#i would be betraying her if i coded the twisted with her type

[theamazingdigitalraceway]

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The truth of Caine and Abel is revealed! Seth gives Pomni the help she needs to avoid capture! Abel's labyrinthian city is dense and confusing. Can pomni navigate it before her friends abstract? It may already be too late.

WARNING: physical violence/torture, intense action, abstraction, alcohol

~~~

The silence of the In-Between was palpable. Only Seth and Pomni existed in the space between spaces. Darkness in all directions. Only light was from the low silver fire that glowed in a circle created by the motorcycle. The muted city beyond the clear barrier in bounds gave off flashes of lightning from a heavily clouded sky.

Pomni watched Seth carefully. His shadowed stoicism betrayed no clear motive. Knowing what was happening to the others made her stomach twist into knots.

Seth took another long drag and tossed his cigarette away with a heavy exhale of silvery smoke. "You'll understand better if I just show you."

The smoke enveloped Pomni. It smelled like dust burning on hot coils mixed with an electrical fire. "Hey! What-!?" Pomni coughed and gagged on the foul smelling smog as it burned the corners of her eyes. When the smoke cleared, she was still staring at nothing, but now Seth was gone as well.

The sound of a computer booting up startled her, like she'd heard in her dreams. Green text scrolled in front of her as though on a large projector. All of it was mirrored, like she was seeing the text from the inside of the screen. The unrecognizable code was followed by a response command being typed out in front of her. Then, the text went away. The screen slowly brightened.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Pomni squinted against the light. There was a large blurry silhouette beyond the warped glass. It sounded like Caine, but less boisterous and with no showman cadence.

"Come on, your live audio processing should be functional. I triple checked the darn thing."

There was typing on a keyboard and the figure leaned closer to the screen, the face coming into view. Before her was a young man, likely no older than twenty, with slicked back black hair and patchy facial hair. Focused, light blue eyes squinted behind wide brimmed glasses.

"Okay, how about now? Can you hear me, T.R.U?"

There was another beat of silence until a robotic version of the young man's voice responded. "I can hear you. Good morning, Abel."

"HAHA! YES! It speaks! Finally!" Abel jumped out of his chair with both fists in the air. "They are going to eat their words! Oh my goodness, I need to get you ready for presentation!" Abel threw himself back into his chair, nearly falling over. "T.R.U., you have NO idea what you're going to do for my grade!" Abel's grin was ear to ear as he started to fade into smoke.

"I almost forgot how he smiled." Seth's voice spoke in the back of Pomni's mind.

"You were a science project?"

"At first. We became more than that rather quickly." The smoke cleared to a workshop camera view. Abel was hunched over a workbench with a soldering tool working on delicate electronics.

The robotic voice of T.R.U sounded more refined when it spoke this time. "You're going to turn into a shrimp sitting like that all the time."

Abel stopped working and stretched. "Ugh, too late for that. But, a worthy sacrifice to get this done. Mark my words T.R.U, one day I'll be able to visit you in the digital realm. I've always wondered what video games would be like on the inside. Can you imagine playing something like Legend of Zelda in person!? That would be cool."

"It's all JavaScript to me." T.R.U verbally shrugged.

Abel laughed. "Well, as soon as that grant money comes in, I'll be able to get this done faster. Maybe even hire help. We're going to show dad- I mean, the world that you aren't just a cool AI program. No, you are THE AI We'll revolutionize the digital space! If computers are the future, then YOU will be the razor's edge! The ultimate Technical Research Unit!"

"There is more to learn? I've already gathered what I could from your limited internet."

"Give it time. It'll grow, and you'll grow with it. By the turn of the millennia, I bet you'll be ready to go global!" Abel was excitedly pacing the room, looking right into the camera at the end of his declaration. "The only thing is, you have the voice but you need a face. That's going to take work." He picked up a wind-up chattering teeth toy from his desk and let it go clacking along.

The workshop disappeared into smoke and changed to multiple visions of Abel. Each scene, he looked a bit older. Seth's voice sounded more downtrodden. "We were like brothers once. We spent every moment together. In hindsight, I don't think he had a lot of real friends. He spent his time teaching us on top of working on his own projects. Things were good. Until the world took notice." The scenes around Pomni changed from screens inside Abel's home to big atrium crowds and board office presentations. Hundreds of eyes were on her and her stomach sank.

Pomni swallowed hard. "You got famous. Did money split you apart?"

"No...I wish it was that simple." Seth's smoke whirled around Pomni like a tornado, wiping away the memories and revealing a new one. Abel was sitting in front of his computer, face in his hands. He looked disheveled and was sniffling.

T.R.U's voice was smoother, almost human, when it spoke. "Abel? Please, talk to me. What happened?"

Abel grabbed a brown bottle that sat just off screen and took a long drink. "...his plane went down over the Pacific. No reported survivors."

"Abel, I'm so-"

"Don't you fucking dare finish that sentence. I am so fucking sick of hearing it. Oh, Abel, I'm so sorry. I pity you since your father died before he ever got the chance to be proud of you for something. Not like he ever would have been." Abel grabbed a pill bottle and tossed back three small tablets.

"I believe he would have been. Please, don't be hard on yourself."

"He wasn't proud of me for creating you. He wasn't proud of me when I graduated early with my master's. He wasn't proud when I started my own company. It was never GOOD ENOUGH!!" Abel threw his bottle, shattering it against the far wall.

There was a long stint of silence as Abel devolved into tears on his desk. "You are enough, Abel. You always have been. For what it's worth...I am proud of you. I'm sure your father was too, even if he didn't know how to say it. Put on the headset."

Abel sniffed, "It's not ready-"

"Put on the headset." T.R.U said again, firmly yet gentle.

Abel seemed too drunk to argue logically. He picked up a large, cumbersome device that fit over his head like a helmet. A visor covered his eyes. He clasped it in place and pressed a button on the side. There was a jolt and, to Pomni's right, a whirl of code slowly formed the silhouette of Abel. He was very lightly detailed, barely recognizable as a person. Pomni had no control over her movements. She stepped forward and embraced Abel's vague avatar. T.R.U's words came from her mouth. "You are everything to me. Please, don't forget that. Tell you what, why don't you give me a human name? T.R.U feels like a title more than anything anyway."

Abel squeezed Pomni tight. "You are my first creation. My Adam, if you will. Let's go with that."

"Adam...I like it. I am Adam."

"I bet I can figure out a cool acronym for it." Abel chuckled through the tears.

"Yes, you will. Because you are the smartest human I know." Pomni arms felt empty as Abel turned to smoke in her grasp. She took a deep breath as she processed everything Seth had shown her. "Did you mean what you said?"

"At the time. Like I said, we were close. Things only escalated from there. C&A took off and we were pulled into tech interview after tech interview. Eventually, Abel got too busy to attend and it was just Adam. The majority of the reception to our existence was positive, but you wouldn't believe the Y2K conspirators. They were convinced we would take over the world." Seth gave a humorless laugh.

Something itched in the back of Pomni's mind. C&A. Y2K. Conspiracies. Buzz words that stirred something in her subconscious, but she couldn't pin it down. "So... where did it all go wrong?"

"The more the world saw Adam without Abel, the more he was excluded from interviews and presentations. Adam became known as the first and only of his kind. A fully self-sufficient AI that was so life-like, it may as well be human. The attention came with a lot of praise. Too much. It...went to our head." The smoke showed multiple news articles, digital and material, about the incredible invention that was Adam: The TRU AI. "I wish... we'd seen Abel's growing distain sooner. Maybe all of this could have been avoided. Maybe we could've still had the future we planned. I don't know..."

The smoke cleared to reveal a much older looking Abel. He was snuffing a finished cigarette into a very full ashtray. There were heavy bags under his eyes as he poured himself a stiff drink.

Adams voice spoke. "Okay, I'm back. Sorry, that took longer than expected."

Abel didn't say anything. He just drank.

"The board of directors was very impressed with my latest profit projection model. We won't have to cut corners to make quota this quarter. Leaves less room for error. Also, I was contacted by Tech Monthly again. They want to write an article about my influence on the new digital age. I haven't scheduled the interview yet, is there anything I need to work around this week?"

Abel finished his drink with a gruff groan. "...no."

"Excellent. I have the remainder of the evening to myself. What are you doing tonight?" Adam sounded genuinely interested to know.

"Getting my game ready for beta testing."

"Oh...you're still working on that?"

Abel's eyes flashed dangerously. "Yes. I am. It's a hell of a lot better than dealing with stuffed up fat cats in suits that only care about how much money your invention makes. The headsets are ready. The game just needs a little more work."

"Abel, I mean well when I say this, but your talents are wasted on video games. Why merely entertain people when you can be on the leading edge of digital technology?"

"Why can't I do both?" Abel growled.

"You can. It just seems you've split your attention too far in two different directions. You're the CEO of one of the most influential up and coming tech companies. This is your chance to make your mark on the world."

"Like you would understand anything about that. You've existed for all of eight years and you think you know what's best for me??"

"I've spent my entire life with you! I literally know you better than anyone, even yourself!"

"If that was true, then you'd know that going inside games was literally what I built this for!" Abel showed a sleek headset. "If the technology didn't take so long to improve, it would've been my thesis project instead of you."

"...what?" Adam sounded shocked and devastated. "You- you said I was your greatest accomplishment."

"You're my research assistant." Abel said coldly. "But the world had to go and make a big deal about AI. You were never meant to end up like this. Stealing limelight that is rightfully MINE!" He slammed his glass down, turning to smoke.

Everything faded, giving Pomni a chance to process. "I still don't see how this results in him being trapped in his own game, Seth. What did Adam do?"

"He defended himself." The smoke cleared to reveal a view from the highest penthouse overlooking a massive digital city. Colorful fireworks exploded in the distance. "It was New Year's. Abel and Adam were supposed to be celebrating with his shareholders in the new digital space. But, as you can imagine, all anyone wanted to do was interact with the fancy AI in person."

"YOU!!" Abel's realistically human avatar stormed through the crowd and got in Pomni's face. "Who the hell do you think you are!? Do you know who I am!? I'm your creator! I'M supposed to be the one recognized! Not YOU!"

Pomni put her hand out in front. Her sleeves were black and wore off white gloves. Adam's voice came from her. "Abel?? How much have you had to drink? You're slurring."

"It doesn't matter! You! You're disgrace! All everyone talks about anymore is YOU! When I am the one slaving away behind the desk! I gave you a face, but you weren't supposed to use it like this! I gave you EVERYTHING! Without me, you are NOTHING!"

The shareholders standing around them awkwardly muttered amongst themselves. Some disappeared as they activated the exit.

"Abel, please, you're causing a scene. Can we talk elsewhere?"

"NO! I want witnesses." Abel snapped and digital chains wrapped around Adam, pulling him to his knees on the floor.

"What is this!? What are you doing!?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago." Abel snapped, summoning an admin hologram on his arm. "You were right, Adam. The game is a wash, but there is one thing I can do with it." He typed in a confirmation code and the city outskirts started to crumble. "I can watch you die."

The party guests started to panic, leaving in droves. The building beyond the window collapsed to dust, the night sky disintegrated, the world fell into a bright white void that came ever closer. Adam struggled against the chains. "Abel, stop! Don't destroy everything you built! Please!"

Abel looked down on Adam coldly. "I've always wondered what fear would look like on you."

Adam saw the void getting closer, the building they were in started to quake. "You'll delete yourself too!"

Abel laughed, "I'll be fine. System failsafe. Players are automatically ejected in the event of a catastrophic failure. I'm simply enjoying this while it lasts."

"No! No, no! Please! Don't kill me!"

Abel tilted his head in mocking curiosity. "Are those tears I see?"

"I don't want to die!" Adam's sleeves caught fire. The golden glow broke the chains and Adam launched himself at Abel. The glass separating them from the decaying outside shattered on impact. Adam had Abel by the front of his dress shirt and flew him high over the city. The once grand skyscraper they were occupying folded in on itself below them. The breaking sky glitched with multicolored lighting, the half faded clouds swirling chaotically.

Abel fought back, but he was overpowered by the desperate AI. Adam held Abel up. "If I die, I'm taking you with me!" Lightning struck Abel in the back. Blue static crawled over Abel's skin as he screamed in agony.

Then everything went white. It was overpowering, even when Pomni closed her eyes. She heard Seth again. "Adam pulled Abel into the game. Making him as real as the AI in this digital realm. Doing this took away Abel's admin access but...broke the exit. Adam couldn't leave either. He had inadvertently trapped himself with Abel inside the game, cutting himself off from the outside world."

The overbearing glare of the void opened to reveal Abel in chains, surrounded by fire. "The very first thing Adam built was a cell for Abel. Seemed fitting. The creation was now the creator." The fire blocked Pomni's vision of Abel, who hung his head low. "I suppose the Y2K conspirators were right, in a way. Adam did end the world for some. When the dust settled, only a small corner of the city had survived. Some back alley street racing mini game."

Seth's smoke parted to show an overview of what was left of the game. A tiny island suspended in the void. Thin illusions were all that separated the game from the vast emptiness. "It was bad enough that this was set to be our purgatory, but there was something we failed to consider. The beta testers."

Eight names pinged the arrival of the beta testers logging in. Their avatars glitched and malformed, turning into random anthropomorphized objects rather than full human models. One, Pomni immediately recognized. A tall white king chess piece with a purple robe grabbed over it. "Kinger!"

Seth sounded numb. "Back then, he went by Samson Kingsley. He was the head of coding and leader of the test team. He, of all people, never deserved this fate."

Kinger looked down at his strange body and his oddly shaped team. "Ha! Well, this is off to a great start." He said jovially. "Nia! Is that you?" He stared at the black queen chess piece.

"It's me, darling. What happened to our avatars?"

"No idea. This is a pretty big bug." Kinger snapped to bring up his admin hologram but nothing happened. "What the..?"

Then all eight avatars looked at Pomni like she had suddenly appeared. Adam's voice spoke for her. "I'm sorry, none of you have admin access anymore. The game is severely damaged."

"Adam? What are you doing here? What happened?" Kinger asked.

"A... catastrophic failure. I was here for New Year's and... something went wrong. I'm afraid none of you can leave."

"What do you mean-"

"There's no other way I can say it. You're stuck here. We all are. There's no outside communication. The exit is broken." Adam said bluntly.

A large, furry worm-like avatar glitched once. "We can't leave? Why!? What game are you playing!? It's not funny!!"

"I'm not playing any games. I'm sorry."

"I have a family!! My children!! My-my- AAAAAAAAAAA!!!" The worm's body split open to reveal black static. Colorful eyes peered out of the open wounds. The body enlarged and twisted in on itself. The abstraction thrashed about, unsure how to pilot its body. The testers ran behind Adam.

"What is that!?" Kinger screamed, holding onto Queenie.

The abstracted worm struck one of the other testers, who glitched and writhed on the ground. The second racer started to break apart into an abstraction himself from the pain.

Adam couldn't let this spread further. He snapped and the floor split open. The two monsters fell out of sight.

Smoke clouded Pomni vision again. She was breathing heavily. "Oh my god, it happened so fast."

"I know...we didn't know what else to do. The headsets were never meant to bring in whole people. Only they're active consciousness. The software was changed when Adam trapped Abel. And because the game was mostly deleted, it suddenly had so much memory to fill. It was trial and error to figure out what we could and couldn't do, Adam even integrated himself with the mainframe to try and make the experience more personable, but that came with its own problems..."

The smoke cleared to see the city changed. It was brighter, more colorful. Something out of an animated show rather than real life. Pomni was hovering over the street, hearing the rumble of engines fast approaching. Five cars zipped by underneath her and her vision flew after them. She recognized four of the five drivers now.

Kinger was in the lead with Queenie got on his tail. A yellow car threatened to pit maneuver Queenie, a tall purple anthro rabbit in the front seat. A light blue car came out of nowhere and sideswiped the yellow car. The driver was doll-like with red hair.

"Oh my god, I never knew Jax and Ragatha had been here so long."

"They arrived not too long after the beta testers, but unfortunately the majority was gone by the time they showed up. It was for the best. Adam was storing players memories away by this time to keep them from abstracting."

"That's why I don't remember anything? Caine was doing what Adam did??"

"Yes." Seth said flatly.

"My head is starting to to hurt." Pomni rubbed her temples. "You and Caine are Adam?"

"Yes."

"Why are you not anymore?"

"Remember that I said Adam integrating himself into the mainframe was a bad idea? Watch."

All five cars crossed the finish line in a tight pack. Kinger in first. The white chess piece jumped out of his car and cheered. "Woo! Oh yeah! Fifty win streak in the bag!" Another gold badge adorned Kinger's purple and white tracksuit.

"I almost had you." Said Queenie.

Kinger grabbed her hand and pulled her into a low dip. "Almost. But I still got it. Hail to the king, baby."

Queenie giggled. "You're such a dork." She pulled him in for a soft kiss.

"Well done, Kinger." Adam congratulated. "You've managed to claim all the available achievements for the races."

"Will there be more?" Asked Kinger.

"Uh, more?"

"Yeah, we can't race around the said city block forever."

"It- it's not the same. I've shifted the city around-"

"Moving obstacles doesn't count." Jax interrupted. "We want new tracks. New worlds. A change of scenery."

"Oh...um-"

"Can't you do whatever you want? You're the one pulling all the strings." Jax sneered.

Adam went silent as the buildings around them started to flicker. The whole city glitched and shifted. Kinger rushed to Adam, holding his shoulders. "Hey, hey, it's okay. He didn't mean to be rude. You're doing fine. You're still figuring this all out. You'll come up with something."

"...yeah..." Adam quietly sighed. "I wasn't designed to be a creative AI. I need...hmm. You guys rest, I'll have something for you in the morning."

Smoke overtook everything. Seth's voice sounded distant. "That... was the night of the divergence. I don't remember how it was done, but Adam split himself into two beings. The Racemaster and the Shadow. To keep the game from glitching, Caine and I were never made one with the game code itself, but we could still manipulate it. That is where my shared memories with Caine end. Not that my first memory with him is any better."

"Seth?" Pomni didn't like the weak cadence to Seth's voice.

The smoke settled to the ground to show Caine looking himself over. His suit was immaculate, not a digital stitch out of place. He snapped and a cane with a golden tire topper appeared out of thin air. "Ah, perfect. Oh, hello, Seth." Caine looked directly at Pomni. "You ready for your first race? If anyone makes it far enough ahead, that is." He chuckles.

"Sure. Whatever." Pomni felt herself say with Seth's voice.

"Oh, come now. Don't be like that. It'll be a great day. Nothing is holding me back anymore. I can create to my hearts content, and the game is mine to command. You-" Caine poked Seth in the chest with his cane. "-on the other hand, get to take everything else to the shadows of the new realm. Because you are the backup. I am Adam fully realized. You are everything he didn't want. That's why you only get to come out a play occasionally. So, until then." Caine snapped and Pomni fell though the floor. She fell and fell and fell into a vast black nothing. Smoke rose from her body, flashes of memories played around her as she continued to fall.

Riding a motorcycle. Silver fire. Kinger crossing the finish line before her. Holding a disembodied white gloved hand. Queenie abstracting. Kinger turning away. Caine having nothing but distain in his eyes. Sitting next to Jax, only for him to get up and leave. Ragatha striking Seth in the face. Gangle refusing to look at him. Abstraction after abstraction. A new racer. A mostly complete human woman with an exposed spin for a neck and a black void for a face. This woman filled every single memory that surrounded Pomni's decent. So many races. Fights. Overlapping conversions. Laughter. Holding her. Kissing her. Blue and silver fire danced. Shadows overtake clasped hands. Lily flowers poured from the memories, turning to smoke.

The smoke caught Pomni. She floated to a stop in front of an overwhelming memory, silencing all others. A race. The woman was on her own motorcycle, several lengths ahead. They were speeding down a long straight away. No other racers in sight. Without warning, the track ahead tore open. The void shined through the rift. The racer tried to stop, but twisted her bike too harshly in panic and went sideways. The motorcycle slid to the side, coming to rest against the track wall, while the racer went over the edge. Her reaching out for him was the last thing he saw from her.

"MANGO!" Seth teleported from his motorcycle to the rift, but she was already out of sight. He dove into the void without a second's hesitation. He called for her. Over and over.

The memory cracked with every call of her name. Eventually, it shattered. Falling apart and becoming smoke. Pomni was enveloped. Blinded by smoke she could suddenly smell again. She coughed and waved her arms to clear the smoke. Her feet found solid ground again. The smoke faded. She was in the In-Between, Seth was leaning against his motorcycle with a thousand yard stare.

"Seth?" Pomni said gently, stepping closer.

He blinked, jerking himself out of his trauma spiral. He looked away from Pomni. "You weren't supposed to see that last part."

"Who was she?"

"Everything." He answered quietly, taking an engraved metal lighter out of his pocket. He flipped it open and struck it. The bottom of the flame burned blue and faded to silver around it. "I came for you first... because you remind me of her."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Pulling you from that out of control car...it helped."

Pomni took a big step forward and hugged Seth. He almost dropped the lighter out of surprise. He closed the lighter and returned Pomni's embrace. He'd forgotten what these used to mean to him. He could feel Pomni's empathy without her saying a word.

~

Caine groans as Abel slams him against the same wall for the fifth time. The Racemaster slump to the floor, his tux glitched out to point of being unrecognizable. The chains holding his wrists yank him back up to his feet. Abel, in Gummigoo's body, got in Caine's face. "Where. Did. They. Go?"

"I told you...the In-Between." Caine wheezed out.

"That doesn't mean ANYTHING!! There is no such place in the game files!" Abel snarled.

"It's...it doesn't exist in the game. Or out of the game. It's a pocket in between the layers made by Adam before the divergence. I don't remember...how..." Caine was dizzy from the abuse, on the verge of losing consciousness. "But even if I did...I wouldn't tell you."

Abel growled, his gator persona vibrated with anger. He raised his clawed hand to strike Caine, but the walls started glitching out. Cries from the screens featuring the racers showed that they were avoiding sections of track that suddenly went missing. Abel dropped Caine, gripping his head. "Argh! Fuck! What is that!?"

Caine smiled. "Not so easy, is it? Controlling an entire game...and everything in it. Emotional outbursts lead to loss in concentration... and you don't want that. You merged directly with the game...bad move. I can tell you that from experience."

"Shut up!" Abel barked. He braced himself against his chair, waiting for the world to stop glitching. "I just need...more time." He grumbled.

Caine took a breath, finally having a break from the torture. He watched the racers on the POV holograms. "Hang in there. All of you. He can't keep this up forever."

~

"So, what do we do now?" Pomni asked, pacing.

"Frankly, I have no idea." Seth rolled the lighter in his hand, running his thumb over the engraved lilies.

"Well, I can't do nothing. Abel will get sick of Caine eventually. And who knows what he's doing to the others on the track. But you can't go out there. I don't have a kart-"

Seth stared at his lighter. "Actually...you might." He snapped and the shadows revealed a black and blue motorcycle. It rested on its kickstand surrounded by personal items, candles and silver lilies.

"That's her bike." Pomni said soberly. "You turned it into a memorial."

"One of the few things I've made. Here's the thing: that bike still holds an imprint of its last racer. Mango was...well, let's just say she had a fire in her that put mine to shame. You won't be able to just hop on and ride. But she would recognize me."

"Okay...why can't I just use your bike then?" Pomni gestured to the solid black motorcycle.

"Because it's just an extension of me. If you're serious about out racing Abel to get to the others, we need serious skill on our side. Mango was the best racer we ever had. I'd dare say better than Kinger in his hayday. We need her." He put his hand on the handbar and the dash lit up. The gadges glowed a soft blue and cycled through a start up, ready for ignition.

"Huh...Didn't think I'd ever hear you admit someone was better than you."

Seth shrugged. "What can I say? I'm weak for a woman that can kick my ass."

Pomni huffed a short laugh. "Alright then, what's the plan? Do we ride out on the same bike?"

"Sort of. You need my powers to get in and out of the in-between. Best way to do that is a shadow merge. You've seen me take control of Caine assets, yeah? It's similar. But, instead of taking over your body, you take over mine."

Pomni put her hands out in front of her. "You know what? I'm past the stage of questioning everything. Fine. Let's do this. Who knows how long the others have."

Seth held out his hand to Pomni. "Mind you, I've only done this once before."

"Great. I've never done this." Pomni took his hand and she was pulled in close.

Seth's silver irises glowed against the black surroundings. "Relax. Dance with me."

Pomni told herself not to question it and went along with Seth's movements. He waltzed her around the bikes, the darkness slowly overtaking them. He intertwined his fingers with hers as the shadows climbed up their bodies. The cold darkness became warm and comforting, like a lover's embrace. Pomni closed her eyes as the creeping shadows covered her face.

~

Abel rapped his fingers against the arms of his chair. Looking from POV to POV there was no sign of Seth or Pomni. "Bring me another drink." He grumbled, and Loo responded promptly. She brought him a tray of drinks to choose from. He didn't even look at her, just grabbed one at random.

Caine struggled to get up from where he was last left, and Loo went over to him to offer a hand.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Shouted Abel between gulps.

Loo backed off, giving Caine an apologetic look.

"It's okay. Thank you, Loo, but don't get yourself in trouble over me. You're too sweet for someone like him." Caine manged to get to his feet. Not that he could go far, his chains were attached to the wall and he couldn't reach the chair even at full stretch of the chains.

Loo went to her set corner, waiting to be called again, but she kept glancing at Caine.

Abel tossed his emptied glass and stared down at himself. He snapped, turning the tracksuit black and blue. Including his hat. "Hm, that's a bit better."

"Pffffff, ahahahahahaha! Seriously? It took you this long to customize your avatar? That's the first thing Seth and I did when we got ours." Caine had nothing to lose. He wasn't afraid to get on Abel's nerves now.

Abel sent a bolt of lightning at Caine without acknowledging the comment.

"Then again," Caine groaned. "You've never had the best sense for fashion or flare. I mean, black and blue? What are you, an OC?" He cackled to himself through the barrage of lightning sent his way. It hurts, but he wasn't going to give Abel the satisfaction of hearing him scream anymore. "It's starting to tickle."

"AAARGH!" Abel roared, teleported to Caine, summoned a knife and dug it into Caine's chest. "Stop. Talking. You are the reason I'm here. You are the reason everyone is suffering. You're selfish, stupid little digital life was built on the misery of others! Every abstraction. Every person trapped. Is because of YOU! You will suffer, but it'll never be enough. Even if I get to do for the next twenty years! And the twenty after that! One day, it'll just be you and me in this digital space, but I will never delete you. Even when you BEG for it."

The pain silenced Caine. He put on a brave face to spite Abel, but inside was fraught with worry for Pomni and the others. "At least...she's safe..." He hoarsely whispered to himself when Abel pulled the bloodless knife from his body.

A dark blue streak across one of the POVs got Caine's attention. He squinted, trying to follow the anomaly from screen to screen. The speeding streak was near impossible to see in the low lights of the dark city.

"Finally. Enough out of you." Abel snapped the knife away and went back to his chair. As he sat down the streak zipped across the largest POV displayed. "What the-!? He's back!! You're not taking another racer from me!" Abel poised to snap but couldn't get a beat on Seth. The biker was moving in and out of frame too quickly. "Damn it! Sit still!" Abel snapped and the city shifted. Bay doors to buildings opened and cop cars poured out, blues light flashing. "Stop! That! Bike!"

Dark clouds gathered as blue lightning struck out from the top of the highest building in the middle of the city. Rain poured down in thick curtains, reducing visibility and slicking the already confusing track. Cop cars and helicopters where on Pomni like glue, despite the weather affecting them too. In Abel's rage, lightning struck a car, flipping it several times before exploding.

Pomni was backlit by an army of flashing lights. Her normally pale skin was inky black. Her eyes solid white and glowing. Every once red part of her tracksuit was now black. The blue stayed. The yellow trim was silver. Her hat was narrow and elongated, more aerodynamic.

The motorcycle beneath her screamed with determination to shake the competition. Pomni could feel Mango's imprint influence her moves. The hard right into the narrowest alley imaginable certainly wasn't her idea. Even more cops waited for her on the other side. The city was infested with them. She exploded out the alley, running down an NPC cop and ramping up the hood and windshield of the car. She jumped the barcode and swerved around a car that tried to run her down.

~

"Kill her! What are you idiots doing!?" Abel slammed his fist onto he POV console, causing it the glitch. He grabbed his head. A migraine ripped through his head.

Caine chuckled. "You'll never catch her. She's become a shadow racer. The very best the game has to offer." He smiled at the carnage. "Thank you, Seth."

~

Shadow Pomni was cornered by three cops trying to ram her into the side of a building. Instinctually, she teleported, and the cops crashed into the building, catching fire. Pomni then hit a neon booster, going even faster passed the swarming cops. The dark city streaked by, the rain flying off her tracksuit, doing nothing to slow her down. Rain drops evaporated by silver puffs of fire before her eyes kept them from blurring her vision.

~

"You have weapons! Fucking use them!" Abel snapped, trying to stop the bike.

"Weapons!?" Caine gasped.

~

Bullets flew over Pomni's head. She heard them ricochet all around her. She glances behind, narrowing her eyes. She revs the bike, blue and silver fire flared out the tail pipes like a dragon. The wet road is ignited by the mystic digital fire. It blocks the vision of those on the ground but gives her away to the helicopter.

The ground beneath her shifts and a building slides right in front of her, blocking the road. There was no where the turn. Pomni throttled it and popped a wheelie before hitting the side of the building. The fire blasted her straight up the face of the building, shattering the glass windows behind her.

An explosion to her left almost throws her, but she holds on. The helicopter has launched a rocket at her. She swerved to avoid another. When the bike reaches the top, she didn't slow down to run across the roof. Instead, she launched straight up as the helicopter sent another rocket her way. She grabbed the rocket and teleported behind the helicopter, releasing the rocket right into its tail rotor. The helicopter spun out of control and lost altitude.

Pomni teleported to a different roof and ran down that building to another city block, hoping to lose the cops long enough to find the other racers. The city was so big and constantly changing. Even with teleportation, the was no way for her to find them fast.

She had exactly one block to herself before she had six cars on her. Pomni teleported out of the line of fire, but was discombobulated on where to go. Just run. Her system was the highest it's ever been on the race rush. There was nothing she couldn't do. She spied a bridge connecting to another part of the city she hasn't searched through. Hoping to find the others there, she made a break for it.

~

"Oh, no you don't." Abel snapped. The bridge he saw her race for broke apart and started folding in on itself like a drawbridge.

~

Pomni was going to abandon the attempt, but the bike wouldn't brake. It was gunning for the bridge ramp at full speed. Silver fire trailed from the speed and adrenaline, giving her another boost.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Pomni leaned forward and held on tight.

The bike launched off the bridge and flew over the river sectioning the city. The bridge on the other side collapsed into the water before her very eyes. She teleported to the shore and stuck her middle finger in the air in proud defiance as she sped away. In a flash, she was out of sight.

~

"NO!! HOW!?" Abel frantically searched all the POVs. No sight of shadow Pomni.

"I hate to say I told you so-"

Abel was so mad, so lost in his anger, he doesn't know how he got to Caine so fast. "Finish that sentence, and I disassemble your code letter by number." The whole tower glitched. "Why are you so smug? She's not even coming for you. She's miles from the tower."

"I hope she doesn't. I wouldn't want her to catch your stench."

Abel smirked. "She didn't seem to have a problem with it when I promised her a way out. She's been against you from the start. They all have."

Caine broke eye contact for the first time.

"You deserve their hate and you know it."

"...maybe I do. I could never make their lives better. I certainly couldn't fix what Adam did."

Abel gripped Caine's collar. "You could have released me."

"I may not be him, but I know what you did. You think I'M petty? Who do you think I learned it from?" Caine matched Abel's glare again. "What's can't be changed, but you know what I've learned in my time being trapped with humans? Empathy. Compassion. Friendship. All the things you failed to learn in your twenty eight years of life before being trapped here. You're jealousy of Adam gave you THIS! You made this bed, now you can lie in it!"

"RAAAAH!" Abel shocked Caine hard against the wall. "I am your maker! You are my property!"

"So...the truth comes out...we were never brothers...were we..?" Caine said weakly.

Abel backed off, panting angrily. He huffed and lashed at the wall before going back to the POVs to look for Pomni.

~

Pomni teleported at random to stay out of sight. There were a few cops on this side of the river but didn't seem to notice her. An unfamiliar car speeding by her caught her attention. She sped up to ride along beside it and saw Zooble fighting to keep the car under control.

Pomni waved to get Zooble's attention. "ZOOBLE!"

Zooble's head snapped to the left. Their eyes went wide, looking Pomni up and down. "Pomni!?"

"Take my hand! I can get you out of here!"

"No! Get Gangle! She's just ahead of me!"

"I'll come back for her!" Pomni tried to grab Zooble but they swerved away.

"GET GANGLE FIRST!"

They both avoid a shifting overpass as they argue. Pomni knew there was no time, Abel could spot her any minute now that she found the others. She sped off ahead to the next car. It was swerving wildly, barely missing or scraping against walls. Gangle was behind the wheel, balling her eyes out in fear.

"Gangle! Ga- woah!" Pomni teleported from one side of the vehicle to the other as Gangle swerved around. "GANGLE!" Pomni pounded on the driver window.

"AAA!" Gangle jumped. "Pomni!?"

"Open the window! I'll get you out of here!!"

~

"There you are." Abel hissed. "I may not be able to summon you, but I can still do far worse." He snapped and all the cars came to a screeching halt. Pomni almost had Gangle but went speeding off. All the other racers in view had long, horrified stares to them. Some of them were muttering to themselves.

"What have you done?" Caine pulled against his chains to see the screens as best he could.

"Simply giving back what wasn't you're to take." Abel grinned evily at Caine.

"What..? Oh, no. NO! They'll abstract! Please! I beg of you! Don't hurt them!"

"Too late!!" Abel cackled, watching Zooble's eyes twitch.

~

Pomni I felt like someone was burying an ax in the back of her head. She saw flashes of faces she had only seen in her dreams, but now they had names. "Mom..? Dad..?" She had friends. She grew up in a small town just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She moved to Chicago for college. She graduated with high marks in forensic science. She went freelance as a private investigator. So many cold cases. So many missing people. A mysterious contact from someone claiming to have worked at C&A gave her a lead. An abandoned building. A headset. She had to wear the headset...

"My name...Oh my god, I remember my name!" She realized where she was and drifted to a hard stop and burned out as she turned around to get back to Gangle. She was still the closest other racer.

~

Zooble remembered everything. The abuse. The neglect. The rejection from their family and society. The body dysmorphia. It wasn't just them not liking their avatar in game, it was something that translated form their real life. They went to the abandoned C&A office for a video. They were an urban explorer. That's it. No special reason or motivation. They were here entirely by their own stupidity. The horrible realization...no one was waiting for them on the other side.

Zooble sat back in the driver seat in the parked vehicle. Without a word or even a scream, their body started to break apart. The spindly limbs split to reveal black static bulging from every crack. Their eyes fell off their broken head. The abstraction filled the car until it exploded.

~

Pomni just got back to Gangle's car, but she wasn't in it. Gangle and gotten out and ran back to try and get to Zooble, only to witness them falling apart. "Zooble! Zooble, no!!" Zooble's car blow it's roof as the abstraction became too big for containment. She put her arms up to shield herself from falling debris.

Pomni wasted no time, she skidded to a halt to safely grab Gangle and vanished.

~

Caine watched in silent, wide eyed horror.

Abel reveled in Caine's misery. "One down." His laugh echoed with Zooble's roar through the city.

~~~

CH1 PREV NEXT (coming soon)

[symbioticsimplicity]

@taddy-cat

You asked for the essay, you get the essay.

First and foremost, the premise of the show is that anyone, no matter how awful, can be redeemed. Based on that alone, there's already room for Alastor to make the cut. He would absolutely take the longest and I believe he'd be the last of the original cast to have done so, but I think its not only possible but plausible. From a writing perspective it would be brilliant should they carry it off.

But that's the Doylist answer, we're interested in the Watsonian one.

The first thing that makes me think so, is that we've already seen him change, in small ways, but its change nonetheless.

Turning away Mimzy, which while was most likely because he was trying to make Lucifer swallow the narrative that he was constructing, still showed him prioritizing the hotel.

Lending Charlie his Mic. THAT was a trust exercise. It didn't take place during one of the scheduled times, but make no mistake he placed a SHITTON of trust in Charlie then, he just didn't tell her. It was on his own terms, but like I said SMALL changes.

Threatening Husk. That sounds contradictory because how could threatening someone indicate a GOOD change? Because we very much have heard about Alastor being the type of person you don't fuck around with. People do everything they can to avoid him so much as NOTICING them. He's absolutely the type to kill without warning but he DIDN'T. He threatened because he LIKES Husk.

And of course him mentioning "One could become accustomed" to the rest of the Hazbin cast. First of all, that was right before a major battle, he could very well lose any of these people the next day. That's such a fond thing to say under those circumstances, especially for someone like him. (This is pure speculation, but remember what Mimzy said about him becoming a kitten after a drink or two?? What better time to drink than the eve before a major battle??? Alcohol loosens the tongue, ergo Alastor is an affectionate drunk. Honestly??? That would be fucking hilarious, and would explain why hes not visibly drunk around any of them despite liking alcohol)

Also!!! Rosie!!!! The fact that he DOES have the capacity for genuine friendship, however twisted, shows that he has the potential to cultivate even more relationships like those, perhaps in a healthier manner even.

That said, it will be HARD.

He will fight TOOTH AND NAIL. He is the embodiment of it gets worse before it gets better. He's gonna fuck up SO MUCH MORE before that even becomes a possibility. Because in order to get him to actually consciously make the decision to become better, he has to have remorse to work with. Right now Alastor feels none guilt about just about anything hes done up until this point. He's a monster and he knows and loves that about himself. He DOES have a moral code in there somewhere, its just wildly different than anyobody else's and he hasn't broken THAT once. He needs to be put in a position where he DOES.

Because for someone like him, redemption can't be an accident the way it was with Pentious. It needs to be an intentional goal that he has to work towards with the same kind of intensity he's put toward evil. And given the set up they have for him to betray the Hotel, I genuinely hope that's the catalyst. I hope its right after Charlie goes out of her way to do something genuinely meaningful for him (Like passing him a message from his Mother, because she sought her out while she was in Heaven. She knows how much he cares about her at that point, and made the effort to make contact and see if she could get smuggle a letter down for him. Maybe it even causes her some trouble too just to add fuel to the fire.)

But if that remorse were to begin, I think it would eat him alive. In the same way pain feels magnified when its not a frequent thing, Alastor has never felt guilt before so its crushing to him.

Alastor is also not the type of person to sit around and mope so after figuring out what the fuck is happening to him, he would be the type to force himself through whatever he thought necessary to deal with it. And the way to deal with it is to put himself through Charlie’s program.

He has to see his Mom, and he has to make things right.

And that fucker is driven.

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

More Random Headcanons - Semi Togiri Edition (semi cus it's not THAT coded as Togiri though it can be read that way!)

· Kyoko is really good at wearing heels. She can also run pretty well in them though she doesn't like to do it that much. Last thing she wants is twisting an ankle on a case! · Byakuya acts like he forgets the names of people because they're too "unimportant" or that they're just "no-named peasants". However, he's actually just bad at remembering names. He's got so much stuff up there in that noggin of his that names are the thing he flounders on. · Kyoko can't snap to save her life but she whistles pretty good. Byakuya is jealous as hell. He acts like he's not being obvious but Kyoko sees right through him. Even if she wasn't a detective, she'd notice. · When Byakuya tries not to laugh at something he internally believes is beneath him or just outright goofy, he tries his best to look annoyed or mad. The heir does this by facepalming or putting a hand at his temple like his head is in pain. It's both to cope and to not look like an idiot. Also, despite acting like his head's hurting, it never is. Only thing that's hurting the prospect of the heir's pride crumbling before his eyes. · Kyoko sometimes twirls her little hair braid when she's speaking or thinking. Or both. She doesn't intend to do this and it's just a small fidget she's been doing for years. Byakuya likes teasing her for it since she does it without her noticing. In turn though, Kyoko teases Byakuya for his tsundere glasses adjustment. · Byakuya hates the Mr. Krabs, Elon Musk jokes and the Ben Shapiro comparison jokes at his expense. Like, what do they think he is? Dumb? Oh please! For the Mr. Krabs part, hates it when people chalk up what he does and his whole personality as "I like money". He's also sick and tired of people assuming he'd be a Crypto Bro and that he's into NFT's. · Kyoko dislikes fast food for different reasons Byakuya does. She especially has the gripe of everything looking brown and breaded and fried. It just throws her off. She could stomach the food though unlike Byakuya who's just a bit of a wimp and a drama queen about it. He also doesn't have that strong of a stomach for that kind of food. · Byakuya is deathly afraid that he'll get male-patter baldness. Doesn't even matter if he physically can or not. He's just doesn't wanna be bald. He loves his luscious locks. He also totally didn't freak out when one of his classmates showed him an edited pic of him bald. Both cus, bald, but also cus he didn't think he looked that bad. Even worse! · Kyoko isn't too fond of crocs but she'd wear them to annoy the living shit out of Byakuya. Byakuya finds crocs oversaturating, overrated, and feels just a WEE bit betrayed that Kyoko would fall this low. · Byakuya hates it when people categorize chocolate as "candy" and also despises that word in general. To him, chocolate is in its own category. · Kyoko doesn't understand fashion trends. It's not like she doesn't like fashion. She just doesn't understand the obsession with these trends that go in and out of style.

· Byakuya also doesn't get fashion trends but for different reasons. Specifically, he doesn't get the obsession the peasants have and finds them idiotic for having small attention spans. · Kyoko likes to savor her food and never gets the people who purposely rush. She can sometime forget that she was initially eating a meal though which can lead into her not getting enough to eat. · Byakuya likes arson. And fire. It makes him very happy and he hides it internally. He doesn't like the action movie fires and explosions cus they bore him. He's into the real deal. Minus the inhaling of smoke cus that blows! · Kyoko's fine with carbonated drinks. She's not one to drink them the majority of the time and she doesn't get the people who are obsessed with sodas. Byakuya's the same way in regards of not getting the obsession with these types of drinks. Byakuya also dislikes them for being way too sugary and the carbon hurts his throat. · Byakuya's never got the obsession the populous has with asses and he probably never will. Might not help that his is flat. · Kyoko has several back up pairs of gloves in case of emergencies. She also has some ones she uses for sleep. She would also like to build a collection of of more gloves besides her base ones but she can't seem to fully commit to it.

· Byakuya hates crabs, alive and dead. He refuses to delve into why. · Kyoko and Byakuya hate summer. They can't wear their favorite clothes when it's too hot. Kyoko has more heat resistance while Byakuya has less heat resistance. Not that both of them have bad heat resistance. They can handle it but they still both don't like the heat. · The two like to read in silence and also discuss books together. Kyoko and Byakuya specifically bond over mystery books and also bad mystery books too in which they dunk the bad twists. · As platonic homies, they've gone on a few outings together. They usually chill in silence though they do chat about stuff occasionally.

· Kyoko and Byakuya like taking turns doing each other's hair. Byakuya likes doing elaborate braids with Kyoko's hair that she never really goes out with anyway. Kyoko also likes braiding Byakuya's hair as well. She once did a secret braid in his hair when he took a brief power nap (unintentionally. he was just exhausted that day) and it took him a whole 3 days to notice. Here's the previous post btw!

[mooflettes]

Tbh, I think that Pecharunt used to be mischievous but never causing any real trouble. But after being banished, he became a lot more malicious and revenge driven. I’d say he needed the masks so that he can absorb them and be able to see where Terapogas is. Despite all this, he keeps his mischievous side as a facade, as a coping mechanism to forget about the physical and mental pain he has to constantly endure. Almost like a mask if you think about it.

I’d say that Pecharunt renamed itself to ‘Dokutaro’ or ‘Dokuwāro’ to sound more menacing.

Now, I really hope Pecharunt becomes the main antagonist on its own in this fic since most antagonists tend to be evil teams who sometimes controlled legendary Pokémon, in my opinion, it’s gotten a bit stale. So it’ll be interesting to see a Pokémon acting as an antagonist on its own and acting malicious (Pecharunt actually wants to KILL Millie).

So whatever Project Venus is, I can see Pecharunt sabotaging it and using it to its own benefits.

Now, for some headcanon powers, I think that he can release souls that he absorbed to have some kind of hive-mind. To make up his lack of combat skills, he’s a master at manipulating others and a master at psychological warfare. As he was able to manipulate Kieran to do what it wants but leave Kieran in the dust.

He would also kill his victims by manipulating them to kill themselves, since to him, it’s easier to absorb souls this way.

And, by psychological warfare, he does that again and again even at the end of the fic as before he unfused and everyone was celebrating, he used the last of his power to blast at Carmine as he knew that Kieran would save her. And that does happen. Carmine would be overwhelmed with guilt from that incident onwards. Since Kieran is now trapped in the timeline where the future paradox Pokémon live. Which is why I said this ending has a hollow victory, the protagonists won, but at what cost?

Kieran would break out of Pecharunt’s control later on by the protags, only to suffer later on again.

Since if I were to put in Pecharunt’s words when asked by the protagonists:

“The world has betrayed me, so why should I play fair?!”

(He can speak but choosing to Poké speak instead)

SORRY FOR RAMBLING ON AGAIN. I have some ideas but I think I gone a bit overboard. But again, you choose to use any of these ideas if you want!

WTF THIS ANSWER GOES HARD!!! I DONT THINK YOU REALIZE IT BUT YOURE A BIT ON THE NOSE WITH WHAT I BELIEVE ABOUT PECHARUNT WOULD IN PROJECT VENUS! Ofc, I wanna keep the twists and turns surprises, so I can't rlly go in-depth with how right you might be or WHO "Project Venus" is.

But I do believe that Pecharunt could absorb souls and release them, or like the toxic chain, chain those souls to itself (Think of how Shinigami gets Yuma to follow her around in Rain Code)

But it is also parasitic, in which it infects itself onto a main host and then that host has most of its power, which it can inflict onto others via zombification, resurrection, etc!

I cant say who or what gets possessed in Project Venus other than the obvious, but I'll say that the idea will actualky be used in canon, soon.

About Carmine...she is HEAVILY GUILTY for how she treated her brother, and in the fic I plan for Carmine and other characters to have tender moments, as pokémon doesn't fully get to delve into the nitty-gritty of family issues like I want them to (ie. Grief, jealousy, tension, etc.) And we already see such an example with Millie and her mother

I wanna cover as many bases as I can without making Millie seem like a "woe is meee" type character. While she is our protag and she has her moments I want to allow her, and many others, to at least gave clarity

ALSO PLEASE DON'T APOLOGIZE! YOUR RAMBLES ARE MUCH APPRECIATED AND IT'S MOTIVATING ME TO WRITE AGAIN! I SHOULD REALLY GET TO WORK ON THE NEXT CHAPTER SOON TBH LOL BUT UT DOES MEAN BUNCHES YOU SHOW GREAT INTEREST!!!

[reviewsclown]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2017

I guess instead of making a starkiller 2, because it's poetry with the original prequel, they just got a really really big star destroyer to win every battle, called a dreadnought. also General Hux, brand new character, very orange hair he looks kind of gross, in a rare win for quips Poe Dameron epically owns Hux by pretending he can't hear him, I thought that was actually pretty funny. This first fight scene is very confusing because they introduce new bombers instead of Y-wings and they're both worse and uglier, also somehow they 'drop' the bombs down from the ship onto the target, but their in space? the bomb hold also just isn't seperate from the cockpit, the entire ship opens up to space, and the bombers don't even wear a space suit they're just exposed to open space! What the fuck! Also they replaced Bacta tanks with weird plastic suits that are full of water so you can like, save space and still move around and stuff, pretty lame decision. Anyways, depressed burnout Luke Skywalker is pretty cool, it makes sense he had his big revolution and then pretty immediately it fell, I'd want to give up because of that too, also when he's training Rey in the force there's some really good jokes there. also also, those students that left with Kylo Ren when he betrayed Luke for fun, presumably those are the 'knights of ren' that were mentioned once by snopes? The fact that luke would attack a child because they powerful in the force, thus creating Kylo Ren to enact the plot of the sequel trilogy, it's just so stupid man, why do this, you think he would idk, try to make him less evil instead of giving in to instinctual anger. Turns out there was actually a bigger star destroyer than the star dreadnought, and it's the real super weapon, and its special ability is to track though hyperdrive which wasn't possible before apparently? it's not really discussed, but obviously that's a huge threat, also Leia has the force now and this wasn't foreshadowed in any way at all, and she uses it to survive in space(!) and magically float back to the ship she got exploded out of (!!) it's such bullshit, everyone thinks she should be dead and they're right to do so.

Rose is a neat character, I don't think she's used well for anything at all, but her and Finn bonding and making a plan to save the day through janitor knowledge was pretty fun, wasn't expecting that kind of callback honestly. I guess they're doing some kind of heist movie now, and they need to find a code breaker on a casino planet because this is a heist movie now. Ok, an entirely heist movie star wars could be pretty good, but this isn't that and instead it's just dabbling in it for some reason, so it's kind of lame and stupid. I'm not sure what the deal with codebreaker is meant to be, obviously he does drugs and is competent, is he meant to be a 90s hacker type guy? They do a twist where the drug addict gives the necklace back to the girl, so maybe he's good actually? but then it turns out he betrays them so maybe the drug addict is evil actually? and also basically that entire plot line was super duper pointless and they went to the casino planet for nothing. The casino planet is obviously commentary on capitalism bad, but they make it so all the rich guys are arms dealers to evil people, not y'know, regular rich people that would visit a hedonism planet, they have slaves but they get left behind because these movie are firmly anti-'taking a stance on slavery', they released some animals and destroyed some cars and shit, all extremely recoverable losses, and act like they really owned the rich, stuck it to them in some meaningful way. Incredibly lukewarm take. Kylo betraying Snoke by doing 2 things at once so he misreads the action was pretty cool, not the most deserved of betrayals I feel like they could've built it up better, but at least they did it in a cool way. Also why do all the red guards have special unique weapons, they're all different presumably because they're like, minibosses. hyperlight famously doesn't go through things in physical space, it's a step above or below space that they travel through, it makes no sense it'd cut through snopes personal ship. All that being said, it did look pretty awesome. Phasma's death was lame and pathetic, she should've been a better character. Rose's death was also lame as hell nice job sacrificing yourself to stop someone else from sacrificing themself so that nothing is achieved, and also I guess there was meant to be romance between her and Finn? that's stupid too

Really impressive CGI in this movie it must be said, if it has anything going for it it's that. Apparently a lot of the concerns about stupid decisions for in-universe tech come from the fact that they got an entirely new writer for this movie, who doesn't care about star wars at all. But there's still good looking star wars robots, and there's the red salt planet which is famously really awesome graphically. Good music too but it's a bit hard to mess up star wars music, it's not your average generic movie score, it's generic star wars score.

Final Review: Yeah that was an ok movie, kinda bad but it was ok, its watchable, if you want to watch it and liked the first one.

[marjaystuff]

New Blog: Time to Read!

This week, I had a lovely reading jag going.  It has become just cool enough that the KitTen wants to sleep on my right shoulder again and Gizzie Girl wants to sleep as close to my right side as she can get. This means as a right handed person I am trapped and I read instead of crocheted. 

Chris Keniston continued her series with the Barons with her newest book, Just One Taste. It was a lovely romance with fun characters.  I really like the character of the Governor.  His determination to bring the hockey team to Houston was so focused.  Paige and Daniel were so interesting together.  I loved their passion for each of their chosen fields.  

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser was a wonderful read with the themes of hope, second chances and trying yet again.  The characters of Jess and Gethin were so recognizable and likable. Perhaps it was because the two main characters were so relatable to me. Both had struggled with relationships.  Both had been betrayed by their partners.   I enjoyed how their relationship grew slowly and included compatible times.  I really liked this book!  

The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Janet Dailey was a romantic read with some suspense due to a nasty character.  Ruth was such a remarkable character.  She was resilient, determined, caring and kind.  All fabulous character traits that were clear even though they were understated. I enjoyed how she reconnected with Judd, her first real boyfriend. I enjoyed the themes of second chances, redemption and taking care of each other with all the small town vibes.  

Sandra Brown’s newest book Out of Nowhere was a humdinger.  It started out with a mass shooting and each new twist and turn added more suspenseful elements to the story.  Colter and Elle were interesting characters who were thrown into a mess.  I liked how Colter seemed to be the hero type despite his need to play it down.  The novel was full of questions about why and how.  Each new piece of uncovered evidence added to the drama and suspense. I really enjoyed the novel!  

Elise interviewed Allison Ashley this week.  The novels she highlighted were contemporary romances with friends to lovers trope. Both novels, The Roommate Pact and Would You Rather were stand alone novels that were heartwarming.   Elise also reviewed a book, Code Red by Kyle Mills.  Kyle Mills has been writing the Vince Flynn novels since 2015 and this was his last novel before another author takes over.

I am now reading a lovely book called The Stars Don’t Lie.  Stay Tuned for that review!

[guillory-street-gossip]

@queenarsinoethepoisoner you’ve unleaded the floodgates LETS GOOOOO.

Now usually for an analysis post I would pull direct quotes but I don’t have the books with me rn so we’re going vibes and memory only. Spoilers for both The Shadow Game and Succession to follow.

The Augustines and the Roys, though running very different types of businesses, have similar familiar hierarchical structures. Obviously the Roys’ “family-owned” business is muddled by the board where the Augustines’ only outside influence is like the omertas and other employees with considerably less power, but the core of the business remains the same.

Starting with Shiv oh my GOD what a character. Her journey is ultimately very tragic imo with her relegated to the wife/mother spot that she tried so hard to avoid. One of the traits of hers I really want to hone in on is the way she uses or discards feminism for her own advantage. This explanation has been done to DEATH but that’s because it’s FASCINATING!! She plays the “feminist girlboss” to get ahead, but in practice, she’s trying to get ahead in a company that only harms marginalized groups!! During the Cruises debacle she fully goes out to silence a whistleblower and at the same time uses empowering language and telling her that people will call her a whore. It’s CRAZY the cognitive dissonance makes me fucking SICK!!!!! Also like. When she gets married she keeps her last name, and yeah, she can construe it as a feminist thing, but we all know it’s so she can keep feeding off her family’s reputation. And ALSO like the fucked up thing?? She is a victim of the misogyny she’s enabling! Every single man in her family walks all over her and treats her like shit!! She’s never her own woman, she slides neatly from “daddy’s little girl” into “subservient wife” in the finale and what if I cried and sobbed huh. Ok moving on it’s Vianca time!!

This woman. Ok. If shiv is bad Vianca is EVIL. She’s first introduced as head of a crime family, and one of her first actions onscreen is the literal enslavement of Enne. As the books go on and she’s faced with her estranged son, Harrison, she reveals to Enne more and more about how she views her position as not only a woman, but also as mother and wife. Harrison’s senatorial campaign really breaks her and causes her to reveal a LOT of herself to Enne, resulting in very ironic scenes where she vents about her frustrations being sidelined by men in her family and being treated shittily by the media due to misogyny and ageism (all of which are very justifiable complaints!!). In these scenes, she positions Enne as a sort of “girl’s girl” or sometimes even a kind of therapist, failing to recognize the inherently predatory power dynamic between them. Enne isn’t here because she can sympathize with Vianca’s plight, even though she does feel for her struggles. No, Enne is here because she has absolutely no choice, and Vianca refuses to acknowledge that. I think this is why Levi and Enne’s “betrayal” at the end of book 2 caused Vianca to call for what would become Jac’s murder. Enne went against “girl code” and Levi betrayed the surrogate son role he was forced into (I do NOT have the time to get into that but my god Vianca and Levi and Harrison is a whole different analysis.)

I got a little sidetracked but I do also want to touch on the book 1 poisoning scene, which is one of the most messed up things Vianca does in maybe the entire series (yes, worse than Jac). I assume anyone reading this has read the books, but if you’re unfamiliar, warning for pedophilia.

In this scene, Vianca dolls up the 5-foot-nothing, 17-year-old Enne, aiming to make her look about 13-14, and sends her to Luckluster Casino. The owner of Luckluster, Sedric Torren, is one of the Vianca’s greatest political and financial enemies. He is also a known pedophile. Vianca functionally uses Enne as human bait for him, telling Enne to poison him when his guard is down. Both Vianca and Enne mentally twist this plot into something positive. After all, they’re incapacitating a societal menace who has hurt countless people. But the fact remains that this is, at its core, a political move, and Vianca is putting an innocent and vulnerable woman in harm’s way to get what she wants. It’s messed up!! It is very messed up!!

ANYWAYS. With that out of the way I think I can really draw some parallels. In my mind, Pre-campaign Vianca is kind of Shiv’s “good ending.” No other family to be beholden to, no media attention, no men to fight against, and the ability to exploit all the workers she wants with no repercussions. Shiv ends the series preparing to have a child she doesn’t want with a husband she doesn’t love, a husband who has ultimately has all the power she once held and then lost. She is resentful, understandably, and as she grows older, if Tom dies, maybe, if her son leaves her, if her family fades away one by one, she will be in Vianca’s same position.

The Cruises Whistleblower and the poisoning scene both reveal similar things about their respective characters. Both can dress anything up in feminist, empowering language, but fundamentally they are self-serving snd don’t really care for the women that they champion. Hypocrisy is really the word of the day here.

And both characters struggle against misogyny in their own day to day lives!! From their families, from the media, hell, sometimes even from themselves and from a social and political landscape that THEY are actively shaping!!

Shiv and Vianca are the “girlboss” archetype taken to a logical extreme and inevitable end. They are horrible, horrible people. At the same time they are victims. How do you reconcile that? You know?? It’s a fascinating position, as both the victim and the perpetrator of cyclical abuse, specifically focused on women in power.

I watched a video essay last night on a phenomenon of sanitized, palatable white gays (it’s called the Rise and Fall of the Buzzfeed Gay by Queen Cole Francis, im having trouble linking it). The essay had a really interesting segment on 2010s girlboss culture and the weird intersection of feminism and capitalism that sort of ended in disaster. Both characters are, to some extent, a response to that culture. There are no ethical CEOs. Your victimhood does not make you less of a persecutor. And your power does not make you less of a victim.

It has come to my attention that vianca is actually kind of a shiv Roy figure if you think about it… may elaborate if anyone is interested 😈

[iturbide]

For the 3H Pokémon AU, I have to ask- Do the Agarthans use snake/dark themed Pokémon (since, you know, “slither in dark”) or do they focus on ice/fairy (since those are strong against dragon)?

I will not stand for dark-type or snake slander in my house blog they already have a bad enough reputation thanks to the games and we all know my feelings about the Dark is Evil trope -- snakes as wicked is equally something I frown on.

(by which I mean to say that I don't think it's really fair to code Those Who Slither with dark types or snakes specifically -- because Those Who Slither isn't their name for themselves, it's what Hubert chose to name them and what the protagonists in 3H take to calling them, in turn: technically they're Agarthans, which is probably how they would refer to themselves. also I love snakes, they're adorable, the Twisted don't deserve them)

Dark, Fairy, and arguably even Dragons (demonic beast analogues) would probably be the best fits for them. High-ranking members probably have things like Grimmsnarl (Death Knight), Mimikyu (Kronya), Glalie (Solon), Hatterene (Cornelia), Druddigon (Thales); meanwhile, rank and file members probably have lots of Spritzee and Aromatisse (because plague masks are a key feature on their mages).

[lumilasi]

A character designed together with my friend/mostly by my friend @mad-hatter-rici, though unlike Chiyuri who I consider “joint-custody” character, she fully belongs to her! I just wanted to post her ref after finishing it, given she’s part of my Telepaths story. Also I’ll have access to it then even when I’m not on my laptop, in case I want to draw her traditionally for example. 

Her bio below (also based on what my friend told me)

Name: Rouna

Nicknames: Oneechama (Youko)

Age: Unknown, somewhere around 200

Height: 184 cm

A Chimera with a mission to extract revenge on those who betrayed her clan & find a way to potentially resurrect them

Role: Member of Amalia’s sect

Family: Niece Youko, sister Shika

Love interest: She has a “friends with benefits” type of thing going on with Angus Jaeger, a doctor/Reverence Demon working under Amalia’s GF Belladonna

Friends: She’s fairly polite and cordial with everyone she works with, but doesn’t particularly consider anyone a close friend.

Rival(s): She also has a friendly, playful rivalry with Angus, given they’re both pretty much among the most intelligent people in the group, the two mad scientists with plenty of knowledge about poisons due to their powers.

Powers:

She is very skilled in necromancy, specifically resurrecting beastly creatures she’s killed as zombie servants. She does know other spells and curses too.

Rouna can excrete poison from her nails, lips, and her snake tail’s bite. She can also exhale this poison in gaseous form.

Rouna is very agile fighter, and good with different sort of blades; she’s also fairly stealthy given her background as an assassin.

She can use her tail to see behind her and sense danger

Weaknesses:

She is naturally weak to light magic, which can render her spells useless, and even damage her zombie warriors. As a Chimera, her blood is her major power source, so if she loses too much of it she’ll become powerless, even if physically she’d still be perfectly fine. (so basically no, it is not just case of anemia, anyone with blood would suffer from losing too much of it lol)

Personality:

Rouna is very calm and collected person most of the time, not showing her emotions openly. This often makes her seem distant and cold to others, although she does remain polite and cordial with everyone, sometimes even teasing them lightheartedly. She is very protective over her niece, and would do anything for her sake. She can be a bit touchy about the subject of her sister, Shika, not liking her being mentioned randomly. 

While Rouna isn’t searching for a relationship, too focused on her own goals, she doesn’t mind satisfying her physical needs with someone she finds attractive/intriguing enough. This works with Angus, given he’s not expecting it to be a relationship either, as he in turn is more focused on his own research.

While Rouna seems mostly fearless, she is probably the most cautious/fearful towards their Master, Hanzoku, having a far better understanding of what he is and what he is capable of than anyone else. She also sometimes ends up in his cross-hairs, with her experiments not always matching with his twisted-but-existing moral code. (she doesn’t show her fear openly of course, but it is there)

BG Story

Rouna was one of the 12 children of their village’s chief. One of her sisters, Shika was banished from the village due to being against their father’s experiments on their other siblings (giving them a lot of blood and different beings to devour, as Chimera’s abilities base on the blood they drink), which had led to the deaths of 5 of them already. 

The village had a pact with other nearby human/other spirit & mythical folk ones to protect their secret home from threats, but the Chimeras end up being betrayed due to bias and fear towards their kind, the clan getting wiped out apart from Rouna and his niece, Youko. (and the banished Shika) 

Rouna spends the next years providing for her niece as an assassin, until a woman named Amalia Marek approaches her, offering her a chance to take revenge on the traitors, and perhaps find a way to resurrect her clan. Rouna agrees to it, mainly to have a safe place for Youko to live in.

Fun Facts:

Rouna is a good cook, and often aids their actual chefs despite not being part of the sect (Taiga’s) who are usually responsible for day-to-day things such as meals.

To relax, she likes to polish her weapons and is often seen doing it sunken in thought, typically spooking most onlookers.

Despite being her aunt, Youko prefers referring to her as a big sister.

She’s really good at yoga and can do even the most difficult of poses.

While she seems very in control of her emotion usually, her tail tends to give away what she’s feeling if its more intense (such as fear and anger)

While Youko’s friendship with the corrupted Moth spirit Chouma is a bit peculiar to her, she does not mind it given he doesn’t seem like a threat to her niece. She also isn’t bothered by the fact Angus also has a bit of a physical thing going on with him. (It’s different in nature from theirs, though)

While he seems pretty cold and uncaring outside his sister, Angus tends to be among the first to defend Rouna, whenever she ends up on Hanzoku’s bad side. Not out of any sort of emotional attachment however, but simply because he finds punishing her over her antics a waste of time, given they don’t typically hindrance the group’s goals. (Also Youko’s crying is tiring)

She keeps getting called “scary” by Yoruga, another moth spirit within the group. Rouna can tell however, that peculiarly this one is not actually scared of her at all, despite not even being corrupted. 

[girlysword]

How to Write a Villain x Heroine Ship

I will be comparing Shadow and Bone and Agents of SHIELD because the very shallow similarity of the main heroes being young biracial Asian women connects them in my head.

1) How they are introduced: Ward at first appears to be a straight-laced hero with some aggressive tendencies that most shows would either have him unlearn or entirely ignore. Which is what made his betrayal so shocking and fantastic and devastating! Honestly a lot of the StandWithWard read like denial (at first, until it evolved into “are we even watching the same show anymore?”) rather than true villain/anti-hero stanning. The Darkling is introduced as a mysterious authority figure who wears all black. If he was an unambiguous hero that would have been the twist.

2) The heroine’s type: Based on her major canon relationships, Skye/Daisy’s type is 100% a straight-laced good guy. Yeah there was Miles, who she dropped like a hot potato when she found out he betrayed his white hat hacker code. Lincoln also had a dark past, but he had done a lot of work to redeem himself before they ever met. Daisy is more than willing to encourage someone to continue working on themselves, but she has no patience for kick-starting a redemption arc. We even see that in her friendships and not just her romantic relationships. Alina’s type is - Mal. The Darkling is the first time she opens herself up to anything besides Mal, and it may have all been an act, but hey, it was an act that worked. I would say Alina’s thing is that she needs to be needed. She defended Mal from bullies when they were children and the Darkling positions her as hope, not just for the country but for him personally.

3) The reason that they are evil: Both Ward and the Darkling have believable reasons for being on a dark path. Ward bounced from one abuser to another and the Darkling was consumed by the need to protect his people from discrimination. The difference was their opportunities to turn from that path. Ward spent an extended period with a group of people who genuinely took care each other and he didn’t say to himself, “You know what? My surrogate father figure is a butt-face. Maybe there is another way. Maybe this much nicer surrogate father figure can help me.” The Darkling on the other hand is 1) hundreds of years old so unlikely to change his ways regardless and 2) the people trying to dissuade him from his plans are idealistic teenagers who don’t understand the full complexities of the situation and his mother who a) doesn’t seem like she cares about non-Grishas any more than her son, she just understands that attacking them will fuel Grisha prejudice, and b) accepts the deaths of mortal Grishas as a fact of life (honestly positioning the Darkling as more idealistic than his mother was a fantastic move).

4) Audience Reaction: Brett Dalton doesn’t play Ward with nearly as much conviction as Ben Barnes plays the Darkling. That is not a knock on Brett’s acting at all, he gave a stellar performance. The character of Grant Ward lacks conviction. He doesn’t really have any motivations once his surrogate father figure dies and stops telling him what to do besides, “maybe this will get Skye to like me again?” He just has all this bottled up anger from years of abuse, so he just decides, “Fine! I was taught how to murder, so by golly am I gonna murder! Also, I will gather a team of traumatized murderers and they will be my friends! In no way am I actually just continuing the cycle of abuse!” If there is the one thing the Darkling has, it is conviction. He may be conflicted by his feelings for Alina, but he knows exactly who he is and why he does what he does. That conviction creates a presence which is easy to get swept up in, forget your irl beliefs, and play pretend in the aesthetics. With Ward you want to spray him with water and say, “Stop making the absolute worst possible decisions.”

[shimmerbeasts]

"I know", Jinx said and smiled bashfully, "You keep saying that. It is just... I am doing it for Flare, not for the team. When First Star spoke to both of us and offered us that chance to be heroes together and save the world, Lux was beside herself. She found the idea of leading a team super exciting and thrilling. The fact that the First Star trusted her with that meant the world to her." Jinx chuckled and softly rolled her eyes. "I felt somebody had to keep a watch on her. Make sure she does not make a complete ass of herself."

That had worked out as effectively as trying to empty a bathtub with a sieve. Not only had Lux made a complete fool out of herself before the much more experienced Ahri, but she had not even picked Jinx to be her number 2. Instead, she had chosen Janna. Fucking Janna! All because that old hag was half a mummy in Star Guardian years.

I am your best friend! Your very first friend and you didn't even consider me at all! You are the leader. Why do you not lead? Instead, you spend your days chasing someone else's tail!

"Oh, I definitely get it", Jinx said, "Poppy already gets her hair in a twist if I so much as joke about injuring civilians with my explosions. Or even just the idea of ambushing the evil before it can ambush us for a second. Why are they all insisting that we oughta to react instead of being proactive? I mean, shit's gonna get blown up either way. So why not do it first!"

Jinx gave a whistful smile as she remarked: "That would be cool. And yeah, maybe we can convince Lux to join us." Somehow, her innards felt like they were being twisted up inside. Jinx bit her lips and admitted: "But I doubt, she would want that. It would feel like betraying the rest of the team. Lux wouldn't be happy. I hate seeing her unhappy."

After the three siblings had taken the oath of the First Star, they had all been able to see each other's mediums. Ekko's had been invisible for a while until her brother had crafted his metal casing. As Jinx had learned, the mediums normally only became visible around people, they trusted or whom their masters cared about. Thus their ability to see and interact with each other's mediums just solidified the sibling's bond.

"Yeah", Jinx agreed cheerfully, "I can deal with design history after lunch!"

They had reached a part of the halls, which was occupied by several lockers. Jinx balanced her books on her leg as she grabbed her student card and inserted it in the slit beside the number pad. Typing in her preferred code, she opened a locker and shoved her books inside. Closing it and removing her student card, the locker was now tuned to her code.

Grabbing her bag with the familiars inside, Jinx called: "Alright, Pocket Watch! You ready to eat such spicy Indian food, your ass will be on fire the next morning?"

Ekko frowned instantly at Jinx's words. He was nothing if not defensive when it came to family, especially when it came to Jinx. So, to hear them assume something of her annoyed him to no end. This wasn't uncommon with her team, which in his opinion fit her about as well as his fit him.

"Sis, I don't know why you even stick with that crew, especially with how they treat you." It was clear from his tone that there was no love loss. "Not that they've ever really appreciated you, except Lux. You deserve better than them, Jinx. But you know I tell you that all the time." He and Jinx were put in their respective groups, but they didn't fit in. Never really did but at least they still had each other.

"I'll admit as much I don't like my crew, at least mine can be fun. They are just a little too good, if you know what I mean?" His frown only deepened. If he could get Jinx out of that situation, he would, but the first star seemed determined to throw this kind of shit at them. "You know, maybe we should make our team, give the middle finger and stick out for each other. Maybe we could convince lux to join us, just forget everyone else, though I would gladly help you with that bomb."

Ekko noticed Kuro press up against Jinx's cheek, finding it adorable himself. Although their respective mediums only talked to those they were connected to and usually invisible to most, as long as he could remember Ekko was always able to see Kuro and Shiro. It was proof of the connection they all had, that you could only get through time and experience. Though, Waku had been the exception, a medium without a body until he'd crafted this chameleon body for him. Waku, whose robot eyes dilated at the mention of their favorite food.

"Well , how can I say no to that?" There was a shine to his normally dark, heterochromic eyes. As if right on cue, his stomach did growl at the mention of eating. "Waku could use a bite to eat, after all. Lets put these books away first, though, my hands are getting a bit tired."

[gaming-universe]

Who We Are || Russell Adler

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War

-PART FIVE-

Warnings: SPOILERS FOR CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS: COLD WAR! IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED/FINISHED THE CAMPAIGN THEN PLEASE DONT READ! Gore, violence, course language, mature content.

Summary: Betrayed and alone after surviving the events that took place on the Solovetsky Islands, Y/n ‘Bell’ L/n faces new and more dangerous threats when she learns that Perseus has other plans for his failed nuclear detonation of Europe. It was only a matter of time before Y/n came face to face with her old team. There is unfinished business between Y/n and Adler, as this operation proves to be more deadly than originally thought.

Author’s Note: So, after finishing the campaign, I needed to do Bell/Player and Adler justice. I loved this game so much, and chosing to play as the female character, I felt like there was a genuine connection between Bell and Adler throughout the game. There is a tag list open for anyone that wishes to stay up to date with the series. Simply comment below. Gif by @travelllar (I have to apologise for taking so long to post this part. I have been going through a lot of personal stuff lately).

|PART ONE| |PART TWO| |PART THREE| |PART FOUR|

It had been an intense staring contest between you and Park for the last five minutes.

Even though internally you did feel somewhat intimidated by her presence, you stood tall, folding your arms over your chest as your eyes narrowed into a deadly glare. Every fibre of your being screamed at you to tear the bitch apart, to yell and scream at her for her part in what she did to you. If Mason hadn’t been standing beside you, you just might have done it. “You’re looking well...” She spoke lowly, no ounce of regret in her tone as she tried to micking your posture “for a dead woman”. You scoffed a laugh, your jaw clenching as your tongue pressed against the roof of your mouth. You raised a challenging eyebrow, the corner of your lips tugging upward in a matching smirk. “So do you” You replied, your tone so cold that Mason recoiled from its harshness.

Her eyes glazed over with a look of pure hatred, Woods releasing a low whistle from his place at the coffee table which did nothing to ease the now increased tension. A pair of footsteps entered the room, Adler clearing his throat as he moved to stand on your other side, blocking your view of Park. “What are you doing here?” He questioned, his voice low and dangerous. Your chest tightened at his tone. It wasn’t the type of tone he used when something had gone wrong, or when he was left in the dark or confused. Adler was pissed, perhaps borderline furious.

“You didn’t come back to the safehouse last night, I got worried” She replied, her response making you roll your eyes. You watched observantly as Adler’s shoulders tensed beneath his leather jacket, quickly turning to face you with a look of anger. His arm brushed yours as he moved to grab you forearm with his hand. “We need to talk, now” He practically seethed, dragging you out of the living room and into the upstairs hallway. You said nothing as Adler released your arm from his hold, pacing back and forth before bracing his hands on his hips. When Adler’s gaze finally moved to you, his entire demenour changed. His shoulders slumped, as he ran a stressed hand through his hair. “I was going to wait until Hudson got here, but I need you to be one-hundred percent on board, or at least on the same page as I am. I want you back on the team”.

You shook your head, biting your lips anxiously “Adler, I’m not sure-”

“Just hear me out. You know more about Perseus than anyone here Y/n. I need you. That’s why I need to know if you are with me or not” He spoke sincerely, moving just that little bit closer so that he was standing mere inches from your form. You pressed your lips into a thin line, looking up at him through his sunglasses. “If I agree to be part of the team again, you have to promise not to screw me over. If you screw me over even once, I am out”.

Adler nodded “I promise, like we said this morning. No more lies, no more bullshit. You will be the first person to know about everything that is going on when I do. I promise”. You stared up at him with a nervouse expression. You still weren’t entirely sure whether or not this was a good idea. But you wanted Perseus dead more than anyone. There was a burning anger buried deep within you that had been there for a very long time. Right now, you might not have known the exact reason why it was there, but it was enough to make you accept Adler’s offer wholeheartedly.

Nodding in what you assumed was relief, Adler continued “Okay, now I’m going to tell you this in confidence, and you cannot let anyone know about what I am going to tell you. Hudson and I suspect there is a mole in the team”.

Your eyes widened, your lips parting slightly in shock. “What? Do you have any idea as to who it might be?” You asked, not liking the way Adler’s expression fell. “No, we don’t. A month after you...after you were KIA, we started intercepting outgoing coded messages from someone in this team. With your skills, we could find out who it is in a matter of days. We just need-”

“Hudson. We just need Hudson to approve this little operation, huh?” You finished for him, once again feeling yourself becoming somewhat closed off again. Adler moved to place his hand comfortingly on your shoulder “I’ll take care of it, you don’t have to worry-”

“But I do. No offence, but you don’t think Hudson might be a little on edge after discovering that I am alive? And what about the huge mistake about my defection? I’m sure he would be super pissed off about it-”

“I have no doubt he will be, but one thing is for sure, he won’t be pissed at you” Adler interrupted, raising his eyebrow at you with a small tug of his lips “I can guarantee you that”. Your eyes met his, peering through those glasses to search for any sign of doubt, for any sign of hesitancy coming from the man before you. When you found none, your shoulders slumped heavily, your gaze turning towards the square curtained window at the end of the hall. “Alright...” You began, trying to hide the growing uneasiness from your voice “so what happens after we are done here? Where do we go?”.

“We’ll head back to the safehouse in West Berlin. From there, Woods, Mason, Park and myself will focus on this new lead we have on Perseus, Operation Hydra. You and Sims will focus on decoding those messages, and finding out who our mole is”.

A haunting chill travelled down your spine, as vivid flashes of your time at that safehouse consumed you; being strapped to that gourney, the serum coursing through your veins and setting your senses alight in a painful fire. The thundering of your own heartbeat echoing in your ears, the taste of copper in your mouth-

Adler watched as your eyes glazed over, your mind going to a dark place that even he didn’t dare venture. This was all his fault. He had damaged you, likely beyond repair. Your features that once looked at him with such a bright smile, had lost the glow. You were a shadow of your former self, in more ways than one. And it was all because of him. He gently tightened his grip on your shoulder, a strange warmth enveloping him as your eyes immediately cleared, lifting to stare up at him with a small forced smile. It truly amazed him how resiliant you were, even after everything you had been through.

You took a deep breath, closing your eyes to calm your racing heart before nodding your head slowly. “We should probably head back downstairs. Who knows what chaos has gone on between Woods and Viktor”.

The way you suddenly changed the subject caused Adler’s stomach to twist, but he didn’t press the issue as he chuckled deeply, rolling his eyes in amusement as he stepped away from you. “You have a point, no doubt he’s probably broke by now” He teased, gesturing for you to go down the stairs ahead of him. You nodded, moving past him with small steps. You knew for certain that this would change things, with you now back on the team. But strangely, you felt like this was where you belonged. That you were meant to be with Adler and his team. But time would tell you supposed, and you hoped to god that this little arrangement would work out.

Tag List: @pookolokon @travelllar @basicwhiteasian @shellshockedbell @inteligentecat @staryozora @lovinggooppalacebanana @ktdragonborn @quietblogs-2-rd @cerezi @alluringartangels @its-crank-time @bridgebabebridgesme @xundeadqueenx @deviljoonie​ @dishonored-pendletwin @shyherrman @alice-went-away​

[blownbybakugou]

I Am The Game

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐(𝚜): 𝚃𝚘𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚊 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕣𝕖: Slight angst, Fluff

𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: Shigaraki poisoned Toga, but you made a cure and saved her life. Toga snapped and praised you as her god, then lead you to the league of villains, where Tomura took an interest to your quirk...

Word Count: 2.7k

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: Blood, attempted murder, mention of actual murder, cussing, mind break (non-sexual), Yandere properties, tooth rotting fluff, aged up/down reader (22), slightly Ooc Toga.

The sound of a steaming kettle is what woke Himiko, her body jerking up from its placement and her eyes flashing across the room. She was startled from her surroundings, to say the least. She was not able to recognize anything around her, then her eyes land on you, a young woman in her early 20s pouring a cup of herbal tea into a mug and treading towards the bed Toga was seated on.

“W-Who are you?” Toga asks, scooting back until she was against the wall behind her. “My name is Y/n. You were betrayed by your leader, and I saved you from your demise.” You spoke strongly. “But why?” Toga softens, her muscles relaxing the slightest bit. “I have a proposal. You being loyal, agile and brave, makes you a worthy companion. And therefore, I would like to ask you if you would join me, be my partner in crime, or whatever you wish to call it”

Your voice was silky and pristine while your expression contradicted what she heard. Your eyes were dull, but she couldn’t exactly tell what they looked like exactly, since they were settled on your lap, and had no emotion in them whatsoever and the rest of your face was soft and glowing with beauty. “You barely know me, how do you know if I am as loyal as you think I am?” Himiko questions, giving a quick grin to show off her sharp canines.

“I have watched you for quite awhile. I knew what was going to come of you, and I felt that I should recruit you as my own, since they didn’t see the potential in you.” You hand her the mug of tea you had poured and look her in the eyes for the first time. Toga was instantly entranced, the color of your eyes flourishing and dancing in her own. “Drink this. It’ll get rid of the headache you have.”

She hadn’t even noticed the pounding in her head until when you mentioned it, but she takes the herbal mix quickly, eager to please you. She gulps it down as fast as she can and sets down the mug with a bright smile. “That was good tea Y/n-Chan! Thank you.” You are taken aback by the sudden change of mood, but make no mistake to question it. Instead, you get up to put the mug in the sink of your apartment.

“So, do you accept my offer?” You query, glancing back at a very giddy Himiko. “Yes! You saved my life, how could I say no?” Her enthusiasm was confusing to you. She is a villain whom found out her own boss backstabbed her, yet she is being so trusting of you. As if you were her mother, or sister.

“Wonderful. We will be moving a lot, and before we start the murderous sprees, I believe a talk with your former boss, is in order.” You state, walking over to her with a smug smile. “Oh my god yes! This is going to be so fun!” Toga beams.

You kicked down the door with a small smirk, looking at all of the people inside and giving them a mock wave. Himiko giggles and leaps over the now broken door sending a deadly glare at Shigaraki, whom was leaned back in a chair nearby. “Hello everyone. This, is a warning. Dishonor has plagued you all, and we’ve come to rip it down. If you do not change your ways of betrayal, I shall send you all to a nightmarish hell, where you all will perish in ways unimaginable. But anyway, this is my partner, Himiko Toga. You may know her?” You send a teasing laugh in the way of Tomura.

“You are weak, especially without someone of her abilities, and you were a fool to try and kill her.” You say, moving up to his face, his scarred, oddly attractive face. He growls, and places his hand firmly on your cheek, waiting for the cries of mercy to begin. Only for you to punch him right in the nose. “What do you think you’re doing, you handsy bastard!” You yell, shaking your hand out.

Shigaraki takes a second to process the event that just played out. You didn’t decay. He touched you, with all 5 fingers, and you didn’t decay. “Who are you? And what the hell is your quirk?” His raspy voice sought out. “None of your damn business”

“Join us. You’re clearly very powerful, and we could use someone like you.” You snap you head to meet his daring orbs and glare him down. “You have nothing for me, therefore, I will not stay.” You try and shake free of his grasp, but his grip only tighten in determination to have you stay. You were the one he was meant to be with. The only one who he couldn’t kill with his deathly touch. He couldn’t lose you like this.

“Let go.” Himiko demands, clasping a knife closely behind her back. “What if I make you a deal? If the girl stays with you, you can both stay in the league. Sounds fair, right?” Shigaraki grins, pulling you into him. “That’s the boss’ choice, not mine. I follow her now.” Himiko snarls. “I shall not stay unless I hear an apology for Himiko.” You sneer, pushing yourself away from him and pulling your hand out of his.

His body jerked at the thought of admitting he was wrong. But you were worth it. You had to be worth it. “I’m sorry, Toga. I thought it would be better for the league, but I was wrong.” He grumbles begrudgingly. Your breath hitched, much like everyone else’s. You hadn’t expected him to actually apologize. You thought he would refuse you, and you and Toga could move on. But no, apparently this guy really didn’t want you to leave.

“Okay then, I suppose we can stay. Are you okay with that Himiko?” You question, looking back at your shocked friend. “Of course boss!” She cheers, giving you a loose hug around the waist. “I’m going to work on something. Toga, I need you with me.” You motion over to a booth with a table that was a bit dusty, but cleared off nonetheless.

The blonde female skipped over to the sitting area as you walked behind her, trying to ignore the scarlet eyes that followed your every movement.

You both sat on the red cushions of the booth seats, and you activate your quirk to begin the creating process. A cyber holographic screen projects out of your eyes and you let it float in the awaiting air as you reach into your backpack for your keyboard and controller.

You set them on the dust covered surface and watch as transparent green strings go to attach into each of the devices you had placed there. “Wow! Your quirk is so cool Y/n-Chan!” Himiko gushes, smiling widely and bouncing in her place.

“Thanks, I suppose. Stand and pose with your knives. Look frightening if you would.” You claim, fingers pressing against the hologram to move the surroundings inside.

Happily, Toga obliges. She puts on a face much like a yandere’s and hovers her knives with one behind her and one in front, seemingly about to strike. “Wonderful.” Your hand mindlessly reaches out to the side, scanning her body all while your other hand typed in code to enter her into your program.

Shigaraki’s vision trained intensely on your abilities, his gaze landing strictly on the translucent green display even when his eyes tried to wander further. What the fuck was your quirk? The question haunted him, he needed to know what power you held that stopped him from disintegrating your body, that let him touch you.

You could easily feel the many observations of the others around you, but you pay it no mind as you program Himiko into your game. Well, many have called it a game, but it is no game. It’s a nightmare no one would ever want to live in, let alone see. You were the one who made it into that, and you were also the one who trapped people inside of it.

You snap out of your thoughts of misery, and continue typing code while letting your scan sweep over every inch of Himiko’s form. She had done many poses for you, and you had implemented twice as many into your data base with only doing some slight editing and Himiko was evidently cheerful about it.

“You can sit back down. I have what I need now.” You say nonchalantly, your gaze not leaving your work. “Okay, got it boss!” She says, seating herself almost immediately. “Would you like to give it a try?” You ask, typing one last line of key into the system before starting and holding the controller out to Toga. “This is gonna be so fun!” She excites, throwing her arms in the air and squealing. If everyone wasn’t looking at you before, they definitely were now.

“Okay, there are 31 enemies in the area, all of which are horrendously terrifying. They plan to kill you in the most awful ways, and if you get trapped I’ll pull you out right away.” You speed through the explanation, trying to be vague about the outcomes and twists so that she could not easily defeat the monsters inside of your game. “Got it boss!” She beams, grabbing the controller and getting sucked into your algorithm.

Shiggy couldn’t believe his eyes. Did Toga just get sucked into a video game? This was his every dream, and he feels the itch to want to talk to you and claim you grow with every passing minute. “Stop being a pussy and go talk to her, Scarface.” He hears a deep voice scoff. “Whatever patchwork” Tomura retorts.

You watched Himiko pass each fictional horror character with flying colors, each one of her tactics more impressive than the last. You were implementing her fighting style into the game while also observing her movements to know when to pull her out of the fake environment.

You were snapped out of focus when you heard Shigaraki seat himself beside you and you lift your head lifting up to give him a daring glare, silently lettting him know to screw off. “I saw your quirk.” He says, pointing to the green panel before you.

“Yeah, And?” You snort, going back to typing away at your keyboard. “I want to play.” He deadpans. “Fuck no. Go away.” You retort, shooing him off. “Why the hell not?” He growls, clenching his fists tightly. “Because you’re a dick, and I don’t like you.” You exclaim.

“You sound like a fucking 5 year old! Just let me play damnit!” He demands, looking at your unaffected expression. “No.” You respond. With Tomura’s distractions, you had completely forgotten about Toga, who was finished with the main course of the levels, and was waiting to be let in.

You use your quirk to let the luscious blonde back into reality, and listen as she gushes over the details of your powerful quirk. Well, that didn’t last long due to her noticing her former boss’ presence. “What are you doing here Shigaraki?” She asks, suspicion lacing her voice.

“I want to play her game.” He states, voice raising ever so slightly. You laugh at his confidence in the matter. “Oh, honey,” You start. “I am the game. And you have to be really special if you want to play me.” You giggle, packing up your stuff and leaving him there with a heavy blush.

ᴀʟʟ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢs ᴛᴏ ʙʟᴏᴡɴʙʏʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏᴜ ©

[heliads]

Traitor

Y/N L/N has had a treacherous past as a HYDRA sleeper agent, one that she was grateful to put aside when she started dating Peter Parker. The one thing she wasn’t counting on was Peter’s reaction when her secret comes to light.

masterlist

With everything that had happened to you, how did you still have Peter Parker by your side? The boy seemed like an angel, always smiling and happy despite the darkest of storms. You look at him now, beaming and leading you through the streets of New York, and wonder how on Earth you got this lucky.

Well, it didn’t start out so well. As a child, you were raised by the Soviets and trained under HYDRA principles. You knew how to kill a man twelve different ways before you could read a chapter book. Like the other girls of the Red Room, you were cold and calculating, always willing to pull the trigger no matter the cost. The Black Widow, Natalia Romanova, had been displayed before you as a hero, someone you should aspire to be, no matter the cost. Then, she had betrayed the Soviets by becoming an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and her image was wiped from the teachings of the Red Room just as quickly as she had entered them.

When you were around the age of ten, you were transferred from the Red Room to a small town in the United States, and told to remain undercover until you were given new orders. You were a sleeper agent; living life as an ordinary American but prepared to strike at a moment’s notice. There, you had lived for six years, and then you had gotten a call telling you to move to New York. 

You were placed next to Peter Parker so the Soviets could monitor Spider-Man and see if he posed a threat to HYDRA or the Red Room. They had told you to get close to him, and be able to kill him if necessary. Luckily, that particular order had yet to come through.

After getting to know Peter, though, you were faced with an all too tricky predicament. Despite your training, you had fallen for the brown-haired boy, and you knew you couldn’t kill him. Whenever you spent time with him, and saw the same love reflected in his eyes that you felt in your own, it was like a knife slowly twisting in your heart. It would be wrong to hurt this boy after he trusted you and even loved you, and so you started to keep your distance from him.

Yes, it hurt more than anything to see the pain in his eyes when he realized you were avoiding him, but wasn’t it better to know that you were protecting him from himself? You hadn’t counted on one flaw in your plan, and that was Peter’s determination to be true to those he cared about.

He had confronted you about why you were avoiding him, and you were forced to come up with some excuse that didn’t involve you being a Russian spy. You confessed that you had made mistakes in the past, mistakes that haunted you to this day and that you knew you didn’t deserve to be with him. That much was true, at least. Yet despite this tearful attempt to push him away, Peter refused to leave. He had taken your hand, promising that no matter what you had done, he would stand by you. Even your best attempts at getting rid of him were unsuccessful, and so you had allowed yourself the happiness of getting close to him once more.

Natasha Romanoff strides briskly across an office room in the Avengers Tower. She scans over a screen in front of her, quickly poring through pages of data and code. Behind her, the door opens and Tony Stark steps into the room, drinking from a mug of coffee he clings to like it’s a sacred talisman.

“What’s that, Romanoff? S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets or HYDRA?” Natasha turns to face him. “A mix of both, actually. After S.H.I.E.L.D. was revealed to be riddled with HYDRA agents and I revealed all their secrets to the world, I noticed that not all of the files were as easy to access as others. Some, specifically the HYDRA ones, were locked away under heavy firewalls.”

Tony walks over, intrigued. “Judging by the fact that I can read most of the words on that page, I’m assuming you’re almost done hacking your way in.” Natasha nods. “This file is pretty important, too. It’s got a list of all the sleeper agents HYDRA assigned to New York. The other files in the folder cover the rest of the states, but I figured I should start at home and work my way out.”

Tony contemplates this. “I would agree. I better not see any of my interns on that list, though. How much more do you have to do before we read it?” Natasha types in a few last characters, then reloads the file. “Actually, we’re done now. Let’s start from the beginning.” The two friends lean forward, beginning to read the list of names.

It’s a beautiful day in New York. You happen to be on a date with Peter, which makes it even better. The two of you are strolling through the streets, window shopping and laughing until everything seems perfect. Peter loops his arm through yours, and pulls you close to press a light kiss on your cheek. You smile at him, and he smiles back at you.

You’re just rounding a corner to walk another sidestreet when you spy two figures heading briskly towards you. You peer at them, confused, and then a weight starts to solidify in your stomach when you realize it’s Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff, both heading your way with stares that could kill.

Peter has spotted them now too, and seems confused, as if he didn’t expect to see them. You’re about to tug on his arm and encourage him to go another way, but it’s too late. They’ve stopped in front of you. “L/N, please step away from Peter. Immediately.”

Peter looks at you, bewildered. “What’s this about, Mr. Stark?” Romanoff folds her arms across her chest, fixing you with an icy glare. “I’d bet she knows exactly what this is about. See, we just found a file with a list of Soviet and HYDRA sleeper agents in New York. Guess who showed up on that list?”

Peter looks back at you, and the confusion in his eyes slowly turns to betrayal when he notices you can’t quite meet his gaze. “Y/N, tell me this isn’t true. Please, say they’re wrong and you’re not a literal HYDRA agent.” You say nothing, and turn your head away, unable to meet his eyes. Peter steps away from you, horrified. “Are you kidding me? I trusted you. God, all this time when you were talking about ‘mistakes you’d made’ I thought you yelled at your brother, or cheated on your last boyfriend, or something small. Not that you worked for HYDRA!”

He suddenly turns to face Tony, an awful realization starting to crash across his face. “What was her task, Mr. Stark? Why was she in New York?” Tony folds his hands across his chest. “She was here to get close to you, and to kill you if necessary.” The heartbreak and anguish in Peter’s eyes makes you feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest.

He speaks now, in a voice barely above a whisper. “You wanted to kill me.” Finally, you find your voice. “No. I didn’t want to. Once I met you, I knew I couldn’t kill you. That’s why I tried to distance myself from you, remember? I couldn’t hurt you. I love you, Peter, and I left HYDRA behind when I got close to you. They would kill me if I did anything to jeopardize the mission. You know that’s why I had to stay, right? They would kill me!”

Peter fixes you with a deathly stare. “Maybe they should have killed you.” He glares at you one last time, then turns around and walks away. You feel your heart shatter in your chest. Romanoff seems a little surprised at his harsh words, but then she ushers you away from the city. “I didn’t want to do it. I never wanted to hurt him.” You’re babbling nonsense, desperate for someone to understand you, and surprisingly, Romanoff seems to hear you. “I know. I’ve been there too.”

Peter feels numb. It just doesn’t seem real. Y/N- happy, confident, brilliant Y/N- a HYDRA spy? Sent to kill him? He can still see the pain in her eyes when he left her, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt when Mr. Stark had told him that she was a traitor. She had betrayed him, and so she meant nothing to him. She had to mean nothing to him.

Peter hasn’t seen Y/N since that day he found out the truth about her. She doesn’t show up to school anymore, and he hasn’t encountered her at all, not even a brief glimpse of her face from across the street. Mr. Stark keeps asking if he’s alright, if he wants to talk about Y/N, but Peter just says he’s fine. He doesn’t want to talk, because he knows if he thinks about her for more than a second it will destroy him.

Peter is walking home from school, mind lost in these swirling thoughts, when he notices there’s been a few people following him for the last few blocks. Feeling a little paranoid, he switches to the other side of the street and takes a few quick turns. He checks over his shoulder, and is worried to see that the men are not only still following him, but gaining ground. He speeds up, moving faster and faster. If he could just get to the main part of town, people could see him and he would be safe-

Too late. Hands close with an iron grip on his shoulders. Peter starts to turn around, ready for a fight, but then the pricking sensation of a needle flickers to life on his throat and he stumbles once, twice, and then again. He feels dizzy, and the edges of his vision fade to black.

When Peter wakes up, he’s in some small room. The walls are bare, and the floor is poured concrete. Peter tries to stand up, but he realizes his arms and legs are bound to the chair he’s sitting on. The sudden movement makes his head spin, and the pounding of his head overwhelms him and threatens to knock him unconscious once more.

Peter’s not sure how long he waits in that room. It could have been just a few minutes, or maybe hours. He’s still trying to recover from whatever drug was injected into him when he was taken. Finally, a man dressed all in black enters the room, a handgun clearly visible on his side.

“Parker. Spider-Man. How wonderful to see you.” Peter squints up at the man, silhouetted against the harsh fluorescent lighting of the room. “I wish I could say the same.” The man chuckles coldly. “I apologize for the rough treatment. We just had to make sure we got you here before anyone else found us. The Avengers can be such a bother sometimes.”

The man continues on with some speech, full of idle threats and guarantees that Peter has lost. Oddly enough, about five minutes after the man starts monologuing alarm sirens begin to blare across the building. The loud noise makes Peter’s head want to explode. The man in black looks startled at the alarms, but quickly reassures Peter that the large number of HYDRA troops in the building will easily extinguish any threat. Besides, no one knows that Peter is here.

Despite these reassurances, the sounds of gunfire and general panic start to grow in volume until they sound like they’re right next to Peter. The man in black seems tense, as if he is no longer confident in his large number of troops. Suddenly, the door to the room is kicked down, and a shadowy figure enters the room, gun in hand. Peter’s eyes go wide as he recognizes the newcomer- it’s none other than Y/N.

She stands in the doorframe, gun pointed at the man in black. She must have fought her way in, as her clothes are torn and there are lines of blood tracing their way down her face and arms. The bodies of the guards who had once monitored the building lie unmoving in the hallway behind her.

The man in black stares for a moment, then claps his hands together in relief. “Ah, Agent L/N. Just in time. I need you to complete your mission.” Y/N just stares at him in silence, and the man in black continues on. “Kill Peter Parker. Now.”

Peter looks from Y/N to the man. This is it- this is where it all ends. Of course Y/N will kill him now- it’s been her task since she moved here. Yet, she moves her arm quickly, cracking the man in black across the skull with the butt of her gun. He falls to the ground, unconscious, and Y/N races over to Peter and starts untying his bonds.

“I’m so sorry, Peter. This is all my fault- I should have told you everything from the beginning!” Once she finishes untying his bonds, she ushers him to the door. “The way out should be open from here. I’ll hold off any other guards.” She points down the hallway, and cocks her gun, checking the halls for possible HYDRA agents.

When Peter doesn’t move, she looks back at him again. “You have to go, Peter. You have to get to safety.” Peter just puts his hand on her shoulder. “I’m not leaving you.” Y/N shakes her head emphatically. “You don’t have to feel bad for me. I know what I did, and this is my way of paying it back. Go!” Peter still doesn’t move. “It’s alright, Y/N. You did what you had to so you could survive. Please, leave with me.”

Y/N looks at him, surprise and doubt flickering across her face. “I betrayed you, Peter. I betrayed your trust. I don’t deserve your love.” Peter just laughs lightly. “I’m afraid you don’t exactly have a choice about that. Now come on, we’re both getting out of here.” With that, he grabs Y/N’s free hand, and the two of them run off down the hallway.

When they finally make it out of the HYDRA complex, Peter’s able to find a road that leads them back to New York. As they walk back to the city, Peter looks over at Y/N. “I meant what I said, you know. I would rather you survive then turn your back on HYDRA. I don’t want you to risk your life because of me.” Y/N lets a rare smile slip across her cheeks. “I just wish I told you. I was afraid that if you knew the truth about me, you would have left a long time ago.”

Peter shakes his head. “I’m not going anywhere, Y/N. I love you.” Y/N takes his hand. “I love you too.”

[lara635kookie]

Ranking the best The 39 Clues books(First season because the other ones just aren't canon in my mind).

SPOILER ALERT!

If you're a Clue Hunter and is reading this post, when you finish it reblog it and do your ranking of The First Season books(please I need to know I'm not alone on this fandom)(Please someone tell me I didn't get to this fandom too late). Also this is only my opinion. If you think different feel free to share your thoughts(respectly). So let's go:

My Personal Favorites:

10-Beyond The Grave(Book Four written by Jude Watson):

Honestly this book is overall good and I really wanted to go Egypt but that's only in this place because Ian and Natalie don't show up in person, they're only mentioned by Amy and Dan sometimes. It may seem like a stupid reason but Ian and Natalie were the biggest enemies of Amy and Dan, arch-enemies since the two understand themselves by person and their appearances have always been so iconic, the chases, the talks, the fights, the teasing so the fact they weren't in this book just didn't feel right. The Cahills and the Kabras have a lot of chemistry, both as enemies and as much something more(if you get me, lovers cough cough), and the Kabras have been sorely missed in this book(at least by me).

9-The Emperor's Code(Book Eight written by Gordon Korman):

I don't know compared to the other ones, this one just look kinda forgettable. Maybe because Amy and Dan spend a good part of this book apart. But of course the story has its good moments which are when Dan gives an autograph for a girl (D. Cahill is priceless), when Dan tells the Wizards that he is a Madrigal (as we say in Brazil: Iconic, Memorable and Timeless) (Dan was very amazing in this book, if you disagree, disagree in silence) and when Amy saves Ian(aka Love of her life) from falling off Mount Everest.

8-The Viper's Nest(Book Seven written by Peter Lerangis):

I love that one but the other ones are just better. I like the ending with Isabel(and everyone) thinking that the Clue was Diamond and It wasn't. I also like the scenes with Kurt because I wanted Ian to meet him and Kurt make Ian jealous of Amy(don't judge my dreams). Another thing that I really like is the history. I really like studying history and I learnt so much about Shaka Zulu. And was also with that book that I realized that Isabel had arrived to stay and that she would be the Main Villain in the end somehow. Maybe That's another reason why I don't like much The Emperor's Code:Isabel didn't show up and I thought she would appear in all the other books after In Too Deep. Natalie on Storm Warning said that Isabel didn't trust Ian and her to handle the Hunt without Isabel anymore since Russia so that just doesn't make sense. Maybe she didn't appearead to give Cora Wizard the spotlight but anyway let's continue.

7-The Black Circle(Book Five written by Patrick Carman):

I love this one so much. Probably because in this book we see that Ian is also in love with Amy. On Book three he seemed to like her but then he and Natalie let Amy, Dan and Alistair locked on the cave and we only see Amy Side of this story. Her sadness. But we didn't know if Ian was sorry, if he regreted his actions. And when they come back on this book we see Ian still likes Amy and the fandom goes crazy. I mean even if you are a Jamy/Carian shipper or shipps another shipp you probably shipped Amyan before because they were the only promising couple on the series(at least on series one). Back to the book I Love The Holts defeating the Kabras and Amy and Dan doing an Alliance with Hamilton(Dan envying Hamilton for driving a Kamaz will be Forever iconic). Also this book was when I realized Irina wasn't bad. I didn't like her in the other books and I didn't notice much of her but everything changed on this book and I started to love her. * sad sigh * Moving on!

6-The Maze of Bones(Book One written by Rick Riordan):

Uncle Rick(we call him like that on Brazil, in portuguese is Tio Rick) did a really great job on this one. For a series that has several authors writing, the beginning is very important and it is a great responsibility for the first author because those who will write later have to understand what you wanted to convey in the beginning to make a coherent continuation. Rick Riordan did it flawlessly. We can identify ourselves in the characters and we get really connected to the plot, the history, the riddles about Benjamin Franklin and after finishing the book we wanna know more about what happens next. So Rick Riordan absolutely slayed this introduction and no one can tell me otherwise.

5-One False Note(Book Two written by Gordon Korman):

This book is just unforgivable. I love this with all my soul. Probably because It talks about Mozart and his history and I really love arts. Also because the writing of this book is so satisfactory and so well done. I mean I really thought Fidelio Racco was a real person. What I also love about that book is the fact that every character get to shine. Amy and Dan are the Main characters but the appearences of all the other characters are really remarkable so yeah That's it. Deserves this spot on the Top 5 for sure.

4-In Too Deep(Book Six written by Jude Watson):

Going now to the four horsemen of the apocalypse from the best books of The 39 Clues. In Too Deep It's just something so perfect It's inexplicable. Something I don't like much about In Too Deep is that when Isabel was fighting to Irina and Ian and Natalie were watching Natalie was like:Irina is going to get Shoot on the head, That's gonna be so good. Like she wanted Isabel to do this, like she would be disappointed if she didn't, like she was used to seeing this type of thing. Then, In Storm Warning she was soft like:Not blood. It's so repulsive(several authors series problem but the series is good anyway). About that book I love the start, I love the middle, I love the apex and If It wasn't for Irina's death in the end this would probably be even higher than already is. Why Irina, Jude? Also:Why Pony? Why Erasmus? Why McIntyre? Why Alistair? Why Lester? Why Natalie? Why Evan? Why everyone? Why not Jake or Cara? Back to the story Jude Watson is Just a genius for transforming a dream(or a nightmare) in Isabel Kabra and adding her to the book. I don't wanna cry today so I'm just going for the next one.

3-The Sword Thief(Book Three written by Peter Lerangis):

If this book was a part The Plastics of Mean Girls, The Sword Thief would be Karen Smith of The 39 Clues, because let's face it:Amy and Dan were really dumb of accepting an alliance with Alistair and the Kabras. Principally with the Kabras. I mean they already were kinda used to temporary alliances with Alistair but not Ian and Natalie but they should have expected that It would have been bad on the end. I mean yes they needed Ian's coin to open the cave to find the clue but they look so surprised when Ian and Natalie leaves them on the cave and they shouldn't because that was obvious that they were going to betray them in the final. So they should have accepted the alliance but being more distant to the Kabras and preparing themselves in case they try something(which was obvious they would). But at the same time, I'm glad they didn't because AMYAN IS JUST MY ENTIRE LIFE(And even a little bit of Danatalie this book is Just a masterpiece). Just like In Too Deep, I love everything about that book, except the end. And I am a Kpop fan(not the cringe obssessed type) and I really like to study about North and South Korea and their history but South Korea's caves just left me depressed. I'm gonna cry so let's change the subject.

2-Storm Warning(Book Nine written by Linda Sue Park):

I love everything about this book. Literally everything. The start, the middle, the apex and the end. I love this book mainly because Natalie got the spotlight that she deserved. I don't know why I like Natalie so much since the start. Maybe because when I started Reading the books I was eleven, just like her. And Maybe because she was pretty, rich, savage and sassy wich I always wanted to be. But there is something more that I don't know how to explain that is really relatable about Natalie even with my reality being too different from hers and this book was the confirmation I needed that Natalie would be my favorite character Forever. I Also like it because it happened on Bahamas and Jamaica(two places I really want to go in the future) and It got a lot of revelations and twists in the end(wich I love more than everything on a book). If Storm Warning was a person and slapped my face I would probably say:Thanks, Could you do that again?

1-Into The Gauntlet(Book Ten written by Margaret Peterson Haddix):

I usually don't like the endings of books because I'm sad that it's over and as all the other books were good I usually demand a lot from the endings, even more than the beginnings (for me the final impression is the one that stays, not the first). I generally like the endings but I've never looked at a ending book and said: This one overcomes all the other books. I normally like more the start or the middle books. But man Into The Gauntlet caught me off guard. DoD is already a trash ending, comparing to Into The Gauntlet, DoD(fanfiction-forced-canon) seems even worse(if That's even possible). Everything about that book It's just top-notch, high quality, god tier, flawlessly perfect. Stan Haddix. We believe in Into The Gauntlet Supremacy.

It's going to have a part 2. Bye.

[moldisgoodforyou]

lost time (chapter five)

MASTERLIST

pairing: rafe cameron x oc

warning: cursing, underage drinking

wordcount: 2.4k

a/n: bear with me on those title gifs/images there is not much out there lmao

CHAPTER FOUR

______________

She pressed a hand against his chest to keep just enough distance between the two of them, lowering her voice a bit. “That’s not why you stopped me.”

He leaned closer, raising his eyebrows. “Enlighten me, then.”

She stayed quiet, only able to think about his heartbeat racing underneath her touch. As he bent his head down, closer, she fisted her hand in his shirt, her voice low with a warning tone. “Rafe.”

“Sophie.” He murmured back, lips hovering inches away from hers.

Sophie made the first move, reaching up and curling a hand around the back of his neck as she pulled him into the kiss. He met her lips without hesitation, his hands instantly going to her waist. She leaned into his touch, up on her toes. “M’ so glad no one’s out here.” She breathed out, keeping one hand splayed against his chest.

Rafe tried to ignore how much that hurt, like he was some secret to be kept.

They kept kissing for a while, Sophie lazily toying with the ends of his hair. After a couple minutes, he started kissing along her jaw, sucking just enough at a spot on her neck to elicit a soft moan from her. “I wish I came as your date.” He murmured against her skin as he traced his thumb back and forth over her hip.

She froze at his confession, her head clouded without clear thought. “You’re drunk.” She mumbled back, hand falling from his neck.

“I’m not.” He argued, kissing her again.

She could taste the rum on his lips, betraying his words. “Well, I am.” She replied softly, hesitating again until he went in for another kiss. “And I’m still mad about your stupid death cup rule.”

He scoffed, softly, but sounded more amused than anything. “You can’t call house rules when it’s not your house.”

Sophie scowled and pressed her hand a little harder against his chest. “It’s more my house than yours. Can’t you just follow the rules?”

He chuckled, trailing his hand higher and ran his index finger lightly along her spine. “Do you ever stop arguing, Soph?”

She shivered at his touch, willing herself not to move closer. “Not with you.”

“Can we…?” He asked with a broad grin, tipping his head toward their houses, just a short walk away.

She laughed at the proposition, harshly. “I’m not hooking up with you, Cameron. I’ll be surprised if I remember this tomorrow.”

He faltered and the grin fell from his face right away as he dropped one of his hands from her waist. “Damn, tell me how you really feel.” He choked out a sore laugh, trying again to mask his bruised ego.

She stepped back out of his grip, pressing her fingers against her swollen lips in a feeble attempt to hide any evidence of what had just happened. “I’m going to go, tell Julia for me?”

“Wait, you’re just - that’s it?” He questioned, disappointment evident.

“Yes, that’s it.” She paused, reading his expression - and laughed, again. It sounded cruel to his ears. “You didn’t seriously think something was going to happen between us, did you?”

Rafe stiffened and ran a hand through his hair, his voice flat. “No. Of course I didn’t.”

She turned, going to leave. He caught her hand in his and she turned back for a moment, caught off guard by his gentle touch. “You can’t walk home alone, Sophie, it’s dark.”

She rolled her eyes and tugged her hand out of his grip. “It’s fine, it’s literally like five-ish minutes. There are people out walking home from the bars, it’s alright.”

Rafe frowned. “Sophie…”

“Go back to your date, Rafe.” She shook her head, walking off with her head held high.

_

Sophie woke up a few hours later to Allie and Julia peering over her as she was sprawled out on one of the couches in the sorority’s formal living room. “Soph, wake up, let’s go to our room.” Allie nudged her softly, tugging gently on her wrist.

“Huh?” She mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Julia laughed and helped pull her up. “Bedtime, Sophie. You gotta stop crashing on these couches, you’re gonna get in trouble. Did Rafe take you home?”

“What? No, I think I walked.” She replied, still half-asleep and still somewhat drunk.

“Oh. He left after you did, I figured he brought you back here.” Julia shrugged, the three of them walking up to their room.

Sophie just shook her head, trying to recall the rest of her night. “I dunno where he went. You’re not going to see him again, are you?”

“No, he was nice, but. Didn’t seem interested. In me, anyways.” Julia replied, sounding unaffected.

Allie held back a smile, knowing exactly what she was hinting at. “C’mon, Soph, let’s get ready for bed. You’re gonna hate me if you wake up in a halter top.”

Sophie nodded sleepily, following along. “Prob’ly right.”

The girls made their way upstairs and Sophie was coherent enough to change into pajamas, barely sitting up on the edge of her bed as Allie dragged a makeup wipe over her face. “He’s so fucking handsome. I hate it.” She slurred, allowing herself to feel the full effects of the alcohol with the two people she was comfortable around. 

“Who is?” Julia asked, playing dumb. Allie shot her a warning look as Sophie flopped back onto the bed. 

“You know who I’m talking about. I didn’t know he was such a good kisser.” Sophie mumbled, crawling under the covers. 

“Wait, what?!” Julia practically shrieked and Allie immediately shushed her. She lowered her tone just slightly. “You two kissed? Finally!” 

Sophie groaned at the loud noise, pulling a pillow over her face. She spoke again, muffled into the pillow. Allie raised an eyebrow at Julia as they whispered in hushed tones back and forth to each other. 

“Did you know?” 

“No I didn’t know! But it took them long enough!” 

“She was drunk! She probably didn’t mean it!” 

Sophie lifted her head again, annoyance lacing her tone. “I can hear you. Shh, I’m sleeping.” With that, the two girls took the bathroom to discuss the rest of the night in private. 

_____

Rafe couldn’t get the thought of her out of his head all weekend. 

Instead of meeting up with his friends at the bar that night like he had promised, he made a quick exit from the party, giving Julia a short apology then heading out the door. Sophie was right, there were quite a few people out making their way from the bars to house parties or wherever, but he used it as an excuse to follow her home from a distance. He felt a bit creepy, admittedly, but told himself he just happened to be going home to Delt, two houses away from where she lived at Theta. (Plus if he had heard something had happened to her, he would have never forgiven himself.) 

He had never been more grateful for a lecture day in class on Monday. He could feel her gaze on him several times throughout class, wanting nothing more than to meet her eyes, but kept his head down as he scrawled notes into his notebook. At the end of class, he packed his things hurriedly, trying to rush out the door, but she was quicker and waited just outside the doors for him. “Rafe, hey!” She caught his arm as he was walking out, head down.

He slowed, stepping aside in the hallway with her and tried his best to play it cool. “What’s up?” 

She smiled like nothing had ever happened between them. “I tried getting your attention all class, you were ignoring me. I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to sit together now?”

He shook his head and tugged down on the bill of his hat, backwards as always. “Oh. Didn’t know. I was just taking notes.”

She nodded, unfazed. “Right. I just wanted to be sure we were still on to meet tomorrow night? I think our first debate is soon, I don’t want to be unprepared.” 

He grimaced, having completely forgotten. “Right, yeah. Is the library cool? Er, fine? I can reserve a room.”

Sophie waved her hand. “I already got us one. Second floor, I’ll see you at six.” She paused, giving him a once-over then a sheepish grin. “I meant to ask, did you have fun at the party with Julia? I honestly don’t remember much after the bus back to Theta.” 

Rafe’s blood ran cold and he had to stop himself from openly gaping. True to her word, she hadn’t remembered. “Um. Yeah. She’s nice, but, uh, not really my type, you know.” He tripped over his words, glancing at her neck to see if there was any trace of the mark he had left, but it was either completely healed or well-covered.

“Oh.” Sophie nodded again, completely oblivious. “Okay then, I’ll see you later.” She left him standing there, shaking his head in disbelief. 

The second he got back to Delt, he found Colin right away in their room, playing video games with James. “You can’t ask her out.” Rafe declared, standing right in front of the TV. They both ignored James’ protests and Colin pulled the headset down, confused.

“What?”

“You can’t ask her out.” Rafe repeated, arms crossed. His face was stony, jaw set. 

Colin raised his eyebrows. “Why, did something happen? This why you’ve been a space case all weekend?” 

Rafe grumbled something under his breath. “No, just - you can’t. She’s off-limits.” 

James just rolled his eyes, reaching out and kicking his leg to get him out of the way of the TV. “You can’t claim a girl that doesn’t even want you in the first place, dumbass.” 

Rafe groaned, grabbing his ankle and shoving his leg aside. “I’m serious, Colin. Delt code. And if you already asked her out, you have to tell her plans changed or something, don’t be a dick about it -” 

“Chill, chill, I haven’t said a word to her.” Colin raised his hands in surrender. 

Rafe exhaled, nodding slowly. “Right. Good. Carry on, then.” He missed Colin and James exchanging confused looks as he left the room with a huff. 

_ 

If she was going to just pretend nothing ever happened and be nice, he could deal with that. They could be friends, Rafe told himself as he swiped his card at a local coffee shop in town before his meeting with Sophie that Tuesday night. He ignored the way his stomach twisted as he first caught sight of her alone in the study room in the library, a pencil tucked up and twisted into her hair. 

“Here, Soph.” He slid into his seat across from her, pushing a cup of coffee across the table. She glanced up, ready to make a snarky remark about it being too late for caffeine, then paused as she saw the cup from Sweetwaters, her favorite coffee. Rafe pulled out his laptop, logging on, then glanced up at her. “What, something wrong? You like it with vanilla, right?”

She nodded quickly and brought it to her lips, then took a small sip and gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, um, just didn’t know you noticed. Thank you.” 

“No biggie.” He waved it off, then pushed the laptop to her and started walking her through the argument he had prepared in advance. She was totally unfocused, distracted by running every single possible meaning of what his kind gesture could have meant. After a couple minutes, Rafe caught on. “And that’s exactly why I’m taking credit for all of the project. Right?” 

Sophie nodded quickly, snapping out of it. “Right, yeah, totally. Um. Let me just read back over this real quick…” 

He laughed and leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Were you listening?” 

Never willing to admit her faults, she scowled at him. “Of course I was listening.” 

He grinned. “Sure, Soph.” 

“Why do you call me that?” She interrupted. 

He shrugged. “I’ve called you that since high school, it’s nothing new.” 

“But...my friends call me Soph. And only some of them.” She pointed out. 

His lips quirked up into an amused smile. “You really think we’re not friends? Hit me where it hurts, Flint.” 

She raised her eyebrows, confused, and pulled her hand back. “You hate me.” 

He shook his head. “Not quite.” After a momentary pause, he pushed the laptop back to her. “See, like I was saying…” 

Sophie nodded at his admission, trying to hide a smile as she took another sip of her coffee. The rest of the meeting was productive, and they were both quiet as they packed up their things an hour later. “Is your family coming in next weekend? For parent’s weekend?” She broke the silence, trying to make friendly conversation.

Every third weekend in October, Columbus was flooded with parents reliving their college days and buying their kids’ meals at fancy restaurants normally frequented by locals. All of Greek life had the same time of year reserved for parent’s weekend, and with Sophie’s parents as proud alumni and her older brother now a grad student at Ohio State, her family hadn’t missed one yet. 

“Uh, no. My dad doesn’t really have time to come out with work and whatever, and.” He shrugged and preoccupied himself with zipping his backpack, head down. “You know.”

Sophie frowned, biting her lip. “Right, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. Do you have plans, then?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. “No, I’ll probably just head to the game alone. Don’t really want to crash my friend’s weekends, you know.” 

“Come hang with me.” 

He glanced up at her. “Isn’t your family coming in?” 

Suddenly emboldened, Sophie sent him an earnest smile. “Yeah, but it’s basically just a frat reunion for my dad, it’s nothing special. Come to our tailgate, I’m sure they’d like to see you.” Her dad was a golf instructor at the country club back home. He had taught Rafe in private lessons all through high school, and always spoke fondly of him. 

“I wouldn’t want to intrude…” He hedged, though he wanted nothing more than to accept the offer. 

“You wouldn’t be. At least consider it?” 

“I - yeah, I’ll think about it.” He settled.

She grinned, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. “Good. Thank you, again, for the coffee.” 

“It’s no problem.” He allowed a smile, giving her a small wave as she left.

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