#talk to those clones that got fucked up while she was STILL IN HER CELL

[mzcain27]

Ahsoka being accused of everything and that shitty Jedi trial is SO FRUSTRATING

[saanphoenix]

“Why do so many old-school FFVII fans think that Cloud took Zack’s memories?”

Alright, so first things first. We gotta start from the beginning. We gotta start with Jenova.

Jenova is the name given to the alien entity known as the Calamity. “Heaven’s dark harbinger.” This being, assumed to be female because of the body she was in at the Crater, was basically godlike in her natural abilities. Historically, she was able to shapeshift. She was telepathic. She had a nigh indomitable will. And she used her abilities to infect the race of human(oid)s that happened upon her crash site--the Cetra.

Now, Ifalna, within the English translation of the OG, states that Jenova turned the Cetra into monsters, nearly wiping them all out, and that the wee few that remained basically had to be sacrificed to seal Jenova away before she could do anymore damage to all life on the planet. The notes Sephiroth finds within the Shinra Mansion seem to corroborate this version of events, as he tells Zack that the Cetra chose to fight the Calamity while the other humans “hid”, thus being spared Jenova’s shenanigans, allowing them to become the dominant race on the planet, but ultimately being cowards unworthy to be the shepherds of any star, to quote Emet-Selch from FFXIV. Stay with me now.

We also know that the notes Sephiroth reads within the Shinra Mansion do not, in any way, call Jenova the Calamity. They still refer to her as a Cetra. Meaning that those notes are outdated, before the discovery of a living Cetra, a Cetra who is 2000 years removed from her own people’s history. Right? So.

(’Ah, but what about Genesis point-blank telling Sephiroth the truth? He knew what was up!’ Yes, because Hollander and Hojo found out from Gast’s recordings, and Ifalna herself, what Jenova actually was, and then Hollander told Genesis, who then said some stupid ass shit to trigger Sephiroth into looking into the wrong information, and now Nibelheim is not Nibelheim anymore and Cloud is missing one more family member than he was when he joined Shinra. Also, fuck Genesis. Anyway.)

HOJO, yeah? Hojo, in two separate novels written by Nojima himself, states to Aerith and Tseng separately that Jenova 1) will inevitably infect all life on the planet with her “cells” because of the very nature of the Lifestream and 2) turned the Cetra against each other via subtle manipulation and illusions of their loved ones, dead or alive, conceived from their own memories. She didn’t show up looking like the Eldritch horror with the eyeball nipple, she showed up looking like a run-of-the-mill Cetra. And she would further disguise herself as people a Cetra knew in order to gain their trust. And then, after she had gained that trust, she would say shit like, “Hey. Your friend over there hates you,” or, “Hey. Your friend over there wants to kill you.” And thus the Cetra, at the very least morally but probably also physically, became monsters and tore themselves apart.

You ever wonder why everything the Cetra had was booby-trapped and hidden behind riddles and self-sacrificial bullshit like their Temple? My guess is because Jenova made it so they couldn’t trust anyone, even themselves.

“Why did I read all that? What does that have to do with Cloud voring Zack’s memories?”

Because we gotta understand the mechanics of this bitch first so that we know what to look out for.

Now, we have an alien in stasis--presumed dead but definitely not--and a buncha scientists who really want a coveted spot sucking President Shinra’s dick as head of the Science Dept. who all think that taking the genetic material of a Cetra and splicing it into a modern-day human’s DNA will give them a Geiger counter to the Promised Land. Which they want to use as fuel because only some of them really understand what mako is and the others are just fucking stupid. Anyway, my guess is that they archeology their way to Jenova’s still-kinda-alive corpse and do some DNA testing and go, “Ah! We’ve found a Cetra. It has to be one! She’s by the crater, after all, and that’s where some of them were nuked by a Meteor! :) We’re geniuses!” And Jenova, in the Lifestream, went, “GOTCHA, BITCH!”

And through the power of dino DNA, out pops a lot of nonviable lifeforms, some monsters, and, eventually, a relatively normal kid with a flare for the dramatic who will become wholly obsessed with apples and very boring literature that he will insist on repeating every five goddamn seconds. As he was no Geiger counter to the Promised Land, out pops another relatively normal kid who will grow up to have dreams, and honor, and steal food from his neighbors because he was so damn honorable that he just could not ask for a handout.

With Hollander and Gillian’s experiments not producing anything of note other than children that need love and support, Hojo and Lucrecia decide to take a slightly different sample of Jenova’s cells and just start sticking them everywhere. They’re in Lucrecia. They’re in Lucrecia’s fetus. And...something strange starts to happen.

Lucrecia starts to feel the effects of Jenova. Lucrecia’s mind and body start to kind of deteriorate. Not the way that Genesis’ and Angeal’s do later on, but she is plagued by shit like severe depression and fatigue. She falls out on the floor multiple times. Her bodyguard is a little late on pulling the trigger of the gun aimed at her husband and, instead of doing anything productive about her husband proving he’s an amoral murderous fuckhead, she just decides to play doll with her kinda undead bodyguard, get even sicker, and then, finally, pops out a very strange looking baby. In fact, he looks a little alien.

“No, seriously, what does this have to do with anything?”

Genetics. How Jenova cells work. Whatever clump of cells they injected into Lucrecia, clearly different from those used in Project G, seemed to focus more on the mental fuckery aspect of Jenova than the physical, shapeshifting aspect of Jenova. I would also argue that one of the reasons Lucrecia was so adversely affected by the cells and Gillian was not is their mental well-being. Gillian, even when we meet her, seems very upbeat and doing pretty okay despite her husband having died from exhaustion a coupla years back. Lucrecia was depressed and very subservient even before she married Hojo. Losing her mentor--Vincent’s father--probably exacerbated that. And, later in Advent Children, that sort of mentality--hopelessness and despair--is what Sephiroth’s Geostigma feeds off of. That and thoughts of death/dying. But that is more speculation than anything.

So, Sephiroth’s cells are different from Genesis’ and Angeal’s, and they were all three bred differently, but they’re all kinda chimeras of Jenova’s. And once Genesis learns about his origins, it’s like the lightbulb goes off. This guy’s creating clones by infecting his 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs with his own cells. And when he does that, their physical appearance becomes his own. As does their will. Whatever Genesis wants, the clones also want. And then he just grows a wing for shits and giggles. Once he tells his BFF Angeal the sitch, behold! He’s got monster clones--maybe because he realizes how fucked up overwriting a human being with yourself is--and wings, too. ...Why?

The power to do all of this shit was always there. It was genetically always there. They just had to be made aware of it, to have the puzzle piece put into place. When Sephiroth dies, that puzzle piece is put into place. And then he starts fuckin’ with shit. And turns into monstrous angels. And then dies again. And then comes back and finally grows himself his own wing. He did it, fellas. He’s a big boy now.

But we’re not here to talk about Sephiroth--ignore how much I talked about Sephiroth and his mommies previously--we’re here to talk about ZACK and CLOUD.

“What’s up with Zack and Cloud?”

First, what we must realize is that even though Hojo says that both Zack and Cloud are failed clones because they 1) didn’t take on any physical characteristics of Sephiroth, 2) didn’t seem controlled by Jenova (or Sephiroth) and, 3) didn’t exhibit the other signs of a Reunion impulse like the other clones in Nibelheim that does not mean that Sephiroth’s cells, Jenova’s cells, are not working on them.

As we’ve observed in other 1sts, abilities do not always manifest immediately or even noticeably. Clearly, Sephiroth’s physical appearance is a bit of a hint, but Genesis and Angeal look pretty damn normal and, if it weren’t for their mako injections, they probably wouldn’t be showing that much of an increase in physical capabilities. Theoretically. Maybe 10-year-old Angeal had biceps the size of a man’s head. I mean. Pff.

Zack’s tolerance to Jenova was strong due to his previous exposure in the SOLDIER program. Cloud’s mind broke pretty early on. Neither of these results matter to the fact that they both now have Sephiroth’s cells within them--just as Genesis’ and Angeal’s clones had theirs--and that their very wills are now going to be affected by Sephiroth’s. But they are also going to be a little bit like him in terms of power.

Zack’s hair, when ingested by a Genesis clone, a clone of a Type-G SOLDIER, transforms that clone into a monster. Zack doesn’t even have to do anything. The Jenova/Sephiroth cells within his body can just Do That, cause that change in another life form, of their own accord. I’m honestly shocked that, whenever they gave Zack these S-cells, HE didn’t turn into a monster. But that’s neither here nor there. I wanna talk about Cloud.

Cloud has mako poisoning, which the Remake describes as his spirit/soul being stuck between his body and the Lifestream. Weird. Anyway, he’s not fully aware of his surroundings at all times, and he clearly can’t control his body that much. He somehow has the ability to kinda get his feet shuffling, and I’m going to go on a limb and say he can chew whatever food Zack gives him, but most of the time, he’s a puppet with cut strings.

But he is also still recovering from a mind break caused by Jenova cells. The same cells that are just chilling in his body, like they are in Zack’s. And all the months Zack is dragging his ass across a continent, an ocean, and another continent, they and Cloud are listening to whatever the fuck Zack is saying. Cloud is also constantly in physical contact with Zack.

In The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story, Kadaj has the power to not only read surface thoughts and memories just by being near someone, but he can also read deeper ones by making physical contact with someone. Because Jenova. And Sephiroth, whose cells Cloud and Zack have, in the OG demonstrates that he, too, can glean thoughts and memories from others. Because Jenova.

If this power is a genetic trait, as it is with Genesis and Angeal, then, sitting pretty underneath their skin, Zack and Cloud have this ability. Dormant. Snoozing. Kinda like the 1st Class Trio’s wings.

But Zack has a high tolerance and a high ignorance to Jenova and just what he might be capable of. Cloud’s mind is floating in and out at best. He’s not in control of himself. And when you have a situation like that, it is very, very easy to come to the conclusion that Cloud’s Jenova cells are passively absorbing the memories of Zack’s time in Nibelheim. That they are knitting these memories together with what little remain in Cloud’s head. That when Tifa comes across Cloud at the train station and calls him by name and remembers who he is that Cloud’s Jenova cells latch onto those memories in Tifa--as Sephiroth tells them they did--and they knit those memories with Zack’s and Cloud’s and the end result is the man we get at the beginning of the OG.

Because Cloud has visual memory of shit he never saw. It’s not just a visual medium telling a visual story. You wanna know how I know that for a fact? Because, in the Remake, Cloud remembers Sephiroth walking up to Jenova’s tank in the reactor from Sephiroth’s perspective. He is looking through Sephiroth’s eyes, through his memory, up at “Mother.” In that moment in the Remake, Cloud is Sephiroth. He’s not Cloud anymore.

Cloud sees Sephiroth delivering the speech of being an Ancient. Cloud wasn’t there. Cloud didn’t see that. Zack did. That is Zack’s memory.

The man writing the Remake is the same man who’s been at the head of MOST FFVII writing. He was on the OG, he wrote Advent Children, he wrote the novels, he wrote Crisis Core, he’s writing the Remake. He knows what these cells can do because he’s crafted this world-building for decades.

Cloud didn’t take all of Zack’s memories. He didn’t need to. Kadaj, in the novel, doesn’t glean everything from someone right off the bat. Because he doesn’t need to. Only when he needs to learn something else does he go digging. The same is probably true for what Cloud’s cells most likely did to be able to know what he knows. Hell! Kadaj gets punched in the novel and he ACCIDENTALLY picks up the emotions and memories of the guy who punched him. He didn’t want ‘em but he got ‘em!”

There is evidence within the OG, and even more within the Compilation, that lend weight to the theory that Cloud unintentionally read Zack’s mind when it came to the events of Nibelheim.

For years, people have wondered, “How the hell does Cloud know that if he wasn’t there?” For years, people have wondered, “How can he use the Buster Sword if he was just a little grunt that used a gun all the time?” The logical answer is, “Because of his Jenova cells. They can just do that shit.”

[fencer-x]

Fencer’s Big Eva Review

Just got done watching the Eva finale, so it’s time to get out thoughts while they’re fresh! Caveat: Eva is difficult to understand for native speakers, and I’m definitely not a native speaker XD I feel like I got maybe half, and got the rough gist of like 10% of the rest, and the remaining was just no friggin’ clue. Would’ve gone better if there’d at least been JP subs, but you’ll have to deal with what I’ve got for now!

It should be obvious, but there’ll be HELLA MAJOR SPOILERS for the final Evangelion movie. Ready? Let’s go.

The movie very helpfully starts off with a ~2 min recap of the movies thus far. This was great because I didn’t have time to rewatch the previous three before going, and while I’ve seen them a few times, it took me a second the recall what had happened at the very end of Q, so I was glad to get a very brief recap.

The actual movie itself opens on...Paris! Or Paris post-Near-Third-Impact (Third Impact?), which is a red and black wasteland. It seems that Wille has been developing these things that look like Entry Plugs that they shove into the ground and restore everything to pre-all-impacts (so like, blue water and everything); couldn’t get HOW it managed that, but they had them and were attempting to restore Paris.

Would have been a walk in the park except for weird Eva-Angel-Machine hybrids that were trying to prevent them from activating the plugs. Lots of fighting happens, with Mari piloting her Eva to give them cover while the Wille staff set everything up. Eventually they manage it, and Euro Nerv is restored.

Then we switch over to right where Q left off: Asuka, Clone!Rei, and a catatonic Shinji wandering around trying to go who knows where. They eventually get picked up by...Touji! Yes, an older Touji now who lives in a commune of survivors, scraping out a semblance of a life in one of the areas protected by the aforementioned plugs (they had another name but I couldn’t get it).

In this community, Touji is the local doctor--and he’s married with a kid! He married Hikari, and they have an infant daughter named Tsubame. 

Now, let’s check in how our main three do when introduced to this relatively normal life they get to enjoy for a few weeks:

Asuka: Still in ‘fight mode’, ready to go at a moment’s notice. How she thinks she’s gonna fight when she has no Eva idk, but for this entire little bit, she’s either naked or in her plugsuit. She stays with Aida Kensuke, who’s kind of the handyman, and is generally just rude af.

Shinji: For 90% of this bit, he’s totally shut off. He’s incredibly fucked up from having JUST watched Kaworu die, essentially because of him, and Asuka has on a DSS choker, and every time he sees it, he collapses and begins vomiting violently. He stays with the Suzuharas at first but is quickly sent to stay with Asuka and Kensuke because they don’t really know how to deal with him. Kensuke manages to get him to open up a little bit, but eventually it’s Rei who gets him started on the path back to being himself. At one point he runs away and ‘lives’ alone for a while in what I think was either the building where he first met Kaworu playing the piano or one that looked a lot like it. He goes out to do odd jobs with Kensuke a lot, and on one occasion he’s taken to an ‘outdoor lab’ where some workers are experimenting with new gardening techniques. It’s here he’s meets...Kaji Ryouji. No, not that Kaji Ryouji. That Kaji DIED. This is the son he had with Misato (named after him).

Rei: Now, let me say I’ve never been super interested in Rei. I didn’t dislike her, like I did Asuka, but I wasn’t really interested in her either. She was just there. Guys.....I LOVED REI IN THIS MOVIE. I would have watched 2.5 hours of the Rei Learns To Be A Human show and been happy for the $20 I paid. Rei spends her time in the commune learning to be an individual. She stays with the Suzuharas and learns what different words mean, like “Good morning” and “Good night” and “Thank you” and “Goodbye”, she gets super close with a bunch of old ladies who essentially adopt her and teach her how to plant turnips and what a bath is, and she becomes her own person. When she first arrives, the Suzuharas think she’s “Ayanami Rei”, but she explains that she isn’t, so they call her “Sokkuri-san” instead (”Miss Spitting Image” essentially), and the old ladies find it amusing at first but then encourage her to choose her own name, and when she can’t think of one, they tell her to have someone choose one for her, so she asks the Uber-Depressed Shinji to choose one. These interactions are what eventually pull him back to himself, but ultimately he’s unable to come up with one, because “Ayanami is Ayanami”. She thanks him for trying anyway, returns his SD player to him..............................and then dissolves into a pile of LCL fluid, as apparently all clones eventually return to LCL. Fantastic, because Shinji didn’t need EVEN MORE TRAUMA.

Somehow, the above doesn’t break Shinji, and he resolves to go back to Wille and face his father I guess?? I’m not entirely clear on why (gotta go read some reports of my own I guess lol). Back on the ship with Misato et al., Shinji isn’t forced to wear a choker but he’s put in a cell with like explosives in it I guess. He starts having visions of Kaworu helping him accept things.

At this point it’s getting close to the climax, and Wille are going after Nerv/Gendo once and for all. During the final fight, Asuka tried to take out Unit 13′s core, and then she’s not managing it, she rips off her eyepatch, and we see that the patch was keeping the 9th angel bound within her eye, so she decides to throw away her humanity and let it take over to destroy Unit 13. Unfortunately, she’s killed in the end--how? She’s approached by a vision of her ‘original’. Yup, Asuka was a clone herself, like Rei, and she turns back into LCL and she and unit 02 are absorbed by Unit 13.

Eventually the fight comes down to Shinji vs. Gendo, who has thrown away his own humanity and bonded with Unit 13 in the hopes of completing the Human Instrumentality Project. He and Shinji go head to head as Shinji summons (???) Unit 01 from inside Unit 13, and there’s a really REALLY WEIRD final fight between the two that involves some weird animation choices. Lots of storyboards and overly CGI’d CGI, and some bits that seem to take them through the different incarnations of the Eva series.

We also get Gendo backstory by the boatload as he and Shinji have an actual goddamn conversation for once. Mari features prominently in Gendo’s flashbacks so she was definitely one of his classmates it seems, who introduced him to Fuyutsuki. I’m still not entirely clear on who she is/was.

However, through this conversation, Shinji gives the people he’s interacted with most closely/been closest with closure I guess? Gendo, Asuka...Kaworu.

So about Kaworu. Their conversation was VERY VERY WEIRD; it’s made clear that Shinji is also now aware of all the different iterations of their meeting. When they talk, it’s set at the beach where they first met in the TV series, and Shinji says he remembers all the times they’ve met before. Shinji mentions that Kaworu reminds him a lot of his father, and then there are some very strange flashbacks (????) of Kaworu’s that I feel like imply he’s to Gendo as Rei is to Yui. At one point, he’s seen talking to Fuyutsuki, trying to decide on a name for himself and settling on ‘Nagisa’ as it means ‘beach’, where the ocean meets the land. Fuyutsuki later addresses Kaworu, who’s sitting in Gendo’s desk, as “Commander Nagisa”. Kaworu reflects to Shinji that he failed so many times to make Shinji happy, but he’s realized now that that’s because he doesn’t know what would make Shinji happy and it was arrogant to think he knew better. He was looking for his own happiness all along.

In the end, after all these goodbyes, Shinji is left with the decision of what to do with, well, reality. He decides, in a conversation with Rei, that he’ll reset everything--create a ‘neon genesis’--to a world without Eva or Angels.

Our last shot is an older Shinji meeting his (presumed??) girlfriend Mari on a train platform. On the opposite platform waiting for their own train are Kaworu, Asuka, and Rei. Shinji and Mari hold hands and run, laughing, from the train station.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION GOT A HAPPY ENDING. 2021 REALLY BE OUT HERE WILDING.

My final thoughts:

Okay I’ll say it: the fuck with Shinji/Mari endgame? Believe me, it was completely out of left field even in this movie. They just happened to be the only final survivors. Mari flirted a hell of a lot more with ASUKA and was distraught at her death than she did with Shinji. They were a kind of cute couple in the end, but very ????? 

I’m disappointed Shinji wasn’t the one to give Kaworu his happiness in the end, after Kaworu spent so long and so many lives and realities trying to make him happy and failing. I’m choosing to believe, since these multiple realities/resets are canon now, that he did it in one of them. They all deserve the happiness of their choosing, not just Shinji’s, and Kaworu showed us time and time again that his happiness definitively involves being with Shinji.

I’m sure I missed a lot, because yanno, Eva, and it was long enough as is, but gosh I wish I could’ve understood more of everything that was going on, cause there was SO MUCH WEIRD SHIT.

If I watch this movie again, I will 500% just be watching those “Rei learns to be human with the help of a bunch of old cackling biddies” bits :> Those were THE BEST PARTS OF THE MOVIE.

[jngles]

Thoughts You Definitely All Asked For on ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Finale!!

These are in chronological order for the show.

One of my biggest fears about them reintroducing Boba Fett was that by removing some of his mystery, they would make him less cool. Thank god that has not been the case. He’s still an aloof and nasty piece of work but with dimensions added.

We all know the Empire is most often a metaphor for America right? At least when it’s not being Nazi Germany? The Imperial pilot talking about destroying an entire planet (of peaceful weaponless civilians no less) to stop terrorism hits a little too close to home of the nuclear bombs the US has dropped and the endless destruction of the Middle East in the “war against terror.” And of course we frame all our wars in similar language like “our troops died to keep our country safe,” which hasn’t really been true since WWII.

I do think it’s worth noting that this is the first time SW has had someone acknowledge the human losses of the Death Star blasts. Usually it’s framed as a loss in construction time, strategical advantage, and power. The Empire proved time and time again that the lives of its soldiers were utterly expendable, which always made me question why people remained loyal outside of fear. Through this pilot’s phrasing, you can see the propaganda Imperial superiors used to twist the truth to their followers, always blaming those deaths on Rebel aggression instead of prideful Imperial neglect (I.e. not abandoning ship when there was still time) or even direct Imperial aggression like Operation Cinder where they fired on thousands of their own (discussed in S2E7.)

You can’t tell me Din wasn’t into it when Cara shot that asshole pilot. That cold faced revenge shot? 100% Mandalorian style, and also very very hot.

I appreciate that it was a pretty equal match between Boba and Koska Reeves. So much of Boba’s advantage comes from his suit, but since she also has one, it’s a battle of wits on how to use it, and they even out. This both maintains his legendary badassery and also that of highly trained Mandalorian warriors, and hopefully avoids asshole chauvinist SW fans on the internet complaining abujt “pandering to feminism” (fuck off @ all of them, especially since Mercedes Vernado who plays Reeves is a WWE champ and could kick all of your asses.)

Din point blank asked how many Death Troopers there are and Dr. Pershing never answered, and that annoys me.

Why is no one suspicious why Dr. Pershing is being so helpful and revealing so much information? He totally did not have to tell them about the Dark Troopers or any of the specifics of locations on the ship. He’s still with the empire post-fall, implying he’s a loyalist, so... wtf on his part (since no tricks come of it), and “be smarter” on the part of everyone else. Unless he’s been captive as a clone engineer all this time. But couldn’t he have made his escape back in Season 1 when Din killed everyone at that lab to get the kid back?

Bo Katan really could’ve just told them how the retrieval of the dark saber needs to work in the flight before the mission instead of being vague about “he belongs to me.”

Boba Fett’s usage of “Princess” and “don’t worry about me” are a good throwback to Han Solo and the culture they both grew up in. You can never quite tell if it’s based in misogyny or resentment for upper classes, but both of them seem to use it as a shield for begrudging respect they hold for a woman they think is brave but following a fool’s errand (the Rebellion and retaking Mandalore).

The Comms Officer (Katy O’Brian) assisting Moff Gideon will forever and always look like Ilana Glazer to me, and then I get swept up imagining what would happen if the Broad City cast accidentally got transported to Star Wars.

The launch tube sequence has some amazing cinematography.

The second I saw Boba was cut off from the pack, I really thought they were going to kill him again and make his return bittersweet. Glad they didn’t.

God this team of Bo Katan, Koska Reeves, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune is SO BADASS. I’m just obsessed with all these characters and their various motivations to get shit done. I honestly didn’t even think about the fact it’s all women until my re-watch, showing that the writers made it feel natural, the way women deserve to have their representation done. You can bet I am SO EXCITED for my future daughter and the wealth of possibilities she’s going to have of characters to play pretend as, action figures she can relate to, Halloween costumes to wear, etc. It’s so validating that we’ve gone from only Princess Leia as a female main character to all these women + Rey, Jyn Erso, Ahsoka, etc. etc.

Can’t wait for the trap remix of the Dark Trooper activation noises. (And the transition from that to the minimalist flute theme is perfect.)

The spy movie version of the main theme music is sick.

The Dark Trooper droid faces have a lot of similarity to Darth Vader’s mask. That callback is especially apparent when the one is literally lit from the inside with fire. He was already a martyr/legend to the Imperial remnants, Kylo Ren didn’t start the trend of ignoring his redemption.

Cara’s “excuse me” right before shooting up Stormtroopers is hilarious. Literally “can’t talk rn, doing hot girl shit and murdering space Nazis.”

Finally an Imperial ship got some frickin security cameras. Truly- the amount of times people just wander down hallways they’re not supposed to be in with no one being able to find them throughout the course of Star Wars is ridiculous when you think about the degree of surveillance our real life society carries out. I also love that this means The Mandalorian characters have also seen The Mandalorian.

The storytelling does such a service to Pedro Pascal and his already heroic efforts to portray emotion through a helmet. For example: Din easily could’ve killed the one stormtrooper outside Grogu’s cell much more efficiently, but instead, to show his absolute rage, they wrote in Din choking him out with a spear.

Moff Gideon would have been the BIGGEST pain in the ass in philosophy class. “Assume I know everything” my ass. I want to hear about his backstory (he would’ve been “coming of age” at the time of the Clone Wars) mostly just to hear about him getting bullied at school.

Smart move honestly, to try to tempt Din with the Mandalorian throne, given the Mandalorian power struggles of the past. Proud of our boy for keeping his priorities straight.

So has the blood from Grogu been transferred out of the ship and back to the remnant empire already, or do they have to find a new “donor” to help with building Snoke and Palpatine’s clones? Will they continue to go after him with Luke?

Lmao Din being so annoyed by Bo Katan being stringent about the tradition of winning the Dark Saber through combat is HILARIOUS, coming from a man who up until like a day ago hadn’t shown his face to a living being in decades.

The dark troopers can punch in blast doors but NOT Din’s helmet?? That’s a wild testament to beskar. Somehow that’s the comparison that sticks out to me, more even than its resistance to lightsabers.

This show works because of the cynicism of so many characters adding contrast to the moments of heart. Cara Dune is not a “fan” the way Rey was (for the record I love Rey, don’t come at her, it’s just different). Cara doesn’t see an X-Wing and go OMG THE REBELLION I LOVE THEM. She’s been through too much to believe in the magic saviourism of the “good guys,” and is instead thinking strategically when she, the one Rebel present, brushes off the usefulness of “one X-Wing.” The only positive things she seems to feel in battle situations are moments of relief and brief satisfaction in hurting the empire, with a dark knowledge that it will never make up for the hurt they did to her.

How do you keep a cloak hood on while fighting? Both from a technical standpoint (my hats fall off without me even having to move- is he expending force energy just to keep it on and look cool lol?) and also because idk, maybe it’s just me, but peripheral vision is helpful when surrounded by killer robots on a thin bridge above oblivion. I know his first lesson was to “see” through the force, but every resource helps, right?

Now that she has the ship, I wonder if Bo Katan can reprogram any salvageable Dark Troopers to help with retaking Mandalore?

There is nothing like seeing Luke’s fighting style, with its efficient choppiness and twinge of darkness. I always wonder how much is natural and how much is influenced by his first fights with Vader (that Skywalker diva flair). I love how they’ve advanced his technique but also kept him extremely “grey” here- like to straight up COMBUST a Dark Trooper takes some violent energy lol.

How tf is Moff Gideon alive after threatening Grogu’s life twice directly? That’s a wild testament to Din’s regard for Cara.

I love how seeing Luke slice through a bunch of murder droids like butter probably was a huge point in his favor for Din actually letting Grogu go with him. Like he will only send his child to boarding preschool if he knows the teacher will be a certified killing machine.

Oh my god they finally brought in some OG Star Wars theme music for Luke to take his hood off to 😭 It felt weird seeing him fight to different music, so the emotional payoff is huge when his themes come back for the face reveal.

Whoever added the digital young Mark Hamill face NAILED those classic shining Luke eyes and the earnest eyebrow lift.

Whoever shines the glass of Baby Yoda’s lil puppet eyeballs each day deserves a raise. The light caught in those babies is devastating.

Din is shaking as he takes off his helmet. This is the most enormous show of love he could give him, and possibly the last he’ll be able to for a long time. He only just got Grogu back and is desperate for a moment of real connection before letting him go once again.

This is the first time anyone has touched Din’s face since... likely his parents as a child.

Whoever wrote this scene clearly actually has kids. Anyone who’s ever had to leave a young child even just to go out for a bit or to drop them off somewhere knows that heartbreak of seeing them look in your eyes and hold on to your leg, trying to keep you with them. Especially when they can sense your mutual separation anxiety. The one thing that starts to make them feel better is something fun like a new toy or friend who can be their guide in the new environment, and R2’s friendly introduction is exactly that (since digital Luke isn’t being particularly emotive or child friendly... I hope that’s just because he’s reaching into Grogu’s mind while also keeping an eye on the multiple people with guns trained on him, not because he’s going to be totally unfeeling raising this kid.)

I love that Grogu and R2 are immediately buddies in contrast to Episode 5 when R2 was like “fuck this guy” @ Yoda stealing food and hitting him with a walking stick lol. I would imagine Luke must be reminded of that first introduction too and entertained by this display of playfulness in a *positive* light between R2 and mini-Yoda.

I need to know if Luke and Ahsoka have met- it is KILLING ME.

Does this mean Grogu will get killed by Kylo Ren when he fucks up Luke’s academy??? I will reincarnate Ben just to kill him again if that’s the case.

How does Luke not even fully SMILE at Grogu?? An adorable little baby version of his beloved master Yoda, and you’re telling me he doesn’t have the same heart stopping gasp we all did when we first saw him?? Maybe he did when they first connected through the force. He has a bit of bemusement on his face, and also wonder in his eyes, but I want a grin of recognition and welcome, dammit.

I really wish Luke had somehow acknowledged Cara Dune. Everyone else seems to see the tear drop Rebel sign and know it means Alderaan. He could’ve been like yo I have a badass warrior sister from your planet that you should meet. Or just “thank you for your service.” (I know this actually wouldn’t have been cinematically good but my heart wants it.)

Luke didn’t tell Din his name?? Or ask for any details about the kid and his care?? I could literally never let my kid go with someone, regardless of how worthy, and not be like, “Excuse me sir who are you and where tf are you taking my tiny beloved green goblin in case I need to find him? Here is my contact info. He likes to eat frogs and eggs, and he can have macarons as a treat. He’s 50 years old and his favorite toy is still a ball. Bedtime is 8pm and he’s allergic to dairy.”

Another reason I wish Luke had identified himself would be to see the mishmash of reactions that would ensue. Cara would be like DAMN IT’S THAT GUY WHO BLEW UP THE DEATH STAR AND KILLED THE EMPEROR, ACT COOL (and she would indeed act cool). Fennec would be like ugh it’s that guy who helped kill my best paying client Jabba the Hutt and then fucked over my boss Boba, I helped save the kid for THIS? And I would LOVE to know how Bo Katan feels about him, assuming she’s heard of him, and especially if she knows he’s Anakin Skywalker’s son. That confusion is probably the reason WHY the writers didn’t have him reveal himself- they didn’t want to break the emotion of the scene.

Let‘s all be real I’m just being needy about wanting things from Luke because of what he meant to me as a kid and my resulting innate need to have more canon of him, whatever it is, whenever I can get it. Especially in this form that’s so similar to ROTJ, a movie I watched on endless repeat. Even getting this was incredible though. Who else could we trust this lil heart-stealing green bean with so fully? Yet who would be so arrogant as to try to train a baby yodling (see: Ahsoka’s wise refusal)?

R2 is reckless as hell lmao. Not that we don’t already know that, but for him to just head on in, effectively abandoning Luke’s ship (how can they know if there are more troopers or not who might blow it up?) and also putting himself in the path of the ridiculously deadly Dark Troopers is NUTS. I’m usually on his side but he absolutely deserves a scolding by C3PO for this one.

I wonder if Grogu has any memories of R2 or vice versa since they did occupy the Jedi Temple at the same time. Can Grogu understand droids? They could swap stories about mutual acquaintances.

Does Din pretty much have to go with Bo Katan now since a) he’s shown his face and may not be able to go back to the Watch, and b) because he has the darksaber and has to figure out how to get it back to her without dying?

How in the hell did Bib Fortuna (whose chins age was not kind to) go from being butler to being boss? Were all the henchmen just like, “Fuck yeah, no Hutt parents no rules, let’s do what we want!!” And then they’ve spent the last ten years living off of whatever money they could salvage from Jabba’s non-banked wealth? Why has no one challenged them for that prime real estate and loot? I would love to hear that story.

Fennec Shand says “respect sex workers” so you better fuckin’ do it.

Idk dude Bib Fortuna really was a good butler, and he seemed pretty willing to comply with whoever’s in power. Did he screw Boba over in his attempt to return from the dead and earn that killing shot somehow? Or was this to make sure there was no one left who would have a claim to loyalty? Or maybe Boba just really wanted to sit in that chair.

Does “The Book of Boba Fett” mean we’re not on Din Djarin’s story anymore? Or is it a new show? I would much prefer the latter. I want to see Din help retake Mandalore or at least get a hug.

[vilegroove]

Lyrics from 'Dark Tales From The Insulation Booth' (03/31/21)

For all those hip-hop purists and anyone wanting to get down with that Hank Solo lingo.

STEM CELL RESEARCH

It goes counterintelligence, Berenstein psy-op Schwarzschild radius, holographic mind job I’m a ticking time bomb stuck inside this nightmare It’s warfare for the welfare of the poor From tenement to parliament the charlatans of artifice In shadows stocking armaments or ornaments with arguments Coordinates are carpeted while Harlequins are marketed Unfortunate subordinates are targeted by Artemis I sit solo, spit a mental freestyle No polo, UH I spent it on these re-fries Meanwhile I filleth up the syllabus In real time and if I spill enough to pick it up I just might reach minds Smash atoms, push phantoms into chasms Is it a random happenstance Or a predetermined anthem? Step inside a web this some spider vs fly shit Step into a world this some Illuminati eye shit What would you do if you had no shoes? And you had no rules and you had no school? What would you choose? If the choice ain’t yours Ain’t your chore, Ain’t your war, Ain’t your battle, Ain’t your fight You’re just standing in line man waiting to die They pulling strings with grizzled fingers While the stem cell research helps them linger Tempers up, fear the farming In a cave under threat of a terror bombing Nails clawing, the cause of flesh wounds Supply and demand panoramic cesspools Inhale jet fuel on the way to school man Chemtrails forming the new pollutant Confusing the students and keeping them stupid Obtuse attitudes, man, these dudes be ruthless On point to the point I barricade the joint Inhale, exhale man this tasters choice Blue bloods eschew mud, chew cud like us cattle We battered and bruised up but we still fucking battle Never let em get to you - Ask me bout the subterfuge War and peace entwining in an ever whirling centrifuge Veteran rookie: Dichotomy so sue me Used to Hank Solo now I roar like Wookie

SHARK TANK (feat. CHIEFFY)

[VERSE 1 - HANK]

Christ I get wicked when I'm alone and I'm lit Smoke clones and then spit till I foam at the lips My ego cast a shadow that could cause an eclipse And I can't get through doors cause my head won't fit I'm starvin' like Marvin, lookin' for a target I'm barkin' dark jargon like I'm stalkin' park joggers My though pattern is laced with dark matter Fight alien races is space an spark blaster I spit lines for like minds who smoke kind I write rhymes with weight that warp space time Ante-up I'm about to erupt Krakatoa flow all over Like I'm bustin' a nut, spray paint Jackson Pollock All over her gut - Dirty Harry on the mic But you ain't sweeping me up I'm a sad sap but I can rhyme not half bad Cause I been mixing words since I was sperm Inside my dads sack Yakkity-Yak Don't talk back, as a matter of fact Rewind the track back so you can practice your rap I'm high gloss your skills are not polished You're whack and lack knowledge Go back to clown college - Fuck taxes, pay homage I'm glad you acknowledged Hank is just flawless I'm bank your just wallet

[MAIN HOOK × 2]

I'm cold like deep space I master this pace Knock you flat face In fact my sharp skates Cut circles round you lark fakes Question what marks make Shave you to carp flakes For use in my shark tank

[BRIDGE - CHIEFFY]

Let’s jump in it, I’m with it I’m finna kill it and stay I've been the realest Since dealers was Shitting diapers away Blank face I don’t keep it at bay

[VERSE 2 - CHIEFFY]

No whale watching, I’m hopping But no landing, I’m offing to each planet I’m locked in, nigga said I’m a Martian You niggas fandom, I’m popping But got plans to just pop him I’m a man no ones stopping Fire plans imma watch them gain Burn away just like Mary Jane I put away, she too nice for days, make way Cause I’m burning all the mainframes No place to lay I ain’t keeping all you plain janes Just some grams and Violas In my denim jeans, we keep it real Chef Chief serving up them fiends. Mother Fucker.

[MAIN HOOK × 2]

Hank: Alright, let's go home

Jay: One more take

LET ME TELL YOU (feat. AQUAKULTRE)

[VERSE 1 - HANK SOLO]

Calling all cars, calling all cars check No red on neck no death stars left Cloud nine? Found my rye moldy Back bent over like a lawn chair folding Cats maw scolding, guts on fire Eyes why at the sky as the pyre grows higher Seems unwind from his old grey coat, Whether freestyle rhyme or line from a note Spine unaligned all in a twist, Time on a line s'all in the wrist Hood up, man-boobs, thyroid leaking, Ballpoint sketch like a fanboy geeking I'm open in the middle I'm closed at both ends I'm a villain to my family I'm a hero to my friends Grasp at the last straw sinner to his kin, Juxtapose foes who just oppose this.

[HOOK - ARETHA FRANKLIN]

People let me tell you, I work hard every day I get up out of bed, and put on my clothes 'Cuz I got bills to pay

[VERSE 2 - AQUAKULTRE]

(Don't fall a-haha) When we drive, we feeling all the trees get the breezin The Cuts is Vile, I like the way he mistreat em I can give 'em bars a plenty that’s critical but I'd rather heal with words, that’s medicinal It's time to give a good vibration Break bread and conversate over good libations The frustration no hesitation, will arise Higher then a peregrine falcon in the sky Peace to the nieces and nephews I raise And the son I don't got, father figure I stay You know we got it, I figured I be The Martyr For working class guppies Just tryna make it to supper And we keep it very clever, Uh HUH, yo Whatever the case I waste no time Serving em with a taste But foist let me put on on my woirk boots and grab a dairy milk before I make it to curfew We Breezing

Juxtapose foes who just oppose this.

DOWNLOAD FOR FREE AT VILEGROOVE.BANDCAMP.COM

[yeet-man]

One’s Rebirth: Spin Off Chapter 3

A/N: At last, the final chapter is done! It was really fun writing this and I have a bunch of ideas for more spin offs so lemme know if y’all wanna see more. @red-riot-rat Have fun reading!

Warnings: A lot of angst, death, blood, and mentions of blades.

2 Months after Shigaraki's death

Since it was J'me's first time in jail, his bail would be two million yen or face five years. Back then, he knew he was going to be serving those five years. No one had that kind of money except Momo. At the beginning of his sentence though, she didn't want to talk to him because of what he did. Hardly anyone visited him for the first two weeks.

As for Kid, they're still on the run from the police. After rejoining with the remaining members of the league, they made him the new leader. This group only had one goal now, destroy every student at U.A and get rid of all the heroes.

Back to the male in jail, "J'me Falcon, you have a visitor." The guard put him in handcuffs and took him down to the visiting area. Who's day was it again? He was pretty sure he was going to see Midoriya and Bakugo today. Who he didn't expect to see was the number two hero, Hawks.

He sat down at the table and let out a breath of air. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be saving people not talking to people in jail." He placed his hands on the table, ready to get up and leave. Aizawa already talked to him about what he did, he didn't want to hear another damn lecture.

Hawks just let out a little chuckle, thinking of what to say. "I guess you're right, but I do have a deal for you." He leaned forward a little bit, making sure the guards didn't hear his next words. "I'll bail you out and make sure you can go back to U.A and become a hero, if you kill the rest of the league off."

J'me waved him off as if it wasn't through. "I can see you're lying through the fucking limits. If that's the case though I'll see you tomorrow." He got up from the table and left towards his prison cell. 

The rest of the day went by without anything really happening. Though what can you do when you're stuck in a small room the entire time.

"Oi, little bitch it's time for you to leave. And never come back here again." The guard rattled against the bars of the cell, making enough noise to wake up J'me.

"Huh, maybe the bird was right about his deal." He muttered to himself as he grabbed his stuff and left the prison.

Hawks would be waiting for the boy outside the prison and smiled when he saw him. "Told ya I was serious about my deal."

J'me rolled his eyes at Hawks and let out a breath of air. "Whatever, let's just go somewhere else to talk about it dumbass." And so, they left going back to the number two's house. Once they got inside he started speaking again. "Give me everything you have on the league currently. Has anyone new joined? Who's the new leader?"

Damn, he did not play when it came to the league. "No one new has joined, but another member was killed while you were locked up. Twice. Their new leader is Kid." Hawks then gave J'me everything else he might need.

"Alright, fine. I'll take down everyone in the league under some conditions. Let class 1-A know about what's happening and make sure they keep quiet. And let Hatsume know that I'm coming home soon. I better be able to become a hero again, Hawks. Now, I'm gonna need one of my kunai's, can you get me one?" J'me let out a small sigh as he crouched down. Just thinking about taking the life of someone he once knew made him sick.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to tell them and get you a kunai." He patted J'me's back, he knew how it felt to take someone's life. He was the one who took Twice's life. After a couple seconds of silence, the hero left to do what J'me asked him to do.

By the time Hawks came back, J'me was dressed up in a black hoodie and black shorts. It was better to be safe about this. Though, what he didn't expect was a couple class members to be with Hawks as well. Momo and Kirishima ran up to hug J'me while Bakugo just crossed his arms.

He gave them a quick hug before letting go. "What are y'all doing here?"

"Hawks told us what you planned on doing, even if he can get you back into U.A again doesn't mean you should be doing this. I thought you were better than this, J'me." Momo frowned at the boys' action. She understood why he would do something like this, but she didn't want him to carry the death of three more people. One was enough, he shouldn't be carrying anymore.

"Yeah, what Momo said. You don't need to do this bro, we can find another way to make sure you can be a hero again." Kirishima said, grabbing J'me and shaking him.

J'me grabbed Kirishima's arm to stop the shaking. "I understand both of y'all's concerns, but this is the only way. Everyone sees me as a villain at the moment for taking a life. I need to do this guys."

"Fine, if you think this is the only way, promise us you'll try to make sure it doesn't change you." Momo pulled J'me into another hug, letting go after a couple seconds.

"I promise." He walked past the two of them and towards Bakugo. Once getting close to him, he held out his hand. "The least you can do is shake my hand."

"Tch, fine." He shook his rival's hand and let out a breath of air. "You better come back so I can kick your ass!"

J'me just gave a small chuckle before walking over towards the hero. "I'll assume you have a kunai of mine."

Hawks pulled out the infamous kunai and handed it to the boy along with a bracelet. "The guards told me you left something behind, so I grabbed it on my way back." 

J'me slipped on the bracelet and looked at the kunai. "If this has a tracking chip in it, we will have some problems." With that said, he teleported away, in search of the league's new hideout.

Hours passed before J'me found their new hideout. He tossed his hoodie on and knocked on the door, as he knocked he kept his head down to make sure his face wasn't revealed.

As the door opened up, Dabi's voice would follow. "Who the fuck are you?" It opened up just enough so he could see the hooded figure.

A second passed before J'me lifted his head up and took the hoodie off. "Death." He pushed the door open fully, knocking the fire bitch back a little bit as well. From there his left hand was instantly coated in lightning chakra and the sound of a thousand birds filled the room. This was known as the Chidori, a jutsu that could go through someone's heart. J'me took a couple steps forward, lunging his hand through Dabi's chest, killing the villain in the process. The chidori disappeared as Dabi fell back, leaving J'me's hand covered in blood.

Toga was the first one to act, she didn't wanna believe Dabi was dead, she couldn't believe it. Even villains have people they care about, as much as the world denies it, it's true. Good or evil, people will always have someone they care about. Toga dashed towards J'me, slicing her knife in many rapid movements. Did she care about getting hurt? No, as long as J'me was dead, she didn't care what happened to her. If she was killed then so be it, the enemy would be going down with her no matter what. Tears poured out of her eyes in the process.

J'me would side step out the way of the first slice, from there he grabbed Toga's wrist and disarmed her. "Try something stupid again and I won't hesitant to kill you either. I knew Dabi would instantly attack me when I showed myself so, he was the first to die." He pushed Toga back and raised his kunai, signaling that he was not playing around. Maybe this was a test by Hawks, he wouldn't actually pay for someone to kill, would he?

"You were gonna kill us either way, you fucking monster. How the hell did you even get out of prison?" Even Kid was crying at this point. They had just seen someone else they cared about die in front of them. Though, this wasn't the time to just sit down and cry about everything. That's why Kid asked the question, hopefully they could get an answer before they were killed.

"Hawks bailed me out on one condition. If I killed all of y'all, he would do something so that I could be a hero again. As much fun as being a villain could be, I just can’t. Maybe in another life or something I join you and we destroy all the fake heroes. I’m sorry Kid.” J’me lifted his free hand towards Toga, a ball of water would trap the knife girl inside. He didn’t want any more blood on his hands, so he decided to drown Toga. “You were my favorite member of the league…” He muttered under his breath. The boy put the kunai handle inside his mouth and made a clone.

As soon as the ball of water trapped Toga, Kid ran over to them only to be stopped by the clone that J’me made. “I knew Hawks was using us! Ever since he killed Twice I knew. No one believed me though…” Kid could only watch as Toga slowly drowned to death, there was nothing he could do about it either.

After a couple minutes, Toga’s body went limp, indicating that she was dead. J’me made the water ball pop, letting the dead body fall to the floor. He then grabbed the kunai out of his mouth and walked over to the body before stabbing it through the head, making sure Toga was dead. “You’re now the only one left in the league, not for long though. Do you know how you want to die?”

Seeing J’me stab the body as if it wasn’t dead broke Kid completely, he dropped down to his knees, tears pouring down again. “Just end me quickly...I don’t wanna be in this world knowing I have no one anymore.”

J’me handed the kunai to his clone and took one last look at his former friend. “Goodbye Kid, you were a good friend till the end.” With that said, he left to go wash the blood off of him and tell Hawks that the league was no more. The clone knew exactly what to do once J’me left the room. He stabbed Kid through the heart, killing the villain instantly. Blood splattered all over the clone as he pulled out the kunai, letting Kid fall to the floor. The kunai then disappeared along with the clone, leaving all the bodies behind to be discovered by the police.

Days went by before the death of the league made it to news headlines. No one ever found out who killed them and Hawks did as promised. He was able to clear J’me’s record and back into U.A. As the years went on, J’me started to slowly have night terrors, but no one knew about them.

“The more you live… The more you realize that reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness.” - Madara Uchiha.

[miss-choco-chips]

Always with you.

Because Kon is always looking out for Tim. 

----.----

He wakes up slowly, achingly aware of each heavy muscle keeping him anchored to the mattress as he lays on his side, each nerve ending pleading with him to just stay, just relax for a few hours, please stop putting them through so much stress.

Of course, they are ignored. He’s preparing himself from the inevitable onslaught of pain once he gets in a vertical position, when he feels the careful fingers combing through his hair. 

He can’t even blink before a heavy hand drops to his waist, keeping him still, because yeah, vigilante reflexes.

-Shh, don’t get up dude. I’m just braiding your hair. Nothing to worry about.

The effect is immediate, body going lax, mind so stupidly fast at ease it probably wasn’t healthy.

-What’re y’ doin’ere? -he mumbles through heavy lips, barely even parting them for the words to escape. 

The body behind his back inches closer, and he feels his hair being moved this and that way.

-Heard you had a rough night. Cassie showed me once how to braid her hair, said it was relaxing an’ stuff, so I thought it might help. You seriously need a haircut though.

-Shu’up. 

-Go back to sleep, buddy. It’s still late. Or early, whatever.

-Need to… ‘vestigate a case… B’ce’ll be mad…

-No, you need to close your eyes and be nice to yourself. I doubt Batman is expecting a report at five in the morning when you got tossed around by Croc like a ragdoll three hours ago.

He wants to argue some more, but the hands move from the ends on his hair to his scalp in a light massage and he’s out like a light.

He wakes up six hours later, body and mind both thanking him for the extra rest, with groggy eyes and hair a tangled mess.

It’s the best sleep he’s had in months.

---.---

-Shit, shit, shit, fuck, shit. Fuck!

Tim smiles, a small line of blood dripping from his parted lips- What would Ma said if she was here and listened to that, huh? Swear jar much?

-She would be cursing right along with me and probably kicking me in the ass to do something -the meta snapped back, hands hovering over his torso where the knife was still deeply buried- Should you put pressure on it? I feel like you need to put pressure on it.

-If I do, I’ll just move the knife around. And that’s gonna hurt like a bitch.

-Fuck. Fuuuck... then, take the knife out first. That sounds like a plan.

-It also sounds like me bleeding out quicker.

-You aren’t being helpful at all! Just… Here, if I could carry you…

-Don’t fucking touch me, you’ll... make it worse with your clumsy hands.

That’s not the reason he can’t stand Kon touching him right now, but he’s in no condition to elaborate either.

-Look who’s cursing now!

-I’m allowed to. I was stabbed.

-I KNOW YOU WERE, NOW TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

-You can just chill and keep me company -Tim sighs, head resting back against the wall he was using for support, hidden in a dark corner on the warehouse- I already sent a distress beacon, B should be here anytime now. No important organs were nicked, so I’ll be good as long as I get stitched up before I bleed out.

-That’s not comforting to hear. You suck at calming people. 

-The person in pain should be the one freaking out. It’s going to be fine, trust me.

-I trust you to lead us into battle. I trust you when you say you figured something out, no matter how impossibly weird your explanation is. I trust you when you say ‘go left’ even if all the signs say ‘go right’. But I absolutely don’t trust you when it comes to your own health. You little bitch of a liar.

-...your bedside manners suck. Now get the hell out of here, I hear the Batmobile getting closer. 

-You better survive until you get fixed up, Boy Wonder. I’ll give you hell forever if you die.

----.----

He’s sitting on the cold, hard ground when he feels the meta approaching. He doesn’t touch him, but Tim can still feel the worry basically overflowing off his body.

-It’s fine, don’t be so concerned.

-’Fine’ has a lot of new meanings when it comes from you, varying from ‘I want to cry a bit, hug me please’ to ‘I might need someone to watch over me, just in case I do something scarily stupid on purpose’.

-Those are very specific translations, for one short word. 

-What can I say, I know how to read my buddy.

-Uh huh. And what does it mean, right now?

-You might be leaning more towards the latter, to be honest.

Tim hums, eyes still on the epitaph, hands carefully arranging the flowers on top. His parent’s names staring back at him, the stone where they were engraved as cold as their eyes had always been when they looked at him.

-Good thing I have you then, clone boy.

The pressure on his shoulder is sudden, but light. Barely even touching at all. 

Tim feels it all the same, and for one brief, overwhelming second, he wonders what the fuck is wrong with him.

Quickly pushing the thought from his mind, he stands up again, turning to face his friend and give him his best shot at a smile.

-Walk me home? 

---.---

Tears are falling from his eyes, and he furiously scrubs them off with one arm, the other still shoving shirts and pants into the open suitcase. 

He’s leaving the manor, but he sure as fuck isn’t leaving his things behind. God knows what the little devil might do. He already took such a perverse pleasure in stealing everything Tim held precious, so why the hell not fuck his belongings up too? 

He probably can’t fit everything into the suitcase, but even a portion of it would be enough. Even if Damian burned the rest, or if Alfred threw it out, or if Dick gave it to charity… he would at least keep a little for himself, a bit of the boy he was while living under this roof.

He sees Kon standing on the side, from the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t stop his motions. He needs to be quick about this, while Batman and his new Robin are still on patrol. Before Dick comes back and tries to stop him or… or worse. Worse like locking him up.

-Slow down -the calm, deep voice interjets from the side, like he could hear his thoughts- They just left, you still got time.  You are going to hurt yourself like this.

-I might be a sad excuse from a vigilante -he snaps back, ignoring his friend’s advice, now trying to shove a shirt he stole from B-Bruce once. He’s taking this one even if he has to leave one of his own-, but even I won’t get injured by packing some shit. 

-You aren’t that, Tim.

-Dick seems to differ, and I feel inclined to believe one of my former teachers and literal Batman over someone who loves me too much to hurt my frail, stupid feelings. No offense.

-None taken. I’m going to break Grayson’s face the first chance I have, though.

-If you can pull that off, I’ll buy you a milkshake.

-I’m holding you up to that, bud. Now, slow. down. You might not get hurt physically, but your mind is certainly doing you no favors.

-I need to leave, I need to move.

-You need to punch someone, preferably your brothers, and then call Cassie, or Cass, or someone who’s not a fucking backstabber and ask them to come and punch them too in your name.

-That’s what you said you were gonna do, though.

-Yeah, if I get the chance. But I can’t right now, you know. Also, I’m coming with you, so… that’s gonna take a while to get around to.

Tim keeps pushing stuff, but his shoulders are slightly less hunched, more relaxed. He sees Kon moving around a bit, looking at posters still hanging on the walls, framed pictures by the bedside table he couldn’t fit and weren’t important enough to make space for, everything that once made this space Tim’s, like he’s trying to commit it to memory. Like he might never see this again.

Considering what Tim was planning to do, that might as well be the case.

He doesn’t really care anymore.

-Did you tell him about me? -finally breaks the silence his friend, pacing apparently over, as he stands by Tim’s side, eyeing the Superboy shirt Tim was keeping close so it could be the thing at the top of the suitcase once he was done packing the rest. His voice is devoid of any judgement, and Tim’s heart clenches a bit. This night couldn't get more emotional if it tried. 

He shakes his head. Timothy Jackson Drake was done with feelings.

Carefully avoiding his friend’s knowing stare, he scoffs- Of course not. I might be, as Dick kindly put it, delusional, but I’m not stupid. He would have just drugged me and dumped me into the deepest cell he could find at Arkham that wasn’t already occupied. I know I bitch about how incredibly easy it’s to break out of there, but that only applies to villains with henchmen on their payroll that can provide the manpower to devise a getaway. 

Seeing as the case looked ready to burst, he added the last shirt and closed it, fighting against the zipper for a good minute and a half.

-Okay, I’m done. Let’s get out of here. I have a parental figure to find and drag back, kicking and screaming if I need to. You coming?

-Always. Who else would talk you out of stupid shit, Rob? I’m always on your side, you know that.

----.----

When Tim sees him again, flying parallel to his motorcycle in Paris of all fucking places, he wants nothing more than to punch him.

Kon tries to talk to him about what he’s doing, what happened to Bruce, why the fuck was he doing this to himself. Tim just wishes, more than ever, that he had more control of his mind, so he could just wave Conner’s hallucination away. 

But, well, when does he ever get what he wants?

-Tim, please, just hear me out! I’m back, I…

-Yes, I can see it, you jackass -he bites back, making his way through the sewers-. You said you were coming with me, but then fucking disappeared until now. I got fucking Ra’s Al Ghul on my tail, you know? I could have used what little comfort you could provide.

-First of all, rude. Second, dude, I couldn't come. I was busy… coming back. Which brings me back to my earlier point. Tim. Buddy. Tim, I came back. This is me. Really me. Please, just… just touch me, okay? So you can be sure this is real. Rob, c’mon…

But Tim just shakes his head, and avoids both his hands and every mention of this topic, only answering back when Kon moves from that to talking about Clark and Lex, right and wrong. 

Maybe his head is trying to remind him of Bruce’s teachings, about the dangers of falling into Ra’s web, like the silly fly that heard the spider’s honey-dripping words and fell from them.

Maybe everyone’s right and he just lost it. Whatever. He know he’s right about B. His mental health can take a back seat and enjoy the storm Tim is going to break loose, and he’ll get on it in a sec.

But he can’t just listen to Kon, can’t believe him, because it would destroy him if his hopes get once again destroyed.

He’s already stretched thin, running after a man he’s not 100% sure is even alive. He can’t spare any hope of the same belief to Kon.

When he leaves the city, Conner doesn’t follow. He looks sad as Tim walks away, but he doesn’t disappear on thin air like he used to. Instead, he flies away until Tim can no longer see him in the distance. 

That gives him pause, for a second, because… that was new. Maybe… maybe Kon had actually… maybe he was...

But he steels his heart and keeps going, because he can’t chase two ghost at the same time. 

And if Kon was truly back, the Tim welcoming him back couldn't be the one with two devils and no angel on his shoulders.

----.----

He’s back in his city, feeling more like himself than ever, even with the looming threat of Ra’s revenge hanging over his head. 

He’s lighter, more at peace with himself, now full of evidence of Bruce’s situation that will grant him Justice League’s backup. Ready to throw it at Dick’s face, hopefully poking his eye with the flashdrive or harming his stupidly perfect face with a papercut.

He’s in a better place, finally. Tired, mourning the loss of two ninjas that gave their lives for his mission, and one organ less than what he had when he went away so many months ago, but… Mentally speaking, he hasn’t feel like this since before his mother died.

Enough that, when Kon landed in front of him, some quip about leather suits on his tongue, Tim felt strong enough to risk another heartbreak and jumped forward, arms circling around his best friend’s middle, hoping against hope he wouldn't just go through him like all the times in the past when he tried to hug Conner’s hallucination.

He hits a solid, steel-like chest, and his heart stops.

-Kon?

The meta’s arms wriggle out of his hold, and he proceeds to fold them around his tinier frame, plastering Tim to his front with a shaky breath.

Tim can’t breath. He wonders if he’s dead, too, but quickly discards the idea, because death couldn’t possibly be so warm.

-I told you, I’m back for good -his friend mumbles, arms clenching around Tim, voice breaking and heavy with emotion- Not that I ever truly left, but… 

-W--what? -he’s choking up on his tears and confusion, wanting to get away from the hug so he could look at Kon’s eyes and discern the truth, but also knowing that the mere idea of letting go would make him cry even harder- Y-you died, what do you mean you never…

He can’t keep talking, because he feels like he would drive himself into a panic attack if he does, but thankfully, words aren’t really a necessity with his Superboy.

-I told you, Boy wonder, that I’ll always be by your side. And I was. Right up until I got back to life and then I had to track you down to tell you about it, not that your stubborn ass believed me…

Moments flash through Tim’s mind, quick and merciless. All the times he laid in bed, aching and mourning, and feeling gentle fingers sooth the pain away, both in his body and his heart. Sitting on top of buildings and contemplating how easy ending it all would be, just for Kon to appear out of nowhere, yelling at him ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going until you fucking leave it, idiot!’. Visiting his parents’ graves, getting verbally attacked by Damian, getting discarded by Dick, and then a comforting voice in his ear, encouraging him forward, begging for him to not give up yet.

-No. No, those… those were hallucinations. Proof that I’m crazy. Proof that...

-The only thing me being with you after death proved, was that you have no way of getting rid of me. And you aren’t crazy, Tim. Which is a testament to your resilience, because with all the shit you have to put up with, anyone would be. But you aren’t. I was a kickass ghost, your own personal supernatural buddy slash motivational coach, not a product of your tired mind. Now, the pink haired fairy sitting by your table that one time? That was because of sleep deprivation. You need to sleep more, my dude. And now, I’m alive, I’m back, and I’m here for you, like always.

Tim can’t even attempt to control the tears. Who knew a healing heart would ache so much? He’s crying louder now that he's unbelievably happy than when he was utterly destroyed. His heart feels like it’s growing up inside his body physically now, doubling in size and stronger than ever. 

He feels like Ra’s could put his plan in motion right this second and he wouldn't give a shit. No revenge he could spring on Tim would dampen his happiness at the warmth of Kon hugging him back.

-Now, this reunion is very touching, and it was fucking time you got it into your thick head that I’m back for good, but -Tim scrunches his nose, head leaving Conner’s shoulder so he could look up at his face in confusion. The meta gave him a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, but came out as vicious-  I have a to do list, and punching Dick Grayson has the honor of being number one. Care to point me in the right direction?

[adarlingwrites]

Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who’s willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

Author’s notes: Finally, after months, I finally got to updating the fic! Schedule will be still irregular, but if things go according to plan the next chapter might come at around April 7. Thank you for staying tuned, please enjoy the chapter!

XXIX

January 14, 2278.

The green glow of Percy’s Pip-Boy illuminates the dark corridors of the Vault. I squinted, vaguely reading the time as two in the afternoon. She stands closer next to me. My partner does that whenever we explore vaults, and I can’t blame her.

Even I get creeped out by these damn things.

I didn’t know which was worse; the ones filled with insane clones who screamed “Gary”, or the one that filled my lungs with some kind of drug that made me and Percy trip out of our minds and almost hurt each other.

I don’t even wanna remember either. I must shift my focus on helping Percy find the GECK.

The ventilation is dead, and so is the thermostat, with the vault being in a state of decay for fuck knows how long. Some of these underground bunkers were built when I still had skin. Percy was extra cautious, and she was right to be. We faced several super mutants; Percy took care of them from a distance, while I offered additional firepower, ensuring none of those big green muties came within ten feet of her.

Reloading my shotgun, I hid behind a fallen desk as Percy fired another round from her Gauss rifle, nicking one mutant coming from my blind spot. The corner of my mouth tugs upward when I remember the first time we faced super mutants together, in the DC ruins.

I look at her now, and how she’d grown as a fighter.

Once all the muties in the area are dead, Percy sneaks over to a terminal, the glow of the monitor washing her helmet with a sickly green hue. My partner retracts her helmet, and begins typing away.

Shotgun still warm on my peeling hands, I’m alert to my surroundings as usual, though I can’t help but glance at her baffled expression, her frown frown deepening the more she reads the text on the screen.

“Shit. This isn’t science, this is sick! Charon, oh my god,” she whispers, eyes fixed on the terminal. “Some twisted scientist experimented on the vault residents to make the mutants. Vault 87 is where all the muties are coming from. They kidnap wastelanders and take them here and infect them with the FEV strain that doctor concocted.”

Expression grim, I turn to Percy. “Are you hinting that we blow this place up too, like Paradise?”

Sighing, Percy shuts the terminal off. “It’s too dangerous due to all the radiation in the area, and we don’t have the means to do it now. Maybe we can inform the Brotherhood.”

Knowing those tin cans, I roll my eyes at her. “If they decide to do something about it. They can’t even send their own men to fetch the damn GECK and they sent you.”

“My opinion of them is slowly getting worse as the days pass, that’s for sure,” Percy quips, powering down the terminal. “Fuckers have the most advanced weaponry in all of the Capital Wasteland next to the Enclave and they’re hiring a teenager and her ghoul partner as errand runners.”

At Percy’s remark, I chuckle.

“You mean the Wasteland Avenger and the Ghoul Reaper.”

“I thought you hated those nicknames,” she chuckles, the helmet of her suit protracting to cover her face once again.

“I still do, and Three Dog has no fucking problem using them, and us, to promote the Brotherhood. But those assholes don’t even respect you.”

Percy pauses, then her helmeted face turns to me. “Do you think he’s a little bit biased towards the Brotherhood?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, he preaches about how ghouls are people too, and he’s absolutely right about that, but he says nothing about the Brotherhood's bigotry against ghouls. Worse, a ghoul had been directly and indirectly helping them, and he’s still quiet.”

I rubbed my chin at her observation. “Huh. I’ve never thought of it- Percy, your six!”

She turns around, and sees the centaur approaching us, those god-awful tentacles writhing as it advanced. A few things unsettle me, seeing how I have to deal with my ugly mug whenever I look in the mirror, but those things? It makes the hairs on what little skin I have left stand.

It took two rounds to take it down, its head splitting like a rotten fruit the second time Percy shoots it. Disgusting.

Percy seems to be thinking of the same thing, recoiling and shivering. “Thanks.”

I grunt in response. “Let’s get a move on. I don’t wanna spend another minute in this damn place,” I muttered, and my partner nods.

We advance, taking care of any mutants we bump into along the way. Percy sweeps every area we go into for supplies, and terminals she can tinker with. I have a feeling that her accessing the files in this vault isn’t born out of her natural curiosity now. She’s seeking something.

A truth of some sorts.

On one particular terminal she accessed, she recoiled in horror, stumbling into me. I steady her, my large hands cupping her shoulders as she takes a sharp inhale.

“That bad?”

“Yeah,” she gasps. “Look.”

Barely making out the words, I lean over to read the text with difficulty. Thankfully, Percy spells it out for me. “These are death codes. They represent what the vault residents succumbed to. See that?”

She points at a string of text on the screen. “UD000.”

“Unexplained deaths. If I had to guess, they came up with this to cover up the fact that these people actually died due to the experiments their bastard scientists did to them. Now look at this,” Percy continues, typing away and accessing a list of the deceased. Eighty goddamn seven of those were unexplained.

A twisted feeling crawls up my spine, reminding me of the government program I was forced into.

??? ??, 2074.

Lined up, waiting for what’s about to come next, I stood beside Mag. My lanky limbs were tense, and the skin of my neck felt sickeningly tender, the collar around it making it bulge. From the corner of my eye, I look at my fellow trainees, all six of them.

Out of the hundreds of people they brought in, only the seven of us survived.

Sergeant Williams steps in the room, and all of us move in unison to salute, starched black uniforms barely creasing as we raised our arm for the gesture.

“Listen up, maggots! Out of the four hundred seventy three recruits we had for rehabilitation, only the seven of you didn’t wash out, drop dead, or ate a gun. Consider this the greatest honor, for you are now considered rehabilitated from commie propaganda,” he barks, barely concealing his Texan drawl, spittle flying everywhere.

“Consider this the greatest honor, for you are now ready to dedicate your worthless goddamn lives to the USA! You are to follow every damn command issued to you by whoever holds your contracts! You were trained for this singular purpose, are we clear?”

Our voices filled the room as we shouted “Yes sir!” in unison.

That was the day I was given my name.

The sergeant christened me as Charon, burning away whatever was left of Artyom Volkov, or so he thought.

Out of the hundreds of souls that got wasted from the Enclave’s bullshit, I somehow managed to survive, and I still intend to continue surviving. I have my partner Percy, that jackass DeLoria, and the dog now.

I pull myself back to the present as my partner shuts down the terminal, turning to the medical safe and taking whatever supplies we can get.

“C’mon. I don’t wanna linger here any more,” she whispers, a small tremble in her voice.

Following her to a corridor, the red lights glower over us almost ominously as we pass by several holding cells. The goosebumps on whatever’s left of my skin intensify. It was cold, desolate.

Until some crazy fuck lunged at us from behind a reinforced glass window and scared the living daylights out of Percy, who screams in surprise and bumps into me. Out of instinct, I catch her, and use my body to shield her.

The man continued to bang on the window as we both recovered from the damn surprise, a frown on my face as I took a closer look. The poor guy’s been driven mad from being held there. I doubt we can save him.

Of course, what happened made us look inside the rest of the holding cells.

I regret doing so immediately.

Centaurs, blobs of vaguely fucking human abominations and other unsightly shit occupied the holding cells. Percy is visibly disturbed, gagging, her helmet retracting just in case she vomits from the sights.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” she curses, sweat dripping from her brow despite the cold. “We should put them out of their misery.”

“Do you really want to deal with them right now?” I ask her as her eyes watered from the scene. “Let’s just come back for them once we retrieve the GECK,” I continue, gently placing my hand on her upper back.

Percy nods, and wordlessly forges on.

As we rounded a corner, we heard a brash voice ringing through an intercom.

“It can’t be!”

Both of us turn towards the sound. Slowly, cautiously, we creeped at the source, and we saw the unthinkable.

A super mutant is locked behind a holding cell. He’s standing next to the window, looking at my partner and I in surprise. Then, he continued talking. Not the broken speech you’d expect from a mutie, but full, actual sentences.

“Either you are quite real, or I’m going quite mad. Could you actually be a pure human?” the super mutant asks, gawking at Percy. Just to be safe, I remain at her side, still gauging if he can be trusted. “And this… is he another of the experiments, like me?” he continues, addressing my presence.

“Yes, I’m human. He is a ghoul. He’s like that because of the radiation and not an experiment, I’m afraid,” Percy replies, stepping closer to the glass to stare at him back, craning her neck to get a better view of him. What’s left of his jumpsuit are in tatters, and he loomed over the window, as big as the uglies who were dumber than him, if not even bigger. Even I had to crane my own neck upwards. This guy dwarfed me.

Damn, is this what Percy feels like when she’s with me?

“But what are you?” Percy asks.

“Me? You care who I am?” he asks, and I can almost hear Percy’s heart break at the question. He seemed like an outcast, locked away like this. I get the feeling he’s exactly on good terms with the mutants that roam the vault.

“I’m not used to pleasantries, forgive me. I’m more used to being struck around by the others,” he responds, pressing a meaty hand against the glass. Just as I thought. Guy’s an outcast.

“My name is Fawkes. I’ve lived in this cage… all my life.”

I looked at Percy and expected the sympathetic expression on her face. One look at that face and I already damn know she’s thinking of how to help him out.

“I’m Percy Zhou,” my partner introduces herself. “This is Charon.”

“A friendly mutie. Now I’ve seen everything,” I comment, and I hear Fawkes groan.

“Must you use that vulgar term?” he laments, face twisting in disdain, or disappointment, or an approximation of either seeing how the movements of his face muscles are limited. “Indeed I was born in the F.E.V. Chambers, but super mutant I am not. I prefer the term Meta Human. Suits me better, don’t you think?”

I was taken aback. I mean, damn, this guy sounds smarter than DeLoria. Hell, he sounds smarter than me. And that’s what makes him dangerous; if the dumb ones are a menace, imagine the damage a smart one can do.

“Percy, I think we should go. He might be dangerous,” I mumble, and Fawkes moves even closer to us, a shift in his tone.

“No, please! I haven’t had a single civil conversation all my life! Don’t go,” he begs, and though his voice is grating and booming like the rest of the super mutants, you can almost hear pain behind it.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Percy reassures him, pressing a small hand against the dirty window as a gesture of camaraderie. Then, she whips her head towards me, and whispers. “Charon, he’s lonely. Don’t you think he deserves even just a polite conversation?”

Grumbling, I fold my arms and nod. Percy smiles softly, and turns to Fawkes again. “Is your name really Fawkes? Like Guy Fawkes, the man who was involved in a plot to end his people’s persecution by assassinating a king?”

Fawkes seems delighted that Percy knew that tidbit of information. “Ah! You know your history as well! Yes, the name comes from a man who was willing to fight and die for what he believed in. I found it fitting, given my current circumstances. I’ve taken it from a historical entry in the computer,” he replies, gesturing to the terminal in his cell.

As they continued their conversation, I scanned for any threats that might befall us. What’s left of my ears picked up something from their chat, and my head whips towards Percy.

“I’ll get you out,” she said.

I frowned and folded my arms. “Percy, what the hell are you doing?”

“Charon, Fawkes said that the chamber holding the GECK is highly irradiated, and he can get it for us. Don’t you think it’s a good trade? He can have his freedom, and we can get what we came here for.”

“And I’m immune to radiation too. I’ll take the GECK,” I tell her, straightening my back subconsciously out of bravado.  “We don’t know if he can be trusted. For all we know, the moment he gets out of his cell, he’ll attack us!”

“You’re not an errand boy, you’re my partner. That’s perfectly reasonable, but we’ve handled mutants before, Charon. If he gives any indication that he’s going to betray us, you’re free to empty your clip on him.”

This is starting to turn into an argument. I massaged my temples, frowning. “I’m not going to take that risk. I need to protect you.”

“What if he’s actually decent, and we just leave him here to rot and be tormented by the other mutants? You have your freedom now, Charon. Don’t you think he deserves his too?” Percy almost shouts, voice raised, and on her tiptoes.

Her words made me pause. Percy just had to go there, didn’t she? And it was effective too. I look at the big, green super mutant, or Meta Human, whatever he wanted to call himself, and a pang of guilt tugs at my gut.

Grumbling, I relent and nod.

This woman’s heart might be the death of her one day. Setting Fawkes free better be worth it.

[ahumansvoid]

The unofficial Follow up

Tumblr is a fucking nightmare. It deleted this entire thing when I edited the fucking tags.

Anywho.  This is a follow up to Commander Fox Deal With A lot which itself is a follow up to my Interviews fic. 

I call it unofficial because a) I’m not sure if this is really how it’ll go within the Interviews Universe and b) If this happens in the Interviews Universe, it’d be after the Anakin follow up (That I am still writing, Anakin doesn’t like me okay? He’s a dama bitch whenever I try) Hence I’m not putting it up on AO3 right now.

But I still want to share it because idk how long the Anakin follow up is gonna take and I like what I wrote. And am rewriting this verbatim because someone reblogged this so thank you because I didn’t want to figure out what the fuck I wrote up here.

Also, if you don’t want to read those two fics but want to try this one out, all you really need to know is that the Coruscant Guard has become a Daycare. Other than that, this is a pretty independent work.

Now Idk what I wrote down here so bear with me if you’re rereading this after April 4th because this has some slight changes I’m sure. Also. I edited the thing here so, let’s hope I remember my edits.

Characters: Commander Fox, Clone OCs

Words: 870 (or somewhere around there)

Warnings: Mentioned Character Death.

Mando’a translations:

Vod -> Brother

Di’kut -> idiot (lit. someone who forgets to put on their pants)

Utreekov -> idiot, fool, emptyheaded

Gar mirsh solus* -> your brain cell is lonely

Jorbe** -> Reason

Ade -> child

*The one on Mandoa.org is actually Kaysh mirsh solus (His brain cell is lonely) but Gar means your and I figured it’d work. Let me know if it doesn’t.

**Yes I named a clone ‘Reason’ in Mandoa. Take a guess at what’s notable about him.

Now the story

“Explain. Now.” Fox really wanted to know what Ink and Hive were thinking. 

Both troopers shuffle a bit, glancing at each other, before Hive starts talking, “So, the safety lady came by to check if our base was safe for kids because the Chancellor wanted to be certain. We knew it would be so we didn’t care, but it wasn’t. The lady gave us a day to clean up before she came back to ascertain it was safe. It is now. But there were dangerous things in reach of the kids that no vod would leave out. So, Ink and I went through the security footage to see what di’kut was leaving dangerous shit around.” 

Ink takes over the story, “It was one of the Chancellors aids. She had come down and put dangerous stuff in easily accessible areas for children. It was deliberate. So,” Ink shrugs, “we bugged the Chancellors office and set up hidden cameras. We needed to know if he was telling her to or if she just really hated kids.”

Hive cuts in, “While we recorded everything, we set it up so it only triggered our comms when she went into his office. And when she did, we got this recording,” Hive holds out a holorecorder and turns it on. An image of the Chancellor and one of his aids came to life, paused for a second before Hive played it.

”And?” The Chancellor prompts.

“I set up everything you told me to. Their daycare will be shut down before the days out.” The aid states.

“Good. Leave.” With that, the aid leaves the office. 

And the recording stops. 

This still does not explain the actions those two had taken. Fox looked at both for more of an explanation.

Hive speaks up first, “We went through the recordings later and found him in an upset over the daycare not being shut down. I don’t have it on me but he was talking about maybe sending a bounty hunter to attack the base. Make it unfit for kids. We couldn’t let that stand, vod.”

Fox sighs heavily, “Let me make this clear. You two assassinated the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic because he threatened our base and daycare?” Fox really wanted to make sure he was hearing this correctly.

“He debated to himself on whether to attack the base when the kids were here!” Ink protests.

Which, while a good point, changes little. 

Fox groans, “You two are true utreekov. Seriously, gar mirsh solus.”

Both troopers were silent, but were clearly upset with the insults. But not fighting them.

First smart action from both of them. 

Would it of killed them to go through more of their recordings from the Chancellors office?

Fox and Jorbe had gone through it and found some rather damning footage.

Fox pulls out his own holorecorder and played a clip that Ink and Hive’s bugs and cameras had picked up.

Chancellors Palpatine stands up from his desk and goes over to a holocaller, pulling on a robe and pulling the hood up to hide his face. After pressing the call button, Count Yan Dooku appears. 

“Lord Sidious how might I be of service?” Count Dooku asks.

The Chancellor answers, “There will be a Jedi battalion lead by Master Gallia at Bo’lim. Win the system, she will not be able to call in reinforcements.”

Count Dooku bows, “Of course, Master.” with that, the holocall cuts out.

Fox shuts off the holorecorder and levels the pair of troopers with a Look.

“Did General Gallia-”

“I requisitioned reinforcements and changed certain travel plans for other battalions so she’d have backup.” Fox states, it had been one of the first things he’d done upon hearing that, “Now, please explain why you assassinated our Chancellor who was a Sith Lord and working with the enemy?” Fox’s voice was hard. He wanted these two to get with the program. They weren’t. He was not happy.

He rarely was. But that was beside the point.

“We assassinated him because he threatened our ade.” Ink states.

Fox sighs again. Seriously?

“You two are fucking morons.”

“Are we in trouble?” Hive asks.

“Yes you two are in deep trouble for assassinating our Supreme Chancellor who was committing treason against the Galactic Republic.” Fox was pretty sure his sarcasm wasn’t coming through his anger, but he really didn’t care. “The fuck do you think?”

Hive’s answer was hesitant, “No?”

Fox sighs heavily, “You’re both on latrine duty. Get out of my office.” 

It wasn’t really a punishment. Not the one they should have gotten for assasinating the Supreme Chancellor.

But Palpatine had been a traitor to the republic. Jorbe was leaking the illegal footage, making sure it had no connection to the Guard.  

Soon everyone would know the Chancellor was a traitor.

And a Sith Lord.

Fox probably should of punished Ink and Hive harder.

 If anyone found out it had been them and all they got was latrine duty?

Fox would be decommissioned with them. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to punish them more.

The Chancellor was a Traitor to the Republic Fox was sworn to protect.

Also.

Fox really hated the man.

[galactichoneybee92]

Some Improbable Season 5 Headcanons

Fair warning: These things aren’t going to happen. But while I’m obsessing, I sometimes imagine possible scenarios that would be interesting to watch play out. Perhaps a more industrious person would write these into fanfiction however, I am not that person. And so you get a half-assed  Tumblr post about my imaginings. Please enjoy:

1. What happened to the sword? I don’t remember, I just know that it broke and now Adora is unable to become She-Ra (Until she inevitably learns how to do so without the sword as Madame Razz was clearly insinuating was possible to Mara) But I like to imagine that she lef the pieces of the broken sword where they lay. I also like to imagine  a scenario in which Hoard Prime has his clone minions doing recon on the new planet and they find the pieces of the sword. Later, they bring them back to the ship. 

Skip to a scene where Catra and Glimmer are present, perhaps being questioned about someone his troops have heard about called She-Ra, a defender of this planet. He wonders aloud if this She-Ra will be someone he will have to contend with, only to have one of his troops present the broken pieces of the sword. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about anything like that, Sir. I have it on good authority that there is no more She-Ra” (Or something like that Idk how they talk) He smiles, meanwhile Catra and Glimmer poorly try to conceal their reactions. They have both been operating under the assumption (hope) that since the planet survived, that Adora did too. Not knowing that Adora shattered the sword herself, tey are now faced with the horrifying realization that perhaps Adora didn’t make it out of this and that for both of them, their last interaction was horrible. 

I like the miguided assumption that Adora has died, mostly because I want to torture the two of them a little for being butts, but also because often people don’t appreciate what they have until they lose it. Even having “lost” Adora like Catra did, she still saw her regularly. They still interacted, even if those interactions were fighting or exchanging snarky banter. Even if someone hates you (Which Adora clearly doesn’t, Catra, you’re just being self destructive)  that hatred is still a form of ackowledgement- It’s not the same as losing someone entirely. I want to see the two of them (But mostly Catra because she’s my favorite little disaster) forced to face with the reality of Adora’s “death” Especially since in Catra’s case it’s sort of like getting what you asked for and realizing that it wasn’t what you wanted at all. 

I want Glimmer specifically to witness Catra’s reaction to this news as a way of gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between the two of them. I feel like Glimmer has never viewed Catra as very nuanced, instead just grouping her into a box, labeling it “villain” and calling it a day. Realistically she’s never had any reason to consider any of the layers of Catra’s character but I kind of find it odd considering that Adora used to be best friends with Catra. Has Glimmer really never wondered why? Never thought that somewhere under all the snark and barbs there must be a reason why Adora loved her  was her friend in the first place? 

Lastly, I’m a sucker for a dramatic entrance, and if they think that Adora is dead, they’d never expect her to show up, which leads to self indulgent imaging number two...

2. Sneaky spy Adora. I feel like I am perhaps giving Adora and Bow too much credit here because espionage has never really been their strong suit, but imagine for me if you will a scenario in which they decide to be subtle. The two of them sneak onto Hoard Prime’s ship and do some spy work, trying to decide on the best course of action to take him out and get Glimmer home. This would be a great opportunity to give Adora a much needed costume change and while realistically I know that the whole vibrant 80′s theme isn’t going to allow it, I would love to see her in black. Also something backless, but that comes into play later in part three. This all ties together. I’ve had a lot of time to plan this. 

So they sneak in and while like, peering out from an air vent or something (Idk the make up of the ship ) she is shocked to see that Catra is there too and that while she and Glimmer still snap at eachother and exchange dirty looks and stuff, they are reluctantly working together. I imagine their situation is sort of like, they come out and do various activities on the ship, whatever Hoard Prime deems them useful for, but they are locked in a cell overnight. Adora observes both situations while trying to get the layout of the ship and formulate a game plan.

I’m not going to say that Bow having actual real live pointy arrows made for long distance stabbing would be an advantage instead of his like, novelty prank arrows buuuuuut..... I know that this is a kid’s show but there are other cartoons that allow characters to get stabbed and stuff like, it could happen. It won’t buuuut anyway....

While running around the ship (in a dramatic hooded cloak that covers her face because of course, what do you take me for) and like, sabotaging things and preparing to dismantle this whole operation, Adora runs into perhaps both Catra and Glimmer but at least Catra (Because sorry Glimmer, I do actually like you but like, I’m playing favorites hardcore here) Maybe she helps with something they’re trying to do and gets caught. They don’t realize it’s her but now this mysterious hooded figure is on their radar. And then when the actual attack happens Adora gets her big reveal and it’s super dramatic and they realize that not only is Adora alive, she was the one they met earlier and just. I’m trash for that kind of trope. Really I am. This then leads into the big battle which also leads into point number three...

3. This point is less concrete, but do you remember Adora’s backless number? Perhaps a black halter top of some kind paired with black pants? Yeah? This is why it’s important. When Adora and Bow finally make their move, Bow goes to rescuse the girls while Adora levels her attack on Hoard Prime. Catra and Glimmer are in their cell and hear alarms start going off. They startle, frustrated at being trapped and unable to know what’s happening outside.

 Then Bow shows up in his own dramatic black hooded cloak (He’s very happy to shed it and let his middrift free once more. It’s felt very unnatural) they’re shocked to see him. But like, it works because Catra probably knew that someone would come for Glimmer but it makes since that it would be Bow since Adora is “dead.” Maybe in a previous conversation (During the time in which the two hesitantly began bonding, because you can’t tell me that’s not where this is going) Glimmer expressed doubt that anyone would come for her after she did such a terrible job being queen. Anyway with Bow here, he and Glimmer hug and they make their escape, the three of them, during which someone questions Bow on what’s happening and he just says that Hoard Prime is being distracted.

Why is the rescue mission just Bow and Adora? Idk. Didn’t think that far ahead. Just go with it. Maybe the other princesses are waiting for their cue to join in later. Maybe it’s because there isnt any water or plants in space and they’re kinda useless. Maybe Entrapta will join in (She has to actually, so she can reunite with Hordak and then he has his whole amnesia thing but like, that’s not part of this. That is a seperate post) Anyway the important thing is that they aren’t here at this point. 

So, Catra and Glimmer are confused about who is distracting Hoard Prime and then, there we go. The dramatic entrance. They look and see Adora in her new outfit, mid-battle with Hoard Prime. And like. It’s a hard battle and she isn’t really making any progress on her own, but she’s fighting really hard and well. I feel like people often forget that Adora was top of her class back in the Hoard like, even if she isn’t She-Ra she’s got to be pretty bad ass and whether the show wants to explore this or not, I will.  I have a theory for this that I will expand on in just a bit. 

So they go to join her only to realize that theres like an invisible barrier preventing them from joining. Maybe it’s a security measure made to protect him from attack that she used to trap her in there with him, while simultaneously keeping his minions out. Maybe it’s just because I want Catra and Glimmer to be forced to watch this battle for a bit while Bow tries to disable the force field but it’s mostly because I’m shipping trash and I want Catra to observe two things.

The first is that Adora looks really cool in this new outfit. Also Adora’s hair is down because I like it that way. She has a new sword, one that’s just a sword and not a She-Ra sword. This one is just for wrecking shit. The second is that Adora is way better at fighting than Catra expected and when Catra expresses this sentiment Glimmer just looks at her like she’s fucking dumb and says something along the line of “I kind of assumed you were the brains of the Hoard, but you’re dumber than I thought if you think that Adora was ever ACTUALLY trying to hurt you.” Followed by, “It’s a shame you didn’t return the sentiment.” And then you get this moment of Catra just watching Adora being really kick ass, coming to terms with the fact that Adora never fought ALL OUT against Catra the way she is against Hoard Prime, like, Adora never tried to murder Catra. And then the last part of Glimmer’s statement sinks in and then Catra notices the claw marks scarred down Adora’s shoulderblades. The ones that she put there, because even if Adora never really tried to hurt Catra, Catra sure as hell never held back on her. And then Catra feels like shit because while I absolutely love her to pieces, she’s been kind of horrible and I want her to suffer a little more before her redemption. 

See why the backless top was necessary? Yep. Good. 

Anyway, predictably Bow lowers the barrier and they join the fight. Maybe Adora takes a bad hit and then Catra catches her or soemthing. The two look at eachother, both realizing that it’s been too long since they fought on the same side, but also silently acknowledging how good it feels. This is meant to foreshadow Catra eventually joining the good side permanantly. They all fight Hoard Prime and maybe the other princesses join in, but since this isn’t the final episode  (Maybe like episode 4 or so?) they don’t defeat him. But they DO do some damage and excape back to Etheria. 

5. This one fits in somewhere before the last point but idk where exactly. Honestly it’s not even important where this snippet goes but at some point Hoard Prime reads Catra’s mind. I don’t know if cannonically he can only read his clone’s minds, but clearly I’m not writing for the show okay, this is my pointless headcanon. I don’t even know the context but Glimmer is there too and Hoard Prime, maybe having grown suspicious of Catra’s loyalty, reads her mind and just drags her. He kind of taunts her for beign sad that her “mother never loved you” to which she snaps like “Shadow Weaver is NOT my mother.” And he just tuts and is like “But it feels like she is.”  And then they get to Adora  and Catra says something about hating her and he calls her out on it like, “Hm no, that’s not quite right is it? No, you love her quite a bit” And then he does that villain thing where they’re kind of talking to themself while filing through your thoughts and it’s like “She would be like your sister after all but oh, whats this? Oh, so not like a sister after all.” And he like, puts her on blast for being in love with Adora. And she denies it and he replies with “A shame you don’t actually mean half the things you say.”

Meanwhile Glimmer is there witnissing it because I don’t know if you can tell yet but like, I really want her to have a better understanding of Catra. I want Catra to understand Glimmer too, but I feel like that’s possible without physically dragging the truth from her like.... she’s not in a great place mentally but no one is worse than Catra, lets be real.

That’s absolutely the most self indulgent part of this entire mile-long post and I don’t even know what you’re doing still reading this. But if you were wondering what I imagine going down, it’s this.

All my imaginings end in Catradora, because I am shipping trash.

So like, if anyone wants to write this out just tag me so I can see it, because I’d love to read it. But if not? Totally understandable. I’m more suprised you read it all because it is 100% a  self-indulgent conglomoration of all my favorite tropes, shoved together whether they make sense or not. 

[popculturebuffet]

Close Enough: So Long Boys And Clap Like This

ON this hour’s episodes: Josh decides to have a vasectomy after a pregnancy scare and soons end up dealing with second thoughts and bostonian robots while Alex regrets getting his after meeting what are maybe his children. Then Josh finally sells a game but it falls through and takes up extra jobs to avoid telling his family while Bridgette is forced to get a real job on her birthday and Alex enjoys inudstrial humis. Clap Like This under the cut. 

So Long Boys

Aka the greatest vacesctomy based comedy episode since Brooklyn Nine Nine’s “Choclate Milk”. If you don’t know the show or don’t remember that episode if you are a fellow 99er it’s the one where Jake thinks his superior officer and friend Terry getting a vasectomy means chopping his penis off. I mean it starts off just assuming he’s making a joke but it becomes blurry if he’s just making quips or genuinely thinks that’s how it works. It’s also easy to compare these two because they both, while vastly diffrent and great episodes in their own rights: have a simlilar beat to the plot: a character trying to get a vasectomy for responsible reasons but being unsure they don’t wnat more kids. It’s just Brooklyn Nine Nine is more also about Jake being hurt Terry dosen’t think of him as a friend, a position he reverses while Close Enough has indentured pop and lock teenagers, a dark ride dedicated to scaring people out of kids and bostionan robots that sound like JFK from Clone HIgh. How does any of this fit together, let’s take a look. 

So we open with Josh and Emily having a huge pregnancy scare, which was caused by the birthday sex from the pitch trailer aka Josh trying to pass it off as “we’re just doing our taxes sweetie!”. In other words the main bit I wanted to see transfered to the show proper. And while there’s a few joke this scene is mostly played for drama.. it’s not out of tone with the rest of the show. What really has made this show work for me is it combines regular show antics, but with the added maturity of having an older cast dealing with growing up. A bunch of 30 somethings to start instead of a bunch of 20 somethings so instead of dealing with stuff like video game competitionts, guys nights, and dating woes, it’s more dealing with juggling family and friends, having a job you hate and trying to ballance your career with your passion.  And here is no diffrent: Josh and Emily HAVE no money, live in a cramped apartment with their best friends and a newly divorced couple which as we’ve seen isn’t always easy, and work jobs htey utterly hate and would have to double down on, snuffing out their real dreams, in order to support this kid. Josh outright says he’ll get a second job and give up his video game development which wihle it’d probably be miserable for him would be a sad neciscity. I myself do this blog on the side while trying desperatley to get an actual paying job, it sucks and their situation is compounded by having a kid on top of it who needs their support and attention. It’s stressful enough without adding a second child. Thankfully it’s a false alarm.  However Josh, in a show of responsibility decided to do something about it and get a vasectomy. Still being josh though, his getting one also involves a massive and hilarious vasectomy party, where a bunch of people we never met, and alex and bridgette obviously play party games involving pinning sisssors on testies and theires even a breakdancing sperm. Emily and Pearle’s reactions are gold to this: Emily, before the opening, tells Josh he’s not allowed to plan parties anymore, understandable while Pearle genuinely didn’t belivie they were dumb enough to have a vasectomy party and gives out an understandable “Damn you white people” when she’s proven wrong. Alex also gets set up for his subplot in the episode mentioning he got his a year ago, which given his and Bridgette’s relationship was probably falling apart around then was a good call. I do however like this: Something big happend and Josh is taking responsibility for it, while still being josh about it, but it shows how unlike a lot of idiot heroes in adult cartoons,he’s still a genuinely nice guy who tries to do what’s right, and has more than one brain cell. he has two thank you. So Alex drives josh to get a vasectomy, while Randy presumibly watches Candace as we only see her at the start (Peale was watching her during hte party to help keep her in the dark for now) and finish of the episode. Meanwhile Emily, Bridgette and Pearle have a small B plot having brunch mamosas and boxing up candace’s baby stuff. We also find out for 100% sure our heroines nationatlities: Bridgette is japanese while Emily is Mexican. Mostly because Bridgette always saw Emily with a bigger family and only half for racist reasons that get her handcuffed to a pipe by a drunken Pearle. This show really needs more of Pearle asa every time she shows up she’s a fucking delight and if the show hopefully returns for season 2 I could easily see her getting more screentime. Emily ends up in tears and realizing she may want more kids, which is.. resonable. Their only 32. While it’s resonable to want or have any amount of kids, except like 20 like that one tlc show... I never watched it but when the only two things you hear about a show you don’t watch is the weird, archacic dating setup they have that feels like it produces a good marriage as much as Charlie Sheen did, and that the mother won’t stop having kids despite it nearly killing her  multiple times and having you know 20, you kinda don’t want to watch it.  Anyway it’s resonable to want a family of any size you want, Emily realises she’s not sure she wants to stop at 1 just yet.  Meanwhile in the A-Plot Josh has come to the same conclusion after finding out that not only is this version of a vasectomy he’s getting permentant, mostly due to ball scorching done by robots, but after a hilarious but deeplly insulting carnival ride in the clinic that’s supposed to Scare josh out of having kids and features two teenagers fighting and pop and locking, a goblin and a wall just saying why why why why, impilng kids ruin your sleep, your romantic lives and are terrible. Josh however understandably takes offense to this, and seeing a brother and sister.. only make him not want to deprive candace of possibly having a sister oneday. Again while he and Emily are in no way in position for a second kid now.. they have time and Josh could easily sell a game at some point: he almost does in the next episode. ONe of Emily and Bridgette’s songs could go viral. Or Josh could end up finding a much better day job or Emily could get a promtion at hers. While not wanting to have a second child while they can’t support one is the right move, Josh realizes not wanting ot have one at all, at least in their spectfic case, was an overreaction to a scary situation.  Josh decides to think more, despite the doctor offring up some pubic scaping for extra, and he and Alex end up finding the Teens from the ride.. who are in fact real kids who look an AWFUL lot and act an awfl lot like alex and are basically indentured to the doctor,who treats them like crap and has them undder contract to pop and lock for him and look at his new pubic hair designs (”Those nights are the hardest”). Josh decides not to go through with it but the bostioan robots who do the procedure refuse to let that happen and leave Josh, Alex and the Twins on the run, while Alex himself reconsiders parenthood as he’s now proud of what he thinks are his kids. As the four are cornered it turns out the doctor is also a prisoner.. but an unsympathetic one since he can A) go home and B) is willingly collaberating with obnoxious robots to do a dangerous verison of a serious procedure to save his own ass and is karmically atomized. When Alex brings up his thinking the kids are his, they sadly explain he isn’t: Their dad’s a republican senator (Tot hteir shame the girl, who I almost forgot to mention is voiced by the wonder Kate MIccui, in her second role in a JG Quintel show. HOpefully if there’s a season 2 or the show stars having arcs they can find a full role for her on the show. ) and Alex finds his sperm he donated ended up in a dumpster.. but is determined to protect the kids anyway. Thankfully our heroes are able to escape with Emily, who sneaks ina fter the robots locked down the faicility’s help, with Josh bummed because he was proud for being responsible as the two discuss still wanting to have kids, with Emily pointing out .. this is STILL responsible. Not going through with something you have doubts about and having an honest talk with your partner is the responsbe thing> The five of them escape, and while Alex knows he’s not the teens father, offers to be there for them if they ever need it.  Wrapping things up at a skating rink, The Ramierz’ skate and Josh and Emily plan to do their taxes again later, though likely with a rubber this time, and Alex got his vasectomy reverse and is really weird about it to Bridgette’s annoyance. Also 20,000 years into the future subhuman cavemen versions of hismelf are the dominatne lifeform Neat. Overall this ep was really good, having great character stuff for Josh Emily and Alex, while still having some good bits for the rest of the main cast minus randy who I feel the show honestly forgets exists half the time, with drunk Pearle being a delight. But it’s the emotional core for both sides: Josh and Emily hastily deciding to not have more kids before wondering if they want to keep the option open while Alex realisses he might want to be a dad himself and his bond with waht he thinks are his kids and protectivness of them is really sweet. It’s also not lacking in great jokes; The entire rollercoaster of “DON’T HAVE KIDS” is just black comedy gold from start to finsih including the green goblin for some reaosn, the boston robots and vasectomy doctor are great vilians and overall the episode is just really good and really mature for an episode that also makes plenty of testicle scaping jokes. You can do both. 

Clap Like This

And continuing the trend from the last few episodes, we have the weaker one (though Golden Gamer was still pretty damn good), second this time around, though like Golden Gamer it’s still decent.  The plot is a bit simplier and starts with Josh FINALLY selling a game to two idiot tech billionares, Clap LIke This, a game about clapping along that actually seems really damn fun and I wish were real like Ladder World.  While Emily enjoys being able to spend money and her husband finally living his dream or so she thinks, Bridgette, who we find out has been on an allowance from her parents, is cut off on her birthday and has to get a job at a forever 23, one of the few times this show has used an offbrand and not nearlya s awesome a name as “Plugger Inners” it feels lazier if only because again, Plugger Inners exists. But as was revealed earlier, the two guys who bought it went broke and the deal feell through but josh, feeling terrrible about them not being able to afford the finer things anymore, hides it from his family and takes as many shifts as possible at plugger inners. He also runs into David Hasslehoff doing his best mitch von malibu as he just.. throws more money at josh to do what his son asks. Or nephew or whatever. I went back and redited this after finding out that really was him and supposed to be him. I’m also calling his annoying son Hobie for reasons that will be come clear if you’ve ever watched allison pregler’s baywatching series but it’s always fun to see the hoff in something. Especailly the time he made this really embarassing music video. 

But alass the 200 dollars Hoff made off “jump in my car”  that he gave josh isn’t enough and with him having taken all the insltation jobs josh is forced to turn to black market insltations including one where he installs a tv while jaws eats a guy.. I genuinely wish they’d used this song.

[darkmasterkattsvault-arc]

Shifting Sands

Who: Joss Rose & Lena Luthor (@chaoticscribblings) ft. Kara & Alex Danvers

What: The day after a night out, Joss visits Lena to get the results of the MRI she ran on them. Shortly after receiving the results, Kara arrives after seeing a news article about Lena “dating Supergirl” angry about her keeping Joss from here. A fight breaks out between Joss and Kara, only escalated by Alex’s arrival. Eventually, after everything has settled, Lena takes Joss home to take care of them.

Notes: This was written on discord on a whim and not all of it is entirely formatted like a proper para. This is also long as fuck.

cos all I'm imagining is these idiots having a good time and someone realizing that Joss looks like Supergirl and just full on jumping to "Lena Luthor is dating Supergirl" and also the drama cos cue Kara Danvers bursting in and being like "Why didn't you tell me there was someone that looks exactly like me?" but also Lena's immediate reply being "how long did you keep your identity as Supergirl from me?" yep, that's exactly how it will go down or worse, Kara accuses Lena of making a clone Now I'm just imagining Joss showing up at the WRONG time, or like already having been there for something but had gone to the bathroom "I heard shouting, everything- Oh, so YOURE Kara." Oh god, can you imagine it being after the MRI and Joss being there to talk to Lena about what she found? Like, the first night out people report about Lena being seen on a date with someone. From there, they do the MRI, go out after cos they both need it, which is when someone realizes that Joss looks like Supergirl, cue the next day when Joss goes to see Lena to talk about it and BAM! Kara Poor Joss still trying to wrap their head around finding out there is something IN their head, and coming back from a freak out in the bathroom to Lena and Kara yelling at each other. Lena being told "You really are a Luthor" Joss jumping straight into fight mode that's just a bad idea all over lol Kara aka Supergirl Vs. Joss with inhibitors Lena yelling "Turn them off! Turn them off!" "If a bitch can't win a fight without using her powers then she's nothing worth anything to me." Lena's just there cringing and using her phone to try and figure out the fastest way to scramble the signal on the inhibitors next thing any of them known Alex is showing up, for similar reasons and Kara, because let's be real she wouldn't be too far behind oh God, Alex shows up Lena will be shouting "Turning the fucking things off! Shoot first. Remember?!"

The argument that ensues when the fighting eventually stops about them wanting to take Joss to the DEO. Lena - "Over my dead body"

"I feel like we shouldn't put that past them."

"You're not taking them so you treat them like your science lab project and dissect them and torture them with tests! No matter what you think of me, Joss is a living being, who until you showed up and started throwing accusations around, wouldn't start a fight with anyone. So, if you want to take them to the DEO, you better put a bullet in my brain because like hell am I going let you."

Joss just staring at Lena for a bit and then wrapping their arms around her. "And if you think I'll go easy if you shoot her, I can promise you now, I won't. Because I will turn off the inhibitors and I will fight as hard as I can, and I won't really care who gets hurt. Because I have worked too fucking long and too fucking hard in this life to just be another person. I'm not going into some fucking cage to be used as a lab rat or whatever else, without a fight."

Mind you I kinda imagine they've got a busted lip at minimum and are still refusing to turn the damn things off to heal

Joss at some point while everyone is arguing over what to do just being like "And I thought finding out I had space junk stuck in my head was going to be the worst part of today." in the most defeated fucking voice ever

I just imagine everyone in the room turning to look at them because "What did they just say?"

Lena just ignoring everyone else and being like, "We will fix it, I promise."

but also now I'm imagining Alex looking at Joss, probably curled in on themself, just looking fucking terrified and not being able to unsee every time she's seen Kara look like that which is what softens Alex about the situation a little

"If you're gonna keep arguing about what to do with me, can I at least call my roommate and tell him I might not be home tonight? He worries if I don't let him know."

"No one is doing anything with you. Whatever happens, is entirely down to you," shoots pointed glare at Kara and Alex, "but if you want to call Isaac, then do. You're more than welcome to stay with me tonight."

Joss just nodding and going out to the balcony, with their back to the windows, so no one but probably Kara hears them breakdown, even if it's written all over their posture.

Lena totally staring at Alex and Kara like she's going to throttle them before basically telling them to get out before she calls security. yep and before they even get the chance to protest she goes out to be with Joss Lena eventually reprimanding Joss for being an idiot tho

"Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"No, but if I'd used my powers, there would have been a bigger risk of destruction, a higher probability of you getting hurt. I wasn't going to take that chance. Not after you obviously risked so much to keep my secret safe. And I'm sorry, but she doesn't seem like such a good friend, because friends don't say shit like that, they don't go accusing people of being evil with zero basis."

"I'm a Luthor, that's basis enough for most." Inspects Joss' busted lip, "Are you going to turn your inhibitors off to let that heal or shall I go get some ice?"

"Well they're wrong. Names are nothing but sounds. If they can't distinguish you from your family then I don't think they know you." They sigh and run a finger under the hem of their shirt. "Isaac says thanks, by the way. For watching out for me. He's always worried that one day I'll be found out and I won't come home. Because aliens in this city go missing sometimes, wrong place, wrong time and they're gone and he's scared that'll happen to me. Now I guess his worries have a solid foundation."

"My brother tried to kill Superman, my mother keeps trying to kill Supergirl, why should I be any different? That's how people see me." She reaches for Joss' hand and gives it a gentle but reassuring squeeze. "That's not going to happen to you, you understand me? I won't let it happen and if for whatever reason I fail you and it does happen, you need to understand that I will come looking for you and that I will not stop looking for you until I find you and when I do I will make those responsible pay."

"Because you're Lena fucking Luthor, and everything you have ever done proves you are not the monster this world wants to make you out to be." They lean against her and squeeze her hand back. "Thank you, Lena. And, if you want, if it'll appease them, you can send them the results of the tests you ran. I have nothing to hide, from them or you or anyone. I can email you what I know about where I crashed, what was later found there. You can pass that on. Maybe they'll be able to make something of it all. At least more than I can."

"Yet you seem to be the only one of this world to see that." She let out a sigh, finding herself also leaning into Joss. "You don't need to appease anyone, Joss. I will involve them as little as possible, preferably not at all but their database has a far more extensive range of information surrounding what the material might be. Whatever they come up with, do not go anywhere with them without me, please. I want to oversee anything they do to make sure they don't try and do something they shouldn't. No matter what happens in all of this, I swear to you, I will keep you safe."

"And that is a loss for the rest of the world." They close their eyes for a bit. "Why are you so protective of me, Lena? Not that I don't appreciate it, I do, more than anything, but why risk so much for me?"

"I care about what happens to you. The thought of them locking you up in a cell fuelled by kryptonite which would not only render you powerless but also cause you pain is something that I cannot stand. They view you as a threat, as a thing to be experimented on, just because you look very much like Kara, they don't care that the only things you have in common are that you look alike and are both kryptonian. It makes me sick to think of them punishing you for something when there has been no wrong doing. They don't care about who you are, your passions, your life, you. I do. I care and I will not let them take away your freedom, your life, or that there are people that care about you."

"How can the world not see it? How genuinely good you are?"

Lena is suddenly fascinated by her feet

"Hey, my eyes are up here."

Lena reluctantly looks up, unsure of what she's supposed to say in response to the questions Joss had asked. Was she genuinely good? Was the world that blind? She had no idea anymore. Too used to being told that she was just like her brother and mother, she was just 'another Luthor' despite her best efforts to be anything but.

Joss smiled at Lena as she looked up at them. "You, Lena, are what the Luthor name should be known for. You have done so much good and received nothing but doubt and hate for it, and that is so wrong. Supergirl might be the hero of National City, but you are mine."

Lena felt like Joss had just hurled a boulder into her throat, she was speechless. Her vision blurred with the threat of tears. Instead of being just 'another Luthor' Joss saw her as what the Luthor's should be known be for. She wasn't the inadequate Luthor that would turn out like her brother or mother, she was Lena Luthor and she was what the family name should be known for. She reached up and gently cupped Joss' cheek, her voice straining as she uttered, "Thank you."

They smiled at her leaning so their forehead was resting against hers. "No, thank you. For keeping my secret. For agreeing to help me. For listening to me rant and rave about fashion. For taking time to go out and drink with me, even when I'm sure you had more important things to do."

"You listened to me rant and rave," she pointed out with a weak chuckle before adding, "if you think there was something more important to me than getting to spend time with you, you're wrong."

"Because watching me get drunk and eat entirely too many soft pretzel bites and wings is somehow as important as your work?"

"Did you miss the part where getting to spend time with you is important to me?"

"No, but it's hard to believe that you thought so that first time. I mean, c'mon, I'm not that special. You barely even knew me."

“I knew enough to know that I wanted to know more about you. Also, Joss, you are that special, even if you don’t realise it.”

"I guess I'm just not used to people wanting to know more. Spent so long keeping to myself. Head down, work hard, live a normal life. And then you and your Cyclone decided to pull me in."

“Lets be honest, it had nothing to do with me, it was all the Cyclone,” Lena smirked.

"No. It was you. The Cyclone was just bonus."

“Do you mean that?”

"You could have handed me any dress in need of repair and I'd have still asked you out."

Lena studied Joss’ face for a moment, searching for any indication that they were lying. A smile crossed her lips when she found no trace of deceit and closed the distance between them to press her lips softly to Joss’.

Joss was a little surprised by the feeling of Lena's lips on theirs, all too aware that their inhibitors were off and the ability to hurt her, even from something as simple as kissing back too hard. But they did it anyway, a little wary, and beyond gentle, arms wrapping fully around her to pull her just a little closer.

Lena smiled against Joss’ lips as she was pulled that little bit closer. She knew the inhibitors were off, which was why she wasn’t deepening the kiss, she knew Joss was wary of their strength. Yet, for someone who possessed unimaginable strength, they were so gentle. Her hand stayed against Joss’ cheek as she reluctantly pulled back, “So, about that ice for your lip...”

Joss licked their lip at the mention of it, the place where the split had once been completely healed. "All better, but if you're still worried, I hear kissing it better does wonders." They smirked but sighed. "Though I really want to get out of here. I'm really tired, L."

“Who knew I had a super power of my own?” Lena chuckled. Reaching up, she gently ran her fingers through Joss’ hair, “Let’s head home so you can get some rest. You’re not used to using your powers, I imagine it must be very draining.”

"Me." They smirk. "I'm not really used to getting the shit kicked out of me by a bar of steel with arms and legs, either. And that doesn't even cover the emotional shit today."

“Its been a day, that’s for certain.” She pressed another delicate kiss to Joss’ lips. “Let’s get you out here and into bed.”

"Mmhmm." They kissed back a little and sighed. "Just a warning, I might not stay there. It's rare but I can float in my sleep."

“That’s ok, I’ll make sure you don’t float away,” Lena promised, “I just care that you get some rest.”

"Thanks, L."

SJ09/13/2020 Lena smiled at her newly acquired monicker, “Come on, let’s get you to bed. I’ll cook us some dinner after you’ve had some rest, ok? But for now, let’s get out of here.”

"Lead the way."

time jump to Lean’s home

Lena led Joss through to her bedroom, “I’ll get you something that you can get changed into so you’ll be more comfortable,” she spoke as she moved around her room, retrieving shorts and a loose fitting shirt, “you get changed and I’ll go make us some tea, ok?”

"Thanks," they took the clothes offered to them. While they could have changed in an instant, they elected not to. If only because it gave them time to think, to process everything.

Lena left the room and set about her task, returning a few moments later with two mugs, to find Joss still in their clothes. “Hey,” she placed the mugs on the bedside table, moving over to Joss, “you ok in there?” she asked softly, her hand moving to tuck some fallen hair behind Joss’ ear.

Joss had managed to kick out of their shoes before the weight of everything had come crashing down on top of them. They hadn't even realized they'd zoned out until Lena had returned. "Everything is so loud," they mumbled.

“Ok,” Lena hushed, her mind working at a fast pace as she sought to relieve some of Joss’ discomfort. She moved to her bedside table and quickly retrieved some earplugs from the drawer. “They’re new,” she promised, “I keep them for flying. Put them in and come lay down with me. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”

They watched Lena for a few moments. They nodded with a quiet thanks as they took the earplugs and put them in before using their superspeed to change, figuring they might as well get it over with before they had time to zone out again. They then climbed into bed, still trying to focus their attention on one solid sound instead of the thousands that still reached them even with the earplugs in.

Once Joss was in bed, Lena kicked off her shoes and got in beside them and gently pulled them into her arms, she dare not say anything, afraid of added more noise. No, her purpose was to just be there and remain as silent as physically possible.

Joss curled against Lena, head against her chest, deciding the best sound they could focus on was the one below them. The sound of Lena's heart. Then Joss started humming. It was something they did almost nightly, an added way to block out the noise and soothe themself to sleep.

Lena smiled at the way Joss curled into her and pressed a barely their kiss to the top of their head. She listened as they hummed and held them tightly, thinking to herself of how she would deal with Kara the next time she saw her.

In time Joss would fall asleep, curling further into themself and away from Lena in the process, nothing about them was relaxed. Whimpering and moaning like they were injured or scared.

Lena couldn’t switch off. Her mind preoccupied with the dangers and challenges that Joss would face now that Kara and the DEO knew of their existence. It wasn’t until she was faced with the sudden lack of warmth from Joss curling away that she broke out of her thoughts. The moans and whimpers were heartbreaking and Lena could imagine what Joss was dreaming off, she was still uncertain of what exactly the fragments in Joss’ brain would impact besides their memory. “Joss,” she was careful in her movements, not wanting to startle Joss into consciousness. Reaching out Lena gently stroked the others cheek, “come back to me.”

Joss seemed to settle, if only a little, at the sound of Lena's voice, not quite coming back to consciousness but still shifting back towards her. Their body uncurled slightly at the hand to their cheek, long legs finding one of Lena's and tangling with it.

Lena noticed the way Joss seemed to settle at her voice, the way they had tangled their legs around one of her own as if grounding themselves despite still being asleep. "That's it," she uttered softly as she gently caressed their cheek, "use my as your anchor. You're safe. I'll keep you safe."

The more Lena soothed, the more Joss settled. Their body relaxed fully in time and when it did, Joss slowly started to hover. It wasn't much just enough to keep them off the bed, one of their feet still tucked securely securely under Lena's at the ankle, as if actually using her to keep them tethered.

Lena was in awe as Joss levitated from the bed and moved to bring her other leg around to secure the foot beneath her ankle further. She continued to speak softly, for whatever reason it was obviously soothing the kryptonian. "You weren't kidding about floating in your sleep, but that's ok. You keep floating. I'm here. You can float like a kite and I'll be string, I'll make sure you don't float away."

And that's what Joss did. They floated and slept, occasionally thrashing and whimpering but always settling when their foot caught on Lena's ankles.

Eventually, they dropped back to the bed as they started to stir. A sleepy smile crossed their face as they looked over at Lena, flexing the foot still caught in her ankles.

Every time Joss would show any sign of disturbed sleep, Lena would reach up and stroke their cheek, quietly uttering words of unimportant things.

"Hi floaty," Lena greeted softly, as Joss returned to earth, "I suppose you'd like your foot back?" she chuckled. "You feeling any better now that you've had some rest?"

Joss chuckled a little, burying their face in the pillow for a few moments. "Y'can keep it, if ya want," They mumbled, voice a little rough. "Yeah, things aren't as loud." Joss did get used to their powers the more they left the inhibitors off, able to tune things out, focus easier, but they so rarely let it happen and especially not while away from their own home.

Lena grinned, "Good, because I wasn't planning on letting you have it back yet." She moved her foot along Joss' ankle to prove her point. "That's good," she was genuinely glad that things had quietened for Joss, she couldn't imagine what it must be like to be able to hear everything at fully volume all the time, it sounded like something that could drive an individual to insanity. "What were you dreaming about?" she asked softly, "There were moments where it seemed like you were trapped in a nightmare."

They laughed a little as Lena spoke and the way she moved their ankle. At the question about what they were dreaming of, they shrugged. "I never remember much. Sometimes if my inhibitors are on I'll remember pain, darkness, fire. I think it's the crash. Feeling like I can't breath, like I have to get out, but I can't. But, normally, I don't know. I don't remember. Sometimes, though, I'll remember a song, a lullaby. It's engrained in my memory but I don't know the words, I can't understand them. With it comes the shadow of a woman in a cloak. Always watching, leaving things, but I never know where I am or what's actually happening."  They sighed. "And sometimes I just feel anger, hatred, towards people I don't know. Names, especially, bring it to the surface. Or things I see. The first time I saw that crest the Supers wear. I wanted to burn it, like it'd done me wrong. But I'm not that kind of person. Hell, even today with Kara... I don't know if it was just what she'd said or who she was. All I knew was that I was angry and I hated what she said I wanted her to hurt for that, for treating you that way. For thinking she's so much better."

Lena listened intently, it certainly sounded like Joss got the briefest glimpse of memories during their dreams but they were so brief that they couldn't process the scenario in order to be able to understand it and the feelings attached to it. "I'm going to do everything I can to help you get your memories back," she promised as she placed a hand on Joss' chest, "I will help you find the reasons behind these things that you can't understand because you don't have access to all of the information. As for the things that Kara said..." a defeated sigh left her lips, "she is better than me and she's not the only one to think that I'm going to to follow in my families footsteps. You can't fight everyone that thinks those things about me."

They smiled at Lena, covering her hand with their own. "Stop talking like that. She is not. Anyone who can say they're a friend and yet jump to such horrid conclusions without proof, are no better than the very conclusions they jump to. That bullshit she spouts about Hope, Help, and Compassion for all is just that, bullshit. Empty lies, because if you can't look at your so-called friend and see the good they have done, despite it all, you're nothing but a hypocrite." The huffed, moving to curl up against Lena again.

Lena wrapped her arms around Joss and pressed a kiss to the top of their head. "Hypocrite or not, you still can't fight her for the way she thinks about me. Especially when you have your inhibitors turned off." She moved to rest her head atop of Joss' as she moved her legs to entangle the others with her own. "You could've been seriously hurt..."

They sighed, burying their face in the crook of her neck. "What good is someone if the only battles they fight are with their powers? How can they say they know how to protect people?" Joss honestly didn't care about getting hurt, they knew, in time they'd heal. That they could turn the inhibitors off, but they also knew they were reckless with their powers and the idea of accidentally hurting Lena because they were trying to fight with their powers wasn't something they could handle the thought of.

"Kara will realise in time, she always does," Lena uttered, "she's just not as on the ball as you are when it comes to knowing whether I'd follow in my brothers footsteps or not." She brought a hand to the back of Joss' head and began to idly run her fingers through their hair. "Please don't fight her, Joss. With or without your powers. There are some things that you can't heal from and the DEO almost always has access to those things and they have very little issues with using them." She had seen what the DEO were capable of, she wasn't going to let them do anything to Joss. She cared too much about them to let anything like that happen to them. "I can't let them hurt you."

"And yet she's known you longer." Their words were almost bitter, the idea that someone could know Lena as long as Kara had and yet still looked at her like she'd snap and become her brother. That was the kind of thing that made lesser people do such things. "Fine, I won't, but that doesn't change that I would. If she ever..."  Joss sighed, pressing a soft kiss to the side of Lena's neck.

"Kal-El is her cousin, my brother attacked him, numerous times," she sighed, "I'm not saying that excuses her, but her opinion of me has been tainted from the start. Yours never has been. Your opinion of me is entirely your own." Lena pulled away slightly after the kiss to her neck, "Look at me," she gently guided Joss to look up her, "Kara and so many others will always see me as nothing but another Luthor and I can't change that. The only person that I care what they think about me, is you."

Joss grumbled as Lena explained. It shouldn't matter. Lena wasn't Lex. It would be like saying Chris should want to go into costuming because Joss did. Or, given the apparent relation between Kara and Joss, that Joss should want to be a hero. Everyone has the capacity to be good, if given a chance it seemed the Supers and the rest of the world refused to give Lena that chance. They looked at her, still frowning as Lena spoke. Though they couldn't help but smile, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. "And I think you are so much better than you think you are, because you're still listening to everyone who has said you aren't good  enough. I'm gonna change that." And they meant it. They would get Lena to see just how good she was, how amazing, because she deserved that more than anything.

"Well, everyone has been saying it for a long time," Lena began, "it might mean that you have to stick around a while." She smiled, as her her eyes darted about Joss' face, it was obvious that Kara and Joss were identical twins, even a high school dropout could reach that conclusion but the more Lena looked at them, the more she could see just how very different they looked despite being identical. "You might have kryptonian powers, but I think your super power is the way you see people."

"Well, I already planned to stick around, so you'll just have to get used to me telling you how amazing you are." They pressed another kiss to Lena's lips. "Get it from my mama. To look at the big picture of a person. So someone like you, you've got a bad family, people who hate and despise everyone including you, but then you go out of your way to be different. You choose to put money and effort towards the good. To help people. To heal and repay a debt you don't owe on, but feel you do. You have every reason to just give up and be who everyone says you are, yet you don't. You keep fighting and you keep doing good. That is what makes you good. That is what makes you better than so many others."

Lena smiled against Joss’ lips, knowing that they planned on sticking around made her happy. “Your mama raised an incredible individual.” It was very rare that Lena found someone who could see her for who she was, and those she did have like that lived on another planet. She didn’t have words to reply to the kind words, so instead she pressed her lips firmly against the ones in front of her and let the kiss convey her feelings.

Joss kissed her back with a smile before pulling away. "M'sorry to cut this short, but you mentioned food earlier and uh... I kinda haven't eaten today... Was gonna do that after I saw you, and then well... shit hit the fan."

"You haven't eaten?!" Lena lightly slapped Joss' arm. "Naughty J," she she chuckled before pressing another kiss to Joss' lips, "ok," she pulled away, "I said I'd cook for you, so let's go see what I actually have in the kitchen that's worth cooking, hm?"

"I was nervous, okay. I wouldn't have kept it down." And it's true. They'd honestly been beyond worried about the results and it seemed they had every right to be. "Why do I have a feeling we're about to order take out?" They teased as they untangled themself from Lena, even if they really didn't want to, they needed food and letting Lena get up was required.

"Ok, I take it back," Lena smiled briefly before she feigned offence, "Are you saying that I can't cook?" She sat up reluctantly, "Perhaps I should just offer you a crust of bread and some water," she threatened playfully.

"No, I'm worried you spend so much time at the office you're not home long enough to have groceries, or at least enough to cook for a Kryptonian." They gently poked her side playfully.

"Nice save," Lena laugh as she moved to stand up. "Ok, you may have a point on that one. I usually only cook for myself and because I spend so much time at the office I don't keep anything fully stocked." The more she thought about, the more she realised that even if she did have food in the house, it wouldn't be enough to feed a kryptonian. "Ok, fine. Take out this time. Just no pot stickers, ok?"

"There was no saving! Who offers to cook for someone if they can't?" Joss sat up, watching Lena move. They smirked a bit when she conceded that they were right. Though their eyebrows momentarily scrunched when she said no potstickers. "What's your opinion on Indian? Cos I could go for some lamb curry right about now." They wanted warm and comforting and a little spicy and curry was the perfect thing.

"Hey, I can cook! I just forgot the part where you're kryptonian and could eat a whole horse." It was true, she knew that she had enough food to throw together a light meal or whatever but there's no way she could feed a kryptonian. "I think that sounds like an excellent idea. Do you know a place or should I grab my laptop so we can hunt one down?"

"Exactly." They smiled, nodding a bit when she asked if they knew of a place. "I have them on speed dial... Wherever my phone is." They couldn't even remember what article of clothing it'd been in, provided they'd even had it in a pocket at all. They'd been so drained, they weren't even sure they'd grabbed it off the table in Lena's office.

"Do you know the number or just have it on speed dial?" Lena asked as she reached for her phone, as her eyes scanned the pile of clothes on her floor for any indication of Joss' phone, "You can call from my phone?" she suggested.

"Uh, mostly just have it on speed dial. It takes A LOT for me to memorize stuff." Sure, once they had something memorized it was stuck but actually committing things to memory was hard. They worked exceptionally hard to memorize things but when they could do something like leave a number in their phone they did.

"Well, that's not particularly helpful," Lena chuckled as she put her phone back on the bedside table and bent over to retrieve the clothes off the floor. "I'd like to point out that I am in no way suggesting that you put these back on," she spoke as she turned to put the clothes on the bed, "but I don't know how comfortable you'd be with my rummaging through your pockets."

Joss just shrugged. They laughed a bit. "I mean all you'd find is my wallet, my keys, and hopefully my phone." Joss was pretty minimal when it came to what they carried on a regular basis. "Oh and a mini sewing kit." Even still, they grabbed their clothes and started rummaging through their pockets, thankful when the last thing they pulled out was their phone. "And it's nearly dead..." Because of course it was. "So, we'll still need to use your phone."

"I'm not worried about what I'd find in your pockets," Lena laughed as she climbed onto the bed and sat on her haunches as she watched Joss search for their phone, "I trust you. I just respect you enough to not go searching through your things without your permission." Of course there phone was almost dead, that was always the way, turning almost awkwardly, she reached behind herself and grabbed her phone from beside the bed and offered it to Joss, "Here.

They smiled when she explained herself. "That's nice to hear, honestly." While they definitely didn't have minded her doing so, it was nice she respected them enough to not do so. "Thanks." They took her phone and put in the number, taking the liberty to save it into her contacts, just in case. They then dialed the number.

"Hey, yeah, this is Joss. Yeah, I need my usual and, hold on," they looked at Lena, "What do you want?"

Lena’s eyebrow arched when it became apparent that Joss was on a first name basis with the takeaway but quickly scolded herself because she may as well own shares in the place her and Kara always order from.

“Double up on yours,” Lena replied, “and a naan bread please.” Indian was not Indian without naan bread. It had been a long time since she’d had Indian and she hadn’t ordered from this place before so she was putting her tastebuds in Joss’ hands.

Joss chuckled a bit as Lena gave her answer. "Another lamb curry and another thing of naan. Mmhmm, actually make that two more curries. Yeah. Uh, different address," They waited for Lena to give them the address and relayed it to the person on the other end of the line.

Once everything was confirmed they hung up and held the phone out to Lena. "Maybe half an hour. They're closer to you than they are to me, apparently. Or it's a slow night and they actually have enough made to fill the order without needing to make too much more. Probably both." There was a reason Joss was on a first name basis with the place, they spent a lot of money everytime and they also genuinely enjoyed the food.

Now that the food was ordered, Lena suddenly realised they had the problem of drinks. Not because she was in short supply, she actually had a pretty extensive collection of wines, whiskeys, and a few others she had been gifted over the years through business deals, it was just that she had absolutely nothing in the way of alien alcohol. "So I know human alcohol has no effect on whatsoever," she spoke as she accepted her phone back, "but would you like a glass of wine or anything like that with dinner?"

"I'll have whatever you're having. It's likely for the best I don't have anything that can effect me tonight, as is." They liked getting tipsy, they enjoyed being drunk to an extent, but with the way their head was, emotions still trying to process, being held at bay merely by distractions, the last thing they needed was alcohol. "Thanks again, for everything you've done. You didn't have to, but I'm grateful you did."

"I was going to have a glass of wine but I don't like the idea of me getting to take the edge off of today when you can't," Lena admitted. It had definitely been a day and had she been alone she'd probably be starting her second bottle by now, which granted, wasn't the healthiest coping mechanism in the world but it helped. At least that's what she would tell herself. "What on earth are you thanking me for?" Lena asked incredulously, moving so that she was closer to Joss and placed a hand on the others, "You were the one that defended me, it should be me thanking you."

"Me trying to take the edge off would probably need a run around the entire city. Even if you had something here that would effect me I know for a fact it wouldn't end well. You're allowed to take the edge off, even if I can't." They smiled at her as she moved over to them. "I'm thanking you for taking care of me. For trusting me enough to let me into your home, your private space. For watching over me. For being my anchor. You didn't have to do any of that. You could have sent me on my way home. You could have handed me off to the DEO. You chose to protect me. That is why I'm thanking you, along with a million other reasons from just today."

"You fought someone who has honed their powers, you used your powers despite the fact that it goes against the way you live your life," she spoke softly, "you did that to defend me and you didn't have to. You really think I'd hand you over to the DEO? Let them conduct their little experiments to prove what I was able to learn in our first meeting?" Lena shook her head, "Not in this lifetime. I took care of you because I wanted to, because I care about you and I don't see that changing so you had better get used to me watching over you when you need to recover, to keep you anchored so you can rest. I may not have kryptonian powers but I will do my very best to protect you and keep you safe."

Joss wrapped their arms around Lena pulled her closer. "And those are things worth being thanked for. Just because you're used to doing things without thanks doesn't mean you don't deserve that thanks. And I fully intend on thanking you for the things you do for me. Because it is the easiest thing and it is the least, I can do." They leaned in and placed a soft kiss to Lena's lips.

Lena wrapped her arms around Joss' neck, "I will tell you repeatedly not to thank me, you do realise this?" she chuckled. "But, if a kiss accompanies every thank you, I'm not going to complain it," she admitted as she pressed her lips to Joss'.

Joss smiled into the kiss. "So you're stubborn, there are fabrics harder to work with than you." They teased. "And even the hardest of fabrics will soften in time, and if kisses are what it takes with you, well..." Joss kissed her again with a grin. "That's easy."

Lena laughed, "You say that now, you've yet to encounter me in a bad mood." She smiled at the kiss and found herself wondering if this is what it felt like to be truly trusted, that being with another person could be easy and relaxed. "Thank you," her words were sincere, "not for today, although obviously I am grateful for that, but thank you for seeing me and not my family."

"I'm sure I can handle it, L." Everyone had a right to bad moods and in time they were sure they'd see Lena's. They might even be the reason, though they prayed not often. It was what one did when said bad moods arose that mattered and Joss was willing to find out what it took to handle those. As she thanked them they shook their head. "It pains me that, something as simple as seeing you as your own person is something you see the need to thank me for."

Lena moved a hand to Joss' cheek and studied their face, "Please don't feel pain for me, not over this." She had dealt with feelings of inadequacy since the moment she moved in with her father and his family, she had dealt with never ending judgement since then. It was what had built her, shaped her into who she was now, it was what made her strive to do better than her best, it was what pushed her to go further than her limits, it was what made her persevere whenever she encounter challenges, it was the reason she never gave up without a fight. It was also the reason for many nights of crying herself to sleep out of sheer loneliness and the inability to make a connection with another where they saw Lena and a Luthor.

"L, no one deserves to feel so invisible the idea of someone seeing them for themself is worth thanking them." They pulled her even closer so she was properly standing between their legs. "You are the most amazing woman I have met, except for my mama, and even then, you give her a run for her money."

Lena wasn't entirely sure how to respond so she rest her face against Joss' collarbone. No one had ever taken the time to see her like this, not truly. The closest she had come was Sam but with Sam living on Argo Lena found herself once again alone. Kara kept secrets and always second guessed her motives. It was Alex's job to question her motives given Lex's past with Superman. More often than not, Lena was a business woman or 'another Luthor' and nothing more. "Don't let your mama hear you say that," she joked, her voice strained with emotion.

One of their hands moved to Lena's head as her face fell against their collarbone, hooking a finger gently into the ponytail holder keeping her hair up in what had to be an unholy tight ponytail. Slowly they worked  it out, letting long ebony hair fall free, slipping the band around their wrist. they then began to run their fingers through her hair. "I think my mama would be honored that someone who has struggled so much and done so much good is being compared to her."

At first Lena wasn't sure what Joss was doing but when her hair was set free she let out a sigh of relief as some of the tension was eased around her skull. As fingers began to run through her hair, she found herself pressing herself further against Joss and allowed herself a moment to let her guard down and bask in the feeling of safety. She wanted to argue that she hadn't struggled, that she was beyond privileged but she knew the moment she did she would break the calm she was currently revelling in, that she would revert to being on guard so she remained silent.

Joss hummed quietly as their fingers continued to run through her hair. It was nice, honestly, just being there, existing with her. As much as the day had stressed them out, they couldn't help but find themself relaxing as their fingers moved through her hair. There was just something so soothing about her presence.

Lena listened to Joss hum, content to stay exactly where she was and let Joss care for her. Joss allowed her to be herself, it was ok to be fragile because she trusted Joss not to break her. The longer she stayed as she was, the more she could feel herself letting go of the days tensions and actually beginning to relax. Which was both a good thing and a not so good thing, as she relaxed she became of just how tense she had been from the ache in her muscles. "So much better than wine," she murmured softly.

Joss chuckled a little as she said it was better than wine. "Better than wine and all they're doing is running through your hair. You should feel what else I can do with them." They weren't sure if they'd meant to say that, but they were definitely sure they hadn't meant for it to come off as inappropriate as it probably did. Even still, they just let their fingers keep moving through her hair, hoping if they didn't point out the innuendo it'd pass by, because they might be at kissing but they definitely were not at where their comment could lead.

Lena had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing at the obvious innuendo. Neither of them were ready to go there yet, at least she wasn't. "Is that your way of letting me know that you're a masseuse as well as a tailor?" she lightly teased before continuing, "I'm serious though. Given the choice between a glass of wine and being like this with you, this is what I would choose."

Joss let out a breath they'd been holding when she went the way Joss had definitely meant it. "I mean, not certified or anything, but I'm not bad. Or so Isaac tells me."  They smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I like being like this too." Lena's phone went off and Joss sighed. "I think that's the food, and unless you want to risk your neighbors seeing me barely dressed, I need to get up and put pants on.

“You’ll have to prove that to me one day,” she chuckled, content against Joss. When her phone disturbed their peace she was angry at it, until she realised it was that their food had arrived. “Or,” Lena pulled back, “you can stay all relaxed and comfy and I’ll go answer the door.” She was still dressed as it was, she didn’t see the need for Joss to have to get changed again unnecessarily. “Besides,” she chortled, “if my neighbours see you I might get accused of hiring Supergirl to be maid.” And as funny an accusation that would be, Lena really did not want to deal with Kara on her back over it.

"I can definitely do that." They chuckled a bit. "You gonna forge my signature, L?" They teased with a raise of their eyebrow and a tilt of their head. As much as it'd be easier if Lena did so, there was still the signature on the receipt to worry about. "I mean, the press already thinks you're dating her, isn't that how we got ourselves into this mess? I'm sure your neighbors can take their guesses off that.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of forgery," she laughed. Lena knew that Joss had a point and despite being accused of forgery, it wasn't something she did. She let out a scandalous gasp, "Supergirl in bed with the sister who's brother tried to kill her cousin!" Her face split into a grin, "Kara would LOVE that." She pressed a kiss to Joss' lips, "Fine, get dressed and go scandalise the neighbours and I'll go get things ready."

Joss rolled their eyes as she said she'd been accused of forgery, because of course she had been. They were starting to wonder what, besides being a genuinely good person, she hadn't been accused of. "I mean, weirder things have happened." They chuckled as they stood. "And she can't even prove them wrong without having giving answers about me she doesn't have." They kiss Lena back with a grin. "I'll only be slightly scandalizing them with pants on, so... could be worse?" And like that they were slipping back into their pants, not even really bothering to take off the shorts, since the shirt was long enough to cover anything left open, grabbing their wallet, and heading out to get the food, barley remembering to put their shoes on.

They returned moments later, both arms full of bags of food. "I come baring curry, lots and lots of curry."

While Joss went to retrieve their food, Lena left to go grab some plates and cutlery as well as two wine glasses, a bottle of wine and a couple bottles of water. Ordinarily she wasn't a fan of eating in her bedroom, but she was quite enjoying just hanging out there with Joss, it wasn't something she'd ever really done.

"Good lord," she exclaimed through laughter, "that is a LOT of curry." It was a good thing Joss was kyrptonian otherwise Lena had no idea how they would manage to consume so much curry between just the two of them. "Would you like to put a film on while we eat?" she asked.

Joss chuckled, setting the bags down with a grin. "I'm hungry, and more so than usual. That's what happens when you don't eat all day and you're an alien." They smiled. "So, most of this is lamb. There should be one box of chicken though, if you want some of that. As for a film, I don't really care either way. So, if there's something you want to watch we can."

"I'm almost certain that all kryptonians are genetically predisposed to a high metabolism that is the human equivalent of high doses of methamphetamines," Lena teased. "It all smells incredible but lamb is the best meat. I'm quite happy just to have dinner and enjoy your company."

"That wouldn't surprise me any." Joss grabbed one of the containers and handed it to her. "I mean, you know this and I know this, but heaven forbid Isaac accepts that." They set out one of the orders of naan as well before taking off their pants and settling onto the bed with a container for themself

"Oh no," Lena chuckled, slipping off her shoes, Lord only knows why she bothered to put them back on, before joining Joss on the bed, "do I even want to know what Isaac thinks is the best meat?" If the response was chicken she was going to make a point of taking Joss and Isaac out for dinner and introducing Isaac to the way that lamb is supposed to be cooked.

Joss chuckled. "For curry? Chicken. In general, he's a beef guy. Though, when we lived in Pittsburgh I introduced him to the glory of the bison burger, so that's something at least." Isaac was a really picky food person so when Joss could expose him to new food they did. He didn't usually like it, but he at least humored them, which they appreciated.

If she rolled her eyes any harder at the response it would've actually caused her physical pain. "That's just unacceptable,"  she stated as she reached for her naan, "that boy is in need of serious educating and I plan to do just that. Chicken the best meat for curry," she scoffed.

"I have been trying to do that since we moved in together at 18. He's got a lot of aversions to textures when it comes to food so he's really picky. He'll try stuff but he's not liable to like it." Joss chuckled a bit. "His parents were honestly always amazed at how willing to try new foods I was, especially how much I love veggies. Like, don't get me wrong I will gladly dip bacon in chocolate and deep fry it, but on any given day I will eat my weight in fruits and veggies. Hell, the day I told them I'd gotten him to even try bison and that he liked it, I thought they were going to faint.”

"He can be as picky as he likes, I'm still taking you both out to dinner," Lena countered. As she listened to Joss talk about their love of foods, she couldn't help but wonder if they ever dreamt of the foods from their home planet. "Do you have any memory of the foods from home?" she asked softly, "Do you ever dream of them?"

"You won't hear any arguments from me. But if we also end up at Taco Bell after, don't say I didn't warn you." They sighed at Lena's question, digging into their food for a while. "No. If it's not nightmares it's disjointed memories of people."

"If we end up at Taco Bell I've done a very poor job." Lena regretted asking the question as a wave of guilt washed over her, she knew that it was hard for Joss and yet she had asked anyway, the scientist within her not knowing when enough was enough. She reached out, lightly touching Joss' elbow as she apologised, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Joss smiled at Lena at her words. "It's fine, L. I don't know if I'd want to remember stuff like that anyway. This planet has been the only home I've ever known. What kind of tragedy might be brought down on my head."

"Do you want me to stop searching for ways to remove that fragment?" Lena asked in all seriousness, "I mean, providing that it's not going to cause you any future problems. If you'd rather continue your life with those years left blank then I will stop looking into it but I need you to tell me, Joss. At the end of all of this, all I really care about is that it's not causing you any harm."

"I don't know. This thing obviously healed into my brain somewhere that effects my memory, and if removing it could help with that, I can't say it wouldn't be worth it. My long term memory sucks." Their short term memory was excellent which meant they could usually remember something long enough to write it down but once it was written down, the likelihood of remembering it without extra effort was slim. Putting names to faces was probably the easiest thing to submit to long term memory.

"Ok," Lena nodded, internally feeling relief as she was genuinely concerned about the long term repercussions of having a foreign objected imbedded in the brain for such an extensive period of time, then there was the matter of the material itself. "Guess in the meantime now would be the best time to make all of mistakes so that you don't remember?" she lightly teased.

Joss chuckled, bouncing their shoulder gently off hers. "You'll make mistakes later. So will I. Nothing wrong with making mistakes, L." They rested against her a little as they ate. "Wouldn't want you perfect anyway. That'd be no fun."

"Perfection is scientifically impossible." Lena broke into a smile, she was used to be scolding for mistakes and here Joss was embracing them and celebrating them. "I genuinely hope I never get used to things you say," she admitted, "I don't want there to ever come a day where I take it for granted."

"To be fair, they said the same about turning lead to gold. It might be radioactive gold but they technically did it." Joss pointed out with a gentle laugh. They smiled at her when she said that she hoped to never get used to the way they spoke. "Even if you do, it will be just as genuine then as it is now."

"Which just goes to prove my point about perfection being impossible, they turned lead into gold but it was flawed. Although I do suppose that depends on ones definition of flawed. If the intention was to create radioactive gold then you could consider it a success and my point proven to be invalid but given that the market for radioactive gold these days isn't exactly thriving I would as so bold to make the assumption that it is indeed a defect and a flawed result." Lena smiled at Joss' words, "Promise?"

Joss chuckled, head on her shoulder. "Just means that in time it could be proven true. But I still think it'd be boring." They hummed a bit, holding up their pinkie. "I will even pinkie promise you on it."

"Let's hope that it is never proven true. We wouldn't want life to be boring," she chuckled softly. Lena's eyebrow quirked in curiosity when Joss extended their pinkie towards her, "Pinkie promise, hm?" she linked her pinkie with Joss' and gave it a shake, "And what happens if you break it?"

"That we would not." They smiled as she took their pinkie and gave it a shake. "The truest kind of promise and... if I ever break it, you are allowed to have someone toss me into the sun or kill me, or whatever kind of destruction of my person befits what I was disingenuous about. Or you can just punch me. I don't know, you don't seem the possibly murder a person type."

"Murder does seem a little extreme, " Lena chuckled, "if you ever reach the point of hurting me that much I'll just let Lex loose on you, that way I don't get my hands dirty," she finished laughing before pressing a kiss to Joss' lips.

They laughed, leaning into the kiss. "Am I allowed to give him absolute hell before I let him deal with me?" Their question was honest, because they would happily do so, after everything Lena's family had done to her.

“You’re asking my permission?” Lena asked in all amusement. She knew how Joss felt Lex, she knew Joss would gladly knock Lex into next week for what he had put Lena through. It was strange still to have someone that was genuinely protective of her and not because she was investment in something but because they saw her. “In all honesty I highly expect you’d kick his ass anyway.”

"Well, yeah. In this context I'll have done you wrong, by all means you'd owe me nothing but my own pain, not the satisfaction I'd receive from giving him just a fraction of what he truly deserves." They pressed a kiss to her lips. "I know I could take him, which is also why I'm asking."

Lena laughed and pressed a kiss to Joss’ lips. “It reallt bothers you, doesn’t it? The things that Lex has done over the years.”

"Yeah, it does." They sighed. "Your family treated you like you were nothing. You were a child and they neglected you and you can't tell me they didn't. Emotional neglect is still neglect. Treating you like you weren't as amazing as you are isn't how you raise a child. There is so much proof of that. And for fucks sake you lost your mother before getting tossed into all that like nothing had even happened to you... I fucking can't stand it."

Lena was a little taken back from the outburst, “It’s ok,” she soothed as she reached for Joss’ hand, “if they weren’t the way they were with me, I could’ve ended up like them and I am so grateful that I’m not like them. To be fuelled by greed and hatred? Can you imagine living such a life?” She kissed Joss sweetly, “I’m not condoning what they did or saying it never had an effect on me but if I hadn’t turned out the way I am now, do you really think you’d be in my house right now? That you would want the Lena Luthor they wanted me to be?”

Joss sighed as Lena spoke. "Had they the decency to treat a grieving child as a grieving child worth loving, I'd bet money the Luthor name might actually hold a better association." They pressed another kiss to Lena's lips. "It won't stop my anger about it, because all of that doesn't even cover the fact they've tried to kill you. But if I spend that anger showing you everything about you worth so much more than they have told you, then so be it. Self love can be the greatest act of rebellion, afterall." They tucked a strand of Lena's hair behind her ear with a smile. "And no one deserves love more than you.

Lena sat silently, dumbfounded by Joss' words. Her brain desperately trying to process the sincere kindness and true belief behind them. No motive. No buttering her up before asking for a large 'donation', no telling her she's wonderful to get her to cooperate to help save the world, just pure genuineness. To say it was a shock to her system was an understatement, despite the fact that Joss repeatedly said kind things about her. Lena had endured a lifetime of negativity and to have someone turn that on its head and actually mean the things they were saying. On top of that, Joss defended her, even if just in conversation about her family, Joss always came to her defence. She pressed a lingering kiss to the lips in fronts her and murmured against them, "Thank you."

Joss smiled softly at Lena, running their hand gently through her hair. "Of course, L." They pressed back in for another kiss. Joss knew the road to Lena seeing just how amazing she was, was bound to be a long one, but they didn't mind. She deserved to not only be told such things but to believe them herself and that's what Joss was out to do.

Lena found herself leaning into Joss' touch, something so simple as fingers moving through her hair meant more to her than she could explain. Probably because she felt sincerity in Joss' touch as well as their words. "You should eat before your food goes cold," she uttered quietly, "you need to regain your strength."

Joss sighed as Lena spoke about them needing to eat. They were definitely aware of this fact but it didn't really mean they wanted to pull themself away from her to do so.  "I mean, you've got a microwave, and when you eat as much as I do a lot of food tends to go cold anyway. M'used to it." They shrugged, even as they turned their attention back to the box of food sitting in their lap, barely touched. Normally at least one, if not two, containers would already be gone, but Joss was so caught up in everything Lena, that despite being hungry they hadn't really touched their food.

"At least eat some of it before it goes cold," Lena encouraged, "please?" Pulling away from Joss wasn't something she wanted to do but she knew that they needed to it, she needed to it too, even if only a little. "We can get comfy and relax after," she promised, "and heat up what's left over later but we really should both have something, it's been quite a day."

"Yeah, I know." They chuckled a bit. "You're just far more interesting than food." Even still, they started to eat, doing their best not to just inhale it. If only because they were supposed to have more manners than that and it didn't really matter how hungry they were, rushing through it would definitely just end in them sick, which they didn't want.

"Yes, well," Lena cleared her throat, "my being interesting aside, eating me will not replenish your strength." It took a second for her to realise the sexual connotations within that sentence and she hurriedly added, "Besides, I'd only cause you indigestion."

Joss did their best not to choke on their food as Lena spoke, because as much as they were sure she hadn't meant it to come across so sexually, it definitely had. And the afterthought comment didn't really help anything either. They couldn't help but laugh a little, trying to decide if they really wanted to reply to that or just let it pass. "I highly doubt that, but it is not the time to figure that out."

Lena could feel just how red her cheeks were when she realised that Joss had caught the sexual connotations in her otherwise innocent comment. She found herself thankful that Joss had set free her hair from the confines of its pony as she used it to try and shield her flushed cheeks. "Not what I meant," she mumbled before forking some curry into her mouth.

Joss chuckled, bumping their shoulder gently against hers. "I know, but that's definitely the only kind of eating of another person I would ever do. I'm not Hannibal." They couldn't help but be amused at the way Lena tried to hide the blush that was tinting her cheeks. "You're cute when you blush."

"Maybe that's what you want me to think, right before you throw me on the barbeque," Lena retorted playfully as she tried to forget her embarrassment. "I am no such thing!"

"Unless you are secretly a steak or brisket, there will be no throwing of your person onto the barbecue." They grinned with a laugh. "You totally are!"

"I most certainly am not," Lena replied, her upbringing too ingrained for her to realise that being cute wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Cute things are meek and helpless and I am absolutely not either of those."

"You ever seen a sun bear? They're cute as fuck and could definitely maul a person to death without remorse." Joss knew that Lena's view was probably just a result of her upbringing but they refused to let her get away with thinking that a person couldn't be cute and badass at the same time, because she definitely was.

"So in this situation, I'm a sun bear?" Lena mused. She pondered it over a moment or two. "I suppose in that case I can tolerate being called cute. Just so long as no one thinks I'm meek and helpless."

"Yes, you are, and if anyone ever thinks you're meek or helpless, I'd say I'd fight them but I reckon you can handle yourself." They grinned, taking a bite of their food, leaning back over to rest against Lena.

Lena chuckled, "There are a fair few that can attest to that statement of me being able to handle myself." A smile played over her face as Joss rest against her, "You'll get indigestion if you're not careful," she warned. It was no use, neither of them was really eating, "What do you say we clear this stuff away and we can heat it up later?"

"I'm sure there are." They hummed a bit, still just leaning against her. "I'm just tired." It was hard to eat when they were honestly still so tired. And as much as they knew food would probably help that, they were too tired to even really do that.

Lena pressed a kiss to the top of Joss' head, "I can only imagine." It would be so easy to just sit in comfortable silence but Joss was liable to fall asleep against her and it would do Joss no good to sleep sitting up, not when their body needed to recover still. "Ok," Lena adjusted her shoulders lightly, "you get into bed, I'm going to clear this away and get changed and then I'll join you."

Joss hummed as Lena spoke, nodding a bit. They felt kinda bad that Lena was having to do everything, but this was a kind of exhaustion they weren't familiar with. They'd not left their inhibitors off this long in a really long time and added to the fight earlier, they just didn't have that kind of energy. "M'kay."

Lena pressed one final kiss to Joss' head before gently moving away, "Get into bed," she repeated as she stood up and began to clear away the food cartons on her bed. "I'll be back in a second," she spoke as gathered the few bits and pieces on the bedside table, "I expect to see you warming up the bed for me."

Joss didn't say anything as Lena spoke and started to move around, just simply nodding. Once she'd left they did as she'd said, settling into Lena's bed. They hummed to themself, burying their face just under the covers.

Lena took the food through to the kitchen, placing in the fridge so it wouldn't go bad before returning to her room. A smile on her face when she entered to discover Joss was indeed in bed, their face partly concealed by the covers. Uncertain as to whether Joss was still conscious, Lena tiptoed around the room and got changed as quietly as she could. Hitting the light she headed to bed and slipped beneath the covers next to Joss and pressed a light kiss to the side of their head.

Joss watched Lena from their position under the covers, grinning a little as she tiptoed through the room as she changed. They were starting to drift, but not quite out. So, when Lena slid into bed and pressed the kiss to their head they smiled, moving to curl up, tangling their legs with hers, locking one of their ankles under hers, just in case.

When Joss slipped an ankle beneath one of her own, Lena brought her other leg to keep it secure. "I've got you," she promised quietly as she wrapped an arm around the blonde, "I'll be your kite string." She brought her head to rest lightly atop Joss' and allowed herself to relax a little more so than she had done earlier, this time she knew what to expect, how to calm Joss during a nightmare, to be their tether so they didn't float off.

They chuckled a bit as she spoke, already starting to really settle. They hummed to themself, that same old lullaby they didn't know the origin of nor the words to. It was just something that calmed them, drowned out the sounds around them. They weren't as fast to doze off this time, but they did eventually do so.

Lena did her best to stay awake until she knew that Joss was asleep but she struggled, the song being hummed softly was lulling her to sleep. Despite the day they had had, she found herself feeling at peace and feeling safe, something she hadn't felt in...she honestly couldn't remember, she imaged her birth mother had been alive the last time she felt truly safe. Letting out a contented sigh, she allowed herself to give into the tiredness and succumbed to much needed sleep.

[stilwaterskeeter]

Rewriting Saints Row the Third

So I was messing around writing about my Boss earlier for @occorner and wound up kind of just rewriting entire pieces of SRTT rather than just making small alterations for the character.....So I went ahead and followed through on that accident and wrote out how I personally think a lot of the hollow writing and poor executions of certain parts of the game could have been better and improved. It ended up being a lot more than I was expecting so I’m putting it under a read more. I split it up into 2 parts: Story Changes and Character Changes. And then both of those are broken into smaller parts for each mission arc (the gangs/STAG/dlc) and each character individually.

Also this is just for fun, if you don’t like it then you don’t like it. There’s no point in reblogging this or replying just because you don’t like it yknow? Don’t waste both your time and mine just because you don’t agree with something I just did for the fun of it.

And if you guys like this uuuhhh shoot me a message/ask, I’d totally be down to chat about this stuff and maybe even make more posts like this for the other games in the future!!!

EDIT: Hi....somebody made me regret my decision to keep Kiki’s death canon...so I changed it...thankfully it didn’t have any huge affect on the core of the rewrite, and in fact only very little affect at all

Plot/Story Specific Changes:

Johnny Gat’s “Death”:

Johnny’s “death” wasn’t real obvs, it was like part of Gangstas in Space, like at the beginning that leads up to them going to space and stuff. But in reality Johnny was just kidnapped, cloned, and saved by the Saints after Act 1, but his kidnapping and everything gave the Boss the idea for Johnny’s “death” in the movie

You find Johnny about halfway through the Morningstar mission arc, but he would be seen in a few Syndicate cutscenes beforehand and a lot of implications that he wasn’t actually dead before that

Morningstar:

Loren actually gets like a better mission line following up to and including his death that isn’t just recycled activities disguised as missions

This also includes like a mini-boss fight with the DeWynter twins, that ultimately leads up to them joining the Saints as double agents

Loren gets a boss battle with The Boss, Shaundi, and Johnny fighting him while Pierce and Oleg keep other enemies out of the way and it ends with Johnny getting to personally deal the killing blow and give Loren a beat down like he gave Shogo in SR2 (although definitely not as intense or dark)

Deckers:

I think the biggest things I’d leave the same is the Deckers mission line, I actually don’t think those need to be changed hardly at all, outside of maybe having one or two more story missions without the compulsory activities

STAG:

I would downplay STAG a lot because they were just a weak Ultor carbon copy and took up way too much of SRTT than it should have

I wouldn’t change too much of the STAG missions but I would wait until later in the game to bring them in. Give STAG one or two missions before Murderbrawl XXXI and do the rest afterward

Miscellaneous:

This goes for like literally all 4 arcs, but replace a lot of the compulsory activities with actual unique missions. I think doing One iteration of each activity first is alright because it goes to be like something as a tutorial for them, but past Once, they shouldn’t be reoccuring

Add in one or two missions about The Saints trying to find where Killbane was hiding by interrogating Luchadores and stuff during the STAG arc and then Threeway happens and you find out Killbane is leaving while you’re fighting STAG

Also take out that last choice as a whole no question about it, The Boss lets Killbane get away and saves Shaundi, Viola, and Burt no matter what

While taking the decision out of Threeway, Johnny would go with Angel to try and stop and kill Killbane while The Boss goes to save Shaundi

Ultimately they don’t get there in time but Gat does get a few shots in, injuring Killbane pretty badly in the leg and probably having temporarily crippled him

DLC:

I think instead of the Trouble with the Clones DLC, instead you would get a DLC involving Killbane after he fled the city where you get to fight him and ultimately kill him yourself

It’d be called something like Winner Takes All or like Hell in a Cell which are two types of wrestling matches for those who don’t know. (Winner Takes All is exactly what it sounds like and Hell in a Cell is a cage match with no Escape Clause which is why I think either would fit for names)

Speaking of, make that DLC a double whammy and include Dex, as a business partner with Killbane that you get to fight as well

Angel is a required homie through most of these missions, he helps keep random enemies off your back so you can personally fight and kill Dex, and in turn, you get another mission similar to Murderbrawl XXXI where Angel gets to personally fight Killbane while you take out random enemies, however you also get to help Angel more directly by tossing him weapons to use against Killbane or to use something like a mounted gun to weaken Killbane when he’s cheating and getting the upperhand against Angel

Character Specific Changes:

Zimos:

His character as a whole is,,,,bad imo, so while I didn’t just totall omit him, he’s more or less just a character that The Boss works with to hurt the Syndicate, he’s not really a Saint, just like an accomplice. He would still become a homie at some point though

As a homie he has idle lines to ask how the twins are and The Boss will ask about the secret past and Zimos just says something like “Don’t ask, don’t tell, my man” or keeps the “That’s on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know” line from the actual game

Angel:

Because I would take out the decision in Threeway and The Boss would let Killbane go, he holds a bit of a grudge and cannot be called as a homie until you have another quick cutscene and short mission where you talk and spar with Angel to help him get out some of his frustration at letting Killbane go

The Boss promises they’re still going to get Killbane because they’re not going to give up that easily

Maybe have The Boss tell Angel about Dex and relate to him while talking about how Dex was one of their best friends and then betrayed them, they never got their revenge but they haven’t given up just yet

Angel and Johnny friendship too!! You can’t tell me they wouldn’t be pals, they spar and talk shit about Killbane a lot

They also trade stories of past fights they’ve been in

Johnny also gives Angel a hardtime because he’s fuckin filthy and lives in such disarray

When Angel tries to snap back with the “so you hate discomfort” Gat shoots back with how the main Saints safehouse was ruins of an old hotel under an abandoned church in the really poor red light district and how before that it was an abandoned church also in one of the poorest areas of Stilwater. He’d definitely say something like “It’s not that I hate discomfort, it’s that I’ve lived that shit for way too long and got out, and I’m not planning on going back to that crap just because some bitch “shamed” me.” The banter becomes somewhat a weird and very Gat-esque peptalk

Viola & Kiki DeWynter:

They both join the Saints and work with them in secret against the Syndicate when Killbane takes over and Loren is killed

Viola and Kiki obviously both get more character development

Viola actually ends up being good friends with Shaundi

Kiki on the other hand ends up better friends with Johnny and they trade snarky remarks whenever everyone is planning out missions and when the Boss makes dumb decisions and shit

Johnny and Kiki end up bonding over small things like their concerns with their looks and just both being the more outspoken and witty counterparts in duos (Johnny’s other half being The Boss and Kiki’s being Viola)

Kiki and Johnny never fail to annoy the shit out of Shaundi because there’s just no end to the snark

Kiki also ends up liking Kinzie, meaning Kinzie gets TWO sisters, Viola AND Kiki, Kinzie couldn’t be happier

As homies, the twins have idle lines about how weird it is The Boss works for Zimos sometimes and ask to make sure The Boss never drags them along when they go to do jobs with Zimos, but they’ll never say why

Killbane threatens to kill Kiki after learning that the twins have double crossed him and are working with The Saints. He takes her as like a “hostage” and sends Viola to go tell The Saints to come “rescue” her while in reality it’s a trap and he’s using Kiki as the bait.

This adds depth to his character and makes him more than just some idiot meatsack who’s powerhungry. He’s a gangleader, he knows how to lead and how to manipulate and how to fucking plan things out further than “HUR DUR ME PUNCH THINGS AND MAKE THEM BLEED”

Viola, ever the realist, knows the likelihood that Killbane has Matt wired into her phone or The Saints’ crib or something so that he would know if she tried betraying him and told The Saints that it’s a trap. So she of course doesn’t tell them, she goes along with his plan all the while thinking of her own plan on how to get out of this problem.

Kiki on the other hand absolutely lets The Saints know it’s a trap as soon as she feasibly can, it’s not much but it does give them a slight upperhand for a minute in the ensuing fight

It’s like a miniboss battle with Killbane, towards the end when it’s obvious The Boss is gonna win, he picks Kiki up in preparation to snap her neck. But Viola shoots at his hand a few times and causes him to drop her sister, he then runs off and Johnny, Angel, and Shaundi chase after him but Viola and The Boss stick around to check on Viola

Kiki got struck by one of the stray bullets on her face, it definitely leaves a nasty scar and fucks up her left eye pretty badly in the long run

Kiki is for the most part out of commission as a homie after the whole kidnapping nonsense, but Viola is as ready as ever to fuckin’ go to town and kill some fuckers now

It’s her way of handling the guilt of almost losing her sister because they didn’t cover their tracks good enough and then by her own attempt to save Kiki, caused her sister to lose an eye

Johnny had taken Loren’s eyepatch kind of as a trophy after killing him, he very awkwardly gives it to Kiki after the mission claiming she probably needs it more than he does right now and seeing as it was Loren’s, she should probably have it regardless

Oleg:

Oleg actually has some of the most depth out of the new characters so I wouldn’t change much if anything?

He definitely would have a love/hate relationship with Johnny

They just don’t get along and butt heads but also they bond over their hatred of Loren/The Syndicate and having been used for the cloning experiments

Johnny also would think Oleg is like badass and cool as fuck and he’d make bets about what outrageous things he thinks Oleg can or cannot lift/destroy with his bare hands

Oleg would also have a lot of respect for Johnny for being such an seemingly average human but still having so much strength and being such a force to be reckoned with

Kinzie:

Kinzie is definitely the company’s favorite because she easily has the most content and depth of any of the other new characters and even more than pre-SRTT characters in SR4 so there’s little to no changes to be done

That being said, I really would want Kinzie and Johnny to also have a love/hate type relationship in SRTT that eventually drops the hate

Like Johnny does Not understand half the shit Kinzie says and she’s really pushy and he just hates it at first and Kinzie hates how he doesn’t listen a lot like the whole situation in SR4 where Kinzie’s always talking about how The Boss doesn’t listen to her and stuff? But with Gat,,,who is worse about it let’s be honest

But throughout the game they both start garnering more respect for the other

Like sometimes Gat’s headstrong guns-blazing outlook pays off a lot better than Kinzie was expecting and Gat’s also totally down to do whatever dangerous and reckless and heavy-lifting work she offers which is useful as hell for Kinzie

And sometimes Gat’s “wing it” planning bites him in the ass and Kinzie saves his ass because she planned how to finish the missions when he didn’t listen because he never listens and she wanted to be prepared for anything

Ultimately they have a very Older Brother-Younger Sister type relationship with Gat becoming really protective of Kinzie and totally laughing his ass off and siding with her when she and The Boss have disagreements/get into fights

Shaundi:

Give her back all that character development and exploration of her depression and survivor’s guilt!! why was that cut!! put it back!!

Additional cutscenes and stuff with Johnny and also The Boss sometimes talking about how Johnny going missing and being believed to be dead scared her and how it affected her

This also means we get to see some of Johnny’s soft side and his pisspoor attempts to comfort her

but also Johnny probably also gets on her case about it like Once because “Well I’m not dead so you can stop worryin’ about it, Shaundi” and it starts a whole little fight that The Boss eventually steps in and settles it

Also Shaundi & Viola friendship: I already mentioned it but just...think about it again ok...

It starts as a rivalry and then they start bonding when Kiki and Johnny are getting closer 

They both cannot stand Johnny and Kiki’s snark

And then both of their respective best friends are preoccupied hanging out which leaves them awkwardly hanging out at times

Turns out Viola was actually a fan of Shaundi’s show and at one point considered signing up herself just for the hell of it

Shaundi is completely shocked and they end up doing like impromptu joke-y rounds to get to know each other to pass the time

This includes idle lines when they’re both a homie where they’re laughing while Shaundi asks Viola random questions about herself and stuff and Viola answers

Also completely trash Shaundi’s weird jealousy/hate against Kinzie

Maybe have her as wary and holding a bit of a grudge because Kinzie’s an ex-fed at first, but ultimately they get past it pretty quickly 

Most of their conversations seen and stuff are them talking tech or talking about their relationships with other characters, there’s a few where Kinzie tries digging into Shaundi’s past and Shaundi tries to dig back though

Also definitely maybe talk/show her development between SR2 and SRTT more rather than just suddenly dropping such a dramatic collection of changes and “development” immediately and not really elaborating a lot yknow?

Pierce:

There’s not much I would change because I actually liked his character development a lot, it wasn’t as abrupt and dramatic feeling as Shaundi’s and he had a decent amount of depth so I don’t think there’s much to add aside from what you would expect from his dialogues with Johnny and Kiki

Johnny:

This is just here to be respectful, pretty much 99% of everything I have to say for Johnny has been said in all the other sections

[posthumanwanderings]

while I was on the train to Nakano Broadway to collect more Heisei era Godzilla toys, I thought I’d make a personal list of the best to worst Godzilla films (up until Godzilla 2000 cause that’s around the time I stopped caring, I’ll try again tho) since the new Godzilla film is around the corner and maybe some of you are interested in giving the Big G’s archive a shot (you can delete this caption too if you just like the pic! and yes Morrigan counts as a kaiju, a beautiful one at that)

1. Terror of Mechagodzilla - last of the Showa era, ending with one of Godzilla’s most deadly foes. and I love how fucking big Titanosaurus is, god damn. the cyborg girl was cool too, loved her arc and how she controls both monsters.

2. Godzilla Vs. Mothra (90′s) - Mothra’s Heisei debut, and looking more dazzling than ever and also alongside her evil twin Battra. the fight in Yokohama (after its real life modern expansion when Japan’s economy was at its best) was a nice fresh setting for the climax. this one perfectly balances campyness and just a good kaiju film altogether. 3. Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster - Ghidorah, besides Mothra and Mechagodzilla is probably the next most recognizable kaiju even to nonfans. One of the best moments in Godzilla history is when Mothra desparately tries to convince Godzilla and Rodan to team up against an even bigger menace, then they can get back to their typical kaiju businesses. 4. Godzilla Vs. Destroyah - like how T.O.M. ended the Showa era with a bang, this is the one that ended the 85-95 era with a monster that really beats the shit out of zilla who is already on the cusp of exploding like a nuclear reactor... it ties together the very first Godzilla movie too for plus points. for those looking for a more serious, borderline horror movie kaiju experience.  5. Godzilla Vs. Mothra (60′s) - yup two Mothra movies in the top 5. Mothra fights with Godzilla are always so tense, since Mothra being a giant graceful butterfly appears so delicate against big boi Godzilla, plus her kids are under his threat as well. and on top of that Godzilla moves and fights like a drunkard the whole time. 6. Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (70′s) - Godzilla faces his robot clone for the first time who has one of the largest movesets of any other kaiju, a true force to be reckoned with. instead of Mothra being summoned by an ancient race, we have King Caesar, a stone guardian puppy dog lion to team up with zilla against the bigger baddie. fun fact: this was filmed right after Japan gained back Okinawa from America since WWII, and makes once again another fresh setting.

7. Godzilla 1985 - I’ll be honest, the lone Godzilla movies with no other kaiju weren’t the top of my interest especially being an ADHD kid, but from a film perspective this is shot really well, the miniature city set had a nice upgrade since T.O.M. from a decade before, and I love the laser beam special effects from the upgraded Japanese Defense Force in this.

8. Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (90′s) - Not to be confused with the other 5ish Ghidorah encounters, this was the Heisei debut of the 3 headed monster mixed into a time travel plot since movies like Terminator were all the rage in the early 90′s. The tie in plot about WWII had more to be desired and felt very nationalist, but as a kaiju film the special effects were top notch especially with Mecha Ghidorah.

9. Destroy All Monsters - the ULTIMATE Showa era kaiju crossover fest has just about every giant monster Toho made up until the point because why not? It’s another typical story about mysterious aliens mind controlling kaiju to destroy Earth, but this time when they say Earth (and not just Tokyo) they mean it. Plenty of things get destroyed, nice big battle at the end, only thing lacking is they gave Baragon and Varan 3 seconds of screen time and they both are some of the coolest looking kaiju there are out there. big shame

10. Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (90′s) - in this Heisei take on MechaG, his role goes from super deadly alien robot menace to kinda still deadly robot guardian built by the EDF. he looks cool but just seems more weak compared to the more sinister alien engineered one. Rodan makes a long awaited return and basically has a custody battle with Godzilla over a mysterious kaiju egg. no spoilers

11. Godzilla Vs. Hedorah - probably the scariest Godzilla movie with Destroyah placed next. he fights an alien pollution monster who has been taking big rips from factory smoke stacks only making him bigger every time. Japan’s take on an environmental awareness film and I see nothing wrong with it one bit.

12. Godzilla Vs. Biolante - zilla sees another type of counterpart to himself, this time essentially a ‘PlantZilla’ after a scientist thought it might be a good idea to merge Godzilla cells with a plant for some reason. the story is a bit odd, but this remains in middle ground territory because it debuts Miki Saegusa, the super adorable psychic girl who appears in every 90′s film afterwards and the special effects of Biolante in final form are sick.it also has a disco version of the zilla theme for some reason.

13. Godzilla: King of The Monsters - someone would bash me big time for having this any lower on the list, but this is the one that started it all, grimly filmed in black & white a decade after the end of WWII. fans know this already but it’s the atomic bombs themselves which devastated Japan that influenced the idea for Godzilla, a force of mutated nature that lashes back on humanity for making really bad decisions. I like this and all but it lacks zero charm or kaiju style ‘fun’ but for good reason, since it was meant to be more of a horror flick. 

14. Godzilla Vs. Gigan - for those that do want the campiness, this is one of the best the series has to offer along with a couple more below. Godzilla’s ol pal Anguirus returns for his last Showa effort as they team up against space monsters Gigan (who is edgy af) and once again Ghidorah (who sadly has been fighting on his own the whole time while other monsters always team up to bash him). being in the 70′s, it’s got shades of James Bond / spy films in it and the fashion is on point. we get to hear Godzilla talk for the only time ever too.

15. Godzilla Vs. Megalon - probably out camps #14 for several reasons: this entire time there have been an ancient race of humans living below the Earth who feel enough is enough between pollution and expansion of society and finally unleash their protector, a giant cockroach monster with drills for arms to destroy just Japan all modern civilization (where was he during Hedorah’s visit tho?). 2nd reason is there’s copycat Ultraman who also looks like Jack Nicholson, then there’s the edgy middle-school bully like relationship between Megalon and Gigan and then lastly the infamous Godzilla dropkick you might’ve seen in GIF form, if not well here you go:

16. Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero - probably the 1st 90% campy zilla flick because of the Godzilla victory dance alone, but this was also because as time went by more kids cared about the movies and not the original target audience of war torn adults. the aliens (at least in the dub version) speak super monotone even when they are being huge bad asses, and we get to see G and his on-and-off lover buddy team up again but this time IN #&$%#% SPACE. the setting on Planet X was real cool to see as a kid, but sadly we haven’t seen any kaiju fighting back in space ever since. the NES Godzilla game fixes that itch.

17. Son of Godzilla - well I’ve only ever seen this movie twice, which means it maybe just isn’t that good, even for G fans. it debuts, of course, the son of Godzilla who looks like a cross between the Cookie Monster and Michelin Man. I’ll give this movie credit for distancing zilla away from the city setting in replace with his tropical home territory in Monster Island which only gets glimpses in the other films. the ending shot is real sweet too.

18. Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla - back to spaciness, we do see one last alien monster come to Japan in the 2nd to last 90′s Godzilla movie, appropriately called SpaceGodzilla. while he lacks agility (when not flying on his giant meth crystal) he makes up for it with telekinesis and other long range attacks. the story / acting / mostly everything is pretty so-so and we all know deep inside the only reasons to watch it still are the scenes with baby Godzilla stepping on land mines and more Miki Saegusa wardrobe changes, but the final battle in a crystal filled Fukuoka is really awesome. 

19. Godzilla’s Revenge - wow well I just noticed I put 3 baby zilla focused movies all in a row near the very bottom of the list, my bad. this one takes the cake tho for pure cringe. but it’s better than the last 3 so it can’t be super terrible, right? once again no spoilers but the only thing that bumps this stock footage filled movie more up then from being the worst of all time are the super silly fight scenes against baby Godzilla’s bully Gabara. you know Godzilla has to do it to em.

20. Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster - even tho the former movie just reviewed uses stock footage of almost all the fight scenes of this one, it is somehow worst than #19 because it focuses way too much on a 60′s party cruise, and Godzilla gets a lil King Kong-ish during a scene with the love interest of the movie, and the giant lobster monster with no lasers / projectile claws just doesn’t seem as threatening as all the previous monsters zilla has fought since.

21. Godzilla Vs. King Kong - I’ll admit, I never liked King Kong and probably never will, and because he moves faster than Godzilla they had to use non-slowed down footage to make the monsters fight like kids on a playground slapping each other, and just looks weird. real talk, Godzilla would beat the shit out of Kong with a single radioactive blast and the movie would end right there. but that’s not the ending we got.. let’s start a patreon to rewrite the movie we all wanted.

22. Godzilla Raids Again - alright we finally made it, thee very worst Godzilla movie of all time according to the loser typing this. why? because it went against everything the first Godzilla movie represented, but like... suddenly, since it’s the sequel to the movie and the big G was never meant to return after, which luckily wasn’t the case. it’s superrrr campy but on the acting side, and the fights with newcomer Anguirus are super sped up even more than the Kong fights, and just seems tacky overall in a non-funny way. the suit for Anguirus is honestly one of the coolest kaijus ever tho, and they made little changes to him every time he came back cause it was just that good. 

anyways, thanks for coming to my TED Talk. if I were to recommend just 3 Godzilla movies to someone who has never seen them before to represent each side of the series, I’d pick Terror of MechaGodzilla for the serious pick, Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster for the balance / kaiju fest pick, and Godzilla Vs. Megalon for the most campy and fun one overall. hope this big list can help those who are curious! next up: Godzilla game reviews :)

[lialox]

Gifted Blight AU

Episode Prompto Spoilers. Full story below. :D 

Rating: Teen, but with trigger warnings

Pairings: None. Maybe Promptis or Noctis/Luna if you look hard enough.

An AU where the complications of Prompto’s birth actually causes him to be very sensitive to the sun. (You know why.) The sensitivity doesn’t just show itself in freckles and sun-burnt skin.

It shows itself as cancer. 

The doctors say it’s caused by the UV light from the sun. There’s no cure. His body rapidly heals what the light seems to decay, forcing his cells to grow unnaturally.

Growing up, it was hard for him to make friends. He knew he was going to die, so what was the point? People always acted different and weird when they found out and he hated that.

But Noctis was different. After telling him of his doomed fate, Noctis only gave him a sad, understanding sort of smile and said:

“Some things are just out of our control. Decided before anyone could have a chance to say otherwise. Everyone’s gonna die at some point--only difference is that, some people know when. Might as well live life to the fullest.”

Then he takes the fourth nap he’s had in a day because they’re going fishing early tomorrow morning. Typical Noct, “living life to the fullest”.

Fast forward to the day they leave Insomnia. Despite Prompto’s failing health, the bros think it’s a good idea to have Prompto see as much as he can before... before he can’t anymore.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come with?” Prompto asks. He’s playing with his fingers again. “I mean, with my sickness and all.”

“Of course it is,” Noctis replies. “I’ll take you around everywhere I go. It’s good to get out.”

So they take him around Lucis. Through the deserts of Duscae and the rolling hills of Leide. The peaks of Ravatough and the depths of ancient ruins. Prompto records it all in his camera, because he’s not sure if he’ll ever have a chance to see it again. They let him stay, even when Insomnia falls and the Empire is hot on their tail.

Noctis, Ignis and Gladio all do their part in taking care of their friend. 

Until they reach Altissia.

In summary, there are two types of MTs: "Imperials” (Niffs who have been powered by Magitek like cyborgs, or use Magiteknology) and those androids who have “Magitek” in their names and have glowing red eyes. People are not commonly aware of it, but those androids have no organic parts to them.

Not anymore, at least. The process goes like this: A human is infected with the Starscourge at a young age. Starscourge is a parasite that develops this thing called miasma (the thing that blocks out the sun later in the game) within its host. Miasma is then harvested from the people as an energy source, at the expense of their life. This energy is then stored as what we know as a Magitek Core. **Reference**

Verstael has spent his entire life studying this process. His most recent project is focused on being able to transfer the will of a human being into these cores--a process that should be completely feasible. After all, the entirety of a person’s being converts into miasma before it’s placed into a core.

By the time the events of Episode Prompto occurs, he’s on the brink of death. It’s been weeks since he’s had his medication as he’s got all of the signs--all of the worst ones anyways. His vision is blurring, he’s got massive headaches that escalate into seizures and the halls he’s wandering all blend into one. He’s coughing up blood the entire Episode, leaned on the walls for support. It’s a wonder he made it through so far, but he had to. 

His friends are waiting.

Aranea tries to save him, at the part where she’s supposed to. But it’s not the same, because Prompto... Prompto can’t go on anymore. He’s too sick, and no matter how good of a fighter Aranea is, she can’t escape the facility while dragging a near-unconscious body along with her.

So she makes a call, and damn is it one of the hardest things she’s ever done. 

She leaves. Not without leaving some sort of hope though--no, Aranea isn’t that type of person. She hooks him up to some whatever medical equipment she knew how to operate, and disguises him as an MT. A part of her wondered if she even needed to do that in this particular side of the facility. As she turned away she promised him: 

“Listen kid. Hey. Hang on tight, you hear? I’ll be back with back-up, it’s just... things are gonna get ugly from here on out. ...Hey, are you even up? I’m coming back, and I’m counting on you to be here so I’ll have something to come back to.”

Prompto doesn’t--can’t respond. He lies there, on an unsettling operation table trying to contain his pained noises. Then a patrol passes by. The magitek unit doesn’t seem to see him as an enemy. It’s as docile as they come, and Prompto gets one of his brilliantly stupid ideas.

He takes it down. Rips out its core. And gods, does he show his mechanical ingenuity when he hooks up the offline MT into the initializing machinery with an empty core. 

Then, ever so slowly, crashing into various instruments along the way, he makes his way to where the tanks were. Where the “series” he was from were.

It feels like he’s on several levels of inebriated when he steps into one of the tanks. There’s blood dribbling down his chin and, and gods, he can’t stop coughing.

And the gears start to whir. A pale, viscous fluid begins to pool at his feet. 

For a moment, Prompto thought he was going to drown in the fluids that began to fill the tank, but the fear was overwritten by pain as it shot up from his legs first, burning up through his thighs and eating away at his gut like he’d stepped into a pool of acid. He looks down and--oh god, his legs are gone. They’re gone, they’re gone, they’re gone, and all that’s left was a wisp of particles making their way higher, and higher and then there’s ringing in his ears, and he really is choking on that fluid now, and he’s trying to grasp, claw at at his throat but there’s nothing, where are his fingers, and--

Darkness.

It feels like a million years have passed when Prompto’s vision flickers back, and the first thing he sees is himself. Or what looks like him. Then he realizes that it’s impossible for that to be him. He’s looking at a clone. His actual body should’ve faded into miasma.

He takes a deep breath--finds that he can’t... and looks down on to his hands.

They’re made of steel and circuitry. All hard casing and neutral paint.

Prompto almost found humour in the way that a part of him thought he couldn’t do it. Of course he could. He’s the clone of the damned genius who invented all this in the first place.

He’s traded his dying body for an MT’s and he’s never felt better. Now that he can really fight back. Now that he feels nothing at all. 

The first thing thinks of is Noctis. He can finally help him now. He’ll stop being dead weight, and they can stop taking care of him all the time. Finally, he can stop being useless.

Prompto has to find out if Noctis is okay. But now that there’s so much that’s changed, he’s not sure if he can face them anymore. 

The next time he sees Aranea, it’s at a cave just outside the facility and the meeting came with a spear pointed at his throat.

“Aranea?” Prompto blurts out, his voice a mess of static from a damaged voice box. He’s sitting by the fire, back turned to the water’s edge. He hasn’t had the guts to look at his reflection. 

She gives him a similar pep talk to the one they had in game. Of all the tough love Aranea throws at him, one thing in particular struck him right at his heart:

“This is what you wanted, kid. You wanted to help your friends, and for you to do that you gotta live. There’s no shame in wanting to live.”

These words almost carry him to the pinnacle of the Keep, searching for Noctis. He was so intent on helping him from a distance, if he ever saw them. Even with Aranea’s words, he can’t just walk up to Noct as a bucket of bolts. He just can’t.

But it doesn’t go according to plan. Ardyn captures him; binds him in that metal frame. 

Prompto’s screaming at Ardyn to let him go the whole time because the only thing scarier than pain and death, was the thought of Noctis rejecting his existence. His existence, which was now truly nothing but Magitek.

Ardyn finds it hilarious. So he guides the whole gang to Prompto.

When Noctis walks into his cell, he’s furious. There’s fire burning on the ring on his hand and magic flaring within his eyes. 

“Don’t you get fucking tired of the same joke, Ardyn!?” Noctis spits, turning around and looking for cameras. “Where the hell is Prompto?” Silence. The MT on the frame chose not to stir. “WHERE IS HE?”

“Oh, how awful,” the voice on the intercom coed. “You’ve come all this way, only to fail to recognize the very thing you’re looking for. It must hurt your dear friend Prompto’s feelings.” The voice paused, letting the words sink into the frantic mind of Noctis Lucis Caelum. “Isn’t that right? Prompto?”

And when Noctis speaks, he doesn’t sound angry anymore. He sounds broken. “What the hell did you do him?”

They could almost hear the shrug in his voice. “Hm, nothing at all.” And the voice cuts out.

Noctis extends a hand towards the steel mask. Pries it loose. There’s nothing but metal and wiring on this inside. Of course. They’re called “MT” for a reason.

“Prompto?” Noctis whispers.

Prompto hesitates. It’s only after he realizes that he’s got nothing left to lose that he finally replies: “...Noct.” It sounds like a mechanical whimper. If machines could even do that.

Ignis and Gladio gasp behind him as Noctis pries him free from the metal frame. 

Even after all is said and done, his friends still accept him. Prompto wishes he still had the ability to cry.

When he sees the last trace of Noctis disappear into the Crystal, and fires bullet after bullet into the Chancellor’s back, he felt something deep within wrench and twist. His mind clouded with an emotion he couldn’t release and he understood that even a soul on its own could cry.

As it turns out, being an MT was great in the eternal night that followed. Daemons don’t attack him. He could wander around the world with the same--no, even more freedom than he had before, now that he was’t sick. He took on the most dangerous of missions, taking him to the dens of monsters or from one side of Lucis and back. The missions he went on were impossible for a human. The ability to last for days in a world of daemons without food or water became the most valuable thing on Eos.

He’s never done so much in his life, and he’s never been so lonely. 

A decade passes before he finds his best friend again, only to find out that he has to say good bye.

“What will happen to you?” Noctis asks, curled up under a blanket on the caravan’s bed while Prompto is sitting at the floor. The steel of his back scrapes against the wooden structure of the bed. There’s poorly drawn cactuars all over his steel plates. “Once the sun comes back?”

“I’ll be with you every step of the way,” Prompto replies quietly. “Ever at your side. Remember?”

Noctis does remember. The guilt that’s settled deep within him, surfaces once again when he remembers why Prompto chose to do what he did. He remembers that he was the reason why his best friend’s soul was trapped in an empty shell. He remembers that Prompto should’ve died a decade ago, but only stuck around this long to fulfill a promise made in the name of friendship.

He remembers that, despite this world needing so many more people like Prompto, he has to let him go. So he chocks down any final requests he would have, because the only thing he could think of to ask was for Prompto to live.

But, that thought isn’t quite right. It’s not Noctis who has to let go. Prompto’s already gone ahead, but he won’t move on to the next life without Noctis. He’s waiting for him.

When they reach the throne room, Prompto’s shot with a violet orb he couldn’t dodge--and when he wakes up the battle’s just about over. The only thing left to do is for Noctis to deal the final blow.

“Do you still want to take me with you, Noct?” Prompto asks, fiddling with his thumb.

“My mind hasn’t changed.” Noctis holds out his hand.

Prompto reaches up, hand wavering just above his heart. He unclasps a metal lock just under his left shoulder to reveal a glowing, red orb. Carefully, he unscrews it, and it’s released with the hiss of an engine and a satisfying pop. He’s able to place it in Noctis’ palm just before the red of his eyes dim.

He collapses, one knee first in front of his King. Then his entire body slumps down at the steps outside the Citadel.

“Thank you,” Noctis whispers into the core. Every shade of crimson shifted ethereally. This was Prompto. He treated the core with more reverence than the crown treasures of Lucis.

And it was Prompto he held onto when Kings of Lucis raised their blades. It took thirteen to strike him down, but only one gem in his hands to keep him together. Once Noctis stepped into a realm of void, he saw that his friends and family were with him--but only for a moment. 

It was a fleeting image that didn’t dare to stay. Maybe he wanted to see them one last time that he hallucinated them.

But the ones to stay were Prompto and Lunafreya. The two whose bodies have long since gone, but have found ways to stay by his side. They were both eternally in their early twenty’s, young and baby-faced. They make short work of what’s left of Ardyn, shattering him into oblivion where immortals can’t return.

The battle leaves their ethereal forms in shambles; barely pieced together by each other’s light.

“Okay,” Noctis breathes, when all is done. “Okay.” He repeats again, then looks to Luna, then to Prompto. “Let’s go.”

“Uh. Me too?” Prompts’s eyes flickered to Lunafreya. “I don’t wanna third wheel or anything--”

“C’mon,” Noctis rolled his eyes. “I told you I’d take you everywhere I go.”

The astral plane is long and expansive. There’s no end to the possibilities the three of them can do. Now Prompto isn’t the only one waiting, and there’s a feeling of weightlessness within him now that he hasn’t imprisoned himself into a core.

Dawn rises in Eos.

And their souls are freed.

[lobsters-on-their-heads]

A Galaxy of Women, Chap. 4

The entire work can be found here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11836590

The creators are looking for more contributors to this story, so if you’re interested, contact @afrenchclone or @salixsericea.  

As always, I love me some feedback.

On their third morning in San Juan, Puerto Rico, around four o'clock, Delphine's phone rang. It was set to receive calls and texts from anywhere in Latin America, and the number calling was Costa Rican.

“Sí, hola?” Delphine said, pushing her hand through her hair and squinting at the sudden light as Cosima switched on a lamp. Her Spanish was good, but she preferred to have a little more warning before embarking on a conversation.

The woman on the other end said she was Marta, a bartender from Cahuita who'd gotten Delphine's number from Cosima several days earlier, when they were looking for Erika Maria Santos. Erika Maria, Marta told her, was in the hospital, and the prognosis was not good.

“Your friend, she said she was Erika's sister,” Marta said.

“Sí,” Delphine said, still reeling from sleep. “Sí, gracias.” She got the name of the hospital and confirmed that Marta was calling from her own personal phone and could receive calls. “One more thing,” Delphine said. “Does Erika know we're coming? Does she know about Cosima?”

It had been tricky figuring out how exactly to present themselves to all of the unaware Ledas. For those not presenting symptoms, it was simpler because they didn't have to rush. First, they got in touch with their medical providers and explained that they were conducting research on women with certain characteristics, and provided a financial incentive to women who participated. They were as specific as possible without identifying individuals, but in addition to the Ledas, they still ended up with a number of non-Leda women getting placebo injections, some money, and a pleasant smile from Dr. Cormier. It didn't catch nearly as many Ledas as they'd hoped, though, so they moved onto other tactics. They stalked the Ledas' social media sites, looking for signs of symptoms, and tried talking to friends and family members. If the Leda had a job that made them available to the public, like saleswoman or waitress, either Cosima or Delphine tried observing them that way, to determine the best ways of making contact. It was not so different from Delphine's early days as a Dyad monitor, a fact not lost on either of them. Of course, no matter how hard they tried, some of the clones were slipping through their fingers. In cases like Erika Maria Santos, slipping through could mean dying.

So, on the search for Erika Maria Santos, they had told everyone that Cosima was her long-lost sister. It wasn't wrong, and it was likely to get people's attention.

“No,” Marta said. “She's been unconscious since they brought her in. You're the only people I know to contact. She....” Marta's voice broke. “She needs to have her family here. In case... in case...”

“I know,” Delphine whispered. “We're on our way. Thank you.”

Beside her, Cosima sat up and yawned. “Lemme guess. We're going back to Costa Rica?”

“Sí,” Delphine said, forgetting her English for a moment. “To Limon. She's in hospital there.”

“Oh shit. Okay.” With that, Cosima was up and out of bed, turning on lights and gathering belongings even as she made her way to the bathroom.

* * *

“Out of curiosity,” Cosima asked, “how much did this flight cost?”

“All together? Just over $1,400 for us both.”

“Shit.” Their tickets from Toronto to Cartagena had been less than that. Cosima settled into her seat on the Copa Airlines flight Delphine had booked a few hours prior. She'd packed their bags while Delphine handled the travel arrangements, putting everything onto the debit card linked through the Sadler and Daughters Foundation, funded by Rachel Duncan. Cosima decided not to ask how much their bus trip from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, to Limon would cost, or the last minute hotel room. Their trip to San Juan had been last minute, too, but not nearly as close to the wire as this.

“We don't know how much time she has,” Delphine said softly. “It's worth the extra money.”

“Oh, no question. We're lucky we could even get a flight this early. And sitting together, too!” She tucked her hand into the side pocket of Delphine's pants and peered out the window at the lightening sky over Puerto Rico. “Too bad we couldn't get a direct flight, though. That's my only complaint.”

Delphine kissed her temple, knowing the complaint was minor, but that they would be exhausted by the time they reached Limon that evening. “Try to rest. We'll have to run once we get to Panama City for the layover.”

* * *

Cosima didn't remember falling asleep, but then Delphine was nudging her awake, and she found herself tucked against Delphine, her legs cramped and her chin damp with drool. “Mmpph,” she said.

“I know. Come on.”

Delphine wasn't wrong about needing to run in Panama City, either. Their layover was all of fifty-five minutes long, not even giving them enough time to use the bathroom between finding the connecting terminal and fighting through other travelers. Once they got to their gate, they had to stand in line behind gaggles of enthusiastic English-speaking young people with bulging hiking packs and loud voices which, in a more charitable mood, would have reminded Cosima of herself ten years earlier. Behind them, a family squabbled in Spanish while their toddler played a video on a phone with the speaker on. Cosima put both hands on top of her head and took a deep breath.

Erika Maria Santos is dying, she reminded herself. Her lungs are filled with blood, her kidneys have stopped working, and she's been unconscious for... how long now? Too long. She's dying. With that focus, it was a little harder to be upset by her fellow travelers. Just a little.

Delphine, meanwhile, took it all in stride. When they'd exited their last plane, Delphine had set a pace to their next terminal that nearly left Cosima in the dust, but now Delphine had settled into a practiced, empty state of indifference. Her face was blank, her posture relaxed, and her eyes fixed on some point in the middle distance. For all Cosima knew, Delphine had fallen asleep with her eyes open, and even the sudden scream of the toddler or burst of laughter from the college kids did nothing to rouse her. Cosima had a feeling that pinching her would get a reaction, but it was neither the time nor the place for that sort of brattiness.

To keep herself sane and her hands to herself, Cosima pulled out her cell phone and took it off airplane mode. A few seconds later, a string of messages from Sarah popped up, starting almost an hour prior.

These kids are driving me fucking nuts. I'm going to kill them. Srsly. Alison's useless. Felix is gone. Send help.

Despite herself, Cosima laughed. Sarah had custody of Charlotte for the summer, since the arrangement with Art and his ex-wife had run its course. Charlotte was a great kid, but it still meant that Sarah had two prepubescent girls under her roof. She remembered driving her own parents crazy at that age when they'd spent weeks out to sea together, and there'd only been one Cosima.

You'll be fine, she texted back. Put them outside if you have to.

Five minutes later, the line began inching forward, and Sarah replied. Fuck that. I'm going to kill both of them.

Don't. Skype later? Flight's right now.

Before she got a response, the check-in line picked up, and she and Delphine shuffled onto the plane back to Costa Rica.

* * *

Twelve hours later, they finally collapsed onto a hotel bed in Limon, their luggage dropped carelessly at the foot of the bed, medical equipment set a bit more carefully upon the luggage rack.

“Tomorrow's better,” Cosima murmured. “Fuck today.”

Delphine didn't respond, but turned her head to look at Cosima. They'd visited Erika Maria Santos in the hospital, long enough to determine that she was stable and for Delphine to show the staff her medical credentials. They would return the next day to begin treatment.

“I don't think the doctor had any idea what you were saying there towards the end,” Cosima said. “I think half of it was in French.”

“Probably.” Delphine couldn't remember what she'd said, either, but it was enough to convince the doctors to let her come back tomorrow. Rolling over, she scooted towards Cosima and wrapped an arm and a leg around her. “I was hoping we could begin treatment today, though.”

Cosima dropped a light kiss onto her nose. “Yeah, but if you’re too tired to figure out how your phone works, you probably shouldn't be sticking needles in someone's uterus.”

“Mmmf.” When she closed her eyes, Delphine saw Erika Maria on her hospital bed, hooked up to a nasal cannula, heart monitor, neural electrodes, and kidney dialysis. The yellowish tinge on her skin indicated liver problems, as well. The only other patient she'd seen with such an advanced case had been Jennifer Fitzsimmons. At least Erika Maria hadn't her lost her hair; it lay in dark, matted clumps around her head and shoulders. She wore traces of makeup that no one had bothered to wash off since her arrival. She could have been Cosima.

That was the thought Delphine couldn't shake. It could have been Cosima dying there, her body turning violently against her, her family more than a country away. No, she thought, Cosima would have had her family there, just not her parents. Her sisters would have been there. Siobhan would've been there. She tightened her arm around Cosima's midsection and pressed her face into the crook of her neck. Cosima smelled like stale sweat and public bathroom soap, but that was all she smelled like. There was no blood, no bile, no hospital sanitation odors to be found. A moment later, Cosima shifted and took a deep, untroubled breath, and Delphine sighed against her skin.

“Are you gonna fall asleep like that?” Cosima asked.

“Maybe.”

A silent laugh shook Cosima's body. “You'll be uncomfortable when you wake up.” She reached a hand around to unhook Delphine's bra through her shirt, then wiggled her hand under Delphine's twisted torso to undo her belt, rather a more difficult feat from this angle. “Come on, roll over. Let's get you undressed.”

Delphine smirked as she rolled onto her back. “If that's your idea of a come on...”

In response, Cosima reached up under Delphine's shirt and pinched the underside of her right breast, making her squeak and jerk up from the bed. With a pretend scowl, Delphine propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at Cosima, who gave her a pointy smile from her position above Delphine's hips.

“You look a little more awake now,” Cosima commented, unfastening Delphine's pants and tugging down a bit to kiss her right above her pubic hair, then dropping light kisses up to her navel. Delphine whined and fell back onto her back.

“Barely.” She stroked her hand over Cosima's hair. She wanted to undo the bun Cosima'd had her dreads in all day, but she lacked the energy. If Cosima tried going down on her now, she would probably just fall asleep.

Luckily, Cosima saw the same eventuality. Nudging Delphine to raise her hips, she pulled Delphine's pants down and off, and folded them neatly beside their suitcase. She needed more help to get Delphine's shirt off, but within a few minutes she had Delphine in nothing but her underwear. Once her work was done, she sat several inches away, looking down at her with that side smile of hers. Delphine tried meeting her eyes, but her eyelids kept closing. Soon, Cosima was tucked a blanket up around her shoulders, though Delphine didn't remember getting under the covers.

“You'll be here in the morning,” Delphine murmured.

“Yes, I will, love.” Cosima kissed her and stroked her cheek. “I promise.”

* * *

They gave Erika Maria the first treatment early the next day. She had woken up long enough to be introduced to Delphine and to consent to the treatment. Her friend Marta was there for part of the day, holding her hand and reading to her from a trashy romance novel they both loved, while Delphine and Cosima sat nearby and monitored her progress.

“Will she be okay?” Marta asked.

“Sí,” Delphine assured her. “The treatment's had a 100% success rate so far.”

As a scientist, Cosima worried about claiming such a high rate, but she knew it was true. After all, the only two subjects who'd been treated after showing serious symptoms were her and Charlotte, and they were both fully recovered. Thinking of Charlotte reminded her of Sarah's text the morning prior. Once she and Delphine made sure Erika Maria wasn't having any immediate reactions to the treatment, they headed out into the city, and Cosima texted Sarah back.

Skype tonight?

Sarah replied much later in the day, after Cosima and Delphine had strolled through most of the town and bought a few souvenirs to send back to Toronto. YES, Sarah said. Please.

“Uh oh.”

Delphine looked back at her from the rack of skirts she was looking at. “What's the matter?”

“Sarah's struggling with the girls. I'll Skype with her tonight.”

“Mmm. Sarah's not used to being a full-time mother.” She turned back to look at the skirts, so Cosima couldn't see her face, but her tone was neutral.

“I guess not. She's doing her best, though. Probably doing better than I would be in her position.”

“Did she get the presents you sent?”

“I guess so. She didn't say.” Charlotte's birthday had been a week earlier, and Cosima had sent her a small gift from Brazil as well as a large rock collection from an online science store. It was Charlotte's first birthday with her clone family, and Cosima felt bad being away for it. The least she could do was send her a nice birthday present.

That night, Delphine settled onto a chair on their third-floor hotel balcony with a novel and Cosima's shawl wrapped around her shoulders while Cosima Skyped her sister back in Canada. While she waited for Sarah to answer, Cosima watched Delphine stretch and prop her slender feet onto the rain-spattered-railing.

The computer blooped and bleeped, and Sarah's face appeared on the screen. “Hey, Cos. What country are you in now?”

“Costa Rica. We've been bouncing around a lot recently, though.”

“Recently?” Sarah asked. “Since you left Canada you've been bouncing around a lot. You and Delphine aren't sick of each other yet, are you?”

“No.” She glanced back at her girlfriend on the balcony and smiled. “No, I don't think we're in much danger of that right now. Still very much in love.”

“Good.” Sarah sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was sitting in the kitchen of her house, and behind her Cosima saw the drawings from the girls, mostly Kira, she suspected, on the refrigerator. “How's everything else?” she asked. “You curing a lot of sisters?”

“Yup. Eleven vaccinations, one treatment. The girl we saw today was in pretty bad shape. Worse than I was, but she'll be okay now.”

“You're saving lives out there, Cos.”

“Yeah.” Cosima grinned at that. “Yeah, we are. But tell me what's going on with you.”

Sarah pushed her hands through her hair and looked past the laptop, then shook her head. Dropping her voice a bit, she said, “Charlotte's not doing well.”

“No? What's wrong?”

“I dunno. Hormone stuff, maybe, but I think it could be more than that. Kira's being a little brat, too, so that's not helping.”

Cosima nodded sympathetically. Kira was nine now, nudging up into puberty, and Cosima suspected that some of the hormone treatments she'd gotten at Dyad still had lingering effects. Charlotte was eleven. Just before they left, Art told them that Charlotte had started her period, but she didn't want anyone to know about it. Cosima remembered well how she'd felt at that age, when a slight correction from her mother could send her running away sobbing and slamming doors.

“Thanks for the presents, by the way,” Sarah went on, but Cosima caught a note of something other than gratitude in her voice.

“Did Charlotte like them?”

“Well, she liked the wooden puzzle thing and the map of the Amazon.”

There was a pause, so Cosima prompted, “and the rock collection?”

Sarah sighed again. “When she opened that, she ran up to her room crying and didn't come down for the rest of the day.”

“Oh, shit.” As soon as she heard that, it made sense. Charlotte had loved her rock collection on the island, when Cosima first met her and she was living with Susan Duncan, but she wasn't able to bring it with her when they left. The gift had been meant as a replacement, but now Cosima could see that it was a reminder of what Charlotte had lost.

“Yeah, I dunno. She hasn't looked at it since. I thought about sending it back, but I figured I'd talk to you about it first.”

“Don't send it back. Give her a little time. Maybe put it somewhere she can't see it, but she knows where it is. If she doesn't want it in a couple of months, we'll find someone else who does. It's okay.”

“Yeah.” Sarah smirked then. “Maybe I'll give it to Helena. She can give the boys fancy rocks to play with instead of regular ones.”

“There you go. Great plan.”

Sarah picked up a mug and looked into its depths before speaking again. “Charlotte wants to live with you. She's said that a couple of times. She's gotten Kira saying that she wants to live with you, too, a couple times.”

“Really?” Cosima looked around the hotel room. It was nice, though not as nice as the price would suggest, and small. When they showered, the entire bathroom floor got wet no matter how careful they were, but it did have a nice heated towel rack. Regardless, it was a fine room for a pair of love-struck scientists on a mission, not for an eleven-year-old. “Charlotte knows that Delphine and I aren't really living anywhere right now, right?”

“Oh, yeah, she knows. She wants to be out traveling with you two, instead of stuck here, going to middle school orientation next week.”

“Well, yeah, I mean, nobody likes middle school. She's got a lot to be nervous about.”

“She doesn't have to yell at me about it, though.”

Charlotte yelling was a difficult picture to imagine, but she took Sarah's word for it. “Maybe we can Skype with her. We're heading back to Brazil tomorrow afternoon, so maybe the day after that?”

“Sounds good to me.”

After closing Skype, Cosima stepped out onto the balcony. “¿Todo bien?” Delphine asked.

“Mmm... Charlotte says she wants to come traveling with us.”

“Please don't tell me you told her yes.”

Leaning against the railing, Cosima took Delphine's big toe between her thumb and forefinger and gently wiggled it. Delphine's feet were just as graceful as her hands; she was the only woman whose toes Cosima enjoyed sucking on. “I did not. Don't worry. I would be happy to have her once we've settled down and cured everybody, but until then...” She shook her head. “Not a good idea.”

“No, it's not.” Delphine closed her novel and set it in her lap as Cosima moved on to wiggle each of her toes in turn, then ran her thumb up the sole of each foot, firmly enough not to tickle.

“Whatcha thinkin' about?” Cosima asked.

“After we've cured everyone. What we'll do then.”

“Yeah?” Cosima moved her hand to Delphine's ankle, stroking the tendon above her heel up to the lower part of her calf. Delphine was wearing a long flowy skirt, and in this position, Cosima could reach over and reveal most of Delphine's legs with just a flick of her hand. She held back, for now. “What about that?”

She propped her head in her hand and watched Cosima play with her feet some more before answering. “We'll have to get real jobs. Every time I start working on my CV, it's gets too complicated, so I stop.”

Real jobs. Cosima had not thought about getting a real job since she left Dyad. Staying alive, finding a cure, finding Delphine, and caring for her sisters had always been more important. She didn't really want to start thinking about it now, either, so she slid her hand farther along Delphine's calf. “We've got time later to worry about that.

“Yes, I know.” Delphine sucked her lower lip in between her teeth and worked on it for a moment. “We could live together,” she said.

Even just hearing her say those words made Cosima's heart melt. A smile spreading across her face, she said, “We could. I was kind of hoping that we would, actually. I don't know where we'll be, but I want us to be together.”

Delphine's large dark eyes softened, and she took her feet from the damp railing to lean towards Cosima. Taking her by the waist, she tilted her head up to kiss her, then pulled her down into her lap. Cosima pushed her fingers through Delphine's still-damp curls and tasted the residue of the beer they'd had with dinner on Delphine's tongue. “Come on,” she whispered, “there's a bed inside that's a lot more comfortable than this chair.”