held high above their head ready for another attack. When the pulse of energy stopped coursing through their body, they let go of it.

The next two sounds that echoed through the apartment complex were clink of the blade and the thud of the attackers body. A smell of burned flesh started to fill the air around them.

— Now... we're... even... — said Chishiya to Unmei, breathing heavily, walking into the room once again.

♠♥♦♣

As Unmei felt Shuntarō's sudden pull, her eyes opened wide, still ablaze - but this time, something about the fire inside them was different. Was she perhaps enjoying this, too?

She panted heavily, letting Shaggy and Sporty into the room, free to press buttons to stop the bombs in the building. And then, Unmei just in case, did something pretty unexpected - she crouched on top of tagger, lifted their head and - tearing off their mask - slit their throat with little to no effort.

She knew exactly where to cut, and that old military knife wasn't just a prop, apparently. Chishiya's perceptive eyes noticed „Stalker II” on the handle, suggesting there's another one with „Stalker I”. It was hand-crafted into the wood inside said handle.

congratulations.

game clear.

Unmei was about to let go of - apparently - woman's head, when the collar on horse-head's neck exploded, leaving the girl covered in blood, pieces of skin and flesh. Unmei stood there in silence, stunned.

♠♥♦♣

Chishiya backed away as Unmei tore the horseman's mask off to reveal an unconscious woman hiding inside. And stood there - hands in his pockets, leaning on the doorframe with his chin upwards and his gaze following every movement of the knife. „Stalker” - an interesting name, he thought. He completely ignored the pair who rushed into the room and clicked the buttons in a matter of seconds before the building was about to explode.

He heard the woman choke on her own blood before a slight beeping sound could be heard, coming from her collar; he instinctively ducked behind the corner and when he came back Unmei was standing there by the woman - a red bloody mess covered in flesh and brain matter. Chishiya looked at her and sneered but then furrowed his brows for a second, noticing a piece of paper sticking out from the horsewoman's jacket pocket.

— You should wash up before we take off, it's tough to find a good car cleaner in the city these days. — he said, before crouching and pretending to examine the woman's body, and then discretely snatching the piece of paper just to put it into his hoodie pocket.

♠♥♦♣

Unmei blinked a few times, wiping her blade on horsehead's clothes, and then shook some of their blood off her hands.

— I have bad news, doctor. She's dead. — she said with a cold and sarcastic tone of voice, her face back to having barely any emotions visible. She sighed at the sight of Chishiya examining a dead woman's body.

— If you want to be useful, check out her equipment and her clothes. — she added, before she took off Niragi's shirt, turned it to the other side and wiped her face.

♠♥♦♣

Shuntarō knew Unmei gave absolutely no fucks that he was there to supervise her, and he didn't give a fuck that she talked to him this way - ordering him around - but if it was someone else - like Aguni for example - she would had her throat slit. Chishiya chuckled lightly at her comment - she really was funny when she didn't pretend to be stupid.

He then pretended to pat down the woman before raising the machete in the air, turning to Unmei, still crouched.

— An „I'm-sorry-I-ruined-your-shirt” gift for your boyfriend, hm? — he asked sarcastically.

♠♥♦♣

Unmei rolled her eyes, crouching near the dead body, searching through various pockets - padding the legs, arms, torso.

— Niragi is a long distance shooter. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of weapons. Especially deceptive ones. — she answered. — By the way, I hope you'll be a dear and share your shoes, hm? Or should I tell Niragi that you tried to kill me?~ — she hummed, but her face was as uninterested as ever.

♠♥♦♣

Shuntarō forcefully exhaled through his nose, smirking. He then stood up and leaned on the doorframe again, crossing his hands.

— Kill you? I simply tried to test you, see how well you work under ever-changing circumstances - a principal attribute of every executive. Besides you wanted me out of your way and got what you wished for. — he shrugged, then nodded to the corpse. — Try hers, she might be willing to part with her shoes. — he mirrored Unmei's tone. 

♠♥♦♣

— Behind the façade and complicated sentences with unnecessarily well matched words you just spat out, lies a lie. — she murmured. — Let me quote you, then, refresh that unreliable memory of yours.

Unmei cleared her throat, wiping her hands and thighs from the blood. She slowly made her way towards the elevator, but continued speaking.

— „I am here to simply observe passively and help you as a last resort”. — she stated, and then turned her head back, looking at him behind her arm. — You didn't lie then, there wasn't that glimmer in your eyes, the same one as you laughed before sprinting away. Borderline personality disorder? — she then questioned, raising a brow.

♠♥♦♣

Unmei noticed the same glimmer in his eye, again. Chishiya chuckled quietly, passing the girl, walking in front towards the elevator.

— No, just a whole lot of sarcasm you didn't get, and an ASPD. — he said over his shoulder. — You have my permission to tell Niragi, by the way. — he hummed while walking into the elevator and pushing the bottom floor button not waiting for her to catch up.

♠♥♦♣

— I don't need any permission, kitten. — she stated matter-of-factly, getting into the elevator right behind him. She needed some rest, some peace and quiet, a foot massage and a shower. Not exactly in that order.

— Although, it would be boring if someone blew a hole through your head. I just prevented that once.

♠♥♦♣

— Of course you don't. — he said coldly, shrugging. His head was pounding and his heartbeat still fast, the leftover emotions leaving his body as he felt the adrenaline course through his veins. His hands were slightly shaking, so he put them in the pockets of his hoodie, checking if the paper was still in there.

— And I returned the favor, didn't I? — he said leaning on the elevator wall, his chin upwards looking directly into Unmei's eyes.

♠♥♦♣

— Ah, I meant precisely shooting you. My actions would go to waste if Niragi took you out. And also… — she didn't avert his gaze, getting a few steps closer. — I can't wait to play with you again.

♠♥♦♣

Shuntarō chuckled again and tilted his head at the woman. He could hear her heartbeat, as fast as his. The way she said these words made his own sped up again, and he shivered slightly at the thought of the thrill he felt today.

— Likewise. — he nodded and smirked.

There were a few seconds of silence broken by Chishiya this time.

— So, what's your real name, Fate? — he inquired, looking at her curiously this time.

♠♥♦♣

Unmei took one more step, being as close as possible, their chests pressed against each other. She stood on her tiptoes, and Shuntarō could feel her hot breath against his ear.

— It's Irma Stalker-Schrödinger. — she whispered, something playful in her tone.

♠♥♦♣

Their hearts beaten in unison now, and if she could see Chishiya's eyes, she would notice that they got a bit wider than usual.

— Hm, that's a mouthful. — he said not moving an inch or shifting, his voice lower now. — Irma. — he rolled it on his tongue.

♠♥♦♣

— Eer-mah. — she corrected him, with a German accent now, as she was taking a step back. She breathed out her name right on his neck.

♠♥♦♣

Shuntarō crossed arms on his chest, a slight shiver running down his spine.

— You're a long way from home, Irma. - he said, smirking. — Why the fake name? — he asked. — No one's here to deport you, you know.

♠♥♦♣

As Unmei stepped back, she almost immediately turned to the door, like she tried to hide something. Maybe it was the way the fire flickered in her icy eyes, or maybe it was because she was out of breath. Or maybe because it was cold and her shirt was wet from blood.

She embraced herself once again.

— Well, how do you know where I'm from? — she asked, a bit cynically, yet full of curiosity.

♠♥♦♣

Chishiya stood there in the same position, analyzing her body language. Closed now, she won't answer his question. That's fine, he was trying to pass the time in the quiet ride down towards the bottom anyway.

— I assumed. — he shrugged. — The accent, the name, just the general appearance of someone who doesn't belong in this part of the globe. — he added matter-of-factly.

♠♥♦♣

— Germany is close to where I was born. — she assured, as he was really close to the truth.

♠♥♦♣

— Austria then. — he said, though there was no question mark at the end.

♠♥♦♣

— No~ — she sang, clearly amused.

♠♥♦♣

Ding.

The elevator was all the way down now, and as the door opened Shuntarō went up to the door but stopped for a second.

— Fine, I like to solve riddles too. It's mercy, by the way. — he said, meeting Irma's gaze and smirking, before walking out towards where they left the car.

♠♥♦♣

She just smiled and nodded, still pretty much amused. She shivered from the cold and walked slowly, watching her steps carefully, so as to not injure her feet.

[izunias-meme-hole]

My Top 10 Favorite Pokemon Characters (Updated)

Number 1. Ghetsis - Ah yes, the worst father in Pokemon and the greatest villain the series has ever known. Ghetsis is Team Plasma’s founder, the father of N, and the greatest embodiment of evil this series has seen, so that kinda makes him the perfect foil to N. Ghetsis is cunning, manipulative, abusive, banal, psychotic, and narcissistic, not to mention that his plan was actually put together pretty well. However the best part about this guy are his BREAKDOWNS, like good lord it’s satisfying to kick this rancid old man into the dirt and watch him mentally not take a loss. As for why he’s this high, I just love knocking an evil old man down a peg with maxed out pokemon, and I love watching him be shitty just to see karma hit him like a truck. I love HATING him as much as I love N and Colress as characters.

Number 2. Colress - One of the top 10 villains in the series. I know y’all are gonna say “COLRESS WASN’T EVIL, HE’S CHAOTIC NEUTRAL”, but let me explain. Colress is a very charismatic scientist who’s not a true villain, but he IS amoral and only cares about what benefits his research, and when we first meet him he’s the villain in the story. We never got to see any true onscreen villainy in B2/W2, but the game makes it obvious that if he’d skin a kitten, for science. Sure, he’s not a threat currently, but if he thought that a return to villainy could benefit his research, then he’d be a bastard again in a heartbeat. Let’s not forget that the anime and manga showed his amorality at it’s highest, especially since Team Plasma lets him do what he needs to. He’s kinda like a huge contrast to both N and Ghetsis in a way, making him indeed a true grey area character that can flip between good and evil in an instant. Colress ain’t a traditional villain, but his amorality and neutral positioning makes him scary, and that’s what makes him great for me.

Number 3. N Harmonia Gropius - N, is literally a lot of peoples favorite Pokemon character, and with good reason. The man is genuinely pure of heart and has earned the trust of people and pokemon, and it all started with the original Black & White duology. He started out as the misguided, yet noble puppet leader of Team Plasma that believed in Pokemon Liberation, and by B2/W2 he became a fine young man with a better view on the world. I could write more about him, but we’d be here all day, but just know that this man is an amazing example of a very pure character.

Number 4. Cyrus - If I were to put any villain teams on par with Plasma, I’d say Rocket, Skull, Star and Galactic, ESPECIALLY GALACTIC. Cyrus had one hell of a goal, especially since universal alteration is a pretty big feat. He wanted a world without spirit, without emotions, he wanted people to be cogs in one great big machine so conflict and “flaws” could be erased, but in order to achieve this goal, he needed the power of gods. So yeah, Cyrus was trying to temporarily obtain godhood, but wanna know the dangerous part? He believed he was right to do this, despite being as “flawed” as every other person. Sure, that’s nothing special, but Cyrus genuinely believes that humanity being emotionless cogs in a single machine is good for everyone because he has no hope for the current world, even though he himself is a small part of the world he hates. In all honesty, Cyrus is almost nihilistic, but he’s eternally tethered to this world out of a desire to change it, and I pity this man because of it.

Number 5. Penny/Cassiopeia - Scarlet/Violet spoilers: Penny, a.k.a Cassiopeia, was the founder of Team Star, a group of bullied private school kids that got payback on their tormentors and got in trouble. However Penny saved her comrades by taking the blame and she even attempted to disband the team, but after hearing that they’re still active, she set up Operation: Starfall, and managed to get the player to help disband Team Star by challenging each boss to a pokemon battle, and when you’re done handling the bosses, you end up taking Penny on yourself. She also looks like an introverted nerd, and she’s an Eveelution trainer, so you can pretty much guess her character based off her story, her pokemon, and her design.

Number 6. Iris - She’s a major character in the Black & White anime, which I used to watch a lot when I was 5, and out of all of Ash’s buddies, I remembered her and Clemont the most. So to discover that she WASN’T original to the show and a CHAMPION, was quite a shock to me, but regardless, Iris is a pretty accomplished and fun character, both in the anime and the games. 

Number 7. Giovanni - Giovanni may seem like an average fiend, and the boss of a bunch of loveable idiots, but in reality he’s a lot like an old school mafia boss or a businessman, and he does have some competent troops in his ranks. Giovanni prioritizes on world domination and the expansion of his enterprise, but he does it in a multitude of different ways, such as theft, and bribery, but he also has a little bit of an honorable streak too, so he’s not unreasonable. Aside from that he’s one of the craftiest villains in the entire series, meaning that there’s nothing he cannot scheme out of. Also let’s not forget about how iconic he is in the anime whenever he ACTUALLY appears on the field, like holy shit! There’s a reason why he’s a fan favorite.

Number 8. Guzma - “EY IT”S YA BOI, GUZMA!!!!” That’s it... that’s his energy?

Number 9. Lysandre - Lysandre is... interesting. He’s was a self-made rich man who went nuts after seeing that his efforts to help the world were leaving no effect, and decided to try and kill 99% of humanity. Good villain right? Unfortunately he’s not good in his debut games, and a majority of that is due to wasted potential, which is also the problem of his organization, Team Flare. So why is her on here? Simple... THE GODDAMN ANIME! Every other piece of media took the blueprint for Lysandre’s character and got rid of the problems and refined the character, but the anime did it PERFECTLY. He’s got the presence of Anime!Giovanni, he’s as deluded as Game!Cyrus, and he’s almost as vile as Ghetsis, but he’s also very tragic and pitiable without it feeling forced. He may be the worst villain in the games, but he’s the anime’s second greatest fiend.

Number 10. Nemona - Nemona is basically the player resetting the game because they already beat EVERYTHING. That and she’s kinda funny.

[newx-menfan]

Bishop: War College #1

(Spoilers!!)

So…I would probably give this issue a 5-7; not AMAZING for a first issue…but not bad either.

It definitely HAS room to grow and become better…but there is a part of me that worries it gonna be like Tini Howard’s Excalibur…and more or less be kind of voiceless.

So as we saw in the Preview, Bishop is pushing the old X-students and Surge and CO AREN’T having IT. (We also IMMEDIATELY know why Hellion WASN’T included on this team 😂🤣)

Dani, Noriko’s old teacher, chews Bishop out and tells him essentially the problem ISN’T the kids…it’s him.

I actually REALLY like this take on Bishop- rarely do writers HAVE the adult X-Men be flawed after Utopia and I think J. Holtham does a really nice job essentially incorporating the flaw that has been following Bishop since his inception- Bishop is an intensely dedicated, “The ends justify the means” kind of guy. He doesn’t care about morality if it gets the job done, which we more or less SAW in Messiah Complex.

As Bishop is thinking this all over on a beach, Fernis subtly pops up with a ray gun and a evil plan after he leaves.

We also get a cute Aura/Cam scene…and Armor hanging out with Amass- both essentially saying that they should forgive Bishop…because…well…he has PTSD.

We also get Bishop asking Tempo for a favor to essentially try and win the kids back and later having a nightmare about his time in the mutant camps.

The next day Bishop basically does his “My bad…I just have really bad PTSD” explanation, and all is well as they journey to the center of the earth…or at least the center of Krakoa, to do another training exercise.

We see the exercise planned with “Wrongslide” and Tempo (Seeing zombie Santo just makes me damn SAD every time because Marvel essentially neutered a great character…just think how great OLD Rockslide would have been in this book!!), and unsurprisingly there’s little reaction from Surge because Marvel CAN’T allow that 😐.

Fernis shows up, hits everyone with a “Blightswill” ray except (I think!) Bishop and Tempo…who instead get sucked into some portal because Tempo’s having trouble with her powers. Bishop gets sucked essentially into a “what if Xavier accepted more POC mutants into his school” fantasy 😂🤣 (Bishop is apparently subconsciously railing against the classism of private schools!…which…so are we ALL, Bishop!)

The kids run off from Fernis, planning to get help…only to realize that they are all powerless. 🙁

———————————————————————

Thoughts:

Like I said earlier- I definitely THINK this book has potential!

Sure, the first issue was pretty “by the numbers” and “choppy”…but I definitely think there is room for improvement in future issues!

The thing that worries me…is much like Tini Howard’s Excalibur, there’s not anything really “grabbing” about this book. At times, the dialogue and characters feel a bit “flat” honestly.

That being said, part of the problem is I felt Holtham is trying to set up the plot FAST- you don’t really HAVE time for Bishop to chat in depth with Dani or Tempo (also why I HATE the information pages! because they TAKE UP character interaction time SO MUCH), let alone really get a sense of their relationships. No one feels connected in this book.

It is something that CAN easily be fixed…the question is whether the writer will or not; I would say Howard never fixed this problem and the team always felt like strangers with no connection what so ever as a result…which is why none of her books with Betsy REALLY have managed to catch on 😬.

Along those lines- I really DO hope he brings up Surge’s history from Messiah Complex and why Surge probably does not trust him completely (I doubt it knowing Marvel though, especially since they seemed to only skim over that history…)

I would also say, I do think this book could have used a “Hellion” or a “old Rockslide” kind of character to add some spice and humor… besides Surge and maybe Armor, there’s not really anyone who’ll push back against Bishop and the supporting cast all feels a little too “same-y”…Aura, Amass, and Cam just feel too nice. Too willing to go along with the flow. I just really think this book needed a better variety in personalities.

So far I have liked Holtham’s writing of Fernis- it really reminded me of Claremont’s writing of the characters, and I really enjoyed him bringing them back into the fold! I especially liked the homage to Storm being dispowered and fighting them in “Life/Death”!

One of TWO things is going to happen- the kids go to save him powerless and we get a kickass, “the kids are alright and can take care of themselves…” little moment OR the writer really hammers in that Bishop was RIGHT and the kids need more “training” 😐. We will see what we get….

ALSO Holtham…if you fix “Wrongslide” and bring back “old Santo” I will give you ALL the kudos in the world! 🙌🙌🙌

[antihibikase2]

The crashing waves under his feet disappear with the quick flicker of his glasses.

Numbers dance down the sky as the field spell wears off, replacing the endless sea with a view of Nimbasa City, bathed in a golden glow.

The "loss" banner disappears above his opponent's head- and all he can do is smile shyly, sliding the duel disk off of his arm, like a bird shedding its feathers.

"I lost," Slater says under his breath- but not out of disbelief. Out of amazement, rather. "Piper, you were really good! You must be some kind of genius,"

He doesn't want to toot his own horn, but-

"It's just practice," Piper replies, holding back a grin. "It's much easier once you've formed a connection with your cards, you know,"

Bullshit.

"Ah, really?" The other tilts his head. "You really are something special.."

If only that were true- but Piper prefers to pretend that he was, indeed, an exceptional duelist,

and not acknowledge the fact he himself was surprised to see a duelist as.. unique as Slater in the streets of Nimbasa City, the hotspot for rising stars.

Perhaps he just had bad luck- or he was testing a new deck.

He'd seen Umi decks before- he just hasn't seen anyone play that bad before, but..

"You just need a bit more of practice yourself, that's all," Piper reassures. "I really think with a little more push, you'll be able to show off your style even more. Maybe you can even beat me one day."

It was a stretch. A little white lie. Slater needed more than just a push, he needed to go back to the basics altogether, or start out with a new deck..

But his smile never falters, not once discouraged by the other's words- not even the slightest bit offended.

"Connecting with the cards huh? I should do that. I, um, haven't had much time to get used to my deck-"

He chuckles a little; something Piper doesn't think he can afford to do if their roles were swapped, that he was the loser.

"But you're right. If I don't allow myself to be comfortable with them, they'll be hesitant to do the same.."

Perhaps he was taking this a bit too literally.

Piper knew of duelists who spoke of the same sentimentalities- of spirit partners and forming bonds with the cards itself, but-

He bites back his tongue.

There's no need to argue or validate their existence- he supposes it would be easier to let the other interpret his advice in such a way.

"Um, Piper,"

Piper meets the gaze of the other. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for offering to duel with me! I'm a little hesitant to approach others as I am now,"

He digs out something from his pockets.

"But I'm glad there's someone who wanted to face me, even if the result was lackluster."

Slater holds out a small drawstring pouch, a see-through gray decorated with shining silver stars. From within, Piper could see individually wrapped pieces of heart-shaped chocolates.

"Here, this is for you! I thought it would be nice to give my opponents something after a duel.."

As the pouch crinkles in Piper's palm, there is a feeling of warmth blooming in his chest- to not be looked at with anger and disdain after such a flawless victory, to not have hateful stares thrown his way for his "tactics"..

"Thank you," There's a small smile on his face. "I'll try these later."

When they part ways and exchange numbers, there's a promise of reunion in the near future- and strangely, rather than plan for his next move, to recall all of the flaws in Slater's deck and to pick it apart..

Piper finds himself looking forward to their next meeting, to hearing that friendly voice again.

...

His cape flutters underneath the moonlight seeping through the windows of the castle.

The wings of the manmade angel drag across the marble floor.

As Piper makes his way to the center of the ballroom, he's accompanied by Ghetsis' imposing silhouettes and a few regular members of Team Plasma,

while The Diviner of the Herald is accompanied by Zinzolin on his side, with very few, strangely-dressed grunts trailing after them.

With their places set, Ghetsis and Zinzolin spectate from different ends of the room, to witness the fateful duel of a mindless machine and a divine doll.

Piper is smart, an in inquisitive mind- he knows this duel is not what it seems.

He knew the moment it left Ghetsis' lips that it was a lie, that this was a duel to put Zinzolin in his place; to stifle his power by challenging The Diviner to a duel.

What this really was was a test of trust- to see if Piper's loyalty laid with Ghetsis and the interests of Team Plasma,

or if his loyalty laid with Slater, the boy abducted by angels, forced to become their host.

As the duel begins, Piper takes the initiative, and hopes that this card will show Ghetsis what he really thinks.

"Slater," Piper bites down on his lip. "I'm sorry. I promised to meet up with you that day, but.."

With luck on his side, he draws the very card needed to ensure this battle goes exactly as how he planned.

"I'll save you. I promise,"

He plays his card.

"I activate the spell, Final Countdown!"

[ladyelainehilfur]

girls, I really cannot stress enough that I am a Sokka apologist. Every joke he cracks: gold. Every plan he hatches: brilliant. Every moment he takes charge, grabs the bull by the horns and does exactly what he wants, how he wants:

I was having a conversation with a coworker about our favorite ATLA characters and he was like "my favorite character is Zuko because he has the best arc and he's really cool."

Okayyyy valid, that's all true. But one day, I'd like to meet someone who can see Sokka for being the number one best character in the series!!

THIS MAN. Look, I'm not blind to his flaws (of which are few and far between). Any time people turn to say "Sokka did this" or " Sokka used to be that", I just think: that's on the writers, not Sokka.

Sokka is comic relief but remembering him as only comic relief is doing yourself a huge disservice. He is the brain of the team: The de facto leader, the tactical captain, the heartbreaker, the weapons guy, the meat guy, the poet, the fashionista, the smithy, the planning nut, the Kyoshi warrior, the artist, inventor, and engineer.

He is not good at everything but the things he's good at, he excels at. Just because he can't bend doesn't make him a weak link in any sense of the phrase. I think it's more impressive that he held his own and readily faced benders when the reality is all he had was his boomerang and his brain. He went out of his way to improve himself, learning how to sword fight and master several martial arts.

"Zuko is better at--"

HUSH.

Sokka started from practically zero. The fact he's not as proficient in combat (as of the series) has nothing to do with his skill level.

His relationships with members of the group are so sweet. He's Aang's older brother, Toph's jokester in crime, and Zuko's best friend. They all love this guy, just as he is. Sokka would do anything for his friends, if the way he clung onto Toph in what they thought would be their last moment was any indication. A broken leg, no weapon, nothing, and he wouldn't let go.

I see any goofy lil nerd who is underestimated because he's not obviously badass and I go "HIM. That's my son." Because that's what Sokka deserves. His growth as a person from a sexist punk to a respectable warrior and leader, makes him the kind of character I ruthlessly defend.

I disregard fanfiction or videos that solely characterize him as the butt of all the jokes, or someone's boyfriend, or this poor piddly guy whose only strength is his ability to pull half the girls in the show.

No. Sokka has the spirit of a social butterfly. People want to be around him, because he's intelligent. He gets the job done, and is disarmingly charming while doing so. He's not James Bond but who likes that guy anyway? Sokka is the sort of individual that in-universe, would be the life of a party.

Sometimes, I wish he was able to waterbend or use double swords or utilize chi-blocking. Then maybe he'd get a little damn respect 😭

But since he can't do any of that (yet!!! [avatar studios better pull through!!!]), I'm going to like him as is. Sokka's great. That's all.

[isnt-it-pretty]

Baizhu in Cyno Comps

I've seen some misconceptions about Baizhu's role in Cyno team comps, so I wanted to take a moment (or a few) to clarify that!

Note* this post is only for people considering pulling Baizhu exclusively for Cyno. If you plan to pull him because you like him, then none of this applies. Do whatever you will have the most fun with.

All of this is, of course, leaked info about his kit and early theory crafting by the people who are far better at it than I am.

TLDR: Baizhu is meant to take your flex slot, and he is only good* for Cyno if you already have Nahida. If you have her and are looking for a little extra boost on your team, don't mind a weak shield with healing to make up for it, and like Baizhu enough to play him over Zhongli, Baizhu may be worth pulling.

(*I say "only good," but that's numbers-wise. If you like him, who the fuck cares)

Okay, disclaimers aside, lets get into it.

We're going to start with where Baizhu fits into Cyno parties.

General Cyno party comps

The two main comps for Cyno are quickbloom/hyperbloom (I'm going to be saying quickbloom in this post because, for this conversation, the comps are the same, and nobody can agree on a definition anyway) and aggravate. Quickbloom tends to be more popular because it does more damage, but this also means a more restrictive party.

Aggravate comp is Cyno, dendro, flex, flex. Usually, one of the two flex slots will be an electro battery like Beidou, Shinobu, or Fischl, while the last slot will be a shielder or anemo support like Layla, Zhongli, or Kazuha. A battery is more important if you aren't running Cyno on 4pc Thunder Fury because that set almost doubles the number of E skill uses during his burst, which is where he gets most of his particles

Quickbloom is Cyno, dendro, hydro, flex. The most common picks for flex are Zhongli and Beidou, while the hydro can be any off-field hydro applier. I use Xingqiu, but Yelan is also very popular for a bit more dps. Some people use Kokomi, Ayato, Barbara- you get the point.

In both of these comps, Nahida is and remains to be the ideal dendro unit. We'll explain why Baizhu doesn't replace her in a moment.

Notice some similarities in the comps? Cyno and a dendro unit, but the flex slot is almost always a shielder over a healer. Why is that?

Baizhu's role

One of Cyno's (admittedly many) flaws is his low interruption resistance. You can be staggered out of attacks and miss using your E skill at the proper time, leading to a substantial loss of damage. The fix for this is running a shielder like Zhongli or Layla, or somebody who adds interruption resistance, like Beidou or Xingqiu (the latter in quickbloom teams). That is also the role Baizhu fits into, not the dendro role.

Baizhu has a shield, but it's extremely weak and acts more as interruption resistance than anything. You'll still take sizable damage through it, which is why his other strength is that he also heals.

The downside is that Baizhu doesn't combine roles. He can't be your sole source of dendro, so he takes a flex slot. There are two reasons for this. First, his burst cost is too high to run solo dendro. In a team that's already particle hungry like Cyno's, having another solo, high burst-cost character will be extremely difficult to fuel per rotation. The second reason relates to why Nahida is still the best dendro support for Cyno: Baizhu's dendro application is, quite frankly, horrible. It's single target which on an ao3 unit like Cyno is just bad, and also slow. You won't proc enough bloom cores for quickbloom, nor will you apply enough dendro to multiple targets to proc aggravate on them. You will lose out on substantial damage if you run Baizhu as your solo dendro.

So, if Baizhu takes the flex slot and not the dendro slot, what's his appeal?

- Well, he's a dendro healer with interruption resistance, meaning he helps avoid Cyno being staggered, keeps him alive, and resonates with your other dendro (who should be Nahida) to give extra elemental mastery based on your reaction types.

- One of his passives gives buffs depending on the elemental reactions you trigger. Those won't make a big difference, but it's something.

- Baizhu works off-field, something our other dendro healer, Yaoyao, struggles with.

- He frees up your other good shielders, like Zhongli, for additional comps.

- His minimal dendro application may actually help Cyno take in his burst for longer!

The last point is what people love Baizhu for. Anybody who plays Cyno knows the main frustration with him is that his damage suffers in wave battles. His burst is so long that he kills everything that has dendro app on it, and then he's just doing straight electro damage until his burst ends, or you swap out early to reapply your dendro. This could have been fixed by making his burst cheaper and shorter, but we'll make do with what we have.

Baizhu's burst being 14 seconds means that there is at least some dendro application for most of Cyno's 18-second burst! If you kill everything Nahida applied dendro to earlier, you can get a few hits in with Baizhu's dendro without having to swap out as early. It means more damage overall and more particles for Cyno.

Is that enough to make Baizhu worth pulling for Cyno? I don't know. I'm pulling him, but it's all a personal choice.

The bottom line is that Baizhu is not meant to take your dendro slot, so don't pull him thinking you'll free up your flex for somebody else or free up your Nahida for another team.

Why Nahida and not Dendro Traveller?

Look, if Nahida wasn't running right before Baizhu, I wouldn't say Baizhu is only good if you already have Nahida, but since she's coming, you deserve to know that Nahida is the best dendro support there is. She'll do more for your damage than Baizhu & dendro traveller will do.

[buzz-london]

Rot starts at the top. In any team, or a company or a country, the rot starts at the top.We currently have a Prime Minister who is so incapable of following any moral, ethical, legal or political rules that his own ethics advisors are forced to resign! 

No wonder his team is making horrible policies like the Rwanda detentions. No sensible person, let alone a political person with an eye on history and their legacy, could come up with such a plan unless the entire system, top to bottom was rotten to the core!

Boris was not a great Mayor, though he introduced a number of populist measures, like congestion charge, which have been a mixed blessing for londers and UK.  His tenure as foreign secretary was horrendous with too many undiplomatic gaffs to mention.  His real ticket to stardom came during BRExit campaign and he became PM based on a series of lies and flawed research data that was cleverly marketed.  His handling of the pandemic was also shambolic at best.  He only won the re-elction because his opposition was unelectable.  

I have no idea how he has managed to cling to power despite all his recent gaffs.  But one thing is clear - his entire tenure, legacy and future is at stake and the signs are not good.  Bar one or two people, he has surrounded himself with like minded awful people and I can't see how they could have come up with their unethical policies without Borris's active support and backing.  

[crystalelemental]

Unit Viability Speculation - SS N

Social Security Number enters Masters with Black Kyurem.  I expected that to go to Ghetsis, but here we are.

Ice Tech, go figure.  He has a counter-attacking posture move.  Everyone may complain now.  At least a passive gives -2 sync cooldown in compensation.  And his Buddy move requires that posture, but allows him to still use the Noble Roar thing for double drops and all sorts of nice bonus effects.  The interesting thing to me is the attempt to make these moves useful.  The funny thing is it works worse.

Let’s do some math.  A major reason people dislike these two-turn moves is because they do nothing turn 1, so the major damage listed is technically halved to reach typical DPS numbers.  Renegade Cynthia’s a good example of what I mean.  Shadow Ball you can spam every turn, and is 99BP.  Shadow Force is 200BP.  To most, Shadow Force seems far and away the better move, right?  It’s more than double the damage.  But you use Shadow Ball twice in the same time it takes to use Shadow Force once, so DPS comparison is more like 198 to 200.  Okay, so they’re equivalent, what’s the harm?  Well, the fact that spamming each turn means more effective denials in CS that get you bonus turns, or taking out a foe quickly when needed.  Two-turn moves need this kind of fall-back, because on their own, they have a ton of problems.

SS N is no exception.  His move has absurd base power, but this is his only form of offense, and worse, they split it across three turns now.  Setup, Roar, Execute.  At 300BP, this is effectively a 100BP move if the damage were staggered across each turn.  It’s just Shadow Ball, bro.  Yes, the Buddy move can grant Supereffective and Physical Moves Up Next, but they did supereffective with Cynthia and it didn’t make Shadow Force that much more enticing to begin with, and Physical Moves is just a consolation over it being 3-turn.  The damage will be respectable when it hits, but it’s taking an exceptionally long time to hit.  the 30% paralysis rate is also a disaster because all he got at base is Hostile Environment 1, because his off move is Ice Beam, and god help us if he were as reliable a freeze bot as SS Hilbert, who is also a part of this month’s new releases.  So thanks for gimping his paralysis rate for literally no reason, guys.  Oh but don’t worry, Hostile Environment 2 is on grid.  Why didn’t you just give him natural HE2 and call it a day?  Save us all the trouble.

As usual, 3/5 grid is fine.  The only things I really like are the speed boosts for the team per action (which is nice but not necessary) and the reduction of damage taken while in a counter posture (which could legitimately be useful).  But it’s far from necessary given his core function.  Which is damage.  Which, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to impress me.  Like, functionally, this guy’s support isn’t great.  It’s one debuff per round, WAY too slow to matter.  And from what I can find (I am very sleeping and reading raw text), it looks like all he got were two 60% bonuses to sync, which is really sad standing next to Hilbert getting up to +300% at max.

I feel like this one’s not so great maybe.  Ghetsis just got his EX as well, and has consistent DPS with AoE.  Yes it has its flaws, but Ghetsis should be perfectly fine for what he does.  SS N feels like am embellishment, but not a particularly good one.  His three-turn move structure is incredibly rigid, and taking time to use his trainer move at all is throwing off the whole game plan due to mis-timed sync.  His sync as a tech isn’t spectacular, and he’s reliant more on the move damage of a counterattacking move that takes three turns to execute.  He doesn’t even get consistent status application without 3/5.  It’s not bad, per se, but it is sad.

[akaraboonline]

The Ed Sheeran lawsuit is a threat to Western civilization.

Imagine a painter getting ready for a show in their studio. The scenery being painted by the artist. The night sky is navy blue. It is Kelly green in the valley. Mountains loom in the background, their magnificent color reflecting the glorious sunset. The artist raises his vermillion brush before pausing. They pause and wonder if anyone has the legal right to use this colour of crimson. Will I face legal action for this? That'd be absurd, right? Sadly and wonderfully, the aesthetic equivalent of this way of thinking is no longer as ridiculous as it used to be in the music industry. Presently on trial in federal court in Manhattan is the issue of who has unrestricted access to the musical metaphorical color wheel. The wife and heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 hit song "Let's Get It On," have accused English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran of ripping off their father's work by stealing their song "Thinking Out Loud" from Marvin Gaye. The purported proof? Both songs use the same chord progression as their main motif, which is similar but not identical. In its most basic form, a chord progression is a series of notes that are linked together and arranged according to the composer's preference to produce a melody, which serves as the foundation for almost all compositions. The lawsuit and its ramifications are the musical equivalent of telling a painter: You'll have to pay to use red, to finish the metaphor. It was used first by someone else. The argument revolves around whether the centuries-long tradition of music-making is something that should be preserved for upcoming generations of composers, songwriters, and listeners, or whether vast swaths of a human art form's fundamental vernacular should be divided up and parceled out as intellectual property for the exclusive use and profit of a select few. Even by the standards of today, this effort to monopolize and profit off the wonder and joy of individual expression is malevolent on a level that is almost astounding. The consequences and ripple effects could be so terrible that they cannot be described. The Townsend estate's argument is overtly cynical and intended to capitalize on common misconceptions about how songs are written. Music has endless potential, just like arithmetic or literature, but strangely needs to repeat itself. It makes no more sense to copyright any chord progression, much less one as popular as the one heard in "Let's Get It On," than it does to copyright the numerals 6 and 13 or the conjunctions "and" and "but." Townsend was a skilled songwriter, Gaye was a total genius, and "Let's Get It On" is an undeniably outstanding tune. However, neither the litigants nor the wind or the rain have a legal claim to "own" that progression. It is primordial. There are several examples of those chords being played in that order before "Let's Get It On," including a number of well-known ones listed by Sheeran's legal team. Such things belong to the global human consciousness and must always remain as such. The alternative represents a hideous stride toward insanity. Software is already available that can mine recorded music to find more or less countless instances of songs that are "similar" to one another. It will further embolden the unmotivated and litigious to drag musicians into court and demand they prove the impossibility: that they were not, on any conscious or subconscious level, inspired by another piece of music. If Sheeran is forced to split writing credits and pay damages to the Townsend estate. A once-vibrant, albeit incredibly flawed, ecology of songwriters and artists has already been destroyed by greed. That infrastructure has been systematically destroyed by the streaming economy, which has choked off the revenue streams of all but the most bankable organizations and sold off all of recorded music history as a loss leader to promote cellphone data plans. The next obstacle is this trial. The process of reducing popular music to a consensus-driven pay window for tech entrepreneurs and corporate opportunists will have reached its pinnacle if artists must pay a tax for using the most prevalent modes and tones of composition. Gaye was a pivotal American musician who crafted an exhilarating and entrancing original sound by fusing together a rich tapestry of gospel, jazz, doo-wop, and R&B. He serves as sort of the embodiment of why the kinds of restrictions that this lawsuit threatens to impose would be a historical blight. With "Let's Get It On," Gaye and Townsend created a stunning musical scene. Townsend's estate is attempting to seize ownership of nature with its outrageously expansive lawsuit.   Read the full article

[thetriggeredhappy]

what do you think we would've gotten in comic 7. like how on Earth were they planning to wrap everything up in one issue actually

i have a couple of ideas actually and i’ll list a few of them rapidly

the main threads that haven’t been tied up are 1. what the administrator is trying to do, 2. the relationship between pauling and the mercs, 3. what miss pauling will become after everything, and 4. the fate of the team. immediately, those last three seem more interconnected than that first one, but bear with me.

for the first thing, i believe the administrator, ultimately, wants Mann Co. for any number of reasons! she doesn’t have it yet. had no way of getting it, really. ultimately, saxton hale, while a dipshit, had more money and power than her. i doubt he’s somehow gone without assassination attempts, and i’d assume they were unsuccessful through a combination of security and his own brute strength. i’m guessing her ‘relationship’ with the mercs was another chess piece in that, giving them experimental weapons from the man himself to dissect for fundamental engineering flaws that she could exploit and also to test the weapons before giving them to better, more competent mercenaries, ones in training to eventually kill saxton to take the empire. perhaps because of an old stipulation in the will (there’s implied to be holes in it). then the thing with Grey Mann happened, and she was thrown off course, but saxton is now just about as defenseless as she is, albiet still physically stronger, unless of course she takes a lethal dose of australium and summarily curbstomps his whole ass. assuming she can find him in time, at least.

but she has one thing left to worry about, obviously. saxton is nearly defenseless. nearly. he only has himself, and mags (who she doesn’t know about, to my understanding). the administrator has herself and miss pauling. and in the middle, in a neutral space, almost, able to go either direction, are the mercenaries. ultimately, i think they’d want to side with pauling. but saxton is the one signing their checks, and clearly if they cared more about moral reasonings than money, they wouldn’t be in this business. that’s the administrator’s justification, at least.

so she asks miss pauling to go to the location she listed off. miss pauling, when she gets there, realizes as she’s walking in that these are familiar caves. she killed the Director here. countless television men. witnesses. politicians. policemen. anyone who the administrator wanted dead, she would send here with miss pauling. and now miss pauling is walking in, the entire team behind her, and she has to make a choice.

spy figures it out almost right away (he’s the paranoid type), and says nothing. because the fact that she didn’t carry out her orders right away means she’s considering something very hard. i think heavy figures it out quickly, too. but most of the rest of the team hasn’t noticed anything is wrong. pyro and demo are goofing off, soldier and zhanna are trying to get sniper to fight them, medic is taking care of the baboon and trying not to let it eat scout’s head except actually maybe that would be an interesting thing, a baboon that eats heads—

in my mind, she wanders off to think, and to try to contact the administrator to clarify what her orders are. the administrator relays the instructions clearly, saying she’s letting pauling off with a warning, only because she’s never gotten confused on instructions like this before, so it must be an honest mistake. she is to kill all of the mercenaries by any means necessary. time is limited. act fast, so they don’t have time to realize what she’s doing.

the transmission is cut, and miss pauling has to think about everything these men have done for her. some leaving peaceful lives behind, some experiencing grief unlike anything in the world, some willing to go to prison and die rather than rat her out, some actually dying in the process of fighting a war for her again, just because she asked them to. one they didn’t need to do, because they care about her. respect her. trust her. hell, even the engineer had stayed at his post, dutiful, just like her. they all tried so hard.

in my mind, the flashback is cut by the door opening, and in my mind, it’s scout, because he’s the unluckiest stupidest man alive and his timing is terrible. pauling tells him to shut the door, and he does, obviously. she pulls out a silenced pistol and aims it at his head.

scout isn’t all that scared, just a little nervous, because woah, this is a weird prank, miss p! what’s up? he promises he isn’t spy—they only have the one, these days, and he’s a dick but like, seriously. quit joking around.

and he’s still got a gut wound, so she knows he isn’t fighting back any time soon. he’s not even armed properly.

it occurs to her that they all were following her without any expectations of reward. scout hoped, maybe, that this would be the first step in her falling in love or whatever, but ultimately, they weren’t really promised much, just something to do. it occurs to her that this is what she is, to the administrator. a sap with a gut wound, who died, just because she was asked to.

i think miss pauling turns on the administrator. maybe not even because she cares about the team, but because she looks at this guy and decides she has to be better than this. better than smiling with shaking hands while a gun is pointed at her head. she spares scout, and off to one side spy calls her an assortment of things including a complete fucking sap, and they start formulating a plan.

maybe it’s a good plan. maybe it’s fucking stupid. almost certainly, it hinges heavily on the administrator being absolutely, completely convinced that there’s nothing the team can do to her, because they’re all complete idiots. but they succeed, because they’re idiots, but they’re also brilliant in their own way, they just need a little coordination. perhaps by someone even more brilliant than all of them named miss pauling yes i’m in love with her.

i think the administrator’s death would be unsatisfying and sad. miss pauling now trying to say something kind to someone in their dying moments instead of something terrible, and stumbling over it, and the administrator maybe admitting why this happened to her. what happened to make her so angry, so vicious, so cutthroat. and i think miss pauling realizes that actually, this shit sucks, and none of this bloodshed will ever be worth it if even the administrator was never happy—if even saxton was never truly happy, just trying to find someone who he could trust, just be with, just be happy with. she tries to pass over Mann Co to the Engineer, who maybe shares monetary rights with the other mercs (exclusively, he’s the one actually in charge they just make royalties) or maybe just pyro because they’re best fucking friends. everyone now has a ton of money. some of them use it to become even better mercenaries and some use it to just buy sour cream for their raccoons.

medic, of course, invests in his research. they’re all happy until the genetically modified baboon insurrection, cut to team fortress 3 logo roll fucking credits. directed by quentin tarantino