#byrne comes to the rescue

[alfredo-zauce]

I love you Ballad of the Goddess I love you Demon Dragon I love you Rauru and Sonia's Goodbye I love you Last Catch I love you Byrne Comes to the Rescue I love you Princess Zelda

[padfootagain]

Love in Verses (XXI)

Chapter 21: ‘I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you directly without problems or pride: I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love’

Hi! Here is a new chapter! An interesting chapter… let me tell you ;)

I hope you like this chapter! Tell me what you think!

****

Pairing: Hozier x fem!reader (professor!AU)

Warnings: slow burn, angst, hurt, hurt/comfort, tooth-rotting fluff in later chapters, some scenes in later chapters will have heavy sexual themes even if it’s not explicit nsfw description, so minors here

Summary: Your life seems perfect. You're engaged, your career is thriving as you become an assistant professor at Trinity College, and this Andrew Hozier-Byrne you're sharing an office with seems to be a nice guy you hope to call a friend soon. Life seems to be smiling at you... until everything goes sour. When your fiancé breaks up with you, your perfect world shatters. And when your colleague also gets his heart broken soon after, your shared office seems to be a curse rather than a blessing. But Andrew seems determined to mend your broken hearts... Will things finally go according to plan?

Word Count: 3273

Masterlist for the series – Hozier’s masterlist – Main masterlist

XVII

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,    or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:    I love you as one loves certain obscure things,    secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries    the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,    and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose    from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,    I love you directly without problems or pride: I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,

except in this form in which I am not nor are you,    so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,    so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

Pablo Neruda, One Hundred Love Sonnets, translated by Mark Eisner

Talking with Frank like this felt kind of strange.

You weren’t used to this kind of conversation anymore. The ones where you listened to him babble away, but chose your topics carefully to talk about your own life, knowing he would quickly get bored if you spoke too much of work and literature and art. You weren’t used to this, it felt kind of… wrong. Which was strange because your heart still skipped a beat when you saw him, when he pulled a chair for you, when he gave you that charming smile of his. And yet you found the conversation in itself… unfulfilling. You were kind of bored, as a matter of fact. But it had always been this way, this was not a new dynamic, so what could have changed now?

You pushed the thought away, focused on his voice again as you added a bit of sugar to your coffee. The coffeeshop was busy with life and chatter, you didn’t really like their pastry, but Frank did, so you accepted when he offered to meet you there. It had been two weeks since The Fight, and he wanted to talk about it with you properly. He was buying you coffee and a pastry to thank you, once more, for coming to the rescue and let him sleep on your couch.

What a strange evening this had been. A great opportunity for you to make a point, to show him that Sam wasn’t right for him, and yet… and yet when the time came, you didn’t say much. You let him sleep on the sofa. You remembered a time when you would have spent hours looking at him while he slept, but that night the sight wasn’t as magical as you remembered. You quickly made your way to your own bed, closed the door behind you, and went to sleep without any desire to be near him. What was wrong with you? You were still in love with him… right?

You blinked, realising that your mind had wandered again, focusing on the conversation.

“Anyway, Sam and I talked it through the next morning. It took some flowers and a fair share of apologising, which was normal, it was my fault… but yeah, we talked about it. And we agreed on a solution, and everything is back to normal. I was so dramatic that night, doubting everything… every couple fights.”

You nodded, feeling your heart getting heavier. That fight didn’t bring you any closer to getting him back, after all…

“But enough about me! What about you? Exams season, right? You must be busy?”

You nodded, gathering your thoughts. You had to sum up things, be quick about it, be concise…

“Yeah, it’s really busy… I’m gonna enter the hellscape that grading is. It’ll put me through a few sleepless nights. But I’m excited for the next set of classes in this new semester! I’ve prepared a lot for it, I think I’m ready. Besides, Andy has been helping me a lot. So… I’ll be okay.”

You saw how Frank’s face fell as you mentioned Andrew, you saw how he clenched his jaw, and you wondered why he was reacting like that. Andrew was an absolute sweetheart, if a little shy…

“Andy, huh?”

You frowned at the coldness of his tone, while Frank busied himself with stirring his tea.

“I… You know, I’ve thought for a long time that he still had feelings for Sam,” he confessed, and you tried to hide your reaction.

“I don’t know about that,” you answered, carefully choosing your words. “I mean… the break-up was rough, because it was very sudden for him as well. But he doesn’t tell me about such things.”

Slowly, Frank nodded.

“I wasn’t saying that thinking you might know something, don’t worry. That’s not what I meant. I just… I’m just pointing that out. I can’t talk about this with Sam, she’s very attached to him. He’s important to her. Just like you’re important to me. Still, I… I don’t like having him around sometimes. Although, things have shifted a lot lately.”

“Really?”

He looked up at you again, nodded as he took a sip of his warm beverage.

“Yeah! It was particularly visible at the party, on New Year’s Eve. I don’t know he… he was talking with Sam, but he wasn’t, like… leaning towards her. Like… I don’t know, he wasn’t seeking her attention that much, wasn’t… I don’t know. It didn’t feel like he wanted her. It felt friendly, this time, truly. Maybe he has his eyes on someone else. Maybe he’s finally moving on. Which is good, for him and for us. It’s unhealthy to hang on like that, holding onto a false hope.”

He heaved a sigh, didn’t notice how his words affected you at all. How they puzzled you at first, how they hurt you later on.

Was Andrew truly moving on? Did he like someone else? Was Frank right or merely misreading your friend’s behaviour?

And what about you? Were you the idiot hanging on a false hope?

“Oh, I wanted to ask for a favour!” Frank blurted out, snapping his fingers as the thought came back to his mind. “We have the dates for the tailor! I’m booked in the morning, Sam is booked later on that day… Could I ask you to come help me choose my suit? I’m so worried about it… I need to look good, obviously. I trust you to give me an honest opinion. Could you come with me?”

You gave him a smile, nodded. You could ruin that. You could make him choose something terrible for the wedding…

“Of course! I’ll come! Send me the details, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks! You’re the best. What would I do without you?”

You hated yourself for wondering the same thing as you looked at him.

Andrew’s vision was starting to get blurry, he took off his glasses for a minute and rubbed at his tired eyes. There was no chance that he was finishing grading these essays tonight, he wasn’t sure why he was still here anyway. He checked the time on his computer screen. It was almost 9pm. An ungodly hour to be stuck here in his office. He should have been home, eating some pizza and drinking a beer while watching some stupid tv show or something of the kind. Something that wasn’t requiring as many braincells as this task was, clearly.

But then, he looked up, beyond his computer screen, to see you bent over your stack of essays. You couldn’t help it as you yawned again, covering your mouth in a hurry. It was late, way too late to still be working, but you didn’t have a choice. These essays were not going to grade themselves.

And Andrew could have gone home, but then again, he could also stay a little longer and watch the way a rebellious strand of your hair fell before your face, study the way you blinked to stay awake, how you bit your lower lip as you focused on the words written on the pages before you…

Which was highly irrelevant, as Andrew did not like you this way. Not at all. Nothing. You were still in love with Frank, that was the reason why the two of you were spending so much time together and getting so close… If he was getting over Samantha, he was not ready to sign up for some one-sided crush on his coworker. No, thank you. His life was complicated enough as it was, he didn’t need to get his heart broken again.

Andrew did not like you. Or well, he did like you, as a colleague. As an ally in a crazy scheme. As a friend, even. Yes, a friend. A friend…

You looked up at him, and he blinked as he stared into the colours of your eyes, feeling butterflies erupt in his stomach and his heart jump a few beats.

“Andy… can you help me with something?”

“Hmm? Of course. What is it?”

“Can you help me enter the grades in the software? I can’t make it work… I’m already halfway through the essays I’m grading, I should start entering the grades now into the system.”

“Sure, hang on.”

Andrew put on his glasses again, and he wondered why you were staring as he did so, but he guessed that you were simply tired and longing for help. He stood up to join you, bending his head as he walked under the large lamp hanging from the ceiling.

“This is really a pain, don’t worry… I still struggle with that thing and it’s my second year,” Andrew told you, trying to reassure you.

You had dark circles under your eyes, you seemed exhausted. He wished he could have lifted all your worries from your shoulders, tucked you in to sleep, watched over your night to make sure your rest was undisturbed…

He shook himself, catching himself with these thoughts and pushing them away. Another voice came in, one that he struggled with all the time.

She would reject you, anyway…

“I’m on the right page, I have the name of the students… but then it’s just a whole mess!” you explained, pointing at your computer screen. “I can’t modify the file to implement the grades. I can only see the names of the students. See?”

Andrew bent over, narrowing his eyes.

“Can I?” he asked, pointing at the mouse and you merely nodded, letting him try to fix your file.

He leant closer again, reaching for the mouse and clicking on the document. He blinked a few times while his lungs were being filled with your perfume, and he tried to ignore how close to you he was like this, bent over your shoulder. You moved, and your shoulder touched his chest, making his heart skip a beat.

You were still in love with Frank. You were still in love with Frank. You were still in love with Frank. You were still in love…

“Goddamn it,” he cursed softly under his breath, not managing to modify the document either. “There must be something to unlock the file, but I can’t remember where the bloody thing is…”

“I’ll ask Ronan tomorrow if you want, that’s okay. Thanks for taking a look.”

“No, no, no… wait, I just… I just need to remember it.”

He let out a long exhale through his nose, a sign of annoyance, but he was surprised to find you smiling as he did. You were looking up at him instead of busying yourself with the task at hand, instead of watching the screen too. He wasn’t sure why you were doing such a thing, something as silly as looking at him while he was annoyed at himself. And then, you were even smiling, soft and tender with fondness tugging at the corners of your mouth. What had he done to summon such a reaction?

He didn’t know, he wasn’t even certain that he was the cause for such a dreamy sight. Still, when he looked at you again, he was thankful for your expression, for how beautiful you looked on this tiring night, bathed in the white neon light and the pixels of your computer screen.

“Thank you, Andy,” you whispered, voice fragile, and he knew that you weren’t merely talking about the grades and the computer.

“For what?”

“I don’t know… I just… thank you.”

He tried not to remember how you tasted that night, of whiskey and apples. He tried not to recall how your lips felt against his, or how soft your skin was under his hands… because now, as you turned fully to him, he could feel your breath on his chin, and it would have been so easy… unbearably easy… to simply lean down and kiss you…

He cleared his throat, tried to look away but failed.

“Right… there’s nothing to thank me for, really.”

You reached up to scratch your cheek, chuckling at his answer.

“What are you doing here at this ungodly hour anyway, huh?”

“I’m a night owl,” Andrew answered honestly, even though he was lying.

“Are you grading essays too?”

“Yeah… not getting much done, to be fair.”

“You look tired, you should go home.”

“You should too.”

“I need to grade these.”

“It can wait till tomorrow morning.”

He finally noticed the trace of red ink on your cheek, the one left by your finger a moment ago. A fond smile tugged at his lips.

“You’ve got some red ink on your cheek,” he said plainly, but there was something tender still to his tone.

He pointed at your red cheek, and you rubbed the skin a little too hard, but missed the spot. He chuckled fondly at you.

“Literally rubbed all over your cheek… except where the stain is.”

You rolled your eyes at him.

“Never mind, I’m okay with being ridiculous. I always am.”

“Such a liar, you are. Can I help?”

He gave the smallest nod towards your cheek, to make sure you knew what he meant. You nodded, and he didn’t notice the way your breathing caught in your throat as he lifted his hand to your face.

It was an easy fix, that tiny stain across your skin. It was gone after just a few careful rubs. And yet, even after the ink was gone, his thumb didn’t leave your cheek. Instead, he unfolded the rest of his hand, long fingers coming to rest on the side of your face and getting lost in your hair. And then his thumb was grazing your cheekbone, and Andrew shivered at the sensation of your soft skin against his calloused one. As soft as he remembered…

He blinked a couple of times, but instead of looking away, his gaze merely moved from your cheek to your eyes, and he remained trapped there, staring at the colours of your irises and deciding they would become his favourite hues from now on.

The next time he blinked, it was to let his eyes fall to your lips.

And he knew how soft they were, how you tasted like whiskey and apples that night, how good it felt to kiss you, like he was a proper human being all over again instead of the empty shell he had become after Samantha. How it felt like being able to breathe again, how he felt like him after that, how he had written again that night, after months trapped in silence. How he had written about you…

Christ… he would have done anything to feel that way again…

Perhaps that was why he leaned closer, forgot that he was in your shared office, forgot about Samantha and Frank, forgot that there was a world beyond your lips. Just so he could feel alive for a moment.

And perhaps he just didn’t think at all. And perhaps he just wanted to kiss you so badly he couldn’t think about all the reasons that should have held him back and stopped him from leaning closer now.

You didn’t push him away though. His hold on your face was gentle, barely a caress, nothing that would have prevented you from breaking free. And he was moving slowly, a fall in slow-motion towards something as dreadful as doom and as sweet as love. You had plenty of time to stop him. You didn’t. Instead, when his nose brushed against yours as he tilted his head slightly, you merely closed your eyes; your two breaths mingling in the few inches that separated your two mouths.

He let his eyes close as well, let himself live in the feeling of your breath fanning across his lips, of your hair and skin under his fingers. He felt your hand come to rest on his grey waistcoat, your palm on his breast, right over his heart, and he wondered if you could feel how fast the organ was beating, how he couldn’t, for the life of him, slow it down and control it.

And then he was kissing you, lips brushing together at first, but he quickly pressed his mouth to yours. His other hand came to cradle your face too, his hold tightening to become firm but no less tender, as he let himself get lost in you. You tasted of coffee this time, your lips still as soft, and this sensation that was unbelievably you that made his heart do happy jumps against his ribs, and…

… and too soon you were pulling away, out of breath, your hair a little dishevelled by his fingers.

When he opened his eyes, you were looking at him with an unreadable mixture of puzzlement and want, and he didn’t know what to make of it, wasn’t certain whether you wanted him to kiss you again or to disappear from your life forever.

And that’s when the logical part of his brain kicked in again, the self-sabotaging part as well, and he stood in a jolt, took a few steps back as if he were startled by his own behaviour, and in a way he was. He wasn’t supposed to like you, he was supposed to still be sporting a crush on his ex, he wasn’t supposed to fall in love with someone else…

In love?!

A sharp pain crossed his skull all of a sudden while he was still backing away; from the back of his head it rang through his entire skull so vividly that he almost lost his balance and was dizzy for a moment.

“Andy!”

You were on your feet now while he rubbed at his head. He turned to see what he had collided into…

… of course, that bloody lamp hanging from the ceiling…

“You’re okay? God, that must have hurt!”

“Yeah… it’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? You’re not bleeding are you?”

“No, no… thick skull anyway,” he joked. “I’m used to it.”

“Right…”

At least, it knocked some sense into him, because Andrew was now blushing, uncomfortable, and avoiding to look at you like his life depended on it.

What the fuck did he do now?

“I… I’m sorry… for kissing you, you… you clearly didn’t want me to do that, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“It’s not alright! We’re colleagues, we’re in our office, this is so fucking inappropriate, and I’m sorry.”

“Andy…”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. It… it was nice.”

He looked at you then, an eyebrow raised in surprise. You were smiling up at him, although the gesture was still shy.

“It’s just… I… I get it, that our feelings are a little all over the place these days,” you went on. “With the wedding and the stress of our jobs, and just… I get it. It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”

Slowly, he nodded, but let you speak again.

“We can… we can just forget that this happened. It’s alright.”

Your words tore his heart apart, he refused to acknowledge why.

“Right. Right, yeah… Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I… I’m so fucking tired, I think I’m gonna go home,” Andrew’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and he was avoiding your gaze again.

“Sure. Have a nice evening! Or… night rather, given the time…”

“Yeah… yeah, you too.”

Andrew was clumsy as he grabbed his coat and bag, not bothering to turn off his computer, he didn’t have time for that. He was too much in a hurry to flee the scene…

He closed the door of your office behind him, rested his back against it, let out a long exhale.

What the fuck was he doing?

[thestarlightforge]

Why “I’m Billy Maximoff” Mattered to Me — A Queer Disabled Person’s Journal

10/17/24

***

Call it silly if you like. But I feel actually healed. Because these stories, they’re not just “superheroes”—they’re modern mythology. They’re how we teach each other and our children who deserves a place in the world.

When I watched WandaVision, like a lot of people, I identified with Wanda’s grief/depression/trauma journeys. And of course saw myself in the queer kids she gave a loving home, more so the more Young Avengers books I read. But with the WandaVision versions of Billy and Tommy in particular—more so even than the comic books—I also read into it the disability/childhood terminal illness allegory. It’s something on Schaeffer’s mind while writing them—leaked audition tapes from actors not cast as the boys revealed as much—even if it didn’t occur to all the viewers.

But I wasn’t supposed to live, either. Wasn’t even supposed to be born.

I don’t talk about it a lot because it’s hard to talk about. But when my mom was pregnant with me, doctors in Tennessee (pro-life peons they claim to be; it’s all an act) tried to get my parents to late term abort me, all because of a genetic condition they suspected I had—which I don’t even have lol, turns out I had a different handful of impairments, but anyways. A lot of people with the genetic conditions I DO have die within two hours of being born. My whole childhood was spent ducking in and out of hospitals, I had eleven major surgeries and almost died a dozen or so times before I turned twenty… I am so pro-choice it’s insane, but I was one of the “inspiration porn” kids that white, southern Republicans used in their crusades, screaming their “pro-life” BS at the Democrats who gave MY mom the right to choose my life.

I know. It’s WILD.

All that to say, though: It hit me in a particular place when Wanda married her trans husband, had queer kids who the entire world screamed at her (either weren’t real or) shouldn’t have been allowed to live, and then believed in them and loved them. With her everything. Thanked her queer, disabled kids for the honor, for choosing her to be their mom. (And Multiverse of Madness asked us to hate her. It baffles me to this day.) She didn't give up on them, did everything in her power to rescue them on the faintest hope they had survived (calling out for help in the Darkhold), even as some of the most powerful mages on SEVERAL worlds gaslit her for years... And when the gaslighters finally convinced her they were right, she destroyed the artifact that could be used to hurt anyone like her boys ever again.

For years, since Schaeffer had to relinquish creative control to the Multiverse of Madness team, I have felt that “the only creator amongst my favorite stories who feels like I belong has had to let us go, and the people who follow her don’t even believe we deserve a chance… we’re crazy, imaginary, and the world is better off without us.”

A slam-the-door narrative, Doctor Pandemonium & Avengers: Disassembled come again, the likes of which Byrne & Bendis would be proud.

But Agatha is an anti-hero/anti-villain story about ALL misunderstood, outcast people who deserve a second chance, no matter what the world may think.

The fact that Billy’s story in the MCU is now a meta-commentary on that publication history narrative… That Schaeffer took the episode to say, “I don’t know how many times or in how many different ways I’m gonna have to spell this out for y’all, but Wanda’s kids are HERS. They are and were REAL. They have their OWN SOULS and they BOTH DESERVE to FIND THEMSELVES and FIND LOVE and LIVE.”

I can’t think of a better way to have honored us. 💙

“It’s nice to see you again, Billy” 😭

(for the record, Agatha saying this totally genuine and with tears in her eyes—she will never be a villain to me, not ever again 💜🖤)

Thank y’all for listening. ❤️

This one’s for Tommy 🥹💚

[fancyfade]

Fully Atlantean Aquaman: Pre COIE, Aquaman is as you probably know him from the movies: Born of Atlanna and lighthouse keeper Tom Curry. Post COIE, they introduce Aquaman as a character who was abandoned at birth for being blond. He was raised by dolphins before meeting Arthur Curry who taught him how to speak and do human stuff. Since new 52, this has been de-canonized and he is now movie-origin-aquaman again.

Titanseed Donna Troy: pre COIE, Wonder Girl was initially flashback Wonder Woman, then became a new character when the writer of the first Teen Titans comic didn't read Wonder Woman comics (and it showed). Eventually she was a girl Wonder Woman rescued from a fire who got powers from the other Amazons. Post COIE, Donna Troy has amnesia and does not know where she is from but it is revealed she is one of twelve children who were rescued by Titans of Myth, who gave them part of their powers and raised them on New Cronos in space, then took their memories away and jettisoned them to their original planets.

Fel Andar Hawkman: Pre COIE, silver age hawkman (the thanagarian) was a space cop from Thanagar coming to earth to capture Byth and also learn about police techniques. post COIE, katar was doing something else so he could not have taken place in silver age justice league adventures, so this was retconned to be Fel Andar, a thanagarian double agent who came to earth claiming he was Carter Hall (golden age hawkman)'s son. He betrays the JL during Invasion and also I think brainwashed his hawkgirl?

Literal-Fury powered Lyta Trevor and Helena Kosmatos: Pre COIE, Lyta was the daughter of Earth 2 Wonder woman and Steve Trevor (and helena did not exist). She had Amazon powers. Post COIE, Lyta gets her powers from the greek Furies, though she does not know that at first. They reveal that her biological mother (Helena Kosmatos) vowed revenge after she believed her nazi collaborator brother caused her mother's death, and she channeled Tisiphone. Helena at least can be fully taken over by Tisiphone, during which she is much more powerful, and also angry and murderous.

Byrne's Krypton: I was going to just say "Superman being literally the last son of Krypton" (no surviving Kryptonians besides him) but realized Byrne put in sooooooo many retcons. Anyway, he decided krypton was a very emotionless place and they didn't fuck, and superman was grown in a gestation chamber that literally birthed him on earth.

Atlantean Powergirl: In Earth 2, Kara (powergirl) is probably as you know her, she's from krypton but got to earth later. IIRC she was raised by Robots on a space ship but it's been a while since I read Infinity Inc. Post COIE, they have her be Arion's (a powerful mage from Atlantis in the past)... daughter? Grand daughter? Sadly I haven't read the comics that explained her origin.

Newbie Wonder Woman/George Perez's Wonder Woman and Themyscira: The main reason Donna's origin had to be changed was because Wonder Woman was completely relaunched - she was no longer around since Batman and Superman were, but came onto the scene as a superhero after Donna Troy as Wonder Girl was on Teen Titans. Perez also re-introduces Amazon lore, including the name Themyscira for paradise island.

[fox-buried-in-maple-leaves]

Detainee

With all these truths in the light, it's up to somebody unexpected to come to the rescue.

taglist: @cerasus--flores, @hamausagi

“Amir? What do you mean my brother has been detained? For how long?!” 

Mismatched eyes widened but not of surprise, rather, anger. 

“Three months?!” 

She got off the bed, holding her phone against her ear with her cheek and her shoulder as she threw open her closet to grab her suitcase. “Get me where he’s being held.” She paused. “I don’t care if it's top secret!” Hemera hissed into the phone, she dropped her suitcase on the floor, now opened. 

“Mount Sinai roof? An hour? I’ll be there. Bring me the file.” … “I don’t care if you have to crack it, get me that damn file.” She hung up her phone, tossing it behind her on the bed as she threw random clothing into her bag. She bent down, moving to close the bag, but she paused. She’d need identification.

Passport, social security, her entire wallet, and her law degree, framed from her living room wall. Good enough.

But it wasn’t just that. Hemera bent down, tucking her hair behind her ears as she pulled open a floorboard in her closet. She quickly punched in the numbers into the safe she had hidden, waiting for the beep before she pulled it open. 

Expecting it would be a lie. But being ready for anything? Hemera was always ready. She pulled out several files stamped by various organizations. Two of which showed the stamp of her own law firm. She packed those too.

And then she was gone, leaving her cushy Toronto apartment locked and secured as she headed for the hospital.

“This is Poeiva.”

“And we can trust them?”

Cypher nodded at her as she sat down beside them in the jet he’d borrowed from the Protocol. 

“What’s happened with Gri- Achlys, isn’t right.” Monarch shook her head, arms crossed over her chest as they leaned back in the seat. Cypher left the two alone, heading to the cockpit to get them in the air before he could engage the autopilot.

Hemera took a notebook out of the front of her bag, clicking her pen. 

“Tell me everything you know.”

-

Hemera buttoned up her blouse, tying her tie carefully as Cypher maneuvered the jet on the landing pad. “They’ll try to get rid of you.” Monarch warned, watching the lawyer tie up her dark brown hair with a plum coloured elastic. Hemera nodded, braiding and tucking the blue strands of her hair into her ponytail.

“I’m used to that.” 

“But there are no governments who can help you if anything goes bad.”

The woman scoffed slightly as she pulled the thin black belt through the loops of her skirt. “I’ve been threatened by my own government. Nothing scares me.” She pulled the belt through the golden buckle. 

Monarch hid their smile, looking towards the cockpit as Cypher landed the jet. It soon slid open, revealing the man in question. “Are you ready, barrister?” He questioned and she unbuckled herself, standing up, suitcase handle in hand.

“Ready, Amir.”

He hit the button beside the door, allowing for it to open. “We’ll show you where to go, but we have to keep ourselves out of the line of fire.” He advised, rather, warned as Monarch also stood up. Hemera nodded, she understood perfectly the situation she was in. 

It didn’t take long before a man found her near the entrance of the base, judging from the briefing Monarch had given her, this had to be their leader, Brimstone.

“How did you get here?”

“Commander Byrne, a pleasure. I’m Barrister Hemera Hajime.”

The man stopped cold in his tracks, steely eyes widening momentarily before they narrowed at the woman standing in front of him. 

“Any relation to Doctor Achlys Hajime?”

“I’m his sister. And he’s my client. Bring me to him immediately.”

“I don’t know how you got here, but you have no jurisdiction. You need to return to Canada immediately.”

Hemera shook her head, standing tall despite the attempts of intimidation. “Canada may have no jurisdiction over this little island of yours you’ve found in international waters. But my degree is still very much recognised in all nations of the world, including where we currently are.”

“As such, my client has a right to his lawyer.”

“He’s a prisoner of war, he has no rights.”

The woman scoffed, she let her suitcase fall to the ground and then bent down, unzipping it to pull out several folders. “According to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, that would be the third convention.” She stood up, thumbing through some papers. “Article 77 states that all POWs maintain their full civil capacity, as such they maintain a right to counsel.”

Brimstone stammered, surprised by her preparedness. But how did she get so prepared?

“Do not fuck with me, Commander. I am not in the mood, my hair cannot take this humidity, and I’ve been awake for sixteen hours. Show me to my brother’s cell immediately.”

“Who revealed the location of our base to you?”

Hemera waved her hand. 

“Irrelevant.”

Brimstone pinched the bridge of his nose. This was a big security risk, but on the other hand, if Hemera could prove Grimshaw’s innocence, he’d be in a much better position. He lowered his hand, looking her up and down as she once more zipped up her suitcase.

“Come with me.”

“Happily.”

He brought her to the room they originally had Grimshaw detained in, a simple interrogation room. “I’ll go get him, stay here.” He instructed and she sat down, sorting her files while he went to fetch Viper and Sage before he could bring her to Grimshaw.

Hemera waited patiently, flipping through the information she had on her, alongside the notes she’d gathered from Monarch. It was pretty damning, she knew that. But she also knew Achlys, and she knew he would never put others in harm’s way this way.

The door opened and Hemera barely had time to react before a woman slammed her hand on the table, green eyes narrowed. “How did you get here?” She demanded to know but Hemera sat back in the chair, a small smile on her face.

“Hello, Doctor Callas.” She looked beyond the angry chemist. “Wei Ling Ying.” She greeted as Sage also entered the room alongside Brimstone. “I assume Brimstone has caught you both up to speed?” 

“Answer my question.” 

Hemera sighed and stood, so she was eye to eye with Viper. “I won’t be. Attorney-Client privilege. I was hired to represent Doctor Hajime, and I will not be revealing any further information. Especially not to..” She looked the woman up and down. “You.”

“What she says is confirmed by the family personnel files we have, Viper. We cannot force her to tell us anything.”

Viper growled and stood straight, arms crossing over her chest as she stepped away. “So we just give her access to him? What if she helps him escape?”

“I’m a lawyer, Doctor Sabine, I will be doing my due diligence, as I see you haven’t. Given he hasn’t been offered counsel for..” She looked at her folder. “Three months, six days, and eleven hours.” 

Sage stepped forward, hands clasped in front of her. “Barrister, may I ask how much you know?”

Hemera turned and partially sat mostly leaned against the edge of the metal table. “I’m a lawyer for Radiants specifically. I’ve heard rumours. Mentions of lookalikes, confusion on similarities. I long ago made the assumption that multiple universes may be possible.”

“And with the possibility of multiple universes, I posit there may be multiversal threats.” 

“How do you know so much?”

Hemera merely smiled, but before she could respond.

“So are you aware then that he’s not even your brother?!”

And it was like a switch got flicked, her mismatched eyes narrowed, smile pulled into a scowl. Anger radiated off of the lawyer like an indescribable chill. 

“I’m sorry, what did you just say to me?”

“The man we have in the basement isn’t from this world, the brother you’re so desperately trying to exonerate isn’t yours.”

Hemera reached behind her, picking up her notebook, she flipped through it.

“No, who you call Grimshaw is from Omega-Earth. A world on the brink of total collapse. Valorant Legion is the name of your Protocol’s counterpart.” She looked at the three of them from over her notebook.

Viper looked pissed, Brimstone refused to make eye contact but his face was pulled into one of neutrality, Sage looked visibly uncomfortable albeit calm.

“See, the reason I believed those Radiants who told me of the lookalikes is because when my brother came back from Everett-Linde. I knew it wasn’t my Achlys.” Hemera admitted in a quiet tone. “There were things he didn’t know, choices he made. Small things our parents didn’t see, things his friends chalked up to being the only survival story of that damn place.”

She breathed calmly, in, out. “But he is still my brother. And I know the sacrifices he’s made.”

“He’s a traitor through and through.”

“That’s your belief, Callas. But I know him better than you could ever hope to. And nobody would put themselves through the pain he does just to keep you able to call yourself a hero.” She did air quotes around the word ‘hero’. 

Viper quirked a dark brow, as if waiting for her to continue. But it wasn’t Hemera that spoke up, it was Sage from behind the agent. “Are you talking about his.. How do I.. Medical history, I suppose?” And Viper looked at the other woman over her shoulder, surprised by information she clearly wasn’t made privy to.

Hemera tossed the notebook down and picked up a different folder, one stamped by Sinai Health. 

“Rapid cellular decay, followed by-”

“Rapid cellular regeneration.” Sage finished for her. 

“What does that mean, Sage?”

“It means that Grimshaw heals by sacrificing his regeneration and obtaining more decay. His cells… Rip themselves apart and stitch themselves back together. It’s barbaric, and painful.” 

Viper only scoffed, attention turning back to Hemera. “His Radiant abilities mean nothing in comparison to his actions against this team.” 

“On the contrary, his Radiant abilities go to show how much he put forth on this team. He could have simply chosen a different set of them, but he chose specifically to use them to heal. Something you, Doctor, have forgotten how to do.” 

Hemera was able to counter every medical point with a point of her own. She’d studied his file when he got home from the incident. Kingdom was very insistent on their investigation of him after what had happened. Files she had obtained with his permission just before he disappeared without a word. Disappeared for this.

“The Achlys you have in containment may not be the brother I grew up with, but he is the brother I have now. I know familial bonds are beyond you, Doctor Callas, but I refuse to sit idly by and have you question me for hours when I have actual work to do.” Her attention turned back to Brimstone. “You are the commander here. Bring me to my client.”

Brimstone sighed but he obliged. “Sorry, Sabine, but she has grounds.” 

“You’re making a mistake.”

“I do not think we are.” Sage piped up softly.

Hemera kept her head high, folders tucked under her arm, as she was led down to the holding facility. She ignored the curious glances from agents she only vaguely recognised, and she certainly ignored the blue stare of somebody she was positive destroyed a city at some point? Then, maybe it was that woman’s counterpart? Hemera had much to think about, but little time.

“Monarch, open up.”

Brimstone knocked on the door, taking a step back to wait. The door clicked several times then hissed at it slid open, revealing the familiar agent on the other end. But Hemera was a lawyer, and lawyers love lying. Her expression maintained cool and collected as Monarch let the two in, having been abandoned by Sage and Viper.

But when she saw the cell behind the agent.

Her eyes widened as she stepped past them, rushing to the cell, she pressed her free hand against the brightly lit glass.

Achlys stepped forward, mask and bandage removed, he looked terrible. His tan skin was pallid, his form was solid, but the way it wavered, she could tell it hurt to maintain. The bruises and scrapes on his visible skin hurt her heart. 

“Hemera..?” His voice was raspy as he weakly lifted his hand, pressing it against the glass, against hers. “What are you doing here..?” Achlys inquired, but as he did so, his form flickered, dissipating into several wisps before violently reforming.

She frowned, watching him weakly fall back to the small bed in the room. “You have all these lights on him?” She turned her attention back to Brimstone, clearly displeased. “You’re killing him! Turn these off immediately.” She demanded, and Monarch wasted little time configuring the controls to turn the room dark.

Achlys audibly breathed in relief from within the now dark cell, as if he’d been given water after days without it. Hemera looked into the dark cell, unable to see him now, but knowing he was there. “I’m going to exonerate you, I promise.” She swore, turning away from the glass to look at Brimstone. 

“I’m aware that it isn’t my place here, but everything Grimshaw has given us so far indicates that somebody else is the traitor.”

“Then why won’t he tell us who?”

Grimshaw was quiet in the cell, honestly, he may have fallen asleep. Hemera wasn’t sure, she wouldn’t put it by him.

“Because he weighed the options and gathered that the risk of telling the truth would be more dangerous than having him locked up. Obviously.” Hemera moved closer to the door, where the only LED strip was that could provide her light.

She sat down, opening her folders to read through them.

“That was exactly what he told me.” Monarch confirmed, doing their best not to read the confidential information on her papers, but she snuck a peak or two at the information written down. The things Grimshaw hid in the dark.

“Achlys.”

“Yes, Emmy?”

“The traitor.”

“I will not tell you either. They are more important than I am.”

Hemera narrowed her eyes, pausing on his words. “More important than you?” She clarified, looking towards the dark cell. His red eyes opened, a soft glow against the darkness. But the colour disappeared quickly.

“Yes.”

“So it isn’t Brimstone or Viper.”

Monarch tilted their head, attention turning to the woman on the floor who went back to looking at her files. “How do you know?” She inquired, surprised by the woman’s inference. 

“If they were of the highest caliber of importance within the organization, he wouldn’t emphasize the person in question only being more important than him. Therefore, it isn’t those two, and I doubt it to be Sage.”

Brimstone was taking notes on a tablet, listening intently to what the other three had to say. It made sense, somebody more important would have just as much information on the transfer as Grimshaw did.

It was several hours of questioning, back and forth, without Grimshaw ever spilling the identity, instead clarifying the gravity of problems that would occur if he were to. But the things he said both matched up with Hemera’s files, and Brimstone’s. And without Viper in his ear, Brimstone began to crack in his opinion.

Too much of the evidence was circumstantial, and too much of what he said made sense. He was able to answer each question posed calmly and concisely. 

“I would never put this team in harm’s way.” Grimshaw promised and Hemera looked up to watch his unstable form press against the glass. 

“I believe you, Achlys. They’re your family.”

Dark wisps pressed against the glass, sliding down, as if a hand and fingers. “I’m a doctor first.” He spoke so quietly on the other side of the glass. “That is why I defected from my original team. I could not stand to see any more destruction after I witnessed what happened at the facility. My world must find another way.”

“Your research was on the effects of cross world teleportation, right?” 

“That is correct, Monarch.”

“What were your findings?”

Grimshaw paused.

It was a good minute before he replied.

“Rapid cell multiplication, mitosis at an impossible rate, and subsequent cell death. The radianite exposure of the teleportation was killing the employees slowly.”

“Is that why you hid the plans?”

“Yes, sir.”

Brimstone stopped typing on his tablet, finally looking at the unstable form in the cell, the wisps of black smoke and the barely visible skin. “I’ve heard enough.” He decided, looking down at Hemera who was expectantly looking at him. She had successfully proved her point, and maybe not Grimshaw’s innocence, but the fact none of what they knew could hold him the way they had been.

“Release him, Monarch.”

Her eyes widened, unable to hide her smile as she bounced to the control panel. Some of the lights turned on, but the cell door slid open, allowing Grimshaw’s form to spill into the room. Hemera stood up, legs numb as she ran to him.

He solidified in time with her colliding into his body. “Achlys.” She buried her face in his chest, arms wrapping around him. Achlys brought his hand up, pressing it against her back. “Why didn’t you tell me you were in trouble sooner?” She chastised, but her tone was anything but malicious. 

She was worried.

“Don’t exactly have access to a phone, Emmy.”

“You could have sent someone sooner!”

Grimshaw paused, tilting his head as he looked down at her. “I never sent anybody.” Hemera’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at him. “I’ve been under surveillance, you can ask Brimstone, I haven’t sent anybody.”

“That’s true.”

And Hemera lowered her head, laying it against his chest instead. She understood, they took the risk of their own volition because he was not the only one who considered this team their family. She would keep their secrets for them, as best as she could. But there was one thread untied, one thread that hung loose.

“I received a call the other day.”

“I assume so if you’re here-”

“No, not regarding this..”

“What do you mean, Barrister?”

Hemera released her brother, but stayed close to him as she turned towards Brimstone and Monarch, both of whom looked at her curiously.

“I received a phone call from Amir. I.. I never met him in person but my Achlys informed me of him when they met. I thought it was your- our Amir, I guess. But-”

“Alpha and Omega, we’re Alpha. Well, not him.”

She nodded. “I thought it was Alpha Amir, Cypher you call him? But before entering the facility I was greeted by him. I guess he saw me coming.” She laughed, and it was accepted. He would. He had eyes everywhere. “And I asked about that phone call.”

“Omega Amir contacted you?”

“I- I mean it would have had to be! He introduced himself by his full name and he talked about you and- I was so confused because..”

“Hemera! Just say it.”

“He said Vera died! In an accident and- and you needed to come home.”

But their Vera had died a long time ago, when she was told, it didn’t make sense. Not entirely. But then, this all made her realise the obvious. Vera’s counterpart.

“I need to go to Omega immediately.”

“What?!” “Huh?!”

Grimshaw flinched at Brimstone and Monarch’s in sync reactions.

“There’s a lot I still haven’t told you.. The little things about my life there, outside of Kingdom, outside of Legion.” 

[dropbear-sims]

Welcome to Mt. Cavaro! Pt. 1

This mountain plateau was once nothing but a small seasonal hunting town. Over the last 50 years however, developers took notice of the potential of this location and now, it is a bustling upcoming town. Families and sims have moved in droves to start business opportunities or to take advantage of those who are. Some however, are just enjoying the quiet scenic views and good people.

Simply explaining and showing the Community lots in each of my districts. Business, Entertainment & Residential. I will be showing the Families in Detail in Pt. 2

The Business District

Businesses:

Flast Luxury Dealership | The dealership for those who want to impress their neighbours. Fancy, reliable and with the Flast signature of quality. The Luxury Dealership is for those who only want the very best automotives.

'New You' Salon & Spa | The luxurious Salon & Spa on the edge of Byrn Street. Need a haircut? A new makeup look? A massage? Maybe you just want to spend some time relaxing in the sauna, It's here at the 'New You' Salon & Spa

Gemstone Gallery Jewellery | Need a gift for a lover? Want to buy yourself something nice? Gemstone Gallery has a wide selection of the top-quality jewellery, with options to fit any budget.

Great Times Party Supplies | Everything you need for your next big bash of a party! Weddings, birthdays or when the parents are out for the weekend!

Polar Caps Creamery | In need of a tasty cold treat on a hot day? Or a cold treat on a cold day? (We wont judge). Come down to Polar Caps to get a delicious gourmet icecream! Or serve yourself to a nice, overly processed soft serve!

Mt. Cavaro Real Estate | The main (and only) spot to purchase your new home in the lovely Mt. Cavaro. Owned by Mr. Rodney Flast, its where many suspect the majority of his fortune originated.

Mountain Rescue Pet Centre | A sanctuary for all pets in need of a loving home and Sims who need supplies for their furry friends! Opened and funded solely by Velma Aster.

Hobby Land | Muhammad and Siti Saad love their creative endeavours, and thought they should share that with the rest of Mt. Cavaro. There's a large variety of hobby items ready for purchase!

Health Plus Pharmacy | Dr. Sato's very own pharmacy that has everything you need for your ailments.

Flast Furniture | This massive warehouse holds every new and in-style piece of furniture you could ever want. Come take a stroll through our kitchen and bathroom sets, you'll leave wishing it was your home! Have a chat with our friendly staff and discuss possible home renovations.

Cavaro Family Grocery | A new development built by Ahan and Navya Bhatt, a massive gamble that paid off- its now the 'One Stop Shop' for all things your household needs regularly!… to the dismay of the local monopoly, Rodney Flast.

Speedway Motors | Ahan and Navya Bhatt's first dip into the world of business owning, buying an old rundown shed and turning it into a Car Dealership! It only has cheaper locomotives but they still run fine!… most of the time.

Spark Electronics | Need a Phone? Computer? Speaker? Spark Electronics has everything a Sim in need of a good electronic item!

'The Look' Clothing Superstore | The most popular department store for clothing in Mt. Cavaro! So popular it's run all of the small indie boutiques and rival brands out of town. I guess having great prices and a wide selection does that!

Reel N' Sons Fish Market | For the past 20 years the Reel family have been catching and selling their fresh fish here every Sunday.

Cavaro Natural Arrangements | A small shutdown florist that has been recently revamped by Velma Aster, her once buried love for plants and flowers reignited.

Bub N' Co Children's Superstore | The absolute hub for all essential baby, toddler and children's items. Everything you could need is right here!

Misc:

Community Lots that aren't a business inside the business district:

Cavaro Community Centre | The newly renovated community centre is now open! The once old and dingy town library is stocked with new books, a new computer lab has been opened and with government funding, the employment office has been revamped. All with a new cafeteria on the second floor!

Fit & Fast | Fit & Fast is the best spot to get your workout on! There's a wide variety of machines and amenities.

Cavaro Garden & Parklands | This quaint little park has a community garden run by the local gardening association, if you ever want to grab some delicious fresh veggies and fruit it's all completely free! Too the side theres also a quaint wedding area, the perfect setting to say 'I do'.

The Entertainment District

Activities:

The Colosseum Casino | Feeling lucky? The Colleseum Casino is for both the casual evening and the (habitual) high rollers, try a game of cards, or perhaps the slots?

Cavaro Performance Lounge | Think you've got the guts to go on stage? This cozy lounge is for anyone who wants to watch or be a local talent! No need to bring your own equipment, the lounge is already stocked with all instruments and microphones!

Valley Fine Dining | The Valley is newly revamped! Don't worry however, we still keep our 5 star rating for quality, cuisine and service! The dining spot for sims with cash to spare! I downloaded this lot from:

I changed quite a bit about this lot to make it fit the vibe and aesthetic of my hood, but this is a great remodel!

Cavaro National Museum | Have a love for history? Want a day out activity? The National Museum is full of historic relics from the past. Current open exhibits: Ancient Sculptures & Fossils

Cavaro National Gallery | An Extension of the National Museum, this location has Art Pieces from all over the globe, featuring some of the best and upcoming artists of the past 5 years!

Bowling Time! | Who doesn't love a game of bowling? This colourful alley is great for a night out or afterschool activity! Competitions each Sunday!

Boxing Roo | Go the Roos! Go the Roos! Want to have a drink, watch the game and show your sporting pride? Boxing Roo is a cozy little bar for all sport lovers!

Cavaro Community Pool | For all those hot summer days or practicing for that big competition coming up. Free entry on weekends and toddler swimming lessons available all week.

In Motion Dance Studio | Dance lessons on wednesday and thursday from 5pm. Recruitments for the dance troop on Saturday 10am. The best spot to practice or perfect your next routine.

Game On! Internet Cafe | Internet being shoddy? Want to group up with some friends, drink some coffee, eat snacks and play your favourite games? This is the place! PC's loaded with SSX3, The Sims: Bustin Out, FIFA 08 and Spore!

Film House Cinema | Watch the biggest current blockbusters on the big screen! Help yourself to the concessions (for a horribly expensive price) and relax in the comfy new recliner seats!

8-bit Arcade | Nerd sims unite! The best spot to play games until your curfew, all new arcade and pinball machines have been installed, all machines set to 1 simoleon!

District Basketball Court | The best spot to shoot some hoops and vs your friends.

The Hare's Foot | I wouldn't exactly call the Hare's Foot the fanciest (or cleanest) Bar in town. Happy hour is 8pm! Also… make sure to wipe down the photobooth seats before sitting.

Lil' Putter Minigolf | Wanna Impress 'The Boss'? Wanna 'impress' your friends? 6 Holes included each with their own theme and decor!

The Drip - Retro Beanclub | Are you an absolute coffee snob? An alternative music snob? Well The Drip is for 'real fans', no normies allowed! Now selling our own Beans!

Svensson Homestyle Bistro | Opened by Lars Svensson, this bistro is for all those casual nights out with the family or a modest meal with the one you love. Featuring homely recipes you'll remember without having ever tasted! 'Homestyle' is in the name!

The Rhythm - Disco Skating | The Rhytm is the best spot for a nice family activity, or a cute date idea. Listen to the 70's disco and skate away! New Skaters welcome aswell, classes each tuesday!

The Pink Flamingo | The Pink Flamingo is the hottest spot in Mt. Cavaro, new music, good drinks and open pretty much 24/7. If you want to dance and drink the night (or day) away, the pink flamingo is your spot.

Sky High Park | A VERY normal park… for very unsuspicious bubble blowing- Nothing else, juuuust "bubble blowing".

School of Art Creative Studio | Want to practice your creative skills with a bunch of like-minded sims? The SOA Creative Studio is the spot to be, there are pottery, music and painting classes!

Lasting Connections Courthouse | If the weather isn't on your side, or you just want an indoor wedding: the Lasting Connections Courthouse will be your first choice. Stocked with everything you need to throw an awesome wedding party.

Misc:

Community lots that aren't entertainment/activities in the Entertainment District:

Empty Lot | Simply an Empty lot I have no idea what to fill with, will put in something when I get an idea.

The Residential District

Cavaro Residential Sports Oval | Soccer games each Friday at 5pm! Ages 6+ teams available!

Lil' Ones Family Playground | Simply a small playground for children.

Misc Lots

(Lots that are not in any district)

Mt. Cavaro Fishing Club | The Mt. Cavaro Fishing Club has been around since this place was simply a small hunting town. There's also a cozy little campsite if you want to spend the night outdoors! Or a cabin if you do not.

'The Tip' | Simply the garbage tip for all of Cavaro. No trespassing!.. Unless you're good at tresspassing. (Who knows, there might be some good stuff to scavenge).

(I dont know why the ground is pink, it is normal grass lol)

Cavaro Memorial Cemetary | A place to remember the Sims of the past. You may not want to visit after dark, there have been rumors of people seeing the sims who should've been long gone. I downloaded this lot from:

I changed a few things, such as swapping out the trees and adding more pavement.

Apologies for not taking Screenshots of the exterior/Interior of each lot, I didn't want to bog down this post TO much (Even though I believe its already pretty beefy. I simply wanted to share what community lots are in my hood. I will be playing this town rotationally and posting what happens, if that interests you I'd love for you to follow this blog and join me on this journey :)

[chris-elkar]

@teddy-byrne

Chris had gone to the shard to get the contact for a witch who created sun rings and was waiting when he felt eyes on him. A glance over his shoulder revealed that it was the guy he had helped rescue from the kidnappings a while ago. Chris shrugged off the observation and stayed where he was leaning against the counter. If Teddy - that was his name, right? - wanted to talk he could come over and talk. When the vampire who was helping him came back, Chris thanked her and tucked the business card's she'd given him into his jacket pocket before turning and casually walking up to Teddy, stopping a few feet away. "Are you gonna actually talk to me or just keep staring?"

[unmeisenshi]

The following hours would pass rather quickly, with Yauch becoming more alert and talkative. Just like he promised, he told Avett all about Eevee, talking the poor Machamp’s ear off for several minutes. As the two talked, Solaris and Ross stepped out of the room for some quiet.

“He’s a rowdy kid…” Solaris said, chuckling.

“You got that right. But he's sweet. Can't help but love the little Pichu.” Ross sat down, and looked over at the Charizard. “You know… I can’t thank you all enough. You guys have… You’ve really helped me out.”

“We’re a rescue team. It’s what we do. You’ve helped us out too, giving us the food for our return trip. So thank you.” The Charizard looked down. “I just… I have a favor to ask of you.”

Ross tilted her head. “Hm? What’s up?”

“I know this is sudden, but… Byrne and Yauch… Could you look after them? Byrne told me about… Everything they lost. And I want them to at least be comfortable before shit hits the fan.” Solaris appeared to be on the brink of tears as he spoke.

“You have my word, Solaris. They’ll be safe no matter what happens.” Ross said, lightly bumping her head against the Charizard’s shoulder. “And hey… Once you all leave… Be sure to kick LaPlante’s ass. For everyone.”

Solaris chuckled, giving a hug to the Sylveon. "You have my word, Ross." That was when he heard a voice from above.

“Solaris… I am well enough for us to move out. How are you guys doing?”

It was Arceus. And Solaris raised his head up. “We’re good, Arceus. We’ve got some information and some supplies. We’re in a hospital in town.”

“Very good. Prepare the others. I’ll teleport you all out of there in a few minutes.”

Solaris looked down, and nodded. “Okay. I’ll have everyone ready.”

Ross looked up at the Charizard, a shocked expression on her face. “Arceus… You guys are working with God?”

“Shocking, I know, but yes. Arceus is our transport out of here.” Solaris stood up, and shrugged. “Arceus has come to us before for help. They trust us.”

-

The others were told of the plan to move out, and promptly got their things packed and ready. During this, Solaris went over to Byrne and Yauch, and knelt down to their level. “Well… This is goodbye.”

“Awww, you’re leaving?” The Pichu asked. 

“Unfortunately we have to. Our team is needed elsewhere, and we have to get going.” He shifted his pack, and pulled out his old cloak, still stained red with Lendys’ blood. He stared at it for a good moment, before clipping it around Byrne’s shoulder, including the badge. “Byrne, I want you to have this. It’ll keep you warm, and it’ll keep you safe. You and your little brother? You’re your own team now. And this is your proof.” He pointed to the badge.

Byrne looked at the badge. “Wait, but… Won’t you need this badge where you're going?”

“I have another. Don’t worry.” Solaris lightly tapped his pouch. Inside of the pouch was Zane’s old badge, one he kept as a memory. The one on his cloak was his personal one. “Now I want you both to promise me something. Byrne… You are to protect your brother no matter what happens.”

The Pikachu nodded, then Solaris turned to face Yauch. “Yauch, you need to stay out of trouble, and listen to your older brother. This was a close call that could have ended badly.”

“Okay!” Yauch said, nodding.

“Good.” The Charizard then moved to hug the both of them. “As long as you have each other, you’ll be safe.”

Byrne would bury his head into Solaris' neck, sounding like he was about to burst into happy tears. “Thank you, Mr. Solaris.”

“You’re welcome, kiddo. You’re going to be safe, I promise.” Solaris sounded unsure, and about to be on the verge of tears himself. He broke the hug, giving a soft smile and a reassuring nod to the both of them as he walked away. He grouped back with everyone else, noticing that Ross gave them a pot and a grill for cooking the food they were given. The Charizard gave a courteous bow to the Sylveon. “Thank you, Dr. Ross. We’ll put it to good use.” A bright light began to shine around the group as they all waved goodbye before disappearing.

Ross at where the team was once standing, and bowed her head quietly. “I pray that you all can defeat LaPlante.”

-

As the bright light dissipated, everyone appeared to be on a large asteroid of some kind, and already floating in space. “I hope you settled everything before we left?” Zappa asked.

“Yeah, everything is good.” Solaris said with a sad look in his eye, looking down at the planet below. He knew that their actions may not have meant anything in the long run. "How long were we down there?"

“They will be fine. I promise.” Zappa looked down at the asteroid. “I’ve taken the liberty of gathering a large asteroid for you all to live on. It’s big enough to train on, and will remain warm for you all on the journey home. It isn’t the most comfortable, but it’s better than nothing. We've spent about four days on the planet, due to its rotation around the sun."

“We’ll make it work, Zappa.” Morello said, tussling the top of Louis’ head. “Let’s get going. Don’t want to waste anymore time.”

“Very well.” Zappa brought the meteor close, and began to gain speed back towards Gaea, before zipping away at light speed.

-

Zappa brought me up to speed. Telling me about the endless fight with LaPlante, the restarting of the world. Even telling me that Zane was supposed to be here with us. It pained me to hear, but there was no turning back time. Zappa even explained the plan to give me his power to defeat LaPlante if need be. I'll be honest... I don't like the idea. I'm not in the best shape to take on Godhood. But I guess that's what the long journey is for.

Zappa also mentioned what was so important about Zane's nebula - the essence of Necrozma. That nebula still houses the energy of Necrozma in its stars. In the past, she killed Zane during the final confrontation, giving her the energy she needed. But now that Zane is gone... She has all she needs. No waiting. No delays. Infinity is being formed - a planet made of limitless energy, made from the souls of this universe and all worlds open to ours and any others it scoops up. Any life she does form on the planet, Infinity will kill to fuel it. It only takes, never gives.

We can't let that happen. She's using my friend... My mate... As a tool. She's using my teammates... My family... My community... She can't get away with it. I won't let her. We won't let her.

There was a rule for myself I've had - to never kill. To never cause suffering. But as the years go by... The closer we get to home...

The more I want to watch LaPlante suffer...

ACT XII: MIDNIGHT CITY END

[teddy-byrne]

Location: The Shipyard | When: After Teddy's rescue mission is complete

Teddy Byrne was alive and, while he would not go so far as to call such thing luck, he was still reliving every second of it inside his head. Death was something that he had come close to before --True Death? Not once. And to think humans had had a hand in it..shit, that had to be the most infuriating part of all.

Keeping a blank face in front of his rescuers despite himself, Teddy excused himself for a moment under the pretext of needing some space and sat somewhere. There was a lot more to think about: new security, new measures at work, talking to Vicente about this, his weakened state. Too much to bear..though clearly, not for everyone.

Picking up on the sound of familiar steps, Teddy sat up. "What."

@nakatomi-ayumu

[barnabyboppins]

”Princess Zelda” from spirit tracks!!

I listened to the Zelda themes from Spirit Track, OoT, WW and SS consecutively to hear what differences there are and it seems like the composition of each score is nearly identical save for the sound design, the strength of the accompaniments and the feature instrument.

The Spirit Tracks score is especially simplistic with the background strings being very quiet when present and fully absent in some parts. I really enjoy how the feature instruments which I am assuming is a flute or piccolo is playing full, but clipped/clean and slightly flat notes so it sounds like a train whistle because of course. No slurring notes between the flute and the harp. Windwakers version has a push from the accompaniment on every strong beat (beats 1 and 4) and horns later on and the sound is a bit more muddled from the recording being so old but Spirit Tracks is very clean, very simple and very easy to parse.

If I were to glean anything thematic from it uh, the first time you hear the song in ST is in the intimate moment where Zelda is asking Link for mutual trust from someone she just met. We don’t hear her theme very often but when we do it’s either playing solo for an intimate zelda/link moment or intertwining with another theme or themes for impactful scenes. Easily my favourite of these is “Byrne Comes To The Rescue” (rip Byrne) and “Final Battle: Malladus” which I think I’ve made a post about before

This is just something I found while listening through songs; please listen to this absolute lofi hit

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #49: BAPTISM of FIRE

October, 1989

Aw, geez, the Avengers West Coast Avengers are so side-lined in their own book that the Great Lakes Avengers have taken over the roster box!

John Byrne must be really proud of coming up with the Great Lakes Avengers. They've only showed up in Avengers West Coast so far and been alluded to when Hawkeye showed up to the big Avengers meeting in Avengers East Coast. I wonder if they'll show up in the Avengers East Coast book or will just be a thing to happen in the West.

I do like the type of cover that's just 'wow, look at how many things happen in this book!' and it called me a true believer so I'm in a good mood right now.

Last times in Avengers West Coast: Vision got disassembled by every government in the world. Hank Pym put him back together but now his brain doesn't emotion. None of the Avengers seemed to care so Scarlet Witch took Vision to Absolom College when they offered to help. But it was really a trap, so ancient bacteria could oozefest Wanda and use her to learn how to take over mutants.

This is really dumb. And oddly will be an echoed plot point later when Morrison does the same thing and calls it Sublime.

Anyway.

Also, last time, Captain America and She-Hulk followed a Quinjet distress signal and tried to rescue Wanda. But ooze-possessed Wanda blew them the fuck up.

Glad they bothered to guest star.

Mr. Random, the Absolom College robot department head, congratulates Black Suit Wanda for beating "two of your most powerful former colleagues in less than thirty seconds!"

While that may be the case for She-Hulk, that's kinda overselling Captain America.

Ooze Wanda clarifies that She-Hulk and Cap hesitated to attack her because they probably thought they could talk her down "not realizing there can be no reasoning with That Which Endures."

A sentiment that Mr. Random can get behind.

Mr. Random: "We stand upon the treshold of the age of mutants like yourself, Wanda. For many years it seemed as though the fates -- in the form of a cruel, genetic quirk -- had chosen to bar us from that coming age. But now, with your assistance, the stage is set for our continued endurance. As mankind falls by the wayside, we shall ride the crest into the mutant millennium!"

Have I mentioned how weird it is when Marvel comics acts like its a natural, inevitable thing that mutants ARE homo superior and will supplant humanity? Cause that's the villain position but you see a lot of the heroic mutants echoing. Their main difference with the villains is willing to let humanity just wither and die on its own rather than being proactive about it.

It's also funny how on one hand everyone acts like The Mutant Millennium is inevitable but also most Dark Futures have something Bad happen to prevent that.

Anyway, these assholes sure talk a lot for people that are supposed to be a hivemind or whatever. I'm not entirely sure I understand how it works.

Meanwhile, the true heroes of the book, the Great Lakes Avengers.

They don't have a Quinjet or even a Quinjetta so they've had to take the next best option.

Buying a private airplane with Big Bertha's money and then have Hawkeye complain incessantly about how slow it is.

I was sympathetic with him when he was being underminded out of his team but I'm back to thinking Hawkeye is a jerk.

Big Bertha even points out that the Great Lakes Avengers don't have access to any of the super cool Avengers tech.

Hey, guy who has spent years with the Avengers, maybe pull some strings and get your new team hooked up with the good stuff?

Meanwhile, Mockingbird has the private plane pointed right in the direction of the Quinjet emergency signal but but but it was so faint they only got one reading. So they can't triangulate. So they're just flying in a direction but have no idea how far to fly in that direction. They don't even have a destination. Making Hawkeye complaining about how fast they're going even more of a jerkass move.

God I suddenly hate Hawkeye.

Mr Immortal snarks that they're on a wild goose chase because now that he's conscious again he can express opinions about Hawkeye taking over his team by putting quotation marks around the word "leader."

He's the Hawkeye of the team. The heroic starscream-lite who is always waiting in the wings to tell the leader he sucks and agitate to become leader instead.

Hawkeye: "Keep the sarcasm out of your voice, buster. You and this crew of oddballs you've assembled were nothing but bush league super heroes before me an' Mockingbird hooked up with you. Now, for the first time, here's a real chance to show the rest of the Avengers what you're made of... if we can ever find 'em!"

Okay. But. Before you took over, the Great Lakes Avengers fought crime. This really seems to be more about you, Hawkeye, wanting to show up the Avengers than about helping the Great Lakes Avengers be all they can be.

Meanwhile, the Avengers West Coast return to their compound following their own wild goose chase.

Wasp calls the trip fruitless but Hank goes NUH UH its good that we talked to Professor Horton so he could tell us what we already know about Vision not being his design and Vision's backstory flashback a lie.

Wonder Man is still a little confused on how everything has changed gears. It really did seem like all that stuff the Avengers learned about Vision's backstory was true. But Hank says it only seemed true to dumb idiots who are stupid.

Is Byrne mad that people don't like this new characterization direction for Vision? Why do we keep getting the same stuff re-stated.

It was annoying enough when Byrne upended Vision's character on authorial fiat but he keeps rubbing it in and being boring.

Even if I don't like this direction, surely there's a better way to handle it than words words words.

Say, for example, the Avengers (West Coast) found the robot Human Torch. Well, shit, what does that mean for Vision? His body was supposedly remodeled from the Human Torch. If there's a Torch still around, where the hell did Vision come from?

THEN you play the mystery out further.

Anyway. Another annoying subplot, ho.

While Hank goes ahead to go do some computer work

(and takes a little rollercoaster car to fast travel to the computer room)

Wasp stays to talk to Wonder Man.

Because he's still in the dumps about Wanda hating him because he refuses to let his brain patterns be used to rebuild Vision's brain.

Simon goes more into his feelings.

His creeper feelings.

He says that it was love at first sight when he came back from the dead and saw Wanda.

Wasp claims that because Wanda had been working on getting Vision to emotionally open up, that's why Wonder Man was so attracted to her. Because... Vision is just a copy of Wonder Man? So trying to appeal to Vision made her irresistible to Wonder Man?

I hate this ship.

I was begrudgingly tolerant of it when it happened in Busiek's run. But now I hate it. I want Wonder Man to blow up. Maybe from a space laser.

Ugh. Anyway. Wonder Man never mentioned his feelings for Wanda because she was already married to Vision.

Then Wasp claims that Wanda doesn't love Vision for his body but for the sensitive soul within and that inner man is actually Wonder Man because his brain is based off Wonder Man's QED Wonder Man should date Wanda.

Wasp: "So even though she didn't know it herself, it was you Wanda was really falling in love with..."

Wasp. You're my fave. But I am getting irritated with you.

Over in the computer room, Hank is also frustrated but for his own reasons. He wanted to do Vision research to try to iron out this riddlesome enigma about Vision's origins.

But the Every Government In the World taskforce Vigilance put a computer virus in the Avengers' computers to wipe out all information about Vision. So Hank has nothing but his own memories to go off of. So even though he said he had important work to do in the computer room, he's mostly just staring at a blank screen.

I know that feel.

Instead, Hank decides to try to figure out where Wanda went.

... Why wasn't that your first priority? She stole a super-sonic jet and vanished!

Hank starts by talking to the butler, Carlos, and asking if Wanda has acted strange lately.

Carlos confirms that Wanda has been distressed since what happened to Vision but her mood seemed to change after she got a letter recently.

But Interrupting Tigra interrupts the conversation by racing by naked. And also feral.

But not Feral. Just feral.

Hank has no idea what's going on but Carlos tells him that Tigra has been acting weird and chasing mice and stuff.

I am once again just flabbergasted by how little attention the West Coast Avengers are paying lately. Seriously. It took THIS for you to notice something was weird with Tigra?

Hank fears that she's going through another phase where her feline nature becomes dominant (even though that should have been permanently cured when something something cat people cat soul something). He chases after her into the woods.

Immediately loses track of her. And then gets pounced.

Idiot.

Tigra jumps Hank and starts trying to maul him.

Hank's costumes are usually pretty durable - his original Ant-Man costume was designed to protect him from ant bites, after all. But he's got a big weak point sticking out of the collar region.

So he resorts to using his shrinking powers on Tigra. Shrinking her to a tiny widdle kitty cat.

I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT. Ever since Hank and Tigra casually alluded to it in Avengers Academy.

I hate every bit of context that led us here but I deeply love Hank just holding Chibi Tigra and going 'uh what now?'

Meanwhile, in a Absolom College holding cell, Captain America stops pretending to be unconscious.

He was apparently pretending the whole time, having used his shield to shield himself and She-Hulk from the falling masonry. He thought it smarter to let them get captured then to risk hurting Wanda when she's clearly not herself.

And She-Hulk followed his lead.

Except, she's clearly not on the same page as him. She hoists him up and yells he must be destroyed because he's not been properly assimilated!

Okay, I guess She-Hulk has been oozed too, off-panel. Or... something. She doesn't have the ooze look.

Captain America can't figure out why She-Hulk got taken over but he didn't. And he doesn't have time to really ponder on it while she's trying to make his skull into a bowl.

But luckily? he doesn't have to dodge long because Mr. Random comes in with a zap gun and zaps Captain America. They need him alive, you see?

Elsewhere in the facility, Vision gets bored.

He has no emotions but he's been left lying on a table alone for seven hours four minutes and twenty-three seconds exactly. Logic dictates that he get off his ass and go find out what's going on.

Vision: "This is inconsistent with the alleged purpose of my being here: the reconstruction of my missing data base. Plus, it has been even longer since I last saw my wife. Logic indicates it is time to find out what has become of her. Captain America and the She-Hulk seemed concerned for her well-being."

It's funny that the evil ooze's plans have otherwise been all "everything transpires according to my plans!" and they just forgot Vision.

Now that Vision is thinking about it, Mr. Random's claim that Wanda took off after leaving Vision doesn't really fit with her previous behavior.

Buuuuut, he has no reason to think Mr. Random would just lie about it! So he's going to go find Wanda.

Goddammit Vision. This is why emotions are good, actually!

Vision flies straight up from the facility and JUST HAPPENS to do so right when the Great Lakes Avengers are flying by in their plane. And they JUST HAPPEN to spot Vision so Hawkeye has Big Bertha turn the plane around to rendezvous with Vision.

Hawkeye introduces Vision to the Great Lakes Avengers and Vision says that Midwest Avengers would be a better name. So Hawkeye defensively says the name wasn't his idea.

Then Hawkeye asks about the Quinjet distress signal and Vision doesn't really know but Cap did mention something about that.

SPEAKING OF CAP, Mr. Random and his guys are studying Cap to find out why the evil bacteria can't take him over.

There's some factor in his bio-matrix that blocks the assimilator apparently.

She-Hulk speculates that it might be the super-soldier serum, still in his bloodstream after all this time. Chemically blocking the assimilator.

WHICH MAKES ME WONDER.

Why does super-soldier serum block the assimilator. And gamma radiation do nothing?

Because the evil bacteria is in every "higher life form", it should be in Cap so it should be able to take him over. But its apparently been completely eradicated from his system.

And I just have a lot of questions about how the evil bacteria works. If the evil bacteria is in everyone, why does it mostly seem to be operating out of this college. Instead of... everywhere?

Why come up with a scheme to kidnap Wanda when you can just bacterially zonk Hank Pym and expose Wanda to the ooze under guise of a medical procedure?

Why worry about Cap and She-Hulk investigating if you could just zonk them? Was the assimilator an outside compound that had to be introduced to allow She-Hulk to be taken over? She-Hulk is now loyal to the cause but she doesn't even know what the cause is. So if the evil bacteria is controlling everything, is everyone a hive mind? They're not acting like it. She-Hulk had to be told by Mr. Random not to kill Cap.

HOPEFULLY this all gets explained.

Wanda shows up, unoozed (or looking unoozed, wearing her usual costume) to exposit the hell out of the backstory.

Blah blah blah, first cellular life split in two. One was evil and ate the other one. From then on, all lief had the evil bacteria in it. The evil bacteria guided the evolution of dinosaurs and made them masters of the world until the evil bacteria made the (wrong) decision that dinosaurs were a dead end and abandoned them for mammals.

Scarlet Witch: "Without our presence to guide them, the dinosaurs quickly died out."

Okay, well, fuck the meteor theory then. What really caused the extinction of the dinosaurs was abandonment of evil bacteria.

She-Hulk asks if the evil bacteria is conscious and making decisions. And Mr. Random finally explains some of how it works.

Mr. Random: "While it is true a form of intelligence developed in us almost immediately... for the most part, that intelligence lay dormant. It was many millions of years before we learned to control the process Charles Darwin named 'natural selection.' Once that occurred, however, we began to take an active interest in our hosts. Once every hundred thousand years our intellect manifests itself in a few... ah... random creatures. We study the progress of life. We match the adaptability of one species against another. An assessment is made. Those life forms we judge to be at their maximum potential we abandon. Our presence within their cells shrinks, dwindling eventually to nothing. And our guiding intellect turns to other, more profitable species. After all, our whole and sole purpose is to endure. Thus, we left the dinosaurs in favor of concentrating on the mammals. There we further narrowed our focus to the ultimate mammal, mankind. When Neanderthal proved unsuitable, we shifted to Cro-Magnon."

And presumably on to homo sapiens and now to homo superior.

This whole thing feels like Byrne got really interested in some junk science and wanted to shove it in the book. Like Kirby and his Chariots of the Gods obsession.

Before Mr. Random can further words words words, "Avengers" show up and assemble.

Mockingbird starts kicking college students in the face while Flatman wraps them up in his fantastically stretchy body. And Vision does that fisting thing he does.

Based on one entire page of action, Vision declares the Great Lakes Avengers "most efficient." So I guess that training was worth it.

Possessed She-Hulk tries smashing Big Bertha with a giant techno tube but she's got Blob-esque ability to absorb hits. And in response, she jumps up and crushes She-Hulk underneath her.

I bet She-Hulk is really glad she did this guest starring role now.

Doorman and Mr Immortal spot a big locked chamber that seems really important. In fact, the college student mooks are trying really hard to keep the Great Lakes Avengers away from it.

So obviously, Doorman and Mr Immortal want to see what's in there.

Doorman stands against the big locked door, forming a portal, and Mr Immortal dives through him.

And inside he finds the Assimilator. Apparently not a drug or an ooze, apparently a big piece of tech.

A big piece of tech that creates the telepathic link between all the people infested with evil bacteria. And if its busted, the evil bacteria's plans will be delayed for a hundred millennia.

So, seems like a good idea to bust it and save the day, right? Bad guys just exposed their flashing red weak point and begged the hero not to strike them in it and thwart them totally.

Well, Mr Random thought of that. The Assimilator is protected by a chamber that will flood with deadly radiation if anyone steps inside.

But no sooner can you say, "this looks like a job for Aquaman," Mr Immortal gleefully jumps into the death chamber. When a plot presents you with something tailor made to your skills, you gotta seize the day.

Mr Immortal: "All you're threatening me with is death! An' dyin' is what I do best!"

The mad lad.

Back over at the fight, She-Hulk throws Big Bertha off of her and readies a punching fist. But then suddenly is overcome by a sense of not knowing where the fuck she is or why she's doing what the fuck she's doing.

And it's not just She-Hulk. All the college people that were working for Big Bacteria suddenly start wandering around in a daze.

Mr Random himself has no idea why Vision is calling him Mr Random. His name is Charles Edison.

... Why did bacteria possessed Charles Edison change his name to Mr Random? What's the sense in that?

Anyway, Mr Edison tells the Avengers that there's a dude of theirs dead in the radiation chamber.

But despite the eulogizing the poor, deceased Mr Immortal, Hawkeye just opens up the radiation chamber (the radiation is off now although you'd think the chamber itself would still be radioactive?) and has Flatman scoop Mr Immortal up (you'd think that Mr Immortal would be radioactive?) without touching the pressure sensored flooring.

Since Mr Immortal is dead as a doornail, Big Bertha estimates he'll be back up in approximately ten minutes.

It's fun to have a dude whose power is "doesn't die" so the team can throw him at all the death traps.

Hey, now that the action is done. I have to comment.

Byrne still keeps Wanda from doing... anything.

Post-hypnotic suggestion kept her from fighting Fake Ultron. And then she was too paralyzed by feelings to fight Beserk Vision. And then Mr Random sprung a trap on her faster than she could react two issues ago. And, sure, she fought Cap and She-Hulk but it was revealed that they threw the fight and weren't even hurt. And now when the big Great Lakes Avengers rescue showed up, Scarlet Witch didn't fight any of them. She just hung around with Mr Random.

It keeps happening.

Byrne doesn't seem to want her to contribute to action scenes.

Also, as the Great Lakes Avengers first Avengers level mission where they held their own and showed their stuff... It was okay.

They showed up on page 16 out of 23 on unlimited. They basically all got to do one thing to show their stuff. The issue is titled Baptism of Fire, which I assume is referring to the Great Lakes Avengers entering the Big Times but, yeah. They got a couple pages at the end of a complicated plot and happened to find the Resolve Story button.

I'm so far not impressed with how Byrne is balancing three teams in his two interconnected team books.

Anyway, Hawkeye declares that due to bacterial possession, nobody is getting arrested for any of this.

I suspect that he doesn't really want to untangle the situation.

Charles Edison: "... Thank you for that, at least, Hawkeye. It's bad enough to realize I've lost half a lifetime and every penny I own to this thing, without having to face a jail sentence as well."

Vision explains (how does he know???) that the evil bacteria awoke in him and took over his brain. It compelled him to use his family fortune to buy Absolom University and use it as evil bacteria HQ. Also, it apparently compelled him to change his name to Mr Random.

Then, Mr Random gathered together a few hundred other people that the evil bacteria had also awoken in and they all donated DNA to build the assimilator, which I guess let them awaken other people's evil bacteria and create a telepathic link between each other.

Hence why the evil bacteria people were always verbally discussing things and weren't always on the same page.

This plot is dumb.

I understand the mechanics of it all better now. In a last page exposition dump kind of way. But its dumb.

The Evil Bacteria were supposed to be influencing evolution but it seems most of them were doing a snooze. And they needed a big technological thing despite not needing it when they ruled the dinosaurs.

This has been a stupid ass plot.

I'm pretty the last bit of it is why the plot even exists and why I think its because Byrne got enamored with junk science.

Scarlet Witch: "But... Vision... it's all so... frightening... The memories the Assimilator placed inside me... I still have them... Can it be the dinosaurs died because That Which Endures left? And if it someday leaves mankind for the mutants, as it planned..." Vision: "I am not properly programmed to consider such philosophical matters, Wanda..." Captain America: "Maybe not... but I have something to say... I don't know how much of what we've learned today I'm really prepared to accept... Maybe it's all true. Maybe without That Which Endures mankind would still be squatting in the caves, afraid of the dark, of the thunder and lightning. But I like to think there's something more to humanity than just a few pounds of flesh and bone. Something deep inside that sets us apart in the scheme of things. I hope that's true. And I hope no part of it was due to That Which Endures. For if it is... if we are no more than vehicles for this parasite... When a day comes that the Survivor does finally depart... We're going to find ourselves very much alone..."

Meh.

Also, I'm sure its fine that evil bacteria stuffed Wanda's head full of mutant superiority rhetoric and that she still has those memories at the end of this.

I'm sure that's just fine.

Follow @essential-avengers because everything is going to fine forever and nothing will be blisteringly stupid in this book ever. Like, comment, reblog, give me attention. I'm lonely. Just kidding, I've got a cat curled up against my arm as I type this. I live a good life.

[omniversecomicsguide]

Currently reading:

Colleen Wing comes to Iron Fist’s rescue, saving him from losing his head…

Featured interior art:

IRON FIST #7 (1976)

Script: Chris Claremont

Art: John Byrne, Frank Chiaramonte & Bonnie Wilford

[anitabyars]

Book description

From USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling authors Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin, comes their latest Romcom featuring a quirky cast of characters who represent the hilarious absurdity of life while making you fall head-over-heels in love. This steamy, laugh out loud, opposites-attract small town romance reminds us that we don't have to be perfect to deserve our own happily ever after!

Gemini "Gemma" McKendrick knows just about everything about everybody in Townsend Harbor. When she's not serving on one of the many civic positions or leaping headlong into another hobby, she's hosting the Sunday Stitch 'N Bitch at her yarn and craft shop, Bazaar Girls. With her quirky boutique in big financial trouble, she makes a snap decision to rent out the basement of her cozy craftsman to Townsend Harbor newcomer Gabe Kelly. A man with a past as colorful as his tattoo sleeves, who has become an urban legend since he blew into town. And who better than Gemma, Townsend Harbor's own gossip guru, to answer the rumor mill's most pressing questions? Like whether the silver-tongued mechanic is as good with his hands as he is with a socket wrench.

Gabriel "Gabe" Kelly wasn't born into a family so much as a criminal enterprise. Taught to lift, chop, and rebuild cars since before he could tie his own shoes, he's obliged to pay his debt to society before deserting South Boston for Townsend Harbor, Washington. Surely he can stay out of trouble here, right? He immediately finds the only position an ex-con with prison muscles and neck tattoos could easily find in a town like this, and buys the vintage car mechanic shop from it's retiring owner . Moonlighting as the only tow truck in a thirty-mile radius, he rescues the absent-minded hottie who runs the local yarn shop. But he quickly discovers that a toy-sized car with a dashboard lit up by Christmas isn't the only thing in Gemma McKendrick's life desperately in need of maintenance. Gabe, who is uniquely qualified to diagnose and fix complicated mechanisms, finds his sexy landlord is impossible to figure out. Looks like he'll have to take a peek at her undercarriage to find out what makes her purr before he hits the road again.

Because women of her caliber don't take home guys with his make and model...

But he knows she wants a test drive.

Order link: https://amzn.to/47rIQSV

My Review

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of the most entertaining series I’ve read in a long time! So many laugh out loud moments, sexual innuendo, secrets and with a great group of strong-willed, independent, women, who all have their own unique problems. These women have bonded together to support each other, any way they can, as they find their way through life…and love! Townsend Harbor seems to be the perfect place with its quaintness and quirkiness for all these characters to blend and live in. This is Gemma and Gabe’s story and I never saw this sizzling relationship coming!!!! And it is an eye opener! Just saying Gemma really surprised me in this opposites-attract romance!

Gemma McKendrick lives in a constant state of clutter and disorganization due to her inability to stay on task for any length of time. Thanks all to her ADHD’s delightful bonus, of body betrayals but also because she constantly overextended herself in Townsend Harbor. But when her father and sister start questioning her, regarding her quirky boutique and its profit margin, she suddenly decides to rent out the basement of her house to Gabe Kelly. The same Gabe Kelly that happened to be the most soul-crushingly beautiful man Gemma had ever met. But when her identical twin Lyra and her fiancé Harrison shows up unexpectedly, and catches her in a rather awkward position, what will her family think of her attraction to the hot bad boy? Her family surely wouldn’t approve of him, if she brought him home for Sunday dinner. But she wants so much more out of life and she was willing to finally reach out and take it.

"If experience is what you want, I'd be more than willing to help you with that. Anything you want to know, anything you want to try, anything you want do. No strings attached."

Gabe "The Babe" Kelly was an old friend of Darby's from Boston, who had made his Townsend Harbor debut in a duet on aerial silks that left neither eyes nor panties dry. A man with a past as colorful as his sleeves of tattoos. Born into a family of criminals, he’d learned at an early age to lift, chop, and rebuild cars. Gabe was full of a past filled with darkness and danger, Southie trash with a rap sheet to prove it. As an ex-con he decides to buys a vintage car mechanic shop from it retiring owner in hopes of staying out of trouble in Townsend Harbour. But when Gemma McKendrick offers him her basement to rent out, he knew he was in deep trouble. Because he hadn't been able to get the image of her out of his head, since the night of Darby's benefit. Which was exactly why he couldn't get tangled up with her. Gemma was sweetness and light, the girl next door with a heart of gold. Until she needed him!

"I'm attracted to you," she said, her voice barely audible above the waves. "Like, a lot. Like, so much that it's basically an obsession”

These two are so…HOT! Sexy, charming and totally head over heels in…lust with each other. Their relationship is so sweet and captivating, I loved watching these two opposites come together and be exactly what the other needed. With Gemma, Gabe was starting to imagine a real future together. But when trouble shows up again, will Gemma and Gabe get their HEA? Or will family cause the end of their future together? You will want to read this one to get all the spicy and sexy details!

I received an early copy and this is my honest review.

[dgct2]

hi i LOVE your absentia sets!!! do you have a favourite episode? 👀

Thank you so much! 😘

I did love S1 when we learned what happened to Emily. It really grabbed my attention. I think though I fell hook line and sinker for the show when Emily met Cal. I loved them from the moment they met. Here are a few of my Cal & Emily favourites:

2.04 - Cal having Emily's back right from the start. "And she's still here."

Moldova Arc because seriously who doesn't love it. "I'm taking Byrne with me. I trust her instincts." The zipper scene. The club when Emily tells Cal to focus on the job. The tension in that scene. When he rescues her in the water. The whole arc was perfection.

2.09 - The panic attack after learning about Shen. The way Cal goes to his knees. He's a rock for Emily.

3.01 - Cal rescuing Emily after she's attacked at the house. The fear in his voice. The small kiss to her fingers.

3.06 - The whole train ride. It is like Moldova for me again. So many different moments. The flirting. The kickass fight. Emily whispering that she loves Cal after they make love.

3.10 - The scene in Emily's basement when Cal comes to apologize. The tension when he steps closer. The whisper of "What do you need?" Cal never pushing. Letting Emily make the move. The cafe when they talk about the drink. Endgame, baby !!!

[walkingatombomb]

Comics I Read Today

February 19

Two good ones today…

Strikeforce Morituri #5 (1987)

I don’t think I’ve explained the premise of this comic. Aliens (The Horde) have attacked Earth to strip it if their resources. Humans are pretty useless against the threat until a scientist created the Morituri Effect which effectively creates superheroes but the human body rejects the process within a year.

In this issue, The Horde leader decides that instead of striking terror in the hearts of the humans (saying to his generals, “Destroy cities? They have done that to each other! Would you have them commit planetary suicide to foil us?”) the key to domination is horror! They’ve created a plant-like creature that shoots out tendrils to its victims and forces their bodies to create plastic skin over their bodies suffocating them. The Strikeforce come to the rescue and a blazing battle ensues. Meanwhile, the next generation of Morituri are being selected…

Namor, the Sub-Mariner #17 (1991)

This is a wonderful superhero soap opera by John Byrne. There are too many subplots to explain, starring Namor, Shanna the She-Wolf, Misty Knight, the Griffin, and many more! The cover gives away the big secret.

Video game ads for NES and Game Boy.

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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Since Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, we've seen countless imitators of the franchise - none of which have captured the satisfying savagery of The Road Warrior. Finally, George Miller returns to the genre he spawned. It's been 34 long years waiting but all that time's been worth it. Mad Max: Fury Road is not merely the best post-apocalyptic action film in recent memory; it’s one of the best action films ever made.

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland where resources are scarce and those who control them rule, former police officer Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is haunted by the dreams of the people he failed to save but has given up fixing this broken world. When he comes across Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) rescuing a group of women from the warlord cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his army of armoured vehicles, he joins them in their flight.

It’s a deluge of metal-twisting, rip-roaring, spine-busting, blood vessel-bursting, flame-covered action scenes that never, ever stop. We’re talking about lengthy car chases - the film is composes almost entirely of them - where demented warriors with complete disregard for their safety throw spears, explosives, arrows, bullets and even their own bodies to get every inch they can. When you think you’ve seen it all, here come the armoured vehicles, hydraulic buzzsaws, death traps big enough to swallow big rigs, grenade-hurling motorcycle riders, the war drums and the acrobats from hell. Amid the carnage and the poor saps getting crushed underneath the wheels, this is a gorgeous picture with beautiful azure skies and fiery orange landscapes whose every frame you could proudly hang on your wall. There is so much detail in the costumes, the vehicles, the world itself there isn’t room to pause and look. There certainly isn't space for character development and growth… or is there?

This is an extremely lean picture. The whole thing takes place over a couple of days and when people slow down, it’s because another step without rest would mean death from exhaustion. It’s about the here and now. You don’t worry about what’s coming next because if you don’t focus on the immediate threat, there’s not going to be a “next”. There isn't time for characters to sit down and talk; you get to know the characters by their actions. You understand how they've changed by comparing the way they react to each other the first time they meet versus the next, and the next. You understand what these people are about by the way they carry each other as the film goes on or the look on their faces before their life is extinguished. Director George Miller knows you’ve got the brains to figure out what makes this world tick… so figure it out.

On the surface, Mad Max: Fury Road appears to be simple eye-candy. Kinetic visuals, insane stunts, gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, the primal satisfaction of on-screen violence and nothing more. Upon closer inspection, you recognize how deep it is. In this story there are themes of survival, of feminist revolt, of home, forgiveness, revenge, redemption, and more. No run-of-the-mill slugfest has as much weight as Mad Max: Fury Road. Director George Miller, along with co-writers Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris have brought us one of the greatest examples of visual storytelling you can wrap your mangled hands around. (On Blu-ray, January 18, 2019)