#and claims nobody alive can out-shoot him but she's like “no one alive but technically... i died >)”

[akuzeisms]

WHAT KIND OF HERB ARE YOU?

Cumin

You see yourself so clearly that you can see the gaping hole inside you where you lost a piece long ago. It's there and it's ragged and painful and bleeding and you don't know how no one else can see it when it takes up so much of your awareness. You run from it, fight it, try to find it but nothing bandages up that hungry mawing void inside yourself and when you're tired, uninspired, you swear it grows and grows. You promise yourself you want to be alone, promise yourself that you want to be different, want to be special, love having this hole inside you and point it out in words or song or jokes and stories and take pride in that pain, in your uniqueness in this world of grays and storm clouds. You are 5 am rain on asphalt roads and sputtering street lamps. You are petrichor musings and messy guitar chords and a thousand contradictions wrapped inside a quiet cry, an evening of coffee and jittering hands and a promise that you're okay or that you're fine until you're falling apart in someone's arms or messages and pretend you're alright in the morning. You taste so strongly but sometimes you wonder if all you are is ash.

I stole from @pessimistics so steal from me-- but obligatory @diewithaname @dutyworn @chaotiicgoods (kaidan) @kenasakis & anyone else who'd like to steal!

[letarasstuff]

Normal People don't know their IQ

(A/N): Inspired by me, who recently discovered normal people don’t know their IQ, while I was tested two or three times already...

Summary: A certain someone is the only way to get the UnSub. But there’s also something different that makes her special.

Warnings: Angst (fluffy end, I swear), language, mentions of rape and torture, mention of dead people, the usual CM stuff I guess Wordcount: 2.0k

✨Masterlist✨ _________________________________________

“Garcia, I need you to look into high school teachers, who are suspended or fired for inappropriate behavior towards students and live in the area of the kidnappings”, Hotch orders in a stern voice. But you can’t blame him, after all there are currently six dead teenage girls and one missing. One can only hope and work as fast as possible to get her back to her parents alive.

The team is working a case in Sacramento, California. Teenage girls get abducted on their way home from school, are held for exactly a week and are killed by a simple cut to their throat. The torture they have to endure beforehand isn’t as simple. The last two also show signs of rape.

The dumbing sites are different parks all over the city. The placing happens overnight only to have the girls found the next morning by a clueless jogger or stroller.

“Let’s go over the profile again, I feel like we are missing something”, Rossi commands. His gut feeling tells him only that much, he just has to find out what it is.

“It’s a white male in his mid thirties to late forties. He blends in, so he has to be or has been a teacher. Someone who looks like they belong into a school isn’t suspicious”, Spencer counts the facts.

“The victims all look similar, probably resembling an ex-wife or girlfriend”, Morgan adds. Before he can get into the depth of the torture a phone rings.

“My lovely crime fighters, I got an address. Charles Collins. philosophy and history. Got suspended for suggestive talk towards his female students. He is also said to stare at them and certain body parts for way too long and way too obvious. Gross. Annnd that- wait”

“What is it, Garcia?” Hotch asks after a moment of silence, which is unusual for the ever bubbly tech analyst.

“You got your profile wrong. Collins doesn’t take these girls because of an ex flame.”

The team looks at each other in confusion. Garcia always stresses how she isn’t a profiler and can’t judge over people, because she only wants to see the good in them. How is she able to tell that the profile is off?

“Shoot baby girl, we don’t have much time left”, Derek urges her. He wants nothing more than to have this SOB finally behind bars. The whole team wants that.

“He has a daughter. Technically it’s not his daughter, it’s someone else’s, but he is her foster father. Go and please save both girls!”

Penelope doesn’t have to say it twice. After a brief thank you and goodbye the team is on their way to the given address. As soons as they get there, everyone notices the absence of a car in the driveway. Hotch sends Spencer, Emily and Derek through the back door, the rest goes in from the front.

“FBI! OPEN UP!”

It’s needless to say that nobody opens up. There is no other way than kicking the doors down.

After entering the house and clearing the first floor, Rossi points towards the stairs that leads to the first story. There are only two rooms. A bathroom right hand and a closed door left hand.

Morgan counts quietly down before also kicking this door down and screaming “FBI!” But he seemingly talks with air, because there is no one to be found. Once again the team swarms out to look for evidence or clues.

As Spencer looks through the room they cleared last, he sees various things that make him smile. Several bookshelves are flooded with all kinds of genres, authors and covers. At first he can’t make out in which way they are sorted. But a closer look makes him realize that they are sorted by the author’s birth year. The doctor is kind of impressed, because that means the person knows when they are born in order to find a certain book. He likes the idea, it is a nice little challenge.

While he investigates further a sound makes him stop. He sends a text to Emily and waits for her. When she enters the room Spencer gestures to her to keep it quiet. Then he points to the bed.

They lower themselves down to the floor at the same time on each side of it. A girl, no older than 14 years, lays there shivering in angst. With big doe eyes she looks at Spencer and whispers:

“Please don’t hurt me.”

A while later the team is back at the station with the girl sitting in one of the interrogation rooms. The temperature is already set down, though Hotch feels really bad for it. Still there is another girl out there waiting to be safed.

“Baby girl, what can you give us on her?” Morgan sets his phone in the middle of the table and switches the speaker on.

“Our little girl’s name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), fourteen years old. Parents were deemed to be unable to look after her since they are both heavy drug addicts and didn’t even register her crying for two hours straight. Since the age of six months she bounces through the system with nobody wanting to keep her longer than two years. They claim she is too smart for them and want somebody to look after her, who can challenge her intellectually.

“Collins took her in one and a half years ago. He got her signed up in several activities after school, like chess and academic decathlon. As of right now she is a junior with an opportunity to graduate next year. Her teachers describe her as incredibly bright with a complicated way of thinking.”

“Complicated way of thinking? Her intelligence was neglected for years, so she gave herself her own challenges. I found her books sorted by the birth year of the authors. She found ways of making things more difficult for herself, that’s why she fabricated strange ways of thinking. This is often found in children with high intelligence, who are not boosted enough by their environment”, Spencer explains, getting more and more furious.

His colleagues feel that this is a sensitive subject for their resident genius. JJ comfortably puts a hand on his shoulder, making the tense go away.

“Emily and Dave, I want both of you to interrogate her. We need to know where he hides the girls. JJ, try to hold the press off for a bit longer. Morgan, Reid, I want you to watch and look for tells or anything else”, Aaron orders.

Everyone works on their given task immediately.

You don’t need to be a profiler to see that (Y/N) is scared out of her mind. She has her feet on her chair and her head lies on her knees. When the two agents enter, she tries to at least fake some kind of composer. But she fails miserably at it.

“Hello (Y/N), may I call you that?” Emily begins in a soft voice. The teenager nods shyly. “Good, (Y/N). My name is Emily Prentiss and this is David Rossi. We are agents from the Behavior Analysis Unit from the FBI. Do you know why you are here?” The teenager shakes her head.

“Ok, let’s cut the chase”, David's voice booms through the small room. “You know exactly why you are here. From what we saw in your room you are an incredibly smart girl. How high is your IQ? 130? 135?”

“147 a-actually”, she nervously corrects the agent, never meeting his eye. The team notices this fairly quickly.

“Even better, normal people don’t know their IQ. So you know what your forster father does. You saw the news, you read the papers, you heard your classmates talk. In addition to that, the girls look alarmingly similar to you. And all of the sudden Charles is more often out than usual. So do us a favor and come clear.” Then he pulls out a picture from a manila folder on the table. Emily tries to intervene.

“Rossi, don’t. She is not the UnSub. (Y/N) is just unfortunate to be at the wrong place.” “She might as well be another UnSub if she doesn’t do anything to help us. Do you know how long you are going to jail for helping hi-”

“I don’t know anything. I- of course I saw what is h-happening. A-and I connected the dots a long time a-ago. You know, Charles lost his job and that’s a stressor. T-then Child Service was investigating him, because of the suspension’s reasons. I-I couldn’t do anything. I had no evidence, the police wouldn’t believe me. I asked him once wh-what he thinks about, you know, what’s happening. He slapped me and told me to not talk about it again. I’m so sorry, I wanna help. The only thing that comes into my mind is an old cabin he once mentioned when I first arrived at his. B-but I don’t know if it helps you. P-please, I don’t want to go to jail or juvenile, I-” Then (Y/N) breaks down into tears.

Emily is in an instant by her side trying to calm her down, while Hotch gives the information to Garcia. As soon as she finds the location, JJ takes a seat next to (Y/N) and the rest of the team flies out.

“You don’t have to be scared of him anymore, Sweetheart. My colleagues will find him and he will be tried and convicted. He will never be a threat to you again”, the blonde tries to comfort her.

“Whenever I leave an abusive home, there will be another one that’s exactly the same. The only difference with Charles was that he seemed to understand me. He helped me. There’s nobody who is willing to do what he did for me”, she admits sadly.

It breaks JJ’s heart, because her words are true. Even though he is a killer, Collins did help her. But she is also determined to show the young girl that he isn’t the only one who can do that. That there are more people out there, who are kind and as helpful if not more.

Not long after this the team brings the man into the station, Morgan guiding him with a deadbolt-like grip.

Rossi spots (Y/N) in a break room with a hot drink in her hands. While making his way over there, Spencer follows him. He wants to talk with her as well.

“(Y/N) I’m sincerely sorry if I hurt you earlier. I didn’t intend to scare you, we just had to act quickly and you were the only source of information available. I also wanted to tell you, that your achievements are astonishing and I guarantee you a bright future, maybe even at the FBI”, he winks at the end of his last sentence.

“I understand, Agent Rossi. But doesn’t everybody know their IQ? I assumed everybody gets at least tested once in their life in some way”, she asks with surprise in her voice.

At that the older man is speechless. Of all things she could accuse him of legitimately, (Y/N) goes with the most innocent question.

“Actually, not everybody gets tested. A reliable test has to be done by a psychologist and most people don’t go to one. Furthermore there has to be a valid reason to do one, that’s why a great part of the population doesn’t know their IQ”, intervenes Spencer. He has to infodump, since the last time was over half an hour ago.

“But you also have to differentiate between the several kinds of intelligence, because intelligence is way more than being good at math. There…”

Rossi stopped listening to the excited interaction between the two geniuses. Instead he watches their body languages and facial expressions. He hasn’t seen both of them more at calm than they are now.

After all there might be a way for (Y/N) to get a little Happy End.

[heliads]

Firestarter

Y/N L/N is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the ability to control fire. She keeps her powers hidden to protect herself, although she doesn’t count on accidentally revealing them to Steve Rogers when she saves his life.

masterlist

You open your hand. Slowly, carefully. The flames spring up almost involuntarily, a gut instinct that you can’t seem to turn off. You stare for a while, and when you look away you can still see the inverses dancing across the walls. Hot tongues of fire that lick across your palm, soaring higher and higher with the slightest impulse.

You suppose you would appreciate your powers if it weren’t for your line of work. You became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent before you realized their true attitudes towards people with abilities, and you’d discovered soon after that if you wanted to survive and stay out of the labs, you would need to keep your little fire habit a secret. No matter what all-inclusive, power-friendly aura S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to give off, they would always distrust and disregard people with abilities.

Even the best of you, the Maximoff twins, were greeted with raised eyebrows and knives up sleeves instead of open arms. Maybe that was because they were given their powers by HYDRA, but you knew better. It wasn’t the specific organization that bothered S.H.I.E.L.D., it was the fact that they had no way of controlling that much power. The only way S.H.I.E.L.D. dealt with superhuman abilities was by either taking them in or taking them out. If they were to find out that you, a high ranking agent with plenty of clearance codes, had powers, they’d kill you. They can’t take risks like that, not with someone like you.

That’s why you never let anyone see the flames darting from your hands and lighting up your eyes. That’s why you wait until you’re alone, in a room with no security cameras, to call up the first few sparks. It hurts to go without using your powers for that long, but the alternative is so much worse. As a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, you’ve had the gruesome pleasure of seeing the labs firsthand. S.H.I.E.L.D. claims that the labs are harmless, only taking in willing participants so that their scientists can learn more about the complex world of those with power and those without. You’ve heard the screams to know that all of this is a lie, that nobody goes to those labs willingly. So, you play the part of the powerless, pretending that you’re a perfectly ordinary person, even if nothing could be further from the truth.

There’s a knock at your door and you snap your hand shut like a compact. When you slowly open your fingers once more, the tendrils of flame are gone. You wave your hand to disperse the last few curling fingers of smoke from the room, then call out to your visitor. “Come in.” A few moments later, a tall, familiarly strapping man enters the room. You smile at him. “Steve Rogers, what a surprise. To what do I owe this visit?”

Steve holds out a hand to you and you take it, standing up from your chair. “Have you forgotten already? We’ve got that debriefing from Cox in a couple of minutes.” You groan. “That’s why you came over? I thought it was something good.” Steve chuckles. “No. I refuse to go alone.” He’s already opening the door, tugging you out into the hallway despite your protests. “I was going anyway, there’s no need to drag me over.” The two of you walk side by side down the corridor, slowly making your way towards the debriefing room. Steve glances over at you, a joking smile on his face. “I know you were, I was just checking in to make sure you weren’t ditching me.”

You pull a face. “You’re a terrible friend.” Steve says nothing, just holds open the door to the debriefing room with a grin. He follows you inside, although the two of you walk to different sides of the room once the door closes behind you. Steve is an Avenger, he’ll sit with Sam, Natasha, and the rest. Despite your years of experience fighting alongside the Avengers, you’re still a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and so you slide into a chair next to your coworkers.

A couple of minutes later, a man walks into the room and takes a stance at the front of the room. His hair is slightly too greasy, eyes slightly too cold. You and Steve share a mutual hatred of this man, Edward Cox, and you’re not looking forward to hearing him boss you around for the next hour or so. You suppose that he is technically a good S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and it’s impossible to rise to his level without shedding all of your morals, but that doesn’t make listening to him speak any easier.

This is especially true today. The mission itself should be fascinating- some twisted soul named Isaiah Crane has taken control of some massive warehouse complex, and he’s filling it with an army of soldiers and weapons. It’s your typical Avengers threat, made more interesting by the fact that Crane is an utter madman. His every move is calculated yet wild, and it’s practically impossible to guess what he’ll do next. His forces have already begun expanding out, displacing and injuring hundreds of civilians, and so the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. have been called in.

Cox, however, makes it sound like the dullest training excursion on the planet. “Remember, you’ll get in and get out. Try not to fight amongst yourselves, we’ll have to order you out. We don’t want another Sokovia Accords, do we, folks? Anyways, just take out Crane and his men. Don’t bother with the civilians, they’ll only get in the way.” Across the room, you see Steve straighten up. “What do you mean, don’t bother with the civilians? According to these reports, they’re being rounded up and killed or forced out of their homes. We should be helping them, it’s our job.”

Cox frowns over at Steve, evidently displeased over the interruption. “No, Rogers, you’re here to take down Crane. There’s a difference. Save the petty rescues for the fire department.” You wince slightly at that. It’s like Cox is actively trying to set Steve off. “You’re talking about hundreds of people who are in danger, who we could save in a fraction of the time it would take the local reinforcements. Why shouldn’t we be helping them?” Cox fiddles with the papers in front of him. “Because those are your orders, Rogers. You don’t need the people, just the man. Crane.”

You can see that Steve is seconds away from exploding on the guy, so you raise a hand. Cox turns to you, evidently assuming that you’ll be defending him. You’ve seen how Cox works, he tends to appreciate some sticking to the rules. You can use this against him; if you don’t, he’ll never let you speak in the first place. “Actually, I think Steve is right. I wouldn’t be surprised if Crane tries to use the chaos of the fleeing civilians to protect himself. By getting all of them out of harm’s way, we clear the path to him.”

Cox’s smile fades. “I would have expected a senior officer to understand the basic truths. We can’t save everybody, that’s a dream for the children.” You ignore the jibe. “You cited the Sokovia Accords as an example of things we should be avoiding. The only reason we were able to survive to make those accords in the first place was because of the success of Sokovia itself. The Sokovia incident would have been considered a disaster were it not for the fact that the Avengers were able to save all of the civilians. Yes, they had to battle Ultron, but their main victory was the countless lives saved.”

Cox opens his mouth as if to contradict you, but now Steve sees what you’re saying. “Exactly. Crane is our Ultron right now, but we have to save the people. End of story.” Cox glares at you both, but the rest of the room is nodding in agreement, so he’s forced to drop the matter. For the rest of the debriefing, though, his words come out as spiked weapons that he shoots at you and Steve, vindictive in his rage at being publicly humiliated.

Steve, on the other hand, does not consider this a victory. You can tell that he’s still furious at Cox for so casually throwing away the lives of the civilians, and he strides briskly away from the room the second the debriefing is over. You collect your things and follow him into an empty room. Steve looks up when you close the door behind him, evidently unsurprised to see you. Anger seems to course from his every vein. You forget how he gets sometimes, when he’s let down time and time again by the fools of S.H.I.E.L.D. who think they can toss aside hundreds of lives for a cleaner mission.

Steve’s voice is laced with vitriol. “I can’t believe him. I honestly can’t believe him. How could he go up there and tell us all to let those innocents die? I don’t think he even saw a problem with it.” He begins to pace back and forth, energy seemingly bounding from his every motion. “This entire organization is paved with blood, and they’re the ones holding all the strings. How do you live with yourself, knowing this is happening every day?” The second the words leave his mouth, Steve looks up, regret already beginning to color his eyes. “I didn’t mean that.”

You hold up a hand to stem his apologies. “Yes, you did, and it’s fine. S.H.I.E.L.D. has never had time for the lives it plays with, and you’re right to say it. To be honest, I’m not sure that there is a way to live with the knowledge. You just have to push it aside, because there’s no better way to do what has to be done.” You glance over at him, smiling slightly. “The problem is that you’re Captain America, and everyone expects you to always make the perfect choice no matter what. Perfect choices where everyone ends up alive and well don’t exist, yet if you don’t make that decision, you’re hunted for it. We don’t get happy endings in this line of work, we just have to make do with what we have. Maybe we have to accept the worse choices right now, but we can take steps to make them better.”

Steve nods, and you can tell that he’s beginning to calm down. “That’s the worst part of it. There are so many expectations, and it’s impossible to live up to all of them.” You incline your head in acknowledgement. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a pretty good job of it.” You lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek before slipping from the room. Even as you walk away, you can still feel your lips burning. For a spy who’s not supposed to get hung up over her emotions, you’re doing a pretty bad job of it.

It’s difficult to describe the relationship you have with Steve Rogers. You’ve been enemies, you’ve been friends. You’ve had each other’s backs. There have been nights when alcohol burns like kerosene down your throat, when you spend the night between his sheets and wake up again the next morning to steal away before he wakes. The best way to describe what you have with Steve is that it’s whatever the two of you need at the moment. Maybe it’s a friend, maybe it’s more. By uttering a word about it, you’re afraid you’ll shatter those quiet moments and cut the fragile string tying you to him for good.

By the next morning, you’ve forced thoughts of him from your head once more. You’re heading down the landing of the quinjet, gun held at the ready. The steady rattle of gunfire echoes around you, and just like that, the fight to reach Isaiah Crane has begun. You and the rest of the Avengers rush to the civilians, getting them to safety before the inevitable call crackles through your earpiece, announcing that Crane is in the building. This is your one shot at him, you have to make it count.

The group of fighters enters the building, one person for each entrance. You make your way through the twisting halls of the complex, but you never catch sight of him. You come out of a narrow passageway to find yourself suddenly swallowed up by a main room. Across the space, you can see the rest of the Avengers emerging from doors. It looks like you’ve all been led here, trapped in this one space by the elusive Crane. Just as you realize this, the bombs go off and you’re thrown to the ground.

There must have been explosives lining the floor. Dust hangs thick and heavy in the air, and the bombs keep on going off, one after another. A chain reaction, which ends with the ceiling beginning to shake and tumble down. Your eyes are drawn to the thick concrete of the building’s structure, which is just now falling down on top of you. Your legs itch to run, to do something, but there’s nowhere to go. The only thing you can do is hope for the best, which is that this column falling on you won’t entirely shatter you.

Just as you’re preparing yourself for the impact, a figure darts over to you, pulling you to them protectively. You realize it’s Steve, and he flings his shield over your huddled bodies just before the roof caves in. There’s an overwhelming blow, but after a few tense minutes, you realize you’re still alive and relatively unharmed. Slowly, carefully, Steve stands up, and you do too. You stare in shock at the room around you. Columns of concrete have come tumbling down, and the room is in shambles. Rubble and large chunks of the roof have caved in around you, and it’s impossible to see anything farther than a few feet ahead of you.

You reach to your earpiece, turning it on. “This is Agent L/N. Can anyone read me? Over.” You wait a couple of seconds, then repeat your message. There is no response, just the crackling of static. Steve shakes his head. “I’m not getting anything either. I think we’re on our own.” You bite your cheek, thinking. “This was Crane’s plan. He wanted to get us alone.” Steve nods. “I don’t think we have much of a choice about it, though. There’s a way out under the rubble, and I think it goes deeper into the complex. It looks like it’s our only option.”

The two of you duck underneath the piles of debris, skirting around the edges of the room to find the chink in the armor that Steve was talking about. It seems to lead to a broader expanse of hallway, one that wasn’t connected to any doors leading outside. You look down the dimly lit hall, uneasy. “I have a bad feeling about this. This has got to be a trap.” Steve sighs. “I don’t think there’s any way it isn’t a trap. Crane must have set it up- whoever survives the explosives makes it over to him. I hate to say it, but it’s the only thing we can do. At least we can finish this.”

You nod, and the two of you begin walking down the hallway. You keep your eyes open and alert for any threats, any new explosives or ambushes, but there’s nothing there. At last, the hallway opens up into a seemingly empty room. You and Steve look at each other, and you see your same apprehension reflected on his face. Steve holds out an arm to stop you from walking any further. He speaks quietly, mouth an inch or two away from your ear. “Stay back here. I’ll go in alone, you’ll watch my back. If Crane thinks he’s going to be holding all the cards, I want at least one ace up my sleeve.”

You nod slowly. “Be careful.” Steve smirks. “Always am.” With that, he slings his shield off of his shoulder, holding it out in front of him like the knights of old. You watch as he disappears around the corner, footsteps echoing off of the high ceiling. There’s a noise from across the room, barely noticeable. Steve, of course, is used to doing the impossible and his head turns towards the sound. He strides further into the room, investigating the sudden sound. He is slowly swallowed up by the shadows of the room, and you squint as your eyes adjust to the darkness.

At first, you think you’re just making things up. Then, the slight movement comes again, strengthening as it passes close by the lights of the hall. You take a slow, silent step forward and your eyes widen as you see the figure drawing close to Steve. The silhouette has its back to you, and you creep out of the hall and into the room, curious. With a chill, you realize that this is Crane, and he’s about to attack Steve, who has no idea that the enemy he’s been tracking is right behind him. Steve is still walking through the room, completely unaware of the man about to kill him. Crane raises his arm, a gun in his hand. You can see a demented grin on Crane’s face as he aims at Steve’s skull. His finger pauses on the trigger.

You don’t think, not at all. Before you know it, your arm is raised, a swarm of fire billowing out of your hand and engulfing Crane whole. It knocks him over, a shriek of pain issuing from his mouth as the gun misfires. Steve whirls around and sees Crane at last, but it doesn’t matter. The man is out cold, burns blossoming in a sickening shine all over his body. He won’t wake up for a while, and when he does, he’ll be in so much pain that he’ll barely be able to stand, let alone try to kill Steve once more.

This means that Steve’s eyes are moving up, from Crane to you. You watch as the understanding dawns in his eyes, as he looks between the flames still dying out on the ground around Crane to your outstretched hand. Once again, your mind goes silent and you don’t think, just act. You’ve felt fear before, the terrifying, bone-chilling fear that you are about to die. You’ve known the terror of facing down impossible odds in a mission that was doomed from the start. All of those are manageable, but this right here? This suffocating knowledge that you’re about to experience the worst agony of your life, that Steve is going to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. about your powers and you’re going to be sent to those accursed labs, this is the most petrifying fear you have ever known.

You turn and run, heels flashing down the hall. You don’t know why you’re sprinting down the corridor, why this will make a difference. All you know is that you have to get away, you have to leave before the truth comes to light. Yet you forget that Steve is a super soldier, someone who can outpace anyone in a heartbeat. Within seconds, he’s catching up to you, and then his arm is reaching out and grabbing yours, stopping you in your tracks. He pulls you over to the side of the hall, your back up against the wall. He stares at you, and you stare at him.

Steve is the first to speak. “Why didn’t you tell me you had powers? Why did you run?” The words bubble out of you, a torrent of terror. “They’re going to kill me. S.H.I.E.L.D. They’re going to bring me to those labs and take me apart over and over again. Just kill me now, it’ll be faster.” Steve shakes his head. “I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to let them do that.” A laugh, bitter and jaded and cold, flies from your throat. “You don’t have a choice. None of us do.” 

Steve’s face is set, eyes determined. “There are no functioning security cameras in this building, not after that explosion. We’re going to say that Crane got caught by his own bombs, and that’s why he was burned. We’re not going to say anything about you, because you were with me and no one else knows.” You stare at Steve mutely as he continues speaking. “There’s no way S.H.I.E.L.D. could know unless we tell them, and we’re not. You’ll be safe, and no one is going to hurt you.” You feel like the ground has been ripped away from underneath you. “Why would you do that? If they find out, they could take everything away from you. There’s no good reason to risk your job, your life, for what, someone you kiss a couple times a month? They’ll come after you.”

Steve’s arms are still wrapped around your waist, and you’re finding it difficult to think straight. “I left the Avengers and broke them apart because I wanted to protect my best friend. If S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to hurt you, someone I care about more than anyone? I would burn them all to the ground.” He flashes a sudden smile. “Although I’d appreciate it if you were there with me. You make a pretty good firestarter.” You laugh quietly in spite of yourself. “I’ll be there. Even without this whole mess. I don’t think I could leave you if I tried.” 

Steve nods, his eyes filling with a sudden warmth. “I’ve been wanting to hear you say that for a long time.” He leans forward and kisses you. It’s strange- you’ve kissed Steve many times, and probably a few other than those that you’ve forgotten. Yet you don’t think he’s ever kissed you like this, with the smile and the trust that you two will stay together, no matter what. He is kissing you like he loves you, and you feel the exact same way.

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

Friday Night Stabby best quotes part 29 (10/09/21)

so Pearl is still filling in for Joker and yes I did watch seven out of eight POVs for this session, that’s why this quotes thing is so long :)

...

Evil: I forgot how to play this game. Endless: Go to electrical and die, Evil. That’s how you play the game.

...

Skizz, entering electrical: Look at all these idiots in here. Endless: Hey! That’s not very nice.

...

Endless: I remember how to fix wiring. It’s not that hard. Can I do [shields] from here? I can. I did it. I figured it out. Etho: Good job. Endless: Thanks. Thanks, Etho! Etho: I never stopped believing in you. Endless: Your praise means everything to me, dad. *pause as Endless walks away* Endless: He’s not my dad.

...

Impulse: *reports a body* Impulse: Okay just hold on, I can do this. Ready? Skizz’s voice in a clip: DANG IIIIT! Impulse: Did you guys hear that? Evil: Yes. Brody: What is that? Impulse: That was the last thing I heard when I caught Skizz red-handedly killing Mrs Tango. *people laugh, then pause* Skizz: I don’t like you.

...

Impulse: Tango wanted to die so he could fix his overlay. Tango, dead: I DID NOT! YOU’RE A LIAR! Impulse: Someone did him a favour, I think. Tango, dead: >:(

...

Evil, in a monotone: I have wires to do. Skizz, snorting: World’s most bored electrician. Evil, slightly less monotone: More wires.

...

Astro: I also want you to know that I didn’t kill you, on purpose. Cuz it’s your birthday. But that was your one round of- Endless: Not my birthday. My birthday was- Astro: It was yesterday. Endless: -hours and hours ago. Astro: It’s still technically your birthday somewhere. Endless: I don’t think that’s how time works, but okay.

...

*last round, Endless spent a long time with Astro but didn’t kill him despite being imposter* Astro: Alright, Endless. This time, you can kill me. Astro and Endless: *laugh* Astro: Don’t throw me off like that. I thought you were all i- Endless: *kills Astro* *pause* Astro: ...thanks, Endless. Thanks. *laughs* Well, I can’t complain; I DID ask for it.

...

Skizz: Now if I die, you know it’s Etho (pronouncing it Eh-tho). Etho: Hey now.

...

Impulse: Oh whoops, I was muted that whole meeting. Tango: Aha! Exactly what a killer would say.

...

Astro, a ghost: Hey Evil, did you know that Impulse’s bone is not- not well right now? Evil: *snickers* Astro, a ghost: See I KNEW you could hear me, you imposter!

...

Pearl: Did you have a neutral role? Impulse: Yeah, I was jester. Pearl: Ahhh. Cheeky nugget.

...

Brody: Tango. Two people saw you leave the corpse of your wife. Tango: So what? Where is the corpse of my wife? Brody: Where is the corpse? Two people saw you, are you really gonna try that? Tango: I just passed you in the hallway! Nothing was there! Pearl: He’s gonna play dumb, it’s okay. Impulse: He’s still mad that she threw out his spices when they moved. Tango: IT’S THE OLD BAY, MAN! IT’S THE OLD BAY!

...

Endless: It was Tango in O2 with the lead pipe- No, that’s not- Different game.

...

Etho: I was with Brody and Astro but I’m… invisible, apparently. Astro: I- I said there was somebody else! I just wasn’t going to say something that I thought might make you seem suspicious. Etho: It’s been happening a lot and it’s a little weird, but okay.

...

*after the meeting* Astro: I’ll notice you next time, Etho. Etho: Okay, thank you. That’s all I want.

...

Skizz: It’s the purple guy! Endless: It can’t be the purple guy! Evil: It CAN be the purple guy. *votes are revealed, Endless is ejected* Endless: D’aww, you guys don’t even know how- that’s… stupid. *everyone laughs* Skizz, laughing: “Your Honour, this is very dumb”

...

*everyone skipped except Endless who voted for Impulse* Endless: I got your number, Impulse. *pause* Astro: What’s his number? Four? Eight? Nine? Six? Evil: Two. Endless, at the same time: Seven.

...

*Etho claims Tango killed Evil but can’t say how he knows for fear of assassination* Endless: So you saw it on admin and then came down to report it? Is that what that was? *pause* Etho: Exactly. *animation of Etho shooting himself plays* Etho: DANGIT!!!

...

Etho: Where we going, Tango? What we doing? Tango: I’m going to my grave is where I think I’m going.

...

Astro: Hey, Mrs T? Mrs Tango: Hi? Astro: I need you to do something really suspicious. Mrs Tango: Okay.

...

*after Impulse crashed out of the game but his body is reported* Skizz: That was the most epic kill yet. It happened IRL.

...

Tango: Dead, disconnected. It’s all the same thing. Pearl: For one, you get cut in half, but the other, you just go “poof”.

...

*Etho is suspected of being executioner against Brody* Tango: So Etho, you’re saying there’s two imposters alive. Who do you think is the second one? *pause* Etho: That, I don’t know just yet. Tango: An executioner wouldn’t need to know that though, right? Etho: Maybe Astro. *long pause* Astro: What?! Why have you gone from Brody to me all of a sudden?!

...

Brody: Astro, please don’t kill me. Astro: I would’ve killed you long ago. Brody: That’s not true. You love me. Astro: Not after you accused me of- Brody, chuckling: I haven’t accused you of anything. Astro: You accused me of breathing heavily earlier and I’m offended by it. Brody: You did, though. Astro: I can’t help that the air quality here is… dog crap. Brody: I know you well enough. I know you well enough to know when you’re, like, concentrating. Astro: Not my fault that I can’t breathe here right now.

...

Etho: [Brody] killed Impulse on the first round. It made [Impulse] crash. And then [Brody] reported the body. Next round, he killed another person and did another report. He’s a- He’s a self-reporting… Brody. *everyone laughs* Evil: This is the best you’ve got, Etho?

...

Evil: So here’s the question for everybody: do I tell Skizz what his minor tell is or do I keep it to myself? Skizz: You zip it! You got nothing! Tango: Keep it to yourself. That’s part of the fun; we can all learn each other’s tells. Astro: You mean like when somebody has heavy breathing when they kill somebody, Brody? Brody: Oh. Astro: I’m gonna have extra heavy breathing when I kill you. Extra… EXTRA… heavy breathing. Brody: ...I’ll remember that.

...

Skizz: I finally kill the banana and instantly I hear him be all “you crashed my game!” Astro: Wait, so when I said that if Impulse rage-quit it was Skizz, I was actually correct on that? Skizz: You were right, yeah. Impulse: Wow… Endless: Skizz was like “if you’re not gonna rage quit, I’m gonna rage quit for you!” Skizz: I killed you so hard your game crashed. That’s a KILL right there.

...

Brody: Yeah, I’ve been actually watching her teleport. Like “wait, did she come out of that vent??” No, she’s teleporting around. Tango: Hacks! Pearl: Speedies! Astro: The hacks are Australian ping.

...

Astro: Hey, Evil. Evil: Hi. Are you gonna kill me? Astro: Do you want me to or do you want me to let you live? Evil: I’d like to live, thank you.

...

Evil: *runs into electrical and finds only Pearl in there* Pearl, singing: Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. Evil: I’m done with my tasks. Pearl: *kills Evil immediately* Astro, a ghost: *laughs* You got killed to Christmas music, Evil.

...

Astro, dead: Hey Evil, how did it feel to get Christmas carolled as you were being killed? Evil, dead: She took the happiest time of the year and destroyed me with it!

...

Pearl: I’m gonna go kill Etho. Shhh. Giant Skizz, in a deep voice: You do it. Rock and roll.

...

Mrs Tango: My cooldown was so long and nobody was alone. Astro: It’s okay, Mrs Tango. Your speedy laggy Australian friend was killing all the people. Pearl: I literally told Skizz I was gonna kill Etho and I did exactly just that.

...

Brody: I cleaned [Etho] out of a vent and I didn’t know you could even do that but here we are. Endless: That’s awesome! Brody: I mean- I knew it, I knew you were in there, Etho. Sucker.

...

Endless: I know of one person who didn’t do the kill. Skizz: Who? Endless, whispering: Me. I was downloading in weapons. Skizz: You’re not gonna vouch for yourself. That’s not how justice works. Endless: Oh. My bad.

...

*Astro and Endless win as imposters* Endless: What did you do, Pearl? What happened there? Did you try to sheriff Skizz? Pearl: Yeah, I wanted to take a stab. I was the sheriff. I thought it might’ve been Skizz. Astro: Ohh, YOU got the last kill, Pearl? Pearl: Yeeaaahh. That was me. Skizz: THAT’s how we died? Cuz Pearl sheriffed the wrong person? Endless: It gets better than that. Pearl asked me to move away so she didn’t accidentally sheriff me. ...

Impulse: We getting double killed in here? Brody: Hopefully.

...

Brody: I’m voting for Tango; he’s having too much fun. Evil: Tango’s not allowed to have fun, we know that. Tango: Shut that down, yeah.

...

Pearl: *votes for Brody* Brody: Pearl. Why do you hate me? Pearl: I just have reasons. Skizz, to Brody: Don’t tug at THAT thread. Brody: Would you like to tell people about those reasons? Pearl: Not particularly.

...

Brody: Mrs Tango, do you want me to put like a poster of me in your new office? Of just me looking at you? Mrs Tango: Uhhh… Evil: Only if you’re wearing the pink hat. Brody: ONLY the pink hat. That’s it. *pause* Evil: Okay, that… that got awkward.

...

Astro: So would you like to know a good story? It’s a fun story. Etho: I would love to hear a good story right now, Astro. Astro: The fun story is that Mrs Tango thought that the comms were out and she wouldn’t get revealed walking away from her archnemesis, The Endless’s body. Tango: Well then I’m not voting for her at all, even if she did kill him, cuz that’s good by me. Etho: Ohoo… Evil: WOW.

...

Astro: Mrs Tango, you basically won the round; you killed Endless, so… *everyone laughs* Etho: That’s all we can hope for in the world, right? Tango: You kill Endless, you pretty much win, right? That doesn’t matter. *pause* Etho: Love you, Endless.

...

*Brody and Mrs Tango win as imposters after Brody framed Evil* Skizz: Evil, I’m so sorry, dude! Evil: No you’re not. Brody: I’m not sorry. I needed that in my heart. I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry whatsoever.

...

Impulse: Come watch me scan! Wanna watch me scan? C’mon! Watch this! It’s gonna be the best. Come watch. Astro: No, because I know what you’re gonna say and I’m not gonna stand for it. Impulse, hopping on the scanner: I’m not gonna do it, I’m not gonna do it. But that was- that’s legit. You saw that? Astro: You’re a little to the left. Impulse: I’m not gonna say it. But you’re gonna kill me anyway, so I might as well say it. Astro: You need to go to the right. Impulse: Did you watch me scan? Astro: You’re a little- You were- Impulse: Watch me nae nae. Astro, laughing: -a little far to the left.

...

Astro: I was coming from lab. Somebody was nae-naeing over there. Impulse: *giggles* Astro: Won’t say who, but somebody was. Impulse: There’s only one person here who does that.

...

Astro: I’m gonna come back cuz I don’t trust you. Brody: *scoffs* Okay. Astro: You murdered me last time! Brody, deadpan: I wouldn’t do that to you. That doesn’t sound like something I would do. Astro: Right in front of Evil and everything. I couldn’t get through the door. Brody, deadpan: I wouldn’t do that to you.

...

Endless: Hey, I’ve gotta fix the- I’m rebooting the wifi, sorry if it goes down. For a few minutes. Or A minute. Or until I come back here and, uh, reinitialise it. Brody, walking away: Endless, do you ever just stop talking? Etho, laughing: Ouch. Endless, following Brody: Hey, Brody. Let’s hang out, SIR. Brody: *laughs* Endless: How’ve you been, Brody? How’s your evening going? Brody: I’m fine. I’m fine. Are you gonna kill me? Endless: Are you always a jackass? Brody: Usually, yes. Are you gonna kill me or what? Endless: No, I don’t- I can’t kill you. But next time. Next time.

...

Endless: I’m definitely going to take a break so that I’m the last one back, and that’ll teach them to leave me here to entertain you. Pearl: Okay. Enjoy your water consumption. Endless: That’s very sweet of you. I appreciate that. You enjoy whatever consumption you’re doing as well.

...

Skizz, being ejected: You can’t be mayor and imposter, can you? Tango and Endless: No. Skizz: Well, I’m all sorts of twisted. Tango: You’re all sorts of dead.

...

*after Mrs Tango assassinated engineer Etho* Mrs Tango: I super appreciate you calling Etho out for being the engineer. Etho: I didn’t appreciate it.

...

Astro: I can tell you one thing: Etho’s not the engineer this round. Etho: You don’t know that for sure. Astro: Oh I think I do.

...

Astro: Hey Impulse. Impulse: Yeah? Astro: I just scanned. You know what else I did? Impulse: *gasps delightedly* You didn’t! Astro: I… *pause* Astro: Nah, I’m not gonna say it.

...

Impulse: *reports Astro’s body* Impulse: So. Astro scanned. But he did not nae nae. Just saying. Endless: I don’t think that’s how the song goes. Impulse: So I came to give him a stern talking to. But his body was dead.

...

Skizz: I’m doing my tasks. Tango: Your task is to assassinate. Skizz: That’s right, baby. And I’m coming for you next. Tango: Mhm. Bring it.

...

Astro: I can vouch for Evil cuz he watched me scan, Impulse watched me nae nae, and-. Impulse: Oh no. You’re gonna die now.

...

Skizz: Impulse sampled the Skizz! *pause* Impulse: Ew.

...

Brody: I’m not sorry I voted for you, Endless. Endless: Well, I’m glad that Mrs Tango didn’t. Brody: It’s cuz she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. I will hurt your feelings.

...

Endless: I knew I got that wrong. Dangit. Simon Says- I blew it- I screwed it on the last… Brody: ...what? Endless: I feel like this should be the last game. I just… Tango: Are you having a nervous breakdown? What’s going on? Endless: Yeah, a little bit.

...

Endless: I voted for you, Brody. Cuz I hate everything about you. Brody: Thank you, buddy. I’ll vote for you also.

...

Pearl: Who we voting for? Brody: Endless. Endless: Brody. Tango: Why are we voting for Endless? Or Brody? Endless: Because Brody’s a jerk.

...

Pearl: This is awkward, cuz Tango was trying to get me to kill him. Tango: Do NOT pin that on me, my fair lady! Pearl: No no no, I’m not. Etho: Ooooh this is spicy :D Pearl: I’m pinning this on Skizz. Skizz just decided to walk by- Tango: Oh, okay. I’m good with that.

...

Brody: Etho, c’mere. Come here. That’s the second time you’ve ruined my fun. Etho: Were you sheriff? Brody: No. Don’t Starve- I say that and you ruin my fun and then Christmas music and you kill me. I just- Why do you hate me? Etho: I- I was just backing up my partner, y’know? Brody: Look, if you don’t wanna play Don’t Starve, you just say “hey man, I’m not into it”. That’s fine. See, you just say that. Etho: I like Don’t Starve. Brody: Evidently not with me.

...

Endless: It’s Brody’s fault for sussing me on that one. Brody: It’s not my fault you’re dumb.

...

Impulse: Keys or you’re sus! Brody: Keys or you’re… Impulse. Endless: Hey, I’M Impulse.

...

Astro, dead: Hey. Your wife killed me. Tango, dead: Good. Evil and Mrs Jerkface.

[blackmissfrizzle]

The Sacrifice

Summary: Dean finds out the reader is a virgin. Based on 3x12 

Characters: Dean x black!reader

A/N: So, I’m basically doing a series rewrite of my favorite episodes. This is is based on the the reader’s and Dean’s relationship through the years. Its based on A Match Made in Hell Series.  I’m not doing this in a linear order, but I’ll make a separate masterlist for this series and put the fics in order.

When you get the chance, you’re putting a bullet right between that British bitch’s eyes. Bela had managed to steal the colt and get the boys arrested by Agent Henricksen. The only reason that you weren’t in a cell with the boys is, that Henricksen could never physically tie you to the boys except for your Stanford connection with Sam.  So, all he could do was call you to “consult” on the case.

“Where are you going Agent Y/L/N?” Henricksen stopped you on the way to the cell. At the sound of his voice, your body immediately went stiff. Agent Henricksen wouldn’t be too bad if he wasn’t so focus on locking up Sam and Dean, but you also understood from his point of view. With his limited knowledge and evidence, it all points to the boys being devil worshipping, psychopathic killers.

“To talk to an old friend and try to figure out how’s he connected to all this. That’s what you wanted me here for, right?” You cocked your head to the side, annoyance clear on your face.

Henricksen slowly approached you, trying to make himself seem bigger to intimidate you. Too bad for him, nothing scares you anymore, but you won’t let him know that. “Yeah, I brought you here so I can see your face when you see that your best friend and your boyfriend are finally locked up in a maximum-security prison.” He searches your face a reaction, but you didn’t give him one. “It may take me awhile, but one day I’m gonna get the evidence and then it’ll be you sitting in a jail cell.”

Throwing up the peace sign, you sauntered off. “Good luck with that, Henricksen,” you yelled over your shoulder.

—

“And why is that a good thing?” You questioned Dean after hearing him brag to Sam that they got a hit out on them.

“Because we’re awesome, that’s why.” You rolled your eyes at his arrogance. “Hey, why didn’t the demon go after you?”

In a blink of an eye, you flashed your eyes to black. “Oh, I forgot, you’re their precious half demon spawn.”

Ignoring his little snub, you pointed to Dean’s gun shot wound. “How’s the shoulder?”

“Eh, I’ll live. That’s if we don’t get killed first.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother before turning to you. “Is there any way you can get us out of here, Y/N/N?”

“No,” you sighed deeply. “Henricksen’s watching me like a hawk. He’s ready to throw me in a cell with you guys.”

“Well, ain’t that just peachy,” Dean muttered to the side.

The sheriff walked in on your discussion. It seemed that he was in a daze as he unlocked the boys’ cell, ordering them to leave. All three you were suspicious, and the boys refused to leave.

Before you could order the sheriff to get out Agent Henricksen came to do the same. However, nothing got settled because Henricksen put a bullet in the sheriff’s head.

Sam wrestled the gun away from him and began performing an exorcism while you and Dean held back the deputy.

Right before Sam sent the demon to hell, he screamed that it was too late and that more were coming.

“I shot the sheriff,” Henricksen confessed.

“But you didn’t shoot the deputy,” Dean joked, which earned him a kick to the back of his knees from you.

—

*Dean’s POV*

My eyes find her while I’m in the office with Henricksen. She’s talking to the secretary with that warm smile on her face that magically seems to calm everyone down despite being in the worst of situations. I’m too damn worried about her to focus on anything else despite the fact she needs no protection and can kick my ass to kingdom come.

“Scratch that. You just don’t have your brother. You got Y/N.” Henricksen interrupted my thoughts.

“We’re not together. Just friends.” I admitted, even though I wanted so much more than that. Its just my luck to fall in love with a girl when I have less than a year to live.

“Okayyyyyy.” Disbelief was soaking in his response. “What’s the deal with her anyway? How does a rich kid like her end up hunting with you two?”

I stopped cleaning my gun and gave him a hard glare. “Not my story to tell but know this: she’s probably our best way out of this situation.”

Henricksen was about to say something when we heard a loud crash outside. Both us plus everyone else ran to see Ruby caught in the Devil’s trap. Raising his gun to her, Henricksen asked how we kill her.

“We don’t. She’s here to help us.” Sam forced Henricksen’s gun down and opened the Devil’s trap. Me and Y/N traded annoyed looks. Neither one of us could stand Ruby. Y/N just kept her annoyance quiet unlike me. It was already hard to trust Ruby, because she was a damn demon, but if sweet Y/N doesn’t like someone then that’s a major red flag.

--

*Reader’s POV*

Great, there’s 30 demons out there ready to kill Sam and Dean. You’re pretty sure you could get through all of them, but you’ll be pretty banged up in the end. You were tuned out of the conversation, figuring out a plan of attack until you heard Lilith’s name.

“Lilith?” you repeated to Ruby.

“Yup. And she really, really wants Sam’s intestines on a stick. ‘Cause she sees him as competition.” Ruby informed us of Sam’s new nemesis.

“You knew about this?” A very pissed off Dean questioned Sam. “Well, gee, Sam, is there anything else I should know?”

Before they could get any further into an argument, you intervened. “Sam, you should’ve told us. Lilith’s no joke.” You weren’t gonna let Sam off the hook, but also you weren’t gonna rail into him like Dean was trying to.

Sam ignored Dean and looked to you with a face full of guilt. “How do you know about Lilith?”

“My dad talked about her all the time. He always told me that me and her could be a force to be reckoned with.” Just the thought of the many talks you had with your father had you bothered. He always tried to make it appealing that you were some kind of demonic second coming. At least this talk you remembered was helpful.

“I thought your parents were dead?” Henricksen asked.

You looked over shoulder and threw out, “My adoptive parents are. My real dad’s a demon and alive.”

Henricksen, Nancy, and the deputy gasped. You forgot that they just learned of the existence of demons and your lineage could be a bit troubling. “Relax. I’m only half and hate demons probably more than anyone else in this room.” The three of them eyed you cautiously, but that calming effect you had on people led them to believe you.

“Well, now that we got that out of the way. Where’s the colt?” If you had tea at that moment, you definitely would’ve been sipping it. Both of the boys tried to avoid Ruby’s gaze and when she looked at you, you furrowed your brows at her for even questioning you for losing it.

“It got stolen.” Ruby just about had a bitch fit when Sam admitted the truth. She was one insult away from you punching her in her gotdamned mouth, when Dean pulled you back and shook his head no.

But, thank the lucky stars, Ruby knew a spell. It would blow the demons out of the bodies, including Ruby, so it didn’t seem too bad; until she said she needed a virgin, specifically a heart of a virgin. And sweet Nancy still wanted to go through with it, but you couldn’t let an innocent sacrifice herself.

“I’ll do it,” you blurted out. All eyes turned to you and everyone was surprised except Sam. He remembered when you confided to him back at Stanford that you said that you were waiting til marriage.

“No way. Come on, you, you watch porn and you tease me all the fucking time.” Dean claimed.

“One, how else am I supposed to get my rocks off? Virgins are horny too. And two, its fun to see you turn red.”

Ruby seemed a little too happy with your decision to sacrifice yourself, but everyone else was heavily against it, except Sam. Dean tried to dissuade him, but you and him knew it was the best option.

“It’s my decision, D,” you told him.

“Damn straight, cherry pie,” Ruby replied with a smirk.

“Stop! Stop! Nobody kill any virgins!” Dean grabbed your hand and pulled you away and ordered Sam into a hallway for a talk. Normally, you made yourself scarce when they had these talks, but you guessed since you were offering yourself up, Dean thought it must’ve been a good idea to include you.

“Tell me you two are not seriously considering this.”

Sam and you both traded solemn looks. It sucked but it was necessary. “And we’re also talking about 30 people out there, Dean, innocent people who are all gonna die, along with everyone in here.” Sam argued back.

“It’s a numbers game, Dean. 1 life vs. 30. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same.” Hell, Dean already did it. He’d offered up his life for Sam’s. How the hell is this any different?

“It doesn’t mean we throw out the rule book. I’m not gonna let that demon bitch kill the kindest person I know, who I might add hasn’t even been laid!”

“Then what? What do we do, Dean?”

“I got a plan. I’m not saying it’s a good one I’m not even saying that it’ll work. But it sure as hell beats killing our virgin best friend.”

“What’s the plan,” you and Sam asked simultaneously.

“Open the doors, let them all in, and we fight.”

Dean’s plan may be a little crazy, but it could work. Ruby was pissed at the suggestion and left. Her plan would for sure leave everyone alive except me. Offended that we didn’t go with her plan and refusing to watch us lose, Ruby left.

--

It worked. Dean’s plan actually worked. We were able to trap all the demon’s inside the station and played a tape of Sam saying the exorcism. It helped that you could hold 10 demons on your own, so the rest were left to Sam, Dean and Henricksen.

“Coming with?” Dean asked before him and Sam left.

“Nah, I gotta stay. Technically, I came with the FBI now I gotta write a report on how you two died on the helicopter. Yay me!” You hated writing reports and now this one was going to take longer, because you and Henricksen had to get your lies together.

The boys gave you a sympathetic look and made you promise to contact them once you got home before they left.

The remaining of you, began cleaning the station when a little girl came into the station. Your spidey senses started tingling and you moved a bit closer to Nancy. The little girl said she was looking for two brothers: one’s really tall and one’s really cute.

When Nancy asked her, her name, she responded, “Lilith.” You tried to attack the her, but soon you felt two sets of arms around you and you were teleported out of the station. It was your dad and his lackey, Brixton.

“Get off of me!” You yelled, just in time to see the police station overcome with a blinding white light.

Deep in your soul, you knew Henricksen and the rest were dead. What other reason would your dad save you?

“Calm down, princess.” Brixton said, fighting you off.

It wasn’t beneath your father to use dirty moves, so he grabbed you by your curls and threw you to the ground. “Calm your ass down, before I make you tell me where the Winchesters are and kill them myself!”

Quickly, you got up and wiped the dirt off you. “Why’d you save me?”

“Lilith’s orders. And I suggest you get used to the idea of a life without the Winchesters. Dean’s year is about to be up, and Lilith is gonna kill Sam sooner or later. Its just a matter of time.”

“Not if I can help it.” You claimed.

With a sweet kiss to the top of your head that betrayed his demonic nature, your dad whispered, “It’ll happen. Save yourself the heartbreak, baby girl.” And just like that he disappeared.

--

*Dean’s POV*

Sam and I were relaxing when we heard a knock on our motel door. It was Ruby. Damn, will we ever get rid of her? I’m tired of looking at her bitchy face.

As usual, she came in bossing us around. She told us to turn on the news. Supposedly, there was a gas main rupture that led to explosion at the sheriff’s station. The news anchor said everyone died, but one person did survive.

Please let it be Y/N, please let it be Y/N, please let it be Y/N, please let it be Y/N, I thought. It may be shitty, but I couldn’t bare the thought of losing her. Henricksen, the other FBI agents, the deputy, the sheriff, and even the freaking virgin secretary were dead, but I didn’t see Y/N’s face on the screen.

Just as Ruby was railing into us, there was another knock on the door, and I ran to open it. There she was standing there, tears running down her face. Probably feeling guilty that she was alive while the others were dead.

“I couldn’t save them,” Y/N whispered before her knees buckled. I caught her just before her she hit the ground.

Ruby threw us some hex bags that’ll help get Lilith off our trail. But I wanted to throw it back at her, just to get her to stop complaining how our plan sucked ass.

“And now look, your precious little virgin is having a mental breakdown, because even she knows you guys messed up.”

“Leave.” I ordered. I wasn’t gonna let her upset Y/N anymore than she already was. Ruby got one look at my deadly glare and took the hint, that if she didn’t leave right at that moment, she’d be dead. Sam followed her to make sure she leaves and to give me and Y/N some space. Over time, me and Y/N grew closer, especially now that Sam’s all buddy buddy with Ruby. It wasn’t unusual for her or me to go to the other to find comfort after a bad hunt.

This time I had no words for her. As much as I was hurting that we couldn’t save Henricksen and the rest, I think I would be hurting much worse if it was her, we lost instead, but I can’t tell her that. So, instead I just held her until she cried herself to sleep, hoping that in the morning I can find the right words.

Tags: @titty-teetee @cocooned-butterfly @nervouspetsonanime @thefaithfulwriter @meishaabae @dannixchristian @blacknthemix @mml232

[aion-rsa]

Resident Evil Village Ending and Post-Credits Scene Explained

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This article contains Resident Evil Village spoilers.

While there’s been no shortage of Lady Dimitrescu memes in the months leading up to Resident Evil Village‘s release, it’s funny to think that all of the game’s trailers, previews, and demos barely told us anything about the sequel’s actual plot. We knew it would star Ethan Winters, we knew it involved a creepy village filled with retro horror threats, and we knew the internet was desperate for the attention of tall vampire ladies everywhere, but many of the most important questions about the game’s lore remained unanswered.

Why does Chris appear to shoot Mia in one of the first Village trailers? Why is this town full of vampires and werewolves? Who is Mother Miranda? How does all of this relate to Resident Evil 7? Is Resident Evil Village actually a remake of Resident Evil 4? Despite a host of compelling theories, the answers to those questions (and many more) remained frustratingly unanswered.

The good news is that Resident Evil Village eventually does answer a lot of those questions. You may not like all those answers (and you’ll have to wait a little while longer to wrap up a few of the plot threads it leaves hanging), but if you’re ready to discover the truth, then join us as we take a look at the true meaning of Resident Evil Village‘s ending and post-credits scene.

Chris Tells Ethan the Truth About Mia’s Death

After being knocked down into the underground area of Heisenberg’s factory, Ethan runs into Chris just as he’s building some kind of giant tank (*checks notes*yes, that’s right). Ethan finally asks Chris why he killed Mia, and Chris informs him that the person they killed wasn’t Mia: it was Mother Miranda. 

Yes, Mother Miranda can assume different forms, and Chris and his team were well aware of her abilities when they shot “Mia.” What they didn’t know is that Miranda can also assume the form of a corpse, which is how she convinced the assault team they had completed their assignment. After the team left Ethan and Mia’s house, Miranda came back to life, attacked the vehicle Ethan and Rose were being escorted in, kidnapped Rose, and took her to the village. 

Armed with the truth (or at least some of it) and a brand new tank, Ethan leaves the underground area to confront Heisenberg. 

Ethan Winters Dies (Kind of)

Shortly after defeating Heisenberg (with a homemade tank, mind you), Ethan receives a call from Chris who tells him to not confront Miranda by himself. That plan fails spectacularly as Miranda (in the form of Mia) confronts Ethan shortly thereafter.

Miranda shapeshifts throughout the conversation (and even takes the shape of the crone we’ve seen throughout the game), but we finally see Miranda in what appears to be her true form (or a close approximation of it). She then confirms what has been hinted at all along by saying that Rose is an extraordinarily powerful being and that Miranda wants to claim her as her own daughter. As we’ve seen in the case of the villagers and the four noble bosses, Miranda is obsessed with finding some kind of family. She believes that Rose is powerful enough to survive a ritual that will effectively bond the two and awaken Rose’s true power.

While processing this information, Ethan Winters is seemingly killed by Mother Miranda when Miranda rips his heart out of his chest and drinks his blood. It seems to be the clear end of the line for Ethan, but as we’ll soon learn, the situation is not quite as simple as all that.

Chris and Blue Umbrella Assault the Village During Mother Miranda’s Ritual

After reviewing the circumstances that led to Ethan’s death, Chris leads an assault against the village just as Miranda is beginning her ritual with Rose. The team informs Chris that he should have told Ethan about his plan, but Chris says there was no time.

During this assault, Chris notices that another team of soldiers is invading the area via helicopters. He identifies the invaders as “BSAA,” and seems to believe they may be after the source of power that fuels Mother Miranda and the village. 

Before we go any further, let’s talk about the BSAA a bit as they’re a pretty important part of the RE franchise and play a role in some of what happens next. 

What is the BSAA?

BSAA stands for “Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance.” They’re a security response group created after the fall of Umbrella as part of a global effort to combat the rise in bioterrorism.

Chris previously worked for the BSAA (he was employed by them during the events of Resident Evil 5), and they’ve long been presented as a force for good. However, concerns regarding their funding, techniques, motivations, and apparent fascination with bioweapons themselves have long led some fans to believe that there may be more to the group than meets the eye. 

Chris left the BSAA some time ago in favor of a role with Blue Umbrella, but he has seemingly stayed in some kind of contact with the orginization and has perhaps formed a working relationshiop with them. He seems surprised by their presence in the village, though, and we’re about to learn why. 

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Chris Discovers The Connection Between Umbrella and Mother Miranda

While working his way through the village, Chris eventually goes underground (literally) and discovers a very old laboratory filled with photos of a young woman and a few companions. He also finds a letter written by Oswell E. Spencer: the founder of Umbrella. 

In fact, this letter (which is addressed to Mother Miranda), reveals that Spencer met Miranda years ago and spent quite a bit of time with her discussing the logistics and implications of resurrection. In that note, Spencer says he believed that resurrection could (and perhaps should) be performed in large numbers whereas Miranda seemed more focused on the resurrection of select individuals. 

Due partially to their differing views, Spencer eventually left Miranda and took what he learned (as well as a few samples of the material that Miranda drew power from) to help him form Umbrella. In fact, Spencer confirms that he got the idea for the company’s name and logo from the shape of the symbol that we’ve seen multiple times throughout the village. That symbol seems to correspond to the area’s four noble houses, though the exact meaning and history of its design are somewhat ambiguous.

It’s a pretty shocking revelation that Chris doesn’t have time to dwell on as he soon runs into a surprisingly very much alive Mia (the real one). Chris tells Mia that Ethan is dead and that Miranda has Rose. Mia then surprises Chris by saying that Ethan can’t be dead as there’s something about him that nobody really knows. 

How is Ethan Alive? Is Eveline Still Alive? 

After Mia tells Chris that she thinks Ethan is alive, we cut to Ethan as he rises from his grave (so to speak) and starts crawling through what appears to be a frozen wasteland. Ethan then runs into Eveline who suggests to him that the reason he’s able to survive so much punishment is that he’s technically been dead for years. 

Based on Evelin’s story and a few context clues, it seems that Ethan was killed by Jack Baker at the beginning of Resident Evil 7. From there, he was infected by the mold and became something between human and monster. This would certainly help explain Ethan’s incredible regenerative abilities as well as some of his apparent hallucinations. It doesn’t really answer a lot of questions regarding why Ethan has been able to retain so many elements of his humanity (and how he had a child that seems to have inherited some of his abilities), but it seems that these are all questions that weren’t meant to be answered (or are just old fashioned plot holes). 

What about Eve, though? So far as I can tell, she’s just a figment of Ethan’s imagination. She’s something buried in his subconscious to help him understand this thing that he’s been ignoring for a long time. It does not appear that she’s actually still alive. 

In any case, Ethan is properly resurrected shortly thereafter and soon finds himself in the back of The Duke’s carriage. The Duke is already taking him to Mother Miranda (who is trying to complete her ceremony with Rose). Ethan asks The Duke who, or what, he is. The Duke doesn’t give a clear answer and even suggests that he isn’t entirely sure he can answer questions about his origins. The debate between missing plot point and intention ambiguity rages on.  

Soon, Ethan arrives at the village where he is finally able to confront Mother Miranda just as she’s performing the ritual on Rose. 

Miranda’s Ritual and Ethan’s Final Sacrifice

Miranda’s ritual takes a strange turn when she completes at least a part of it and suggests that the ceremony is somehow draining her powers from her. Is Rose absorbing that power? Ethan gets the drop on her soon thereafter and distracts Miranda long enough for someone (presumably Chris) to shoot Miranda from a distance. Miranda then morphs into a grotesque creature that certainly seems to be closer to her final form than anything we’ve seen before. 

Her banter with Ethan confirms that she’s been desperately seeking a family that shares her corruption and perhaps could even stay alive as long as she’s able to. She also refers to Rose as her daughter at several points, but that reference seems to be based on how Ethan’s abilities (and Rose’s birth/powers) can be traced back to Ethan’s “mold” infection (which in turn can be traced back to Miranda) and how Miranda disguised herself as Mia for a time. It doesn’t seem the game is suggesting that Miranda was Mia at the time that Rose was conceived and born, but the timeline of that ordeal isn’t entirely clear.

In any case, Miranda is soon defeated by whatever magic causes the most powerful being imaginable to be beaten by Ethan’s bullets. Ethan finally rescues Rose, meets up with Chris, and starts walking away from the village. It’s then that a giant creature (another of Miranda’s many forms) emerges from under the village. Chris informs Ethan that they have to run away as the entire area is rigged to explode as soon as Chris activates the detonator he’s carrying.

Ethan soon gives Rose to Chris and steals the detonator from Chris’ hand. He asks Chris to guard Rose for him and indicates that he’ll destroy himself in order to ensure the bombs go off. Chris reluctantly agrees, runs away, gives Rose to Mia, and the three of them fly away as a massive explosion seemingly confirms both Miranda and Ethan’s actual deaths.

The BSAA Bioweapons and a “Storybook” Ending

Chris, Mia, Rose, and one of the Blue Umbrella soldiers are escaping via a helicopter when the soldier informs Chris that the troops that the BSAA was sending into the village were actually advanced bioweapons. Sure enough, we soon see the hollowed-out body of a soldier in a BSAA uniform. It appears to be “zombie-like” and certainly something other than human.

Chris is shocked by this information and informs the soldier to take them to the BSAA HQ in England so that someone can answer for this. The game then cuts to credits shortly thereafter.

There are a couple of ways to read this whole thing. It’s possible that BSAA could have been partially responsible for this situation, but based on what we know about Mother Miranda’s story, it seems more likely that she’s the one responsible for all of the village’s woes over the years. Maybe the BSAA played a small role in certain events, but it doesn’t seem like they’re “responsible” for the events in either Resident Evil 7 or Village in any meaningful way that would make them the ones pulling the strings.

The more likely explanation here is that Chris is upset that the BSAA are using bioweapons and may have invaded the village in the hopes of securing Mother Miranda’s power source (or possibly Rose) as Umbrella’s founder once did years ago. Chris certainly seems like he’s still looking for someone to fight, and the idea that the BSAA may be morphing into a kind of reborn Umbrella would certainly give him the enemy that he’s been looking for. 

It’s also worth noting that Resident Evil Village’s credits feature a retelling of the fairy tale from the game’s opening (in the form of a song), but this time, we get an extra scene in which the fairy tale girl’s father fights off the demons while her mother carries her to safety. That storybook was always meant to tease the events of Village, and this ending either suggests that the end of that story (which we didn’t hear when it was told at the beginning of the game) always echoed what would eventually happen in the story. It could also just be a stylish way to conclude the adventure. I’d vote for the latter.

Then again, that scene isn’t the “real” ending to Resident Evil Village…

Resident Evil Village’s Post-Credits Scene Sets Up Rose’s Adventure and Resident Evil 9

Stick around until the end of Resident Evil Village’s credits, and you’ll see a short scene starring a young girl on a bus. She’s alternating between watching a mother read a book to her child and staring out the window on a sunny day. 

She gets off when the bus stops and makes her way to a headstone with the name “Ethan Winters” etched into it. It’s clear that this is a grown-up version of Rose, who appears to be a teenager, though it’s possible her abilities make her true age hard to determine. She apologizes to her dad for visiting so late and mentions that she’s been busy with “tests.” 

Rose soon walks away from the grave and towards a black truck guarded by a man in a suit. The man seems to indicate that Rose has escaped them, and even calls Rose “Eve” in a mocking way. Rose pins him against the vehicle and tells him to be careful as she has powers that even “Chris doesn’t know about.” Someone on the man’s radio mentions they have a shot on the target, but the man says not to worry about it as Rose is “only a child.” 

As the man drives away, he mentions to Rose that she’s a lot like her father. Rose says she’s more like her father than even he knows. They fade into the distance shortly before a screen appears that reads “The Father’s Story is Done.”

It’s unclear how much time has passed since the scene in the helicopter and this sequence, but Rose is certainly much older than she was before. Chris is clearly watching out for her (as Ethan requested), though it seems that he’s worried about her powers and whether or not they will be able to control them. There’s no mention of where Mia is (if she’s still alive).

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

As for the final screen, it certainly seems to suggest that the next Resident Evil game will focus on Rose. That could be quite interesting as she not only has the same regenerative abilities her father possessed but may have additional abilities similar to the ones we saw Eve utilize in Resident Evil 7. If I had to guess, I’d say that BSAA’s use of bioweapons in the field inspired Chris to use Rose as a weapon of sorts, despite the fact that Ethan indicated he was against the idea of using Rose in that capacity whatsoever. 

Will Rose actually be the star of Resident Evil 9? Where is Mia? What happened between Chris and the BSAA? Are Mother Miranda and Ethan truly dead? Who is The Duke? While we wait for the answers to those questions, be sure to let us know what you think about Resident Evil Village‘s ending in the comments below.

The post Resident Evil Village Ending and Post-Credits Scene Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[keldae]

Drastic Measures -- Chapter 29

“Your brother told us part of what had happened to you,” Lana shook her head as they walked down the killik tunnel, leaving the rest of the new arrivals from Dantooine to scatter into the rest of the cell, “but the full story is even more insane.”

“Tell me about it,” Xaja muttered. “I’m considering switching career paths and becoming an author.”

Lana’s lips twitched in a smile. “You would have to market this as fictional, I'm afraid. No one would ever believe it to be true.”

“If I hadn't just lived it, I wouldn’t either.” Theron looked over at Xaja and lightly nudged her arm. “As co-star of your future bestseller, do I get royalties?”

Xaja laughed as she followed Lana around a curve in the tunnel, opening up to what seemed to be the main command hub of the base. “Naturally. Hopefully this story gets a happy ending.”

“We’ll do our best to make certain that happens,” Lana reassured the Jedi with a smile. “Keeping you alive and out of Arcann’s hands is our goal.”

“And pissing Arcann off with our continuous survival is my current objective in life.”

On Lana’s other side, the Zakuulan officer she had introduced as Koth Vortena grinned. “That’s a good objective to have. Assassin or not, you’re all right, Outlander.”

“I do my best,” Xaja smirked, deciding she liked Koth already. Her first instinct upon Lana introducing him as a Zakuulan defector was one of caution and worry, but within a few moments of meeting him, she and Theron both relaxed. She resisted the urge to ask what had driven him away from Zakuul. That could wait… for now.

Beside her, Theron lowly whistled as he looked around the base. “I knew there was a cell here, but I didn’t realize it was this expansive. This is all Thunder’s network?”

“To the best of my knowledge, most of it is.” Lana nodded in confirmation as she led them up the ramp of one of the larger command platforms. “We’re reconvening here to plan our next movements. Thunder still has assets across the galaxy, but they’re remaining in place for the time being.”

“Any thoughts as to those next steps?” Xaja asked as she flopped into a metal chair beside a table covered in datapads and flimsi pages. 

“Take stock of our losses from Dantooine; determine how many of us can still move freely without attracting a legion of bounty hunters; and then find a new location to serve as headquarters. Thunder has indicated that they want to increase the rebellion’s power base, which will mean more resources than we can accumulate by having several scattered little cells. Tatooine served as the last major base, but with your brother attacking the Star Fortress bunker there, the system’s now too dangerous for us to hide in.”

Xaja felt a little burst of pride that Korin, her renegade, responsibility-dodging brother, had led the strike team that landed such a successful hit on one of Zakuul’s most visible assets. Being an active leader in the rebellion might make a responsible adult out of Korin yet. “But between that hit, Theron and I dodging capture this long, and the loss of the Zakuulan forces on the ship on Dantooine…”

“He’s gotta be furious,” Theron finished with a grin, leaning against the table beside Xaja. The bond rippled with a feeling of smug satisfaction.

A grin pulled at Xaja’s mouth, only to fade at the thoughts of what could come of Arcann growing vindictive. “Is he taking it out on anyone else?” she asked. Stars, if he was anything like Darth Angral had been… 

“Not yet -- or at least, not as far as we know.” Koth sat down in another chair and scrubbed long fingers across his goatee. “Besides the attack on Dantooine, and reinforcements arriving as we were leaving Tatooine, nobody’s heard of another conflict recently. My crew -- they deserted with me when I left Zakuul —  they’re keeping an eye on things from a distance.”

“There are still Eternal Fleet ships stationed at Coruscant,” Lana added. “And after learning you had been on Dromund Kaas, Arcann sent some of his forces there to investigate. But with your brother having fled already and Acina having no idea about you being on the planet, the pressure has lessened there… from Zakuul, at any rate.”

“Last I’ve heard,” Sorand added as he walked up the ramp, having been held back by Shara and Corey for a few minutes. “The tensions between the Republic and the Empire are escalating. Saresh is calling you both traitors to the Republic — sorry about that — and claiming you’ve been working with me since the Revanite crisis. Which technically isn’t wrong…”

“The schutta ,” Xaja hissed as she felt Theron settle his hand on her arm. “She’s saying that publicly?”

“And kriffing over any chance you might have had of being able to disappear into the Republic,” Sorand muttered as he frowned down at a datapad in his hands. “From what I’m reading, it’s full-blown propaganda. She’s probably hoping for any loyal citizens who see either of you to turn you in as traitors.”

“Which gets Arcann off her neck,” Theron muttered. “The Empire?”

“While she might, in other circumstances, do so, Acina’s acting thoroughly insulted by the notion that she would ever have an allegiance with a Jedi.” Sorand rolled his eyes. “Besides naming me a traitor, and putting Lana and Dad about a step below me on the most-wanted list, she’s made a comeback at Saresh along the lines of calling her a slave-race coward who can’t admit she can’t find two high-profile war heroes-turned-traitors.”

Xaja winced at that. Theron’s own cringe echoed along the bond as he spoke up again. “Dare I ask what Saresh said in response to that?”

“Probably not,” Koth commented. “But if this keeps up, it’s going to turn into a galactic-stage catfight.”

“I’d find that more amusing if we weren’t stuck in the middle of it with Zakuul tearing the galaxy apart looking for us,” Xaja muttered.

“Both Saresh and Acina will be hesitant to go to open war,” Lana interjected with a frown. “With Commander Malcom walking away from the Republic, and Acina missing the two top assets in Sith Intelligence and one of the surviving Dark Council, they’re both strategically crippled. And that’s without mentioning how few Jedi remain, or how many soldiers from both sides have followed their chosen leaders into rebellion.”

“They just have their own fleets and militaries, and more resources to their names,” Koth grumbled. 

“But while they’re threatening each other with said fleets,” Sorand started, “this is the perfect time for the resistance to vanish. Considering we’re not sure how long Alderaan will be safe, I feel like we should find a new base soon. Arcann’s not going to greatly care about the Republic and Empire clawing at each other, not while he’s still looking for you two.” He nodded at Theron and Xaja. 

“There’s too many high-value targets here, and too many civilians who could be endangered by us,” Xaja muttered. “Worst case scenario, how long could the resistance keep running?”

“Perhaps another few years. But I’d rather not see it come to that.” Sorand hummed in thought. “The galaxy is vast enough that we should be able to find an unpopulated planet, or one with a low population. Perhaps Rakata Prime?”

“Force knows there shouldn’t be too many live Rakata left there after Revan bombarded the place,” Xaja said.

“Not Rakata, but there have been Republic historians exploring that world since the fall of the Revanites,” Theron spoke up. “Not to mention that it’s near to the Core.” And too close to Coruscant went unspoken.

“That one ice ball from hell -- Hoth, maybe?” Koth offered. “Distant Outer Rim, and nobody sane goes there.”

“Aside from both Imperial and Republic forces trying to raid the starship ruins, and pirates crawling all over the place. Rumour has it there’s a new Star Fortress being constructed in the Hoth system as well.” Lana frowned at her crossed arms, then looked up. “I don’t suppose there are any other abandoned Jedi planets like Tython to be reclaimed?”

“If Ahch-To or Ossus had been found, it would have been all over the Holonet by now,” Sorand mused, running a hand over his own scruff in thought. Xaja barely had time to be surprised by the fact that her brother seemingly was familiar with Jedi history, or to remind herself that his academic leanings and his insatiable curiosity about the Jedi would have pushed him to learn all he could about the near-mythical Jedi worlds. “Yavin is the only other system I can think of that might work, but it’s uncomfortably close to Imperial territory. It’s something we’ll need to think about while we plan our next moves. Maybe we can find an uninhabited moon somewhere.”

“Cipher Nine may also have contacts who can help us,” Lana suggested. 

“That wouldn’t surprise me. I swear my father knows at least half the galaxy, and there has to be a decent number that don’t want to shoot him… somewhere.” A grin flickered across Sorand’s face for a second. “When he gets in, I’ll talk to him, see if he has any suggestions.”

That was a reasonable strategy. Xaja was pretty sure Sorand wasn’t exaggerating the claim of how many people their father knew. And Force knew the old spy could be… persuasive. “When is he expected?”

“Within the next couple of days, I think.” Sorand straightened up from where he had been leaning against a console. “Anything else that anyone wants to discuss right now?”

Silence answered him for a moment before Koth shook his head. “I dunno, I think that got just about everything important. I’ll send a ping out to my crew on Asylum, see if they’ve got any leads for uninhabited planets they’ve found.”

“Thank you, Koth.” Lana stood up and gave Xaja and Theron a smile. “Corey’s been in contact with Mandalore; I had best check in with her latest updates. We’ll have a chance to catch up soon.” 

Theron nodded as the blonde Sith took her leave of the platform, then looked back at Koth. “So, former Zakuulan Navy, huh?”

“Yep. Captain and only decent pilot in my crew…”

Xaja looked away from the conversation, making eye contact with Sorand. He subtly nodded, indicating the far corner. She rose and fell into step with him as they stepped off the platform, leaving Theron and Koth to talk.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Sorand let the worried frown show on his face. “You said things wound up… complicated?” he softly asked, touching his forehead. “You feel… better, almost like normal.”

Xaja nodded. “The Dreamwalkers had been wiped out,” she quietly answered, and saw Sorand’s shoulders slump at the news. “There were other Voss healers who helped me as much as they could.”

“But…?”

“He’s still in my head.” Xaja shuddered as Sorand sighed in worried disappointment, raking a hand through his hair. “They think they’ve managed to suppress him for the time being.” She hesitated, worrying her lower lip for an instant. “You know that bond I had with Theron before…?”

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Annya froze as her boot touched down on the duracrete floor of the Republic-friendly spaceport. Ignoring Jonas bumping into her back, she stretched out her focus, closing her eyes. She could pick up on Jakar Forseti’s nearby Force-signature as he landed the Balance of Justice, and could recognize a few Organa civilians whom she’d met on earlier visits. But right then, she didn’t care about that.

It was what she could sense a couple of kilometres distant that demanded her attention. Her brow furrowed slightly when she recognized her aunt’s presence — what the blazes is Aunt Mairen doing here? But that was quickly put to the side, to think about later. 

A slight nudge confirmed Xaja’s presence, and Annya grinned as her cousin reached back, just able to feel the other Jedi’s delighted surprise. She lightly pushed again, getting a read on her cousin’s well-being. The younger woman felt alright — no flares of pain, no lines of grief or rage. There was a strange darkness clouding part of her signature, and beside that, a small thread of light that Annya was pretty sure hadn’t been there before. But that was something to worry about later. Xaja wasn’t physically hurt, and if she wasn’t being consumed by grief, Agent Shan had to be here too.

She turned to face a confused-looking Jonas and gave him a delighted smile. “Xaja made it. She’s here. And I’m pretty sure Theron is too.”

Jonas’ eyes widened in relief as he let out a breath. “Good!” He nodded before his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Theron better be here. That asshole has a punch coming that he deserves.”

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Xaja suddenly fell silent mid-sentence as a bright Force-signature she knew made itself known only a short distance away. Ignoring Sorand frowning in confusion, she reached out, and felt a familiar nudge pressing against her mind. Joy flooded through her as she recognized her cousin, a delight she could feel echoed in the Force.

She turned her attention back to the present as Doc made his way over to her and Sorand. “Annya’s here!” she exclaimed, turning to Doc with a happy smile.

“Annya? That cousin of yours on Corellia?” Doc grinned. “Hells, today’s full of good news, Red.”

Sorand blinked in surprise. “Wait — we have another cousin?”

“Yes! Annya is a Green Jedi who—” Another presence made itself known on the planet surface; the recognition of that presence sent shock flooding through Xaja’s veins, her words dying in her mouth again. Impossible! He was killed months before Zakuul hit… unless he…

Shock turned to confusion, then joy, then what could be best described as indignant fury. “I’m going to kill him,” Xaja hissed. She ignored Theron’s sudden confusion over their bond, or the slight hint of subtle, smug amusement from the new presence.

Doc frowned for a moment before his eyes widened knowingly, a grin appearing under the mustache. “Only one person would make you react like that, Red. Jakar isn’t dead after all?”

“Not yet, he’s not,” Xaja growled as she turned and began stalking toward the central hub of the hive, still inwardly debating if she was going to hug the Barsen’thor of the Jedi Order before strangling him.

Behind her, Doc took a step to follow, stopped by Sorand’s hand on his shoulder. “Not to interrupt,” the Sith slowly said, “but would you mind explaining what the Hells that was all about?”

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“I’m relieved you’re all right,” Senya said as she walked through the killik tunnels with Satele, their bootsteps echoing in the cave. “From arriving here and realizing nobody else knew where you were…”

“I’m relieved to be alive too.” Satele smiled and offered Senya’s arm a squeeze. “I was pleased to hear you had made it here with no problems.”

“None to speak of,” agreed Senya. She gave Satele a sidelong look as they walked for a few paces further. “While I was here, I did not find a way to heal my children, but I did learn something about… about your son.”

Satele’s eyes were cautious when they looked back at Senya, but she did finally nod. “So you know who he is,” she finally said. It was a statement, not a question.

Senya nodded. “I hardly blame you for keeping that quiet.” 

“I am not convinced that he was planning an attack like what Arcann claims.” Satele pursed her lips as the two women rounded a corner in the tunnel, coming across a busy crowd. Apparently more rebels had just arrived. “I don’t know what he was doing there, but terrorism wasn’t on his agenda. It’s not his style.”

“It could be argued that freeing someone accused of regicide is terrorism,” Senya commented.

“I’m not sure that he would care in that respect.” Satele strained to look out over the crowd. “Not when he was…” She paused, a frown marring her features. “Watching him after Master Taerich was declared killed in action… I didn’t know if he would ever be happy again. He was devastated.”

Senya slowly nodded as she followed Satele’s gaze. Her eyes landed on a handsome young man in a bright red jacket, currently talking with Captain Vortena and Lord Beniko— Lana, as the Sith had insisted on being addressed. She knew his face well from studying the bulletins, but seeing him in person, she could see now how much he favoured his mother in terms of appearance. He certainly didn’t look like the type of person to orchestrate a plan to blow up an entire city, especially not when he smiled and his amber eyes softened. 

A commotion off to her right stole her attention. Turning away from Satele’s son, the Knight focused immediately on the girl who had reportedly murdered Valkorion. Senya’s first impression was of brightness — vivid red hair, a blazing, almost-familiar presence in the Force, and a delighted smile as she ran to embrace another redhaired woman in Jedi clothing who had entered the cavern. She certainly didn’t resemble a coldhearted assassin. If anything, her bright presence almost reminded her of Vaylin… or how Vaylin had been before she had been taken to Nathema. 

The former Knight of Zakuul sighed and dropped her gaze from the Jedi girl. “I can’t blame you for not telling me their names,” she quietly said, low enough that Satele had to strain to hear her. “I can hardly judge.” She took a shaky breath and looked at the former Grand Master, watching the Jedi’s eyes go wide with shock at her next words. “Not when my son is the one hunting them down.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fury raged through Arcann’s veins as he stalked back and forth in front of the Eternal Throne. The next person to deliver bad news to him was likely to be thrown off the walkway, run through with a lightsaber, or perhaps simply crushed to death with the Force.

The teams sent  to Tatooine turned up little more than exhaust fumes from the departed rebels. The inept Paladin had been far too slow to catch the resistance as they fled from the Fleet. For all that Arcann knew, Thunder themselves had been in that base, escaping before they could risk capture. Taking down the reputed coordinator of a sizable resistance group would be almost as great a boost to morale as capturing Taerich or Shan.

And that was another subject that enraged him. The few fragments of data collected from the ruins of the Dantooine outpost hinted that the two fugitives had been there; the former Jedi Grand Master had been confirmed by the presence of her personal ship. And yet, the Eternal Fleet patrol ship and its entire crew had been destroyed. He was still no closer to knowing who was responsible.

Had it been the Republic, coming to save their precious Jedi? The Empire, seeking Jedi playthings and not wanting to share? Imperius, or forces loyal to him, rushing to aid his Jedi sister and her people? Thunder’s forces? Arcann scowled behind his mask. There were too many options, too many variables, and not nearly enough answers.

“Brother.” Vaylin’s voice finally cut through the cloud of rage in Arcann’s mind. Judging from her tone, and her raised eyebrow and crossed arms, she had been trying to get his attention for some time now. “If you’re done stomping about for now?”

“There had better be an update,” Arcann growled as he stormed back up to the Throne, practically throwing himself into the seat. One eye glowered up at her. “What do you have?”

“Republic agents were seen on Dantooine, going through the ruins. Judging by the communications we were able to intercept, the poor idiots had no idea the outpost was even there.” Vaylin shrugged. “Clearly the Republic is even more inept than we thought, or it was a classified black-ops mission of sorts.”

The Republic, by all accounts, did have a few elite black ops teams who had survived the war and occupation. They had not been a priority of late, but Arcann filed that notion away for later consideration. His thoughts then lit on the one completely capable Republic commander he knew. “And Commander Malcom?”

“House Organa claims he’s been an honoured guest at their estate on Alderaan, this whole time. The spaceport records seem to support the claim.” Vaylin shrugged. “I suppose he really doesn’t care about his bastard son. Or he’s as stupid as the rest of the Republic and didn’t know about the Jedi outpost, or where Shan was last reported.”

That sounded like something Valkorion would have done, had he been in the same position as Malcom with the knowledge of where his offspring were. But if the Republic’s intelligence services hadn’t known about the Jedi hideout, perhaps the former Supreme Commander simply hadn’t known, either. “Has he been seen by any of our people?”

“He’s withdrawn into the castle after hearing about the raid.” Her voice was thick with contempt as she continued, “He’s reportedly in mourning .”

That was definitely not something Valkorion would have done. Arcann shrugged to himself. Malcom was clearly weak. “Anything else?”

“Still no news from the Empire regarding Imperius. But I do have one more little thing.” A smile pulled at Vaylin’s lips. “A diplomatic envoy from the Republic has contacted our diplomats, requesting parlay. Apparently the Senate believes that, since Satele Shan’s ship was on Dantooine and her body wasn’t, she was taken prisoner.” For a moment, the smile vanished in a frown. “Of course, this could be terribly awkward if news gets out that we don’t have her.”

“If news gets out,” Arcann said, grinning under his mask. This, he thought, could be a useful advantage. If Taerich and Shan had been on Dantooine, they had to know that the Grand Master wasn’t a captive. But the Senate didn’t need to know that, and it was doubtful Taerich or Shan would be in contact with the Chancellor. Then again, if the two fugitives hadn’t been on Dantooine at the time of the attack...

Yes… yes, he could use this.

[fanficsaremylifeline]

Back to the Future

On AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20668217

*****

“Dad, Rafe took my book!”

“I’m just borrowing it”, Rafael snickered as he held the book high over his head. His little brother tried to claw at him, tried getting the book back down, but Max stood no chance. It was really funny, Max was so angry that his normally blue face turned purple.

“Rafael, stop teasing your brother”, Dad called from the kitchen.

“I’m not teasing, we’re training”, Rafe claimed, very aware that it wasn’t exactly what they were doing, and it was definitely not his intention to teach his brother any fighting skills.

“Oh, if we’re training….” Max’s eyes lit up and his purple magic-thingy started lighting up all around him.

“Oh, no, no, that’s not fa… AAAAH!”

Max threw himself at his brother with everything he had, taking both of them down.

“BOYS! If you break anything you’ll be in serious trouble!”

Rafe heard Dad walk over, but he was too busy wrestling with his brother, who seemed to be positively buzzing with magic.

“Uh, Max, might want to dial it down a notch, alright?”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”, Max cried out and all of a sudden, the entire living room seemed to burst into purple flames and Rafe just squeezed his eyes shut, hearing only his brother’s screaming and the magic whooshing around them.

And then it all dropped away. Cautiously, he glinted through and half open eye, finding they were outside, between a bunch of trees; Max was still lying on top of him. Great, another fight-turned-involuntary-portalling. Max really had to learn to get a hold of his magic, get it under control; this was the third time this month he had gotten so mad that he portalled them away.

“Where did you portal us to?”

But his brother didn’t answer.

“Max?”, he tried again. “MAX!” With all the power he could muster up, Rafael rolled Max off him, who lay motionless beside him.

“Hey, ven para acá; open your eyes, you blue idiot!”

But nothing. Thankfully, he had a steady pulse and breath, maybe he just overexerted himself. But while portalling through the city? Taking a better look at their surroundings, Rafe could see that the portal brought them to a field, not far from the institute. During the summertime, they often trained out here, so since they were fighting, his subconscious must have brought them here.

Well, then Rafael’d carry Max to the institute to get him checked out and call Dad or Papa to pick them up. Man, Rafe was strong for a thirteen-year-old, but Max wasn’t that much smaller than him, so it took Rafael twice the time it usually did to get to the institute.

And then it got weird: he couldn’t get in. Normally, the doors would just open for them, their father was head of the institute after all and all wards were created to accept Max’s magic, hell, most of the time Max helped Papa with the wards!

So, he had to wait awkwardly after ringing the bell, kneeling down with Max’s head in his lap.

Finally, the door opened. “What’s going on here?”

So relieved to hear Aunt Izzy’s voice, he looked up, only to stop dead in his movements. That wasn’t Aunt Izzy. Yes, she sounded like her, looked like her, but that woman in front of him was no older than twenty.

“What happened to him?” She kneeled down and gently stroked Max’s head.

“I’m not sure. We were training and all of a sudden we’re here and he’s passed out.” Rafael was close to tears. First Max is unconscious and now Aunt Izzy isn’t really Aunt Izzy.

“Hey, it’s alright”, she assured him, “he’ll be up and running in no time.” She gently took the little Warlock in her arms and motioned for Rafael to follow her. “I’m Isabelle by the way.”

“I’m Rafael. This is Max.”

“Oh, that’s funny, my brother’s name is Max, too.”

Yeah, guess why Blue over there is called that. Wait, was Uncle Max still alive? Dad told them that his little brother, after which Rafe’s little brother was named, died around the time Rafael was born. So, how did Aunt Izzy talk about him like he was still alive?

“Izzy, what’s going on?”

Rafael couldn’t remember a time he was happier to hear his Dad’s voice, even if he sounded super grumpy. He just wanted to run over there, bury himself in his Dad’s arms, let the tears run wild; all while Dad would hold him close, gently tousle his hair, telling him how everything would be alright. But when he turned the corner, his hopes dropped: That wasn’t his Dad, not really at least. Just like Aunt Izzy, he was way too young. He also felt different. Like, he was so grumpy, the pure commanding Shadowhunter, something Rafael only saw on Dad when there was a big mission.

“Who are they?”, he demanded to know and if Rafe wasn’t devastated a moment ago, he was now. WE ARE YOUR KIDS, DAMNIT!

“They were just at the door; we need to get this one to the med bay.”

“Ok, you take him there and you”, he turned to Rafael, “answer me some questions.”

“No”, he refused, “I’m not leaving him alone.”

“It’s just for a little…”

“I’M NOT LEAVING MY BROTHER!”, Rafael yelled and determined, he grabbed the little blue hand.

“Your brother?” Both Izzy and Dad’s face fell at that and Rafe just nodded silently in response.

“Alright then”, Dad shrugged, “let’s get to the medbay while you tell us how a Shadowhunter and a Warlock are siblings.

Because of you, you idiot! Rafe wanted to shout. He’d never say something like this to his Dad’s face, but that wasn’t his Dad, now, was it?

But it brought the next problem. He couldn’t just tell them their story; he didn’t even know where they were! Was it a parallel world? But Aunt Clary went to a parallel universe once, and what she told them sounded very differently to this here. The only difference was, that everybody was a lot younger. So, they probably travelled to the past. And that was nothing, he could just explain to them. What was Rafe supposed to say? “Hey Dad, we’re your kids. From the future.”  Uncle Simon would believe him, he was enough of a nerd and geek to buy into all that time travel stuff. But that wouldn’t help them get back!

Overcome with a very sudden burst of homesickness, Rafe couldn’t stop the tears anymore.

“Hey, kid, everything will be alright”, Dad assured him and put a hand around the teens shoulder. Even though it wasn’t really Dad, it felt just as soothing and helped Rafe calm down.

“I’m Alec”, he introduced himself.

Yeah, no. Rafe would not call his Dad by his first name.

“I’m Rafael. That’s Max”, he eventually got out. “We’re adopted, that’s how we’re siblings. We were fighting and suddenly we’re out on that lawn and Max is unconscious. So, I brought him here.”

“Very smart, Rafael”, Aunt Izzy praised him. “That must have been one hell of a portal, it completely drained his magic. He’ll be out for a little while, but he’s alright.”

“Good”, Rafael smiled, “I guess we’ll just take over a guest room for the night.”

“Uhm…” Dad hesitated, looking from one to the other. “It’s just, Downworlders aren’t allowed to stay here.”

“WHAT? SINCE WHEN?”

“Since always?”, Dad explained, pulling his face into the same grimace he did when Max introduced them to his imaginary friend Saskatoon. Apparently, he was a green, feathered Seelie, why he was named after a Canadian province, nobody knew. “It’s the same rule as in every other Institute.”

Man. They really landed in the dark ages, didn’t they? Unbelievable…

“Well, I’m not leaving his side”, Rafael made clear.

“Alec, the boy just needs a place to sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right”, he agreed with Aunt Izzy and carefully scooped Max into his arms. “Come on, Rafael, I’ll show you were you can stay the night.”

.

After being repeatedly assured that Max was alright, Rafael followed Dad out to the dining hall. Until a few moments ago, he hadn’t even realized how hungry he was, all overshadowed by the worry for his little brother.

“You the little Shadowhunter with the Warlock brother?” Uncle Jace put his spoon down and eyed Rafael curiously.

“I’m Rafael”, he nodded, sitting down next to Dad, just opposite Uncle Jace.

“So, these strange kids just happen to show up when we found the Cup and you let them right in. The fuck is wrong with you?”, he hissed.

“Dude, watch your language”, he answered with a nod towards Rafael. Yup, this was his Dad right there.

“For reals?” Uncle Jace raised his eyebrow, shooting Dad some very quizzical looks.

“Jace, they are kids in need of help. What, I’ just gonna leave them outside?”

“Or maybe Valentine send them to infiltrate the Institute.”

“Says the guy doing the same with Valentine’s daughter”, Dad scoffed.

Oh, they had to be kidding him! What’s wrong with them? “Right”, Rafael interrupted the bickering, “of course we’re working for Valentine. Especially my little warlock brother loves working for someone who hates Downworlders to that extreme a degree. And why wouldn’t I be in league with someone who caused my family nothing but pain and is responsible for me being orphaned and living on the streets for the first five years of my life?” Ok, technically that was on Jonathan. But Jonathan was on Valentine, so… “So yeah, we’re definitely working for him. Dios mio”, he added with a quiet grumble.

At least now Uncle Jace was quiet and Dad patted Rafe’s shoulders. He felt quite proud of himself and happily dug in.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Ok, dude, seriously. We have more urgent business than looking after some weird brothers who just happen to show up on our doorstep.”

“Keep your voice down.”

Alec and Jace were leaning against the wall just outside the guestroom, after quickly checking in on the two sleeping kids. The Shadowhunter boy was wrapped around the Warlock kid, holding him close; he was really protective of his little brother. And weirdly enough, Alec felt the same way about those kids. Which went against every fibre of his training, his entire being. He should be worried about Valentine spying on them, but instead he just wanted to call up every institute until he found their parents.

“What, you going all soft and fatherly on them?”, Jace snorted.

“Shut it.”

“No, I mean you are engaged now, domesticity might come in handy. But, if you do want to reconsider”, Jace winked as he walked away past Alec, “looks like the Shadowhunter-Warlock-combination works out pretty good.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

When Max managed to open his eyes, he found himself wrapped up in Rafe’s arms.

“Rafa?”

His voice seemed to have woken him he groggily opened his eyes but started to smile as soon as he saw Max. “Hermano! Been sleeping enough, haven’t you?”

Max got out of his brother’s arms and wearily sat up. “What happened? Are we at the Institute?”

“Sorta…” Rafe had a skew grin on his face and stared on his fingers.

“What happened?”

“You portalled us back to the past.”

“I did WHAT?”

“Shhh”, Rafe tried shutting him up, “nobody can know! It’s the beginning of the Mortal War, Uncle Jace is a bobo and as far as I can tell, Dad and Papa aren’t together yet.”

“I…” Max was completely dumbfounded. What did he do? How, and… Shit. He messed up. He messed up big time! “I’m sorry”, he choked out as the first tears started rolling down his cheek.

“Hey, it’s ok, it’s alright!” Rafa wrapped his arms around Max and soothingly rubbed his back. “We’re gonna figure out how you did this and find a way back home, alright?”

“Ok”, Max sniffled, pressing his face against his brother’s shoulder. Focusing on Rafa’s breathing, he even managed to calm down a little bit and leaned back, wiping the tears off his face. “Wait.” Slowly he processed everything Rafael had just told him. “Uncle Jace is a bobo?”

“Yeah, listen, things are all sorts of trippy. Downworlders aren’t allowed in the institute and they actually think we’re Valentine’s spies.”

“Seriously?”

“I tell you, dude, we landed in the dark ages.”

Downworlders aren’t allowed in the institute? Which was basically his home? Max didn’t even know what to think, much less what to say. He didn’t want this weird, this wrong world, he wanted his Dad, his Papa, his institute, where people were happy to see Max! “Let’s just get home”, he mumbled and climbed out of bed. Rafael was right there taking his hand.

“Let’s go and find Dad, so he can let us out, because the wards don’t accept you yet.”

“This place is terrifying.”

And it was even worse. The looks Max got were pure poison. Rafael had his arm around him and Max tried his best to hide behind his older brother, but it was brutal. Yes, Papa told him that a few years ago Nephilim weren’t really big fans of the Downworld, but this? This was hatred, pure and simple. And for the first time in ten years, he was scared to be at the Institute, a place where he should feel safe and at home!

He was just so damn glad that Rafael kept it together so well, getting them both through this; if it weren’t for Rafa, Max would probably be balled up on the ground, crying his eyes out.

They eventually found Dad in the armoury with Aunt Izzy and Uncle Jace.

“Just remember”, Raf hissed over before they walked inside, “this isn’t Dad, not yet at least, so, just stay calm.”

“Mhm…” It was Dad, though! Looked like Dad, moved like Dad, sounded like Dad... Up until now, a part of him thought Rafa was just messing with him but that was Dad right there, with Aunt Izzy and Uncle Jace; all of them looking so much younger… And it took all of his power to keep from crying and running up into Dad’s arms. His brother seemed to notice and wrapped an arm around him.

“Hey, you’re up!” As they walked inside, Dad turned to them with a wide smile. “How are you feeling?”

Max couldn’t even look at his father and kept himself as hidden behind Rafael as he could, trying to hide as much of himself as he could. “’m alright”, he mumbled.

“We just wanted to say thanks and get going. After all, it’s not like he’s welcome here, so as grateful as we are for all your help, we should go now.”

“No, you’re not”, Jace decided. “Not until we know who you are, where you’re from and what your deal is.”

Rafa was right, Uncle Jace was a bobo.

“Take it down a notch”, Aunt Izzy calmed him. “Though I have to say, he has a point. You show up in the middle of chaos, you just turn up out of nowhere.”

“And no offense”, Jace shot over, “but I was hoping that Simon turning was the only Downworlder issue I had to handle. Besides the wedding”, he added with a scoff.

“Wedding?”

Max and Rafael knew about the story of Simon being turned into a vampire. But if he remembered correctly, there was no wedding.

“Well, I don’t care about Clary’s mundane, or vampire or whatever and my wedding has nothing to do with Downworlders.”

“It should”, Aunt Izzy mumbled, rolling her eyes.

“You are getting married?” Didn’t Rafael say something about their fathers not even dating yet?

“I am. What’s it to you?”, he shot back.

“Nothing.” Apologetically, Rafa raised his hands and sat back down next to Max. “Who’s the lucky one?”

“Lydia Branwell.”

“WHAT?”, the brothers cried out in unison and Rafa just kept going: “You are engaged. To a woman? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Oh, Dad would definitely ground Rafe for ever for using the F-Word. But seriously, engaged, to a Shadowhunter woman? They never told any of them about that…

“Oh, this is nothing of your concern! So, you all are gonna shut it now, because this is officially too much. We’re gonna check all the wards and you to make sure you’re clean and then you can go.”

“I’ll call Magnus”, Aunt Izzy shrugged.

“And you two just sit and stay quiet.” Oh, yes, now he sounded like their Dad. Thankfully, Aunt Izzy got Papa here, so they could end all of this chaos. They had to, otherwise they might never be a family, ever!

“And here I go again, getting you Shadowhunters out of your messes.” Papa walked in and damn, if it was possible, he was even more dramatic and extra as Max knew him. But he looked the same! Sort of at least, the love he could usually feel from Papa was not there, instead he seemed cold and closed off. And it broke Max’s heart.

“It’s not Papa”, Raf whispered over, but he looked just as distraught as Max felt.

“Who do we have here?” Papa turned to them with a wide smile.

Not being recognized by his own Papa was worse than losing out to Rafa every time they sparred. But no, Max would not start crying right now. It was not his parents’ fault that they didn’t know them, it was all on Max. And while Rafael took charge and took care of them, he should at least keep it together, he owed his brother that much.

“I’m Rafael, that’s my brother, Max.”

“Huh.” An amused smile played over Papa’s lips. “A Shadowhunter and a Warlock. Interesting”, he remarked with a side eye to Dad.

“Can you please make sure that they didn’t screw with our wards?”

“Of course. You definitely look like hardened criminals and traitors”, Papa grinned and winked at the boys before turning around and that familiar blue magical flames danced around his fingers. Max felt the tickle, when his Papa’s magic scanned him, and basked in finally feeling something familiar, even homey.

“Well, they are clean, I’ll go and check the wards.” Papa sauntered off, brushing very closely past Dad, who actually blushed. Oh, thank the Angel, they are in love! But why would Dad get engaged to someone else?

“What is going on with Dad?”, he hissed over at Rafael, when the grown-ups were engaged in a discussion.

“I don’t know. And Papa? He’s next level pissed with him. Like, seriously pissed.”

“I know… It was nice to feel his magic, though”, Max smiled.

“You actually felt that it’s specific Papa’s?”

“Yeah”, he nodded, “it feels different from Madzie’s or Catarina’s; it’s like a thumbprint.”

“Cool! I didn’t know that.”

“Figured”, he hissed back. There was a lot of stuff about Warlocks his brother didn’t seem to know or care about, but that didn’t matter right now; they could fight when they got back home.

“Wards are alright.” Papa waltzed back in, making it a point to ignore Dad.

“Great, so we can go, right?” Rafael got up and pulled Max to his feet.

“I guess. Are you sure you’ll be alright, though?” Dad looked concerned and put his hand on either shoulder.

Can you please just give me a hug and say you love us?

“Yeah, we will”, Rafael nodded “Thanks again for everything, we really appreciate it.”

“Sure thing. Stay safe, alright?”

The brothers just nodded.

“Come on, I’ll walk out with you.” Papa nodded towards the elevator, gesturing for them to follow.

“Bye”, Max waved at his Dad, Uncle and Aunt and his hand in Rafael’s, they followed Papa outside and Max was never happier to leave the Institute and all its evil looks behind.

“So”, Papa remarked as they were a bit away from the institute, “something is going on here. Your magic”, he locked eyes with Max, “it’s like mine. We’re literally compatible. How is that?”

Uh… Max felt his face drop and looked up at Rafael, who also seemed like he didn’t know what to say, either.

“I have no idea”, Max shrugged, trying to look innocent and nonchalant, but from the grin on Papa’s face he could see that he looked right through it. Man, even though he didn’t know him yet, his Papa could read him like an open book.

“Mhm, funny coincidence”, he chuckled. “So, where are you heading off to?”

“Home”, Rafa smiled, “I miss my Papa.”

“I bet you do. Will you find the way?”

“Yeah”, Max nodded, “I’m alright with a portal.”

“Of course you are”, Papa grinned. “Take good care then, you two, alright?”

“Always. Oh, and, Magnus?” Uh, it felt weird, hearing Rafael addressing Papa by his first name. “I can tell that Alec is really into you. Completamente enamorado.”

“He is”, Max agreed, “don’t give up just yet.”

“I’ll see you two crazy kids around”, Papa smiled, turned around and disappeared through a portal.

“Uff, that was weird.”

“Tell me about it… Ok, we need to get back home, I want to see Papa and Dad in love and happy and not grumpy.”

“Maybe that’s what you need to think of, when you create the portal, not the place you want to go, but the situation you want to be put in”, Rafe suggested.

“Huh… It’s worth a try. Hold on.”

Max closed his eyes and tried to drown all his thoughts out, only thinking about their fathers and them being in love; thinking about a world where all that was wrong here was fixed; where Dad wasn’t engaged to some Shadowhunter lady and he and Papa were in love, like really in love.

He felt the portal opening and boy, this would be a rough ride.

“Hold on tight!”, he cried out and pulled Rafael in behind him and it was unlike any other portal Max had ever created or stepped through: they were pushed and pulled from side to side, it felt like they were caught in a washing machine, whirled around and all Max could do, was claw to his brother.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

What. Just. Happened? Only a few hours ago, Alec felt Jace dying, their parabatai rune disappeared. And now he was alive and happy, smooching Clary, who wasn’t his sister after all, Valentine was dead and his wish to the Angel never happened.

Magnus had just portalled them to the lawn in front of the institute, straight from Lake Lynn, back home. And Alec was just done. He wanted a nice dinner, a hot shower and then his bed. Nothing else. Maybe not nothing; if Magnus could join him, preferably at all three, he’d be completely content. But that wasn’t gonna happen, was it?

And then he heard the screams.

Just in front of them a portal opened, and two kids stumbled out, screaming loudly, holding tight onto each other. Wait, Alec knew these kids. It’s been a while, but he remembered the little Shadowhunter and his blue-skinned warlock brother.

“Are we dead?”, the little Warlock whispered, his eyes squeezed shut.

“You are not”, Jace stated. “You portalled in right in front of the New York Institute.”

“We did?” The two boys looked up at the grownups surrounding them. The smile on their faces, probably at the joy of being still alive, dropped almost immediately, though, replaced with something like defeat.

“Rafael and Max, right?”, Alec smiled, holding his hand out to pull the boys to their feet.

“Yeah”, the Shadowhunter nodded.

“So, you’re back.”

“We’re back”, Max smiled weakly, though he looked like he just wanted to cry.

“Come on in, then. You look, like you could use breather.”

“Are they still anti-warlock?”, Max asked, looking up at Magnus.

“Most of them are, yeah”, he nodded.

“Then I don’t want to”, the boy decided.

“Just glamour yourself”, his big brother suggested.

“Or you’ll come by my place this time.” Magnus opened a portal; Alec could see the living room on the other side. “All of you, get a move on and we can figure out, why the boys didn’t make it home.”

“What do you mean, not make it home?”, Jace threw in, “where have you been all these months since we last saw you?”

“Uh, yeah, long story”, Rafael mumbled, following Magnus through the portal, not letting go of his brother’s hand.

“Here.” As Alec stepped through the portal, he saw Magnus handing the kids a glass of coke each.

“Uhm”, the boys shot each other confused looks, “our dads don’t like it when we have coke during the week.”

“Two dads?”

The boys nodded.

Huh. Two men, adopting a Shadowhunter and a Warlock. That was possible? Alec couldn’t help looking over at Magnus. Fuck, he missed him so much! Alec really messed this one up and he just needed to get him back. Alec was ready to do anything; he loved Magnus after all! And if there could be a little Shadowhunter being brothers with a Warlock, and them raised by a gay couple, then he and Magnus could work this out.

“Are your dads here right now?”, Magnus shot back.

And the boys just turned bright red. “Yeah, you’re right”, Rafael nodded, not looking up at anyone, grabbing the glasses, mumbled a quiet ”thank you” and gave one to Max.

“So.” Magnus sat down on a couch, looking from one boy to the next. “You time travelled.”

“What?” The rest of the grown ups’ faces dropped and Jace started laughing. “You gotta be kidding me! Time travel? Are you for real?”

“Jace, might I remind you, that you talked to an Angel only half an hour ago?”, Magnus remarked and looked back at the kids. “Are you from the past or the future?”

It was silent for a while, the brothers stared on their fingers until Rafael mumbled: “Future.”

“Shit.” Alec’s mind was completely blank. So, time travel. What the fuck?

“What happened?”

“It was my fault”, Max admitted, a tear rolling off his cheek. “We were fighting, and I got so angry with him, because he thinks he always knows better because he’s a Shadowhunter and I’m just a Warlock.”

“What? No, that’s not true!”, Rafael threw in, turning to his little brother. “I know everything better than you because I’m your older brother!” He grabbed Max’s hands, squeezing them reassuringly and looked at the little warlock with all the sincerity in his eyes.  “I don’t care if you’re blue, purple or green, I mean, you’re as awesome a Warlock as Papa!”

Wow, those two really reminded Alec of him and his siblings.

“Really?” The little blue eyes went big. “You think so?”

“Of course! You’re awesome, fantastic and my favourite brother.”

“I’m your only brother”, Max deadpanned. Maybe it was because they both were warlocks, but the way Max shook his head at his brother, reminded Alec a lot of Magnus.

“Boys, I’m really happy you guys are making up, but if you could continue…”, Jace urged them.

“You were so right”, Max shook his head, looking up and down Jace.

“Right?”, Rafael nodded with an eye roll.

“Right about what?”

“That you’re a bobo”, they shot over in unison.

“Excuse me?” Jace’s face dropped with insult and the other grown ups bit down their laughter.

“You heard us”, Rafael answered. “Seriously, you’re all so hopeless! I don’t even know what to… wait.” He turned to Alec and looked at him with big eyes. “You didn’t get married, did you?”

Now also Max looked up, and they weren’t just annoyed, it looked like they were actually afraid.

“I didn’t”, Alec shook his head.

“Ugh, thank the Angel!”, Max sighed as the boys felt back into their seats.

“Took your advice”, Magnus smiled over.

“What advice?”, Alec asked.

“Not to give you up”, he shrugged, but barely looked at Alec, his gaze dropped down on his hands.

Fuck. And then Alec goes ahead and gives it all up. He focused back on the boys, who were looking definitely worried about the two.

“Sorry, kids, no need for you to be involved in our drama”, Alec smiled, well, forced himself to smile. “How about you continue your story?”

“Ok… Well, like I said, I was so angry at him, and so we wouldn’t get in trouble with Dad for fighting, he said we were training, so I thought, might as well and wanted to portal us to the training field, because, well, last time we were training in the living room we broke some of Papa’s stuff and he was not happy.”

“But instead of just going to the training field, we landed there a few years in the past…”

“And now I only got us a few months into the future and have no idea how to travel any further.”

“Not sure we need to, though, the way things are looking”, Rafael grumbled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”, Clary asked.

“Nothing”, Max quickly threw in, “nothing you need to know. Not yet at least.”

“Wait, so you know us?”

Silently, the brothers nodded.

“How?”

The boys stayed quiet, just shaking their heads. It was probably smart, they wouldn’t want to influence or even jeopardize their future.

“Wait.” Magnus sat up straight, his eyes wider than Alec had ever seen them. “You’re from our future and did you just say that your dad is a warlock?”

“No, our Papa is a warlock”, Max clarified.

“And our Dad… he’s a Shadowhunter”, Rafael quietly added, looking up at Alec. And all the thoughts just disappeared from his head.

“Uh, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Izzy asked, just as in shock.

“Kids, now might be the time to tell us your last name”, Clary tasked them.

They looked at each other before answering in unison: “Lightwood-Bane.”

Alec was very aware that his chin was somewhere on the ground right now. He was gonna marry Magnus? And have kids with him?

“Hi Dad”, Max waved shily. “And hi Papa.”

Ok, Alec had to sit down right now, otherwise he’d probably faint. The only two options were either next to Magnus or next to the kids. His kids. He trudged over and sat down next to the little blue warlock. “You’re my… I mean, our kids?” Alec felt a giant grin on his face. “I’m gonna be a dad?”

“You’re a pretty cool dad”, Rafael nodded with a proud grin, “even though you’re probably going to ground us, if we ever make it back to the future…”

Alec looked up, right at Magnus, who was beaming over, his eyes shining brighter than the glow from raising the Angel. They were gonna get married. They were gonna have a family! A real family!

Magnus got up and walked over, sitting next to their Shadowhunter son. “Alexander, I have the feeling, we’re gonna hit the jackpot in our future. It definitely explains, why your magic is like mine.” He looked over at Max, who flushed a little purplish.

“You taught me”, he shrugged. “And Dad, you should see Rafa with a bow and arrow!”, he added with a proud grin and now it was Rafael’s turn to blush.

“You know, I can’t wait to see you with that one day”, Alec smiled. Wow, his heart was so full of love right now. He still didn’t know these boys any better, but Alec already knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do for his kids.

“I’m gonna be Aunt Izzy!”

Only now, Alec remembered that the four of them weren’t sitting by themselves and saw Clary, Jace and Izzy sitting on the opposite couch, beaming and smiling from ear to ear.

“And you’ll be Uncle Jace, and you’ll be Aunt Clary, and there’ll be Aunt Catarina, Aunt Maia and Uncle Simon and…”

“So the vampire is part of our future, great”, Alec deadpanned, with a grin, though. He wasn’t a bad guy and even though he’d never openly admit it, he came to like him.

“Of course”, Max nodded, “he is married to Aunt Izzy.”

“What? You’re gonna marry the Daylighter?” Wow, Mum and Dad would have a field day with their kids marrying Downworlders…

“Nah, by then he’s a Shadowhunter”, Rafe explained.

“The Daylighter will be a Shadowhunter?”

“Alec, please a little more respect for my future husband”, Izzy snickered.

“How does that work?”

“It involves a trip to Edom, our asshole demon grandpa, it’s a long story, and now that I think about it, we probably shouldn’t tell you all this”, Rafael admitted, his face getting red.

“Actually, you can”, Magnus clarified. “Once we send you boys on your way, I’m gonna have to wipe our memories of you, not to jinx your existence or anything.”

“I have to forget we’ll have a future, a family?” Even though it was filled with so much love, Alec could feel his heart breaking right now, as he locked eyes with Magnus, who shot him a small smile in return.

“I does look like we do find our way back to each other, I strongly believe in that.”

“You better, otherwise we’ll be right back to kick your asses”, Rafael made clear.

“Good. I wouldn’t want to miss out on any of this”, Alec smiled, gently patting the boys’ shoulders.

“So, Izzy, Alec and Magnus the only happily married ones?”, Jace asked, a little sheepishly.

“No”, Max nodded, “Uhm, are Uncle Luke and Aunt Jocelyn hitched yet?”

When Clary shook her head, Rafael continued. “Well, they are the next ones to get married. And yes, Uncle Jace and Aunt Clary, you also live happily ever after.”

“Aunt Clary, you’ll also get a parabatai! Uncle Simon.”

“I mean, they are almost parabatai already”, Izzy chuckled, “the rune is really the only thing missing.”

“And, important side note, Max is crushing on Madzie.”

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“AM NOT!”

“Boys”, Magnus interrupted and they both looked up with wide eyes. Huh, he really was a dad…

“It sounds like our future is pretty great”, Alec smiled.

“We can’t complain. Which is why we’d like to get back there. Even though you’re probably gonna ground us”, Rafael admitted.

“That’s something for our future-selves to decide. But yes, I can help you get home”, Magnus nodded. “I assume the reason you landed here so many years ago was that you didn’t just think of the training field, but were mostly angry about a Shadowhunter, who was supposed to love a Warlock, being really mean. Sound familiar?” He glanced up at Alec, who felt himself flushing.

“I guess…”

“How did you get to this time, right now?”

“Rafe said I should think about the situation I want to be in, you know? So, I thought of you being in love, and not engaged to some Shadowhunter lady and that brought us here. But I guess, it didn’t work because you’re still not in love!”

“Don’t worry, Max, they are very much in love, they’re just being idiots”, Izzy shot over.

“Oh, thank the Angel!”, Rafe sighed.

“Yeah…” Alec locked eyes with Magnus and well, Izzy was right, they were being idiots. Well, mostly Alec was being an idiot. Magnus’ eyes beamed and it looked like Alec could actually hope for a reunion, could hope for them to figure all of this out, be happy and actually start a family!

“Ehem.”

Well, Alec really lost himself for a moment, Jace’s harrumph brought him back into the living room where everybody stared at them, especially the kids had wide beaming grins on their faces.

“Sorry…”

“Don’t be”, Rafe smiled, “I’m really happy that you’re being gross.”

“Anyways”, Magnus cleared his throat, “let’s get you two back home, your real home I mean.”

“Yes, please! Do I need to get angry again?”

“No”, Magnus shook his head, “I’ll help you powering up the portal. Might need some Shadowhunter strength, though.” He smiled up at Alec and his heart didn’t just skip one beat.

“Sure”, he nodded, feeling himself getting all flustered.

“Perfect”, he grinned. “Max, this is not going to be easy. I need you to imagine the apartment, the situation you were in before you left. Imagine exactly what your Dad looks like, what I look like, our future appearances, I mean. Think of how much we love you two, and how you feel about us.”

“We love you, too”, Max smiled and shit, Alec just wanted to cry.

“That’s really wonderful to hear”, Magnus beamed, Alec noticed his eyes getting wet as well.

“When you’re ready, start imagining all those things and open the portal. Then I’ll pour all my magic in it so it can send you far enough, alright?”

“Ok”, Max nodded.

“Well, I guess we’ll see you soon”, Rafael grinned at the aunties and uncle, who waved back.

“I can’t wait to finally, properly meet you”, Izzy smiled.

“Yeah, me neither”, Alec agreed. And before he knew it, the little Warlock had wrapped himself around Alec.

“You two, get in here”, he smiled at the rest of their family and Rafael and Magnus joined in their group hug.

“Boys, you’ll see us in no time at all. I guess, we have to wait a little while longer, but man, it really will be worth it, hey?”

“Totally”, Rafael agreed.

“Alright, you two, you should get going.” Alec pulled back but put a kiss on either’s head. He’s never done this for anyone who wasn’t his sibling ever before, but it felt right.

“Dad is right”, Magnus nodded, wiping a tear from his eyes and Alec felt all the butterflies at being addressed as Dad! “Alright then blueberry, you got this.”

“Yeah, I do!” He closed his eyes and Rafael held tight. Moments later, he opened a portal and Magnus held out his hand, shooting all his magic into it. Alec quickly offered his hand, his strength and with a smile, Magnus grabbed it. Alec could feel their combined power juicing up the portal and from one moment to the next, their boys were gone.

As the portal closed, everybody just fell back and they sat in silence for a while, Alec wasn’t sure how long. He was gonna have a family! He and Magnus would have a family together! This was incredible, Alec never thought he could have this.

“Ok, I need to erase our memories right now or I’ll start bawling my eyes out.” Magnus cleared his throat as he stood back up and before he knew it, his blue magic whirled through the room, pulling on all their memories.

“Don’t worry, Alexander”, he called over the whooshing of his magic, “we’ll find our way back together!”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Magnus needed quiet and calm. He was currently busy mixing up a potion for a customer, a pain concoction for a Vamp with dental issues, which was a delicate procedure.

Unfortunately, when you had two kids, quiet and calm was not an option. And if one of those kids had magical abilities that he liked to use during a fight, it was downright impossible. They often practiced to control Max’s powers, but at ten years old, there was still a lot to learn.

And currently, the magic surging through the apartment was off the charts, the air was positively buzzing with it. Oh, that could not end well. A loud bang echoed through the loft, momentarily steeping everything in purple. That was not good. Magnus put all his utensils down and made for the living room.

Alec was already there, looking around the mess that up until a few moments ago had been their living room; but no sign of the boys.

“What happened?”

“I have no idea”, Alec answered, “they were arguing about some book and bam. Gone.”

“Alright…” Part of controlling Max’s abilities included practicing not to accidentally open portals when angry. They could be halfway across the city by now… Before he could ask for it, Alec already handed him an actionfigure of theirs to track. “Thanks.”

As often as this happened, it still didn’t make Magnus feel any easier about that. So far they had been lucky, but an uncontrolled portal could be seriously dangerous and every time Magnus had to track them after a fight, he was worried to no end where and in what state he would find them.

But no amount of anxiety could have prepared Magnus for this: they were gone. Completely gone. “No, no, no”, he stammered. He felt all the colour draining from his face and turned to Alec, who stared back with big eyes.

“What’s going on? Where are they?”

“I don’t know.” It was barely a whisper, and Magnus tried again, tried searching for his boys, but they weren’t there; nowhere to be found.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Alec’s voice rose with panic and he grabbed Magnus by the shoulders. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know!”, Magnus shot back, “I have no fucking clue! I… I can’t see them anywhere.”

“What does that mean?” Alexander knew exactly what it meant, he just wouldn’t want to accept it until Magnus would put it into words.

“They are not on this earth.”

After hundreds of years, Magnus thought he knew what pain and fear felt like. But this managed to annihilate the last records into nothing; it felt like all his innards were pureed.

“Ok, then we have to do something. Anything.” Alec went into overdrive, determined to save their boys. Once, Magnus fell in love with his willpower, that grit, now it only made him sad. There was nothing they could do. How was Magnus supposed to track somebody who had disappeared from the known realm? They could have ended up in Edom, or worse, stuck in Limbo. Or they were…

Magnus slumped against Alec. No, no, his angels couldn’t be… Alec wrapped an arm around Magnus. “They are alright. They always find their way back home.” He kept on repeating this little mantra, but with every repetition his voice went more desperate and the confidence died away. Magnus couldn’t fight the tears anymore, he just bit down on his tongue to keep from bawling out loud; feeling how Alec’s chest shook and heaved with suppressed sobs didn’t help.

And then, a purple flame flickered just besides them.

“MAX!”, Alec cried out, “WE’RE HERE!”

“COME ON, BLUEBERRY, YOU GOT THIS!”, Magnus yelled along.

“Can’t you help him with the portal?”

“If I send magic this way, they’ll be pushed back to where they came from”, Magnus explained. “He’s got to do this on his own.”

Magnus had to believe that Max would do it, find them again. And he did. In one big bang, the portal spewed out Max and Rafael, holding onto each other for dear life.

“Oh boys, thank the Angel!” The fathers quickly dropped down in front of the boys. “Are you alright?”

“Dad? Papa?”

“Yeah, it’s us, honey”, Magnus smiled.

They glinted through half open eyes.

“Hey”, Alec smiled at them and immediately the boys jumped up, tackle hugging them.

“It’s ok, it’s alright”, Magnus reassured them, sandwiched between their dads. “You’re safe, back home.”

And cue the waterworks. Both broke out in tears, Max sobbing against Magnus’ shoulder, Rafe against Alec’s and it almost broke Magnus’ heart.

“We got you”, he whispered, gently rubbing Max’s back. “We always got you.”

“I know”, the little warlock sniffled, “even when you don’t know us.”

Alec and Magnus shot each other a confused look. “When we don’t know you?”, Alec repeated.

“Well…” The boys leaned back a bit. “We found out that you can time travel with a portal…”

“Oh my god.” Magnus’ stomach just dropped to some very uncomfortable places.

“Yeah, it’s not like we planned it… When I portalled us, I was a little extra emotional and that kicked us back about fifteen or so years”, Max estimated.

“It was really weird. We went to the Institute, but you were all so young and you didn’t know us, and everybody was so damn unfriendly to Max, just ‘cause he’s a Warlock and then you’re engaged to a Shadowhunter lady?” Both boys looked up at their Dad, shaking their heads just like Magnus always did when Alec screwed up.

“Yeah, what’s the deal with that?”

“A big mistake I thankfully didn’t go through with”, Alec shrugged meekly.

“Yeah, you’re welcome by the way.” Proudly, Rafael puffed his chest out.

“What did you do?”

“Told Papa not to give you up. And he listened to us”, Max grinned.

“I just know when I’m talking to a genius”, Magnus winked, and Max’s cheeks flushed slightly purple.

“But seriously, the Institute was a mess! I mean, you were bad enough.”

“Not as bad as Uncle Jace, though.”

“Yeah, he was a real… bad word that I won’t say right now, because we’re probably already grounded enough”, Rafael snickered nervously.

“And then we tried to get back, but we only managed to travel a few months into the future and you two weren’t together, again”, Max groaned. “Seriously, you are like that daily soap that Papa likes so much.”

“You mean the one Papa likes in secret”, Magnus finished the sentence, blushing a little.

“Only that it’s not a secret”, Alec shrugged, grinning at his husband.

“Fair enough. But yeah, your Dad and me can be a little dramatic.”

“Understatement”, Rafe rolled his eyes. “After we told you who we really are, things got really emotional and then you, I mean the past you, helped give the portal enough power so we’d make it all the way back here.”

“Oh wow.” Alec was very lost for words.

“That sounds like we had two little guardian angels all along”, Magnus smiled, kissing each of the boys on the cheek. “Wow, we are so lucky.”

“Papa is right”, Alec beamed, “who needs Raziel when we got you two?”

[adriftpsyche]

ABEO Invicta - Class Prophecy

Dropping it here so old posts don’t get read lol.

A revelation from the Higher Being, which was bestowed shows the ABEO Invicta on what must soon take place. This was made known by sending me a vision, I testify to everything I saw – the people who hear this may or may not take to heart of what is written, because the time is near.

I turned around to see the scenery that was before me. And when I turned, I saw five doors, and each door leads to different futures, the five doors are paths that each person from the ABEO Invicta chose to tread, whatever lies ahead, will have been or will not be the choices they made.

As I slowly turned the knob of the first door, I saw that there was a wide field, it was filled with countless of chances and coupons of hope, the sky was clear and blue and the ground smelled like rain kissing the grass and one can see a vivid display of a rainbow; and in there, I saw Maxine​, who will realize that she has always been more than enough, and she will be able to give the life she strived for her family. In a ​kombong​, and with her long-time lover, she adds more graffiti ​on the walls of Marawi, spreading love and not war! One day, she will also try her luck in Masterchef Australia, but unfortunately, be eliminated over a horrible plating. Speaking of food, ​Neil ​inherits Holy Halo, levels up his charisma and interpersonal skills, which prompts his confidence to skyrocket even more with nowhere to contain it. And then it shifted to a more, familiar face, ​Kirstie​, her exposure with Indians brought her to ​a whole new world​, paving the way to travels and explorations of Asian culture which she writes on her columns in a magazine but Kirstie isn’t the only one capable of swooning men of different colors, but also ​Rodrick​! A number of them love his ​diction and his love for art and aesthetics. And in that magazine, the Gazette, ​Sittie – now Dr. Sittie Aslimah Malaco, gets featured for being a writer on her cultural heritage and is now among the highly recommended candidates for a leadership position in the MSU system and in occasion, meet-ups with ​Bea​, a spazzer and a content writer in All-KPop, a renowned site for KPop News who rediscovers herself and tries to puzzle herself back piece by piece in a steady but secure pace. Speaking of spazzing ang rediscovering the self, ​MaTet stands next to her. Like Bea, she’s still getting butterflies from her KPop idols and when she’s not, she uses her incredible ​patience for her teaching job at a Special Ed school. And ​Doreen​, oh our lovely goddess​, Doreen, continues ​to not claim a man, but own them, and has been getting ​breaststroke lessons from them ever since. She also revolutionizes pageantry by finding a way on how to stop these events in objectifying women. She paves the way for ​Azrael’​s two beautiful babies, by being their surrogate mother. Azra is happily married with a super hot Spanish man and lives in a beautiful bungalow located along the coast of Santorini in Greece. A beautiful surprise just like ​Sam’​ s, wherein after graduation, a small time talent scout found her, recruited and trained her which then boomed after 10 years, with her as the face of their agency. She is also a part-time secretary at a company. Of self-discoveries and dreams, Ralph​, becomes the John Green of the batch, writes melancholic but woke entries with a cigarette on hand and a glass of vodka beside beautifully disorganized drafts, in a quiet city night inside his apartment playing his indie music vibe.

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the second door, a lot of them chose to mold the minds of the next generation, the field was occupied with children looking up at several adults. ​Ave was one of them, an English professor at Misamis University after taking up her Masters degree, co-working with ​Eurey​, who followed her mother’s footsteps, and finally had her ​first long-term boyfriend​. But for ​Grace,​ a long-term boyfriend should be promoted to being a husband, and temporary kilays should be made permanent! ​Tiis ganda, no more! For surprises, everyone thought that ​Renz would become a PBA basketball player or a regular in Barangay Ligas​, but he becomes an elementary teacher while simultaneously teaching them to become the next ring legend. However, some things never change, he still continues to carry his big, bloated, and heavy bag that he has been carrying since college. Another surprise is Jocel​’s, she becomes a kindergarten teacher, out of curiosity on how the ​sociocognitive and language acquisition process happens in the human mind. Children are the perfect example for this process, and witnessing this over and over, never fails to fascinate her just like how Ate Koy ​continues to mold young minds in and out of the four corners of her classroom and has married with Sir Andrew, with her own beautiful kids who inherited her ​husband’s crazy beautiful curly hair. ​Ate Christine ​joins this group as well, she’s still the same quiet yet strict lady who is now a young school Principal that shows the children grace and simplicity. Another Ate in the field is Elaine, after a strong recommendation from the department, becomes a lecturer and then to being an English professor, by finishing her masters degree in MSU-IIT and will pursue her doctorate, where she will meet her first and last love of her life. Also in the same field is Danielle​, who still swears like a traffic horn, will be bagging awards in each of h r performances, and will be a dance and acting teacher in her own studio. She still performs along with her fiance, the critically-acclaimed Sir Michael Lagura, but dedicates most of her time to nurturing potential theater actors and actresses. These eight people, carry with them the power to unfold the minds of the youth and breed their confidence.

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the third door, those who were not afraid to strongly raise their voice for the unheard, and did not take neutrality for an answer. Their field was packed with an endless queue of people, patiently waiting for their turn to pour out and throw their weight to the persons at the end of the line which I can barely see. And so I walked over to see who were there and I saw ​Maegan​, still a very kind snowflake who also runs her own ​petshop​, becomes an animal advocate. Beside her was ​Lovely​, now a ​Pastora in a megachurch, and is giving everyone on the same field, a life-changing and anointed testimony that makes cold hearts beat again and dead dreams come alive again. ​AG and ​Ate Nikki​, are along the same lines with her – both of them become even more active leaders; AG, now a journalist in the Hope Channel while simultaneously trying to finish her masters degree and Ate Nikki, now the president of CARP, travels around the country to spread their advocacies. And advocacies are only ideas not unless there is a good promoter for that, like ​Fritz​, she continues to live up to her Moana persona as she ventures into many remote parts of Mindanao for a non-profit organization that holds educational and charitable works for environmental advocacies. Eventually, she settles down in Camiguin, where a lot of beautiful sunsets and ocean waters can be regularly seen. Contrary to beaches, I see ​Ate Patch, married to June, away from the city life in their quaint house with lovely cats roaming about. By way of art and writing books, as her living and advocates for destigmatizing mental illness through her works. The last in the circle is ​Lureva​, she finds her strength and confidence once again, where she becomes the president for Gabriella, an organization for women empowerment, she uses this platform to promote feminism, and abolish patriarchal dominance.

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the fourth door, are those who chose to represent, persuade, enlighten or discourage the public interest. In the field, I immediately saw Kuya JP​, a journalist and a researcher under the famous TV program, ​Kapuso Mo Jessica

Soho​, which helped him to be more ​longsuffering and modest ​towards other people. I also saw Ate Enya​, who becomes a filmmaker with a popular blog and holds online classes for aspiring filmmakers. Her first Masterclass was actually aired online a week ago. And of course, wher Ate Enya is, there is always the other half, ​Kuya Jzac​, a spazzer, who has gone in and out of South Korea and several countries to shoot, and study pop culture for a column in Sparkling! In that same pop culture, includes ​Kuya Roy​, a rockstar who has recently finished their second national tour and now owns a recording studio. Traveling countries have never been better, especially if they are for free! Flight attendant, Ivan​, now a revolutionary artist leaves each country he flies into with mind-numbing artworks, he also still accepts commissions on making lovely Powerpoint Presentations but he can now also make Keynote and Prezi presentation. And on presentations, nobody imagined that ​Shaira would be the brainmother of this era’s famous cosmetic taglines, she works for Teen Vogue and gets invited to speak on seminar-workshops to train young students who are into Journalism. She occasionally asks a lot of questions in our old groupchat. Another kind of presentation is ​Catherine’s​, where after graduation, she landed a few minor local modeling gigs, mostly for commercial products. She was then scouted by Mercator Artist and Model Management, a talent and model agency that housed some of the biggest models in the country including Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, and has since then graced the Philippine television with her doll face. She also cover songs which can be found in her Youtube channel, some of which features Zarinah. Where they get all of these gadgets, instruments, equipments and all the technicalities? Of course, none other than from ​Peer​, who now goes around the country because he works as media advisor for a company who almost has everything, they loan and refer to him. ​Keanne​, also works on the same company who has now become a full-time IT specialist, still wearing that chinky-eyed smile. 

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the last and fifth door, in that field, are those who chose to protect and to promote the common welfare and those who have the passion to change in order for others to do great things. In the field, I only see a car, inside are a band of people you never thought we be in the same ride, behind the wheel is Zarinah​, the career woman. A lawyer with a voice worthy of being a pop music royalty, she’s the first ever lawyer in history who sings her opening speeches. Impressive, right? Sitting beside her is Claire, known for her unconventional ways, a rad lawyer who fights for LGBTQIA+ rights, perhaps she is one of the most influential lawyers in the media. At the back, ​Sheila​, former SK chairman, is now an active councillor of their city all the while actively playing volleyball leagues and sports events around Mindanao often crossing paths with multi-sport athlete veteran Lakandula who organizes more and more sports events throughout the country. Sometimes, h tries to wear ​pants on these events instead of his comfy shorts and casual slippers. ​Jolly, wins life one case at a time, putting criminals behind bars, in particular, those who continue to perpetuate misogynistic crimes. And proves to the world, or to the Universe rather​, that women empowerment can also be channelled in pageantry; there’s also ​Mia​, an ​angry lawyer. When she’s not walking around the court convincing people why justice should be served to the rightful, she’s in her fine house, writing fan fictions with LGBTQIA+ themes whilst tending to the needs of her eleven puppies and her wife, M. There to calm her is ​Jacky​, who works at the Municipal Office of Bacolod LDN, finally attaining a permanent position. She still continues to change her hair color​, but this time going for revolutionary colors such as neon orange, highlighter green, and mustard yellow, until such time that her hair has had enough of it and it starts to fall off her head. Not able to deal with the severity of her hair loss, she made the difficult decision to shave it all off and she decides to rock a bald head, serving mannequin realness. The most special of all the batch’s women of power was ​Jam,​ because of her love for film, she finally fulfills her dream to visit Hollywood. And as the ​first female chancellor of the MSU System​, she advocates for animal welfare, especially for cats. She also advocates for destabilizing stigmas on mental health. This advocacy is implemented to the institute that caused for the decrease of suicide attempts. I realize that visions are given to remind us that we can choose which dreams to pursue or to reignite a dying fire. It guides us to the right path and to the right destination. It also encourages our hearts and gives us strength in every good thing we do or say. Now, is the time to take that step and make no delay. 

 All those, only to be jolted back from reality – in front of me, is the scenery outside of my bus’ window blindingly disappearing from my eyesight the moment I try to focus on it. And then, the road becomes familiar, other than the several infrastructures and population added. It was just like the first time I travelled here for my freshman year. And after everything, I never also would have thought that I would come back to Iligan and attend my first ABEO Alumni Homecoming party.

[mst3kproject]

The Capture of Bigfoot

Yep, another Bigfoot movie, this one written and directed by Bill 'Giant Spider Invasion' Rebane.  As far as I can tell, nobody in it was ever on MST3K, but for some reason it does have a whole bunch of people who were in Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS, along with George 'Buck' Flower, whom you may remember (if you remember him at all) as the park bench bum in the Back to the Future movies.  Above and beyond that, it's just intensely riffable. There's barely a shot that doesn't invite comment, and should you watch it, you'll be hearing the bots' voices the whole time.  What do you think: would it be Crow or Tom who would draw our attention to the gas pumps that look like a snow Ku Klux Klan in the background of one scene?

A couple of trappers have captured a baby Bigfoot, which naturally pisses off its mother – it kills one of the trappers and injures the other, fortunately without hurting any of the adorable samoyeds pulling their sled.  The dogs take the injured trapper home, where he dies without revealing what happened to him, but Harvey Olson thinks he knows.  He's been hunting Bigfoot for twenty years, and now that he's sure the creature is in the area, he hires every hunter in town to try to catch the beast.  Bigfoot, however, is also the protector of the local native people, who call it Arak (the SOL crew would have made so many jokes about 'the Legend of a Rock'), and they enlist Forest Ranger Garrett to foil Olson's plans.

Samoyeds are my favourite dog.  They look like somebody blow-dried a polar bear.

This movie's Bigfoot also looks like somebody blow-dried a polar bear, but it is marginally better than the one in Shriek of the Mutilated. Seeing as Shriek of the Mutilated's Bigfoot was literally a guy in a furry costume in the movie, that is not a compliment.  Capture's creature is even worse than Cry Wilderness', never believable as anything but a guy in a Hallowe'en costume.  Of some note is that the costume department gave Bigfoot white fur, when almost everybody who actually claims to have seen the creature has supposedly said it was black or brown, but perhaps we're meant to think they turn white in the winter like rabbits do. The beast's call is just somebody yelling “BLEAAAAAAAAAGH!”

While The Capture of Bigfoot does ostensibly have a plot, it's mostly just a monster movie – people wander around the woods, and Bigfoot kills them.  It kills the two trappers that captured the baby.  A third trapper sits down in his tent after collecting the day's game, and Bigfoot bashes his head in.  Two tourists leave the hotel to either have sex or go skiing, and Bigfoot mauls the guy while the girl screams.  The only slightly interesting thing that's done with the formula is that when it becomes clear that the creature has a grudge against the pair of hunters who shot at its offspring, Olson decides to use them as bait to trap it... but even that's pretty lame.

The characters are a collection of clichés.  There's a precocious kid who makes friends with the creature (perhaps this is a prequel to Cry Wilderness?). There's ranger Dave Garrett, who's well-meaning but kind of a putz and nobody listens to him.  There's Jake the Trapper, an old drunk everybody laughs at but really the only guy who knows the truth.  The Sheriff is a dim bulb whose 'quirk' is that he does a Humphrey Bogart impression.  Daniels is a Wise Old Indian.  Olson is a rich ugly guy who makes weird faces when he talks, which makes him a very early entry in the Donald Trump School of Movie Villainy.

For all the talk about how the creature is the protector of the local tribe's dead and must not be captured or killed for this reason, there is only one ostensible Native in the movie, Daniels.  His function in the plot is to give Garrett some information and a talisman that will prevent Bigfoot from harming him.  That's really all the entire concept of 'Native Americans' represents in this movie: a source of legend and magic, not allowed to actually do anything because action is for white guys (as I mentioned, even Bigfoot is white in this movie).  It's also really weird how the script can't decide if Daniels speaks English.  He and Garrett appear to have a conversation alone at one point, though we don't hear any of it, but when he turns up later in the film he speaks his own language and Jake the trapper has to translate.  In this same scene, Jake remarks that it would be 'more like an Indian' for Daniels to have shot them both rather than to sneak up and rescue them, which seems very distasteful coming from somebody who is supposedly Daniels' only friend.

Although Garrett is technically our protagonist, he's really a very reactive character – things happen, and he responds to them.  This was probably unavoidable, since it is his job to respond to animal issues in the area, but it makes him seem passive and uninteresting.  The proactive character is the villain, Mr. Olson.  His quest to find proof of Bigfoot, dead or alive, is what moves the story along.  He states over and over that he's been hunting the beast for years, and yet we never find out why. His stated reason is that it will make him rich, but this seems like only a justification for his obsession.  If he'd seen it and was disbelieved, or if it killed somebody he knew, that would make sense, but we don't get any backstory for him.  Outside of this, however, he is probably the person we get to know best, and he’s the one who has an arc.  He starts off as the type of villain who thinks he's not being villainous if he has other people do things for him.

Olson does not go out to look for Bigfoot himself – he hires others to do that for him, even as they laugh at him in the belief that they're ripping him off by accepting his money to hunt something that doesn't exist.  Although it seems at first that he plans to shoot Jake and Garrett for following him, he does not have the stomach to commit or order a murder, and has them tied to a tree to freeze to death instead.  The only thing he does himself is spring the trap he's had set for the creature, as his monomania would not allow somebody else to do that.  It must be he, and he alone, who 'captures' it, no matter how much help he had in setting up the trap.

But once he has the creature in a cage, Olson goes, as one of the hunters observes, completely over the edge.  His success seems to have made him feel invincible, and while earlier he was cautious about both the law and the wilderness, he now does things like run Jake down with his car.  He would not murder this man a few hours earlier, but now he no longer cares.  Shortly thereafter he attempts to form  an armed posse to murder Garrett, too, and runs off to do it himself when this plan fails.  Now that he's in this position of power, Olson cannot tolerate anybody who might knock him down from it.

There is one weird scene that doesn't seem to have a place in this arc, when early in the movie Olson literally throws a man who has displeased him out a window.  I think this is supposed to establish him as physically formidable, but considering his age and the shape he's in, it's merely ludicrous.  Besides, what idiot throws a man through a window in the middle of what a radio broadcast claims is one of the coldest winters on record?  I guess the answer is 'a rich idiot', but the whole thing is still really, really dumb.

Also a little odd is Olson's death.  In a movie like this you would probably expect him to be killed by the creature, as nature and legend take revenge on an arrogant human who failed to respect them. Or maybe he'd be arrested and thrown in jail for all the crimes his arrogance led him to commit, both by proxy and, at this point, in person.  Instead, however, Olson accidentally shoots a barrel of gasoline that, as far as I can tell, was only in the room so that this could happen, and dies in the resulting explosion.  This is the sort of thing that makes me think Bill Rebane has no idea how stuff like character arcs work... he just throws together whatever he thinks is cool and films it.

I spent most of my review of Cry Wilderness pondering the mythical versus real status of Bigfoot, and what it was supposed to represent in that movie.  The Capture of Bigfoot does kind of the same thing.  Its Bigfoot is at once a real animal that eats and reproduces, and a spirit being that leads souls to the afterlife.  Daniels, the last of his people, is unable to die until Bigfoot is free to take him away.  The creature must not be captured because that would bring it out of this ambiguous space into the real world, where it does not belong.  I wish the movie had expanded on these ideas a little... what happens, for example, once Daniels is dead?  The mythical aspect of Bigfoot then has no more purpose.  Does the creature, too, simply disappear?  Does it become nothing but an animal?  At the end Bigfoot and its offspring just wander off into the woods and the credits roll.

All things considered, with its stereotyped characters, its dumb plot, and its racism, Capture of Bigfoot is pretty dull.  Most of the movie is just people crunching around in the snow.  There's a ski race that has no bearing on the plot, and a similarly pointless party scene that serves to show us a woman in a skin-baring outfit shakin' her stuff to an appallingly awful disco song called Sensuous Tiger.  Nothing here is half as much fun as the spidermobile or the over-the-top rednecks of The Giant Spider Invasion, and like that movie, Capture of Bigfoot ends pretty much immediately after the threat is defeated.  No denoument, no closure of subplots.

It's cheap.  It sucks.  It'd be good for an MST3K episode, but not for much else.

[serenagaywaterford]

Who's the new commander/wife in s3? And yes, please give me s3 spoilers! Also, do you have any thoughts about mayday? How I wish we got to see more of it

OKAY ERRYBODY IN THE CLUB GET TIPSY. SPOILERS AHEAD.

EDIT: added in the Mayday stuff cos I forgot the first time around.

Like the actors? Christopher Meloni and Elizabeth Reaser, and they’re playing the Winslows who host the Waterfords in DC. (Which I’m not sure if you’ve seen all the hubbub about the DC trip but there are loads of pics of them shooting one of those scenes. You’ve probably seen them. Like with the Handmaids’ mouths stapled shut? Fred looking all Evil Supreme Leader-y with Serena and June alongside him.). Meloni is “powerful and magnetic” and Reaser is supposedly a “friend and inspiration” to Serena. Whatever the fuck all that means. It could be good, it could be bad. (Personally, I can’t stand either of those actors but meh. Maybe they’ll be okay.) And DC, not Boston, is Gilead central… and so Fred’s not really as important as he thinks. 

Off-topic: To be honest, I find this odd. We see frequently that all the dudes responsible for the rise/creation of Gilead are in Boston and it was formed IN Boston (Putnam, Pryce, Waterford, Cushing?, Lawrence, (Nick), etc.) so how there is a ANOTHER HIGHER level group of SOJ in DC is a little stupid, imo. It doesn’t make sense how that core group (the literal architects of the entire system) are off in Boston while the other guys (who we’ve literally never seen nor heard of before, even in flashbacks–bad storytelling, show) are top dogs in DC. Seems like yet another plot contrivance. Now, fair enough, that I think it’s sort of funny that Fred is still in Boston rather than with the big brass in DC cos he THINKS he’s so much smarter/better/etc than all these other guys but the fact he’s not there just shows that as much as he was one of the Gilead OGs, he’s too incompetent to be trusted at the highest level of government. HA HA FRED. Ya moron. I get that there’s never a guarantee that the evil people that come up with a totalitarian society are in charge of said society when it comes to fruition, but it’s a general trend throughout history. The fact all these guys would give up top billing of the SOJ to some punks from DC seems… a bit off. But then, hey, maybe said punks were the other part of the SOJ that Fred was talking about to Serena when he suggested bombing congress.

As for a few more, June flips out at one point, turning on other Handmaids (Brianna is holding her back.) It’s against a Handmaid who is a “true believer” in Gilead. I’m going to take an educated guess (based on where they’re filming) this is the lead up to the mass hanging. I guess I should mention: the Handmaids are gonna have to hang a bunch of people. Like a salvaging, but with hanging instead of stoning or beating.

June gets dressed up like a Martha.

June apparently works with Lawrence. It’s assumed she’ll be his Handmaid although the production, especially the DC scene, seem to imply she’s back with the Waterfords.

Serena’s mother shows up.

Luke & Moira are fighting against Gileadean ideology in Canada. Cos obviously it would come up here too. I always thought it was too happy-happy that Canada wasn’t experiencing ANY fallout from a worldwide birthrate crisis. Like, we may be more liberal than the US, but what happens there, spreads here fairly quickly. Like we have some Trumpian/Tea Party-esque politicians and racist/homophobic/xenophobic/misogynistic activist groups too, with a lot of power. And a lot of ignorant regular people to boot. The fact Canada was portrayed as like this utopia free from Gilead’s evilness just seemed unrealistic to me. While I do believe it would take a bit longer to take root here, the building blocks are already here and ripe for the pickin’. 

(I also have a huge issue with how unrealistically and healthy they portrayed the economy in Canada without their main US trading partner. We’d collapse if the US economy collapsed, at least for a time until we figured a way around it. Oil alone would go crazy. It wouldn’t be all life as normal. What Serena saw in 2x09 was literally what I see everyday here and I find it super hard to swallow that our lives would just go on as if nothing happened if the USA fell into massive civil war and was overthrown by a theocratic “republic”. 

And I also have a HUGE issue with how rosy they portrayed refugee and asylum seeking here. It’s just as bad as elsewhere, with all the same struggles that European countries (for example) are facing right now. Like if Gilead was an actual thing, Canada would be having a fucking mASSIVE humanitarian crisis along the border. We had a taste of it when Trump was elected and loads of people fled across the border. We could barely handle THAT, let alone hundreds of thousands of Americans swarming in to safety.) So, yeah, that’s a really long way of saying THANK FUCK the show is going to start to deal with some of the reality of the situation north of the border. They already showed Mexico breaking down and there’s no reason Canada wouldn’t too if the birthrate crisis is indeed as catastrophic as it’s presented by Serena/Fred/Gilead.

Emily makes it to Canada with Nichole. It’s all happy families. At least from the set photos the whole gang is there: Luke, Moira, Emily, Sylvia, Nichole. Not sure about Oliver or Erin. Now, the photo was likely taken when they weren’t filming which is why they’re all so fucking smiley and happy laughing together. That’s probably just the actors. But it could be shooting. I didn’t actually save the photos and I’m not sure where they are now. I think reddit?

Aunt Lydia is alive and will get some backstory and her character is gonna change. Somehow, somewhat, unclear how much. All cos of what Emily did to her.

Lots of stuff about Nichole, the whole Gilead vs. Canada thing, etc etc. 

____

I totally forgot to add about Mayday!

Personally… and first off: I much prefer the name “Mayday” to that weirdass co-opted “female railroad” or whatever shit they called it in the show when Moira was getting out. That was just in poor taste and completely uncreative. You don’t have to call it a railroad at all, tbh. It could be an extension of Mayday, or it could be called something entirely different. Sometimes the THT writers really drop the ball.

As for Mayday… I am not even convinced it exists as such? When I was reading the book, I liked the theory that Emily was sort of … not crazy, but misinformed or exaggerating. The only we really hear about Mayday in the book is through her and there’s no real evidence it exists as a cohesive organization. 

In the show, it’s like we’ve been fed this Mayday idea… but again, not seen anything particularly solid in terms of evidence it exists as a large organized resistance effort. 

We see Emily talk about it but she never seems to get anything from it and everything she does is through her own agency. Mayday never helps her.

We see June ask Alma about it. But Alma doesn’t really say much.

We see Nick, kind of doing his own thing and organizing shit for June, specifically. (We never see him do anything for any other woman except the one he’s banging. Snerk.) 

We see Lillie somehow get a complex explosive and blow shit up. Obviously that came from somewhere and it’s not the sort of thing a Handmaid can just make herself. There has to be a “terrorist cell” (as Gilead would consider it) within Gilead that siphons off weapons to a small rebel faction and passed it to her.

We know there’s a war still going on because Fred talks about the front so there are obviously large pockets that are actively and violently resisting Gilead within the continental US. IIRC the map they showed, the fighting tends to be along international borders and in the west and Florida? I can’t really remember the map exactly. There’s no real evidence that these people at war are also running an underground resistance network within Gilead strongholds like Boston. But other than sympathetic Guardians, Eyes, Angels, they could be the ones supplying weapons.

We see the butcher hand June the package from Moira. Somehow there is a network that passed this along.

We see the Guardian give June the way out of the hospital to the butcher’s truck. This could be Nick’s doing alone, not a network.

We see the butcher/delivery dude who brings June to the Globe. Again, this could solely be Nick as well, but we don’t know.

We see there’s Omar, who seems more like someone who accidentally fell into it rather than an active participant. We also learn that “Mayday” has supposedly safe houses within Gilead, but we never see them.

We see the pilot who helps people escape to Canada.

We hear of “Rachel” often, especially wrt Jezebels. I don’t think we ever see Rachel however. It could be code, it could be a person, it could be a group of people. Considering the gravity of the name Rachel in Gilead, I would put my money on this being a code name cos the writers don’t just throw little things like that around. Especially since Moira, who lived and worked at Jezebels, claims she doesn’t know a “Rachel”. Sure, she could just be protecting June or she could actually be telling the truth. I find it really interesting that the consulate worker in Toronto is called Rachel as well. While I don’t think the two are connected, I’m just surprised at all the references to Rachels in THT, esp with the story of Rachel & Leah (+ Bilhah, Zilpah, etc.) being such a massive cornerstone to the entire society.

We see the Marthas have a very complex network that is referenced multiple times and is known to Commanders, and they’ve done very little to address it for some reason.

We see Serena get both cigarettes and a pregnancy test, both of which are illegal technically although nobody seems to take issue with Serena’s smoking. I would assume this is unrelated to Mayday and more akin to Jezebels (and its sex trafficking) as the illegal underbelly of Gilead that everyone knows exists and everyone uses but nobody talks about. The black market likely has no connection. But it’s still something that requires a large chain of procurement and distribution, and secret knowledge of how to access it.

I’ve probably missed some other examples…

None of this really speaks to a larger web, imo. I can easily see these as individual cells, sometimes connected, rather than ruled by some grand master command somewhere nonspecific and so far unseen. Resistance usually doesn’t begin with a cohesive structure but small cells that see a need to rebel or at least protect/assist victims. It’s also MUCH safer that way and harder to dismantle the entire thing if cells are independent. (I used to be fascinated with the so-called “eco-terrorist” culture.) 

And I would say Mayday, if it exists, relies on Econopeople, specifically Economen and Guardians who have “normal” jobs and freedom of movement within Gilead. But we’ve been shown SO VERY LITTLE about the lives of Econopeople (the majority). I mean, it makes sense since this is the Handmaid’s Tale, not the Economan’s Tale… still, it’s very abrupt to build a giant resistance network suddenly and not have shown anything of real substance about it in 2 seasons.

Other than Lawrence, there’s no indication that any other Commanders or Wives are involved in any resistance but I think we’re supposed to believe some are. So it’ll be curious what side these new characters fall on, whether Mrs. Winslow is an “inspiration” in terms of resistance or compliance. I think we all assume she’ll be on the side of resistance and inspire Serena to take that path (although I think June and Nichole and her own awful husband should be inspo enough lol). I’m not so sure since this is THT and I am absolutely terrible at predicting anything, lol. I can see THT going the opposite direction just as easily. I hope not, but hey.

I think for simplicity within a TV show, they’ll flatten it to a single resistance organisation. 

Quite frankly, I wish we had already seen more of Mayday, if it exists. I feel a bit annoyed that it’s been 23 episodes and other than a few hints, we’ve never seen a significant exploration of any of it. Like how on earth June is supposed to just be a Martha…? I just… I don’t know. Who knows.

Since we know this season is going to be all about Team Resistance, obviously they’ll go into more detail. I just wish we had seen more ahead of time. Although to be perfectly frank, I also really enjoyed the “Emily is sorta crazy and Mayday doesn’t quite exist” theory too.

[muskyelon]

The Mummy: Was it Worth it? (My Reaction)

I just got back from The Mummy. The first film in Universal Studio's new Dark Universe, where they make new versions of a load of old horror favourites. The Mummy: The 2017 film is a reboot of The Mummy: The 1999 film.

Before I get into any kind of summary of this film I'll just say how I feel about it right now. It's... fine. It's not the worst thing out there. It's not the best thing either. Although, it's not good. It falls down in many places. Tom Cruise spends most of the film walking around confused and occasionally punching things. Annabelle Wallis as Jennifer Halsey is really competent and good at her job. Of course, she does become a damsel in distress but we won't get into that quite yet. Sofia Boutella as Ahmanet (Technically the title character) does her best with frankly, limited material and Russel Crowe (My personal vendetta against the man aside) was fine.

If you don't want true spoilers for The Mummy I'd suggest you stop reading now.

The film begins and Cruise's character Nick is watching a group of Iraqi insurgents from on top of a hill with his good(?) friend Sgt. Vail. We know this will be a great film from the beginning because, our friends from the American military have decided to loot historical artefacts from the Middle East in order to sell the on the black market. But don't worry, Nicolas is only “Liberating” them. This film is not good.

After deciding to go to the men with guns Nickel and Vail get shot at a bunch so they call in an air strike. Because America. This opens a very large tomb in the ground which... Oh, wait actually this film started with a monologue by Russ Crowseph. He just told us about an Egyptian princess (Did they have princesses? Sorry, I'm not great on Ancient Egyptian government) and how she was beautiful but also ruthless! (But mainly beautiful) And how she did a pact with the God of Death, Set. She proceeds to kill her father and newborn brother for power reasons and then tries to stab a guy with a magic dagger for God Pact reasons. She's stopped and mummified alive (Didn't the mummification process involve the removal of vital organs and embalming with preservatives?) and left in a tomb. Which is the tomb that Nick the Wick finds... SPOOOOOOOOKYYY!

Jennifer Halsey, referred to as Jenny for the rest of the film arrives on the scene to call Nick an idiot and climb into the scary hole. Nick, Vail and Jenny enter the hole and find spooky things like, jewels, mummies, cobwebs, and liquid mercury. Nick notices the elaborate rope contraption which keeps something suspended in the air so he decides to shoot the rope. Nicolas isn't very smart. Or competent. Or good at his job. A sarcophagus comes out from a pool of mercury and spiders come out of the walls. One bits Vail but Nick the D*ck tells him they're not poisonous. Nick also has a vision where Ahmanet tells him that he is her Chosen. She says it in Egyptian and there's subtitles. So it's safe to assume Nick can see them too.

After this there's a pretty big hullabaloo. A plane crashes and Tom Cruise dies. Unfortunately Nick revives in the morgue naked. Jenny and two doctors walk in to see the newly alive corpse and promptly decide to!... Let him just walk out to a pub with Jenny? Oh. Oh yeah, for a second I thought anybody in this film apart from Jenny was competent. There's an actual reason she didn't ask any questions.

In the pub Jenny (Who's secretly clued in to what's going on here) asks Nick questions about how he survived. Actually this part makes no sense. None of Jenny's actions here make sense. And I know why.

There's a secret organisation in the Dark Universe that captures and deals with evil monsters. It is run- at least on the ground- by Dr. Henry Jekyll. Jenny is in this organisation and also fairly close to The Jekster. Nick only found the tomb because he stole a letter and map belonging to Jenny after sleeping with her. A map given to her by Henry! Meaning the whole time Jenny knows The Mummy is out there. Knows the story of Ahmanet. And knows it is entirely feasible for Nick to be able to come back to life! But for some reason, she is entirely convinced that Ahmanet isn't real! Refuses to believe that Nick is actually seeing visions of her! And for some reason thinks he escaped a plane crash, with no bloody parachute!

The reason for this is that originally Jennifer Halsey wasn't in the secret organisation whose name I've forgotten but is essentially the SCP foundation. It makes perfect sense. Jenny existed originally to just be the love interest for Nick. But after realising that then there would be literally no reason for Nick and Not-SCP to ever cross paths, they decided to write her in their. Without revising any of the script that took place before it was revealed she was in Not-SCP.

After this Ahmanet comes back to life and sucks the life force out of men by giving them the shift (french kissing). Nick shows up to check out her corpse. He gets captured. Jenny shows up in the middle of that God Pact from earlier. She gets captured. Nick shows us that he was able to easily escape his capture the whole time by beating up some zombies which are held together with bubblegum and paper clips. Ahmanet almost claims her first female victim, but she moved in for the shift too slow in an attempt to have all the menfolk pop a boner due to the HLA (Hot Lesbian Action) and Frank (I think that's his name?) stops her. (In fact they liked this scene so much that it gets repeated. Exactly the same. Ten minutes later.)

Jenny and Nick run away and it turns out there's a second maguffin required for the God Pact that had been stolen by the English during the Second Crusade. Also Ahmanet is naked. For the entire film. Except her nipples and vagina are covered by some exceptionally sticky bandaging, because the rest fell off.

Jenny and Nick end up in the SCP and Ahmanet was captured. They flute about for a while and eventually Jekyll turns to Hyde and beats up Nick a bit and Ahmanet escapes with the ole spider in the brain routine. Jenny and Nick get chased by a giant sandstorm because Ahmanet has the power to turn glass back to sand with her magic.

Oh! Also, Rusty Crowbar's monologue from earlier was from the newly discovered tomb of some Crusader knights. Turns out they had the Maguffin. So Ahmanet, who can actually turn anybody into zombie slaves regardless of how long they've been dead or whether or not she killed them, turns all the dead crusaders into zombles and gets them to kill the archaeologists that found the maguffin. It's a ruby. The other is a big knife.

Meanwhile Nick and Jenny get chased throught the London Tubeline by zombies. Then they get pushed through a door by a zombie into a strangely placed body of water. Like, they got shoved through a closed doorway. An obvious door. Remember that because it'll be bad writing in about thirty seconds. So the zombie goes in the water with them which turns out to be about twenty five feet deep and once it loses its grip, it falls harmlessly to the bottom.

Up until this point Jenny has been useless in every action scene and has been saved by Nick every time. Ahmanet shows up and drags Jenny underwater. Nick goes to save her. When he gets to the bottom the zombie from before is gone. Now, this is a minor annoyance because they've been shown to  turn to dust once they “die” but... what killed. It couldn't have been drowning because.

Bad Writing Alert!

The place the Jenny had been dragged through was actually the rest of the Crusader tomb. Which had been discovered maybe three days prior to this? Meaning that The Tube had been built. A doorway opened up. A door installed there. But nobody had ever actually gone into the water? Why was the door even built? Who makes a doorway to nothing? Whoever made that doorway should be sacked. Not only this but the dead knights came alive as zombies. Swimming ones. So... can they swim because they were underwater for so long? They can survive underwater indefinitely so what killed that one from before? Was he just so embarrassed at screwing up that he made himself disintegrate? Or maybe it's the option C. The writers weren't arsed having it make sense.

Nick gets dragged to the main tomb which was connected to Waterworld (Not associated with Kevin Costner) and discovers that his damsel can no longer be in distress because she's dead. Wait, what? She's dead? No. Yeah. Definitely dead. Well, it's okay because one brief beating and a broken leg later, Nick has stolen the now combined maguffins together. Ahmanet tries to convince him to go through with the ceremony which would have Set enter his body and actually it makes perfect sense. There isn't anything binding the two, it's just belived by Ahmanet that once Nick becomes Nick Ultra he'll marry her or whatever. Completely ignoring the fact that Set could take complete control and just go on a bit of a rampage.

Nick decides to stab himself with the dagger with no clue of whether or not the pact works if he does it to himself because he's real clever. He gets the god powers and gives Ahmanet the kill shift. Then he bring Jenny back to life somehow. He just says sorry a bunch and shouts at her corpse. That works I guess, after Jenny comes back to life he tells her he has to go and whatnot before disappearing.

To end the film Nick Ultra and the newly revived Vail (Whose corpse was missing, he was a ghost for he afterlife) ride through the desert on horses while Russel gives a monologue about the battle between good and evil.

This film wasn't good. The writing wasn't good, the characters were as cookie cutter as they come and The Mummy wasn't even the bad guy.

Ahmanet as I stated before spent basically all of her screen time naked and Jenny Halsey, who was actually fairly cool to begin with, literally died for the sake of giving Tom Cruise a reason to come back for a sequel. She was a damsel in distress who spent the film falling in love with a guy who had spent all of their first encounters either screwing her or screwing her over.

Nick doesn't develop as a character. He just ends up wanting to have sex with Jennifer but it's noble at the end I guess because he loves her now? Yeah, instead of character development he got literal god powers and a damsel.

Ahmanet is actually fairly sympathetic. Coming from a society  in which all of the cards were stacked against her it makes sense she'd get desperate to hold on to the power that she had earned. Through years of y'know, working for it.

Jekyll is just there to show off the fact that it's a shared universe now.

Vail, well he's just around.

The film uses pretty basic shots and sound design. Spooky music happens when a scary is coming up and we get lots of still cam shots when anything is happening. Like, literally anything. There's awkward cuts sometimes and it can be a bit jarring when the camera gets all shaky because “an action sequence” happens. But that's really it. They were too busy trying to fit Not-SCP into the script to worry about things like cinematography and sound design.

The film tried its best to make the viewer thoroughly engrossed in the universe and even went so far as to give us some really high stakes but that alone wasn't enough to make up for the fact that this film was mediocre on all counts AND treated women pretty damn crappy. And also Russel Crowe is a shitebag.

Final Score: 3/10

[percontaion-points]

American Demon chapters 33-35

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions.

Chapter 33

would have given you the baku for the same, I thought back.

And then we were there, safe in my church.

Chapter 33 summary: Rachel and Trent knock out Benny for wanting to literally kill the soul of a baby. Just then, the guard opens the door, but he's cool. Zach is there as well. They run around for a long time, trying to figure out where to go.

After the usual amount of padding, they come across Landon and some guards in a basement area with only one way out. Since the elf magic still isn't working unless you do something for the demons, they all have guns. After a brief shoot-out, the spirit that's inside of Zach takes over and turns him from Zach-with-an-H to Zack-with-a-K who is the spirit of the previous dewar leader. This... goes fucking nowhere, and it's pointless.

The elves gloat about having trapped them in there, and there's no way for them to get out. But they forgot one thing: Rachel can travel via the lines, and she has friends who can do so as well. She calls Bis, who shows up with Hodin. And Hodin is angry because the elves had imprisoned him for so long before the order did. And when the elves had him, they'd experimented on him while they were creating the baku. And he wants the stupid thing.

Chapter 34

Though he still breathed, Bis was dead. He had done it to save me. I couldn’t live with that.

But I had to.

Chapter 34 summary: Trent, Rachel, Jenks, Hodin, Zach/k, and Landon are at the church. They tell Landon that he's all out of time and options, and now the only thing left to do is to extract his soul so that the baku comes out. He argues a lot, but they ignore him. If he'd listened to reason before now, he wouldn't risk his life over this stupid thing.

So they extract it, and just when they have it, the order shows up. The magic is cut off thanks to the antimagic amulet Weast wears, so Rachel decides to call upon the goddess for help. Despite everything Rachel had tried to do in order to stop the mystics from finding her failing... they don't recognize her right now. I am all out of fucks to give about this.

Rachel tries to bottle the baku, but the order laughs and says that it doesn't fucking work like that. Bis decides to sacrifice himself in order to save everybody else from getting turned into a zombie just to hold the stupid thing. Rachel tells the order that since they're so desperate for a war, they've now got one. She runs from the church in tears over Bis's sacrifice.

Chapter 35

That big something wonderful that I thought the church held . . . was right here at this table.

Chapter 35 summary: Rachel goes to Junior's Coffee Shop aka the only coffee shop in Cincinnati apparently, to cry over Bis. Trent says that Bis is technically still alive, and they'll figure out how to fix this.

Ivy shows up. She'd been with the vamps when the news broke about Landon. And although Landon is claiming no knowledge of anything that happened, nobody believes him, so he's looking at serious jail time.

Zach/k shows up. So does Al after a while. He says that they're going to fix Bis. Hodin shows up, and talks about a previous deal he'd made with Rachel, about how she'd speak up for him against the collective. However, Rachel reminds Hodin of a deal they'd made just before she went to pull Landon's soul out to remove the baku: that he was going to teach Rachel how to fly so that she could fly with Bis. And how can she do that if Bis is in this weird coma? Hodin leaves, and everybody else starts to trickle out after that.

And what can I say? This is the end of the series for now. I will not be reading any more of The Hollows books after this. For me, this series does not exist. Goodbye forever.

That big something wonderful that I thought the church held . . . was right here at this table.

[image description: Elijah Wood as Frodo Bagins looking sweaty, dirty, and worn-out in front of a background of lave. It is captioned with: It's over. It's finally over.]