#i miss hq real bad

[lxnarphase]

thinking about iwaizumi meeting a pretty skater girl while in california that has the same class as him and he realizes she's really fuckin' cool and pretty…

[familyabolisher]

I've walked past the Barbie branded selfie booth, sat through the reel of old commercials that precede the previews, and watched Margot Robbie learn to cry, and I’m still not sure what “doing the thing and subverting the thing,” which Greta Gerwig claimed as the achievement of Barbie in a recent New York Times Magazine profile, could possibly mean. This was the second Gerwig profile the magazine has run. I wrote the first one, in 2017, which in hindsight appears like a warning shot in a publicity campaign that has cemented Gerwig’s reputation as so charming and pure of heart that any choice (we used to call them compromises) she makes is justified, a priori, by her innocence. This is a strange position for an adult to occupy, especially when the two-hour piece of branded content she is currently promoting hinges on a character who discovers that her own innocence is the false product of a fallen world. But—spoiler alert!—the point of Barbie’s “hero’s journey” is less to reconcile Barbie to death than to reconcile the viewer to culture in the age of IP.

“Doing the thing and subverting the thing”: I haven’t finished working out the details, but I think the rough translation would be Getting rich and not feeling feel bad about it. (Or, for the viewer: Having a good time and not feeling bad about it.) One must labor under a rather reduced sense of the word “subvert” to be impressed with poking loving fun at product misfires such as Midge (the pregnant Barbie), Tanner (the dog who poops), and the Ken with the earring, especially given that the value of all these collectors’ items has, presumably, not decreased since the film opened. Barbie may feature a sassy tween sternly informing Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie that the tiny-waisted top-heavy billion-dollar business she represents has made girls “feel bad” about themselves, but if anyone uttered the word “anorexia,” I missed it. (There was a reason Todd Haynes told the story of Karen Carpenter’s life and death with Barbies, and it wasn’t because an uncanny piece of molded plastic has the magical power to resolve the contradictions of girlhood and global capitalism.) There’s a bit about Robbie going back into a box in the Mattel boardroom, but Barbies aren’t made in an executive suite; they come from factories in China. On the one hand, it’s weird for a film about a real-world commodity to unfold wholly in the realm of ideas and feelings, but then again, that’s pretty much the definition of branding. Mattel doesn’t care if we buy Barbie dolls—they’re happy to put the word “Barbie” on sunglasses and T-shirts, or license clips from the movie for an ad for Google. OK, here’s my review: When Gerwig first visited Mattel HQ in October 2019, the company’s stock was trading at less than twelve dollars a share. Today the price is $21.40. 

Christine Smallwood, Who Was Barbie?

[fettuccin-e]

Right Here, Right Now

Kinktober Day 2: Public

Tags: Miguel O'Hara x Reader, afab!fem!reader, unprotected piv (wrap it up irl omg please), public sex, fingering, its just desperate sex with Mig in an alleyway lol (w/c: 1.3K)

A/N: I have actually had this as a WIP for a long, long time but I modified it to fit this prompt! Glad to finally get some use out of it. Miguel can and will always have me in a chokehold I love him so so much. (I am following prompts from this list by flightlessangelwings!)

You’ve both been apart for too long, far too fucking long. Always away on missions without each other, falling asleep without each other and leaving again with only a quick kiss goodbye, nothing more.

It’s got Miguel a little stir crazy, desperate, and you’re just the same way. So, on the odd mission where you’re actually together, you don’t protest when he crowds you against a brick wall in some dark, dank alleyway, and kisses the god damn life out of you. It’s intoxicating, mind-melting, and fuck, it’s not enough for either of you. 

Miguel growls against your mouth, reaching a clawed hand to the seam of your suit, and rips it, exposing the wetness of your aching pussy to the cool night air. He cups you without any finesse, just pure need, and you gasp wetly into his kiss.

“Miguel,” you whine, but you can’t stop your hips from humping forward into his hand, “we can’t— we can’t, baby, they’re going to start looking for us, oh fuck, they’re gonna see—“

“Shh,” he coos, “just real quick, real quick, sweetheart.” His chest heaves, so broad and thick and clouding your vision as he rubs quick circles into your achy clit with a calloused finger.

“Just- just let me feel you, just for a second, please, baby, mi amor, por favor, tan perfecta, te necesito,” he mumbles, lost in it, and you find yourself nodding along with his words.

He whines at your permission, and you barely manage to utter a “just for a second, just a second, Miguel,” before his suit dissipates around the bulge of this thick cock, and he’s sinking into you, pressing so fucking deep he forces the air from your lungs.

“Fuck, baby,” he breathes into the crook of your neck, his hips stuttering forward as he stretches your pussy around him. “There’s my perfect girl, my beautiful girl, fuck, fuck, missed this pussy so bad, baby.”

It’s hard to breathe like this, Miguel pressing you into the brick wall, curling around you until all you know is him. All you know is the way his scent invades your lungs, the way his fangs graze your throat just barely. The way he pulls his hips back, just a little bit, before shoving forward again, bullying his thick cock so fucking deep inside your little cunt. You can’t get out the words, the sensations all too much for you to bear. There hasn’t been any prep, anything to lead up to you taking Miguel like you usually do. 

No, there's only the adrenaline coursing through your bodies, the desperation stemming from being apart for far too long, and the ache of him settling deep, deep inside you. It’s where you both belong.

So you stutter out aborted little whines of “Mig- Miguel,” and “so-so big,” between overwhelmed sobs into his strong body as he holds you, impaling you on him again and again. He’s mumbling, incessant and slurred as he fucks you into the brick, something about how hot you are, how wet and tight and about how he can’t wait to get you home, how he’s going to fuck you for days. It’s all so hard to understand, you’re not even sure that Miguel knows what he’s saying, if he even wants you to hear all of the deep, dark thoughts spilling from his overwhelmed mouth.

Your body burns, the coarse hair at the base of his cock rubbing at your clit so perfect, so right. It’s all slick and wet and you’re sure that you’re dripping down his fat cock as it slides in and out of you, dripping down his balls. You can at least thank God that his suit isn’t made out of actual fabric; that he won’t have to return to HQ with your wetness staining his front. Not that he’d really mind.

It’s intoxicating, the way he fills you, surrounds you. So much so that you don’t realize how much time has passed until you hear Jessica’s voice from both of your watches, cutting through your whines and Miguel’s growls and the lewd sounds of your bodies meeting. “O’Hara, what’s your position?”

“Fuck,” he snarls, driving into you just a little faster, a little harder, “fuck, not yet, not yet.” He doesn’t respond to Jess, leaning down to capture your lips in a bruising kiss that mostly contains teeth and spit.

“Mig-Miguel, they’re going to be looking, c’mon, baby, we’ve got to g-” you hiccup into his mouth, but your hips move of their own accord, meeting him thrust for thrust as he drives desperately into you.

“Not. Yet.” He growls, punctuating his words with his hips. “Just a little longer, little- little longer, jus’ let me-” he fucks himself into you, so furious and devastating that tears finally manage to spill from your eyes.

“Spiderman 2099, what is your position?” Jessica asks again, and you can hear Pavitr ask you the same thing from your watch, both oblivious to the fact that their leader, your leader, is fucking you into the wall in some dirty back alley in a universe that neither of you know, that neither of you care to know. All you know is Miguel’s body against yours, exchanging desperate breaths as he thrusts deep into your sticky pussy, curling your hands into his hair as he digs his fingers into your waist, his claws nearly tearing the fabric of your suit.

“Miguel,” you moan, “we have to go, please we have to go, they’re looking for us, they’re gonna see-”

“No,” Miguel whines, and you want to fall to your knees with how absolutely devastated he sounds, “can’t- you can’t go, ‘s too soon, baby, let me have you, let me have you,” he’s slurring around his fangs, his eyes burning red at the edges as his eyes meet yours. He grabs at the watch on your wrist, cutting it off with a deft claw, and you choke on your spit as he crushes it easily in his palm. 

“Miguel-” you start, but he cups a thick hand over your mouth, and you can only watch as he raises his watch to his face and says, far more collected than he’s been this entire night, “Anomaly neutralized, returning to HQ. Meet tomorrow for a debrief.”

“Not tonight?” Pav chirps, and Miguel ruts into you hard, his gaze burning into yours.

“Tomorrow.” He growls, before he shuts his watch off completely, tucking his face into the crook of your neck again, sucking dark marks into your skin. His hands find your hips once again, pulling you onto his cock over and over and over as tears slide down your cheeks, choked little moans ripping out of your throat.

“That’s right, beautiful, squeeze this cock, make a mess for me. Can’t wait to get you home, going to fuck you all fucking night, needed this sweet pussy so fucking bad, bebita, por favor, ah-” he groans into your skin, and his cock sinks into you so perfect, stretching you exactly how you’ve needed it for so long, and fuck, your orgasm nearly makes you black out. You thrash against the wall, crying out so loud that Miguel has no choice but to seal his mouth over yours in a sticky kiss, swallowing your noises. 

“Fuck, that’s right, make a mess for me, eres tan perfecta, mi amor, mi vida, fuck,” he fucks into you, once, two more times, before he’s following you over that peak, his hips twitching as he fills you up.

You both can only rock against each other for a minute, riding the aftershocks of bliss. How had you gone without this for so long? How could you have deprived yourself of heaven?

“Let’s go home, Miguel,” you whisper, resting your forehead against his. He nods, switching his watch back on and opening a portal behind himself. He slips out of you, his suit reforming over himself. You, unfortunately don’t have the same luxury, the night air still cool against your used and achy core. 

“You’re making me a new suit, by the way,” you say, tilting your head up to smile at him. “And a new watch.”

He only chuckles, lifting you into his arms, turning to walk you both into your shared apartment in Nueva York, where you haven't been together in too damn long. “Anything you want.”

[bellewintersroe]

Daniel Ricciardo x HornerDaughter! Reader.

Part 6 omggg! Not really too much to warn about in this chapter, mentions of smut and appearance from Max Verstappen who’s innocent asf. Only a short chapter, I’m going to have to wait to upload the rest of the parts when the Hungarian GP is over and done with this weekend so apologies for the small break! I’ll throw in another smut chapter just whilst you all wait <3

@benbarneslut @dinodumbass @ricci-ardo @allabouthappiness After sharing a bed for the past 2 nights, Daniel and y/n fear they’ve been caught out by a fellow Red Bull driver. Daniel jets off to Italy to the AlphaTauri headquarters, leaving them both feeling oddly sad at the parting.

“But you’re excited to be going back?” She smiled, pulling her vest stop back on, “yeah, I can’t wait.” Daniel responded. The pair had been talking away, like always, about Daniels return to F1. “Excited to go to Italy too.” He added on.

“Looks pretty.” The HQ for AlphaTauri was there, so he’d be flying away until he got back to Hungary for the Grand Prix. She couldn’t like she was somewhat saddened that their two day romp had ended. They’d spent the past two nights together. “You ever been?”

“Hm?” She perked, stepping back into her jeans. “Have you ever been to Italy?”

“No, that’s the one place I’m literally desperate to go, every time there’s been a race I’ve some how missed it.” We’ll have to go, Daniel thought a little too quickly.

“Whattt, you’ve never been?!” She smiled at his dorky response. “Never.”

“You’re missing out.” He sat up from the messy bed where they had practically lived the past 48 hours. The bedsheets were dishevelled as he climbed out, grabbing a discarded shirt off the floor. It was 4pm and they’d been in bed, all day. “I know… I gotta go so bad.” She clipped her hair back, revealing the purple and red bruises Daniel had sucked into her neck.

“You’re gonna wanna hide those…” he sheepishly pointed out. As amusing as it was, he also was proud of his markings, very immature, he knew, but it reminded him of the endless pleasure the two brought one another.

“Oh, fuck you, Ricciardo…” ———————————————-

The group of them all sat around in the hotel lobby, relaxing as they waited on their transfer to the airport. It was all civilised conversations until Christian and Geri took the younger three kids to get food whilst y/n chilled with the rest of the people, stretched out on the plush couch. “So, you had a girl round last night?” Max questioned Daniel, nudging his side as both Daniel and y/n felt like they could choke on their own spit. “Huh?” Daniel coyly spoke, whilst she just remained eyeing them both up.

“I heard it all.” Max shrugged, holding up his hands. Daniels face flushed as he couldn’t hold back a laugh, rubbing over his forehead. “Not that was doing that on purpose.” Max grimaced as she pursed her lips, finding the situation all too amusing.

“I mean she seemed to be enjoying herself, so go you.” The Dutch man continued as she couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. “Sorry, I just… I overheard that’s all.” Daniel shot her an amused smile whilst half his face was hid. The eyes she gave him back, mixed with that pretty little smirk was filthy. Daniel wondered if she was glad Max heard, he had no idea that it was her.

When the transfer came, she felt a little disappointed at the small hug she gave Daniel. She’d wished for a kiss or some kinda kind words, but that would’ve been way too obvious. “Have a safe trip.” He muttered to her, hand purposefully giving her back a squeeze, desperate to give her a proper goodbye. He knew he was in way too deep, the fact he felt down about parting from her for a mere week? Worst of all, he’d text her, saying he wished he could give her a real goodbye, something that made her smile to herself and her father to question who was making her giggle like that. “Nobody.” She’d replied, fingers pressing into her keys below. You gave me the best goodbye in the hotel room so idk what you’re talking about Daniel, too, found himself smiling to his phone like a teenager. When his eyes rested on her small picture set to her icon, he felt his heart soften, the smell of her perfume still clinging to his top she’d worn only hours prior. He wore it purposefully.

“Messaging ya girlfriend?” The chaperone cheeked as he glanced up to the Frenchman ahead of him.

“Ah, someone like that…”

[thelovelylolly]

Hobie x reader where she gets her period on a mission and starts cramping realll bad and the monster just so happens to know when someone is hurting in any way and Hobie isn't there but later gets notified his girl got hurt and the rest is just like him comforting her wounds. And she's on so much pain she forgets she even got her period and so she gets up and Hobie is just like "uh.. Bae.."

Not forcing only do it if your comfortable 🫡🫶🩷

Bleeding

Summary: Your time of the month comes in the middle of a fight, but you're too busy fighting to notice. Warnings: afab reader, mentions of periods, blood and wounds, canon-typical violence (let me know if i missed anything!) Notes: not my cramps starting the day i got this request-

You knew it was coming, but you would never guess that it would come in the middle of a fight. You were trying to catch a Venom variant to send back to HQ when you felt it, followed by a sharp cramp. But you ignored it, you had a job to do.

Venom was a slippery guy to catch, no thanks to him being an actual symbiote that could shift into any shape he wanted. You started to get tired of chasing him up and down the blocks of New York in whatever universe you ended up in. Finally, Venom slowed down just enough for you to shoot some webs and drag him towards you. He roared and tried to escape, but you shot more webs and planted your heels in the ground.

He slashed around, cutting your webs off of him before charging at you. He threw you threw the front windows of a nearby shop, scaring the civilians around you. You hit the ground with a grunt and got back up a bit slower than usual. You could feel cuts from the glass on your back and arms, but you jumped right back into action.

You swung yourself up and kicked Venom in the head, stunning him for just a second. You webbed his hands and pulled them back behind his back, making sure he couldn't claw himself out of it. Then, he kicked you in the stomach since his legs were still free. You stumbled back as the air was knocked out of you.

Venom started to run but you quickly webbed up his legs, causing him to trip. You wrapped his legs up just like his hands and dragged him towards you as you caught your breath. Venom kept yelling at you until you shot a web at his mouth, shutting him up.

You sighed and lifted your watch, making a portal back to HQ before LYLA popped up next to you.

"What do you want, LYLA?" You asked as you threw Venom into the portal for Margo to deal with.

"You were off during your little fight. Slower, maybe?" The AI answered, glitching around you.

"Did you pop up to analyze my fight or something? Because I didn't ask you to do that, and if Miguel did-"

"It's not that. I'm just here to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, just tired. And sore."

LYLA looked you up and down, noticing the cuts in your suit. You sighed and rolled your eyes.

"Please don't contact Hobie-"

"Already did," she chirped back. "He's on his way to HQ right now."

You opened another portal. "Alright, thanks LYLA."

"Anytime," she said before disappearing. You walked through the portal to HQ, ready to collapse into your boyfriend's arms and take a long nap.

----

"Okay, love, how 'bout you take a shower while I get you some clothes and stuff? Then I'll take care of your cuts," Hobie said, leading you to his bathroom. After he found you at HQ, he immediately took you back home to take care of you. Thankfully, you had started to leave some of your things at his place for times like this.

You were too tired to give any real reply, instead nodding as you walked into the bathroom. You started the shower and got out of your suit. You stepped into the shower and washed your body off, careful not to irritate your cuts and bruises. You heard Hobie come in and set clothes down on the counter, then left you to finish up and change.

You switched the water off and got out, bundling up in a towel and carefully patting your hair dry. You changed into what Hobie brought you. One of your tank tops and a pair of gym shorts you had left here. You opened the door to let Hobie know you were ready and tiredly sat down on the toilet.

Hobie came in with a small first aid kit and set it on the counter.

"Let's see what we're working with..." He said, prompting you to show where you got his the worse. There were a bunch of scratches and cuts on your back and the back of your arms.

Hobie carefully took care of them, cleaning them to make sure they wouldn't get infected. For any deeper cuts, he put a bandaid over it. It was quiet, but most of your days together after a mission were and you two wouldn't have it any other way.

"There, all better," he hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before packing up the first aid kit. "Do you need anything else, babe?"

Right as he asked, a painful cramp shot through you, causing you to groan. Hobie immediately knelt in front of you, concern and confusion written all over his face. For a second, you were confused, too, but you quickly remembered that you had started your period in the middle of your fight.

"I got my period..." You grumbled, leaning your forehead against his.

"Oh, I'm sorry love. What can I do to help?"

"Pain meds...and a heating pad..."

"Got it," he replied before quickly getting up and leaving to get you your things.

You closed the door and found some period products you left there last month. You grabbed a pad and took care of your business, then slowly made your way to the living room. Hobie had a heating pad warming up on the edge of the couch and he handed you a glass of water and some pain medicine. You popped the two pills in your mouth, swallowed them down with some water, and let Hobie guide you to sit down on the couch.

He let you sit down first before situating himself behind you, wrapping his arms around you and letting you lean back on him. He grabbed the heating pad and pressed it against your lower stomach, then grabbed one of the throw blankets you had gotten him and covered the two of you with it.

You smiled and hummed contently. "Thank you, Hobie."

"Of course, love."

You quickly dozed off his arms and a few minutes later, he dozed off, too.

[slocumjoe]

companions react to sole going missing

I've gotten quite a few asks about various circumstances leading to sole going missing, and I've really been trying to figure out how to write this beyond "they panic" 12 times, so...this is a lot more "how do they find sole" than anything else 🤸‍♂️

Cait; Cait is so pessimistic and naturally anxious, she's doesn't realize she's right, when she makes a barb about Sole getting eaten, or getting kidnapped, or maybe tripping and drowning in a puddle. Cait isn't surprised when it starts looking like that something really is up, but fuck if she doesn't freak out. Gets her weapons, gets her armor, and is out the door with no real plan, no direction, no goal. Has to be grabbed before she can set out and just get herself in trouble too. Cait isn't going to be any use in finding Sole, but if Sole's being held by people...that's when you play this particular card.

Codsworth; He's used to Sole being gone for long stretches of time with no word. He's not just the last to panic, he's the last to panic because he's the last person to realize oh shit, this is different. Once that can opens...have you ever seen a Mr. Handy freak out? Those saws and flamethrowers are dangerous to be around. Codsworth has some combat potential, yes, but he isn't meant for that, not at all. He's joining the search party, obviously, but he's not much help if there isn't people to set on fire.

Curie; She's the more optimistic sort, so one of the last to worry. Curie gets nervous when everyone else is nervous, even the most pragmatic of them. If Nick or Piper think something is wrong, something is wrong. Curie, having been a Ms. Nanny, had a database of the geography and cityscapes of Massachusetts, for scientific purposes. That database is now a memory, and now a little foggy, but Curie's a walking GPS, otherwise. For this reason, ends up going with Nick, helping him get around Boston, Cambridge, wherever. If Dogmeat is for tracking a scent, Curie is for directions.

Danse; Sole is not allowed to leave without an estimated return date. You cannot leave Danse's sight without telling him it'll take me this many days to get there, and this many to get back. So, once Sole is not back by the return date, Danse is in the power armor and going after their corpse, assuming them dead. Mostly to mentally prepare himself for them actually being dead. Unlike Cait, Danse goes on his own with an itinerary. He checks possible campsites, checks in with anyone he finds on the road...the line from A, to B, to C, whereever Sole went, Danse traces where they should or could have been. He ends up running into the others this way, and from there, it's just a matter of time. Once they're back...oh man. The earful. The scolding. The lecture. It's a force of nature, how upset this man is. If Sole vanished themselves? You could use the anger to power the Prydwen.

Deacon; keeps a tab on Sole at all times through the Railroad, so once a letter comes in, hey, lost track of them, will update once I find them again, and that next letter comes as still no sign, Deacon is off. Doesn't say anything to the others, just vanishes as he does usually. Sole is either pulling a him, or someone's got their mitts on them. Both are bad. So Deacon checks in at HQ. No one's seen them. They were last seen here. This was the last person they talked to. Nothing else? Fine. He checks the safehouses. He checks anywhere Sole has mentioned as a camp or hideaway. Deacon, here, his use comes in the form of elimination of information. They would have done this if X was true, they would have gone here if Y happened. He narrows it down until the trail leads right to Sole.

Gage; You get old enough, in his work, you start to just know when someone's gotten into some shit. One of the first ones to wake up one day and go "Keep your gun close, feel like we're gonna have to set off here soon." So, first to intuit that something is up, but not the first to freak out. There's a difference. Gage doesn't worry right away, he worries when it's getting clearer that something is up. Even then, he doesn't panic. Sole was an important person—any raider gang that nabbed them, one of their mooks almost certainly went bragging. Raiders always brag about a good score. Just needs to hit up one or two unsavory bars, see who's drafting a ransom with their buddies over beer. Despite his protests, Piper and MacCready tag along with him. This turns into Uncle Gage's No Good, Awful, Very Bad Investigative Babysitting Adventure and he hates every minute of it.

Hancock; second to last to realize what's up. Hancock himself is prone to wandering off, chasing a flight of fancy, just getting bored and doing other shit. So, he assumes Sole is doing the same. Maybe something else came up, maybe they're just taking it easy. It's Sole. They're smart and a badass, they're fine. He'll join up with the others, ask around with his people in Goodneighbor once the others start worrying, in hopes of calming their nerves. Take a breather, man, lemme ask Ham if they ever stopped by. Hey, Ham, did Sole ever...wait...those guys? And Sole? ...Ah, shit. If anyone can get the most intimate info on why or how Sole is missing, it's Hancock. And the why and how is a good way to learn the where.

MacCready; An anxious person, MacCready starts worrying when the day they should have come back passes, and then another passes, and then another. He checks with travelers coming from wherever, and if there was no weather or any other obstacle, MacCready knows right then, Sole's in a bad situation. He's shaky and a little pale the whole time, but he sticks with Piper, backs her up as she pries info out of anyone who's got it. Every day Sole is missing, kicks himself for not going, or not demanding Sole take him, if told to stay behind. Once they team up with Gage (ei, follow him around like ducklings, since he knows more places to look), starts questioning the sanity of Sole and their whole posse a lot more than he used to. Wonders if his life now counts as a horrific comedy once the investigation leads them to a drag race for the undead.

Nick; Being the detective who's been around this particular block a few times...he's be the one to realize when, truly, Sole was missing, rather than unaccounted for. There are certain tells and traits of a case that will hint if someone is okay, just doing their own thing, or if they're in trouble. Once Sole starts looking like the latter, Nick wastes no time going on the hunt. First things first, where were they headed, what were they planning on doing? Then it's off to witnesses. Where were they last seen? Sole's tough, and Sole is far more valuable as a hostage than some raider gang's dinner. It's likely they're alive, but the longer you go, the lower that chance gets. If anyone finds them, it'll have been in large part due to Nick's methodical work.

Piper; If Sole vanished intentionally, Piper picked up on their sneakiness before they left. If that's the case, it's not long at all before Piper ferrets out their location, their plan, because she's started unraveling it all before they were even out the door. If Sole's disappearance wasn't self-inflicted...the indomitable Piper Wright's gonna sweat on this one. Where Nick had the idea of investigating Sole, Piper goes after culprits, people who may have wanted them dead or alive. She gets into the bowels of the Commonwealth, and even if she has MacCready to help her shoot her way out, she's glad to run into Gage at some point. He's a bastard, but you share a goal with that cyclops, and he's a very useful ally. Even if he bitches every time Piper asks too prodding a question and starts a bar fight. C'mon, she was just curious about their make-up...

Preston; is the one who's Freaking The Fuck Out. That's his GENERAL, you know what happened the last time his general died? EVERYONE DIED. EVERYONE. Preston gets on the radio and calls all hands on deck, tear the Commonwealth apart if you have to. This period of time becomes a thing of legend for raiders everywhere, because one day, that bumfuck militia raided them, camps and hideouts all over swarmed and seiged by Minutemen looking for their boss. Preston's running around the Commonwealth with a team of Minutemen soldiers, using numbers and some careful brute force instead of precision investigation. To Preston, they don't have time to methodically pick apart the story, they need Sole back now. Once Sole is found, Preston wrestles with the fact that he...may have gone a little overkill...

X6-88; If the Institute is still standing, checks in with the Commonwealth surveillance officers, and reports that data to Nick. He doesn't want to work with Nick, but he is a detective. And Sole is his Director. X6 isn't risking anything, here. If the Institute is kaput, X6-88 goes off on his own, uses his courser skills to hunt down Sole himself. When the others find Sole, he also finds them, just, like, through a different door. They have one way of finding Sole and getting to them, X6 finds another. Danse tracked them via their campsites? X6 tracked them via the movements of startled radstag herds. Nick went after witness testimony? X6 went digging through corpses to find their spent ammunition. Piper and Gage looked for claims of having them hostage? X6 looked for raider gangs who ceased all activity. X6 finds them in such clear, laser-focused way it's both comforting and terrifying. Like...it's great and cool you know that, but oh my God, I'm glad you weren't trying to kill me.

[macravishedbymactavish]

Take Me Back // To the Night We Met Non-Spoiler Drabbles (Alex Keller x F!Reader)

| Blog HQ | Modern Warfare 2019 Masterlist | Series Masterlist |

This series has been kicking around in my head for months, and the end chapters I have written for both parts are both glaring and begging me to write the rest. So until I can rub my two braincells together and get some inspiration (when I'm not working) I thought I'd throw out some random, non-specific fluffy bits.

No TW warnings here, just fluffy interactions and Alex being flustered.

"So, I can save you a seat" Alex offered, eyes filling with hope and excitement that faltered the moment you raised an amused brow at him. This was the end your first mission together, your team running alongside his for the last month and a half.

Glancing back over to where your team was packing their things, you jabbed a thumb back toward them. "I'm actually going with my squad, but thanks anyway?"

You shouldn't have found it so endearing and cute watching redness spread across his cheeks and ears. Face falling in realization. Rubbing his neck, he brushed it off with an awkward "of course, fly safe"

"See you around though, right?" You asked, before jogging over to to join your team. Almost missing the giddy look on his face.

Almost.

Wandering through the base, chatting with one of your squadmates about your plans (or rather, lack thereof) for the weekend; you didn't notice the familiar face making its way toward you in the crowd.

"Hey you" he bumped his elbow against yours, falling in step with the two of you. "You're not done putting up with me yet" he teased, smiling over at you.

Rolling your eyes with a playful scoff, you feigned annoyance. Making a comment about never getting rid of him, then.

"Never, ever. I'm like a bad cold, catch me once and….you know what can I try again" he laughed, shaking his head.

"No, no. Keep going, that was really smooth" you teased, watching as he waved a hand in your direction. Refusing to make eye contact.

The three of you continued walking through base, making light conversation until your squadmate excused herself. The two of you walked in silence for a minute, until Alex cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I promise I'm not as…" he gestured toward himself, "whatever this is, normally. I'd love to show you the real side of me"

Groaning, you rolled over to look at your phone. The 0200 alarm ringing. A small, sleepy smile pulling at the corners of your lips as a phone call came through a few minutes after.

"Good morning, my devilishly handsome boyfriend" you teased, voice thick with sleep. Shifting under the covers, fighting off the pull of sleep for just a bit longer.

"Good very early morning to you too, my equally as beautiful girlfriend" he responded smoothly. Slipping directly into details about his day, and how much longer he's expecting to be gone for.

Humming along, pulling the shirt of his you stole closer. Your eyes falling shut as you listened to him talk, voice slightly distorted from the phone speaker.

"You're about to fall asleep, aren't you?" He chuckled, not seeing your sleepy nod as the warmth of your bed and his tone pulled you further from consciousness.

"Go back to sleep, I love you"

"I have this song memorized" he smiled over to you, fingers laced with yours as he continued driving. Looking over at him with wide eyes and raised eyebrows you weren't convinced.

Glancing between you and the road, his smile grew as he chuckled. "What?"

Pausing the music, you shook your head slightly. "You don't strike me as a Bonnie Tyler fan is all"

"Don't need to be a fan to enjoy a classic" he countered, lifting your hands to gesture at the radio. "I'll prove it to you, restart the song"

Reaching over to intertwine your fingers with his, you softly teased: "already backing out on your promises, Killer? Ouch"

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, he glanced at you with a lopsided smirk.

"I'll gladly be keeping one of them tonight"

General Taglist: @bloodonmyhands-1221 @v1naco @bowtruckleninja

Alex Keller Taglist: @glitterypirateduck @deadbranch @gcing-back-to-505

[karizard-ao3]

My reactions to the End of Evangelion

First, I know I have some asks about romcom Shinji waiting for me, but I felt I must watch this first because I am a little bit freaked out about what's going to happen and I need to just face it and get it out of the way. Also, I have a feeling I'm going to want to think about cute romcom Shinji afterward to aid my recovery. I have been led to believe it's pretty intense.

I am literally sitting here with the remote, avoiding pressing play.

Okay. I did it. It's starting.

I wonder if this is with the new VAs. Did they redub this as well? I'll find out soon.

The world is flooded, it looks like.

Shinji visiting Asuka and asking for help.

This is the new dub.

Ope, he accidentally made her naked.

Jesus Christ, Shinji.

Confirmed that their intent is to force humanity to evolve. They wanted to use Lilith but instead will have to use Unit 1, its only offspring, since the Spear of Longinus is lost.

Yui chose to stay in the Eva. "The human condition lies in how it struggles for survival".

There's Rei.

She finally broke the glasses.

Shinji's music player ran out of battery. He's just been laying there thinking about what a creep he is.

Misato found the real truth behind the second impact. Should I go back and pause to read the page?

Seele's trying to hack NERV HQ.

So was Unit 0 made from Adam, then?

Wait. So, Seele wants to do the forced evolution, yes? What is Gendo's motive in all this?

They're hiding the kids in their Evas. Rei is missing.

Shinji is hiding. Is he jerking off again?

These guys are going through and very efficiently killing everyone in NERV.

No, Shinji is just feeling depressed and hopeless and probably hating himself.

How does Rei feel about all her destroyed bodies?

They were about to kill Shinji and he was going to let them, but here comes Misato to save the day!

"Help, Asuka. Help me." Suicidal Shinji.

Humanity caused the second impact by trying to revert Adam to an egg state before he could awaken any more angels. Humanity came from Lilith and is the 18th Angel. I was not expecting that.

The other Angels were humanity how it could have been.

Shinji needs to destroy the Evas to prevent the third impact and save mankind.

Okay, so the human instrjmentality project is Gendo ans that's the forced evolution. Third impact is Seele's goal. I think.

Asuka has woken up.

They're bombing outside her capsule.

Does that let her sync?

Did she see her mom because she died? Oh no.

Oh, wait, it was the first thing.

The AT field was her mother protecting her? Is her mom also in the Eva? Are they really just farming people's mothers to make Evas?

Go, girl! Kick ass, Asuka.

She's so happy to realize her mother loves her.

There's the other Evas. Are they also crafted from mothers?

It's nice to see Asuka with her confidence back.

Which one got shot?

Misato.

I thought probably given ep. 25 (was it?)

Shinji does bad things to other people to hurt himself.

That's a good message from Misato.

And then she went and did that. Ugh. Misato, I knew you were going to do some shit like this. And promising him the rest when he gets back. What a weirdo. But I guess she's dead now? That's too bad.

Ritsuko is sabotaging Gendo.

But she failed.

The spear of longinus is back and it got her!

I was wondering if they would stay down. She probably has to destroy the S2 drive.

Do these ones have pilots?

Oh, they're eating her. And she is connected by nerve link.

Ohhhhhh no. Asuka...

He couldn't go to the Eva so the Eva is coming to him.

He saw what happened to Asuka and absolutely lost his shit.

Should I take a break to discuss this half of the movie since it's split into episodes, or should I wait? Umm.... I have until the end of this song to decide, I think. Uh... I think I'll just wait until the very end.

Rei's arm fell off.

Gendo wants to reunite with Yui, which is something I had kind of toyed with as an idea because he talks about her a lot and is very partial to everything that relates to Yui except for Shinji (maybe sees too much of himself in the boy), but I hadn't really spent a lot of time thinking about it because I hate Gendo and he keeps hooking up with other scientists.

He has become one with Adam somehow. He needs to unite Adam and Lilith to commence the human instrumentality project and then go to where Yui is (the quantum plane, perhaps?)

Quite honestly, I'm still not completely clear on what Seele wants versus what Gendo wants.

He stuck his whole hand inside her.

Rei senses Shinji screaming.

Were there two spears of Longinus?

Oh, they made a replica.

They are rerutning man and Evas to their true forms.

Several replicas.

They're going to use Unit 1 and therefore Shinji as a sacrifice.

This is the lead up to the third impact.

There is a huge explosion.

Looks like an eye.

They're returning earth to its true form?

Rei decides not to help Gendo. And she regrew her hands. She's going up to help Shinji by going in Lilith.

And with that, Lilith is fixed, with her legs not weird anymore.

That is Lilith, right? That's what Kaworu said?

A giant incorporeal Rei to the rescue!

Shinji screaming at the sight of Rei.

They're syncing with Rei. Once again, that's a lot of fucking Reis.

Shinji is losing his mind.

kaworu appears, coming out of Rei's body. But there's the spear. It's absorbed the spear. Now he's in the tree of life.

"Rei is in your heart. A perfect reflection of your wishes."

"What do you wish for?"

He's alone at the playground because the other kids went home with their mom and he doesn't have one.

His little Mary Janes.

Built the sand castle, knocked it down in a fit of rage, then started trying to put it back together and crying.

Did this stuff Shinji is seeing actually happen or is it happening in his head as part of human instrumentality?

Now he's choking her.

Seeing all the worst of humanity.

Shinji bouncing back and forth between everyone should die because they don't love me, and I should die because I don't matter to anyone.

Rei just sprouted from the atmosphere.

Everyone is truning to jelly. Primordial soup.

"I'd only hurt Shinji. That's why I left him alone." He's just like Shinji fr.

The Eva series are shoving the spears further in.

Rei is vacuuming something into her palms, it looks like. Is that souls?

The tree of life thing just went into the eye hole/ keyhole/ vag in her head.

Now we've got some actual footage from the real world.

"You made a convenient fantasy to get revenge on reality."

Rei and Shinji are kind of fused together. Everyone is merged into one, which is what Rei said Shinji wished for. But he realizes that's not really what he wanted.

AT fields are what keep us separate and cause our pain, but Shinji realizes that he wants to be with others again more than he wants to run away from the pain.

So now Rei is bringing everyone back, I think?

Yui wanted to make the Eva to be a testament that humanity existed even after the universe dies.

Shinji wakes up next to a red sea abd Asuka. Shinji sees Rei for just a moment, and then she'd gone. There is a red ring around the earth. He's trying to choke her and crying, then she touches his face softly and he stops. He cries. She calls him disgusting and the movie ends.

In Conclusion

Well.

Well, well, well.

First off: I am still confused because it seems like Seele and Gendo were trying for the same thing and I am really not sure of the difference. Maybe it was just a matter of how they wanted to carry it out. I feel like I must be dumb as a rock for not getting it, but also maybe it's just mental priorities. I spent more mental energy trying to figure out other stuff.

This movie leaves me with a lot to think about. I'm already googling things about it, but I'm going to stop for now. I want to let it percolate a bit more, I think. Also, I should watch my DVD extras! Probably not today, though. I need to spend some time with my kid.

It seems that the third impact still affected the planet, but Shinji elected to have everyone be individuals so it was an apocalypse but not one that turned everyone into a single, liquid consiousness.

I don't really think everyone's Eva is infused with their mother, but I'm a little perplexed by Asuka saying her mother is why she has an AT field. Maybe she just meant because of how her mother shaped her identity. Not really sure. I mean, I would understand if Shinji had that revelation but not sure on Asuka.

Yeah, this is another one that's going to have to sit for a while in my head, I think. There's a lot to sort through.

I do love that the connection between mother and child seems to be so important in this series. It's kind of sad because Shinji feels so alone and uncared for, but we can see that his mother is always watching him and protecting him, whether it's as Rei or as Unit 1 or as a metaphysical version of herself. But we also see Asuka dealing with a lack of love from her mother. That poor girl.

Also, can we really love anyone when they are mixed together in a soup with us? Shinji could be merged with everyone in the LCL sea but they were no longer separate people, so he still couldn't really be with them, because there was no longer a them to be with.

I do slightly wish the objectives between Seele and Gendo had been slightly clearer. I get that it's all secondary to the real message but I get hung up on this kind of stuff when it's not clicking.

Yeah, I don't think I've got anything really definitive to say right now. This is definitely another thinker and I need time to let my thoughts form.

I am left wanting more. Not of the story, but just of seeing the characters together. I wish we could get an Evangelion slice of life series and just see their day to day lives as Eva pilots with only a very loose plot to tie the series together. I want to see them all existing and coexisting and I think I could happily watch several seasons of that.

Okay, well, I have a couple people to text now that I've finished the movie and I need to sit and think some more. I want to look up more stuff but I feel like maybe I should wrap up this watching experience with a better conclusion post. I think I will try (only try, no promises-I've got a head full of questions) to hold off on looking anything up while I sort through things and maybe look at my notes and then attempt to gather together my thoughts and post them.

I will also think about those Shinji romcom asks.

This was a very good show. I will definitely be watching again, and quite possibly very soon. I confess that I put in a bid for a boxed set of the Perfect collection, which should have the original dub, so if I win it I'm going to buy it and then watch it with the original dub because I'm curious to see the difference.

[moumouton4]

I just remembered an Idea I had a while ago for Shigaraki!

How about reader either is or used to be a chiropractor, but Shigaraki is unaware of this.

One day she goes up and hugs him from behind and he relaxed and melts into her because he is touched starved and he's happy that reader is showing him love.

And then she just realigns his spine with a loud series of cracks and she is like "Your back was crooked"

Fluffy please!

A Healing Hug || Tomura Shigaraki x chiropractor!reader

Alternative title : Opposites attract each other

A/n : Thank you for your request dear it never cease to make my day. 🌹🥐 I don't know if you've seen the genius move you made by pairing those two together 👀

Warning : touching, established relationship, also my chiropractic vocabulary may not be on point for a real chiroprator 😂

Masterlist ⚜

I don’t give permission to repost my work, if you want to share it just reblogue it

Words count : 1517

It had been several evenings since you returned to the lov's HQ and noticed the strange way he walked. Swaying from one leg to the other, you would think he was drunk when he was too tired to hide it. But not to your expert eye.

Who you were well a villain to some, a hero to others. You thought of yourself more as an avenging hero, so you carried yourself in the eyes of the people as a vigilante.

You used your quirk in two different ways, the power of electromagnetism to heal people and your ability to see weak points to know how to hit where it would destabilize your opponent the most.

But you weren't always a vigilante. In fact, you were originally destined for a great future - away from the bad guys' organizations. You had studied medicine, or at least started to, before finally joining Stain in his fight against false heroes hungry for fame and glory. However, you were so interested in the field that for a while you continued to learn on your own, specializing in chiropractic.

Your current level was almost at the level of a D.C.M. ( Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine ). That is to say, when you saw someone in bad shape, you knew it right away.

Anyway, you had just arrived in the HQ of the lov. You took off your coat and greeted your comrades, ruffled Toga's hair and nodded to Dabi. The way the latter always answered you in the same way, did not fail to amaze your comrades, but you were one of the only people he appreciated tolerated.

You looked around the room, looking for your boyfriend, Tomura Shigaraki. But unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen, as usual. So you shrugged, telling yourself that you'd better go get something to eat while waiting for him to come from wherever the hell he was.

And just as you predicted, at least two hours after your arrival and while you were chatting with Twice, you saw Tomura coming from the hallway towards the bar, where he sat on a stool.

Seeing him so distant was a habit for you and you understood that he had a hard time with relationships but knowing how much he didn't let go of you once he had you in his arms you decided to make it easy for him and always make the first move towards him. That's who you were, always ready to help, you owed him that much, he had so much else to think about.

That's why you gently cut short your discussion with Twice before getting up and joining Shigaraki at the edge. Well, you back hugged him. He let out a gasp of surprise as the pink rose to his cheeks before you loosened your grip on him, knowing that he didn't like pda in public.

When he turned to you to greet you he saw a slight frown on your face "Why are you sulking ?" you quickly hid it with a smile and answered "Naaah it's nothing I just missed you today that's all"

This time he was the one making a face, he squinted his eyes at you as if he was scanning you before a creepy smile appeared on his chapped lips ( he wasn't used to smile that much before knowing you ).

"Oh. Okay. Well I missed you too" he said simply.

But he was right you did frown, of course you frowned because as you held him you felt the abnormal stiffness of his back against your chest. And now with your alter activated you could clearly see the bright purple dots of tension scattered across his spine. "It must be painful" you thought, making a mental note to take him by the hand and give him a hand

...

It's finally after the evening meal that you found yourself alone in the common room of the lov with Tomura... alone. You smiled like a cheshire cat before calling him and asking him to come with you. You were on one of the dirty and dingy couches in the HQ.

"Yeah ? What do you want ?" he asked but to his surprise you didn't answer and simply stood up facing him. Making you remember that he was much taller than you. You tried to walk around him and stand behind his back but he turned as you did "What are you playing at ?"

"Please just lemme..." and with this he stopped and let you do whatever the hell you wanted to- "Mpff" a series of loud series of pops stopped his train of thought as a gasp of surprise and relaxation came from his mouth.

For a moment he didn't move, a little shocked at what had just happened while you had a big smile on your face happy to have - partially - unlocked his back. Shigaraki was also extremely happy that there was no one else in the room, as he felt his body relax in your embrace. His back problems melted with the warmth of your body against his and your arms that had come around his waist so that your hands could put pressure on his stomach and chest. He didn't know that at that moment you were using your electromagnetism alter in order to use a Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique that transferred some of it into his body to relax him.

"Are you okay ?" you asked.

"I think... What was that-" another series of loud cracks cut him off this time realigning his spine once and for all. The change of state between the comfort and warmth he felt in your arms and the pops that brought him out of his trance was so sudden that he couldn't help but jump like this cat in front of a cucumber you swore you heard him hiss

"What did you do to me ?!?"

You rolled your eyes at his scandalized tone "Your back was crooked. It bothered me" you replied smiling sweetly but it only intensified his annoyance.

"Answer the damn question !"

"I just did cavitation by applying pressure to your spine to force out the nitrogen gas that occurs in a spinal joint when vertebral surfaces are separated to create a vacuum-" your voice died as you watched the look of distress and incomprehension he sent you.

"Ugh I just cracked your back. Move around you'll see it's better"

He looked at you with round eyes before making an experimental move, before a slight smile appeared on his face. There was no more blockage, thanks to you. On your side you scanned his body with your eyes looking for other points of tension but he seemed to be fine for the moment.

"Thanks I guess" he said rubbing the back of his neck blushing and avoiding your gaze a little focusing on the tiled floor as you looked at him. But he was quick to come to his senses and asked "But how did you know ?"

"I started medical school..." you told him the whole story of your adventures in school. You gradually moved towards the couch to sit on it to be more comfortable to talk."And that's how I got my chiropractor's degree but as you know I could never pass the license""And that's how I acquired the chiropractor level but as you know I could never pass the license" "And that's how I acquired the chiropractor level but I never got to pass the license. I think you know why then" you finished you story chuckling.

As your story unfolds you scooted closer to him, your head resting on his shoulder and his head on yours. One of his legs was draped between yours. 

"And you want to pass this license ?" he asked in a calm but yet serious voice.

That's when you raised your head to look at him that you saw his look of determination. The look that belonged to the great leader of the League of Villains, your boyfriend Tomura Shigaraki, the same one who was willing to do anything if it contributed to your happiness.

"Well yes, that will be the acknowledgement of my studies-"

"Consider that you can pass it then. I'll tell you where and when a little later.

Your eyes filled with stars like mini galaxies as you gazed up at him. Before hugging him tightly and nuzzling your face in his chest.

Of course he was going to do everything in his power to get you certified in chiropractic. Your hands had been blessed with grace and given the ability to heal people while his had been cursed with the power to turn everything he touched into dust.

And just as you were starting to feel sleepy from your fights of the day that you heard Tomura chuckle lowly.

"What is it Tomura ?"

"Nothing I just thought opposites attract each other"

So you put your hand over the back of his and gently caressed it "You're right and I couldn't have been happier"

~

~

A/n : I hope you guys liked it ! 🥪🎮 Again my requests are open 🛎⚡

Taglist : @foxxymunson, @cl0vr, @ilovemanypeople, @glossy1pearl, @jane57sstuff

[meret118]

2023 Review

This has been the worst year in my life. (Long post.)

Nicholas died in February. I thought he was just constipated, but he was 20 years old and my vet insisted I take him to the emergency clinic. I didn't like the place even then. They have all this fancy equipment, and they overcharge and overtest to pay for it. They insisted he stay overnight, which I didn't want, and wouldn't let me say goodbye to him. They called later to say I was right. They'd given him an enema, but wanted to watch him overnight. I should have gone to get him then. They called at 2 AM to tell me he'd died.

He started living under my car and following me around shortly after I moved into my apartment. He had horrible health problems, including stomatitis which made his breath and saliva smell horrible. I think that's why his previous people abandoned him. The idea of him dying alone in a cage thinking I'd done the same torments me. If I'd just followed my instincts it wouldn't have happened that way. I don't think well under stress anymore. I miss him so much.

That was my winter. This past spring I almost died myself. (I'm not going into the details about what happened.) I've read the hospital notes, and my oxygen rate got so low they even called my uncle at one point to see if he wanted them to try and resuscitate me if my heart stopped. I was in the hospital for weeks, but I only remember the last 4 days or so of being there.

I ended up losing the use of my non-dominant hand from a compression injury, and have been in constant pain ever since. The muscles from mid-forearm down have wasted away. You don't realize how much you need that hand until you can't use it anymore. I've always been healthy before this, and it's been a huge adjustment. I feel like I've aged about 10 years. Crafting was one of my main hobbies, and I can't do that anymore. It takes me forever to type anything out now too. ETA: The non-stop pain has been the worst thing.

Everyone except my mother knew she's had Alzheimer's for years. (She refused to believe it.) She lost touch with reality completely while I was in the hospital. The neighbors had to call the police, and they took her to the hospital where she lives. I don't know if the stress of my being in the ICU pushed her over the edge, or if it was just a coincidence. She had already started hallucinating some before that. My father has been in assisted living for Alzheimer's since 2018, and now she is too.

Contrary to what a lot of people think assisted living is paid for completely out of pocket. Regular health insurance doesn't pay for it, nor does Medicare. It requires long term care insurance, which they don't have. It's not cheap either. Hopefully they will have enough to last as long as they need it, but it's not a sure thing. If they do spend all their money, they'll end up on Medicaid in a government funded nursing home.

Assisted living is like living in a small apartment with daily activities, and even trips. (I moved them near me into 2 really good ones. ((They don't get along.)) My father is even gaining weight, and doing so much better. I go see them once a week.) A nursing home is like living in a hospital.

My father had a good job, (upper-middle class), but was forced into early retirement at 55 due to bad-mouthing the new exec at HQ. He was used to being the (regional) boss, and never got another job. That's 10 years of income he didn't earn.

What's even worse is they made each other their POA's instead of someone younger. After my father was put in assisted living, my mother met a man at an Alzheimer's support group who conned her into allowing him access to all her accounts. Everyone told her not to do it, but he's a CPA, and she had no experience with handling the finances.

I know he had a wife with Alzheimer's because Janice met her when she helped him find an assisted living for her. So he was there for a real reason, but I guess he saw an easy mark and decided to go for it. He made sure never to be around when I was there. She and I don't get along anyway, but I think he was also poisoning her against me based on some comments she's made.

It all came to a head late last year as her Alzheimer's got worse. I found out by accident that he has been stealing from them ever since he was given access to the money. He had romanced her into doing that and leaving everything to him in the will, a new will he wrote. As well as I can figure out he told her he just wanted to be friends as soon as he got what he wanted.

I tried to get a new will written, but her Alzheimer's was too bad at that point, and lawyers refused. My uncle saw a lawyer earlier this year, and he said we're screwed. When she dies the guy gets everything, even if my father is still alive. She's a narcissist who has ruined my life over and over ever since I was born. Now she's going to ruin things after death too.

I'm having to go through their 3 story house crammed with decades of things to get it ready to be sold. The basement is so full you can barely walk through it. I'm single, with no kids or siblings so it's just been me.

At the moment I'm pretty sure I finally have COVID. I have to stay isolated since I was exposed over christmas anyway, so I don't see the point of getting tested right now to find out for certain. I'm fully vaccinated, and my symptoms are very mild. My fear is of developing long covid.

[cyberfairyblog]

Cyberweek Day 7: OC

To end cyberweek here's some tidbits about my self insert pix + selfship lore

Even though he only appeared literally THREE TIMES the whole 22 years, I still ship myself with him. I think he's cool and has a potential to be a recurring ally to the squad. Also I'm a sucker for normal laidback guy x powerful magic woman trope

Technically Coop isn't an oc but there's so much we don't know about his life, I had to make one up. After his return, Coop starts working HQ as the repair guy/mission control. One potential redesign has him look older due to the magnetite. Since he had been infected for so long and so intensely, some of the damage is permanent. That won't keep him from staying off the rails!

Coop was a child prodigy in both inventing and extreme sports, but became a small time mechanic because he didn't care much for the spotlight.

He and Pix met she was assigned a mission in Radopolis where Coop and Hacker were working on an Top Secret project for Motherboard. She was disguised as a Radster, that coop quickly deduced that she was a poser.

Coop was a single father at the time. He had broken up woth a girlfriend from a previous relationship and had full custody of Slider. Pix absolutely fell in love with the boy, he was adorable and was just as passionate about life and skating as his father. She felt bad Coop had all this responsibility, so she often visited them to help around the shop or watch over Slider. Over time Pix grew to be a regular fixture at the shop. Eventually Coop started to enjoy her presence, and one night asked her out on a date.

Pix was nervous but was convinced by her friend to give it a shot. She loved it. Coop had this calming presence that made the night bearable. He wasn't judgemental, and even nervous himself. After a few more dates they made their relationship official but kept it on the down low.

Until Hacker found out...and Oooh. He was PISSED! He had wanted to ask Pix out FIRST!

After Coop's disappearance Pix took over his duties as store owner. She wanted to know the real reason behind his disappearance. She suspected Hacker to be the one behind it but wasn't for sure. She missed coop terribly, so much she lost her taste for skating and magic. It wasn't until meeting the kids she gradually regained her sense of peace. Pix began to play old rock songs Coop gifted her with, and always made sure to pay the bills. The shop was all she had.

Until Slider found the letter inside the picture frame. Pix read and and realized Coop left to protect them. Now he was in danger, time to return the favor.

They did find Coop, but their fight wasn't over as there was still Mecha Hacker to defeat. Luckily with leftover energy from the Transformatron and sheer love for Coop, her family and friends Pix evolved to a bigger form and took Hacker straight on!

Hacker had a huge crush on Pix, in fact her choosing Coop over him was one factor into his turn to evil. But she hates him now. She used to see him as a friend, if a bit weird, so she was disappointed to discover his true nature as a selfish butthole.

Even 22 years later, Hacker still thinks he has a chance XD

Older Doodles of Pix + her and Coop as an elderly couple. They'd be the really chill grandparents XD

[leggerefiore]

Okay so the new post about the Fake Online Mob Wife has me wondering what if S/O did wear a uniform or did a closet-cosplay at one point?

Maybe they get their hands on a spare grunt uniform, or maybe they get ballsy enough to borrow their Villian Dearest's uniform for a bit? In the case of the closet cosplay, maybe they use what they have to style a "what-if" admin outfit of their own (since the admins get more freedom).

So, even as a kid playing Dppt, I loved Jupiter's uniform. I still do. It actually heavily influenced my character design (I used to want to be a comic book artist so I technically have a shitload of abandoned OCs). I also like Mars's, but it's a little too overtly femme for me. Saturn's always felt like it was missing something but I'd take those sneakers over heels anyday.

Presumably, they do not go on TikTok and start claiming people are mocking their lived experience as a Villainous Team Leader's s/o. Though, that's a funny thought… “Real Villain Fucker experience is having your boyfriend climb that damn mountain…”

It probably would not be that hard for them to get a grunt uniform, since they most likely do have a bulk around HQ. Just go in, grab one, put it on, and give Cyrus a heart attack when you pop into his office. Saturn would not approve you as hire, he knows for sure. He wants to know where you got that and also to take it off right now because he does not like the idea of him viewing like one of his grunts. The Galactic Leader does hate how it makes his thoughts swirls, though. You do not look bad in it — no, not at all. It appeals entirely to his tastes. He feels so bothered by this.

As for getting his, well, if the cat is already out of the bag, he is probably leaving a uniform at home to change into instead of having to wear a suit out instead. Sneak it out and discover how ill-fitting it is on you (or maybe well fitting it is if you match his height and body type). Cyrus is mildly disappointed and confused as to why you are wearing his uniform. You are not trying to join Team Galactic and usurp him, are you? He asks you to take it off again.

If you style your own commander costume, he presumably walks in to your shared home to see you in it. He blinks a few times in confusion. That is certainly not one of the uniforms commissioned by him or a commander. It resembles the general theme well, but he is distressed by how you got that and why you are wearing it. Are you… pledging your support to his new world? He feels like he is left reeling by all this… You just get to watch Cyrus.exe crash before your eyes as he fails to process all this. In the end, you will be asked where you got the outfit and the explanation of wanting to try out a uniform in the style of his team leaves him bewildered and a little disappointed since he had hoped he could have your support.

(I love Saturn's uniform solely bc of the knowledge that it's meant to look like a Croagunk... He loves his frog. That's cute. I don't think I ever thought about being a villain when I was younger, maybe outside of going, "I'd marry King of Team Plasma N," lol. As an adult now, I'd steal Courtney's ORAS look, though. Also, debating doing this line of thought with the other villains lol)

[redrobin-detective]

Fionna and Cake ending Tweaked

I finally finished my F&C rewatch and I'm once more baffled by the amount of people saying it was boring or bad or "missed the point". While I do believe some parts could have been better to hammer the point home, I honestly think it ended exactly how it was supposed to with: Simon coming to grips with his past (needing to move on from Betty) and actually work towards his future and Fionna and Cake learning to be real instead of just pieces of fiction in others' minds.

Spoilers for ep 10 under the cut

That said, I would tighten up the ending slightly by removing the last bit with Scarab in Fionnaworld. His rampage should have ended when Fionnaworld was canonized and he's forced to return to HQ to reckon with his punishment. The whole bit of other worlds being dropped in by Prismo to save the day was not necessary but I'll get to that later.

It should have been the battle that ended swiftly and suddenly with the violence stopping but everything now feeling so much more present, the stakes higher and consequences real. They are now part of the multiverse, real beings separate from both Prismo and Simon - who previously controlled/influenced their environments and actions - and it's kind of scary to be suddenly totally responsible for your actions. This would be a metaphor for the series' growing up motiph of escaping the perfect dreamworld where nothing goes wrong and understanding that the real world is more complicated. Not bad, not evil just complicated.

Now we switch to Simon getting home, waking up in the field's of Ooo with a butterfly's kiss. He has a third chance and he is not wasting it. There really should have been some more wrap up with Simon and his found family, even just a montage: Simon holding a furiously crying Marcy's hands as he explains what he almost did, Simon and Finn out on a REGULAR camping trip, looking up at the stars and talking openly about their grief in a healthy way, Simon being in therapy (A+), Simon throwing himself into education and the preservation of the past in order to create a better future. It didn't need to be much, but a little more would have been nice.

Also the phonecall worked from GolBetty/Fionnaworld but texting hasn't worked since. Finally, both Simon and Fionna/Cake are still left feeling a bit unresolved over the whole thing when they are suddenly all blinked into Prismo's time room. Sorry for the delay, Prismo apologies, had to get the new guy oriented. He explains pointing to a pouting 2D Scarab. Simon/Fionna/Cake get the precious goodbye but also hello hug they deserved. Now that Fionnaworld is canonized, they can come and go freely. Simon asks tentatively if Fionna still wanted to come live in Ooo. Fionna and Cake - in mutual agreement! - say no they want to make their own world work. But they will certainly visit and they open Fionnaworld to anyone who needs somewhere new, somewhere where everybody knows your name. And THAT's how baby Finn, pep tank, Farmworld Finn kids, weird squirrel etc end up in Fionnaworld which becomes a blend of new and old, the ordinary and the magical. Its also addressing Fionna's earlier series selfishness and tunnel vision by helping those she hurt.

We end with Simon rushing off to work with textbooks and maps under his arm, coffee in one hand and a phone in another texting Fionna. Fi is working on the rebuild in her town and responding back as we flash to the dandelions then up to the stars where a red comet flashes across the sky. Betty has become something new, having shed her own past and she is happy. The End.

Basically TLDR the finale DID hit what it was supposed to but could've hit more on: Simon finding new purpose and making good with his Ooo friends. Fionna and Cake making up from their prev fight and understanding that they are real now and they should build up their own world instead of continuing to slot into others. As much as I love Betty and her crazy ass story, she had her agency at the end by telling Simon Ily but lets move on as she did the same. A sequel series about her would be interesting but in this series it would have fortified her choices and her actions

[factual-fantasy]

25 asks :0 with important FNAF lore/clarification!

Oh, sorry about that! 😅 I’ve actually been away for about a week or so now working on IRL projects that I cant share..

I was gonna stay away until the projects were done and just make a comic explaining my absence when I got back. But I missed drawing real bad. :(  So when I came back for a short drawing break that’s when I finally saw your asks-- my bad!

But yeah, my projects aren’t done yet. And after I post these asks and some Cookie Run fanart, I plan to get right back to work until they’re all done. After they’re finished I plan to come back and get right back onto my FNAF AU and angst. :}

(Also out of the two, Foxy is my favorite! But my all time favorite animatronic out of the entire franchise is Glamrock Freddy! :0 )

Thank you! I’m glad you like my works!! :}}

As for your question.. as it stands right now, Vanessa is the only human security guard in the entire Pizzaplex. She is the head of security and is supposed to stay in the HQ. Meanwhile the rest of the “security guards” are roaming security S.T.A.F.F bots.

As for if the animatronics are trusted to guard the Pizzaplex, only the Daycare Attendant is programmed to. 

Freddy, Chica, Monty and Roxy aren’t supposed to leave their rooms and it is not their programmed task to monitor the Pizzaplex at night. But their rooms can be unlocked from the inside and they don’t get in trouble for roaming around.

The daycare attendant, “Moony”, is programmed to be a night watch and to make scheduled rounds around the Pizzaplex at night. Although he hasn’t left the Daycare in months..

DJ also has a bouncer setting and was supposed to be programmed to roam the Arcade and watch over the expensive machines. But his bouncer mode was not programmed properly/is unfinished. So instead of guarding the arcade he is supposed to sit in his both all night and never activate his bouncer mode. Under any circumstances. 

In my AU, Sun and Moon are the same person. No split personalities or anything. Just one animatronic, one personality, two nicknames depending on what outfit/job he’s doing.

Foxy and Bonnie have met the daycare attendant in this comic. Which by extension means they have met both “sunny” and “moony”. Even though they didn’t get to see DA in his Moon costume.

So how I had thought it could work is the Daycare Attendant has a transparent plastic shell. His shell is mostly white with some parts being blue, like his face and arms.

And what I made is that he has yellow lights underneath his shell. And when he switches to his sun mode, the lights go on making his white shell appear yellow, and turning his blue shell to more of an orange, and it make’s him literally glow like the sun. I actually drew him shifting in this one comic I made.

You can see his face turning from blue, to brown, to orange as the lights under his face plates flicker on.

When it comes to his pants they are supposed to be blue with little glow in the dark star shaped ink patches. And when his lights come on they shine through his pants and make them come out more redish orange. 

Basically, his color shifting is achieved through yellow lights attached to his endoskeleton, underneath his shell and pants. It realistically probably wouldn’t make his change of color so clean and convincing.. but hey at least it makes more sense then whatever security breach was doing. 🤷‍♂️

@yasamen69kunoichi I felt the same! I always thought Octonauts was a really obscure show and didn’t have a fanbase. So I was really surprised/glad when I discovered it did! :D

@artistiemi I would probably freak out mega bad. That’s no no vibes right there- 

@karlz-corner​ oooo yummy, *grabs a fist full and eats it* :}

@1readervb​ XDD I’m glad you liked the comics!! Remember to stay hydrated!!!

@firecurls-27​ I’d like to think Kwazii’s parents were good people. Knowing the nature of the show, they couldn’t have been too bad.

I always personally imagined that Kwazii grew up as a pirate with his parents, but then turned away from that life to peruse a career in being a Lieutenant.  

I had actually imagined that Calico Jack would be proud of him. For turning away from pirating and perusing something greater. I pictured Calico Jack putting his hands on Kwazii’s shoulders and saying, 

“Just look at ya lad. Devotin’ yerself to helpin others, deticatin yer life to yer crew and those who need ye.. Yer better than all of us Kwazii.”

..Okay I realized I derailed a little bit from the question but still-- XD I don’t really know what happened to Kwazii’s parents. But I imagined they were awesome pirate parents and Kwazii just moved onto greater things.

Probably sometime after I’m done with these IRL projects :/

XD Who knows, maybe we’ll know someday!

This brought me great joy

@the-cobbstone Same bro

@bitch-what-in-the-ass 

Tank q :}}}]

@friedpeachnerdapricot SLDLKASLDKLKA XDDDDD I’m glad you like how I drew em!!

YES. YES I LITERALLY DO.

IM LIKE- “sksnsksnsnsk they’re gonna love/hate it so much its gonna be great” I LITERALLY SNICKER TO MYSELF AS I GO ABOUT MY DAY THINKING ABOUT THE DIGITAL BOMB I JUST SET OF IN UR BRAINS

@wackigremlinchild 

Thank you!!! :DDD

It was only a few days between Foxy being found, and Gregory/Foxy finding Bonnie.

And when it comes to their accidents, when Foxy was decommissioned, Bonnie was decommissions about 5 months later or so.

As for how long its been since they’ve been decommissioned? For simplicities sake the animatronics say things like “A little over ten years” when the specifics would probably be between 10-15 years. 

@laurajeanlynch2 Oh that comic was only the beginning! I have many more that I plan to make :} 

@the-cobbstone (Start of comic in question) 

@mynameisdoofthelizardandamlesbi

Your pain brings me great peace.

 I do not like Murph

@ar1-thecat Thank you! Also I haven’t decided if Gregory will ever meet the other animatronics. Maybe in a future comic he will :}

@literally-just-existing I have seen a handful of episodes of Above and Beyond. And so far I have very mixed feelings.

On one hand I like that we get to see more of my favorite characters. Like Ranger Marsh, Professor Natquik and Calico Jack.

On the other hand I personally don’t really like the shift from ocean life, to land life. I liked how the show was centered around the ocean. Also I don’t like how the crew is CONSTANTLY split up. The Octopod never seems to have its crew all in one place. And I don’t like how the show seems to really revolve around Dashi now. I mean good for her for getting more character development, but it feels like she’s in every single episode..

Also I don’t like how because the crew is constantly split up, we barely get to see Captain Barnacles anymore. Which is my favorite character. And BECAUSE they’re split up, Captain Barnacles and Kwazii are rarely ever seen together. And their friendship dynamic was something I really liked about the original show.

Also I personally despise Panni. And we get a lot of episodes about him so not a happy camper there-- <XD

Basically, its kind’a neat in some places but overall I preferred the original Octonauts. Personally its a 4/10 for me. :/

Awe, thanks! Unfortunately though I’m not the best on giving instructions or tips when it comes to artwork.. but I do have this “tutorial” I made a while back. Its a little outdated art wise but it still applies to my artwork today. <:) 

[spiralcass]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 3, EPISODE 6

We open in the middle of the night at Frost International’s corporate HQ. Inside the dark halls, two uniformed and lightly armed guards are patrolling. 

MINI MAX: “I’m just saying, I miss how things used to be.” 

OUTLAW: “You LIKED dressing like a cyberpunk fascist and having your official job title be, “Henchman”? 

MINI MAX: “No! But it beat having to tell people I’m a “Night Watchman”, and we used to get to carry those huge blasters, not non-lethal peashooters. I’ve been here 20 years, I know where all the skeletons are buried, I deserve a blaster!” 

OUTLAW, begrudgingly: “I do miss the blasters.” 

MINI MAX: “See? And “Henchwoman” was a pretty sexy title.” 

OUTLAW: “What have I told you about calling me “sexy”?!” 

MINI MAX: “That…you like it like every other woman?” 

As Outlaw’s about to get pissed, the two hear something. She says they should go check that out, with Mini Max following her, but hoping it’s something; maybe it’ll prove they need their old weapons back. 

The two arrive at the site of the noise, an executive office, but there’s no mess, or any sign of entry. Mini Max tells Outlaw to call this in. It may have just been the wind, but this could be another Mutant they’re dealing with. Outlaw agrees, and is about to call it in, before she sucker punches Mini Max, knocking him out with the butt of her gun. 

Unseen from the front, Outlaw uncovers a secret vault in the office, punches in a code, and opens it. She takes out a folder, and shuts the vault. 

Outlaw, folder not in hand, rubs her head in confusion, wondering what happened, and freaking out over their unconscious partner. They’re then hit by an electric shock, tazing them and knocking them out. 

We see the folder being twirled around in the hand of a blue fingerless glove, as we hear the laughter of what sounds like a prepubescent boy. 

Blue boots walk out of the building without setting off any alarms, jet boosters coming out of them, as the thief continues to laugh, flying off into the night 

At the Jean Grey School, the school’s Gay/Straight Alliance is meeting. This club includes Mercury, Bling!, Anole, Specter, Pixie, Loa, Indra, Wolf Cub, the younger student Dryad, and two other younger students we haven’t seen before: a blonde boy covered in eyes, and a black boy with glasses. 

The meeting is being run by Kitty, who’s dragged Iceman along, thinking it may be good for him, now that he’s embraced what he is, to hear what the kids have to say. 

ICEMAN: “And why couldn’t we have just talked about this stuff?” 

KITTY: “Cause I’m only here filling in for Karma. I’ve always liked girls…a girl…but I’ve never really vibed with, like, the queers.” 

ICEMAN: “I’ve been gay for two minutes, but even I know that sounds bad. How are things going with “a girl” anyway?” 

Kitty groans as she sinks into her chair. 

KITTY: “Avoiding her. Magneto agreed to keep sending Magik on missions while I figure things out, and, unlike Scott and Emma, she actually listens to him.” 

BOBBY: “Can’t dodge her forever.” 

KITTY: “I can try!” 

Specter, the club president, asks if anyone has something they want to talk about. Dryad knows this isn’t really the point of the club, but she wants to know if Pixie is really from Camelot. 

PIXIE: “Sure am!” SPECTER: “And don’t worry. “The point” of the club is just to be a safe place.” 

DRYAD: “Oh! Okay! So what’s it like? Are there unicorns? A beautiful queen?” 

PIXIE, her cheerful smile not fading at all: “It’s a brutal dictatorship where everyone struggles to survive.” 

DRYAD, face falling: “oh.” 

Kitty and Bobby, all too familiar with this, share a laugh. As the younger kid with glasses asks with disbelief about Camelot being real, Bobby receives a telepathic message. 

EMMA, telepathically: “Robert, a word?” 

BOBBY: “In the middle of something. Can it wait?” 

EMMA: “Not if you don’t want me to tell my brother about your self-revelation.” 

BOBBY: “Oh, that is so not cool.” 

EMMA: “Just come along. I require your assistance.” 

Bobby sighs, begrudgingly telling her he’ll be right there. 

KITTY: “Emma?” 

BOBBY: “Yeah. How’d you know?” KITTY: “The faces you were making. They’re the same ones I make whenever I have to deal with her.” She pats him on the back. “Good luck, buddy!” 

We cut to MIT, joining a dry physics lecture. Some students are taking notes diligently, while others have passed out. Among the latter group is a red-headed woman. At least until she gets a wakeup call. 

MONET, telepathically: “Why are you even here, Theresa?” 

Theresa groggily wakes up and sits up straight. She looks behind her and up a few rows, to see Monet doing something in her notebook. 

THERESA: “Could ask you the same thing. I’m gettin valuable rest. You’re scribbling.” 

MONET: “I am NOT scribbling.” She says this as we see her doodling smiling worms in a basket of apples. “And I don’t NEED to pay attention.” 

THERESA, mockingly: “Oh yeah, Monet St. Croix is such a genius she doesn’t even need to study to be perfect.” 

MONET, completely serious: “Yes. I’m glad you’ve finally realized this.” 

Theresa sighs with annoyance as the class is let out. 

Out in the hall, Monet and Theresa walk to their next destinations. Theresa asks if Monet is going to the Alpha Phi party that night. 

MONET: “Why would I do that?” 

THERESA: “I dunno. Bunch of snobby rich girls. Seems like your kinda people, and I figured the only two Mutants at this school could get some drinks together.” 

MONET: “Even if I was going, I wouldn’t bring you. But by all means, try and get in on your own. Drunk bimbos who won’t get anything from this school but a future husband seem like YOUR people.” 

THERESA, smiling with frustration: “It really hurts ye to be nice, doesn’t it?” 

MONET: “No. I just prefer being honest.” 

THERESA: “You must also love being alone then.” 

Theresa walks away from an unphased Monet. Something else, however, is able to get a reaction out of her. 

MONET: “What?!” 

Monet approaches and pulls down a flyer promoting a lecture Roberto is giving at the school that night. The lecture is called: “Me, Myself, and I, featuring Roberto Da Costa: Building An Empire By Yourself”, and there’s a picture of him winking. 

Monet, pissed, tears up the flyer. 

On a highway in the middle of nowhere, Akihiro tears up the road on his motorcycle, bluetooth device in his ear. 

AKIHIRO: “How are things going on your mission, my lady?” 

SOFIA, sarcastically: “Awful. I just failed an English test.” 

Akihiro laughs. And her friends? 

SOFIA, laying on the beach: “Delighted to have me back. Confused that I’m dating your sister.” 

We see Laura, uncomfortably happy, getting ice cream for them both at a nearby stand. 

AKIHIRO: “You are wicked. If she knew the truth about you, she’d be honored.”

SOFIA, putting on a fake smile and switching to talking like her normal self as Laura brings her her ice cream: “She already is. Good luck with your mission.” 

AKIHIRO: “I don’t need luck, my lady. I’ve been preparing for this my entire life.” 

The music picks up and we see where he’s heading, as we momentarily cut to Logan drinking alone in a roadside bar. 

In the Mission Room, Iceman arrives to find Emma and Cyclops waiting. What was so important? The Horsemen? Sinister? Dark Beast? 

ICEMAN: “Oh god, please tell me it wasn’t Dark Beast.” 

Scott tells him it, thankfully, isn’t anything too serious; there’s been enough of that lately. Emma fills him in on what’s happening: Over the last two weeks, her company has been robbed three times. Once from the corporate HQ, once from a domestic manufacturing facility, and once from an in-progress international shipment. In a normal month, her security is tight and competent enough to thwart any and all would-be thieves. Not only that, but at all three robberies, Mutant guards were present, and bested, and no sign that a thief was ever there was left behind. They don’t even remember anything. 

EMMA: “And the strangest part? They haven’t stolen anything vital. Valuable, yes, but nothing irreplaceable or particularly damaging.” 

Bobby gets from all that why she wouldn’t just take this to the cops, but is this really X-Men business? Emma counters that she can’t very well go after the ruffian mocking her with these robberies herself. That’s simply unprofessional. Cyclops volunteered, but she doesn’t want him working alone. 

ICEMAN: “Alright, I guess I can help. Sounds like an inside job to me. Probably some disgruntled Mutant employee.” 

EMMA: “Not possible. All of my employees are happy and well-compensated.” 

ICEMAN: “You literally busted a strike three months ago.” 

EMMA: “That is a slanderous description of what happened, and I will not stand for it.” Emma heads for the door. “Now, come along boys. The sooner we catch this annoyance, the sooner we can throw them in a hole.” 

Bobby and Scott are left behind as she exits. Scott has a big grin on his face. Bobby is irritated. 

SCOTT: “I love her.” 

BOBBY: “And you’re why I don’t want a Frost into me.” 

In a lecture hall at MIT, 23 year-old Roberto Da Costa is on stage sharing his life story with college students barely younger, or, in some cases, older than him. He’s clearly not taking this seriously, in full schemer mode as he walks around and speaks with a narcissistic swagger, and fluffing details of his past, such as saying he was the leader of the New Mutants, and that he was involved in his father’s business from a young age. 

As Roberto goes on a brief tangent, speaking to the reasons he admired his father, and the reasons he needed to cut his own path, Monet enters, her sour sneer present. Roberto notices her almost immediately and quickly wiggles his fingers at her teasingly. 

Monet, in a huff, tries to find a place to sit. She’s quietly called out to by a group of well-dressed black students, who mime an offer for her to sit with them, appearing friendly. There’s a mild but brief panic in Monet’s eyes as she turns away from them and finds a place to sit alone. 

Roberto continues to speak about how, even among the enlightened minds sitting before him, there’s likely still a common thought: For all that he’s achieved, repeatedly helping to save the world, bringing back Da Costa International, to new heights even, and having hair most men can only dream of, wouldn’t he have been more successful if he wasn’t a Mutant? 

ROBERTO: “But the truth is that I wouldn’t be nearly as successful if I wasn’t a Mutant. I may be a one-of-a-kind man, but I’m only the man I am because of my friends, my family, my community…” Roberto makes sure his eyes land on Monet. “My partners.” Monet rolls her eyes. “I am a Mutant and proud of it. And for any of you who are different or discriminated against in some way…” The screen behind Roberto displays footage of him at an outrageous and luxurious yacht party. “Make it your strength, and you can be as awesome as me!” The crowd applauds. Roberto whispers, “Well, almost as awesome.” 

A short time later, as Roberto is taking off his makeup backstage, Monet approaches him from behind, and before he can get out two smarmy words, she tosses him against a wall. 

MONET: “What the Hell are you doing here, Da Costa?” 

In the bar, Logan asks the bartender if he has the time. The bartender asks him in turn if his phone is dead. 

LOGAN: “Phone got eaten by the giants I was fighting before coming here.” 

The bartender looks at him strangely, unsure if he’s making a joke. 

On the street, we see a motorcycle racing down the road toward the bar. 

Logan laughs, with the bartender awkwardly laughing with him. 

LOGAN: “Yeah, I can never remember to keep that thing charged.” 

BARTENDER: “Heh, I feel that.” 

The motorcycle comes even closer. 

BARTENDER: “You got anyone who can remind you? My wife’s always reminded me.” 

LOGAN: “I look like the kinda guy with a wife?” 

BARTENDER: “Don’t sell yourself short, guy.” Logan glares at him. “Err, sorry, I didn’t mean, um…” 

The motorcycle has almost arrived. 

LOGAN: “Don’t worry about it. Can I get a menu?” 

BARTENDER: “Uhh, sure. Suddenly get hungry?” 

LOGAN: “Something like that.” 

The motorcycle parks out in front of the bar. Black boots step onto the ground. 

LOGAN, looking at the menu: “Huh. Haven’t had python in a few decades.” 

The door to the bar is opened and a bell rings, as sinister music plays…only for the music to turn triumphant as we pan up the person who’s just arrived. It isn’t Death; it’s Storm. 

The bartender’s jaw drops at the sight of her, as he mumbles in confusion over what “a goddess like that” is doing here. 

Storm comes right over to Logan, both happy to see one another, as she greets him and apologizes for being late. Logan reminds her he likes being alone. 

STORM: “Please, Logan. None of us have believed that in years.” 

She then kisses him on the lips before sitting down. 

LOGAN, holding Ororo’s hand, the bartender frozen in shock: “Think we could get another menu?” 

Jaw still on the floor, the bartender ever so slightly nods. 

We cut to a port, where Cyclops and Iceman are on a Frost International freighter, with Scott explaining his plan to catch the thief. The thief has specifically been targeting specific locations at specific locations where Mutant guards were posted. Tonight, Emma has taken all her employed Mutant security off the schedule and put the two of them on it. Additionally, she’s anonymously leaked to New York’s criminal underworld what valuables are hidden on this shipment. 

CYCLOPS, eating yogurt with a smile on his face: “From what we know about the thief, they won’t be able to resist the chance to show up two X-Men and steal them. And even if we aren’t prepared for their abilities, Emma’s just a mile away. Far enough to not be on the thief’s radar, but close enough to get a psychic lock on them.” 

ICEMAN, casually using his powers to make an ice conveyor belt to help the deckhands move heavy cargo around: “Not a bad plan. You know you’ve been smiling a lot lately, right?” 

CYCLOPS, yogurt in his mouth: “So?” 

ICEMAN: “So, now that you’ve actually learned how to chill, the next time we get into some time travel nonsense and probably meet you and Emma’s daughter from a post-apocalyptic future, I want you to go tell your teen self to not ride my ass so much.”

CYCLOPS: “I dunno. I think you turned out pretty okay.” 

ICEMAN, dusting off his hands as he finishes helping the crewmen: “I spent a year couch surfing and my entire life burying my trauma in denial of my real identity.” 

CYCLOPS: “Yeah. So you’ve done about as well as the rest of us.” 

ICEMAN, with a pained smile: “Jean’s gone and Warren’s dead. Only three of “us” left.” 

Scott’s smile fades and he apologizes for them not really having talked about this or having found time to mourn. The two of them should call Hank and do something.

SCOTT: “Maybe Ororo even put in a good word so he won’t hate me.” 

Bobby quietly laughs. Maybe. 

Scott asks if there’s something else on his mind. Bobby opens his mouth to answer but chooses to just tell Scott it’s nothing. He’s just been thinking about some stuff is all. Scott knows not to push and accepts this. 

A mile away in a restaurant, however, Emma taps her finger against her chin, listening in to their conversation and clearly wanting him to talk. 

Back at MIT, Monet and Roberto walk through the halls of the building where Roberto was giving his speech, Roberto winking and blowing kisses at all the girls they pass by who are clearly into him. 

Monet tells him she let him finish cleaning up like he requested. Now he needs to tell her why he’s here. 

MONET, telepathically: “Aren’t our communications meant to be secret?” 

BETO: “It would be a lot easier to keep them that way if your telepathy was strong enough for long distance.” 

MONET: “YOU do not get to talk to me about power.” 

Roberto faux-innocently raises his hands. He tells her he’s here because they need to discuss further investments. Da Costa International has grown fast - too fast. Without a massive influx of capital soon, it’s all going to fall apart. 

ROBERTO: “Call me naive for not planning ahead for this, but it’s not as if I’ve done this before.” 

He doesn’t expect another investment from Monet though. He just wants her to help him find new investors. Preferably ones with “certain ties” to their community.

MONET: “I thought that part of your plan was a poor joke.” 

ROBERTO: “We’re preparing for desperate times. That means desperate measures.” 

Monet sighs. She’ll see what she can do. Is that all? 

Roberto cheerfully steps in front of Monet and tells her there’s actually one more thing they need to discuss. 

MONET: “And what is that?” 

ROBERTO, smirking flirtatiously: “Where I’m taking you for dinner tonight.” 

Monet is surprised for a second, before smirking flirtatiously back at him. Roberto starts listing off possibilities, with Monet only chiming in to agree with how great each option sounds…only Roberto snaps back to reality to see he’s talking to himself, with people staring at him like he’s crazy. 

ROBERTO, awkwardly scratching the back of his head: ‘Ha ha. I’m just…um…practicing method acting?” 

Outside, Monet walks away from the building, smirking to herself. 

MONET: “How is that for weak telepathy? Ha ha. Good one, Monet.” 

At the bar, Logan and Ororo are sharing beers. Ororo has spent the last few weeks in England with Betsy, Rachel, and their family, wanting to look after Betsy in light of the years she and Warren had been together. Betsy insisted she was fine after the first couple days, but Storm stayed anyway. The others ended up dropping by too: Kurt, Pitor, Hank, Rogue and Remy. Lots of drinking, lots of stories, lots of laughs and tears. There was even a half-serious betting pool on how long it would take for Warren to come back. It was nice. Logan should have joined them. 

Logan admits that does sound pretty good, but he’s been working. Slim’s been having him work on trying to track down the monsters responsible for this. He’s got Madrox and his team working on this too, but so far they haven’t gotten anywhere. 

Logan also admits that he can’t help but wonder how things would be if the two of them had been runnings things like old times. From the start. Genosha and the Morlocks could maybe have been saved, the Horseman could have already been stopped…he still trusts Cyclops, against his better judgment, but…

ORORO: “But there is a reason I once ousted him.” 

Logan nods and drinks. Plus, he’s done a good job with Laura, but things outside her control have messed her up more than ever. He should be there for her. Ororo doesn’t think he needs to worry there, for now at least. Kitty has been sending her pictures and giving her updates as always, and she seems very happy with her new girlfriend. 

LOGAN: *Growls in protective dad* “Something about this whole Wind Dancer story doesn’t smell right.” 

ORORO: “Her story is no more strange, nor a miracle, than my own. The truth will be revealed in time. For now, be happy for Laura. Sofia is a good girl - an X-Man. And she’s wanted this for a long time.” 

Logan just growls again. Ororo, giggling, wraps her hand around Logan. Logan puts his beer down and takes her hand in his. 

LOGAN: “You’ve been taking care of everyone else, like always. You remembering to take care of yourself?” 

Ororo nods. As we see flashes of their dead bodies, Ororo speaks about how she cannot sleep without seeing the Morlocks. She was the leader of the most vulnerable Mutants, the ones most in need of protection, and she failed them. Not even by those who hate and fear mutants, but by the cruelest among them, who they are right to fear. 

STORM: “Were the storms still mine to command, I would find Exodus myself and make him suffer a thousand fold for each and every death.” 

LOGAN: “As if you need your powers to kick that bub’s ass.” Ororo dons a flattered smile as Logan looks as her lovingly. “You can take him, Magneto’s gonna want Pestillence, and I’ll take the head of whoever’s running this sick show now.” 

Logan spins around, stands up, and catches a knife that was about to go through his head. Ororo also leaps to her feet, drawing her new weapons, Callisto’s knives, as the scared bartender hides behind the bar. 

Akihiro, dressed like the other bar patrons, with a cowboy hat concealing his eyes, stands up from the table he’s been sitting at in the background this whole time. 

AKIHIRO: “That…is something I will never allow to happen.” 

Akihiro dramatically tosses his cowboy hat aside as he turns blue. 

LOGAN, sneering: “Unless Apocalypse recruited more than one Japanese man with a bad haircut, I’m guessing you’re Death.” 

AKIHIRO, grinning: “If you know that about me, then you know who else I am.” 

LOGAN: “I know you say you’re my kid.” Logan drops the knife and pulls out his claws. “And I don’t care.” 

AKIHIRO: “I wouldn’t have expected anything else.”

Akihiro pulls out his own claws as the two men stare each other down. This goes on until they, plus Ororo, rush toward each other. 

At night on the freighter, Scott is eating dinner with the deckhands. They’d like to hear some X-Men stories, or maybe some embarrassing things about Ms. Frost, but he’s only interested in eagerly talking their ears off about the connections between the histories of nautical and aeronautical development. 

DECKHAND #1, whispering as Scott rambles: “I’m so bored.” 

DECKHAND #2: “We all are, but I’m not gonna be the idiot to disrespect the boss’s man. Just smile and nod.” 

Outside, Iceman stands on a pillar of ice on the ocean. 

EMMA, telepathically: “Robert?” 

BOBBY, annoyed: “In the middle of keeping an eye out for YOUR thief.” 

EMMA, seated in a theater: “Then I’ll keep this brief. What’s troubling you?” 

Bobby, over-aggressively, insists there’s nothing wrong with him, but Emma reminds him of the obvious that he shouldn’t be lying to a telepath. Ever since his battle with Exodus, being around his mind has put butterflies in her stomach. 

Bobby aggressively brings up that “maybe” it has something to do with his best friend and the Morlocks being killed, but Emma counters that they’ve *all* been dealing with those losses; this is something else. Iceman mutters in frustration that he knows she won’t let this go. He explains he’s been thinking about his new identity, even reading about it. 

EMMA: “You? Reading?” 

BOBBY: “I did go to college, Emma.” 

EMMA: “So do liberal arts majors. Continue.” 

Iceman brings up how he was just at the school’s SGA, but, like, why do they need one of those? Why does a school dedicated to protecting a minority need a “safe space” for its minority members? Why don’t they feel safe with everyone else?

ICEMAN: “We’re all Mutants. We should all share the same fights. But we don’t.” 

Emma acknowledges she’s no expert in this regard either, and only went along with the club’s formation because Karma and Northstar wanted to start it, but if he wants to do more research and suggest changes they can implement to make their queer students feel more safe, the headmasters would of course be happy to listen to him. Bobby thanks her, but doesn’t seem too pleased with that response. He doesn’t think that’s enough. 

Before the conversation continues, Iceman is called out to by a gravely voice. 

Iceman turns around and sees a big, bald, stereotypical tough guy having flown up to him on jet boots. He smirks confidently. 

ICEMAN: “Emma, I think I’ve got our thief.”

EMMA: “I see him, but I can’t get in his mind. I also can’t imagine my security being bested so easily by this neanderthal. Watch yourself.” 

Bobby laughs that off. He beat Exodus, and he’s been asking Erik to spar with him. This guy’s gonna regret approaching him like this. 

We cut back to the inside of the ship, where the deckhands all laugh at a dad pun from Scott. One of the deckhands from before says to his friend that they deserve extra pay for keeping this guy happy, before he, Cyclops, and the others, are all frozen. Once again, we hear pre-pubescent laughter. 

Shortly later, Iceman wakes up on the floor, seeing the others having been frozen, and confused by what happened. 

EMMA, standing up and heading out of the theater, frustrated: “You lost, Robert. And I don’t have the faintest idea how…but I will.” 

On the quad at MIT at sunset, Monet quickly paces as she speaks on the phone, agreeing to certain things and telling the person she’s speaking to “No” about other matters. Monet eventually smiles as she tells the person she’s speaking to that that should cover everything; she looks forward to working with them. 

As she smugly hangs up, Theresa comes racing up to her from behind, calling out her name, and asking her to wait up. 

MONET: “You can fly, Siryn.”

THERESA: “Yes, but I try not to here. What are you in such a rush for? Not like you have anywhere to be.” 

MONET: “I’m Monet St. Croix. I don’t do anything slow. What do you want?”

Theresa asks Monet if she’s going to the party. Monet asks her if she hit her head or if there just isn’t much in it; they already had this conversation. 

THERESA, ready to rip Monet’s head off if she could: “Not the Alpha Phi party. Sunspot’s party!” 

Monet’s eye twitches. 

MONET: “His what?” 

Theresa explains that Beto booked out a trendy new club near campus and all the students are invited. He had her send out a blast on the school’s socials, but she knows Monet isn’t on any of those. He’s plugging it as a mixer where soon-to-be-grads can speak to him directly about job opportunities. 

Monet is more than a little peeved by him pulling a stunt like this when they’re supposedly in need of money but hides her contempt behind a stoic facade. She has two questions for Theresa: Why is she helping Beto, and why is she talking to her? 

SIRYN: “Don’t you know? Sunspot and I go way back. X-Force back. And I’m talking to you…” Siryn leans forward and whispers into M’s here. “Because he wants his partner helping him spot potential.” 

Monet’s eyes widen as Theresa steps back, smirking. 

MONET, mouth slightly opened, telepathically: “You work for him.” 

THERESA: “Technically, I work for both of you. Now come on! Let’s go get changed. Maybe you’ll be forced to make a friend.” 

Theresa walks off. Monet seems angry, but once Theresa is out of sight, her expression turns somber. 

At the bar, as the bartender and a few patrons cower in fear, Logan and Storm fight Death. Unlike Laura, both X-Men are more than capable of keeping up with the Horseman, the two fighting in perfect unison, Logan blocking all of Akihiro’s strikes, even if that means using his body as a shield so that Storm can slash him with her knives and, eventually, kick him back into a table. 

Akihiro laughs. Guess he can’t play around with his food too much this time. He retracts his claws and coughs the Muramasa blade up, the sword flying out of his mouth as he catches the handle in his hand. As he does this, both his and Logan’s wounds heal. Logan flinches at the sight of Death’s healing factor. 

AKIHIRO: “Ready to believe me…Father?” 

With Logan uncertain of what’s going on, Storm makes the next move before Death can. Faced off against his large blade with only knives, Storm moves with the grace of a dancer as she parries and dodges, seeking an opening. 

AKIHIRO: “Lady Akabba would be more than happy to return your weapon if you’d only kneel before her.” 

STORM: “I kneel to no one.” 

Storm manages to stab Akihiro in the heart. Logan jumps back in by feinting a punch, before kicking up a barstool and smacking Akihiro across the face with it. While Aki is hurt and falls over, he is able to slash Logan across the chest in retaliation. 

Logan bends over from the pain as blood gushes out. Aki snickers. 

AKIHIRO: “My sword, Muramasa, is no ordinary blade. If I so will it, it can kill anything. Even your Mutation cannot save you from it.” Storm comes to Logan’s side to check on him, as it becomes clear their current strategy isn’t getting them anywhere. “You know I get Sister not being interested in me. But do you really not care?” He sneers. “I suppose you care as little about me as you did about Itsu.” 

The mention of that name appears to hurt Logan more than the gaping wound in him. Storm is just confused. Who is Itsu? 

AKIHIRO: “Of course he wouldn’t mention her.” Aki stabs Muramasa in the floor and leans on it. “Maybe after you hear my story, goddess, you’ll realize you’re not standing among heroes.” 

Logan and Storm brace for whatever he’s about to say. 

In Emma’s car, she, Scott, and Bobby sit together in the back, embarrassed over their humiliating failure. Scott is being forced to sit away from the others because he’s still getting warmed up after being put on ice, and he’s sneezing frequently; Emma loves him, but not enough to tolerate sitting next to that. 

All three X-Men are confused. Bobby has no memory of what happened, all Scott saw was Iceman freezing him, and for Emma, one second she was clearly in Bobby’s mind, the next it was all fuzzy. 

ICEMAN: “I’m not saying I WANT a Horseman behind this, but it’d make it a lot less embarrassing than some two-bit thief.” 

Emma thinks that while they shouldn’t be assuming anything like that, they were clearly overconfident. They won’t fall prey to that trap again. 

EMMA: “Which I why the next move is to make ourselves the predators.”  

She wasn’t able to get a mental lock on the thief they encountered, or see into their mind, initially, but she was able to once Iceman attacked Cyclops, and that was just a powerless human. While that may scream possession, if this was someone with abilities similar to Malice, but without the restriction of needing to be accepted in, the thief could have gone straight for her. 

To dig further, she’s, as gently as possible, cut his mind open with a scalpel to look for any mental residue of what was done to him. And it wasn’t much, but she got something. Just the slightest taste of the mind behind all of this. And from that, although she can’t pinpoint the exact person, she has their location  Right now, they’re seemingly back home at a cheap apartment complex in Astoria. 

EMMA: “No doubt yucking it up at our expense while trying to find a buyer.” 

And only one person there has psychic defenses. So, that’s where they’re going now. 

SCOTT, sneezing: “If they’re just poor and desperate, maybe there’s a better way to handle this than a fight. You said yourself they’ve been deliberately stealing non-critical targets, and they’re probably a Mutant.” 

EMMA: “It’s about the disrespect. This thief has a bone to pick with me, and I intend to find out why, and punish them appropriately. In any case, in your condition, I wasn’t going to ask you to work anyway.” 

BOBBY: “No, you save that for the unions.” 

EMMA, more offended than she lets on: “Listen you.” 

Bobby laughs and tells them both not to worry. Get him to the apartment, point him to whoever’s got defenses, and he’ll decide if this is a mess to be cleaned up or if there’s a bad guy to beat. Emma and Scott both conceed this is fine. 

We cut to a club in Cambridge, where a loud party is raging with hundreds of attendees. Roberto is DJing, wearing exceptionally douchy sunglasses indoors, with multiple girls hanging off him. 

Monet and Theresa enter, both dressed to party, but while Theresa is excited by the turnout, and ready to have some fun since her work here is done, Monet is immediately uncomfortable. She moves forward slowly and hesitantly, with small steps and her arms held close to her body, as the lights, music, and people all bother her, something her face struggles to hide. 

Monet, struggling to find a place on the dance floor where she isn’t being bumped into, just flies over to a wall. 

MONET, telepathically: “I am never helping you again.” 

ROBERTO, telepathically: “What? Don’t like the party? Or is this about Siryn? It’s not like I planted her. She just happened to be where I needed her.” 

MONET: “Do not play. Why are you messing with me?” 

ROBERTO: “I’m not messing with you. But I do like playing.” 

We cut to Roberto, making out with one of the girls from before. 

ROBERTO: “Hate me all you want, but don’t punish the baby. Now help me find candidates. I’m very busy with a particularly promising one as is.” 

Monet rolls her eyes and forces herself back into the crowd with the riff raff. Roberto meanwhile asks the girl he’s making out with for her name. 

With flashback visuals shown, Akihiro tells Storm and Logan his story. As a baby, he was left on the doorstep of a kind couple, one who couldn’t have kids of their own, in a small village in Japan. Growing up, he didn’t know who his parents were, his adoptive parents were the only ones he needed, but he did curse whichever one of them was a foreigner. The clear mixed nature of his birth made him an outcast, disregarded by the adults, and tormented constantly by his peers. 

AKIHIRO: “Daken, they’d call me.” 

He was insulted. He was beaten. His only comfort was that his parents loved him. But he didn’t even truly have that. 

AKIHIRO: “I have more weapons than just those I inherited from you, Father.”  Logan and Storm gasp as they turn their claws and knives on each other, slightly cutting each other’s necks. “Pheremones. They can make you do crazy things. They make you putty in my hand. And no mental defenses can help you.” 

Unfortunately, as a child, he didn’t have control over this power. And, as he overheard one night, his father had put together that he and his mother only loved him when he was around. 

AKIHIRO: “I believe I handled the situation from there well. I killed my father, was banished from the village that hated me so, and when my mother chased after me to assure me she loved me, I killed her too. Not too poor emotional maturity for a nine year old.” 

Logan and Storm try to open their mouths to say something, but all they can do under Akihiro’s pheremones is grit their teeth, pant, and wait. 

Aki explains that he wandered for a bit after that. He’d found his claws when he killed his mother, and it didn’t take too much longer to figure out the pheremones, at least the basics, and with him being the unacceptable mongrel he was, it only made sense to use these weapons to keep killing. He took assasination work where he could find it, training on his own to better use his weapons, and at age 12, he was recruited by The Hand. 

AKIHIRO: “That didn’t last too long though. After only a few months, I was “Purchased”. By a man named Romulus.” 

Logan tries to scream, but he still can’t open his mouth. Akihiro laughs. Yes, they do know each other, don’t they?

AKIHIRO: “Ogun too, right? He wasn’t around all that often, but he did help Romulus forge this…soulful blade.” 

Logan is able to start shaking his body just a little in rage. 

Romulus…was a bastard. He never knew much about him, other than he was powerful enough that the world’s deadliest assassins feared his name, and he rarely spoke to him. Romulus spoke to HIM plenty though. Reminding him what a monster he was as he trained him day and night. Akihiro had thought he’d become strong, even among the Hand, he’d trained and worked alongside elites, but Romulus put him in his place. He beat him, not fought him, and when he got up, Romulus would beat him back down. 

AKIHIRO: “An endless, vicious cycle of suffering. One I was welcome to leave at any time. But one thing drove me to stay: the truth. The truth that you, Father, had killed my mother and abandoned me.” 

LOGAN: “That’s not!--”

Is all Logan is able to get out against the effects of the pheremones. Akihiro tells him to spare him; he won’t fall for his lies. Not when he has another, far wiser, source. 

We cut to a spacious, two-bedroom apartment. It isn’t a great place, but it’s been refurbished, and has clearly been decorated by a kid, with big, bright colors, video game and anime merch all over the place, and a big sound system. There’s also assorted, partially-dismantled weapons and tech all over the place. 

The sound of a first person shooter being played is heard as we pan across the apartment. Finally, we see the thief, an average sized, brown-haired 14 year-old, seated on the couch playing video games in an oversized Dazzler nightshirt, eating chips. Notably for comic fans, they DON’T look like anyone from the comics. They call out for “Morgan” to come back them up. They’re getting killed out here! 

“You have been antagonizing a former supervillain, so you really should be prepared for that.” 

“Huh?!” 

Condensation on the thief’s mountain dew bottle leaps off the surface and forms into Iceman, who immediately freezes them up to their head. 

ICEMAN: “Soooo, you’re a kid. I lost to a kid. Surge and Hellion are gonna love that one. How about you cut me a break and make this easy by telling me what’s going on.” 

The thief’s face cycles through various expressions of fear and excitement, until they sneer. 

THIEF: “Dude…I think you just broke my stuff..” 

In a flash, the thief and Bobby switch places. Bobby, in his human form, is trapped in a block of ice and put in a daze. The thief meanwhile stands where Iceman was just a moment ago, now in their own ice form. 

THIEF: “Oh, this is SO cool! Pun DEFINITELY intended!” 

The thief hums that if Iceman is here, then Cyclops and Emma Frost are probably close by too. 

THIEF: “I should go say hi.” The thief enthusiastically conjures some snowballs and pelts Bobby in the face with them. “After I have some fun.” 

The thief heads out the window, thinking they should go show these powers to Morgan and let him know they’re okay, since that jerk broke their phone and headset. 

THIEF: “What kinda superhero doesn’t respect someone’s personal property?” 

They make an icebridge in midair, having fun riding it around like a slip and slide as they build more and more of it. They make a note to themselves that this would make a great VR game. 

The fun doesn’t last too long, however, as they’re blasted out of the sky by Cyclops’ optic beams, falling and being caught by Emma, via telekinesis. They’re dragged over through the air to Emma and a wrapped up Scott, panicking that “I’m not ready yet!”. 

EMMA: “No.” 

Sensing that the kid is about to use their powers again, now right in front of them, Emma is able to hit their mind with a blunt force she doesn’t usually like using to stop them from using their powers. 

THIEF: “Ugggh. I don’t feel so good.” 

Emma tells the thief she doesn’t like hurting children, but this one clearly sees her as an enemy. 

EMMA: “You have been an irritating thorn in my side for long enough, but that ends tonight. I do not care if your parent is a disgruntled former employee of mine, if you're Shaw’s method of exacting mild revenge, or if you’re just a thrillseeker who wrongfully believed I made an easy target. I just want to know who you are before I decide what consequences await you.” 

The thief’s face is filled with terror, but only for a moment, before the brightest smile and widest eyes take its place. 

THIEF: “I…am your biggest fan.” 

SCOTT & EMMA: “HUH?!” 

Back at the party, Roberto has taken to the dance floor and is showing off to the students, moving with the grace of a ballerina. Some of the kids are into it and the kind of “cool boss” they want, while others find him cringe and are just playing along. 

As he gets off the dance floor, he’s approached by Theresa who asks him where that came from. 

ROBERTO: “Three years of Ms. Hunter’s ballet classes paid off.” 

THERESA: “Who?” 

ROBERTO: “Before your time.” 

The two grunt twice, puffing out their chests, make X’s with their arms and shout, “X-FORCE!” 

The two laugh over their old chant. 

THERESA: “Why DID Cable have us doing that? And where even is the old guy these days?”

ROBERTO: ‘Both very good questions that I do not have answers to.” 

As Roberto grabs a drink, he thanks Theresa for her help tonight. Theresa tells him not to mention it. If it were anyone else, she’d feel a little bad about messing with someone like this, but also…it’s Monet. 

THERESA: “What’s all this about anyway?” 

Roberto just flashes a smile. Theresa, annoyed, just nods and accepts that one. 

THERESA: “I’m taking your word for it that you’re still one of the good guys. Please don’t let me down.” 

ROBERTO, taking her hands: “Theresa Cassaday, I promise that I am just as much a hero as ever.” 

Theresa seems won over, saying she knows. Now, why doesn’t he try teaching her to dance like him? 

ROBERTO: “Sure thing. But don’t blame me if you end up looking more like Sam.” 

We flashback to the past for the conclusion to Akihiro’s story, where an 18 year-old Aki is sparring Romulus, on the bookfoot, but after six years of training, managing to hold his own against the ancient master. At least until Romulus runs him through with a sword and breaks his neck. 

��ROMULUS: “Tt. Look at you. All that passion. All that natural potential. And still…just…Daken.” 

Akihiro snaps his neck back into place and demands that he not be called that. Romulus responds by questioning why he’d prefer the name given to him by parents who hated him. Daken is who he is. Daken is what he is. 

ROMULUS: “But perhaps that’s why you’re still not ready to face Logan.” 

Akihiro gets up, claws out, and moves in to strike Romulus. Romulus is prepared to counter, when a wave of energy crashes through the house they’re in, annhilating Romulus, while avoiding Akihiro. 

Akihiro stands stunned in silence at the death of the only man he’s known for a third of his life. Through the smoke, enters Apocalypse. Aki stands ready to fight, but he’s also smart enough to still be clearly afraid of the guy who just did THAT. 

AKIHIRO: “Who are you? Why did you kill my master?!” 

Apocalypse says nothing as he slowly marches toward him. Aki tries using his pheremones, but they have no effect on the modified External. Eventually, Apocalypse reaches him. 

APOCALYPSE: “Because, son of Wolverine, you deserve better.” 

Akihiro is confused as Apocalypse puts a hand on his shoulder. Apocalypse tells him who he is, and what he seeks. He then tells him that there are more Mutants walking the Earth today than there have been in thousands of years. It should be the duty of the few elders to properly nurture and educate the strong among the youthful masses. And yet, be it pacifist fools like Charles Xavier, or thuggish brutes like Romulus, each and every one is a failure. 

APOCALYPSE: “You seek strength. You require guidance. In exchange for your loyalty, I can grant you both. When we are done, you will have the power to end your father’s life. And the world will be ours.” 

A nervous Akihiro tells Apocalypse he has no idea what he’s talking about, but strong as he is, Romulus was right about him. Everyone in his life has been right. Apocalypse should look elsewhere. 

Apocalypse laughs. He still values the opinions of humans? Of the dead? He still stands, he still lives, he is strong. Apocalypse does not make mistakes. 

APOCALYPSE: “You are not Daken. But you can be something new.” 

AKIHIRO: “And what’s that?” 

APOCALYPSE, grinning: “What you are the best at.” 

After another moment of trepidation, Akihiro smirks and shakes Apocalypse’s hand. 

In the present, Akihiro somberly laments his life. Abandoned, betrayed, sold, tortured. Only to finally be given a home. A place where he was safe, and happy, and made stronger than ever. They may not recognize him as family anymore than Logan, but in all the ways that matter, he finally had a true father. And a true sister. 

 Akihiro cackles, perking back up to his normal self. He just LOVES the shock and pain in Logan’s eyes right now, as if he’s even capable of guilt. Or maybe he is! Still far, far too late. 

AKIHIRO: “The only thing I still want to know is why. Why did you kill my mother?” 

LOGAN, his jaw free to speak: “I’m sorry.” Akihiro scoffs. “No, not for killing her. Because I can tell you wouldn’t believe me if I told you I didn’t.” 

Akihiro growls and rushes to decapitate Logan with Muramasa, the blade shining, but he’s shocked as Logan catches the blade in his claws. 

AKIHIRO: “What?!” 

LOGAN: “Every cell in our bodies can regenerate. I’m guessing neither of the bubs who raised you taught you to do it on command. And they’re regenerating faster than the pheremones can reach them.” 

Logan sends Akihiro flying with a right-hook. WIth him knocked to the floor and distracted, Storm is able to regain control of herself as well. 

STORM, impressed: “When did YOU learn how to do that?” 

LOGAN: “I’ll introduce you to the guy that taught me if you can put up with lots of bad jokes.” 

The two don’t have any longer to talk, as one of the bar patrons runs up to them as is nearly killed by their claws and knives. The two are able to avoid him, but the bartender and all the other patrons have stood up, and are ready to try the same thing. 

Akihiro, controlling them all, says this isn’t over yet. 

Back in New York, a confused Emma asks the thief to elaborate.

The thief laughs nervously. They can't believe this is really happening. Just one sec! 

In another flash, Bobby appears in front of Scott and Emma, the thief gone. He's disoriented and a little woozy. 

A moment later, the thief comes flying out of the apartment on jet boots, landing in front of the three X-Men. 

THIEF: “Okay, so, my name is Escapade. Aaand, I have looked up to you for so long. I'm a Mutant, obviously, but I'm also a thief. A pretty dang good one for a kid, I'd say. And I thought, since you used to be a supervillain, and I'm kinda a supervillain, I could impress you by stealing from you. You know, showing that I'm better than everyone you employ…and two of the coolest X-Men, apparently! Like, I totally owned them both!” Escapade cringes. “Did it work?” 

Emma takes a moment to respond as she sneers. 

EMMA: “Leaving aside the numerous questions we still have, while I can commend your taste, your actions reek of arrogance, desperation, and a lack of foresight. I'm afraid, young man, that I still have no choice but to–”

ESCAPADE: “Young lady.”

EMMA: “Hmm?”

ESCAPADE: “You said “young man.” My real name is Shela Sexton. I'm a girl.” 

The gears turn in Emma’s mind and her eyes light up, as a grin spreads across her face. 

EMMA, with a complete change in tone: “Well, I suppose I can hardly fault an ambitious young woman for being a little rash, especially one with the talent you've shown.” 

BOBBY: “Is she serious right now?”

SCOTT, smiling knowingly: “Oh yeah.”

SHELA: “ohmygodEmmaFrostcalledmetalented.”

EMMA: “Very. Now, why don't we take this conversation somewhere a bit nicer so we can learn all about you and your abilities, Escapade?”

SHELA: “Yes! Yes, of course!”

BOBBY: “I don't get it. Does she hate men that much, or does she just really support women?” 

SCOTT, holding back laughter: “Keep guessing.” 

Emma reaches out a hand to Shela. Shela, excited but nervous, takes it, as they all get into Emma’s car. 

Back at the party, Monet takes in everyone laughing and drinking and having fun, and anxiously tries to decide who she should approach - and how. 

Monet turns around and finds one of the young men who’d tried getting her to sit with his friends earlier in the day. He tells her she isn’t an easy person to talk to. Not on social media, almost never going to campus events, always running back to her room after class. 

GUY: “Why hide such a pretty face?” 

Monet weakens and softens a little, clearly attracted, 

MONET: “I…don’t.” 

GUY: “Huh?” 

MONET, shaking her head: “Never mind.” 

The guy takes the awkwardness in stride, and asks her if she’d like to come hang out with him and his friends. They’ve heard the stories, and they want to know how many of them are true. 

MONET: “If they’re tales of my successes, they’re true. If no, I assure you they’re falsehoods.” 

The guy laughs loving that confidence. Monet seems to get a little more confident, as she says she’d love to join them. She’s actually working for Roberto and is helping him scout new employees - is that something they’d be interested in? 

The guy remains polite, but is a little offput. They’re really just here for the drinks and to have a good time, not the job opportunities. He’s actually planning on starting his own startup next year. Get around having to work for guys like Da Costa. Monet asks him what he means, with the guy quick to list off the many crimes and scandals of Emmanuel Da Costa. 

Monet raises an eyebrow, and says that while Roberto is a pompous, arrogant, disrespectful idiot with delusions of grandeur, he isn’t his father. The guy tells her she doesn’t need to defend her boss, there’s not judgement here for taking the job. These people are the same. 

MONET: “These people?” 

GUY: “You know what I’m talking about.” 

MONET: “It sounds like you’re talking about me.” 

GUY: “I didn’t mean it that–” 

MONET: “I’m sorry that I don’t drink, because I would love to throw one in your face right now. I’ll just have to settle for this.” 

Monet’s eyes glow red, and she makes the guy telepathically imagine he’s having a drink thrown in his face. 

Monet stomps off, muttering to herself how this happens, “every time”, and approaches the bar. 

MONET: “You. Do you have any apples? I need something to crunch on.” 

BARTENDER, surprised: “Actually, yes. We don’t usually, but a whole bag of them was left in the kitchen and we–” 

MONET, intensely: “Get me one.” 

The bartender holds his hands up defensively, and walks off to the kitchen. Monet taps her foot as she sets her eyes on a group of bombshell Alpha Phi girls, sitting together and skipping their own party in favor of this one. After getting her apple and taking a bite, she braces herself, and forces herself to don an awkward smile, Monet walks up to them. 

Monet, doing her best attempt at what she thinks sorority girls talk like, gives a weak, fake compliment of their near identical blonde, straight hair, and informs them that she’s been asked to help Mr. Da Costa pick out applicants, already working for him. 

MONET: “Would any of you…bitches?...be interested?” 

 There’s an awkward pause, before the sorority girls all start laughing. 

SORORITY: “We are definitely interested, but, like…who are you?” 

Monet introduces herself, giving her full name, and tries to continue pitching, only to be cut off by the girls as they all start mimicking her accent, incorrectly pronouncing her last name, and trying to guess how it’s spelled. 

Monet clenches her fist in frustration at this, as teeny, tiny red spikes come out of her hand. Taking a breath, and forcing herself to keep smiling, she retracts the spikes, as the girls apologize for interrupting and ask her to continue. 

MONET: “Actually…I believe I’ve seen enough.” 

Monet stomps off, once again, but the spikes start coming back out as frustration and stress overwhelm Monet. Seething, she superspeeds over to Roberto, who’s in the middle of teaching Theresa to dance, and shoves him to the floor. She’s done here. And with him. 

Monet superspeeds off, tears in her eyes, as Roberto gets up and apologizes to Theresa; he’s going to have to cut this party short. 

Back at the bar, Logan and Death fight one-on-one. Despite Akihiro weilding the Muramasa blade, and Logan already being severely injured, Logan still has the upper hand. 

Meanwhile, Storm is attacked by the pheromone-controlled bartender and patrons, all of whom chant, “Kill Me”, with Ororo forced to fight defensively to avoid hurting, or killing, any of them. 

Akihiro gives a brief monologue, echoing Apocalypse’s words to him, about who the real Mutants trying to save the world are. Because it isn’t the X-Men. Who are they? The weak, the compromising, the unfaithful, the unholy, the manipulated children, and those who stand atop humanity’s own institutions, infected by their corruption. Only Lady Akabba understands what is best for their people! 

STORM, knocking out a man as painlessly as she can: “I said I do not kneel. Did I stutter?” 

Logan tells Akihiro that he isn’t going to explain himself; just from what Aki’s said, he can see, he can feel, how poisoned his mind has been. 

LOGAN: “What I can do is say I’m sorry for letting this happen. And promise you I’ll get you out of this.” 

Logan talking down to him only pushes Akihiro over the edge, screaming and swinging at him wildly. Storm, in the process of dodging broken beer bottles, bar stools, and a pool cue, wants to jump in, but Logan tells her there’s no need. 

AKIHIRO, attacking: “No need? No need?! How dare you! I am Death! Hand elite! Apprentice of Romulus! Horseman of Apocalypse!” 

Logan catches Akihiro’s sword in his hand, even as it slices it wide open. 

LOGAN, to a shocked Death: “Yeah, I’ve been trained by some of those guys too.” Logan hits Akihiro across the face with a right hook, sending him flying back into a wall. He slumps over on the floor. “And I’m a lot older than you.” 

The brainwashed men all fall over unconscious, as Storm catches her breath and approaches Logan. 

STORM: “Not a terrible workout. How much of what he said was true?” 

LOGAN: “Enough. He is mine.” 

Akihiro pants, struggling to pick himself back up. 

AKIHIRO: “No…not…YOURS!” 

Akihiro’s eyes glow and, in an instant, Logan is reduced to a pile of dust. Storm freaks out, launching her knives at Death, but he knocks them aside with his sword. 

AKIHIRO, with venom: “Don’t worry. He’s still alive. He can heal from that. I have.” He points Muramasa at Storm. “When he wakes up, tell him I’ll be waiting for a rematch.” 

Storm cannot do anything but glare as Akihiro runs off, and the dust slowly starts clumping together. 

We cut to a fancy restaurant, where Emma, Scott, Bobby, and Shela are all seated, dressed appropriately. Shela bounces in her seat with excitement, fawning over the dress Emma got for her. 

SHELA, nervously shrinking as she notices people looking at her: “I think people are staring.” 

EMMA: “Darling, you’re with me; of course they’re staring.” 

Shela giggles. 

The teachers prompt Shela to tell them her story while they look over the menu, which Shela agrees to do. Shela explains how she was a pretty normal kid growing up, and then when she was 5, she turned out to be a Mutant. It took her a few years to understand what her powers actually were though. She can “Swap Circumstances” with people. Location, powers, knowledge, skills, you name it. She even assumes your “position” in the world, while whoever she swapped with is left in a daze, powerless. Plus, as a side effect from how much she’s used the power, her mind’s pretty cluttered, so most telepaths can’t really touch her. 

BOBBY: “That’s…insane.” 

SCOTT: “Says the man who can freeze time.” 

BOBBY: “You need to stop being quippy right now because it’s really starting to bug me.” 

Emma is enthused by the potential of Shela’s abilities, and questions why she bothers with all the technology - and where she obtained it. Shela scratches the back of her head and admits her power has a lot of restrictions. Can’t swap with more than two people at once, there’s a limit on each swap, she has to be within pretty close range to swap with someone, 

SHELA: “Plus, I wouldn’t call myself an expert with it. Taken a lot of practice to get as good as I am. Soooo, I use the villain tech I steal. Mutants aren’t the only game in town, and there are tons of buyers for this stuff. It’s win-win.”

Cyclops can’t say he approves of her lifestyle, but he isn’t about to judge considering the one big, remaining question: Who IS she? 

Shela sighs. When she came out as a Mutant, her parents were totally cool with it. They’re actually big fans of Dazzler.  Life went on. Then when she was 12, she realized she was Shela. Her parents didn’t accept that. Emma and Bobby’s faces fall, all too familiar with this tale. Shela goes on to say that, after she was kicked out of her house, she was on the street for a bit until she was found by an awesome woman named Jessie who got her into a support group she ran for other trans Mutant kids - ones with nowhere to go. She learned a lot about herself there, met her best bud Morgan, and, yeah, even learned a little about the criminal scene some of them were a part of to survive, and getting into being a thief from there. And thanks to being a thief, she’s been able to cut a decent little life for herself, help provide for everyone else in the group, and, you know, start really becoming herself. 

SHELA, to Emma: “It’s where I learned all about you. When I decided I wanted to be just like you. Obviously still working on that. That’s why I wanted to impress you, but didn’t want to reveal myself just yet. Not till I was more me ” 

Scott is happy for the kid, while Emma remains intrigued and impressed, praising Shela for what she’s been able to accomplish despite her circumstances, and telling her she thinks she’s moving along toward her goals and being herself just fine. Iceman is confused though. Why are there a bunch of homeless Mutant kids? The school is open to all. 

SHELA, sipping a shirley temple: “The Xavier Institute wasn’t even publicly for Mutants until four years ago. And even when it was…for most of us, being Mutants wasn’t the problem. There isn’t a lot of faith that the X-Men are any better. Jessie REALLY hates you guys.” 

While Bobby is visibly struck by this, Scott promises Shela that the Jean Grey School is, genuinely, welcome to all Mutants. They have a diverse student body, and even some girls like her. 

CYCLOPS: “Kinda.” 

Shela shakes her head. That’s great and all, but just look at who the X-Men are. None of them could ever really understand them. 

Emma can barely contain her laughter as she lights Shela’s eyes up blue. 

SHELA: “HUH?!!!” 

SCOTT: “Aaaaand now, people really are staring.” 

SHELA: “You’re…but I thought…how…huh?!” 

BOBBY: “What’s going on?” 

Emma rolls her eyes and lights Bobby’s eyes up too. 

BEAT.

BOBBY: “Get the Hell out.” 

Emma tells Shela that she can more than understand her. If her friends don’t wish to come to the school, that’s their choice, but they should know that they will be looked after and cared for if they do. 

EMMA: “The world is scary and hard and full of hate.” Scott puts an arm around her. “But you won’t find those who love and accept you unless you’re willing to take risks.” 

Bobby seems to be just as attentive to Emma’s words as Shela. 

Emma has an offer for Escapade. Come enroll in the school and get caught up on her studies, which she’s sure she’s horribly behind on, and finish the current semester with them. By next year, her current squad will all be ready to be X-Men; she will then be able to give Escapade her full attention. 

SHELA, in awe: “I think I’m dreaming.” She slaps herself with both hands. “No. No I’m not.” 

EMMA: “You’ve done well for your friends, Escapade, but now I offer you a chance to fight for your people - all of your people.” 

Shela looks at each of the kind X-Men, before enthusiastically cheering “YES!” 

Scott and Emma cheer as well, happy to have her, as the waiter comes by. Emma tells him to bring the secret specials; they’re celebrating. 

Shela, mouth moving as a mile a minute, talks about how excited and insane this all is, Scott and Emma amused, as Bobby looks away in contemplation. 

Monet sits alone in her dorm room, curled up in a ball on her bed, not having changed out of her club outfit. She’s pouting and distressed, watching children’s cartoons (it’s not shown explicitly for legal reasons, but she’s clearly watching Bluey). 

There’s a knock on the door. Monet shouts at Thesea to give her some privacy, but…

ROBERTO: “Sorry. Not Terry. May I please come in?” 

MONET: “Absolutely not.” 

ROBERTO: “I brought apples. Well, I brought them back from the bar. I knew they’re your favorite so I made sure they were stocked.” 

Monet is visibly surprised by the gesture, and softly tells Beto to make whatever he has to say quick. Beto enters, juggling three apples, before tossing them all over to M, who sits up and effortlessly catches them. 

Beto wanted to come check on her and see what happen at the party. Monet tells him it’s none of his business, but Beto counters that since she just quit and he’ll go bankrupt and likely get punched in the face by Kitty without her, it very much is his business. 

ROBERTO: “And even if it wasn’t, you can’t stop me from worrying.” 

Monet sighs. It was nothing. She just didn’t like the way he was toying with her. And then… She trails off, grumbling, before continuing. 

MONET: “Genetically, I am perfection. But people are more than genetics.” 

Socially, she’s never been a butterfly. Always being standoffish and turning people away with her attitude for one, but also generally struggling when isn’t just putting on her polite manners for show. Back when she was in school, Beast thought she could be Autistic, but, for personal reasons, she never saw a specialist about it. 

Beto admits he had no idea. He wouldn’t have tossed her into the position if he’d known. He’d just thought she struggled with making friends and wanted to help her. That’s why he pushed Theresa toward trying to spend time with her, and why he did ALL of this tonight as a mingling opportunity she could control. 

BETO: “I admit…I can get a little ahead of myself with my plans.” 

MONET: “You…did this all for me?” 

Beto sits down and explains like its obvious. Monet could have graduated from college early and immediately started her own amazingly successful business, while also being instantly welcomed onto the X-Men, because they’d be fools to say no, but she chose to put her faith in him. And that means a lot. 

Monet is stunned, and actually smiles - but doesn’t thank him. She continues to say that she isn’t the only problem. It’s everyone else. 

MONET: “I grew up largely isolated. On my own or with my family. Then with Generation X, I had Chamber, Husk, Skin, the idiot, and…Everett. But now I’m in the real world. Not in a familial or X-shaped bubble.” 

SUNSPOT: “And you’re not a fan?” 

MONET: “And there are so few like me.” 

This isn’t even about she and Theresa being the only Mutants on campus. It’s about the girls of her class here being vapid idiots, and American racial politics putting her in a position where the people who look like her think she’s evil and should lose everything she has just because she was born rich. By race or by class, she’s alone. By species too, really. There’s a reason she left the superhero life behind. Maybe she overreacted a little earlier, but the onus shouldn’t be on her to adapt to them.

MONET: “I’m sure this doesn’t make any sense to you. You’re in the same position, but you have no difficulty making everyone love you.” 

Roberto laughs. She should know what they say about assuming. 

ROBERTO: “It’s only a good idea if you’re a precog.” 

Monet giggles. 

Beto tells her how, before all of this, he was a football player in Brazil. Naturally, a very talented one. Largely surrounded by the palest teammates and competitors you can imagine, but he never thought that mattered. Until one day it did. Things got ugly. He got his powers, becoming slightly more awesome than he already was. 

BETO, obviously lying: “And that was the end of that miserable day. I joined the school shortly after.” 

Still, it didn’t matter if it was Brazil or America, the types of people he was surrounded by were largely the same. Not the biggest deal, he loves his family. But he also never bothered with an environment like this. And he can understand how isolating it may be. 

The sadness underneath Roberto’s smile is evident, but M is clueless as to what to say. So, she changes things up a little. 

MONET: “I don’t need this place. It doesn’t deserve me. Allow me to move to France and control our day to day operations. You know I will be more effective than the drones you’ve been using.” 

BETO, smirking: “One condition.” Monet looks at him, waiting. “You agree to lunch every weekend. So you aren’t all alone.” 

Monet giggles again. And she forcefully grips Beto’s hands. 

MONET: “It’s a date.” 

Beto grins back at her, as the two lean in and kiss each other. The two continue kissing as Monet rolls onto her back, allowing Roberto to get on top of her, Beto already moving to take his suit jacket off. 

MONET: “Wait.” Beto instantly stops. “I’ve never done this before. Go slow.” 

BETO, smiling at peace, nods: “As you wish.” 

We pan away as the two begin to make love. 

In Lady Akabba’s throneroom, Exodus and Malice laugh at a pissed Akihiro. He barks back at them to knock it off. 

MALICE: “All that grumbling about how much you hate Daddy, and you couldn’t even kill him.” 

EXODUS: “This is what we get for working with a Beta.” 

AKIHIRO, getting up close in Exodus’ face: “Beta or Omega, I wouldn’t need any powers to kill you.” 

EXODUS: “Of course you wouldn’t. That’s what you have your big, long sword for, isn’t it?” 

AKIHIRO: “Exactly, and unlike some people, I’m not afraid to use mine.” 

With a tilt of her head, Malice sends Akihiro flying back against a wall. 

MALICE, standing confident with Exodus: “You’ve been War’s pet since Lord Apocalypse fell. Do you think she’ll appreciate your efforts?” EXODUS: “Or will that heartless witch put her little Daken down?” 

The two snicker over the idea of Lady Akabba killing Akihiro. Death gets even more pissed, shaking with rage and prepared to attack, when a flash of pink light engulfs the room. 

Accompanied by a bowing Lila Cheyney, Lady Akkaba appears from the light. Sofia didn’t have time to change before this, so she enters her evil lair dressed in a cropped sweater and jeans, still attempting to appear in control through her posture and expressions, regardless. If nothing else, Famine and Pestillence do silence themselves. 

SOFIA: “Leave us.” 

Exodus and Malice are fine with this order, smirking at Akihiro on their way over to Lila, who teleports the three of them away, leaving only Sofia and Aki. 

Akihiro kneels, but, as Sofia turns blue, she immediately tells him to get up; there’s no need for airs right now. 

AKIHIRO, smirking: “I haven’t seen you dressed like that in a long time, my lady. It’s cute.” 

SOFIA, smiling: “You never…how long were you stalking me before we spoke?” 

Death cackles, with Sofia giggling and shaking her head along. 

SOFIA: “I see. Now…what happened?” 

Akihiro, ashamed, gives the honest truth. He challenged his father and Storm, and, despite his strength, his multiple weapons, and the Muramasa blade, he was outclassed, and only escaped with some semblance of victory through the power of Death - something his father will recover from. 

AKIHIRO: “You trusted me to eliminate those who Lord Apocalypse feared most. And I failed.” He holds out the Muramasa blade. “If you wish to claim it, my life is yours.” 

Sofia glares at Akihiro, Akihiro standing stalwart and brave in the face of potential death. Until Sofia laughs. 

SOFIA: “Don’t be so over-dramatic.” 

Akihiro is confused as Sofia saunters over to her throne. Is it an annoying set-up back that he failed? Yes. Bur she hardly expected him to succeed on his own. There is a REASON Apocalypse feared his father and Storm. Even with one’s relatively minimal strength, and the other not even needing her weapon to be strong, they, more than anyone else, always found a way to win. 

SOFIA, sitting down and crossing her legs: “I allowed you to attempt this because it is personal to you. Because Logan deserves to pay for what he has done. I never expected you to win.” 

Akihiro takes the ego blow, but nods along. He points out that maybe Selene had a point about her being soft; Lord Apocalypse would have certainly killed him for this. 

Sofia narrows her eyes, and blows herself back over to Akihiro on the winds. 

SOFIA: “Do you really believe that?” 

AKIHIRO: “Of course. Failure is the greatest sign of weakness.” 

SOFIA: “That is true. But it is equally true that Apocalypse loves his family. That is what this is all about.” 

AKIHIRO: “I’m not–” 

SOFIA: “Hush. Exodus and Malice are mere servants. Ones we will eventually do away with. I am Apocalypse’s heir, but you are also his child. The only difference between us is that my biological predecessors were homo-sapiens. Your father is a Mutant, a strong one, and, despicable as he is, that means something to Apocalypse. But we are both his children. Father loves us both.” 

Akihiro cheers up and thanks his lady. He’s honored by her words. He then points out that if she sees him as a brother, then what does that make her relationship with Laura. 

SOFIA, amused: “Necessary.” 

As Sofia blows her lightning-bolt shaped sword off the wall and into her hand, she tells Akihiro that he will be the king of the new world. And he will earn that role. 

SOFIA: “You will fight your father again. And you will kill him.” She points her sword at his neck. “When I was at my weakest, it was you who found me. You who brought me here. You who guided me to my inner strength. Now, I shall pay it back. I will make you as strong as you need to be.” 

Akihiro nods with excitement, readying Muramasa. 

AKIHIRO: “Thank you, my lady. I am ready.” Dramatic music swells. “But perhaps you should consider getting changed first.” 

Sofia is stunted for a second, looking over her outfit. The two laugh together. 

Back at Shela’s apartment building, Escapade is scurrying around the place packing, excitedly chattering on a new phone to Morgan about how she’s going to live with the X-Men. “No, not the mean ones!” 

Outside in the hallway, Scott, Emma, and Bobby wait for her, all happy with how this has worked out. Their “thief problem” was never really a problem, they’ve got a promising new student, and they get to give a kid who desperately needs a real one a home. Emma adds that she’ll be looking into the rest of this support group Shela belongs to. They obviously won’t make them come to the school, but she and Shela can ideally at least allieve them of their fears. 

Scott cracks a joke about the idea of Emma making children less scared, which Emma just nudges him for, but Bobby has a stronger reaction to know. He wants to know what’s up with Scott that’s got him so smiley and jokey lately. Their situation hasn’t gotten better, hell, it’s only gotten progressively worse, so why now is he like this? Where’s the drill sergeant he grew up with? 

Scott shrugs and tells him he didn’t even realize he was acting differently, but he’s definitely been feeling better. And not just because he sleeps every night next to the most gorgeous woman in the world. Yes, things haven’t been going the X-Men or Mutantkind’s way. But that’s because, for most of that time, he was doing things the Professor’s way. Now? He’s finally found himself. And regardless of anything else, that makes him the happiest he’s ever been. And it makes him confident about the future. 

Bobby processes this, happy for him, and guessing that makes sense. 

BOBBY: “Okay. I got it.” Bobby smiles at the two. “I’m leaving the X-Men.” 

Scott and Emma are both shocked, with Emma demanding an explanation. Bobby reminds her what he’s been thinking about. About his identity. About both parts of his identity. Their school for Mutants is one where those who are different even among the other kids still need their own place to feel safe. It’s one Shela and her friends never felt safe coming to. And he gets it. He’s met Mutants with problems with people like them…people like himself. 

EMMA: “And you believe you will make the school safer for them by leaving?” 

BOBBY: “No, I’m leaving that to you guys. I’m leaving because I want to close that gap. So long as I’m with the X-Men, I’m a Mutant first, to some, a Mutant only. You two keep on focusing on keeping everyone alive; I’m going to focus on bringing us all together.” 

Scott and Emma do agree that that’s sweet, and well-meaning, but couldn’t he just ask Northstar to do this? The X-Men don’t want to lose one of their biggest guns. Bobby points out that it’s not like he’s cutting off contact. If they need him, he’ll be there. They *better* call him when they find the Horseman. Plus, they have Magneto, they already decided they were going to give Wind Dancer her spot back to keep a closer eye on her, and he’s sure Wolverine will want back in to protect her. They’ll be fine. 

Emma begrudgingly accepts this resignation, commending him for striking out on his own. Bobby thanks her for this last year. He wouldn’t have found himself if she hadn’t dragged him back onto the X-Men.

SCOTT, shaking Bobby’s hand: “I’m proud of you, twerp.” 

BOBBY: “One of the five strongest Mutants alive and about to be a solo hero, and I’m still a twerp to you?” 

SCOTT: “Always will be.” 

We close as we cut to the school, where Shela, now in her signature yellow and blue Escapade costume, eagerly walks down the halls of the Jean Grey School, dragging her luggage behind her. Opening a door, she says hello to Martha and Ernst. 

SHELA, couldn’t be happier: “HI! I’m Escapade! And I’m your new roommate!” 

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

CAST CHANGE:

ICEMAN AKA BOBBY DRAKE IS NO LONGER PART OF THE MAIN CAST.

[milflewis]

uhhh sorry hi ummm please say more about a valewis sex tape? (⓿_⓿) if you feel so inclined?

v v unfleshed out thoughts but !!! i was talking with ag one day and this was spawned into being. so. mb they do one every year??? after nico and the whole brocedes drama the sponsors are concerned about Team Unity and Keeping the Team Whole and so . what shows that two ppl like each other more than them having sex and it being filmed?? rock solid logic

the one in 2017 is v stilted and polite. it is. essentially. two colleagues having sex which. fair. that is what it is. but lewis is also unfairly beautiful and valtteri is only human and valtteri has the prettiest eyes lewis has ever seen and the way he blushes —

it’s not a Disaster is what i’m saying. so they do it again. and again.

and mb it become more and more marketable as ppl love the passion, makes it feel real and intimate. like theyre intruding on something that the drivers havent shown the rest of the world yet unlike everything else.

and then! it’s 2018 and valtteri’s worst year yet and lewis is so. he’s so gentle. does it so he covers valtteri’s face. this is the year val fucks him and not the other way around and lewis pulls him in so val’s face is pressed against his neck and the camera is on lewis’s and and and

(that being one of val’s worst times in his life and he’s so scared of getting fired and hes still on one year contracts. and he has to film this. its so fucked up. and lewis understanding and trying to make it up in the only way he feels he can.)

lewis who has spent his entire career exposed but is secure in this team in a way that val has never been and probably will never be but this. this is smth he can give him.

and then valtteri leaves the team and sponsors get pissed.

(the tape from 2021 was smth else. the adoration. the hot tenderness. the desperate need on the screen bc even tho neither of them had said it they knew this was their last year together and they had never talked about these. never done it outside of this room in hq. wanting to crawl into each other’s skin so they never have to let go and the viewer can Feel this)

and 2022 is just. lewis thinking valtteri is so much happier without these weird fucking obligations with merc ... maybe he’s too embarrassed about wanting him still to approach him past a shoulder pat in the pitlane.

until toto says 'hey i told valtteri we’d let him hitch a ride on the jet' and lewis spending half of it on his phone ignoring valtteri. who has NO clue about lewis' inner turmoil, thinks merc is better off without him even if they seem to have such a weird run of bad luck now and is content to stay in peaceful quiet sitting beside lewis on the jet until he can’t bear it and casually makes a weak joke about lewis and george's tape.

now! it could go two ways. either lewis put a stop to the tapes after valtteri left or he made one with george.

cause you could have lewis and george make a tape and valtteri is jealous and hating that he’s jealous bc it’s such a fucked up thing that they had to do and it’s bad enough that he Misses it and now he’s hating lewis for doing it with someone else when he knows lewis doesn’t have a choice. and then lewis feels guilty and he’s upset about That bc it’s not like he CHOSE george. it’s not like he wanted this but it took way more effort that it should’ve to not call out val’s name during the tape and george is fine. he’s funny and has good takes on the car and he’s Fine. but he’s not val and lewis doesn’t even want val back bc he’s finally happy and he looks so good in alfa and they treat him so well but he also does kinda want him back bc he misses him and it’s a Mess

OR . lewis puts a stop to the tapes and toto isn’t stupid. he sees lewis after valtteri leaves. sees him after the shitshow that was abu dhabi. sees the look in his eyes. and does not push. and then valtteri is left to wondering why now did the tapes stop. what does that mean. does it mean anything???? and suddenly noticing that lewis isn’t really looking at him that much.

(george in the bg like. you guys made sex tapes ?????????)

or or. what if they started making the tape and lewis couldn’t do it.

he couldn’t walk into that room that they only went in to make these. this room that he hates but it’s the only place in the whole world where he got valtteri like this and mb that makes him a terrible person for missing it. for wanting it back. but he can’t go in when he’s not there.

and mb lewis manages to get through it anyway and IS into banging george in a purely physical way and he feels guilty for liking it because its not valtteri, but they have to please sponsors SOMEHOW. and then he sees valtteri in bahrain and is like. toto PLEASE delete that fucking tape.

and valtteri just seems. like. normal?? lewis gets mad at him deep down like, how the fuck can you be all chill and cool about this. how dare you move on while i'm a mess!!!

he doesnt realize how carefully valtteri is sidestepping discussion of the tape when theyre hanging out. valtteri does NOT want to talk about it. he stuffs it down and turns into a fake australian. cycling with the kiwis. sampling wines with daniel. practising denial like the good homosexual that he is!

and seb says that he looks like a pornstar which lewis does NOT know how to deal with bc ???? what does that mean ???? is val making these tapes with other ppl ?????

so things go from valtteri always coming up to lewis on a race weekend to just. lewis CANNOT find him no matter how hard he tries. sidles up to daniel like hey have you seen-?

daniel, eyes shifting: euueueoohhhhhh ... no

lewis mb getting the message that val doesn’t want to see him and that’s. that’s Fine. lewis is so Fine. the car is shit and it’s kind of killing him and the media are dicks and valtteri doesn’t want to talk to him and seb is retiring and lewis is so Fine :( :) :( :)