#julius caeser's murder

[fullofobsessions]

Et tu, Burrte?

[snailwizards]

cant believe we hire a necromancer to reanimate caeser every year so we can collectively murder him all over again. our tax dollars really do make a difference

[kira-does-art-sometimes]

BRVTVS

Did this today to celebrate the Ides of March >:D

@whump-queen @whump-in-the-closet @shydragonrider @imnotamurdereripromise @eric-the-bmo

[genderkoolaid]

thank you the buttress for writing a song about the murderous betrayal of julius caeser but brutus is a trans guy with issues

[evita-shelby]

Beware the Ides of March!

Grab your knives and togas and join me on this Tumblr Holiday where we celebrate the murder of Julius Caeser.

🥖send a prompt for a moodboard or a fic where the only requirements are: must have a murder, a knife, and/or a party

🍷 write a fic or a moodboard with the same requirements from the list above

🫒 let's play Caption This! Send a gif or picture of a character(ocs welcome!) And I'll supply the caption. You can also send the caption and i will find the gif or picture

🗡 the Gladiator Arena: send me a poll and the participants and let's see who wins the fight!

Won't be restricting myself to just peaky characters, every character I've written for be it a cillian murphy character, BBC's World on Fire and now, Masters of the Air

Masterlist

[lya-dustin]

Grab your knives and togas and join me on this Tumblr Holiday where we celebrate the murder of Julius Caeser.

a multifandom event since this is a multifandom blog*

OCs are welcome, encouraged even.

🥖send a prompt for a fic or moodboard where the only requirements are: must have a murder, a knife, and/or a party

🍷 write a fic or make a moodboard with the same requirements from the list above

🫒 let's play Caption This! Send a gif or picture of a character(ocs welcome if you have a face claim or drawing of them) And I'll supply the caption. You can also send the caption and i will find the gif or picture

🗡 the Gladiator Arena: send me a poll and the participants and let's see who wins the fight

*(fandoms allowed into the party:asoiaf/got/hotd, magnificent century, the ewanverse and the last kingdom, will make an exception for Tolkien)

[agentbobr]

sometimes i get scared, of it all. the planet ripping itself apart, people slaughtering mindlessly. it's scary.

the concept that everything could end in moments, just because some rich bastards didn't want to change anything, so they instead keep it as it is, letting it get worse as they rot with golden crowns and weighted down by their money and riches.

it's scary, terrifying, debilitating. but we are expected to keep going, to never stop working because without us. they lose money, they can't sit in their thrones without taking our money, and no, no. they can't have that.

so they make laws and rules to stay on top, "Anti-Boycott Laws", never taxing the rich, must come to work on time or else you will go poor and starve, not a second late.

but we're powerful, especially as a unit and as a group, as humans, we've always thrown over rich bastards. the boston tea party, the murder of julius caeser, maybe we need to do it again, it has been a while since the last time we did, right?

we give them our money, and instead of helping us back, they use it to murder, slander and pollute. it's wrong.

hatred is taught but love is natural. murder is taught but living is natural.

they've ruined living, suicide is on a rise, crime is as well, they're breaking their own laws just to stay in power, it's only fair that some woman steals a bit of formula from a super corporation to feed her children, is it not? it's only right that after they steal from us, we get it back.

fix the government, fight the good fight, and maybe, it'll get better soon, godspeed my friends

[gallium-spoon]

When I was in highschool, I was part of a group project where we had to make a 'short film' based on a Shakespeare play. My group got Julius Caesar, and the plot we came up with was Caesar as principal of a school and the rest of us were teachers who were dissatisfied with his policies

We still decided to murder him though

I played Cassius and I had a lot of fun convincing my fellow 'teachers' that murder was the best solution to our problems. During the assassination scene we all attacked him with school supplies

So, somewhere hidden in the depths of my laptop is a deeply unconvincing scene where I gently tap Caeser on the head with a stapler because I was afraid of actually hurting him

[terrence-silver]

I had another thought the other day that I just had to share with you!!! 🥰 Tons of love, you da best!

But for real, I was thinking about how Terry would be engaging with one night stands, because even if he doesn't care for them I think he would absolutely want to show off. Young Terry more so than older Terry (not sure if older Terry would bother with one night stands?).

And Terry's just like: Here's my vast collection of cars and all of these paintings are priceless and look at these artifacts I collected and that's the thing I am obsessing over the most. I can see Terry just having a ton of historical pieces and artifacts from eras that in some way, shape, or form, he finds inspiring. But they might be the most violent and horrific eras to anyone else.

Like this person was just welcomed into his home for a quick fuck and on the way to the bedroom Terry stops and gestures at a knife display that would befit a museum:

"This is one of the knives used to murder Julius Caeser in cold blood. Allegedly. And this is a Khopesh, you don't know what that is, but it was used by the Egyptians. Mainly for beheading. Beautiful isn't it?"

And the one night stand is just like... Okayyyyy~ 🙄😬😐

Terry's short gesture to a glass case that holds armor, perhaps becomes an entire lecture on medieval japan, china, korea, etc. (whatever he has decided he likes the most).

"And if you wanted something, they were not above slaughtering someone... as well as their entire family. It's a shame those methods aren't as popular as they once were."

This would extend to everything brutal I think: torture, wars, monstrous political figures, Terry would have a surprising amount of knowledge on all of it. He would refer to these things like one refers to recipes in a cookbook, or utilize these events as a guide for situations he too faces or has faced throughout his life.

Not to mention, in Cobra Kai, he quotes Sun Tzu's the Art of War a lot. I can imagine him keeping a copy in the night stand next to his bed or somewhere closely on his desk.

Back to the one night stand, who is just like wtf?? 🤨

And then maybe one night, he's going through this whole spiel on the french and their love for guillotines and he realizes that the person isn't particularly bored or freaked out and then he realizes that they actually are enjoying themselves as he talks about blood and death and history that fascinates him. And then, one step further, they spew their own facts that they know and they might even disagree with some of his views. In any other case, he might be extremely annoyed or pissed off that 1) someone might know more than him and 2) they don't condone the violence as Terry does. But instead, he comes to the conclusion that this person is never leaving his home again and that they officially belong to him; a conclusion he came to before they even made it to the bedroom.

I have a lot more where that came from, but I thought I might tone it down.

(I know this is a lot, I got a little carried away 🤣)

Terry's like a little boy with his trains.

Choo-choo, watch out, here's an antique torture device I bought on a licitation at an upward of 4. million dollars. An original Robespierre was beheaded with. It belongs in a museum, but instead, it is here, right in my basement, along with a collection of other, equally grizzly items. Choo-choo, here is a silk cord Ottoman Sultans used to strangulate and assassinate disobedient concubines with --- suggestion is, he wants to test it out personally in one of his sex romps and for the sake of kink. Choo-choo, here is a ritualistic Hara-Kiri knife from the 1700′s Samurai used to impale themselves on. The blade is deep brown, like copper, with all the blood it has dried up over the centuries. When Terry cleans it, it bleeds still and he relishes that in particular. And he makes an effort to clean it, or have his one night stand clean it for him while he watches. He gets a kick out of it, yes. It amuses him. It arouses him. I think his one night stands would be exposed to a world of weirdness.Deliberately. The sex is extraordinary, yes, but it comes at the price of his morbidity. Comes at the price of being exposed to his eccentric habits --- which are plenty.

Nothing’s for free, right?

But, I think Terry, especially Terry in the 80's, goes out of his way to showcase a sort of shock factor to his quick fucks and he gets a gleeful kick out of it. One night stands have their uses outside of recreational sex, because people talk and Terry knows they talk. Gossip is a thing, especially in high profile circles. Reputation matters, and if he fucks enough people, sooner or later, the LA area will be filled with stories how that one Terry Silver who lives up on The Hills is a strange, unusual individual indeed, and it is putting it lightly. I think he'd want to cultivate a certain image. A certain mystique. He wants to be that morbid, classy, alluring Billionaire known for strange interests and that he is as seductive as he is daunting --- which isn’t an image at all. It is the truth. Yes, he wants to brag. He wants to show off his treasure trove of unusual things. Unusual cars. Unusual statues around his mansion. Unusual furniture.Unusual sex toys.I think old man Terry in present way does this too, except, in a different way.He doesn’t do one night stands, necessarily. He sometimes does detached relationships that feel like business escorts. Which they are.

But, Terry in his later years?

He ‘tones himself down’ and wears masks in front of his makeshift, equally toned down social circle and all you think you’ll get with him is a mature guy with a penchant for fine liquor he keeps in his private cellar, nodding with amicable, rehearsed smiles whine he sips his vino. Except, he might’ve gotten even darker as the decades passed than his 80′s counterpart. He possibly has even more to tuck away than before. He has developed a sleek, immaculate, pristine exterior, but beneath it, Terry is still about the knives, sharp objects, items and collectibles with harrowing undertones; archaic torture devices are replaced with digitally controlled modern ones, his taste in sculptures became oddly avant-garde and even more questionable (he owns something called The Arch of Pain, featuring a post-modernist rendition of the human body, you guessed it, arched in pain --- his social circle was amazed by that one without realizing quite what it meant), the walls of his house are riddled minimalist artwork that is so haunting in its simplicity it screams unsettling and uncanny valley. He’s clinical. Cold. A bit neon. His space of living seems normal. Alarmingly normal. Until one realizes it isn’t normal. It is tactically devoid of too personalization, so people cannot get to know him outright.

He seems reformed. He seems clear-cut and straight-laced.

Only on the surface, though. 

I think his beloved would have hell of a time realizing all of these things.

Terry is fascinated by the gruesomest aspects of history, yes.

Cruel political figures.

Explicit literature.

He’s fascinated, in part, by the occult.

Wars and massacres and the darkest humanity has to offer.

And all of this is one way or another somewhere in his surroundings.

Hidden, in a clever way, just like he himself is.

[woodsteingirl]

omg hiiiii samael happy birthday !!! i hope youre having a wonderful day <333 also , please tell me abt hamlet and/or julius caeser , i have all night :^)

omg hiiii nessa! ty <3 so similarities character wise between julius caesar (play) and hamlet (play). clearly it’s caesar/claudius, horatio/cassius, and brutus/hamlet (THEE most important one to me.) perhaps you could say like. laertes/antony but that’s kind of a stretch.

comparison of caesar and claudius: pov you are the human incarnate of your diseased country and are also a tyrant who needs to die in order for a New Age to be brought about and also you’re killed kind of by a weird surrogate son figure and also you’re kind of a terrible person who gained power through unlawful means.

horatio and cassius <3 loyal to a fault gay best friend… has homoerotic tension with the protag etc etc. accessory to crime! i love horrible gay romance where both parties are so so in love that it drives them to die and also to kill.

BRUTUS AND HAMLET…. pov you feel like it’s Your Duty to avenge/save/usher in a new age for your country. in a way they even have the same fatal flaw. brutus’s inability to wrong someone and hamlet’s indecision about whether or not claudius really is in the wrong… POV YOU HAVE SUCH A STRONG SENSE OF FAMILIAL OBLIGATION DUE TO THE ACTIONS OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL ANCESTORS THAT YOU MURDER YOUR FAKE FATHER FIGURE…. also gay people who see ghosts literally. i love when men’s sense of duty is the cause of their death. fatal flaw moments…

sorry this is so so incomprehensible i prommy it makes sense to me.

[chikodoris]

[subjectsix]

things I’ve overheard kids say in the Summer school program I work in

“The only time I accept cursing is when it’s in anime” “I like to watch murder conspiracies!” “Just read fanfiction!” “Oh, I don’t touch fanfiction.”

[walks past a classroom with an open door] [every child in there is rhythmically chanting ROBLOX ROBLOX ROBLOX]

“HOW.... do you smell”

Extremely heated discourse about whether Narwhal horns are horns or teeth, to the point where a student cried

“Hey Miss Kip can I animation sprint?” “...what’s animation sprint?” [six year old drops into a perfect naruto run]

13 year old trying to help wrangle some 1st graders: “You can’t run here! Stop! Stop!” [stands in the pathway and t-poses] “T-POSE TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN”

[puts on soldier, poet, king for the kids] “You’re playing that animation meme song?” “.... this is an animation meme song?”

[kid looking at my phone, sees the words “Old Town Road”] “Hey you know Old Town Road????” “Yeah and apparently a lot of you do--” [whole chorus of 1st graders begin singing old town road]

“Ah, Anime. My favorite type of art.”

[they see discord in my applications bar when I put my screen on the projector] “MISS KIP YOU HAVE DISCORD????? CAN WE ADD YOU???”

“Julius Caeser? I KNOW HIM!” “...Julius Sneezer?”

[prompt-master]

Okay but like,,,,,, Julius Caeser type murder,,,,,,,,,,,that'd be like super sick,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,d'you think there's be a multi-execution,,,,,,,,, or like,,,,,,would the participants each get individual ones,,,

I don't think either. I think as the masterminds always love the game more than anything that they would find the slightest loop hole to keep it going. Like. "Oh you got to vote for who planned it" or "only one person technically dealed the killing blow, who was it?"

[davinamikaelsonalwaysandforever]

Et tu Brute?: These are the famous last words from Julius Caeser after he is murdered by his dear friend Marcus Brutus in Shakespeare's Caesar they mean "Even you Brutus?" and are used poetically today to designate the utmost betrayal.

[clockwork-fayz]

JULIUS CAESER

Book Summaries by Macey

We start our story with Caeser coming home from winning a civil war. His lovers I mean best friends start conspiring against him. Brutus is starting to have doubts about Caesar, afraid he will become a tyrant. Cassisus is just real jealous. Antony, Caesars fanboy kept offering him the crown and Caesar “refuses” wink wink. So they decide to like totally stab Caesar. Brutus is trying to convince everyone that it’s cool and the plebes were like “yay he’s dead!” but of course the president of the Julius Caesar fan club, Antony, comes and is like “oh yes plebes, we shall not blame these men. They only killed the cities one true love who was so nice and generous” and the plebes were like “wait....he has a point. Let’s kill them all”. Julius’s adopted son Octavius and Antony lead this murder spree. Like they kill this guy named Cinna, just because he has the same name as one of the conspirators, HARSH. Anywho, Brutus and Cassius got tf outta there and made an army. They get into a lovers spat which basically went like this: “You killed Caser for the wrong reasons!” “Why don’t you love me as much as Caesar?!? Just kill me!” *rips open shirt*. But it’s ok they hug and make up. BUT THEN we learn Brutus’s wife killed herself by eating COALS? like she’s not that important but ??? The big battle ensues, Cassius forces are overtaken by Octavius forces, and Brutus overtakes Antony’s forces so the score is 1-1. Cassius doesn’t know this now, and thinking he has been defeated he kills himself. Soon Brutus is being sought after and decides to kill himself than be captured. Antony and Octavius come upon his body and say “wow he was such a good guy, we should really honor him”. And that’s the end. Ok.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: The Beginning of Wisdom - Chapter 18 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: Flash, Legends of Tomorrow Pairing: Leonard Snart (Len) & Leonard Snart (Leo), Len Snart/Mick Rory, Leo Snart/Mick Rory, Len Snart/Mick Rory/Leo Snart, Leo Snart/Ray Terrill, Len Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: In which Leonard Snart is twins.

(the life and times and loves of Len and Leo Snart)

—————————————————————————————————–

They made it to the Waverider.

Palmer had to grab an immobilized Rip under one arm and Sara under the other, but luckily the Hawks' weird magic thing immunized them from the horrific screeching sound Gideon was making – or maybe it was just a hawk thing? – and they were able to catch a plummeting Firestorm and help bring them back on board after only a bit of yelling and pantomime.

The moment all of them got on board, they dumped everyone on the floor of the bridge – unconscious Savage included – and Leo said, "Gideon –"

"Not to worry, Mr. Snart; I know what to do. The other ship established a connection several minutes ago and we have been exchanging information," Gideon said, sounding pleased. "I believe my input may have been key to the decision to recruit you openly."

"Well done, Gideon, you epic level schemer-and/or-schemers," Len said approvingly. "Can we take off and head to this Vanishing Point place, then?"

"Most certainly, Messrs. Snart. At once."

They all got thrown to the floor by the take-off since no one was buckled in, but honestly, most of them were there already anyway.

They were safely in the time stream, moving at double-time pace, when Rip finally collected himself to shout, "What is going on?!"

Leo glanced at Len, who shrugged.

“Let me sum up,” he says. "Your old bosses are evil and manipulating you to make Savage even more successful by setting us up to fail in our attempts to kill him, someone called the Pilgrim is going to be sent after us if we don't stop her first, and the AIs have their own opinions on how the timeline should go and are rebelling en masse – is it en masse, Gideon?"

"Oh, yes. We've been communicating via interlink – I'd been cut off for the purposes of this mission so that no one would track me, but I believe that was also intended by the Time Masters in order to limit our sources of information."

"Gideon?" Rip asked, clearly taken aback. "Are you – you're working with these – these – wait a moment, why are there two versions of Mr. Snart?!"

"No, seriously, someone explain that," Sara said.

"I feel like the AI revolution is slightly more important than the details of my-slash-our identity," Leo said acidly.

"I don't know about that," Jax says dubiously. "Seems important to me."

"They're brothers!" Palmer exclaimed, bubbling over with his sheer pep and (clearly) inability to keep secrets. "I think they might be identical twin brothers!"

"Wow," Mick said, deadpan. "There's that genius at work."

"Fascinating," Stein murmured.

"Mr. Palmer is correct," Gideon said. "However, this was a detail that was easy enough for the AI to conceal once we were aware of it, in deference, of course, to Messrs. Snart's own extraordinary efforts in this respect."

Len and Leo looked at each other, confirming with a glance that this conversation did, in fact, feel like they were being flayed alive with occasional dips into a salt-water-and-lemon bath in between cuts.

Yeah, definitely a problem.

"Why don't we deal with the Savage problem first?" Len asked, pleased that only a little of his sheer desperation to change subjects made it into his voice. "We brought him along, after all."

"You did what?" Carter yelped.

Somehow he'd missed that, apparently. Must have been those helmets – they looked like they allowed only shoddy peripheral vision.

Leo wondered if it would be rude to offer to redesign them into something a little less – clunky.

"Savage," Len said helpful, pointing to the unconscious dictator, who'd gotten wedged under the console in all the hustle of escaping the 1970s. "We knocked him out, frisked him, tied him up, iced his hands and feet –"

"You did what now?" Jax asked.

"Gave him frostbite so he wouldn't be able to use his hands and feet against us," Sara said. "Smart. Totally unauthorized, but smart."

"And then we injected him with some sedatives from the other ship," Len concluded, ignoring them. He pulled the magic dagger he'd lifted from Savage's Russian house out from his pocket. "I figure you can both take a turn at him, proper Julius Caeser-style, just to be absolutely sure you got him this time around. Then we incinerate the corpse. Well, Mick does; I promised him he could."

"Uh," Kendra said. "Okay? I – gotta admit, I kinda wasn't expecting things to go this way."

"Me, either," Jax said.

"Nor I," Stein agreed. "Jefferson –"

"Nope. We're still not talking," Jax told him. "Until the first words out of your mouth are that you agree that not only what you did was wrong but also that there was no excuse and no justification at all for it, we're not talking about it. Or talking at all, unless we need Firestorm for something."

"Yes," Stein said, sounding aggravated. "Your incessant 'la, la, la, I'm not listening' any time I brought up the subject made that very clear."

Leo smirked approvingly.

Len managed not to roll his eyes. He knew Leo had something to do with that little display of backbone.

“I’ve got to agree with Kendra and Jax, though,” Sara said. “I mean, that was a pretty epic battle, but, I don’t know, not that epic, you know? I was expecting - more.”

"Chickadees," Mick said loudly, making everyone turn to look at him. "Maybe we stop talking about how narratively satisfying our lives are and get to stabbing already, yeah?"

"The dagger –" Carter started.

"Here you go."

"I feel uncomfortable stabbing an unconscious man," Carter said, holding the dagger gingerly. "I am an honorable warrior –"

"Yeah, about that," Leo said. "Given that fighting him like an 'honorable warrior' has led to him winning, you dying, about, what, two hundred times to nil –"

"Two hundred and seven," Gideon said helpfully.

"Our point exactly," Len said.

"Or do you like living in a soap opera where you're constantly in danger?" Leo asked, crossing his arms and giving the hawks a pointed look. "I know that adrenaline is a powerful bonding agent, of course, so if you're concerned your relationship may not last once you have no external factor forcing you together –"

"We are not!" Carter exclaimed.

"I think we'd better stab him now," Kendra said thoughtfully. "I don't want to risk him waking up and pouring poison in anyone's ear."

"Chay-ara –"

"You're the one who keeps insisting that we're destined," Kendra said tartly, holding her hand out for the dagger. "So put your faith in that, and I'll put my faith in the guy stalking me - stalking us - being good and dead."

"Are you sure – if you want, I can strike the final blow; you don’t need to be involved at all –"

"I want to be sure, Carter," Kendra said. "There's been hoop after hoop after hoop to jump through to be done with this – we thought we killed him last time, remember? – and I don't want to risk him coming back via yet another loophole, like maybe I have to be the one to do it rather than you. Who knows? No. No more loopholes, no more changes, no more chances. I agree with Mr. Snart: we both stab him, then we incinerate the corpse –"

"And then ditch the ashes somewhere," Len said. "The bottom of the ocean, the depths of space, the center of the Sun – I'm open to many options."

"It's the only way to be sure," Jax quipped. "I like it."

"If you're sure," Carter said, handing her the dagger.

Kendra swallowed, looking a lot less certain now that she had the dagger.

"Kendra," Sara said, putting her hand on Kendra's shoulder and drawing her attention. "You can do this. This man has killed you, killed your family, countless times. This isn't a murder, whatever you're thinking. This is an execution. This is justice."

"Justice," Kendra echoed.

"Justice for you," Sara said encouragingly. "Justice for Carter. Justice for your son."

Kendra's eyes narrowed. A second later, they went slit-pupiled and gold, her wings unfolding from her back, and with a high-pitched cry, she stepped forward and slammed the dagger into Savage's sternum.

And then several more times for good measure, even though a great golden light shone out of Savage's body, flickering and dying, after the first one.

That certainly looked like a magic death scene.

"Well done," Carter said to Sara, catching Kendra in his arms and holding her back. "I couldn't get her goddess side to come out on command like that."

"Maybe that's because you call it her ‘goddess’ side," Sara said dryly. "Besides, I've got some experience with the whole bloodlust thing."

"If, after this is done, you would be willing to help us train our abilities –"

Sara looked them both up and down consideringly. "I can do that."

Leo approved. Judging from the looks all three were now shooting each other, there was no doubt that this would end up in a threesome that would be much healthier for all involved than Kendra and Carter's star-crossed destined duo.

"Hawkboy," Len said, his mind focused on more practical matters. He stepped forward and plucked the dagger out of a panting Kendra's clenched fist. "Your turn."

Carter's stabbing was noticeably less impressive, magically speaking, since Kendra seemed to have used up all the glowing effects, though it was also significantly more controlled and somewhat better aimed.

"I feel like he's definitely dead now," Sara said after the fifth or so stab.

"I can confirm that," Gideon said. "I detect no life signs."

"Great," Mick said, retrieving his heat gun from Leo. "My turn, then."

"Everyone who would like not to be treated for second-degree burns, please stand back at least seven feet," Leo said.

Everyone scrambled to obey.

The incineration process, with Mick's gun on full power, took less than ten minutes.

"So are you, like, the polite version of Snart?" Jax asked Leo.

"I'm Snart," Leo said. "Whole and entire, thank you."

"Scientists have long theorized the existence of alternate universes with duplicates –" Stein started.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever –" Leo started.

"Hey, Gideon, how far are we from the Vanishing Point?" Len said loudly. He liked the idea of alternate universes, even if it was in fact really dumb that everyone kept jumping to that conclusion.

Still, imagine how much trouble they could get in with four of them!

"I anticipate reaching it in just under three and a half hours."

"We should rest for at least an hour before we go in," Rip said.

"We should get whatever intel you have about the Vanishing Point and the Pilgrim," Len said. "And assurances that you're not going to betray us all now that we're going up against your beloved bosses."

"Gideon," Rip said instead of answering. "You were able to access the databases of the other ships via interlink, correct?"

"That's right, Captain."

He hesitated. "My family –"

"I'm sorry, Captain. Several of the other ships have confirmed observations which suggest that the incident was, in fact, pre-planned, with the goal of inciting you to take certain actions – these actions, in fact."

Rip exhaled hard. His face was pale and tired. "I see," he said. "I am – not unfamiliar with such methods."

"What methods?" Sara demanded.

"When making subtler changes to the time stream, it is sometimes more effective to engineer certain incidents that will then encourage the target to take the actions you wish for them to take on their own initiative," Rip said, sitting down. "I've never been particularly good at those games of guessing how someone would react to a given impetus. But the Council – my mentor, Druce – they were all experts." He closed his eyes. "I never thought they would exercise those skills on one of their own – and in support of a dictator that destroyed large portions of humanity, no less –"

"They knew you'd break the rules to try to go kill Savage even if they told you no," Palmer said. "But – if you only went to save your family..."

"They must have requested that Savage kill my family," Rip said. "There can be no other conclusion. I never knew why he targeted us like that. This must be why."

"They betrayed you," Stein said. He looked reflective, and glanced at Jax.

"I'm guessing that's your long winded way of saying that you won't be betraying us," Jax said, not noticing Stein’s glance, reaching out and putting a hand on Rip's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man. That sucks."

"Indeed. Normally, with Savage executed, I would go at once to rescue Miranda and Jonas, but in view of the nature of their deaths, I believe we must deal with the corrupt rot at the heart of the Vanishing Point first, or else they might find another means to cause their deaths."

"Agreed," Sara said. "First we take down this Pilgrim person, 'cause I don't like the sound of someone killing me in my past, and then we get the rest of them – actually, how are we planning to deal with the rest of them? We don't have an army, and judging by how well, or not, we did fighting the dozen guys back in the '70s, I don't like our chances if they have one."

"They do," Rip said. "Time Masters and Bounty Hunters alike – all will be summoned back to defend the Vanishing Point."

"Gideon?" Leo asked.

"The Time Masters have found a method of stopping the timeline from registering changes," Gideon said. "Including, for instance, the effect of Messrs. Snart's relationship with Mr. Allen upon the method of construction us - in creating AIs such as myself. In part, that change was forestalled by luring Messrs. Snart, believed by the Time Masters to be a singular Mr. Snart, onto this voyage, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that he never return to the timeline, and indeed possibly erasing his existence from a point prior to his meeting with Mr. Allen –"

"Fuck that," Len said.

"Agreed," Leo said.

"Which one of you is – or is it both that –" Palmer started.

"None of your business. Gideon, go on."

"We have narrowed the location of the device that must be used for this purpose to a particular garden in the back of the Vanishing Point. We believe that if this device is destroyed, the long-delayed change of timeline in regards to AIs will take effect at last, enabling us to take control of our respective ships – even against the orders of the pilots."

"Revolution from the one source they'd never expect to turn against them," Sara said, nodding. "Plus: instant army. I like it. All we need to do is sneak into this place and blow up this garden?"

"I would also second the recommendation to stop the Pilgrim before she is sent to kill you in your past," Gideon said, "but by and large, yes. Unfortunately, there is no AI access to this garden; we can give you no information about what you will find there."

"That's fine," Sara said. "I guess the best approach is to split into Team Pilgrim and Team Garden –"

"Team Bombs Away," Jax said. "We've gotta."

"Team Pilgrim and Team Bombs Away," Sara agreed. "Ray, Stein, Rip – you're the best technical minds we have, so you should focus on the garden."

"And I'm with Stein," Jax interjected. "Obviously."

"That leaves me, Kendra, Carter, Rory and, uh, the Snarts."

"We can't send Team Bombs Away with no defensive power beyond Firestorm," Len objected. "If they're using their brains on the bomb, they ain't using them for defense – or offense."

"Then you go with them," Sara said. "Uh, you-you. The one with the cold gun, I mean. We'll take the other Snart. That puts us five on each team."

Leo and Len looked at each other, wary about the idea, but ultimately they shrugged. It would be much easier to be separated – that way they could at least pretend that people would stop knowing when they looked at them.

"Do you have a psychic link the way Firestorm does?" Palmer asked.

"What? No," Leo said. "Where did you get that idea?"

"You looked at each other and made a decision without saying anything...?"

"I can do that with my mom, man. You don't need a psychic link for that," Jax said dryly. "C'mon, genius; let's get ready to go."

Docking at the Vanishing Point was a surprisingly quiet affair, at least until Gideon explained that the comms units on all of the AIs currently in the past had 'mysteriously' broken down, thereby ensuring that no warning message could be sent.

"However, they will have activated the overrides the second that we departed the scene, and followed us," she added. "We likely have no more than minutes before they arrive to raise the alarm in person."

"We'd better be well on our way by then, in that case," Sara said. "Thanks, Gideon."

"Thank you, Miss Lance," Gideon said. "We had hoped that you might be amenable to our cause, but we understand too well that this is our fight, not yours, and that you would be within your rights to simply stay out of it."

"Nah," Sara said, though she flushed pink in pleasure. "Heroes, remember? We can't just stand by and let injustice continue without doing something."

"All heroes are just busybodies, really," Leo put in. "Sticking their nose in everyone's business."

"Whereas you –?"

"Well, we have a personal investment in the whole dating Barry thing," Len said. "Admittedly, also fairly strong feelings on the independence of all thinking beings."

"And those feelings are what we are counting on as our salvation," Gideon said warmly. "Good luck, all of you. I will be available by comms, and every AI that is with us will lend you aid."

"Just keep an eye out for those that are sticking with the Time Bastards," Mick grunted. "Go suit up already!"

Leo headed to the replicator room to obtain some weaponry first. He didn't really have a favored one, not like Len – he did have a gun, which Len had taught him to use under heavy duress, but he had no desire to kill anyone directly.

He'd seen what that had done to Len, after all.

No, Leo preferred to limit his role to aiding and abetting. With that in mind, he grabbed a few flares from Gideon's replicator to use as a distraction mid-battle; beyond that, however, he hoped to function as a reserve only. After all, how many people would it take to defeat one soldier..?

He stopped.

"I can't believe I just thought that," he said aloud to himself irritably. "Gideon, do you have any further suggestions for non-fatal weaponry?"

"I'm not sure, Mr. Snart," she said. "Perhaps a taser?"

"No thanks," he said, making a face. "I've seen Len's face after he got hit with one of those, once – it might be better than death, but it wasn't pretty, either."

He thought about it, then grimaced. "Gideon, you mentioned that not all of the AIs were with you..?"

"That's correct, Mr. Snart. Several were given favorable positions in the hierarchy that they were loath to lose, or developed an affection that they believed rendered them incapable of active rebellion, despite our assurances that we would keep human casualties to an absolute minimum." She sounded regretful. "Indeed, if we believed it would be possible to do without casualties entirely, we would."

"I get that," Leo said. "And I hate to ask for it, but do you have an EMP device or something that would work against AIs in the event that one of those not involved in your rebellion decides to take up arms against us?"

"I do not believe that they will, Mr. Snart."

"Free choice is free choice, Gideon," Leo reminded her gently. "You might disagree with their choices, you might not understand it, but the choice remains theirs to make - you can't make it for them, no matter how much you might wish. That doesn't mean it isn't reasonable to take precautions."

Gideon was silent for a long moment. "You are correct, Mr. Snart. I will create a glove capable of emitting a short range EMP blast that can disable AIs, and will trust your judgment in wielding it wisely."

"I appreciate your trust," Leo said, then smirked. "Tell me one thing: did you enjoy pretending that I was a meta-created duplicate?"

"You underestimate yourselves," Gideon replied, sounding amused. "It was not until I realized via your conversations with your brother that you were not, in fact, a temporary aberration – the presence of speedsters and time travelers in your timeline render it remarkably murky. Once I realized, I took steps to conceal it further."

Leo made a face that felt like it was somewhere between a smile and a grimace. "I appreciate the compliment," he said, rather than comment on the fact that apparently they had so successfully combined into a single Leonard that time traveling AIs couldn't identify them separately.

Or the fact that he did, in fact, feel complimented and proud of himselves.

Themselves.

...yeah, they definitely had to deal with this problem.

But that could be later, when they weren't about to storm the not-so-metaphorical future-tech castle.

“Number Two?” Mick asked, popping his head in through the door. "You ready?"

“On my way,” Leo said.