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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 1 year ago

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Trimax Thoughts Vol. 7 Pt. 1

I am slowly but surely catching up! More stream of consciousness thoughts below! This one is a doozy... I almost couldn't verbalize my thoughts clearly; I just had so many.

[All images are from Trigun Maximum Vol. 7.]

[ID: A set of five panels in a row, each a close up of a different face of a crew member. They all look pensive. The panel below is of a nondescript part of the ship's ceiling. The dialogue reads "A great scientific discovery... huh..." End ID.]

...seems like this is not the first time you people have come across a "great scientific discovery"...

Yikes. Rem's trying so hard to keep the twins a secret but her eyes in that scene... she does not trust these people. And I'm pretty sure I know why.

Hjhfdjhf Knives is a little troublemaker. He's so cute.

Interesting that it's Vash who sees Conrad first.

Knives is so happy to be accepted he just started crying... augh...

I do find the way Conrad talks to them is kind of interesting though. Idk, saying "Let's move forward together" isn't really something I'd say to a couple of young kids... it's just that I still think Conrad sees them as a new sentient form of life before just being children, you know? But at least he's being nice to them.

"We can work through a few little differences. If we just talk to each other, we can come to understand one another. Because there's no difference between human hearts and ours." <- Oof. He was so optimistic. I'm paying special attention to the words "we can work through "little" differences" and ""no" difference between them".

...the apparition of the girl there, who I'm going to assume is Tesla, is eerily similar to the strange apparition Vash saw of Conrad being killed in the previous volume. Is it an intentional thing that Knives did? If that's the case, it implies Tesla is intentionally trying to show them something... which uh...

...the flower is fresh. That means Rem is changing it and checking on it. It's kind of a miracle these two didn't follow her into this wing beforehand if she keeps disappearing to do this.

Vash is the first to catch on that something is weird about all this. Or, well, I don't think that's quite true. Knives also seems to know something is up but his face makes me think he doesn't want to admit it.

[ID: Vash squishes in next to Knives, trying to see the screen, saying "Who?! Why?! What does it mean?!" Knives has a cartoonishly annoyed expression as his hands ready to press on the keyboard, and says "I don't know! Quit pushing, Vash!" End ID.]

Ah... siblings... :')

Oh what the fuck. This is so much worse.

Literally what the fuck. And what makes it so horrible is you can tell these people were so excited by their new discovery that they weren't even listening. We don't actually see any of Tesla's perspective but there is a small panel where she's crying. The "question of ethics" is given a single sentence, like it wasn't even contemplated. These weren't "villains", they were ordinary people. And that is even more terrifying - because all of us would love to believe that the line between good and bad is a firmly drawn thing.

Ah... so this was the inspiration for Vash not eating in Stampede... :/

Rem's perseverance is going to make me cry

Ah... never bring a knife or sharp object around someone who is suicidal...

HOLY FUCK REM. Oh my god. Certified mom moment fr.

Hey. Do you ever think how this is probably the first time Vash has seen real blood (excepting the possibility of maybe some scrapes or bruises but I'm talking actual bleeding). Anyways I just. It clearly triggered thoughts of Tesla and that fear, that trapped feeling, that "lash out before she hurts me" took over, and that upwelling of momentary relief because he's safe only for him to look down and it's Rem's blood, not his, and it's his hands, not hers, holding the weapon and I just ahgjuhbfgsjbhgjbadahhhhhh

I don't even know what to say. I have no insightful commentary I just... Vash clearly got her to the medical area. Eating his food where she can see. Clearly still wary, deeply shaken, gauging for a reaction from her. And she just smiles at him. Augh.

Sorry, is this a Night on the Galactic Railroad reference??? AS IF THIS WASN'T PAINFUL ENOUGH.

*sounds of crying*

*SOUNDS OF CRYING INTENSIFY*

[ID: First image is of young Vash, with closed eyes, a faint grin and a sweat drop, saying "I don't fully understand though. I've never even seen a train." Second image is of a very cartoony Rem and Vash, Rem at first glaring then grimacing as she says "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" and Vash shocked with sweat drops. End ID.]

The sillies... ok but this is so sweet and tells us a lot about Vash and Rem's dynamic, for all that we only see particular scenes of it - and in spite of everything, it's a good one. Everything that's happened over the past while has been incredibly emotionally charged, and there's definitely no going back to how it was - but Rem is telling him her honest feelings, holding nothing back at this point, and Vash not only clearly listened (you can see the light come back into his eyes... augh), but he is the one who takes the step to break the tension and be a little silly (which I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's something he did before), and Rem sees it for what it is - it's not alright, and it hasn't been resolved (god, could something like this ever?) but she will never give up on him (on either of them) and he doesn't want their relationship to be tense and fraught with conflict. Anyways, that takes a deep level of love and understanding on both sides. I adore them. I adore complicated yet loving parent-child relationships.

...Knives doesn't remember??? WHAT

Sorry, Conrad opposed the experiments??? And the fact that apparently they caused an "uproar" and it was still only given one brief mention in the official report. Ugh.

Knives' breakdown and eventual decision to cause the Big Fall is so so well done. Augh this poor kid...

"I made a completely rational decision" <- me when I lie

"You need to look at the larger picture" <- I think I can finally get around to writing about Knives' trauma now. Oh yeah. It's all comin' together.

Oh this is so weird that the flashback appears to be different... because first we see Knives saying the Plant ships will survive, but now apparently several were "sacrificed". Knives kicks Vash when he accuses him of not "being" human but now it's because he accuses him of "being afraid" of humans. I'm. Confused. Is this the difference between what the brothers remember...? Is it just an extended scene?

"This is not fear. This is anger." <- ME WHEN I LIE

BRO HE ABSORBED HER? WHAT. (Also these panels are so fucking cool. I would include them here but it would literally just be three continuous pages.)

[ID: Wolfwood has flicked a rubber band at Vash. It hits him in the face. His head moves to one side from the impact but his expression doesn't change. End ID.]

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled doom, trauma and destruction for Wolfwood certified annoying older brother comedy relief moment.

There's something about Wolfwood being the one to break up a potential shootout by playing up Vash's reputation (as Vash himself did in the first volume of Trimax) before a single person can get hurt... but it comes at the expense of continuing to damage Vash emotionally... as I suppose his brand of pacifism always kind of does huh?

[ID: Vash smiles broadly with closed eyes. It is clearly forced. Wolfwood watches from the entrance, leaning against the Punisher. End ID.]

Ow. Just ow.

I have so many emotions from this scene. I don't even know what to say I feel like I've been pulled in about ten different directions by my heart strings. I will say the lines about taking solace in forgetting your past and that people will one day forget you is in stark contrast to Vash's insistence on remembering...

"Wolfwood, you are really my guide, right?" <- I am experiencing shrimp emotions

Knives knocking out the communications network... that's a good move. Also kind of symbolic lol

"before the end" ugh it really does sound like Vash expects to not make it out of this... but well. there's like... 7 more volumes. so.

Wolfwood: *experiences a viscerally horrifying vision involving him getting impaled and then literally ripped apart* Also Wolfwood: "I'm not gonna say anything I don't want to burden him" (for the love of... talk to each other you two!!! you're stronger together!!!!! we've established this!)

He noticed anyways... and then Wolfwood tried to follow him aghhh

...so Wolfwood didn't kill that man... and somehow that guy's the one who transmitted that weird vision??? ("How did it feel to die" <- either terrible old man transmitted it himself or he knows how it was done.)

Elendira is fascinating. I don't know what she wants really. I don't think she wants to die, but... idk. It seems like she wants to choose how she goes out? That dying along with the whole world in an instant is preferable to... idk what the alternative is. Anyways. She's cool.

[ID: Knives is leaning against a pillar, sleeping. He is partially draped in what looks like cloth, but it likely an extension of his powers. The limbs, face, and single wing of a dependent Plant can be seen blended in with the folds. End ID.]

Knives finally gets some sleep! ...Do you think absorbing his sister, and her proximity, eased his loneliness enough that he felt safe enough to rest? Rip to her though, she doesn't look too pleased about this.

"finest human specimens" Holy fuck Knives. Do you even understand how you sound. By your own admittance, you sent them in knowing they would fail and die.

The whole "no human could've killed you anyways we're so much stronger and can't coexist" to "when they crush an ant, they don't even notice" -> so which are you? The foot or the ant? He's tried to frame them as both on multiple occasions... or maybe the dependent Plants as "ants" and him and Vash as a foot above the trampling feet... or something. Idk.

Pov: your brother has mutated his own body by clearly absorbing one of your sisters, tells you you're dying with no lead up whatsoever, and then just straight up attacks you. (sorry, sorry. Knives is a little funny to me in a... dark comedy kind of way)

OUGH... it's the lines from Stampede... except it's Vash trying so hard to appeal to Knives... "there's another way"... D':

[ID: Cartoony drawings of Elendira and Wolfwood. Wolfwood asks "What exactly were ya plannin' to do anyway?" and Elendira, sweat dropping, says "Well..." End ID.]

Love that Elendira latches onto the first decently sane person she finds and immediately starts chatting away to him. Didn't know I needed this dynamic. hhdjfbhsdjf

WHAT. KNIVES THAT IS NOT THE SOLUTION. "I can't make you see things my way so I'll just absorb you" WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

...Legato just saved Knives... and him knowing Knives was in danger was the whole reason he was so frantic... in a twisted way, that's... almost sweet...?

I wonder why Vash's gate is so overly powerful compared to Knives'... I have a theory but I'll need to think on it a bit.

I can't believe Knives just left Vash at Legato's mercy... bro wasn't Legato's whole "I want to murder your brother" thing the whole reason you literally crumpled him like a soda can???

...Well. This seems to be going great. I'm going to be doing a quick write-up on Plant anatomy and powers, as well as finally digging into Knives' trauma so if anyone is interested, stay tuned for that! Might take me a little bit though... things have been pretty hectic unfortunately and I'm uh... not in the greatest of moods. But I'm really excited to write them and to catch up! :D

#trigun #trimax #trigunbookclub #storyrambles

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screechthemighty · 2 years ago

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Remember that time travel AU I kept alluding to and wrote like three chapters of but I didn't want to post them because I wanted to see what the finale did first? Well...I've seen what the finale did, so now it's time to start posting LMAO. Usually I'd post an AO3 link in a reblog BUUUT since I'm probably gonna post the other two chapters tonight too, we'll just wait for that until later. Cool? Cool.

the unknowable tomorrow | a tristamp fanfic part 1: july city

Note: While this chapter does touch on the events of ep. 11, it's not NEARLY as explicit as the canon on the physical violation angle, so don't worry, that's not a focus here.

Reporters were meant to observe. That was her job. It was a job she’d wanted, more than anything.

She thought she had, at least. Right now, Meryl Stryfe would have given anything for the ability to act. Not simply watch.

But she couldn’t. There were too many unknowns. If she killed Conrad, there might not be anyone to stop the machines. If she shot the glass, assuming it wasn’t bulletproof, she could hurt Vash. Or she could catch the attention of Millions Knives, and she wouldn’t be of any use as a bloody smear on the floor. She could scream her friend’s name as much as she wanted, over and over, but it didn’t seem to do anything. Vash stayed frozen in place, floating, staring at his brother, the flora-like tendrils still leaking out of his body.

That didn’t stop her from trying, because it was the only option she had.

“Vash! Vash!” Meryl’s fist bounced off the glass. The progress had stalled, Conrad had said. Maybe he’d heard her. Maybe… “Vash, you have to fight it!” She glanced back over her shoulder at Conrad. “I can’t believe you.”

Conrad kept his head down and his hands braced against the console. She couldn’t tell if he was avoiding her gaze or staring at the screens, so she kept talking. “He’s hurting Vash. Hey!” Meryl stepped away from the glass, the derringer aimed fruitlessly again. “Is this right to you? How does this fit with not demeaning them, huh?”

He flinched. Meryl saw it then, the twitch of his eyes to the tank, to her, back down to the screens. That was something. It had to be something. “Memory manipulation? How is that respectful? Throwing him into a pit so he can’t escape? How is that respectful?”

“It’s necessary…”

“He doesn’t want this! I don’t care how necessary you think it is!” She gave up aiming the pistol, instead slamming both fists down on the top of the console. “Look at him! Look at what you’re doing to him!”

Another quick dart of the eyes. Up to Vash. Down to her. Back up to Vash, this time to linger. Look at him. Look at how much he’s hurting. Look at what your god is doing to his own brother. His own flesh and blood. How is that right? How is any of this right?

Conrad’s chest heaved in a sigh, his eyes dropping down to the consoles again. “How much,” he asked, “did Vash the Stampede’s struggles ever really accomplish? He wanted to help people; what good has any of it done?” His eyes stayed fixed on the frozen percentage, as if willing it to start moving again. “Here, now, his presence will accomplish something. This will fix the world.”

Meryl’s blood ran cold. Her mind scrambled for a response, but found nothing. There were no words that could adequately sum up the disgust she felt, the utter loathing for the man in front of her. She could live to be as old as Vash and never have the right words. All she had was silence–furious, trembling silence.

Someone else had the words, though.

“Hey, Doc?” The figure in the doorway hefted his weapon. “Fuck you.”

The bullet was the loudest thing in that room–louder than Meryl’s racing thoughts, than the echoes of her accusation, than the writhing growth of the flora. It passed right through Conrad’s skull and hit the glass. It lodged itself there, surrounded by a web of spider-thin cracks, but didn’t pierce through.

Oh, Meryl thought distantly. It is bulletproof.

Self-preservation kicked in when she heard footsteps. She raised the derringer. She did not lower it when she realized she knew the person stepping in. “You?!”

Nicholas D. Wolfwood looked sickly in the room’s light–pale and haggard, nauseated. His eyes were full of contempt as they slid over Conrad’s body before moving to Meryl. “Look, if you want to shoot me, do it later,” he snapped. “How do we turn this thing off?”

Meryl started to reply.

She never got the chance.

~ ~ ~

That’s why I crashed the ships.

It’s my fault?

I did it all for you.

Vash broke, then. Something tore through his soul, shredding through reality too as it went: a black hole, literal and figurative.

Knives had expected it to happen. There would be no severed limbs this time, nothing to get in the way. The gate would be opened. He would have his brother back. Everything was going exactly as he’d planned.

But he hadn’t been able to account for everything.

Knives didn’t see it at first. His focus stayed fixed on stalking down that final memory–on eliminating the final thread keeping his brother from him. But as he stepped closer, ready to finally free him…

~ ~ ~

“What the hell is that?!”

~ ~ ~

Red.

Not red like Rem’s geraniums. Red like one of their dying siblings. Red like blood.

The gate to the Higher Dimension was opened, just as he’d planned. But there were other gates, other doorways. Perhaps it was Vash’s mind trying to protect itself, to find some way to escape; perhaps it was inexperience combined with emotions too deep and painful to contain. The result was the same: one door opened. Dozens more followed.

Vash the Stampede broke.

So did everything else.

~ ~ ~

Meryl couldn’t grasp what she was looking at.

It was as if someone had taken a knife and stabbed the air, tearing open a wide hole. More tears appeared–in the tank, above it, all over the room. On the other side was nothing, nothing but an emptiness so dark she couldn’t believe that it was real. Nothing could be so dark. Even the night had the stars, the moons, but this was…

Nothing.

And the nothingness was starting to swallow her.

“Shit!” Wolfwood braced his weapon against the console and held out a hand to her. “Stryfe!”

Meryl barely managed to grab his hand before she was lifted off her feet. She tried to look into the tank, but the flora had so thoroughly filled the space that she couldn’t tell where anything was. “Vash!” she screamed. “Vash! Vash you have to stop! You - “

meryl

The voice came not from the tank, or from Wolfwood as he desperately gripped her hand. It came from behind her. As she glanced over her shoulder into the yawning, terrifying voice, she could’ve sworn she heard it again -

meryl! meryl!

“How…?”

Wolfwood slipped. The sudden disruption was enough to make Meryl lose her grip. She thought she heard Wolfwood scream after her as she was pulled through but the sound was quickly swallowed up by…

Nothing.

Just the vast, vast void, and the distant sound of her own name.

meryl! meryl, i’m here! meryl. meryl - !

~ ~ ~

His body slammed into the console hard enough to knock the wind out of him. His hands still worked well enough to grab onto something, but Wolfwood knew it wouldn’t last. It was a clumsy grip, and the whole damn room was being sucked into whatever those things were. He barely managed to dodge Conrad’s body as it flew past. “Shit!”

His mind scrambled for a solution–something, anything. If he could break the glass, kill Knives, maybe…but he didn’t see where Punisher had gone, and he wasn’t sure he could control it in all this chaos anyway. And if he hit Vash…

nico!

The sound of the name nearly made him lose his grip. Wolfwood desperately scanned the room. No, it couldn’t be, it wasn’t…he knew it wasn’t. It couldn’t be.

“Livio?”

But even as the name left his lips, he knew it wasn’t Livio. The voice was all wrong. That was what Livio always called him, but that wasn’t him, couldn’t be him. It sounded more like…

A piece of debris hit his face, knocking the thought away. It took almost everything else with it, including his grip. Wolfwood was only semi-conscious when he fell, unable to really perceive anything around him, not even the sound of his own name. Only one thing felt real to him: a singular thought running through his mind.

You did this. Your fault.

Good job, Wolfwood.

~ ~ ~

In another time and place, a hundred gates opened. The last chaotic screams of a mind too in pain to control anything sounded through space and time.

In another time and place, July City tore itself apart.

#trigun stampede #tristamp #my writing #my fanfic #fic: the unknowable tomorrow

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fictional-character-whore · 2 years ago

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CHAPTER 4

SUMMARY - Lydia Lupis had lived a terrible 14 years of life. She went to a school full of drug dealing thieves and gangs, lived in a shitty neighbourhood, had parents that didn't even give a shit about her to come home and a brother that treated her like absolute trash. The only half decent thing in her life was a stupid camp - Camp Rim of the World. Her brother Conrad gad a job there but instead of actually doing it, he just snogged any girl he could find, leaving Lydia to do his job for him. Lydia was never that much of a social person and usually spent most of her time at the camp either working or in her own cabin reading. Lydia expected these school holidays to be the same as every other, but what she didn't know was that these holidays were going to change her life. Aliens were taking over planet earth and after following three kids into the woods and meeting a strange boy, the fate of the world somehow rest in their hands. With her new found friends will they be able to save the world before humanity becomes extinct and will a curtain strange boy steal Lydia's heart or smash it into a million pieces?

WARNINGS - i wrote this story years ago so i can’t remember exactly what’s in this but let me know if i miss anything! swearing, mentions of abuse, mentions of parental neglect, mild violence and threatenings, use of weapons, blood?, mega freaking cringe read at your own risk lol

"That's a great idea Gabriel," ZhenZhen complimented, "Now let's get some bikes and kick some ass!"

She then sassily walked past Gabriel and into one of the sheds to get a bike.

"Damn girl, your English is good!" Dariush said making my eyes roll, and everyone walked into the shed after her.

"They gave us a code at registration. It's um.. six, six, nine," Dariush said as Gabriel knelt down and picked up the bike lock. He began twisting the numbers, getting each number mixed up and trying over and over again but failing every time. Gabriel began to panic a little when Dariush kept pressuring him and telling him to hurry up and it just made it worse when he didn't stop. But then Dariush said something that made Gabriel's blood boil and rage take over his mind.

"Just hurry up and put it in there. Are you dumb?" Dariush said.

Gabriel stopped turning the numbers and turned his head upwards and glared at Dariush, "I'm not dumb."

"Dariush just shut the fuck up," I snapped at him and bent down next to Gabriel and took the lock out of his hands, "Here, let me do it," and gave him a comforting smile.

I put the code in and undid the lock and chains around the bikes.

"I want this one, it's got a 'Wakanda Forever' sticker on it," Dariush said pointing to one of the bikes.

"Wakanda forever!" I shouted doing my best T'Challa voice I could. The boys looked at me and we started laughing. The others each grabbed a helmet and walked a bike out of the shed. All of them but Alex and me.

"Lydia, why didn't you get a bike?" Alex asked me.

"Because I have a better one," I answered crossing my arms, "What about you?"

He didn't answer my question. He just looked down at his feet and put a sad expression on his face.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Gabriel asked him.

"I can't go with you," He said.

"Why not?" Gabriel asked.

"...I can't ride a bike.. I never learned," he said shamefully, his eyes never leaving the ground.

I saw Dariush throw his hands up in the air and frustratingly look away. Gabriel and ZhenZhen had a slight frustration and unimpressed look on their faces as they stared at Alex.

Alex must have seen their reactions because he then said, "It's okay. You guys can go without me."

"Cool. We out!" Dariush said without hesitation and started to walk his bike away.

"Get your fat ass back here Dariush," I growled at him and he instantly came back.

I looked over at Alex and put my blood covered hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "No one gets left behind. Even if you can't ride a bike you're still coming with us."

"But-" He started.

"But nothing," I said, "We can teach you.. Or you can ride with me," I smirked at him.

"What are you riding?" Dariush asked.

"You'll have to wait and see," I said grinning, "But first I need to change out of these clothes because I am literally soaked in blood. Go to the camp entrance with the bikes and I'll meet you there." I then walked off towards my cabin.

When I got to my cabin I opened the door and rushed over to my closet. I stripped from my clothes and put on fresh clean ones. I put my fishnet stockings and a pair of not too short ripped denim shorts over the top, I put a black cropped shirt with the Marvel logo on the front and put my bloodied gang jacket back on. I put my black converse on and my white bandanna around my head, I took my choker off and put my spiky one back on and leaving my blood covered fingerless gloves on.

Once I finished changing I went to my bookshelf and grabbed the big box of medical supplies I had stashed here. I had gotten so many injuries during my childhood and with no one to help or look after me I had to learn how to help myself. My first major wound that I had gotten was when I was in grade three, I had stood up to some fifth grade bullies that had been picking on my best friend. I had punched one in the face and kicked two others in the balls, I had tried to run from them but they caught me and beat the literal shit out of me. I had two black eyes, a split lip, a tone of cuts from being thrown onto concrete and pocket knives that they had, and three broken ribs. My parents hadn't been home for almost a month and Conrad didn't come home until four in the morning and there was no way that I would have gone to the hospital or even the nurses office at school, so I went home and looked up how to treat my injuries. From then on I had bandaged my own cuts and scrapes, healed my own broken bones and hid my bruises. It was only until I reached high school and gotten into my gang that I had some kind of medical help from others.

I opened it up and smiled when I saw that everything I needed was in here. I quickly grabbed some wipes and an antiseptic bottle, I poured some of the liquid over my wound as I wiped away the fresh and dried up blood on my stomach. I hissed as the antiseptic made contact with my open wound and stung the vulnerable skin. Once the blood was gone I grabbed out a needle and a long thread of sutures (stitches) and began threading it though my skin to close the wound. Every time the needle pierced my skin I winced as more pain struck my already aching stomach. I had managed to get the whole thing thing stitched up with one long piece of thread by tying a not at both ends. I put the needle and extra sutures down and grabbed a bandage and tape, I placed the bandage over my now cleaned and stitched up wound and put pieces of tape over the edges that I had ripped off with my teeth. I put the tape back and grabbed a big roll of bandage and wrapped it around my waste and wound. I stood up and smiled as I looked at my work.

I put all the medical supplies back in the box and threw it onto my bed, I then bent down and grabbed my black bag out from under my bed. I pulled it out and threw it onto my bed next to the medical box. I then went over to my wardrobe and pushed it over to the opposite side of the wall and looked down at the floor to see the trap door that I had built into it. I lifted the trap door in the floor boards open and scanned over the weapons I had stashed in there. I had guns, knives, bombs and other kinds of dangerous weapons in there but mainly guns because they were my favourite weapon to use. I also had some leg and arm holsters that I grabbed out and started putting on; one on my right thigh and the other on my left shoulder.

I loaded five hand guns and put twenty extra packs of bullets in my pockets and I put my knifes in my belt. I walked over to my bed and put three guns in my bag, my extra bullets, two grenades and my medical box. I then closed the trap door, slung my bag over my shoulders, grabbed my sunnies and walked out of my cabin.

No one knew I had that trap door in my cabin and I planned to keep it that way. If someone found out that I had a trap door full of guns and shit in my cabin at a camp, than I'd be completely screwed. I'd end up back in fucking Juvie in a blink of an eye, but it didn't really matter right now because I had more important things to worry about than going back to prison. I had a massive hole in the side of my stomach, I had lost a shit tone of fucking blood and probably should be dead but I'm not, and I have to travel seventy miles with a group of kids that I don't even know to save the world from fucking aliens that are invading Earth.

Yeah, prison sounded like nothing compared to what was currently happening.

I walked along the dirt pathways back towards the sheds to get my bike. I wasn't going to be riding a push bike like those idiots were, no fucking way. I was going to ride my own super awesome bike and when I reached the shed furthest from the rest, I kicked down the door and smiled widely.

There she is. She was propped up against the shed wall with my helmet hanging over the handle bar. I had a black and red dirt bike with a black helmet that had a bear skull and flames painted on it. I painted this bike and helmet myself when I was about twelve I think, and ever since I had I've been in love with it. This bike was basically my best friend.

I walked into the shed and grabbed my helmet, sitting it on top of my head, then I grabbed my bike and walked it outside the shed and into the sunlight. When I wheeled it to flat ground I got on and brang it to life. I grinned as I revved the engine, taking in the smell of the petrol and the sound of the roaring engine, remembering all the amazing times I had had on this bike. When I finished my little trip down memory lane, I put both feet on the pegs and took off at a wild speed.

As I drove through the camp on my bike I felt this massive rush hit me like a brick wall and it made me feel unstoppable and crazy. I loved it. I rode up and down slopes, doing small jumps and tricks as the rush grew and my energy levels overloaded.

When I reached the others who were all standing waiting for me I took a hard left and skidded to a stop, throwing dust and dirt at them in the process. When the dust died down I put a foot to the ground to stable myself and the bike, I took my hands off the handlebars and pulled off my helmet unintentionally dramatically, shaking my hair out of my face.

Turns out the others all got changed too but they were covered in dust again from my bike and I smirked. As I quickly scanned them and noticed that they were all staring at my bike with jealous expressions, Dariush in particular.

"'Grizzly Queen'?" Alex asked me.

My expression turned grim as I looked down at my bike and frowned. I forgot that my gang members had done that. A group of my artistic gang members had painted 'Grizzly Queen' onto the side of my bike in flaming letters. I had thought it was so cool when they had first done it but it turned out to be a bad thing in curtain situations, like this one for example.

The others didn't know that I was part of an actual gang let alone my position in the gang hierarchy, and if they found out than I'm absolutely sure that they would freak out and leave me.

I just smiled at them, "It's a nickname my school friends gave me," I half lied. It technically was a nickname that was given to me but not by my 'friends,' I had no friends, just gang members.

"That is dope as," Dariush complimented.

"Thanks Dariush," I smiled and looked at the rest of them, "Are we ready to go?"

"Yes," ZhenZhen responded and began walking out of the camp and onto the road.

I side glanced over at Gabriel who was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face but when I looked closer, I could see a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks. I grinned at him, "Take a picture, it'll last longer," I said then walked my bike over to the others that were walking out of the camp grounds and towards the main road.

Gabriel's face had gone as red as a tomato at my comment and when he caught up to the group I could hear him mumbling to himself about how stupid he was and cute things like that that made me smile.

Shit, this guy was really getting to me and I didn't like it. I never let anyone get to me, not even cute boys like him but now he's got me smiling and calling him cute and I was disgusted and disappointed at myself for letting someone like him get to my fucking head like this. I really needed to just focus on the task at hand because if I don't I could end up dead. And I don't want to die from stupid fucking aliens.

As we got closer to the main road, Gabriel started giving out orders for how Dariush and ZhenZhen were going to ride their bikes to help Alex, I wasn't needed so I was just going to ride around the group. When he had finished giving out orders ZhenZhen grabbed Alex's wrist and gave him a look, "I won't let you fall."

It was kind of cute how they were acting, but at the same time kinda gross and I cringed.

We reached the main road and stopped to look at the sign in the middle of the dirt road that lead out to the road. In one direction it said 'High Desert' and it was pointing further up the mountain to the left. The other said 'Los Angeles' and pointed to down the hill to the right. Everyone but Dariush turned right.

After a moment of consideration and mumbling to himself, Dariush followed us.

When we go onto the road we all stopped in a line across the road and put our helmets on. I was to the right of ZhenZhen and when I turned to look at her and the others I was met with her fear filled eyes. I grinned at her and let my bike roll slowly down the slanted hill as I lifted my feet off the ground. The others followed close behind.

I put my feet lightly on the road to slow myself down a little more and came in line with Dariush, Alex and ZhenZhen. Dariush and ZhenZhen each had one hand on his shoulders and were helping him stay balanced as he rode down the hill. Alex was shaking like a leaf on his bike and had the most terrified expression on his face and it made me chuckle to myself that he was scared of riding a bike when we had fucking aliens invading our planet. What a total dork.

"You got this," Dariush said to Alex but his feet slipped off the pedals, "Put your feet back on the pedal."

"You can do this Alex," I reassured him.

"The key is to get moving," Gabriel told him as he came in line with us, "The faster you go the easier it is to stay balanced."

"Are-are you sure about this?" Alex questioned him.

"No," Gabriel said making me laugh. He looked over at me and when I looked back at him I winked and slowed down even more so I was behind the group.

"Good, you're good," Dariush complimented Alex, "now just, just keep doing that."

As Alex began to go a bit faster, ZhenZhen and Dariush released their grips on his shoulders and let him ride down the hill himself.

"I don't- I don't know if I can do this!" Alex yelled not realising that the others had let go of him.

"Alex!" ZhenZhen called out from behind him and he looked at her from over his shoulder, "You're already doing it."

He turned back around with the biggest smile on his face and we all cheered for him.

"Fuck yeah Alex! I told you, you could do it!" I shouted to him from behind.

We all began to cheer and stuff around, doing tricks on our bikes and having fun. I had driven in front of them and done skids, small jumps, riding a little up the side of the hill, even driving backwards. I had gone down this road so many times that I knew every turn, bump and pothole in the road and over time I had made a ramp on the edge of the road that I went down every time. I had almost caused so many car accidents that I got band from my bike for about year once by the police, but that never stopped me.

So when we turned a corner I knew that the ramp was around the next turn. I sped up my bike, going faster than the rest of them, I popped a wheelie along the way making them all cheer. I skidded around the corner and finally saw the ramp.

"Check this out mother fuckers!" I shouted to them and sped up even more.

The ramp was on a bend in the road and to do it I had to drive off the edge and onto a dirt track in the bush that I had made, I had to drive down it until another corner in the road, than go up another ramp to get back onto the road.

As I sped up the others started freaking out when they realised that I wasn't going to turn. They screamed out for me to stop but I just ignored them hopefully making my trick even more awesome once they saw what it was. When I hit the ramp I flew five metres in the air over tree tops and as I felt the wind hit my face and the ground getting closer, I cheered, "Whoooooo!"

The track I had made off road was blocked by trees so anyone that tried to see where I went wouldn't be able to, so when the others jumped off their bikes and ran to look over the railing for me they panicked, probably thinking that I had gotten injured or killed. But I just kept riding.

I road down the thin and bumpy dirt track and came to the part where I had to speed up if I wanted to make the jump, so I sped up going as fast as I could. I went so fast that I flew almost twenty metres in the air, and it was just enough for me to do a flip.

When the others turned their heads and saw my flip they cheered and got back on their bikes to follow me down the rest of the hill. I slowed down a bit waiting for them to catch up and when they did they started praising me.

"Holy shit Lydia! That was so fucking awesome!" Dariush shouted to me and we high-fived.

"That was so cool!" Gabriel said.

"I know right?! It took me ages to perfect it but hey! I did it without crashing this time! And I even managed a fucking flip too!" I shouted to them with pure joy.

It was true, I haven't been able to get that jump right for ages and every time did it I crashed and almost caused a car accident. But I must have had some kind of super adrenaline rush because that was one of the craziest things that I've ever pulled off. But I pulled it off and it was absolutely insane!

"Wait what?! That's the first time you've done that jump right?!" Alex asked me in disbelief.

"Yeah! But it was bloody fantastic!" I shouted and we continued having fun riding down the mountain.

"This is so much fun yo-!" Alex started to say as he looked over his shoulder to us but was cut short by hitting the barricade. He fell forward off the bike and landed in the dirt on the other side of the barricade. We all hurried over to him to see if he was okay.

"Oh shit," I said as I jumped off my bike and over the barricade, ready to give him medical help.

"Alex!" ZhenZhen shouted as we all surrounded him, "Are you okay?"

"Yo, is he dead?" Dariush asked and I slapped the back of his head.

"No he's not dead you twat!" I said to him. He looked like he had just regained consciousness as he groggily opened his eyes, but there didn't seem to be any serious injuries. So I stood up and walked over and leaned on the barricade waiting for him to get up.

"Alex? You okay?" Gabriel asked as he crouched down in front of Alex and next to ZhenZhen.

"You okay?" ZhenZhen asked him again as he sat up but didn't respond. He was staring at something over the mountain edge and as I followed his gaze my jaw dropped in shock.

ZhenZhen was the next to see what he was looking at, "Holy shit.." She said.

"Yeah like holy.." Dariush said not realising what everyone was now looking at until the end of his sentence, "shit.."

It was Los Angeles, except it wasn't. It had almost been completely destroyed. Sky scrapers had fallen, smoke was everywhere in the air all around it from explosions that you could still hear, surrounding it like a dome. There were more jets and alien ships still flying around everywhere fighting, causing more destruction and chaos every second. The more you looked, the more damage you could see.

"Is that where we're going?" Dariush asked us with a shocked and scared voice.

"Yeah.." I responded.

Well shit.

>*< >*< >*< Time Skip >*< >*< >*<

We rode as fast as we could the rest of the way down the mountain to the city in silence, only hearing each other’s ragged breathing as we pedalled, the beating of our racing hearts, and the distant but ever growing sound of explosions and gunfire coming from the city. When we got there we slowed to a stop, got off our bikes and walked them down the streets of a destroyed Los Angeles. All the streets were covered in trash, broken parts of buildings, concrete, dirt, even the nose of a fucking plane was on one of the sidewalks. There were cars, buildings and debris on fire and there was smoke everywhere, filling every inch of our lungs making it hard to breathe. We could still hear the explosions and gunfire coming from a curtain area of the city but it grew louder as we got closer.

When we reached the end of a street Dariush broke the silence that we had been walking in, "There," he said, pointing to a police station a few burning buildings away.

As we walked faster towards the station Dariush spoke again, "Man this place is trashed," he said stating the obvious.

"Looks empty," Alex said.

We walked towards a large tree that was planted in front of the station and Gabriel started to talk, "Guys, I don't think... nobody's uhh..." We all stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"What?" Dariush asked him confused at his sudden stutter and slightly agitated.

Gabriel took off his helmet and looked down at his feet, "You guys go ahead. I'll just stay back and watch our bikes."

I was slightly confused by his words. Thoughts of why he wouldn't want to go into the police station rampaged through my head. Maybe he's done something bad or broken a law or something, he could have a relative that worked here and maybe passed away or didn't like, or maybe he just didn't like police stations, I don't fucking now. But I'm pretty sure it's probably because he's gotten in trouble with the law, it seems like the most obvious explanation. But for some reason these thoughts made my stomach flutter and my curiosity spike. I didn't like it.

I came to the conclusion that it was because he's gotten himself in trouble by the police before so I just went with it. I smiled, "Okay," I said and propped my bike up against the tree and putting my helmet on the handlebar, "You touch my bike and I will kill you," I threatened him and began to walk into the station.

I wasn't a big fan of walking into here either but because of all the shit I've done, I basically live here. I know the place like the back of my hand I've been here that many times. But since everyone was evacuated I was guessing that no cops would be in here so I was a bit relaxed.

But Dariush had to be a dickhead and make the situation harder than it needed to be, "Wait, What?" He asked, "Oh yeah because the aliens want to jack our mountain bikes," he said with sarcasm basically dripping from his mouth.

"No because there could be looters that might take them," I defended Gabriel, "and with a dirt bike like mine they wouldn't think twice about taking it."

"Yeah, someone should stay and watch," Alex said looking to Gabriel.

He looked between the three of us and sighed, "Whatever man," Dariush said and dropped his bike.

We walked into the deserted police station and began searching the place. It was completely dark because the power was out but other than there being no one here and the power out, everything looked normal which was kind of weird considering the damage that's been done to the rest of the city.

I was at the front of the group since I knew this place so well and led them into the main office at the back of the entry and waiting area, where the office lead to a meeting room, more smaller offices and a cell large room. I ignored the conversation the others were having and walked straight into the cell room to check if the cops had left anyone there, but and what I saw almost didn't surprise me at all. Almost.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Louey Pooey," I said as I walked around the cell and faced the man sitting on the metal bench inside it.

The figure stood up at my sudden entry and walked over to the cell bars into the light. He was an ugly piece of shit I had to admit, but the fact that the cops had left him here instead of evacuating him when there was an alien invasion happening right outside was actually quite funny.

"Lydia.." He growled, "What the fuck are you doing here you little bitch?"

"Oh you know, just walking by. Thought I might come for a visit to see who the cops had left to die by the aliens and guess who I found?" I said smiling innocently which only made him angry.

"Lydia! Who are you talking to?" Alex asked as he walked into the room not noticing Lou until he came and stood next to me. He yelled in fright at the sight of an angry man glaring at me through cell bars and it just made me smirk.

"Hey there kiddo," Lou said to him, hiding the hatred for me as he talked to Alex. He was probably going to try and get him to let him out, but there was no way in a million years that I would let that happen.

"Who is this?" Alex asked me.

"This Alex, is what I like to call a Sewer Rat. An Ugly, smelly creature that survives by feeding off scraps and backstabbing his friends and allies," I told Alex not taking my eyes off Lou.

"We were never friends you stupid bitch," He snapped at me, not caring anymore about Alex being in the room.

"No, you’re right. We weren't friends. We were basically family," I spat the last part with pure hatred, "And you, like any other pathetic wanker, had to go and stab me in the back, both literally and metaphorically. You betrayed us. You betrayed me. And you ran away like the coward you are before I could rip you to shreds."

Dariush was walking into the room now, looking frantic and rambling on about something that he found in one of the offices, but he didn't notice Lou until he stood next to me like Alex did, "Oh shit!"

"Who are these kids Lydia? New members of your pathetic excuse of a gang? Or just some kids that you've manipulated and are going to ditch the second you don't need them anymore?" Lou asked me and my body stiffened.

"Gang? What gang?" Dariush asked making Lou's facial expression turned from anger to surprise.

"You haven't told them.. have you?" He asked me.

"No, I haven't but it doesn't matter because they have nothing to do with it, any of it. So shut your hole before I cut your fucking throat open and you bleed to death," I snarled at him.

"Well it looks to me like you'll bleed out before I would," He said nodding to my stomach wound. I looked down and saw that blood had already managed to leak though the thick layers of bandages and onto part of my shirt and shorts.

Shit. I must have gotten a huge adrenaline rush from doing that awesome jump on the road that I didn't even notice that it had started bleeding again. I hope the stitches haven't broken and it hasn't opened back up, but now that Lou had brought my attention to my wound the pain started to come back and I slightly winced.

I put my hand on top of my wound and looked back to Lou, "I'm fine you stupid shithead," I said but I could see Alex and Dariush's concerned looks that they gave me out of the corner of my eyes.

"You don't look fine. I mean your face is almost completely white, you've got sweat dripping all over you and you can barely even keep your eyes open. From those symptoms I'm going to take a guess that you got stabbed, you stitched it back up but it didn't work, it's infected and you've lost a tone of blood because even though you've bandaged it it's still bleeding. Am I right?" He said with the biggest grin.

I didn't answer him though, I only glared at his ugly face. He grinned wider at my reaction and looked over to the boys, "What's your name kid?" He asked Dariush.

"I ain't telling you shit," Dariush said, "If Lydia hates you than I ain't saying nothing bitch."

"This must be the dickhead of the group if he's too scared to talk because of you. So what did you do to him this time? Have you beaten him? Broken some of his bones? Cut him? Threatened to kill his family and friends? When are you ever going to show some kind of compassion or love to anyone Lydia? Because if you think about it, you're basically a heartless monster. You should try and find yourself a guy," Lou said to me with a wink at the end.

My breathing was getting faster and heavy as I began to panic and rage with every word that came out of his filthy mouth. Lou always managed to find a way to get into my head and I hated it. No one else affected me with words like this mother fucker did and it made me want to rip his head off because he knew what it did to me. He knew exactly what buttons to press and he knew every reaction each button would give him when he pressed it. I hated it, I hated him and I hated myself.

I was ready to beat the living daylights out of him when suddenly ZhenZhen walked into the room, "What's going on?"

"And there's a third! Wow Lydia! I didn't think you would stoop this low after everything you've done back at school." Lou exclaimed and chuckled.

"Shut. the fuck. up." I growled at him through gritted teeth as I clenched my fist at my sides.

"Who is this man Lydia?" ZhenZhen asked.

"He's a nobody. A disgusting piece of shit that beat and raped the kids at my school because he was a senior and he thought that he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to us!" I stormed over to the cell, grabbed the collar of his shirt and smashed his face against the bars of the cell, "You're a disgraceful cockhead that only thinks and cares about yourself and your horny ass dick! You tricked me and everyone else in believing that you were our friend, our family, and then you suddenly beat, killed and raped us whenever you fucking felt like it!"

Gabriel suddenly ran into the room, worry plastered onto his features and as he looked at the scene in front of him, he began to worry even more, "What's happening? Why-"

"Get out of here Gabriel!" I shouted to him, not taking my hate filled eyes off of the man in front of me.

"Lydia-" he began again.

"I said get the fuck out of here!" I shouted even louder this time.

"I think we should all go," ZhenZhen said and she pulled the boys out of the room so it was just me and Lou.

"So I was wrong. You can feel compassion. Turns out I didn't completely fuck you up," He said and I knew what he was talking about but I was never going to admit it, especially not to him.

"Oh you fucked me up alright," I snarled at him, "And because of how fucking fucked up you made me I bet you can guess what I'm going to do to you, can't you?"

"What? You gonna fuck me and beat shit out of me like I did to you and the rest of that pathetic school?" he said.

"If I were you I'd savour these last few minutes you have a fucking dick," I said and I pulled out one of my knifes from my jacket.

"Let's have some fun shall we?"

>*< >*< >*< Time Skip >*< >*< >*<

When I walked out of the cell room and out of the police station I saw the others standing at the tree with our bikes. They were having another argument and were all shouting at each other. I could here every single word that they each said and it made my stomach twist inside me when I realised what the argument was about.

"She's insane!" Dariush shouted.

"We can't just leave her," Gabriel said.

"She's the best chance we have at surviving," Alex said.

"Yeah?! Well from the sounds of that man screaming in extreme pain, I'm pretty sure she just killed him!" Dariush shouted.

"But did you hear what she said about him?!" Alex shouted, "She said that he raped and beat her! Even worse she said that he did it to other kids too!"

"Well it explains why she's fucked up!" Dariush shouted.

When I heard Dariush say that last part I froze in place as my feelings hit me like a brick wall. ZhenZhen had realised my presence and silenced the boys and they all looked at me. I stopped had few metres away from them and stared at each of their faces. Gabriel had missed the scene in the cell room so when he heard Alex say that I was raped and beat by Lou his face turned pale in shock and his jaw dropped so low I thought it was going to touch the ground. Dariush looked absolutely terrified at this point and was shaking in fear at what I would do to him after hearing what he had said about me. Alex looked both scared and concerned and ZhenZhen had a pokerface on so I couldn't read her expressions or emotions very well.

I looked down at my feet and started speaking, "If you guys don't want me to come with you anymore I understand," I said and sighed, "I know that you guys think I'm some insane dangerous killer and to be honest I'm starting to believe it myself but.. but I understand if you don't want me to come with you and I promise I won't hurt you or anything if you do because I understand why you wouldn't want me with you."

I waited for their replies and when none of them spoke I felt tears begin to gather in my eyes but I tried my hardest to push them away, "Please say something.."

"Is.. Is what that guy in the station said true?" Alex asked, "Is all the things you said true too?"

I nodded my head in confirmation, "I've been through a lot in my childhood. I've had unspeakable things happen to me and I done horrible things that no child should even have to think about doing and I'm not proud what I've done, if anything I wish I could take it all back and die before any of it happened." I said and a stray tear ran down my cheek, "Because if I had the chance to take it all back and start over I would," my voice cracked and I wiped away the tear on my cheek tying even harder not to let any more of the bastards slip through.

I closed my eyes and hugged my torso, "So it's fine if you don't want me-"

I was suddenly cut off as Gabriel attacked me with a massive bear hug. He squeezed me tightly and I brought my hands away from my torso and wrapped them tighter around his waist as I put my head in the crook of his neck and began to sob. God I've wanted this for so long, to feel the comfort of another person, to hug someone and never want to let go, to cry on someone's shoulder as they held me in their arms and comforted me. It felt so good to finally feel some of the things that I've wanted to feel for most of my life and to not even care that I was showing them so much emotion and vulnerability.

Alex then walked over and hugged both of us in a side hug on my right, then ZhenZhen joined on the left and then Dariush joined where ever he could fit. I cried for what felt like hours until I calmed down and after a moment of silence and we were all just hugging, Gabriel whispered into my ear, "We would never leave you Lydia, no matter how bad your past was and the things you've done. We would never leave you. I would never leave you." And with those words I started to cry again, making my stomach fill with agony and pain.

After another long moment of silence as I cried, I finally calmed down again and pulled away from the others. I sniffed and wiped away the tears on my face as I looked at them, "thank you.." I said.

"No problem," Alex said.

"Not to be mean or anything but we should get moving," ZhenZhen said to us, "We need to get that key to someone as quickly as possible." We all nodded in agreement and got back on our bikes and put our helmets back on.

We rode further and further into the city looking for anyone that was still here so we could give them the key and then head to safety away from the aliens. We rode in silence listening to the sound of explosions and gunfire that were so loud we all jumped every time we heard it and smelling the horrid smoke that surrounded us. We occasionally starting small conversions here and there but not talking for too long before it went silent again.

I was riding at the back of the group, thinking about the things that had happened at the police station when Gabriel slowed down and came in line with me.

He looked at me with concern in his brown eyes, "are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"No." I responded, not looking at him, "I never have been... but I've survived this long, might as well keep going."

"What did that man do to you?" Gabriel asked me making my blood boil and my mood worsen. Did he not listen to anything that was said outside that police station?! The fucking prick had the decency to ask me that question when he had already been told that I was raped and beaten by a man that they all know that I killed back in the police station. Maybe Dariush was right back at the bike shed, maybe he was just plain old fucking dumb.

I wanted to push him off his bike and into the alley wall, but I just huffed angrily, "The fact that you're asking me what he did to me when you were clearly told that he raped and beat me, is a real dickhead move."

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mea-" He started but I cut him off.

"Save it. I don't need your pity," I snapped and he went quiet again. We rode in silence again for another few minutes before he spoke again.

"You know you can trust me right?" Gabriel said to me and my expression turned even grimmer.

From all the lies he's told us, I didn't, but it wasn't just that. I've always had trouble trusting people and letting them get close to me but that was how I survived most of my life. I've only trusted myself but sometimes I didn't trust myself, and when I did trust someone, they took advantage of it and hurt me. After that I never trusted anyone, not even my gang. But these guys had somehow managed to break down some of my walls without even trying and even though I've shown them weakness I still didn't trust them. I know that I have way more secrets and have told way more lies to more people than he has but it was different somehow and I just didn't trust him. I wanted to, but I didn't.

When I didn't respond to him he rode closer to my bike and put his left hand on top of my right that was resting no my bike's handlebar, "you can trust me Lydia," He said, but I just frowned and sped up to go further ahead, letting his hand slip from on top of mine, still not looking at him.

As we rode further and further into the broken city, ZhenZhen decided to brake the awkward silence that we had suddenly come to be riding in, "How is your watch still working after the pulse?" She asked Alex as we turned down a dark alleyway full of who knows what.

"It's not electronic, it's mechanical," He answered and brought his left wrist off the handlebar and over his right arm to show her it the best he could in the awkward position he was in, almost crashing into the wall in the process.

"Yo. Watch out," Dariush said to Alex from behind them and he steadied the bike again.

"It was my dad's," He said continuing his conversation with ZhenZhen, "He uhh.."

"Gave it to you?" she asked cautiously.

"..Yeah.. He gave it to me," Alex said but from all the emotion in his voice, told me that he was lieing but the emotion also told me that something bad had happened and it wasn't just given to him by his dad. I frowned sadly and felt bad for Alex. He didn't deserve anything bad like losing a parent, he was too much of a cinnamon roll.

After what happened at the police station, my mood had dropped from 'normal bad ass emo' to 'sad and depressed cow' in a matter of seconds. I never showed this much emotion to people before and the fact that I was currently making them think that I'm some depressed kid with the fucked up childhood, wasn't a good thing. In fact, it was a horrible thing and I need to get a grip and show them my strong side because power didn't come from weakness, fear did, and if they didn't fear me then I had no chance of having their respect. I needed their respect if I was going to survive this insane situation.

While I was mentally scolding myself I could faintly hear Dariush complimenting Alex on how good he was at riding his bike. I had to admit, it was a nice to hear Dariush being kind and supportive for once instead of being the spoilt rich dick he usually was, but at the same time kind of weird and I mentally cringed. As we turned the corner and emerged from the alleyway out onto the sunlit and smoked filled street, three large speeding green cars almost ran us over.

"Oh shit!" I shouted as I fell off my bike onto my wounded side and I hissed as another wave of pain went through my body. My bike had fallen on top of my legs, trapping me underneath and as I used my arms to lift the bike up and crawl out from underneath it, I shoved my helmet off and gabbed at my stomach wound, looking around for the others.

They had jumped off their bikes and ran out into the middle of the street to try and get whoever was driving the cars that nearly killed us, to stop. I quickly got to my feet and ran over to them, yelling for them to shut up, when suddenly a voice filled the air.

"Stay where you are! Do not move!" It yelled at us from behind, making everyone but me freeze.

On instinct, I quickly spun around, grabbing my gun from my leg holster and aimed it at the person closest to us. When I got a good look at the person I had my gun aimed at I tensed up. He was a fucking military soldier, most likely a captain and there was also a whole army force stationed behind him.

Well fuck! This was just great! The fucking military was here! I'm so fucking screwed!

"Put down the gun Grizzly Queen and surrender yourself! If you do that, than we might let you live!"

CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6

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galloperthompson · 3 years ago

Text

Great things star stable did on the tours:

-jokes

-references

-the legend that the demascus mines were originally named the Damascus mines to trick jon jarl, who wanted Damascus steel for his weapons and was apparently too clueless to realize Damascus steel (like all steel) is made, not mined, and it wasn’t made outside of Asia

-the image provided by the story of Gunnar Thrymson lying to the Jarl about this

-sick burn of jack goldspur

Horrible things star stable did on the tours:

-making me visit the jarl’s tomb

-changing game lore once again, only this time it’s all the established history of Jorvik that they’re flouting

-like literally despite mentioning the four chambers in the Jarl’s tomb during the tour, all the information given in the quests that lead to opening two of them is completely disregarded

-new information is either contradictory in itself, immediately followed by contradictory information, or just generally spoiled by aforementioned contradictions casting doubt on all tour information

-amusement at the demascus mine story immediately followed by realization that the canonicity of galloper’s real name is in doubt now more than ever

-compensating for the mislabeling of jon jarl as a Viking by making him the “first king of modern Jorvik” instead of the “discoverer” of Jorvik

-moving the first Scandinavian settler arrivals from the 13th century to the 11th century, and then referring to the settlers as Vikings despite the Viking age ending in the mid 11th century, casting doubt on the claim that these settlers were Vikings, and ultimately fixing nothing about the original mistake

-acting as though jon jarl was descended from the original Viking settlers, then in the same breath claiming he was the one to wreak havoc on Jorvik (despite Vikings being infamous for being shitty people?? Why would they wait around for 200 years before brutally taking over?)

-literally, LITERALLY this information was worked with two weeks ago with the quiz trails; “what year did jon jarl arrive on Jorvik?” had the answer “1218”

-why the hell did you decide to do this star stable??? When I said “the lore changes with each weekly update” I was joking. It was not an invitation to prove me right or a suggestion to legitimately start changing the lore each week

-no substantial information is given on these first “Viking” settlers of Jorvik

-Conrad slander, calling him crusty and stubborn

-referring to Jarlaheim as the jarl’s palace and the old capital city within 2 sentences, possibly in an attempt to remedy the jarl’s missing castle situation, while also trying to preserve the established history of Jarlaheim as “the walled city”

-claiming jon jarl was a king despite his title being jarl, and not specifying if or when his title changed from jarl to king and why he is still known as Jon Jarl (no seriously do they think “Jarl” is his last name instead of his title?)

-slandering Governor Gareth without context when context is sorely needed, since the claims made on the tour disregard the backstory they gave him (which was presented as objective fact, and established during quests referenced in the very same tour where they slander him)

-if marchenghast castle was not built by jorvegian royalty, why is the road to it (still) named “old king’s road”?

-the part about Aideen’s whisper requiring a journey to pi’s “backyard” where the pandoric crack was, instead of the canyon itself? Why?

-mention of ydris but no slander of him? shameful

-attempting to mix game lore and the game’s history; commendable effort, but in a tour that seeks to destroy the game lore, muddying the waters isn’t helping. The good-time-ruining content of the tours kills any joy I might’ve felt

-feeble attempt at explaining the pass to wildwoods being out in the open; confirming it was used in the past, which destroys the idea presented in the wildwoods quests of the pass being secret and hidden; again not fixing the original problem at all, and in fact creating more problems (hmm..I’m sensing a pattern)

-making me wish I worked at this company solely to fix all of this

-no galloper mention despite bringing up the living pumpkins from the halloween event (come on, his legend is part of the history of goldenhills. Or is that in doubt now too)

-making me grateful for no galloper mention by making these tours so awful

-placing historical dates relating to Jon Jarl and Galloper Thompson in doubt

-placing these dates further in doubt with the proclamation that Jorvik Stables’ first stablemaster was appointed 700 years ago, when all other information suggests it was closer to 800 years

-giving me hope that maybe the 700 years is used because it’s not quite 800 years yet, and the old information is still in play [edit: it did say “over 700 years ago”, not just “700 years ago”, but my point still stands]

-mentioning Linda, bringing her good name into this shitshow

-creating an environment so filled with casual disregard of established concepts that I was willing to accept saying Steve’s barn was yellow as just another falsehood presented as fact

-immediately crushing my spirit with the addition of “wait it’s red now?”, practically confirming my suspicion that all this was intentional and not a mistake

-referring to the southsilver waters as a “river”, instead of using the correct term: strait

-making me seriously consider sending a strongly worded email to star stable about this whole thing

#there’s a fucking read more because of the sheer amount #sso #star stable #star stable online

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coping-via-clint-eastwood · 3 years ago

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CSI Characters as Ancient/Medieval Fantasy Warriors (title is tentative)

I WROTE THIS ALL IN ONE SITTING!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???????

*ahem* This is speculation about what powers and skills the CSI characters would have if they were warriors in an ancient/medieval fantasy setting, amongst other things. This was probably inspired by my recent wallowing in medieval fantasy (specifically Songs of War {if you don't know what that is, it's okay}), and I thought, why not entertain the idea? And after writing it out, I can say that it was fun toying around with it. If this inspires anybody to add on anything, or write fanfiction, or whatever, by all means go ahead.

@addictedtostorytelling @bartramcat @buildinggsr @davesdude80 @dobbyofearth @fandomismymiddlename @originalpinkranger @panchostokes @space-helen @stokes-theorem

All the people written about here are humans with powers.

Gil: He has enhanced eyesight, and is a sniper archer. If I may draw your attention to the ending scene of season 4 episode 2, All for Our Country:

Bonus shot because it reminds me of his Will Graham days:

He is canonically a deadeye. So, I am extending that to be a superhuman power. I'll put it this way: he can aim and shoot at the same target a contemporary sniper with a scope could; he does not require (or have, for that matter) a scope. Because he is not so able as his younger teammates, so he cannot be in the direct area of battle and fend off opponents. But he has excellent eyesight, so he hides up in a tree or on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the area or wherever is applicable, and shoots any targets he can. He uses a crossbow, since not as much strength is needed to pull back the cord as compared to a bow. He also has a light wooden staff which he uses to help him walk up inclinations. It's also his defensive staff; if an enemy manages to sneak up on him, he can point the staff at them and shoot a forcefield that will blast them back. But this is only effective at close range, hence why he has to use the crossbow for opponents further away. He wears a hooded cloak which is green on one side and a dusty brown on the other, so that he can camouflage himself, turning the cloak to whichever side he needs to match his surroundings. He is not the only one to wear a cloak however; Catherine, Ecklie, Jim, DB and Finn wear cloaks (more details when I get to each) as well to show they are of higher ranking, but only Gil's is hooded for practical purposes.

Warrick: His power is that he can jump really high. He can jump over a small hill and land on the ground on the other side. He's the one who helps get Gil to his perches if needed; he puts him over his shoulder and jumps, holding him with one arm and his war hammer in his other hand. He is strong enough to carry Gil. And Gil trusts him and is comfortable enough to let himself be borne in such a way, never struggling or crying out in fear when he is suddenly brought off the ground at such a high rate. In tandem with being able to jump high, he can strike his hammer on the ground when he lands and cause a quake. His hammer's enchantment depends on how high he jumped. On the ground, he swings his hammer at an opponent and sends them flying back (at a much greater distance than Gil's forcefield).

Bobby Dawson: He's the archer who is in the direct area of battle. He uses a small hunting bow, and also has a gladius in case any opponents manage to get close to him. He has enhanced reflexes, so he is able to turn around, draw weapons, and load and shoot his bow faster than normal.

Catherine: She is telekinetic. She does not use weapons because she prefers to have her hands free to gesticulate and help her focus on moving the objects she is controlling. Her cloak is a beautiful royal blue.

Heather: Mind control + reading minds + telepathy. And invisibility. Aside from turning the team's opponents against each other, mind control is useful for helping friends escape from dangerous situations; sometimes, it's easier than telling them what to do. She needs very strong concentration for her mind control, which is the ability she uses the most, so she makes herself invisible and keeps out of the way, but stays where she can see the person she is manipulating. Like Gil, she has the defensive staff in case anyone finds her.

Nick and Sara: They are what I like to call the speedster twins. It is very satisfying to wash them nyoom about and quickly kill any opponent in the path of their run. Typically, they start out standing next to each other at the same point, and then run on one side of the battlefield each. So they take out the opponents on the skirting of the battlefield. Sara has a cutlass while Nick has twin daggers.

Greg: He can talk to nearby spirits and ask them to help his team in the fight. With the power of this necklace that he has, he can conjure a protective invisible dome-shaped barrier around himself, which is invulnerable to any and every form of attack. Except if somebody were to dig their way up from below him of course. However, he has to stay in the same spot when he is inside this barrier, and has to deactivate it if he wants to walk (or run or whatever) somewhere else. The spirit of the person who gave him the necklace follows him everywhere, and stays by his side on the battlefield to protect him from any opponents who manage to get close. Greg has a curved cleaver in case he needs to fight.

Al: Aside from being a healer, he can freeze time. Sort of. He can freeze the movement of anybody who is coming at him, no matter how many there are. He does not wield weapons. He has wooden legs (which are enchanted to be completely painless for him) and a staff, but without the power that Gil's and Heather's have. To heal someone, he just has to touch them, for as long as it takes for the wounds to completely heal. **I was thinking about making him have something to do with necromancy, but I thought that that's too much like Greg's power.

David: He is the other healer, and is the one who kills the people that Al freezes. He just makes them fade out of existence. It is completely painless, and that way they don't have any bodies lying around the healers' area. Also, while Al heals physical injuries, David actually cures illnesses. So he has to touch his patient for as long as it takes to eradicate the infection.

The two healers typically stay in one spot, ready to head out into the battlefield if any of their teammates are injured.

Archie: He is the cryokinetic guardian of Henry, Wendy, Mandy, and Hodges, who are not combatants. He does not use weapons.

Henry: He is a blacksmith, in charge of repairing the people's weapons, and making new ones if necessary. He also makes the arrows for Gil and Bobby.

Wendy: She is an enchanter who imbues weapons with offensive powers, such as the quake and blast effect on Warrick's hammer, or the enhanced sharpness of the speedster twins' blades.

Mandy: She enchants weapons with defensive powers, such as Greg's necklace, or Gil's and Heather's staves. She is also the one who made Al's wooden legs painless.

Hodges: While Al and David are physical healers, and while Wendy enchants weapons, Hodges is the one who restores the powers of other people. He is not really drained when he does it, but it is better for him to stay still and rest while other people fight. It works exactly how Al's and David's healing does.

These five people typically stay near the healers.

Jim: He can control the weather. That also means he can summon lightning. And hailstones. And rain (creatures that are made of fire or lava are susceptible to rain). Like Catherine, he has his hands free to focus whatever he's bringing down from the sky onto wherever his target is. His cloak is pitch black in colour.

Conrad: He can clone himself; up to five clones of himself can exist at a time. It's alright if they are hurt or killed; so long as he is still alive. He wields a scythe. His cloak is a really dark grey, almost black, but not really.

Morgan: She can fly. This is not a power which requires restoration. Since she does not use wings, she can fly in rain. She uses twin swords.

Sofia: She is a shapeshifter. But she can not only turn into other creatures; she can turn into objects like a boulder or something. In such forms, she is invulnerable to like, say, a fist striking her, but if someone were to try and blow her up, she would have to turn into something else and run away. You know those fire creatures I mentioned? If she turns into one of them, she can harness their powers. Basically, she takes on the abilities of anything she turns into.

Riley: She can turn into any of her opponents, whether she has killed them herself of if they are standing right in front of her. Heather would be aware that this in fact Riley (telepathy yo), and Riley will work together with the person Heather is controlling. Unlike Sofia, while she becomes the mirror image of someone, she cannot have the skill level of the person she turns into. She herself is proficient with a club; if she turns into someone who was a swordsman, she would be wield a blade as well as them, and will continue to use her own weapon. If she turns into one of those fire creatures, she might be able to use their fire, but she doesn't have as fluent control over it as the original person. In fact, it is much safer for her to not turn into such creatures.

Ray: He has enhanced strength, which enables him to rotate his huge double-headed battle axe about his wrist above his head. And by "huge", I mean that the stick is almost as long as him, and the blades are bigger than his head. The stick is also quite thick; it has to withstand the weight of the blades, and the impact with which it is struck. By "rotate", I mean Ray is able to hold the handle at the very base, and pivot it perfectly around.

DB: Teleportation. This son of a bitch randomly popping up out of nowhere? Yeah. His weapon is a really small but especially sharp dagger, easy to conceal, and a quick and effective killer. He appears, quickly pokes his opponent, and then teleports to the next one. He can teleport anywhere within his viewing distance; he has to be able to see where he is teleporting to to go there. His cloak is silver in colour.

Finn: She is pyrokinetic. Her cloak is typically orange, yellow or red, but it can change colours to whatever fire she is wielding, which includes green, blue, purple, white, and even black fire. She does not use weapons.

Additional idea: Gil and Sara are soulmates. But they were not fated from birth; rather, their soulmate bond formed when their connection deepened. Before they met, their soulmates could have been anyone else, or they could have gone without a soulmate for the rest of their lives. Even when they met and fell in love at first sight (I'm one of those who hc that they did; ymmv), they were not yet soulmates. It was when they really got to know and understand each other implicitly and became unbreakably steadfast in their connection, of their own accord, that their soulmate bond formed. The physical manifestation of it was when their soul marks appeared; Gil has a butterfly on the right side of his neck, close to the back of his neck, and Sara has a rhinoceros beetle on the underside of her left wrist. Being soulmates, they can heal each other and restore each other's powers. The most soothing times for them to do it is when they can lie down somewhere private and hold each other close.

When their marks first appeared, everyone kept congratulating them; there was a lot of friendly teasing from Warrick, Nick, Greg and Hodges. As for themselves, they remained passive until they were in the privacy of their bedroom. They sat down on the edge of the bed, embracing and leaning their foreheads on each other's, uncontainable smiles on their faces as they had a little heart-to-heart. They did not really have to vocalise much; they had always been able to understand each other with just a few words. Then, they leant back from each other, but remained close. Sara lowered her head and slowly, reverently kissed all over Gil's mark; he closed his eyes and let her do it, enjoying how it felt, moving his head to one side so that his skin on the right of his neck was stretched flat and easier to kiss. When Sara was done, they leant back again. Gil lifted Sara's wrist to his mouth and kissed all over her mark, with as much care and adoration as she had done his.

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tails-writings · 2 years ago

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Scar (Writing Prompt)

(Yeah, I’ve been super busy a lot lately with studying, so my writing is gonna be dropping off a lot for a while. But I managed to barely conjure something up.

This has been kind of on the unfinished side for a while as well because of some...drama going on between me and an..ex RP partner in it. This fic here does involve a character of that partner’s as well (and this fic is of course very highly shippy and very fluffy in nature because we did ship our characters very hard when we did used to RP) but...because of a lot of things going on it took a hard push for me to even finish it regardless.

This has to do with an old verse that used to be part of a group RP thing that had long since disbanded (and was the verse that I once originally created Conrad for a while back), the verse doesn’t belong to me or the ex-partner at all, as instead it belongs to a friend that I still keep in touch with. I might try to do write more things to get back to that verse again for things, but I don’t know.

(Of course, the feedback form is still up for people to submit to)

“Dear…you never mentioned you ended up with any scars…” Belle observed while tracing her finger along one that seemed to run along her fiance's right shoulder. She ended up stopping the massages she was giving to Conrad once she took notice of the mark, a small show of concern for him before resuming her inquiry. “What happened over those 5 years?” The scar laid right along one of the indiscernible scrawls of text that marked much of the encyclopedia CV’s body. Though the way the scar healed, it almost looked as if someone had tried to rewrite over top that small area of text a little bit on him.

Conrad couldn’t help the small sigh, feeling the weight of Belle on top of his back as she began to lay on top of him and get a little comfortable a bit, still feeling her finger trace along that scar as they both laid in bed. “I had a predicament with a rogue during a mission…” He muttered, though he knew if she was to find one of the other small scars he had she would ask about that as well. “The incident occurred 2 years ago, do you recall hearing any information at this base regarding a particularly troublesome knife-based CV?” He knew that it caused issues for multiple bases near where he used to be stationed before his transfer, but he did recall having to write up the reports to send to the other bases after his team’s encounter with it before as well.

Belle thought for a bit, there were such rumours of such a CV that she could recall, but the details were vague. “I think so, I think it was something the higher ups would know more of. Or maybe he was caught before even coming this far.” she admitted, burying her face into his back some and bringing her arms around him a bit the best she could, wanting to hold him tightly now. “Even if you didn’t know…I can say that our team did not apprehend him at all, he managed to escape during the time we were sent on the task to stop him.” Conrad continued to explain, he had been through worse instances so it wasn’t like trying to explain this incident was painful…not like other things he had been through…but it was still a reminder of the risks that their job entailed. “Regardless, his abilities involved being able to form and manifest physical knives from his hands, unlike other weapon-based CVs where the manifested weapon remains attached to them, he was capable of completely detaching them from his body to effectively utilize as a throwing weapon.” Though he did leave out the fact that the other CV’s accuracy was fairly good, while not as skilled as his own marksmanship with his firearms, the rogue was still dangerous nonetheless.

Either way, he expected she would ask about that, then again them both getting injured on their job was going to be inevitable. He just wished he had been more careful at the time. “At least the wound wasn’t too deep to cause permanent injury, but it was still enough to leave that mark..” Though he couldn’t help but become a bit self conscious about it, much like the text that his body bore. Just nuzzling down a little bit into the pillow, still not wanting to move lest she fell off of him.

Belle couldn’t help but give a small pout at that answer, it still didn’t answer much. She knew what it was he normally did during the few missions they both had back when they lived on the island. “That is not like you, normally you don’t go on the front lines.” She muttered back, her concern evident in her voice as well as she began to rub his shoulder some, trying to help him to relax a little bit.

The rubs did help some as Conrad let off a small, and content sigh. At least now she was finally here to help chase away his own pains and worries. “I know…but we were in a confined locale. There were no vantage points to allow me to maintain adequate view of the field with my rifle this time around, and also I was required to be part of the infiltration team into the bunker that he holed himself up in.” He only explained it a bit more, then again everything else that happened after that went faster than even himself could process. “The next thing I could notice once we had encountered the rogue was that there he was trying to take each of my team out, he did not succeed in taking any life, but the injuries were enough to impede our progress in maintaining his trail.”

Still, he would have to look for the files to see if there was any progress on dealing with that CV, but that would be once he finally obtained the clearance to do so at this base. He may have been a Syn back on the island, but being on mainland now meant that his prior rank was useless anyways. And though he didn’t make it up the ladder yet at the prior base, he would have to see just how possible it would be here.

Though there was something that she didn’t mention that he was surprised about, and thus he was a bit curious now as he finally spoke up again. “Are you sure that it doesn’t look odd? I always thought it did due to how that portion of text seems to look out of place with the rest of it now.

Belle couldn’t help the faint smile, planting a kiss near his neck, “No, It looks more like you tried to write your own addition to our story instead. Adding more of our future to it after surviving another mission.” He didn’t have to worry too much, he was still him to her eyes most of all, and thus something like this would not make any difference at all. “Though right now, I think you’ve gotten enough of a massage, how about making me your mission this time?” She teased a little bit, then again they did have a plan to enjoy the night together afterwards. There was a slight smirk on Conrad’s face from what she just said, knowing just what it was he promised to her regarding tonight as well. “I think I’ve already got enough of a ‘briefing’ now to be able to effectively carry this out, though you better prepare yourself.”

#Cellvation #Conrad Strasburg

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refinedbuffoonery · 4 years ago

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Looking Through A Window (3)

macriley married undercover au

masterlist.

Fun fact: the final scene of this chapter is part of my original brainstorm for this fic. The rest of the scenes I initially dreamt up won’t come until much later, so I’m thrilled to have at least one of them come early on in the story.

To Carrie and Anna, the lights of my life: I named the neighbor after you two. She’s annoying as shit and nothing like either of you, but I needed a name and decided if anyone deserves to have their name as an Easter egg, it’s the two of you.

*****

Despite the storm, Matty has the shipment of borrowed guns delivered to the Port of Houston in the middle of the night. While they eat breakfast, Mac and Riley study Matty’s excruciatingly detailed directions for navigating the port and finding their shipping crate. She certainly didn’t make it easy on them.

Riley leans back in her chair, looking around until her eyes land on Harley. “Time for you to earn your keep,” she says between mouthfuls of toast.

Supposedly, this is what Harley specializes in—sniffing out weapons. The dog should be able to confirm which shipping container the guns are stashed in without Mac or Riley having to check themselves. Theoretically.

Mac finishes his own plate of eggs and toast in a few ravenous bites. “Thanks for making breakfast.” He gets up to clear the plates and start rinsing dishes. After living with her for more than a year, Riley making breakfast is routine, but Mac still thanks her for it every day.

Living in the apartment together, they fall right back into their old habits. Mac wakes up early and goes for a run. By the time he returns, Riley is awake and making breakfast. After they eat, Mac showers while Riley goes on her own run. And so on and so forth.

While Mac was out this morning, he wove through the whole neighborhood, making sure it’s safe for Riley to go out alone. She can handle herself, but Mac has no delusions about the overall quality of men on the streets, and even though he can’t fix that, at least he can help minimize her chances of encountering creepy dudes.

Before they leave for the Port, Mac and Riley scour their car for a bug or any other surveillance equipment the organization might’ve hidden while they were inside the warehouse talking to Conrad yesterday. They find none. Thankfully.

Once again, they’re going in armed, and the weight of Mac’s gun feels just as foreign and unwelcome as it did yesterday. He tries not to fidget with it while Riley drives, but she notices his discomfort anyway. “You’ve got to relax,” she says. “All your squirming is stressing me out.”

“Sorry.” Mac stills, even though his whole body screams to put the gun somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

Once they arrive at the Port, Mac guides Riley through the maze of cranes and crates and warehouses until they find the one Matty had the guns stashed in—dark green and otherwise nondescript.

Unfortunately, there are multiple shipping containers that fit that description at the location Matty provided. As they get out of the SUV, Riley glances between the boxes nervously. “Uhh, which one is it?”

Mac doesn’t have a clue. “I guess that’s for Harley to tell us.” He looks down at the dog standing obediently beside him. “Find it.”

He releases the leash as Harley takes off like a rocket, sniffing each container and the surrounding area. She inspects more than half of them before sitting and looking back at Mac. He waits for her to bark, but she doesn’t. Whoever trained her clearly did so with stealth in mind.

“Do we open it to double check?” Riley asks.

Mac opens his mouth to say yes, but he doesn’t get a chance to answer before a muddy, dark-blue diesel truck parks beside their SUV. Conrad jumps out of the driver’s seat, accompanied by two younger men, wearing matching scowls and Carhartt jackets. He walks with that same entitled swagger, and a cheap smile spreads across his face.

“Mr. Turner!” Conrad exclaims, shaking Mac’s hand. His grip is too firm to be friendly. Stepping back, he sneers at Riley, acknowledging her just long enough to impatiently say, “Genevieve.” Mac doesn’t miss the way Conrad’s eyes drop to Riley’s chest, nor the way Riley bristles beside him, wrapping her jacket more tightly around her and crossing her arms to hold it in place. Mac clears his throat. “Sorry,” Conrad says, not sounding sorry at all, “but your wife is very attractive.”

Riley rolls her eyes so hard they nearly fall out of her head.

“Your order is this way,” Mac says, cutting off Conrad before he could make another gross statement, “Follow me.” Mac puts a hand on Conrad’s shoulder, squeezing hard as he steers the man toward the shipping container. Harley is still sitting beside it, waiting patiently, and Mac scratches her head with his free hand.

Riley whistles, a single sharp note that sends Harley running back to her side. Mac buries his relief that she’s not alone, although he’d still much rather the hulking bodyguards were closer to him than Riley.

Focus, Mac reminds himself. Riley can hold her own. Just get this over with.

Mac opens the container, revealing two nondescript wooden crates. Still sneering—at this point, Mac’s starting to think that’s the only expression Conrad is capable of—Conrad waves over his bodyguards, gesturing for them to open the crates.

For just a second, Conrad’s sneer edges toward a smile. Inside the crates lie exactly what he ordered: military-grade, semi-automatic rifles and enough ammo to kickstart the apocalypse. Mac’s gut churns. He hates this. He hates everything about this. He hates that he’s arming terrorists. He hates how these men look at Riley like dogs drooling over a steak. He hates that he can’t do anything about any of it, that he has no choice but to play along.

Mac wishes he could bury his feelings the way Riley does, locking them behind a carefully controlled mask. Instead, his linger just beneath the surface, waiting to make themselves known at the first available opportunity.

Counting backward from five, he steels himself to finish the game. Just as Conrad brushes a reverent finger down the barrel of a rifle, Mac chides, “We followed through on our end of the bargain. Did you?”

“Of course.”

One of the bodyguards pulls out his phone. In a deeper voice than Mac expects, he says, “We can wire the payment to your bank account right now.”

“Good. My wife will help you set that up.” Mac gestures to Riley, and the bodyguard walks over to her.

Conrad extends his hand, and Mac takes it, trying not to wince when his arm brushes his concealed gun. “Pleasure doing business with you, James,” Conrad says.

“I hope this is the beginning of a long and prosperous partnership.” Long and prosper? Who was he, Spock?

“Indeed. Welcome to the Patriots.” Conrad gestures for his men to start loading the guns into their truck. “Expect another order within the week.”

Mac doesn’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully he doesn’t have to, because Riley waves him over, apparently having finished her conversation with Conrad’s lackey. “I’ll leave you to it,” Mac says, then turns his back on the terrorists and rejoins Riley. On instinct, he reaches for her arm as he murmurs, “Are you okay?”

Riley tenses under his touch, but doesn’t pull away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good.” He said the same thing to Conrad just a minute ago. Good. But the word is light years different from before—soft and caring, not curt and vaguely challenging. Bozer pointed it out to him once, how he talks to Riley differently than he does anyone else.

Mac shakes off the thought. He can’t get distracted, no matter how much his mind only wants to think about Riley. Releasing her arm, he says, “Let’s get out of here.”

*****

Back at the apartment, Riley settles in on the couch to dig into the Patriots' bank records. By wire-transferring the money instead of paying them in cash, Conrad practically offered up the organization's entire digital footprint on a silver platter, at least to someone like Riley. She doesn't speak as she works, so Mac listens to the melody of keyboard clicks while he makes them each a grilled cheese.

Contrary to popular belief, he's not completely incompetent, although Bozer has nearly everyone convinced otherwise. Mac will never be able to cook something fancy, but he does make a mean sandwich.

He even spreads mayo on the bread, the way Bozer does, because Riley prefers it that way.

The sizzle of the sandwiches hitting the hot pan joins the keyboard clicks right as Riley announces, "I hacked into their bank records."

"What've you got?"

"From the look of it, the shell corp they used to pay us has only been around for four months. Before that, they must've either paid in cash or used personal accounts."

"That makes sense though, since the Patriots haven't been around all that long."

"That's what I thought at first, but come look." Mac does, leaning over the back of the couch so his head is right beside hers. Riley points at the screen. "The first three transactions were all big deposits, each one two weeks apart."

Frowning, Mac squints at the tiny numbers on the screen. "One hundred thousand dollars?"

"Times three deposits," Riley adds.

"Where the hell did they get that kind of money?"

"I don't know. The deposits were cash."

“Damn. Did you at least figure out who their previous arms dealer was?”

“Yeah.” Riley shifts, causing her hair to tickle Mac’s nose, and he brushes her hair to the opposite side of her neck without another thought. “Turns out their previous dealer has Mexican cartel connections, which explains why the Patriots only paid them twice. I’m guessing they found out about the cartel part and broke it off before they made a long-term deal.”

“At least they’re not complete idiots,” Mac mumbles. Tired of squinting, he leans closer to better see the screen.

Except now they’re cheek to cheek, and Mac suddenly can’t focus on the screen at all.

Riley twists to look at him, and it takes every ounce of Mac’s willpower not to glance at her lips. "Are you burning my grilled cheese?"

"No." He straightens, simultaneously disappointed and relieved by the space now between them. Mac shakes off the thought. He can’t keep getting distracted like this.

"Uh huh. Sure."

Retreating to the kitchen, Mac calls, "That was one time!"

*****

As expected, they don’t hear anything from Conrad or the Patriots the following day. Mac doesn’t know what to do with all the downtime on this op. There are plenty of books in the apartment, but he’s too restless to sit and read. He opens the fridge, more out of boredom than actual hunger.

They’re on day five of the undercover op, and it’s starting to feel an awful lot like quarantine. With nothing to do but hurry up and wait, hanging out in the apartment and doing nothing is starting to make Mac go a little stir crazy.

When Riley emerges from the bedroom wearing workout clothes, it’s clear she feels the same way. “I’m going for a run,” she announces.

“Want company?” He hopes she says yes. Anything to get out of the apartment for a while.

Riley unplugs her phone from the charger and slides it into her pocket. “No offense, but no.”

Dammit. Mac shoves down his disappointment. “None taken.” He closes the fridge. Nothing in there looks good.

“Tell you what,” she says. “After I get back we can go to the space museum, okay?”

His heart skips a beat at her offer. “Is it that obvious I’m bored?”

“Yes.” Riley gives him a pitying smile. “So do you want to go?”

Mac smiles. It feels like she just asked him out on a date. It’s not, but it feels like one anyway. Be cool. “What kind of question is that? Of course I do.”

“Okay then.” Popping in her earbuds, she walks out the door.

“Enjoy your run, muffin!” Mac calls, stealing Bozer’s go-to pet name for when he’s undercover with Riley. She reaches back inside to flip him off before slamming the door shut, and Mac chuckles. Riley really hates that nickname.

Now it’s just him, Harley, and this tiny apartment.

Resuming his search for food he’s not even hungry for, Mac opens the pantry, and Harley comes running into the kitchen. She must’ve learned the sound of the door opening since they keep the dog food in there. Harley looks up at Mac expectantly.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She whines, and her pleading expression reminds Mac of the wide-eyed look Bozer mastered as a kid while begging his parents for something. Neither are very effective. “You just had breakfast an hour ago,” he insists.

Harley glances at the open pantry, then back at him.

Mac doesn’t give in, but he does kneel to pet her instead, scratching Harley’s neck and ending up with a handful of hair. Frowning, Mac digs through every drawer in the kitchen in search of a dog brush. No luck. He checks the bedroom and bathroom, coming up empty once again. Who even organized this house? It makes no sense. His gaze lands on the laundry room door.

Ah.

Sure enough, there’s a dog brush on the shelf above the washing machine.

Leash and brush in-hand, Mac calls out, “Alright, girl. Let’s go de-floof you.”

Harley takes one look at the brush and sprints in the other direction.

Well this is going to be harder than Mac anticipated.

He ends up chasing Harley throughout the apartment, zig-zagging from one room to the next. Every time Mac gets close, Harley slips by, just out of reach. After the fourth time she sends Mac stumbling into the furniture after lunging for her and missing, he realizes what she’s doing.

Harley is playing him. This is a game to her. And, so far, she’s winning.

Mac stares the dog down, and she seems to narrow her eyes in response. “Challenge accepted,” he tells her.

This time, he knows exactly where to find what he’s looking for—peanut butter. He smears an unnecessarily large glob into Harley’s dog bowl, making sure she sees exactly what he’s doing. Harley’s stubborn, and does a good job of appearing not to care, but Mac has a hard time believing any dog would turn down peanut butter.

Harley, it turns out, is no exception.

She follows him to the door, and Mac rewards her with a few licks of peanut butter while he clips on the leash, careful not to let her eat so much that there’s not enough to last while brushing her. Despite Harley’s obvious enjoyment of the peanut butter, Mac is no fool. She let him win this round, no doubt about it.

He leads Harley down the stairs to the small lawn in front of the apartment building, where it wouldn’t matter if he left dog hair everywhere. The brush pulls away thick chunks of her undercoat with each pass, and it doesn’t take long for the lawn to look like something died there.

The peanut butter, unfortunately, doesn’t last nearly as long as Mac hopes.

Mac figures out pretty quickly that Harley does not like her tail being brushed; she turns away and tucks her tail and generally makes it impossible for Mac to reach it. He sits back on his heels, formulating a new strategy. “If I don’t brush your tail,” he says, “you’re going to look like a squirrel, and neither of us wants that.”

Harley’s ears prick at the word squirrel.

Mac tries again, and this time Harley lets him…sort of. It’s not perfect, but at least she won’t be leaving hair all over the apartment anymore—hair that he needs to vacuum, because Riley asked him to last night and he’d completely forgotten until now. Tucking the brush into his back pocket, Mac scratches Harley’s ears the way he learned she likes, and when she leans into his touch, Mac’s heart swells.

“Good girl.” He kisses her head, and Harley licks his chin in return. “See? We’re not so bad.” Mac sighs. “I know we’re not who you wanted, but we’re going to take good care of you.”

Riley made the same promise in the war room. Even if she doesn’t stay with them after the op, Mac will make sure Harley ends up with people who will love her for the rest of her life.

“I promise,” he murmurs into her fur, kissing her head again.

Mac startles when a feminine voice calls, “You could make a whole other dog from all that hair.” A middle-aged woman stands in the walkway, oversized blue purse on her shoulder and car keys in hand. She smiles at Mac. “I haven’t seen you before. Did you just move in?”

“Yeah,” Mac says, standing up. “My wife and I moved in this week.”

“Well, welcome. My name is Carrie Ann, and my husband and I live in apartment 317. Feel free to stop by anytime. I think you’ll like living here, though I must warn you that it gets pretty loud during football season.”

Mac nods. “Nice to meet you. I’m James.” He expects Carrie Ann to keep walking—presumably to her car—but she doesn’t, and Mac suddenly gets the feeling this conversation is about to be much longer than he wants.

“And who is this cutie?” she asks, directing her attention to the dog.

“This is Harley.”

Carrie Ann sounds like a squeaker toy, greeting Harley in a voice so high-pitched it’s almost inhuman and petting her without bothering to ask for permission. Harley eyes the woman warily but surprisingly sits still. “I love dogs,” she says at a mercifully normal decibel. “Sadly my husband is allergic.”

“That is unfortunate.” Mac shifts from foot to foot, eager to escape the small talk. He’s never really had the patience for it.

Carrie Ann, it seems, is completely oblivious to his discomfort. She prattles on, asking asinine questions about what he does for work, if he’s been to the coffee place down the street, and when she can meet his wife.

Mac doesn’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse when Riley appears in his peripheral vision, as if on cue. “Actually,” he says to Carrie Ann, “you can meet her right now.” Mac flashes Riley a wide, bright smile that she returns half-heartedly, chest still heaving after her run. Sweat glistens on her body, and a few wispy curls that escaped her ponytail are now plastered to her face. “This is my wife, Genevieve.”

Giving Harley a quick scratch, Riley stands beside him, close enough that Mac can feel the heat radiating off her body. Instinctively, he starts to put a hand on her back, but he quickly pulls away. She’s not wearing a shirt—only a sports bra and those stupidly tight leggings—and the intimacy of putting his hand on her bare skin is too much to handle. “Hi,” she says, completely oblivious to Mac’s internal panic.

Carrie Ann introduces herself again, and Mac is only half-listening while she and Riley chat. Riley’s so much better at small talk anyway.

He’s much too focused on how Riley grabs his shoulder to use him for balance while she stretches. She’s so casual about it, like she’s done it a million times before. His skin burns under her touch.

Mac wants to feel more of her, wants his whole body to feel like that.

Stop it, he chastises himself. Stop thinking about her like that.

He can’t.

Even after Riley lets go, the feeling lingers, and Mac can’t stop thinking about that too. She’s standing slightly in front of him now, almost as if she’s protecting him from their nosey neighbor.

“When are you having kids?” Carrie Ann coos. “An attractive couple such as yourselves would make such beautiful children.”

Shit. He and Riley never talked about that.

Before Mac can come up with an answer, Riley pulls his arms around her, a smile blooming on her face. She guides his hands to rest low on her abdomen. “We’re actually trying right now.”

Mac’s brain short-circuits.

He blushes, both at the casual intimacy of Riley wrapping herself in him and at the implications of what she just said. Pressing her body fully into Mac’s, Riley looks up at him, smiling like he’s her whole world, and Mac’s heart stops. He’s not breathing.

His whole body burns, and the feeling is so much more intense than he imagined just seconds ago.

Alight with mischief, Riley’s dark brown eyes draw him in, and suddenly Mac is picturing Riley with that exact same expression while wearing far less clothing.

Mac thinks he might die from spontaneous combustion.

You are so beautiful, he barely stops himself from saying. His blush deepens as he’s snared in the mental image of him and Riley doing said “trying.”

Their neighbor has the audacity to laugh. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it, Genevieve. Your husband looks like he’s ready for another round.”

That makes it worse. So much worse. If he doesn’t spontaneously combust, then he’ll definitely die of embarrassment. It’s not how he wants to die, but it’s better than explaining his reaction to Riley. Because she’s going to ask him about it. Mac knows this—knows this like he knows grass is green and gravity is what keeps his feet on the ground.

As soon as Carrie Ann leaves, Riley does exactly that. She extricates herself from his grasp, putting her hands on her hips and furrowing her brow the way she always does when she knows something’s up. “Are you okay?” she asks.

Mac’s voice is strained as he replies, “Yeah. I’m good.”

He is not good. He is definitely not good.

And Riley knows it.

This op feels like all Mac’s worst nightmares coming to fruition. Simultaneously.

Riley can’t know. Her knowing would ruin everything—their friendship, their work, their trust. Mac can hardly look her in the eye. How is Riley supposed to trust him when he’s secretly thinking about her like that? He’s her friend; he’s supposed to protect her from guys who want her like that, not become one of them.

But god does Mac want to be one of them. Not one of them, he corrects himself. The only one.

He’s screwed.

~ Tag List ~ Want to be added? Send me an ask.

@angelinanao

@annmariestuff

@dreambelievergeek

@emilyscotson

@erika-amber

@fandomsilovewithoutshame

@fangirlfreak08

@g3svv

@hellishrose

@holbytlanna

@i-cant-think-of-a-name-15

@justaghostmonument

@losingitovermacriley

@macrileyedits

@multi-fandomshipper101

@mylifequotesshowallofthem

@nikki-1607

@orange-cat-vet

@penny114

@redjedistarfighter

@sxrein

@tall-tanned-tattoo

@thecarrieonokay

@tom-hunter-summah

@whatsabex

#beth writes #macgyver #macriley #macgyver fanfiction #angus macgyver #riley davis #mac x riley #looking through a window au

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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 1 year ago

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Trimax Thoughts Vol. 12 Pt. 2

Second part of my stream of consciousness let's goooooo

There's some kind of irony in Knives' assault leading directly to humans becoming increasingly more aware of the Plants' sentience and attempting to communicate with them - now, after he has thrown it all away, thinking it would never be possible. You could still say that the humans are doing this out of desperation (true!) but it's interesting that more people are coming around to the idea of communicating with them over the idea of "acceptable casualties and thus "dehumanizing" them (for lack of a better term) further.

Sorry I'm not sure I have anything to add but the whole story about the village gives me a lot of thoughts that I will be chewing on. "How little we know" <-our experiences are limited. I think this is the crux of it, isn't it? We spend the whole story emphasizing the mystery of Plants and the lack of understanding that humans have, but other humans can be just as much a mystery if we are not willing to find a reason for their actions - which may or may not be justification. If you don't, it's easy to see things only through your own limited lens, to become judgmental and accusing based on your own standards of what righteousness is.

Yeah I knew someone was going to panic and attack. That is still human nature.

OMG HOME, MERYL AND MILLY INTERVENTION!!! Vash you and these people have just been saved by that personal kind of love (not the distant one) that you have avoided for so long.

Awww Meryl. "He didn't get to see me be epic!!!" I saw you be epic Meryl. I love you. (She wants to prove that she can help in a way that matters... but Meryl you already have. So much. Vash unfortunately just has serious issues with accepting help...)

"That's right. I'm not alone." <- CORRECT

Domina... :'(

Love the reversal here. We knew Domina for such a short time, and yet there's so much mutual respect between her and Chronica. Domina spent the time thinking about how collected and rational Chronica is, but here Chronica believes that Domina had the better judgement. (Fascinated by the impersonal wording here though - "salvaging the persona". Idk the language used around the Earth Independents is so interesting to me.)

:( nooooooo...

Heck yeah LIVIO!!!

Oh god he's so awkward 😂

Oh he's so fucking cool

Man. Knives sees that Vash is about to die and loses most of his resolve to kill him. There is a reason he keeps needing to obscure faces before hurting Vash - either his brother's or his own. I find it so funny that his solution is basically just "you know Vash you could just stop now, you can't keep this up" - not only because this was basically Conrad's intention with Knives, but also because. there is another solution. you. could also stop. ...but that won't happen. :/

Chronica entering the fused mass!!! So they really don't have a defined sense of self. Interesting... I have some thoughts on this but as always my brain is just screaming.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"You no longer have to burn out... in a reality that's too painful to bear." HHHHHHH

...lights... the resolve to continue only when the world goes dark and the glow of people still trying to live slowly break through it... (sorry needlessly dramatic there)

IN COMES LIVIO WITH AN ENTIRE SET OF DOORS AND THE WALL IT CAME FROM! (whoa he actually hit Knives omg...)

Elendira jumpscare. Where did she come from???

Ohhhh oh my god. This is intense ok. Chronica is on the warpath against Knives because of Domina. Legato intervened and has some. Weird weapon. I'm. Yeah. Vash is already well past his limit and... I need to think on this because he really does seem genuinely freaked out by Legato in a way he isn't with anyone else. Anyways. Elendira coming from nowhere to attack Livio. Hm. I'm sure this is going to go well. AHHHHHH

Oh!!! Finally Legato backstory???

Ah. Ok. Holy shit. That. Explains a lot actually. His reaction to those women at the beginning of the story, even though they were all going to die in the end.

Ok. Ok. I. Legato can actually control Knives' actions to some extent. It really is a full willingness to stand by his side that keeps him there. I mean I figured but still. And Knives... trusts him to do that???

God I just. He cut his hair. New hair, new outlook - being reborn. "Two people against the world". Two very lonely people. "I wanted to know him." "What's your name?" Wow. Ok this is so much. I feel like I need to go back and review all their scenes after I'm done reading.

Well. There are two more volumes. How will this wrap up. ?????

#storyrambles #trigun #trimax #trigunbookclub

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broughttoyoubytheletterf · 4 years ago

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I was just thinking about one of the narrative choices I really enjoyed in MSec.

So, I always low-key hated that we never got a real kidnapping or assassination story line focused on Elizabeth. Who doesn’t want that angst? It’s practically a trope in this kind of show for a reason.

But it makes sense thinking about how they approached and handled her character and the fact that she was a woman in a sexist world and specifically how woman characters (even and maybe especially powerful woman characters) are usually treated in mass media in regards to their desirability/sexuality/femininity.

They didn’t take the easy route when it came to those stories. The time she’s injured worst? When she’s trying to negotiate a world-altering peace deal between sworn enemies and she happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She isn’t targeted by a crazed fan who is obsessed with her sexually or a religious fundamentalist who hates her because she’s a woman. She’s hurt because of the nature of her position, it has nothing to do to be with being a woman/the cliched (but still real) reasons people attack women.

Even when she does actually get a stalker, the stalker largely focuses on her children. Think of other shows where the creepy pictures she got of her children would instead have been a shot of Elizabeth half dressed in her bedroom window or some other semi-sexual photo. The person hacking her? Not someone with pictures pasted in his closet of Elizabeth, but a hired hand for a businessman who targeted Elizabeth for her immense political power and bold policy ideas. He didn’t care that she was a woman, he cared that she had the President’s ear. There’s not a single sexual reference anywhere in the stalking storyline. Again, think of how many shows effectively sexualize stalking. It’s a golden opportunity for shows to allow their powerful female characters to be treated as a sexual object in a way the in-universe supposedly doesn’t allow. (It’s torture porn in a way).

The one time she is specifically attacked because she is a woman, with Andrada, she immediately gets her comeuppance (she punches him in the face) and more importantly it is treated extremely seriously by everyone around her. Every single person is aghast that this happened and wants to take major action. Not a single staff member, even a one-off stand-in for a typical asshole, suggests that she let it go/it wasn’t a big deal/he just touched her ass/get over it. Neither Russell nor Conrad suggest that she overreacted. We know how in the real world there would be more than a few people who would be like “He barely touched you, it’s the price of doing business.” And most fictional universes would have made the assault more prolonged or had the thing Elizabeth had to deal with be that nobody was taking her seriously.

The kidnapping storyline? Given to her white male chief of staff.

Of course sexism exists in this universe and there are plenty of men who treat her as a sexual object, but it’s never the focus of the story. Think of the Moldovan general (and instead of unbuttoning her blouse to speak to him, she buttons it higher and puts on a jacket) or the press attention on her legs. Sometimes she uses her femininity/sexuality in a weaponized manner, say when she parades around in a new outfit to distract the press or jokes about flirting with the guy for the paperwork, but it’s extremely rare. In fact that off hand joke about how the guy has a crush on her and she’s not above using it stands out so much it serves more to highlight her desperation to improve things with Henry. It jars so much with how she usually acts.

When she’s President the people against her are obviously partially motivated by sexism (as we see pretty clearly laid out in the climax of that storyline and when Hanson slips and refers to her being a woman as the problem) but that’s never their outright stated purpose. The sexism is cloaked just the way it is in real life. It’s subtle and hidden, it’s never thrown in our face in that torture porny kind of way (not the best analogy, but media loves to make any kind of portrayal of sexism (or indeed racism or homo/transphobia) a huge production so it’s very very obvious).

I don’t know quite what I’m saying with all of this, I’m mostly just rambling, but fuck do I love me some Elizabeth McCord and Madam Secretary and it really shows that there were women writers and producers in charge.

#madam secretary #elizabeth mccord #i wanted to write fluff #instead i wrote meta #whoops #and don't get me wrong there is plenty of sexist crap they pulled in the show #cliches they used and such #but they mostly did this one thing right

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years ago

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Top 5 Characters in ANF Who Would’ve Made Better Love Interests Than Kate

There are a lot of mixed opinions on TWDG: A New Frontier. Some people like it, some don’t, and some people hate it so much that they refuse to accept as canon in the series. Extreme? Yeah, but hey, to each their own.

One thing that always bothers me when I do my replay of the series and this game is how much Kate is forced on us and even kinda punishes us for not romancing her. Like, no offense, but I’m not really interested in dating my sister-in-law, especially when her husband is actually alive, and even if she wasn’t my brother’s wife, she’s still not a character I have chemistry with, y’know?

And every time I play, I can’t help but think that almost anyone else in ANF would’ve been a better romantic interest for Javi over Kate, so I decided to make that the list for this week.

I would’ve loved more choices and for the game to actually show Javi’s canon bisexuality outside of a flirty line with Jesus that most players didn’t even pick. Just sayin’.

I do want to note that if you enjoy the romance with Kate and the relationship between her and Javi, that’s totally cool. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t ship them, y’know? I’m not here to try to change your mind or tell you you’re bad for shipping something I don’t because I’m not a dingus. You do what makes you happy, friend. :)

Besides, going off the stats, a majority of players romanced her so if anything, I’m the weirdo. This list is just for fun!

Before we start, just wanna say a big thank you to @pi-creates for helping out with this one! Really appreciate it! Now, here are my top 5 characters who, in my opinion, would’ve made better love interests for Javier than Kate.

5. Jane if the writers didn’t turn her into a dead potato

Oh man, you should see your face right now.

Wait, wait, stop! Before you click outta here in a huff with your “Kenny good Jane bad” grunts and come yell at me, just hear me out-- this entry is mostly a joke and the other four on this list are serious, okay?

I needed someone to put at #5 and after talking over some options and going back and forth.... Jane came up as a joke and then kind of made the list. Because really, I thought about it. I was like, “Would I really rather have dingdong “whatever happens stay out of it” potato face Jane as a love interest over Kate? Do I dislike Kate as an option that much?” and Pi and I talked about this for a while and yeah.... yeah I would actually.

When I said anyone but Kate, I guess I really meant anyone.

Trust me, I know, I’m just as surprised. I guess this really says a lot about my feelings for Kate. I didn’t know I disliked her this much either.

But for fun, let’s entertain this idea of the writers NOT pulling the ol’ character assassination on Jane and she made it to Richmond with Clementine and AJ because--

Jane: "One time I ate glass because I was drunk and thought it was sugar."

Javier: "I gambled on my own baseball matches and disgraced myself for money."

Jane: “Well, I dragged my little sister around with me after everything went to shit until I finally gave her what she wanted and left her to die.”

Javier: “I wasn’t there when my dad was fighting cancer and when I finally showed up, I was too late and he was already dead, then he turned and I bashed his skull in with a piece of wood.”

Jane: “I shot a dude’s dick off once.”

Javier: “Oof. I insulted an old lady’s cake and then shot her eye out.”

Jane: “I screwed a guy when I was supposed to be securing a place for some lady to have her baby and it resulted in the death of a teenage girl.”

Javier: “I screwed my brother’s wife.”

Jane: “...”

Javier: “In my defense, I thought he was dead.”

Jane: “That’s fair.”

Clementine, exasperated and emo: “Oh my god.”

....I mean... we might be onto something here, c’mon--

Okay, now onto the more legit entries.

4. Conrad

Now listen... I know, okay? I know. I know this one can be seen as a bit problematic considering the fact that Conrad, in his grief and anger over Francine’s death, held a gun to Gabe’s head and threatened Javi and Clementine.... plus Javi can literally murder him.

...and if you don’t do anything, Conrad with murder both Gabe and Javi and you’ll get a “YOU ARE DEAD” screen...

But we don’t talk about that because it’s not canon.

I know, but listen... I’m allowed to have ships that are difficult, as are you, and this is my list so... there.

If Conrad was a love interest that’s the route I’d take because I love him and I think a relationship between him and Javi could’ve been so damn good if properly done.

I just find Conrad to be an interesting character with a great arc that you only get to see if you don’t shoot him... which is what most people did, so they missed out. And like, I get it, I get why y’all shot him but maybe next time you play, you could consider not doing that?

So here’s the thing, Javi and Conrad share something-- they both lost loved ones because of shithead Badger. Javi is heartbroken after Mariana’s death, Conrad is devastated after Francine’s death, and they both handle that in different ways. Conrad becomes so focused on revenge and getting into Richmond, that he’s willing to threaten two kids in order to get what he wants but the thing is... that’s not him.

He even says so himself when you keep him alive-- he genuinely apologizes for what happened and will end up coming back to save Javi’s life in ep4. The potential for this to work as a relationship? It’s there... the only problem is that my confidence in the writers handling something like this is low, but let’s pretend they used their time and brains wisely-- ya got yourself a classic slow-burn friends to enemies to friends again to lovers romance and I’m here for it.

3. Paul “Jesus” Monroe

A lot of people really like the idea of Javi and Jesus and wanted him to be a romantic option, and I don’t blame them. They have chemistry in the scenes they share, and Javi can straight up flirt with him at the end of the season, and it’s super cute... of course, I wish we had more but Telltale was too scared to actually show Javi’s bisexuality outside of that one line, I guess.

But, anyway, this ship has a lot of sweet fanart that we love to see.

The only real reason he isn’t higher on the list is that Jesus is apparently already in a relationship at this point? I guess? From what I’ve been told? Listen, I don’t read the comics, I don’t watch the show, I just go off what y’all tell me. Plus, I believe Kent joked about Jesus having someone in each community during the commentaries so like... that’s a thing?

But let’s pretend that we throw that all out and Jesus is single and ready to be in a committed relationship with our boy Javier here. Like I mentioned above, these characters have a believable chemistry from the moment they meet and I think that has a lot to do with how charming they are by themselves. Those different charms work well together.

I also enjoy how much of a badass Jesus is when it comes to fighting off walkers. Javi has a lot of force that you feel with each hit, while Jesus almost has a lighter but just as impactful hit? I dunno if I’m explaining that well-- basically, Javi strong but Jesus can bounce off walls and do cool shit with weapons that feels effortless.

It’s a combo of fighting styles that I love, so these two fighting together? *chef kiss*

There’s also Jesus’ morality and how he wants to see Javier make “good” decisions, y’know? Sure, he gets pissy if you murder the shit outta Badger, which is mostly just Telltale showing you consequences, but I get it. He sees a lot of potential in Javi, more than Javi himself sees. And unlike certain characters, Jesus doesn’t completely hate you for doing something he doesn’t agree with to a frustrating degree.

If the game gave us the option to pursue Jesus as a love interest, he and Javier would’ve been such a badass couple with a sweet romance.

2. Eleanor

This one might come as a surprise to those of you who know my feelings about Eleanor... as in, I don’t like her. I never forgave her for the shit she pulled in ep4/ep5, and now every time I replay ANF and she shows up? Well, all I really hear is the hissing of a snake.

But, putting those feelings aside and looking at her from a different perspective, I do believe that she would’ve made for a better love interest than Kate assuming that if you romanced her, she wouldn’t rat everyone out to Joan, y’know?

Hell, most people believed that Eleanor was going to be the second option with Kate back when the episodes were coming out, and for good reason. The chemistry is there in the flirting, and their relationship could’ve been super cute.

Of course, Eleanor being a love interest also comes with things becoming awkward with Tripp, but c’mon-- as awkward as pursuing a relationship with your sister-in-law and never telling your brother after finding out he’s alive? Nah, I don’t think so.

Plus, for the first three episodes, Eleanor’s not a bad character. In fact, she’s pretty damn likable, she deeply cares for the group and wants to use her medical skills for good.

And you can tell through the dialogue that she and Javi are fond of one another... well, I guess until they shove the Kate thing in our faces and suddenly Eleanor’s like “oh, I thought you two were a thing??” like... Eleanor, we were flirting and I totally rejected all of Kate’s advances last episode I mean??

If she were a love interest, instead of turning on us, she would... y’know, not do that and instead help us out. We have a couple cute moments like back in ep1 where she’s patching Javi up but this time with a smooch? Super cute.

1. Tripp

Okay but seriously, why wasn’t Tripp a love interest?

He’s the perfect option. I just-- uuuughhhhh.

They already have a great believable bromance, so why not take it a step further and make it an official romance? Oh wait, that’s right, ya gotta kill off 95% of your determinant characters, I forgot. Sorry Tripp.

Well, fuck that. Out of all the other adult characters, Javi has the most chemistry with this man. I believe them more than I believe him and Kate. Sure, they got off to a rocky start the progression of their relationship felt natural with every episode.

That scene where Tripp is confiding in Javi about his feelings for Eleanor? And in turn, Javi can confide in him about Kate? One of my favorite scenes. I only wish there was an option to tell Tripp he can do much better and set the path for the romance.

Seriously, I’d probably feel more okay about the romance with Kate if Tripp were the second option. That way, Kate wouldn’t be so forced onto the player, the writers confirming Javi’s bisexuality on Twitter or whatever wouldn’t feel like they were trying to earn points without actually showing representation, and we would’ve gotten the beauty that is Javier and Tripp.

Also, then Tripp could make it to the end without dying that dumb death of his that no one likes.

And if I haven’t convinced you yet, then look at these swaps Pi did--

--and tell me they aren’t fucking perfect?? You can’t, because look at them.

Where’s my Tripp route, Telltale??

---

Honorable Mentions

-If I wasn’t sticking to just ANF characters, Luke probably would’ve made the list because that’s apparently a popular combo and I dig it. -Pudding... because Javi fucking loves pudding. -Honestly Max probably would’ve been a better love interest than Kate oof--

---

So, whattya think? Do you agree with this top 5 or nah? Do you have a favorite Javi ship? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you. :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Times Lee was the Absolute Best

#twdg t5f #twdg javi #twdg javier #twdg kate #twdg gabe #twdg mariana #twdg clementine #twdg tripp #twdg conrad #twdg eleanor #twdg jane #twdg kenny #twdg jesus

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yellowmagicalgirl · 4 years ago

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So I recently binge-read the Anarchy Dreamers webcomic, which is about a world where often when kids (and maybe some adults? I can't remember) die, they come back from the dead with supernatural powers and/or physical changes (but their nightmares can wreak havoc on the world). Those who come back from the dead are called both dreamers and dreamwalkers, though occasionally death isn’t neccessary. And now I kind of want to write an AU about it, so...

AU where the Reckless Club+Darci all got Saturday detention with Senor Uhl... however, there was a fire that would later be blamed on faulty electrical. Only Senor Uhl and Shannon made it out alive. The other seven students all made it out undead. Now, five of them are illegally fighting nightmares.

(Warning: below the cut there are mild Wizards spoilers)

Reckless Dreamers

Jim

Physical changes: he basically became troll!Jim but the changes are almost entirely cosmetic.

Powers: He can manifest armor and weapons.

Jim is one of the first of the seven of them to start fighting nightmares.

Claire

Physical changes: her blue streak turned white, and her irises turned purple. When she feels intense anger or fear, her hair turns fully white, her sclera turn black, and her pupils turn pale purple.

Powers: She can control shadows so they take other shapes. In addition, she (and up to two other people; she has to hold their hand) can use shadows to travel from one place to another.

Claire holds off on fighting nightmares for a while because of her mom, but when her own nightmare threatens Enrique she is able to fight back against it - something incredibly rare for dreamwalkers... then again, there could be an outside influence affecting her.

Toby

Physical changes: his teeth are now orange crystals; at least he no longer needs braces!

Powers: Gravity manipulation

Toby finds out that Jim is fighting nightmares, alone, and immediately decides that he needs to help his best friend.

Steve

Physical changes: he has small horns that probably look like either Draal’s or Gunmar’s

Powers: not much beyond enhanced physical strength

Steve started fighting nightmares soon after Jim and Toby started, but it was a while before he and Eli teamed up with Jim, Toby, and Claire.

Eli

Physical changes: if you shine a light at his eyes, his pupils will reflect green light

Powers: mild telekinesis, enhanced reflexes and dexterity

He has theories about the fire and the nature of nightmares, and he’s going to get answers, dammit!

Darci

Physical changes: Pink mole ears

Powers: Unknown

Darci doesn’t fight nightmares because it’s illegal and there’s people with actual training who are doing so, but she also won’t snitch on the others to her dad because she knows they’re trying to do the right thing

Mary

Physical changes: her hair is now more of a really dark red than a true black

Powers: Invisibility

Mary chooses not to fight, but she does casually help the others avoid detection

Other Dreamers

Blinky

Powers: He can make things combust

Physical changes: Four arms, six eyes.

Blinky is the school guidance counselor, and he’s been trying to get the Reckless Dreamers into his office to try and help them cope with their changes. He’s also trying to monitor Shannon to see if she manifests dreamwalker traits. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours of the day. He lives with his husband Arghamount in Trollmarket, a suburb of Arcadia Oaks where a large percentage of the population is dreamers.

Strickler

Powers: knife summoning

Physical changes: wings, horns

Strickler is the only other adult dreamwalker at Arcadia Oaks High (not counting the occasional 18-year-old who is about to graduate). He is secretly a member of the Janus Order, a political group that believes dreamwalkers are better than most humans (but does not advocate for the deaths of normal humans, unlike more extreme dreamwalker supremacist groups)

Aja & Krel

Physical changes: They now have four arms each and cyan blood. Their eyes are now the same as their Akiridion eyes. Aja was shorter than Krel before they died; now she’s taller.

Powers: They both have light manipulation, which allows them to look like their living forms. Aja is able to create hard light weaponry/shoot lasers. Krel can create portals.

The Tarron siblings really are a pair of human twins (Aja will not shut up about being four minutes older) who escaped the violent coup of their home country of Cantaloupia. Varvatos was supposed to get the two of them and their parents to America, where they would live with Fialkov’s eccentric second cousin (Lucy) and her husband (Ricky). All four Tarrons were gunned down as they escaped via a truck. Aja and Krel came back from the dead; Fialkov and Coranda did not.

Merlin

Physical changes: honestly he’s so old and the changes were so subtle that he no longer remembers

Powers: longevity, among other things

Merlin helped to start Camelot LLC with Arthur’s grandfather, Aurelius Pendragon. As the years have gone on, Merlin has been slowly locked out of Camelot LLC. He has a license to fight nightmares internationally.

Morgana

Physical changes: Five tiny gold horns have formed along her brow. Her nails also naturally grow in as gold claws.

Powers: levitation, shadow manipulation, low-level telepathy

Morgana died when she was sixteen, due to a camping accident gone wrong. She also lost her left hand in this accident. No one’s sure, but it’s suspected that Guinevere’s death was caused by Morgana’s nightmare. Morgana is secretly channeling Camelot LLC funds into the Janus Order. She’s going to take interest in Claire’s abilities sooner or later.

Douxie

Physical changes: His bangs are naturally blue. When he feels intense emotions his eyes glow blue.

Powers: part of his soul effectively split off into a talking dragon-cat; though Archie might actually be the result of a nightmare. Douxie might have other powers as well.

Douxie became a dreamwalker as a homeless orphaned five-year-old, and his circumstances didn’t get better until three years later, when Merlin rescued Douxie from his own nightmare, adopted him, and brought him back with him to California. Merlin has encouraged Douxie to fight against nightmares, even though it’s not legal. Now that Douxie is nearly an adult, Merlin often leaves him alone with Archie in their Arcadia Oaks apartment for days at a time. Morgana will often check up on Douxie, if she’s visiting the Janus Order. It’s technically neglect, but Douxie doesn’t see anything wrong with this considering his life before Merlin.

Zoe

Physical changes: gills, fins, and scales as seen in this post where I illustrate them

Powers: lightning control

Zoe drowned in a swimming pool when she was twelve. She’s one of the few dreamers at Arcadia Oaks Academy other than Douxie.

Seamus

Physical changes: he gained swirling tattoos across his upper back. They faintly glow when he uses his powers.

Powers: Density control

Seamus died of a bad case of food poisoning when he was eleven. He joined the Junior Dreamer Guard (it’s like JROTC) in hopes that it’ll help him get a scholarship.

Araceli Conrad

Physical changes: her bones are now crystalline in nature

Powers: magnetism (if she teamed up with Zoe they could use light manipulation)

Conrad was crushed by falling furniture when she was 14. The only people allowed to call her by her first name are her grandmother and her girlfriend, Shannon, but that doesn’t mean that everyone respects this.

Nana

Physical changes: Her eyes are a brighter shade of green than they were prior to becoming a dreamer

Powers: Longevity

Nancy became a dreamer in World War One

The Living

Shannon

Has survivor’s guilt. She’s looking into the fire, to see if there was anything suspicious about it.

Arthur

Known for being the CEO of the company Camelot LLC, and also having anti-dreamer political policies despite his sister and one of the company founders both being dreamers. His politics have become harsher ever since Guinevere died under mysterious circumstances.

Kubritz

Military; she’s been experimenting on ways to fight nightmares while not involving dreamers. She’s also conducting illegal experiments on dreamers.

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party-of-rpg-muses · 4 years ago

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Attack on Rhalgr’s Reach (FFXIV Story)

@chronochronicler @loona-cee

Flames bellowed forth from Rhalgr’s Reach, hidden base of the Ala Mhigan Resistence. Said flames lit up the night sky like a beacon, a portent of the horror within. The Warriors of Light charged forward, concerned about the possible bloodshed. Even if they didn’t know the state of the battle, a surprise attack no doubt lead to heavy bloodshed on the side of the Resistance. And yet, no sooner had they arrived did a few Resistance survivors appear, falling in exhaustion with Garlean soldiers close behind. Despite the survivors clearly being unable to fight, the Garleans continued their assault.

“Alright, everyone.” S’bera spoke, his voice taking a commanding tone towards his fellow Warriors of Light. “Protect the Resistance members!” The others nodded in agreement, eyes steeled as the drew their weapons, S’bera doing the same; S’bera with his spear in hand, Omutu with his sword and shield, Ishita holding her rapier, and U’tala drawing her globe. Frances, however, was engulfed in a blue light for a split-second, swapping her bow for a pair of claws.

“No, please! I beg of you!” The Ala Mhigan soldier looked at his assailant in horror as the Imperial Centurion raised his sword. “Know your place, savages!” He called before bringing it down. The Ala Mhigan closed his eyes, bracing himself for the blade and cold hands of death. But rather, he heard the sound of blade meeting shield. He looked up and saw a small Lalafell clad in Paladin’s armor. With a swing of his shield, Omutu deflected the blade, following up with a decisive strike, felling his opponent.

“Quickly, flee to Castrum Oriens!” Omutu spoke. “My friends and I shall stay and save as many as we can.” The Resistence member quickly scrambled to his feet and making his way towards the entrance, only making an exhausted “thank you” before leaving.

“Omutu!” Ishita called out, her hands full with another Garlean. “Help Tala.” The Lalafell turned his gaze towards U’tala, noticing an Imperial Signifer was preparing an magitek spell while the Miqo’te was busy healing. He gave a nod, charging towards the enemy mage before slamming his shield against the Garlean’s torso, distracting him for a brief moment. Before the mage could recover, claws slashed across the Signifer‘s body, blood coming from the wound as the soldier fell, dead.

“Impressive work, Lady Frances.” Omutu said to the Viera as she swiped her claws against the air, removing most of the blood from the blades. She looked down at her friend, giving a single nod, her expression as calm as ever. At the same time, the other two soldiers cried out, S’bera and Ishita landing the killing blows on their opponents and allowing the other Ala Mhigans to escape.

Frances sniffed the air, following with a visible grimace. “Tch... The smell of blood is strong. This wasn’t just a battle; but a massacre. And the people had already surrendered, too...” Her ears swiveled from side-to-side, as did the two Miqo’te. The area was drowned in the sounds of fires burning, steel and metal clashing, and the screams of the injured or dying. “I can also hear a woman’s voice. I assume this one is a commander of sorts.”

“So, what shall be out plan of action, Ishi?” S’bera’s gaze turned towards the small Au Ra, trying his best to ignore the sounds for the time being.

“We must find Lyse and Y’shtola and attempt to find Conrad and Meffrid. We’ll save as many people as we can while at the same time drawing Garlean forces towards us. That should allow any survivors to escape or raise morale of those who wish to stay and fight.”

“Alright, friends.” S’bera spoke up again. “We’ll travel north-west and save any allies we see. Remember; this is a rescue mission first and foremost. If a Garlean is retreating, do not chase them; our focus is to remain in Rhalgr’s Reach.” The others gave a nod, affirming not only their leader’s words, but Ishita’s as well.

The group ran forward and it didn’t take long for them to run into a pair of Magitek Predators opening fire on Resistance members who had already surrendered. “Frances, Ishi, take out the pilots!” The Viera swapped her job once again, swapping her claws out for her bow and arrow, taking careful aim at the Magitek pilot. She let loose a single arrow, letting it fly true and strike the pilot directly in their head, the soldier falling forward in his seat.

Ishita closed her eyes, calmly exhaling as her aether focused within her rapier. “Verthunder II!” She stopped for a moment, placing the focus upon her rapier as lightning shot out and towards the other Predator. A combination of electrical magic and an overload of magical energy caused the core to explode, completely destroying the mount and its pilot.

The group continued forward, intercepting more Garlean soldiers, but in the midst of battle, wolf-like beings arrived, fighting on the side of the Garleans. Once the battle had concluded, Ishita could help but take notice. “What could Lupin be doing here? And so far from Othard as well...” She nearly got lost within her own thoughts until she hear U’tala call her to her, snapping her back to attention before moving forward

Amongst the combat, a single woman effortlessly cut down the Ala Mhigan soldiers that charged her way, her blade dripping with their blood as the explosion caught her attention. “The hells?” She turned her head towards the sound, noticing the party of five running towards her. “It would seem the rescue party has arrived.” She swung her blade, getting rid of the access blood before turning to her new opponents. “Shame you’ll die like the rest.

“That voice...” Frances spoke up, already holding an arrow, ready to fire when combat starts. “It was her voice I heard before. She must be the commander.”

“You’ve got that right, my dear Spriggan. I am Fordola rem Lupis.” She pointed her blade towards the party as they came to a stop before her. “I am the commander of the Imperial Army within Ala Mhigo and of the Crani Lupis.” Getting a better loo, the party instantly remembered her, they remember seeing her men brutally beat Wercrata because he was late with the tribute.

Omutu stepped forward, his blade pointed up at Fordola as he glare met her eyes. “I am Omutu Rasumutu, son of Ala Mhigo! How could you come to serve the Empire; to serve those who wouldn’t even consider non-Garleans worthy enough to lick their boots, the ones who treat our people worse than garbage?”

Those words... They very clearly struck a nerve with Fordola, especially when he used the words “our people”. Rage flared in her eyes as she clenched her teeth hard enough that one would swear her gums would start bleeding. “How dare you lump me in with garbage like you! You want to know why I would ally with Garlemald? Die with that question on your lips!”

“Keep the other Garlean solders busy.” Omutu said, his tone becoming eerily calm. “I shall deal with this one myself.” Even though his tone was level, it didn’t take much to notice there was a rage bubbling inside him. He could understand not having he strength to fight back, but to actively betray kin and country was something he could not accept! He charged forward his blade meeting with Fordola’s.

“Not bad, little man. I did not expect one so small to have such strength.” Fordola grinned, almost as if she saw the Lalafell before her as a toy to play with. The two pushed pushed back, putting a little bit of space between them for their battle to properly start. They exchanged sword strikes, either countering with their own blade or blocking with their shield. Suddenly, Omutu could see an area around Fordola begin to glow. He knew what this meant, causing the Lalafell to step out of the range. As soon as he did so, Fordola thrust her sword downward as light seemed to erupt from the ground around her.

Once the light faded, Omutu continued his assault striking her with his shield. While she was stunned, he swung his blade in a circular area around him, quickly following up with a forward thrust towards the woman before she was able to recover. She gritted her teeth, increasing the ferocity of her attacks. He did his best to parry or block, but a few of her attacks made it through his defenses, slashing at his chest. Even though he wore armor, he could still feel the blade against his form. just then, he could see an area in front of Fordola glow. He responded by moving to the side just as she stabbed forward, countering with a strong slash towards her side.

“Gah!” Suddenly, Fordola swung her shield to the side, catching Omutu off-guard and hitting him in the face, returning the favor from before. Another circular area began to glow around her, one slightly smaller than the first one. But the stunned Lalafell was unable to get around of the way before Fordola swung her blade in a circular area around her.

Omutu fell back, taking the full force of the blow before recovering. He steeled his resolve, increasing his defenses against Fordola’s continued onslaught as he slammed his blade into the ground, light bursting from the ground and hitting Fordola. He immediately followed up by swinging his blade around him before bringing it upward against her.

“Y-You...! What in the seven hells are you?!” Fordola called out, hunched forward as she looked at her smaller opponent in disbelief. “Tch... Fall back, men!” Her allies turned their attention from the Warriors of Light towards their commander, immediately retreating as the Warriors of Light watched them run. Sticking to the plan, they won’t give chase.

Omutu gave an exhale, having his work cut out for him. Whenever injuries he took vanished as he heard U’tala calmly say “Benefic”, the stars healing his wounds. “Come along. We still have work to do.” Omutu said, looking up at his taller allies before the group ran forward.

It didn’t take long for them to notice a large man clad in bulky armor. And standing across from him, Lyse stood bloodied and winded. And behind her, Y’shtola, unmoving.

“Y’shtola!!” S’bera called out when he noticed the other Miqo’te on the ground. He jumped forward, covering the remaining ground in an instant and putting himself between Lyse and the mysterious man.

“You... You came...” That was all she could say as the other Warriors caught up with their leader, standing to defend their friend. “That man... He’s Zenos... Zenos yae Galvus...”

“You’ve done well, Lyse. We can handle this. Take Y’shtola to Krile. The path should be free of soldiers.” S’bera kept his gaze upon Zenos as he spoke. Lyse could only nod as she lifted the immobile female Seeker and ran towards the initial entrance.

“So, you must be the legendary Warriors of Light I’ve heard so much about.” The armor-clad man finally spoke. “I hope you can provide me with more entertainment than your friend.”

“So, what do you propose we do, Ishi?” The male Seeker asked, still keeping an eye on their opponent.

The Au Ra scanned Zenos from top to bottom, making as many notes as she can before speaking. “His armor is strong, but bulky. So he’s probably really slow. If we can strike hard and strike fast while he’s distract, we should have a change. But I can’t see any dents in his armor. Lyse fought him, right? She should have left some kind of mark.”

“We can worry about that latter.” Once again, Frances’ body was engulfed in a blue light as she switched jobs yet again; trading her bow and arrow for a samurai katana.

“For Ala Mhigo!” Omutu called as he charged forward. Zenos hardly reacted to the Lalafelln Paladin’s attack, casually striking at Omutu while holding his blade in a single hand. Omutu blocked Zenos’ weapon with his own blade, having to use both hands on his sword just to hold Zenos back. Never before has he seen a man with such impossible strength; and this man was holding him back with only a single hand.

At the same time, Frances circled around to Zenos’ side before running towards the Legatus. Once she was close, the Viera gripped her blade with both hands and performed a series of strong, but quick strikes before retreating. And yet, it didn’t seem to do anything. “Is that truly the best?” Zenos clearly knew about the attack, but it seems it was no more effective than a bug bite to him.

With a sudden burst of strength, Omutu pushed Zenos’ blade back, following up with a quick series of slashes with his blade, not that it seemed to do anything as well. Zenos responded by driving his blade into the ground as some sort of energy began to grow beneath the surface. Suddenly, a shockwave rolled through, pushing the Warriors back. “Pathetic.”

“Helios!” U’tala called out as the stars shined down on the party, healing them for some of the damage Zenos effortlessly inflicted upon them. “We’re not done yet!” Omutu picked himself back up before charging at Zenos again, keeping him busy with more sword strikes. U’tala drew the Spire card and used it to bless Ishita as she fires a barrage of black and white magics. Veraero, Veraero II, Verthunder, Verthunder II, Verfire, Verstone, Jolt, as many magic spells as she can.

She turned her gaze to S’bera, the two of them nodding in agreement as S’bera jumped high into the air. At the same time, Ishita rushes forward, both of them hitting Zenos at the same time. S’bera started his assault with his spear techniques, opening the way for Ishita to deal more damage as she attaced with her rapier. Just as she finished her rotations, the pair jumped back as Frances followed up. A star shined upon her, increasing her strength thanks to U’tala. She returned her blade to its sheath as she focused her concentration, hand hovering over the handle before striking at blinding speeds. “Midare Setsugekka!”

And yet, despite everything they through, his armor still showed no signs of cracking. “A bit better, but still lacking.” With very little effort, he pushed Omutu away, following up with a slash as he turned to face the others. “Now then. Show me more of what you can do!”

He brought his blade down upon Frances, only for the Viera to jump out of the way at the last second, putting distance between them as she slashed the air with enough force to cause a wind blade. “Divination!” The female Seeker called out, allowing the stars to bless the party and increase their damage further.

S’bera followed up her attack by jumping into the air once again. Only this time, he came down with more than ever, so much so that it was as if fire erupted from his landing.

The assault continued with a dual attack from Ishita and Omutu. “Verflare! Verholy!” Ishita called out before following up with a upward strike and summoned a group of aetherial rapiers that converged on Zenos. Omutu attacked with a quick series of attacks, ending with a jumping spin-slash and transitioning to a quick stab towards, Zenos.

“If this is truly you have to offer, then I am quite disappointed.” Zenos gripped his blade and with a quick spin, sent frontline attackers flying back, each of them landing near U’tala. Zenos first approached Omutu, the first one to engage the battle. “Farewell, O Warriors of Light.” Just as he intended to end the Lalafell’s life, a massive barrier erupted from U’tala, protecting not only him, but the group from the assault. Noticing this, he switched his focus to Astrologian Seeker and with a single strong strike, broke her barrier as if it was glass. Exhausted, U’tala could only look up at the monster of a man. This was it; her death was staring at her right in the face, the clock counting down to her final moments. She was absolutely terrified, but there was nothing else for her to do.

Zenos brought his blade to his side before bringing it forward with enough force to knock U’tala back. As she flew, blood sprays from the gash on her midsection. TIme seemed to stop as her friends looked on; a mist of blood coming out of her wound, mouth agape, and eyes wide in horror. The sounds of fire seemed so distant. Not even her body hitting the ground seemed to make a sound.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!” Ishita called out as hard as she possibly could, so loud and so hard, it was as if her voice would tear itself to shreds. The love of her life lay before her, with a mortal wound. U’tala’s globe fell beside her, the cards strewn about like someone tossed a deck onto the ground without a care in the world. The others looked on in silent disbelief. This couldn’t really be the end, could it? She can’t really be dead, right? Not their friend!

“No...! No, no no, no!! NOOOO!!!” Tears fell from Ishita’s eyes as she slammed her fist against the ground over and over again. Heartbreak and sadness filled her very soul. But that sadness quickly gave rise to something else. Anger; pure, unrestrained rage. This bastard killed her girlfriend, so she’ll make sure he dies a painful death.

From this rage, came newfound strength; one that brought her back up to her feet, eyes burning with absolute hatred. “You’ll pay for what you did to her!!” In her hands, a staff made of pure light started to form. Her fingers curled around the staff and the moment she gripped it, aether swelled and raged around her like a tsunami, the air whipping around at all sides.

The clouds in the sky directy above them converged and swirled like a tornado, slowly reaching down to Hydaelyn’s surface. A sight that could easily be seen from Castrum Oriens, the Peering Stones, and Castellum Velodyna. “I hope the Kami can forgive you, because you’ll find no mercy here! Die a thousand deaths and atone until the end of time!” Ishita called out, raising her staff towards the sky, causing the clouds to part, revealing a large chunk of rock hurtling down towards the surface, targeted specifically at Zenos. The other Warriors of Light looked on in awe while Zenos merely smirked, not even trying to avoid the incoming meteor.

The ground trembled and shook as the distance between the ground and the meteor shrank, the large rock glowing a bright red, power swelling up as it made contact, a powerful shockwave exploding outward. Ishita’s friends covered their faces to protect themselves from the light and violent winds before looking up towards the wall of dust.

Her aether expended, the staff of light faded away as she panted with exhaustion. “Regret your actions... in the deepest depths of hell...”

The dust hadn’t even cleared when a voice came from the cloud. “I must admit, I was not expecting this. So the phrase was true; even a cornered rat can bite a mighty griffin. A shame that just like a rat, your attack meant very little.” Zenos calmly stepped out of the cloud, still not a single scratch on him as he wiped the dust from his armor. With each step, his heavy armor clanked together, like a clock counting down to their doom.

Almost instantly, the small feeling of victory was replaced with an overwhelming sense of and dread. Perhaps none more than Ishita as the behemoth of a man stood, towering over her before striking with his blade.

“C-Cover!” Omutu mustered up just enough strength to hold his hand out, a bond forming between them just in time to protect the Au Ra from Zenos’ attack. “Guh!”

Zenos halted his attack for a moment, seeming to acknowledge Omutu’s desperate attempt to protect his friend; but that’s all it was... desperate. Over and over, he struck at the barrier protecting Ishita, each blow reflecting onto Omutu, feeling like a massive fist was pummeling every square inch of his little body at once. Each time, it proved harder and harder to maintain consciouness before slowly, the bond started to fade, his energy doing the same. Before collapsing, he was only able to say “Forgive me, Lady Ishita... And you... Lady U’tala...” With a groan, he fell over, just as unmoving as U’tala.

The Legatus glanced over at Omutu’s body for a brief moment before once again turning his attention to Ishita. His blade raised upward, resting above his head before bringing it down. She closed her eyes, embracing herself for the end, but just because it came down on her, the blade suddenly snapped up, causing its owner to instantly pause his assault.

He brought his sword up to his gaze, studying the clean cut of the blade before tossing it to the side as if it were garbage. “Pathetic”. The was all he said as he turned and calmly left, not even bothering to finish his defeated opponents off.

“It’s... over...” That was all S’bera could say. Though they survived and repelled the Garlean attack, it didn’t feel like a victory. That Zenos... his strength was in a completely different level; they couldn’t even put a chip in his defenses.

Once she recovered from the fear of looking directly at her impending death, she limped over to U’tala, falling to her knees as her hands rested on her girlfriend’s midsection. “Tala... Tala, wake up! It’s over!” Slowly, desperation turned to disbelief as her fears began to set in. “Please... wake up...” She shook U’tala’s form, desperately trying to wake her, carrying little as U’tala’s blood spread onto Ishita’s hands. She removed her hands from U’tala’s form to grab her rapier and focus “Vercure! VERCURE! VERRAISE!” She did her best to focus her aether, but she was too drained, only able to perform a single Vercure.

Frances dragged herself over to where Ishita and U’tala were, taking a moment to look at her Lalafellin friend, hearing him still breathing. Once he reached the Astrologian, she placed two fingers upon U’tala’s neck, feeling a faint pulse. “She’s alive, but barely. She needs medical attention as soon as possible. As will Omutu.”

Slowly, the adrenaline fueling the Warriors began to fade. Just in time to see reincorcements arrive. Though their vision started to fade, they could just barely make out Raubhan, Krile, Pippin, and the Leveilleur twins. One by one, they passed out with Ishita being the last to fall. Just before her strength failed her, she said “Please... save Tala... Save her and Omutu...” Her eyes finally began to close as unconsciousness finally claimed her.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV Original characters #Dragon: S'bera #Weaponmaster: Frances #Paladin: Omutu #long post #FFXIV Story

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silent-era-of-cinema · 4 years ago

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Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.

The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appel (1875–1940) and Carl Appel (1873–1935), Lee was born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel on July 25, 1905 in Union Hill, New Jersey (now part of Union City), into a middle-class family of German immigrants who relocated to New York City. She had an older sister, Pauline ("Peggy"), who had been born in Hamburg, Germany in 1900.

Searching for a hobby for their gregarious young daughter, the Appels enrolled Lila in Gus Edwards' kiddie review shows where she was given the nickname of "Cuddles"; a name that she would be known by for the rest of her acting career. Her stagework became so popular with the public that her parents had her educated with private tutors. Edwards would become Lee's long-term manager.

Lillian Edwards, wife of Gus Edwards, was Lee's guardian. When Lee was 15 years old, she went to court seeking an injunction to prevent Mrs. Edwards "from collecting any money for Lila's services." Mrs. Edwards countered that she had spent 10 years helping to shape Lee's career and had invested money in her.

Lee performed in vaudeville for eight years.

In 1918, she was chosen for a film contract by Hollywood film mogul Jesse Lasky for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount Pictures. Her first feature The Cruise of the Make-Believes garnered the seventeen-year-old starlet much public acclaim and Lasky quickly sent Lee on an arduous publicity campaign. Critics lauded Lila for her wholesome persona and sympathetic character parts. Lee quickly rose to the ranks of leading lady and often starred opposite such matinee heavies as Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino. Lee bore more than a slight resemblance to Ann Little, a former Paramount star and frequent Reid co-star who was leaving the film business and at this stage in her career an even stronger resemblance to Marguerite Clark.

In 1922 Lee was cast as Carmen in the enormously popular film Blood and Sand, opposite matinee idol Rudolph Valentino and silent screen vamp Nita Naldi; Lee subsequently won the first WAMPAS Baby Stars award that year. Lee continued to be a highly popular leading lady throughout the 1920s and made scores of critically praised and widely watched films.

As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, Lee's popularity began to wane and Lee positioned herself for the transition to talkies. She is one of the few leading ladies of the silent screen whose popularity did not nosedive with the coming of sound. She went back to working with the major studios and appeared, most notably, in The Unholy Three, in 1930, opposite Lon Chaney Sr. in his only talkie. However, a series of bad career choices and bouts of recurring tuberculosis and alcoholism hindered further projects and Lee was relegated to taking parts in mostly grade B-movies.

Lee was married and divorced three times. Her first husband was actor James Kirkwood, Sr., whom she married on July 26, 1923. They had met on the set of Ebb Tide in 1922. Kirkwood filed for divorce in May 1930 on grounds of her desertion; the divorce was finalized in August 1931. Lee and Kirkwood had a son in 1924, James Kirkwood, Jr., whose custody was granted to his father; he became a highly regarded playwright and screenwriter whose works include A Chorus Line and P.S. Your Cat Is Dead. Kirkwood Jr. was primarily raised by Lee's family in Elyria, Ohio.

In her autobiography, Lee revealed she lost her virginity to Kirkwood before they were married and she fell pregnant as a result. Kirkwood ultimately arranged an abortion for her, and their relationship continued after this only because Kirkwood threatened to tell Lee's mother of their premarital relations.

In June 1928, Lee began an affair with John Farrow while Kirkwood was in London.[8] Lee wrote Kirkwood stating she wanted a divorce, and in late September of that year, the two formally separated. Lee decided not to fight for custody of their son because Kirkwood threatened to kill Farrow, Lee, their son, and himself. After their divorce, Lee traveled to Arizona and stayed in a sanitarium. Lee also became engaged to John Farrow, but they separated in 1933 after Lee discovered he was being unfaithful to her. He would go on to marry Maureen O'Sullivan in 1936.

At the beginning of her career, Lee dated Charlie Chaplin.

Her second husband was broker Jack R. Peine, who she married on December 8, 1934. By July 2, 1935, the two had divorced. Lee claimed Peine was a drunk, a gambler, and a cheater. Shortly into their marriage, with Lila looking for a house for the two, Peine took off to Mexico and didn't return for a month.

In 1935, Lee began a relationship with car salesman Reid Russell. In 1936, Lee was living in California with her son, novelist Gouverneur Morris, and his wife Ruth. Lee became engaged to Russell and planned to marry him once he obtained a divorce. On September 25, 1936, Russell's dead body was discovered outside on the hammock by Kirkwood Jr. He had been shot in the head with a .32 caliber one or two days prior. The bullet had penetrated Russell's head and passed through the other side, but the bullet and empty shell were never located. The gun found in his hand was one he kept in his bureau drawer at home.

Her third husband was broker John E. Murphy. According to author Sean Egan in the James Kirkwood biography Ponies & Rainbows (2011), Murphy's will left Lee at the financial mercy of his second wife, who consequently became the manipulative character Aunt Claire in P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, written by Lee's son, James Kirkwood, Jr.

Following the discovery of Russell's body, his death was investigated and treated as a suicide, and Mr. and Mrs. Morris both said that he was suicidal and had made suicidal remarks after losing his job. Lee would later confirm he had threatened suicide on multiple occasions and that he talked about it incessantly.

On November 11, the Los Angeles Times reported that a woman had made a telephone threat towards Russell's mom, Victoria, urging her to stop pushing the investigation into her son's death. The case had recently been reopened after Victoria had a conference with the investigators. Ruth told Lila that Reid had left a suicide note, but that she wasn't going to tell anyone about it. Lee went to the District Attorney's office to say that there was no suicide note, however Morris backtracked and said that there was. Lee herself never read the note, but Morris read it to her, and then burned it in an ashtray. Later in life, James Kirkwood Jr. would confide to a friend, William Russo, that there had been three suicide notes - one in Ruth Morris' jewel box, and two within a newel post on the handrail of a set of stairs in the house. The two other notes were found after the case was closed.

Gouverneur Morris, his wife Ruth, and Lila Lee were questioned by authorities about the destruction of the suicide note. Mrs. Morris claimed she found the suicide note in a box on her dresser drawer two or three days after Russell's body was discovered. Because his death had already been declared a suicide, Morris decided to burn it. Gouverneur Morris added that neither he nor his wife heard the report of a gunshot neighbors recalled coming from the Morris home at about 9 P.M. on September 24, and that there had been no argument prior to Russell's death.

On November 17, the Los Angeles Times reported that Russell's body may be exhumed depending on the report of a ballistic expert who was trying to determine if the .32 caliber revolver found in his hand had been fired recently. The following day, it was reported that Russell's body was to be exhumed as it could not be determined if the .32 caliber had been fired recently because the gun was in such rusty condition. During this time, investigators began to doubt the suicide hypothesis, but still were not considering murder, but rather if his death had occurred somewhere else other than outside on the hammock.

That same day, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Russell's mother Victoria claimed that four days before Russell's body was found, a woman had telephoned repeatedly asking for Russell and demanding to know where he was. Investigators were beginning to consider that Russell's death could have been a "love slaying". However, on November 19, his ex-wife told the Los Angeles Times that she believed Russell had killed himself. An entirely new theory was also introduced that day by The Examiner, who ran a story headed, "Racketeering Ring Linked to Russell Case". The source for the information was Detective Lieutenant Harry Leslie Hansen of the Georgia Street Divison, who was an old friend of Russell. The Los Angeles Times carried the story the next day, claiming that Hansen had reported to the District Attorney's office that Russell had told him that he was going to quit his automobile salesman's job to smuggle arms and ammunition to a foreign country. Russell revealed these plans to Hansen when the two had gone on a weekend party five days before his death. The same paper reported that Russell's exhumed body had led a county autopsy to declare that the results of the first autopsy still stood: the wound on Russell's temple was powder-marked and seared, indicating a self-inflicted wound, and that the wound was too small to have been made by either .45 or .38 caliber weapons and too big to have resulted from the firing of a .22, thus indicating that the .32 found in Russell's hand was indeed the cause of death.

In the 1930s she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and briefly stayed at a sanitarium in Prescott, Arizona in 1933. She then moved to Saranac Lake, New York for treatment at the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. Lee made several uneventful appearances in stage plays in the 1940s, and starred in early television soap operas in the 1950s.

In 1973 Lee died of a stroke at Saranac Lake. She is buried at Brookdale Cemetery in Elyria, Ohio.

For her contribution as an actress in motion pictures, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1716 Vine Street. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.

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