#scout calls people bozos

[virginstoner666]

if 4Kids ever dubbed Team fortress 2, these are the names i think they would gove some of the characters-

scout, brandon

SOLDIER, KYLE

pyro, bubbles

Heavy, boulder or some shit

demo, micheal

engie, billy joe

medic, probably still ludwig

spy, leon

SNIPER, HUNTER

ms pauling, sarah or maybe suzie

administrator, bertha

zhanna, daisy

[just-mebs]

I just noticed that on your about you have EngieScout marked as a "current interest" but not TF2 itself lol

Engie//Scout is my child, my love and joy, the water for my crops, the sugar in my lemonade...

TF2 is just kind of there

[cheemscakecat]

Dream thing Emesis Blue

So you know how you have dreams, and someone that isn’t your mom or dad is called that and you go along with it? Because you aren’t awake? There’s situations where dream logic sounds right to your sleeping brain, and when you wake up you realize it doesn’t make sense.

The hand that drops Ma’s head could be a gloveless Medic.

The fingertips we see look grey like when Scout and Medic were in the ambulance. Except there’s one thing wrong with that theory.

Ma’s face is noticeably warmer toned than the fingers, next to the same unseen light.

But you know whose gloves have grey fingertips?

Still, that doesn’t explain why Scout is afraid of Medic/ seeing him as a monster when he’s rescued at the slaughterhouse.

So there’s one of two ways that could happen if Emesis Blue is a dream:

Scout cut away to being locked in the coffin and “knew” it was Medic’s fault. The way dreams suddenly take you into a new scene or change the plot, but you don’t notice since you’re asleep. The problem is we can’t discount this theory since we have a big gap in Scout’s perspective.

Maybe it was an Engineer holding Ma’s head, but he saw “Medic” hunched over her body, like Ludwig did in his time loop.

But if it’s option two, there’s a secondary possibility. Look at how RED this scene is. Red enough that if this is the enemy Medic, you wouldn’t be able to tell. And what happened on BLU team that would warrant RED Medic showing up?

In addition to that, RED Medic joined Team Classic, which was hunting down the Admin’s mercenaries.

If BLU team’s been in hiding for 6 months, and Scout’s the youngest on the team trying to protect his Ma, his fear of getting found would still linger after the comic 7 resolution.

It was never actually BLU Medic that cut off Ma’s head; it was nightmare RED Medic. BLU is hallucinating his future car crash self like he hallucinated the plague doctor and being locked in a coffin. Scout didn’t realize he was accusing the wrong guy, since he was dreaming.

Decapitating someone unarmed and pulling out Scout’s teeth are both actions you’d expect from RED Medic if you were an enemy teammate hearing rumors about his crazy experiments.

Here’s the painful part:

If my shared nightmare theory is right, Scout’s going to wake up, check on Ma, calm down, and realize that he had the wrong Medic. And probably have a nasty gut feeling that he shouldn’t have accused the doctor, even if it was in a dream.

But Dr. Ludwig? The guy having a nightmare about his mental illness forcing him to hurt people out of spite? He’s going to think one of his personalities killed BLU Ma and kidnapped Scout. And that’s going to aggravate his already fearful and distrustful attitude towards them.

Electric Eye Medic immediately went to take the sentry gun to defend Ludwig and Scout when he got control of the body. And when he saw that he was too late to save Scout, he went into a revengeful rage and killed both Engineers. Maybe Scout doesn’t know it, but he’s met this personality before, and he sees the kid as a friend too.

That’s why I’m convinced he switched to being in control, stabbed Hoovy in the eye, and was the one crying in the elevator. Maybe he was already grieving internally, but had to take control again and Soldier/Demo saw the butt end of him crying, just when he decided to get more revenge.

The laugh/face of a man who’d burn that stupid briefcase in front of the whole cult if he could.

Funeral Medic’s hand was shaking from rage after he shot Spy. He probably witnessed Electric Eye crying and trying to explain how he failed to save Scout. Maybe it was the reason he waited for Spy to finish his speech; he was gonna shoot him anyway, but wanted that bozo to think he was safe and had gotten away with his lies.

That being said, I doubt that Medic’s other personalities are going to hold it against him if he accuses them of stuff they didn’t do. Definitely going to be upset, but at the same time they’d know he’s only saying it because he doesn’t know their intentions, and he’s equally disturbed and angry over what happened.

[mxboxlocks]

PLEASE can we see some of your HC designs? (Also yay, finally gained the confidence to turn off anon lmao)

I don't think you're aware of how mentally ill I am about soldier, and when I see that you've posted something new about him MY GOD I'm feral.

(This is to say I think you're great and you feed my delusions about a 40-something year old man fantastically well)

TF2 Headcanon designs, part 1/4

part 2

I HAVE THEIR EYES !!! which i think mostly encapsulates them pretty well. i also have quite a few doodles

here's the most complete ref i've made of them

their eye color, skin tone, nose shape, and favorite colors!

i'll do the rest of my hcs in order. i usually try to stay close to what i see in canon visually, my hcs are more background and personality-driven. but there are some differences here and there!! starting with scout below the cut:

(ft. spy)

he and spy have a very similar face and nose shape, as i'm sure you'll notice in the third image. they also have a similar eye color, with scout's being a little paler. i've decided his full name is Jeremy Valentine, because of course it would be. he's fairly tan, not only because of his ethnicity but because he's out in the sun a lot. he's trans FtM and his parents are fully supportive of him with very little fuss coming from either side. though, spy was more keen to treat him the same, just with a different name.

next is soldier!

obviously, this is the merc i have the most examples of :3

starting right off the bat i draw his hair longer than it's kind of supposed to be. i know a lot of people say and think that soldier is very strict on his self-care, and while i do think that is true, i think it can coexist with his adhd and his inability to remember things a lot of the time. oh btw he's audhd lmao

he's mixed race latino/white, his mom being mexican and his dad being from all over europe. he had a sister that passed young. he doesn't remember his family, or his real name (legally his name is Thomas Anthony Mason. he's on file at Mann Co. as Jane Jamison Doe). he knew he was trans at a very early age, before his sister was born, and his father in particular was very elated to hear he would have a son to join the military. said father was unattentive and clumsy, and his mother was a little on the manic emotional side. his sister, named Betty-Ruth (but she would scowl at you if you called her anything other than Ruthie) was a very kind and patient little girl. the two used to get along great, before the incident that permanently changed soldier's life course. being he was kicked in the head by a war horse at an independence day reenactment. L bozo.

also he's deathly scared of clowns, so the team has him convinced they're not real. pyro likes to tease him about it

ALRIGHT! next up is pyro! i'll have to do it in another post because tumblr mobile is HOMOPHOBIC so stay tuned for that

[nightfall-kachiniko]

I never thought I would make it.

“Congratulations cadets, you are officially deemed a soldier, welcome to the scouting regiment,”

It’s hard to believe im even still alive.

You stood in the crowd of your now newly named comrades, your fist over your heart as it pounded in and out of your chest. Realization overcoming you as you looked around the crowd. “Seven..no eight..” You mumbled, counting the peoples heads. One in particular stuck out to you. “Oh, the quiet girl who’s always with Eren?” You questioned yourself, as an answer popped into your head about her cause of joining, “Probably for him..”

It had been days since your promotion from cadet to soldier.

The people all around the lunch room talking and chatted as you sat at the table with Eren, Armin and Mikasa. Jean sat next to you with Sasha and Connie across the table, right beside Mikasa. “That wasn’t fair! The captain doesn’t understand how hard i’m trying to master my titan ability!” The emerald eyed teen whined, hiding his face in her elbow in stress. “I’d say not to worry about it Eren,” Mikasa suggested in response as she sipped her soup.

“Yeah, Mikasa’s right!” Artlert exclaimed, “There's no way he’ll punish you for that incident earlier, it was after all an accident!” He shrugged, reassuring Eren.

“I just hope he doesn’t tell section commander Hange to help me with it.. They’re nuts,”

“Keep in mind you don’t need to master it, just gain control,” You blattered out, overhearing their conversation. The black haired girl with the red scarf looked towards you, her eyes narrowed in a stren confusion. “A-ah..er.. Sorry I didn’t mean to intrude in your conversation..” You blushed as she looked at you, your eyes quickly moving away, hiding the rose that came upon your face. “Your fine,” She said, looking away from you. “That’s okay y/n! Thanks for the advi-”

“THATS IT!” Eren suddenly yelled, pounding the table with his fist. “You’re right y/n! I just need to have control!” The brown haired boy realized with a smile on his face. “Thanks!”

“O-oh uhm no problem!” You said in his response.

The girl still had her eyes on you, almost as if she was watching you closely, observing you. Even during training, Mikasa’s eyes always fell right onto you. It was as if she was watching a child.

“AGH! ANNIE OKAY!” You yelled in hailt for your fighting trainer to stop. The dirt flew in your eyes as you crashed to the ground, your body in a sharp pain. You tried clearing the dirt in your eyes as you were kicked in the side. “AH! I SAID STOP GODDAMNIT!” You backed up, wiping your eyes. “That hurt like a bitch..” You grumbed, the side of your stomach in pain. “Its not my fault your skills in hand-to-hand combat are awful,” The blonde said, staring at you below her. “You think you could go a bit slower next time?! This is training where we help each other improve, not kick each other's asses!”

“Hey,” A familiar voice called out, steps getting closer. “That was uncalled for, Leonhart,”

“Hm?” The blonde looked behind you, The voice coming closer, “And so what if it wasn’t?” Annie said, her arms crossed at her chest. You felt an intensity gain in the atmosphere. The air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Mikasa, still glaring Annie down, crouched at you side, “Are you alright Y/n?” The females voice questioned. You wiped your eyes with your shirt, water coming out as well as the sand that had been in your eyes. “Here,” Mikasa handed a tissue to you as you wiped with that instead. She stood up, glaring the blonde down, predator on pray. “You need to be more gente, keep in mind what would happen if you got caught by Captian hurting someone,”

Annie scoffed and brushed the hair out of her face, “Yeah, you’re right, but this is training, I can be as hard as I want on Y/n, after all, we’re soldiers remember?”

“Yeah, I remember, and you sure as hell don’t look like one,” Mikasa replied, leaving the blonde’s face more aggravated. A crowd suddenly formed behind them, “Oh shit are they about to fight?” Connie said, looking at the both of them and how their eyes locked sternly onto each other “No way! I’ve gotta see!” Sasha looked up from her plastic knife. Woah..wait.. Your mind wondered, are they seriously about to do this? Right now? Here? Mikasa’s the most calm and collected person I know.. And here she is, about to fight Annie.

“If you’re looking for a fight all because Y/n here is too weak, then bring it,” Leonhart smirked, holding out her hands in a steady punching position. “I’m always ready for anything,”

And with that Mikasa walked over to Annie, looking down at the girl. “Go ahead, hit me and see what happens,”

“Oh god…” Eren mumbled to himself, “why right now..”

“Mikasa! I don’t think this is a good idea!” Armin shouted at her.

“No, it’s a great one,” Mikasa looked over her shoulder at him, his face cautious, “Let’s see what you’ve got, Annie,”

You were frozen in position, too much in shock to get up. Why is she fighting over me? I mean nothing to her? Don’t I..?

“Try me, you bitch,”

“Brats break it up!” The captain yelled from across the yard, heading over to Mikasa and Annie. Levi pushed them apart from each other, scolding them, “Your lucky I don’t have much trouble with the both of you then I have with Kirsten and Jaeger,” His face in annoyance as he spoke. “Back to training you idiots, and I better not see it again,”

It seemed as though the days of being a newly graduated soldier were over as you soared through the sky. Enemies surrounded all around you as you drew your blade slicing the Jaw titan. Mikasa at your side as she helped take him down. Eren had became a monster, sneaking off to a forgien country and killing thousands of innocent civilians. It was all so new to the survey corps, and taking lives was something you didn't necessarily have a liking for.

All the screaming and yelling as the battle continued. You sprung your ODM gear onto the top of a building with terrified residents inside, their screams coming from the open window. You looked down as ash filled the air along with smoke. All around you laid bodies of people who no longer existed, their deceased corpses laid under rubble, some torn in half, some crushed. Wetness fell down your face like rain as you realized the situation before you.

“Y/N! KEEP MOVING!” Your girlfriend said as her black hair moved in the wind, her hand slightly touching your shoulder as she moved swiftly past you, her blades drawn and swinging at the Warhammer titan. Wiping your tears as you got a move on, avoiding the chaos to get a better look.

“But,” You studdered out, “what about the childre-”

A corpse of a little boy, no older than 8 laid beneath you, his head crushed open, a arm band on his shoul. “Why…”

“TONIGHT WE HONOR OUR SEVEN FALLEN COMRADES BY CELEBRATING ANOTHER STEP CLOSER TO ELDIAS VICTORY!” The soldiers all roared as Foster cheered them on.

“Is that everyone?” Jean called out after helping you on the aircraft, his hand in your pulling you up. “I think so!” You called back to him from above. Connie yanked you in the airship, fully getting inside as you rolled on the floor. “Geez con, mind being a bit more careful? Since where’d you get all that strength from?” Groaning out, you complained.

“Too much strength for a bald man anyways,” Sasha Joked around as Connie punched her in the arm, letting out a laugh. “Thanks you guys,” You softly smiled, “I really needed that,”

“Mission been hard for ya?” The bearded man questioned. “Yeah, really hard,”

“We wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for that bozo looking guy in the back with Captain, Armin and Mikasa,” The brunette female said in annoyance, rolling her eyes as she fixed her gear, adjusting it. “I know right,” Jean commented, “We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him,”

“I’m just glad I still have you two,” The guy with barely any hair said, hugging Jean and Sasha. “You guys are important to me,”

He glanced up at you who was removing your heavy gear from your side, “And you too y/n,”

“Well thank you for making me feel included,” You joked around. Standing up as you lower the bottom of your shirt, “Welp, Imma go see where Eren is and try and get some sympathy for the innocent lives he killed out of him,”

“I doubt the suicidal maniac will have any to spare,” Jean rolled his eyes as a you smiled at his stupid remark. “Hopefully over dinner we can all talk and catch up while they're interrogating Eren ,”

“I Hope we’re having meat tonight!” The snack loving girl exclaimed, a glare of joy and hope in her eyes. “Me too we haven't had any in ages,” You crossed your arms. Jean gave you a soft smile before saying, “Later Y/n,”

“Alrighty,” You said, closing the door behind you as you stepped into the room where he was being held. Your girlfriend, Mikasa gave you a glance and a smile, love in her eyes as you responded by doing the same. Clearing your throat before looking away as the blush rose upon your faec you placed your eyes on Eren.

You stood next to Mikasa and Armin looking at the boy who you knew, but it was apparent to all of you that you no longer did. “I see the whole gang is here,” Zeke said, trying to kid around with his brother. “Shut up,” Captain spoke at the blonde with glasses, his legs steaming as well as Eren’s. Both of their hands were tied behind their back, Eren looked numbly to the floor, no expression to appear besides coldness. “You did put on a show Levi cutting off my limbs like that,”

“I’m glad I still, a shitbag like you doesn't deserve them,”

Levi glared down at the man, anger in his tone as he harshly spoke to him. “Eren,” You stated his name as Jaeger looked up at you, “Why did you decide to do this?” The brunette looked to the side, his once glowing emerald eyes now stone cold. “...” No words came out of his mouth, his expression not changing either. “Did you do this in a rage like you always do?”

So many unanswered questions roamed your head, dying for an answer. “We haven't seen you in months!” You shouted, getting angry with him. “And then you send us letters, demanding us to help you with this-!”

“I never begged you to do this y/n,” Eren finally spoke, his head still hanging low. “You basically did! You knew we would come, and you knew Mikasa would as well, and the rest of us!” Your lips spat at him in ignorance and frustration.

“You did all this for what use? What was the outcome of this besides getting Zeke!?”

Yet again no words. You sighed as you mumbled an “by the walls,” In frustration. “God this is no use is it?” your fingers pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Is this all a part of your revenge on the Marleyans?! On Annie Bertoldt and Reiner?!”

“Yes it is,” His hair hung in his face, messy and greasy locks tangled together. He looked like he was in terrible condition, malnourished and unhygienic.

“...wow, I can’t believe you.. Innocent kids over people who wronged you, Is death all you talk about?”

He nodded his head, glaring into your eyes as you paused, then looked at your feet. Mikasa grabbed your hand, holding it. “Thats enough y/n, he isn’t going to cooperate anyways,” She said in a calm manner, trying to avoid any argumenments.

“I doubt any-”

The sound of the heavy metal door coming open stopped you dead in your sentence, Jean came into the room along with 2 kids you had never seen before. His hand on their shoulders as the kids arms were tied together with rope.

“Jean?” Mikasa said, looking at him with a confused expression on her face. “Who are these brats?” The captain asked, annoyance in his voice.

“These kid’s snuck on board using Lobvo’s gear,” He explained.

“And this one,” Jean pointed to the brown haired girl, “Shot Sasha,”

A flame of shock came over you all as you looked at each other, Armin and Mikasa rushed out the room, tears building up in their eyes. You followed along with them as you whipped open the door.

“SASHA!” Mikasa said, running over to the injured woman and crouching to the ground. Armin went next to her side, Shaking her barely conscious body. “Are we...eating yet…..?” She whispered, a croak in her voice.

“SASHA PLEASE STAY WITH US!” Armin yelled, cupping her cheek and sobbing. All you could do was stand there, shock upon your face and your mouth agape.

“Why are you guys…..being...so...loud..”

Tears and sniffles along with screams of plea flooded the room, just as how it was outside. You put your hand over your mouth, slowly backing away as you cried to yourself. Backing against the wall and tears streaming down your face as you curled yourself into a ball.

“When will this ever end?”

[ive-tumbled-down-a-rabbit-hole]

Claiming Ones Own

Cross posted on my AO3. Thank you again @boldlyanxious for your encouragement.

Decided that there wasn't enough Cass and Marinette fics and finally got this concept out my head and written down.

Masterlist

[next]

Chapter 1 - Cass gains a child

Cass could feel Jason’s frustrations radiating off him. He was over from Gotham to help tracking a new drug that had cropped up over there but originated in Hong Kong. They had managed to find the Hong Kong point of contact from the Gotham Drug Lord and now trying to work out the Hong Kong network.

Currently they were seated on top of a building observing their latest suspect.

She could feel the irritation pulsating off Jason, the twitch of his fingers ever so often. The low almost inaudible growl. The way the air around him vibrated with his emotions ready to pounce.

The annoyance stemmed from following the suspect for over a fortnight and it was clear that the gang rarely met up in person and was apt at avoiding use of technology to communicate. Cass was happy being a ghost bat in Hong Kong at the present. The lack of use in tech made it trickier to gain evidence for the police to surreptitiously stumble upon.

Tapping Jason, Cass signed to him ‘we need to infiltrate or plant recording devices’

“Yeah” came the response as he turned back to observe the suspect, “Recording devices is probably the quickest way. The way these guys are operating will make it hard to infiltrate quickly.”

Moments later “Fuckers!!” Jason snarled. Fingers twitching even more towards his gun.

Cass looked down and saw what caused Jason’s outburst. They had recently concluded that the men used street kids to send messages to each other, the unseen people of the city who were very good at being avoided. The gang that used them seemed hold and extraordinary amount of power held over these kids.

“Fucking pieces of shit” Jason muttered to Cass as they watched what the men were doing. Cass narrowed her eyes and silently nodded. She focused on the child who ran off observing the direction and movement. Suddenly she jabbed Jason and whispered “look” pointing to the child. They observed the girl knock into a man and sneakily pickpocket him before scampering off.

Cass nudged Jason quietly saying “plan”, before signing ‘if we can get a tracker on a kid and let them pick pocket us we can work out the number of locations and maybe plant recording devices’ Jason replied “hmmmm, risky but quicker than waiting for these bozos to slip up”.

The next few days the pair watch their target, also taking note of the street kids, to figure out who they would let target them, before deciding on the original girl they saw. She was petite, either due to age or, more likely, malnourishment. She had dark hair but what made her stand was having unexpected blue eyes. She was more skittish around the original suspect and other gang members they had come across but was bolder in her pick pocketing. She was creative in her approaches and had a far higher success rate compared to the other children. It was clear she felt safer amongst strangers who, if caught her, could seriously cause issues, than the men she was working for.

While Jason blustered and verbally vented his anger, Cass’s anger grew silent but more deadly. Neither were happy about the blatant child abuse occurring.

Having figured out the type of “target” the girl went for both Cass and Jason set the plan in motion. Trackers and recorders on their wallets, lots of cash and fake credit card trackers and recorders along with a micro trackers to put on the girl in case she ditches the wallet and just takes the cash. They dressed slightly better than the average person to showcase “wealth” which she seemed more inclined to go for and headed out.

Out on the streets she fell for their plan perfectly. Cass was able to slip the tracker onto the child while she slipped Jason’s wallet out his pocket. The pair continued their loop round back to Cass’s apartment to see where the kid went.

“Cass, fuck! She is good. If I’d not grown up on Crime Alley I would have struggled to notice. She is fucking good. Too bloody good! Shitting hell, that kinda skill only comes with practice! Like a fuck load of practice! Crap! She’s tiny! How bloody long has she been having to do this for! Fuck how long has she lived on the streets” Jason cursed. He was impressed but could feel the anger brewing, the desire to hurt someone.

“Long time” Cass replied before signing ‘She’s too thin. Her eyes showed fire. Determination but haunted’. The look in her eye’s had struck a chord with Cass when they 'bumped' into each other. Something about them resonated within her but Cass wasn’t quite ready to name it yet.

Back at the apartment they watched the trackers path and patterns over the next few days. Their little pickpocket went to 5 different warehouses along with a few apartments and the original dock with the first suspect repeatedly. Rarely using the same route or common paths, though destination always the same.

The pair scouted out the warehouses and apartments to get a better understanding of how the operation was run. It wasn’t just drug’s they were producing and exporting but also slave trafficking as well. No wonder the kids were terrified of the adults. They could easily be shipped off at any moment if they stepped out of line.

Cass’s disgust was intensifying with this discovery. They were practically slaves as it is even with the external slave threat hanging over them.

Cass could hear Jason loading of a gun. Looks like Jason’s preferred method of elimination would be soon be seen.

Over the course of a week. Cass and Jason snuck into each warehouse, planting bombs on secure/obscure locations. Carefully the explosions would leave just enough evidence for the police to take the gang down but also eliminate the gangs means to continue operating. Whilst trying to minimise external impact of neighbouring buildings. Well at least that was the aim. Anonymous hints were also sent or found at police stations.

All they now had to do was press the button on Jason's phone to ignite the bombs at the warehouses and take down the headquarters.

Jason and Cass crept into the headquarters building sticking to the shadows. Cass signed 'detonate' to Jason who grinned manically and did his thing. With so many warehouses littered with explosives you could hear when they went off. Shortly followed by the sound of sirens.

Cass and Jason used the distraction to sweep through the building taking out henchmen left, right and centre. Their anger and fury finally being released.

The pair had completed taking the men above ground up and were tying the stragglers up when they heard sirens approaching. They quickly slinked into the shadows out of sight to observe. Cass was still wanting to maintain that bats were still an urban rumour in Hong Kong at this point.

The police swept the upstairs building observing the chaos Cass and Jason had left while a group of them went off to look in the basement. Over the radio they heard a crackly “Chief, you may want to come down here. Bring bold cutters with you. And call social services and a med team. I think we will need that.”

“What's happened!” the chief replied, signalling to an officer nearby to call the services requested.

“They’ve got a group of kids caged up down here” came the crackly reply. Half of the team that went to the basement returned with a cuffed pair from the gang and took them to the cars outside. The chief muttered to himself and to the basement.

In the shadows Jason signed to Cass ‘Fuck! I should have killed those men! No! Wait! Death would be too sweet. Maimed them more” Cass nodded in agreement though her gaze kept focus on the scene they were observing.

The police slowly led the children out of the basement and, from somewhere, had a paramedic check the children out along with having someone from social services talk to them.

Then came Cass and Jason's pickpocket. The girl growled at them all and kept her distance refusing to let the paramedic treat her.

A kid spoke out to an officer "You won't get anything from her. She doesn't really speak. Or not to us at least. Dolly is a puppet and does what the Bossman says. Doesn't trust anyone"

"Yeah I don’t think Marionette has ever spoke while I've been here and that's ages, I think she was one of the first they got" another provided. Murmurs of agreement rippled through the small group children.

The girl stood watching like a cornered animal, eyes darting everywhere, looking like she wanted to escape. She seemed to see through the shadows and stared right at Cass and Jason which unsettled the bat duo. They were nearly invisible to the others in the room. But not this small child.

Quietly Cass whispered while signing "Safe. Mean men gone. Be ok now." to the girl. Even if the crowded room didn’t notice, she was positive this small girl could see her in the gloom. A small amount of tension left the girls shoulders.

Eventually the other children had all been seen by the medic, spoken to the police while the social worker was working on finding places for them to go for the interim. It was just this girl left to resolve. Having seen the adults treat the other children with care she cautiously let them look at her, warily viewing everyone and still ready for a quick escape if needed.

"Malnourished, a fair number of cuts and some nasty bruises from what I can tell. There doesn't appear to be any broken bones thankfully. She will need a careful diet to increase her weight and vitamins to help with what is likely to have missed out of her diet. Much like the rest of them. She should be good to go after I’ve dressed this cuts" said the medic looking the girl over. He turned to grab a wipe and bandage and the girl was off.

She swiftly slipped through the adults in the room and darted out onto the streets to disappear. Loud shouts occur from the chaos left behind.

Cass watched the girl intently. Observing her movements. Cass could tell though she was cooperating, the girl was planning. The glint in her eyes and slight angle of her body. As soon as she shifted to move Cass grabbed Jason and they slipped outside following her quickly. Sticking to the roofs they tracked the girl down to an alleyway. The girl was terrified. She knew they had caught her. She was trapped though and though frantically looking for different ways to avoid them was stuck.

“Safe now” Cass whispered signing along “Promise men are gone now. We won’t hurt you. We’ll look after you. You’ll be safe now”.

Carefully Cass approached the girl as if a frightened animal. Cass quietly said to Jason “Chocolate” holding her hand out for him to give it to him. Calmly and gently as possible she placed the chocolate near her and waited sitting on the floor gracefully. She could see the fear in the girl’s eyes, with distrust but there was a burning fire as well. Patience would be the key to winning the child over.

Cass knew she wasn’t going to let this girl go, let alone let her live on the streets and she was sure that Jason was of the same mind set.

Slowly they saw the girl take the chocolate. The child inspected it with caution and nibble it. The way her eyes grew wide was a delight and she ate it in haste. While she nibbled, she kept her eyes trained on the pair watching their movements.

When finished she remained cautiously looking at them, but body language didn’t scream “fear”, more curiosity was emerging. Cass smirked as she understood that she was reading their body language and reading their intent as much they were hers. Cass opened her body language up. Again reiterating ‘Safe now’ “Safe” to the girl. The girl’s eyes bored into hers whilst moments pass, and when the girl found what she was looking for offered her hand to Cass to hold.

Cass turned to Jason and stares straight into his eyes, “My child now”.

[next]

[ask-jokeboi]

The Party

Hope everyone's having a great holiday season so far! This time of year isn't always easy but thankfully friends and a good distraction can make things easier. 

I drew these pic’s to pair with a moderately long fic I wrote to follow up the aforementioned party from earlier, it’s below the the cut! Read it if you want! Either way, Happy Holidays! 💜💚💛

Words: 4,142    Relationships: Harlivy /Harley & Joker friendship / Batjokes (mentioned)     Universe: Mine / Lego Batman

A/N: sorry for any typos or weird grammatical stuff, I'm good at art, not writing

Summary: Joker’s felt a little down since Batman’s been out of town, will his best friend Harley be able to cheer him up?

Warnings: Alcohol use, implied depression

_____________________

"C'mon Jay it'll be be fun!" Cheered Harley, mustering all the enthusiasm she could in an attempt to persuade Gotham's former clown prince of crime to pull himself together 

"I don't care!…. Go bother your girlfriend or something. Leave me alone…" He was currently piled under several layers of blankets, sunk deep into the ball pit he called a bed

"Nuh uh, I'm not haulin' my butt outta this room 'till you haul yours. You can stay in that pit and cry all ya like, but it won't fix nothin', you gott-"

"I don't GOTTA do anything!" Jay snapped. Throwing his blanket aside and revealing his less than kempt appearance, his face twisted into a frustrated glare

Harley, already familiar with Jay's usual harmless outbursts only sighed as she looked her long time friend up and down, taking in his surroundings with a curious eye

It'd been a month or two since Batman left the scene and his absence was definitely beginning to take a toll on the poor clown.

She could tell it'd been a while since he'd done anything to care for himself…. His hair, which was usually swept back into a flawless green pomp, lazily draped his face. The dull forest black of his roots beginning to seep back into the rest of it. Same could be said for the state his room which, due to his erratic nature, was always a bit untidy  but had recently fallen into a state of near disrepair. Bags of half eaten junk food and empty bottles of all sorts of things lay strewn across the floor, particularly around his half deflated bed.

Despite the mess, he still seemed a little...thin… more so than usual to be honest… his ribs visible beneath the loose shirt he wore, arms comparable to sticks despite the muscle.

most of all though, he just seemed... tired. Jay always looked tired out of makeup. It was one of the first things she'd managed to take note of when he'd first entered her office years ago…. But right now the purple rings beneath his eyes that never seemed to go away were deepened to a point that made it clear he wasn't getting much sleep or doing much for himself in general...

Seeing her best friend in a state like this was hard to witness… and although her partner, Ivy, didn't have much but mild disdain for Jay, Harley couldn't find it in herself to leave him like this… which is why she thought a party might lift his spirits a little 

"C'mooon! You love parties!! It'll just be a small one anyway!" It was actually much bigger than she was implying but Jay liked big and she didn't wanna scare him off too soon… 

"Yeah, like that'll make things any better… who did you even invite?? A good half of the rogues don't even like me…"

"Sure they do!"

Jay only looked at her, bereft and unimpressed. 

"I mean ok you and Riddler don't always get along and it took a lot a beggin' ta get ya un-banned from the iceberg lounge but still!!"

"Uhg whatever! It doesn't matter! I don't need those bozos seein' me like this anyway..."

"Like what?" 

"I don't know!  I'm just…... I'm not in the right… mood for something like that right now.... You know how this works… they'd see right through me. "

Back when Jay was still her patient they'd end up talking a lot about masks…Batman's would come up more often than not but every now and then he'd end up discussing his own…. Or more specifically, the metaphorical one he'd put on every time he picked up a brush and painted himself a new face…..

"Jay, sweetie…  you don't have to pretend to be okay… they won't think you're weak or nothin', you know that right?..."

Jay gave her an incredibly tired look before turning away.

"What happened to the Jay that wasn't afraid to let people know how he's feelin' huh? The one that turned every emotion into a show….?"

He kept his head down, shoulders stiff, before speaking...

"....Cause I'm not just sad this time…. " As he looked up slowly an emotion that was rarely seen on the mans face showed itself, flooding his eyes. 

"W- when I'd talked to Robin and Batgirl that last time and asked about Batman they gave each other this look and…. Something's wrong… he's in trouble or something I… I can feel it…..  W-what if he doesn't come back and he leaves me here all alone an-" 

Harley put a polished nail up to Jay's lips and smiled warmly.

"Shhhh…. You're worryin' too much puds… ur big dumb brain is just an overdramatic liar… don't listen to it okay?" 

Jay sniffled, giving her an understanding nod.

"You still got me an' your crew an' Bud and all the other little silly things that make ya days good doncha?"

He smiles halfheartedly. "Y-yeah…. But still… he was..."

"I know… he's special….but do you seriously think anything out there could actually kill Batman? THE Batman? C'mon now….  He's luckier than any bastard out there and you know it…"

"Yeah…. Yeah I guess ur right"

"Of COURSE I'm right!… now come on…" she offers her hand and helps her friend stand up. "Let's get that hair done and those nails shined up  so you're brain can take a break from making all those nasty thoughts" 

Jay smiled a little wider this time, forever grateful he had a friend as great as Harley around… he really didn't know what he'd do without her sometimes...

"Right…. Also… uh…. Harley?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for….uh…. Bein'... around… I guess…" Jay practically mumbled...

Harley smiled knowingly, amused with his poor attempt of gratitude

"No problem, Pud's….." she gave him a peck on the forehead leaving a black smudge behind 

"now enough mush...Let's clean this mess and get ya fabbed up"

________________

A few hours later, Jay stood outside the titular iceberg lounge in his best winter fit, a long boa around his shoulders and a pair of unnecessary sunglasses obscuring the mascara he'd only half ruined on the way there…. 

He truly, honestly, did not feel like socializing with anyone at the moment, but who was he to refuse a doctor's orders?....

Taking a deep breath of the cold winter air, Jay stiffened up, smoothed the wrinkles from his vintage memphis style sweater and entered the lounge, heels high and head high as he could manage 

____________

When the doors swung open with a swirl of winter snow, Jay was greeted by a surprisingly full and stunningly silent room. Christmas music cut through the tension like a knife as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Joker's fashionably late arrival.

He didn't know if it was because of his natural ability to demand attention or the fact that he hadn't been seen in nearly 3 weeks, but for some reason the room seemed slightly on edge. worried he'd come with another Joker brand surprise perhaps. Thankfully, Harley, who'd left his place a little earlier to get everything ready, noticed who'd finally arrived.

"JJ!! YOU MADE IT!!" she leaped off her stool and came running to grab him, The rest of the room taking it as a cue to un-tense and to go back to their festivities, the lounge lighting up  with warm greetings and laughter.

" Hey…" said Jay as Harley put an arm around his shoulder and escorted him to the booth she was sitting at….  

"So… is all of this for me or…?"

"No, did she tell you that?" Ivy who was sitting at the booth with his other less than fond acquaintance, Catwoman and someone else he didn't seem to recognize, gave a snide smile, Jay suddenly felt he should probably sit someplace else

"IVY!! SHHH" Harley shushed

"What? He was gonna find out out eventually…. It was supposed to be Penguin's annual winter ball" 

"Uh,It still is tho…?" said Kat, mouth full of shrimp 

"Well, yah…. Difference is we had to 'finesse' Penguin into letting HIM in" Ivy explained, disdain in her voice

"And you... helped with that?..." asked Jay, surprised. Ivy sighed

"for Harley's sake, yes. not yours" 

Jay smiled, amused. "well how charitable of you, here's to hoping you won't regret it"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "As if I don't already" she said, taking a short sip from her drink, Harley sitting down next to her give her thank u peck on the cheek.

"Hey, why'd you get banned from this dump anyway?" Asked Kat, eyes squinting curiously 

"I have no idea…." Jay shrugged 

"He put a coke and mento bomb in the fountain!" Harley interrupted 

"Oh yeah…." He'd totally forgot

"Ha! Awesome…" 

"Right uh, anyway, who the hell are you?" Jays attention suddenly turned to the woman sitting opposite of kat. She had light blue skin, bright white eyes and hair that made her look like a human lighting rod.

"Name's Livewire." She said, voice sharp as her appearance 

"She's from Metropolis" explained Ivy. Jay rose a brow.

"Metropolis huh?? How'dya like dealin' with boy scout full time over there?" He quizzed 

"Sweet!…" she exclaimed enthusiastically "Big blue aint got a thing on me! 'sides, dweeb's been outta town for months now! metropolis might as well be my personal playground"

The mentioning of Superman's absence made something in Jay's chest twist. He'd known their neighbor hero had been MIA for even longer than Batman, Supergirl taking over the workload just like Batgirl had in Gotham. but still… the reminder was enough to worry him. I mean… if superman was taking so much time up there, what chance did Batman have against whatever it was they were so busy with??

Trying his best to shake off the uneasiness building in his stomach Jay took a breath and snapped back to reality, offering Livewire his hand

"Well, uh... Livewire, i'm this city's head honcho while the bat's gone so welcome to Gotham and try not to wear it out" 

Harley and Ivy exchanged looks as Jay smiled slyly and took Livewires hand…

...Only for his usual gesture of hospitality to be met with an equally shocking grip that sent blue sparks flying in every direction.

"DAMN, what the- !! " Jay yanked his hand back and held it in pain, hot needles running up his arm.The new addition to Harley's crew laughed crudely and smiled

 "why do you think they call me 'LIVEWIRE' genius?" 

Jay stayed silent with defeat as the table went up in hysterics "Yeah fine, okay, I shoulda saw that one coming" he sighed and smoothed out his hair which had sprung up to stand on end, his face ever so slightly red "anyway, you ladies have a nice time… i'll set up shop somewhere else and let you guys… idk… flirt with each other or whatever..." without much fanfare he slunk off to sit someplace else.

After the table had settled down completely though, Harley noticed Jay making his way to the bar looking somewhat dejected.

"Aw Jay…." 

The rest curiously turned their attention to the direction of Harley's gaze.

"You're not going after him are you?" Asked Ivy after a beat.

"Well… yeah…?" Harley shrugged.

"Uhm, why?" Asked kat, dipping more shrimp into her cocktail "like if he's not in the mood for a joke that's kinda his problem…?"

"Yeah, but still…. I've never seen 'im like this for so long…. He's usually so funny and animated, it's like somethin' drained all the life out of 'im…." The concern on Harley's face was very apparent. Ivy brushed back a few strands of her hair and tried her best to reassure her.

"Look i'm sure he'll get his second wind when Batman comes back at some point… but ‘til then it's not your job to take care of him…" 

Harley sighed silently. "I know but… he's still my best friend… and if I hadn't met him, I wouldn'ta met you!" She squished close to her spouse with a smile, Ivy suddenly unable to hold back a small one herself.

"He helped me outta my slump all those years ago, least I can do is help 'im outta his..."

Ivy gave her a soft look before reluctantly caving "Kindness has always been your best and worst trait, silly bee…" she said with a smirk "fine, go ahead and do your thing, I've got plenty of company over here in the meantime…"

Harley smiled happily and gave her one last kiss before running off to join Jay at the bar.

____________

Jay sat alone at the bar in silence until he was suddenly startled by Harley's arrival.

 "What's shakin' grumpy gills?" She asked pulling up a stool.

Jay didn't answer as the bartender slid over a funfetti martini topped with the works, Jay lazily catching it and drinking deeply.

"Those guys didn't get ta ya did they? I know they seem mean bu- "

"Ah… I don't care about them…" said Jay dismissively  "we're all villains here right? I'm sure they got their reasons… sides, Livewire's pretty fun even if she did fry my Joy buzzer" He said regretfully…

"So what's up then…?" Asked Harley, head tilted 

Jay looked down at the table with a frown, fingers anxiously scraping the side of the glass in his hand….

"What she'd said about metropolis…. And… superman…."

"Oh…"  Harley nodded "well…. I'm sure they're together wherever they are…. Right? Him and Batman? And I mean, with Superman around, he's bound to be okay….." 

Jay had a hard time matching her enthusiasm but that logic did comfort him some. "Yeah… yeah I guess so"

"C'mon Jay, you gotta get that stuff off your mind for a minute! Go mingle! Go dance!… look at everyone who came this time! Turn-out's never been so big!"

As Jay's looked around the room, Harley did have a point, usually these get-togethers only managed to scrounge up about half the gang, but it looked like almost all the rogues in town had come this time. Even D-listers like Polkadot man, Killer Moth, Crazy Quilt ect. Had managed to show up, plus people he didn't seem to recognize…

For example at the bar sat Scarecrow and a… Oddly scruffy looking man he looked to be sharing a drink with. He'd heard from Riddler over the phone some time ago that crow had found himself a friend and that the two were "in cahoots".  whatever that was supposed to mean. He supposed that must've been the "friend" in question…

A few tables down sat another unfamiliar  in a polkadot shirt and a pair of cracked thick lensed glasses. He had a peculiar looking puppet sitting on his lap which made J raise a brow, but he didn't judge. Looking at his woefully nervous face he guessed it must it must've been a security thing anyway… 

Despite the big crowd though, Jay did notice one person missing of whom he hadn't seen in quite a while...

"Yeah I guess everyone is here...  except uh, Lex I guess…?" Jay considered himself friends with metropolises king of corruption, even if the feeling wasn't always mutual. Seeing so many crooks he knew in one place made him realize how rare it was to see the mal hearted mogul at these things.

Unfortunately, Harley could only shrug with defeat. "Ah I tried to get Lex but you know how he is… nobody's seen that shut in for ages".

Jay's eyes narrowed at that "How long is ages…. ?" He pressed

"I dunno… a few months guess???  Livewire said he's been quiet lately, probably off in one of his labs making some over convoluted instrument of destruction I guess"

The growing list of missing big shots was beginning to piece something together in Jay's head… what on earth was Lex up to? Where was superman?? Why did the league need Batman's help? How did it all connect?? After a moment Harley noticed Jay slipping into his thoughts again and shook his shoulder lightly to pull him out of it.

"Hey, don't worry about that egghead. he'd only kill the mood if he were here anyway" 

Jay couldn't disagree, the billionaire was kind of notorious for being a giant stick in the mud.

"If you're really worried about what's goin' on with those guys, you can come up with a plan Tomorrow…. right now we got a' open dance floor, unlimited drinks and a Karaoke competition that's about ta kick off in ten"

The word 'Karaoke' was enough to snap Jay back to reality. "Did you say Karaoke?" 

"Yes, I did."

"Do they hav-"

"Yes, they have Queen" 

Jay nearly looked as if someone had told him the best news of his life. "Oh thank god" maybe Harley was right. Worrying would have to wait. 

_____________

The rest of the night went on with few hang ups. Drinks poured, music played and poorly screeched lyrics kept the mood upbeat.

The Karaoke stage hosted performance after performance, some more enthusiastic than others. Some painful, others surprisingly pleasant. Jay's teetered off the edge of both categories, but when "somebody to love" burst through those speakers, he'd sung it with his whole chest. The best performance by a long shot though had to be Ivy's who's affinity for 50's ballads lent to her beautifully rich voice and her's was closely followed by the Dent's who'd decided to attempt a duet with no chorus which everyone found somewhat impressive.

Emotions did flare up once or twice though, as they tend to do when it comes to villain gatherings. Ed and Jay got into a fight about something stupid and unimportant, both obviously enjoying themselves, Bane and Croc engaged in an arm wrestle that woefully ended in a tie, and Jay inevitably got worked up about Batman again, this time with a crowd of eager listeners somewhat entertained by his rambling, giving questionable advice here and there.

At the get-together's height, the dance floor had filled to the point where Penguin was just about ready to call the whole event off until Riddler dragged him on to the floor himself.

After another hour or so the party wound down some more and the night devolved into quiet discussions between friends, everyone either ready to leave or half asleep. Eventually Jay and Two-face of all people were left alone. Once Ed, Crow, Hatter and the rest had gone home.

Jay always liked Harv, for someone known for his temper he seemed to have a lot of patience and Jay found both of his selves uniquely interesting in their own ways. Harvey the "handsome" one was always very nice, easily flustered, and had a sadness in his eyes that was hard to ignore. "Dent", the one famous for all those 2 themed crimes, was a bold individual and one of the most brutally honest people he knew. That night though, even he seemed a little sad. He admitted later that it was because it'd been a while since he'd gotten to talk to his old pal Bruce, someone Jay was mildly familiar with of course, and they spent the rest of the night discussing Batman and wayne and how they seemed so similar until it really was time to head home. 

 sometime after midnight, long after everyone had either left or found someplace to pass out, Harley broke up with her girl gang again to come get Jay who'd fallen asleep in an empty booth.

"Wake up clown" she said loudly, nudging him a bit. Jay giggled quietly in response, turning over after a moment and opening his eyes.

"Oohh what's up??"

"Time to go." 

"Aw…" Jay huffed disappointedly, then did his best to sit up straight, his head slowly spinning as he did so "ah jeeze…"

"Don't worry I called one of your guys, he's waiting outside." She explained "I dragged you here, might as well drag you home" 

"You did that for me?" Jay smiled "That's so nice…."

"Mhm" carefully, she took his hand got him to his feet, doing her best to keep him up straight. As they headed out they met up with Ivy at the door

"Taking pennywise home?" She asked 

"It'll only take a minute" Harley assured 

"Alright… don't take too long…" she turned to leave but before she could, Jay suddenly spoke up.

"H-hey, Wait!" 

Ivy turned around, brow raised "You have something to say to me?"

"Uh… yeah? I mean… sort of? I just, uh… wanted to say i'm sorry for…  messing up your garden all those times…." 

Ivy blinked "Why are you telling me this now?"

"I just thought you shud kno….  And that um…. Maybe you'd hate me…. A little less... if I said sorry for once..." the frown on Jays face was absolutely pitiful, Ivy could only roll her eyes.

"I don't hate you… Joker"

"Oh?"

"I just think you're annoying…."

"Oh…." Jay couldn't really tell if that was any better but at the moment he was too drunk to care. "Okay…"

With that ivy turned around to join Kat and Livewire

"Thanks for the apology though I suppose…Take care of yourself…. And, Harley don't take too long… it's only 1:00am we still have plans."

"Don't worry Ive's  i'll catch up." 

after one last look, Ivy went back on her way and Harley continued walking J to his car.

As they went Jay hummed to himself, swaying slightly, until a certain thought made him go quiet again.

"....Harley….?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah, J?"

"Am I a bad friend?" The question just as out of the blue as his apology to Ivy…. 

Harley looked at him, concerned "Why do ya ask?"

"I just…. Please?" He pleaded. Harley hesitated for a long moment but decided being honest was probably best.

" not exactly but… maybe sometimes"

"Hm…" Jay decided he'd have to work on that

"But I also know ya don't really wanna hurt anybody…. That you try your best everyday ta make people happy and that you've been through just as much any of us….  A few mean comments an' dumb pranks ain't gonna make anybody think you're the devil or somethin'….not me or any of the other guys... "

Jay had to smile at that, Harley always had something smart or nice to say no matter what. still, her answer only made him feel worse about how he'd been earlier when she was just trying to help… he really, honestly, didn't deserve her…. But the least he could do was let her know he was glad to have her...

"Harley…?"

"Yeah, J…"

"Thanks for being really, really great all the time… and… y'know… around… " Harley smiled as she secured his arm around her shoulders. 

"Thanks J..." 

"also sorry for sucking sometimes..."

She sighed. "It's fine Jay…."

carefully, she hauled his ragdolling body a few more feet and shoved him into the back seat of his car. J grunting as his head hit the leather seat.

"Now go home an' try not to get lost on your way to the door" She said sternly. Jay gave her a lazy wink and a pair of wobbly finger guns.

"Gotcha." 

with that,Harley slammed the door shut and the J-Mobile's engine roared to life. One his lackeys sitting in the driver's seat.

"Where to boss? HQ?"

"Yup… ah, sorry t' call ya out so late…"

"S'alright boss…. Don't worry about it"

As the car lurched forward, street lights shining in through the windows as snow fell ever so lightly over Gotham like a dusting of fresh powdered sugar, Jay did inevitably start thinking about Batman again, wondering when he'd come back, desperately wishing he knew anything about where he was right now….

The thoughts were hard to ignore and when he got home he knew he'd be surrounded by the same walls he'd spent the last month trapped with them in….  even so, the world felt a little less washed out than it had before he left, and it wasn't just because of the alcohol swirling in his blood. 

He may not have had Batman... But today reminded him he wasn't alone.

He had friends… real friends… In a way he'd always considered them such… but deep down there was always doubt. I mean sure he got along better with some than others, but after knowing people so long he shouldn't have been so dumb to think they hated him as much as he thought they did. 

When you're a villain in Gotham sometimes all you have are other weirdos in the same boat as you to help keep you and everyone else afloat. People need people in more ways than one…  and as Jay drifted off to sleep in the back of his gaudy getaway vehicle, laying in a position that was just barely comfortable, he pushed his worries aside and made sure that was something he'd never let himself forget.

~ End ~

[aion-rsa]

Helstrom: The Comic History of Marvel’s Son of Satan

https://ift.tt/33Vbv3V

On Oct. 16, Hulu will be releasing the latest Marvel tie-in series Helstrom. It’s not so much like one of those upcoming Disney+ MCU shows that feature high-profile superheroes telling stories that will be important to the overall fictional universe. It’s more like Daredevil or Runaways where quality be damned, you’re never going to hear anyone in the movies make anything close to a reference to it, but it counts as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe anyway.

The series is about siblings Daimon Helstrom and Ana Helstrom, who have seemingly normal lives, but oppose demons and evil people on the side. Their mother is institutionalized, which is fairly true to the comics, but their father is also referred to as “a powerful serial killer.”

In the comics, things are a bit grander. Their father isn’t just any serial killer, but a variation of Satan. Marvel has a bunch of guys whose identities are “basically Satan, but not really.” Instead of suits and turtlenecks, the two have comic adventures where they dress like they shopped off the sexy Halloween costume rack at Party City.

Daimon Helstrom (played by Tom Austen) gets both L’s in the comics as Daimon Hellstrom, but also has the rad nickname of Son of Satan. Shockingly, he’s a good guy! Mostly. Even when bare-chested with a glowing pentagram over his torso. Even with a magical pitchfork as his weapon of choice.

Son of Satan and his sister Satana are essentially the Marvel versions of Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry. Both are half-human/half-devil and they lean on opposite sides of their genetics.

So let’s say you want to get into Hellstrom’s comic book exploits. Well, you’re in luck because we have a list of his main character runs since showing up in 1973.

The Early Spotlight (1973-1975)

Hellstrom made his first appearance in Ghost Rider #1. In the first two issues of that series, Hellstrom was hired as an exorcist to help deal with a missing woman who had been possessed. Interestingly enough, they never gave a clear look at Hellstrom in those two issues other than the demonic birthmark on his chest.

Initially, Hellstrom had a Jekyll and Hyde gimmick to the point that he told the woman’s loved ones to lock him up in a dark room and not let him out no matter what he said. Unlike the supporting characters in Young Frankenstein, the bozos didn’t take that to heart and let Hellstrom’s more maniacal personality Son of Satan loose.

Sidenote: His adventures were originally going to be called “the Mark of Satan” with more emphasis on Satan as the antagonist, but doing comics focused on Satan was deemed a little over-the-line, so they changed it.

Second sidenote: I did not hit her, it’s bullshit, I did not hit her, I DID NOT! Oh hi, Mark of Satan!

Read more

TV

How Helstrom Became One of Marvel Television’s Last Shows Standing

By Alec Bojalad

Son of Satan’s adventures continued into Marvel Spotlight #12-24. It didn’t take long for Marvel to realize that giving him a double-identity was kind of a lame idea and instead had Satan Sr. magically handwave that away and make Son of Satan just one dude. Definitely for the better as he no longer felt so blatantly like Marvel’s answer to Jason Blood/Etrigan.

Hellstrom continued to fight against ghoulish enemies while opposing his father’s ways and dated some generic woman whose name I couldn’t tell you if you paid me a million dollars. It all culminated in a really strong finale issue where Hellstrom fought against and with his sister Satana, but maybe ignore the part where Hellstrom had a dream about the two of them making out.

Striking Out Solo (1975-1977)

Son of Satan had his own self-titled ongoing series that only lasted eight issues. From the beginning, Hellstrom went to Hell to basically tell off his dad as a way to say that this series wouldn’t be about their rivalry. Instead, it was Son of Satan dealing with a bunch of random villains that nobody would ever really remember.

There was one ridiculous enemy named the Possessor (not to be confused with the Elder of the Universe) who wore a mask to hide the fact that he had demon faces where his ears are supposed to be. Too bad he never showed up outside of this series.

It was a trippy outing, but ended before it could find its footing.

Demon Defender (1981-1983)

The Defenders are, of course, the bundle of heroes who don’t quite fit in with the Avengers, Fantastic Four, or X-Men but need people to hang out with. Guys like Hulk, Dr. Strange, Namor, Valkyrie, etc. Son of Satan became a regular ally in the team’s early days, appearing to help out every now and then. Most notably, he was part of a storyline where the Serpent Society kidnapped the Defenders and Clea put together a second team to rescue them, featuring the likes of Son of Satan, Daredevil, and Luke Cage.

Then again, the only thing anyone truly remembers about those issues is a very bizarre and legendary scene of a random guy getting killed by an Elf with a Gun.

As the series reached its 92nd issue, Hellstrom finally joined the team. On one hand, having Son of Satan on the team meant the Defenders had to take on the occult more than usual. On the other hand, Hellstrom soon fell in love with fellow Defender Hellcat, who was regularly dealing with constantly being possessed and turning into a scantily-clad demoness.

When Defenders hit its 100th issue, they did a really climactic storyline where a handful of the various Marvel Devil guys invaded Earth and Son of Satan had to take on Father of Son of Satan for the fate of Earth. The conclusion is rather surprising.

Prince of Lies (1993-1994)

Okay, so Daimon Hellstrom and Patsy Walker have been married for ten years (our time). It’s a fairytale romance where they’ve made a few guest appearances here and there, but have otherwise retired, happily ever after. What could POSSIBLY taint such true love?

90s comics. That’s your answer.

Welcome to Hellstorm: Prince of Lies, a 21-issue ongoing series where every issue looks like a Nine Inch Nails video and they try to see how much lanky nudity they can get away with showing in a Marvel comic. Like, holy crap, there has to be a world record for shadowed-out junk in this series. They even edit in some obvious, hastily-drawn underwear on characters at times as if the editor has realized they’ve gone too far.

It’s a gritty and grimy series that you’d expect from a 90s comic where much of it is written by Warren Ellis and the main character is Satan’s son. Lots of spikes, sharp teeth, long hair, suffering, insanity, and so on. It’s most definitely a product of its time.

Plus it’s called “Hellstorm” instead of “Hellstrom.” Scout’s honor, I didn’t notice the difference until my editor pointed it out.

Maximum Hellstorm (2006-2007)

Ah, Marvel MAX. The days when Marvel decided to give R-rated comics a shot and just threw everything at the wall. Hellstorm: Son of Satan was one of them, going for five issues. By this point, we’re in the mid-00s, so Hellstrom has a more down-to-earth look and is constantly talking to his father on a cellphone and tries so hard not to remind us what he looked like in the 70s and 80s.

But because it’s Marvel MAX, it means that his adventure is filled with lots of curse words, ultra-violence, gross demon boobs, and explicit Jesus imagery you normally wouldn’t see in a comic like this.

While the whole “Hellstrom messes with Egyptian underworld deities” storyline is a bit high concept, it still feels more like the new Hulu show than anything else.

Zombie Slayer (2009)

Speaking of gritty Marvel trends, there’s Marvel Zombies! While the initial Ultimate Fantastic Four storyline and the first two volumes of Marvel Zombies dealt with the happenings of a doomed universe, the next few volumes went slightly more uplifting. After all, sometimes you need to have people to root for who can back it up.

In Marvel Zombies 4, the Black Talon and the Hood (under the influence of Dormammu) try to use the decapitated head of Zombie Deadpool (otherwise known as Headpool) to bring forth the zombie apocalypse in the regular Marvel universe. Yes, we actually have canon stakes this time.

To prevent this, we have the Midnight Sons, made up of Son of Satan, Morbius, Jennifer Kale, Werewolf by Night, and Man-Thing. It’s an incredibly badass group working through an incredibly badass adventure. Too bad the team doesn’t last.

On a similar note, around this time there was a miniseries called the Last Defenders where Son of Satan was a major character. It’s just that by the time the team came together, they were an immediately-forgotten afterthought, so there’s no use in giving it its own entry.

Ghost Riders in the Sky (2009-2010)

Jason Aaron had a really, really, really great run on Ghost Rider. Most definitely read it. It’s pure grindhouse and I love it.

The whole run finished with Ghost Riders: Heaven’s on Fire. This culmination featured Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch working together against a corrupt angel, the anti-Christ, and a group of villains from earlier in the run teaming up.

At least they have Daimon Hellstrom there to help out. Unfortunately, Hellstrom looks outright goofy with a bald head and Fu-Manchu mustache. The story brings back Jaine, his EXTREME love interest from the 90s series who he ended up with after his relationship with Patsy went very south.

Anyhow, Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider run. Read it!

Strikeforce (2019-2020)

Much like how X-Men had X-Force as the team that would do the really dirty work, Avengers had a spinoff team called Strikeforce. Made up of Winter Soldier, Angela, Blade, Spider-Woman, Wiccan, and Spectrum, the team soon brought Hellstrom into the fold. Which is just as well, since he was working for Baron Zemo for a little while and really needed to get his head back on straight.

Unfortunately for Hellstrom, 1) he retained his bald look from Heaven’s on Fire and 2) the series didn’t last all that long. Only nine issues, sadly. Eh, it was fun while it lasted.

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At least he’s joining the Savage Avengers next! And they’re giving him his hair back!

The post Helstrom: The Comic History of Marvel’s Son of Satan appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/31dX5KF

[thattimdrakeguy]

Robin - the first miniseries - issue #2 (R.I.P Tom Lyle)

This issue is really good at letting you know the bare bones basics of what Tim’s going through in this story.

It may not go through all the details, but it gives you pretty much the main components of what you need to do.

A nice recap that’s always good for readers that didn’t pick up the first issue. It’s very easy, and simple at lowering any confusion.

Although there is probably still butt loads given how little they actually say, but it’s easy to pick up.

Robin’s getting beat up, this adult man who is obviously not Batman is helping him.

You can pick it up fast and continue from there.

They also give Tim’s narration, and I can’t help but read this in the most deadpan clinically exhausted tone reality can bring. It’s so deadpan and self-depreciating, but at the same time, it lets the reader know he has that boy scout thought process.

You get a sense that the kid’s doing his best to be a superhero, but it always does a good job of letting you know that even he’s aware he’s not doing a good job.

Not feeling like he’s good enough is a constant theme of Tim’s character.

His narration also shows us, that Tim is a freaking idiot. That probably should’ve thought this out before nearly getting himself beat to death.

Like he’s clever, good with computers and all that, but he’s still an idiot kid

People to be always over-value Tim’s intelligence, and while he obviously gets a lot smarter than this (often to the point of being out of character to be frank). Some people might make you think he’s a genius, like James Tynion IV, but honestly he’s no genius.

He doesn’t always make the best decisions.

Though even when he’s five steps away from toppling over, he still does his best to do what he thinks is the best thing he can do. He’s doing his best to be a hero, even when he isn’t cut out for the job yet. He keeps on trying.

His relationship with Clyde is also pretty sweet for as odd as it is. I mean, they did just meet after Clyde was gonna get killed, and Timmy jumped in to give the bad guys something else to hit.

But for what it is, it’s decently sweet.

It’s more nice character building for Tim that shows how he is in Robin mode interacting with other people and victims of crime. He’s sweet, and always doing his best to do the right thing.

Like the little boy scout he is.

--

It’s easy to barely care for the villains of this miniseries though, because to be honest. They’re so generic that it’s a bit painful to read them sometimes. They feel like they’re out of a dollar bin Kung Fu movie from the 80s. I have no idea why this is who they decided to make Tim’s first villain this.

The name of the villain is even KING SNAKE, that’s such a cheesy Kung Fu movie villain name.

Oh no, a serious, violent, psychopathic, gang leader.

What ever shall we do.

It’s something you can skip over honestly, because you pretty much know it’s going to be stuff you’ve seen before.

Basically, they go into operation ‘kill the pipsqueak’ (they don’t call it that, but that’s the idea), and that’s the threat they pose. Its very bare bones.

Though there’s a part of this that alarms me more than the main villain.

Because this implies that the girl isn’t Tim’s age. The way she says he’s “almost a child” implies she’s notably older older than Tim given how she words herself, but maybe not, because Tim IS babyfaced. It is a joke people constantly think he’s 12 (and that’s at age 17, Tim’s 14 here. So who knows how he looks to people). So, how old is this girl?

Is she’s Tim’s age? Because I’m alarmed by this because she was vaguely flirting with him in the last issue. Is she his age and she doesn’t know? Cuz if she was his age and she knows, it’s weird for her to word it that way. She’d just say “around my age”, like how a normal person would.

Even then, she still notes how he’s super young like she doesn’t think they’re the same age, so that’s still super creepy.

That interaction alarms me a lot, but it’s not even close to the creepiest thing in this comic, but thankfully that’s in another issue.

I’m not looking forward to talking about it, but this is a review of this miniseries. So I’m going to.

--

The next scene shows just how much of a stupid, sheltered, rich kid Tim is.

Like this kid, just throws away this man’s clothes. This man is in his underwear when he wakes up. Tim took this man’s clothes off his body and threw it away.

This scene I just never liked though, because it’s very contrived.

Tim’s always been shown to be nice and respectful unless it’s to not so nice people. So why does he straight up throw the guys clothes out?

They don’t even play Tim to be creepy, or weird, or rude for this. So this wasn’t intended to make him out to be a disturbing gremlin child.

As far as I can tell, the gag is that Tim’s a sheltered rich kid, and a bit stupid sometimes, but if I woke up in my underwear with a kid talking about crime in front of me. I’d be a lot more alarmed.

Although maybe it’s just some crime movie trope I don’t know about. Girl’s in movies often wake up naked with no real concern. Which is a really gross trope.

I remember in Back to the Future Marty McFly woke up with no pants, but that WAS played as weird, because it WAS weird. You don’t take stranger’s clothes off. So this scene is just contrived.

The intention isn’t to make Tim’s character a weirdo. This wasn’t them trying to show him as creepy, because that’s simply not how it’s portrayed. It’s just a rich kid joke. So he isn’t as far as the series and how I’m concerned, and he doesn’t do anything like this ever again. So it’s just out of place, odd, and contrived.

Maybe this one of the many reason’s why people think Tim was gay. He backs away from being flirted with women, but he’ll take a man’s clothes off without a second thought.

Another creepy scene though, and a scene that’s not even meant to be creepy at that, which almost makes it worse to me. Like I sure hope this wasn’t the way they intended to make Tim come off as gay, because it’s a freaking creepy scene even if it’s kind of clearly not what they intended. 

Although, let me say, I’m 99% sure they honestly did not intend Tim to come off as gay in any way. Just a bad scene honestly. It’s written away from normal human logic, so it’s contrived, and they don’t even fully act like what just happened happened.

However due to the power of interpretation, if you think Tim’s gay, he’s gay.

If they wanted to show Tim being a sheltered rich kid, they should’ve done a better job writing it then this. If Tim’s gonna do it a weird thing, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing, then write it that way. Don’t just act like this wasn’t weird.

--

Lady Shiva has her “come with me if you want to live” moment though, and so the action continues.

In general this issue has a lot more action.

The format of the miniseries is a lot more like a movie than how most comics try to squeeze in a lot of action every issue. There’s action in the first issue, but it’s mostly condensed down a lot. This finally goes into action movie territory.

The bad guys are so corny. Like I can’t get over how much they look like cheesy 80s Kung Fu movie villains.

Tim deserves better than these bozos.

However they keep Tim’s character strong, by reaffirming he’s got no street smarts. Tim at this point is 100% only making this far by his book smarts. He’s naive, and stupid still.

They even got nice ‘show don’t tell’ moments, where Tim’s just freaking bad at this job still. Even though he is quick thinking and sort of clever.

People say Tim has no character, but he has plenty of character. He just isn’t loud. He’s mostly soft spoken so maybe his personality isn’t obvious, but he has it plenty if anyone wanted to pay attention to him.

--

Enjoy some more dumb rich kid Tim.

Like casually renting a farm house isn’t normal, Timothy.

Up until this point, some people may still argue that Tim’s a Gary Stu, because while even though he fails, and isn’t skilled. People still like him, and he doesn’t do anything morally wrong, but that’s not true either.

Tim’s so focus on figuring stuff out that he becomes insensitive to Clyde.

Mostly cuz he’s a dumb, but smart (contradiction, but remember Tim’s book and computer smart, not socially smart or street smart. There’s a distinction. He’s still incredibly naive and unaware that what he did wasn’t right) kid that didn’t realize it, but still. He did something wrong, and it’s shown that he’s wrong for it.

So the traits of his character are able to be shown more to stronger limits.

We know his strong points and his character flaws.

He’s got a heroic spirit, he’s computer smart, good at crime solving, he’s constantly trying to do the right thing, and he doesn’t give up.

but socially and street-wise he’s an idiot, and his sheltered childhood ended up with him being relatively insensitive without him being aware of it at first, and while it’s clear he isn’t insensitive out of malice, it’s still a character flaw, as it causes problems between the characters.

--

The final scene gives us some character growth, and if you wanna smack Timmy for being so insensitive to Clyde, well, in this training scene. Clyde smacks him for ya. (Even if it’s not for being insensitive)

We even get to see how emotionally vulnerable Tim is compared to some other superheroes too.

He cries when he’s angry unlike other superheroes who often enough get to look cool, tough, and masculine when they cry.

Here Tim looks like what lots of people would call a wimp.

As someone who cried a lot when they were mad, and even got bullied for that fact. I honestly just really appreciate, on a personal level, that they had Tim cry when he was mad. 

He’s got his butt kicked this whole entire time by pretty much every person he freaking met. So that’s a lot of emotion coming out of him that he’s been probably building up and internalizing inside of him with all his self-deprecation in his narration.

I kinda gotta question the morals of teaching Tim to fight with anger though.

But it’s still a good moment because it shows were Clyde comes from. That’s were Clyde gets his motivation to fight from and do all of this. Clyde even tho this is his only appearance does get character in this. We learn about him a lot.

It makes me wish Clyde showed up again. Unless he did and I somehow didn’t realize it was him, because he’s a neat character in his own way. Could’ve got a nice noir crime drama out of him.

Along with that. They don’t even ignore the morals of fighting with anger, because that immediately gets brought up.

So differences between these three weirdos come up when they become a trio.

--

I prefer the first issue just because it’s more of a character study, and didn’t have all the corniness.

This issue, while I focus on the bad stuff, because this is a review I’m gonna talk about it. It’s still a good issue. Just a good issue with bad scenes and crooked morals when it comes to the ambiguous age gap between Linx and Timmy that could end up making that whole interaction they had really creepy.

Tim’s character gets stronger, and the story gets filled out, even if the story is still bare bones at this point as far as the villains are concerned. It’s filled out in a way that means, there’s a threat, and there’s actual action and adventure to make it exciting.

So it’s not a perfect miniseries for anyone looking for story. It’s a miniseries that’s perfect for people that love and wanna learn about Timmy.

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Dusk Till Dawn (Shinsou Hitoshi X Reader) PART 2

PART 1: https://ice-cream-kitsunegirl.tumblr.com/post/186189461464/dusk-till-dawn-shinsou-hitoshi-x-reader-part-1

Taglist: @estherosoro

Summary: You and Shinsou find out what kind of people you’ve been captured by, and you can’t bear to be away from him.

I made these villains, they’re all OC’s made specifically for this series but they may or may not show up in other fanfics if I’m feeling particularly uncreative hehe...

Warnings: Some graphic violence, gore and sexual situations.

Featuring: Our Purple Son!! <3 

Chapter 2: Imprisoned

Neither you or Shinsou had any idea how long it had been since those bastards left you and him inside this empty room to suffer in the freezing cold. Shinsou was sure it had been hours, but it felt so slow with the lack of clock provided and the four walls just staring at you and him. He guessed at least 8 hours at best based on how long it felt and how the temperature seemed to drop.

God you just wished you had a jacket or something because you couldn’t stop shivering and you could tell that Shinsou was pretty bad off too as you watched him quiver in his seat and you could hear his shivering breath. He couldn’t even talk because of that damn gag in his mouth no thanks to those goons…

You had no idea what you and him could do either because you and him didn’t know the layout of this building, or where you even were. There was little opportunity for you both to come up with some kind of escape plan…

But then the door opened and snapped you and Shinsou out of your thoughts as you both slowly picked your heads up to see the same goons from earlier. “C’mon now… Boss wants ya…” You gasped and shook your head as one of the men picked you up and forced you to walk with him as he ignored your pleas.

No, you didn’t want to be away from Shinsou…

It felt selfish, but you didn’t want Shinsou’s visage to leave you because you could NOT be alone and you did not WANT to be left alone. Without Shinsou here, you had no hope and you were relieved that the other men forced him to walk alongside you. You wished he wasn’t here with you, but at the same time… you were glad that he was, because you weren’t sure if you would handle doing this alone…

These men were so rough, so aggressive as they shoved you when it felt like you or Shinsou were walking too slow for their liking. All either of you could do was grunt and reluctantly comply as to avoid provoking them. They were larger than you and Shinsou, the conditions were unfavorable, and you were both trapped in some facility that neither of you knew anything about. Fighting back right now without observation would be the worst thing to do right now. So Shinsou paid attention, analyzing the halls and seeing how dingy and empty they were save for the four men taking you someplace. You didn’t see much light, so you assumed there were little windows as you were pushed again by the guy you spat at.

The two of you eventually found yourselves in a large room where at least 10 more men dressed in red were standing with dark, stoic expressions that terrified you as you also noticed a lavish looking sofa, desk, bed and a TV complete with a bar that was obviously for the boss himself. And there he was, the leader it seemed, his hair white and scraggly in a fashion that reminded you of Shigaraki, only his face was flawless and his grey eyes were as dark as his soul. “Welcome friends.”

Friends? Who the fuck was this guy kidding?

“I want to start by thanking Bozo, Mad Dog and Lothario for their hard work in scouting and finding our new recruits. Not a cakewalk to be picking off students so, well done boys.” The boss said, gesturing to two large men looking really proud of themselves and nodding when the others started clapping. ‘Bozo’ was apparently the man who captured you and Mad Dog was apparently the one whose face you spat in…

Great…

“Welcome new friends. My name is Suchiru Koru.” He moved closer, caressing your cheek with fingers that felt so nasty against your skin, they were boney and warm to the touch as you gave an anxious tremble as he lowly chuckled with a grin. But your eyes widened when he gave more of his vile affection to Shinsou as he stroked his hair, and the latter could feel his stomach churn with such a discomfort he had never felt before.

“Friends…? I don’t… I don’t understand… sir w-why would… y-you need us…?”

It felt stupid to ask, but maybe… appealing to this lunatic might raise your chances of survival. And Koru raised his arms up, “I told ya… I don’t discriminate against people with unique quirks. Especially not for the job I’m trying to do… see… the world is advancing. Quirks are evolving, and thousands of people are trying to create new quirks to breed powerful children… the pro-hero… Endeavor had the right idea. I was a man inspired when I heard the rumors… and then all my hopes came true when that son of his was born…”

Your eyes started to widen when Koru talked about Todoroki. This man wasn’t seriously inspired by your friends’ horror story was he?

“When that story came out, a high demand for people with powerful quirks started to rise on the Black Market and the Dark Web… and I’m not going to lie. I’m not a strong man… I can’t track people down… but that’s why I had to find you. Ms. (L/N) (Y/N) is that right? Your beautiful quirk is extraordinary… Psychic Navigation… oh the ability to perceive things by using your mind and finding people with your mind alone and to be able to communicate with them too…you must have such a beautiful mind…” He sounded so polite it made you sick as you narrowed your eyes when he dared to say your name.

You remained silent as you shakily exhaled a breath, “And then the young Shinsou Hitoshi. The boy with the scary Brainwashing quirk.” Koru looked so marveled that it sickened Shinsou as the man moved closer, tilting his chin as he leaned in with his foul breath that made Shinsou want to vomit. “To speak to someone… and make them do your bidding, forcing them to do anything you could want them to do… now that’s a power…” Koru whispered and kissed the boy’s cheek as he cringed and you could only watch in tearful fear.

If you could, you would take Shinsou away from that man, and make sure this man suffers for a very long time in prison, Hell, anywhere that he would get some kind of retribution for putting his hands on him…

Thankfully Koru moved away to stand back in front of his goons, “We only want to give the people what they want, don’t we boys?!”

“YEAH!”

“They will pay us generously, while we help them create powerful children to make a more powerful world!”

“YEAH!”

“We are the ones making the world great by acting as the givers and bringers of hope! And the ones who will weed out the weaklings and kill them off one by one!”

“YEAH!”

The men started clapping and chanting for their boss as Koru held his hands up, relishing in the cheers from his sycophantic followers as they screamed “Boss Koru! Boss Koru! Boss Koru!”

So that was his plan. He wanted to use you and Shinsou to find people with strong quirks and people with weak quirks, as a means to get the strong ones and kill the ones with weaker quirks. A sickening dread filled your body as you sniffed and couldn’t stop yourself from shedding horrified fears when the men just started screaming loudly as their voices rang in your ears and send violent shivers down your spine and overwhelmed you with fear and dread. Whimpering, you couldn’t see Shinsou looking right at you, he felt so bad for you because of all the classmates he knew, you were the last one he thought deserved to be here.

These men were all psychopaths and he was honestly afraid because by the looks of it, they were somewhere remote and none of these goons had any sense of stability. They screamed, they chanted, the clapped as he could only just look at you as a form of reassurance that he wasn’t the only one in a room full of villains. He wasn’t alone, even though you didn’t deserve to be here, and he knew that, Shinsou was glad that he wasn’t alone…

But after a while, Koru brought his hands down to silence them all. “But we can’t do it alone… and that’s where you both come in… (L/N). Shinsou. Our new brethren.”

Shinsou gave the man a cold glower, how dare he call him and you brethren for such a horrible cause? How dare he call his quirk beautiful because he wanted to use it to control people? And how dare he kidnap him and his innocent classmate for his disgusting goals?

“Little Shinsou… I christen you as ‘Purple Mist’.” He declared to his goons as they nodded, all stating ‘Welcome Purple Mist!’, but Shinsou hated the name. He’d rather die than ever go by that.

“Little (L/N)… I christen you ‘Psy-Fy’.” Really? You thought and almost chuckled when the goons stated ‘Welcome Psy-Fy!’. This guy gave the worst nicknames you had ever heard in your life. You turned to Shinsou with a somewhat amused look on your face, and you were relieved to see him give the tiniest smile as you both thought that this guy was… completely ridiculous that both of you couldn’t help but snicker. At least you both had something to laugh at in this shitty situation.

But then you both got promptly smacked in the face by those fuckers Bozo and Lothario respectively. “Who da ya think yur laughin’ at ya brats?!” Bozo screamed in your face as you looked down, terrified and shaking.

“Go on… laugh again… we’ll see how funny it is then.” Lothario had said, his voice raspier and deeper that suited his lean, lanky figure and scraggly black hair as he grinned directly at you.

“Bozo. Lothario. Take it easy now… let the kids have their fun… and give them some jackets. It’s not easy to take the cold when you’re out and about in Hokkaido.” Koru stated and you nearly gasped in shock when he revealed where you were at.

Hokkaido?!

Shinsou noticed that he was being discreet, if they were in Hokkaido they were in someplace cold for the summer. But this was too cold for a normal summer, so he began assuming that one of these guys must have some kind of weather-related quirk.

You couldn’t really think as Lothario stole you from Bozo to give you a rather thin little coat and draped it around you, “Looks good on ya~.” He chimed into your ear, licking his lips as you shook and held back a gasp. The only thing you were thankful for was the new apparel given to you, but even then it wasn’t very helpful because it only provided you little warmth now.

Bozo was very rough when he put the coat on Shinsou, grabbing his arms and wrists to put it on him and growling at him when he accused your friend of trying to fight him. “Can I please… break this one’s arms?” He was seething, as if he was itching to hurt someone, anyone right now, but you reacted without thinking as you shook your head frantically.

“Don’t! Don’t you touch him!” You shouted, and the large man turned to you sharply, snarling as he raised a hand to back-hand slap you, until Koru suddenly shouted.

“I can’t have her all beaten! It’s rude!” He exclaimed dramatically, and you hated to say that you were relieved because you really didn’t want to get hit again.

However, now you had no idea what to predict now after Koru was done monologuing. “All right… Lothario. Mad Dog. Take Purple Mist and Psy-Fy to their rooms. Bozo, keep an eye on them.” He then gave his men the order, and those bastards lined up and started shoving you and Shinsou out of the room as your eyes went wide as soon as you and him went back into the dirty halls.

“C’mon Purple Mist…” Bozo gripped his shoulder and started roughly leading him into another hallway as you gasped in terror.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” You started to shout again when you saw Shinsou being forced to go somewhere else, somewhere else you couldn’t see him. “Please no! NO! Don’t! D-Don’t you hurt him! I swear to God!”

Your emotions took the reign as you struggled and tried to go to him, but Shinsou looked a bit shocked when you began to fight, he shook his head as he could only grunt through his gag. His shouts muffled as Bozo made him look away and kept taking him to where his ‘room’ would be as you just kept shouting and fighting, at least until the other man ‘Mad Dog’ had to pick you up and carry you to your ‘room’.

“Let go of me! Let me fucking go you prick!!”

Lothario smirked as you kept struggling and fighting, and an irked Mad Dog practically threw you onto the hard floor of your room. You shouted with a pained ‘OOF!’ as you grunted and blinked your eyes when seeing and tasting the disgusting floor beneath you, and a chuckling Lothario picked you up, not before he gave your butt an uninvited rub. A loud gasp left you and you just wanted to smack him in the face and kick him in the groin, but the smiling bastard obviously didn’t let you as he gripped your wrists and tied them in a zip tie.

While Mad Dog forced you into a chair and tied you up as an extra means to make sure you can’t try to struggle out of the restraints. “Don’t try anythin’ ya little brat…” He snarled a little bit as Lothario waved him off, “Easy now don’t frighten the poor thing… I want this one to be nice and well just for me~.”

He was disgusting, his grin made your gut turn as you swallowed hard, refusing to cry anymore tears because of the way this person was looking at you. God you prayed he didn’t have any vile plans for you, but he was looking at you in a way that just greatly disturbed you, and you desperately wished that Izuku or Katsuki were here…

You wished Shinsou were here…

You just hated feeling so helpless and preyed upon, and you hated how this man grabbed your chin and forced you to look into his cold, blackened eyes. “Trainin’ begins in an hour… hope yur prepared… if not… well… Bozo’ll hafta punish ya…” Lothario smiled and shrugged his shoulders, and all you could do was shake in both fear and vexation as the man snickered before he and Mad Dog suddenly left you alone and locked the door.

It looked just like the room you and Shinsou were trapped in, no windows, no vents, just a thin mattress on the floor which was riddled with dust, dirt and cobwebs. Honestly this looked more like a prison cell than anything. You shivered in your chair, thinking about how this was the worst day of your life because you had no idea how long you would be here, and you had no idea if Shinsou would be okay. You wanted to see him, you hated this feeling of being helpless and alone…

Closing your eyes, you prayed to someone, anyone, to keep Shinsou safe and that he doesn’t get hurt…

Meanwhile…

Shinsou grit his teeth onto the gag covering his mouth, unable to quell groans and cries of pain as Bozo relentlessly punched him in his stomach and kidneys. Coughing up blood through his gag as he struggled to breathe with the agony surging through his nerves. When he was punched a third time, he was sent crashing down onto the hard, cold ground of his ‘room’. Disgusting…

This had to be a prison of some sorts, and he started wondering if you and he were the only other prisoners here.

“You… are gonna sit your ass down right here.” But then this ugly brute grabbed him by the back of his shirt and shoved him back in a chair, wrapping the zip tie around his wrists and then tying him to the chair. A familiar discomfort as he resisted to scoff, not wanting to give too much attitude to spare another punch to the face or stomach.

“Get ready for work… ya got an hour to adjust…” He snickered down at the teen who just glared at him with tired, surly eyes much to Bozo’s amusement before he shut the door and locked it.

Shinsou’s body hurt, he thought his training with Aizawa was painful, but this was completely different. To be honest he was terrified, not just for what these assholes planned on doing to him, but to you too. “Shit…!” He swore through the gag still in his mouth, shifting in his chair as he tried to loosen these fucking wires by moving, but to no avail. Shinsou couldn’t even break free of the zip tie that restrained his wrists. It was hopeless.

Huffing and grunting, he shut his eyes and mentally cursed himself for being so useless. Why couldn’t he have just been born with a real quirk that could help? And not one that had so much drawbacks that kept him from actually helping people? Now he was trapped in this goddamn fortress, whatever the fuck it was…

And he couldn’t do a damn thing to help you. That was the worst part…

He just hoped that you were okay, and that he would see you again soon. Although he knew he would be forced out in an hour, but he didn’t want to imagine what sort of things awaited you and him.

[stone-man-warrior]

January 20, 2020: 7:55 pm:

I just now returned from another socio-terrific shopping experience in Dystopia, Grants Pass Oregon, where all of the current citizens are fake, and are Canadians who are using the name of an American that was killed by the SDA terror army. The conditions are best described as living in the aftermath of a slaughter and depopulation of the citizens who lived in the county twenty years ago, where the original population was all brutally killed, and the new, replacement population is implanted from Canada, mostly Quebec, and are commanded as an army by Screen Actor Guild leaders in Hollywood California. SAG gets their orders from the British Throne, Royal Family, and House of Lords British Parliament.

It’s all fucked up.

The current fake impostor population is instructed by SAG leadership to vote in specific ways, as the leadership commands the individual soldiers to vote. The US Election Ballots are filled with Screen Actor Guild Member Shill Candidates, who also take their commands from the SAG leadership in Hollywood CA.

The Josephine County Oregon population is composed of a mixture of Screen Actor Guild members, who are instructed to create a social atmosphere for cover, to make the county appear as a normal county does. The others are Seventh Day Adventist Christian religious cult, and are an army, armed with swords and Nitrous Oxide airborne gas. They use the gas to kill any outsiders who come the the county. SAG arranges replacement look-a-likes to take the place of the murdered victims. The army is supplies with vehicles, housing, food, clothing for free, all of their needs are supplied as any army is supplied by it’s leadership.

Commerce is all faked with false record keeping and the commerce itself, is used as a means of identifying and then marking, and killing those who attempt to make any kind of purchase, anywhere, for anything. Since the army is supplied for free, anyone who makes a purchase is marked as an outsider by virtue of the transaction of making a debit, credit, or cash purchase.

I went to:

6th Street Market

Walmart

As I was leaving my driveway, members of the Clyde Baum terror cell at 333 “Mystreet” were hovering around the front of my home in Clyde’s Red GMC Pick-up truck. Then, a member of the Monroe terror cell also passed by, and lingered at the mailboxes in front of my home. Monroe was driving a small black Crossover style vehicle, a Nissan “Versa”, Oregon License 976 FAV (976 is questionable, not certain)

I left on my way, members of the Google sponsored terror cell at the corner of Russell Road an Three Pines Road, the “Bad Guy Auto” terror cell, were inside the garage with the door open watching as I left on my way. They alerted the people at 6th Street Market of my location and possible ETA at the store.

A large white pick-up truck with a large white horse trailer came around the blind corner near Oxyoke, “Dead Man’s Curve” with all of it’s driver side wheels in my lane. Had I been near the double yellow line as I went around the corner, there would have been a head-on collision at that time. Fortunately, I am aware of the reasons that corner is called “Dead Man’s Corner“, it’s a popular place that terrorists arrange that victims will be taken there. Hollywood provides the professional Stunt Men for such activities.

I arrived at 6th Street Market. I had to park where the terrorists had arranged that I park. An “L” shaped parking arrangement there is a useful tool to take victims. A man waits in his large truck in a parking spot that is perpendictualr to the one that the victim is parked in, such that the two rear bumper’s of the vehicles are close to one another, and he exits that parking spot just as the victim is also exiting, causing a “T-Bone” in reverse. That allows that the driver of the truck will have a reason to engage with the victim close up and verbally. Victims are exposed to Nitrous gas at that time, and carted away. I avoided the “T-Bone” on the way out, but not by much.

Inside the store, each time I go, the clerk signals for two assassins to come in, sometimes three. Then, she creates some kind of distraction with the debit machine as the two enter the store behind me. Today, the distraction was simply to delay the debit machine, with the indicator that reads, “please do not remove card“ for an extended time after the transaction is otherwise complete. I just stare at  the machine waiting for my card to be released from it. That’s when the assassins shoot the victim in the back. The .25 they use does not pierce my coat, and the bullet bounces away, and the clerk always steps aside right then.

So that happened. I heard the “SnaP! sound the gun makes. I lit my lighter, and one of the two terror assassins launched out the front door, and disappeared somewhere at the empty Christmas Tree sales yard across the street. One of the two store clerks, a large red headed woman about 28 years old, followed the launched terror soldier out the door, and began to use her smart phone to communicate with others about what had happened. She was standing by the drivers side door of my car as I exited the store. Also, whenever I go to 6th Street Market, part of the assassination attempt includes that two young people are entering the store as I am leaving. They are always at the entrence at the exact time that I am going through the door on my way out. Those two are not always the same people, but there are always two, to cart the murdered victim away, and they are summoned and come from the barber shop that is also in that shopping strip mall, Village Center, on 6th Street, across from Lithia Dodge Dealer.

So, at least one dead terrorist at 6th Street Market.

Also, I learned while I was there that one of the three bozo’s that attacked me last week while claiming to be Secret Service, US Army, and FBI, was a man by the name of Rick Manning, of the Medical Democrat Terror cell at 598 “MyStreet”. The one that said he was Secret Service, the oldest of the three, who told me he was “Strong” from 3747 Russell Road, the Strong Family “SAG House” terror cell, was Rick Manning. I cut Rick Manning’s throat and his eyes in defense that day, as well as the other two. Apparently, Rick Manning was BOTH “Strong”, from 3747 Russell, AND Rick Manning from 598 “MyStreet”, playing the role of both men. Rick Manning drives a odd, red Honda Station Wagon, about a 1986 model. They did not make very many of those, and it is easily mistaken for a Ford Taurus Station Wagon.

The other two bozo’s said they were reporters from Los Angeles Times Newspaper after the fighting that day. One of them, the one that said he was FBI, and I described as Italian looking, may have been a member of the Google sponsored cell at “Bad Guy Auto”. I have met Rick Manning once, he used two snarling pit bulls to attack me one day. But I thought I killed him that day. Although the man looked similar to Rick Manning, I am not prepared to agree with what the clerk at 6th Street Market said tonight, that the man was Rick Manning. I have never met “Strong”, so I cannot comment about what “Strong” looks like up close, other than he looks like Manning, from about 500 feet away.

So, what I learned is inconclusive, with exception that Manning was NOT Secret Service, and is NOT LIKELY to be a Los Angeles Times Reporter. I did not learn anything new about the one that said his name was “Dan” and was from “US Army”.

Ok, back to the shopping experience:

I went to Walmart. I saw what looked like Juseph Myers white Crossover style vehicle parked in a driveway at the corner of “A Street”, and Beacon Street, at the South East house of the corner. There is a truck in my yard that belongs to a man that once lived at that house, Zachery White, so, that could be a Confusion Service sort of activity done my Juseph Myers, who is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police terror cells.

At the Walmart, the parking was not very full, plenty of parking. The store was not very active. The presence of terror soldiers was such that it was obvious that the people in the store were mostly Screen Actor Guild variety of “Bubble Service” terror activity. The Seventh Day Adventist terrorists were in very small number, SAG was in high number.

Nitrous Fogger soldiers were not obvious, there were only very few following me around. I decided to ask about Smart Phones from a store clerk, to learn about the payment, contract, and other things associated with owning a Smart Phone. The young man the helped me was friendly, knowledgeable,  and courteous. He was not wearing a Walmart Vest. He was wearing a black shirt with name tag. I learned something important.

The Apple iPhone is available for only one penny. If you agree to use US Cellular Service Provider, at $75 per month, for two years, the phone only costs one penny. That’s $0.01 for a iPhone. There IS NO PENALTY to CANCEL YOUR CONTRACT with US Cellular, and you can keep the phone. That is where and how the terror army is obtaining some of the iPhone’s that the scouts use without service contract, and only use connectivity of Blu-Tooth networked to all of the other terror cell members such that the Blu-Tooth technology is creating a Blu-Tooth Grid, where each phone behaves the same way as a cellular tower does. There are so many terror soldiers, that they are always connected to one another, and can communicate without a service contract.

I think one terror soldier was ignited shortly after I arrived at the Walmart, and launched away from the shampoo, deodorant, first aid area. “Evac” was announced on the store PA system.

When I was checking out at the self checkout, the debit machine malfunctioned. That was supposed to be opportunity to make a hit attempt on me at that time. Something must have gone wrong, because there was no hit attempt at the time that the clerk came to reset the debit machine. Or, it was done to make it appear as if my debit card is no good, to fool someone who may be investigating terror in Oregon.

As I was leaving, I noticed that there are ZERO motor homes in the parking lot where there are always motor homes and buses. No cars, no buses, no motor homes there. Those buses and motor homes serve as nitrous tank refill area, first aid for injured terrorists, and for torture area’s when victims are taken in the parking lot.

They were all gone tonight.

Upon returning to “MyStreet”, I saw a vehicle come from Sparacino’s terror cell and go to 598 Manning, Medical Democrat (Med-Dems) terror cell. I did not see what kind of vehicle, but it was not a large truck.

That’s all for now.

end terror reporting: 9:42 pm.

[puttingfingerstokeys]

[untitled]

Nanowrimo 2019 day 9  Featuring Leon Kennedy and Ricardo Irving Horror? ish? Resident Evil, alternate universe where Wesker picks Leon up instead of the US Government Unfinished and unedited

The contact was scheduled to arrive at the designated site—a predictably empty warehouse on the coast of a west African town called Kijuju—at six PM. As such, Leon Kennedy had arrived much earlier, set up his contingent of plainclothes and otherwise hidden men around the place in strategic locations, always assuming the so-called deal would go south. This was more of a recruitment mission anyway and, depending on the level of subterfuge and deception, this Ricardo Irving fellow would be a prime candidate for the position of VP of sales for Tricell, Africa. Irving, a black market drug or weapon (Leon was unsure which, though it had assuredly been in his file) dealer, knew none of this—neither the identity of his buyer, or any other affiliation was known to him, though Wesker had specifically instructed a trail of Umbrella-flavored bread crumbs to be left here and there to draw such a man in. This much had worked, though Leon suspected that Irving was too clever by half to fall hook, line, or sinker for the ruse.

It didn’t matter either way. They would get what they wanted. He was selling good product on behalf of a much more (ironically) well-known black market dealer who went under the moniker “Forrest Mars”. Leon was sharp of mind and absolutely of the opinion that it was a pseudonym of some kind, but neither he nor Wesker had been able to ascertain Forrest Mars’s true identity, so he supposed that, in the end, it was not so foolish after all. Sniping the competition’s best dealers was part of the bait to draw Mars out into the open. His name was known, but other than that, no one seemed to know anything. Through dubiously-supplied intel (Leon knew Ada Wong was at the other end of this little con), they had at least gathered the names of his top dealers. Ricardo Irving was priority one, as he seemed to be the most influential, if not the closest.

Leon paced, considering the choice. Irving was influential, meaning he made money. Making money was advantageous in its own way, but the fervor with which Irving moved his product told Leon something else: he was greedy. Greedy men could always be bought. Leon leaned against an abandoned vehicle which looked as if it had been put up on blocks when Leon was still in diapers. The rust scraped viciously against his battle suit, but did not so much as scuff the dark blue material. Leon didn’t dislike the tight getup, but he thought it was probably unnecessary for this deal. His sex appeal would not likely work on Irving, whose profile proclaimed him to be a prolific heterosexual.

“Should’ve sent Excella,” he rumbled, arms crossed over his chest. Of course he knew damn well why Wesker had not sent her. She was far too high profile. Her name and face (and breasts) were known. Still, he thought, she would have made a hell of a deal with this Irving bozo. Leon had not been impressed with the man’s psych profile. He was arrogant, greedy, and slimy as all hell, a Brooklynite if Leon had ever seen one—possibly Atlantic City. Not exactly a wholesome person himself, Leon felt he was a decent judge of these kinds of things. He sneered at his watch, deciding that if the guy didn’t show in five minutes—it was already ten after six—he would give Irving a welcome he wouldn’t forget and extract Forrest Mars’s information the fun way.

Just as he engaged his commlink to inform his team of this plan, they buzzed him. “Echo zero-one, this is Echo three-one, we have visual on the mark.”

“Solid copy,” Leon returned. “Echo zero-one maintaining radio silence for the duration. Don’t move without my signal, copy?”

“Copy. Over.”

The radios went silent and Leon shifted so that he looked as if he had been waiting far longer than he actually had. Setting Irving on edge right off the bat might make for a friendlier negotiation. If not, well Leon had no problem getting rough. Irving was dealing something Wesker needed—Leon was not paid to ask or to care—and he would get it for the man at whatever price he specified, not Irving. Leon thought that if Irving knew precisely with whom he was dealing, he might play nice, but that was never guaranteed either. Sharp as his mind was, he disliked this kind of shady negotiation crap. He was a field agent, much better with a firearm in his hand—not that he was currently unarmed; far from it—than a briefcase full of cash.

Presently, a small convoy of SUVs pulled up in front of the warehouse where Leon stood, leaning against the old vehicle up on blocks. He watched them but did not move, seeming more interested in the scenery than this obvious show of muscle and force. Maybe Irving did have an idea who his contact might be—or maybe his boss did. Leon’s steely blue eyes only moved from the scenery of the docks to the convoy when a short, skinny man hopped out of the middle vehicle. He wore a cheap-looking suit that was probably exceedingly expensive with a clashing orange button-down underneath the blazer. This, Leon thought, was intentional, either purely a fashion choice or, more likely, to give the impression of nigh-incompetence. Leon assumed it was the former, because he could not have been convinced of the latter now that he had seen the firepower Irving’s goons were packing.

Arms deal, then, not drugs, he thought to himself. Of course, why would Albert Wesker, of all people, need drugs? Tricell was the world’s foremost manufacturer of everything from ibuprofen to chemotherapy pills. It was irrelevant, however. No matter what Irving was dealing or carrying, Leon and his men would walk away with it and either Irving himself or, failing that, information on his employer. It was a win-win. Patience was a virtue, but Leon had never considered himself particularly virtuous and he was tired of waiting for this “win”. He caught movement on a nearby rooftop out of the corner of one eye, but betrayed nothing. The flash of a scope would set off Irving’s guards for sure, but this sniper had positioned himself with his back to the sinking sun.

“You’re late,” he pointed out, opting to break the ice and take control of the conversation. Leon pushed off the truck and moved forward, not extending his hand, but giving Irving and his men a full look at him, showing he was unarmed. Irving eyed him up and down, but did not appear to be searching for armaments of any kind. In fact, Irving’s ravenous gaze actually settled upon Leon’s chest, which was tastefully exposed. He had been instructed to give the impression that the battle suit was warm in this vicious, African heat, and that he had done what any uncomfortably hot person might have: unzipped. That he was also instructed to “forget” he had done so was just another part of his job.

“Traffic was murder,” responded Irving, not taking his eyes off Leon’s ample chest. Leon himself made a mental note to scratch out “prolific heterosexual” from Irving’s profile and replace it with “opportunistic”. He was not entirely sure of this yet, but most men did not eye his assets that way.

“Yeah, they’re real,” Leon said, stopping so that there was little more than five feet between the two of them and resting his weight on one foot. “My eyes are up here, big guy. What’ve you got?”

“Y’mean you don’t know?” Irving sounded incredulous. He was far too shameless and slimy to blush however and took his sweet time letting his eyes wander up to Leon’s. When they met, Irving suddenly wished he had not. He had seen eyes like that before, bombardier’s eyes, gunslinger’s eyes. This guy’s playin’ for the wrong team, he thought shrilly. He looks like one of those goddamn war hero types, but not the General so-and-sos, more like a fuckin’ black ops dudes. He checked his gaze from then on, wondering just how close he was to the truth. Leon wasn’t telling.

“I don’t get paid to ask questions, Irving,” responded Leon evenly, as if this was the simplest piece of knowledge, the easiest fact to grasp in all the world. “I’m a middle man, that’s all.”

Leon Kennedy was not, in fact, a middle man. After Raccoon City, the US government had picked him up and introduced him to the anti-Umbrella initiative, a small group of special operatives and the government officials who had volunteered to back them up, seeking to root out everything even vaguely resembling the perpetrator of the Raccoon City tragedy. They had given him special training, enrolled him with the CIA, sent him to the SEALs with no explanation to his commanding officers, and then, when the training was done, had sent him into the field. Operation Javier was his first foray and he had been partnered with a man named Jack Krauser. He had been fond of Leon, for some reason, and the two had gotten along strangely well, given their differing backgrounds. Leon’s experience with the undead paired well, it turned out, with Krauser’s days in the Rangers.

It was, ironically, this first exercise of trust that made Leon lose faith in the US government. He used the skills they had given him to disappear soon after returning, heeding the call of a mysterious woman in red who had appeared in 1998, in Raccoon, and had dogged his steps ever since, seeking to recruit him for “something greater”. At the end of that rainbow had been Albert Wesker, an Umbrella employee himself and the former STARS captain. Once the initial shock wore off, Wesker pled his case and Leon… had been swayed. “Umbrella made a mistake,” Wesker had said, “one which I will not repeat.”

Now, in 2009, Leon stood, making deals and scouting new recruits for Wesker, much like what Ada had done to him. She had long since defected, but still threw intel their way from time to time, keeping one step ahead only by Wesker’s good graces. Should he send Leon after her… Leon was grateful he did not. It was hardly a question of fondness; she had done nothing but play with him from the start, but rather a sick fascination with someone so much like him, yet so utterly different. She was quick and clever and devilishly devious. Did he admire this? Maybe a little. Leon’s tactics tended to be much more forthright, in the field at least. He and Jack Krauser had crossed blades, for example, multiple times since he had expatriated, though Leon was sure the man had died in Spain in 2003—regardless, their encounters had always been deliberate one-on-one tests of strength and cunning. He missed that. He did not miss Ada. Her intel was good, but her methods were undesirable at best. Still, whether he wanted it or not, the fascination remained.

“The goods’re back here; where’s the cash?” Irving was right down to business now. Leon had felt the shift when the man looked into his eyes. Good, he thought, get this ball rolling. His instructions had also included swiftness, as the BSAA had been seen sniffing around Kijuju recently. The last thing Leon needed was an encounter with that upstanding organization’s golden boy, Chris Redfield. He had survived with two other people in Raccoon, a girl named Sherry Birkin, and a woman named Claire… Claire Redfield. She was, in fact, Chris’s younger sister and for some reason, seeing her brother would have, he was sure, incite some strange feelings of regret, remorse, and/or guilt. He wanted none of those. He had no time for those. This was business. The US government had failed him, had failed them all—they had been the ones to cover up Umbrella’s “mistake”. Albert Wesker had not failed him once. It was to that man he owed his life and sense of purpose. It was not simple, but it was good enough for Leon. Why complicate things further?

[sunlitroom]

Gotham s4, e20 - That Old Corpse

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Lee and Ed very likely defiled a gameshow wheel. Lee wants to make sure her people are safe! Jim's looking for Ed Nygma.  Lee wants to catch the real criminals who are making money off the backs of the poor.  I'd ask how she thinks Mario's med school fees were paid, but that would be mean. Oswald doesn't like being locked in a vault.  Lee got arrested.  Jeremiah vs Jerome, who’s more than a man - he's an idea.  Don't open sinister presents.  Burn it down, brother

As always, long post will be long.  There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)).  There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism.  Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

A cold and grey-looking graveyard.  A breeze blows a flier with Jerome's face on it, which comes to rest against a headstone – Jerome’s headstone – which bears the legend: Second Time’s the Charm!  

Brothers and sisters!

There’s an obnoxious guy leading proceedings - one of Jerome’s cultish followers, and some equally obnoxious but apparently less ambitious acolytes milling.  Jerome’s followers are wildly annoying – which is possibly why he was always so happy to use them as cannon fodder.

They begin their usual spiel – but are interrupted by a motorbike.  The rider alights – and we see that they are dressed as a jester.

The leader tries to throw his weight around, saying that this affair is invitation only.  Yep – that’s really true to Jerome’s legacy of chaos. RSVP.  What a tool this guy is.

The jester shrugs and the bells tinkle.  There’s some laughter – but obnoxious man tells them that they’re welcome to stay, but won't be leaving.   He throws a knife, which the jester deflects, before sounding a klaxon and playing a message from Jerome through a megaphone.

Why so sad, bozos?   You think they could get rid of me so easily?  Well – they did.

However, he tells them not to dwell on negatives – but throw one last party.  First thing on the list – dig up his body.  

The jester watches as the acolytes do as they’re told.

 At GCPD - Jim looks somber, peering through the glass panel at the top of the door to the interview where Lee waits at a table.

Harvey asks what he’s going to do – and implied that Jim could just let her go.  Jim refuses.  Harvey says that she only robbed a dirty bank - people get away with a lot worse.  Jim replies that doesn’t make it right. Harvey’s tone is more urgent when he reminds Jim that

We got away with worse – both of us

Jim loses his temper and snarls at Harvey that he doesn't need that crap thrown in his face right now. Yeah – Jim.  Nasty old consequences.  Such a drag.

He then tells Harvey to get out – which he does.

 Jim enters the room. Lee barely glances at him

So you finally nabbed me, copper

That was a very Ed-esque remark.  Jim asks her what the hell she’s doing.  Lee remarks that she doesn’t suppose that anyone expected their story to end here. Jim asks if it is ending – and she asks him what’s left.  She doesn’t sound resigned, in the sense that she wishes things were different – more just….done.

Jim says he wants to help. If she gives up Ed and returns the money, then she can get supervised probation.  Lee refuses to give Ed up.  

Jim is struggling to keep hold of his temper.  He says he knows her, and this is just her way of helping people – he understands that, the appeal of being Robin Hood.

Lee says he wishes could he could help like she does - without the straitjacket of the law.  Jim yells the law lost meaning because people like Lee abandoned it

Lee tells him to send her to Blackgate

Jim yells that he doesn’t want to – and that he wants to let her go, but he can’t.

Lee says that if he lets her go, then he could let himself go.  Jim goes into a misty reverie about the things he wishes he could change – things he’s done.  Lee says Jim? in a concerned tone – which was basically her plotline for two whole seasons

Jim is interrupted by Harvey – telling him something has come up, and leaves.

 The something turns out to be a present from Jerome – a video.  Harvey asks if Jerome is definitely dead – to which Lucius gives a hearty yes.

They play the tape. It’s apparently Jerome’s last will and testament.  He plays up to the camera a bit

I hope I gave as good as I got, and left ample carnage in my wake

He has one last request – a wake at GCPD.  He tells them not to worry about planning, he sent invitations.  

Jerome laughs on the screen. Harvey says he doesn't like the sound of that – and we hear a mob approaching.  Jim, Lucius and Harvey put the station on lockdown, as Jerome’s followers try to surge up the stairs.

 Ed holds court in the Narrows.  He’s also wearing boots that look almost exactly like the ones I got from TopShop.

Five or so Narrows’ residents are there.  They want Lee freed – since she’s helped them out so much.  Ed tells them tersely that no-one cares about the fate of Lee Thompkins more than he does – which is why he’s not just letting them bumble in.  He has no intention of leaving her in the sweaty palms of Jim Gordon – that overgrown boy scout.

If it were up to him, he continues, Jim would be off the field – but Lee prefers non-lethal methods. So – he will create a team, and extract her with surgical precison.

He gives one follower the specific task of assisting Jim – should he get into trouble.  They’ll carry out their plan, and then get back to counting the huge pile of money we see on the table.  Breaking Lee out will be a piece of cake.

 GCPD.  Jim is phoning Alfred to ask where Bruce is.  Alfred tells him that Bruce is meeting with Jeremiah to discuss the energy generators.  Jim says Jerome's followers are rioting – and Alfred immediately begins preparing lots of guns.  He says that Bruce is maybe safest in the maze – but he’ll head there anyway.

We hear a thumping noise in the background.  It’s a battering ram.  Jim hangs up on Alfred, and tells Harvey to open up the armoury.  

 Jerome’s lead follower continues to aggravate.

Jim tells Harvey not to direct everything at them.  Dead or alive – Jerome likes to use distractions.  This is just a diversion from another target.  Jim aims to play him at his own game.  Harvey is reluctant to run – but Jim tells him to let them take the station, tire themselves out – then they’ll surrpund the station and take them out.

It's so nice when Jim gets to think.  Also I got very distracted by his eyelashes in this scene, which are very blond and pretty.

Harvey asks if he has a plan.  Jim says he has, but it’s sketchy.  

 Bruce and Jeremiah are at Jeremiah’s maze home.  Bruce is praising Jeremiah’s invention.  He promptly gives a demonstration – using it to power the maze off-grid.  Jeremiah looks to Bruce for approval, which he gives – excited about the possibilities.

He also says he wants Wayne Enterprises to move forward as quickly as possible with this- but Jeremiah suddenly seems nervous.  He says it needs to be secret, and that it’s the ones closest to you that you have to keep your eye on - he knows better than anyone.

Arkham sent Jeremiah Jerome’s personal effects, whih apparently included his diary, which he’s now showing Bruce.  It contains his fantasies and goals – his whole twisted vision.  There’s lots of gory sketches.

Bruce looks at Jeremiah with concern

Maybe you shouldn't spend so much time reading it

Apparently Jerome’s favourite plan was torturing and murdering Jim, Bruce, and Jeremiah. Bruce puts a hand on the page to stop Jeremiah’s increasingly manic babbling.  He tells Jeremiah his brother his dead, and he needs to leave his bunker and join the world.

Jeremiah mutters that he has difficulty believing Jerome is dead.  Meantime, Bruce’s phone rings – Alfred, warning him about Jerome’s followers. Bruce tries to keep a casual face and non-committal answers – and tells Jeremiah that the call was just about lunch plans.

Jeremiah eyes him oddly – vaguely hurt incredulity.

That was a lie - you're lying to me, Bruce

Bruce immediately owns up and apologises – telling Jeremiah what’s really going on.  Jeremiah is instantly fearful – saying that Jerome isn’t dead after all, and is coming after him.

 This is taking forever – so - in short - Alfred is attacked at Wayne Manor.  It sounds bad.

 Jeremiah is pacing, as Bruce tries to calm him.  He says he’s not like himself, not thinking clearly.  Jeremiah confesses the truth about the gas.  Bruce back a way a little, but stops.  Jeremiah says he keeps seeing Jerome clawing his way out of the grave, coming for him and Bruce.  He knows it’s not real, but it feels real – and he can’t control himself.

Bruce asks what if he could show him Jerome dead and buried.  Jeremiah asks how – and Bruce suggests going to his grave.  This has all gone a bit Wuthering Heights.  Bruce tells him Jeremiah took away his greatest strength – his mind.  Reality will free him of the trap.

Jeremiah says that if he thinks that would work, then he'll try

You're a good friend, Bruce.

 At GCPD – the battering ram is still being deployed on the door.  Jim tries to usher Lee out of the station, but she pulls away from him.

She wants to know what he was trying to tell him before.  She alse tells him to come to the Narrows – and make a real difference.  I’m enjoying Lee way more this season – but this just sounds pretty infantile.  What will Jim do there, exactly?  How is it better than what he does at GPPD?  Does Lee just believe in vigilante justice now?  Bank robbing is OK? Lee’s vision for the city is as unworkable and chaotic as Jerome’s.

Before he can get her out, the door is broken down – and the acolytes pour in.  He hands Lee to Alvarez, gets up on a table and yells to hold fire.  Looking round, though, he puts his plan in action – and yells that there’s too many of them: they need to fall back.

Lee looks round, but is shoved into a wall, and knocked out.

Jim heads to the locker room – followed by some of the acolytes.  I have quite a big crush on Jim on this episode.  Is it because he got to be thoughtful and clever?  Is it because his blue suit brings out his colouring? His eyelashes? Who knows.

One goon who approaches Jim says he’ll carve him up.  Harvey and Harper appear in the doorway behind them – and ask if they like to dance, tasing them.  Jim grins.

 In the kitchen at Wayne Manor, we see a pool of blood on the floor, and Alfred’s phone ringing out.

 Back with Bruce and Jeremiah at the graveyard.  Jeremiah asks if there’s something wrong, but Bruce says that Alfred would have headed to the office and waited for them there.

Jeremiah is jumpy.  We hear crows and spooky whistling wind sounds. I like crow noise.  It makes me feel calm.  There’s also thunder in the distance.  This graveyard is pretty heavy on the atmospheric ambient sound.

As we near Jerome’s gravestone – we see that the grave is empty.  Bruce says the followers must have dug him up – but Jeremiah panics and runs, with Bruce following.

 Oswald is eating dinner and watching cartoons. Butch snatches his food away, and Oswald asks how long these petty aggressions will continue. Butch says they’re not petty. Oswald asks if he’s supposed to starve while he guesses.

Butch says that Oswald said that if he joined him – they’d be back on top. Instead, they were grubbing around for Jerome and played by Nygma. He adds that Oswald also said that if he joined him, he’d find a cure.  Oswald admits that - through no fault of his own - advancement has not run apace

Butch says they’re squatting and robbing liquor stores while everyone else is carving up Sofia’s turf. Oswald somewhat unconvincingly says they’re waiting until more obvious players show their hand

Butch grabs Oswald and says he will crush his windpipe if he doesn’t get what he wants.  Oswald wriggles, looking fearful – but then his attention is caught by the TV, and he tells Butch to shush – he senses an opportunity.  It’s the news about Jerome’s followers laying siege to GCPD.

Oswald laughs and points. Butch doesn’t understand his excitement, but Oswald tells him that  confusion is an opportunity for the clear headed.  Someone is showing their cards, and he’s going to take a peek.

(An aside - with potential spoilers, so be warned.......

One of the suggested options for a big betrayal in the finale is that Oswald will get hold of Hugo Strange, but will want Butch to be turned back into Grundy.  I'm kind of.... not feeling this pushes Oswald into the irredeemable category they warn us about every season.  

First of all - it sort of overestimates how much I care about Butch.  Secondly - we saw how Oswald approached Butch initially.  He wanted a return to the old days. He referred to Butch as his second-in-command.  He was, for Oswald, friendly - not half as peremptory as we've seen him with other colleagues.

In return, Butch threatened him and choked him.  He's continued to threaten him.  Oswald's not the architect of his troubles - that would Ed - back when he stitched Butch up in s3; Barbara - when she shot him, and Tabitha - who rejected him.  On top of that - he's somehow managed to shift complete responsibility for his cure onto Oswald.  Mate - if you despise him that much, then don't work with him at all.  Go solve your own problems.  Bluntly, I kind of feel he's made his own bed here.  If he had been reasonable from the outset, I don't honestly think Oswald would have chosen this path: he'd just have been relieved to have an ally.  But - still traumatised after the physical abuse and torment that he endured in Arkham, I can understand how Oswald's response to more threats and violence might be to neutralise the threat completely.)

 Outside GCPD,  we can see that Ed's assistant watches Jim from a distance.  Harvey and Jim have the leader guy in the boot of Harvey’s car – and are interrogating him with the help of a taser.  Jim tells Harvey to ease off since the press are there – and lowers the boot a little to hide what they’re doing, while telling the guy to spill or he’ll stop worrying about his safety.

The guy caves and says they’re too late anyway – Jeremiah and Bruce will already be dead.  Jim runs off to the bunker, while Harvey keeps tasing away.

 Ed approaches with his band of Narrows’ residents.  One looks up at him

Trouble, Mr Riddler?

Ed nods, as he realises prisoners have already been removed.  He spots a nearby van – and thinks this might be easier than planned.

He flings the doors open. A random prisoner is overjoyed

It’s the Riddler!  We're saved!

Ed scowls – and asks how they got out.  The man tells him that it was through the old service door.  Ed promptly closes the van door – and comments that they’ll have to improvise.

We need to find a costume shop!

 The van door opens again – this time revealing Oswald and Butch.

It’s the Penguin!  We’re saved!

Oswald makes the best ‘no’ face ever at the man – and simply points to the leader, who Harvey presumably deposited there after he got tired of tasing him.

Butch lifts him, and they leave.

A fed-up looking prisoner turns to the optimistic prisoner.

You ever get tired being wrong?

 At GCPD – Lee takes in the chaos, and then slips away elsewhere in the station.

 Bruce has followed Jeremiah into a crypt.  He tells him they need to leave – and they’re not safe here.  Jeremiah tells him Jerome is alive, and asks him how can trust him if he won’t believe him.  Bruce tells him that he’s his friend.  Jeremiah replies that he wants him to be his friend, and that he doesn’t know what it was like – living underground for all those years, and then Bruce came along, offering him everything he ever dreamed of.

Bruce and Jeremiah have a brief, heartfelt conversation about how Bruce believes in him, and how they could achieve great things together.  

Bruce says, though, that they have to get out of the cemetery.  Jeremiah seems confused by this, then paranoid.  He shoots at Bruce’s feet, as it slowly becomes apparent he thinks Bruce is actually Jerome – wearing a mask.  He orders Bruce to turn around and – grabbing him – accuses him of killing his friend Bruce, and tells him he’ll put him in the grave.

 Chaos at GCPD.  Ed has managed to sneak inside, dressed in a clown outfit.  He makes his way to the Medical Examiner’s room – which is a little nod to Ed and Lee’s shared background at GCPD.  

However – Lee has been lurking behind the door in case of intruders, and promptly wallops him over the back of the head with something heavy.  On realising it’s Ed she’s knocked out – she exclaims, and bends down to check on him.

 Jim is in the maze - looking for Bruce and Jeremiah.  In the central office, he looks at the generator, and looks over the plans.  In the background – a monitor flicks on.  Jim approaches it warily.

 At the graveyard, Jeremiah is walking Bruce to Jerome’s grave.  Bruce tries to reason with him – but they stop short when they see Jerome’s corpse propped against the grave.

 On-screen, we see Jerome – who bids Jim howdy.  He says he’s still dead – this is just some posthumous fun.  He knew Jim would see through his shenanigans, and wanted him here all along.  We hear a sound – and see that the jester has a gun to Jim’s head.  Jerome laughs.

 At the graveyard – Bruce still tried to reason with Jeremiah, telling him that someone is tormenting him.  Jeremiah, however, seems to have completely snapped.  He says he’s a man of science.  He takes out a switchblade – and says that he can provide evidence, slashing towards Bruce.

 Back with Jim.  Jerome tells him not to mind Ecco.  She’s just there to make sure he doesn’t talk during the movie – he needs to pay attention so the plot makes sense.

Suddenly, Jerome is grabbed by a pair of hands belonging to someone off-camera.  He begins comedy choking.  Jim takes advantage of this – and begins to fight Ecco.

 Cut to Jeremiah fighting Bruce, yelling about peeling off this grotesque facade

 Cuts between all the fights. Jim unmasks Ecco.  Jerome is still being choked on screen.  We pan to the other screen – and see that the choking hands belong to….Jerome.  He turns to the camera and comments that suicide takes it out of a guy – as he begins to peel his scarring away.

 At the graveyard, where Bruce and Jeremiah are fighting. Bruce pleads with him, as some acolytes haul him off, that he can’t let Jerome win.

Jeremiah straightens up – suddenly calm

Jerome beat me?  That'll be the day

The follower beside Jeremiah calls out long live Jerome

There’s scattered laughing that doesn’t last long, since Jeremiah shoots that follower in the head. He remains icily calm throughout.

Jerome victorious?  Are you serious?  He's dead. Haven’t you been paying attention?

He removes glasses to wipe the blood spatter from his face, as he does – his normal complexion wipes off, revealing chalk white skin below.

 We cut back to the screen with Jim – who watches as ‘Jerome’ wipes his face clean.

 The graveyard – where Jeremiah kicks Jerome into the open grave

I'm the one who's victorious.

 Back to Jim, staring at the screen

Jerome is dead. Long live me

We see the scarring was only makeup – and it’s actually Jeremiah. This is exactly how white I Iooked when I tried Paula’s Choice physical sunscreen.  Do not recommend.

 At the graveyard, Bruce is led away.  Jeremiah says that the insanity gas failed. There were cosmetic effects, but Jerome may as well have sprayed him with water.

Madness is feeble compared with greatness

He says that he is the face of true sanity.  He read the compendium of Jerome's obsessions and goals, and will outdo him.  He wanted to turn Gotham into a madhouse - but to truly build, you must first tear down.

 Back with Jim. On-screen Jeremiah apologises for the inconvenience.  He comments that his generator can store phenomenal energy, but will overload.

 The graveyard.  Bruce tells Jeremiah the gas worked – why else would he be entertaining Jerome’s plans?  Jeremiah points to the book, and tells Bruce that Jerome wanted to slather him in honey and have him eaten alive by corpse beetles.  That’s… kinda pervy, Jerome.  Unimpressed – Jeremiah remarks that is mad.  If he wanted to kill him, he’d just do it.  Shoot him in the head - simply and sanely

Bruce tries to interrupt him, but Jeremiah sails on.  He says he doesn’t want to kill Bruce.

The followers grumble. He asks if they’re going to listen, or behave like children.  He turns back to Bruce.

I want to show how much we've changed things.  I couldn't have done it without your help.  He smiles.

 Back to Jim. The generator hums ominously.

That sound you're hearing - that is a very bad sound.  It makes you something of a guinea pig, Jim.

 The graveyard.  Jeremiah tell Bruce he’s indebted to him.  The generators work even better as bombs

 Back to Jim – who hits the emergency button under Jeremiah’s desk and runs out into the corridor.

 Outside GCPD - Harvey says it’s time to take their house back.  However, before they can do anything – there’s a huge explosion in the distance.

 Back to the graveyard, where the explosion is also visible.  Bruce stares at Jeremiah

One down. Jim Gordon is dead

Bruce screams no, and struggles.  It’s nice to get the reminder of Bruce as the boy whose first instinct around Jim was usually to try to hug him.

Yes, Bruce - sorry - progress requires sacrifice

Bruce says he’ll stop him. Jeremiah replies that he really hopes he won’t try.  He’d hate to kill him and can honestly say that Bruce is his very best friend.

He punctuates this remark with a backhand that knocks Bruce unconscious, right into the grave beside Jerome.

 Oswald and Butch, and the annoying Jerome cult leader.  Oswald tells him that he wants to know with a minimum of fuss what he and his cohort are really up to.

The leader isn’t the brightest spark in the fire – and just mouths the usual rhetoric.

I’ll never betray the memory of Jerome!

Oswald rolls his eyes. He doesn’t expect him to betray the memory of that old corpse.  He wants to know who he’s currently following. Oswald – with Oswald’s knack for sensing a shift in power – has figured out that there’s something different about this latest behaviour, but hasn’t realised that the followers themselves are unaware of this.

The follower offers another long live Jerome!

Oswald throws his hands up, irritated, and sits down.

Butch chips in – asking if he’s staring at him.  He says that sometimes he catches a glimpse of himself and it scares him too.  You’re just pale, Butch.  Jeremiah is managing to work it.

He then gets threatening – saying it makes him angry.  And the longer he’s like this – the angrier he gets.  He adds that the follower is preventing him from finding the cure – and that makes him very angry.

A bored Oswald asks him if his plan is to gain his sympathy by reciting his tale of woe.  Butch says no – he just wanted to make him pee his pants in terror.  He then suggests sticking chicken bones up his nose until he squawks, which he proceeds to do.

Here comes the wishbone train!

Oswald does his little train mime again, from back in season one.

Woowoo!

The medical examiner’s room. An unconscious Ed has his head resting on Lee’s lap – I think.

The smartest man in Gotham and you let heart do the thinking

She slaps his face to bring him round.

Ow!

Were you awake this whole time?

He was apparently – and is beaming at Lee calling him the smartest man in Gotham.  He sits up, and they both kneel on the floor, facing each other.

She tells him that there better things to aspire to.  Smiling, he says he does aspire to them, very much.

She tells him to be himself – the guy who can let go of the past and change: she likes that guy.

He smiles at her.  She asks if he has a clown costume for her. He says that while he’d be into that – he’d brought her a gasmask, since the cavalry will be coming very soon.

The dregs of the party at GCPD is dispersed when they throw in some tear gas. Good show.

 Ed and Lee head out through some kind of side door, hiding under a staircase as cops file in. They’re standing very close.  Lee is eyeing Ed like he’s edible – and then grabs him, hauling him in for a kiss, which he reciprocates.  They break apart.  We get a slightly ominous tone of music as Ed tells her not just to wrap him round her finger.  It’s gone, though, as she smiles at him and tells him

Come on – let’s run

 Harvey hits a random passing acolyte for taking a leak on his desk, and offers a beer to Harper.  He says the chaos reminds him of his first apartment at Crown Point – where he still lives.  Lucius approaches, and tells them where the explosion took place – the bunker, where Jim was headed.

 A corridor at Wayne Enterprises.  Jeremiah approaches.  A guard asks if he’s alone or with Bruce.  Jeremiah replies that he’s not alone – and we see Ecco is with him. He’s in full Joker-style garb now. They quickly kill the guards and steal a clearance card.  

Entering the room – we see lots of his generators.

Look at these – the gifts of true friendship

He tells Ecco they’ll load them on trucks – and give the city a new face.

 General Observations

The big tour de force here is the foundation that’s built for what will be one of the most abiding and strangest relationships of Bruce’s life – his interactions with the soon-to-be Joker.

I do think the set-up is effective.  It’s poignant in that they’re two people who could have been friends, could have meant a lot to each other.  Bruce wants friendship and connection.  Jeremiah is quiet, and clever, and his upbringing has been as odd as Bruce’s in many ways.  

For his part – much as he was to Jerome – Bruce is a proxy brother to Jeremiah (Gotham does love its proxy families).  Just as Bruce did for Jerome what Jeremiah didn’t do – came back to rescue him from his abusive uncle – he gives Jeremiah the companionship and support he needs.  

Now that Jeremiah is what Jerome made him – Bruce remains paramount in his mindset, although the relationship is now forever twisted.  We know Bruce felt guilty about Jerome’s destructiveness, and equally unable to leave him to his abusive uncle.  It’s likely that the glimpse of might-have-been he’s had with Jeremiah will mean he’s equally unable to give up on him  - both his sense of responsibility for the devastation he wants to cause, and the faint hope that he can be cured and redeemed.

It's irritating that an episode that has some amazing moments - the simultaneous fight scene, for example, and this set-up for Bruce and the Joker's weird relationship, and an amazing performance by CM - also contains some examples of one of Gotham's old problems: the seeming forgetfulness of what's happened in previous episodes, which leads to inconsistencies and messy loose ends.  So, for example….

Jim flies off the handle at the notion that Harvey is referencing Pyg when he mentions that things that both of them have got away with in the past.  However, not only are there many other things Harvey might have been referring to - but both Jim and Harvey seemed fairly settled and stoic on the Pyg issue.  Jim's sudden flash of temper seemed out of place - like some of the development in recent episodes hadn't happened.

Both Jim and Harvey seemingly have a case of amnesia regarding Lee's attempted murder of Sofia Falcone.  She's not just misguidedly trying to do good in the Narrows.  She shot someone in the head.  Have they written that off?  Covered it up?  Forgotten about it?  I have no idea - because it's just not touched on at all here.  I know Lee outright confessed it to Jim just last week - has he forgotten about it since then?  Has he just decided not to chase this up?

Why is Oswald squatting in Sofia's mansion?  Is he still officially on the run?  Is this the continuation of Jim's decision not to re-arrest him?  If he's hidden Martin away somewhere - how will he clear his name?   Is he hiding because Falcone loyalists are likely staking out his home?  If Sofia's turf is being carved up - why was her home left uninhabited?    Is it being carved up because she orchestrated the murder of her father's old capos - leaving herself without allies? On that note - Victor isn't doing anything about this disrespect?

Why is Lee's curiosity suddenly piqued by Jim's almost confession?  She found out, episodes ago, that Jim must have had dealings with Sofia. She knew he must have been up to his neck in dodgy dealings, but didn't care about that beyond being willing to sell him out to save her own people.  Why is she now behaving like Jim having a guilty secret might be news, or of interest?  It wasn't before.

The best part of this week was the stuff with Jeremiah and Bruce -  because it was consistent to what we know of their personalities. Bruce wants to help people - on a small and a grand scale.  He wants to share Jeremiah's invention because it can do good, but he also wants to help Jeremiah himself.  He also likes him, and wants to be friends.  Jeremiah (even after whatever the gas did) wants Bruce's admiration and friendship.  His actions - although now hopelessly poisoned - are all tangled up in that. What they do here is rooted in their characterisation - and so it works.  As for everyone else......

Thoughts?

[theewrites-tf2]

(It shall be posted on A03 Shortly! Thanks for sending in an writing request!)

"Yo, WAIT YA TURN!" Scout snapped, glaring from within the rusty phone booth at his irritated teammates, Sniper and Demo in particular looking annoyed. “Scout, we had a system!” Sniper shouted, voice muffled to the Bostonian as he dialed the number into the rusty keypad. “’s me, Demo, THEN you! That’s how ‘s always been!”

“Yeah, well, it’s gonna be different today!” Scout retorted, bringing up the receiver to his ear. Demo scowled, and banged a fist on the door, “Laddie, out! I promised tha old lady ‘d give her a call-!” Scout stuck his tongue out childishly, before he perked up as the ringtone ended as the line was picked up. “Heeeeeey Babe! How ya doin’?”

A chuckle from the other end sounded, “Hey, J. It’s been good, how are you?” “Oh, fine, fine... Just stuck keepin’ these bozo’s in line, if ya know what I mean.” With that, Scout glanced at the two glowering men outside the phone booth, both of them giving him duel double-birds. Scout stuck his tongue out as his S/O responded, “Oh, i’m SURE that’s tough work. What is it, seven guys out there with you?”

Scout nodded, leaning against the wall. “Yeah, yeah, seven nutjobs, whackcos and men-children-” “Nothing like you, right?” Scout chuckled sheepishly, “Of course not.” The responding chuckle caused a grin to show up on his face, and he decided to go for the flirting tactics. “Y’know, bein’ stuck here til infinity with  seven otha people don’ equal up ta a minute bein’ around ya.”

“Aw, honey...”

“Yep, that’s me! Sweet golden boy, thatsa me!”

At this point, Scout happened to glance out the glass, and his smile fell at the sign Sniper now held against the glass. “Uh, babe, listen... Gotta cut this call short.” He muttered, the words ‘Get out, or i’m selling you as a chatty crash dummy for human sized microwaves’ on Snipers sign making him wince at the imagery. “Aw, are you sure, J?” He sighs, turning back to the phone. “Yeah, babe, sorry... I can call you later?”

“Sure... Or, you can come visit...?” Their voice had turned flirty, and he grinned. “Well, maybe I can get a ticket for next weekend, and we can... chill.” He said suggestively. “Sounds like a plan, babe?” 

“Mmhm, sounds amazing. Love you.”

“Naw, Love ya too, babe.” “Can’t wait to see you.”

“Me neither, bab- SNIPER WAIT, WAITWAITWAIT! GIVE ME TWO SECONDS, OH gOD!”

“Nope, too late, ya took ya sweet time, now ‘m gonna- DEMO THAT’S MY PHONE!!”

“Not mah problem!”

From the other side of the line, the poor soul listening in to the following fight, raised a curious brow as screams, punches and animal howls erupted from the phone. After a moment, the line was, hesitantly cut.

[happys-crazy-queen22]

FUN House

Warning: Clowns, Perverted  clowns.

Happy Reading Dollies!!!

I loved  writing this.

Based off season 1 episode 3 Fun Town.

Going to the carnival with Tig was an experience. He was so much fun to hang out with. Thats why you loved him. "Lets go on the tea cups Babe please"? You begged Tig "We've went on them like four times already". "Lets go into the FUN House". He pulled you. "Okay as long as you dont make fun of my funny shapes in the mirrors". You laughed "Scouts honor". He held up his hand. As you two were walking you bumped in to Jax and Bobby. "Hey guys". "Hey Y/N, Tig". Bobby said. "Where are you guys going"? "To the FUN house" Tig said "What are you doing Jackson"? You asked "Trying to put this clown fucker in the water". He laughed You shook your head. Jax tried three different times to dunk the clown missed every time. "Look at that, the pussy biker cant put the ball in the hole". The clown said. "Feel sorry for your woman there, she might need a real man to fell her holes" He said pointing to you "THATS A BOZO NO NO FUCKER". Tig yelled pushing the button to dunk. "Ahh come on guys I didnt mean anything by it'. The clown protested You stood there in shock, how could someone for child be so perverted. "Listen here you sick motherfucker, you dont disrespect my lady". "You're going to apologize to her". Tig said as he pushed him back under water. "Sorry lady that your man can find the right hole to make you scream like I could". He laughed. Tig flipped. He had Jax step on the clowns shoulders as he held him down in the tank. "You sick son of a bitch, your going to regret saying anything to her". "You missed with the wrong outlaw boyfriend". He yelled. You looked around, people were watching. You were afraid that someone would call the cops. "Tig just forget it, come on". You tried pulling him away. "No, he's died". "Tig if you kill him, you cant prove him wrong". You smiled devilishly Tig stopped and thought about it. "You're right". "Jax, Bobby lets go". He pulled the clown up, as he was trying to catch his breath. "If you ever look, think or even speak about my Old Lady again". "I'll kill you". Tig dropped him You grabbed Tigs hand leading him away. "Thank you for being my hero".  You kissed his lips. "That fucker needed to keep his mouth shut". "He shouldnt say that about you". "You showed him okay, can we forget it and have some fun please". "Yeah, lets go". He pulled you to the FUN house. You were half way threw the house when you looked over at Tig. He was sulking. "Whats wrong Hun"? "Nothing". He brushed you off "Alexander Trager, tell me whats  wrong". You stopped. "That asshole, he just just pissed me off". "Maybe hes right". "You have got to be fucking kidding me Alex". You put your hands on your hips. "Babe look at me, you're the fucking king of orgasms". "You can make me scream, rip out my hair and cry from ecstasy just by touching me". "Thats how good you are". "Dont ever think your not good enough". "You are plenty and you can give more than you've got". You reassured him. He smiled. "Thanks Dollface". He kissed you. "Really thats all, I guess I just have to show you". You looked around and found a area that was discreet. Pulling him inside. You pressed your backside on Tigs crotch grinding, Tigs hand went to your hips. As you rolled you heard Tig grunt. "Come on Doll". Turning around you undid his zipper pulling out his cock. Leaning down you lick from base to tip. He moaned. Sliding down your pants. You bent over as Tig pushed your panties aside and pounded in. You screamed at the fullness. Tig pounded hard and deep. "Thats it Daddy, let everyone hear what your doing to your Little Girl". "Fuck Doll, You're so fucking wet". He grabbed your breast. "Fuck your pussy hard, Daddy". You screamed "Your pussy feels so good around my cock". Tigs head went back, eyes rolling. "Can I come Daddy please, OH GOD". "Come for me Y/N". His thrusts became harder and faster. You gripped on to Tigs thigh as you came to keep steady. Screamin to the top of your lungs as Tig hit your G-spot over and over. Coming for the second time. Feeling Tig twitch inside you. He came squirting  his seed in your dripping pussy. "Fuck me". Tig said as he pulled up his pants. "Can you wait until we get home, I cant walk as it is". You laughed, fixing your self. He slapped you ass, finding your way out. You saw the others. The two of you running up to them. "Where  have you guys been". "You missed or more like heard a great show". Jax laughed. "What do you mean"? You asked blushing. "Some couple was fucking in the FUN house". Juice said laughing. "OH God". You said "Well you wanted everyone to hear and that they did". Tig pulled you in for a kiss. Reminding Tig that you loved him and he was the one for you. He took you home and showed you that he loved you too. You can say that your favorite place to have sex is in the FUN house at the carnival.