#a sniper rifle that kills cancer

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s4 episode 7 thoughts

my very first thoughts: a CANCER MAN episode??? are we gonna get some backstory?? some CSM lore?!?!? 

part of me is deeply curious, but part of me also wants agent time, so… hmm! i’m intrigued. my curiosity? it’s been piqued.

and the lone gunmen have been mentioned!!

author's note: woah... i was expecting a lot of things, but cancer man being a flop author was not one of them. it's kinda sad, but mostly just pathetic.

judgement aside, i actually really liked this episode. there are things i would change, but i thought it was super intriguing to see certain parts of what is hidden beyond the curtain, but never enough to fully satisfy you, which i do love about this show (even if it is occasionally infuriating). the multi-part structure was also an interesting and unique choice that worked well, but i do have some... questions on writing/character motives and if they were well-received. but you'll see what i mean in a bit.

a lot happened in this episode, which i shall begin to recount below!

OH! we open with a shakespeare quote!!! “for nothing can seem foul to those that win” oooookay i suppose that is relevant to our ciggy man. damn. couldn’t be me. a lot of things are foul to me. such as killing melissa. 

we see a rat! a rat! cute little critter. oh. cancer man arrives, and is less cute. he's looking at some broken windows… damn, why is s4 so dark? i keep having to turn my brightness up. it's annoying!!

his lighter says “trust no one” omg… he’s so weird. just an overall strange fellow. seriously, who gets a custom lighter that says that? way to draw attention to yourself while trying to Not Do That.

so he’s opening a suitcase…. WHAT!! he is somehow listening to a bunch of conversations, including the “not everything is a dark labyrinth of conspiracy” one, which means he must have had bugs in all of the rooms where mulder and scully chat!!! who has time to sort through all of that audio content to find the juicy stuff?? probably his freak interns that i KNOW he keeps scattering about

okay, so he’s listening to a conversation now between the lone gunmen and mulder. frohike is freaked tf out, but mulder says no one would kill him because “you’re just a little puppy dog”. aww. that's a cute thing to say.

GAG!! the lone gunmen put on a special audio filter to hide their conversation, and CSM just pressed a button to totally ignore it, and turns to the camera with a smirk. EW! EW! creepy man. ugh, i can’t believe i paused and had to look at that awful creepy smirk for more than a few milliseconds.

oh my goodness, scully is also here during this conversation between the lone gunmen and mulder that we are listening to via CSM's technologically aided eavesdropping. frohike is saying he found stuff about cancer man, while cancer man loads what looks like a SNIPER RIFLE, and aims it out the window??? “what did you find?” “possibly everything”

GASP! i’m hooked. i DO want to know possibly everything. 

(watching the intro and that scene where they burst in with the gun always gets me, but today it’s making me ache in my chest because of how beautiful they are. so feel free to psychoanalyze that)

frohike is describing trotsky’s assassination. this is an area of history i am weak in, so i am seated for my lesson. it is actually entirely unrelated to the plot at hand, and is just some frohike nerd lore, but that's cool, i like a dude who knows these things.

frohike says “he” (presumably CSM) appears on august 20th, 1940, in louisiana. and his father was a communist activist, executed for espionage before his son would walk!!! and his mother died of lung cancer before he could talk!

damn. tragic backstory for this fellow. he pretty much said "i know cigarettes killed my mom but i'm different"

he was sent to various orphanages where he spent his time reading and not making friends. then he went off the grid until a year and a half after the Bay Of Pigs. weird way of measuring time- before and after the Bay of Pigs

OH! we get more text… “part 1: things really did go well in Dealey Plaza” hmmm....

some army men are jogging, while another dude reads the manchurian candidate, saying he would rather read the worst novel ever written than the best movie ever made. he must not know about the novels that are out there… i assume this is cig man?

OH MY GOD! he’s talking to MR. MULDER! wait, wait that means….

! MULDER LORE REVEAL ! his first word was JFK

that is... actually really adorable. and will make his toddler stage difficult as he has to break certain news to baby mulder.

why do i get the feeling, from the shaky way CSM just set the photo of mr. mulder’s wife and child down, that he is fighting suppressed romantic feelings for his buddy like the cold war depends on it? hmm....

these fancy looking men want to talk to the guy i assume is cancer man. they ask if he was involved in any of the big events from the early 1960’s, which he denies. you know, assassinations and whatnot.

oh! when they ask if his father was executed as a spy, he says his only regret is that “i was too young to throw the switch myself” which is kind of a crazy thing to say. "yes i never knew my dad but i wish it was me that killed him" is a wild hill to die on. but i guess this is what the 60's did to people.

OH! he also denies a cigarette when offered, saying he never touches them. well. some things went down between then and now, i assume. and hopefully, we shall gain a glimpse into what changed.

this general dude is yapping about extraordinary men and i assume he is referring to himself. and his father. and young CSM, too, can be an extraordinary man! 

“communism is without a doubt the most heinous personification of evil mankind has ever confronted” <- said by a guy who likely fought the nazis, this is an absolutely crazy line... but again, i guess that shows how deep everyone was into the propaganda

they are offering baby CSM a very important job… so important, his army service will be erased… he needs to assassinate an american civilian, former naval pt-boat commander…

OH MY GOD, DID HE KILL JFK???

this is wild. how many different characters across various medias have been responsible for killing JFK? does anyone have a spreadsheet? if not, DM me and let’s make one 

so what is the reason in universe for why JFK had to kick the bucket….

because of the bay of pigs failure??

i get it was bad, but i didn’t think it was THAT bad. that makes no sense though timeline wise… they said bay of pigs was “last week”, but that was 1961, and obviously he didn’t get shot until 1963. so are we expected to believe that they waited 2 years to kill him? 2 years in which a lot of stuff happened? or is this some sort of factual oversight i’m supposed to ignore. or am i misunderstanding the episode structure. did i mishear/read a line?

(digs my claws in) you guys i cannot ignore a JFK anachronism i’m sorry

and now we're off to texas to witness the inevitable. this dude playing lee harvey oswald is lowkey cute, a thing i never thought i would have typed more than a few minutes ago. CSM yells at him about how smoking is BAD!

baby cancer man is talking to lee harvey oswald (another wild sentence), telling him he’ll see the president today. he calls baby cig man “mr. hunt” which i assume is a fake name… and he lies and says he loves the movies!! how simply do the falsehoods slip from his tongue!

ooooookay i see what is going on here. “mr. hunt” is a member of a cuban loyalty group telling lee harvey oswald to hide some weapons. a fall guy is being carefully crafted.

and lee gives him his cigarettes… the same cigarettes baby cig man scolded him for smoking…. omg…. foreshadowing

you know, in all my years studying history, i have never imagined what the inside of the book depository building looked like. and OMG! in googling to try and see if this was an accurate representation, i learned that dealey plaza is where he was shot! so i guess i’m good with JFK lore, but bad at geography. but that answers what the whole opening quote was about.

baby cig man is getting in a sewer to do some crime… very eugene tooms of him. he's getting his gun out in the sewer for a sneak attack…. while lee gets a root beer… and it seems umbrella man was giving a signal on when to shoot! fascinating.

(jackie’s outfit that day looked less fuzzy irl than it appears in this episode, so please take note of that wardrobe people)

nah, this is gonna make me feel bad for a FAKE lee harvey oswald…

and while JFK was dying, baby cig man stayed in that sewer the whole time… wow. i feel like someone should have taken a peek.

soooo realizing he is a patsy, lee shoots a cop. which is actually just far more incriminating than had he done anything else. then he goes to the movies. where the cops find him. and baby cig man was watching all of this…. he pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking. OMG was that his first?? to cope with the Guilt?? damn.

it’s a bit of a ludicrous story that makes me giggle when i consider the real-world implications, but i will take it for what it is.

but back to modern cig man, listening to all of this being explained. he says nothing, seeming to confirm the accuracy of what is being said.

“part 2: just down the road from graceland”

no, don’t tell me he killed ELVIS, too?!?!?

wait, i read that wrong. “just down the road aways from graceland” okay, not sure if that clears anything up. but we hear the voice of martin luther king jr.

no… don’t tell me he killed HIM, too…..

notably, this whole part is in black and white. cigarette man is tap tapping on his typewriter. he’s writing a book! “take a chance: a jack colquitt adventure” <- sounds boring 

he’s listening to MLK talk about Marxist revolutions… is baby cig man a closet commie? no, for it appears he is deeply upset by these words!

he’s still in black and white, at a meeting about MLK, talking about how some claim he wishes to wage war against white america. baby cig man says “wouldn’t you?”, and i begin to wonder if he is based, but these hopes are quickly dampened as he explains that MLK's existence and activism are no longer civil rights issues… because he said something about communism. bro. what. is this how people actually felt…?

(you read about the paranoia and the terror of the red scare, but seeing an attempt at putting it in context still makes you think damn, times were weird)

this council is now talking about how they can best discredit MLK, and we see a guy who is blamed for the “there is but one way out for you” letter, which baby cig man says is stupid. oh, he blamed the director of the FBI for that. damn!

cigarette man says we need another patsy, and to make it a white man, so “it” (referring to king’s assassination) looks racially motivated. and oh! he says he’ll do it himself.

“i have too much respect for the man” <- so you’re gonna be the one that kills him? bro… what. we don't usually kill the people we look up to where i come from.

so. cig man lights up as he stands outside a building where MLK speaks. 

AND HE PULLS OUT THE PHOTO OF BABY MULDER AND HIS MOM???? WHAT THE FUCK

(is this like a “he’s grieving because his work demands that he never has a family” kind of thing or a “he’s longing for the embrace of mr. mulder” kinda thing….? does he love mrs. mulder….? what is this….)

cancer man gives the dude he’s framing a couple hundred dollars. and then gets in the bushes behind where dr. king is staying. i'm still processing the photo reveal.

and bam.

wow, i feel that this is… weird. idk, the whole “this character killed JFK” thing has been going on for so long that it doesn’t really feel that shocking, but dr. king’s death is a tragedy in a different way, and i’m not sure that using it in fiction is like, super appropriate? um.

while i am unsure if i feel that using a civil rights leader's assassination in your alien story is something we should brush past, i do understand what the writers are attempting to do here, which is show how dedicated to the anti-communist cause cig man is, and how he'll stop at nothing to do what he deems needed, no matter how ugly or horrific. i recognize what they are trying to tell me.

LMAOOOO WAIT. place my moral pondering aside for a brief second. if you pause, you can read the rejection letter baby cig man gets for his book. “my advice? burn it!” <- DAMN that book must have been god awful 😭

oh god. now the TV is mentioning RFK… don’t tell me cig man did that, too…

(author's note: thankfully, he was not involved with the killing of this kennedy brother; no clear statement on whether or not he was responsible for ted's whole thing)

AND WHY was cig man putting that photo of mrs. and baby mulder in his drawer…?!?!

cig man seems to be almost crying while quoting aeschylus along with RFK on the tv, as he speaks about the grief of losing both his brother and MLK…. damn. am i supposed to feel bad for CSM? because i don’t. 

back to modern cancer man. we now enter “part 3, the most wonderful time of the year”.

jump to 1991. he has saddam hussein on the phone?? and tells him to call back. and some other dude is working on the oscar noms LMAO wait... i lowkey love the idea that the government controls those... need to think what that would imply for every single winner ever

AND he rigs the superbowl so the bills don’t win LMAO what is his beef with buffalo?! AND he rigged the olympic hockey game in ‘80?

we’re getting the impression he kinda controls everything. message received loud and clear.

OH! now they’re talking about mulder… “that ‘spooky’ kid”, is how they refer to him. and CSM says that mulder is his to keep an eye on. i'm sure that's part of his decades long plot, to keep mulder under his watchful eye and use him as a pawn in his schemes. also, gorbachev has just resigned. no more enemies to fight.

and CSM gives his men some presents for christmas. how thoughtful…..? 

his men invite him to come with them to virginia for a family get together. damn, they like this guy? it seems they honestly do!

he got them all ties…. very strange fellow he is.

okay, so he lied and said he had to go see family to escape the gathering. and then ominously walks outside mulder’s office door. dun dun DUN!

he has some mail… and opens it to see something that displeases him. THEN HE STARTS WRITING AGAIN!! it seems like auto fiction, when you write about yourself but pretend it’s happening to a character. damn. crazy coping mechanism. good to know that he is kinda a loser all around. 

so, some days he longs for a second chance. okay, yeah, we all do cancer man, and most of us didn’t kill JFK.

the phone rings. it’s DEEP THROAT! my old friend!! were they tight?!

it seems that on christmas eve of 1991 was when a weird alien spaceship arrived to earth. and the occupant is in “critical condition”. also, deep throat mentions the UFO he had claimed to see before in vietnam, so we know he wasn’t lying entirely about that.

they have this fleshy pink alien hooked up to life support, which has me wondering how alien life support works, and also how many types of aliens we are dealing with in this universe. but i’ve mentioned that before. still! worth mentioning again!

lore reveal that is unsettling... DEEP THROAT’S NAME IS RONALD???? 

idk, i was expecting something like abernathy or shackleton or cromswell!

deep throat gives cigarette man the gun to handle the alien situation- but CSM protests, saying that a “living EBE” could advance bill mulder’s project by decades!!! MR. MULDER MENTIONED?!? he'd be willing to break protocol to help his buddy out?!?

but no, deep throat recites the rules from the security council resolution, which makes him remember what they came here to do.

can you just… shoot an alien??? to kill it? well. you can shoot some of them to kill them, but not the kind that need the special neck stabbing device. okay, keeping track of all this, just seems like maybe all aliens would need something a bit cooler to vanquish them.

they’re fighting over killing an alien…. cig man doesn’t want to do it, so he tosses a coin. so he makes deep throat do it?!?! deep throat says that this is their new enemy. honestly, the sad little alien does not look like he can hurt you, but okay.

(i mean, do they really need the gun? he’s an alien on life support, just pull the plug)

oh…. cig man rips the bandage off his neck as deep throat climbs into some gear to… gas the alien? now what is the significance of this bandage that has been on his neck but ONLY for part three of the story?

that alien is creepy. deep throat really does shoot the damn thing. and cig man lights up while this goes down. is every cigarette one dude he killed….? damn. that’s like 5 packs a day….

“part 4: the x-files”

OOOO, info on scully being brought in!!!

OMG!!! we see parts of her thesis.

did we know she went to the university of maryland? well, i didnt, so that counts as a…

! SCULLY LORE REVEAL ! she graduated from the university of maryland in 1986!

(looking back, i realize this was all flashback stuff from the pilot. but i didn't KNOW at the time that this show would do such things to me, so i wasn't taking detailed notes! wow! how much has changed)

but it’s cancer man reading her thesis. stay away from her!

okay, now we’re back to one of the earliest times we ever saw scully, in her pilot episode fit. and was cig man actually there in the pilot? i think he was, right?

aww, we get to relive the “FBI’s most unwanted” moment through cancer man’s listening. it’s creepy, but still a heartwarming time.

back to the modern day- frohike is talking about how cancer man is “the most dangerous man alive”, because he believes these actions are all that life allows him, and he can never escape himself. damn. that’s deep.

and then back to the 1991 christmas eve scene… an editor loved CSM's book! he used the pen name “raul bloodworth”… have we heard that before? well, i’ll keep an eye out on various shelves. so he calls the number they gave him… he is desperate for validation… and he’s going on about how he wants the cover to look. there’s a cutting comment about “working with young authors”, and the publisher says he’ll have to “relinquish some control”. and cancer man is SO excited.

oh my gosh… wait, why am i lowkey emotional now? but that emotion is very specifically second hand embarrassment.

so he’s typing his RESIGNATION LETTER?? for the day the story gets published. for some reason he thinks that getting one story published = a life of steady income. HAH! if only.

he even takes a wistful look at his cigarettes and crushes them in his hand!!! wow, a time to begin again.

lmao i see a reference to darin morgan in the background magazines… do not think you are slick, props team!

CSM’s going to go pick up his story from a newspaper… and his story was published in a porno… and they changed his ending… 

this is NOT a good thing omg

and the newspaper salesman says that the magazine is garbage…

we just watched his dreams die in real time. and with the magazine, he buys another pack of cigarettes. damn. no chance for a new life, i guess. 

CSM’s now monologing about how life is like a box of chocolates (disappointing), and this is an interesting juxtaposition, because he is next to a man who is digging through garbage while he says all this, so clearly his material status could be a lot worse but it’s probably a mental prison, being rich and important and also sad.

Frohike clarifies that this CSM theory is based on a story he read, but he’s going to check with some hackers. as frohike walks out the door, cancer man mumbles that he can kill him whenever he pleases, but chooses not to do so today. 

woah… very different, but i actually really liked this episode!

i liked getting a peek into the mystical lore surrounding CSM, but also it wasn’t THAT much of a peek, you know? we know a few of the things he did, and that he did them in the name of fighting communism. i guess when he thought that communism was “defeated” they switched to aliens, but also aliens had to be there the whole time, because they did make the agreement about it after ww2. so he’s been up to a lot of stuff.

do i feel a little bad that he can’t get his writing published? yeah, but like i said in a “it’s cringey” kinda way, which i think was the intention. it’s funny that he has amassed all this power but is still a flop. 

like i said, i feel weird about the whole MLK thing. i think the coloring going black and white was to illustrate CSM's black and white thinking, about how you are either right or wrong, and to be wrong requires punishment, no matter what anyone else says on the matter. that was interesting.

hmm, i'm pondering. what will happen next to our smoky- well, i was going to say "our smoky friend", but we are not friends at all, are we? where will our tobacco-filled creep lead us?

i liked this one! it was really different from the traditional episode structure, so it felt special and nice. i liked getting an idea of his line of work and how he got involved with it and why, even if the killing post-Bay of Pigs thing was weird, but i GUESS it did bring the soviets and cuba closer together, so i GUESS if you thought anything that advanced communism had to be avenged, you would think that is a logical conclusion.

hmm, i can't afford to try and figure out who actually did it IRL! too much on my plate. it's an interesting theory... i shall have to give it a long contemplation.

[datauthorress]

the love never ends [chapter 1]

Pairing: Wade Wilson / Original Female Character, Logan / Original Female Character, Cable / Original Female Character, Wade Wilson / Logan, Wade Wilson / Cable

Summary: On his search to find Wolverine, Deadpool comes across a variant of Shelby O’viere, the only one left in her universe after a complete extinction of everyone else. With his own reality’s version of her dead, Deadpool decides to have her tag along so he has a buddy.

Cue to them saving the universe and Shelby has to live in a completely different world where not only is a variant of Logan here, but as well as the man that her own variant loved, Cable.

Love is seriously all kinds of fucked up.

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Deadpool and Wolverine Movie (2024), Variants from Other Universes, Talk of Death and Deceased Characters, Survivor Guilt, Depression, Romance/Adventure/Drama/Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Loss of Virginity, Vaginal Sex, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Friends to Lovers, Foursome - F/M/M/M

Rating: Explicit

“Oh, damn…..there’s like nobody here. What, did everyone just fucking die off?”

A gunshot shot off the ground in front of him, causing Wade to shriek in surprise and take a step back. He glanced up towards one of the highest roofs of the X-Mansion, seeing a hooded figure sitting there with a sniper rifle poised at him.

“Next shot is your head,” the figure said, a feminine voice coming from their lips.

Wade gasped loudly, putting his hands on his face. “I know that voice! Shelby!”

“What?” the woman asked, confused. “How do you know my….?”

“I had one of you in my reality! Of course, she’s dead now, fuckin’ lung cancer, but still, I had one of you!” Wade exclaimed.

The woman levitated off of the roof and landed on the ground about ten feet in front of Wade. She took off her hood, revealing a young-looking woman with dark brown hair that cascaded over her shoulder in thick streams, her bangs long and nearly covering the right side of her face. Her eyes, cerulean blue, sparkled in the warm sunlight. She was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged her legs quite nicely, Wade added, a t-shirt underneath and some kind of cloak or cloth that mostly went over her shoulders and back with a hood on the back. She was wearing black boots and fingerless black gloves.

“My name is Shelby,” she admitted.

“Well, of course it is. I’d recognize your voice anywhere. You’ve got a very distinct voice, coming from Bex Taylor-Klaus that the author had decided to base your appearance off of.” Wade said.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Eh, nevermind.” He said, waving a dismissive hand. “So, you live here at the X-Mansion?”

“Yeah, I’ve been here for the last few years.” She replied.

“Neato. Where are the others? Surely you’re not living here by yourself.”

“They’re dead.”

“I’m sorry?”

“They’re dead. All of them. Including every human being and mutant on the planet. I’m the only one alive here.” Shelby explained.

“What happened?”

“I killed them,”

After Shelby’s statement, she further explained that when she was 20 years old, she had been learning to control her mental abilities when she had a complete nervous breakdown and sent out a pulse that destroyed the neural networks of every human being and mutant on the planet. They had all just dropped dead. When Shelby had realized what she had done, she tried to reverse what she had done, but it had been too late. The damage was done, and she had been living on her own the past ten years, having no guts to end her own life.

“But you didn’t mean to,” Wade pointed out, chewing on a piece of smoked beef jerky.

“Yeah well, I keep telling myself that.” Shelby said, sipping from a water bottle. “Why are you here, Wade?”

“Well, I’m looking for a Wolverine.”

“Logan? Yeah, I killed him too.”

“Yeah, well….the Logan in my reality got chest-fucked by a tree and died, and the TVA has decided that since Logan is dead because he was some anchor-being for my reality, that my reality deserves to be destroyed. So, I figure, I’ll find me a Wolverine and replace him. Can’t be that hard.” Wade replied.

“Well, there’s no Logan here.” Shelby scoffed.

“Yeah, guess I gotta head to another reality.” Wade replied, before he went quiet for a second and then had an ‘aha’ look on his face. “Hey! Why don’t you come with me?”

“Why would I do that?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“It’s gotta be lonely here,” he said. “You come with me and you can live in my reality with me! Hell, we can be roommates!”

“Jesus Christ, you’re annoying.” Shelby huffed.

“Come on……when’s the last time you had human contact?”

Shelby glanced at him for a long moment, the wheels turning in her head before she sighed. “Alright, fine….there’s nothing left for me here. Just let me grab some things and we’ll go.”

“That’s the spirit!” Wade laughed.

A backpack and a duffle bag later, Shelby and Wade were walking through a portal to a different reality.

~

“Shelby?”

The Logan variant’s voice is nothing but a mere whisper when his dark eyes landed on the young woman. Her eyes softened slightly.

“I’m not her, Logan.” She said softly.

Logan stared at her in disbelief before he looked away, holding onto Wade’s gun that was aimed directly at his forehead. He lifted the bottle of alcohol to his lips and downed the entire bottle, causing Wade to whistle.

Logan pulled the bottle away from his lips, mumbling something before he fell backwards, landing on the wooden floor with a heavy thud, passing out.

“Jesus Christ,” Shelby muttered.

“He’s perfect!” Wade exclaimed, before he stood over Logan’s prone form and started to lift him up by his shirt, only to glance underneath his shirt. “Heyyyyy, nice pajamas.”

Shelby came over and glanced underneath the shirt as well, seeing yellow and blue.

“It’s his comics accurate suit! Oh, it looks so good on him!” Wade chuckled. “Help me get him up.”

Between the two of them, they were able to lift Logan off of the ground, putting his arms over their shoulders.

Shelby had forgotten how heavy Logan was.

~

They arrive to the TVA, only to be informed of why the Logan they picked was the worst one. Shelby jumped as Wade was hit by some kind of taser, causing his entire frame to disappear in sparks. Logan was next and Shelby glanced at Paradox with wide eyes.

Before she’s too struck by the taser and she’s flying through darkness.

~

Shelby wakes up to Wade and Logan fighting, stabbing each other with their weapons and claws so much they’re both bleeding out.

“Guys, seriously?” Shelby groaned, standing up with a soft wince.

Within moments, they’re surrounded by bad guys and one annoying Sabertooth. Shelby sighed softly, crossing her arms as Logan and Sabertooth charged towards each other, but Logan won with a single swipe to Sabertooth’s neck.

They’re knocked out soon afterwards.

~

Shelby wakes and realizes that she, Logan and Wade are pressed up tightly against one another. Shelby is in between them and she can feel Wade’s head on her shoulder as he’s still passed out.

Shelby’s gaze filtered up towards Logan, who looked annoyed. “Well, this is awkward.” She muttered.

“You’re telling me,” he snorted.

Wade woke with a start, shaking his head slightly. “How long was I out?”

“Not all of you was asleep, Wade.” Shelby said.

“Oops,”

~

They manage to get a vehicle from Nicepool and drive across the vast expanse of the Void until Wade says “if they can fix your universe”. It caused Logan to slam down on the breaks and put the car in park, stabbing Wade a few times before going on a rant about how pathic Wade was.

“I’m gonna fight you now,” Wade said quietly.

“Nope,” Shelby said, opening the door and stepping out. She wanted nothing to do with their bloodshed.

They fight for hours. Shelby manages to get a few hours of sleep before jolting awake once its quiet. She got up, brushing herself off before she walked over to the car and peeked inside, seeing that both men were passed out on the seats. Wade was tied up with the seatbelts of the car and Logan was passed out next to him, both of them covered in blood.

“Men,” she sighed, before she opened the passenger side door in front and brushed the glass off of the seat. She sat down in it and leaned back against the seat, before dozing off.

~

They meet the resistance group and come up with a plan to get into Catherine’s base. Logan is reluctant, refusing to join them. When night falls, Shelby goes out to the fire with Laura, where Logan is drinking. He explains to them what happened to his world and after Laura shares some heartfelt words, she leaves, leaving Shelby and Logan by the fire.

“She’s right, y’know,” Shelby said. “You may be the wrong guy, but you were the one she needed.”

Logan grunted, taking another swig from the bottle.

“What was I like….in your world?” she asked cautiously.

Logan is quiet for a moment before he speaks. “You were young, learning to control your powers, but you had potential. You were strong, stronger than I ever could be. No matter how much I pushed you away, you wouldn’t leave me behind. Scott would always tell me ‘Shelby’s looking for you’, ‘Shelby wants to show you her powers’, ‘Shelby misses you’.” he said softly. “You were the only person I let in, and then you were killed.”

Shelby was quiet, listening to him as he spoke about the Shelby of his reality. It reminded her too much of the Logan of her own reality, the Wolverine, the man she had been drawn to ever since she had arrived at the X-Manson. “You were pretty much the same in my reality. A stubborn bastard who tried to push me away, until you stopped and you started letting me in. Then, well…..I killed everyone on the planet.”

“Guess we have things in common,” he said.

“Seems so.” She said.

Logan sighed after a moment and tossed the bottle away from him, before standing up. “C’mon, let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

She grinned softly, taking the hand that was offered to her. She knew he would change his mind.

~

They manage to break into Cassandra’s base and fight their way through, only for Cassandra to knock Wade out and force Logan and Shelby to their knees.

“I may not be able to penetrate your mind,” Cassandra said, lightly stroking a finger along the curve of Shelby’s jaw. “But I can penetrate his,”

Hearing Logan in pain caused her heart to break. She struggled to break the grip of where she was, but it was too strong. “Leave him alone!” she shouted.

Shelby heard a thud and glanced behind her as Wade grabbed the backpack that had been thrown up to them. He unzipped it, pulling out Juggernaut’s helmet. Shelby nodded and Wade maneuvered behind Cassandra and put the helmet over her head, causing her grip on Logan and Shelby to break.

Of course, Pyro shot her. Of course, they agreed to take the helmet off so she could heal. As soon as they did, she revealed the Sling Ring that she had this entire time and told them they had four seconds to get through the portal.

“Come on!” Shelby shouted, grabbing both Logan and Wade by their hands and the three of them ran towards the portal. Everything seemed to go by in slow motion, as they jumped off the base and headed right for the portal. The monster that roamed the Void reached them, but they managed to get through the portal.

They were falling through the sky and Shelby saw the ground, covered by cars, quickly coming up. Logan grabbed her, turning his body so his back would meet the car instead of her. He held her tight against his chest as they collided with the car, causing the reverberation to shake Shelby’s entire frame.

“Fucking Christ, oh my god, ow….” Shelby grimaced.

“You okay, bub?” he asked, a bit breathlessly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for that, Logan.” She replied.

Logan nodded and helped her onto the ground. They had to get to the TVA.

~

Cassandra arrives on Earth, forcing Paradox to tell her about the Time Ripper and she has decided to destroy all realities, forcing Paradox to go with her to the base in order to complete her mission.

When the trio tries to go after her, they are intercepted by 100 variants of Deadpool, who then shoot at them. Shelby is hit in the thigh and she shouts out in pain, before diving behind the car with Logan and Wade.

“Put pressure on it,” Logan told her, ripping off a piece of the cloak she wore over her shoulders and pressed it against the wound. “We’ll get the bullet out later, but keep pressure on it for now.”

Wade drags the paralyzed Nicepool out into the crossfire, who is killed when his head explodes. Wade dives down behind a large sign and Logan holds up Dogpool, causing the other variants to stop firing. Shelby is helped over to Wade, who takes the gold pistols.

“You’re such a goddamned moron,” Shelby announced.

~

They make it through the Deadpool variants, who all regenerated and were planning on fighting once more until Peter arrived and told them that they were with him. The other Deadpool’s cheer, allowing Shelby, Logan and Wade to head down into the subway and to the TVA.

“Oh, now you’re here!” Paradox scoffed as they rushed into the room. “Oh well, you’re too late, it’s all over.”

         “Not yet, it’s not.” Logan said.

         “No, no, no, no, but we’re very close.” Wade spoke. “Homestretch, folks, promise. Quick! Let’s have the stakes.”

         “If she steals the Time-Ripper’s energy, she has the power to shred the fabric of all realities until there is nothing left but the void.” Paradox explained.

         “So how do we shut it down?” Shelby demanded.

         “I don’t know,”

         Logan let loose a snarl and shoved Paradox against the control board, his metallic claws unsheathing to press threateningly close at Paradox’s face. “How about now?” he growled.

         “The mask is really intimidating,” Wade laughed. “It’s like Batman except he can move his neck.”

         “Okay, look, look, look.” Paradox said quickly, pressing a few buttons on the control board and pulling up the video of a machine, that held two feeds into a single chamber, with glowing blue in one feed and glowing orange into another feed. “The Ripper is fed from a secure chamber below ground. It is powered by twin matter and anti-matter feeds converging inside the device. Now Cassandra Nova is redirecting the Ripper’s power to eliminate all timelines, starting with this one. Theoretically, you could stop her by short-circuiting the feeds in the chamber below. One of you would create a circuit between the two feeds, then the released power would destroy the machine. But well-,”

         “Come on, man!” Wade exclaimed. “If you’re not gonna swallow, spit it out!”

         “Whoever formed the bridge would be annihilated.” Paradox finished with a thick swallow.

         “I could live with that,” Logan said with a shrug.

         “I could live with that too, actually.” Wade said. “….we survive anything. We’re like cockroaches.”

         “Not this time,” Paradox said, shaking his head. “This is matter and anti-matter. They do not play nicely with each other. When they mix in your body, you will be atomized. Trust the laws of physics if you don’t trust me. Even if you lived long enough to make the circuit, you will die down there.”

          Shelby exchanged a glance with Logan and Wade, nervousness in her features.

         ~

         “Hold up, hold up.” Logan said as they reached the door that led to the chamber of the Time Ripper. “You guys heard that asshole upstairs. Even if we pull this off, we’re dead, permanently.”

         “That’s why it’s gotta be me.” Wade said.

         “What?” Shelby and Logan asked at the same time. “Fuck that, no! It’s gotta be me!”

         Wade groaned and took his mask off, now able to look at both of them in the eyes. “Look, guys, neither of you asked for any of this. Logan was right. I lied right to his face, just to get him to help me.”

         “You didn’t lie,” Logan sighed. “You made an educated wish. Come on,” he said and pulled out the family photo that Wade had dropped in the Honda Odyssey. “You got a whole world to go back to. I got nothing.”

         Logan patted Wade on the chest with his fist and approached the door. He unlocked it, giving it a push open.

         “Logan!” Shelby said, before she bounded over to him.

         Right as Logan turned to face her, she cupped his cheeks with both hands and leaned up, pressing her lips to his in a deep kiss. A choked off sort of noise left Logan’s lungs, utterly surprised by the sudden kiss. He didn’t get a chance to return it, as Shelby pulled away with a soft smile on her features.

         “I’m sorry, both of you.” she said with an apologetic expression on her features.

         Without warning, she used telekinesis to grab Logan by his arm and toss him away from the door. Shelby quickly went into the chamber, shutting the door and locked it.

         “Hey!” Wade and Logan both shouted, before slamming their fists on the windows. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

         “Wade, you have a family to get back to. Logan, Wade is your family now.” Shelby replied somberly, putting her hand on the window. “I destroyed everyone in my world, remember? I have nothing. I don’t deserve to live.”

         “That’s not true!” Wade shouted, banging his fist on the door.

         “I’m sorry,” Shelby said softly, cerulean eyes lowering before a soft smile spread across her features. “Say hi to your friends for me,”

         As she walked away from the door and headed to the middle of the chamber between the two feeds, she could feel the energy radiating off of them. It was powerful, making her skin prickle and her hair raise. This was going to kill her, she knew it. But she was okay with that, because after everything she did, if she could do something to save Wade’s universe and give Logan another chance at life, she would do it for them in a heartbeat.

         She heard them shouting at her as she approached the matter feed, taking a deep breath. With telekinesis enhancing her strength, she slammed her fist into the feed and pulled out tubes of pure, raw matter. The sheer energy of the matter made powerful sensations course up the length of her arm, causing her to grimace. She let out a pained shout as she pulled with all of her might, trying to pull enough out so she could grab onto the tubes of the anti-matter.

         Forcing herself through the pain, Shelby outstretched her hand towards the anti-matter feed. “Come on!” she shouted, struggling to use her powers to force the feed to break so the tubes could come out. “Come on you fucking fuck!”

         The matter coursing through her body was nearly overwhelming, her veins beginning to glow blue from underneath her skin as she struggled towards the anti-matter feed.

         “Please!” Shelby begged.

         She turned her attention back to the matter feed, before she suddenly felt a gloved hand grab ahold of her arm, instinctively her hand grabbed onto their arm. Her head whipped around to see Wade, who’s own other arm was outstretched and holding onto Logan’s. Without hesitation, Logan sunk his claws into the anti-matter feed and all three of them shouted as the matter began coursing through their bodies, with Logan’s shirt literally being ripped to shreds.

         Shelby could feel the energy beginning to stabilize within her, as they created a circuit that began to overload both of the feeds.

         It all became slow in motion.

         Shelby closed her eyes and saw the faces of her friends, the ones she had killed, let down. But then she sees the faces of her new friends, Logan and Wade and Laura and tears stung the corners of her eyes as she realized she did have something to live for.

         She had them.

         Shelby’s eyes fluttered open and she turned her attention to Wade and Logan, who were both looking at her. She nodded and they nodded back and Shelby focused her powers on the energy coursing through all three of them.

         Tears streamed down her cheeks as the sensation increased ten-fold, pain radiating through her entire form.

         And then…

         And then it all went white.

         ~

         She was dying.

         Her lungs felt full, it was hard to breathe. She could feel something….

         “Come on!”

         A harsh push on her chest caused water to gargle up her throat and she erupted into a coughing fit, rolling onto her side. A rough hand patted her on the back to get the water out of her lungs and she continued coughing for a moment until she was able to take a full breath.

         “Oh my god, drowning is the fucking worst…” Shelby coughed.

         “You fucking crazy moron,” Logan growled. “What the hell were you thinking? If we didn’t get into the chamber in time, you would have been killed!”

         “I made a choice, Logan,” Shelby said, glancing up at him.

         “You stupid….” He bared his teeth in a snarl, before he grabbed her jaw with a rough hand and yanked her close, his lips roughly converging with hers in an angry, deep kiss.

         Shelby squeaked, but melted into the kiss and couldn’t help but moan softly into it. Logan pulled away after a few seconds, his chest still heaving.

         “Wow,” Wade said dreamily.

         “You’re a fucking moron too!” Logan snapped at Wade, before he yanked Wade’s mask up to his nose and was kissing him next, his facial hair scrapping against Wade’s scarred skin.

         Wade downright moaned into the kiss, grabbing at Logan’s shoulder before they parted. Wade sighed dreamily, before he was pulling Shelby into a kiss next. It felt different kissing Wade than Logan due to his scarring, but she returned it all the same.

         Once the three of them parted from the kisses, Shelby stood up with help and they walked out of the chamber, hearing Paradox’s voice.

         “He has risen, baby girl!” Wade announced, his voice echoing as he pulled down his mask.

         “FUCK!” Paradox shouted in frustration.

         ~

         Shelby watched tiredly as a partially destroyed bus was taken away on a tow truck, while taking a bite of the Shawarma that Wade had gotten them.

         “You know,” Wade said between bites. “The Avengers discovered Shawarma.”

         “They’d be lucky to have you,” Logan said, swallowing down his food.

         Wade smiled and took another bite of his food, before all three of them heard a bark. They watched as Mary Puppins came bounding around the corner towards them. “Fuck off!” Wade exclaimed, literally throwing his food onto the cement. “Come here my little cuntchkin! Yes, that’s you, you’re a survivor!”

         Wade picked the dog up, hugging her against his chest. “All is right in the world!” he smiled.

         “So what now?” Shelby asked, finishing up with her food.

         “Well,” Wade began. “I do share an apartment with Blind Al.”

         “I don’t think all four of us and a dog are gonna fit in a one bedroom apartment, bub.” Logan said, matter-of-factly.

         “But we can make it work,” Wade said with a grin. “There’s a pullout bed and I think all three of us can fit.”

         “I’m game,” Shelby nodded. God, she desperately needed a shower.

         “Well, I didn’t kiss you two for the hell of it.” Logan said, a smirk on his rugged features.

         ~

         “Al, I’m back!” Wade called as he led Logan and Shelby into the apartment, with Shelby shutting the door behind her.

         “About damn time!” the elderly, black, blind woman said, walking towards them. “I’m all out of devil’s dandruff and I’m shaking like an angry vibrator!”

         Shelby snickered.

         “Thank you, Al. We have company.” Wade said, before he looked at Shelby and Logan with hesitation, before Logan nodded. “Althea, this is Logan, my….my boyfriend. And this is Shelby, my girlfriend.”

         “Nice to meet you, Shelby, Logan.” Al said with a smile, shaking both of their hands.

         “Nice to meet you too.” Logan said with a smile as well.

         “And this little ancient ass shit-knot is Mary Puppins, or as I like to call her, Dogpool.” Wade said, leaning forwards a bit towards Al. “You wanna treat yourself to a little stroke? Get the tongue.”

         Al reached forward and felt the tongue that hung out of Mary Puppins’ mouth. “Oh my god, motherfucker!” she exclaimed in disgust.

         “Right, it’s like an armadillo fucked a gremlin, angrily, in a bed of gonorrhea and didn’t stop till the sun came up.” Wade chuckled.

         ~

         A celebration was something that Shelby, nor Logan were used to. With new friends around, and those friends to call family. Shelby hadn’t even celebrated her own birthday in ten years and now she finally felt that she could move on and forgive herself for what had happened back in her home world.

         She’s sitting between Wade and Logan, with Logan’s hand on her thigh in a comforting way. She was around people she didn’t know very well, so her anxiety about meeting new people was a bit high, but with Logan’s touch on her knee and Wade’s presence beside her, she could feel herself calming down.

         It had been a few days since they had saved the universe and while the three of them hadn’t had sex yet, they had fallen into a complex, but shared relationship with each other. They balanced themselves out with each other. Shelby knows that Vanessa, Wade’s ex-girlfriend was staring at both Shelby and Logan. While Shelby didn’t know why Vanessa was staring at her, she could understand why she was staring at Logan. Logan was gorgeous, a shit brickhouse of a man that was all muscle and testosterone and towered over Shelby by nearly a foot.

         Shelby moved her hands on either side of her, one curling around Logan’s and the other around Wade’s. Both men glanced at her and the three of them smiled.

         Sometimes your family was a gruff wolf of a man, a wheelbarrow full of cancer, a powerful psychic, said gruff man’s daughter and the world’s ugliest dog.

         It felt good.

[oiladgivememoney99]

MD-5 Cruelty Squad: Big Pharmakokinetiks

Tari walked into the Cruelty Squad headquarters, the building was as raggedy as ever… I mean it had only been a single day since she had been hire, so else what did she have to expect?

She sauntered through the grimy, yet somehow still blank white halls of the HQ into the meeting room. Still as quaint as ever with a table, some chairs, and a blackboard being the only real features in it.

The rest of the team was also in there: Masa, Sofia, Lamar and Lucinia.

“Hey, wonderin’ when you were gonna show up,” Lamar said, leaning back in his chair like he wasn’t about to be told to go kill someone. (Or maybe that was a normal reaction, Tari never really spoke to a lot of people at TASCorp)

Sofia was practically shaking in her chair, to the point where it nearly fell over at like three different points. “I am so excited for this oh my god! We haven’t had a good hit in years,”

“Our last job was a week ago, Sofia,” Lucinia deadpanned, staring at the fidgeting, now pouting blonde with sisterly smugness.

Tari casually sat down, Masa was standing in front of the blackboard with a piece of chalk.

“Settle down everyone, now that everyone’s here we can begin,” He said blankly. “Pharmakokinetiks LLC owns the vast majority of the pharmaceutical industry,”

“Booooo, we hate monopolies,” Sofia made a megaphone with her hands.

“Actually, they’ve hired us to solve a problem for them. Sigismund, the manager of their nearby Cancer City location has embezzled a large sum of money, and spent it on… fucking Slurpcoin,”

“Fuck’s sake, they hired a Biocurrency Bro?” Lucinia facepalmed.

“Listen man, Weebcoin is gonna blow up soon… then y’all will be worshippin’ me,” Lamar chuckled.

The rest of the crew stared at him silently before going back to listening to Masa.

“We’re going in to kill him, along with his accomplice Jerry who’ll be in the conference room, they’re holding a meeting today,”

“Should be easy… should we head off now?” Lucinia asked.

“Yes, does anyone have any questions before we leave though?”

“Why aren’t they doing it themselves?” Tari asked. “Why are they hiring us,”

“They need it to look like a terrorist attack; their stock value will go down if they get caught killing their own managers,” Masa blankly explained. “Anything else?”

Tari shook her head, adjusting her green shades as the gang headed into the outside of the base. They got in Lucinia’s car and prepared to drive to the building…

---

The drive was short and boring, Sofia spent the whole thing trying to get under Lamar’s skin; Tari was silent as ever as they stopped outside the Two story Pharmaceutical building. It looked clean on the outside with windows leading into a flat interior with a couple security guards dotted around wielding standard SMGs alongside a couple of “Dogs”, at least that’s what they were called. Stange quadrupedal creatures with overly large large mouths on the front of their bodies, and putrid rotting skin.

“Alright, I’ll be here if you get injured, die, or when you need to leave,” Lucinia reassured, little emotion in her voice as Tari, Sofia, Lamar and Masa got out of the car. “You kids have fun!”

“We will Lucy!” Sofia smiled as she put on a segmented black and orange vest, Lamar put on a yellow jacket with extra pockets sewn into it over his garish anime shirt.

“Alright, what’s the plan Masa?” Lamar asked as he pulled his sniper rifle from one of the deceptively deep pockets: the rest of the team pulled their respective weapons from the slots embedded into their arms. A couple black grenades for Sofia, and a silenced pistol each for Masa. Though the pistol looked more like an SMG that was mangled into a pistol. And a standard SMG for Tari.

“I’ll sneak through the back to get Sigismund. You three deal with everything on the bottom floor. Lamar give me a piggy back ride,”

“What?” The man raised an eyebrow, Sofia snorted, Tari didn’t react at all.

“Just do it,”

Lamar sighed and did as asked, the surprisingly light man jumped onto Lamar’s back.

“Alright, jump to the top of the building behind us, there’s a vent that leads straight to the top floor,”

Lamar used his robotic legs and jumped all the way up to the small building. He then placed a boombox next to him, making himself comfortable on the top of the roof as he pulled placed his sniper rifle on the ground.

“Alright, when I give the signal you two head on in and shoot at whoever you think is a security guard,” Masa spoke through a radio in each of the other team member’s pockets. “Lamar, focus on anyone armed with more than an SMG,”

“You got it, man,”

“Yessir Mr. Butcher of Melbourne,”

Tari nodded.

“Tari?”

“Tari also says yes!” Sofia beamed.

“Alright good, I’ll give the signal soon,”

Masa crawled through the vents, hearing radio chatter at the end of the cramped tunnels as he slowly made his way through them.

He looked through the grates, seeing that it lead to the upstairs bathroom of the place. Inside was a single member of Security Redefined™, wearing a gas mask, and a far better looking green uniform than the rest of the security guys. Masa shot him in the back of the head through the grate, the man fell to the ground without as much as a peep.

Masa slowly got out of the vent, somehow making zero noise as he moved over to pick up the dead man’s gun.

The Karl and Heinrich X20, a boxy looking assault rifle with caseless ammunition, a huge magazine and a scope. Perfect.

He went to the bathroom door and peeked through a peephole; the top floor was actually had a large area in the middle where the couple security guards up here could look at the floor down below, he moved his radio towards his mouth.

“Everything you’ve got, now,”

“Full hog, Tari!” Sofia yelled as she ran head first into the building, Tari following closely behind.

As they entered the security guards looked at them, the lobby of the building was also unsurprisingly enough filled with civilians, a couple tables, chairs and a counter near the front.

“Hello, welcome to Pharmakokinetiks, your one stop shop for human experimentation, how may I help yo-”

BANG

Sofia shot the cashier straight in the head with a completely unsilenced pistol of her own. The security quickly began to fire on her as she ducked behind the counter, Tari following soon after.

“Sof, what the hell was that?” Lamar chided over the radio.

“Masa said to get their attention!”

“He said to give it all you… just start shootin’ em already,”

“Haha, I win!” Sofia instantly bolted out of cover and began to gun down several of the Security guards, weaving through bullets as she ran towards a table. Her inaccurate shots took out a couple security and the odd civilian here and there. Tari peeked her head over the cover, and began to take out individual security guards focusing on Sofia: one, two, three, a fourth finished off by Lamar, a fifth that began to come down the stairs to Tari’s left, a sixth-

“Agh!”

Tari yelped as a dog jumped over the table and forced her to the ground, she punched the thing in the mouth to little effect as it screeched and whined. Tari looked blankly at the thing as she-

BANG

The thing was shot through the mouth and quickly fell to the floor.

“You’re welcome, Tari!”

Tari nodded as she went back to taking the security out, she saw a large explosion in front of her probably caused directly by Sofia-

“Gah!”

Speaking of the blonde woman, she groaned in pain as she got shot in the shoulder from the floor above, she ducked behind the table more as-

The security guards shooting from the top quickly fell over the balcony, all shot from behind by Masa, who ran towards Sigismund’s Office as he quickly mopped up the guards.

“Thanks boss!” Sofia said excitedly. “We’ll go murder that Jerry lickety split!”

“I’ll guard our exit!” Lamar promised.

Tari said nothing.

“Good job,” Masa said as he kicked down the door of Sigismund’s office.

He saw the towering man, his mouth wide open and his face deformed.

“Alright, you freak shit. I’m here to-”

“BIOCURRENCY, BIOGURRENGRY I AM GOD AND MONEY AND GOD!” The man screeched erratically, Masa covered his ears. “SLURPCOIN.NET INVEST INVEST, INVESTIGATE THE BIOCURREN-”

Pew.

The man fell to the floor, dying instantly as Masa shot his head clean off with the silenced pistol.

“Sigismund down,”

“Nice! We’ll have Jerry dead in like 2 seconds!” Sofia said, huge smile on her face. “Right Tari?”

Tari nodded, Sofia pouted a little at the lack of noise, but elected to let it slide for now…

Tari and Sofia ran into a hallway at the end of the lobby, shooting several Security Guards before they could even react, Tari crouched down and picked up their discarded ammo as the two women ran through the hallway to top up her own supply. They another hallway, a door at the end being labelled “Conference room”

---

“Alright, so this is the Fleshrat,” Jerry announced, grimacing while motioning towards the glass container filled with the bizzare human-rat hybrid they had created. “A uh… mix of human and rat DNA,”

One of the other people in the conference room cleared their throat, besides that the entire room was silent.

“They can poison people, and appear just like standard pests; perfect for any secret operatio-”

Jerry was interrupted by the door to the conference room being kicked down by Sofia, who quickly dashed onto the table in the middle of it.

“Excuse me, ma’am. What the fuck are you doing here?” Jerry asked, sounding confused, not angry.

“I’m here to kill you…” Sofia smugly smiled as she reached into her pocket.

“Oh… could you kill my boss too on your way out?”

“Already done don’t worry!” Sofia threw two of the grenades she got from her pockets and-

BOOM

Threw them to the floor. The explosion killing every single person in the room except for her; it merely knocked Sofia out of the room back into the hallway, Tari managed to catch the blood covered woman in her arms.

“WOOOOOOOOOOO!” Sofia cheerily screeched as she removed herself from her disinterested teammate’s arms. “That was FUCKING AWESOME!”

“I assume that means Jerry’s dead?” Masa asked over the radio.

“Yepperooni! Dead, super ultra mega dead. I am absolutely covered in his blood!”

“Great, I’ll set up a towel so you don’t get blood in Lucinia’s car,” Masa chuckled. “Get outside quick by the way, Lamar’s panicking over his Biocurrency crashing,”

“For real? Run Tari. This is always funny to watch!” Sofia giggled like a schoolgirl as she ran out of the building. Tari elected to walk slowly through the building. Through the bodies that she and her new coworkers had left in their wake.

The didn’t smile, she didn’t cry, she didn’t grimace… she merely walked.

...Admittedly watching Lamar cry over Weebcoin was pretty funny.

---

1 DAY LATER

A blonde man sat in his overly large office, impatiently tapping his pencil on his desk; anticipation was evident in his movements as he repeatedly looked down to look at the tablet in his lap.

Finally, the door opened, and in walked a woman. With pinkish-orangish hair tied into a ponytail, pink shades, and an augmented, red cybernetic arm.

“Oi, I just got off a mission, what’d ya want me for, Lucks?” Belle grumbled as she walked into the office, sitting in the chair opposite of the man’s desk.

“I understand the inconvenience, Belle,” Lucks cleared his throat. “But we need to discuss the recent terrorist attack on our partners in Pharmakokinetiks,”

“A terrorist attack?” Belle slouched in the chair, wrapping her arms around the chair’s arms as Lucks placed the tablet on the table. “What makes this our problem? Every building we own is terrorism proof,”

“It’s not the terrorism itself, it’s who did it,” Lucks hit a button on the tablet, the security footage from Pharmakokinetiks played.

“What the fuck?” Belle tensed up as she looked at the footage. “That’s Luce’s sister… and some random chick,”

“Murder Division Five resignation from the company has left us wondering where they went,” Lucks paused for a moment. “We see where they are now,”

“Now what? When do I get to deal with ‘em?”

“Please don’t let your… former relations with Lucinia cloud your judgement,” Belle gritted her teeth a little as Lucks spoke. “We’ll try to investigate them where possible… TASCorp’s best agents will get to the bottom of this,”

“Good,” Belle’s face curved into a smirk. “Thanks for telling me, give me the call and they’ll be dealt with,”

“I will, Ms. Fontiere. TASCorp thanks you for your service,”

[astrognossienne]

Since the sun projects a person's individuality, the very essence of their being, let's see how these sign express themselves when they turn to crime and murder:

If an Aries turns to crime, they may devise a new plan for robbing a bank, something that's never been tried before. Also, they may do it for the thrill of it rather for any monetary gain.

If a Taurus turns to crime, they would kill for greed and/or the love of money and the things it can buy.

If a Gemini turns to crime, they'll turn their versatility to scamming, forgery, fraud, blackmail or any other crime of fakery. This is a sign that would also consider kidnapping.

If a Cancer turns to crime, they would never surrender what they believe belongs to them. If they kill, it would probably be becasue someone stole their partner from them. Here we have the "wronged lover" who manages to make everyone feel sorry for them rather the victim.

If a Leo turns to crime, they'd be flamboyant as always. They'd do it with so-called "class" and flair. But they want to be noticed and appreciated; thus their crimes are usually sensational and devised so that they make headlines. They're the type to plan the spectacular robbery dressed in some form of disguise.

If a Virgo turns to crime, they'd be very fastidious about it; if they turned to a life of crime, they'd do it very methodically and neatly. They can't bear the sight of blood--neither theirs or anyone else's. Therefore, when it comes to murder, they'd be most likely to poison their victim.

If a Libra turns to crime, they'd have to approach the crime from a very aesthetic point of view. They couldn't bear to see another suffer, so they'd have to make their victim happy while following their wayward path. This is the embezzler who steals from their employer or would be low enough to steal from the elderly. They always have some poetic story that makes their victims surrender their life savings willingly. Also, they'd make great gigolos/hustlers/hoes. Speaking of hoes...

If a Scorpio turns to crime, you can be sure that sex is implicated somewhere along the way. This is the person who commits crimes of passion. They're definitely the sign most likely to not only not be afraid of blood, they have a bloodlust, so they have no hesitancy in plunging the knife into their victim's back or heart. They might even dismember them for their own self-satisfaction.

If a Sagittarius turns to crime, they'd be quick and to the point. They'd surprisingly be merciful about it; they'd deliver the blow swiftly. These are the snipers; they'd plan a crime that involved their marksmanship skills--a high-powered rifle that uses special sights. The hunter that expertly uses a bow and arrow not unlike their symbol of the archer. Then, also, if they were true to form, they'd murder becasue of some religious or philosophical fanaticism, no unlike the Jim Jones or Waco tragedies.

If a Capricorn turns to crime, it's a reflection for their low self-esteem as well as their unabashed and base ambition for success. They would ruthlessly step on others to get to where they need to go, using psychological warfare/abuse and always pushing their weight around and ensuring that they reigned supreme in everyone's mind and even hearts. This is the boss of the syndicate; they'd hire others to go out and do their dirty work like the cowards that they are He prefers to run the show and will demand allegiance from the many that they consider their underlings.

If an Aquarius turns to crime, they'd be inventive about it and use scientific techniques, such as biochemical warfare. Perhaps they'd devise a way to program the computer to pay them huge dividends. If they actually killed, it would be impulsively--on the spur of the moment and with shockingly much remorse afterwards, such is their love of people/humanity.

If a Pisces turns to crime, it would be becasue of some imagined ideal. Since they're so precious and fragile, sensitive to every real or imagined slight, they'd dream of it for weeks or months in advance, and once their foul deed was a fait accompli, they'd actually feel justified, and vindicated. The "reasons" would always seem high minded to them.

[wormbloggign]

His bare chest was muscular, waxed hairless, the belt and leggings of his costume slung low enough that I could see the lines of his lower stomach that pointed to his… yeah.  It was admittedly distracting.  It was meant to be distracting.

what the fucj is going on with the las vegas capes...

“And it’s required. Vegas is one of the worst cities for sheer number of villains,” Rime said. Her entire demeanor was rigid, which maybe fit in a way with her ice powers. “Vegas employs a group of unsponsored thinkers and tinkers to monitor the venues, much like the PRT does with the economy, ensuring that everything is above-board

why is everyone in worm so okay with surveillance states? is america just like this?

sorry to say, taylor, but cops and robbers is probably more of a justification that implicitly justified your place in a system than an actual analysis on how society works

“Well, I didn’t expect you’d let me go. Do what you have to. I made a deal with the devil, you caught me, for better or worse,” Pretender said. In a quieter voice, he said, “About time I pay the price.”

(cauldron mention lets gooo)

shes quipping! im so proud of her

“Sniper rifle,” I said, in the same instant the thought came together. “Wha?” Leister asked, incoherent and confused. Prefab’s head snapped my way.  “You sure?” “I’d point,” I said, “But he’d notice.  Our masks and helmets cover our faces, or I’d be worried about lip-reading.”

she's simply on top of her game. intel master.

they are still living things taylor...

“Maybe ‘tenacious’ is the word you want,” Vantage offered.  “There aren’t a lot of people who get knocked out and still manage to win a fight.” “Are you all this pedantic?”  I asked. Vantage only laughed, though I saw Rime glancing at me, and she didn’t look pleased. “Alexandria was always hard on us,” Arbiter said.  Her voice had a strange tone to it, oddly melodic, “Getting us to focus on grades, extracurricular stuff, on top of what we did as a part of the team.”

subtle reminder for taylor that she killed their boss. they possibly blame her for the situation on the strip getting worse

“Weaver did what had to be done,” Rime said. “Not pretty, not kind, but sometimes you have to use a knife to cut out a cancer.”

they think of her as a knife... interesting...

from the b names that come to mind, i am worried, from the powers they have, im confused (i dont know any that are grey and spinning..)

? whos this.

We made our way out of the craft. Odd as it was, I felt a mixture of relief and… an emotion I couldn’t place, at the realization that I didn’t have to fight to convince my teammates that we had to help other people.

thats... yeah :)

“You were there for the Leviathan fight,” I spoke to Bambina.

aah. yeah okay, that tracks

yeah that tracks, of course the villains have some kind of popularity contest

damn, maybe taylor should defect too, i think she'd do great as a villain

[lunmelia]

A List of All of Dean Winchester’s Injuries

Yes. I did. I did go through every single episode of Supernatural and recorded every time Dean got injured. Do not question me, I know what I did, I had no one tell me ‘no’ so I did it, and now I’m done. 

Now, this list might not be the most accurate. I did not sit down and watch every single episode in full, eyes glued to the screen for every time Dean got injured. I only skimmed. Here’s a gif I made to show how I did it: 

(sorry it’s bad quality it’s the first gif I’ve ever made) I skimmed through the episode and used the little preview screen to look for any time there was fast movement, blood or a spell that might require someone cutting their palm. I also kept an eye out for angel-banishing sigils. Since I only skimmed, there’s a chance I missed some injuries or even times that Dean was magically healed. So again, might not be an accurate list but I did my best. Feel free to tell me anything I missed. 

Here’s a key to help you through the list: - most of this lists the actual injury, e.g. “cut on left temple” but other times it’ll list an action that may cause injruy, e.g. “thrown into wall”  - “thrown into/against” means that he impacted the object, but the object did not break / he did not go through it - “thrown through” means that the object broke on impact and he ended up on the other side - “internal pain” means that someone used magic to do something to him, but I have no idea what, all I know is that he looked in pain and was mostly gripping his stomach - “handcuffed” means actual handcuffs were used, “tied around wrists” means either rope or zip-ties were used - “punched” means just punched in the face, any other area on the body will be specified - any episodes that aren’t on the list means he wasn’t injured in them

Some misc notes: - I do not include any injuries that don’t actually happen, e.g. future visions, nightmares, hallucinations or a fake reality - I might be inconsistent with the amount of times I specify what was used to knock Dean out, and not listing what was used. Sorry about that. It’s because I either just couldn’t see the object, or I was lazy that day - I don’t usually specify the size of the injury either, I usually just say “cut”, sorry. I only realised like 6 seasons in that I probably should be specifying the size, and also taking screenshots, but I couldn’t be bothered going back and fixing it, nor could I be bothered specifying the size from then on. I’m sorry, it was just going to feel weird if 6 seasons in I only then start specifying - I don’t include possessions, but I do specify when injuries happen while possessed - I include some commentary of what kind of injuries I thought should’ve happened based on the action - There will also be a list for Sam’s injuries posted later, but there will not be one for Cas. Going into this, I only wanted to know Dean and Sam’s injuries for some redesigns I want to do, I didn’t feel it was necessary for me to know Cas’ because he won’t have scars in my redesign (at least his vessel won’t). Please don’t expect me to go back and make a list for Cas, this already took up so much of my time and I don’t want to do it again. 

Let’s begin, shall we?

Season 1

1x1: Pilot - jumps off a bridge 1x2: W*ndigo - wrists tied above his head - cut on left side of forehead - cut on right cheek - cut on right side of neck 1x5: Bloody Mary - infected by Bloody Mary 1x6: Skin - tied to a chair around his chest, hips, wrists and ankles 1x10: Asylum  - shot in the chest with rock salt - mind almost influenced by Ellicot, manages to burn the corpse before he can, but it did cause him pain 1x11: Scarecrow - knocked out with the butt of a gun - wrists tied up above his head 1x12: Faith - electrocuted, passes out - heart attack - heart is damaged (their words not mine)  - healed by a reaper - life drained from him, process is stopped before completed 1x15: The Benders - cut above right eye - knocked unconscious with a pan - punched - burn on upper left pec 1x16: Shadow - cut on edge of right eyebrow - wrists tied - four claw marks down the left side of his forehead 1x18: Something Wicked - cut on left side of hairline 1x22: Devil’s Trap - thrown into a windshield - diagonal cut across his chest

Hey! Under the cut this post is really long!! Please be sure you want to read the rest before clicking because you’ll be scrolling for a while!

Season 2

2x1: In My Time of Dying - in a carcrash  - vertical cut on right side of forehead - cut on right ear - cut on left cheek - bruised and cut knuckles - head truama - cut on left forearm 2x2: Everybody Love a Clown - punched 2x3: Bloodlust - punched - thrown into a table 2x7: The Usual Suspects - handcuffed 2x10: Hunted - knocked unconscious by the butt of a sniper rifle - tied around his wrists and ankles 2x12: Nightshifter - choked - punched 2x14: Born Under a Bad Sign - knocked unconscious with a gun - shot in the left shoulder - thrown against a wall - punched - cut above left eye 2x15: Tall Tales - thrown around - punched 2x16: Roadkill - cut along the right side of his jaw / cheek - thrown against a wall 2x19: Folsom Prison Blues - handcuffed on wrists and ankles - punched - cut on left cheek - hit in the gut 2x20: What is and What Should Never Be - strangled - put to sleep by a Djinn - wrists tied above his head - drained of his blood 2x22: All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 2 - thrown into a gravestone - diagonal cut on the right side of his forehead

Season 3

3x1: The Magnificent Seven - hit in the face and stomach 3x2: The Kids are Alright - thrown around - punched - kneed - elbowed  3x3: Bad Day at Black Rock  - stumbles and falls into a table - hit in the chin with gun 3x4: Sin City - thrown around - strangled 3x5: Bedtime Stories - strangled - thrown into a cabinet (probably has cuts since the cabinet had glass) - punched - cut on left side of his hairline 3x6: Red Sky At Morning - thrown into a gravestone 3x7: Fresh Blood - slash on inner left forearm - thrown into a wall - bit on the right side of his neck 3x8: A Very Supernatural Christmas - head banged against a wall and knocked unconscious - tied to a chair by his wrists and ankles - slash on inner left forearm - slash on inner right forearm - cut on right side of hairline - punched 3x9: Malleus Maleficarum - either hexed, sick by voodoo or a spell, they never really specify, but he vomits blood (healed by a potion) - thrown into a picture frame (likely bleeding at back of head) 3x12: Jus in Bello - handcuffed - shot in the left shoulder - punched - thrown against wall 3x13: Ghostfacers!  - thrown around 3x14: Long-Distance Call - punched - cut on right eyebrow 3x15: Time is On My Side - thrown into a cabinet 3x16: No Rest for the Wicked - kneed - punched - cut above right eye - thrown onto a table - torn to shreds by a hellhound - (3 long slashes on left thigh) - (4 long slashes down chest) - (1 long slash from right shoulder to hip, back and front) - DEAD 

Season 4

4x1: Lazarus Rising -(resurrected by Castiel, clean slate, no scars) - handprint burnt into his left shoulder - cut on inner left bicep - bruised and cut knuckles - bleeds out of his ears from Castiel trying to talk to him 4x2: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester - punched - kicked in the face - kicked in the gut - Victor’s ghost hand in his chest 4x3: In the Beginning - thrown into a wall - punched - kicked - thrown into a bookshelf 4x4: Metamorphosis - thrown against a wall - strangled - slammed into a table and knocked unconscious - cut above right eyebrow 4x5: Monster Movie - shoved into a wall - drugged - tied down in a metal contraption - punched 4x6: Yellow Fever - crashed into a shopping cart - infected by “ghost sickness” - three scratch marks on inner left forearm - punched - both inner forearms scratched up (disappears once the ghost is killed) 4x7: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester - internal pain - thrown into a wall 4x8: Wishful Thinking - super punched into some trash cans - possible broken knuckles - strangled 4x9: I Know What You Did Last Summer - shoved into a wall - punched - jumped out a window - dislocated shoulder - cut on outer right forearm - possibly some cuts along his torso - slash on outer left forearm 4x10: Heaven and Hell - punched - choked 4x11: Family Remains okay so I literally could not see a thing this episode, it was a very dark episode, but I think Dean got punched 4x12: Criss Angel is a Douche Bag - hung by his neck 4x14: Sex and Violence - infected by a siren - punched - thrown around - stabbed in the back of his right shoulder 4x15: Death Takes a Holiday - thrown into a gravestone and knocked out 4x16: On the Head of a Pin - punched - cut across nose - cut above left eye - strangled 4x17: It’s a Terrible Life - thrown into a shelf - thrown against a wall - cut on left side of hairline 4x18: The Monster at the End of This Book - hit by a car (he’s fine) 4x19: Jump The Shark - thrown through a glass door - punched 4x20: The Rupture - cut above left eyebrow - punched 4x21: When the Levee Breaks - punched - kneed - thrown face first into a mirror - thrown into a glass table - strangled 4x22: Lucifer Rising - punched Cas, hurt his knuckles

Season 5

5x1: Sympathy for the Devil - punched through wooden railing - kicked through a door - kneed - drew an angel banishing symbol so there is a cut either on his left forearm or left palm - stage 4 stomach cancer (healed) 5x2: Good God, Ya’ll! - kneed in the groin - punched 5x4: The End - knocked unconscious - handcuffed - punched 5x5: Fallen Idols - punched - knocked unconscious - tied around wrists 5x6: I Believe The Children Are Our Future - thrown into a wall - strangled 5x7: The Curious Case of Dean Winchester - aged rapidly into an old man 5x8: Changing Channels - grabbed on right bicep with super strangth - shot in the back (possibly healed by Gabriel? they don’t specify what happened) - shoved into a door 5x9: The Real Ghostbusters - thrown against a wall - strangled 5x10: Abandon All Hope - punched into a tree - cut on edge of right eyebrow 5x11: Sam, Interrupted - thrown against a wall - punched 5x12: Swap Meat - thrown into a wall - thrown into a mirror 5x13: The Song Remains The Same - strangled - thrown through a window - knocked unconscious  - thrown around 5x14: My Bloody Valentine - punches Cupid - thrown into a door - cut above left eyebrow 5x15: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid - handcuffed 5x16: Dark Side of the Moon - shot in the chest - DEAD (resurrected by Joshua) 5x17: 99 Problems - bruised and cut knuckles - strangled 5x18: Point of No Return - drew an angel-banishing sigil so he must have cut himself somewhere but it isn’t visible - shoved against wall - punched - kicked into chain-link fence - cut on left cheek - handcuffed - split lip - cut on his chin 5x19: Hammer of the Gods - thrown into a shelf 5x20: The Devil You Know - cut on left side of hairline - kicked 5x21: Two Minutes to Midnight - affected by pestilence (stopped later on) - faints  - fingers stepped on, possibly broken  - left palm burnt 5x22: Swan Song - thrown into windshield - punched - cut on right cheek - broken nose - cut above left eyebrow - (all healed by Cas)

Season 6

6x1: Exile on Main St - stabbed in the chest with a syringe - poisoned by Djinn 6x2: Two and a Half Men - thrown around - strangled and passes out 6x3: The Third Man - there’s an angel banishing sigil that I’m assuming he drew, so there might be a cut on one of his forearms or palms 6x5: Live Free or Twihard - thrown into a dumpster - punched - forced to drink blood of vampire - passes out - cured of vampirism  6x6: You Can’t Handle The Truth - knocked unconscious - tied by his wrists 6x9: Clap Your Hands If You Believe - abducted by fairies (don’t know if he was knocked out or if something else happened) - punched - handcuffed - thrown into iron bars - cut by right eye 6x10: Caged Heart - knocked unconscious 6x11: Appointment in Samarra  - DEAD (brought back by Dr. Robert and Eva) 6x13: Unforgiven - tied up with webs - strangled 6x15: The French Mistake - thrown through a window - punched - internal pain 6x16: ... And Then There Were None - infected with the khan worm - electrocuted on his left outer forearm, leaves a horizontal burn mark 6x18: Frontierland - jumps through a window 6x19: Mommy Dearest - bit on the lower left side of his neck, near the nape (healed by Cas) 6x20: The Man Who Would Be King - punched 6x21: Let It Bleed - thrown into a car - strangled - punched 6x22: The Man Who Knew Too Much - in the impala when it’s flipped over - thrown over stairs and impacts onto a metal table (that honestly should have straight up broken his back)

Season 7

7x1: Meet the New Boss - horizontal cut on right forearm - thrown into a metal table and glass jars 7x2: Hello, Cruel World - left palm cut, maybe back of hand - broken right leg 7x3: The Girl Next Door - cut on left eyebrow - cut on left ear 7x4: Defending Your Life - possibly knocked unconscious - chained to a chair 7x5: Shut Up, Dr. Phil - thrown through a glass door - punched 7x6: Slash Fiction - handcuffed - thrown into a trophy cabinet 7x7: The Mentalists - window exploded next to him (he should earn some cuts from that) - punched 7x8: Season 7, Time for a Wedding! - thrown into a column - strangled 7x9: How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters - poisoned by goo (nothing serious, he’s just unconcerned with everything for a bit) 7x11: Adventures In Babysitting - horizontal cut on his left outer forearm - strangled 7x12: Time After Time - handcuffed - punched - strangled 7x15: Repo Man - stabbed with a syringe on the right side of his neck - tied around his wrists - vertical cut on his left outer forearm 7x16: Out With the Old - kicked in the face - thrown into a glass cabinet - thrown into a table with glass on it - thrown through a glass door 7x17: The Born-Again Identity - head banged against glass - thrown into a shelf 7x20: The Girl With the Dungeons and Dragon Tattoo - somersaulted through glass 7x21: Reading is Fundamental - drew an angel-banishing sigil, so there is a cut on one of his forearms or palms 7x22: There Will Be Blood - cut on left palm - thrown around

Season 8

8x1: We Need to Talk About Kevin - horizontal cut on his left outer forearm - horizontal cut on his left inner forearm - honestly cannot tell what’s meant to be his injury and what’s meant to be someone else’s blood. He might have cuts on his ears, head and neck, right cheek, and nose. Maybe along his chin and jaw too - bruised and cut knuckles - strangled 8x2: What’s Up, Tiger Mommy? - cuts around his right eye - cut on his upper lip - thrown into a wall 8x3: Heartache - punched - slammed onto his back - five holes in chest from fingers 8x4: Bitten - thrown into a wall 8x5: Blood Brother - cut on his left cheek, though I’m not sure if it’s new or from the last Purgatory flashback 8x6: Southern Comfort - punched - strangled - thrown into a table - infected by a coin? I’m not completely 100% sure what happened there - thrown into glass 8x7: A Little Slice of Kevin - horizontal cut on left inner forearm - rolled down a hill - thrown into some chains 8x8: Hunteri Heroici - hard impact on floor - hit in the face with a pan 8x9: Citizen Fang - punched - handcuffed - cut above right eyebrow - thrown into some wood planks - slice on the left side of his neck 8x10: Torn and Frayed - threw himself against a door multiple times - thrown against a window - strangled 8x12: As Time Goes By - handcuffed 8x13: Everybody Hates Hitler - thrown into a car - punched 8x14: Trial and Error - possible claw marks on left side, he puts his hand there but injury isn’t visible and not treated after 8x15: Man’s Best Friend With Benefits - thrown into a bedside table and knocked unconscious - thrown into a painting and tables 8x16: Remember the Titans - tripped and tossed onto the ground - flung back against ground - thrown against column 8x17: Goodbye Stranger - thrown into a wall - either broken or twisted right arm - punched - cut on left eyebrow - cut on bottom lip - cut on left cheek - cut near centre of forehead - cut on left temple - cut on nose, nose also probably broken - (all healed by Cas) 8x19: Taxi Driver - thrown into a tree 8x23: Sacrifice - handcuffed

Season 9

9x1: I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here - head banged against boot of impala - windows exploded around him, might earn him a few cuts - strangled - cut on left side of hairline - cut on left eyebrow - cut below left eye - possible cut below lip, can’t tell if it’s meant to be a cut or if it’s just a lot of blood - either a cut on his left ear or his ears bled from the sound of angels - possibly went unconscious for a second - two cuts on right cheek - cut near his left temple 9x2: Devil May Care - punched - arm twisted - thrown through a window 9x3: I’m No Angel - thrown into a counter and hits a trashcan when he falls off 9x4: Slumber Party - punched across room - kicked in groin while possessed by a witch 9x5: Dog Dean Afternoon - punched - kneed - elbowed - tied around wrists 9x6: Heaven Can’t Wait - thrown against a wall 9x7: Bad Boys - thrown against a wall - choked - thrown into a table - handcuffed 9x8: Rock and a Hard Place - enveloped by blue flame - thrown through table and knocked unconscious 9x9: Road Trip - punched unconscious - thrown against column 9x10: Road Trip - thrown into a bookshelf 9x11: First Born - thrown onto a table x2 - kneed - punched in the chest - shoved into a shelf, counter and wall - Mark of Cain transferred over to him 9x13: The Purge - passes out 9x14: Captives - knocked unconscious - cut on left eyebrow - tied around his wrists - cut on right side of neck, under jaw 9x15: #THINMAN - tasered unconscious - handcuffed 9x18: Meta Fiction - cut up knuckles 9x19: Alex Annie Alexis Ann - knocked unconscious with a piece of wood - punched through a chair 9x21: King of the Damned - thrown into a glass frame painting 9x22: Stairway to Heaven - handcuffed - punched 9x23: Do You Believe in Miracles - vomiting / coughing up blood - thrown into a concrete wall x2 - kicked in the face - crushed wrist - cuts along hairline - cut on right eyebrow - cut on left cheek - stabbed in the centre of chest with angel blade - cuts on chin - possible split lip - cut above left eyebrow - DEAD (wakes up as a demon)

Season 10

10x2: Reichenbach  - cut on left palm (heals itself) - cut on left cheek (heals itself) - handcuffed 10x3: Soul Survivor - tied around ankles (still handcuffed) - needle in right inner forearm x 4 - needle in back of neck 10x4: Paper Moon  - hit on the back of head with gun - punched 10x5: Fan Fiction - thrown into a wooden set piece - backhanded a few feet 10x6: Ask Jeeves - thrown into a bedside table and lamp - hit shoulders against doors multiple times 10x7: Girls, Girls, Girls - punched - hit in the face with a gun - hit in the gut - cut on left cheek - cut on left eyebrow - cut on right side of cheek 10x8: Hibbing 911 - knocked unconscious - tied around wrists - punched 10x9: The Things We Left Behind - bottle smashed over his head - cut on left side of head - kicked in the face 10x10: The Hunter Games - bruised and cut knuckles 10x11: There’s No Place Like Home - strangled - punched - kicked - kneed - thrown - cut across nose - cut on right eyebrow - bruised and cut knuckles 10x12: About a Boy - strangled - elbowed - hit repeatedly against tiled floor and fridge 10x13: Half & Catch Fire - thrown into a brick column - thrown through a door and into a shelf - strangled 10x14: The Executioner’s Song - hit in the right side - thrown around  - punched - thrown through a window - lots of small cuts around right eye - strangled - split lip 10x15: The Things They Carried - thrown onto a table and into the edge of a fireplace - tackled into a table 10x16: Paint it Black - backhanded across a room - strangled 10x17: Inside Man - hit in the back - tackled into a wood column - tackled onto a pool table - strangled - punched 10x18: Book of the Damned - tackled by someone who just jumped through a window - punched 10x19: The Werther Project - cut on right side of hairline - possibly a cut or two on or behind right ear - cut on left side of hairline - bruised and cut knuckles  - tied to a chair by wrists, middle and ankles - horizontal cut on right forearm 10x20: Angel Heart - kicked - punched 10x21: Dark Dynasty - kicked in the back - strangled  - thrown into a dumpster 10x22: The Prisoner - handcuffed - plastic bag over head, suffocated - tied down to a table by wrists and ankles - maybe some cuts on his head, arms and knuckles but honestly I think all the blood on him belongs to others, I don’t think he was injured at all while killing the Stynes 10x23: Brother’s Keeper - punches a mirror - cut on left palm - punched - struck by lightning that removes the Mark of Cain

Season 11

11x1: Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire - pushed to the ground 11x2: Form and Void - headbutted - thrown through a door and into a wall 11x3: The Bad Seed - thrown into a concrete wall - thrown through wood pallets - thrown into a chain-link fence - punched - cut above and below left eyebrow - split lip 11x4: Baby - punched - strangled - cut above left eye - two cuts below left eye - handcuffed - three cuts on right cheek, close to jaw - cuts worsened from the impala crashing - cut on or behind right ear - shoved against impala  - bit on left side of neck - cut on right temple - cut on nose - cut below lip - (all is hinted to be healed by Cas later on) 11x5: Thin Lizzie - knocked unconscious - cut on left side of hairline - tied around wrists - hit in head by gun 11x6: Our Little World - thrown through a mirror - thrown against stone pillar - thrown against wall 11x7: Push - face smashed against bars - thrown against desk - thrown through glass door - strangled 11x8: My Imagination - tied around his wrists - cut on left cheek - cut on left ear 11x10: The Devil in the Details - vomited - kicked - strangled - cut above and below left eye 11x11: Into the Mystic - eyes and ears bleeding from Banshee’s screech - head bashed into wooden column multiple times - cut on right side of hairline 11x13: Love Hurts - target of the “Kiss of Death” curse - wrist either broken or twisted 11x14: The Vessel - head banged on table - thrown onto table and lands on floor - shoved against stone column 11x15: Beyond the Mat - thrown against a metal beam - thrown through a door and into a wall - thrown down onto concrete ground - punched - tied around wrists 11x16: Safe House - hit by something and impacts the ground - knocked unconscious - cut on left palm - punched (while possessed by Soul Eater) - elbowed (while possessed) - thrown into table (while possessed) - chair smashed over him and knocked unconscious (while possessed) 11x17: Red Meat - punched - tasered unconscious - skid marks around left eye - broken ribs - overdoses on barbiturates (resuscitated) - handcuffed - strangled 11x18: Hell’s Angel - either internal pain or choked 11x19: The Chitters - punched 11x22: We Happy Few - thrown against a metal... cage, thing (I don’t know what it’s called) 11x23: Alpha and Omega - absorbs a couple hundred thousand souls that are later extracted by God

Season 12

12x1: Keep Calm and Carry On - arm pulled - foot pressed against throat - arm twisted - punched - knuckles punched with brass knuckles - thrown into car 12x2: Mamma Mia - handcuffed - hung by his wrists - punched with brass knuckles - cuts behind left ear - punched - (possibly healed by Cas seeing as he’s completely fine in the next shot) 12x3: The Foundry - throws himself against a door multiple times - elbowed in the face - choked - almost frozen - thrown against wall 12x5: The One You’ve Been Waiting For - tackled into a metal cabinet - punched - headbutted - thrown through a window 12x6: Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox - thrown into a table - thrown through a glass door 12x7: Rock Never Dies - thrown off a stage 12x8: LOTUS - handcuffed around wrists and ankles 12x9: First Blood - DEAD (ressurected by Billie) - cut on left palm 12x10: Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets - momentarily blinded - thrown into a wall x2 - right palm cut 12x11: Regarding Dean - blasted with a spell and knocked out - gradually loses his memory (restored by Rowena) 12x12: Stuck in the Middle (With You) - elbowed in the face - flung backwards - hit in gut with base of spear - headbutted - hit in the face with base of spear 12x16: Ladies Drink Free - shoved into a shelf 12x17: The British Invasion - flung back and hard impact on ground - thrown into big wheel 12x18: The Memory Remains - fell off railing and onto floor, knocked unconscious - cut behind right ear - wrists tied - head hit onto tiled wall 12x19: The Future - broken arm (healed by Cas) - elbowed in face 12x20: Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes - internal pain 12x21: There’s Something About Mary - kneed in the groin 12x22: Who We Are - stone dust in eyes - really bad gash in left knee - sedated (needle in left side of neck) - thrown into bookshelf - punched - injured leg kicked - elbowed in face - cut on right cheek - cut on left earlobe - injured leg hit with a piece of wood - hit with piece of wood - strangled with a piece of wood 12x23: All Along the Watchtower - previous injuries healed by Cas - hit in the face with gun - punched - kicked

Season 13

13x1: Lost and Found - thrown into a wall and knocked unconscious - cut on lower lip - cut knuckles from punching wood sign - handcuffed - punched - hit in the face with base of angel blade - punched in side - kicked into desk - headbutted 13x2: The Rising Sun - punched in the back and face - shoved into table - tackled through wood room divider - choked 13x4: The Big Empty - knocked unconscious x2 - handcuffed - hit in the face with gun - cut on left cheek 13x5: Advanced Thanatology - thrown into chain-link fence - kills himself (resurrected by Billie) 13x6: Tombstone - thrown back into trolley 13x7: War of the Worlds - punched - strangled 13x8: The Scorpion and the Frog - middle finger pricked 13x9: The Bad Place - headbutted 13x10: Wayward Sisters - hit in the face with base of spear and knocked unconscious - tied around wrists 13x12: Various & Sundry Villains - hexed with love spell - hexed to stay in one spot - thrown into wall - thrown into glass frame picture - strangled - hammer to the back of left knee 13x13: Devil’s Bargain - thrown through door and into wall - internal pain 13x14: Good Intentions - kicked by big strong man - choked 13x15: A Most Holy Man - handcuffed 13x17: The Thing - shoved into wall - strangled - knocked unconscious - tied down to a table by wrists and ankles 13x18: Bring ‘em Back Alive - shot in the right shoulder - poisoned by bullet (antidote applied by Ketch) 13x19: Funeralia - hit in neck / face not sure which one - punched - cut on left cheek - strangled - elbowed in face - punched in gut - thrown into table - headbutted - thrown around - kneed - cut on left side of forehead - right side as well - cut on nose - bruised and cut knuckles 13x20: Unfinished Business - whipped - super slapped by Loki - punched in gut - punched 13x23: Let the Good Times Roll - windows exploded near him - arm twisted and punched - strangled - cut on bottom lip - elbowed in the face - hard impact onto ground - punched in the gut and face (while Michael possessed him)

Season 14

14x3: The Scar - hit in the face with hilt and base of spear - tackled into wood column - headbutted - kicked in the face - punched - strangled 14x4: Mint Condition - headbutted - thrown into morgue drawers - strangled 14x5: Nightmare Logic - thrown across room - strangled 14x6: Optimism  - tackled into bookshelf 14x9: The Spear - elbowed in face - punched in gut - kicked - strangled 14x11: Damaged Goods - hard impact against floor 14x13: Lebanon - either jumped back and hit the wall or he was thrown back by the force of the fire - elbowed in the face x2 - kicked - headbutted - thrown onto counter and hits ground - super backhanded - punched - thrown into shelf with glass cups - strangled - cut on bottom lip 14x14: Ouroboros - backhanded - face slammed into wood pillar two times and knocked unconscious - cut on right temple - not able to breathe - temporarily blind - internal pain 14x20: Moriah - thrown into bookshelf - thrown through gravestone

Season 15

15x1: Back To The Future - thrown against dumpster 15x2: Raising Hell - thrown through shelf 15x5: Proverbs 17:3 - shoved against wall - strangled - thrown back - cut on left cheek - cut on right cheek - cut on left side of torso - cut on either right side of torso or front of right thigh 15x6: Golden Time - thrown across hallway and into wall - internal pain 15x7: Last Call - knocked unconscious - tied to a chair by wrists and ankles - blood being drained from left arm - punched in side - punched - bottle smashed over head - cut on left eyebrow - hit with pool stick 15x8: Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven - cut on left palm (healed by Cas) - punched - kneed - thrown - strangled 15x9: The Trap - knocked unconscious - super backhanded by God 15x10: The Heroes’ Journey - kneed in the groin - headbutted - strangled 15x12: Galaxy Brain - hit on wrists and face with stick - strangled 15x14: Last Holiday - thrown back - hard impact on ground - thrown back into wall 15x16: Drag Me Away (From You) - slammed onto ground and strangled 15x18: Despair - thrown into wall x3 - elbowed in the face - thrown back - pain in heart 15x19: Inherit the Earth - headbutted - thrown into wall - thrown back across beach - internal pain - punched - kicked - broken right arm - broken right leg - two cuts beside left eye - cut on nose - cut on bottom lip - cut above left eye - (all healed by Jack) 15x20: Carry On - slammed to ground - impaled on a piece of broken rebar - DEAD (permanently) 

[shortysquadpresident]

So I wrote a thing. Far Cry 5, Post Only You mission, angsty as shit with a hefty sprinkling of Eli x Deputy. Idk how to do a Read More on mobile, so sorry for the wall of text.

She was so tired of reliving this moment. Everything in vivid detail, frozen for a split moment in time as Eli’s body was knocked back from her gunshots. The look of shock, the betrayal etched into his gruff features would be burned into the ridges of her brain matter for eternity, of this she was certain. She has never felt guilt like this before and didn’t know if anything to come would ever compare to it wriggling, gnashing violently in the pit of her stomach. It was so visceral, so painful it made her scalp prickle and goosebumps rise on her skin. He never even fired a shot to defend himself. Not a single one. He didn’t want to hurt her. Of course he didn’t want to hurt her; they’d grown so close in the last few months. He trusted her, believed in her so strongly. He had invited her into his base, into his family of misfits with open arms. He’d seen the strength in her, the resolve to get rid of this fucking cult that had spread like a cancer through her chosen home of Hope County and he had trusted her to get it done. No, he’d barely even raised his weapon against her.

The worst was the recognition. Her finger squeezing the trigger before registering who was actually at the other end of her sights, far too late to stop herself. It hadn’t been some faceless mannequin of Jacob’s design, not this time. Staci had warned her what Jacob had planned for her when he helped her escape from Jacob’s playground the last time. She had vowed then never to return to the Wolf’s Den. She couldn’t kill Eli if she never saw him again, right? So how the fuck did she end up back in that bunker?

The last thing she solidly remembered was hunting up some dinner with Sharky; The ambush, pain stabbing in her thigh, then the immediate fogginess in her head from the drugged arrow. And that song. That fucking song she had actually used to really like. Now it made her sick, made pain blossom at the base of her skull before wracking her whole head agonizingly. No, she can’t remember how she got to the bunker, but she supposed it didn’t really even matter. What mattered was she got there. Drugged out of her mind and on some MK Ultra-level bullshit programming she’d found her way back to the Den, back to Eli. She had hoped their reunion would be sweet, that she’d kill Jacob Seed, free the Whitetail Mountains of his hold, and be able to explain why she’d ghosted Eli out of nowhere.

“Eli’s sweet on you,” Sharky had said and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t get a flutter in her stomach each time she was near him, too. Sure, he was every bit the image of a grizzled Mountain Man with his bushy beard and unkempt hair, but he was also kind and fiercely protective of the people he lead. And he respected her. Really, truly respected her. Most folks in Hope County saw her as some kind of invincible action hero, unrealistic in their expectations that nothing fazed her, not the innumerable body count she was racking up or the various drugging-and-kidnappings she’d endured. Eli, however, treated her as a real flesh and blood human being; he listened to her patiently when the pressure of carrying a resistance on her back threatened to crush her, sat quietly and held her when she couldn’t hold back the tears, the wracking sobs when the killing became too much. Killing people was not why she joined law enforcement, that was so not her bag. She wanted to help people, to protect them. She’d hardly ever hunted more than skunks and squirrels before the Eden’s Gate cult clusterfuck began and now she was taking down entire compounds of humans with a sniper rifle and sub machine gun. She was so far removed from the rookie deputy she began as that she hardly recognized herself anymore. She’d been drugged, beaten, starved, thrown off a cliff, shot, stabbed, burned, and god knows what all else. The damage was really beginning to show and she was terrified, disgusted even and Eli listened to her, never judging or offering hollow words of comfort. He’d wait until she was done, until her sobs subsided and her energy was drained and he would brush her hair back out of her face. He’d smile softly, wipe tears from her cheeks and tell her how hard he knows everything must be on her, that leading a resistance is hell and she could vent to him any time it all became too much. He’d understand if she decided it was too hard for her, that she didn’t want to fight so fiercely for a while or at all any more; she’d done so much already and they were all so grateful to her. He made sure she knew she had a choice, that she wasn’t beholden to the Resistance or the Whitetail Militia and that she’d already helped get them that much closer to getting rid of the Seeds for good. He also assured her that she’d always have a place at the Wolf’s Den should she want it. And God, did she want it. She’d asked for just a few days of rest to clear her head and then she’d decide if she was ready to continue or let the Militia and the Resistance continue on their own. The folks at the prison had all been nice and respectful, but in the few days she spent there the residents of the Wolf’s Den felt like an honest-to-god family. She helped cook and clean, not just the bunker but weapons as well. She helped Wheatey with the radio station he’d set up, DJ’ing those old rock ‘n’ roll jams while he expounded on the virtue of a good, old fashioned vinyl record. Eli used some of their time together to teach her how to use the bow and arrows, only having her practice on stationary targets until she assured him that getting some squirrels for a stew or a deer for dinner wasn’t going to break her. After getting to know every one of the folks staying at the Den and their agents who were in and out on various missions she approached Eli. “Everyone here has lost so much to those fuckin Peggies, but they’ve still got each other. That’s important, Eli. It’s important to fight for even that semblance of normalcy and family. I’m not giving up until the Seeds are gone and people are safe again.” He’d smiled at her, full toothy grin and brought her into an embrace. “That’s my girl” and she’d have to admit, she liked the sound of that.

Yeah, Eli was sweet on her and she sure was sweet on him, which made the realization that she’d murdered him smash through her like The Widowmaker through a Peggie roadblock every time she relived it. Folks told her it wasn’t her fault, that that’s just what Jacob does; he gets in your head and makes you do shit you’d never dream of, but she could see the tightness in their eyes, the doubt, as though they were saying it to convince themselves as much as her, too. She’d never felt such an overwhelming sense of guilt in her life and honestly, she felt she deserved it. Deserved that ugly gnawing thing as it wriggled beneath her skin. But something else lived right alongside it now, intertwined with the guilt was another violent thing. Rage. John Seed had said her sin was Wrath and she was beginning to think he was on to something. She didn’t know if the guilt would ever subside, but she did know that she was going to raze every single fucking Peggy compound, foothold, roadblock, reaping truck, all of it, to the motherfucking ground and then she would stand tall amongst the ashes. She only prayed it would give her a feeling of relief.

[toasttz]

How to make games: Hero Shooters

So, class, today I posit this little question to you all: Do you want to be the next Blizzard? Fuck no, you don't want to be "Don't you guys have phones?" Blizzard; you wanna be Blizzard from 5-10 years ago when they were at the height of their popularity. But that's not what I'm shooting for here. Do you want a fount of endless revenue? Do you want to do the absolute baseline minimum in terms of engine and game design to actually create a game but aren't creatively and ethically bankrupt enough to make a gacha game? Do you want to build a game whose rules, designs, and themes were just stolen from the effort of others? Do you really like Rule 34? Then it sounds to me like you want to make a Hero Shooter game! Hero shooters are easy to make on account they fundamentally have only three gameplay modes: push a payload, kill the other team, and kill the other team while standing on top of a glowing circular thing. They're also equally easy to design as they require no thematic consistency whatsoever and what little writing you'll be expected to bother with will simply be character bios, which you can keep so vague as to be virtually meaningless. There's never a 'story' in a hero shooter game and what semblance of one does exist is pretense for the non-canon aforementioned three game modes you'll be forced to build around. Best of all, the individual mechanics of each hero are easy to design - just steal them from whatever games came before. Now create about three or four maps with some different sorts of themes, but don't make them in any way mechanically varied - the most complex obstacles on any given map should be walls and maybe elevators that move at a very low speed. We're making a hero shooter, not Mario Party, dammit. If anyone asks why you are essentially just reskinning the same maps you can explain that it's to ensure that the game remains a "test of the players's skills" even though that's a bold-faced lie for the same reasons people who play Super Smash Bros as "tests of skill" are full of shit. Meta-gaming retards make games algebra homework instead of fun, but that's precisely what you'll be banking on in this genre. Once you have that, we need to get into the most important thing about hero shooters: the Heroes. Heroes in these games take one of three major roles: 1) The retard scrub DPS heroes - who will be played by the vast majority of your one-trick glory-chasing mentally-stunted community under the pretenses of being 'the most fun' and will be where the better part of your "cool" themes and motifs will be dedicated toward. These work under the key principle of "Shoot everything until it stops moving" and requires zero brainpower whatsoever. 2) The under-estimated doggedly persistent Tank heroes, played by those with either the willingness to learn something other than "Shoot bad guy with gun" or those who find pressing and holding a single button for the duration of the 10 minute match time to be the highlight of their bleak office-job lives. Though, on the other hand, some of the really cool designs will ultimately end up in this family. 3) The unsung gods among men known as the Support heroes, AKA: the ones no one will actually play. These characters will never be given cool or interesting mechanics or designs, but you'll be at liberty to make as many sexy nurse outfits as you can come up with and no one will be able to tell you otherwise. Like an ungodly amalgamation of tanks and DPS, your gameplay experience will boil down to pointing at your target and holding down the button the entire match - except unlike DPS heroes, you'll be shooting at the blue team and not the red team. Now, some might argue that there are technically other families of heroes, like flankers, zone controllers, pseudo-supports who can debuff enemies, but remember that the key to any good hero shooter is keeping everything rock-stupid. Every hero should have only enough abilities to fill a role for the left and right mouse buttons and the Q and E keys. F or R can be for reloading where applicable, but if you demand anything more of your players, you're going to lose their interest because Hero Shooters are hugboxes for sociopaths who care for nothing more than getting that sweet, sweet 5-second long "Play of the Game" replay at the match's end. This is why the character who invariably rips off Team Fortress 2's Demo Man and can kill people he doesn't have direct line of sight with will always be the most popular, without exception. I mean, sure, you can have 30 or 40 heroes, each with incredibly detailed outfits, backstories, kits, and personalities but everyone will just play the Not-Demo Man so you might as well accept that your userbase is going to be the only thing more toxic than a puffer-fish or a modern-day feminist. But I repeat myself. I don't have the time nor particular inclination to tell you exactly what you need to make but I can give you some character types that are obligatory by law to be in any hero shooter game. This will at least give you a start before you realize that being creative is hard and just steal kits from better games than your own. Call of Duty Man - The main DPS hero and usually the face of your game. Typically a grizzled war veteran man and almost exclusively an American if your game is set in the real world - remember, creativity is hard! He'll have a medium-ranged assault rifle and precisely one movement skill and one healing skill in his kit making him a jack-of-all-trades. Will either be loved or hated by your community with no room for in-betweens. Sexy Healer Lady - The main support hero who is literally just TF2's Medic reskinned and with tits. You really don't need to do anything more with her, as the fanbase will handle the rest. And the less said of that, the better. Big Knightly Dude - The main tank hero who has a big shield that, regardless of origin, will be transparent so Call of Duty Man and Not-Demo Man can fire through it while guarded. Probably wields a melee-ranged weapon even if in a modern warfare setting. By law, they can never be shorter than 6'6" (or 7200 cm. Pretty sure I did my conversion right on that). Flamethrower Guy - Literally just TF2's Pyro. Mechanic - Literally just TF2's Engineer. Sniper - Literally just TF2's Sniper. Probably also a voluptuous woman in a tight suit because creativity is fuckin' hard, man. Not-Demo Man - The cancer in your fanbase you will never nerf. Doesn't matter that he can party-wipe the enemy team single-handedly without being anywhere near them because Hero Shooter maps are literally just a set of narrow corridors so his kit is extremely OP. No, better just nerf Sexy Healer Lady again, since your DPS fanbase is pissing and moaning about her again and, this time, not in the same way a cat in heat does. Next, just make characters around elemental themes. Once you have 30 or so, you can get around to actually doing really mechanically interesting and varied heroes, since there's really only like 10-15 good FPS character ideas to begin with. So don't be surprised if you have some overlap. But by then we should hopefully have completed the next major step after the game is made: alienating your fanbase! This step is easy and requires no particular skill or coordination on your part. First, make some events seasonal, such that you have at least a major event every other month. Any more than that and your fans might actually think you're trying to be anything but another generic Korean eSport event, so be sure to space them out and have at least half of them be terrible. Valentine's Day is a good excuse to dress your female heroes sexily, summer games are a fun and not-at-all tired motif, and of course you need some kind of Christmas event. Just make sure these events only run maybe 2 weeks out of the year, have lots of stuff that you can only get during those times and, as said, that most of them are terrible and not fun at all to play. And don't -EVER- make any of them PvE, as that requires coding AI characters and effort and shit - what do you think think this is? Warframe? No, terrible gimmicky PvP events will be a good start because there is no frustration quite as severe as being told you didn't grind hard enough for: Loot boxes! Shit yeah, your hero shooter's gonna have loot boxes in them! Remember, we want maximum money for minimum effort and there's nothing like a Skinner Box within the hugbox that is the sweet dopamine high of popping a loot box open only to get common drops every time! If MMORPGs have taught us anything it's that Sub-1% drops are TOTALLY good game design and aren't at all unethical and an artificial, cheap tactic to keep people hooked on your game. This is why, in addition to the e-peen bolster that is your arbitrary profile ranking also drip-feeding a loot box upon level up that you have "Weekly Resets" for additional loot boxes. This runs on essentially the same principle as a cell phone games making you wait for additional tries to make it more a habit than a game - but that's okay! You can just rationalize it away as "it was the player's CHOICE to buy 300 loot boxes for the low, low price of 799.99 USD!" and not at all a psychological compunction found in human psychology! You're not an unethical douchebag in the slightest! And speaking of douchebags, it's time for the third and most important step in alienating your fanbase: Balancing the Game! What do I mean by that? You might think it's something like "Oh, this one character has an attack that is way too powerful and so it should be retooled in such a way that it either isn't available as-often, or maybe make its hitbox narrower to make the game more skill-based" but you're dead wrong. That requires actual effort and we all know how we feel about that. So, instead, just start an eSports team. Why? So you can listen only to the DPS players from each team and only implement THOSE changes. That way, only tanks and supports get nerfed into irrelevance and since no one in eSports is ever going to play those roles anyway, who cares? Who needs healers when you respawn to 100% after 7 seconds of dying?! Who cares if the majority of your fans hate these changes and that you end up completely destroying the kits and frameworks of their favorite heroes with needless, superfluous, unwelcomed tweaks? God-damn it, the Not-Demo Man needs to be able to wipe out an enemy team with a 3-second Time to Kill! No questions! I have a very specific vision!! Once your fanbase has been alienated - congrats! You're no longer obliged to release new heroes and levels! The responsibility of server upkeep and releasing new content twice a year are lifted! Now, just reskin the entire game top-down and release a new, better hero shooter founded on the same grounds to re-capture your fleeing audience and fleece them all over again! Now repeat ad infinitum and gain unlimited money. Congrats, you're now another Chinese game manufacturer that shits out products with no care for their fans or reputation but you get to go whaling every single day and fill your bathtub with money. You're ready to work for actual Blizzard now! You're welcome.

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Hi!! Thanks opening prompts; I was wondering if anyone is interested in writing a Post TWS fic where the WS is on the loose and kidnaps Tony to be his new handler since he's good with mainteance for his arm and giving out orders and falls for him bringing sparks of Bucky back. While Tony alrrady knows (through Jarvis searches) that WS was responsible for his parents deaths and while he is angry he's tryibg to survive snd wants to help Bucky. Both see how damaged the other is. Xo, Katie

A/N: I tweaked it a bit so that I could turn it into a sequel for my story One More Light, which you might need to read for context.

Also on AO3!

Out of Ashes Chapter 1: Falling

“It’s probably just a coincidence,” Tony said out loud, back in his lab and spinning around in circles in his office chair.  In his pocket he was turning the dog tag over and over in his fingers, trying to resist temptation.

“What is, sir?”

“Nothing, JARVIS.”  Tony put the tag in the top drawer of his desk and closed it firmly.  He wasn’t going to look up Barnes, James Buchanan.  Because it was just a coincidence.

“I mean, lots of people probably have that name.”

“What name, sir?”

“Never mind, JARVIS.”

Tony lasted thirty minutes before he opened the drawer again.

It took him ten to determine that there has not been another James Buchanan Barnes in the US military since the James Buchanan Barnes; there was a James Brantley Barnes twenty years ago, but that’s all. There was a James Buchanan Barnes out of Little Rock (sandy-haired and twenty years old) and one out of Fort Wayne, Indiana (fifty years old if he’s a day).   The man he’d seen was the spitting image of Bucky Barnes, if ol’ JBB had gone on a week-long bender after growing his hair out.  But no way the man he’d seen was over ninety years old.

Tony rubbed his hands over his face and stared at the picture on the screen, the hat tipped at a jaunty angle, the confident smirk and the dark, guarded eyes.  He ran his thumb over the raised letters of the dog tag for a moment before he closed the windows on his computer and tucked the tag into his pocket.

“Alright JARVIS, open up the files on the palladium, we’re going back to the drawing board.”

Beware the read more

The next day, and then the day after that, and the one after that, until it became a daily habit, Bucky checked the newspaper - first the headlines, then the obituaries, just in case.  He knew it was kind of silly, because there was no reason for him to believe that if Tony did decide to go through with it, his death would even make the news, but he did it anyway.  Gradually it evolved into also doing the crossword puzzle, then the crossword and the Sudoku, until he realized that he had made himself a whole morning routine, complete with a coffee shop where they knew his order as soon as he came in.

The first time he realized he had become predictable he panicked and hid out for days, calling out of work and jumping at shadows.  He spent one whole day wedged into a corner under the Brooklyn Bridge with a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other before he finally calmed down enough to crawl out of his hiding spot in order to find food.  Eating made him sleepy, and as soon as he got to a safe place he crashed for twelve solid hours.  When he woke up his body felt shaky, fragile, but his mind was clear. And when he finally slunk into his coffee shop, still feeling vaguely embarrassed by his overreaction, the barista greeted him with a huge smile.

“I saved you the paper,” she said.  “Your coffee will be right up.”

Bucky smiled shyly and thanked her, taking his usual seat near the rear exit with his back to the wall.  He sipped his coffee and did both puzzles before he started flipping through the paper itself.

Then his brain stuttered when he saw the headline. STARK EXPO ATTACKED, it said in big letters, and underneath Iron Man and War Machine Defeat Rogue Robots. The main picture on the page was of the Stark Expo convention grounds mostly destroyed and still aflame, but above the fold there was a small picture of a man with a cocky grin and a distinctive beard, looking out at the camera over a pair of colored sunglasses.

“Tony…Stark?” Bucky read incredulously, hand drifting to the watch on his wrist. Jesus.  No wonder Tony hadn’t believed that Bucky didn’t recognize him. But in Bucky’s defense, he had pretty much been living under a rock for the past few years. He devoured the article, which took up the front page and half of one farther into the paper, not counting all of the related articles, one of which was about some guy named Justin Hammer and another about Colonel James Rhodes. “Rhodey,” Bucky said under his breath, folding the paper up neatly and draining his coffee.  Nothing in the paper talked about Tony’s mysterious not-cancer, but defeating a small army of robots almost single-handedly didn’t sound like the actions of a man on the edge of death so maybe he figured out whatever he’d been looking for.

Bucky let out a long exhale and relaxed back into his chair, feeling like a weight had come off his shoulders. Tony was ok.  He’d obviously made up with Rhodey and he was going to be fine. “Good for you,” he murmured as he grabbed his bag and tossed it over his shoulder.  He waved goodbye to the barista, feeling a real smile curl his lips for the first time in days, and when he went back outside he tilted his head up and inhaled deeply, feeling the crisp spring air filling his lungs.  He took a moment outside the coffee shop to close his eyes and feel the sun on his face, because, damn, he’d forgotten what happiness could feel like.

He didn’t realize someone had come up behind him until a voice whispered “Sputnik” in his ear. Bucky sagged to the ground, suddenly trapped in a body no longer under his control.

                                                               ***

Two Years Later    

“Who in the hell could do something like this?” Tony said, staring at the photos of the crime scene that was Steve’s apartment.  He studied the bullet holes in the brick wall, each the size of a quarter, and then pulled out the map with the shooter’s location marked on it. “I mean, that shot was just…unbelievable.” When he glanced up Rhodey was glaring at him repressively and Natasha was rolling her eyes. “What?” Tony said defensively.  “I used to sell sniper rifles, I know what it would take to make a shot like this!”

“All I know about him is that he was fast,” Steve said absently, staring down at the wooden table that dominated the SHIELD conference room. “Strong.  And he had a metal arm.”

If Tony hadn’t already been looking at Natasha he would have missed the way her eyelids flickered when Steve said metal arm, even as the rest of her face stayed impassive.  She was holding herself tightly in the way that people did when they were afraid they were going to fall apart. “Alright,” Tony said slowly, still watching her closely.  “Metal arm. That’s pretty distinctive, I’ll start digging.” Steve nodded, something else clearly on his mind as he stood.  “Natasha, a word?” Tony said, shuffling the photos and papers on Fury’s assassination back into the folder as the conference room emptied.  She raised an eyebrow but lingered, giving Interim Director Hill a brief squeeze on the arm as she walked by.

“What is it, Tony?”

“Not the first time you’d heard of a guy with a metal arm, Nat?  Because I gotta say, I stay pretty up to date with the latest technology, including prosthetics, and I’ve never heard of something like Steve’s describing.”

Natasha exhaled and looked at the conference door, making sure it was closed firmly.  “Look, most of the intelligence community doesn’t believe he exists,” she said, voice low. “And the ones that do, call him the Winter Soldier.  He’s assassinated over two dozen people in the last fifty years.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “So he’s a ghost story. Or like the Dread Pirate Roberts.”

Natasha pressed her lips together. “Look, Tony. One time, I was extracting an engineer from Odessa.  The Winter Soldier shot out my tires, and then shot my engineer straight through me. So I know he’s real. But going after him is a dead end. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“But I haven’t.”  Tony offered her a crooked grin, tapping the folder against the table.  “You dig on your end, I’ll dig on mine.”

“You know Steve’s not going to sit still on this,” she warned.

“Uh, you think? After his boss was killed in his own living room by a mysterious metal-armed stranger?” Tony opened the door to the conference room, gesturing for her to lead the way. “Were you planning to babysit?”

“I was going to watch his six, yes.” Her heels clicked sharply on the tile floor as she pushed the button for the elevator. “And you? Are you going back to New York?”

“No.” As the elevator dinged and the doors opened, Tony texted Happy to bring the car around. “Something strange is going on at SHIELD and I’m going to find out what.  Let me know if you need backup, ok?”

“Sure thing,” Natasha said with that small smile of hers that said either ‘I’m way ahead of you’ or ‘I’m going to agree and then do whatever I was going to do anyway,’ which more or less amounted to the same thing.

                                                                ***

“Son of a bitch,” Tony cursed as his call went to voicemail for the sixth time; neither Steve nor Natasha had been answering their phone for the past twenty minutes.  “JARVIS, where are Steve and Natasha right now?” He asked as he continued sprinting down the stairs to the garage, taking the steps two at a time.

“Sir, there has been no trace of Ms. Romanov’s since her last update in New Jersey, but the tracker installed on Captain Rogers’ shield indicates that he is in the middle of the Potomac.”

That made Tony’s steps slow in confusion.  “What?  Did he decide to go for a swim?”

“This may provide some clarity, sir.”  Tony glanced down at his phone at the footage JARVIS downloaded; it was a clip from a news channel showing three helicarriers emerging from the river next to SHIELD’s headquarters.

“Son of a bitch,” Tony said again, and continued down the stairs.  Thirty minutes ago JARVIS had finally broken through SHIELD’s encryption.  Twenty-seven minutes ago Tony’s search query started turning up decades and decades of documents relating to the Winter Soldier project and the man with a metal arm, including security camera footage of a gravel road that Tony knew very well.  Twenty-two minutes ago Tony realized the implication of finding all of this information on SHIELD servers, and fifteen minutes ago he started getting a really bad feeling about not being able to reach Steve or Natasha.

Tony was three floors away from the garage where his suit was stored in the trunk of his car when a shudder hit the building, making Tony miss the last two steps and hit the far wall of the landing heavily. “Sir, one of the helicarriers has hit the building,” JARVIS said.  “There is an emergency exit on the first floor, evacuation is highly recommended.”

“No kidding,” Tony said under his breath. “What about my suit?”  He held tightly to the railing as the building shuddered again; there were no windows in the stair well, and the concrete walls muffled any sound coming from outside.

“Sir, it is mathematically impossible for you to reach the emergency suit before the building collapses. Evacuation is highly recommended,” JARVIS repeated with emphasis.

As Tony hit the emergency exit door at the base of the stairs, he was greeted with chaos.  Two helicarriers were tilting drunkenly in the sky, cannons and rail guns still firing at each other with a noise like thunder.  The third cast a long shadow over the grounds of the Triskelion as it fell from the sky, taking the southeast corner of the building with it in a cloud of smoke and rubble. Helicopters circled at a distance, and the air smelled of smoke and fuel as debris rained from the helicarrier battle.   “Holy shit,” Tony breathed.

“Sir, you are still not at a safe distance,” JARVIS said disapprovingly.  “Please continue to-”

“Where’s Steve?” Tony said instead.  “You said he’s on one of those things, right?”

“Captain Rogers’ position has not changed.  Sir, I cannot recommend that you-”

“JARVIS, if Steve went up against that metal armed bastard he’s going to need back up.  I’m not leaving.” Tony swung a leg over the stone balustrade that lined the patio area he was currently on and dropped down to jogging across the parking lot.  It wasn’t long before he was in the woods that lined the Potomac, trying to keep an eye on the helicarriers as he approached Steve’s last known position.

“Any updates, JARVIS?” Tony asked, cursing under his breath as he tried to make his way through the underbrush.

“Captain Rogers’ signal has moved a thousand meters south of your position,” JARVIS answered, making Tony groan.

“I don’t suppose there’s a trail or something-” Tony was yanked backwards as an arm wrapped around his throat, tight and implacable, cutting off his air. Tony’s hands came up to scrabble at the arm around his throat as the edges of his vision went dim. He spent the last of the air in his lungs trying to twist out of the grip but it was fruitless; he might as well have been fighting one of his own suits. He felt his hands drop limply to his sides as the dappled leaves of the forest went black.

[creativity-is-rebellion]

My Favourite Creepy and Abandoned Places From Around the World

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been obsessed with researching and reading about creepy and abandoned towns or places around the world, whether it was notorious (supposedly) haunted buildings, abandoned hotels and neighbourhoods, or forgotten cities and towns that now lie in decay. I think the appeal lay in the possibility of these places being more than what they seemed or what was readily apparent, a skewing of everyday realities into something atypically fascinating. I will share some of my favourite creepy and abandoned places from around the world below.

Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA

The inspiration for the video game and movie, ‘Silent Hill,’ Centralia today is a near-ghost town occupied by only 10 people (according to the 2017 census) due to a fire that has been burning beneath the borough since 1962. That year, there was a trash fire in a strip mine beneath the town which ignited a blaze that rages with the same fury today as it did 57 years ago. On a Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, the townsfolk had decided that the best method of taking care of the landfill trash heap before the festivities began was to set fire to it - a very common practice back then. The problem was that Centralia had been a major coal mining area in the past, and the landfill was located on top of an old coal mine.

They set the fire on May 25th. The fire latched onto an old coal seam from the mine and slowly spread throughout the mines under the city.Even though the visible flames were doused throughout the day on the 25th, more fires were spotted on May 29th. This pattern of putting out fires and finding them sprouting up again days later would continue for weeks. And when there weren’t visible fires, residents complained about the constant smell of smouldering trash and coal. Authorities tried for years to extinguish the fire. They pumped a slurry of ash, water, and rocks into the mine, but nothing worked. Eventually, they had no choice but to give up, and the city was condemned.

The Centralia mine fire led to the city being all but abandoned. Families were relocated to neighbouring towns. Today, the surface of the streets is no longer hot like it was previously, since the fire has moved down deeper into the earth. But smoke can still be found creeping out of the ground in places. The ground has been so weakened by half a century of fire that a sinkhole can open anywhere at any moment. Portions of Route 61 just outside the city had to be closed and redirected since it’s not safe to drive there. Furthermore, since the coal from the underground mines produces deadly carbon monoxide, the air isn’t safe to breathe in certain areas. Centralia today looks like it has been hit by the apocalypse. Some have gone so far as to describe the eerie place as hell on earth. There are cracking tar roads with smoke billowing out of them, graffiti on abandoned, derelict buildings and signs to warn people that the ground could swallow you at any minute.  There are more graves at the cemetery than there are people in the town. Centralia now mostly attracts tourists who visit the  abandoned highway, where many profanities and obscene pictures are spray painted. 

Pripyat, Ukraine

Pripyat is a ghost town in the northern part of the Ukraine, near the Ukraine-Belarus border, famous for being the town closest to the No. 4 reactor involved in the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear power plant disaster of all time. On the 26th of April, 1986, during a test to see how much power was needed to keep the No. 4 reactor operating in the event of a blackout, the No. 4 reactor exploded, causing a fire which released an extremely dangerous amount of radioactive chemicals in the air.

Pripyat, which was founded in 1970 and had a population of around 49,000 at the time of the explosion, was located only about three kilometres from the explosion. As a result, the entire city was forced to evacuate on April 27th, 1986, in just three hours. Over three decades later, this ghost town is a freeze-frame of the Soviet Union in 1986. Communist propaganda still hangs on walls, and personal belongings from the residents who lived there long ago still litter the streets and the abandoned buildings. The hammer and sickle emblems of communism still decorate lamp-posts, awaiting May Day celebrations that never took place, and toys are strewn about a school house where they were last dropped by children who are now fully grown. All clocks in the area are frozen at 11:55, the moment the electricity was cut.

The IAEA estimates that approximately 30 people were initially killed by the explosion and related radiation exposure, with several thousand additional deaths due to higher cancer incidence possible over the long term. As with any site where a number of people have lost their lives, Pripyat is rife with ghost stories. In 1997, Andrei Kharsukov, a visiting nuclear physicist, told one such story, stating that he went to the power station at 7:30 a.m., and went to the No. 4 reactor sarcophagus, which is where the explosion occurred. He could not go inside due to radiation, but as he took radiation readings, he heard someone screaming for rescue from a fire inside. The reactor door required a password and a hand-print, but as he claimed, someone, or something, was inside. Another pretty unsettling theory was that the radioactive detonation caused a select few not to die. In fact, quite the opposite. It gave them enhanced strength and speed, with the downside being that it made them zombies. 

These days, the site has become a tourist destination, with the government giving interested individuals a pass to tour the areas of Pripyat, including schools, hospitals, houses, apartment buildings, and even the amusement park and shipyard. It is also possible to visit the actual site where the explosion happened, but visitors must stay at least 200 meters away in the case of any radiation that escapes the Number 4 Nuclear Reactor Sarcophagus, built to keep in any more radiation.

Flinders Highway, Queensland, Australia

Known as ‘Queensland’s own Wolf Creek,’ which refers to an Australian horror movie franchise of the same name, it is speculated that this lonely 754-kilometre stretch of road is the hunting ground for Australia’s longest-running serial killer, spanning 40+ years. The Flinders Highway that turns into the Barkly Highway is an isolated, remote stretch of bitumen between Townsville and Mt. Isa , and is known as “The Highway of Death”. The blood-red ranges, open plains and dry river beds surrounding its rugged terrain have stood as silent witness to at least 12 unsolved cold cases and chilling killings, including the 37-year-old murder mystery of hitch-hiker Tony Jones; Catherine Graham, who was found dead at Anthill Creek, west of Townsville, in 1975 (her head had been bashed in with a rock); the Mackay sisters, Judith and Susan, whose bodies were found stabbed, raped and strangled (they were only 5 and 7 years old), Gordon Twaddle, along with Timothy Thompson and Karen Edwards, who were all found shot in the head near Mt. Isa in 1978, Robin Hoinville-Bartram, whose skeletal remains were found west of Charters Towers (she’d been shot in the head, execution style), and Anita Cunningham, who disappeared in 1972 whilst hitchhiking with Robin, to name a few. Most recently, 22-year-old Jayden Penno-Tompsett went missing from the highway on New Year’s Eve in 2017, on his way to Cairns. 

As stated by the brother of one of the missing people, “It is it’s own world out there. Strange things do happen in those wild, empty spaces.” The long-running list of missing and murdered individuals seem to point to this stretch of road being a place that is best to avoid. Nevertheless, hitch-hiking is still common practice along the Flinders Highway, with countless unsuspecting people putting their lives at risk every day.

‘The Crystal Highway’ (Rockhampton to Mackay), Queensland, Australia

On a related note, just south of Flinders Highway, the drive from Rockhampton to Mackay is almost just as terrifying and taxing. Known as the “Central Queensland Badlands,” due to the fact that it is a worthless stretch of scrubby floodplain that separates the cattle country of Rockhampton from the canefields of Mackay. It is a very spooky landscape, perhaps due to the isolation one feels when driving through it. Alternatively, it is also known as the “Horror Stretch,” due to a combination of the eerie but boredom-inducing, unpicturesque nothingness of the drive, the number of fatal crashes that have happened along this highway, and the list of disappearances and murders that have occurred along it. 

The most infamous murder was Noel Weckert, a skydiver driving with his wife to a jumpers' carnival in Rockhampton, who was found slumped, still seat-belted, in the front seat of his Toyota Celica. He had been shot dead through the head with a .22 calibre rifle, probably while sleeping. Meanwhile, the bloated, sun-broiled body of his wife, also shot through the head, was found two weeks later in a creek, where she had apparently fled her attackers. Eventually two men were charged with what became known as the Connors River murders, and were sentenced to life imprisonment, but not before more ghosts and more stories from the Horror Stretch, some real, some imagined, had emerged, including a couple of English holidaymakers similarly shot at by a sniper; a 14-year-old girl that went missing; a 26-year-old Aboriginal woman that was sexually assaulted, murdered and dumped in the Fitzroy River, and more travellers, two from Sydney, shot as they slept in sleeping bags by the roadside. 

These stories are even more terrifying to me since I have in fact travelled this highway myself whilst on holiday, and can thus attest to its uneasy atmosphere. We decided not to have lunch in Rockhampton, figuring we’d be able to find a diner on the way up to Airlie Beach, only to discover that there weren’t any places to eat for at least 250 kilometres, and my husband ended up being so tired that we didn’t reach our destination, a camping site near Airlie Beach, until the next day. We decided to sleep by the road-side that night, but I didn’t get much shut-eye at all. I didn’t read about this highway’s reputation until months after I visited it, but once I read it, it made perfect sense, and I feel as if I survived something quite eerie indeed. 

Lier Psychiatric Hospital, Norway

A list like this wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of an abandoned psychiatric hospital, and I wanted to avoid being typical by including one from Norway, instead of the usual lists that include ones from America. Reading about this place made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in all the right ways, and was the inspiration for one of my short stories. Located in the middle of nowhere, just outside Oslo (the capital of Norway), this hospital has a long history as an institution. The sickest people in society were stowed away here and went from being people to being test subjects in the pharmaceutical industry’s search for new and better drugs. The massive buildings house the memory of a grim chapter in Norwegian psychiatric history the authorities would rather forget. Here, the staff tested new medicines, lobotomy, electroshock “therapy,” and drugs like LSD on the patients in hope it could make them better. Those that were tested on frequently failed to ever leave and died on hospital grounds, as is apparent by the old suitcases still stuffed full of clothes located in some of the rooms even today. Today, the only visitors are teenagers going there at nights looking for ghosts and soaking up the spooky atmosphere.

Island of the Dolls, New Mexico, Mexico

Even though this island is now totally abandoned, over 50 years ago, a man named Don Julian Santana left his wife and kids and moved there to live the rest of his life alone. When he was living there, the body of a dead little girl came floating up in one of the canals. Don Julian thought he had become haunted by her spirit. He began to collect dolls and decorate the island with them. He would trade vegetables and fruits in exchange for any dolls. The dolls were believed to be used by Don Julian as a shrine for the spirit that haunted him. He continuously collected dolls and decorated them all over the island, until he died.

These days, hundreds of these terrifying dolls, their severed limbs, decapitated heads, and blank eyes adorn trees in varying states of decay. Since Don Julian’s death in 2001, the place has become a popular tourist attraction, where visitors bring more dolls to put on display.

Lincoln Way, Clairton, Pennsylvania, USA

If you’ve ever wondered what the world would be like if you fast-forwarded into the future only to find yourself standing in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world, one main road in Clairton, Pennsylvania would definitely fire up your imagination. Once a lively cul-de-sac residential street with 16 homes, all that’s left are abandoned, crumbling homes, overgrown trees and bushes and the crumbling asphalt roadway and sidewalks. What exactly happened on Lincoln Way that made everybody abandon their homes, leaving behind all of their belongings? What kind of stories sit buried in the remnants left behind by each family previously inhabiting these houses? When the local authorities or locals themselves are asked, you never get a straight answer, with most of them avoiding answering the question altogether. One urban paranormal legend states that a beast the size of a horse with red eyes resides and lingers in the woods that surrounds the “once was” community of Lincoln Way, which is why they all left in such a hurry. Another, less scary, proposal is that the houses had to be abandoned due to an exceeding amount of foreclosure, or over environmental concerns, such as toxic fumes being emitted from the coke piles at the U.S. Steel Clairton Plant situated directly across from the neighbourhood on North State Street. Some former residents stated frequent sickness, unbearable bad odours and unexplained occurrences. Others say the properties were bought up and the neighbourhood was to be demolished for a highway expansion that never happened.

Tax assessment records also show that the homes have had the same owners since the 1970s , but payment of taxes have been spotty or non-existent for all but three of the homes, regardless of being occupied or not. Over the years, some of the homes have burned down or fallen down, but around ten of them remain with leaking roofs, crumbling walls, rotting floors and broken windows, the copper and other metals having been stripped by salvagers. There are also several sinkholes scattered around the land surrounding Lincoln Way. According to Clairton city manager Howard Bednar, the city hopes to demolish the remaining homes, but with tight budgets, abandoned homes that sit among occupied areas of the city are more of a priority. Once demolished, the Redevelopment Authority of Clairton will take possession of the properties that are delinquent on their taxes. Until then, Lincoln Way will continue to serve as a glimpse into a post-apocalyptic future.

Oradour-Sur-Glane, France

Amongst all the tragedies that occurred in World War Two, one French village and the events that transpired there, stand out. The town of Oradour-sur-Glane was witness to a brutal massacre that killed almost every man, woman, and child in the village on the afternoon of the 10th of June, 1944. In order to avenge the kidnapping of a German soldier by the French Resistance, Nazi SS troops herded more than 400 women and children into the village church, soaked it in petrol and blocked all the exits before setting it all alight. The men were moved by Nazi forces into the village’s barns, shot so they couldn’t move and doused in petrol before being set ablaze. The final death toll stood at 642 people, including 254 women, 207 children, and 181 men.

Since the massacre, Oradour-sur-Glane has remained untouched, serving as a reminder of the atrocities of war and the evil of the Nazis, as well as a shrine to the unfortunate people who died.

50 Berkeley Square, London, United Kingdom

This list wouldn’t be complete without a genuine haunted house example. 50 Berkeley Square has a long-held reputation as being the "Most Haunted House in London." The four-storey brick town house, built in the late 18th century, has a rather chequered history, with a number of deaths having taken place within its walls. However, it is not the number of deaths that is important, but rather the manner in which they occurred. Quite a few people are said to have perished due to the terror instilled within them by a nameless horror that claims the building as its home.

The earliest ghost sightings come in the form of a young woman, seen to be hanging from the windowsill on the uppermost floor. She can be seen screaming, before letting go and disappearing as she falls. Legend has it that a young girl named Adeline threw herself out of this window in order to get away from her abusive uncle. The type of abuse varies, but in all respects, it was quite cruel. Her ghost was reported as early as 1789, and old newspapers report that "since then more than 50 respectable people have reported seeing Adeline clinging to the windowsill, about to drop to her doom."

In 1872, aristocrat and politician Lord George Lyttelton stayed a night in the house for a bet. He set up a bed in the attic where he was to sleep the night, to test his resolve against the horror said to reside there. He did not really believe in the nonsense stories, but still took a shotgun for good measure. During the night, an apparition in the form of a brown tendrilled misty mass appeared, and Lyttelton fired his gun at it. In the morning light, he looked for what he had fired at, but there were no remains or proof that he had hit anything at all. Lyttelton would later say that the upper rooms were "supernaturally fatal to body and mind."

In 1879, a new family had moved into the house, and one of the daughters was due to have her fiancée visit. The maid was sent upstairs to set up the attic room as a guest room. Soon she was heard screaming, and when the family ran up to see what the commotion was about, they found her on the floor, backed into the corner, repeating over and over again "Do not let it touch me". She died the following day in an asylum.

Upon hearing this, a 'nobleman' stayed in the attic to get to the bottom of what had happened. He was a rather sceptical chap, but still the family told him to ring a bell they placed for him, if there was any trouble. His is the first death officially reported in the house. The cause of death was 'from fright'. In the middle of the night the bell was heard to ring, frantically followed by a gunshot. He was found dead on the floor, his face a mask of terror.

By 1887 the house was once again empty, and due its reputation, no-one was keen to move in. Luckily for the house, two more victims arrived, this time in the form of sailors – Edward Blunden and Robert Martin. On Christmas Eve the sailors had arrived in London, but had no money for lodgings, so they wandered the streets until they could find an empty building to make camp for the night. They eventually found their way to Berkeley Square, and seeing that number 50 was obviously vacant, decided to spend the night there. They settled for a second-floor bedroom, and soon Martin was asleep, but Blunden was restless and frightened. He could hear footsteps in the corridor, and soon the door opened. As Blunden watched, a dark and shapeless form entered the room. Blunden reached for a makeshift weapon, a fire poker from the fireplace. The noise had awoken Martin, who saw the massive tendril strangling Blunden. Fearing for his own safety, Martin took the opportunity to run out the bedroom door, down the stairs, and out of the building, where he soon ran into a police constable. Martin relayed the story and the two men went back to number fifty. What they found was Blunden, dead on the pavement. He had either jumped or been thrown out of the second-floor window, his body crushed by the fall.

The stories continued from those brave or foolhardy enough to venture into number 50 after dark, but soon eventually the building was occupied again, this time by the Maggs Bros – Antiquarian Book Dealers. They have occupied the building since 1937, and have never reported any major disturbances. The staff have, however, heard strange noises from the upstairs rooms, but none have dared to venture there, not out of fear, but rather because they are not allowed to, as the police have placed a sign, a warning saying that the upper most rooms are not to be used for anything, not even storage.

If you take a look for information on this location, you will find many more stories about the nameless horror that resides in number 50 Berkeley Square. You will also find different versions of the stories discussed here, as they change as they are retold, like most ghost stories that stretch back for any long period of time. The versions posted here are my favourites.

Mt Everest, Nepal

And now, on to a place where most of us will never visit, but which is no less spooky. Mount Everest serves not only as a testament to the majesty of nature's beauty, but as an alluring siren song calling to the heart of every adventurer. Despite the risks, thousands swarm to Nepal every year in an effort to conquer the tallest point on Earth. Many of them never leave. Over 250 bodies remain on Everest, giving it claim to the title of the world's largest open-air graveyard. While most Mount Everest deaths occur due to avalanches, falls, and exposure to the harsh climate, the area known as the “Death Zone” holds a terribly high body count and comes with its own unique set of problems.

As one climber put it: "Everest is littered with dead bodies. For the most part everyone stays very positive, you don’t talk about this stuff, but you can’t help but notice the bodies because their clothes are still bright. You might see some bare flesh, but you won't see a skull as the skin is almost embalmed as if it's been frozen in time, almost like a waxwork. The clothes are flapping in the wind and ultra violet light, each person with their own story."

The Death Zone is commonly known as the area above 26,000 feet. When the human body enters this altitude, it slowly starts to die. Then it becomes a race against the clock for climbers to make it from this mark to the peak and back again before their body fails them. Since oxygen at this level is only a third of what it is at sea level, climbers may find themselves sluggish, disoriented, and fatigued. The pressure makes weight feel ten times heavier and causes extreme distress on organs. Because of these severe effects, climbers usually only have a window of 48 hours inside the Death Zone and are strongly urged to use supplemental oxygen at all times.

If someone dies on Everest, it's almost impossible to retrieve their body, especially in the Death Zone. Due to unbearable weather conditions, severe lack of oxygen, pressure on dead weight, and the fact that many bodies on Mount Everest are completely frozen onto the mountain face, most corpses are left exactly as they fall. Overall, standard protocol is to simply let these figures, frozen in the final moments of death, become a permanent addition to the rocky terrain. It would make sense that the mountain's nickname is EVER REST.

And that concludes my list on this topic for now. I may do another similar list sometime down the track. Farewell.

[vinodiriso]

CHARACTER SHEET --- TIMELINE.

NAME: Adrian Mihai Lupei.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Alba Iulia, Transylvania, Romania.

NATIONALITY: Romanian.

CALLSIGN: Prototip.

ALIASES: Lup-ul [formerly], Dmitry Blatov.

BIRTHDAY: 15/11 (Scorpio).

OCCUPATION: Soldier of fortune.

BASE OF OPERATION: Bucharest, Romania.

AFFILIATION: Romanian-Moldovan Fourth Anti-Omnic Regiment (Românesc și Moldovenesc Anti-Omnic A Patra Regiment) [formerly].

BACKGROUND: read more ‘cause it’s pretty long.

It’s hard as fuck to be a boy and grow up without a father. Shit, do you have any idea how goddamn disheartening it is to feel lost, hopeless, and seeing nothing when you dare looking back? Who the fuck was supposed to be my model? Who the fuck should I have been inspired from when choosing the man I had eventually to become?

But, hey, somehow I managed. I’ve become a man… and a fucking ugly one. The name’s Adrian — no, not Edrian, you fucker, it’s Adriàn — you know what? Call me Prototip. It’s gonna make it easier. Nowadays it feels more me than my actual name regardless.

I went to school for I think 8, maybe 9 years. My grades weren’t half bad, I was a smart kid, always been, but mamă alone couldn’t bring home enough money to sustain the family. It was only the two of us, sure, but when at every corner of the street you can find a fucking tin can doing whatever job better than a man in flesh and bones, who the fuck would hire a slow, sloppy, fragile human person? Soon enough, I was off my way. Already mentioned I was a smart boy, didn’t I? I learned not to shy away from anything. I am not lying when I tell ya I have literally swum in sewage, punched my way through asbestos and other cancerous shit (tsk, like today I should care!), breathed in mouthful of the toxic, radioactive wastes of old, abandoned Omnic factories to raid spare parts… surviving is surviving, dude. And surviving in an underdeveloped, poor, rural zone of Eastern Europe usually means to deal with the nastiest shit you could imagine. You want to know when was the first time I was clobbered over a job? The first time I had to shove a knife between a man’s ribs? Yeah, better.

Managed to stay in the world this way for six years, right before my beloved country, trăiască!, decided they had to do something to stop the raids of the Western Russia Omnium that had brought, in 10 years, Eastern Europe to its knees. Or rather, that we had to do something to stop the raids, because we had to enlist to the new formed Romanian-Moldovan Ally Military Force to save our houses and our families. I was… shit, 20? Yeah, somewhat around that. No future, no family, no home, no expectations… the army promised it would give me a job, warm food when I was hungry, some blankets when it was cold as fuck outside… I mean, for me, back then, it was a radiant future.

It was not only me anyway, if that face of yours want to hint at that. Do you have any idea how many fucking loners like me war in my country has produced? Finally the government had found a way to make use of us; turning us into meat to slaughter and butcher, testers for their new, shiny toys. There were others… shit, the names have become so hard to recall… Bogdan, Daniel, Eugen, Isabela… yeah, those were my friends at the boot camp.

Ha… it’s funny, at times, when I think back of it… six months of training non-stop, day and night, the food was even scarcer than what I used to eat, scrawny boys and girls sent off to die because, after all, it was not like the world was ever going to miss us.

However, I proved to be different. I don’t remember exactly what the head trainer back at the boot camp said, something like “a talent for shooting” or some shit along these lines. Apparently, my aim was naturally trained… yeah, ‘naturally’. Not like I had been aiming down the barrel of my American magnum for the previous six years. What a fucking retard.

I got signed up for something a little bit more special. Two years more off the front, Adi was about to become a sniper for the Fourth Regiment, the big names: Alexandru Averescu, Constantin Prezan, Ion Antonescu… never heard of them? Oh my God, remind me why the fuck I am still talking with you? Yeah, those were big names for us, mareșal, nothing to kid with. I was good, I mean, I don’t want to come out as big-mouthed or anything, but--- like, shit, I had proved to be worth my place. Again, it was not like I wanted to protect my nation, forget about that shit, but like… I finally had a place to feel good in, you know? Call me a romantic, but that was a good thing to have in your chest. And I was so sick of dealing only with anger and bruises.

The Regiment fought the Omnium on the Ukrainian border for 4 years. I got many a commendation for my work, started to make a name for myself little by little. It was like I was born to have a rifle in these scarred hands of mine, a gift from above I had just found out. They called me “Lup-ul”, back in the day; it means “the wolf” in Romanian, a reference to my surname, Lupei. Yeah, I know, pretty basic, but it does have its kick, no? Anyways… good times are always so fast to pass.

We were based in Lysychansk, lovely place to raise kids if you ignore the bomb dropping on your head every 3 hours either from the regular army, the anarchists or the fucking bots. Mission was going smooth, backup was waiting for us just a couple of kilometres away, but it happened: my whole team got captured. There is a reason why I mentioned the anarchists, my friend. Ever heard of Beznă? Mh, at least what Romanians call Beznă; the Polishes, Ciemność; the Ukrainians, Темрява; the Russians, темнота́… and I don’t know what else. Terrorists. People that believe that a  world strangulated in chaos would be better than the mess we have now. At this point, I don’t know if they are entirely wrong.

At first, we thought we would have been sort of pieces to trade for Beznă to seal an unregistered deal with the Romanian Army… no, we were too naive to think that. I can’t and won’t tell you just what they did us, because the last ten years of my life I have tried to tear those memories away from my brain as hard as I could. If you really are eager to know, I was detained in their Siberian facility for four years before I broke free… I was the sole survivor of my team. The shit I got exposed to made me faster, stronger, smarter, more sensitive to stimuli. Paradoxically, I became a better soldier than I already was by getting captured by the enemy. I already knew a bit of Ukrainian back when I was detained so I got to catch some whispers, some gossips, but still I couldn’t understand why we got experimented and tested after, for what goal. Apparently, we were weapons for the Beznă to take over the Eastern Europe regimens. The shot didn’t miss the mark any which ways: my companions still died for ideals they did not stand for.

Back to the story, I learned that the Fourth Regiment had me and my teammates listed as deserters and we were actively sought after by the hounds of the Romanian Army. So I decided to hide in Siberia for the following year, got a new identity, lived off a nomadic style, killing animals and humans alike to eat; animals for their meat, humans for their bounties. What? Do you think I am some sort of cannibal? Oh, yeah, just because I am Romanian you think I am a vampire? Fuck off, dude.

Eventually the Romanians gave up… mostly because they lost the war. That was a hard blow for the country, but we didn’t crumble under the weight of that defeat. Romanians are tough people. We have come back from worse. As long as I was regarded, I came out of hiding, intentioned to get my name back, a new life away from conflicts, blood, war… it was impossible. Believe me, I have tried, I have tried hard, but I was no longer fit for the society. PTSD, maybe, or just I got too used to have my hands drenched in blood, whatever shit it is, I have never been able to be Adrian again. So I just embraced what I had become: Prototip AE92890, Prototip for friends.

Killer for hire, undercover agent, soldier, terrorist, I have been everything. But the job that signed me for my life was probably the only one I did for the big shots; yeah, you know who I am talking about, the heroes of the world, or rather the self-proclaimed heroes. Worked with late Commander Reyes Gabriel and Sarge Gérard Lacroix at the Lacroix Extraction Operation; intended to be back-up, I was given a more relevant position when Commander Reyes got a taste of what I was worth. I remember that day like it was yesterday, not because I was particularly attached to that job –- or at least, I wasn’t before I met him. Clarence Duncan, daughter of James Duncan, an American senator. God, I remember those bright, baby blue eyes looking up at me in fright and confusion when we got him and Madame Amelie out of the Talon labs. I was so in fucking rapture after seeing those eyes; yes, he was sickly pale, and he smelled like that chemical miasma I grew to hate when I was detained by Beznă, he was skinny, weak, frail, unable to stand on his own, but those eyes spoke to me at a level deeper than I could have ever imagined.

Even after the mission, I kept in touch with Clarence. He knew I was a mercenary, that I risked my life out there everyday, and many times he had asked me to give up that crap and join him in a normal life but… I have already told you. I was no longer fit for society. He ended up entering my world, although from an external point of view: he became a member of Overwatch council board. I was so proud of him, watching him as he fulfilled her dreams made me foolishly think that maybe if he was by my side I could have succeeded being a civilian… we tried, after Overwatch was disbanded.  Rainy Washington D.C., a small house as far as possible from his dad he started to fall out with. Those were good days, dude: got a job as an omnic repair operator (what? no, never did it once in my life, but after all the strains they got into me to enhance my ‘brain capacity’ do you think I could care less?), he was getting into politics, he was doing good, and the bed was warm every night, if you know what I mean. He was my dream, dude--- he still is. A dream I fucking destroyed.

Blame it on the drink, blame it on the fact that I was growing restless without gripping a weapon, blame it on whatever you wish, but blame it on me. I sent everything to Hell. I guess I don’t deserve to have nice things after all, uh? I can’t keep them. He kicked my ass back to where it belonged: the dark alleys, the rot-smelling corners of the metropolis, the cold world where being Adrian would only mean being weak, the world where I can be what I need to be: Prototip.

[broken-balance-baby]

Tell us about this fresh, new Ajay persona, plucked straight from the mind!

fResH 

dklfasd

I wanted like, consider that Mohan probably had enough temper issues that factored into when he did That. And like, with that it could be possible for Ajay to inherit those too. 

so,, uh do recall that headcanon i did where ishwari gets reminded of mohan because ajay tends to look a lot like him when he (rarely) blows up in rage. yeah :^) lotsa angst in this one folks (under the cut cause this is l o n g)

ajay as a child would be throwing tantrums or crying or hitting things, and ishwari would always be so exhausted to keep up and she was really trying to seek good help just to get him calm. still, so much as she continued trying, ajay had mostly managed to control some of that (what with being a child and all;  she didn’t know he had a problem until something was up when he hit about 12) 

so it’s only come to realization that ajay’s starting to get some serious anger issues when he’s 12. no matter how much ishwari was trying this time, ajay would get into fights, he’d be angry just when she was just trying to talk to him, and later on in life had he started to distance himself from her when he’d join gang to gang just to at least numb away those anger issues with drugs and getting in trouble and ditching school. he’d been known to break bones or sneak in well because he was small and quick, but insult him once and he’d revert into being vicious while tearing people into ribbons (still not quite killing). 

still, during a later point he’d started staying at home more often and suddenly feel struck with the big pang of guilt from making his mom suffer so much; and the day they shot someone dead in the store during a robbery really did him in.  

he was angry. not just cause he realized all his past mistakes in one go but also because he knew that all of this is on him. this is his fault. and after quitting he’d realized he needed to make it up for himself, and for mom. Still, what he was doing wasn’t even the half of it when he learned that Ishwari had cancer; so he worked a lot more and pretty much went through the same thing that Ishwari had done. he was angry at himself for a really long fucking time, there was nothing that he could forgive himself more and now with his maturity he finally started listening to Ishwari but he couldn’t just take it easy. his work was an apology to her; and he’d pretty much lost so much taking his mother for granted when she finally died. 

so for awhile those issues have been trying to be put under control since ishwari had later made him go for counselling while ajay was at it. since setting foot into kyrat, though, everything had gone directly out of the fucking window. 

he saw himself in pagan; someone angry and someone who definitely doesn’t deserve time and attention, he was angry because he couldn’t get why ishwari loved him until he learned about the story of mohan. 

it doesn’t stop there, really. he uses brutality more than he does with actual combat when fighting; being so that improv was always his thing back when he was in gangs. he starts getting better at using a machine gun and a sniper rifle and pretty soon starts going overkill. gets too violent at even the simplest of situations that locals are afraid of getting hurt by him. he’s been so cooped up about helping people that he’s forgotten about mom, he just wants everything to end but things are too overwhelming and all he can really keep focus on is killing and killing and even more killing. he lashes out even when things are fine; sabal and amita always look down on him asking “what the fuck is wrong with you?” and bhadra is more or less one of the people that actually throws him back to awareness. 

particularly with this alternate ajay i wanted a certain scene with bhadra where he lashes out in front of her. bhadra flinches backwards and shields herself from fear of getting hurt and ajay’s realized what he’s done. trying to talk to her, bhadra leaves and he’s been left to contemplate with what he had done, but he couldn’t think more of it because he was starting to get busy again with more missions. 

his relationship with yogi and reggie? pretty much as angry as he was when he first met them, but those drugs had calmed the hell out of him and he only gets angry once the aftermath is hit. both yogi and reggie are more or less chill, though, and they do make him conscious about how angry he suddenly gets. 

longinus, though? longinus is pretty much the only few people to enlighten him. he’s been brought upon a good mood, though sometimes when messing up he can’t help be mad at the old guy in secret for somehow managing to never get this done himself, but he takes it back while shooting people up. 

i’d like to believe that sabal and amita would do their ‘feeling close’ deal with him but in truth they obviously don’t know him.  on sabal’s route, ajay’s infatuated but also hesitates anytime sabal’s acted upon his sexism or talked shit about amita. he knows that his morals are better but how sabal treats certain people is what really knocks ajay off; he wanted to suggest changes but then only got more or less invalidated by him. he contemplates his decisions anytime it happens. on amita’s route, ajay thinks with the logical perspective but also tries to add in what could be better for the people. it’s been taken to consideration but amita had never really pursued with them. they don’t listen to him in spite of him listening to them so much.

but with pagan? i like to believe that he only ignores them until the second half of the story. that’s where he starts regretting decisions and suddenly has a lot less of the upper hand when he really does talk to pagan, who’s just letting him do his thing when continuing on, ajay’s starting to find his mistakes again in misjudging pagan and really finding out the story to ishwari and mohan, he’s got questions that were barely ever answered by the people of the Golden Path. 

in the end, ajay stops what the hell he’s been doing. he remembers what he was here for and gets to pagan mid-way to bring mom to lakshmana, and he’s in a real fucking rage finding that after stepping out, the golden path had decidedly went ahead and took Jalendu Temple to their hands. 

ajay’s made up his mind. pagan’s right and he doesn’t want him to leave, not now, not when he’s found his family but his anger’s gotten to bridges to where distress and the pressure of what will happen now had gotten him to a mental breakdown. 

pagan helps him, actually. he’s not afraid. he’s not taking that something is turning him into a monster. ajay hates that he’s inherited this problem from mohan but pagan assures him that it doesn’t matter; he’s not his father and he will never be like sabal’s headass talks. 

angry. in pain, still. but pagan helps him relax more and in spite of being angry he’s finally given the treatment he hasn’t gotten in so long, but even still he wants to do one last thing to end it all. 

he finally takes control of kyrat, in this sense. pagan’s still the face of the monarchy, but all the orders fell under him as soon as he demanded that the golden path be ceased and amita and sabal would be taken the fuck away. 

it’s not like ajay’s not angry anymore; he is. it’s evident with the way he starts getting his revenge on the two, the way he mostly ends up causing chaos again but from the other side, seething, but then when it’s pagan encouraging it, it’s only until when he sees bhadra again that he realizes what he’s doing.

…again. 

not that i actually know how to end this;  honestly this turned out much differently than when i first wrote about it, but i’ve found that there were chances that bhadra could hate him but can’t do it. she’s afraid, yes, and she’s upset, but she doesn’t want to leave ajay because she’s pretty much later on understood that ajay’s got a problem. she doesn’t want to make it worse. 

so,, will they be happy together? in spite of all the things that ajay pretty much caused?

uh. yeah, eventually. i actually don’t know how to delve into the full detail of it yet.

thank you! uvu

[moonybyte]

What always boggles my mind is that people yell specifically about the DONATIONS. Which they never ever are forced to pay. That are 100% voluntary. There’s not even a fee for joining or uploading, it’s literally optional. Like, they can ignore the call for it and keep on reading their Final Fantasy 7 enemy-to-lovers 30k fic. People make it sound like AO3 will hunt your wallet down with a sniper rifle while it is perfectly fine to ignore them and their donation drives for the next 30 years. This whole “how dare they get money” thing when they never took YOUR money (unless you gave it willingly) is crazy. Imagine yelling at your local donate for the homeless guy for daring to ask for money for their shelters because you think they get millions from the state already or that the children with cancers deserve it more or you think that the shelter showers are good enough as is so they should just not ask for more money unless they need it based on what you think they need.

People could always put their commissions for smut on other pages like Tumblr, Twitter, Patreon, etc and never ever deal with AO3. If it were such a monster, most in fact just would ignore AO3 as an “unsavory business” and move elsewhere. Yet oddly enough, many people go there. Especially whenever other pages get killed by censorship or users get sued for copyright (see the big chinese immigration to AO3 for gay porn a few years back).

You don’t like their donation drive? You want to earn money with your stuff? Easy, just go somewhere else and ignore AO3. Don’t walk into a restaurant to yell on how much their food sucks at the entrance, find a better place then.

*cackling*

If OTW weren’t around, this wouldn’t be “scaremongering”: It would be the inescapable status quo.

[wolfythewitch]

MAFIA AU PART 2! Next up will be the schuylers and burr! Though it’ll be in a week or so cause I’m going somewhere 😅 •——• “It’s not over till you’re dead.” •The Monarch is a crime based organisation run by George King, also called a mafia •Their rival is The Sons of Liberty •The Sons used to be part of The Monarch, but George Washington’s grandfather broke free along with a few other men •They still hold a grudge -•- George King Age: 39 Height: 6 ft Wife: Deceased Children: none Preferred weapon: pistols and revolvers How long has he been in: 39 years Additional: •Also know as Farmer George •He despises that nickname •Has no tolerance for doubt •A bit trigger-happy when holding a gun •His wife died of cancer when he was 29 •The is man is a perfectionist •Can also secretly draw and sing •Cusses, a lot •Is intimidating even if he doesn’t cuss •Has a British accent “Only the strong will survive.” -•- Maria Reynolds Age: 25 Height: 5’6 Status: married Child: Susan Reynolds Preferred weapon: Pistol and knives and poison How long has she been in: 4 years Additional: •Doesn’t actually like killing •Is being forced by her husband •She is abused •Has a child living with her mother, does everything she can to protect her •Has a sweet tooth •loves lollipops •Is fluent in flower language •Has impeccable memory “A kiss is all you need.” -•- James Reynolds Age: 30 Height: 5’9 Status: married Child: Susan Reynolds Preferred weapon: Pistol and fists How long has he been in: 4 years Additional: •Everything he does now is a result of what he has learned from his past •His father was arrested when he was 8 •His mother died when he was 10 •Was found on the street by a con man •Tried to con George King, ended up joining him •Tries to love his wife, but he doesn’t know how “Fight your hardest, fight your dirtiest, that’s the only way to survive.” -•- George Eacker Age: 18 Height: 5’7 Status: single Preferred weapon: Pistol and sniper rifles, daggers How long has he been in: 2 years Additional: •Sometimes cries at night, only Arnold knows •Sam and Arnold are friendly to him, Lee treats him like a coworker, the Reynolds ignore him and King treats him like a slave •Still studies at college, Sam is his professor •Still feels extremely guilty about killing Philip •Took up the habit of drinking •He was misguided, and secretly wants to leave, but he can’t “Blood never washes off.” -•- Charles Lee Age: 23 Height: 5’7 Status: taken Preferred weapon: knives and daggers, doesn’t like guns How long has he been in: 3 years Additional: •Has stolen from many people, apologises in private •Secretly enjoys his job but still feels guilty •Has an alternate job as a waiter •Has some trouble at home •Hates confrontations because of that •King found Lee trying to rob him at the restaurant he worked at, offered him a job •Has never killed anyone, doesn’t want to •Has trouble expressing himself, a bit of a problem in his relationship •Loves his partner very much -•- Samuel Seabury Age: 22 Height: 5’5 Status: taken Preferred weapon: revolvers and pocketknives, the smaller the better How long has he been in: 3 years Additional: •Has scars on his back and some on his neck, hides them •Is actually very addicted to tea •Is always trying to make others happy cause he hates seeing others in pain and he knows what it’s like •Used to be a paramedic •Do not, in any circumstances, piss him off •Is scary when mad •Everyone loves him •He doesn’t love himself “At the end of the day, all you’ll have is the joy you have and the joy you gave others” -•- Benedict Arnold Age: 26 Height: 5’9 Status: kind of taken Preferred weapon: pistols and revolvers and pretty much any type of gun How long has he been in: 4 years Additional: •Had a boyfriend named John André •Has been exiled/thrown out of The Sons •No one know why they didn’t kill him, maybe they felt pity? But they executed André •Has perfect aim, doesn’t miss •He sometimes cries for André, sometimes, he tells Eacker, he can hear his voice •Mostly keeps to himself, gives everyone but Eacker the cold shoulder “You can’t run from your past.” •——•

[kalimuses]

“ i thought a military man might be a little more punctual. i don’t imagine utah traffic kept you– no need to look so tense, captain. i’m only half serious. ”

steve hadn’t been back here since james was born. a tired old home that had paid witness to some of his greatest joys and many of his lowest points post-thawing. he’d watched his daughter take her first steps here and washed her mother's ashes from under her fingernails after the snap. despite the pain these walls triggered, part of him would always associate this as his home and this intrusion set every nerve in his body on edge. aegror, the anti-mutant movements darling. everything they ever wanted to sell to push their inhumane laws right into parliament. the man sat with a casualness that didn’t quite reach his eyes as he smiled invitingly.

“ aegror, ” steve addressed him, a clipped and challenging tone. he knew nothing of this man but what was spattered in across the news. a plague, they called him. a true kill on sight mutant. if everything was to be believed, steve understood why. just this month alone, five officers passed from sudden stage four cancer. all been present for his arrest attempt, all had been dead within the week. “ is this the part where you tell me why i came from one side of the country to the other? ” his letter had been vague and reeked of false intentions but civil; more civil than he’d ever expected from the media’s monster. if this was a chance he could end this, just between them, he had to take it before more lives ended up in the crossfire. the violence was growing and steve no longer feared threats from above, but the inching realisation that the world may tear itself apart all on its own. of course, steve wasn’t totally naive. bucky was on the hill outside with a sniper rifle aimed through the window in the likely event that this was, in fact, a trap.

“ seth, ” he corrected. “ no need for latin among friends. and i’d like us to be friend’s steve. ” he sounded almost giddy at the prospect. like nothing could delight him more than the idea of befriending captain america. this only served to unsettle steve more, which he was certain was seth’s true intention. “ you think i’d have been a little more creative, with all the time i had to think about it in the state home growing up. it’s a bit of a cliche. but they branded me a disease and i’ve never been one to turn my nose up at a good nickname. of course, everything just sounds a little more poetic in latin,” he rambled fondly. as if his youth in a mutant rehabilitation had been a summer camp rather than years of intermittent torture. he felt so far from that now, his memories sung more like an old film. like he was watching the child struggle before his eyes, he wanted to reach out and help him, take him away but his fingers would never reach him and all he could do was change the channel because it was only a story. “ i understand you don’t know me captain but i do know a great deal about you. ”

steve’s shoulders were squared defensively, a perfect opposite to the other man’s easy slopes. he was very aware steve rogers wasn’t alone, but then, neither was seth. he rarely was. she was in the bedroom, out of sight and reach. still, ellie had let him know from the moment he’d walked through the door that barnes was outside, ready to take the shot. he supposed he could tolerate that if it made the soldier less nervous. after all, he had a feeling by the end of the day they would finally all be on the same side.

“ i thought you were the coolest growing up. i mean– a lot of us did. i’d say me most of all, though i’m probably biased. i thought it was a sign of the times that humans had put aside their fear. that change was coming. after all, they made you. a man-made mutant, hailed as a hero. i read all about you– i thought i knew all there was to know back then. ”

steve pulled his shield closer, a sudden deep ache as though he desperately needed to cough forming in the base of his chest. standing became more difficult, but in a desperate attempt to seem unbothered, he remained on his feet rather than taking the seat offered by seth’s sweeping hand. “ i’m guessing this is you? ” he asked with a bitter quirk to his lip, his voice a soft rasp in comparison to his typical authoritative rhythm. the mutant nodded apologetically. steve looked to the window for less than a second, debating whether or not he should signal bucky to fire. he pulled a deep breath through his nose and was interrupted by a lung spasming cough, nearly causing him to double over.

“ i’m sure you can understand, steve. i’m not a man who leaves much to chance. barnes can me in his scope if he likes but this; this is an insurance policy that we all mind our manners. ” his expression shifted to startled, wondering how he’d picked so quickly who was outside. bucky wasn’t a bad guess, but surely he hadn’t bluffed so easily. steve’s thoughts suddenly felt unsecured as he wondered how private they really were. frustratingly, his mind shifted to just about everything he didn’t want seth to know. now that he demanded himself to think of anything else, he couldn’t help but fixate. “ consumption killed your mother, didn’t it? i read that somewhere. seem’s fitting, but i don’t want to hurt you. ”

“ could’ve fooled me, ” steve joked irritably. seth’s smile picked up in response, seemingly very amused with himself. he tossed his hands up in a soft shrug of consolation as if to say; don’t feel bad, anyone else would be on the floor by now. “ why am i here? ”

“ i told you, i want us to be friends. i thought i knew a lot about you before, steve. but i did my digging and turns out, you are a very complicated man. ”

seth’s location choice was perhaps a smidge dramatic, but it served it’s purpose. not only did it visibly unsettle steve to be back within these walls, but let out a soft warning that he knew far more than most. after all, the government hadn’t even been able to find this little needle in the safe house haystack. his smile fell away as anger leaked into his bones at the sight of all. all of it was true, he had grown up with an adoration for captain rogers. used the love and reverence he received as a badge of hope that change was coming. his rage could’ve blown a roof off as he watched him go from hero to war criminal; standing up for people like him. he’d grown angry and watched on with pride as the country scavenged to find him. no longer an avenger, embracing his mutant-self. but then he’d gone back to them. like a beaten dog, steve rogers laid at this country’s feet and begged them to kick him once more.

the more he learned about the man the more he’d grown to hate him, resent the love he’d carried for him. he’d gone back to his uniform even after they’d locked his daughter up in the foundlings state home. seth couldn’t decide if it was sick or plainly stupid. steve had been made a mutant, but sarah rogers was born one and treated as such and still, the honourable captain america fought for those who would enslave them.

“ you’re not exactly the sort of friend i look for. ” steve responded dryly, feeling his knee’s beginning to shake. he knew seth wanted to intimidate him. he wanted to thrash his weight around and see if he could make him sweat. he’d dealt with this kind before. when stories of seth first begun springing up, he’d wanted to help him. recruit him. save him from his own worst impulses before he got himself killed on this crusade. but as time went on, the violence expanded and this was no longer the sort of man you saved; but one that you stopped. he felt frighteningly unprepared for all of this. he’d half expected a brawl, not whatever this strained politeness was.

“ why? because i’ve killed people? you’d be fast out of friends if that were the case, captain. ”

“ innocent people. ”

“ you and i differ on our judgement of innocence, but say i had, i can count a few murderers among your ranks, steve. don’t play morality police with me. ”

finally, steve’s stance crumpled, falling hard to his knee’s as blood reared up inside his mouth with another full-bodied cough. the feeling eased once it was through and seth’s expression seemed off. like he was equal parts disappointed and relieved to see him topple.

 he continued on as steve pulled eager clean breaths, snuffing out the tuberculosis for the most part to offer some relief. he was sincere in his sentiment, he didn’t want a dead patriot. he wanted an ally. “ your son, the youngest, nate right? ” he asked, knowing full well that he was correct. the boys face was injected into his mind as it flashed into steves and thus ellie’s before being projected into his own. “ he’s sick. ”

steve was back on his feet in an instant and the mutant felt almost delighted at the dangerous glint in his eyes. this was the look of a man that would choke the life right out of him given the chance for simply taking his son’s name in vain. it excited him to know the old man still had some fight left in him, more than seth anticipated judging by his expression.

“ i could fix him. ” he proposed. and like he’d popped a parade balloon, he watched captain america’s rage deflate to a miserable subspecies of hope. he couldn’t help it, what father could? the chance to save their child? only a true monster could turn their nose to that. “ cure him. what would the righteous steve rogers do to keep his son alive? ”

steve felt breathless and this time it wasn’t a rapidly mutating virus that was responsible. nate had been varying levels of sick his entire life, his body rejecting and accepting the serum in a vicious cycle that was taking its toll. there were times he was certain that he wouldn’t pull through. there had been talks of another dose, which was as likely to kill him as it was to save him. if seth could cure him, without the risk, his stomach dropped with the knowledge that there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do in order to make that happen.

“ what do you want? ” he asked defensively.

“ i told you– ”

“ not friends. what do you want me to do? ” steve felt an alien anger all the way to the marrow of his bones. angry that he was even indulging this conversation, angry that his son’s illness was about to be used as a bargaining chip. angry that he’d likely need to shoot down nate’s greatest hope for survival because anything seth asked of him was likely to be something he couldn’t give.

“ i want you to be what you should’ve been all along. a champion for us. captain america, the mutant. not the hero or the soldier. i want the world to see you for what you are, fighting for us instead of them. ” he demanded, the warmness of his tone switching up until he could almost taste ice forming on his tongue. “ you as the face of the mutant rebellion. you did it once, tell me, would you do it again if it meant saving your son’s life? ”