#I also wanna add an element of the other three suspecting something is wrong with Tord whom they don't know as a clone yet

[four-bastard-bustle]

Gee Zelda...

[thewidowsghost]

Fox - Chapter 6

Previously on Fox:

(Y/n) stands up and stands beside Sam as the men lead the twins away, both of them sending fleeting looks at (Y/n) over their shoulder as they leave.

Sam wraps an arm around (Y/n)'s shoulder and leads her towards a jet to take her back to the United States.

(Y/n)'s POV

The next half a year of my four year tour goes by quickly. I decided to leave the Air Force after one tour so I could go home and see Dad.

I pull out my phone and call Pepper. "(Y/n)!" Pepper says happily into the phone. "Are you alright?" she then asks, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I answer. "My last day is Saturday, I was wanting to surprise my dad. Could you pick me up from the airport?" I ask.

"Sure!" she says. "It'll be really nice to see you again, we missed you," Pepper adds.

"It'll be nice to see you guys too," I say and I see Sam walking towards me. "I'll talk to you later Pepper. Love you guys," I say, "Don't tell Dad that I'm coming home, alright?" I ask and she laughs.

"I won't," she says. "Love you, (Y/n)! Bye!"

"Bye!" I end the call and look up at Sam. "Hey Sammy," I say, smiling.

"There's two people here to see you," Sam says, his voice deep like usual. "They're with Ryan," he says.

"Right, thanks Sammy," I say, then running towards Ryan's office.

"Good afternoon sir," I say, walking into Ryan's office, taking off my service dress garrison cap - I had joined the Air Force as an officer since I had been to collage before I had joined up.

"Hello, Miss Stark," A deep voice comes from beside me and I look over, nodding respectfully to the two men standing against the wall. One was an African American man, he had one brown eye, but the other was covered by an eye patch. The other man was a dirty blond with blue eyes who looks like he's about two or three years older than me. "We heard about what happened in Sokovia," the African American man says.

I looks down at my polished black shoes at the man's words. "I couldn't have prevented that first shell, sir," I say, looking back up and staring at the man's eyes - or eye and eye-patch.

"That's not what I'm talking about," Eye-patch Man says. He walks over, "My name is Nicholas J. Fury, and I have a proposition for you," Nick Fury says.

"And what might that be, sir?" I ask.

"I am here with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Fury says.

"Man, you guys need an acronym," I mutter under my breath.

"What we meant about Sokovia is your abilities," The blond man says, walking forward. "The name's Clint Barton," Barton says.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Barton, Mr. Fury," I say. "But could you please explain further why you are here?" I ask politely.

"We're here to offer you a job," Mr. Fury says, "And call me Fury, everyone does."

"What would this job entitle?" I ask looking between Fury and Barton.

Fury gestures to Barton to speak.

"We are a secret organization," Barton says. "We hunt down people who are a threat to humanity and take care of them in any means necessary." Barton says.

"Captain," Fury says, addressing me - I am retiring from the Air Force at my final rank as a Captain. "If you take this job, you will automatically be considered a Level 7 Agent and work alongside me and Barton here to help eliminate threats across the world."

"So, you're telling me that if I take this job," I begin, "I'll be going into a job that entitles exactly what I retired from the Air Force doing?" I ask, and Fury and Barton exchange a glance with Ryan. I walk forward, stopping in front of Fury and extending out my hand. "I'll take it," I say and Barton smiles softly.

"Good to be in business with you Captain," Fury says, shaking my hand.

"Call me (Y/n)," I say and Barton smiles.

I now turn to Barton and stop forward to shake hands with Barton. "Nice to be working with you, Barton," the two of us shake hands.

"Call me Clint," he tells me and I smile.

"Stark," I turn around and look to Ryan. "You have permission to leave now instead of Saturday." he says and I nod. He then stands up and walks around the desk. "I'm gonna miss having you around, kid," he says, embracing me in a warm hug.

"I'm going to miss being around," I say, the two of us breaking from the hug. "I'll keep in touch, need anything, give me a call. See you around," I say, walking out of the office, Clint running after me.

"Need help packing your stuff, new partner?" he asks.

"Know what? Why not," I say shrugging, and I lead him to my dorm on the opposite side of the base. It was more of a house than a dorm. After Sokovia, Ryan decided that I should have a more private area to collect my thoughts. "What are you waiting for?" I tease Clint, holding the door open.

Laughing, he walks in, me following and I close the door.

"Dude, you've got a lot of stuff in here," Clint says looking around.

"Perks of being a Captain," I say, laughing, walking into my bedroom.

Pulling out the suitcase my Dad had helped me pack four years ago, I begin to fold all of my clothes. "Clint, please stay out there for a minute, I'm going to change out of this uniform."

"Okay," Clint calls back, and I close the door. I walk over to my closet and pull out a pair of black jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and dark blue leather jacket. I change real quick and open the door.

"You're good now," I say and Clint walks into the room.

"So, where are you from?" he asks as I fold up all my clothes and begin to put them in the suitcase.

"Malibu," I say, and I look up to see him leaning against the wall. "Dude, you're making me uncomfortable just standing there. Do you not see that chair?" I tease.

"Are you like this all the time?" Clint teases back. "I might need to ask Director Fury for a new partner."

"Would that partner be able to do this?" I ask, stepping back and lighting my hand on fire. "Or this?" I continue, using my shape shifting ability to transform into a fox. "I don't think so," I say once I am human again.

"That's so cool," Clint says. "What else can you turn into?" asks Clint, "A hawk?" He asks, and I shift into a hawk. "A cat?" I shift into a Russian Blue cat. "A lion?" I shift from the cat to a lion. "So basically anything?" he asks.

I shift back to me. "I can also do people," I say. "I do have to see them first before I can shift into another person."

"Can you do me?" Clint asks, looking interested.

Closing my eyes, I focus for a moment and when I open them, I see Clint looking shocked, he is staring at himself. "You asked," I say, shifting back into myself.

"What other things abilities do you have?" Clint asks as I continue to fold and put the rest of my clothes into the suitcase. "I can control most nature related things, wind, water, fire, earth, and lighting based powers. Each of the others stem to other things. Water also connects to ice, so I do have abilities over ice and snow. The other elements also have, lets says, branches -" I stop, looking over at Clint. "Sorry," I say sheepishly.

"Nah, it's fine," Clint says smiling. "I like people who are passionate about what they do. Go on," he says.

"Sure?" I ask and he nods. "The other elements have branches as well. Fire connects to lava, so, in theory, I would be able to summon lava. Earth is strong, like a rock," I add, letting out a snort of laughter. "Sorry, that was bad," I continue. "Earth is strong, so from that I have super strength. Lightning creates storms, as well as other large amounts of energy. Wind, pretty powerful on it's own, but does have it's limits. With enough concentration, I would be able to summon a tornado, or, with the help of water, I would be able to create a hurricane." In explaining all of this to Clint, I had finished packing up all my clothes and I had closed and zipped up the suitcase.

"So," I clear my throat. "Want something to drink?" I ask picking up my suitcase and carrying it out and throwing it carelessly onto the couch. "I've got water, Gatorade, Coke?"

"Gatorade's fine," Clint says, and I toss him a bottle.

"So, what's your life like?" I ask, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Granola bar?" I ask, and Clint nods and I toss him one.

"I'd rather show you then tell," Clint says and I nod.

"Completely understand," I tell the blond and he nods in thanks.

"Guess I'd better call Pepper and tell her I'll be home earlier," I say, pulling out my phone.

"What about I show you about that life you were asking about first," Clint says. "If you're okay with that?" he adds hastily.

"I mean, I guess," I answer. "I'll have to be in Malibu by Saturday." I say, and Clint nods. "Well, people are going to want to say bye." I jog over to the door. "Wanna stay here, or wanna come?" I ask.

"I'll come," Clint says, walking over. "I'd better get used to hanging out with you," he says. "That might take a while," he teases and I roll my eyes.

"Let's go," I chirp cheerfully, opening the door, and Clint follows.

It takes us about half an hour but the two of us find everyone that I had connected with since I had joined four years ago. The only person I hadn't found yet, was Sam. Then I had a sudden revelation.

"Who are you looking for?" Clint asks curiously.

"My old partner and friend, Sam," I sigh. "I think I might know where he is," I say softly, and I jog to where Sam and I had left a monument to Riley.

And just as I had suspected, he was there, sitting on a bench.

"Sam?" I ask hesitantly, and he turns around.

"Hey, (Y/n)," he says softly and I go sit beside him.

"What's wrong?" I ask gently.

"It feels strange, you leaving after all this time," Sam says. "It feels, off, somehow," he says and I look down.

"I'll always keep in touch, you know that Sam," I say and he looks up, meeting my (E/C) eyes. "If ever you want to go on run for old time's sake, I'll always be around." I say and Sam laughs.

"What, and have you and you're super strength beat me every time? I don't think so," he says and I laugh.

Sam walks back over to me and I stand up. "I'll see you around, Sam," I say,giving him a hug, then jogging off back to my house/dorm.

I open the door and walk inside, not bothering to close it, knowing Clint and or Sam would follow me.

I walk over into the living area of the house and pull my guitar off the wall, glancing at it I set it on the couch and walk to my room to grab the case out of the closet.

Walking back into the living room, I look up to see Clint leaning against the doorway.

"Do you play?" Clint asks, nodding to the guitar on the couch.

"Nah, I just keep a guitar here, but don't know how to play it," I say jokingly.

Sitting down on the couch, I pull the guitar into the playing position, and begin to strum the introduction to "Hey there Delilah."

"Hey there, Delilah

What's it like in New York city?

I'm a thousand miles away But, girl, tonight you look so pretty Yes, you do Times Square can't shine as bright as you I swear, it's true

Hey there, Delilah Don't you worry about the distance I'm right there if you get lonely Give this song another listen Close your eyes Listen to my voice, it's my disguise I'm by your side

Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me What you do to me

Hey there, Delilah I know times are gettin' hard But just believe me, girl Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar We'll have it good We'll have the life we knew we would My word is good

Hey there, Delilah I've got so much left to say If every simple song I wrote to you Would take your breath away I'd write it all Even more in love with me you'd fall We'd have it all

Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far But they've got planes and trains and cars I'd walk to you if I had no other way Our friends would all make fun of us And we'd just laugh along because we'd know That none of them have felt this way Delilah, I can promise you That by the time that we get through The world will never ever be the same And you're to blame

Hey there, Delilah You be good, and don't you miss me Two more years and you'll be done with school And I'll be makin' history like I do You know it's all because of you We can do whatever we want to Hey there, Delilah, here's to you This one's for you

Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me What you do to me, oh oh, woah, woah Oh woah, oh Oh"

I strum the last couple of cords and finish, Clint looking impressed as I put the guitar in it's case.

"How long have you been playing?" he asks.

"Since I was about three or four," I answer and Clint nods.

"Who taught you?" he asks, moving to sit beside me on the couch.

"My mom," I reply. I clear my throat. "I don't have anything else to move if you're ready to go. I told Ryan to offer this to Sam once I leave."

"Okay then, let's go," Clint says and the two of us stand up.

I sling my guitar case over my shoulder, and Clint grabs my suitcase and we walk out of the house and towards a jet.

"This yours?" I ask, looking inside the jet.

"Belongs to the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Clint answers.

"Why don't you guys just call it SHIELD? That's clearly what it was named after. Someone really wanted it to say SHIELD, maybe it was after Captain America's SHIELD," I wonder.

"That's easier to say than the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Clint says, laughing. "Can you fly one of these things?" he asks.

"I was in the Air Force dude," I say. "I was a pilot."

"Good, I needed a co-pilot," Clint says, and I look at him questioningly.

"You're asking a professionally trained pilot to be your co-pilot?" I ask teasingly.

"Good, you completely understand," he says and I shake my head playfully.

"So," I ask when the jet was in the air. "Where are we off too?" I ask.

"Missouri," Clint answers.

Word Count: 2654 Words

Hope you guys like the direction I am taking this book. I've never seen anyone write an Avengers' reader insert this way.

See you guys soon, I guess!

Love y'all,              Kaitlynn 😍❤

[thewrongexecution]

thinkin’ ‘bout final fantasy

I go by Not The Author for exactly the reason that I ain’t no expert on any given work of fiction, but I do like to make connections what make me seem smart: an illusion, haphazardly crafted by incident accident and supplemented by precocious pretentiousness. All the same, here are some fun thoughts I had that you might also enjoy!

I do have a point, that I do get to. I feel like I should say that ahead of time, all things considered. Like, I can appreciate if you can’t appreciate a shaggy dog story? But there is a point to all this.

...Eventually.

Spoiler Warning:

Final Fantasies 1, 6, 7, 7R, 13 and 15

Content Warning:

Discussion of death

Cussin’

Length warning:

5621 words

13 sections

16 digressions

Let’s dig in.

- - - - -

Final Fantasy 1 was not my first Final Fantasy experience, but I think it was the first I ever played by myself? The remaster for the GBA, came bundled with FF2 on the same cart, which I played briefly but did not complete and do not remember, except that it had Cid.

FF1 doesn’t have a Cid, but I really loved the narrative anyway, straightforward as it was, because it was very specifically about spitting in the face of an uncaring god who would doom the world for a laugh. Take these chains that bind us to darkness and, though we be forgot to history, strangle with them that selfsame darkness to bring an end to its tyranny.

((it is a terrible curse, to love time travel. so many grand expectations, so few ever met. play ghost trick, chrono trigger, radiant historia, majora’s mask, outer wilds. have you any recs yourself, lemme know! I digress.

((I digress a lot, as I may have mentioned. they’ll be noted in parenthetical, like this.))

This is the foundation upon which Final Fantasy is built, and while any student of architecture could tell you of many and varied perfectly valid construction techniques, it resonates. Grappling with an immutable past to course-correct an uncaring future is, too, an apt description of personal growth; a theme as universal as being alive. And I, as an impressionable youth, ate that shit up.

((I assume I was young, at any rate. my love for time travel, be it era-spanning or moment-stretching, is, I suspect, not entirely coincidental to my terrible temporal memory.))

And that was the tale of the studio, too. Final Fantasy was so titled because, the story goes, the developers knew they would shutter if it didn’t make bank. Staring your imminent demise in the face, knowing your fate is doom, and giving it your all, all the same.

And then they made another twelve, plus two-and-a-half MMOs, and god knows how many mobile games and spin-offs, and now the Fantasy is that there could ever be a Final one. so say I: life parodies art.

((the half-an-MMO is FF14 1.0, which no longer exists and is a fascinating tale, a rally against bleak futures all its own. I’ll [link] Noclip’s three-part documentary covering the developer’s side of things, because that’s the one I’ve seen. there’s plenty other material to hunt down, though, if you wanna.))

- - - - -

Final Fantasy VII is a game about fate, too. Particularly Death, that most ultimate of fates. Tragic, to be sure; preventable, or at least delayable, in many cases; necessary, at times, for the growth of something new.

Unrelenting. Unstoppable. Inescapable.

Death, and the fights against it, take many forms. There are the fascist death squads that hunt down your ragtag band and any dissent against their cruel masters, but these will only truly stop by cutting off the hydra’s head and building an entirely new society; eight dudes and their dog, faced with a corporate private military, can survive but never win. There are such disasters as do slay that hydra, be they natural or man-made. There’s the space alien and the apocalypse it ushers. There’s literal illness and injury, physical or otherwise. There are the deaths of loved ones, friends and family, that lead to some subtler deaths within those that survive them. The deaths of relationships, by neglect or abandonment. The ideological deaths we inflict on ourselves, accepting ever-growing lesser evils in the name of some impossible ideal.

Every day, the person we were becomes the person we are, and soon, the person we are will give way to someone new, and this, too, is a sort of death. In this sense, we tally Cloud’s deaths at least five: failure to become a Soldier and rebirth in shame, the massacre of Nibelheim and rebirth in grief, arrival at Midgar and rebirth in delusion, his cratering at the Crater and rebirth in nihilism, and his death and rebirth in the Lifestream of Mideel.

((you could prolly hunt down another two if you wanna be cheeky, but I lack the knowledge, motive and patience. frankly, this whole thing is to create a leading line of logic and probably isn’t, uh. academically ethical? or whatever the term is. I’m not necessarily wrong, but I’m definitely scuttling nuance. oh well!))

Now, I say “rebirth,” because that’s how deaths of identity more-or-less work. There’s usually some new identity waiting in the wings to take over. And rebirth is itself a notable theme, inasmuch as it is one outcome of death. But death is oft more final than that, and what people do in its imminence and wake is key here, too. Wutai’s collapse into an insular tourist trap. Avalanche’s vengeful fervor, in general and post-plate drop. Bugenhagen trying to pass his knowledge on to Red. The whole party’s ongoing post-traumatic depressive episodes.

Ultimately, death is the inescapable fate of all things. It’s what we do, in light of that, that makes us who we are.

- - - - -

Final Fantasies 13 and 15 are the only modern Final Fantasies I’ve beaten, and I bring them up because both deal very prominently with fate and death, and as Square’s most recent mainline FF titles, Remake can’t exist without comparison to them. Here’s what I remember:

Final Fantasy 13 was a game I enjoyed. The stagger system mixed up my casual FF tradition of Get The Big Numbers by putting a prominent UI element onscreen that says You Can’t Get The Big Numbers Unless The Bar Is Full. Suddenly there’s a natural-but-enforced ebb and flow to combat built in, where you gotta juggle chip damage, survival, and crowd control while keeping resources enough to burst down a staggered foe, but maintain situational awareness to swap back into survival mode if you’re not gonna down your enemy, all in something close to real-time. Very obviously a direct precursor to the combat of Remake. I didn’t realize the depth of it, but it was still super fun.

People at the time didn’t like the linearity of the game and, I can see that in retrospect? I think it’s closer to, there weren’t breakpoints, there wasn’t variety. It was cutscenes, combat, and the stretches of land between them; the only real thing for the brain to get a workout on was the combat, and eating only one kinda food is gonna make that food taste bland.

((I didn’t mind, but I like idle games, and, also probably had depression around then. Take that how you will.))

The story, though, I loved. You got your uncaring gods forcing mortals to do their increasingly-impossible bidding, cursing them to agonized unlife if they take too long, and with blissful, beautiful death if they succeed. It sucks! And here you have a ragtag band of incidental idiots trying to rebel against a system that, actually, wants them to? Like that’s the plan? Have mortals kill god and summon the devil to destroy all life, because god, doesn’t.... like life anymore?

((The lore gets more than a little impenetrable, and I remember bouncing off it a couple times. The throughline of God Sucks And Makes Zombies was good though.))

The biblical parallels are obvious, and if they weren’t, the final boss’ design will clue you in, god that’s a good design. hang on I can add pictures and already tossed a spoiler warning, here, look at this:

(per the Final Fantasy Fandom Wiki [X])

That’s literally The Holy Trinity But A Sword The Size Of A Building. It’s perfect.

Anyway, I love this game, because the heroes win, which is what God wants, so in winning, they lose, as was fated to be, right? Fuck All That, say the lesbians from space australia, as they turn into satan and, as satan, stop God’s shitty metal moon from crashing into space australia and destroying all life.

((this awakened something in me, though, as is becoming a theme, I wasn’t aware of it at the time. actually hold up I’m gonna rewatch that sequence.

((yeah okay wow on review that was aggressively cheesy and had a whole bunch of weird emotional whiplash that just leaves a super-bad aftertaste. I don’t really like it as an experience, but big bazonga lesbian satan with arms for hair is still a look-and-a-half.))

The whole thing is not entirely unlike if meteor was also Midgar, and there’s more than a few points where I went, hang on, are they trying to evoke 7 here? “Lightning” is ex-military and bad at emotions, Sazh is a black dad w/ guns and emotional trauma and I love him, quirky pink healer girl who might be an alien is here, the game starts on a train and leads into a robot bug fight; obviously it’s not one-to-one but the connections are there for a brain like mine to make, and only more prominent for the fact that FF7 was the more satisfying game.

((I cannot speak to 13-2 or -3; 13-2 was fun up until the enemies were abruptly 30 levels higher than me, more or less a mandate by the game for me to do all the side content, which I was not on-board with. I skipped 13-3 entirely, especially when I learned the whole game is on a timer. did not and do not need that stress in my life.))

- - - - -

But okay, FF13 was “too linear” and wasn’t doing super great. Enter Final Fantasy Versus 13, by which I mean enter Final Fantasy 15 actually, we don’t need any more of this 13 crap. And once again, I enjoyed it! ...Right up until it was bad.

Final Fantasy 15 was not a finished game, and we know this for certain now, because all its DLC was to make it a finished game. At the time, though, there was uncomfortable and inconsistent story pacing, only one playable character, relatively sparse combat mechanics... but it was open-world, and hey, that’s what you wanted, right? open, non-linear environments? I picked it up because, Teleporting Swordsman With a Motorcycle Sword. I am of simple pleasures, and those are they.

Of the little I remember, one point that’s stuck with me is the sequence following the Leviathan fight. See, we’ve been talking about fate and destiny and how Final Fantasy likes to spite them. Here in 15, our main man Noctis doesn’t want the destiny he’s been burdened with, to Become The King and Save The World from the Coming Darkness, or whatever. He’d really rather be doing, anything else? like hanging out with his buddies or actually getting married or, I dunno, grieving the death of his father. Nope! You don’t get to do that. Go find the ghost armaments of your dead ancestors so you can ~saaave the wooorld!~ I would have been in college around then, so, eminently relatable.

Now, on this journey, you meet a guy called Ardyn. He’s the sort of character that was built as an attack on me personally: sleazy, charming, possessing airs of casual familiarity with people he’s never met, kinda helps you out in tight spots, and also, by the way, vizier to the empire that killed your dad and wants you and your friends dead too. But not in the “secret good guy” way, he just likes fucking with you! he’s perfect.

Right up until the Leviathan fight.

See, Lunafreya, your betrothed--

((I’m so mad about this stupid, stupid garbage. I love Lunafreya on principle, but the game doesn’t bother to give her screentime. you only ever hear about her incidentally, which can be cool if you then meet the character and get to compare/contrast what you’ve heard, but the initial release only has her show up for this one chapter, and your party doesn’t really get to interact with her that much.))

Your betrothed is here and she’s some symbol of the peoples’ hope, right? she’s got light magic or something, and can actually commune with the gods. the gods are on your side, but you can’t actually understand a word they say, but she can, and that’s sick as hell. anyway.

You lose the fight against Leviathan, because you’re a shitty emo teen who doesn’t know how to use your ghost swords, and she got beat up earlier when Levi got all pissy at being summoned. And then Ardyn shows up in his magitek dropship.

Now earlier, Ardyn had Luna as his captive, completely at his mercy, and right now, he who would be king of kings, destined to save the world from darkness, is clutching at rock in a hurricane, beaten, wounded and dying.

Of the two, which do you think he stabs to death?

if you thought, “the protagonist, which will allow him to win, and subvert Final Fantasy’s themes of defying fate by having the villain be the one to do it, forcing everyone else to scramble for some alternate solution and deal with the fallout,” congratulations! You win disappointment, because that idea’s cool as hell and they didn’t. fucking. Do it.

((Ardyn, before this, had given me major Kefka vibes, and thinking on it now, the world descending into darkness in the 15 we never had could have played with even deeper parallels to FF6... but I never played 6, and that FF15 doesn’t exist, so... I’ll leave that analysis to better scholars.))

now, with the benefit of hindsight, that was never going to happen. too long in development hell, game had to ship, had no time or budget for mid-game upheaval. but at the time? made me lose any interest I had in Ardyn, made me mad at the developers for passing up on fulfilling the themes their series had explored in past, made me almost stop playing the game. I’m still mad about it for crying out loud!

((thinking about it gets me tensed up, coiled, with that sort of full-body thrum that’s best conveyed with letters that jitter around. best I can do here is bold italics, but it doesn’t have the right energy. it’s a fleeting feeling, but when it’s here? god. given the men that wrote this scene I would fight all of them and win.

((inhale...

((exhale...

((and move on.))

We, the player, never really meet Luna, so there’s no real... impact, no substance to it. It’s sad, but impersonal. villain kills damsel to inflict manpain on hero. that’s it. we’ve seen this song and dance before.

But kill Noctis? The character the player’s been controlling all this time, who they know intimately? Now it’s personal. Now your party members’ grief is a mirror to your own. And now you get to play as Luna, maybe? give the game time to flesh her out, have her bond with your old companions over their shared grief, and maybe use her connections and public speaking skills to rally the people of the world, in a perhaps-vain attempt to resist the oncoming darkness, while simultaneously using that public-facingness to drive her to hide her own fear and hopelessness...? That’s a complex character ripe for drama and tragedy right there! And then her, at the head of a story about people coming together to solve a global calamity themselves, rather than await their appointed savior?

Even then, but especially now... You can see the appeal, right?

- - - - -

Lemme step back and zoom out for a moment, because there’s one more kind of Fate to discuss before I finalize my thesis. Yes, I promise, there is a point besides being mad at FF15, this is still ultimately about Remake. Bear with me a little longer.

See, Remake’s premise is that it’s not quite FF7, but that itself is predicated on Remake being essentially FF7. Certain things must be in the Remake series, or it will cease to be the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series. The developers have gone on record saying as much, that they’ll still cover the thrust of the original, and that makes a lot of sense from a development standpoint. Building on an existing framework saves loads of time, and lets them focus on details as they have in Remake.

((I think they've already set up an in-universe justification for this, too. The party may have defeated the Whispers at Midgar, but the Whispers are the will of the planet. The only way to truly defeat them would be to defeat the planet itself, which: kind of the goal of the villains!

((a bit ironic, because the villains are the Whispers’ means to keep manipulating events. Remake backends a very large portion of the plot, and I don’t think Rufus seeing the Whispers is a throwaway detail. The party chases Sephiroth by chasing Shinra in the original, so even if the party has shaken free of the direct influence of the Whispers, manipulating Shinra should in turn manipulate the party.

((on top of which, Rufus prizes power, and the power to change or control fate-- something both the party and Sephiroth have seized-- would be as enticing as anything.))

But this begs the question: How much of Final Fantasy 7 is necessary before it stops being Final Fantasy 7? Do you need all nine characters? The Weapons? Rideable chocobo? Breedable chocobo? What about locations? Can you drop the Gold Saucer? or Mount Condor? or Mideel? How many minigames am I holding up? These are necessary questions, but so is this:

“Would a one-to-one recreation of the original game have the same emotional impact as when it released, twenty-three years ago?”

- - - - -

Now, the phrase “emotional impact” is necessarily kind of nebulous and subjective, so lemme dig into that a little bit.

The first significant chunk of the original FF7 takes place entirely in Midgar, which is one huge city. Every screen is densely packed; movement is typically constrained to narrow corridors and industrial crawlspaces. The whole world is deeply claustrophobic and visually hostile, by design.

This is FF7 for the first few hours, before a motorcycle chase deposits you outside city limits, and then... you hit the world map, and everything changes. The world is rendered in three whole dimensions, now! (Then, a technological marvel in its own right.) There’s a sky! There’s a horizon! Grass, mountains, the ocean!

Boundless, terrifying freedom.

From a mechanical standpoint, there’s only one real destination, an A-to-B with random encounters before a small enclosure with an inn and shops, no real change from what you’ve already been doing. But the mood? Everything’s fresh and new, now. Everything’s an unknown.

So, how do we do that again, two-and-a-half decades on?

Let’s say, something like this: Remake 2 starts with Cloud and Sephiroth en route to Nibelheim. For new players, this provides immediate intrigue: why are these mortal enemies hanging out in a truck? how did they get here, where are they going? For veterans, it’s familiar: oh, we’re in the flashback sequence.

For both, it provides mechanical familiarity. We just finished last game hanging out in Midgar, a bunch of town squares with shops and cutscenes connected to hazardous corridors. Well, Nibelheim’s a town with shops and cutscenes, connected to a monster-filled anthill and capped with a reactor. We know this. We’ve done this. We can do this again.

And when the flashback ends, we’re in Kalm. Another town, maybe with sidequests this time; Midgar looming in the distant skybox as a reminder of how far we’ve come.

And then you leave Kalm, and the camera zooms out, and out, and out...

Remake is essentially 7, and you can’t have the impact of 7′s world map reveal if Remake isn’t functionally open-world too. Square has plenty of experience with open environments, however successful their more recent attempts have been; I’m confident that the have the ability, at least, to craft an expansive world that feels appropriate to FF7.

((I’d like to take a moment here to talk about FF14, which mixes both compact twisty dungeons and wide-open overworld zones, and is necessarily wildly successful to still be operating as an MMO... but though I have played it briefly, I don’t claim knowledge sufficient to go in-depth. The point is, Square not only can make a game like that, they have, and are, and apparently possess non-zero competency. I have worries, but I’m not worried, if that makes sense.))

So, can you recreate a given kind of emotional impact? Yeah!

Can scenes from the original Final Fantasy 7 be rendered into a new context, more-or-less as they were? Absolutely!

Would a one-to-one recreation of the original game have the same emotional impact as when it released, twenty-three years ago?

- - - - -

Aerith dies.

If you opened this post and didn’t know that, well. There were spoiler warnings up at the top, the game’s more than two decades old, and the spoiler itself is basically a piece of pop-culture, up there with space dad and wizard killer. There’re probably plenty of people who know next-to-nothing about Final Fantasy 7 except that Aerith dies.

Everyone knows because, at the time, it was so big a thing. This was a title that Square hyped to heaven and back to push JRPGs into mainstream western markets, and it worked. And this was before major death was so common and arbitrary as it is today; even now, Game of Thrones and its ilk are a relative rarity. The death of a protagonist or love interest wasn’t a new thing for games, or any media really, but usually you knew it was coming, or it served some purpose. Aerith’s death was sudden, arbitrary, you’re almost immediately thrown into a boss fight so you don’t even have time to process it right away, and it’s the first stone in an avalanche of other pointless arbitrary tragedy. It’s an obvious narrative setup for the endgame confrontation with Sephiroth; instead, Cloud has a breakdown, Meteor happens, and now there’s an entire Disk 2.

Fandom has always been fandom, even before the continuous immediacy of the modern internet, but... people wrote letters to Square, and got sad on message boards. There’s an entire subset of forum signatures, back when those were a thing, that you could sort as “people fucked up over Aerith dying.” And again, this was the world. Not just Japan, or Asia, but everyone.

((Or, everyone with the finances to have a PS2 and/or an internet connection. Gaming as a pastime remains way expensive, whether played or watched. But you know how it is.))

And that’s the problem with answering that question.

See, FF7 is a lot of things, but for better or worse, it is defined by Aerith’s death. It’s one of many factors, but you can’t... leave it out, right? or it wouldn’t be FF7 anymore.

Aerith dies in FF7, and everyone knows it.

- - - - -

But Remake has promised, repeatedly, that things will be different this time. Everyone is coming together to defy fate, and Cloud in particular is here to keep Aerith from dying. Bodyguard jokes aside, Cloud repeatedly has flashbacks (flashforwards?) to Aerith’s death and the events leading to it. When he meets her in the church, when they cross into Sector 6, twice in the final battle. Hell, the very first time they meet, Sephiroth taunts him about not being able to save her. Even from a metatextual standpoint, since everyone knows Aerith dies, that’s like, The Most Obvious Fate To Change.

If, after all that, Aerith still dies? It’s not just tragedy, at that point. That’s the developers, actively lying to the player about their intent in making this game series. That’s frustrating, and immersion-breaking, and when said death is likely to still have one or more entire sequels to come after? maybe not great for sales! I know I didn’t bother buying the complete edition of FF15; I couldn’t bring myself to care enough about a game that set up this cool possibility, and then just, failed to deliver on every count.

And, Remake is being made for two audiences. I’ve said “everybody knows Aerith dies,” but that’s not really true, is it? It’s been 23 years, after all. Remake could well be someone’s very first Final Fantasy experience. That’s why they’ve been telegraphing Aerith’s death so hard. Not everyone knows, but at least everyone can guess. Is it fair, then, to this new audience, with potentially no knowledge or understanding of the legacy of this flashy new action game, to foreshadow tragedy in the future, have everyone come together to say, We’re Going To Stop This, and then... not? Is that good writing? Is that satisfying? When this is a multi-game and potentially multi-console investment of time and money, is this, as a newcomer, a story you’d want to keep playing?

And then on top of that, it’s 2020.

I don’t mean that in the current-year-fallacy, “we’re better than this now” kind of way. Rather, the way I felt about Final Fantasy 15 is even more relevant now. People, in real life, are realizing that the powers-that-be are failing them, have failed them, have been failing them for far longer than twenty-three years. The people that already knew that are actually showing up for each other, to spite what felt and feels like inescapable fate and finding that, together, they might just be able to ruin God’s day.

Game development is, of course, its own whole beast, and projects in motion tend to stay in motion; deviating from a plan takes time and money that Square may be unwilling to spend. But, under current world circumstances: is making a game where the hero sets out to save one specific person from their fated death, and following that with a game where that one specific person dies anyway, aside from everything else, a good business decision?

- - - - -

So... Aerith, shouldn’t die, right...? But, FF7 requires Meteor, and so requires the Temple of the Ancients and the Black Materia. And, Meteor can only be stopped by Holy, so FF7 requires the Forgotten City.

FF7 is a tragedy. FF7 demands blood.

...Hey, actually, hold that thought. How come Cloud can remember Aerith dying in the first place? He’s not from the future, right? He’s got a connection to Sephiroth, who is from the future... and Sephiroth can manipulate his memories...? but, why would Sephiroth let him, or make him, remember that?

Hey, how come Zack is alive, but like, in the “narrative scope” sense? Wouldn’t his presence circumvent Cloud’s delusions about the Nibelheim incident?

Hey, how come Cloud had multiple big climactic Sephiroth confrontations at what’s essentially the end of the prologue, including one that mirrors the very end of the original FF7? Shouldn’t that still come at, like, you know. the end?

Hey, how come--

- - - - -

Remake has these... Callbacks? Refrains? Like my favorite, when Sephiroth throws a train-- you know, The Fate Metaphor-- at Cloud, who absolutely shreds the thing. Or, for a more direct example:

And it frequently uses these to show that people are changing, that things can change. You know, the whole Running Theme the game has going on.

Sephiroth gets a refrain, too.

At the start of the game (give or take a reactor), in his first real appearance, Sephiroth philosophizes at Cloud, makes sure Cloud hates him, and tells Cloud what he wants.

At the end of the game, in his last appearance, Sephiroth philosophizes at Cloud, tells Cloud what he wants, and makes sure Cloud hates him.

Structurally, these encounters more-or-less bookend the game; thematically, it doesn’t exactly indicate change. Barret may or may not have come around on Cloud, and his admission that Cloud is important to him after all is, itself, important. Cloud, on the other hand, was always going to defy Sephiroth. He stands resolute, now, ready to fight rather than flee, but apathy was never on the table.

Now, Sephiroth’s whole Thing is psychologically manipulating Cloud to get what he wants, and as part of that, what Sephiroth wants is usually not what he says he wants.

All throughout the original FF7, Sephiroth riled up Cloud so that Cloud would pursue and defy him, culminating first in the Black Materia incident, and then again in the Forgotten City. None of the Sephiroth clones could survive the trip through the Northern Crater, so Sephiroth had to lure Cloud, with the Black Materia, to him, and then also convince Cloud to give up the Black Materia of his own accord. Mind control, memory manipulation and illusions were involved, but if Sephiroth could maintain those indefinitely, he probably just. Would have done that instead. Way easier,

The point is, in Remake, in addition to all the intermittent retraumitization sprinkled throughout the game, Sephiroth goes out of his way twice to directly ask Cloud, “hey, you hate me, right?” And, as part of that question, he tells Cloud, “this is what I want.” And Cloud? He hates Sephiroth, and will do his damnedest to keep Sephiroth from getting what he wants.

So. What does Sephiroth... say he wants?

- - - - -

One last aside before we cap off: This post would not exist without the valiant efforts of one Maximilian_dood. His devotion to the series kept myself and many others engaged and excited and, frankly, hopeful, in the leadup to the release of Remake, and his correlations between the rest of the FF7 series and Remake were enlightening and entertaining.

and had he not the gall to identify defying fate as a device to make aerith’s death more tragic, I would never have been angry enough to write this.

((I know, I know. Gaming and streaming and lit analysis are all hard individually, and I don’t begrudge losing one for the other two. And it was a first playthrough! I might have seen these lines sooner than some, but collating all this info was certainly not instantaneous. And Square can be hack writers at times-- see again my rant on FF15-- so even then, I can’t discount the possibility.

((but, still.

((Really?))

So, while I would like to believe that I have, by now, made my thesis on Remake’s narrative direction abundantly clear, here it is spelled out anyway:

- - - - -

At the bottom of the Forgotten City, at the shrine on the pillar in the lake, Cloud will find Aerith, who believes her fate immutable.

Sephiroth will descend, and Cloud will sacrifice himself, that Aerith should live.

This is Sephiroth’s plan.

- - - - -

Hey, thanks for reading this far! With my conversational tone and rambling tendencies, I’d have preferred to make this an audio post or, god forbid, a video essay, but I got a keyboard, and that’ll have to do. Diction is important to me, as the capitalization, italics and use of punctuation may have clued you in on, so... maybe you’ll get a dramatic reading sometime in the future? but, don’t bet on it.

Feel free to riddle me with questions, or point out inconsistencies with this big ol’ thing! I’m not exactly an expert, and I’m sure I glossed over, heavily paraphrased, completely forgot, intentionally ignored and/or aggressively misrepresented some stuff, but I love learning and teaching esoteric bullshit about The Vijigams. On that note, anything that sounds like it should be sourced is sourced from “I heard about it on social media or in a stream or youtube video one time, but if I actually had to hunt it down this whole thing would never see the light of day, and it has already been like three months,” which isn’t to excuse my lack of due diligence, but I do, lack diligence, so, tough.

Oh! but the Remake screens all come from [here]. Don’t care much for that splash screen, but, I Get It, so, whatever.

There were some other things I wanted to touch on but couldn’t really find a spot for. FF7 Remake as a metaphor for its own development, for example. Or, some of The Possibilities, like how Cloud’s death could very literally haunt Aerith, or how Remake sets up a more fleshed-out Midgar revisit that Cloud’s death specifically would make infinitely sadder.

On that note, if it was not yet obvious, I love speculation, and if they do go this direction, it’ll probably be their justification to go completely... off the rails? Remake only has to be FF7 until it doesn’t, after all. If there’s some wilder implications youall see for like... I dunno, a Jenova more fully-regenerated from also having Cloud’s cells back, getting into proper Kaiju-on-Kaiju battles with the Weapons, or anything like that? Feed me your brain juice, etc.

And, once more, for the road: this is interpretation; subjective, opinionated, and very much in denial of any kind of author-ity. Nor is this a claim on how things should be, or an assertion that this would be good or bad. Everything ultimately rests on Square's narrative design team and, we’ve touched on them already.

((but, for your consideration: I’m smart, and right))

Here’s hoping, whatever happens, we get the game we deserve.

thanks for coming to my ted talk, have a great day

[all-alone-he-turns-to-stone]

We don’t believe what’s on TV - Chapter 26

<<Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22 / Chapter 23 / Chapter 24 / Chapter 25 / Chapter 27 / Chapter 28 / Chapter 29

Resume: I had an ordinary life, or that’s what I wanted to believe. I lost myself in the TV series that I listened to forget the normal boring life. What I didn’t know, however, was that my life would change completely overnight.

Finding myself in 2013 at Beacon Hills County.

This will be a Stiles x Reader but only further in the story (soon soon!)

In this chapter: Training, lying, helping, loving and failing.

Word count: 5169

A/N: I’M NOT LATE THIS WEEK!! Be proud of me please this is so rare omg. Thanks again to @maddie110201 who proofreaded it and keeps giving me motivation. I love you. I hope y’all love this chapter also longer than the usual 3K words! (Ps: if you’re on the tag list or if you really enjoy this series it would be super kind to leave a feedback! It makes the author wanna continue! And especially with this story, it takes a lot of time for me to write it but only a couple of seconds are needed for a feedback!) (I don’t own the gifs nor the pictures! Credit to owners)

"Fists higher, Y / N. "

" I’m trying!” I gasped while wiping my forehead before receiving another kick at the waist. It made me growl as I hopped up to place myself back, my face clenched with pain as the blow was hard and painful. My whole body was hurting.

"Always watch your defense," my sensei, as I liked to call Allison, reminded me by continuing to turn around me on the small blue carpet thick enough to cushion the shock but not to prevent the bruises from appearing on my body the next day.

"Yes ..." I mumbled, jaw and teeth clenched before taking another hit, this time behind the knee. I lost balance and fall on the mattress on my knees. By reflex, I placed my hands in front of me to cushion my weight.

It was only the second day. The second training session since the hypnosis. Allison had kept her word, she was going to teach me everything she knew. And it was with a destructive smile that she told me that at the end, if I survived her teaching, I would know how to fight. Know how to use a bow or crossbow. I would be strong and finally useful.

So, during the two days after school, we met in the basement of the building where Allison lived, which was actually a weapon warehouse for the Argents. Even if Allison didn’t really have the permission to take me to that place or even go there herself, we went.

A lot of things happened in two days. I finally got home, finally, at the McCall's where Scott had greeted me by taking me in his arms to squeeze me gently and tenderly. Before I left, I had made Allison promise something else.

"I’ll say that I don’t remember what happened. I don’t want to talk about it or make things worse than it is, so ... "

And she had promised to tell no one about it either.

I took the next day off, Scott had insisted. I had innocently asked him questions about the hypnosis but his answers had remained vague, obviously he wasn’t going to tell me I was possessed by something dark and very strong that had managed to hurt him and Isaac, two werewolfs, enough to make them unconscious. And probably at this very moment, Deaton was doing some research to try to understand what was happening to me. Scott had remained simple; I was somnambulist and they had to look for me in the forest. It was the official lie.

And that day was the first without nightmares. Without waking up abruptly screaming. I even had totally normal dreams, as if the thing in my head that possessed me when my guard was down was no longer there. My theory was that, by saying such an important event that was going to happen, the pain had been such it had weakened it. Like taking control of my body already demanded a lot of power and now it had none left.

I took advantage of it to sleep all day, not suspecting the number of times Stiles came visit me to hit a closed door or Scott telling him I was sleeping and that I shouldn’t be disturbed.

That same evening, I finally managed to convince Scott to go get a tattoo with Stiles. The absent tattoo remained an important missing element and especially very stressful. It was something I had to fix quickly before the impacts were disastrous. Later he told me his tattoo hadn’t stayed, that he had recovered like his body thought it was a scar needed to heal. I had then sent him on a track mentioning that Derek had a tattoo and he surely had to know how to do it. And indeed, he knew it.

Stiles had to come pick me up for Scott, but I wanted to avoid him as much as possible. If the monster in my head took him for a threat, he was in danger with me. Everyone was. But Stiles even more. So before he came, I pushed myself out of the house and mentioned I had to go to the police station to give my statement of the week on the progress of my memory loss. Allison came to take me and we went, then she explained to me she had found a place for training and that we would go there to get started. She had fortunately not asked why I had to go to the station and I mentally thanked her for it. If she knew the reason, she would understand I wasn’t Scott's real sister and all the lies would shatter, including the trust that was based on it.

So it had been two days while during the evening Allison taught me the basis of defense. How to stand, posture, balance, have eyes all around the head and most importantly, never leave the opponent's eyes. The training had begun with jogging and ended with me, out of breath, bruises all over the body. The next day I managed to avoid Stiles as much as possible, even though I knew that he was worried about me. I was dying to see him, talk to him, but every time I saw the scar on his forehead, wound caused by me, I couldn’t. And I changed corridors every time.

After school I went back to the basement. And we were still training.

"Concentration, Y / N. Don’t forget. Concentration, coordination ...”

"Balance and attention, I know ..." I whispered breathlessly. It wasn’t easy, I knew, she knew. Having no basis in self-defence, her teaching was going to be only more difficult. "When will I learn to fight back? "

"When you'll be able to defend yourself," Allison finished by giving me a last shot in the back and when I fell, I didn’t get up. Exhausted, I remained on the floor.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're human," I grumbled as I tried to get up but decided to stay comfortably on the ground instead. Allison was about to reply when my phone rang in my bag, giving me the energy to get up and go to answer. But my hand froze when I recognized the name displayed. Stiles.

" Who is it?” Allison asked, placing a hand gently between my shoulder blades to warn me of her presence while my phone continued to ring. She looked over my shoulder and understood. "You should answer."

I sighed. I couldn’t always avoid him. Especially since I didn’t want to. So my finger slid on the green phone icon to answer. After I scraped my throat, I put the handset on my ear and muttered a little hello.

"Y / N," Stiles’ voice uttered in my ear and my heart accelerated. I had missed his voice so much. My hand held my cell phone tighter and I swallowed, waiting for the rest. A little silence became bigger when no one dared speak, listening only to the breathing of the other. "You have to come to the hospital. "  

My breathing stuck in my throat as my head turned to Allison, eyes wide open. Her eyes became worried as she realized something was wrong.

"I'm coming," I answered, hanging up. Then, without looking away from Allison, I nodded toward the exit. We didn’t take the time to change and left the basement with our sweaty clothes.

When I got to the hospital, it didn’t take me much time to figure out what had happened and I wanted to hit my head against the window. My mission. The darach had again made a victim, a healer. I had to put my ideas in order, to remind myself who was going to be next. Perhaps that was why Stiles had called me? To ask me who was next?

Nervousness gained on me more as the car got closer. Allison parked the car a little away but as close as possible to the hospital. We then got out of the car, looking for Scott and Stiles even though I knew where they were. I pointed to them as I walked, my heart beating only louder. Ever since I had heard Stiles' voice, I only wanted to hear it again.

"Allison?" Scott asked, probably not understanding what I was doing with her. After explaining to him that I somehow needed a chauffeur and that she was nearby, the situation was cleared up.

"These are definitely sacrifices, right?" Allison asked, slowly understanding what was going on, the murders in groups of three. However, a healer was missing to meet the criteria.

"Yeah, this one is healers. Deaton talked about it ..." Stiles began. I could feel his look on me never leave me. I cleared my throat, swinging from one foot to the other, nervous and embarrassed.

"What about Danny? He threw up mistletoe. That's not a coincidence, and if he hadn’t been with Ethan, he would probably have died. Danny's not a healer." Scott remarked. Indeed, Danny wasn’t a healer and wasn’t on the list of people the darach wanted to kill. Because he knew too much, it had put him in danger. And even if it made me angry to admit it, Scott was right. Ethan had saved Danny, sort of.

"Why did you call me?" I asked in a small voice, which attracted everyone's attention to me.

"Stiles wanted to see you," Scott said aloud, a huge smile in his face as Stiles sent him his most murderous look. "To ... know if you know by any chance who could be next. "

Stiles didn’t add anything and rested his honey brown eyes on me, staring into my eyes patiently waiting for an answer.

"Why should I know?" I answered, my heart beating only faster.

"Just taking a chance ..." Stiles mumbled as he quickly pulled out his tongue to lick his dry lips.

After hearing with his supernatural abilities that the police had found a body, Scott insisted on taking me home. Stiles also offered a ride, but I agreed to travel with Scott and his mother while avoiding his gaze. After saying goodbye to Allison and smiling shyly at Stiles, I went up with the McCalls and went home. A good shower, then bed; actually, the pile of blankets covering the floor that served me as a bed in Scott’s room.

I waited for Scott to come to sleep for several minutes, fighting the sleep as best I could. Seeing he didn’t come, I stood up, my muscles protesting under the effort to walk as silently as possible in the house, seeking him. Isaac wasn’t in his room either and I found them both in Melissa's room, sleeping in some impossible positions. They were watching over her. A tired smile stretched my lips as I took a seat near the door, clutching my head against the wall and then closed my eyes. I would to watch over Melissa all by myself.

"Really, boys? Boys!” Melissa's voice echoed abruptly in my skull and my eyes snapped open and my breath remained stuck in my lungs for a moment in the shock of the awakening. “What do you think you’re doing?”

"Uh, we were watching over you." Isaac said, being careful to stay polite.

"We wanted to make sure you were not the third sacrifice." Scott added.

"But both of you were asleep." Melissa continued, then step forward in her bed to have a better view in front of it where I was still sitting on the floor. I raised my hand to say hello while yawning.

"You were on watch last."

"What are you talking about? You were on watch last. "

"No, you were on watch last."

"I might've been on watch last." Isaac looked at Melissa in the eyes to say that sentence and finally Scott noticed my presence as well. He gave me the big eyes, meaning he wasn’t really agreeing with my presence. I put myself on my feet while yawning again.

"My heroes." Mrs. McCall mumbled sarcastically.

"I watched over you," I mumbled, eyes half open while sketching the gesture of a thumbs up in the air. I looked to my right to see Scott and Isaac stare at me, stunned that I managed to hold all night. Or almost all night. Well they didn’t need to know the truth

"The only hero here is the human. Ironic," she continued, then stopped when she understood something. "Wait, didn’t you say that they were all doctors? I mean, I have not had an M.D. recently attached to the end of my name, so I think I'm in the clear. "

"Yeah, but it could just come under any kind of healer, mom, and you were definitely a healer last night."

"Anything is possible," I added. Indeed, if Danny had been attacked and if unfortunately one of my actions had changed the darach's plans, anyone could be next on her list.

"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna be anyone's human sacrifice today, so all of you get your butts to school. Now. And Y / N, take a coffee. Trust me, you'll need it. "

"Okay," I mumbled as I turned around to leave her room and go to Scott's to prepare. A night without any sleep wouldn’t disrupt my day. I was used to it. And only to see the scene of Isaac and Scott fighting to know who was on watch last in real life was really worth it.

What was less worth it, however, was the gaze Isaac continually gave me. Suspicious, his blue eyes wouldn’t leave me. He watched each of my movements, stayed with Scott when he was with me, as if I was going to attack him suddenly. Isaac's growing loyalty to Scott, the future true alpha, was on the one hand very beautiful but on the other dangerous. If Stiles had taken a long time to trust me, it would be far more complicated with Isaac.

Especially with what had happened during the hypnosis, when I had attacked him. Scott had surely asked him not to say or do anything, that he would find a solution. But obviously the beta still wanted to watch me. I sighed as I sat down in chemistry class and surprisingly, Isaac didn’t follow me. And I was even more surprised to see Stiles rushing to the chair next to me as if someone was about to steal it and go away with the piece of furniture. Again, the sight of the scar on his forehead, cause of his contusion, hurt me. I had to lower my eyes and looked nervously at my hands as we heard Scott pulled a chair in front of us at the table.

The silence became more and more uncomfortable. I had only one desire that the day would end so I could join Allison in the basement to continue the training. Even if I would have to find a new excuse to give Scott to explain my absence every night. As Stiles opened his mouth to speak, someone I really didn’t want to see today went into the classroom and put a book on the teacher's desk. I groaned as I ran a hand through my hair, feeling my sleepless nights start to take effect.

“Good morning. As you all know, Mr. Harris is still missing I mean, sick. Anyway, I'm filling in while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place. Okay, so let's get started, shall we?”

My head went to meet the desk loudly as Stiles whispered something to Scott in the front.

“Hey, my dad said that the E.R. attending wasn't strangled but did die from asphyxiation. They just don't know how.”

“Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?” Scott answered, turning slightly towards his friend.

“I don't know But, Scott, there's got to be at least 20 other doctors in that hospital at least, you know? Any one of them could be next.”

I raised my head, wide-eyed, and at the same time Scott's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he hastened to answer, leaning against the table in order to be as discreet as possible. For his part, Stiles had turned towards me, worried. He asked me what was wrong and commented I had the face of someone who knew something but I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t tell him it was Deaton calling to say he was about to be taken. If something changed, there were risks he would never be found. And that he would indeed be the last sacrifice. That Scott wouldn’t try to save him and wouldn’t start to become a true alpha.

“Hey, doc. Sorry, I'm in class right now. Can I call you back later?” A pause, a silence in which I could see Scott listen. “Doc, doc, doc, doc? What's happening?”

His voice, urgent, restless and powerless, sounded a little too loudly in the class, attracting Jennifer's attention.

"Scott, please, class is started, put away your phone."

My fist only closed even more, the rage of seeing her healthy and safe with her angelic face that no one suspected made me sick. If my eyes could, they would have killed her with a glance.

After the long chemistry class, which was mostly me trying to avoid contact with Stiles (in order to protect him, I kept repeating myself), all three of us went to the clinic.

In fact, it can be summed up in Scott, running wildly at supernatural speed, leaving me alone with Stiles with a growing feeling of nervousness as we climbed into his jeep to head in a human way to the same place as the worried werewolf. Stiles quickly called his father to explain the situation and the disappearance of the veterinarian.

Then it was total silence. And it was only more embarrassing to hear this silence float in the air around us when obviously Stiles was trying to find something to say while I cursed myself for never being able to predict this kind of event. But of course, I had to come with them to the clinic. Why? Scott didn’t want to leave me alone? Certainly. But he really had to trust me to leave me alone with Stiles knowing very well the monster in my head was very keen to kill him. Or he was too preoccupied by Deaton's call.

Or he knew. He knew that between hurt him or suffer, to the point of dying, I would always choose the second option.

Finally no one broke the silence which, this time was uncomfortable. The palpable tension was broken when I finally got out of the jeep, closing the door behind me to walk side by side with Stiles. We went to the clinic and then I froze.

A feeling of déjà vu made me shudder from head to foot, unfortunately remembering too well all the memories related to the hypnosis three days ago. Everything was still too fresh in my memory and I had to take a moment to recover from my emotions, only to see Stiles who had a hand extended to me, waiting for me to take it. I looked up at him and thanked him with a quick whim before taking his hand that was warm in mine. Immediately the appeasement replaced the discomfort and we were able to get where Scott was waiting for us, stunned. Words were not necessary to understand what was going on. Even without knowing the future, it would have been obvious. Especially since Stiles' father was present with some other deputies in the clinic.

Scott looked up at us and immediately lowered his eyes to our hands, which were still in each other. Uncomfortable, I withdrew my hand immediately to regret it; the heat which left me was replaced by fear and anxiety. And above all, remorse at the thought of having wounded Stiles by thus withdrawing my hand.

"All right, we're gonna do everything we can. Right now, the best thing you can do is go back to school." The Sheriff tapped Scott's shoulder before he left. The latter nodded at the spot where the animal cages were so we could talk more discreetly. I nodded knowing what was about to happen all too well. Scott was going to ask Stiles to tell his father everything and then would follow a mini-argument. I shouldn’t have been present in this scene like any other scenes and I felt only more out of my place. I didn’t want to get involved in this discussion and I didn’t want to be asked questions I would have to either lie or avoid. And the more I lied, the more I risked mixing them and get discovered. Which would end up losing the confidence of the few people I had managed to have.

“We have to tell him.” Scott began and I backed back a little against the wall behind Stiles, my head bent, listening quietly to their conversation.

“You mean, like, tell him, tell him, or tell him something else that isn't telling him what I think you want to tell him?” Stiles stammered, his hands trembling. In the scene, we couldn’t see this detail because the camera only filmed their faces. A new twinge in my heart took hold of me and I sighed softly as I stepped closer.

"You know what I mean," Scott continued.

“You remember how your mom reacted? She didn't look you in the eye for, like, a week.”

“And she got over it, and it actually made us closer.” Scott added in a calm and gentle voice, trying to convince his friend without rushing.

"He's right ..." I whispered as I raised my head toward Stiles and his eyes, already full of water stared at me a moment. He sniffed as he passed a hand absent-mindedly on his nose, not responding directly to me.

“I don't know... I mean, look at him. Come on, he's completely overwhelmed as it is.”

All three turned to see Stiles’ dad pass his hands behind his head, not understanding what was going on, the events incomprehensible to him.

“He's overwhelmed because he has no clue what's happening. He's got people dying in his town, the town that he's supposed to protect, and it's not his fault that he doesn't know what's happening. He's gonna find out sooner or later.”

“He won’t be mad. He won’t stop talking to you, on the contrary,” I added, stretching my hand by automatism towards him to brush my fingers with his. I thought what I was saying. Even if the sheriff wouldn’t believe his son at first, he would eventually realize the truth. And putting him in the confidence would only be beneficial in the future. Stiles looked up at me again, taking my hand in his. It kept trembling and the warmth of his skin was no longer so comforting. He needed my comfort. I tightened his hand a little more to show him that I was there. That I understood. And even though I avoided him a lot these past days, I wasn’t going to leave him. His honey brown eyes filled with water again and he rested them on Scott to continue without ever pulling his hand away. He needed it, needed the touch. And even if I told myself the opposite, I needed it too.

“Yeah, but is now really the right time?” Stiles tried to avoid the question. Pushing aside the moment when he would have to confess to his father the unrealistic idea that Beacon Hills was prey to supernatural creatures.

“What if not telling him now gets someone else killed?” Scott went on, thinking he was touching a chord. But it was the opposite because the pressure against my hand became stronger as a wave of emotions had to overwhelm him. And when he spoke again, I felt all the pain in his voice.

“What if telling him gets him killed, huh? I mean, okay, look, I get that Deaton's been like a father to you. I get that, okay? But this is my…” Stiles had to take a little break before continuing, emotions overflowing in him. “Scott, this is my actual father. I can't… I can't lose both of my parents, all right? Not both of them.”

His voice trembled, just like his hand. I understood, Stiles had lost his mother and I knew very well that if he lost his father too, he would lose himself in sorrow and pain.

"You're right." Scott admitted, nodding his head, probably feeling bad to have said that to his best friend.

"No, I'm not. I'm not right. I'll tell him." Stiles whispered in a low, hoarse voice, almost with difficulty. To admit it was obviously very hard for him and my heart pinched again. If only I could chase the pain off his heart and mind to put back the wonderful smile he used to have on his lips.

"I'll help you," Scott answered, a new hope appearing on his face as we all three turned toward the door to talk to the sheriff. And even before she appeared before us to prevent us from telling the truth to Stiles' father, I turned one last time towards him, our fingers still tangled.

"Don’t wait to tell him."

And it was right when the guidance counselor finished speaking to the sheriff that my hand left Stiles’ to go back to their place in the pockets of my jeans.

“Please, whatever you need if it can help find my brother.”

"Will you excuse us for a moment?" Noah mumbled at Deaton's sister and as soon as they were out of sight, she turned to us. For a brief moment, she seemed surprised to see me there. Again I was in a place where I shouldn’t have been.

“Okay, listen closely, all of you. No sheriff, deputy, or Detective is going to be able to find him.”

I really didn’t like her. Okay, the emissary had done nothing wrong, but her attitude irritated me very much.

“You don't have to ask us for help." Scott defended himself, feeling attacked. Obviously he wanted to save his boss.

“Actually, I'm trying to help you, because, if you're going to find my brother, then you need to use the one person who might actually have an ability to seek out the supernatural.”

Scott looked at Stiles, who said the name.

"Lydia. "

In order to find Lydia, it was decided to split up in order to cover more distance. However, I knew Scott didn’t want to leave me alone, so he offered to accompany me. Taking advantage of the opportunity to escape from Stiles even though I really didn’t want to, I accepted and followed him as soon as we got to school. I didn’t say goodbye to Stiles. I was so pissed at myself for that.

"Everything’s all right with Stiles?" Scott then asked me as we walked through the school corridors in search of Lydia, who, if I recall correctly, would be found by Stiles anyway. His question made me stop walking, my mouth open, caught.

"Great, well, normal, why?" I stammered as I caught up and he turned to me, raising an eyebrow, a little mockingly. He could hear my heart racing.

"Well," he began, before a shrill sound interrupted him; the fire alarm. However, it didn’t last long because as we began to head towards the exit, everything stopped. A few students whispered their displeasure while others, having to stay the rest of the day at school, grumbled insults.

Scott stopped suddenly and I nearly got into him so much I was surprised and so lost in my thoughts. I couldn’t quite remember what would happen after Stiles found Lydia, what was Scott doing at the same time?

"He found her," Scott told me by putting his cell phone back in his pocket and then started walking. But again he stopped and I really darted into him this time.

"Why do you stop?" I asked, rubbing my nose hurt by his muscular back.

"Shhh ..."

He stretched out his ears, all his concentration focused on the sounds he had to hear. His eyes stared at the void and nothing moved except the students around us. Scott beckoned me to stay where I was and moved forward following the source of the noise, but I didn’t listen and followed. Several times Scott turned towards me to show me his hand, sign he didn’t want me to follow him. And every time I made him big eyes and continued to walk behind him, refusing to be left behind. In the end he decided to abandon the idea of preventing me from following him because obviously he was far from succeeding. He opened a door the one of the music class and froze. This time I anticipated the blow and stopped just before I went in him again.

“Do you know what a metronome is, Scott? It's a tool to help you maintain a steady rhythm once you've set the tempo. Something tells me the tempo of your life has sped up considerably in the last few hours. If you'd like, I could help slow it down to a more manageable pace.”

I immediately recognized his voice and a shiver ran through my back. Deucalion. Scott walked into the classroom and tried to hide me behind so I had time to run away, but it was too late.

"Do not hide, Y / n. I also addressed you. "

Trapped, we both walked in the classroom. Seriously, what was the trip of adults always coming illegally to Beacon Hills High School? If the show wasn’t about supernatural creature it would be about pedos or what? I would have liked to joke and say something like that out loud, but nervousness and fear prevented me. Deucalion. Leader of the alpha pack. Even if he would end up repenting and helping Scott in Season 5, for now he was a heartless foe capable of killing just to prove he was the leader.

"How?" Scott tried to change the subject and put the conversation away from me. He was still keeping me behind him, his arms a little backward in a protective manner. I really shouldn’t have come. This scene, I had completely forgotten about it. And I still didn’t know how my presence would change it.

"By helping you find Deaton. Unless the person you hide behind you that you want so much to protect has already told you? "

The world seemed to collapse. My ears started to buzz and the sight became confused.

"Tell me, Y / N. You know the future, do you? "

He knew. Deucalion knew for me.

In the next chapter : This is it. My last chance to save him. Save Boyd.

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(Still can’t tag the ones on bold)

Next Chapter ->

[inappropriatefangirlneeds]

Gotham s4ep5 “The Blade's Path” Personal Review 

“Don´t worry people will talk”

Warning spoilers below  

* The Episode in which no one can do their Job without bloody CRITICS. HARVEY BULLOCK thinks he is doing his job freeing the licensed criminals JIM GORDON brought in thinking he is doing his job. Both disagree with each other. “That's above my pay grade, pal. I just, uh, bust the bad guys.” Then there is also ALFRED PENNYWORTH and Jim who still want each other to do their jobs (well). They still are in nagging mode but team up to find Bruce.

 * There is a place people named “slaughter swamp”, people made a sign writing “slaughter swamp” on it?! Also those people kill a helpless patient that´s one thing but do they have to be joking jerks about it? Yeah I know some people make jerky jokes to cope ??!?! * SOLOMON GRUNDY approaching guys outside the swamp. What is this Frankenhulk?! The colours of the scene, the “don´t hurt the monster” rhetoric, the children´s (?) song, the fire that all reminds me of Frankenstein adaptions. Weird. * Why is the guy he hit asking “who are you” with his last breath? Is he expecting to report him to the police after he wakes up? That is a question that troubles Grundy, and yeah I get that it emphasizes this issue for the audience but what reason has this guy to ask this?

 * BRUCE WAYNE & ALFRED PENNYWORTH have a dispute about who understands what. “I see.” “No. You clearly don't.”  //  “Taking a life, never mind how justified, will lead you down a darker path than you could ever possibly imagine. I know. I've been down it. You understand me, Master Bruce?” “I understand.” * “It is my FAULT” Bruce is luckily still taking the blame for Alex death, he´s not overlooking his involvement in it. But yeah Alfred & Jim are right it´s still Ra´s who is the murderer.

 * ALFRED PENNYWORTH & JIM GORDON are a joy to watch.  “Look I am telling you this as a courtesy.” Pretty sure Jim can think of some better curtsies ..  someone write this please..... Anyway once Bruce run away to break into Blackgate they team up. Alfred can even make me like the overdone has 500 weapons in places you don´t wanna know about joke enjoy but dear .. that choice of words .. same Jim, same. Alfred keeps up Bruce´s Billionaire Brat Act up by suggesting he might have bribed his way into the prison, otherwise you know .. people might start to think he could have climbed over a wall.  The prison guards show them round but just the all the wrong ways.  * And you know I´d really like to have seen Jim´s time in Blackgate to have had more impact reflection and introspection wise but I take what I can get they at least reference back to that incident that week and quite well. Jim is like “Hello I´ve been here before” and none of you assholes punched me during that time something is wrong. 

* “My Name is Bruce Wayne” that might have gotten him out of breaking into a prison but unluckily the guards are on Ra´s team so that name verhallt wie Schall und Rauch. That attitude of “my name´s gonna buy me free” is insufferable but on the other hand if you have that card why not play it to save your ass.  * “You weak foolish boy”   You weird freakish mummy ..  RA´S AL GUHL gets stabbed by Bruce just like he wanted. The inscription, just as Bruce suspected does not mean the knife is to be used by but against him (“it is intended for the one who has bathed in the healing waters”) just that he is wrong about Ra´s wanting the knife to keep it from being used against him. Immortality is a curse. Ra´s want´s to be stabbed so badly he even threatens the not yet existent loved ones of Bruce. (And that´s Cersei levels cruel that actually gave me chills .. nice)  But if this was his plan along I´m pretty sure there would have been easier ways to accomplish that, and I would not have needed to sit through that plot. The talk about an heir falls flat. And his death was strangely anticlimactic. (Okay except that last bit where his lower jaw dropped a bit .. I giggled) I know that could have been to focus on Bruce and the effect this deed has on him. This was not a big boss battle to be the fulminant end of a long fight between two foes no spectacle on purpose because this should shed light on the characters .. but .. it´s Gotham ..  I suppose that´s not yet over ..

* BARBARA KEAN & Ra´s relationship should be over before we actually saw it!? Also she seemed to enjoy his company but also expected a reward, of course that´s not a contradiction per se but opens questions. Also just tell me what he gave Barbara! Please let it be something awesome and something she enjoys! Naive? Probably .. 

* “Just because you know you're capable of doing something doesn't mean it has to happen again.” Okay but is that JIM GORDON missing the point and projecting?! I still don´t believe that the Virus in Jim´s ear that told him he is a killer actually brought out the worst in him (Jim just isn´t, he´s stepping over bodies if he deems it necessary but he´s not a bloodthirsty killer who enjoys it) rather it voiced a fear he has (stored very very very deep down in him, that doubt he pushes away about his deeds). Which would absolutely explain that line because otherwise he´d just kind of miss the point. The upsetting thing is not Bruce suddenly turning murderous, the upsetting thing is having ended a life. But I see how Jim “criminal´s lives aren´t worth much especially not if weighed against non criminal lives” Gordon might have issues with that concept.  * “Now, you may not feel like you're that kid anymore, but I know that you are. One who believes in doing good. In fighting for what's right. Who will do anything to keep the people he loves safe. Nothing that happened today changes that.” And that is Jim Gordon after browsing tumblr and liking that “be the person that you would have needed” post (which is a wonderful one no shade on that).

 *“I´m not the hero Gotham needs”  BRUCE WAYNE feels guilty about being responsible for Alex´s death and taking a life. He wants to burn his suit.  That´s the Bruce Wayne I wanna see!  ALFRED (needs another slap with the newspaper) PENNYWORTH can´t let him do that. He claims he was wrong, Bruce can make a difference, the whole thing has become bigger than preparing for Ra´s return. As soon as Bruce feels ready.   Well at least he has the curtsy to wait that´s something I guess but that´s the point where Alfred´s guidance crosses the seriously shady line. If Bruce wants to step back you let him and you let him without interfering or paving the way back.  * “This will be waiting for you” Uhm yeah, if he still fits into it that is .. kid is growing fast.  But the added that Alfred will wait for him too was sweet.

 *  “Come on, you people have pills for everything!”   Yeah I wish. I so wish.  EDWARD NYGMA is way to adorable, and funny. Omg those scenes. He is too good. “Fogginess of the mind. Decreased capacity to think ten steps ahead. Inability to solve riddles” Why do I relate with those symptoms.  Oh and I really love that for once it is shown that getting stabbed through the hand or something like that hurts like a lot.  * Why has Edward´s suit Polka Dot lining ?! * “I´ll even consider a natural remedy”  Ed you had three bottles of that in your place! (St.Jonn’s Wort, Echinacea & Ginkgo leaf  from N a t u r e ’s Answer) 

* I´m not sure if I like that they brought Butch / SOLOMON GRUNDY back but at least the interaction with Ed was entertaining. “I can´t even help myself” * Ed doesn´t want to help him until he sees use for Grundy. I´d really like to see them bonding a bit over the “Who am I” issue but I doubt that will happen. * Grundy calling Ed “smart” was too precious! (And some niceness that´s not manipulative for once) * Ed´s plan:  muscle > money > smart  ( > memory )  I´m not sure if he intends to keep his promise but I´m quite sure that lying to Grundy about his and Butch´s friendship will come back to bite him in his green ass. * Is CHERRY a cousin or something  of JERI? * How, why, does Ed know Cherry´s place? Would he have found a probably underground fight club that fast in his state? I´m assuming no, he must have been there before. Watching ?  He looked delighted when entering ..  

* LESLIE THOMPKINS Leslie, honey what are you doing? I doubt she would not have gotten a fine nice job somewhere. Why is she in this place. She does not seem to be happy about it even the slightest bit. Nor does she seem to care about anyone´s well being. She´s still a doctor, at least let her keep that part of her identity? Okay I´m in rant mode not even knowing where they are going with her character, let´s postpone that a bit.

  * Does anyone know what song it is around 10:50  that can be heard playing in THE ICEBERG LOUNGE ?! It seriously gives me flashbacks to The Stranglers: No more Heroes in 1x15. (Didn’t I have a gifset for this? Have I posted that? Did I make it? Am I imagining things? No I think I totally did something with the no more heroes .. where is it)   I think I´d actually like visiting the Iceberg Lounge if that musical theme continues. 

*“Numbers Mr. Penn” Am I becoming a fan of Mr. PENN?! I think I am. I´d really like to steal the man´s job though. I know barely anything about statistics but I can learn and I´m good with lists. I can do this. Penguin must like/cherish Penn since he kept him around after losing the crime list to Bruce. Or is this already known?   Also did they really name that character Mr. Pen(n)?!

* OSWALD COBBLEPOT & SOFIA FALCONES interactions are a joy! They are even more joy if you just enjoy them for a moment and think they could actually be allies.   Their banter is wonderful “100%” “Now you´re just rubbing it in” And I love how Sofia is picking up the Penguin characteristics “send those outlying criminal elements scurrying back under your umbrella” It makes me really think her choice of words with Jim was very deliberate too! * Oswald letting Penn read the “kill Sofia” to do list point was wonderful .. “Add a question mark” * Sofia offers Penguin the support of her name, they shall eat in public. She even got Gertrud´d recipe. Where did she find the recipe ?! How, Where ?! How?! No srsly, I´m usually a fan of just let things like that slide for the sake of enjoyment but that bugs me.  * Someone tasting his food like that would only work if he has some magic ability to taste poison (was he someone from Indian Hill .. ) but his face looked too worried for that * Ghost Goulash. Ugh.  Oswald is done with the taste of it. Sofia not knowing if he liked it or not was sweet but I did not like his reaction. That´s just so over the top. What is this ratatouille?   Also you´ll never get a recipe on spot like that. They would have needed to know where she bought the ingredients and probably used the same pots with greasy patina and in general there´s just so much going on with cooking that can´t be in a recipe and stuff and things. Also there´s just so many ways Goulash can taste.  I don´t like it, the scene I mean.

* Sofia visits him at his club again.  I did not quite get why door guy let her in ?! “There was only one person in my whole life who ever did things for me without wanting something in return. And that was my mother.” “Then I envy you. My father never helped anyone unless it benefited him. And eventually it drove away everyone who loved him.”  This is not only putting her in a light she wants to be in it also doubles as warning that would support Oswald seeking a relationship with her. Actually it´s three things at once. Girl you are so good. And for some reason I like that not so sleek outfit so much better.

 * When Sofia first got in the Iceberg Lounge she saw Oswald putting away the Ice from his injury. When she is there the second time she sees him visibly struggling with pain. She offers a massage and advice about treatment laced with another emotional story about her childhood and her harsh father. Moreover she mirrors Gertrud´s singing with her humming.   * This is LIZA  2.0 and  50% of me want Oswald to see through this. I found it odd that he would let Sofia see him in pain like that, that he would let her touch and see his injury from which even he himself turns his face away. He has never let it get into his way in the slightest and suddenly he is dropping his guard like that??  So that half of me would be delighted to see that this is already Oswald manipulating Sofia right back! Three steps ahead Oswald from Season 1 ! Then there is 50% of me who would actually be delighted so see Oswald believing that someone can be kind to him. Oswald being able to be vulnerable and open like that. Oswald accepting comfort. Sofia and Oswald as a team would be sweet, I think they could really add to each other, in another time, in another life .. 

* Were there umbrellas on his socks ?!

[hopeatermain]

InFamous Protocreed: Chapter 1

Rating: T for swearing and mentions of death.

Genre: ??? I don’t know??? It’s kind of establishing the situation so???

Summary: Abstergo is plotting their come-back. And it’s not going to be pretty.

Other Warning: Kind of OC centric. We don’t know how the two other guardians or the General are, so I gave them an identity. There are also sliiights references to Watch Dogs, since AC and WD are set in the same verse.

Word count: 2 358 words

“No, no, I see... I assure you sir, we’ll get it under control... of course, of course... Yes, yes, of course... Bye.” Click. “It was cTos. Wanna know what happened to Miles? He’s back to life.” “What - FUCK!” “Elena, swearing will help us around nothing.” “Okay, listen here you weichei sarcastic french piece of shit. The third member is dead again because of his ridiculously complicated Animus bullshit, the Council of Elders is on our ass, we weren’t able to get anything out about the Face of Izanami-’’ ‘‘That happened 9 years ago, Elena, and the General of the Cross himself said that they were not angry at us. They even noted that it was preferable we took Subject 13 out of the Animus Project and Vidic suffered the consequences of putting a psychotic teen in the Animus by us putting Subject 13 and the step-daughter of Fanu into another project we created at the time. His own incompetence caused him to have to find another assistant in the neck of time before we got Subject 14.’’ ‘‘And guess what, shitlord? The Ikarinoshi and Whiteshadow projects are currently taking us nowhere. And, before your rude interruption, I was about to note that Subject 17 ended up getting three of our members killed, one of them being the creator of the Animus Project, another the perfect spy against the Assassins and the last one was one of our best element!’’

The two persons you see bickering there are Elena Verflcuht, a rather masculine woman with short brown, greying hair and angry grey eyes behind glasses, and Liam Calmer, a seemingly weak man in a weelchair with slicked back black hair and matching-in-color seemingly gentle eyes, both of them in a suit. The two members of the Guardians, as the third following Alan Rikkin’s demise as still not been chosen. Not that it bothered them, as they were used to working as a duo due to the third place being “cursed”, a rumor due to the third member of the Guardians often meeting an atrocious fate. Elena often going onto the field and doing surprises inspections of everything and Liam holding her back, thinking with his head and generally being softer than her. So, the two of them bickering was not an unfamiliar sight, even if currently no one was currently watching them. ‘‘We then found his corpse and, instead of trying to find out what the fuck happened to his arm - his arm looked weird, right?’’ ‘‘Yes. Burned to the point of the skin looking black, the bones in his arm fused and last time I checked, strange black lines looking like the ones on the Apple of Eden where starting to form. Also, his corpse was not the worst for wear. Besides his arm, everything was in perfect conditions and his corpse showed no signs that corpses normally show. No decomposition. Nothing. It was perfectly conserved. Almost as if he was simply frozen.’’ ‘‘So you’re telling me the corpse in itself was weird.’’ ‘‘Yes.’’ 

‘‘Great. So, instead of trying to discover what is wrong with that corpse, we instead decide to use his DNA to make shitty video games. And then, the corpse mysteriously disappear and it’s only six years later, right now, that we are informed of the fact that apparently, Desmond Fuckmylife’’ - ‘‘Miles’’ - ‘‘is still alive and kicking! Add that to the whole story behind Subject 17, the fiasco that is Gentek with Mercer apparent survival, our utter failure concerning the mask, Ardant’s death, the greatest fiasco in the history of Abstergo since Saint George that Rikkin provoked with the new Animus model - please tell me you ordered the discontinuation of this project?’’ ‘‘No worries, I did. I also placed Rikkin’s daughter in the Ikarinoshi project.’’ ‘‘Okay, thank you, I love you. Where was I?... Oh yeah: our security fail with Abstergo entertainment, the hacking of the Assassins with the Helix, and the recent developments with the whole Conduit matter -remind me to pay a visit to Augustine about the shit storm that is currently brewing, no way I’m letting another man in his twenties with something not human about him fuck us up- and are you really surprised that I am currently thinking that the Templar Order is going to hit a point lower than the Borgias?’’ The sound of a slap echoed throughout the room. “Get a hold of yourself, Elena. First of all, we are not going to hit a lower point than the Borgias, nothing his lower than the Borgias. We are just going through rough times. Second, when was an Assassin’s victory ever the final word? Have you forgotten the fact that the Shroud is in our possession? Did we not rise from our ashes numerous times greater than before?” “...Yes.” 

“The Assassins don’t know what they are going against, Elena. We have allies. Powerful ones. And they are easily influenced. We just need to find the opportunity. We also know where we can find Miles’ child, so if we ever need to resume the project, we can abduct him. He’s going to be 13 this year. As for the Ikarinoshi project, the Bleeding effect of Kinnori was the most benign of them all: since he already hear voices, hearing the voices of his ancestors doesn’t affect him much. Scanning his neuronal activity already helped us to greatly diminish the possibility of the Bleeding Effect when conceiving the Helix, and after some years of research, we got an effective treatment against psychosis which got us about a few millions. As for the White Shadow project, I won’t deny the researches are going slowly, but it’s always going forward. And, unlike the incompetents at Gentek, Miss Reiaya is extremely careful when experimenting with it. As for Desmond Miles, the information about his survival is only a recent development. If it took us five years finding out about it, then there is no chances the Assassins know about this. They have close to no resources, after all. Us? More than we need. We just need to wait for the perfect moment. And I think you also forgot our recent development concerning cTos and Blume.’’ 

“You’re right. This is the first thing since the last 9 years that has gone fucking right. We fucking bought them!” “Nice to see your charming attitude is back, my dear.” Two laugh echoed throughout the room, one bombastic and the other calm, but no less menacing. “You see, things are going to go back in road, we just have to wait-” Call from the Council of Elders and the General of the Cross in transfer. “Shit.” “Alright, Elena, we need to play nice.” “Only if they do.” “Put them on the screen.” The two guardians turned toward the large screen, waiting for something to happen. Finally, the face of Ellen Kaye appeared on screen. “I guess you two don’t have any good news?” “Sadly enough, no. We are in a stagnant position right now. Abstergo’s luck has been pretty bleak since March 2009, and since the Templar order and Abstergo are essentially one and the same, it means we have difficulty making progress.” “Of course you do. The Guardians are essentially useless without a third member after all.” “What did you just say you b-” “Elena calm down. Kaye, just because we have difficulty making progress don’t mean we haven’t made any.” “I don’t care. You two are currently being a hassle right now-” “Mrs Kaye. Play nice. I trust mister Calmer with the situation and that he has found the sources of our problems. Haven’t you?”

Liam and Elena immediately tensed. Out of the shadows came the General of the Cross themselves. It was quite hard to establish exactly what kind of person they were. Lanky physique, unsettling pale eyes, dressed in a strange white suit which hid their lower face, white hair, everything about them seemed ethereal. The fact that they had a low, gentle voice contrasting with their unsettling appearance and that they where essentially the current leader of a millennia-years old conspiracy didn’t help. “So, mister Calmer, have you?” “I.. of course. My companion and I were discussing this before you called in. I found four sources to our problems that we need to take care of fast if we want to make progress.” Liam took the computer and typed. As the image of the Assassin’s logo appeared, he turned the computer toward the screen. A groan was heard from his companion. “Yeah, no one could have guessed, dipshit.” “Language, Elena.” “I am aware of Miss Verflucht temperament, no worries.” “Sorry, your grandeur. I’m just used to Liam company, so my tongue is looser around him.” “As I was saying before Elena interrupted me, one of the sources of our problems are the Assassins. They got too much victories lately. It started with the mess that was Desmond Miles, and since, everything has gone out of hands. Let’s just say that fucking us over - pardon my language - is apparently a family tradition, seeing as his bloodline contains the likes of Altair, Ezio, Edward and Connor, which brings us to our second problem -” Liam abruptly closed to laptop. “Desmond Miles himself.”

“What does that mean, Calmer?” “I am not talking to you, Kaye. Recent developments have finally informed us of what happened to Subject 17′s body...” His voice broke at admitting the blatant disregard of the one law no one could escape: death. “he came back to life.” “How is that possible?” “I have no idea.” Liam admitted, his voice gaining back it’s usual tone. “I suspect it has something to do with one of the Pieces of Eden, but it’s just doubt. I also suspect that if we don’t take care of him fast, everything will crumble on us and we will have to start over from scratches. Everywhere. Our third problem is Gentek. Not Mercer, Gentek, and I insist on that point. They are literally incapable of doing a good job, which resulted in REDLIGHT, which resulted in Greene, which resulted in BLACKLIGHT, which resulted in Mercer, which resulted in Heller. And while Heller is temporarily on our side because literally everyone in Manhattan hates Mercer, he still wants Blackwatch, which means Gentek, which means us, to burn. Gentek also took some... liberties with Blackwatch, and they are currently composed of people who have no right to live in our future utopia.”

“Dismantling Gentek will help us greatly, but we still have the problem of curing Heller and getting rid of Mercer, who, according to Heller, forced him to do the inverse of consuming by making him see some memories apparently gruesome enough to shatter the world of an hardened former-soldier turned BLACKLIGHT Infected. Which means that Mercer is also back in the world of the living. At least, that’s what we think. Our only proof is a message mocking Heller, but we can’t take any risk. Our fourth problem is just potential, but could easily become a danger. I believe you heard of the Bio-Terrorists? That is our future problem. Until now, the founder of the DUP, Brooke Augustine, had the situation in hand, for which I applaud her as it is more and more difficult to find people with the situation in hand since our failure with the Mask of Izanami. However, with the rising of a Bio-Terrorist from the Akomish tribe named Delsin Rowe, things will shake up on that side, and we need to take back control on it.”

“Well, these news are pretty depressing.” “I know and I apologize for that, your Grandeur. But it’s the truth. And I know exactly how we can take control back of everything. We just need an opportunity for all these things.” “Which will be made easier since we essentially made cTos and Blume our bitches!” “Verflucht!” “Calm down Kaye, I know about Miss Verflucht swearing problem. Would you two like to elaborate upon?” “Of course. Elena, wanna explain it to them?” “Of course! I apologize now if I end up swearing. For the Assassins, they barely have any resources! We have more than we need. They won’t be able to make much movement if our new associates are everywhere. Well, there’s the problem of DedSec and Pearce running around, but we can easily get rid of them if needed. We also need to get rid of the Frye’s legacy once and for all, there’s been sighting of one of Jacob Frye’s descendant, even if we thought that the rooks had been decimated by Cross way back then. For Gentek, we first dismantle these fuckers, and we make sure to weaken Mercer by evacuating the most people we can from Manhattan. After that, we wait for the Whiteshadow project to be completed and we kill Mercer with it before administrating it to Heller, curing him at best, killing him at worst. For the Bio-Terrorists, I’ll personally send help to control the situation with Rowe.” “I see, you two really have planned everything! But... what about Miles?”

“I... don’t know what Liam has planned. We just learned about Miles being alive literally 20 minutes ago. Liam, what did you plan for Desmond?” “Oh... that... Well... I still don’t have anything planned yet-” “Of course you don’t-” “Kaye, SHUT THE FUCK U-” “Language, Elena-” “No, no. I want to hear what she has to say-” “EVERYONE.” Everything stopped and everyone shrunk on themselves. While normally gentle, the General’s voice could easily become commanding. Scary even, when compared to their normal intonation. And, as suddenly as it became booming, their voice got back to it’s gentle intonation. “Calm down. As far as I am concerned, Miles is the least of our worries. He is only one. As for our other problems, Mister Calmer,” Liam straightened up. “you have my permission to get rid of Gentek. Miss Verflucht, you have my permission to intervene in Seattle, but only if you also send forces to take care of DedSec.” Elena face lite up. “Like you two said, we’ll just have to wait for the Assassins to make a move to get rid of our old enemies. And don’t you two worry about Mister Miles.” The look on their face darkened. “I’ll take care of it.”

Weichei is a german insult. It means soft egg. Or wimp. Anyway, this pretty much establishes the situation. I’ll probably edit it once Origins get out to include the events that happened in the modern storyline. Until then!