#people have easily discovered this about zombies | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seemethroughglass · 11 months

Text

he’s a fool (you’re just as well)

franken!kyle spencer x reader

word count : 5.1K

warnings : fluff, (underage?) smoking, witches, zombies, witchcraft, dark magic, fainting, cooking, witch!reader, mentions of sex/hard drugs

a/n : this is my first time posting a fic on tumblr so if anything is wonky please lmk 😭😭 this fic was first posted on ao3 if you’d prefer to read it below :)

October 30th, 2013. 3:22 AM.

A faint smell of cigarette smoke and cheap lavender scented room spray slid up into your nose and settled in your lungs, holding your breath until you couldn’t stand to anymore. You were back first on the surprisingly comfortable queen sized bed you shared with the 5’10 rotting man-baby, taking up the tight space on the right side you had while he sprawled his arms out, his fingers flexing and twitching ever so slightly haphazardly while he drooled on the pillow that gave comfort to his skull.

Kyle Spencer was dead, and had been dead for a while, is what Zoe told you. You were the newest addition to Miss Robichaux’s School for Gifted Young Women, this sick fuck of a school. Being here wasn’t anything you’d expect, and certainly wasn’t the worst, but the things you’d do just to go back home and enjoy some time alone. In just two months of being here, Zoe had wordlessly decided that you’d become Kyle’s new babysitter, a tentative decision that made you wonder if you’d ever go back to normal. You were in charge of bathing, changing, and feeding him. When you were expecting to be in a school like this, you never saw yourself soaping up a blond boy ever in your life.

It was frustrating taking care of him, especially when he’d lash out at you for not being able to understand him. Similar to the other witches, you’d use your powers in justification, your telekinesis was second nature to you- as you easily threw him back to walls, or shut doors on him. Once, Zoe offered to keep him chained for a bit, but you declined because ‘it felt inhumane’ (ironically).

But like every other young, feeble, and naive witch in your coven, your powers would fluctuate. Anyone would go crazy if they could suddenly hear every single thought someone would think. The good, the perverse, and the twisted thoughts one could have made you feel sick. You remember walking down aisles of the grocery store with Madison, your whole world suddenly felt abnormal, forced into a ubiquitous position as the faint sounds of peoples brain-vomit spilling out of their heads and into your ears. It got so loud, you couldn’t hear her anymore. You just saw her mouth “coke-head” as she continued her shopping. She couldn’t have given any less care to your dazed and frustrated state.

You didn’t feel safe out there.

You flexed your hands and felt the wrapped cohesive bandage around the flat of your hands, and the cotton fingerless gloves shifting around your hands. You hated how gloves felt around your fingers, and decided to take the risk of accidentally brushing up upon someone and sinking in all of what they know. Divination, is the textbook term, but Fiona just called it ‘a gift and a curse.’ This was also a sudden discovery, one that you were ashamed was only found out during a frat party. Never will you ever shake a man’s hand, who knows if they’ve washed their hands after using the bathroom or not? Thank god you didn’t find out anything else, not that you’d want to afterwards.

And I could go on and on about what you’ve discovered in on your own time. Mind control (which, you’re not skilled at- at all), pyrokenisis, reality warping, the ability to fuck around with any object- it all came in at once, in such a short time. Cordelia explained that it was something that all of the other witches had, but yours were forming at a rapid pace compared to the others. Hearing those words, you then forced yourself to a demure and home-bodied state. You thought, if you stayed at home, less shit goes down. You never knew how much you enjoyed the outside until now.

You could go outside whenever, if you just faced your fears and come to the terms that shit happens. You’re a witch, of course you’re gonna have these fucked up powers that show how fucked up every is, but every time you felt the want to leave, you’d only gaslight yourself into crawling back to your room again.

And… a part of you started to actually believe you didn’t find Kyle a nuisance, because he was the only one who stayed. You could tell he wanted to learn something when he was around you, longingly staring at his iPad as AbcMouse played, asking him how to write words like ‘duck’ and ‘cat’. His hands would stay in place, sometimes twitching, as he thought to himself and hesitantly drew letters on his device. There was a man, trapped in a cold husk. Every word he’d speak to you, it stuck, because you knew he was trying.

Did you see yourself in him? No? Yes? I don’t know.

You felt the need to protect, but not a knight in shining armor I’ll-Kill-Anyone-Who-Fucks-With-You-And-Let-You-Eat-Their-Brains-Afterwards protect. The kind of protect that had you letting him sleep inside your room for the night, because you knew if you didn’t then Madison would just push herself on and sleep with him again. Being a witch has shown you the evils of this world, as if the devil let you put 3d goggles on and see every disgusting perspective of others. Remember that one quote that goes something like… “While we are humans, we are animals”?

You felt him stir around in your bed again, the fleshy tip of his nose resting on your sleeved forearm. You started to wonder when he’d move aside, considering he was plumped on a good chunk of your bed. He served no purpose on your bed either, feeling like a cold, rubbery, chunk of meat nuzzling into your warmer skin. Honestly, he was kind of a waste of air, not that you envied him for it though. It made you think, what could he end up being, other than a sex doll or a servant? Everyone thought he was dead, but certainly you can get a job with no ID, no degree, and a high temper, yes?

Okay, right now he *might* be in a tight spot, but hell- you never know. You felt him moving around again, deciding to face him as he shifted his way closer to you, smelling the fabric surrounding your arm. You couldn’t tell if he was awake or not, watching him carefully to see if he’d move again, and once again he did. His eyes fluttered open a bit, before tightly shutting them and taking a deep breath, taking a peek from his rotting eyelids to see your face looking back at his.

This was an unusual morning (or night?) routine from him, because he wasn’t supposed to wake up at this hour. Perhaps the sudden body heat he felt from you awoke him? Doesn’t matter, now he’s awake, and it’s your responsibility to keep him tight lipped and busy until the sun rises. Shit, did you even realize that he was staring at you?

“Kyle… go back to sleep.” You whispered, lightly pushing his head upwards and away from your body. His eyebrows raised up a bit, reacting to your sentence, which sounded like gibberish due to his still drowsy state. You could’ve just talked to a brick wall instead, though, because all he did was prop himself up on the bed and look around. Kyle nodded, looking away from you before moaning a “Mm.. mmn..” for you. He struggled with his words for a minute and then managed to make out a “Mmh-morning.”

You shook your head, wanting to immediately cut the shit short and to tell him to just go back to sleep. But, men (or, zombies in particular) are stubborn and once he was awake, he was gonna stay awake. You internally cursed yourself before mirroring his movements and sitting up yourself, pulling on the comforter to cover yourself as you nodded, wiping your face. “Morning, Ky.” You sighed out, nodding.

You and Kyle usually did your morning routine together, so even though you did stay up all night and you knew it was only a matter of time until you’d fall asleep, you brushed your teeth with him. I guess coffee could keep you awake until 9, right? It was fairly difficult trying to keep him quiet while you brushed his hair and made him breakfast, but the more you talked, the more he took the time to listen.

“Ky, tell me which one you want.” You asked, putting down a carton of eggs on one side of the dinner table and a box of Belgian waffle mix on the other. He took his time, you thought he was going to pick the waffles when he turned to them, but you were a little taken aback when he shook his head. Your instincts made you want to protest, but once you saw his mouth open a bit, you let him try and mumble out his words.

“M…muh…”

“Macaroni?”

He shook his head, got it.

“Mm..hhheaat.”

If Nan was awake, she’d hear you think, “Who the fuck eats steak for breakfast?” until you realized that he was probably talking about bacon.

“Mm, bacon?”

You got back a copacetic nod from him, his breathing quickening up from excitement. You weren’t just going to give him bacon, so you decided to stick with some eggs and toast to go with it too, something the both of you could eat. You fetched the bacon from the freezer and eggs, butter, and bread from the fridge. Kyle kept his eyes on you, not having anything else to distract him with currently. You stayed quiet, indulged in your task of whisking the eggs in a bowl as you heard him try and communicate with you again. You stayed patient, with the mumbling coming from his mouth, but you could tell he felt more confident in this moment.

“Drink, orange.” He asked, looking around the kitchen to see if he could spot anything else to ask for. You turned around, shaking your head at him, “Orange… what, Ky?” you questioned, wanting him to try and finish his sentence. He looked back at your frame, letting out an unsatisfied sigh. “Orange.. jjjuice?” He responded, humming questionably. You turned to him briefly, nodding and pointing at the frying pan. “When I’m done, I’ll give you it, ‘Kay?”

He groaned out, suddenly balling his fist and hitting his thigh, shaking his head. It was way too early (or too late?) for Kyle to be getting upset, as he whimpered out a “N-no! Want- mmh..” to you. “Drink! Orange..! Mm, juice!”

“Kyle, no hitting!” You hissed back at him, letting the frying pan heat up on the open fire. “You use your words, hitting isn’t good.”

You watched as his facial expression softened, following his fists as he rested them back on the table, you could’ve sworn his lips shifted into a slight pout, but he nodded to you, making you realize that he never truly learned how to apologize.

“Say you’re sorry.”

“Mmhn..?”

The first time he tried to fight with you, was unforgettable, because it was the same day you had decided to voluntarily keep yourself locked inside the academy. You were just trying to change him, and get him ready for what would become his daily walk, but once you had him stripped to just his jeans and socks, he reacted. You weren’t able to take his jeans off, the minute you were trying to get his buckle off, it’s like realization had hit him. A push and a series of blows to your arms had you covered in hurt and bruises, the room was now episode 8 of a soap opera. God knows why you let him hit you for so long, did you forget you were a witch for a minute? Whatever, Madison wasted no time on flicking him off with whatever supernatural powers she had, his back meeting a wall quick. You felt bad, he didn’t really know any better. You’d start wrestling with anyone if they tried to take your pants off.

Now that you’re thinking about it, how’d she get up those stairs so quick? Isn’t she usually downstairs smoking a cigarette? Speaking of cigarettes, fuck, the smell of this house is starting to get to you.

Ten-ish minutes had passed, and there you were, plating the meal on a large plate that you and Kyle could share. Perks of being a witch? You can just enchant your bacon to defrost in seconds. Usually, Kyle would finish all of his food, but one time he noticed that if he didn’t finish, you’d be eating his plate instead of sticking with just coffee. It’s probably the reason he eats less, honestly, and you can’t really force him to finish all of his food anymore. I guess it’s something you two have silently agreed on, like mutualism. You poured yourself some coffee from the coffee pot, and in another plastic cup you poured orange juice into, for him. It was plastic, in case if he tried to throw it at you… like he did to Zoe (and, to be honest, that shit was hilarious when he missed and hit Queenie).

You don’t talk to him in the morning, you just sit there and watch him watch some Cocomelon, but right now the both of you can’t afford to make any sort of noise. A cranky witch is equivalent to an embarrassed boy, both can end up terribly. Still, it left you bored. There was nothing to talk about, because you can’t really keep up a conversation with someone like Kyle. Your phone was left upstairs, and you didn’t want to go back in fear of Kyle crying out for you and making noise, because it was dark and the only thing giving out light was the chandelier above the both of your heads. I mean, you could teach Kyle some basic vocabulary, but is that really something he was capable of doing while he scarfed down a piece of toast? Wait, wasn’t he supposed to apologize to you earlier? Maybe you can start up something with that.

You watched him chew on a large piece of toast, sending a few blinks in his direction as he paid no mind to you. Trying to get his attention, and prevent him from choking, you pushed the orange juice closer to him. Your nonverbal communication got to him, as he glanced back up to you and then looked down and took a sip from the glass. You waited until his mouth was empty to speak.

“Kyle?”

He looked back up at you, his eyebrows raising up again. He hummed, waiting for you to say something.

“…We don’t hit things in this house, unless someone else is hitting us, right?”

He blinked, his eyes slanting a bit, was he starting to get mad again? He nodded slowly, taking another sip of his drink. “Yes.” He responded with, there was absolutely no stutter or hesitation in his voice, maybe the others had already tried to educate him on that?

“Do you know what sorry means, Kyle?”

Once again, brickwalled. Jesus, what a poker-face. Maybe this is why people want to be a mind reader, hm? You had never felt scared of him before, and still hadn’t, but this interaction definitely made you tense up a bit. He could be a hell of a guard dog. God, you’re starting to sweat, calm down. Enough thinking to yourself, get to the point, because he’s obviously not gonna give you an answer.

“You know… when you do something bad, and it hurts people? It makes you… feel bad?” You asked, inhaling. He quickly nodded, sniffing and wiping his nose with the back of his hand. You nodded with him, deciding to ease up and take a sip of your coffee. A couple seconds of silence passed, and then you spoke again. “You say sorry, when you do bad things. I want you to say sorry.”

From an outsiders point of view (specifically Fiona, you could just picture it) they’d be laughing at the awkwardness of this conversation. Kyle didn’t know what awkward was, though. He took every word you said like it was, nothing felt personal to him. It gave you comfort, he had no high ego that could make him feel bad. Sure, he’s sensitive, but he had morals and a decent level of understanding like you did. Let me ask you again, did you see yourself in him? Someone who was once normal, thinking they had known enough, now forced to start from the top and had to adapt to what they had now. Shit, is that why you had to take care of him?

Naaah, you’re just overthinking it.

“Suh… orry. Sorry.”

“Good! You said it.”

“Mmhm..! Sorry!”

The difference between you and him? He was a quick learner. You, on the other hand, didn’t want to learn. You wanted to be normal, or at least control what you had (well, actually, doesn’t he want to also?). I mean, it’s been a while since you’ve tried controlling your own powers. It felt better helping him than helping yourself, hasn’t it? I don’t blame you, teaching someone basic math is muuuuch easier than trying to figure out how to make your bed float.

Kyle went back to eating after his successful lecture from the oh-so greatest but stopped after he finished his orange juice. There was still a bit on the plate, a piece of toast and a piece of bacon to be exact, as he looked up at you and then glanced back at the plate. “D…done.” He stated, grinning softly at you. He knew you were going to take the rest and finish it, and that’s exactly what you did. You nodded back at his words as you ripped the toast in half, chewing on your piece. For a dead guy, he’s pretty considerate. Makes you wonder how he was when he was alive, to be honest.

I think… you’ve only heard mentions of Kyle on the news, only when he had died. Words like… sweet, and caring, and friendly were on his memorial outside of that frat house. Shit, what was that frat’s name again? Kappa… whatever, they’re all the same, honestly. Maybe you’ll ask Zoe when she wakes up, I mean, she did bring him here.

After finishing the scraps that Kyle had left you, it was time to go back into your room. You didn’t hold Kyle’s hands up the stairs, you let him walk first, just to see if he could control his mobility first. You felt like you were starting to sweat, anyways. He stopped walking after a couple of steps and turned around to face you, only walking up again when you silently urged him to keep going up. It seemed like he got a bit weirded out by the fact that you weren’t walking up with him, he must’ve gotten used to holding onto you. Aww.

4:38 AM.

This should be about the time Cordelia wakes up, and starts working on whatever potion she has in her laboratory. Kyle was occupied with… himself, actually. He had discarded the iPad earlier, seemingly grown bored of AbcMouse and instead laying on his side, tracing unintelligible patterns on the hard wooden floor. He must be thinking to himself, you imagined. You were sitting on your bed next to an open window, starting to feel sick from the house-air. Did someone smoke, or was everything feeling nauseous to you? Ugh, you decided to start fanning yourself with your own hand.

You glanced back at Kyle, watching as his index finger dragged along the floor, collecting dust and a smidge of dirt from the floor onto his fingertip. You look a long sigh, spacing out and no longer focused on Kyle, just whatever he was trying to accomplish with his finger. K… X… L… E. Wait, that must’ve been a Y then? He was spelling his name, simply reminding himself. It felt good knowing that whatever he was learning on that device was working, but once you took another breath, your sliver of happiness faded with the smell. God… it felt like it was getting stronger.

There’s definitely something wrong in this school.

You didn’t have to wait longer to make up your mind, you had to go outside. Shuffling around and closing the window for caution of bugs getting in while you were gone, you set your bookmark in your book and slid off the bed. You tapped Kyle with your foot, raising your eyebrows and speaking a bit more faster. Your stomach felt… uncomfortable.

“Ky, cmon. We’re gonna go for a walk.”

“Mm?”

You didn’t have time to explain to him, but a part of you knew that he understood you. He’s not that… what’s the word? You pulled up your gloves and held your shielded hand out, trying to help him up. He groggily pulled himself up, following closely behind you with his hand sliding up to connect to the crook of your clothed arm. You walked down the stairs with him, hearing a faint whisper around the school. Cordelia… was awake? But why would she be near the living room?

When you peeked your head to look in the living room, she wasn’t there.

And when you walked around with Kyle, trying to find her to see what she could be muttering about, nothing. Odd, you decided to walk around more, but the more you wandered around you only felt more sick. Your little steps became into large, rushed power-walking steps. Something was wrong, if you couldn’t tell now. You went to her office, which was usually tidy and salubrious but seemed to be that she was working on something, at least you finally found her. The smallest amount of rational thought in your mind told you to not run outside of the house, but instead find her and ask her for some Advil or Tylenol, this had to be a migraine.

“Misty Day’s reincarnation might be a good help with this… if only she wa- what was that?”

Cordelia’s voice got louder as you stumbled into her office, she immediately turned to you, puzzled by your off-colored face and the sweat rolling down your forehead. She stayed quiet, letting you speak first. It was only then, you realized something.

“Why is Kyle here?”

But Cordelia’s mouth wasn’t moving. She wasn’t even talking.

I can’t really explain how you look like… but a good word is stunned. You stood there, looking around the area a bit as you fanned yourself with your free hand. Kyle was still behind you, his hand feeling up on the black woolen arm warmer you had on.

“Cordelia… ohmyfuckinggod..”

“Yes, dear?”

“Why is she awake? Go to bed. Why is Kyle here? Will nobody that boy alone, for fucks sake?”

You scoffed, a tad offended by her unspoken words. You wiped your forehead, shaking your head. “Something’s happening… Cordelia. Fuck, you’re so loud.” You breathily announced, letting go of Kyle and wiping your eyes. Your stomach started to hurt more, Jesus- you felt like you were about to throw up.

“I’m sorry?”

You walked over to her, discarding Kyle and his starstruck face as he looked around at the pretty colors and herbs around Cordelia’s little coven. For him, this was definitely a sight to see, getting a good look instead of crying over his new body parted tattoos, curtsey of his deceased friends. You stood in front of her, a hand placed on your stomach as you spoke, the acrimony rushing through your veins.

“The- the mind reading stuff. I can hear you… oh mygod- How do I make it stop? Fuck- my stomach hurts so much, ohmygod..”

And as her hand came to your clothed shoulder, she looked at you in the eyes with a concerned stare. “You’re hearing things again? Come here, sit down.”

She took you by the shoulder, walking you to a small wooden stool from the side of the room. Kyle, distracted by the sudden movement of you two, followed you closely once again.

“Cmhere, let me check your temperature.”

She took her hand up, and as her hand came up to your forehead, you felt your world burning around you and coming to a close. The heat was too much for you, and once her hand made contact with your bare skin, it went dark.

Well… not exactly dark.

5:12 AM.

Fuuuuuuck.

You must’ve woken up on the wrong side of the… couch?

Too early for jokes? Okay, sorry.

Your forehead felt completely cold, your drowsy eyes registering that you were staring up at the ceiling. Ugh, how long has it been? You brung your fingertips carefully up to your head, feeling on the rough ice pack on your forehead. When you pulled it off and placed it on the floor, you came to realize it was just frozen peas. Classic, actually- super fucking funny. You half-laughed, a closed mouthed smile forming on your face. Right… Cordelia must’ve put that on you. Where was she?

A sudden realization came to you, Cordelia touched your forehead. Shit, you’re supposed to know something, right? That mind reading thing that you have… what can you remember?

“…Cordeliaaa?” You called out, wondering where she was. Suddenly, a little- well, more like big- blonde guy popped up from behind the couch, squeaking a bit from your voice. You turned around, looking behind the couch and feeling surprised once you realized that Kyle was just behind the couch. He was sitting up now, with a cup of… sweet tea? He turned to you, his nose crinkling with his grin as the male cheered your name out, a sugary tone to his voice. He wiped his eye with the side of his hand, making it evident that he had been asleep also. He picked up the sweet tea from the ground, standing up and looking down at you, handing you the cup. The ice cubes in the drink had shrunken, almost barely noticeable.

“Hi, drink!” He chirped, watching you take the drink and take a sip out of it. Damn, not bad. You silently thanked him, the ineffable act of him waiting for you left you a little too speechless for your liking. You cleared your throat, speaking up. “Thanks, Ky’” You murmured, unable to hide the corners of your mouth turning upwards. “Your welh-welcome.” He replied, nodding. You placed the sweet tea on the table, exhaling out of your nose. He walked over to your side, away from the back of the couch, trying to help you up. You put your hands on his shoulders, shaking your head. “No… nah- I’m good. I’m gonna… sit down still.”

You heard Kyle think “Why?” as he stared at you for a bit, but he nodded and left you alone. He lowered himself to the ground, flinching once he had accidentally made contact with the peas. “Cordelia?” You called out again, turning away to the sound of her footsteps walking up to you. Her eyebrows were raised, and her arms were up in an… almost defensive state? She crossed her arms, calming down and lightly rubbing her right bicep with her left thumb. She spoke your name in a effervescent way, relieved to see you awake.

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” You asked, referring to her anxious thought. You could tell she was trying to not think as much, whispering to herself before shaking her head. “Nothing… um- actually, I need to know, what did you… see?” She prevaricated, running her fingers through her hair. You looked down, thinking to yourself a bit and then back at her. Suddenly, your eyebrows knitted into realization, looking back up at her.

“Did you… toss the coffees I made for you?”

Cordelia stood there, also looking dumbfounded by your conclusion. She smiled, nodding. There was no point in lying anymore, I mean- you already knew. She sighed in relief, chuckling.

“Okay… yeah. Yeah, I did.”

“Dude- I thought you liked my coffee.”

She ignored your words, walking over to you and putting a hand on the inside arm of the couch. “I’m glad you’re okay. I did some… tests- and, um, I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine for now.” She expressed, feeling a little more confident as she spoke. “Just… don’t stay cooped up in this house. I know your powers are getting stronger, but you’re probably dealing with some major stress.” All you could do was nod, biting the inside of your cheek. She nodded back at you, pulling her hand away from the coffee and walking backwards for a bit, turning away.

“Delia.”

She turned back, raising her eyebrows. “Pleaaaase don’t ask me.“ She mentally spoke to herself, leaving you to close your eyes for a brief moment, but you brushed her thought aside.

“Uh… why… don’t you like my coffee?”

“I’m a tea person.”

“Oh… crap.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” She spoke, walking out of the room. You sighed, your attention going back to Kyle, who was once again tracing patterns on the floor. He glanced up at you, pausing his actions and deciding to rest his cheek on the couch. He blinked at you a bit, expecting you to say something. You placed a hand on his scalp, moving around his bed (well, floor) hair to make it look more neater.

“So nice…” His blissful expression matched his imagination, shuffling closer to let you touch his hair. Your fingers stayed still while in his blonde locks, sighing. You definitely didn’t expect him to think that, but you definitely weren’t opposed to it. You carried on, carefully grooming him some more. Your brain went blank, not really worried on what was going to happen next or what you had to do later today. Just you, fixing a zombie’s hair, while the sun was getting ready to rise up and shine on you. Just complete nirvana. You pulled your hand back, wondering if there was anything else to smooth out or tuck away. Kyle looked up at you, probably expecting the same thing.

“So pretty.”

Oh.

You couldn’t help but smile, keeping your eyes on him as his soulless eyes crinkled with his crooked smile. You blinked, and then cheerfully sighed.

“Thanks.”

Kyle nodded, grabbing your hand and then putting it back on his head. Wait… he grabbed your hand? Damn, you couldn’t see anything about him, guess it must’ve went away…

Or, maybe, he just didn’t hide anything from you?

You’ll just have to poke Cordelia again to see why.

#kyle spencer #kyle spencer x reader #kyle spencer x you #kyle spencer x y/n #ahs #ahs coven #frankenwrites

61 notes · View notes

pb-dot · 30 days

Text

Film Friday: Shaun of the Dead

It is somewhat of a shock to me that I haven't gotten around to covering Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, and so I am aiming to remedy this over the next couple of weeks. First up is Wright's first feature film, the ever-quotable Shaun of the Dead.

First up, I want to talk about the title a bit. There's something so effortlessly correct about the thing, how it references George Romero's genre-defining -Of The Dead film series, while also telling one of the movie's central jokes, in that putting a "normal" character who has also perhaps seen a zombie movie into the highly stylized trappings of a typical zombie movie would quite naturally lead to some laughs.

Shaun, played by the always hilarious Simon Pegg, is in a very familiar twentysomething slump. He's living with his college friends and roomates Pete and Ed, but it's hardly a tenable position as Pete's choleric temperament doesn't exactly jive with Ed's dedicated slacker vibes, and Shaun's girlfriend Liz is getting kind of tired of Ed third-wheeling all the time they spend together. It all comes to a head when Liz dumps Shaun and he, after carousing to forget his sorrows with Ed, decides to sort his life out. As fate would have it, the day after is the day the dead rise from their grave, somewhat complicating matters for everyone involved.

The central gag of Shaun of the Dead is that while what one might call the standard zombie rules are in effect (aim for the head, don't get bitten, don't call them zombies,) people, chiefly Shaun and Ed, are also aware of the genre conventions. This way, the movie pokes gentle fun of the trappings of the genre, among others with the reoccurring "we don't use the Zed-word" bit.

It's not all gags, mind. While there are plenty of scenes that rely on jokes about zombie movie logic, as well as more character-driven fare given wings by a truly magnificent cast, there's also some great zombie violence going on. Shaun and Ed dealing with two zombies in their garden at the start of the breakout is violent and hilarious, and while it is somewhat limited, Shaun discovering the fate of Pete is a surprisingly strong horror moment in an otherwise silly sequence.

I would, of course, be derelict in my duty as a zombie nerd if I didn't talk about the siege of The Winchester and all the glorious zombie violence both given and received therein. The fate of David is a glorious bit of gore, and a fun reference to Day of the Dead if memory serves. Then there's the light gun rifle shooting business which is admittedly a bit sillier than the high drama of the scene perhaps calls for, although it works as a thematic thing as well as being a good further raising of the stakes.

I have, however, gone long enough talking about just the fun bits. One of the greatest strengths of Shaun of the Dead, in my mind, is its beating heart, its sense of empathy and warmth. All this clowning on zombie tropes could easily turn out crass and irony-poisoned, but this movie doesn't. In part, I suspect, because it was made out of genuine love for zombie movies, and in part because Shaun and Ed's bromance truly is one for the books.

Usually I don't love the term bromance because I feel it kinda skirts the line of being an early aughts "haha gay"-joke. In this case, though, and in fact in most cases where Pegg and Ed's actor Nick Frost shares the screen, it's hard to describe it as anything else. The two have such effortless and intertwined chemistry on screen that watching them have a good time is infectious and watching them have a bad time is captivating. While there are many strong emotional moments in Shaun of the Dead, surprisingly many for being a comedy, none hit harder than Shaun having to say goodbye to Ed, who has decided to stay behind to ensure his zombie infection doesn't hurt his friend... or his friend's girlfriend I guess. It's a moment of genuine tender masculinity, or as close to one as you could do in a movie in the early 2000's at any rate. The fact that the scene pivots on a callback fart joke doesn't make it any less of a tear jerker.

The challenging thing about writing about Shaun of the Dead, I feel, is that there's so much to talk about. From the zombie movie angle, this was the best of it's kind made between 1985 and 2007, jokes and all. From the comedy angle, there's so many wonderful bits, one personal favorite is Shaun's ragtag party of zombie survivors encountering a gender-swapped version of themselves led by Shaun's Ex going the other way. Then there's the heart, the Shaun and Ed business is one thing, and the resolution about the subplot about Shaun's disapproving (?) step-dad, played expertly by Bill Nighy is surprisingly powerful stuff. So, to try to close this thing before I write myself into a migraine, I'd say go check Shaun of The Dead out if you haven't already. It's a banger.

#film friday #shaun of the dead #cornetto trilogy #edgar wright #oh I didn't even get into the birth of the Edgar Wright Crash Zooms #oh well #this'll do

8 notes · View notes

adasknife · 11 months

Text

i have been checking more of john and ada (john is ada's 'boyfriend' from re1) anyways, i don't know how real this is but further on. because i haven't played the original re2 game (don't judge. i read things), it said that ada does carry a photo of john with her. john wrote her a letter (in re1) to expose all the stuff of umbrella but she never had the chance to read because she was never in raccoon city. ada discovered that john turned into a zombie in the spencer mansion thanks to annette birkin (?). in old comics (not sure if still canon), john was investigating the t virus hoping it will be the cure for cancer. he wanted ada's help but they never allowed it. he seemed like a nice guy... he wanted to help people and umbrella have him the money and he accepted. he was the couple of first people to realized what is happening; people are getting sick and the upper people of umbrella were acting strange. and we know what happens.

according to little there is to read of john, i prefer his relationship with ada and than with leon and ada. i as well wonder how the story will change if linda never changed to ada. OH! if you know more of the original games please correct me because i am... too lazy to check the tiny details.

and finally the letter re2:

Dear Ada ,

Ada, by the time you read this, I'll be something... different. Today's test turned out to be positive, just as I expected. I feel like going crazy when I think about becoming one of them.

Ada, you are not infected and I hope you never will be. In case you're the last one left, take the material in the Visual Data Room and go to the Power Room to operate the Triggering System before you escape.

If everything is in order, all the locks can be opened by the security system. You can access the system if you log in with my name from the terminal in the small lab and enter the password. The password is your name. To unlock the door at B2 where the Visual Data Room is located, you'll need to access with our name first and then enter another password.

I've written the code below. I'm sure you'll understand it easily.

And this is my last hope - if you find me completely changed, please kill me yourself.

Yours, John

and the other letter re1 remake:

My dearest Ada,

By the time you read this letter, I will no longer be the person you once knew. The results of my test came out today and I suspected, it came positive.

I feel like I am teetering on the edge of reason just thinking about my impending doom. I would give anything not to have to become one of them.

As far as I know, you are not infected. I sincerely hope things do not reach such a desperate pass, but if it has turned out that you are now the last person alive. I want you to get the material from the Visual Data room.

Then, activate the Self-Destruct System in the power room and escape from here. Please do everything in your power to make this whole accident public.

If everything is still running normally, you should be able release all the locks using the Security System.

I have set up the terminal in a small security room so that you can log in to the system using my name and your name as password.

You will need need another password to release the lock of the door of the basement Level Two where the Visual Date Room is located.

As a safety measure I have coded that password into an X-ray picture: a roentgenogram. I know you, and I'm sure you will be able to work it out without any trouble.

There is just one more thing... and it is my last request. I hope you never have to lay eyes on me in this state, but if you do happen to run into this hideous form, I beg you to put me out of my misery. I hope you understand.

Thank you, Ada

Yours truly, John

#resident evil #ada wong #re1 #re2

15 notes · View notes

cdreambur · 1 year

Text

after the new sorry video i just can't stop thinking about the fact that wilbur is pretty much canonically the type of person to hide his bite/injuries from his loved ones.

and like, dreambur zombie apocalypse au where his group leaves him to die after they discover the infection.

having lost his friends and family on the day of the outbreak and now left behind by the only people who took mercy on him, he's just trying to survive for as long as he can, seeking shelter in the nearby woods.

but he's never been an outdoor person, never been one for tactical survival, and the bite on his arm doesn't really help.

when rain starts to fall, so do his tears, and he curls up under a tree, hands tucked close to his chest to at least preserve the last of his body heat.

that's how dream, alone too after walking away from the group that was dragging him down, finds him.

with one look at wilbur, soaked, shivering, and drowning in a dirty old sweater, he knows that he can't leave him there.

he takes wilbur back to his base, an abandoned holiday home in a small clearing.

hands him new clothes, allows him to clean himself, gives him water and food.

offers wilbur to stay until he feels better.

in the next few days, they easily become friends, sharing experiences and telling stories from their life before the apocalypse.

dream thinks he finally found someone he trusts, someone he actually wants around during the end of the world.

wilbur just tugs his sweater sleeves lower and ignores the pain, thankful that his last days of being alive are filled with smiles and laughter.

#i love the sorry boys i love the sorry videos they bring me so much joy #never thought they would give me fanfic inspiration though #but here we are i guess lol #dreambur #c!dreambur #madduo #au ideas

22 notes · View notes

darklordazalin · 8 months

Text

Azalin Reviews: 'Darklord' Vlad Drakov

Domain: Falkovnia Domain Formation: 690 BC Power Level: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ 0/5 Skulls Sources: Domains of Dread (23); Domains and Denizens (2e), Ravenloft Gazetteer II (3e); Secrets of the Dread Realms (3e)

Ah, Vlad Drakov, the impaling loving little hireling Darklord of Falkovnia. Falkovnia is a land of rolling lowlands, fertile fields, and lush forests...All these resources are the only reason any other Domain in the Core puts up with this miserable failure, never-was conqueror.

Though the story changes slightly from pre and post Grand Conjunction days, Vlad was originally from the Kingdom of Thenol in the realm of Talades. Not Oerth, so clearly unimportant. Vlad and his little band of ruffians, who called themselves the Talons of the Hawk, were mercenaries. Vlad being the “Hawk” and the rest of his band of brutality being the “Talons”. Vlad doesn’t have a lot going for him, but he managed to scrape up enough charm to convince these Talons of his to do whatever he asked of them, which mostly amounted to them brutally slaughtering people for coin and Vlad impaling captives and watching them slowly die while he took on his evening meal.

Eventually, these hirelings wandered into the Mists and found themselves in the southlands of Darkon. Believing he discovered a new land, Vlad set about slaughtering my people. This did not work out the way he thought it would as his murders only gave me more weapons to work with. I sent the newly fallen and many of the old against him and his men. They fled, like the cowards they are, into the Mists.

Our ever present Tormentors thought it fit to gift Vlad with the Domain of Falkovnia then. Oh there’s some nonsensical “history” about Vlad overthrowing a “wizard king” known as the “Falcon the Great” before he settled in Castle Draccipetri and became the leader of the realm, but I place little validity on that story. Vlad couldn’t overthrow an army of ants let alone a powerful wizard king. Castle Draccipetri stands in the middle of an island on the Lukar River, a single, narrow bridge the only entryway, making it easy to defend, which matters little as no one would bother to send forces against him in the first place. The victory would be too easy.

The hireling was always looked down upon by the mighty lords and leaders that needed his brutality to win their wars and he desired nothing more than to be their equal and earn their respect. He was granted a position of rulership by our Tormentors, but the rulers of the other Domains will never respect him if they even notice him. He is akin to a fly; annoying yet easily swatted away.

Vlad tries to conquer the Domains that surround his, yet fails at every attempt. He has his heart set on Darkon, my Domain being vastly superior and richer than his own. I have lost track of the number of times the little hawk as attemppted to graps my lands in his talons, only to be swatted away by a horde of zombies. These failed attempts are barely worth the effort of a moment's work it takes for me to utterly destroy his forces. But some men do not recognize the futility of their own actions. Vlad also fails to understand where he is and why he is haunted by unsuccessful campaigns...well, besides the fact that he is always overreaching. King of the Dead here, stop sending your soldiers into my Domain and adding to my side of an utterly pointless fight.

Failing conquest and gaining the respect of his fellow lords, Darkov has little pleasure in life except impaling his victims and watching them slowly die. He also is quite fond of “hawking” and treats his hawks better than any of his mortal companions. He takes out his frustration on his people with oppressive and extensive laws, making life in Falkovnia about as meaningless and futile as Darkov’s campaigns against Darkon.

Vlad is a fearsome warrior, but given his curse is to never know victory or respect, I will award him zero skulls. Good day sir!

#darklordreviews #azalin rex #ravenloft #dnd #vlad drakov #vlad drakov invades darkon and is repealed #falkovnia #i guess he forced the treaty of four towers to come into existence #but even those domains with few soldiers are able to deal with this idiot

8 notes · View notes

ryanscabinlife · 1 year

Text

name 10 songs with 10 names in the titles that I like and tag 10 people at the end.

So I wasn't personally tagged on this, but after reading @allisonreader's post, I was inspired to do it. They left it open for their followers, so here I am listing 10 songs that I like that have names in the title.

I didn't realize writing a post with no pictures is extremely intimidating 🙃

i. Gale Song by The Lumineers - I can easily list the whole album where this song came from, but I only picked two that I like the most. One of them is the Gale Song. One of my go-to's when I'm having a campfire

Favourite line/s: "When you say my name, may it never give you pain"

ii. Marilyn Monroe by Nicki Minaj - I still remember when I first purchased the album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded back in 2012, and this was the first song that really caught my attention. It's still one of my favourite Nicki songs. It's also special coz one of the few songs where Nicki did not rap.

Favourite line/s: "Truth is we mess up till we get it right" "I can get low, don't know which way is up. Yeah I can get high, like I could never come down"

iii. Vincent by Don McLean - One of the few songs that I remember my dad listened to when he was alive

Favourite line/s: ."..how you suffered for your sanity and how you tried to set them free. They would not listen, they did not know how" "And when no hope was left in sight on that starry, starry night you took your life, as lovers often do"

iv. Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel - This song is a 'cleaning the house' staple for me. It just gives me so much positive energy

Favourite line/s: "Jubilation, she loves me again I fall on the floor and I'm laughin"

v. Angela by The Lumineers - the second song from the album Cleopatra - where The Gale Song also came from. Definitely a road trip/campfire song.

Favourite line/s: "Strangers in this town, they raise you up just to cut you down"

vi. A Rose for Emily by The Zombies - a really depressing song I discovered from a really depressing podcast. If you haven't listened to the Podcast "S-Town", give it a whirl.

Favourite line/s: "She keeps her pride somehow that's all she has protecting her from pain" "...as the years go by she will grow old and die. The roses in her garden fade away, not one left for her grave"

vii. Hey Jude by The Beatles - classic. Probably my favourite Beatles song.

Favourite line/s: "anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain, don't carry the world upon your shoulders" "Na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na, hey Jude Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude"

viii. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson - another classic. Don't have much to say about this song

Favourite line/s: "... be careful of what you do 'cause the lie becomes the truth"

ix. Think of Aaliyah by Boys II Men - probably the most 'deep track' on this list. A tribute to Aaliyah. RIP. A cover of "Think of Laura" by Christopher Cross.

Favourite line/s: "Hey Aaliyah, where are you now? Are you far away from here? I don't think so I think you're here taking our tears away"

x. Helena Beat by Foster the People - I still remember that year when I only listened to the album 'Torches' non-stop. It was a good year.

Favourite line/s: "You know those days when you wanted to choose to not get out of bed and get lost in your head again"

I don't know if anyone's gonna read this but if you did, consider yourself tagged!

#10 songs with names #10 songs tag #tag game

17 notes · View notes

nightoftheliving-dead · 3 months

Text

hey (to the handful of people following me)

i'm realizing now i've been gone for a hot minute in concerns to this blog and posting about alterhuman things

and that i've only come back a bit recently to reblog various concerns about Palestine, urgent internet bills/political related things, ect (which, there will likely be more reblogs on things relating to other events of crisis, Sudan and Congo for example)

and so with that, i wanted to say that i don't know if i'll return to post more alterhuman things anytime soon, simply because i'm easily stressed out by social media often.

i'll still post about current events going on because i genuinely can't let myself stay quiet about that, if anything

but in the meantime, i wanted to provide some personal updates;

★ i turned 16 a bit ago

★ i discovered i felt more comfortable with being otherlink, as well as likely having a nonhuman connection to canines (unsure of what yet but it is Likely otherlink if not otherkin)

★ drawing isn't really a hobby anymore as of right now, moreso a thing i just know how to do (as if i ever posted my art)

★ can't find much time to read lately but that might change

★ became a punk

if any of you did really look into this acc, i'm sorry for my absence

not saying that as if i'm leaving, but i'll primarily be posting about current situations or bills that need to be brought to attention

at the same time however, i'll be doing as much as i'm capable to do—my mental health isn't and hasn't been the best, and at the same time i may not post for a bit about anything from stress, increased pessimism, ect

from a zombie weirdo on the interwebs, take care

#🧟 the creature speaks...#🧟 txt #nearly forgot about my own tagging system #tl;dr #turned 16; dropped/lost energy for 2 hobbies; not leaving but will be mainly only posting about current worldly events #stay safe out there #i stand with palestine 🇵🇸#free sudan #free congo

2 notes · View notes

dzthenerd490 · 5 months

Text

File: Pontypool

SCP#: AFU

Code Name: The English Info Hazard Plague

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-AFU has been catalogued in a recorder with the words of the last person infected. The recorder is stored at Site-AO within the Level 5 Biohazard labs within a storage safe that no one but the Site Director and their personal A.I. knows about. Any testing with SCP-AFU must be approved by the Site Director. During testing all recordings must be muted and observers must be wearing Foundation standard earmuffs.

Description: SCP-AFU is an extremely anomalous pathogen that turns its victims into intelligent but rambling zombies. Hosts of SCP-AFU infection, act extremely rabid with blood leaking form their mouth and sometimes eyes and are determined to kill every non-infected human they come across. Their mortality is the same as non-infected humans so a well-aimed shot or several shots can easily kill an SCP-AFU host.

However, what separates SCP-AFU from other zombie related anomalies is how it infects its hosts. When a host of SCP-AFU hears a word a certain number of times, the pathogen will activate in their brain making them go savage. Afterwards they will repeat the words over and over while trying to kill all non-infected around them. Should a non-infected speak the words they will begin to have a distorted speech. They will begin to say sentences with words mixed up and even say random words until they repeat a word enough times leading to the activation of the pathogen.

Most anomalously when the infected hear a word or phrase enough times they will start to repeat that as well as their own trigger words increasing the amount of infection risk to those that hear them. The infection risk becomes stronger when it's a word that's easy for the listeners to understand the definition of. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if its spoken face to face, heard through the radio, or even listen to on a recording.

It's even possible for someone to speak the words of the infected to someone who's not infected and spread SCP-AFU as a result. Ironically this can grant one immunity, but it also makes them a carrier of SCP-AFU infection. The best way to resist SCP-AFU infection is to begin speaking gibberish intentionally, change your own definition of infected words, or not speak English. That last option is the best, as for some reason SCP-AFU infection only exists within English. Why this is the case is unknown. Unfortunately, this is only temporary as its possible for SCP-AFU infection to destroy any memories of other languages.

SCP-AFU was discovered in 2008 when [data expunged], Ontario suffered a sudden wave of riots and violent attacks among the people. The incident only got worse as people were talking about it, unknowing spreading SCP-AFU infection. The Canadian Division of the Foundation quarantined the area. Without knowing how SCP-AFU spread, they set up radio transmission jammers to stop all forms of communication, preventing the spread of SCP-AFU without even realizing it.

Afterwards Foundation security units shot down SCP-AFU hosts that tried to escape the quarantine zone. The few that were spared were experimented on in the on-site quarantine labs. Once it was becoming clear that it was not an anomalous pathogen but instead a Info Hazard of some kind, Mobile Task Force Eta-11 "Savage Beasts" was deployed into the area with 100 units surveying the area. They killed all infected hosts of SCP-AFU and recorded their infected words to be fully studied later.

The few survivors that remained were given Class B Amnestics. The cover story was that a case of mutant rabies was spread throughout the town and nearly killed everyone. The incident was so horrific that it caused memory loss for the survivors.

Testing has proven that SCP-AFU is fully capable of causing an AK Class Memetically Spread Behavior Scenario and eventually the extinction of everyone who speaks the English language.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

#DZtheNerd #SCP: Horror Movie Files #SCP: HMF #SCP Foundation #SCP Fanfiction #SCP AU #SCP #Pontypool #Horror Movie #Zombie movie #Zombie horror #Comedy Horror #Canadian movie #Canadian horror #SCP-AFU #Keter #Site-AO

2 notes · View notes

ridiasfangirlings · 1 year

Text

Title: Lovely, Dark and Warm (15/15)

Fandom: K Project

External: AO3

Pairings: Sarumi

Ratings/Warnings: M

Summary: Totsuka Tatara was dead, Homra was certain of that. But rumors persisted, that he had been seen wandering the alleys of Shizume, with blood on his shirt and a mouth hanging open.

In retrospect, that was how every zombie apocalypse started, after all.

Notes: And it’s done! Thanks everyone for dealing with my inability to keep a steady update schedule.

Neko ran back and forth excitedly, staring out all the windows of the airship and pointing down.

“Shiro, Shiro, look! Look, Shiro!” From one window and then the other. “Look there! Look, Shiro, that restaurant has a fish on the sign! Let’s stop for fish!”

“We’ll get fish soon,” Shiro promised with a soft laugh, walking up beside her. Neko looked up at him, hesitating for only a moment as if to remind herself that this tall man with the silver hair was indeed her Shiro, and then she brightened and gave a small cheer. Shiro put a hand on her shoulder, staring out at the cityscape that stretched before them. He’d seen it many times from up here but this was the first time he’d truly had people with him that he could call companions — friends, important people who he never wanted to lose.

“It seems we are nearly to our destination.” Kuroh came out of one of the side rooms, moving to join them by the windows. “Kukuri tells me they will be glad to see us.”

“I’ll have to thank the Blue King, that we were able to establish contact so quickly,” Shiro said with a soft laugh. After the defeat of the Colorless King a week ago all of the undead in the city had promptly ceased to move and had turned into the true dead. Scepter 4, in combination with Kokujouji’s remaining men from the Timeless Palace, had begun the heavy task of cleaning out the city, finding those still alive and attempting to return Shizume to something that could plausibly be described as ‘normal.’ The school island, too, had been a consideration in this, and Shiro had done his best to be sure they weren’t forgotten in all the mess. With so much else that needed taking care of, sparing people to fix up a school wasn’t easily done and so Shiro had requested to take responsibility for it. It was the least he could do, for the people he had sheltered with for months.

And besides…I really wanted to go back there. It was strange to think of now — the last time he’d been on this ship it had been his home and his tomb, a beast of steel and engine noise, soaring above the people who he had no interest in learning about. It had been a place of frozen time, where he remained forever unmoving even as the airship charted the same path around the city day after endless day.

The ship itself had been heavily damaged when the Colorless King had crashed it into Mihashira Tower. The remains had been stored beneath the tower haphazardly, out of sight, and then the Colorless King had largely forgotten about it. After the Colorless King’s defeat they had discovered that Kokujouji’s clan had not been entirely wiped clean and that many of the Rabbits had escaped that first night, when the Colorless King overtook Kokujouji’s body and began to kill as many of them as he could to make into his undead soldiers. Those who had escaped returned as soon as their injured but still alive King had summoned them back, and had been able to get the ship back into something of a working order. It was enough to get them back to the island at least.

From there…Shiro supposed it would be fine if he left the ship on the ground, and started to live with people. As long as Kuroh and Neko were with him, that would be enough.

“His Excellency sent a message as well.” Kuroh’s voice broke into his thoughts. “He wishes you well.”

“My old friend….” Shiro smiled softly. “I hope he recovers soon. I would like to talk to him more, when we have time.”

“I am sure there will be time later,” Kuroh agreed. “That is something I believe we will have much of, now.”

“I’ve always had it,” Shiro noted. “But you know…until now it hasn’t meant much. Is it weird that I’m looking forward to having time now?”

“I do not believe anyone would blame you for that,” Kuroh said, smiling. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“Yes,” Shiro agreed. “How is he?”

“Still sleeping.”

“I see…I hope one day soon he, too, will have time with us.”

The white-haired boy, the one whose body had once housed the Colorless King and then Shiro himself, slept in the bowels of the ship, still unconscious despite the Silver King’s power of ‘immortality’ healing the wound that would have killed him. He had remained asleep all this time and no one could say when he might wake. Even so, Shiro had requested to bring him along to the school island, using the airship’s own infirmary setup to look after the boy’s continued health.

In a way Shiro felt that he owed that child thanks, after everything. It would have felt wrong to leave him in a lonely hospital room to wake up surrounded by uncaring walls. This way, when he awoke, he would have friends nearby, and Shiro could finally tell him ‘thank you.’

“Shiro, look! The school! Kukuri!” Neko jumped up and down and waved, as if she could see Kukuri even though the school island had only just appeared over the horizon.

“Shiro.” Kuroh was looking at him, gently, and Shiro laughed.

“Well, then…let’s all go home!”

—

Awashima wiped her brow with the back of her hand, pushing away her own fatigue as she barked orders at another group of Scepter 4 clansmen moving boxes towards the hangar. There were supplies to be delivered to those still sheltering in place in the city and Munakata was still coordinating the rebuilding with the Gold King. There was no time for her to rest.

“Awashima-kun.” Munakata’s voice floated over to her as she approached and Awashima gave him a grateful smile. She rattled off a few quick orders to Akiyama and then moved to join her King, leaving Akiyama to take charge of things for just a bit.

“Captain.” Awashima saluted and Munakata waved a hand at her to relax.

“Please do not neglect your own health, Awashima-kun,” he said softly and Awashima frowned, wondering if she’d let the fatigue show on her face.

“I assure you sir, I am—“

“You are dependable as always,” Munakata said. “Still, even the most dependable must have a break now and again. Come sit with me a moment.”

It was then that Awashima noticed the two cups of green tea in his hands and she gave a relieved smile, nodding and walking with him towards a bench along the side of the warehouse.

“I assume all is going well?” Munakata handed her a cup and Awashima took it gratefully.

“Currently our reconnaissance of the city is at ninety percent. There are only a few more places which need to be mapped and added to the reconstruction list. Cleanup has progressed well and twenty percent of the city is ready for reoccupation.”

“Lower than I would like,” Munakata admitted, considering. “But still an excellent job nonetheless. We were fortunate that Tsubakimon took little damage, and Fushimi-kun was able to get the computer system up swiftly.”

“Speaking of Fushimi-kun, it seems he hasn’t returned yet…?” It wasn’t as though she liked to pry, but Awashima knew it wasn’t like Fushimi to not be hard at work even when all the rest of them were taking a break.

“He will be back shortly.” Munakata chuckled quietly. “He has taken few breaks in this last week. I believe he had some personal business to attend to, so I had him take a little time off.”

“So…he will be back?” Awashima hesitated to say it but felt that someone should. “Suoh Mikoto has returned and it seems even Homra is rebuilding. That being the case, Fushimi-kun could return there if he wished to.”

“There is no fear of that.” Munakata smiled widely. “As he left Fushimi-kun gave me quite the tirade, he was considerably annoyed at being sent away when he had so much work to do. I expect he will return in full good humor, as always.”

Awashima raised an eyebrow at that ‘good humor’ but decided it best not to respond.

“In any case, we will have to keep good relations with Homra as well. I assume Kusanagi-shi has been in contact?”

“Yes,” Awashima said. She fully remembered the scream when he’d answered the phone; apparently she had called right when he’d stepped back into Bar Homra for the first time since Homra’s failed attack on Mihashira. “They will do their part to assist the people on the ground. There are a surprising amount who remained hidden and safe throughout the ordeal.”

“Zenjoh-san will be coordinating additional refugees as well. The official line that His Excellency has sent to foreign countries is that Shizume was ground zero for an industrial explosion that released a potent poison gas, the fallout from which cut off all communications until recently.”

“Will that be believable?” Not that Awashima wanted to question the Gold King but such an explanation felt thin when they’d been fighting on the ground so long.

“Coming from His Excellency, I suspect it will at least be enough to silence questions for the foreseeable future, particularly as we do not expect such a disaster to occur again.”

“A disaster…” There was one other thing that was weighing on her mind but Awashima was uncertain if it would be presumptuous of her to ask.

“You are wondering about Suoh Mikoto?” As always, Munakata knew what she was thinking. “That man remains as troublesome as always. I had hoped that briefly becoming an undead might teach him some humility and restraint but, alas. I suppose one cannot expect a beast to become human so easily.”

“You told me he destroyed the Colorless King,” Awashima said carefully. “In that case, wouldn’t there be a danger from his Sword of Damocles?”

“Currently all is well on that end.” Despite his words Munakata looked thoughtful. “The Silver King’s power of ‘immortality’ seems to be able to extend beyond himself. He was, so he tells me, unaware of such a thing until the Colorless King pinned his body to the Dresden Slate. It was that ‘immortality’ which combined with the Colorless King’s own powers to create the virus we knew as the undead, and which gave the person who called himself ‘Isana Yashiro’ the ability to heal wounds delivered by those connected to the Slate. It was also that ability which he used to keep Suoh’s Sword in check. It is not ‘healing,’ in this case, but rather…a bandage.”

“Will that…bandage hold?”

“That remains to be seen.” Munakata smiled thinly. “In any case, it has bought us some time to uncover a more permanent answer. And in the meantime, Suoh is as energetic as ever.”

“The Red King…energetic?” Awashima repeated, mystified, and Munakata only laughed.

“Now, it seems our break is at an end.” Munakata set aside his empty cup and stood. “We have much work to do.”

His smile was confident and sure, and that was enough to set aside any lingering doubts in Awashima’s heart. He reached a hand out to her and she took it, rising.

They did indeed have much work left to do.

—

“Ah…another one.” Kusanagi couldn’t stop the dejected sigh as yet another wine glass broke into pieces in his hand. Even so he rubbed half-heartedly at the stem with a small dusty towel, putting a hand to his head.

It wasn’t like he’d expected the bar to be in the shape he left it in. It had been months after all, and they were in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. He knew from Yata’s report that the bar had been attacked after they’d left and he knew that the place wasn’t going to be in the best of shape after being left alone to the undead for so long.

Still, he hadn’t expected this level of destruction. The bar counter was covered in deep scratches and marks, ones that all the buffing in the world wouldn’t get out, and most of his glasses were beyond repair. There was absolutely nothing left of the wine and spirits collection that he was so proud of and the wine cellar was a mess.

Well, remodeling would probably be for the best on that one, I suppose. He’d also heard from Awashima, about Fushimi’s ordeal. All things considered, having the wine cellar ripped out entirely and a new one installed might be the better option. Either way, he wouldn’t be ready to reopen the place for a while yet.

The bell above the door chimed weakly and waved precariously on its crumbling chain as Mikoto walked in. Anna was by his side, clutching his shirt, and she ran to Kusanagi as they stepped inside.

“We found supplies,” Anna reported and Kusanagi smiled, looking up at the box hoisted onto Mikoto’s shoulder.

“Good work. We need to start restockin’, if we’re gonna help anyone resettle around here.” Most of that would be Scepter 4 and the Timeless Palace’s work, but Kusanagi expected there would always be people who would fall through the cracks and it would be Homra’s job to keep an eye on them. Being known as a place of shelter for those with nowhere else to go would be a start.

“Where do you want it?” Mikoto asked and Kusanagi pointed to the back room.

“Back there, if you don’t mind.”

“Mmm.” Mikoto walked past him and Kusanagi watched him go, thoughtful. The effects of Mikoto’s time as a living servant under the Colorless King’s control didn’t seem to be visible at all, but still it made him worried.

Anna’s hand touched his wrist and Kusanagi turned to give her a smile.

“Anna. Kamamoto was by earlier, he found somethin’ good for you. There’s ice cream in the freezer.”

Anna’s eyes went wide and Kusanagi put a hand on her head.

“Go on. It’s a treat for all the hard work.”

Anna nodded happily and slipped behind him towards the kitchen. Kamamoto and the other Homra guys that they’d managed to gather up had at least gotten the power back on and found him a fridge and freezer, so something was going right.

Mikoto returned from setting down the supplies, throwing himself onto the tattered couch and lighting a cigarette. Kusanagi reached for another glass and glanced over at him.

“You okay?”

“Guess so.” Mikoto blew smoke, staring up at the ceiling.

“I heard from the Silver King this morning.” Kusanagi crouched down, looking for something beneath the bar counter. “He said he’ll be by once they’ve gotten the school island cleared out. To decide what to do next.”

Mikoto scowled at that and Kusanagi sighed.

“I know. You don’t like bein’ bound to that guy’s goodwill, right? Not much we can do about it now.” Kusanagi’s face turned thoughtful. “He did us a favor though. You got to take care of him in the end, right? The guy who killed Totsuka.”

Mikoto took his cigarette out of his mouth for a moment, watching the smoke curl from the end.

“Yeah. ‘S a pain though.”

“Mikoto.” Kusanagi’s tone was enough to get Mikoto to look up. “You know I’m not gonna stand in the way of you doing what you want to do. But still…I’m glad you’re back, you know? For Anna’s sake too.”

Mikoto looked momentarily surprised and then gave a wry smile, nodding.

“Well…someone’s gotta deal with ‘that guy’ too.”

“The Blue King? Mikoto….” Kusanagi shook his head. “Just try not to destroy any buildings that aren’t already destroyed, y’hear?”

“Can’t promise that.” Mikoto was grinning though and Kusanagi couldn’t quite bring himself to argue with him.

“Well, anyway. C’mere for a sec.” Two glasses sat on the bar counter, slightly damaged, the best ones he’d managed to salvage. As Mikoto walked over Kusanagi grinned and held up his prize: a single pristine bottle of wine. “Had it hidden for a special occasion. Looks like even the undead couldn’t find it. Seems a good enough to time to try it, right?”

He began to pour them each a drink. Mikoto took the glass and lifted it to his mouth, only to be stopped by Kusanagi’s quiet voice.

“Totsuka….”

“Yeah. He’s gone. He was already gone when I got there.” There was something heavy in Mikoto’s voice but at the same time Kusanagi had the strange feeling that Mikoto was trying to console him as well.

“I see. Sorry I didn’t get to see him off.” Kusanagi held his glass up as if in a toast, and Mikoto lightly clinked his glass against it.

The bottom fell out of both glasses and wine stained their hands.

Kusanagi stared at it for a long moment, looking like an owl that had just missed its mouse, and then Mikoto gave a small snicker. Kusanagi found a smile spreading across his face and soon he was laughing too, shaking his head and handing Mikoto the bottle of wine. Mikoto tipped the bottle back in his mouth and took a drink, then handed it back for Kusanagi to do the same.

“That reminds me,” Kusanagi said afterward as he was setting the wine bottle onto the shelf behind the bar, “where’d Yata-chan get off to?”

“Hm, Yata?” Mikoto shrugged, glancing over as Anna ran up beside him with an ice cream pop in her hands. There was a secretive smile on her face.

“Misaki…is meeting someone important.”

—

Yata gave the vending machine a sturdy kick and was rewarded by it making a soft creaky whirring noise as it finally let go of the treasure inside. Two cans of cola dropped into the slot and Yata picked them up, one in each hand.

“Here. Saruhiko.” Yata tossed one to Fushimi as he approached the park bench where Fushimi sat hunched, wearing his blue uniform.

Yata still wasn’t used to seeing that. He didn’t know if he'd ever get used to it. But that wasn't really the important thing now.

“How old is this drink, Misaki?” Fushimi’s face twisted in displeasure as he caught the can.

“I dunno. The vending machine hasn’t been filled since the undead came and all, but the stuff that was in there when everything went down should still be good, right? Wait, the expiration…” He turned the can around in his hands, looking for a date, and then heard the sound of Fushimi opening the can beside him.

“Get to the point already, Misaki. I’ve got work to do.” Fushimi took a drink of the cola and then made a face, putting the can aside. Yata opened his own can and gave it a try. The soda was a little flat but it tasted good; he couldn’t remember the last time he had one of these.

“Don’t give me that, Saruhiko. Your boss is super lenient with you, right?” Yata grinned at Fushimi’s annoyed look. “Well, makes sense. You’re an amazing guy, Saruhiko.”

There was a long pause and Yata glanced hesitantly over at Fushimi. Fushimi had hunched forward and was staring down at his hands.

“…Not as amazing as Suoh Mikoto.” His voice was low and cold.

“That’s not what I meant!” Yata found himself taking Fushimi’s hands in his own. “Saruhiko. Hey. Look at me.”

“I am looking.” He wasn’t though, eyes turned away.

“Saruhiko…” Yata impulsively reached over with a hand, grabbing Fushimi by the chin. “Look. I’ll say it first, so you better listen to me. I’m…I’m sorry I left you behind, that time. I’m not gonna say it was wrong to try and go after that guy in Mihashira, or that Mikoto-san was wrong. But I should’ve listened to what you had to say too. I should’ve gone back for you as soon as I could, no matter what. Knowing I left you there all that time, when I could’ve been the one to save you…I’m always gonna regret that.”

He was staring straight into Fushimi’s eyes, fearlessly, and Yata could feel his face getting hot.

“I’m not gonna ask you to leave the Blues. Those guys did what I couldn’t so… so I guess I gotta be thankful to them for that. But you can’t convince me you don’t care about it, Saruhiko. I saw your face, when that guy made you think you’d killed me.”

“Moron.” Fushimi’s voice was soft, and Yata thought there was a faint flush on his cheeks as well. “You don’t know anything.”

“Then tell me. I’m right here, Saruhiko. Tell me everything I don’t know, so I can understand you again.”

“I’m not--” Fushimi tried to stand and Yata pulled him back down.

“I mean it. If—if you wanna talk about the cellar, I’m here. Or if you wanna talk about how your arm got hurt, or what happened in Mihashira, or when we fought back in Homra — I’ll listen to all of it. So tell me everything, and let me listen to you.”

“Misaki…” Fushimi’s eyes met his at last, the piercing blue that Yata knew so well, and Yata smiled back at him. “You really are an idiot.”

“So are you,” Yata replied, stubbornly. “If you don’t tell anyone, how are we supposed to know? I don’t wanna leave you in that cellar again. If—if you call for me, I’ll come for you, you know? I didn’t do it last time, and I could’ve lost you because of it. But if you believe in me and keep calling…this time I’ll be the one who gets to save you from the darkness.”

“That’s not something you can promise,” Fushimi muttered, slightly bitter, and Yata laughed.

“Yeah, well, I’m an idiot, aren’t I? I make stupid promises and I can’t seem to leave a guy like you on his own no matter how much you push me away. Guess we both just gotta deal with it, right?”

Fushimi froze for a moment and then his hand curled closed over Yata’s and he leaned forward tiredly, resting his forehead against Yata’s.

“You’re a real idiot. You couldn’t just hate me properly.”

“I’m glad you’re alive.” That was the truth of it, right there in those words, and they spilled from Yata’s mouth like a prayer. “I could’ve handled everything else, Saruhiko. But if you’d died…I don’t know what I would do.”

“You too.” Fushimi’s words were soft, hesitant, the kind of words whispered through a doorway in the darkness, and Yata knew he was pushing past something in his mind. “When I saw you had survived…it was annoying, that I wanted to hate you, and all I could feel was relief.”

“S-so, since we’re both alive…” Yata gave Fushimi’s hand a soft squeeze. “It’s okay, right? Whatever’s come between us, the stuff you won’t tell me and the stuff we both did wrong…it’s okay, as long as we’re still alive.”

“As long as we’re still alive.” Fushimi shifted and stood, pulling his coat around him.

“Saruhiko?” The sun was setting and in the light of dusk there was red in Fushimi’s hair, but when he turned his head towards Yata it looked like he was smiling.

“I have to get back to work, Misaki.”

“Ah, right. Yeah, I gotta get back to Homra, I promised Kusanagi-san I’d help…”

“Misaki.” Fushimi’s voice stopped him, and Yata looked up. “I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The words were awkward, as if he wasn’t sure he was saying them right, but they made Yata grin even wider and he laughed, waving a hand.

“Right. I’ll see you tomorrow, Saruhiko!” And the tomorrow after that, and the one after that.

As long as they were alive they could keep looking forward to those tomorrows, together.

#sarumi #Fushimi Saruhiko #Yata Misaki #k project #fic #the great unfinished zombie apocalypse AU #which is no longer unfinished!#this was the oldest unfinished thing in my drafts I'm glad it got finished after all this time

9 notes · View notes

equinoxts2 · 1 year

Text

15 Questions from Mutuals

@withlovefromayre tagged me and although I feel awkward singling anyone else out to tag, I’m happy to answer these questions. Ramble incoming!

Are you named after anyone? This is very embarrassing, but in 2014 I changed my name to one of the regions of a world where a then-favourite game site was set. Five years later, when I couldn’t take the high-tension, high-drama events that site did at least twice a year or the way the site’s staff encouraged the greedy, heartless attitude of most of the other community members, I turned my back on the fandom and have regretted picking that particular name ever since. Either way, I just couldn’t live with my birth name any longer - that never felt like me, to put it mildly.

When was the last time you cried? Last week, when I had two major emotional crises in two days. Sometimes I feel so out of place on 21st century Earth that I want to sue the universe for misincarnation or something.

The second time it happened last week, my mum took me for a walk round the park across the street to help me calm down. Nothing could lift me out of the depths of despair though - until we were nearly home and she picked a dandelion and gave it to me to blow the seeds off. Getting to be a kid again for a couple of seconds helped me to smile again, and pulled me back from the brink. I’m going to buy myself a piece of jewellery with a dandelion on it, so I can remember how much it helped me.

Do you have kids? No, I acknowledge that I’m not cut out to be a parent or a partner. I do consider all nine generations of sims I’ve raised so far to be my babies, though.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Sometimes, when I’m with someone I know won’t take it personally, like my mum. If I’m being completely honest, I can dish it out but I can’t take it.

What sports do you play/have you played? Truth be told, I’m a couch potato. Sixteen years of depression can do that to a person, though I am trying to get more active and healthy. However, I was very active as a child and I did once win a skipping rope race at my primary school sports day.

What is the first thing you notice about other people? Whether I feel comfortable around them or not. I’m autistic and I find it difficult meeting new people, but there are some people - including my regular support workers - who I’ve clicked with almost instantly. Others, I just get... spiky vibes or something from them.

Scary movies or happy endings? Definitely happy endings. I love musicals and Disney movies - and whatever I watch, it always helps for me to have a box of tissues handy.

Any special talents? I’ve been told I’m very insightful. I’m good at language creation, wordplay, worldbuilding and writing, with a particular flair for comic verse. I can also create and edit mods for Sims 2. One day I’d like to publish fantasy novels for children and young adults who might be going through rough times, to offer comfort and escapism and not hit too close to home by setting them in our world.

Where were you born? Whipps Cross Hospital in Walthamstowe, London. Apparently David Beckham was also born there. *shrugs* Whatever.

What are your hobbies? Mostly it’s Sims 2, reading about and creating various fantasy worlds, solo roleplaying, Plants vs. Zombies 2, and my mum and I are currently hyperfixating on another game app, Two Dots, which I discovered by accident. I also love being out in nature and have planted some wildflower seeds around the park near my home.

Do you have any pets? At the time of writing, I have an aquarium with six fish - one male and three female platies, one rummy nose tetra and one silvertip tetra who is easily the boss of the aquarium - and there’s an indeterminate number of amano shrimp in there too. It’s been nearly 18 months since we had to say goodbye to our elderly dog, Charlie, and I still miss him, it doesn’t feel right without a clueless lump of fur around.

How tall are you? 5′4″.

Fave subject in school? School was a living nightmare for me, but I did enjoy writing and art. I used to cry myself to sleep on nights before geography lessons though, because although I love learning about other cultures, I couldn’t bear hearing about wars and natural disasters.

Eye Colour: Dark brown.

#tag game #meme #ask meme #non sims #personal

7 notes · View notes

rust-bearer · 11 months

Text

There’s so much to talk about in a zombie au because it’s like. Of course almost everyone dies. Everyone first aid knows is dead, probably. His whole purpose is to heal people, and now everyone who could have needed help is a shambling corpse.

You’ve got stuff to consider like- the Internet, the power grids, nuclear power plants, natural disasters. Diseases, the ecosystems, unintended pollution. What do you do with your garbage? Libraries, museums, places with knowledge aren’t just at risk of zombies, they’re at risk of the environment themself now.

I can easily see First Aid being overwhelmed by this, because he’s got a very “let me help” personality. He wants to help people. Hes quietly terrified of not just the zombies, but what they will leave behind. Corpses he can’t bury. People he couldn’t comfort.

And then VORTEX. The opposite! He doesn’t worry about any of the existential dread of it, like libraries or museums. He’d scavenge, but find it boring; he isn’t scared of the zombies, and he isn’t scared to kill them. I can see Swindle helping set up a protection racket for survivor groups in the area, in exchange for supplies. Maybe they do some raiding, maybe not. Onslaught wouldn’t exactly condone it if he feels it will kill any real humans- not out of empathy but practicality. More hands to kill zombies. More bait to attract them too.

It isn’t until First Aid shows up that they start to really treat the farm as a farm. It’s not just a showpiece that swindle quietly sometimes cries over the concept of money for. Onslaught realizes the actual tactical advantages of crops, now. Brawl discovers his passion for soil biology and crop levels.

#first aid #hungry tag #vortex #onslaught #swindle #zombie au

4 notes · View notes

wizardlyghost · 2 years

Text

what annoys me about got/asoiaf is how the author seems to view his audience as opponents rather than companions, like his goal is to outfox them rather than tell a story to them.

like, i can acknowledge that there are parts of the series that are well written, but in a lot of places it also kinda reads like the author is a thirteen-year-old child of recent divorce who's just discovered neil degrasse tyson's twitter. or maybe that kid who takes a weird joy in repeatedly reminding the other kids that santa claus isn't real. "oh, you think the direwolves have special narrative significance to the stark kids? BAM one of them's dead now, real life isn't that predictable you stupidhead. oh, you think the other stark kids are gonna survive? BAM red wedding, how does that make you feel? oh, you thought there was even a chance of anyone actually uniting against the zombie army for more than five minutes? suckers, the only thing humans know how to do is commit horrible acts of spite and greed against each other." like, george, buddy, who hurt you?

idk, i guess this kind of grimdark nonsense just frustrates me a bit. especially after reading the witcher series i can't help but notice how little the "this is just gritty realism" argument holds water. from what i can remember there really isn't any chance that anyone's gonna "survive the winter", not with everyone dying and everyone's stockpiles being depleted in one pointless war after another - the entire country is doomed, either by zombies or starvation, and it's not even a satisfying tragedy because there's no hope. the thing i really really love about andrzej sapkowski's work is that there's always hope, in the little moments where regular, shitty people are kind when they could just as easily be cruel, but in martin's world the only things that seem to matter are sex and death and proving that anyone who was ever "good" will eventually pick up the knife to get out from under it.

this is an incredibly unoriginal take that nobody should possibly care about but it is 11:07pm and i felt the need to throw this into the void so i could stop endlessly lecturing myself about it in my head.

13 notes · View notes

rallamajoop · 2 years

Text

Resident Evil Village

So, although Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was (and very much still is) supposed to be next in the gaming queue, I somehow spent Christmas playing Resident Evil 8: Village.

And having now finished this damn game on three different difficulties, developed an addiction to the Mercenaries challenge mode, discovered a host of unexpected feelings about Ethan Winters & family and that Heisenberg bastard, and read a godawful amount of fic… I’m still a little undecided how surprised I should be that it sucked me in so hard.

Because on the one hand, if anything in that crazy franchise was going to get me, clearly it was going to be the one full of vampires and gothic horror tropes (not to mention being set in that one mysterious region of Romania we all know from the Hammer films, where everyone speaks English for no particular reason). Looking back, I’ve been in and out of horror-adjacent fandoms since, oh, about when the first Venom movie came out – maybe this was the next logical step.

On the other hand, it’s an FPS: a genre I only grudgingly came around to at all a matter of months ago. And though my days of saying I don’t do FPS are now undeniably behind me, it’s also a horror game, and (all recent records aside), when it comes to horror games, I am a wimp. The kind of wimp who watched playthroughs of P.T. back in the day going holy fuck I could not manage to walk down a corridor in this shitshow the atmosphere alone would smother me alive. The kind of wimp who noped the fuck out of Portal on the very first level featuring turrets (holy shit, they’re shooting at me? Those are bullet holes in the wall! Is that MY BLOOD on the wall? Oh my god how am I not already dead oh my god) and never came back.

What made the difference this time? Well, apparently my general aversion to shooting people doesn’t so much apply to lycans and zombies, and horror games are much easier to deal with when you’ve already watched a Let’s Play of the whole thing, and know what you’ve signed up for. Or maybe I’m just old and jaded enough that I’m not as easily scared by pixels as I used to be. It certainly helped that Village leans more towards the shallow, action end of the survival horror pool. But as for That One Bit that everyone talks about when they discuss how RE8 made them shit their pants, I can only admit that the other thing I learned about myself watching those playthroughs of P.T. is that ‘screaming mutant foetus monster’ is exactly the point at which my brain gives up on terror and just goes “…well that’s just a bit gauche, isn’t it?” (Don’t talk to me about those don’t-look-away walking dolls from the DLC though. That bit got to me like no screaming foetus ever did.)

No, the really odd thing about me suddenly falling hard for this game is that, well, it didn’t get me at the time. Much as I’ve enjoyed watching apparently the whole rest of the internet being brought together in mutual horniness for the incomparable Lady Dimitrescu, the whole step-on-me-mistress-thing has never really been my jam – and though I did watch that Let’s Play of the full game way back when, nothing about it grabbed me enough to become really fannish about it at the time.

What changed? Well, we can partly blame a couple of youtube channels I’ve been casually following lately by folks who were also big Resident Evil fans. But the tipping point may have been my questionable decision to watch a playthrough of the new Shadows of Rose DLC at exactly the wrong (or perhaps right) time of the month, resulting in me bawling my eyes out and discovering feelings about the Winters family I never knew I had.

All that said, actually buying and playing the base game was one of those random whims, entered into with 0 expectations I was actually likely to finish the thing. I mean, the factory section alone looks like such a slog.

…so it turns out that (putting aside the hassle of navigating the place) the factory can be a ton of fun once you’ve figured out what you’re doing.

What can I say? This is a game truly brimming with personality, the dark-fairytale vibe utterly works, the campy OTT villains are a delight, I will gladly fight anyone trying to tell me Ethan’s a boring nothing of a protagonist – and having had the time to get past the “GDI game is this guy supposed to be a lycan or not? MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MIND!”-annoyance* that stopped me from enjoying Heisenberg properly while watching the playthrough, this time I fell for him hard (and wound up shipping him with Ethan, so fandom has got me again). The ending delivers, the horror elements are on point, and it’s just damn good fun to play.

Doing my first run on Casual difficulty was my one mistake. It’s the mode most widely recommended to the inexperienced player, but either that’s a recommendation calibrated for folks playing with a controller rather than a keyboard, or all that time playing Deus Ex (which, I remind you, is heavy on stealth takedowns and 3rd-person-cover mechanics that do not apply here at all) prepared me better than I realised, because Casual difficulty bored me. The mechanics, world and story still carried me through, but I did not die a single time that wasn’t thanks to an insta-death mistake. There’s no way to change difficulty mid-game, and you’re far enough in by the time you really get to find out how difficult combat was going to be that I didn’t feel like restarting. But having finished the game, I was hungry for a real challenge.

So this is when I noticed New Game+ was an option – as was unlocking infinite ammo for many weapons – and rationally deciding that replaying on only Standard difficulty with the added advantage of all those upgraded guns wasn’t going to cut it, I jumped difficulties right up to Hardcore mode.

This, too, may have been a mistake. The very first lycan attack had me running to the Internet for advice on how to survive it (it turns out the accepted strategy is basically to just hide in a cellar for as long as possible, then leg it into the next house and climb halfway up a ladder, where you’re very hard to hit). But with that milestone cleared, I found my groove, and had a much better time (though I certainly died a lot more this time through). Even with all the upgrades, it was pretty damn punishing in places – but punishing in the way that forces you to really engage with the mechanics (or at least learn to love the good old ‘set a mine and back away’-strategy). And I’m pleased to say that unlike DX:HR, RE has proper difficulty modes: we’re not just tweaking damage ratios, enemies also get much faster and more aggressive at higher difficulties – not to mention those damn lycan archers now apparently have the accuracy of a sniper.

Having beaten the game on Hardcore, I was pretty well done (there’s an even harder mode, Village of Shadows, but I wasn’t looking for that much punishment). But any lingering doubts about how fully I’d embraced the shooty-bang-fun-times side of Resident Evil gameplay were well and truly put to bed by the time I’d discovered the Mercenaries bonus game.

This mode sets you up with limited weapon selection up against a hoard of easy-to-kill enemies, scoring you higher the longer you can keep a combo going. Again: not the sort of thing I expected to suck me in, but anyone who’s ever watched me play a rhythm game will know that I can be a real sucker for a full-combo challenge. Mechanically, it’s almost the opposite of beating the story on Hardcore, but it forces you to learn layouts of some game areas in ways you never needed to before, and actually seeing numbers for how much damage you’re doing illuminates so many mechanics you were just guessing at.

Better yet, there’s a hoard of stuff you can unlock by playing it, including (as of the DLC!) the ability to play as Heisenberg or Lady Dimitrescu, which is a whole heap of fun in its own right. And if you’re prepared to play long enough to get 25 other achievements (I was), you can even unlock ‘special customisations’ for most of your weapons in the main game – boosting damage even further, or a bunch of other bonuses that I could not resist trying out…

…only, having already beaten the game on Hardcore, there wasn’t much appeal to doing that again, only with less challenge. So… oh fuck, I’m going to play this thing on Village of Shadows difficulty after all, aren’t I?

Honestly: no regrets. Lord knows I’d never survive this mode going on raw (shut up shut up I’M NOT GOING TO TRY), but it’s very doable on New Game+2. And it’s very much the mode for folks who’ve already beaten the game at least twice, because just when you were getting familiar with the story’s pre-scripted roster, this mode mixes it up and throws in new enemies where you don't expect them (and just rarely enough that they’ll always be a surprise). Having trouble with those lycan archers on Hardcore? Well, now there’s more of them, in places you didn’t expect! Had enough trouble escaping Lady D. after she slices off your hand? Ha, now we’ve spawned an extra enemy in the same space, and did we mention that you have no weapons you can use one-handed? (Seriously, good times! And that’s ‘times’, plural, because surviving that one took me a few tries.)

All that said, I’m not sure those ‘special customisations’ were really calibrated for even this difficulty – and they’re vague enough that you’ll find that out the hard way. The magnum’s ‘Extra damage against lycans’-bonus, for example, apparently means ‘can now one-shot even the alfa varcolac miniboss’ (pictured below). And sure, that’s the magnum: but the sniper rifle’s ‘extra damage at range’ can do the same thing. It’s just maybe a bit much.

Honestly, I’d be all for it if the point was to give players who really want that Village of Shadows achievement another way to get it – but then you get to the gauntlet that is the endgame, and all that fancy souped up inventory gets taken away from you for plot reasons.

Actually, I’d put the start of the endgame-gauntlet back at Sturm (last boss of the factory level before Heisenberg), because even though you’ve got your regular guns there, he’s invincible from the front, charges like a mad bull and can apparently target you through solid walls. Then you fight Heisenberg, in the obligatory here-have-a-tank sequence, and neither New Game+ upgrades or special customisations have any effect on your tank. And then you get the section where you have to play as Chris, whose lousy pistol-and-machine-gun arsenal is also unaffected by special customisations (though I can see no good reason why not). And Chris’ section really is a gauntlet, with an uncooperative auto-save, an infinite stream of charging lycans, and another boss fight against some bastard who doesn’t take damage from the front, swinging a giant mace in a tiny arena. All of a sudden, you’re playing the exact same version of this game as someone who never hit New Game + at all.

I died a lot in this section. Seriously, so many times. But I stuck it out, and I gotta say, damn but these higher difficulty modes force you to learn how to play. In case anyone else reading this actually wants some tips: stuck at the Stronghold? The trick is to book it back to the entry passage the moment the first wave starts, maybe drop a mine or two, and use the narrow space for crowd control (same thing works during the second wave – it gets a little less intense from there). Stuck in the factory? Learn to love flash grenades! Sturm? Again: flash grenades! (You would not think a guy with a propeller for a face would be so susceptible, but who am I to argue with results?) Heisenberg? Turns out aiming for those glowing weak points really does make a difference, and your tank can make a MUCH faster dash out of the way of his charge move if you stop firing the machine gun. Chris? God, don’t even get me started on Chris.** (“Oh my god, Chris, your lousy pea-shooter guns have all the stopping power of wet tissue! Get a real gun, you LOSER!”)

After all that, the letdown at the end is that Miranda (the final boss) is kind of a piece of piss. You finally get all your old inventory back, and she takes damage from the front and everything. After dying a stupid number of times reaching every milestone above, Miranda went down in one go. I’d be more unimpressed by this, but after all Ethan’s been through at that point, maybe he kind of deserves it.

Obviously, I had to play Rose’s DLC bonus campaign too, but – much as I loved it for story and atmosphere – it was admittedly less fun to play. That’s probably deliberate: it’s much more down the survival horror end of the action-horror spectrum – aiming is slow and cumbersome, and your options and resources are very limited. Given that you’re playing as a teenage girl rather than a grown man on his second rodeo, that makes a lot of sense… but there’s still not a lot there to have me eager to come back for a replay. (Her final boss battle is a lot more satisfying, though it does suffer from the fact you’re thrown so many new mechanics that just figuring out how you’re supposed to use them is pretty distracting.)

I could go on at this point – as always in new fandom mode, I have so many thoughts on the world, the fandom, the challenge of piecing together the backstory timeline, the possibilities for where this series might go in future, and how poor Mia deserves so much more love than she gets – but that can all wait. The long and short remains: I never would’ve imagined how hard I could get sucked into this game, but I have had such a time learning how wrong I was.

* Look, if a guy who shows up with the lycans, and can apparently command other lycans, is not supposed to be a lycan himself, then maybe think twice before including another giant lycan character who a) wears his coat, b) USES HIS HAMMER and c) never appears on screen at the same time as him. You’ll save so much confusion on the part of your audience, I promise!

** Really? Well, fine.

The game autosaves shortly after you beat the first two varcolacs (I found it helped to go left around the fungus into the field, and use some grenades), and again once you reach the clearing (protip: if you can make it there, everything behind you despawns! There are a couple of real waves of attackers to get through to get there though, plus a slow-but-constantly spawning stream of lycan runners to mask that), then one final time before you jump down the hole. Knowing those auto-save points is useful, because 1) reloading your last manual save point will put you all the way back before the Heisenberg boss fight, which is officially Too Far, and 2) if you pass an autosave accidentally after using up all your supplies and on low health, the next bit is going to be that much harder. To survive the clearing, forget killing everything: spend the first wave hiding behind the house on the right with the supplies (it confuses them), and the second hiding behind the other house with supplies on your left, then climb the ladder to the roof and stand up to target the mould. Don’t climb the roof earlier: the archers will get you. To survive the boss, try to run under his swings when he leaps at you, hit him with a flash grenade every time your pals with the goddamn space laser are ready, target him, then shoot the hell out of the weak point on his back. [deep breath] DONE! (And goddamnit, Chris, if I have to listen to you say ‘I’ve reach the target clearing. Damn this looks big’ one more time, I will shoot you myself.)

#Resident Evil Village #Resident Evil #more overlong gaming anecdotes

8 notes · View notes

halothenthehorns · 2 years

Text

Chapter 9: I HAVE THE WORST FAMILY REUNION EVER

"Well you've already discovered a missing, illegitimate half-sibling and the black sheep is the one hosting, so how bad can it go?" Even Will's smile looked a bit strained though as he couldn't spin this as a good thing when Thalia read the new chapter title.

"As long as Sally isn't there," Nico muttered quietly enough Percy wouldn't hear and freak out.

Annabeth volunteered to go alone since she had the cap of invisibility, but I convinced her it was too dangerous. Either we all went together, or nobody went.

"Nobody!" Tyson voted. "Please?"

"That's two votes for Annabeth," Will chuckled to himself, before noticing Nico's odd frown and whispering, "part of the original story-" but Thalia was already reading again before he could continue, so he mouthed lunch. Nico nodded and found himself looking forward to it.

But in the end he came along, nervously chewing on his huge fingernails. We stopped at our cabin long enough to gather our stuff. We figured whatever happened, we would not be staying another night aboard the zombie cruise ship, even if they did have million-dollar bingo.

"Wise choice, bet it was Annabeth's," Thalia grinned.

"Million-dollar bingo sounds like a scam anyways," Percy muttered rather than agreeing.

I made sure Riptide was in my pocket,

"Where else would it be?" Magnus frowned, wasn't it always there?

"I slept with it under my pillow and had to make sure it reappeared," Percy shrugged.

and the vitamins and thermos from Hermes were at the top of my bag. I didn't want Tyson to carry everything, but he insisted, and Annabeth told me not to worry about it. Tyson could carry three full duffel bags over his shoulder as easily as I could carry a backpack.

We sneaked through the corridors, following the ship's YOU ARE HERE signs toward the admiralty suite. Annabeth scouted ahead invisibly. We hid whenever someone passed by, but most of the people we saw were just glassy-eyed zombie passengers.

As we came up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Annabeth hissed, "Hide!" and shoved us into a supply closet.

I heard a couple of guys coming down the hall.

"You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?" one of them said.

"I'm not going to like knowing what that is am I?" Magnus frowned.

"Is a dragon ever good news?" Alex frowned along.

'It fits in the cargo hold, might not be too bad?' Hearth signed without hope.

Thalia was to disheartened by remembering the only time she'd seen the blessing of Ares, the exact details of why to depressing to even laugh at their naivety.

Will halfheartedly explained the difference between drakon's and dragon's while Thalia barely let the news settle before she quickly read on.

The other laughed. "Yeah, it's awesome."

Annabeth was still invisible, but she squeezed my arm hard. I got a feeling I should know that second guy's voice.

'Huh, wonder what that feels like,' Hearth rolled his eyes.

"A feeling that is never helpful to us," Jason grumbled, positive it wasn't Luke again, but wishing Neptune had given them an audiobook now.

"I hear they got two more coming," the familiar voice said. "They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man, no contest!"

"It's no fun if there's no contest," but there was no heart to Alex's snide little comment, he knew this could not, in any way, be fun.

The voices faded down the corridor.

"That was Chris Rodriguez!"

"Are we supposed to know that name?" Jason protested.

"No, Percy hadn't mentioned him yet," Will shrugged with a sad smile he'd even known him well enough to recognize his voice, he wasn't so sure Percy would have known his at the time if he even knew he existed.

Annabeth took off her cap and turned visible. "You remember— from Cabin Eleven."

I sort of recalled Chris from the summer before. He was one of those undetermined campers who got stuck in the Hermes cabin because his Olympian dad or mom never claimed him.

Will's smile vanished entirely, as even he only dimly recalled Chris very well among the various Hermes kids. He'd been one of the many sent to cabin 11 who'd gone around to all the other campers when he first arrived trying to figure out who his godly parent was but never quite figured it out. After the Titan War, Hermes had claimed him as promised, but Chris hadn't exactly yelled and cheered as he sat next to Clarisse at the campfire that night.

Nobody really understood how it was possible Hermes, after all those years, hadn't once answered his prayers amongst his own siblings. What could have changed if just the tiniest amount of thought had gone into this child? Had Hermes stopped claiming his kids because of what was prophesied about Luke? They'd never really know.

Now that I thought about it, I realized I hadn't seen Chris at camp this summer. "What's another half-blood doing here?"

"Luke was lonely and wanted company," Thalia spat.

Percy wanted to protest that made no sense, but a small little part of him instantly understood that had nothing to do with his headache returning.

Annabeth shook her head, clearly troubled.

We kept going down the corridor. I didn't need maps anymore to know I was getting close to Luke.

"Does he have his own you are here dot now?" Alex smirked.

I sensed something cold and unpleasant—the presence of evil.

The expression faded from Alex's face as he watched Thalia again flinch. He didn't know as she did how intrinsically Luke was already tied to Kronos, how much worse it could get, but the fact Percy already sensed it made her realize just how unprepared she was to get that first-hand account in the Labyrinth, her own memories of seeing him like that in the Battle...gods please, she wanted out of here before that! She'd pray to Zeus if she had to!

"Percy." Annabeth stopped suddenly. "Look."

She stood in front of a glass wall looking down into the multistory canyon that ran through the middle of the ship. At the bottom was the Promenade—a mall full of shops—

"Oh that's what that meant," Jason tried to say cheerfully. Everyone had gone eerily silent as Thalia kept reading in an ever-shaking voice, but he couldn't stand not trying to do something to help her. "Nobody told me what a Promenade was and I thought it had something to do with pomegranate lemonade."

Percy snorted beside her and Thalia looked up with mild exasperation again. "This is the reason Artemis loathes having boys on her missions, all you think about is food." She knew he'd been joking though, and the silly comment helped her to at least sound mildly more calm again as she kept going.

but that's not what had caught Annabeth's attention.

"Good of her to avoid that cliché," Will grinned.

"I bet if it had been Waterland merchandise she would have caved," Nico muttered.

Will chuckled in surprise and quietly agreed, "or a bookstore."

Thalia was ignoring their obviously whispered conversation and still reading, so they had to turn away, but both were now smiling faintly.

A group of monsters had assembled in front of the candy store:

"That would catch anyone's attention," Percy said tragically, as he couldn't say with an honest heart which he would be more likely to prioritize, especially if they had blue jelly beans.

a dozen Laistrygonian giants like the ones who'd attacked me with dodge balls, two hellhounds, and a few even stranger creatures—humanoid females with twin serpent tails instead of legs.

"Scythian Dracaenae," Annabeth whispered. "Dragon women."

"That is so cool!" Magnus gasped. "Like Medusa but more sociable?"

"Remember that when they're trying to kill you," Will shivered.

'Not if they're hanging next to Canadians,' Hearth agreed.

"Does this just confirm there's a human-animal hybrid for everything out there?" Alex grinned. He was ignored, mostly because, he was probably right.

The monsters made a semicircle around a young guy in Greek armor who was hacking on a straw dummy. A lump formed in my throat when I realized the dummy was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. As we watched, the guy in armor stabbed the dummy through its belly and ripped upward. Straw flew everywhere. The monsters cheered and howled.

The idea of why Chris was there only theorized moments ago now fell like a wave crashing into this room though as they only got confirmation. Luke wasn't the only child of the gods in this strife, and that was more dangerous than any of those monsters. Because that guy in Greek armor could waltz into Camp even if the borders were healed.

Annabeth stepped away from the window. Her face was ashen.

Hopefully it wasn't because Annabeth had recognized another missing friend, Will thought as he sat back in his seat. This was bad enough.

Nico watched Will's growing distress and felt more useless than ever. He knew the feeling of betrayal well, some days it felt like he'd never met a soul who hadn't let him down in some way, but knew it wasn't the same as Will's grave face for this. Just because he healed the injuries of battle didn't mean he knew how gruesome war could get.

"Come on," I told her, trying to sound braver than I felt. "The sooner we find Luke the better."

After hearing all of this though, Jason now wondered if it would even be enough. Luke was obviously the ring-leader in this anti-gods ship, but it wouldn't be hard for somebody to take his place as easily as half-bloods and monsters alike were amassing.

At the end of the hallway were double oak doors that looked like they must lead somewhere important. When we were thirty feet away, Tyson stopped. "Voices inside."

"You can hear that far?" I asked.

Hearth looked baffled at the question. 'How far can you hear?' He asked his friend.

Magnus was stumped for a moment as he'd never counted or knew the average, but assured, 'not from that far behind doors. Must be a cyclops thing.'

Tyson closed his eye like he was concentrating hard. Then his voice changed, becoming a husky approximation of Luke's. "—the prophecy ourselves. The fools won't know which way to turn."

Hearth was fascinated at the idea. He'd come across a ventriloquist street vendor once and Blitz had to explain to him what he was doing, despite the subtle shifts in his expression indicating he was doing something with his voice. He'd met a few foreign people and struggled to read their lips as their accents completely changed certain ways their mouths moved the letters. He wondered if he'd be able to read Tyson's lips and grasp whether he was speaking for someone else or not.

Before I could react, Tyson's voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy we'd heard talking to Luke outside the cafeteria. "You really think the old horseman is gone for good?"

Tyson laughed Luke's laugh. "They can't trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet.

Something of this had been mentioned before, but they'd thought Chiron had gotten in trouble for not being able to cure the tree. It hadn't been a great answer, but an answer. This implied there was even more to the centaur to learn.

The poisoning of the tree was the final straw."

"What was the first straw?" Percy muttered, and he wasn't even imagining Chiron eating hay. That much.

Annabeth shivered. "Stop that, Tyson! How do you do that? It's creepy."

Tyson opened his eye and looked puzzled. "Just listening."

"Keep going," I said. "What else are they saying?"

Tyson closed his eye again.

He hissed in the gruff man's voice: "Quiet!" Then Luke's voice, whispering: "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Tyson said in the gruff voice. "Right outside."

Too late, I realized what was happening.

I just had time to say, "Run!" when the doors of the stateroom burst open and there was Luke, flanked by two hairy giants armed with javelins, their bronze tips aimed right at our chests.

"Well," Luke said with a crooked smile. "If it isn't my two favorite cousins. Come right in."

"I'm terrified of what you have to do to make that list," Will scoffed.

The stateroom was beautiful, and it was horrible.

"Interior designing is a hard balance," Alex said tragically.

The beautiful part: Huge windows curved along the back wall, looking out over the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched all the way to the horizon. A Persian rug covered the floor. Two plush sofas occupied the middle of the room, with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany dining table in the other. The table was loaded with food—pizza boxes, bottles of soda, and a stack of roast beef sandwiches on a silver platter.

The horrible part: On a velvet dais at the back of the room lay a ten-foot-long golden casket.

"That is a mood killer even pizza can't fix," Magnus frowned. "Is he arranging his own funeral?"

"Finger's crossed," Jason scowled as Thalia grew paler by the sentence.

A sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the casket made the whole room feel cold.

"Did Hades make it?" Jason was sort of joking, but also distinctly remembered his palace being described similarly but black instead of gold.

"Or Will and Nico did an arts and crafts project together," Alex smirked. It was the odd embodiment of watching Will and Nico sit next to each other anyways.

Nico gave them a thousand-yard glare and was reconsidering maybe he should just go sit alone and forgo Will's oddly refreshing company when said boy snapped, "this thing is no joke guys!" His voice was of the most mild reprimand, he knew they didn't know better and were just goofing around in a story they had no direct involvement in, but he didn't think this was something to be laughed at.

"All right," Alex shrugged, "fair enough."

Jason was even more confused and watched Nico intently.

"Well," Luke said, spreading his arms proudly. "A little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh?"

"Is betraying the world all it takes to get an upgraded room?" Magnus frowned.

'Good to know you wouldn't sacrifice me for a canopy bed,' Hearth grinned.

He'd changed since the last summer. Instead of Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, he wore a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. His sandy hair, which used to be so unruly, was now clipped short. He looked like an evil male model, showing off what the fashionable college-age villain was wearing to Harvard this year.

"There's a wardrobe upgrade too!" Alex mock fanned himself. "He sounds like a putz!"

"Please don't invite them to golf, please don't do it," Thalia played along. She didn't think mocking Luke would make her feel better, but she would have applauded Alex saying that to his face, so it couldn't make her feel worse.

He still had the scar under his eye—a jagged white line from his battle with a dragon. And propped against the sofa was his magical sword, Backbiter, glinting strangely with its halfsteel, half-Celestial bronze blade that could kill both mortals and monsters.

"I should be a lot more insulted he didn't seem to feel the need to grab that when he saw me, let alone realized there were intruders," Percy crossed his arms.

"Sit," he told us. He waved his hand and three dining chairs scooted themselves into the center of the room.

Well that was weird, everyone except Thalia noted as her heart broke a little bit more how far gone Luke must already be to have attained any kind of powers like that.

None of us sat.

"Rude," Will paused and pretended to reconsider, "but since I think he's about to offer you poison wine we can forgive your manners."

"Percy couldn't show a modicum of respect for Ares," Jason reminded, seeming oddly pleased he finally hadn't stuttered over the right god's name to use. "I don't see it happening to this guy."

Luke's large friends were still pointing their javelins at us. They looked like twins, but they weren't human. They stood about eight feet tall, for one thing, and wore only blue jeans, probably because their enormous chests were already shag-carpeted with thick brown fur. They had claws for fingernails, feet like paws. Their noses were snoutlike, and their teeth were all pointed canines.

"Are those werewolves?" Magnus seemed resigned by this point everything existed.

"No," Thalia said confidently, "bear twins, ugly story." Their hatred of the gods for what Aphrodite did was one of those moments she almost felt sympathy for their grief.

Jason frowned for another reason, an awful beat of pain for some connection he was missing there. Wolves, twins...but it wouldn't come together.

All Magnus seemed to hear was that nobody had disputed the knowledge of werewolves and now wondered when the vampires were going to show up too.

"Where are my manners?" Luke said smoothly.

"In that pit I assume," Nico muttered.

"These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. Perhaps you've heard of them."

I said nothing.

"It would just be awkward to say hello at that point, what with the javelins, manners or not," Alex nodded.

Despite the javelins pointed at me, it wasn't the bear twins who scared me.

I'd imagined meeting Luke again many times since he'd tried to kill me last summer. I'd pictured myself boldly standing up to him, challenging him to a duel. But now that we were face-to-face, I could barely stop my hands from shaking.

Percy looked down shamefully to see they were again. It was anger and fear, betrayal and, yeah a bit more anger but on Annabeth's behalf for how she'd been seemingly looking at a ghost. He'd thought Luke had been his friend, he hadn't even known if he could trust Tyson because of the backstabbing and scorpion stabbing and everything else. Here was his chance to do something about it all, and he could already feel the chasm Luke had wanted him to die in deep inside him. He'd done nothing to his most hated enemy to turn any of that back on him.

"You don't know Agrius and Oreius's story?" Luke asked. "Their mother ... well, it's sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help. Artemis let her become one of her maiden huntresses, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear. When Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust. Typical of the gods, wouldn't you say? They fight with one another and the poor humans get caught in the middle.

Thalia knew of this myth of course, as Artemis's lieutenant she studied every story surrounding her patron. She had never asked Artemis about this or many others, she knew the cold dismissal she would get same as all of her Hunters, Polyphonte had broken her vow.

If Artemis had punished Aphrodite by simply getting revenge on one of the love goddess' favored worshipers or something at the time, it wouldn't have made that better. Thalia herself had been caught in the middle of the gods war for being born. It was simply a story to live with in service of a better outcome for the next person.

That was the difference between her and Luke. Rather than hating the gods for what they'd done, she kept hoping they'd do better, whereas Kronos would kill them all without thinking twice.

The girl's twin sons here, Agrius and Oreius, have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though ..."

"For lunch," Agrius growled. His gruff voice was the one I'd heard talking with Luke earlier.

"Hehe! Hehe!" His brother Oreius laughed, licking his fur-lined lips. He kept laughing like he was having an asthmatic fit until Luke and Agrius both stared at him.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Agrius growled. "Go punish yourself!"

Oreius whimpered. He trudged over to the corner of the room, slumped onto a stool, and banged his forehead against the dining table, making the silver plates rattle.

Thalia didn't glance up to see Will's troubled expression as he wished he could step in and stop that even if it would get him a spear jab from Agrius and no thanks in sight. She couldn't smile at Nico and Hearth for their quiet concentration on the story. She didn't notice Alex and Magnus exchange pitiful glances while Percy was still studying his hands and Jason looked on the verge of saying something for her ever growing anger at reading this.

Luke acted like this was perfectly normal behavior. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"I really hope there's not a god of hospitality, or everyone in there is screwed now," Magnus muttered.

"Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How's your mom? How's school?"

"Small talk is a dwindling social activity that should be kept alive," Thalia said with such a pointed look the others wanted to duck what topic she'd get started in on him with as he danced around what he did to her.

"You poisoned Thalia's tree."

Thalia read that in the same breath as Percy shouted it, and the combined frustration and hostility between the two of them made all of their hair stand on end at the powerful current that crackled through the ocean.

She didn't have to remind Percy this time, he'd felt it too and for the first time down here his skin tingled unpleasantly as she kept reading with more power at every scorn he'd done her.

Luke sighed. "Right to the point, eh? Okay, sure I poisoned the tree. So what?"

So what! That's all she got? She didn't know what she would have been expecting, remorse? An explanation? Her essence had been as expendable to Luke as Percy's life last year. That's all she was to him anymore, a so what!

"How could you?" Annabeth sounded so angry I thought she'd explode. "Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her—"

Thalia longed to be in that room so much she was convinced Artemis would have sent her back in time to do it in that moment. To put an arrow through Luke's eye, to be beside Annabeth and get her and Percy out of a torture even Hades couldn't come up with being trapped in this.

"I didn't dishonor her!" Luke snapped. "The gods dishonored her, Annabeth! If Thalia were alive, she'd be on my side."

She made such a horribly awful laugh at that every one of them felt the need to duck, and it would do them no good.

"Liar!"

"If you knew what was coming, you'd understand—"

"I understand you want to destroy the camp!" she yelled. "You're a monster!"

Luke shook his head. "The gods have blinded you. Can't you imagine a world without them, Annabeth? What good is that ancient history you study? Three thousand years of baggage! The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed. Join me! We can start the world anew. We could use your intelligence, Annabeth."

Percy felt useless as he longed to snatch the book away from Thalia lest she rip it apart, but that would only get him turned into swiss cheese as she shouted this. Was finally forced to confront and face the backwards reality she'd woken up in Annabeth herself hadn't seemed to believe until this moment what Luke was really committed to doing. He'd just stood there as she'd yelled with such anger the ship might have capsized from her force and was so again as Thalia was near shouting.

"Because you have none of your own!"

Magnus and Alex cheered while Jason and Will both laughed. Even Nico cracked a grin, Thalia would swear it, but Percy did nothing but keep watching her with an intense focus. He wanted Annabeth away from this confrontation as badly as she did.

It was a relief to focus on that and not Luke bandaging her wounds as she forced herself to keep going even as she kept picturing every detail like a new jagged piece of glass in her mind, but her voice had calmed, somewhat.

His eyes narrowed. "I know you, Annabeth. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the camp. Half-Blood Hill will be overrun by monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice but to join us or be hunted to extinction.

Jason sat there furiously imagining beating Luke's face into Thalia's tree just for suggesting this. He didn't know where he'd been before all this, but he had faith in that moment he'd drop everything and run to help stop this!

You really want to be on a losing team ... with company like this?" Luke pointed at Tyson.

"Hey!" I said.

"Traveling with a Cyclops," Luke chided. "Talk about dishonoring Thalia's memory! I'm surprised at you, Annabeth. You of all people—"

"Stop it!" she shouted.

I didn't know what Luke was talking about, but Annabeth buried her head in her hands like she was about to cry.

There was a roaring noise in their ears as the water swelled around the room as if about to take on a life of its own, crackling with power. Percy and Thalia had been doing a pretty good job so far about keeping each other in check, but now they'd just been given a common enemy. Luke had hurt Annabeth so badly in that moment that if somebody didn't do something, the two of them might kill off the entire ocean's ecosystem on the spot.

Jason spoke with a calm sense of urgency. An expectancy to be listened to but no force as if commanding it. "I really can't wait to meet Annabeth." He didn't even know what to call that moment, someone who was clearly questioning her own velleity regarding Tyson but had never wavered from her determination for this quest.

The reminder worked though, both of them pushed down on that murderous feeling to keep going back towards the end of this, where home was waiting.

"Leave her alone," I said. "And leave Tyson out this."

Luke laughed. "Oh, yeah, I heard. Your father claimed him."

That was oddly specific knowledge for him to have to be comfortable, but Magnus tried to convince himself for a moment Luke had just worked that out for himself with a cyclops on this mission.

I must have looked surprised, because Luke smiled. "Yes, Percy, I know all about that. And about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates, again ... 30, 31, 75, 12? You see, I still have friends at camp who keep me posted."

Alex made a noise like an angry cat as they realized there was another backstabber in that Camp. As if Luke hadn't caused enough problems last time!

It wasn't real surprise though, the strategist in Jason understood. Instead of having all those loyal to Luke defect with him onto this ship, it was actually smarter to leave some behind. Didn't make this less annoying.

"Spies, you mean."

He shrugged. "How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? You think he's grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?"

Percy clenched his hands tight and wished he'd drawn his sword on Luke already. He and Tyson had their doubts, but at least they'd never tried to kill anyone over it!

Tyson clenched his fists and made a rumbling sound down in his throat.

Nico made a delighted laugh that sent chills down all of their spines more than an angry cyclops could do. Luke had just gained an enemy in Tyson, and Nico knew he'd regret it.

Luke just chuckled. "The gods are so using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what's in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?"

I wanted to get in Luke's face and tell him off, but as usual, he knew just how to throw me off balance.

Sixteenth birthday?

Percy rubbed his fingers together and recalled studying his face in the mirror last night. How old was he? A teenager, certainly, but definitely not eighteen. Had he even reached sixteen yet? Was this why he'd been hidden away? What did this great prophecy have to do with such an uneventful day as August 18th?

I mean, I knew Chiron had received a prophecy from the Oracle many years ago. I knew part of it was about me. But, if I reached my sixteenth birthday? I didn't like the sound of that.

"I know what I need to know," I managed. "Like, who my enemies are."

'A valiant answer,' Hearth wanted to agree, 'but a tad forthcoming.' Percy had essentially answered how in the dark he was, and it left nobody much comfort Luke clearly knew what was coming.

"Then you're a fool."

Hearthstone winced at having agreed with Luke while Magnus assured, 'we know Luke's wrong, Percy's dad does care about him. That doesn't make leaving him in the dark right though.' He was still just a tad angry at him and Blitz befriending him underneath this nine-worlds concept, but he believed they were friends no matter how it had started even if he still wanted to know why.

Tyson smashed the nearest dining chair to splinters. "Percy is not a fool!"

Before I could stop him, he charged Luke. His fists came down toward Luke's head—a double overhead blow that would've knocked a hole in titanium—but the bear twins intercepted.

They each caught one of Tyson's arms and stopped him cold. They pushed him back and Tyson stumbled. He fell to the carpet so hard the deck shook.

Nico put his hands down on either side of his seat to make sure he was still sitting instead of jumping up and gasping in shock like a moron. Not only had Percy once again failed to stop this, but those creatures had stopped Tyson in his tracks from what Nico had been sure was going to be an easy victory of the cyclops chucking him out the window while they made a run for it. These books would not cease until he had a single foundation unshattered.

"Too bad, Cyclops," Luke said. "Looks like my grizzly friends together are more than a match for your strength. Maybe I should let them—"

"Luke," I cut in. "Listen to me. Your father sent us."

"I don't think that's going to help," Alex mock whispered.

"Can't make things worse," Will murmured. Maybe, for just a moment, Luke would remember his dad did care. Their parents didn't always show it as well as they liked, but-

His face turned the color of pepperoni. "Don't—even— mention him."

or not, he sighed.

Nico watched the forlorn look on Will's face and realized he wasn't the only one having a bad day. He didn't know how close Luke and Will used to be, but it was clear he wasn't the only one being let down repeatedly lately.

Thalia couldn't even keep reading with a sense of anything except lingering anger. No smugness in her Percy had finally gotten under his skin, no triumph for it being Luke's turn caught off guard here. Just a calm anger in every syllable for them to hurry up and get off his boat!

It was plenty scary without the threat of death to the rest of them.

"He told us to take this boat. I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you. He told me he won't give up on you, no matter how angry you are."

"I don't know how you demand a refund from the god of travels, but I think Percy should look into it," Alex muttered for Magnus Hermes may have gotten them killed for this naïve hope anybody could talk sense into this nutjob.

"Angry?" Luke roared. "Give up on me? He abandoned me, Percy! I want Olympus destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! You tell Hermes it's going to happen, too.

Luke was just toying with them, Jason instantly realized. Percy wouldn't be able to tell Mercury anything if they were going to be held prisoner or even killed on that ship.

Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker and we grow stronger. He grows stronger." Luke pointed to the gold sarcophagus.

The box creeped me out, but I was determined not to show it. "So?" I demanded. "What's so special ..."

Then it hit me, what might be inside the sarcophagus. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. "Whoa, you don't mean—"

"He is re-forming," Luke said. "Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears—"

"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said.

Luke sneered at her. "Your mother was born from Zeus's split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn't talk.

"I thought we all agreed not to discuss how bizarre that godly side could get," Will looked especially put out and betrayed Luke was bringing up something he knew Annabeth and most Athena kids were kind of sensitive about. Never ask one of them if they had a belly button.

Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."

Magnus couldn't begin to imagine how unstoppable something like that must be. The essence of a titan the gods feared, in the body empowered by all his followers. No matter what description the book inevitably might give of what was inside that coffin, he didn't think he'd see it coming.

"You're insane," Annabeth said.

"Join us and you'll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this cruise ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion. You can have power, fame—whatever you want. Annabeth, you can realize your dream of being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the next age!"

It was almost sad to Hearth Luke so easily believed this. Luke had a list of grievances, most of which he could sympathize with for how much his own parents loathed his existence, but Luke had sacrificed essentially nothing to get where he was. How did he ever think Kronos would make due on these promises, have faith in a being that had already been slain with only lingering nightmares to show for it?

"Go to Tartarus," she said.

Luke sighed. "A shame."

He picked up something that looked like a TV remote and pressed a red button. Within seconds the door of the stateroom opened and two uniformed crew members came in, armed with nightsticks. They had the same glassy-eyed look as the other mortals I'd seen, but I had a feeling this wouldn't make them any less dangerous in a fight.

"Ah, good, security," Luke said, "I'm afraid we have some stowaways."

"Yes, sir," they said dreamily.

Luke turned to Oreius. "It's time to feed the Aethiopian drakon.

Even if Thalia knew Annabeth made it out of this, even if she hadn't her sister's suspicions and being the living confirmation Luke had wanted them to escape to fulfill this plan; his dismissal, his utter lack of care for sending Annabeth to her doom felt like a slap in the face all over again. She didn't know how far Luke would have gone to resurrect Kronos. If the Titan had asked, would Luke have killed her right then to see these plans through?

Take these fools below and show them how it's done."

Oreius grinned stupidly. "Hehe! Hehe!"

"Let me go, too," Agrius grumbled. "My brother is worthless. That Cyclops—"

"Don't judge someone by their siblings," Percy scowled. He only briefly wondered why one of these odd bear-twins was somehow better than the other, but all the more in his favor if his much stronger half-brother could get them out of this.

"Is no threat," Luke said. He glanced back at the golden casket, as if something were troubling him. "Agrius, stay here. We have important matters to discuss."

"But—"

"Oreius, don't fail me. Stay in the hold to make sure the drakon is properly fed."

Oreius prodded us with his javelin and herded us out of the stateroom, followed by the two human security guards.

As I walked down the corridor with Oreius's javelin poking me in the back, I thought about what Luke had said—that the bear twins together were a match for Tyson's strength. But maybe separately ...

Nico wasn't as surprised this time, almost like he'd been bracing himself for it that Percy needed help and couldn't do all of this single-handed. Still a bit odd to have confirmed, but it was slowly wearing off.

We exited the corridor amidships and walked across an open deck lined with lifeboats. I knew the ship well enough to realize this would be our last look at sunlight. Once we got to the other side, we'd take the elevator down into the hold, and that would be it.

I looked at Tyson and said, "Now."

Thank the gods, he understood. He turned and smacked Oreius thirty feet backward into the swimming pool,

"Cannot believe anybody at camp was calling him clueless," Will grinned and wished he could capture that moment on film.

right into the middle of the zombie tourist family.

"Bad bear," Alex said helpfully.

"Did you have to call them zombies?" Magnus shivered in disgust and hoped they were okay.

"Ah!" the kids yelled in unison. "We are not having a blast in the pool!"

"Percy just ruining everybody's vacation," Jason nodded.

"And he's just getting started," Thalia finally smiled again, a predatory expression as she looked forward to this stupid ship being blown up eventually and hearing about gerbil Percy on Circe's island even sooner. There was more to this than having Luke repeatedly stabbing her in the back, she would make it through these rough patches to hear her friend making the best of it!

One of the security guards drew his nightstick, but Annabeth knocked the wind out of him with a well-placed kick. The other guard ran for the nearest alarm box.

"Stop him!" Annabeth yelled, but it was too late.

Just before I banged him on head with a deck chair, he hit the alarm.

Red lights flashed. Sirens wailed.

"Lifeboat!" I yelled.

We ran for the nearest one.

"Thank the gods you don't consider yourself captain of every ship," Nico said drolly.

By the time we got the cover off, monsters and more security men were swarming the deck, pushing aside tourists and waiters with trays of tropical drinks. A guy in Greek armor drew his sword and charged, but slipped in a puddle of piña colada.

Magnus started humming a song his mom used to sing all the time and Alex had to bite his lip to stop from laughing at that playing over the speakers during all this now.

Laistrygonian archers assembled on the deck above us, notching arrows in their enormous bows.

"How do you launch this thing?" screamed Annabeth.

A hellhound leaped at me, but Tyson slammed it aside with a fire extinguisher.

"Bad puppy," Alex shook his fist with triumph.

"Of all the running gags," Percy frowned at him even if he didn't disagree.

"Just embodying Tysons's spirit, you're welcome," Alex shrugged.

"Get in!" I yelled. I uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air. Any second we would be overwhelmed.

The lifeboat was hanging over the side of the ship, high above the water. Annabeth and Tyson were having no luck with the release pulley.

I jumped in beside them.

"Hold on!" I yelled, and I cut the ropes.

"To what?" Jason protested. "You cut the ropes!"

"Him, obviously," Will cackled. "No better time for a group hug!"

A shower of arrows whistled over our heads as we free-fell toward the ocean.

"And they lived happily ever after," Thalia snorted as she made to hand Nico the book.

"They just threw themselves overboard into a sea filled with plenty of deadly things before they even reach their actual Sea," Nico rolled his eyes at her as he accepted it. "I wouldn't hold your breath."

#Percy Jackson #PJO #reading the books #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #Alex Fierro #Magnus Chase #Hearthstone #Nico Di Angelo #Will Solace #HDYSG #fierrochase #solangelo #percabeth

9 notes · View notes