#their dynamic is ‘tired and ready to kill and high energy and ready to kill

[tiredbi-peach]

In my oc x canon era

My mandalorian oc and commander Fox ❤️❤️

Credits to phantasm_echo on Instagram and amikoroyaiart

[skzcoffee]

meant 2 be | k. seungmin

Pairing: Seungmin x fem¡reader

Genre: fluff, lots of fluff

- Academic rivals to lovers trope (my favorite)

Word count: 3.1k

Synopsis: Seungmin & y/n have been silently competing against eachother academically since the beginning of college. They both try to one-up eachother in everything, absolutely everything and they always end in a tie.

Warnings: none honestly

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You had always been a high-achiever when it came to school. Well, not always but ever since you won the academic excellence award in middle school, you’ve been the top of all your classes. You even graduated as valedictorian during highschool.

To nobody's surprise, things didn't change much during college. You were still top of your class, and had the highest grades, sometimes. Your outstanding academic status was interrupted by a guy from your physics course, Seungmin Kim.

You couldn't help but silently compete against him in everything, but for some reason, he always seemed to one-up you. It frustrated you, it killed you seeing someone do better in school than you, but for some reason, there was also a part of you that admired him for his hardwork and his ambitious energy.

“Okay class, you will now be assigned your partners for your final big project before we go on break. Please come up to my desk as I call your name” You heard the professor mention in his usual slow and boring voice. It didn't help much the fact that you got absolutely no sleep the night before trying to study for your calculus exam you had that day, so you were trying to stay awake as much as possible.

The class ended and you never heard your name being called upon, so as you were about to approach the professor to ask about your partner, he called you and your classmate first. “Ms.y/l/n, Mr. Kim. May I speak with the both of you?” You two looked at each other in confusion before walking towards the professor.

“You two are probably wondering why I called on you at the last minute. Well, we all know you two are the smartest and most hard-working of the class, the entire generation even. I decided to pair you two up for the final project. Your topic and dynamic is completely up to you two. Amaze me.”

The professor left the room, and you were standing in your place staring at the floor zoned out, you snapped back to reality and you looked up at Seungmin, “So, I guess we’re finally working together” you chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess we are. Do you think you could give me your number, so we can decide when to meet up and stuff…” he asked. You gave him your number and waved goodbye.

Soon after your calculus exam, you arrived home tired and a bit moody since the exam didn't go very well. You studied your ass off for that exam yet you still failed (You didn't fail, you missed 2 questions but your academic maniac brain thought it was failure). As you started to wash up to go to bed, you heard your phone vibrate a couple of times, you ignore it thinking it’s a message from your friend, but it vibrates again, so you decide to finally look at your phone.

Unknown number: Hii!! Sorry for messaging you so late.

Y/N: Who is this?

Unknown number: Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Seungmin from your physics class. I said I’d text you, remember? 😓

Y/N: Oh, hi Seungmin! I’m really sorry, I'm just really tired and didn't connect the dots very well.

Seungmin from physics: Oh, you should probably rest then, I’ll talk to you tomorrow :)

Y/N: Oh, it’s no big deal Seungmin, I can talk for a bit :)

Seungmin from physics: Okay, I'll make it quick. How about we meet tomorrow afternoon at my place to get started on the project? Are you free?

Y/N: Sure, no problem. Mind sending me your address? 😅

Seungmin from physics: Right. *insert address*

Y/N: Thank you, see you tomorrow!!!

Seungmin from physics: Bye y/n, sleep well 💤

Y/N: Goodnight Seungmin :)

You were getting ready and decided to wear something comfortable to go to Seungmin’s, a hoodie and some sweatpants will do. You packed your bag and headed out the door. You typed his address on the maps app and you realized you didn't live too far from his place, just a few blocks away, so you walked over there, soon you arrived and rang the bell.

“Hi! Come on in, make yourself comfortable” He smiled.

“Thanks, where can I put my bag?” You asked, pointing at your bag.

He took your bag kindly and placed it on the couch. You looked around and noticed his apartment is actually pretty nice, it’s simple, but neat, you would've never guessed a MAN lived there.

“Have you eaten already? Are you hungry?”

“Actually, I didn't have time to eat dinner before I came…I-”

“No problem, I’ll make something for you, does pasta sound fine?”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

“Of course, you can take a seat at the dining table if you wish”

You sat down and watched as Seungmin cooked for you. That's when you realized Seungmin is a really nice boy, he’s a gentleman, smart, kind, neat and he can cook. I mean, COME ON, and he’s cute?! You stare at his cooking figure, the way he chops up vegetables and sautés them, the way he puts together your plate and his.

“All done, sorry for the wait.” He apologized as he placed the plates on the table. He sat down at the dining table right in front of you and waited for you to take a bite.

“Oh my god, this is really good!” You complimented his cooking with your mouth full, getting pasta sauce on your left cheek.

“I’m glad you like it, you got some pasta sauce on your cheek, let me clean that for you” He picked up a napkin and held your face with one hand and started wiping your cheek with the other. You looked at him and for the first time you realized, he’s kinda cute. You pushed those thoughts away quickly.

The two of you finished eating and got straight to work. You pulled out your laptop and started typing, he did the same. Then, you started working on a shared document and started to plant ideas for the project. You did an endless amount of research and so did he. It started getting late so you decided it was time to go home.

“Hey Seungmin, it’s getting pretty late I should get back home”

“I’ll walk you home” He got his jacket and put on his shoes.

“It’s okay you don't have to, it’s pretty close from here anyways”

“What if something happens to you? What would I do?”

You finally agreed to let Seungmin walk you back home. As you stepped outside you realized it was raining. Seungmin pulled out and umbrella and put it over your heads, you had to walk pretty close together to avoid getting wet, and something about being under an umbrella with him felt so, intimate. You arrived home and thanked him for the walk and the food, you had fun.

“Same time next week?” He asked as he left you on the front porch.

“Okay, fine by me. Bye Seungmin”

“Bye Y/N, goodnight.”

You went inside your home and washed up to get ready for bed as you thought about Seungmin. He wouldn't get out of your head for some odd reason. You pushed those thoughts away once again and went to sleep.

The following week you showed up to his apartment once again, this time bringing him a cup of coffee.

“Hey Seungmin, got you coffee!”

“Thank you! Come on in”

And you did this for a few weeks, you’d sometimes go two or three times a week. You didn't only get lots of work done during this time but you also got to know Seungmin a lot better. You found yourself laughing and having a good time everytime you were with Seungmin, not fully aware that you were catching feelings for the boy.

One of the days however, it seemed like a normal day of working on the project at first. You two had dinner together, made by Seungmin obviously, since it was so good, talked about life and got to work on the project. After a few hours of hard-work your eyes started to shut slowly and you ended up falling asleep on Seungmin’s couch.

“Hey y/n it’s getting pretty lat-” He noticed you were already sleeping. He didn't want to wake you up since it was already 2 am and he knew that you hadn't slept very well the past week, so he carried you to his room and tucked you in.

“You know Y/N, the more I spend time with you, the more I find myself attracted to you. I don't think I’ll be able to suppress these feelings for too long, I wish you were mine.” He whispered hoping you were deep asleep so you wouldn't hear him. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of your sleeping figure, smiled at it and went to sleep on the couch that night.

You woke up the next morning and noticed you were in an unfamiliar setting, you immediately got out of bed worried and walked out of the room and realized you had fallen asleep at Seungmin’s apartment.

“Good morning Y/N, sorry to startle you. Help yourself to some breakfast” He insisted.

“Oh, thank you. You really didn't have to” You smiled and sat down at the table.

“Y/N, what do you think about going out somewhere today? Just the two of us. I mean, we’ve been woking pretty hard these past couple of weeks, I thought maybe we could go somewhere and take a break, we deserve it” He hesitated.

“I’d love to, I just need to go to my place to wash up and change, then we can go anywhere you’d like”

“Sounds good”

You both walked back to your place, he waited for you patiently in the living room as you changed and washed up. You didn't know where you two were going today but Seungmin seemed to be wearing something simple and comfortable, yet presentable. You figured you’d do the same. You put on a lovely pair of jeans and an oversized knitted sweater to go with it.

“Where do you want to go Min?”

“Min? That’s a new one. I was thinking maybe we could go to the arcade, what do you think?”

“I like that idea, let's go”

Even though Seungmin knew how to do absolutely everything, there was one thing he couldn't do, drive. So, you offered to drive the two of you to the arcade. When you arrive there you start to play a couple of games. You totally crush him playing basketball, and air hockey, but he’s so good at the dance machine game. “He’s a good dancer” you thought, and he looked cute as hell doing it too.

“How are you so good at dancing and so bad at basketball?” You teased.

“I used to be in a dance group in high school, it’s my well kept secret. How are you so bad at dancing and so good at basketball anyways?”

“Well unlike you, I wasn't on any basketball team during high school but sometimes I’d play basketball with my dad during the weekends”

You two discovered a lot of things about eachother, and realized you and him had a lot more in common than you thought. You also found out he sings, dances and plays the guitar? How charming.

After the arcade you both went to get ice cream and went for a walk at the park nearby. You two talked some more, your fingers brushing against each other every now and then and the tension between you two was growing larger each minute that passed by. You two stopped and decided to sit down on a bench and rest a bit, you looked into each other's eyes, his eyes were glowing, so cute it resembled a cute puppy’s eyes. You immediately melted, he was so cute you couldn't take it anymore.

“Seungmin.” You looked into his glassy puppy eyes.

“Yes?”

“You-you’r-you-you’re…” You stuttered like never before it was actually incredibly embarrassing.

“Are you okay Y/N?”

“You-you-you're so cute it's not fair! I can't look into your eyes and not melt.” You cried, you couldn't tell him how you exactly felt since he made you so nervous, so you ended up blurting some stupidity out.

Seungmin’s cheeks started heating up and turned into a bright shade of pink, and his ears a burning red shade. He froze, not knowing what to say, he was a bit hesitant on making a move but then he slowly started to lean in closer to you until his nose was barely a centimeter away from yours .

“You’re pretty cute yourself Y/N” He leaned in even closer until your lips connected softly with his. Your stomach was going absolutely insane, like a billion butterflies flying around. His lips were soft and smooth, he was absolutely charming. You melted under his presence and you were completely vulnerable to his soft touch.

“I like you Y/N, I’ve buried my feelings for you for too long.”

You liked him too, it was so obvious.

“This is probably very obvious by now but, I like you too, a lot.” Your face was all red, you were barely able to get those words to come out of your mouth.

You kissed him once again. “So then, what are we, Min?”

“Boyfriend and girlfriend? If you want to be.”

You immediately nodded and hugged him. He was the cutest freaking guy ever, you could never say no to a guy like him.

“Hey min, could you send me the photos we took together? We’ll take more in a bit, now that I can kiss you in the photos'' You giggled. He sent the photos to your phone and your phone started to vibrate from the notifications. You turn your phone on just to remember how you had him saved in your contacts.

“Seungmin from physics? Seriously? After all this time we’ve spent together? You're joking, change it now!!!” He exclaimed. It was funny not gonna lie, Seungmin found it kinda funny too. Embarrassed as hell, you changed his contact name.

*Edit contact*

Name: Cute puppy guy from physics <3

“Hey! That’s still not my name Y/N!” You quickly shut him up with a kiss.

“You’re a cute puppy guy though, aren't you?”

You two spent the next couple of hours playfully arguing over his contact name on your phone and teasing each other about all the tension buildup that had been happening up to the very moment you confessed to each other.

Everything was going so well until you looked at the time and realized it was already 11pm. It was getting really late and you were getting very sleepy.

“Minnie I’m sleepy, I think we need to go home” You yawned. Seungmin knew that you had to drive home since he couldn't and you couldn't just leave the car there.

“You look so cute sleepy darling but you need to drive us home, remember?”

“Oh right, I’ll drive us home, don't worry” You widen your eyes and drop some water on your face to wake you up, it wasn't the best idea but it’s all you had at the moment. As you drove home, Seungmin was in the passenger seat on his phone. He was texting his friends about what had happened, he was so excited, literally the cutest puppy ever.

Seungmin: Oh my god guys guys guys!

Chan: What’s up Seungmin?

Seungmin: The sky, idiot.

Chan: Okay nevermind, bye.

Jisung: LMAOOO

Minho: This better be something interesting Seungmin because I am trying to sleep.

Seungmin: I have a girlfriend.

Minho: WHAT??!!??

Jisung: FINALLY 🙏 About time man.

Minho: I mean, congratulations dude. Who’s the girl??

Changbin: Let me take a guess. Ummm, is she from college?

Seungmin: Yes Bin, you know I have no life outside college.

Changbin: Alright… from physics class?

Seungmin: Yeah…

Changbin: OH MY GOD IT’S Y/N I KNEW IT

Jeongin: Damn Seungmin, really? Congrats 🎉

Felix: I mean it was so obvious 🤓☝️ Ever since they got paired together for that physics project they’ve been together NONSTOP. Y'all really think they were working the whole time??? Half the time they were probably making out.

Seungmin: Not true, we kissed for the first time just today.

Hyunjin: When is it my turn to be happy? 💔💔💔

Jeongin: I’ll take you on a date Hyunjin hyung 😍🙏

Hyunjin: Actually.. I’ll pass.

Jeongin: You just missed one hell of an opportunity.

Changbin: Stop it, I wanna hear more about you and Y/N

Seungmin: I’m here with her right now in the car so I’ll have to leave you guys hanging, I’ll tell the full story tomorrow when we meet up okay?

Changbin: DAMN IT.

Minho: I swear to god Kim Seungmin…

Seungmin: BYE GUYS😅😅😅

You were about to drop off Seungmin at his place but stopped you before you could start the car again.

“Y/N, come crash at my place, I know you're tired and if you stay you’ll get a good breakfast tomorrow morning. I know you only eat properly when you're with me.” He made those innocent cute doe puppy eyes at you making it absolutely impossible to say no.

“Fine, I’ll stay, only ‘cause you’re cute” You kissed him on the cheek before parking your car in front of the apartment complex. As you two were getting ready for bed, he couldn't help but kiss you and hug you every 5 seconds. You two couldn't stay away from each other for more than five seconds that night.

—------------------—------------------—------------

“I'm scared Minnie, what if our project isn't good enough”

“We’re the smartest in the class, we’ll be fine. We are the perfect team, the perfect pair.” He reassured you with one last kiss before presenting your final project.

“Okay, lovebirds. It’s your turn to present.” The professor turned to his assistant who was helping with the grading. With an unusually excited voice he said:

“I put them together on purpose you know, they've been in love with each other since forever, they just needed that push to get them together. Look at me, I’m literally cupid! Now look at them… they really are meant to be.”

END

A.N: Y'all I had so much fun writing this thing, I know it's super corny and delulu and stuff but mind you I haven't been writing for very long, just reading. I hope you guys enjoyed it 'cause I definitely did 🙏

[merryfortune]

You give me flowers of love

Written for 100ships Challenge on Dreamwidth

Prompt #39 - Pink

Ship: Nodoka/Hinata

Fandom: Healin’ Good PreCure

Word Count: 3,757

Rating: M

Warnings: No Warnings Apply

AN: title comes from Bloodflowers by The Cure and is recommended listening for this fic.

Tags:  Alternate Universe - Hanahaki, Horror, Gore, Emetophobia/Emetophilia, Angst and Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Past/Referenced Eriko/Hinata, Minor Blood

   Hinata was not the type of girl who could handle horror stories, urban legends, or anything spookier than a rom-com set against the background of a popular coffee shop. However, there was something about this creepypasta that caught her attention. Maybe she read it to prove that she wasn’t a scaredy-cat or maybe she read it because something about it was almost too real.

   It came across her Curestagram feed, screenshots reposted from another site with long form text functions rather than the optimized for photos aesthetic of Curestagram. It wasn’t late at night, quite the opposite, Hinata had just been scrolling as she was half nibbling on a banana muffin for morning tea. So she was kind of bored and not already unsettled by a vague anxiety sort of mindset so she stopped her scroll to read this totally true story from a friend of a friend that had happened upon her timeline.

   The story involved a sickness. A lovesickness, hooking Hinata immediately since she was a hopeless romantic and leaving her vulnerable to what was hiding down below a few paragraphs after and Hinata realised she was reading a surreal medical horror story.

   Supposedly, some girl from a high school in the next town over had been hospitalized due to damage to her stomach and esophagus but ultimately culminated in her passing away from brain damage due to suffocation. The suffocation that was the outcome of the damage she had taken to her stomach and esophagus had, supposedly, been caused by the growing of flowers inside of her. Doctors couldn’t explain it. They were baffled by the impossibility of it. Yet where they failed to posit theories at all, their patient had her own she desperately desired to reveal. 

   The nameless girl, as weak as she was in her final moments of speech and cognition, was certain with the most crystal clear clarity that she could muster said that reason for the flowers growing inside of her was due to a crush that she had been fostering for quite some time. A crush that was so powerful and deep that it had manifested as literal and impossible distress in the form of tiger lily flowers. Though her claims were dismissed as nonsense, despite the very given evidence that she had been vomiting exotic flowers, except by the narrator who was sharing her story online on her behalf.

   Hinata got to the bottom line of the final screenshot and she dropped her phone on the table. She shivered and flinched as her phone clattered. Nyatoran looked up, alarmed, from the milk that he had been sipping.

   “Heh? Are you okay Hinata?” he asked.

   “Y-Yeah, I just lost my grip.” Hinata replied. It wasn’t a lie.

   “Really? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Nyatoran pointed out.

   Hinata made an expression that was both guilty and embarrassed, “Er, sort of… I read a ghost story online and I haven’t the stomach for them.”

   “Oh, well, no worries then. I’ll keep ya safe from all the ghoulies then.” Nyatoran boasted.

   Hinata laughed, “Thanks, Nyatoran.” she replied.

   And that was more or less enough to keep her mind off what she had read for the rest of the day as she did her Sunday homework and such. At least until well after lights out. 

   Hinata cursed herself. She knew endless walls of text in screenshots never bore good news but it was under her skin now. It wasn’t even that scary, she tried to convince herself. It just so happened to play off something she had been thinking about in ways that cut deep and yes, even scary. 

   Hinata had a crush of her own. One she didn’t think she ought to act on. Or didn’t know how to act on. 

   Hinata had a crush on Nodoka. She was sweet and gentle yet so motivated. Hinata felt like she learned something new about either herself or Nodoka after every time they hung out. Things never felt old between them despite how natural their companionship was between them.

   Catching feelings for Nodoka was inevitable, Hinata felt regarding their dynamic as close friends and their friendship was relatively intense due to their bond as comrades being Pretty Cures but that made Hinata sick to her stomach with fear. This wasn’t her first crush that she had on another girl. 

   In the not so recent past, Hinata had been wrong reading other girls’ opinions and feelings regarding her before. She and Eriko had been so close, childhood friends with a pact that seemed fit to stand the test of time when they had made it, and Hinata didn’t think it was a coincidence that already scarce contact between them after Eriko moved was when Hinata had confessed her feelings to Eriko. 

   The rejection had been crushing and Hinata had never told a soul about it. The wound was older now but it still hurt so, as lovely as Nodoka was, Hinata didn’t want to gamble their friendship due to that prior rejection. Yet her feelings crackled like electricity near a lightning rod whenever she was around Nodoka anyway. She could only hope that Nodoka was oblivious since she was so inexperienced socially due to her childhood spent mostly in the hospital.

    (And that Chiyu never brought up the blatantly obvious which she would hopefully never do since she knew there was a place and a time and it wasn’t her place).

   Thus, for all these different and entangling reasons, that horror story Hinata had read this morning really resonated. The thought of her unrequited feelings becoming literal, even in the form of pretty and seemingly harmless flowers, and suffocating. It was a very real fear to Hinata despite that fantastical execution that it was captured inside.

   All because she was a magical girl infused with the power of light and thunder. She fought villains who caused infections in nature and created monsters. To her, it didn’t seem too far outside of her sphere of tried and true reality that such a floral disease of the body could exist. Heck, maybe it did exist and was tied to the war that she and her friends were fighting in secret on behalf of the Healing Animals. It was entirely possible this flower vomit disease was another agent or power of the Byougens. 

   Hinata groaned and the more she scolded herself for thinking about these horrible possibilities, the more she thought about them. She tossed and turned all night, in the dark and under the covers of her doona. She knew Nyatoran would live up to his boasting over morning tea if she asked but he was totally conked out in his little room. Hinata couldn’t bring herself to wake him, to unnecessarily burden him, so she just hid from her fears as best as she could in her blankets.

   The following morning, Hinata was a wreck. She had bags under her eyes and was generally a drag. She hasn’t slept a wink last night but just like she was hiding from the horror story in her head, she decided to hide from the aftermath too. She touched up her eyes with concealer and finished off her make-up with a nice little kiss of lip balm, too. She chose a nice tropical flavour: pineapple with vanilla undertones and wore nude in practice. With that, she was ready for what was no doubt going to be a long, long day of school.

   A prediction that she was very right in having. Just making it to lunch felt like an eternity and a half on low energy. Worst still, despite the precautions that Hinata had taken, both Chiyu and Nodoka had noticed that she wasn’t exactly her bouncy self today. Even with her favourite lunch box in her lap with fried chicken and a fruit drink, too.

   “Are you okay, Hinata?” Nodoka asked and she batted her long eyelashes in concern.

   Hinata knew she couldn’t lie or deflect around Nodoka, at least for the most part, and deflated, “No…” she moaned. “I slept awfully last night.”

   “I expect that it wasn’t due to over studying?” Chiyu asked, sniping. 

   “No, I just. Couldn’t sleep.” Hinata shrugged.

   “Well, be sure to put yourself early to bed tonight then. There’s nothing worse than being tired.” Nodoka said.

   “Will do.” Hinata sighed.

   “Also?” Nodoka prompted her.

   “Yeah?” Hinata glanced at Nodoka was she tried a spoonful of rice from her side dishes.

   “Your lip balm has a very strong smell today, I can smell it from here.” Nodoka laughed.

   “Oh, joy…” Hinata hung her head in misery. She didn’t think it was so pungent in the tube.

   “I didn’t mean that in a mean way.” Nodoka panicked whilst Chiyu had a discrete giggle at Hinata’s misfortune. “I really like it. I think it smells nice. Like cherries. I love the smell of cherries best.”

   “Huh?” Hinata mumbled and she stared straight at Nodoka in confusion.

   Nodoka stared back. Also in confusion. “Is something the matter?”

   “Er, no,” Hinata awkwardly began and she forced herself to laugh and she flapped a hand about too to disguise her weirdness, “I must have been so tired this morning that I though I used one lip balm and instead used another.”

   “That is a little odd…” Chiyu murmured.

   But Nodoka seemed to buy it, she gasped, “Fwow, you must have been really tired this morning to make such a mistake. Promise me to get a good night’s rest tonight then.” Nodoka fussed for her.

   “I promise, I promise.” Hinata replied.

   Just as Hinata spoke, the end of lunch bell rang. She moaned with the utmost misery as she hadn’t finished her lunch even slightly and roused much sympathy from both Nodoka and Chiyu. So, Hinata crammed what she could into her mouth and swallowed before returning with her friends indoors to their classroom.

   She plopped down in her chair and desk, her stomach growling almost immediately. Were it not for the teacher at the front of the classroom, Hinata would have flopped down and keeled over right there and then. She would have killed for a nap. Not even a luxurious nanna nap at this point, she would take a horrid power nap. Anything would have been better than nothing. Instead, the best she could muster was some daydreaming whilst scribbling in her work book so she could at least pretend to be paying attention.

   Her mind strayed to Nodoka. She couldn’t help it. A silly little pining schoolgirl was exactly what she was after all. She doodled Nodoka’s name in her margins, surrounded with love-hearts, paw prints, and even flowers. It was a little bit childish but Hinata was a lot childish so she didn’t mind, she was more or less on cloud nine since Nodoka had shown her care for her over lunch, fussing for her like that.

   It was such a small act but it was more than enough to launch Hinata’s heart in a million miles an hour race. So much so, she began to taste something at the back of her throat. It was a sweet taste accompanied by a fizzy sensation. Hinata liked it and it seemed to get stronger the more she daydreamed about Nodoka. Even though it was the middle of class, Hinata was letting her mind completely run away from the contents of what the teacher was attempting to educate on them.

   Finally, after what felt like a day of self torment because of reading some stupid horror story about puking flowers, Hinata felt free of that gnawing anxiety. But just as she revelled in this, her stomach wretched. She dry gagged with the searing taste of bile at the back of her throat and her hand automatically clamped over her mouth, pen and all. The prior anxiety might have dissipated but a new one had spiked in its place.

   Hinata frowned. Was it because she hadn’t eaten all her lunch that she suddenly felt nauseous? Or was it something else? She begged that it wasn’t her period, she was still quite irregular so this felt off or early to her.

   Then she gagged again. She swallowed it back down. Hard. Whatever she swallowed was thick and sweet. It wasn’t vomit, Hinata had the startling realisation. She tried hard to keep it down but she failed. She vomited into her hand, or at least something similar. The motions were awful, worse than anything else she had ever had to eject from her body orally before.

   Hinata felt sick to the very bottom of her stomach. Her hands shook as she slowly removed the one over her mouth and… and she couldn’t believe her eyes. They widened in shock as she saw the head of a flower in the palm of her hand. It was a cherry blossom, she realised. The pale pink petals were frayed at the edges, burnt by stomach acid and wet with her saliva; the anthers of its centre drooped and dragged, splayed across the petals. Her skin crawled as she marveled at the insane gravity of the situation. She quickly paled.

   And the teacher noticed, “Hiramitsu, are you okay?” he asked from in front of the chalkboard, looking up concerned from the book he was reciting from.

   “I-I, um, I need to go. To the nurse.” Hinata eked out her words with strained difficulty.

   Her stomach flipped and she could feel another one coming up. It slithered up her throat and she hated the slow, dreadful sensation of it, the way it made her mouth taste of bile and cherries in horrible combination. Hinata bolted to her feet, afraid, alarming the whole class. She hid her mouth behind her hand again, holding tight that first flower that she had vomited.

   “I need to go.” Hinata mumbled and she fled.

   The feeling of her classmates' eyes on her felt like broken glass digging. She knew, deep down, they didn’t mean harm but their gazes only served to amplify the terror she felt as she fled. She was fast at first, escaping from the classroom but her stomach lurched and she vomited another flower and then again but two at once this time.

   Hinata stopped in the hallway, she had to rest her shoulder against the wall just to stand as she looked down into the palm of her hand. The flowers were accumulating against her skin, wet and heavy, and accelerating in pace of production. Already she felt another lurch and this one was dire, Hinata didn’t think she would be so lucky to only vomit one or two this next time.

   She had to get to the sick bay. She wasn’t sure what she would do there but anything had to be better than nothing, so she hobbled on in immense pain. By nothing less than a miracle, Hinata managed to get to the nurse’s suite without collapsing. Or with leaving too many flowers in her meagre wake.

   The school nurse panicked almost immediately when she saw Hinata in this state. Hinata sputtered out a thank you whilst she was put to bed. Hinata curled up under the sheets, her stomach lurching and mangled petals dripped out of her mouth. She had to hide her ailment from the nurse. She just had to. She didn’t know how to explain it or anything else pertaining to it but fortunately, the nurse bought her some time by going to use administration’s phone to let her father know that Hinata was in immediate medical distress.

   Hinata held her scrawny belly with one hand and her mouth the other. No matter how hard she tried, these flowers kept dredging up from inside of her and it was worsening. There was distention building inside of her, it was as if she could feel the bushels of cherry blossom flowers forming inside of her and something else too. It was raw and firm and poking up through her like a stick. Hinata moaned in utter agony as she tasted not just sweetness and bile in her mouth, but the cutting, metallic taste of blood too.

   She whimpered as she tried to swallow it down. Attempting so, just made the nicks and cuts to her throat worsen and the petals to clog. Her lungs ached sharply as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes squeezed tight and she begged every deity she could think of for a saviour.

   The door to the sick bay opened again. Hinata murmured to herself and the curtain was pulled aside, “Hinata?” a sweet voice greeted her.

   “Huh?” Hinata slurred.

   She rolled over, still holding herself but even a simple and slow motion like that was enough to rouse her illness violently. Her grimace was deep on her face as she tried to look at Nodoka, even feebly.

   “A-Are you okay, Hinata?” she asked. “I couldn’t sit by and worry when I saw you ill you were, what’s wrong?”

   Hinata opened her mouth. Mostly to reply, but that’s not what happened. She threw up in front of Nodoka and Nodoka couldn’t believe her eyes. Hinata was throwing up bushels upon bushels of flowers. Cherry blossoms. Nodoka blinked. She couldn’t believe the sights - or the smell. The smell was disconcerting with how almost pleasantly fragrant it was, heightening Nodoka’s realisation that this wasn’t Hinata pulling pranks.

   “H-How on Earth did this happen…?” Nodoka asked.

   She was horrified yet found herself unable to resist the impulse. She picked a blossom out of the pile that Hinata had vomited up. It was soft in her hand, even if it was grotesquely wet.

   “I - I don’t-” Hinata tried to speak but she cut herself off when she felt something jut out of her mouth. An entire branch of cherry blossoms began to spike out of her mouth.

   Her eyes began to roll back on themselves as Nodoka watched, in abject and frozen horror, as Hinata contended with this stick inside of her. It emerged slowly from the depths of her throat and made her chest convulse. Her fingers spasmed as she choked around it, flowers blooming along the thin and coarse branch.

   “H-Help me.” Hinata sputtered out.

   Nodoka nodded. She was scared, her heart was pounding, but she was first and foremost a helper of most empathetic ends. She had been on the receiving end of a strange and bizarre illness that had rendered most her childhood for naught. She couldn’t just let Hinata struggle. Suffocate.

   So, she got onto the bed with Hinata. She straddled her so she could best approach the foreign object inside of Hinata. She focused her eyes and was as ready as she could ever be for an amateur operation quite like this one. Nodoka reached out and pinched the end of the branch delicately. It was entirely unsafe, Nodoka knew that, but she began to pull. She peered into Hinata’s pink mouth was clogged with twigs and petals, and tried her best to dislodge what she could.

   Hinata gagged. Tears in her eyes and she plead, silently and afraid, that Nodoka could handle this. Nodoka’s hands shook but she did, in fact, manage. She tried her hardest and she did succeed even if it felt pyrrhic as Hinata screamed out as the last, and thickest, part of the cherry blossom branch was removed. 

   Nodoka flinched hearing the scream, dropping the cherry blossom branch between them. Hinata spat out blood and petals but the cherry blossom branch had been removed. She caressed her neck and it was raw with what it had been through. Her touches did little to soothe or quell her pain, she looked up at Nodoka with pathetic, red rimmed eyes.

   “What was that?” Nodoka asked, her heart quaking. “How could any of this be possibly real?”

   “I - I don’t know.” Hinata mumbled but that was a lie. She choked on her words all the same as she had choked on those cherry blossoms. Her hands squeezed tight. “No. I’m sorry. I do know.”

   “Pardon?” Nodoka quietly exclaimed.

   “There’s a very rare disease,” Hinata began, hasty, “that causes flowers to grow inside of someone suffering with a crush that they just can’t handle.”

   “That’s horrible…” Nodoka murmured.

   It was now or never, Hinata realised. Or she was going to end up exactly like the girl from the story that she had read yesterday. She knew it. She just knew it.

   “Nodoka, it’s you.” Hinata confessed, half a sob in her voice. “I’m crushing on you.”

   Nodoka was stunned by Hinata’s admission. 

   Hinata panted, her face was going bright red whilst her heart pounded like a hammer at her rib cage. She couldn’t believe it. She had done it. But it felt like a weight off, she had to admit, she didn’t realise her crush had been such a burden until right now. She felt herself lighten with the confession, from the very pit of her stomach, upwards and outwards.

   Nodoka averted her gaze and Hinata was reminded once more why a crush was called a crush. That borderline feel good feeling from before popped. Burst. Nodoka played with her hair, fidgeting, and then managed to speak in a very calm and very quiet voice.

   “I have a crush on you, too, Hinata.” Nodoka replied. “I admire so much how you sparkle and shine. It’s very refreshing to be around. I like you too. A lot.”

   Nodoka reached out to Hinata’s hand and held it. She was so warm and she was still trembling but Nodoka’s caress of it did soothe her. Hinata hazarded a smile, like she couldn’t believe her ears, through her scarlet expression. Nodoka leaned in and kissed Hinata.

   Hinata was unable to kiss back, afraid of her own breath but Nodoka didn’t mind. It was pungent with cherry blossoms and wet but she found the kiss sufficiently sweet, kissing Hinata’s soft, balmy lips. They were tinged with pineapple and vanilla beneath that overwhelming sensation of cherry blossoms.

   “Thank you, Nodoka…” Hinata murmured and somehow, she didn’t know or understand how but she wasn’t going to complain, she was cured, prettily, of her affliction. 

   The cherry blossom flowers on the bed or in her gut, disappeared. All with seemingly little aplomb. Even the branch that had to have been removed from her throat, all with a soft, fizzling noise that Hinata could hardly hear over the sound of her pounding heart. She still had the cuts and scrapes, but she was no longer growing flowers inside of her stomach. Hinata was cured and Nodoka was her blessed, angelic cure.

[poguesgold]

how did you feel about season? i know most people liked it better than season 1 but i’m not sure how i feel yet🤔 might need to rewatch it

okay this ended up soooo long so i'm giving a tl;dr review here and if anyone cares to read my insanely long thought dump you can feel free. this part is spoiler free also!!

cons: i think they should have further developed the s1 storyline rather than conjuring up an entirely new treasure and conflict; i don't think they did the characters justice a lot of the time, particularly kie and jj; too much yelling and running not enough hanging out; the finale cliff hanger was a stupid writing choice

pros: cleo!!; pope-centric plotline!!!; amazing jjpope moments in the improv sequences; never a boring moment; rafebarry oh my god????; neck kiss shirtless wrestling holding hands standing unnecessarily close jjpope rot; just a straight up nine hour long adrenaline rush and i love that shit.

overall: i definitely did not like it more than s1, but i still REALLY loved it. i think it's worth the watch, just don't go into it expecting good writing or realistic injuries or a comprehensive plot LMFAO. what saves the season is the pogues' chemistry and their improv sequences, for real. and cleo. you WILL get angry about the shitty script and characterization if you’re really invested in that part of things, but as far as vibes and dopamine high it was awesome. it was a fun watch and i'll definitely rewatch at least once to soak it in properly

please this is going to be soooo long i apologize in advance. but i have a lot of thoughts. also ⚠️⚠️spoilers ahead!!⚠️⚠️

most of this review is going to be criticisms tbh so sorry for that but this show kinda sucks (affectionately<3)

i thought season 2 was an absolute TRAINWRECK as far as writing goes. jonas pate was basically like. this season we're going to have an even BIGGER and BETTER treasure!!! but the exact same thing is going to happen. like. we already had gold. and that's what they were going to the bahamas for at the end of season 1 for anyway????? it would have been so easy to just develop the original storyline further, i just cannot figure out why they would completely abandon it for another mediocre storyline. (i LOVED that this other mediocre storyline was pope-centric and the main character energy he was given this season. but. they. could have done that?? with the first storyline?????)

i hate that they brought big john back so so much. SO much. literally it was the stupidest most idiotic lazy cheesy plot choice in the world. it doesn't make sense, we like saw his literal bones at one point like his lifeless corpse, and WHY would they bring back a key character from the PREVIOUS ARC when they created an ENTIRELY NEW CONFLICT AND PLOTLINE FOR THIS SEASON???? jonas pate stuck it in for shock value and cliff hanger in hopes of securing a season 3, and i hate him for it. he's such a terrible writer white men have it so easy

someone in the neck kiss truthers discord earlier pointed out that jb's dead father returning after like a year and a half of thinking he was dead would probably be more traumatic that healing at this point, and i agree so much. also, you know that they're not going to use it for good either way. they're going to use his dad coming back as a way to further traumatize him somehow because obx writers are jombeephobic. and i wouldn't put it past them to bring him back just to kill him off again. jonas pate wants to write john b torture porn and i am TIRED of it

my least favorite thing about season 2 was the characterization. they really did just disregard the characters they created in season 1. kie was completely ooc for like three episodes, and it wasn't because she was mourning. it was just shitty writing. she had no character outside of her relationships this season, which has been my fear from the very beginning and why i have never wanted kie with any of the pogues. season 2 diminished her character to the female love interest, and that just sucked so bad for her.

whether you're a jjpope or not, season 2 completely changed their friendship dynamic. the only time we got glimpses of the season 1 jjpope dynamic was in the improv sequences when rudy and jd took it upon themselves. also during their hugs LMFAO. which is also an acting choice. the writing completely disregarded their friendship and dynamic. it was weird as fuck it was all weird. i also hated that kie and sarah's scripted interactions were just them talking about boys. another case of friendships again being completely disregarded for the cishet relationships. 

i just really feel like all of the characters were handled poorly this season, which is crazy because literally ALL we asked for was backstory and character development and pogue screentime. but jonas pate instead decided to write ten episodes of nonstop running and yelling and fuckinf adrenaline, with an ooc script. for funsies

i feel like the magic of season 1 was lost. the vibe of season 1 that makes it so comforting and rewatchable and lovely is sort of just lost in all the silly plot. we see snatches of it here and there, but they feel crammed between unnecessary action scenes and stunts and shouting when we would have been happy with ten episodes of the pogues hanging out in each other's bedrooms.

NOW IM GOING TO TALK THINGS I LIKED OKAY OKAY

i seriously DID love watching it. we pulled an all nighter in the neck truthers discord and binged the entire season and the adrenaline of that kept me going for the rest of the week. it was literally fucking insane absolutely batshit and i LOVED it. the writing was horrible but like. it's obx we know it isn't good LMFAOO. it's part of the charm

i definitely don't like it more than s1, but i did still like it a lot. i LOVED how pope centric it was, like he fr had such main character energy this season and it was wonderful. even though the storyline was weird and didn't make sense jd did so well lolol he did so wonderfully. i loved seeing pope get the attention he deserves this season.

JJPOPE MOMENTS. i was definitely sad they didn't have an arc to themselves like they did season 1, but oh my god jd and rudy FED US with jjpope improv moments this season. the NECK KISS? the WRESTLING? every single one of their hugs?????? they're insane. it sucked that they really didn't have any scenes alone but we take what we can get.

SPEAKING OF GAYS LET'S TALK ABOUT RAFEBARRY. because?? oh my god??? first season it was like a crack ship and then season 2 came out and... what are we supposed to do ignore it? they are literally??? gay????? it's jarring they're insane. i am so so invested in them it's kind of unreal how deep i got into this ship in such a short amount of time (follow @rafebarry babies <33)

cleo. i love cleo. the best new thing to come out of this season for sure. clarah is coming strong i can feel it and i am SO ready. i know that they're most likely going to move toward a cleopope romance next season, which i don't hate? i'm bothered only because a) it's obvious it's mostly being done to get pope out of the way for jiara, and b) i think people often push two dark-skinned characters into a ship just because they're both dark-skinned, and that yucks me out. but i will say i really liked their moments together in s2 and i think they could be really good together if they're canon s3 (which they probably will be.)

overall like. it was a fun watch. i retained like 2% of the plot i was just there for the vibes and dopamine high and that was totally fine. i want to take the pogues out of jonas pate’s greedy little white man fingers and give them the character and relationship development they deserve, but we can’t have it all i guess. the cinematography this season i think i liked better than season 1, wasn’t a huge fan of that weird yellow filter tho. also the lighting. obx lighting guys get demoted challenge. umm yeah season 1 supremacy but season 2 had amazing vibes

[hereisleo]

NEON JUNCTION

w/ k.ys & j.wy

g/ cyberpunk!au, friendship, mild angst

w.c/ 3.8k

a.n/ @moonchildsaurora, here it is finally. from your birthday through christmas, new years and now our one year of friendshipvery, this is long overdue and thank you so much for you patience. ah, time flown hasn’t it. i will forever be grateful of your friendship and reaching out to me first, my lovely 🌹 anon. the incredible talent you have in creativity, you have me absolutely smitten over world building (multiples now) in our convos. you’re such a vibrant person, Sunray, and i adore you dearly from the bottom of my heart. seeing your messages first thing in the morning and at the end of the night is a good way to start and end the day. cheers to more years to come and who knows our dynamics might shift akin to woosang. i love you to pluto and back! here’s to friendship and to our first pieces of the year! (excuse the mistakes you find here pretend they don’t exists).

t.w/ expletives, character death (not the mains)

playlists/ cyberworld | k.ys skates & drones

An illegal virtual world. A damaged psyche.

How far is Yeosang willing to go to find the answers to his questions? Will he put his friendship on the line? Just as how his life is beginning to near its end. The DarkNet is not a place for weaklings and its the only place where he perhaps will get his answers.

A treacherous journey is afoot.

Yeosang knows the DarkNet better than he knows his world, the real world where his body is still on the chair in the attic of his friend’s humble abode. In the net, it’s only his mind and light particles forming his appearance. Dangerous but thrilling. He has come to love the rushing adrenaline, an outlet for him to rid of his pent up frustration. Is he properly armed? Is his supply stocked well? In the old world, this is all a video game played on television. In the current world, the world he lives in, the post-apocalyptic environment, this is his reality. The DarkNet, everything illegal happens here. Credit, fame, information, it doesn’t matter what or who you are in the real world but the DarkNet requires you to build a name for yourself. It has taken so much from him. He’s sore, tired, most definitely overworked although the last is self-imposed for many reasons. He can’t rest until he has answers and the credits needed.

A virus slams his wall of codes, dragging him into a fight, vision blurring slightly from the impact and red lights of warning. His monitor reads a huge output of energy from the wild AI that strikes him. The resounding sound of ‘FIGHT’ reverberates in his ears and his light particle fingers flew across the screen, mind racing and the heartbeat bar on the top right corner shines yellow in warning with how fast his heart is hammering in this ribcage. Not being able to code is akin to a death sentence in his line of work. Talons slam on to his screen, vicious orange lines of codes burning into his memory, a phoenix avatar. He hasn’t seen one in so long after- No, now is not the time, Yeosang. A little character waving a sign appears, the nervous bouncing and worried expression have him refocusing. ‘STAY ALIVE.’ He will and with it comes forth his avatar, roaring at the wild phoenix AI. A sophisticated dragon in black codes emerges, wrestling the phoenix on to the virtual dirt ground. If there’s one thing Yeosang has that is his own, it’ll be willpower. His friend calls it being stubborn but he’ll take stubborn too.

The virtual cheering falls deaf to his ears, the colosseum is a mere replica of past time, almost real, he could almost touch it. Almost. Alas, what’s long gone can never be rebuilt the same way. Yeosang simply doesn’t have the clearance or importance to enter the colosseum in the real world. No, those are for the governmental scums. The reason why he resorts to the DarkNet. Another swipe recalibrates his mind that he’s still in the middle of a deathmatch. He hates phoenix, they’re hard to kill. His neon green French nails dance under the black light of his screen, the pads of his fingers typing codes after codes. ‘TERMINATE’ and his dragon glows from within, orange light peeking between the scales, rumbling with brewing fire. The dragon pins the phoenix to the ground by its neck, the angry screeching of the bird makes Yeosang ground his teeth. Too close to home, the similarity of the screams of survival from that night comes crashing to the forefront of his mind. “End it, Mars!” He yells and his dragon obeys, jaws unhinging and relentless waterfall of flames burn the phoenix to its ashes. ‘VICTORY’ flashes on his screen. He doesn’t stick around for long, his vitals are yellow, caution. It’s time to log out, he taps the green box of ‘EXIT’ on the corner. The tugging sensation of his mind being dragged back into reality has him closing his eyes to diminish the dull ache. Yeosang doesn’t see the ashes trembling as his light apparition disappears from the illegal virtual world.

Disengaging from the DarkNet is proving to be difficult for Yeosang, his consciousness ebbs and flows, brainwaves tangled up in what’s real and what’s not. Wooyoung stands stiffly next to the Meta, feeling sick in his stomach, chest constricting with worry. He’s not averse to the virtual world but it doesn’t mean he likes it the same. He watches the Meta shut down, Yeosang’s vitals and brain activity updated on the glass screen mounted on the wall. The little character Yeosang crafted into the AI system jumps up and down with happy chirps, ‘STABLE.’ Hehetmon, it’s called, a moniker after the old TV show from the gone world. He and Yeosang would binge-watch together occasionally when he’s not swamped from juggling two jobs. Three. Watching over Yeosang is a job in itself. A job he’s willing to sacrifice everything else for.

A groan has Wooyoung almost throwing himself to his friend but he digs his heels and instead he kneels beside the blasted chair and hands reaching to disconnect all the wires attached to Yeosang’s body. He doesn’t know all the names of the cables but he does know the two most important, the EKG and the digital implant. Hehetmon on the screen highlights the different wires that need to be detached first. The cables slither itself back to its ports within the chair. He gingerly touches the base of Yeosang’s neck, the wire attached to the neural digital implant gives into his fingers without a fight. He thinks it’s muscle memory, he does this often enough Hehetmon keeps a record on how fast he could bring Yeosang out of the Meta. (Less than a minute when push comes to shove but usually under two.) They have come so far.

14-year-old Wooyoung was putting his younger brother to sleep, a worn-out storybook clutched between his hand as his brother rested against his chest, the strong thumping of his heart and his voice lulling the younger. He could have used the tablet, everything was in it but they only had one and he didn’t want to take it from his parents. They needed it more and they couldn’t afford another one, they couldn’t afford many things. His parents splurged on a book when they first had him, a treasure for their little treasure. He had read the compiled fairytales from cover to cover, the make-believe of the olden freedom, a taste he can only experience between the pages and in his mind when the house was still. A dream far from reality.

The door creaked open and Wooyoung stiffened. It was the newcomer. “How’s Kyungmin?” Timid. The new addition- Yeosang, his parents scolded him for being impolite by not referring to the other boy by his name. Exhausted, malnourished and was most definitely ill. His parents were apprehensive about Yeosang's sudden appearance but took him in regardless. Wooyoung was reluctant to have a new addition in the place. As if they need another mouth to feed. They were struggling to meet ends. He glanced at the barely one-year-old sleeping on his chest, the high temperature took a toll on the small body. “The fever broke.” He left it at that and Yeosang was understanding enough to let the matter rest. He put the book aside and cradled Kyungmin securely before standing up. Yeosang was shifting from foot to foot by the door, Wooyoung sighed exasperatedly, he was tired enough, “Just lie down somewhere already.” The blonde let out an awkward thanks and shuffled to the bottom bunk bed on the other side of the room. Wooyoung didn’t have the energy to tell him the bed Yeosang occupied was his. He left the room and laid Kyungmin back in his crib in his parents' room.

“What are you doing?” Wooyoung didn’t expect Yeosang to flinch at the question nor did he expect to find the other boy to be curled up on the floor and reading the fairy tales book. Yeosang stood up, the book slipping from his hands and both of them winced when it hit the ground. He picked it up hastily and hung his head, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Wooyoung waved him off, “It’s fine.” Thick silence blanketed the room and neither moved to ease it. Yeosang opened his mouth before closing it again. He managed to string out a sentence after a while, “There were never any books back there.” Back there? Did he mean home? “Do your parents never read you to sleep?” Wooyoung almost apologised, Yeosang flinched at the mention of parents. The blonde shook his head and Wooyoung felt his stomach twist. “Mum used to sing me to sleep.” His chest tightened.

“How did you end up out here, Yeosang?” Wooyoung thought he was a bastard for not calling Yeosang by his name sooner. He never witnessed someone look so surprised by hearing their name. He walked up to his bed and sat down, patting the space next to him. Yeosang hesitated before giving in and sat next to him, posture tense and ready to bolt. “I ran away.”

Yeosang rouses from his ‘sleep’, the warm dark yellow light welcoming him into reality and so does the familiar voice next to him. Wooyoung is reading to him and he recognises the old story immediately. The Ugly Duckling. “It’s getting worse lately.” The pages flutter and Wooyoung keeps reading line after line in soft tandem. The book closes inaudibly. “You slept through dinner.” Yeosang steps into the Meta in the afternoon and for him to wake up at night, it’s getting worse indeed. He’s grateful that he hasn’t started hallucinating though he knows it wouldn’t be far if he keeps going at the pace he’s been putting his psyche through.

“Woo-”

“I know.”

“Wooyoung, I-”

“I know, Yeosang!”

“I know you can’t stop going into the Meta. I know I can’t stop you from fighting in the DarkNet. I know you need answers. But would you please take care of yourself for once!” Wooyoung runs an aggravated hand through his hair, he slumps forward in his seat, elbows digging to his knees and face hidden in his palms. Yeosang falls silent, letting his best friend, who is as close as a brother, gather his bearing. He stands up and his legs give out under him, muscles convulsing, sending him tumbling back to the Meta chair. He feels like puking yet his throat is also closing up, his head spinning and there is ringing in his ears, Wooyoung’s voice sounds so distant even though he is being held against the ravenette. He could make out flashing blue lights through his blurry vision, the health scanner kept handy beeps but he could barely hear it.

It could have been a minute or ten or an hour before Yeosang takes a hold of reality. His heart slams furiously within his ribcage and he’s once again reminded of the sped-up mortality rate of a DarkNet gladiator. The effects the Meta has on a person is damaging and he started to show the symptoms of what they called the bleeding effect. He currently renders more physical than mental and it won’t be long until the latter catches up. For how long he’s been exposed to the Meta, it’ll be sooner than he expects.

He blindly searches for Wooyoung’s hand, grasping it in a vice-like grip. He’s not the only one who’s scared. Yeosang doesn’t want to lose his sanity. He’s exhausted enough but there’s no rest for the wicked. He can’t rest, he can’t sleep with both eyes closed knowing there are answers for him out there and he needs to find it. He’s quite willing to put his psyche on the line even if it means him being thrown into the loony bin. Wooyoung loops his arms around Yeosang, tight enough for the blonde to feel how fast Wooyoung’s heart is racing. There’s a hole of emptiness in his stomach. “Can you stay with me tonight?” His voice is too raspy for either’s liking. There’s not a peep of sound coming from Wooyoung. Action speaks louder than words, especially when it’s Wooyoung. Wooyoung has a lot of words to use and yet he chooses not to, Yeosang knows better than to question it. He trusts the other with his life, his psyche and all that he is. There’s nothing that would err Yeosang to turn his back against Wooyoung. He owes Wooyoung way too much. All the credits in his account couldn’t repay what the other has done for him. It’s never enough and never will be. The seven years that they have known each other and the experiences they go through, Yeosang thinks he could never not trust Wooyoung. His life in reality and the Meta is in Wooyoung’s hands. Others would say their relationship isn’t healthy, that they are too dependent on one another and maybe that’s true. He knows he can’t function in the real world without the other.

“Promise me one thing, Yeosang. Don’t go into the Meta without me.”

Yeosang nuzzles his head into the space between Wooyoung’s shoulder and neck, his hands bunching the fabric of his friend’s shirt. The emptiness settles deeper. It’s not an answer because he knows he can’t keep such a promise. Wooyoung knows it too.

The DarkNet has shifted again. No two places look the same after each login. It changes constantly to avoid detection from the government’s pesky security. The lines of codes forming his apparition in the Net walk on the edge of a skyscraper. Mars languidly flew around the building ready to catch him if he slips. He won’t die necessarily, forcibly exited from the Net with some repercussions but not dead or just as good as dead. He has heard of those who were in comatose or worse. Mars huffs out a flaming breath, a rumbling growl thickening in its throat and Yeosang halts on his track. A stray orange feather twirls into his vision and his hands involuntarily shake, mind racing hundreds of miles an hour and he almost could feel the phantom cold sweat. He sees Mars’s wing slides between him and the feather, the thick lines of codes that formed the dragon burst into a pixelated mess and his ears ring from the explosion and the angry roar of his avatar. In the distance, Yeosang sights a phoenix emerging amongst the skyscrapers.

He sinks to his knees, hands covering his ears trying to block the screaming in his head or maybe he’s the one who is screaming. Mars knocks him into safety, away from the ledge and under its wing. No! No! No! His nails dig into his scalp.

The screeching of a phoenix avatar was the last warning he heard. The last sound to be ingrained to his memory with his mentor, with his brother, with his only friend in the blasted tech conglomerate. Yeosang could make out the silent words of the man across from him, trapped under locking codes and rubbles. Damages sustained in the Meta transferred over to the real world. The red warning signs ‘LOW HEALTH’ flashed before his eyes. His screen lit up with white words and Hehetmon skipped across the coded lines in loading.

- AVATAR TRANSFER IN PROGRESS -

URL: ORTECH://psh.MARS.980403

PREDECESSOR: [loading…]

Yeosang reached out futilely. The orange feathers fluttered around them, singing with heat as they glowed and sparked. Through his heavily cracked screen, he saw a small content yet the regretful smile of his friend. His eyes prickled with tears, dread, no, acceptance of the inevitable sank into him. Why is it always the best one to go first? One of the feathers zinged, a chain reaction of explosions rained upon them and Yeosang couldn’t hear his scream.

“Seonghwa!”

Take care of him, Mars.

- AVATAR TRANSFER COMPLETED -

“Kang Yeosang, get a grip of yourself!”

Yeosang stills at the call of his name. His battle screen is already up and the rectangular box of the communication line is open. Since when? Hehetmon spins in cheers when his eyes locked onto the pair of brown eyes he’s never tired of seeing. The beauty mark under the right eye puts a soothing balm into his mind. Wooyoung. His nails ease from its abuse against his scalp. Fuck, he must look so pathetic right now.

“You little bastard, I told you not to go into the Meta without me!” Guilt tinges in his chest. Yeosang opens his mouth, apology ready at the tip of his tongue. “Keep your ‘sorry’, we got a bird to cook.” Wooyoung never fails to reassure him but he knows it’s merely the calm before the storm. He’ll get his scolding later. Mummy never forgets.

He does what he does best even in trouble, “I’m still taller than you.” There’s still a quiver in his voice but the incredulous look on Wooyoung’s face makes him feel better. “Strip it off its feathers already, dammit! There’s milk on fire here!” Yeosang exhales and rises to his feet, his screen following his movement. The French manicure is chipped but the neon green is still vibrant in contrast to the black light emitting in front of him. He types in a series of battle commands, Mars flies higher and higher into the virtual light blue sky. Blades like armour materialise over the avatar’s claws and thick orange light peeks through between its scales. The phoenix is still far but his screen picks up the avatar’s image, the damages from their previous encounter aren’t fully repaired. What kind of a gladiator does that? Even Wooyoung can do better.

From Yeosang’s view, Mars appears to be a crow, so small up so high. Of course, he never sees the real bird, far extinct in the old world but there’s nothing that couldn’t be found on the Net. His avatar reaches right below the height barrier and takes a sharp nosedive, its weight falling at terminal velocity. Mars jaws unhinged and the fire stokes in the depths of its belly slowly rise to its throat. The screech emitting from the bird is as irritating as he remembers and his fingers tremble. He can’t tell if it’s fear or physical exertion but his head is in the game and mind is surprisingly clear despite the fireballs of feathers that are about to burst. Mars is partly hidden from his eyes with the myriad of singing explosives surrounding the dragon. Yeosang learns the hard way and he’s a learned man as Wooyoung puts it. He activates the defence codes just as the first fireball of many rains upon the black scales. He smirks from his perch, he didn’t spend many sleepless nights perfecting the codes for nothing, the tautness in his shoulders and back are good reminders too. The enraged squawk from the phoenix AI lifts his mood. The crosshair locks into place and the ‘TERMINATE’ sign appears. “Give it a good roast, Mars.” His finger taps the sign and an eruption of fire falls on the ugly big bird. His avatars claws sink into the phoenix broken pixels and glitches are visible around the broken codes. The storm of fire doesn’t relent, damages blooming across the sky and buildings. Surely the surge of energy catches the attention of fellow DarkNet users and government security. Mars doesn’t let up until each code is destroyed beyond repair, its claws tearing the wings apart by the joints. Yeosang slams his fists against the screen and yells when ‘VICTORY’ pops up in vibrant gold. Wooyoung’s cheers fall deaf to his ears over Mars roaring.

He slumps against the ledge, laughing like tomorrow won't come. He can’t believe it. He’s still alive and he supposes revenge is exacted. It feels empty somehow, he doesn’t know how to process the emotions in him at the moment. The event hasn’t hit him yet. “You’re so melodramatic, Yeosang,” Wooyoung chirps from the corner of his screen, “Give it a good roast, Mars!” His friend mimics his words earlier and Yeosang rolls his eyes but he can’t help the smile creeping on his face. Mars lets out a proud huff beside him, the dragon gives him an affectionate nudge and its ember eyes shine with much familiarity. His breath hitches but the avatar disappear with a sharp toothy grin. “Yeosang?” He makes a noise of acknowledgement. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He might have, “I’m alright, Woo. I’m going back now.” Even now you still look after me. Messages and clips of the fight start to spread in the forum. Data from the scrimmage is filed away, he’ll deal with them later. Hehetmon is skipping over the green box of ‘EXIT’ and he lets the mini AI jump on the button. He closes his eyes as the pull on the base of his neck erases his condensed light form from the DarkNet.

“Six months?!”

Wooyoung clicks his tongue as he inspects the nonexistent dirt under his fingernails, “Do you want one year instead? Okay. I’m completely fine with it.” Yeosang frantically refuses the added length, “Six months! Six months! Deal!” He never wants to wipe the shit-eating smirk off his friend's face so much. “Get scrubbing then.” Mummy never forgets indeed. Wooyoung not only scolds him but also gives his ear a good pinch and twist as soon as he is fit to walk around. Now he’s stuck on dishwashing duty under ‘consider it your retribution for breaking your promise.’ Yeosang sighs, he picks up a dirty dish and squirts the washing liquid on the plate. He’ll count himself lucky Wooyoung didn’t put him out there as hall staff.

“Did you process the data from last time?” His hand stops moving at the inquiry. Hell, he didn’t like what he saw on the files and Wooyoung most certainly wouldn’t either. God, he hates this so much. He doesn’t like it when the past comes biting back. “The phoenix URL traces back to ORBIT Tech.” A utensil clatters to the floor and Wooyoung curses like his seventeen-year-old self. “ORBIT Tech? Please tell me it’s a different conglomerate and not the piece of ‘the future is virtual science’ shit of your lunatic father’s!”

Yeosang nods, lips thinning, “Unfortunately, it is. That’s not the worst.” Wooyoung sucks in a breath, the come hither motion gestures him to go on. “I thought the phoenix was a wild AI or someone from the DarkNet was bribed,” he pauses, eyes searching for the dark browns of his friend’s, “It was under Seonghwa’s name.”

“Seonghwa’s dead! He couldn’t possibly-” Wooyoung halts his rant when he notices the unflinching gaze of his seven years companion. It clicks in his mind the inevitable of many other inevitables are descending rapidly on them. At some point, there will be a time where he couldn’t protect Yeosang. There will be a time where his friend has to return from where he comes from. He would be lying if he didn’t lose sleep thinking of this day. The twinkling skyscraper at the centre of the city mocks him. Yeosang doesn’t belong in the nest infested with lies. He’ll be damned, he much rather have Yeosang fights in the DarkNet instead. He’ll take the repercussions. But the chills running down his spine, the pressure in his chest and the unnerving hollowness in his stomach douse him in the harsh reality they live in. The finality of it grips his marrows.

“It’s time for me to stop running.”

[tansypoisoning]

(Un)Conditional - Part 2

I Came Out to Have a Good Time and I’m Honestly Feeling So Attacked Right Now

You didn’t remember how or why you found yourself in Ransom’s bed in the first place, but now, poor, pregnant and desperate, you had your reasons for putting up with him, and they weren’t noble. His reasons for staying with you weren’t noble either.

Hey, long time no see... This took me longer than it should because I wasn’t sure about the dialogue. Still not sure about it. Some of you might have missed the polls I posted so you could help me decide the future of this series, so here they go: Whether or not I should redeem Ransom and What gender the baby (or babies, damn) should be. Democracy is important :)

Anyway: Reader meets the Thrombeys...

Story warnings:  Smut, abusive relationships, mentions of past sexual assault, talk of abortion, daddy kink, drinking, mention of drug use (Will add more as the story goes on)

Chapter 1 - Truce

Chapter 3 

Fandoms: Knives Out

Ships: Ransom Drysdale x Reader

Word Count: 6k

Chapter warnings: The reader and Ransom joke about incest and Ransom jokes about selling the baby to pay his grandfather back for all the money he lend him; people drink wine; there’s mention of drugs and people doing them; The Thrombeys are being particularly shitty.

You were off to the clinic to get an urine exam the next day. Ransom had encouraged you to get a more reliable test to make sure you were pregnant, but he wouldn’t accompany you. He was busy, he said, but he didn’t say with what. Probably begging his granddaddy for more money or chasing after another pair of legs.

The clinic would call you in a couple of days to let you know the results. The wait was killing you. The longer you waited, the harder it would be for you to get an abortion. At some point the pill would stop being an option, and you would have to go under the… knife? Scalpel? Coat hanger? Whatever the procedure entailed, it was bound to be more stressful than just taking some meds.

What was most concerning, though, was the possibility of you becoming attached to the fetus. Your misgivings originated from a fear that you might be doing something you shouldn’t, but you had no particular regard for the thing growing inside you. You might as well be carrying a rock – it certainly tired you like one. Some day that could change, though, and the moment it did you knew it would be game over.

The first thing you did when you got home was take off your coat, kick off your shoes and fall face-first on the couch. That was also the only thing you did. According to the sources you checked, fatigue was an early pregnancy symptom, but you weren’t sure it was meant to be this bad. Good thing you weren’t behind on your freelance work; you didn’t think you could handle doing anything that evening. You were hungry, but didn’t have the energy to even go to the kitchen. Your cellphone started ringing at some point, but you had dropped your bag by the entrance. Maybe something else happened too; you didn’t know, you fell asleep soon after.

You were roused from your nap by a cacophony of car honks right outside your window.

You jumped from the couch and stumbled to see what the commotion was about. You expected to find a car crash in front of your building, but all that was there was a familiar vehicle.

You stepped into your slippers and left your apartment. Ransom was still abusing the horn of his BMW when you came out onto the lawn.

“What are you doing?” You cried out, jogging to his car.

He put his head out through the window. “You don’t pick up your phone anymore?” He complained.

“I was sleeping.” The reason why you didn’t answer didn’t matter. This was a distraction. “Why are you here?”

“I came to pick you up, what else?” He seemed to notice you confusion and explained himself “I’m going to introduce you to my family. They’re having a dinner party tonight at my grandfather’s house. If I show up there with a kid before they even know the mother, my mother’s gonna kill me.”

That gave you pause. Introduce you to his family? That had never been in the cards before. Ransom had always been against anything that could hint to intimacy that went beyond sex, because intimacy entailed responsibility, and he was allergic to that. Your relationship was more of an arrangement, one in which he was the one with the most to gain.

Perhaps this would be your chance to really get something for yourself, something other than the occasional orgasm. Although Ransom’s charms and your proclivities were the biggest reason behind the start of your odd relationship, you’d be lying if you said his grandfather’s accomplishments didn’t affect your interest in him. Having been an avid reader of Harlan’s books back in high school (when you still had time and motivation to read) and now working as an assistant editor in the mystery fiction imprint of a large publishing company, you had hoped that maybe being involved with Ransom would give you the chance to meet him.

Even when it became clear Ransom didn’t like you like that, you still stuck around. He was inflexible when it came to your relationship’s dynamics, but you still had a sliver of hope that one day you’d get to meet his family. In the end you were right, and all you had to do to get your wish was let your idol’s grandson raw you after a couple of beers.

“I’m not even sure if I’m pregnant yet.”

“After five tests? Come on.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m gonna keep it.”

“If you don’t, you don’t. Just let me introduce you before you decide. It’ll be awkward otherwise.”

You couldn’t argue with his logic. Ransom’s family wasn’t likely to think well of you if he introduced you as “the chick I knocked up by accident”. Your family wouldn’t be happy about it either, and yet you had to find a way to convince him to meet them at some point. You knew they weren’t going to like him, but it was better than trying to pretend it was a case of Immaculate Conception. They wouldn't fall for it anyway.

“Go get ready so we can go.” He said.

You nodded and ran back inside. He looked like he was in a rush, so all you felt comfortable doing was retouching your make up and putting on a different pair of pants. When you came back down, Ransom was pouting at his wheel.

“About time,” he said “I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I took like five minutes.”

“Eight.” He tapped the watch in his wrist.

You decided humoring him wasn’t worth it, so you got into the passenger seat without a word. Ransom took off, his tires squealing as he did a u-turn on your sidewalk. He always drove like a madman, most of all when he was in a hurry.

“How long ‘til we get there?” You asked.

“I can make it in half an hour.”

“I mean safely.”

“In that case, thirty minutes.”

Shame on you, forgetting Ransom was convinced he was immortal.

“Is there anything I have to know about your family before I get there?” You asked, trying to take your mind off the traffic lights flashing by at an alarming speed.

“I could never do them justice,” he snickered.

“At least give me something to work with.”

“You are going to have talk to my parents at least,” he mused “Just nod and agree with whatever my father says. You gotta be smarter with my mother, but avoid challenging her. Joni and Meg are annoying, Walt’s creepy, and there’s no point in talking to Donna and Jacob; they’re gonna hate you no matter what.”

“And Harlan?”

The question put a grimace on his face.

“Be honest. He’s gonna like you.” There was a minute pause before he added “We just celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday, so if you can bring up how good he looks for his age without being obnoxious, he’s gonna love it.”

“Eighty-five? When was that?” You liked Harlan’s work, but you didn’t like it enough to bother learning his birth year. You expected him to be younger, what with all the books he was still pumping out on a yearly basis.

“Last week.”

“Your family is big on get-togethers, then?”

He grimaced. “Unfortunately.”

“Familiarity breeds contempt,” you offered. You weren’t sure you’d get along with your parents as well as you did if they didn’t live in another state.

“Sucking does too.”

“But I thought you liked people who suck?”

That was a twelve year old boy joke, but it got you a chuckle.

“Already know what I’ll be trying today: Hey, Joni, blow me.”

“That’s your aunt right?” You asked and received a nod in response “I can’t wait to see you asking her for a blow job.” You didn’t really think he would go that far, so you weren’t worried you were goading him on. If he did it anyway, it would be because he decided the amusement he would get from pissing his aunt off would be worth whatever she could do to get back at him.

“Fuck, I’d accept one from my grandfather at this point.” You two had had sex just yesterday, but that was fine, you supposed.

“I think I’m going to regret this, but since we’re already in too deep and none of us knows when to stop, where are your parents in the Joni-Harlan blowjob scale?” This question might’ve offended anyone else, but Ransom was made of sterner, more horrible stuff.

He replied without missing a beat. “Oh, my dad wins easy. I don’t fancy getting bit.”

The throwaway line about his mother killing him if he just announced your pregnancy out of the blue came to mind. You wondered if she was as terrible as he made her out to be. You wondered if any of his relatives were as horrible as he made teem out to be.

“Hard to think you’d be scared of anyone in your family with all the money they lend you and you never pay back.”

He snorted. “I’m not scared of any of them. Wouldn’t be going if I were. I already owe Harlan more ‘one-pounds of flesh’ than I weigh.”

“Good thing he doesn’t charge interest.”

“Who says he doesn’t?” His eyes flicked to you for a moment, comically wide “What do you think I want the baby for?”

“You- you want the baby?” You knew he meant to jest about selling your child, and perhaps the bit about wanting it was said in the spirit of the joke, but you couldn’t help but hope it was a Freudian slip. Why did you hope that?

His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he considered your question for a few seconds. “I said I would help you with it.”

“No, you said that at first, but now you said you want it. I didn’t even ask for help, I just thought I should tell you. Why did you offer to help in the first place?”

He shrugged. Something about the gesture felt off, less cocksure than his usual self. “Because it felt right.”

“But do you want to do it? Do you even know what raising a child means?”

“Do you?”

No, you didn’t. You might have even less knowledge of the subject than Ransom, weird as that seemed. You hadn’t said you wanted to have the baby, though. You weren’t sure what you wanted.

“Do you want me to drop you off at a clinic? Because we can end this now.” Something about the way he’d said it made it seem as if he was talking about more than just the pregnancy.

“That’s not what I meant.” You whispered.

Edifices were replaced by trees as Ransom drove on. It was easy to focus on the changing view, now that he wasn’t talking to you anymore. You had broken one of his unspoken rules: never get emotional around him. You knew he wasn’t in it for something as trivial as feelings, but now with the pregnancy thing you thought… Well, you weren’t sure what you thought.

The rest of the trip went by in silence, seeming to take forever in spite of the scenery flying by. By the time you arrived at your destination you were disheartened – lucky you that the house Ransom parked in front of was the stuff murder mystery fiction dreams were made of.

Harlan’s mansion had been plucked from one of his books, it had to have been. With its red bricks and the Gothic Revival style, it looked like it’d been taken straight out of “Around the Corner and Down the Lane”. It was a magnificent, giant, mysterious house you could easily imagine multiple murders happening inside.

It was the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen.

Ransom left the car, slamming the door shut on his way out. You had to hurry after him to get to the porch as he was knocking on the door.

You didn’t have to wait long to hear sounds coming from the other side. There were footsteps against a wooden floor and the shuffling of keys, and then time seemed to slow down. When you woke up that morning, you’d never have thought you would end up meeting Ransom’s family by the end of the day. Were they anything like him? What would they think of you? And what would they think about the thing? You weren’t going to talk about it today, but still…

The door opened, revealing a slim woman with an old fashioned bob-cut. She looked confused when she saw Ransom, and even more when she spotted you. She opened her mouth, but didn’t get the chance to say anything.

“Hey, Frannie,” Ransom greeted. If you didn’t know him better, you’d assume he was being friendly. “Take this for me, would you?”

He removed his coat with the speed you’d come to expect from him when it came to taking off his clothes and shoved the mass of fabric into her arms. He walked inside, brushing past her, ignoring the outraged look on her face. You followed after, and her expression was no kinder towards you. It wasn’t the first time someone got mad at you for something Ransom did, but what were you to do? It wasn’t as if you could control him.

As Ransom walked through an arch on the left and the woman scurried through a door to the right, you stood on the spot right in front of the entrance. The gargoyles sculpted in the wood of the stair railing paralyzed you, the lights from the ornate chandelier blinded you, and the memories of books read long ago, hiding under the blankets with a flashlight when you were supposed to be sleeping came rushing back to you. This was much more than you had been expecting.

The inside of the house was dark and sinister like the outside, but there was a sense of warmth you hadn’t anticipated. The soft lights, the lavish rugs, and the numerous trinkets scattered about gave it a lived in feeling. The decoration somehow split the difference between “home” and “haunted house” right down the middle.

Why was it that Ransom didn’t like visiting his grandfather again?

“What are you standing around for?”

Speak of the devil…

Your forced your feet to move and followed him deeper into the house. Something inside you screamed at you to just ditch Ransom and this stupid dinner party to explore by yourself, because you got the feeling he would end up dragging you to a place that looked much more boring. You needn’t have worried – the living room was adorned in much the same way as the hall, cluttered and discordant and fascinating. Every piece of decor seemed to selected based on its own merits rather than any common theme or style, but it somehow all worked together.

You had started making your way to a windowsill, from where a model of a carousel with fish instead of horses called to you, when a voice stopped you in your tracks – a voice you had never heard before.

“Who’s that?”

You whirled around to see a man standing just a few feet away from Ransom. The age was about right, and with the two standing so close together, it was hard to deny the similarities between them.

“That’s my date,” Ransom said with a shrug.

“Date? You brought a date?”

“Nice, Richard. We don’t want to make her feel too welcome.”

At that, the older man looked back at you with a grin that would be charming if not for the utter shock reflected in his eyes.

“Hey, there,” he greeted, extending a hand “Richard Drysdale, father of this,” he glanced behind himself to look at Ransom, who was busy messing with a figurine in the mantelpiece “rascal.”

You offered your hand to him (his handshake was strong, professional) and introduced yourself.

“I gotta say, this is really something else,” Richard said “Ransom hasn’t brought any girls home since high school.”

“I bring girls home all the time, I just don’t live with you anymore.”

The meaning of his words didn’t go unnoticed. You already knew he fucked other women on the side – or rather, there was no “side”; you guys weren’t a thing, and it wasn’t as if you only put out for him – but Richard understood him as well.

“Is that the kind of thing you say in front of your date? I thought we taught you better than this.”

“No, Richard. We really didn’t.”

You looked to the source of the voice, and spotted the woman who had to be Ransom’s other progenitor.

“Linda,” she extended her hand to you, but not a smile. Her handshake was even stronger than her husband’s.

Richard joined his son by the fireplace to fiddle with a pewter box, looking downright chastised. Ransom, for his part, seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh.

He had said his family was a mess, and that he found it all terribly fun. Up until now, you weren’t really sure you believed him.

“Whatever this” Linda pointed from her son to you, then back to him again “is about, I hope it ends soon, for your sake.” The last bit, she’d said while looking at you, then she left through a different archway than she’d entered from.

It seemed Ransom had inherited the charm from his father, but the ability to put the fear of God in those who crossed him came from his mother.

“Who else is here?” Ransom asked once Linda was out of earshot.

“Mostly everyone is in the library,” Richard replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, all the former friendliness leaving him like a deflating balloon “your grandfather locked himself in his office with the nurse, and who knows where they put Wanetta. Meg’s not coming.”

“What excuse did Joni come up with?”

“Schoolwork. Essays, whatever. I mean, it’s a Friday, it could wait.”

“She’s going to spend at least half of the evening doing drugs with a friend, easy.”

“Dope.”

Ransom snorted “Like she’s shooting up.”

Richard fixed his son with a disbelieving look. “No. Dope is weed. Dope was weed just yesterday.”

“It used to be.” Upon seeing the defeated expression on his father’s face, Ransom shrugged “World’s passing you by, man.”

That didn’t help. Richard looked back to the pewter box, turning it on his fingers like he was trying to find the best angle to see his reflection. Ransom stared at him for a second longer, then stepped away from the fireplace and exited through the same way his mother had.

He didn’t call you, so you assumed you weren’t needed at the moment, but then, what were you going to do with yourself – watch a man have an existential crisis?

You didn’t have to wait long to find out. You had been standing there, watching Richard sigh to himself for maybe a minute when three other people entered the room. The first was the woman who had opened the door for you; the second, a younger woman, with something almost doe-like about her, and the third…

Well, Harlan Thrombey didn’t need introductions – at least, not to you.

He was the first to speak, looking at the woman Ransom had called Frannie. “Seems like you aren’t going mad, Fran. Unless we all are, which is possible. Can you see her too?” And at that he turned to the other woman, who smiled at him. It was hard to tell whether her smile was fond or embarrassed.

Then, his eyes landed on you.

“Since you’re just standing around with this idiot,” He said. Richard gave a tight smile and tapped his fingers against the mantelpiece “I’m going to guess idiot number two left you to fend for yourself?”

This wasn’t the kind of welcome you’d expect when meeting your not-boyfriend’s family, but Ransom was eccentric, so maybe his relatives were as well. Maybe it was a rich people thing.

“I’m used to it, when it comes to Ransom” you offered.

Harlan grinned at you, but then again, he had been smiling since he entered the room. There was something very Ransom-like about both expressions.

He ambled to you, extending a hand which you rushed to grasp. His smile grew, but maybe that wasn’t good.

“I’m Harlan, the proprietor of this” he gestured to the room with both hands “little menagerie of horrors. And these,” he turned to the women “are Fran, my housekeeper, the only one who can keep this mess in order,” the woman who’d opened the door smiled and raised her hand in greeting, but she still seemed suspicious of you “and Marta, my caretaker. Heaven sent, I would already be dead if not for her.”

Marta had smiled at you as she was introduced, but frowned at the last comment.

“Don’t say that,” she admonished “you’re strong like a horse, you’re going to live for a million years, I’m sure.”

Harlan whimpered theatrically and extended a hand as if trying to grasp at something.

“Marta, is that you? It’s so dark, I can’t see. Oh, is that a light at the end of the tunnel?”

“Really? You’re impossible.” Marta huffed, and Harlan laughed.

They seemed close. Close enough that they’d forgotten all about you in their banter.

Once he was done with his joke Harlan turned back to you.

“I promise you I don’t get any more charming, but you get used to it with time.”

Time. Did he think you’d get to be around long enough to get used to anything there?

“Let’s... get this party started,” he said with a wink “I don’t ask you your name because I’m dying to see how my grandson will introduce you, and I don’t want to get attached.”

That answered that question.

You followed the party of three into another living room(parlor?), then another(fainting room? How many rooms for sitting could one person need?), then finally to what you presumed was the library (that could easily double as a living room), given the floor to ceiling bookcases in every wall that wasn’t occupied by a window. The room was large, large than any room in a house needed or had a right to be, and there were so many books on so many shelves there was no way Harlan would’ve been able to read them all, even accounting for his age.

Despite the exorbitance, the place was cozy and interesting, not at all a monochromatic art installation behemoth the likes of the Kardashian-West mansion (Which you didn’t care about in the slightest… one of your coworkers had shown you the pictures, it was all), the sort of thing you expected from people with too much money and no sense of comfort. The library was furbished with plush seats, nooks where one could hide in to read in peace, even a mezzanine, and– was that a sculpture inspired by “A Thousand Knives”?! Excessive, very excessive, and somehow also really cool. You were sure you could spend hours perusing books and examining baubles, but there were other people already in the room, and you had been raised too well to just ignore them when it was obvious you had already seen them.

Linda leaned against an open window, balancing an unlit cigarette between two fingers, and looking out, as if debating whether or not to have a smoke and whether or not doing so inside. There were a man and a woman on a pair of matching high-backed chairs, looking nervous and annoyed respectively as another woman talked at them, and a teenager speaking to Ransom in between typing things on his phone. He was the first to notice you’d entered the room and he directed a brief glare to you before his eyes landed on Marta.

“Well, no need to stand up or anything,” Harlan spoke from behind you, waving his hand as he passed.

“Dad, plea-” the sitting man began, but he stopped once he saw you. After a moment of confused staring by both parties, he looked back to Harlan “Is that-”

“Don’t know; she came with your nephew.”

All eyes were now on Ransom. He was enjoying the attention, if the stupid smug grin on his face was any indication.

“I brought a date. I figured I had to be the first to do it, since Meg thinks all sex is rape and Jacob’s an incel,” that earned him an elbow in the gut, which he barely reacted to.

“A date? Boohoo,” Harlan spoke, and you almost winced “I expected something more exciting from you.”

“Would you rather she was a notorious diamond thief and I brought her here to steal every red penny you own, old man?”

“That would be more on brand.”

“That’s it,” Marta said, placing her hands on his shoulders and directing him to an armchair in front of the knife sculpture “I’m putting you to bed earlier, abuelo.”

“Not without me throwing a tantrum, you’re not.”

Ransom’s uncle looked back and forth from his father, then to you, then to his nephew, before settling on you and standing up. He picked up a cane that was resting beside the armchair and wobbled toward you, smiling.

“Hello. I’m Walt, it’s a pleasure to meet you…”

You gave him your name, exchanged proper greetings, shook hands; his fingers were trembling slightly, but the length of the hand shake was very appropriate.

“I hope you like it here so far. Any friend of Ransom’s is welcome here.”

“You say that because you never met any of my friends.”

“You know what Ransom,” Walt turned gave him a sarcastic smile “I’m surprised you have any friends at all. You sure you not paying her to be here?”

You didn’t know exactly what it was that Walt had said, but something had set Ransom off.

“Why, you want a round with her? Don’t think you could afford it right now, pal.”

Walt’s lips were still pulled up into a smile, but his pupils were darting from side to side like he was searching for escape routes. That was fair, so were you.

“Don’t speak to my husband that way,” the woman who hadn’t said a single word to or even acknowledged your presence so far, gripped the seat’s armrest as she seethed at Ransom “it’s not his fault that-”

At that she fell silent and turned to Harlan, who was looking at everything with mild interest.

“Actually, you don’t have a job either, do you Donna?” Ransom continued. You knew that look; he was getting steam and you didn’t want to know what would come next.

“I think we’re all just a little stressed with everything that’s been going on,” the woman who had been silent so far – Ransom’s other aunt, you presumed, the one he wanted to suck his dick – mercifully cut in before he could get anything else out “I think we need to roll things back, maybe start over? I can go back to the car and get my crystals so we can do a-”

As if on cue, Fran entered again, a tray with a wine bottle and glasses in hand. She left everything on a coffee table, then walked by Marta, whispering something that convinced the younger woman to move to a more secluded corner of the room with her.

Donna perked up when the drink touched the table, and, smiling the well practiced smile of a hostess who did her duty with no joy, she started pouring drinks and handing them around. When one of the glasses was placed in your hands, you weren’t sure what to do. You rolled the stem in your fingers, pondering as the other adults drank and Jacob sulked.

“So,” Joni began, giving you an easy grin “you and Ransom have known each other for…”

As she trailed off, Linda chuckled, but she wasn’t looking at you.

“Eight months, give or take.” You answered.

The answer seemed to surprise her “Eight months? And how long have you been dating?”

“Oh, I’m not...” you turned to Ransom for help, but he was looking at his nails as if they were the most fascinating thing in the World or as if he really didn’t want to take part in this conversation “I’m not sure. We haven’t exactly made things official.”

It looked like she was fighting to keep her smile in place “And you met-”

“What do you do?” Linda interrupted, still looking out the window “Do you actually have a job or are you just expecting to scam someone here?”

You turned to Ransom; he had placed a hand over his heart and was looking at his mother as if he found her comment deeply offensive.

You hadn’t thought about what you would say if Ransom’s family decided to grill you, deciding it would be best not to overthink things as he’d suggested. A question about your job was expected – it was just harder to process it when it had been asked in such a manner.

“No, I- I’m an assistant editor at Little, Brown and Company.”

There was a splashing sound, and you looked just in time to see Walt trying to rub off a stain from his sweater with one hand, while holding his wine glass with trembling fingers. When he noticed you looking at him, he offered a stiff smile.

That was the wrong answer, it seemed. It was the truth, of course, but the reactions around you were discouraging. Linda huffed, Harlan chuckled, Joni nodded mechanically, Donna seethed as she wiped at her husband’s clothes with a napkin, Walt trembled, Jacob’s scowl deepened, the sound coming from Fran and Marta’s corner of the room ceased, and Ransom’s grin was the widest you had ever seen on his face.

“Really?” Linda asked, now focused on her son “Where do you find those people?”

He laughed. “What? I’m very charming.”

“I need to use the restroom,” you squawked. You didn’t really need the restroom, just any place other than there.

“I’ll show you where it is,” Marta said, as quickly as you had. Her eyes told you everything: she was also dying to get out.

You handed your drink over to Ransom and followed Marta out of the room, the two of you almost running down the hallway.

She led you to a lavatory, where you turned on the faucets to cover the sound of you whimpering and heaving inside. After splashing your face with some water, you exited the room to find her still waiting for you outside. She offered an apologetic smile.

“So…” you started, not sure of how to best broach the subject. Good thing she already knew what you wanted to get at.

“They aren’t always like this,” she said “they’re all good people, but things have been a little… you know how it can be with family, right?”

You nodded. “Yeah, it’s just a little… seems kind of a bad time for me to be showing up.”

“No, I think it helps. They are better behaved when there’s company.”

But that’s true of everyone.

“Ransom didn’t tell you about…? Anything?” She asked.

“No. He said it’d be fine.”

Marta’s expression was of doubt, but she didn’t say anything to discredit him.

“Are you okay to go back?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

She nodded and stared leading you back to the room.

“They’re good people, but can be a little much sometimes. You get used to it with time.”

“You- I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but you don’t look that used to them yourself.”

She shrugged “I guess I just… haven’t been around long enough.”

The scene you returned to was different from the one you had run from. Linda had abandoned the window and reclined on one of the armchairs. Richard had made his appearance, leaning against a bookcase behind Linda; He kept a respectful (perhaps even safe) distance between the two. Walt, Jacob and Donna were squeezed in on a single couch, looking like they’d just been plucked from a stuffy family portrait. Joni lounged on a window seat, leaning her chin on one hand and swirling her wine with the other. Fran was nowhere to be found. Harlan, sat atop the chair in front of the halo of knives, looking every bit the magnanimous patriarch. Ransom had taken his place on an armchair, just beside another empty one. On his other side was a small table with two empty wineglasses. His legs were crossed and he had a wide, satisfied smile that you knew well – so you knew it couldn’t mean anything good.

You sat beside him and angled your body in a way you felt would rend a pretty picture, because that seemed to be the game they were playing, while Marta made her way to a corner and stood there, doing the most not to draw attention to herself. Smart.

“So,” Harlan began as you settled into your spot “I think you were telling us about your career?”

“Yes, but there really isn’t much else to say.” Unless they wanted to be bored, that is. You had more tales of spotting typos than of interesting literary works.

“You said you worked at Little, Brown and Co?” He asked and you nodded “How long have you been there?”

“Two years. It’s about all the experience I have working in the field, other than internships in college.”

“Ah, College.” He grinned, but didn’t explain what he found so amusing “What did you major in?”

“English literature, with a minor in communications.”

“Good, good. Topical. You two bonded over books, then?”

You turned to Ransom, who was looking at you with a lazy smile. You had never told him about your job, let alone what you had studied in college.

“Yep,” he said. You two talked about books sometimes, but you didn’t think those conversations had helped with any bonding.

“You know, I think it’s so good to see Ransom has found a positive influence,” Joni said. The affectation in her voice and mannerisms was suddenly much more noticeable, and it felt like an omen.

You turned to Ransom. His lips were pressed together into a thin line and his chest was swelling like he was gathering oxygen for a screaming match or something worse. The longer you spent around these people, the more you were convinced he wasn’t the only one who liked to needle others.

“Honestly, I-” the words tumbled out of your mouth and you could only hope they were the right ones “I’m not sure if he’s influenceable.”

Ransom was still scowling and for a moment you were afraid you had only made things worse, but then his mouth opened and he let out the air in his lungs with a low chuckle. Much better than being in the middle of another argument.

Fran walked back into the room before anyone else could start a scene and announced that dinner was ready. Apparently Harlan hadn’t been exaggerating when he said she was the only one who kept his house in order – all around you tense shoulders relaxed and frowning brows smoothed with the promise of a meal. You must’ve looked happy as well, given you hadn’t eaten a thing since lunch and your stomach was starting to hurt. There was also (and you wished the thought hadn’t run through your mind, but it did) the chance that Ransom and his family would be much less likely to speak if their mouths were stuffed with meatloaf.

You wished you didn’t have those sort of intrusive thoughts about people you had just met, but they weren’t making it easy for you. Marta had alluded to a “family situation” that had left them on edge, but you had never seen people react this badly to strangers. This was the stuff or nightmares, or at least of “Florida Man” news reports. They were supposedly worse when there wasn’t company? How much worse could they get?

Ransom had told you not to worry about dining with his family. Maybe he was so used to them he didn’t think the way they acted was all that strange; maybe he knew his family would behave the way they had but he decided not to warn you for purposes of fuckery; it didn’t matter all that much. The worst thing was knowing that they sucked as hard as he liked to say they did. If you chose to go on with your pregnancy, this is what you would be bringing your child into.

[thehereticaldeserthermit]

𝕆𝕦𝕥 𝕆𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤

ROLE PLAYER GET TO KNOW YOU PROMPT

Alright TDC Community It’s time for a task, 

and this time we’re all going to get to know each other a little better. 

Under the cut, you’ll find forty out of character questions split into two parts: OOC about your muses, and OOC about yourself! Answer what you’d like, add more if you’d like.

When you’re done TAG some of your writing partners and keep FUN going. 

-there is no pressure to participate

-IF You Are Reading This And You’d Like To Participate Consider Yourself Tagged My Friend! 

Much Love,

TheJesseWhoLurks

I tag @lyr-taxidermist  @theghostofharar  @hurdygurdyskeksis  @urskekyagvi  @skekmal-the-hunter  @skekso-the-emperor  @gourdplayer   @hedonistschambers  @ulvanmaudra  @littlebluezoologist @the-wandering-urru  @queenofthetides  @juliejewel24 @thecastleurru

OOC About  Your Character(s)

1.     What do you want to get out of playing this character(s)?

The reason I wanted to write for Gra was to meet fellow fans that loved the world of TDC as much as I do, I wanted to find fellow writers. I wanted to steep myself in the fandom. You can easily consider me skeKSis obsessed but I am growing a fondness for their counterparts -slowly ❤

2.     Describe your character(s) with three words.

Passionate | Erratic | Trustworthy

3.     What made you decide to write this muse?

Originally I was going to pick up The Ritual Master, he’d been my OG fav from the movie BUT Gra kept ... poking me with his scepter? Like; I live in the desert, you live in the desert, Ima recluse, you’re a recluse =we are simpatico. I think The Heretic picked me because he simply would not leave my mind when I considered him as a possibility. 

4.     If you could change one event in your muse’s life (in their main or canon verse), what would you change?

Canon. I mean they left us kinda hanging there. We really do not know what happened do we? They are simply, just not there anymore. I do not want them to perish, I want them to make it to the finish line and become urSkek. It breaks my heart to think they did not make it.

5.     If you could tell your muse one thing, what would you tell them?

I would not say anything, just hug him REALLY tightly and probably not let go until he gives me a chitter-laugh.

6.     If you could give your muse one gift, what would you give them?

I would like to give them...ME. 

7.     If you had to take one positive thing away from your muse, what would you take away?

I do not want to take a positive thing from the fibers that make up Gra. I feel they are very interwoven in his tale. Removing one would make another untether. If I could take away or diminish a bad trait Id have him not be so stubborn and or impatient but then again he would not be Gra now would he?  

8.     If you could “borrow” one aspect of your muse and apply it to yourself or your own life, what would you borrow?

His determination, passion. Damn son. You get things done. 

9.     Do you genuinely want your muse to be happy? What do you think would make them most happy in life?

Yes. He’s gotten his ass handed to him, I think he might be owed a slice of peace and happiness.  What makes him most happy? He’s already showed me; his relationships whether its friendship, extended family or a lover those are treasures he holds near and dear to his heart.  

10. Do you enjoy putting your muse through angst? What do you think would break their heart the most?

Usually I prefer to plot out angst rather then let it completely run a-muck because you never know what your partner is comfortable with, what might trigger them in a detrimental way and simply set fire to a plot unintentionally. 

I already know; it literally is ... break his heart. 

11. What do you love about your muse?

His dynamic energy, the wild fire, the mystical chaos, the creativity is off the charts. His sharp distinguished features, the way he looks shamanistically feral as compared to his brethren and their Garthic garb. His use of the color red. His scratchy rasp of a voice. His laugh. 

12. What do you hate about your muse?

He is a high maintenance muse, he is demanding and screeches loudly for what he wants. 

13. What about your muse amuses you?

The fact that he is a skeKSis. This brings a whole slew of challenges to the table for a writer. Case in point, I was writing a reply one day and I went to put something in along the lines of ‘he arched his brow and blah blah’ THEN he hit me! He has no eyebrows to arch, ahhh! I have to stop and think about how to write out expressive traits or reactions that are not of the usual human reaction tone.

14. What about your muse makes you sad? 

How fragile his heart really is after all the shit he’s endeared. 

15. How would you describe your muse to someone about to meet them, in person, for the first time?

Get Ready For A Wild SURPRISE!

16. Would you like your muse as a person if you met them in real life?

Yes, I like creative souls. I cherish them. 

17. In what ways are you better than your muse? In what ways are they better than you?

I do not think I am or he is better than the other. 

But I will say he is a handsome devil, for a skeKSis. 

18. Why do you think you connect to your muse?

Creative. Outcast. 

19. What aspect of your muse’s personality is most important to you? What aspect of your muse’s personality do you think is most important to them? Is it the same? Why or why not?

His passion and drive. I’d say its the same answer for us both. All of the accomplishments he tackled probably had their stacks of obstacles with each to-do. You’d have to have an unending supply of passion and drive to keep going, to complete all. He really is a work-a-holic and a busy body skek.

20. Has your character(s) changed over the time that you have been playing them? How have they changed?

Not yet but I am sure he will, creative liberties will be taken since I only have a a episode or two to work with -am I right? 

About You!

1.     What is your name? 

Jesse. 

2.     What is your profession?

secret shit. 

3.     What do you do to relax?

I write. Play video games. Naps are divine. Hot coffee and watch YT videos. DOodle. Desert combing walks. Long hot baths. Organize things xD

4.     What is your favorite treat (desert)?

All kinds, I’m not picky. I love me some chocolate lately. 

5.     Favorite movie

Too many to list. Its October right now. All I want is Hocus Pocus, some Harry Potter and Practical Magick at the moment. Tis the season. 

6.     Favorite book

I do not think I have a favorite. BUT I will admit that I have a copy of The Dark Crystal that I STOLE FROM A LIBRARY YEARS AGO! I have kept it all this time, its falling apart and its aged with beauty and I adore it  ❤ I also have a Jim Henson book about puppetry and his works, there is a page from TDC and if my memory serves me right it has the concept art of skekGra in it sooo sooo I was looking at skekGra YEARS AGO AND HAD NO CLUE the conjunction that would line up in the future! I really neeed to go find this book but its in a storage shed that will be a fresh hell to get to =[ *

7.     Favorite vacation spot

Anywhere where its either very green and or by some body of water. Ocean, river, lake. Yes, good. -not very many humans around save for present company reading thiiiis. 

8.     Favorite Disney movie

Are you kidding me? Too many to list, although I will say The Sword In The Stone did play a part in Gra’s Crystal Skimmer named Archimedes after the grouchy old owl. 

9.     How did you first get into role playing?

Years ago. I started writing on face book. I wrote for a pirate believe it or not, he was my first muse and he holds special place in my black heart and probably always will. But I am disinclined to acquiesce the gift of further details about this scurvy cursed muse, Ha!

10. What was your first platform? If it was something other than Tumblr, what made you get into Tumblr?

It was face book, before they got all crazy about accounts and security. I moved over to tumblr because writers were incredibly rude and rapid fire RP-ers. One liner sentences and I’m like NOPE I need a novel length. 

11. What’s a grammar rule you find yourself breaking or ignoring a lot?

Sometimes I have a touch of dyslexia, sometimes I typo, sometimes I am too tired to proof read, sometimes I make blunders. But I tend to focus on my mistakes rather then other peoples. I just go with the flow, I just write no matter what their level of ‘proper grammar’ IS because I’d like to think that maybe they are just starting out, maybe they will fall in love with writing and maybe they will be the next author who creates a world we all fall in love with and want to immerse ourselves in.  

12. Are there any languages besides English in which you think you could comfortably roleplay?

I do not RP in other languages. However I did have a muse at one time who was French, I would throw in little phrases but it was never entirely done in French and I do have a British muse at the moment, so again I will use slang and little sayings to make them well rounded as best as I can. Those are just little details I like to include that many others might skip on but I thrive for deets. 

I do however have role play writing partners that are from ALL over the world which is amazing to me. 

13. Do you listen to music while your write?

ALOT. I have tracks specifically for skekGra, that take me to his frame of mind. Even TDC soundtrack at times, the puppet show song and the blue flame part 2 are on replay a lot. 

14. Are you a morning, day, evening, or night writer?

I am all over the place. My life is very hectic. I’d like to say its usually in the afternoon of evening for me, the house is settled down and things are silent but thats not always how it works out. Oftentimes I will sit down and write a reply or two, then dip to do mundane human things that adults do, then return back for a few more replies. 

15. How does tiredness affect your writing?

Kills it. The weekends I work long hours therefor my brain is like WHAAAT. 

16. What is your biggest obstacle to writing every day, if time doesn’t count?

It is always TIME. Sometimes stress levels can be an obstacle too, no lie. If something major is going on, I just throw my hands up like ‘I got nothin’’ and thats that.

17. How many drafts is a paralyzing amount?

Oh damn. Been there done that. I am much more picky about it nowadays. I try to limit skekGra to a certain number of replies because he also has to allow room for other muses. 

Currently: Gra has ten replies on tumblr -no actually 11 &&& 4 on discord. I am two shakes away from cutting HIM OFF! lol. 

18. Is there anything character-wise or writing style-wise that you can’t stand?

I’m open to different characters, I have written with a lot. I love a writer who has style, I appreciate the effort.  

Etiquette, manners and consideration are oftentimes LACKING as of late. 

19. What kind of anonymous questions are your favorite?

ANYTHING as long as it is not anon HATE. 

20. What is your weakest point in writing? Angst, fluff, dialogue, etc.?

T I M E not having enough time to write the angst fluff and dialogue, smut too lets be real. It really is a bummer to me when I  do not have the time, I work, I have a a lotta responsibilities, my life is like a hurricane a lot of the time so TIME is my weakness, oftentimes I am super J E L L O of people who are online all day, every day, always there I’m envious and I get writers FOMO which makes me laugh but its so damn true I could ugly laugh cry about it. 

[lokiseason1episode3full]

Watch Loki Season 1 Episode 3 [1x03] online free English Series TV

Loki Season 1 Episode 3 [1x03] 2021 full - https://loki-season-1-episode-3.blogspot.com/

When Marvel's Kevin Feige recently spoke about Loki's evolution, he noted that "putting Loki in his own procedural series became the Eureka moment of the show." This became a topic of conversation among fans because Loki was simultaneously promoted as another "six-hour movie" and the two concepts seemed to clash a bit. Would Loki's general story blend well with the elements of a criminal proceeding?

The first episode of Marvel's latest small screen project gave us a bit of good cop / bad cop stuff, with some interrogation room tactics interwoven as Owen Wilson's Mobius M. Mobius took the route of "getting into the mind of a murderer ", and the second episode of Loki continues to adopt the procedural atmosphere.

A fairly traditional teaser sets Episode 2 as C-20 (American Honey's Sasha Lane) and his squad of TVA Hunters arrive in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in the mid-1980s to investigate a reported Variant loose at a Renaissance fair. The team is ambushed by the Minutemen-killing variant of Loki mentioned by Mobius at the end of the last episode, and Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" accompanies the rest of the scene in what may or may not be the deepest. online. cut I've ever seen.

TERRIBLE MISS MINUTES IMPRESSION: Hi! You might be wondering what a "teaser" or an "open cold" is! Let me bring you up to speed. A teaser is a narrative technique used at the beginning of a television episode to intrigue the audience enough to be attentive. In criminal proceedings, it is usually the first building block of the mystery of that episode. A good cold makes us feel compelled to stay and find out "who it is", why or how!

Back at TVA, Loki is learning, or half learning, about what happens when a Nexus event passes the red line and they can't reset it: the destruction of the sacred timeline. During the lesson, Miss Minutes acts like a Gal Friday whom Loki appreciates little despite his enthusiasm, and ends up calling him an idiot. What it is absolutely. However, the scene is delicious. If there has to be a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? remake in our future, put Tom Hiddleston there as Eddie Valiant and you could build a sturdy bridge with my suspension of disbelief.

Some specific temporal energy has informed the TVA that the Loki Variation was in fact responsible for ambushing the C-20 team. Hunters are used to dealing with Variants of Loki, apparently pruning Lokis "almost more than any other Variant". Even though he's a slippery bastard, this stands out as pretty important information. Are these variants like raptors unknowingly testing fences? Also, can we guess who might lead the pack when it comes to variant numbers if Loki is in second place? Keep checking the background on TVA! We've already seen Skrull and Peggy Carter.

Our Loki is being nagged at the possibility that he could snag an audience with the Timekeepers if useful enough, relying on the tried-and-true cop series "you could get immunity or a reduced sentence if you cooperate" . Loki buys it, but it seems incredibly unlikely that this is anything more than manipulative shit on Mobius' part.

One of the culminating achievements of this episode comes when Loki tries to fool the TVA with a nasty speech. A speech that somehow ensnares listeners with the promise of imminent danger and makes the complacency so thick that we lean closer, waiting for the point to surface.

It's a Loki afternoon special that comes when we least expect it. It is also a testament to Hiddleston's iron grip on this character's strengths that the god can still make us believe that he has changed when he is lying so clearly. The reveal that the weather variant is using apocalypse to hide from the TVA is a game changer for this episode in many ways.

Loki can process Ragnorak's events and use the experience to further his personal agenda. Not only does it reveal a huge hole in TVA security, but we can also invest in a particularly interesting aspect of this complicated science of time.

Ultimately, it's the apocalypse that allows this episode to go from mediocre to glorious, as the escalation of the conflict forces the drab tone of Loki's workplace to shift to something darker. The reveal of "Lady Loki" is not as surprising as it is effective in bringing this season closer to madness and potential greatness.

The episode cleverly forces Loki to rely on his powers, only to bring in this character who has a much greater understanding of his abilities. The brief and menacing presence of her shows how little we've explored the God of Mischief beyond Thor's eyes.

And we have no idea if this woman is a variant of Loki, yet another layer of deception. Sophia Di Martino's Lady Loki may be a simple taunt, but she is effective. The rich power dynamics and sinister tricks displayed in the final moments of this episode are reminiscent of a darker tone that Loki has staggered into since The Avengers. It's lovely to see this series celebrate the very traits that have taught us not to like Loki. It has been even more beautiful to see him play with the good and the bad side by side.

This is a story in which the greatest achievements can be summed up in the smallest details; like when Loki joins a holographic Miss Minutes, who casually mentions that it's not quite a recording, how cute and awful!

Loki has been operating with one hand tied in building the world and now that the world has caught fire, it's time to see what this series is truly capable of. We can also spend some time alone with Mobius and Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in this episode. Clearly, the pair have known each other for a long time, but Renslayer now has the unenviable task of crossing the line between boss and friend. She's firm and calm, but you can still picture her as Loki's own police chief: laying down the law with Mobius, calling him a "loose cannon" for allowing Loki to enter the fold and asking him to hand over his badge and weapon, or whatever. make it the equivalent of TVA.

Her interactions with Renslayer are supposed to be charming, but they're actually a bit unsettling, although I still don't know why. Mobius leaves the meeting even more determined to see Loki pick up his pace. He tries to manipulate the manipulator with his firm but soft-spoken psychology by telling him that the troublesome assassin Variant is a "superior version" of Loki. Our Loki is just a "scared boy". I mean, why are you booing him? He is right.

Loki gets to work in the guts of TVA at the pace of the investigation, perusing the case files and having a fun interaction with a live-action Roz from Monsters, Inc. The stakes are high here. Loki's life depends largely on him finding a breadcrumb or two, and thankfully he succeeds during an emotional scene in which he processes that Asgard, the house he grew up in and later left, is gone. And he didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

He delves into the destruction of Asgard and finds that no variation energy was detected at ground zero and he has an epiphany (mmm, we'll get back to that, no one here is ready for more of my Miss Minutes hack yet, at least all of me) about which the show seems to hope you don't ask too many tough questions.

Loki reasons that he would be hiding in zero-swing energy apocalypse events if he was evading TVA, and he's excited to prove he's right. Mobius has doubts, but they prove Loki's winning theory in Pompeii just as the city is being destroyed. The police friend's energy is strong on the scene, with Loki acting as the rogue rogue who won't follow the rules and Mobius as his tired older partner.

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[jon-astronaut]

Can you rank the Jonas and Isak remake friendships please?

Hiii! Thank you for the questiooon and sorry for the late reply! I would love to answer this because the Jonas and Isak friendship is my favourite friendship/dynamic ever!

1. Marti and Gio

The love these two have for each other. I can’t even explain it. They are just brothers. I love the kind of big bro/little bro vibe these two have. What I mean is how Gio cares about and loves Marti the way a big brother would. The way Gio’s eyes shined when Marti came out to him, his little nod & smile to Marti when he came out to others. The way Gio jumped in to protect Marti, multiple times, getting Marti away from the fight and destroying the person who hit Marti... And I know Marti would do just the same for Gio. I love them.

2. Matteo and Jonas

I love them just as much as I love Marti and Gio. Thinking about these two makes me so emotional. Their vibe is more equals because they both had their low moments but came back stronger. What I love about them is that we saw their friendship go both ways with Matteo trying to help Jonas in s2 and Jonas helping Matteo in s3. Jonas is always so gentle and soft with Matteo like the way Jonas’s eyes got so worried when Matteo told him how he felt. Also, I love that Jonas always says ‘we’ in mistakes and in good times. (”we got this”). And one more detail I love was how Matteo surprised Jonas at his birthday!

3. Isak and Jonas

At first you are watching Eva’s pov so these two always being joined at the hip annoyed me. But thinking back after s3 they had the biggest best friends energy. They were a package deal. The way Jonas forgot everything he was going through and stayed with Isak after his dad left, the way Jonas never got mad at Isak but just wanted him to talk, the way he was so chill after Isak came out...Jonas is the best friend ever. And also the way Isak plotted a whole fight after Yakuza attacked...

4. Lucas and Kes

The way in these kinds of questions I always rank Lucas stuff high just shows how higher these two would be if we got a s3. They are once again the bestest friends and their chemistry was off the charts. I love how touchy they were like unapollegitcally touchy. It added so much more to their best friends feeling. All the times we saw in the background in s2 just added more to their connection in my mind. And I know when Lucas came out to him Kes gave Lucas the tightest hug.

5. Lucas and Jorge

Interesting ranking? Maybe. I am gonna say it again I am in desperate need of a boy squad season from skam esp. I love these two so much too. Jorge is a great friend from all the little moments we saw. I love how nice and chill he was when Lucas came out to him in that video and how he knew it before. The way Jorge just jumped in for Lucas and was ready to kill that douche after he hit Lucas was everything. Also how Lucas always tries to get Jorge to calm down in fights.

6. Lucas and Yann

Look, the whole Yann leaving Lucas aside they have a pretty solid friendship. (and i blame the writers for that, never actually got that mad at Yann.) I mean kudos to Yann for acknowledging his mistake in all those gay jokes and the whole “don’t ever go through something like this without telling me” makes me so emotional. And I love that it’s not just words and Yann tries to help and see if there is smt wrong with Lucas afterwards.

7. Cris and Amira

Look, I love them. I do love them, they are just low because I am still confused as to where to place them exactly in these parallels. They feel more like a Isak&Jonas friendship but also they are a part of the girl squad. It’s kinda confusing, anyway. I love that we know that they are old friends and it’s mentioned. I loved Amira’s reaction when Cris came out to her, all happy and excited. And how Cris threw that surprise iftar for Amira.

8. Robbe and Jens

I don’t want to go too much into this because I am really tired from being mad at Wtfock over this but like I said Isak&Jonas friendship is my fav and any remake that messes that up goes down a notch for me. And wtfock colosally messed these two up. I mean it was nice that Jens came around and supported Robbe and how he encouraged Robbe about Sander too. But no, Jens still doesn’t get a redemption in my eyes.

Oh I loved doing this ranking! It reminded me once again how much I love this friendship and now I want to cry. Or maybe write some thing about them! Anyway, thank you for the question!

send me skamverse rankings

[panharmonium]

i think *you’ve* been amazing

coming back to my merlin rewatch rambles with the 1.12 addendum to this previous post about 1.11.

[standard disclaimer again for people who don’t know me: i haven’t finished season 5.  i’m on my way to finishing season 5.  please don’t come spoil me for the end of season 5.  thanks and i appreciate you all mightily.]

that being said, the 1.12 addendum:

1.12 is very similar to 1.11 in terms of merlin’s super high stress levels and lack of patience for noble nonsense in general and arthur’s nonsense in particular.  merlin and arthur barely even speak in this episode - the only interaction they have is a single tense exchange as they watch the innkeepers being arrested for housing a sorcerer overnight, and merlin is just as punchy then as he is in 1.11 - when arthur alleges that “[the innkeepers] committed a serious crime,” merlin doesn’t even hesitate, but incredulously snaps, “giving a man a bed for a night?” 

on the uther front, well, it goes without saying that merlin has had it up to here with uther in this episode, to a point where he’s ready to let him be assassinated.

and morgana -

now, morgana is a little different, admittedly.  it’s not that merlin is annoyed with her for anything, exactly, here, not even for her plans regarding uther; he doesn’t blame her for that, at this point.  the dynamic i want to highlight here doesn’t have anything to do with merlin’s feelings towards morgana personally.  it’s more just…

okay.  there’s a moment when gwen comes up to merlin at the window, and he asks how she’s doing, and she says she was about to ask him the same thing.  she joins him in watching uther and morgana ride out together and says, “morgana’s been amazing these last few days.”

and merlin counters, quietly, “i think you’ve been amazing.”  with an audible emphasis on you’ve.  “after…with all that’s happened.  getting your life back together.”  

it’s not that he’s saying morgana hasn’t been great.  but merlin isn’t really here for praising morgana, right now, in this situation.  

it’s - this is the thing.  merlin and gwen are social equals.  they’ve got relatively nice and liberal employers, when it comes to policies on fraternizing with the serving staff, but ultimately merlin and gwen are members of a servant class working in a noble’s world.  they’re “ordinary people,” to quote gwen in 1.5.  and merlin has always, always known that ordinary people get the shit end of the stick.  he has always been keenly aware of the injustice propping up the reigning social system.  heck, he’s always been ready to fight someone over it; it’s the very first thing he does when he gets to camelot, in episode ONE.  

so he doesn’t care, really, about morgana just now.  it’s not that morgana’s done anything wrong; it’s just that right now, merlin’s only here for gwen.  he’s here for his own folk.  the nobility have enough going for them; he’s not going to give them extra cookies for doing the bare minimum.  uther could admit to regretting his decision to kill gwen’s father in front of the entire court, and still justice would never touch him.  it doesn’t matter that uther feels “sorry” when he still gets to do whatever he wants with no repercussions.  gwen’s the one who has to live with the consequences forever.

[i think it’s also worthwhile to note here that this is not in fact the first time merlin has watched somebody he cares about lose their father to capricious kingly whims and royal bloodthirst.  and i also think, given the timing of these episodes, that this thought probably isn’t far off his mind.]

like i talked about in that other piece of meta, he just doesn’t have the energy to accommodate arthur and uther and the Royal Entourage right now.  he doesn’t care.  he only decides to do anything about uther’s impending assassination because gwen says she wouldn’t choose to kill uther, given the chance.  he’s here for gwen, and that’s it.  he shelters her in his room.  he puts her to bed in his cot.  he stays with her while she sleeps.  

merlin is a peasant farmer from a little nothing hamlet in the middle of nowhere.  gwen is a serving girl.  the nobility don’t see them, and merlin knows that.  he knows that their own lives are worth less, that their pain is invisible, that they are expected to work past injuries and losses most nobles would go to war over, if they suffered them themselves.  and he loves that gwen is the kind of person who can look at her own father’s wrongful death and see how supportive and amazing morgana has been, but his own response (”i think you’ve been amazing”) is his absolute refusal to make somebody else the center of gwen’s story.  it’s him saying “i see you.”  

it’s him saying “this is about you, not them.”

merlin thinks morgana is great, in general, but this moment isn’t about her.  it isn’t about arthur, either, who merlin is still currently sick and tired of dealing with, and it certainly isn’t about uther, whose assassination merlin is kind of actually on board with. 

it’s about gwen.  

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Episode 2: Rebecca...She’s back, I guess?

So I got hella sick this week so it’s...just one update this weekend. The rest of the next update has the caps done but then the copy I was putting together got very distracted about which Founding Father was the hottest and I think that was the Dayquil? I barely know what day of the week it is rn. I think it’s Saturday, is it Saturday?

Anyway, we’re battling that Monocle guy. Gurimo? Yeah his name is Gurimo. I honestly can’t remember him saying his name even once, so thanks Google for the help.

It’s a new season so not only did we suck all the power out of God Cards but now you can’t use them anymore with the new glowing green mechanic. The writers really did just...a lot to make it so God Cards are no longer relevant. Like they buried them so far.

This guy repeats himself quite a lot about being soul hungry? Yeah I watched all of Sailor Moon so like, I’m super up to date on my soul energy anime. I’ve walked this path before I know it well.

(read more under the cut)

Such a shame we can’t read those stats which may just be Hebrew letters in lorem ipsum (note that when Pegasus makes you a card, you don’t get to have stats) but it’s nice to know that, if you wanted to, you could play Rex and Weevil in universe of the show and something would happen.

Anyway, Gurimo lost, his eyes went all glowy red at some point, and decided to go out throwing stuff because it’s Yugioh and you have to throw cards at least 3 times a season, its in the contract.

Don’t think about physics guys, just trust that cards can do this on a roof where there’s no wind for some reason.

And then he went up in a green ball of glory. It was nice of the green beam of soul energy to wait until the impossible card toss was over.

Lol this show and how it just kills people on screen just...all the time. All the freakin time. Can’t show a gun, but murder as many people as you like. It’s OK, his soul is in a paper card so he’s not *really* dead. That won’t terrify children under the age of 10.

So Pharaoh decides to do the tactic of telling a bunch of motorcycle gang edgy kids (adults? not sure about those three) that stealing is Wrong.

They also, youknow, are implicit in murdering Rex and Weevil but youknow, stealing is wrong and the God Cards don’t belong to them and Pharaoh is shook that these kids won’t keep their end of their bargain that whoever wins the card fight keeps the cards.

So basically Gurimo died for freakin nothing.

Welcome back to the fold, Rex and Weevil, apparently this show isn’t done with you yet. I was pretty much done with both of you 3 seasons ago but alas, you will be back, with your raspy as hell voice acting, at the beginning of S5. I am sure of it.

(PS I just noticed I spelled resurrect wrong and I know I should go back into photoshop but like...I’m too sick to care at this moment so maybe I’ll change it in the next week or so I dunno, I’m just gonna post this thing so I can feel like I did something productive today.)

And so these kids decide the police are never going to freakin show up to the rooftop brawl where a guy super died and several children were endangered and a huge beam of light you can see from space went out like a bat signal to the rest of the city of “ps, something bad is happening over here, if any of you adults feel like helping out these four high school drop outs? Nobody?”

First, they decide to keep this horrible thing:

(which second thought is not SO surprising, because Yugi clearly loves hoarding dead people)

And then this other horrible thing:

Why would you keep these? Why would you do this?

I mean Yugi’s got such specific dark tastes that I wouldn’t be half surprised if his closet is filled with dozens and dozens of rat skulls he collected from the subway station.

And then the next day, Yugi decided to just like watch Joey and Tristan dangle Rex and Weevil like puppets. It just seemed super unnecessary.

Like Yugi isn’t even Pharaoh right now but he’s absolutely fine with these guys getting shook around. Yugi is all sorts of gray area in this show and I’m glad that’s never changed although sometimes it’s like “Is Yugi slowly turning into a mob boss? Because I’m down, but also somewhat concerned?”

Anyway, the God Cards aren’t even here anymore so we say farewell to Rex and Weevil who seem just as confused at how the hell you can steal a God Card as we are.

*not entirely sure where Rex and Weevil are from. I’ve been assuming the UK or the US but like...maybe they live here? I don’t even know.

And then Chibiusa--I mean Rebecca showed up.

Ah, remember this plot point from S1? What if she shows up and (according to Bro) Just never leaves?

I’m coming to terms with this. Anyway, Rebecca’s only purpose seems to be as a part of a (love????) triangle (square????) between Yugi and Tea but like...

And maybe this is the Dayquil speaking but...

Is this even weird?

Seriously, they’re family friends, why is this weird? Maybe it’s because one of Rebecca’s core traits is that she’s American and I’m also an American so I don’t even see a problem with Rebecca and how she acts (since she’s a freakin child with a crush on a card-famous person) but like what small child see her friend she hasn’t seen in 2 years and is not going to hug him?

Anyway, Yugi was the worst to not remember this chick. Maybe his brain looks like a box of loose packing peanuts (I say as a metaphor remembering that his brain literally looks like an Escher painting screensaver), but he can’t remember this chick from just 2 years ago that he gave his rarest card to? The chick who’s grandfather had that blue-eyes he gave to Yugi’s Grandfather? The chick who’s grandfather helped his grandfather get that necklace around Yugi’s neck? The necklace he wears every single day and is super cursed by?

How do you forget the Hawkins when they are part of the reason everyone thinks you’re losing your mind?

But I guess she looks older now and got a pair of glasses (bifocals????). She No longer has her hair in pigtails but, I dunno, she looks basically the same to me since she’s still about the same size as Yugi but wtv.

And then Yugioh was like “Listen everyone, we’re very tired of all of your angry reviews, and I see y’all are saying we never do romance, well get ready, we know how to do romance really well, get ready for it, we can make things move faster than a snail in wet cement, just watch.”

Because somehow, after Yugi was the biggest asshole ever to Rebeca, I guess she figured like “well, at least you’re still card famous”

You know what? I have several girlfriends who I am not dating, but, if it’s been a couple weeks since they’ve seen me last, will give me a huge as drunk hug on my arm and go “MY LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND MARRY ME” and like...Again I’m American so maybe this is just my culture here in California?

I’d like to believe that Rebecca is just messing with these people because she can.

Ps I’m pretty sure this girl was 6 last time we saw her but they decided...we better age her up if it’s gonna be a romance but they only made her 12. OK show. Yugi’s pushing 17 at this point so like...barely even logical. I’d say legal but I’m thinking more of just logic at this point because the last time we saw this girl she was holding a teddy bear (which we can guarantee is probably still shoved into her luggage)

...OK, show...

Now listen listen listen. All ships are fine here. I’m not gonna go after shipping because like, c’mon, it’s 2019. If you stan Rebecca and Yugi, go for it, why not? I’ve said it before, and my feelings haven’t really changed, I’m immune to shipping, so I feel absolutely no different with Rebecca and Yugi than I do with Tea and Yugi. I think Tea makes more sense, but that’s not saying very much because literally anyone else on this cast who isn’t related to him could probably work. Go ahead and bring back Mako Tsunami. There’d be a fun pair.

Bro got very excited when I mentioned a MakoxYugi pairing just now ps.

But it really does feel like this ship has the dynamic of the Usagi/Chibiusa/Mamaru ship from Sailor Moon where Usagi was always jealous of small little Chibiusa spending time with Mamaru who was her OWN DAD. Why would you EVER be jealous of a 12 year old girl hanging with your boy...friend? Tea is a 17ish year old ballerina who never, ever wears full pants. She’d have this in the bag if she ever decided to like...do anything with...this. And I don’t blame Tea for never doing anything with “this” because like...look at “this.”

I just don’t think the writing team knows how to write a competent love triangle (square) but...this exists now. They even had Rebecca decide to dress nearly identically to Tea as a demonstration of her devotion but like...it honestly comes off more that this small child just admires Tea. Because she’s 12.

Yugi is just babysitting this girl for his Grandfather and it feels like the writing team just had to have the girls be all catty at eachother. Because it’s a kids show. Gotta have those girls all catty. Can’t let them be friends.

Anyway, back at this museum that these kids visit so freakin often, you’d think they’d change their home address, we meet up with the granddads in question.

Ah, now Ishizu is no longer with us, Exposition Grandpa is here to take the torch. Can’t wait for that.

And I made his font gray because I freakin give up. Grandpa Hawkins might change his font color every episode. I...I’m figuring it out.

And then, every helicopter in Domino shed a single tear.

Wow. I’ve been so mad for so many seasons that they never use a freakin seaplane to cross the ocean that when they actually do I’m like...kind of disappointed?

I mean it’s not shaped like a dragon, but I will take this perfectly acceptable seaplane.

I can’t believe they drew a normal ass plane. on this show.

*Waits patiently for it to turn into a blimp next episode*

Anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to read all the caps in chrono order. There’s over 3 seasons of this. Y’all I’ve done over 100 episodes.

[thedcdunce]

Ladytron

“Just because I'm slightly over the flesh ratio shouldn't mean a damn thing! I've got mechanical rights!” - Ladytron

Real Name: Maxine Manchester

Gender: Female

Height: 5′ 10″

Weight: 1000 lbs (454 kg)

Eyes: Black

Hair: Black

Powers:

Cybernetic Enhancement

Abilities:

Mechanical Aptitude

Weaknesses:

Stupidity

Psychopathy

Coolant Rupturing

Equipment:

Exo-Mantel

Various Hidden Artillary

Universe: 

Wildstorm Universe

Prime Earth

Origin: Born a Kherubim Lord from the planet Khera

Citizenship: British

Base of Operations: Halo Building, New York City

Marital Status: Single

First Appearance: WildC.A.T.s #21 (July, 1995)

Powers

Cybernetic Enhancement: Maxine Manchester is a cyborg, having suffered critical to fatalistic injuries during a police ambush. As such her physiology is mostly robotic and she is built of what Majestros calls 75 million dollars worth in parts.

Flight: Maxine can fly through the use of rocket packs which are housed in her back.

Gun Enhancements: Maxine carry's weapons stored inside her body's housing which can remain entirely hidden until she needs to kill.

Gattling Cannon: Likewise she also possesses wrist mounted blasters on her forearm.

Finger Laser: Maxine can emit a low yield heat beam from the tip of her digits, useful for igniting oil fires.

Automatic Transmission: Maxines bionic frame can channel and cycle varying levels of dynamic energy from most any power source available.

Resistors: Internal function which can ramp up the amp amount pertaining to whatever ergokinetic force she's channeling. Potentially she can kill a Kherubim Warlord with such tactics.

Sound Manipulation: Maxine has a powerful sonic cannon housed in her mouth.

Superhuman Durability: Maxine has withstood powerful blows from aliens and superhumans alike.

Superhuman Strength: Maxine has been seen lifting and throwing cars with relative ease.

Superhuman Speed: Ladytron can run, jump and move faster than most automobiles while on foot.

Superhuman Stamina: Manchester's power source is a condensed fusion reactor running on inexhaustible nuclear power. For all intents and purposes, Ladytron's body never tires nor wears down no matter how much she exerts herself.

Superhuman Reflexes: Despite her brash, impulsive nature. Ladytron is as quick with reactions as she is fleet of foot.

Superhuman Agility: Manchester is able to move more so seamlessly without physical impediment despite her heavy metal.

Enhanced Senses: As a Cyborg, Ms. Manchester's auditory functions are peaked well beyond the human norm.

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Vision

Abilities

Mechanical Aptitude: Being a cyborg, Ladytron has a knack for interfacing with other forms of machinery. She can physically link herself up with any on board computerized system in order to commandeer it's functioning for personal use.

Weaknesses

Stupidity: Both a strength and a fault, Maxine Manchester isn't very bright not is she all that levelheaded an individual. Often charging recklessly into distressing situations without pause for thought.

Psychopathy: Being raised by an abusive father and after several motions of negligence between foster homes and penal facilities. Ladytron's psychological and sociological state of mind stands hideously imbalanced.

Coolant Rupturing: Ladytron is powered by a small nuclear reactor which runs the risk of an atomic meltdown should her liquid nitrogen coolant system fail.

Equipment

Exo-Mantel: During her time in a comatose bionic state, Noir modified her body with some additional bionic augmentations that greatly magnified her physical performance. Outfitted with Pincers and razor sharp feet additions giving her a semblance similar to the arachnid family, she could crush and stab her enemies with them as well as flail them about. After the world's end event she had it modified her old mecha body with some Kherubim technology to resemble more of a scorpion semblance. Enabling a semi-even battle between herself and Daemonite Royals Defile and Lady Decadence.

Various Hidden Artillary: Maxine withholds a great variety of hidden firearms on her person, some ranging from handheld pistols to heavy duty munitions wears.

History

Maxine Manchester was abused by her father as a young teenager. She fled from home and turned to a life of crime, robbing stores and killing anybody who got in her way. Soon, the government caught up with her and she was hit several times during a gunfight with the FBI. Her wounded body was handed over to Doctor Khaz, a mad scientist, who enhanced her body, replacing most of it with robotic parts. She escaped and continued her crime spree as a cyborg. Khaz recaptured her and told her about Stanley, a robot he had created before her. Khaz saw himself as father to Stanley and Maxine and sent her out to bring back Stanley. Maxine and Stanley shared the same psychopathic mentality and soon married between crime sprees. Maxine and Stanley decided to kill Khaz, but Khaz had an override in Stanley's brain. The brainless Stanley turned on Maxine and she killed him. She then killed Khaz and returned to her life of crime.

At this time, Savant and Mister Majestic were trying to rebuild the WildC.A.T.s after the previous team were nearly all presumed killed. They convinced Max Cash, alias Condition Red, to join and acquired the Tactical Augmented Organism for their team. Savant wanted another woman for the team and decided upon Maxine. Majestic didn't want to be associated with a criminal like Maxine, but T.A.O. managed to change his mind through his hypnotic abilities.

The new WildC.A.T.s captured Maxine while she attempt to rob both sides of a drug transition and T.A.O. built a virtual reality-program to reeducate Maxine. The program worked and Maxine joined the WildC.A.T.s, but still remained violent and anti-social. She became romantically interested in Max Cash, but he was turned off by her robotic body and her abrasive personality.

When Max got wounded in a bombing, he used the opportunity to sneak out of the hospital to avoid her. Maxine was furious and took out her anger on the man responsible for wounding Max. The man told her and Spartan that T.A.O. had ordered him to bomb the building.

The WildC.A.T.s confronted T.A.O. who turned out to be an evil mastermind after all. T.A.O. inflicted heavy casualties on the team, including Maxine. He managed to remove her cooling systems so that her internal nuclear reactor overheated. Majestic removed her nuclear reactor, but Maxine was heavily damaged. She was taken to the Church of Gort, a cult for cyborgs, robots and Artificial Intelligence, for repairs.

During her stay with the Church of Gort, Maxine became a convert and started to follow the teachings of the Church of Gort. Mister Majestic who had become somewhat of a father figure to Maxine was pleased to see her embrace the tenet "all life is sacred", though she only seemed to recognize mechanical life as sacred. Still, according to him, it was a step in the right direction. But after a schism within the Church, Maxine was targeted by other members for having too many organic parts.

Halo

Maxine fled the Church of Gort and met up with Max's brother Cole Cash. Cole was annoyed by Maxine and left her with the Halo Corporation. There, she overheard that former WildC.A.T.s-member Voodoo had been injured by serial killer Samuel Smith and decided to take vengeance upon him.

Her plan was simple-minded: she visited all hotels and motels in the area to fight anybody listed under the name "Smith". After attacking a few innocents, Maxine met with Samuel Smith, whose superhuman powers turned out to be more than she could handle. The damage was so great that she was deactivated.

Later, her body was reprogrammed and adapted into a more scorpion-like form by Wildcat-traitor Noir to attack Spartan, now known as Jack Marlowe, but Marlowe easily defeated the body. Her body was then used by Grifter, whose legs were broken, as a remote-controlled body. Her personality was encrypted and filed away in the Halo Corporation's mainframe. When Grifter's legs healed, he no longer needed her robotic body.

World's End

After the Reaper clones of the High ruined the Earth and all its resources, Ladytron along with the rest of the reformed Wildcats protected Los Angeles from the Halo Building which was the only location that still had power due to their unending batteries. Mr. Majestic repeatedly attacks the building for supplies to take back to his new home in Hawaii. He asks some of the team to come but doesn't ask Ladytron due to her anti-social behavior. She takes part in the team's missions to find the oasis that was thought to have been made by the original Engineer but actually created by Tumbleweed. Later she and the Wildcats encountered the Daemonites' presence in L.A. and battled them until a shaky treaty was established between one another.

Ladytron was even able to rally a group or robots and cyborgs that were members of the Church of Gort to fight against Daemonites that broke the treaty and she made the city's surviving humans understand that the robots and humans need to work together if they expect to live through this crisis. Nemesis and Backlash later left the team expecting Majestic's offer to relocate in Hawaii but they later send a distress call to the team asking them for help. However, Voodoo, now the group's leader, told Ladytron to stay behind because of her relationship with Majestic; but after the team leave the Daemonites were ready to attack their now vulnerable base. Ladytron was able to protect the refugees and proved herself in stalling the Daemonties, Lord Defile and Lady Decadence. Though she was soon subdued by the two Daemonites high lords, but the Wildcats arrived back on time, and Maxine was saved by the robots from the Church of Gort.

After the Halo Building was destroyed, Maxine and the Wildcats joined up with Team-7 in stopping Tao from becoming a mad god who threatened creation. Just as Tao was forcefully given the Creation Equation by Max Faraday, Ladytron had listened the words that were spoken by Faraday to Tao, and transmitted it into the ears of all the heroes, given everyone and herself possessing the power equivalent to Tao. However, Tao was proven stronger and had each of the heroes facing their own fears, in which Ladytron faced her abusive father which briefly sends her into a terrified and catatonic state. After Tao's defeat, Maxine and the other heroes were then gifted with new, augmented costumes reminiscing to their 1990's attire, in which Ladytron was not totally satisfied with her new look.

Maxine and the Wildcats later heeded to the Authority's call in UnLondon and offered the chance to leave Earth on the Carrier. After the Carrier departed, Maxine participated in the war against the Knights of Khera. Following the Knights' defeat, Maxine was tasked by Spartan in helping and joining with Jackson King in finding Earth's new Doctor as she is potential from being unaffected from mind control since King's previous manipulations from Tao, in which she accepted much to King's great reluctance.

[aintnouseofpretending]

There Will Not Be A Next Time

+—-—+—-—+—-—+—-—+—-—+

Summary: You and Gwilym have been together for long. Despite living together, you respect each other boundaries. What you thought was just a little bit cheesy; “Their job is pretty obvious. It’ll come off as clingy if I ask them about it,” dynamic the two of you having currently, turns out to be the reason for your split. It was revealed when you’re in the middle of your hero work, the infamous villain you have long chase was none other than your own boyfriend.

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader (slight x Joe Mazzello)

Warning: ANGST. Fluff. Cursing. Violence, blood, and death. Throwing up. Superhero AU.

Word Count: 3423.

Inspired by: Led Zeppelin - Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

Perma-Tag: @ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark

Note: This means the scene is happening right now. This means the scene happened in the past.

+—-—+—-—+—-—+—-—+—-—+

It still feels like yesterday when the two of you hugged. You make tea and breakfast whilst he put the record on the antique gramophone he found last month. The giggles you make as he silly dance towards you and slithers his hands on your waist from behind. He kisses your shoulder, you struggle cooking and dancing slowly with him. Soft smiles planted on both of your lips as they meet. Enjoying the classic blue melodies in each other embraces.

It’s warm. It smells very good. You feel very fuzzy and comfortable, and so does he. If the world is to end then, there’ll be no regret between the two of you. But you can’t take credit for such thought, because Gwilym whispers it right on your ears; his lips on your earlobe tingles down your body. He whines when you break off the hug for you have to serve the breakfast on the table. The two of you jokes, laugh, exchanging what happens at work—the silent promise you both agreed that best not to pry too far. Because there’s no need to; it’s clear that you work in the local community whilst juggling it with being a high school teacher when to you he’s obviously a freelance computer scientist.

You still remember all of that. It’s becoming even more vivid by the second as if it is happening right now. Maybe because you finally saw his face again. Suddenly all the beautiful memories rush in, replacing those that are bad. The massive urge to embrace him again is something you can’t no longer hold nor acted upon as your hands touch the cold concrete ground. Your eyes getting blurry, perhaps from the tears. And finally you can hear it; his voice calling your name. This time it wasn’t just a memory. Not a hallucination. No matter how he says it, the sound always calms you. It gives you the necessary energy to stay alive and do what you promised him and yourself.

You will get him back. You’ll redeem him, aid him back to the right path. No matter the cost.

He wishes for nothing more but to rewind time. Now he’s forced to face the consequence. Of his own action. Of your action. His deep blue eyes stare into the distance. He let the wind slowly caress his exposed head. It’s cold but pleasant. Just like your hand. How in every bad situation at work that left him sour, will easily wash away by your touch. You never fail to calm him down, to make him feel content. His most cherished moment where when you read on the sofa, you let him laid his head on your lap for a nap. It’s like in heaven, the way you gently hums and comb his hair or pets his head.

He misses it so much. God, he has no idea how to prevent this from happening, he almost says he will do anything for it. But no. That’s not why he’s there in the first place. Standing on the roof of a building, waiting for you to catch up. To finally put an end at the forking path the two of you will be forced to choose. The second hardest choice he has to make. Not even time is kind to him and let him think; you’ve arrived. The masked hero in a purple suit.

“We have to stop this once and for all, Titan.” Your voice is commanding and powerful and cold. If it were not directed at what you thought was just an evil stranger, perhaps Gwilym will notice it sooner. You’re far too different you might as well be someone else completely. But that’s just an empty hope at this point.

“Will we?” Without his mask and voice distortion, you finally hear his real voice. But it comes with an overwhelming amount of realisation. He’s indeed a human, with you superhuman ability you can detect who he is easy that if you don’t know who he is. But that’s not the case. Someone you never thought would be the villain famous for using technology against the government and the side of humanity, for the goal you now knows.

“Gwilym?”

“Hi, Galactica. My love.” He turned around, revealing his tired but familiar face. He could not bear to see how you reacted, but at the same time, he could not detach his eyes from your figure in full costume as you unmasked. The body of an extreme nuisance of a superhero, with the head of his lover. Your face clearly shows the honesty of a woman that refuses to believe what’s in front of her eyes. He could almost predict what you are gonna say if you still think he’s not your boyfriend of five years.

“I would not ask why.” You finally could talk. Your voice is breaking. “You know how it ends with me, Gwil. Revenge will never end the pain. It doubles.”

“We wouldn’t know. Our life is far too different.”

“But we share them—!”

“We don’t know! We have zero clues that the two of us are standing on the opposite side of the line! It was inevitable, y/n. When there’s still a chance this happen sooner and much less painful. We just have to be more honest.”

The pain you both felt was mutual. It was too difficult to talk, much less it would be to convince each other to change side. The two of you knows it’s impossible.

“But no more regret. I am Titan and you’re Galactica." His voice slowly turned twisted as he put his helm back on. Perhaps you will not make up your mind to beat him into a pulp if he doesn’t establish that fact

It was still hard to swallow. None of you still could believe it that right now you fight each other, the same old routine. But every hit the two of you landed, every pain you received felt agonizingly more real. Whether you should suppress or making it twice more painful. It’s like an eternity when you can’t hold back your tears but somehow manages to hold back all your kill shots, but Gwilym feels and notices it on the level you could never imagine, and let you overpower him in the end.

“Do it.” He groaned as you forcefully take off his now broken helmet. You sit on his stomach, pinning him down effectively whilst he lay vulnerable. Fist raised, ready to end him, but your hand stays stationary.

“Fool!” You screamed. “How could you think I can do that?!”

The last time you’re on top of him was when the two of you play fight, with no intention of hurting each other. There were laughs. There was music. There was happiness. But Gwilym detests the thought that this time it gave of almost the same atmosphere. He also wants you to not think such, no matter how challenging to do so.

“Don’t you say that you’ll also let me go even if we’re not a lover. You know my sins, Galactica.”

You ignored him. Instead, indulge in your sadness and the irony of the situation whilst you touch his face. The same face you expected to see every day, every night, for the rest of your life. You’re still not sure what to make of the situation, but the more you drink to his facial feature, the more you rejected the idea that this is the end. There’s still a way. You’re a superhero, and that’s your way. So when he throws you off in such strength the wall you land on start crumbling down, you have made up your mind.

“Nothing will change me!” He screamed. “Not even after many upcoming battles with you!”

Even a superhuman like you still could feel your body sore. And just like you, he has made up his mind. One of our lover quarrels, you thought, where the two of us refuse to back down like many times before. The two of you always find a way to solve the problem, doesn’t matter how it ends with unsatisfactory.

“There will not be a next time, Titan.” First I have to stop him. To prove that his way is wrong. “Mark my words.”

“It’s in the past.” You answered rather unwillingly. “We’re no longer the same person we thought we were.”

Joe Mazzello, your fellow superhero comrade, pats you on your back. Your team is preparing for the LAB-2411 raid near Birmingham, UK. Gwilym secret base all this time. It took almost three months to get the clearing from the government and the Council of Justice that manages licensed superheroes like you. Almost a hundred percent the place is empty, but whatever was left behind will lead to where he moves it. That’s also why Joe is there with his investigative-type power.

The sympathetic smile he gave you helps melting down the tension. Only make sense for him to have such effect on you; he’s the one that introduces you to Gwilym. Although you have told him to not hold himself responsible for the incident, you’re sure he still feel guilty for it. You try to rid of such burden from him, after all with he has long helped you even with just his mere presence.

“It’s exactly zero point zero zero zero zero and twenty-five percent that he will be there.” You assure. He shrugged.

“I want to say that sounded pretty accurate, but then that would be the biggest lie I ever told you.” He joked whilst he put on his gloves. “Don’t argue that my biggest lie was actually when I get you in the gig and claimed you’re just another human as your action stopping the Behemoth from obliterating Cincinnati was aired live on the TV next to me.”

“But somehow you managed to pull it off.”

“Hell fucking yeah I pull it off. Totally not because of you Falcon Punch the shit out of that absolute unit of a monster. Not at all! So you still owe me one.”

“Absolutely. A date was it? Next week? At five? Marathoning Hannah Montana until you cried?”

“Hey, okay! No one fucking diss Hannah in front of me, you hear?” He nudges your waist, as you fake flinch. “That’s a promise! If you’re not in your apartment already preparing Hannah Montana’s DVDs and a bottle of wine when I come with a bouquet and box of chocolate, I will sue you, you fraud!”

“And if you don’t come with flowers and snacks when I’m already putting the DVDs in as I pour the wine, I will report you to CoJ and get your license revoked!”

“Five dollars?”

“Done.” After you confirmed, you never thought he could smile that wide. He nodded childishly and mockingly as he slides away, he didn’t forget to finger guns you at every possible moment and mouthed five dollars even when the raid has started.

“You’re quick to move on, Galactica.” Sneered the pink-skinned villainess. “I don’t blame you. One hell of a cute guy. He’s the “No Shit Sherlock” hero, right? If I were straight, I would probably shag you already.”

“Let go of Dact.” The venom in your voice makes even Joe shivered. “And I might spare your life.”

“Now now. I need a solid deal.” The woman’s violet claws get Joe’s jaw on lock. The claw’s tip is so sharp it might easily pierce through his skin with no pain, even the thought makes you cringed.

“You, on the other hand, ‘Tica, has been far too long in my radar, I can’t wait for some tasting. So give me the kind of agreement I like, and I might spare his life. Besides, isn’t this is the man that introduces you with Titan? Don’t you feel guilty, boy? You cause them to split. If only they didn’t meet, don’t you think all these messes won’t happen in the first place?”

The blast was intense. It gives Joe the effect of a flashbang. For a brief moment, he almost clawed you to death; since he’s Pterodactyl. Only when your bare hand touch his face, the skin to skin contact helped him knows that it is you. All your memories with Gwilym, every sensation, he feels it too. As much as drag it is to wear rubber gloves all the time, this is exactly the reason why sometimes having the power of investigation more of a curse instead of a gift. But he also feels it too, the feelings keep flowing from your hand that’s not yet part from his face. Your genuine need for him to stop feeling guilty over Gwilym and your break up, to the point of anger and annoyance. As he regains his sight, the first thing he sees is you and your warm feelings towards him. If only, if only this ability allows you to also feel what he’s feeling.

“That’s why you don’t monologue as a villain.” You grinned cheekily after making sure you’ve fully healed him. “Let’s go, we’re close to Titan. We can’t lose him anymore, not after two years of chasing him.”

You grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He dusted off debris from his suit and finally answered. “Right.”

He’s not the one that just got smashed by Violet’s pink energy spark, but his life flashes before his eyes. He didn’t realize it until he sees Violet falls on her knees and dropped lifelessly. Headless. Your kill shot was so famous for killing Behemoth that every villain quickly investing in an anti-energy attack protective suit. Even Titan himself upgraded his entire armour despite the chance of receiving such attack from his ex-lover is as slim as Violet’s and Pink’s chance of survival against her. That’s also why you can track him; how every line pointed at the mad engineer that found and invent the material to endure almost any type of energy attack.

“You’re the one that kills her girlfriend, why am I the one that always almost gets killed?” Joe’s attempt to joke whilst down and hurt almost makes you forget Titan is still there, waiting for his runaway vehicle. “Look! You’re fucking spotless!”

“Three more.” Your guttural growl was not taken kindly by the rest of the three villains in your way of capturing Titan. “Come at once, cowards!”

The battle was outright sadistic. The sight of Gwilym in his new suit burn the rage in you, and his absence in the battle makes you both glad and humiliated at the same time. You don’t care how tired you are from all your previous battles, you just have to be there and keep him long enough until reinforcement come, approximately in twenty-five minutes.

“You know you don’t have to kill all of them, right?” Joe playfulness helps you calmed down after the bloodbath.

“How’s your leg?” You have long given up trying to get your voice softer.

“‘Tis but a scratch!”

“You lose your left leg!”

“So?”

You half-expected that you might, after all, have to battle Titan again, but he’s standing on his ground, almost statue-like. You whispered to Joe, urge him to leave. It might take less of brute-force and more on strategy. But your ears quickly pick up Joe’s muffled scream and you turned around.

“Fucking come on!” Joe groaned as he feels the tip of the gun on his head. “Y’all mind fucking off for a second? We need to rest too you know!”

Joe’s confidence in your ability to defeat almost anything makes you smile until your eyes widened as it caught the reflection of a shot came from above.

“No more hesitation, Titan. You don’t want to oppose us.” Crossfire stand next to Gwilym. “We have no time to waste.”

But Gwilym doesn’t move an inch. His eyes always fixated upon you and only you. And now he knows the reason why. His heart stopped the moment you stooped down and on your knees. Yet you manage to add one more to your kill count today.

“Is that supposed to hurt?” You still try your best to look tough, but your body betrays you through your gritted teeth. “I will kill all of you if that means to get Gwil back in our side.”

“He was never on your side, delusional woman.” Crossfire also has his voice distorted, and you almost mistake it from Gwil. “Don’t make me shoot you too, Titan.”

Joe kneeled down next to you. Panic was visible in his voice as he talked to you.

“Why do you take that?! You don’t wear anti-energy armour! I do!” His hand touch where you take the shot. The warm liquid slowly flowing from your wound into his hand, as you try your hardest trying to heal your own wound. He feels what you feel and trying to do through your bare hand. “No no no no no—.”

“I’m fine, Joe!” Your scream came out as a hoarse whine. “Let go of me! Run!”

“Y/n?!” Gwil screamed.

Joe's face turned pale as you dropped on the ground. He no longer feels anything from touching you. He shakes your body to no reaction. He turned your body to see your current state. The emptiness he felt as he fully grabbed onto your hand and your face makes his stomach churned. He throws himself away from you and vomits on the ground. The overwhelming turmoil inside him almost stops him to try and collect himself, but a loud bang noise that makes him jump successfully awaken him from the overflowing emotions. The shot from Crossfire, completely deflected.

“That bitch use her remaining power to protect that rat! That’s why Brandon caught my bullet.” The man growled as he takes another aim, that shot also cleanly deflected. “Motherfu—.”

The choke sounded almost inhumane followed by a loud thud. Titan eyes still haven’t left now your dead body. He walks towards you and kneeled down. He takes off his gloves and reaches your face. Cold. Your eyes no longer reflected the joy of living as the defender of justice. His long fingers wiped Joe’s blood handprints on your cheeks. Just like you when you found out about Gwilym being the villain you despise the most, this time he's not one bit believed that you are dead. Something inside of him is turning as a faint blue light came out of his hands.

“She can’t be dead! She can defeat Behemoth like he was nothing and still fucking energetic! She's still alive—!”

“Shut up!!”

The blast of blue energy exploded almost beautifully on Joe’s body, but it does nothing. The men were just as shocked to see that your energy turned to orange as it surrounds Joe and protects him from Crossfire’s shots, dances in harmony with Gwilym’s new blue energy that cleanly kills his villain comrade. That’s why you used to be able to defeat Behemoth but have to deflect Crossfire’s shot with your own body.

“She... Gave you her power... She always knew. Yet... How come I didn’t see it when I touch her... How come she hides it away from—,” Joe looked at Gwil that still holding you, putting your head on his lap. As he combs your hair softly, the blue energy power surrounds him like an Aurora. “No... You seep it away from her you fucking monster!”

“For my gift is to absorb energy on the touch.” He explained in defeat. “It’s not just you that always have to wear rubber gloves. I don’t know how else to protect her from the next generation Behemoth to know that I was her lover... I—...” 

Gwil gives him a short sad glance. The strong feeling of regret even Joe could feel without touching him. Joe dropped his stare on the ground. Hands shaking in rage before it stopped immediately. He sees all his wound is healing, his lost limb although doesn't regrow, healed completely.

“You did this and I hope you have to live with that guilt for the rest of your life, Gwil. If you don’t fucking avenge her, I will make sure she don’t waste her life and power on the both of us.”

The two energy that was at first was flowing together in harmony, not yet fully controlled by their new owner, now clashed like lightning on a giant black storm cloud. To match the hostile stare down of the two men and their rocky future to live up to your legacy.

End.

[royal-writer]

Sacred Place for the Insecure

Hold me tighter, love, and promise you won’t let go.

(( dropping this here: boop ))

He still had cold hands. Roughly textured and firm; frigid as the lake that tried to claim his life. Yet it was a kind touch, filled with hope. His words; so soft-spoken, a plea only for her ears. The glance he gave to her was private with sincerity and gentle as the breeze blowing off the lake.

“Stay with me. Please.”

It made her insides tie in knots.

She held her tongue to the ‘why me’ in that moment. Mostly, she didn’t want to draw a scene. Partly because she was certain his answer would sound as cryptic as the depths of his iris that she grew distracted by, trying to seek answers and fulfill curiosity. A small part of her was simply afraid to hear what he might have to say. Her own answers to his inquiries never seemed to satisfy his appetite to her consideration and attention for him, and she very much doubted his would to her.

It was probably just his way of paying back her thoughtfulness, anyway. He never had responded to her  gentle playful inquiry on their friendship.

Am I your project, Essätha? Your experiment, to see if- if you can redeem me, heal me, then you can do the same for yourself?

Her breath hitched as the cart jumped and bustled down the street.

You cannot rrrun forever, child, what you run from eventually catches up to you.

Essätha reached for her bag, and pulled it a little closer to her side.

Do you identify yourself as human, or half-elf?

Desperately, she tried to shake the thoughts out of her head as they emerged, clawing out from a tar pit of loneliness and self-inflicted disgust.

What do you want from me? What am I to you?

Focus. Focus. Inhale. Exhale.

Beneath her shirt, the spreading of scales like a grotesque infection subsided. The beastly act went unbeknownst to the clueless companions around her.

This wasn’t about her. No one here needed her. This was about survival, and that Raven fanatical fucker, and his sick obsession with murder. Destruction. Chaos.

But if Briarton’s protector would rather her presence then the scaly dragonborn who undressed him, or perhaps the assassin they took in, or even their elven-orc companion who could squash them all with his biceps by mistake in his sleep or the cursed high-elf, she understood that much. There was indeed, less soft-fleshed individuals in the group to appeal to who would make resting a nightmare. Or at the very least, highly unpleasant.

They all clamored out of the cart, and Essie had to resist offering her hand for the hundredth time as Amon nearly fell out and sagged uncomfortably at the knees. Her heart jolted with worry and lodged itself in her throat. Luckily, Caesar was quick to move to his side. The dog sniffed at his apparel as he had been since he’d set eyes on him with ears flattened.

She understood. She felt guilty, too. Shameful. Dirty. She hadn’t done enough. She hadn’t been there. He was hurting and struggling, and all she could do was swallow her worry and try not to drive him mad with her nurturers fretting.

He could have died, and none of them would have been the wiser.

He could have drowned and bled out, with them noticing and arriving too late.

Inhale. Exhale.

By the time they stepped inside the inn to speak with its keeper about room and board, she had perfected her mask again. Unclenching her jaw, relaxing her posture. The mastiff glanced up at her as she joined at his other side, waiting to confirm their room and board. He seemed particularly troubled, with those gentle giant brown eyes searching her features.

Essätha ignored the mastiff.

Lord Amon hobbled forward, coin purse at the ready. She hardly listened to him explaining the sleeping quarter dynamics, or requested rooms. The proprietor merely nodded through it all, only appearing mildly interested. A rather large, unique group of characters they were, traveling with a man clearly of wealth and power. Requesting rooms without windows, strategic placement of the building. But they knew better than to ask questions, at least. One by one, they scooted room keys across the desk as they accepted payment, giving information about some of the local areas, and letting them off to go find their quarters.

Lightly, she placed a hand to Amon’s shoulder. He was perhaps too tired to jump with statlement to the contact, his glazed eyes of exhaustion glimpsing back to her.

She smiled sweetly. “I’ll see about getting us something to eat and drink.”

He offered a ghostly smile of his own. “I’m just going to sleep.” He held out the room key, offering it to her. His knuckles were white. He seemed a little apprehensive.

After nearing being killed yet again, she could imagine why.

“I won’t be long,” Essätha urged encouragingly. She reached down, patting the burly furry monster at his side on the head. Caesar panted, and gave a swish of his tail as he let out a soft ‘boof’ of acknowledgment.

She stayed only long enough to arrange her things in a corner of the room, and listen with amusement; biting her lip to hold her snickering, as Caesar whined when Amon expressed he’d be sleeping beside the door. She did manage to find spare blankets in the trunk at the end of the bed to drop down in front of the door like a mat, but the dog still looked dejected as he was told to stay and lay whilst she departed. His loud huff as he flopped down with the door closing behind her had her snorting back laughter with a shake of her head. That dog was too spoiled with lounging on furniture and at his masters heels to find the floor acceptable, but he was well-behaved enough to only gripe.

He did try to persuade Amon though, to his credit. Briefly resting his head on the side of the bed, and slowly, gradually placing a paw on the edge before he was told to go back to his spot. Poor pup.

Much as her stomach protested at first, Essie managed to eat half of the baked goat flank and garlic butter potatoes she ordered, with a willow tea to calm her nerves. Wrapping up the remainders and a thank you for the service, Essätha hurried back to their stay with leftovers in tow. She wandered outside only look enough in search of creepy crawly critters to feed to one particularly voracious eater popping her head up in greeting from their fur-lined bag. The miniature young serpent had been docile and complacent in her hold for days, accepting the attention of a finger brush along her scales here and there without flinching.

At least someone was comfortable. It felt like nice, feeling understood.

Approaching the door, the Yuan-Ti woman recalled the awkward conversation a few hours earlier, and gave a gentle knock on the door once before entering. Twice. On the third time, she could hear Caesar’s nose from the underside of the door, trying to identify the knocker. His snuffling grew louder as she giggled, placing the key in and turning over the lock to step inside.

While the canine gave her a thorough examination with his snout, Essie skimmed her eyes across the room. Dim and dark, no lantern glow.

Caesar tried to survey the food she held up after a moment, raising his head to its highest point. She raised it up even higher above her shoulder, staring across the room at the figure wound up beneath blankets. Fast asleep.

“Not for you,” Essätha gently scolded the despairing eyes of the pooch. With a sigh as he flopped down once more on his blanket, sighing dramatically, she removed a portion of the flank to place before the dog. He gobbled it up in a flash of teeth and steady flop of his tail against the floorboards. Amon needn’t know.

Placing the remaining meal on the tall dresser out of reach, Essie removed the purse dangling at her hip. Green Bean swayed slowly from the surface, flicking her tongue before settling down back in her safe place. She had a relaxed and disinterested demeanor about everything it seemed, except for food time and the rare instances she’d try climbing up one’s arm in a burst of energy. They curled back within the folders of the fabric silently after a quick examination of the chest of drawers, and deeming it uninteresting.

Creeping slowly across the floor, careful not to awake the resting occupant, Essie shuffled over to her bag and pulled out some oversized plain clothes to slip into. She winced with the rustling of her limbs in the fabric, keeping an eye on the prone form, and the steady rise and fall of the comforter. His snoring sounded more escalated than usual. He showed no sign of disturbance as she unclothed self-consciously and swiftly tugged on a fresh set.

Gratefully, the bed was cushioned and accepted her silently as it dipped down. She wrestled the wound up blankets up just enough to weasel beneath them. Caesar groaned from across the room, and flopped over.

As she shimmied deeper into the blankets, Amon began to stir. His snoring rasped to a halt. She froze.

“It’s only me,” she offered, unsure if he was truly awake or not.

He twitched in his sleep, and began to snore once more. It was muted by the blanket tugged over his face.

A heavy sighed of relief exuded her. Reaching over, her hand loosened the dense blanket away from his head and face. He drowned in water already today, no need to wake up feeling miserably suffocated by covers.

“Rest well, m’lord,” she murmured quietly.

Slipping deeper beneath the duvet, her lungs felt ready to collapse. A sense of impending doom settled heavy on her like an elephant. She dreaded, and she doubted. It felt like success was going to always remain out of grasp. The clear blue skies would never come again. It felt like she’d be running forever.

Not one of these thoughts were new. Not one of these fears were new to her. She felt sick tonight as she did any other with it, perhaps worse. They were prey in a game no one signed up for. They didn’t know the rules or boundaries, hardly knew an inkling about their rival, and any potential allies they could make though them mad or too much a danger to hear them out.

Her eyes, a faded reflection from the torch light barely coming in beneath the door, moved from the ceiling to Amon.

It eased her, if only a little.

At least she was doing something right. She hoped. She prayed. Maybe she was making a difference, anyway. Even if it was only minuscule.

She turned over to her side and made her way past the no-man’s zone. Closer. Closer still, the smell of lakewater still in his hair. He was radiating body heat now, at least. Regardless, still uneasy about his condition, her body curled like a parenthesis, hugging to his bare backside. Her hands she kept close to her chest, too nervous to grow comfortably wrapped up against him. Awkward enough having seen his-

Her face enflamed, and she swallowed back a choked sound. Well. She was usually none-to-shy about such things, but the circumstances were everything against the norm for such intimacy.

Inhale. Exhale.

Essie closed her eyes slowly, hovering against the circumference of warmth Amon seeped out into the bedspread.

“I’ll be righ’ ‘ere if yo’ need me.”

Speech slurred as exhaustion summoned from the depths of her person. All the adrenaline from the rush of fear earlier began to crash down around her. And he was so warm; his presence like a summer’s day with the warm sun enveloping you in heat. He was so pleasantly comfy to be snuggled up against. Even vulnerable and asleep, the room still felt reassuring with him in it. Despite drab décor, despite plain and colorless design, despite the fact they were being hunted and stalked and at any moment it seemed someone else was going to turn and rip into them like animals, it felt… safe.

She fell into a dreamless slumber, grateful simply not to exist for a time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Drowsily, he lifted his eyelids. There was no telling the time of day, without access to a window. Everything seemed quiet, however. Still tired, Amon opted to believe that it still had to be night, or very early. There was no reason to rise. His entire body felt made of stone anyway.

His father would berate him for his tardiness to wake. Even deathly ill, he’d make a fuss. His lip curled. He pushed the thought away, and tugged on the covers closer to yank them closer to his face.

Something was touching him. Tickling? He squirmed a moment.

Warm breath exhaled a bit louder, fanning over his spine. He shivered unexpectedly, goosebumps breaking out all over. Every muscle locked and stiffened as the nobleman halted moving so not to disturb the figure shuffling beneath the blankets behind him.

Essätha finally settled herself again after a few heartbeats more. Her tangled mane of black hair was laying against his back as much as the rest of her was, the back of her balled-up hands against him and her forehead between his shoulderblades. Her knees curled to lock into the back of his. She fit against him in a perfect quotation mark. He couldn’t read and define exactly what it said; what she was trying to tell him.

Amon took a moment to consider how he felt, but it made no difference. He was sleeping well. She was sleeping well. Even humiliated what she may have glimpsed earlier; not realizing how much and how well she actually saw him, he couldn’t find a single damn reason to care. The bed was warmer, sharing two bodies now, and his spot was infinitely moreso with her curled against him.

Yawning as fatigue nipped at his groggy mind, Amon rested his eyes once more. His posture, little to his knowledge, began to mimic Essie’s until he was cradling himself like an infant in fetal position. He was back asleep in a span of a few seconds it seemed.

Unaware, the pair tucked themselves into one another in a tight spoon formation in their sleep. Essätha weaseled against the nobleman until a hand rested against his shoulder, and the other tucked in the gap between the pillow and his head. The Illiad heir’s snoring quietly rose again as he slept, with the bathing of warm breath against him and a nestled face to him.

Caesar groaned, rolled over, lifted his tail and wagged his tail with a single thump against the floorboards as the only witness to the trusting tender display.

The night otherwise rolled on, dangers holding distant in the night.

[inhumansforever]

Marvel Rising: Initiation Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

Disney XD premiered the first installment of the Marvel Rising Secret Warriors animated series with past Monday with the very enjoyable Initiation; directed by Alfred Gimeno with a screenplay by Mairghread Scott and the vatic talents of Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet, Tyler Posey, Kathreen Khavari, Milana Vayntrub, Cierra Ramirez and Kamil McFadden.  Quick recap and review following the jump.

The Mysterious Ghost Spider is on the run with the authorities believing her responsible for the death of a young man named Kevin.  After handily defeating a battalion of the city’s best police officers, Captain Stacy chooses to request assistance from Shield.  Agent Daisy Johnson and Patriot are assigned to the case and pledge not to rest until this hero-turned-villain can be brought to justice.  Patriot is a newer hero who has been trained by Captain America himself and is quite eager to prove himself.  Daisy, meanwhile, is more seasoned and right from the start she suspects there might be more to this case than simply a former hero gone bad.  

It’s rather clear from the onset that Ghost Spider is not a villain, rather it is an unfortunate set of circumstances that has made it appear as though she was responsible for Kevin’s death.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Ghost Spider is actually high schooler, Gwen Stacy, and Kevin had been her best friend.  

Following an oddly shoe-horned in scene where Gwen practices with her and her friends’ garage band, Ghost Spider returns to the streets in search of the real culprit behind Kevin’s death.  She encounters Patriot, and following a brief skirmish, Ghost Spider is able to escape.  

Elsewhere, Doreen Green arrives on her scooter with a box of cupcakes meant to commemorate the triumphant first team-up between her, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and her new best pal, Kamala ‘Ms. Marvel’ Khan.  Doreen’s squirrel buddy, Tippy Toe, is also on-hand and doesn’t want to wait for Kamala to arrive before getting into one of those delicious cupcakes.  

Kamala arrives and the focus of their first mission together presents itself when they see Ghost Spider and set out to bring her to justice.  An elaborate and rather silly battle unfolds as Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe match up against Ghost Spider.  

Ghost Spider is eventually captured and pleads to be let go, demanding that she is innocent.  Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl agree to hear her out.  Ghost Spider explains that she would never hurt Kevin, he had been her best friend.  He was also an Inhuman who was transformed by way of the Terrigen Cloud.  Terrigenesis endowed Kevin with ice powers and Ghost Spider helped him hone these newfound abilities so that they might be crimefighters together.  

Yet on the night of their first outing, Ghost Spider arrived to find that Kevin had been murdered.  The apparent culprit was a super powered woman with yellow skin and green hair who wielded energy knives.  Even the slightest cut from these knives had the effect of effectively draining one’s life energy.  

Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl believe Ghost Spider’s story and chose to let her go, agreeing to also seek out this mysterious villain who is actually behind Kevin’s death.  Shortly thereafter, Ghost Spider is once more engaged by The Patriot.  This time, however, Patriot utilizes teamwork and lures Ghost Spider into a position where Agent Johnson can sneak up behind her and neutralize her with her quake powers.

Ghost Spider is apprehended by the two agents and taken by car to police headquarters where she is to be handed over to Captain Stacy.  Again Ghost Spider proclaims her innocence, telling the story of the mysterious villainess with the life-draining energy knives.  Daisy is intrigued by the tale… she has heard about evil Inhumans with similar powers and Kevin’s death may have something to do with an ongoing case she has been investigating.  Furthermore, upon reading Ghost Spider’s reaction to seeing Captain Stacy, Daisy correctly surmises that Ghost Spider is actually Captain Stacy’s daughter, Gwen.  

Daisy furtively arranges for Ghost Spider to escape just as she is delivered to police headquarters.  Captain Stacy is incensed and demands that Shield stop at nothing to bring her in.  

Some time thereafter, Ghost Spider seeks out Daisy and asks her why she allowed her to escape.  Daisy explains her suspicions that Kevin’s death may be part of a bigger threat posed by an evil Inhuman, and that she may actually need Ghost Spider’s aide in taking down this threat.  Daisy tells Ghost Spider to continue her investigation and to keep her apprised of things, especially if it entails an Inhuman with teleportation-based powers.  Ghost Spider agrees and they part company.  And it is hear that the episode comes to an end with it looking quite likely that the mystery will once again bring these various heroes together in future installments.  

This was a quick, fun and very enjoyable affair.  It moves quite fast but its speed doesn’t come at the cost of the plot.  It sort of drops the viewer right into the heart of the action and has faith that said viewers will be able to piece things together on their own as further details of the plot are divvied out.  I quite like this approach, especially in lieu of other animated shows aimed toward younger audiences that sort of treat the viewer as simpletons who need the plot clearly laid out.

This first episode is very much a Ghost Spider story and Gwen makes for a highly likable protagonist.  Voice actress, Dove Cameron, does a terrific job bringing Gwen to life, with snarky commentary, good comic timing, as well as a distinctive undertone of sadness (sadness based on the death of her best friend, Kevin).  Fans of the Spider-Gwen comic series are likely to very much enjoy this animated version of the character; it’s quite faithful to her personality in the comics.  

The story takes a few more liberties with the Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel.  Squirrel Girl acts as the comic relief, bubbling with enthusiasm and goofy energy.  She’s a good deal less thoughtful than her comic book counterpart.  The comic book version of Squirrel Girl always seeks out a nonviolent solution to problems before resorting to fisticuffs, yet this animated version is quite eager to battle Ghost Spider.  

Milana Vayntrub clearly has a lot of fun voicing Squirrel Girl and isn’t at all shy about hamming it up.  There is a particularly funny bit where Squirrel Girl decides that their battle-moves would be more effective were they to call them out the way they do in popular anime, like Dragonball or Naruto.  

I also like that Squirrel Girl is illustrated as more full-figured… although it sort of bugs me that the bigger girl ends up being the goofier, comic relief (it’s a tired trope).

Squirrel Girl’s jokes and shenanigans sort of overshadow Ms. Marvel and she doesn’t get much of a focus in the episode.  Kathreen Khavari voices Kamala, reprising the role from Ms. M’s appearances in Avengers Assemble.  I’m definitely looking forwards to seeing Ms. Marvel get more screen time as the series progresses.  

Kamil McFadden voices Patriot and, next to Ghost Spider, is the character who gets the most spotlight.  Patriot takes himself quite seriously.  He’s ready to prove himself and is quite proud of the fact that he had been trained by Captain America.  At the same time, however, there is also an edge of insecurity to Patriot, possibly a worry that he might not live up to his potential.   It’s an edge that makes him a more compelling character as opposed to someone whose cockiness might cause one to root against him.  There is also a touch of flirtation in his and Ghost Spider’s banter… I wonder if this is a hint toward a possible romance between the two later down the line.

Chloe Bennet is very much at ease in the role of Daisy.  She plays her as shrewd and cunning.  She’s a much more experienced agent compared to her partner, Patriot, and ready to take calculated risks to get to the bottom of things.  It’s a neat take on Daisy and a bit of a departure from the more leap-first-look-later version of her we last saw in the pages of Matt Rosenberg’s Secret Warriors run.  Like Ms. Marvel, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next installments have in store for Daisy.  

The villain who killed Kevin looks a good deal like the Inhuman baddie called Sheath, although it is possible that she is actually a brand new character.  And it seems likely that the big bad of the arc will end up being the dark force wielding cad known as The Exile.

The animation is fair.  It’s a step above more recent Marvel animated projects, like Avengers Assembled and Hulk Agents of Smash, but not as stellar as similar outings from DC (such as Young Justice or Batman: The Animated Series).  It’s good, but not great.  The backgrounds are rather static and nothing to write home about, but the action is fluid and dynamic.  Squirrel Girl’s accentuated facial expressions showcase the best part of the animation.  

All in all, Marvel Rising Initiation is absolutely worth checking out.  It’s a fun detour into the world of the lessor well known Marvel heroes, with a refreshingly diverse cast of characters and an intriguing plot.  Definitely recommended. Four out of five Lockjaws

[sonicforcesau]

Forced AU: The Fall of the Hero Arc, Part 7

They - Silver, Espio, and Charmy - had entered the area not long ago, and City was really under serious attack from Eggman - buildings burnt, grounds cracked, and mobians screamed; all caused by the evil scientist’s vicious robot army spread throughout the region of civilisation.

“SONIC!”

Silver’s eyes widened as he recognised the voice from some distance away that had just screamed the blue hedgehog’s name:

… it was Tails!

“Espio!” the white hedgehog called out to the ninja beneath him running on the ground - he had to make sure that he wasn’t hallucinating from his lack of sleep. “Did you hear that?”

“I did.” replied the chameleon, as he seemed to increase his pace - running even faster than before. “We must hurry!”

After hearing the ninja’s suggestion, Silver decided to go ahead and reach Sunset Heights first in order to help as soon as he can. With his telekinesis, he focused his mind on where the voice before came from, and boosted himself through the air at the fastest speed he could manage without exerting too much of his own energy.

Meanwhile, Espio and Charmy had taken the shortest path available to the square in order to reach faster; with the ninja chameleon jumping over walls and fences to shorten their travel, and the young bee simply flying over obstacles in the way.

To any regular citizen of Mobius, the high amounts of physical exertion performed by the chameleon would have long since tired them out. But for Espio; his disciplined, ninja training routine had conditioned his body with exceptional strength, stamina and flexibility.

A few moments after Silver went ahead, the duo from Chaotix finally reached the location of Sunset Heights Square themselves.

It didn’t look good.

Sonic was sprawled out on the ground; unconscious; while Tails shook his body desperately, trying to snap the hero awake - but to no avail. The purple chameleon observed that the hedgehog was still breathing - from the rise and fall movements of his chest.

Shortly after noticing them in the square; bright, glowing, and trailing lights of red and cyan surrounding two flying mobians - black, and white furred - had attracted their attention:

Silver had engaged an unknown masked enemy in what seemed to be a violently out-of-control duel in the air, as they dashed across the open space dynamically - in seemingly random paths and directions - while they blocked each other’s attacks and immediately served one of their own.

It was an absolute madness of a dogfight.

“Espio, look!” Charmy pointed to a direction ahead of them on the ground, redirecting the ninja’s attention from the flying fighters.

… Shadow…?

… With Metal Sonic, and Chaos?

And right at that moment, Espio saw something new right out of the corner of his vision:

It was a moderately large wave of Eggman robots, and they stood right behind Tails, ready to strike the fox and the unconscious hero.

“Charmy!” he called for the other’s attention. “Let’s move!”

“Right!”

The duo from Chaotix jumped straight into battle and engaged the robot enemies, causing Tails to cry out in surprise as they swiftly dashed over his head. Then, the young fox started hearing explosions go off behind him.

He suddenly realised that in his yearning for Sonic to awaken, he had completely lost track of the events and peril that surrounded him.

… Sonic wouldn’t have wanted this!

“Tails!” a familiar voice shouted, and he looked over to the source. It was Knuckles, followed by Vector the Crocodile. “Catch!”

He reacted quite quickly, and held out his arms in position - ready to fetch the yellow object that landed right into his holds: It was his Miles Electric.

“Do your thing - we’ll handle the fight!” assured Knuckles, as he began to jump into action; punching robots with his vicious fists, together with the crocodile, causing more explosions to go off in the area.

Not looking to waste any more time, Tails began to operate the device - of which was his own creation - starting his attempts to analyse and figure out the unknown enemy’s abilities as his friends fought to oppose the evil scientist.

Sonic’s team - even without the hedgehog himself - still stood a fighting chance!

“Hey Esp’! To your right!” Vector shouted, and the ninja chameleon reacted in an instant, swinging his kunai at the enemy.

Doctor Eggman had sat in his Egg-Mobile, furiously watching this new turn of events: His army of robots were slowly dwindling, and it doesn’t help that that telekinetic hedgehog was directly distracting Infinite - the wielder of the Phantom Ruby!

This wasn’t what he planned at all!

The invasion of City was to be a sudden, unexpected attack; and then after taking over City, he would begin to expand his operations, and spread his domination to the rest of Mobius! - It was a brilliant plan, created with his brilliant mind!

All the working, planning, and execution of his plans which began from this morning would soon go to waste if he didn’t think fast for a solution to counterattack.

This unfortunate turn of events was most definitely the cause of that Silver the Hedgehog!

“What are you doing, you fool!” an agitated Eggman suddenly and angrily exclaimed to his henchmen. “Stop fighting him and use your powers!”

It had irritated the masked jackal more than a bit to be named a fool - especially by the fat man - and it caused his anger to flare up. However, despite the insult; he still found sense in the other’s words and stopped properly engaging the white hedgehog in a fair fight.

It was time to fight dirty.

With one swift, unexpected lunge at the enemy, Infinite had managed to knock the hedgehog - with the gift of flight - quite some distance away. The hedgehog yelped in surprise as his body spun rapidly in the air while the cyan glow around his body disappeared for a brief second before it reappeared.

It would take seconds for him to recover, and engage once more.

But that was all the time he needed.

Focusing his mind, he activated the powers of the Phantom Ruby, creating thousands of Eggman’s robots that appeared out of nowhere and started to engage in fights with the heroes immediately.

“What the-!?” came an exclamation from a confused Knuckles the Echidna.

Eggman laughed with maniacal glee - Yes! Sonic’s friends will definitely not be able to handle such a large, unexpected wave of robots! And, with Shadow the Hedgehog distracted and framed as an enemy - they stood no chance of fighting back!

Surely, it was his victory! Time-travelling hedgehog that wished to foil his plans or not - he was going to take over the world!

“I’ll just push this button right here!” Eggman commented on his own actions - quite giddy with delight - as he pressed a button on his Egg-Mobile which deployed a heavy-duty grabber from the underside of the floating vehicle.

No more failures!

He was going to capture Sonic the Hedgehog - he was going to win!

“No! Sonic!”

“TAILS!”

Knuckles the Echidna dived for the two-tailed fox as a missile aimed directly at him threatened to blow up the young fox. They fell onto the ground as the explosive detonated close to them, while Tails watched Sonic disappear into the storage compartment of the Egg-Mobile.

Silver had noticed the situation, and was forced to abandon his fight against the masked enemy. He immediately responded to Tails and Knuckles’s predicament and rescued them using his telekinetic powers before they could be killed - by bullets or explosives - by the hundreds of robots surrounding them.

The situation just turned a thousand times worse for Team Sonic:

There were too many robots. There were too little of them. It was just too dangerous.

The telekinetic analysed the Chaotix’s situation; it was a losing battle, but they still didn’t give up their efforts, because they were unaware that another swarm of robots had just appeared - ready to decimate them.

They stood no chance in this fight as it went on.

“We have to retreat!” announced Silver.

“But, Sonic-” Tails begged.

“We have no choice!”

With the remains of his energy and tiny amount of mental focus he had left, Silver had picked everyone up - the Chaotix, Knuckles, and Tails - up from the ground entirely as he boosted them through the air quite forcefully; getting them out danger before tragedy could strike.

And immediately, right after they left; the real, living, Shadow the Hedgehog had finally arrived along with Rouge the Bat - but they were too late. They had seen the last moments of exactly what had happened with their own eyes: with Silver bringing everyone out of City; to safety.

“Rouge.” Shadow called his partner with a serious voice. “Hold onto me.”

The bat obliged without quip, and clasped her hand on the black hedgehog’s forearm.

“Chaos control!” chanted Shadow, and the two G.U.N. agents disappeared in a flash of light.

The heroes who fought the evil forces just mere moments ago were forced to retreat. The Hero of Mobius was captured, successfully, by his very own nemesis.

Doctor Eggman had finally won.

Sonic the Hedgehog lost.

Mobius - as they knew it - was gone.