#unfortunately zack never recovered from that

[lookismslut]

this but it’s zack and kouji😭

[jumpywhumpywriter]

A Life in the Hands of the Enemy -- Villain reluctantly saves Hero's Life part 6

Warnings: violence, bleeding, near-death experience, captivity whump, cruel Villain whumper

Zack regularly checked his security feed for activity, but Amber didn't wake up until the next morning. As soon as she did, he prepared her morning meal, humming to himself as he brought it to her room.

He saw Amber startle as he opened the door and left it hanging open behind him. He set a brown paper bag with the food in it on the ground and kicked it over to her with a foot, not daring to get too close. His calculations and creation were flawless, he was sure of it. But he never let himself get cocky before he saw his technology work in action.

Amber glared viciously at him before reaching for the paper bag, when she suddenly froze stiff, eyes locked onto the chaff marks on her wrists, or more specifically, the absence of metal cuffs. Her confused gaze traveled back to Zack, and her expression darkened.

"For a smart guy, that was an awfully dumb move," she growled low in her throat.

"Was it?" Zack asked innocently, forcing a cheeky grin that was sure to get under her skin.

Amber's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she took a stiff step toward him, glancing around for a trap. Finding none, she suddenly lunged at him, the only obstacle standing between her and the open door in a desperate attempt to escape. All she had to do was knock him out and she'd be free.

But then, Amber felt the metal band on her neck come to life, sending a strong jolt of electricity coursing through her. It felt like the metal was somehow attacking her, burning her skin. It was like a bolt of pure lightning had struck her, setting every nerve on fire with excruciating pain all at once. Her muscles seized with electricity, and her jaw locked so she couldn't even scream, her vision blurring with pure pain. It stole the breath from her lungs, leaving her drowning in air as she clawed frantically at her own neck.

The sensation lasted no longer than ten seconds at most, but it packed a huge punch. Amber found herself writhing and twitching on the ground when it finally stopped, completely incapacitated.

What sorcery is this...? She thought numbly, her skin burning in the aftershock. She was wheezing and gasping for breath as she recovered from the shock, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened, and glanced up to see Zack's smug face looming over her. He was holding a small black device in one hand that had three little red buttons in the middle.

"Congratulations, you have now learned your first lesson here. NEVER come at me," he crowed, smile broadening. His collar worked perfectly, exactly as he designed it. "Now, go be good and walk back to that wall, and eat your meal. It would be ungrateful to waste it after I worked so hard putting it together." Zack's voice was clipped as he pointed sharply to the far wall where she used to be chained like a rabid animal.

Amber lifted her throbbing head weakly from the floor, the world spinning dizzily around her for a moment before her vision cleared. She barely had the strength to drag herself to her shaky feet, wobbling unsteadily as she looked at Zack in surprise.

"...Why are you doing this?" She managed to cough out, still trembling all over. "You aren't one to hurt people... for the sake of hurting them..."

"You're right, I'm not," he answered dryly. "So why do you think I'm doing it, hmm? Go on, take a wild guess."

Amber's face twisted with confusion, and Zack sighed with a roll of his eyes, preparing to explain.

"I did that research I mentioned earlier on the New Villain. Turns out, I'll be needing your... unique powers after all. Unfortunately. You're my greatest weapon."

"I'm... not... a weapon!" Amber hissed through gritted teeth, eyes flaring with anger.

Zack frowned at her outburst, and she felt another shock travel through her collar, though this time it was far less severe, only enough to remind her who held the power in the room. She instinctively touched her neck and winced at the raw, burned skin surrounding the metal band. A painful reminder to keep herself in check.

Stumbling weakly, Amber turned and limped over to the far wall, sagging against it and sliding to the floor, all her strength sapped. It made her sick inside to give in to Zack's command as if she were some pathetic animal that could be controlled, but she was in no condition to fight.

Amber curled in on herself and stayed like that until she heard Zack's quiet footsteps leave the room, followed by the distinct click of the door being locked.

Then her mask crumbled away completely, and she let a few tears slid down her cheeks. Not so much from the immense pain she was in, but rather the overwhelming sense of helplessness that washed over her as the reality of her situation finally started to sink in.

She was basically powerless as long as the collar was on. And what made it worse was that it seemed to suppress her magic, too. She'd tried to use it to attack Zack, but it failed her, something it had never done before. She would sometimes run out of magic if she used too much at once, but this was different. She could still feel the tingling magic on her system, but for whatever reason she couldn't access it.

Amber was usually the strongest, most composed, stoic, and level-headed one of all her teammates, and she was angry at herself for how weak she was. For letting herself get caught in the first place, even though she knew she wouldn't be alive at all if it weren't for her enemy. Was it even a worthy tradeoff, her life being saved in turn for captivity?

All she could think about was how panicked her teammates must be back at the Headquarters, frantically searching the whole city for her. They must be so worried about her sudden disappearance.

But they won't find me, Amber thought miserably. No one will. I'm trapped here alone.

She let out a broken breath and shakily reached out to grab the brown paper bag her captor had left for her. The food was already cold, but she didn't care as she hungrily devoured it.

The concrete was cold, hard and uncomfortable through the night, but Amber did her best to tough it out and get some rest, knowing the next day would be torturous. She had no idea what Zack would have planned for her. But it couldn't be good.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

Masterlist

[altocat]

what would Sephgeal look like?

Behold! An AU in-canon Sephcanons universe where Sephgen DOESN'T exist and Sephgeal reigns supreme!

Sephiroth and Angeal are in an intimate romantic relationship and have been in it for years. Neither ever talks about it, brings it up, or mentions it to anyone else, including each other. They simply are.

It's a relationship in which both is quietly devoted to the other, symbiotic in its overall makeup. Sephiroth provides Angeal with status and an incentive to preach his code of honor to others. In turn, Angeal acts as Sephiroth's sole comfort, keeping his anger and anxieties under control, pacifying Sephiroth during instances of instability behind closed doors.

They are both just very subtly and very earnestly in love, able to express to each other in actions more than words could ever hope to describe. It's soft and gentle and occasionally kind of mushy. But it's deep and abiding and genuine.

Sure Angeal has problems with Sephiroth's occasionally questionable behavior in doing Shinra's dirty work, but he feels he can at the very least keep Sephiroth "tame" and relaxed, as well as provide him with the nurturing affection he's desperately needed throughout his life.

Genesis, in this universe, shares a rivalry with Sephiroth not just because Sephiroth is better than him but also because he feels Sephiroth kind of took Angeal away from him as his childhood friend.

Angeal is silently aware of this, but doesn't really know what to do. And Sephiroth, being Sephiroth, is oblivious so it just remains tensely status quo until the training room incident.

Afterwards, Angeal chooses to follow Genesis not out of a sense of revenge against Shinra, but more because he still feels guilty and wants to help his friend anyway that he can. He doesn't tell Sephiroth because he knows it would hurt him. It's not that they "break up" so much as he leaves it up in the air, believing Sephiroth can handle what he hopes is a temporary absence.

Sephiroth does NOT take this well at all, and begins to neglect his self-care. Without Angeal with him, his resentments and anxieties begin to spring up again. He takes to Zack, but mostly because it's just a piece of Angeal left behind. Perhaps Sephiroth even feels that Zack is his and Angeal's shared "child" in a sense, though they aren't too far apart in age.

After the incident at HQ when Angeal comes to help, they meet up one last time, where Angeal convinces Sephiroth to send Zack to Modeoheim to help. He sees the strain Sephiroth is going through and assures him to keep out of it as much as possible.

Unfortunately...things take a turn while Sephiroth isn't there.

Sephiroth never fully recovers.

A year later, he enters Nibelheim.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

chiaki, thoughts on concord?

Okay, now this is a real tragedy, because Concord is symbolic of just how difficult it is to be a gamer in this day and age.

2024 has been a year full of disappointments. Most recently, the $15 million budgeted Borderlands movie made only $18.5 million at the box office. Considering that doesn't even pay for the marketing expenses, it's a catastrophe.

Undoubtedly, it's a bad film, but in the realm of video games, we currently have a failure named "Concord." And it's surprising to me that people even remember this game, despite it's recency.

Now, for the record, what I'm about to say is something that makes me genuinely sad. Like...ACTUALLY really sad. So...bear with me.

For those who are unaware, Concord was a generic hero shooter that was released less than 30 days ago, similar to Overwatch or Valorant. Except it had a five-times slower pace, it combined all the worst aspects of earlier hero shooters. The game's movement was really slow; it felt like you're playing on a treadmill. The gameplay was excruciatingly slow and annoying; it seemed as though you're trapped in a slow-motion Zack Snyder movie.

The game was really generic, but it was neither terrible nor unplayable. But at the same time it wasn't really unique, and if someone enjoys this genre of game, there are at least fifty more that are superior. The fact that Concord costed $40 rather than being free to play, like the majority of other multiplayer shooters, is what made it especially foolish. It was destined to fail from the beginning, and today it only managed to launch with a little over 650 users on Steam.

To put that in context, more people played some of the worst failures in gaming history when they first launched. Redfall and even Babylon's Fall, which was such a failure that it was removed from Steam, had more players than Concord had. Compared to Lord of the Rings: Gollum, another huge failure that forced its studio to close, Concord had only a little bit more players.

Now, you must have noticed by now that I've been talking about this game in the past tense, and there's a reason for that. Concord was such a massive failure, that the servers were shut down two weeks after its launch, with all sold copies being refunded. That is a HUGE FAIL.

Concord was a big-budget game that must have cost millions to produce, but nobody wanted to play it. Although I don't personally have strong feelings on the matter, I do find it puzzling how these games are approved in the first place. Everyone sighed in agreement when they saw the first trailer, which made it obvious that this was another hero shooter in an already crowded industry. It's difficult to determine who this game is intended for, especially considering that even fans of hero shooters won't rush into a $40 game when there are more enjoyable free options, like Fortnite, or Overwatch 2.

It's unbelievable that this disaster was released considering how predictable it was. Even then, it didn't make sense to invest in a game that is sure to fail, even if it appeared to be a desperate attempt to recover part of the production costs. It's unfortunate since I have no doubt that brilliant developers worked on this out of necessity rather than choice. Seemingly, they attempted to make another hero shooter, believing it would be a simple victory, but they didn't realize that no one wants to see more of them, especially not for forty bucks.

I HATE being negative. I hate being negative more than I hate anything else in the world. But this is a flop that's hard not to laugh at, which is why I wanted to talk about it. I don't see why anyone would pay such a high price for this when there are better free options available, despite the fact that it has largely great reviews.

Considering how poorly Concord performed, especially for a high-budget game, is astounding. The majority of games, including the most popular ones, never start with fewer than a thousand players. I felt compelled to address this as it's uncommon for a game to fail so miserably.

[starcrossedspirit]

“You were never purely Jenova, you were born from the blood of the Ancients. You are Cetra but having been touched by Jenova, you were meant to unify us and bring us closer to the Promised Land. Except now you are a taint, a failure.” - Professor Hojo, explaining Seraphine's curious heritage.

Seraphine's background has shaped her, perhaps for the worse, or maybe even for the better, depending on how you accept the information upon her. Born before Aerith and her mother were captured, there was another Cetra discovered who would resist being captured which resulted in her death and being harvested. What was recovered was implanted into another woman and Sera was a surrogate baby, this woman only being known as “mother.” The father has yet to be identified but it is not Hojo, as Sera was meant to build a stronger bloodline with Sephiroth and as he was Hojo's child, he did not want a tainted bloodline from siblings. Though half Cetra and half human, in the womb she was given Jenova cells in hopes of combining both of the “perfect” bloodlines to create something to match Sephiroth. For some time they were simply raised, and though a bit older than her, he regarded her as his sister and she felt that he was her brother. He was the only one who knew and understood what the experiments were like and as a result they were very close.

It was later discovered however that Aerith's mother was the final Cetra, alive and with a child, which would result in Aerith and Ilfana to be pursued. When they were captured and brought in, it was a curious thing for Sera to know there was another like herself. But that was quickly dashed as in this time she was secluded from the others, who were also separated from one another.

Eventually Aerith and her mother broke out which caused them to be ever closer of keeping Sera within their reach. As a budding teenager she felt very alone, especially as Sephiroth was out more training and becoming a proper Soldier. Tseng eventually played a pivotal role in her life as someone she was close to and would consider like a sibling, and as another few years passed she was eventually assigned to Reno and Rude, and being relatively close in age meant that Reno and Sera got along quite well.

Things for the most part were quite tame and the times in which Sephiroth was around meant that she met Angeal, Genesis and eventually Zack who she would regard all with close regard. They were kind to her and since they all had gone through their own experiments at the hands of the scientists, they understood what it was like to be at the hands of another. During this time she also grew close to the President's son who was involved with Shinra's work, and for a time Rufus was sweet on Sera who would consider him a childhood crush.

Things were fine until the Nibelheim incident and after all of their death's, she would have considered herself totally alone. When Sephiroth died she “lost her purpose” (really she didn’t enjoy the thought anyway) and has since been adrift in life and constantly breaking out to live with the people she had dreamed of being around. She was put on the back burner entirely, especially after the Jenova cells started to show just how degenerative they actually are.

During this time Aerith was being monitored and Sera was kept under close watch of Rude and Reno, whom she is very close to after Tseng assigned them to her charge. After some time and through the years Reno found himself in love with her and she shared those feelings, albeit neither had ever actually made a proper move even after all of this time. Unfortunately due to Jenova's genes being degenerative and having been experimented upon, she often hears voices that taunt her. They start like whispers and nowadays it takes on the voice and shape of Sephiroth, sometimes even Genesis or Angeal depending on the cells, and it haunts her, and the things Sephiroth suggests are often violent in nature. Because of her Cetra heritage however she’s able to resist it more, but often at times she is able to resist killing like Jenova wants, but as a trade off she can’t hear the planet, nor use Holy like regular Cetra can. As a result she is often disconnected and the only thing that helps drown out the whispers is music or drinking, and often getting lost in the crowds helps her feel safe.

Aside from these few things it's Reno who helps ground her as well, perhaps because of her love for him is stronger than the connection that she has to Jenova. He is safety for her and has been for a long time.

Eventually time passes and she finds herself with Cloud and crew, and after being closer to Aerith she helps her, as it’s another Cetra connection that helps “ground” her as well. During their course together Aerith's nature helps Sera properly ignore Sephiroth and Jenova, albeit it's still taking over. 

Overall she is considered a gentle and kind person. She is quiet, she smiles a lot, but she is prone to bouts of laziness and depending on how strong her connection to Jenova/Sephiroth is that day her mood changes drastically. Being Cetra she is dominantly down to earth but because of the taint of Jenova and the experiments that took place she suffers from detachment and mood swings. She seems lost in thought quite often but truly she often is just dreaming about peace. What she dreams of is no experiments, no Jenova, no Sephiroth, just being somewhere quiet and alone with those that matter.

[talesofourworlds]

And just like that, Zack was gone and Aerith had brought out a cart full of flowers. More of the Reunion flowers, it looked like. So that was what they were doing, huh? Selling flowers? Well, Raven never claimed to be a member of Fortune's Market, but he could sure try his best to be a salesman.

"All right! We'll get those flowers sold no problem, Aerith darlin'," Raven said. Just for emphasis, and also a chance to show he'd recovered some, he pulled out one of his back flips and landed neatly on his feet about as smoothly as one could have expected. So much for the whole 'old man' thing. Seemed more and more likely that that sort of remark was just a jab at himself. As he moved over to the cart, preparing himself to pull it since he imagined he'd be something of a pack mule as part of the process, he was caught off guard by the question.

After a moment, Raven shook his head.

"Not really?" Raven could see how she would think that, though. The first person she and Zack had met from Terca Lumireis was a very special case. He explained after a moment. "Like I said, it's just me and one other guy that got this sorta treatment. My old boss... I dunno. He picked me, and I guess I was his first success."

"Still think there's a lotta better folks he coulda tried it on." Casey, for example. How would she have reacted to being brought back, though? Maybe it was better not to think about it.

"But anyway. Terca Lumireis ain't so cruel that my kinda situation is the norm. Ol' Raven's just an unfortunate exception." He reached out and took hold of the cart, flashing a smile after a moment like he hadn't just been talking about that sort of thing. "So. Where to first?"

"I'll be back tomorrow, if I can." Zack hated to leave a promise with Aerith. His words were often vague, however much he wished he could solidify plans with any accuracy. Never quite knew when something was going to crop up and take a crap on his plans. Oft times right in the middle of them. Made having a girlfriend mighty difficult.

"Later, Raven. Have fun~" He winked, slipping out the door, leaving behind an Aerith, smiling as brightly as the sun. If the sun had a devious plan in mind~

"Oh, I'm sure you work just fine! Be right back~" She was gone for a lick, returning with what appeared to be a rolling cart full of the flowers that were everywhere within the confines of the church. "Let's go out and sell some flowers~" She would see for herself how powerful his art of persuasion could be~

"... is your home so cruel, Raven? That they would replace hearts with something artificial?"

[a-vctlan]

aloe :   how does your muse handle grief ? (Kunsel)

𝘉𝘖𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘐𝘊𝘈𝘓 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘋𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘖𝘕𝘚

Kunsel doesn't know how to let go, and it's been apparent ever since he was a child.

Absence isn't something unfamiliar to him -- it takes over most of his memories of his father, entirely swallowed by his work at Shin-Ra's labs, but there is something about it that leaves him restless.

People leave, yes, but they have to come back. ( In one way or another. )

A General Affairs officer was the one to break the news, a letter to be delivered personally, waiting on him and his mother.

Ushered to another room, told to stay inside... but he couldn't help to listen in, brown eyes focused entirely on the black suit standing there, unaffected by his mother's crumbling visage.

There was an accident, and Anselmo Zantos had died. His body could not be recovered. What remains of his belongings would be returned in due time. As part of Shinra's severance package and accident policy, they would be allowed to continue living in their current Shinra issued housing.

No questions, no answers, they were to accept this as it was presented to them. This was the truth, thinking otherwise would fall under conspiracy-led thinking, and could have their worker-relation privileges revoked -- if not have them outright charged criminally.

But there was something about not seeing the body, of being told but not shown, that crept into his head and made a nest in it, resting on the already established branches of distrust and frustration towards the company. There had to be more to it, secrecy that ran so deep it made him sick, he had to know what really happened.

Paranoia, as well, had found home in his heart: he'd grown overly attached, needed to know every move his mother made, became controlling and clinging to what few friends he did have at school, jealous and unreasonable -- all borne from a lack of safety, the thought that there's a chance that once people leave his field of vision they'll be gone for good. This gets better with time, his mother doing her best to accommodate him until she gave up and put him through therapy... but it never really went away.

Five years pass, he's thirteen and dumb, entirely naive to the commitment he would be taking on, but it seemed like the easiest way to get close to the information he wanted: against his mother's wishes, he successfully applies for the SOLDIER program. It is an entirely reckless and impulsive decision brought on by a chance encounter during one of Shinra's many school fair presentations, but he had to know what happened, had to find out.

... He never does, the closer he got, the more questions would rise, some things hidden too well for even him to find.

Over the years, in what would just be another manifestation of his clinging behavior, Kunsel grows somewhat apathetic towards others, a necessary sense of disconnect to spare himself the heartache -- he is not shocked or surprised that Genesis deserted with a collection of Seconds and Thirds, merely curious as to why. More questions, more digging, never any answers.

( That's the son of a Shin-Ra scientist for you.                  Never satisfied with what he knows. )

But as much as he may try to be apathetic, at his core he's a people person, he craves connection and the biggest tell on his true nature would be his involvement in the mentorship program and ultimately how much he smothers Zack with reminders and notes, whom he genuinely grew to consider his best friend, someone whose personality shone so bright it felt like basking in the sun of a Costan summer. Unfortunately, this does lend to him often times leaning into his obsessive nature, but it comes from a place of affection.

And with the SOLDIER program crumbling around them, his workload increasing, cracks in Shin-Ra's foundation becoming more and more apparent... when Zack disappears, his friend too declared dead, Kunsel feels something disconnect in his mind. He doesn't even think to question that Sephiroth and everyone else were declared dead as well, accepting it at face value, entirely wrapped up in trying to figure out what happened to Zack and Zack alone. He's entirely in denial of it, trauma and uncertainty brought on by Shin-Ra constantly using SOLDIER's being KIA as a cover for something else, and although part of his thought process is irrational, when did grief ever care for logic?

( Part of him wondered if he wasn't purposefully narrowing his scope.    Protecting himself from answers he wouldn't like. )

He wouldn't let go, no matter how much time went on -- and instead, he'd crawl his way to a higher vantage point, do what he could to get closer to the Science Department, anything to get a single glimpse or note of what could've happened in Nibelheim.

With grief, Kunsel throws himself into denial and into his work, be it his involvement with the SOLDIER program or his incessant search for the 'truth' in whatever shape it may come.

It cannot be understated how much better his work ethic and behavior became once Zack was out of the picture, seemingly finally taking his job with the seriousness it warranted, and after a while he's set on the path to a promotion he doesn't particularly care for -- but Shin-Ra's running out of poster boys, and his interests aren't a consideration when it comes to the good of the company  image.

[unknown-lifeform]

But anyways I’m just fascinated by how Zack and Cloud in the Rebirth trailer look to be walking to an already post Plate fall Midgar - which in a sense was already implied in Intermission, what with Zack getting to the church and finding Aerith missing and people recovering there. But this really shows them getting to Midgar after the Plate got dropped, and it has so many implications

So either we have a paradox situation with two different Clouds running around, or Zack and Cloud are in a parallel dimension. Both are possible, given how fucky the timeline is getting, I don’t think we have elements to decide which option is more likely yet

If we have the two Clouds, then why are Zack and Cloud 2 only getting to Midgar after the Plate fell? Does this mean that the past wasn’t in fact changed, but rather a “copy” of Zack and Cloud was created during the Edge of Creation scene? But Zack also fought the Shinra army, why would they get copied too? Or was it rather that Zack and Cloud 2 got through some kind of time anomaly that moved them from that moment in time to the present moment? After all, we do see the Whispers swarming Midgar and then vanishing with a blast at the end of Remake, given they are the keepers of the timeline then that blast that destroyed them could have been some kind of wormhole thing

And if this is a parallel universe, why did the Plate fall in the first place? Shinra dropped it as retaliation against Avalanche, but Avalanche only acted after they got Cloud. So either Avalanche anticipated the attack, or the Plate fell due to other causes. Avalanche might have needed someone else’s help to blow up the reactors, without their merc. If it wasn’t Avalanche that pushed Shinra to drop the Plate, then what could have? I mean there is the ending of Before Crisis too to consider, the game was referenced in Remake so it is being incorporated lore wise, and unfortunately I don’t remember it too well but there was a whole mess at the of it which happened right next to Midgar. Maybe in this parallel universe Zyrconiade (was that its name?) caused much more damage than it did in the original timeline

And anyways I can’t stop thinking about that white feather!! The one floating by as Zack and Cloud walked. The only canon white feathers we have belong to Angeal and his copies, which should all be dead by now. Cloud would have no reason to bring Angeal back, he never met him after all, but what about the parallel universe setting? I doubt Angeal himself would be alive, because Zack has the Buster Sword, but maybe Lazard could still be around

Unless Angeal lives too! Because everything is chaotic and who knows, maybe Angeal could just hop out of the Lifestream too! The new truth coming out of the well to shame mankind, Angeal crawling out of the Lifestream to bitch at Sephiroth!

[artyblogs]

Mean It When You Swing It

Read on AO3

Summary: For @caruliaweek. Prompt: Confession. After two years, Carmen arrives at Julia’s doorstep with a bouquet of red roses. She finds a nightmare instead. Tensions ensue.

---

The first bouquet was a prank on Carmen. Carmen wanted to do something nice for Julia, to thank her for her infinite patience, for blindly doing what Carmen asked without protest, and for doing so without prying. Carmen wanted to do something nice for Julia, and people give flowers to each other, right? They are given to performers after their shows, and to graduates after their ceremonies, and to the sick so that they might feel better. They are given to parents and children and friends and partners. They are given in grief, and they are given in thanks, and they are given in affection.

There was a florist down the street from Julia’s flat, so there Carmen went.

“Whatever they are, they have to be red,” Carmen murmured as she regarded the dizzying collection. There were so many different shapes and sizes, in so many hues, and it was making for a more complicated task than she first thought. In her ear, the sounds of Player’s constant keystrokes blend into the background when he speaks (he once explained something about microphone settings and sound engineering, but most of it went over Carmen’s head).

“How about red roses? Nine of them?” And even through the mic, she could tell that he was smiling.

“Only nine? Okay,” Carmen said and she asked the florist for a bundle.

“Wait, really?” Player almost shrieked, but his sound settings came through yet again to normalize the volume.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, nothing.”

And that was that. It was only after the artifacts were set in front of Julia’s door, and after the doorbell was rung, and while they were on the plane out of Poitiers, that Ivy gently took Carmen’s elbow, steered her out of Zack’s earshot, and asked if Carmen meant to leave red roses for Julia.

“Flowers are flowers are flowers, right? Should I have left different ones?” Carmen asked.

Ivy’s mouth formed and ‘o’ and her green eyes grew wide with dismay. “Oh my god, you really don’t know.”

“Know what?”

Ivy clenched her jaw and scowled. She reached into her pocket, took out a small padded case, and unzipped it to reveal her Team Red earpiece. She plugged this into her ear, stood hands akimbo, and glared at Carmen’s left earring.

“Player,” she growled out. Carmen had never seen her so mad before; not even at Zack. And Player made a high-pitched squealing sound that she’d never heard him make before either.

“I didn’t think she’d actually do it!”

“God-fucking-dammit, Player! You know that Carmen doesn’t know about this kind of shit.”

“I’m sorry. But can you honestly tell me that red roses were the wrong move to make?”

“Do not try to worm out of this.”

“What do they mean?” Carmen asked. Ivy froze. Player too, fell silent. There was nothing but the drone of the plane engines around them.

“What do red roses mean?” Carmen asked again.

Ivy told her. And then she returned to Zack to give Carmen some time, and Player went radio silent for the same reason, and Carmen remained in the back of the plane, thinking.

Did she mean to give red roses to Julia?

---

Today, Carmen picks up a similar bouquet and signs the card with her name—her real name—and her hands take on an unnatural tremor. She flattens them against the counter, slapping the pen down in the process, and tries to distract herself by watching the florist tie a ribbon around the bouquet. They pull the free ends of the ribbon against the back of the shears to make them curl, then present the flowers to Carmen with a wink.

“Thanks,” Carmen says, weighing the flowers in her arms. Is this only nine roses? It seems heavier than she remembers.

“Good luck.” The florist takes the card and carefully tucks it into the tiny plastic trident bundled with the roses, then waves Carmen away with a smile. Carmen turns and continues down the street.

Carmen used to think she knew what love was. That at least Coach Brunt loved her the way a mother would love a daughter. She knows now that she didn’t. It was the kind of love that one has for a stuffed toy, or a limb, or a tool. She was beloved only because she belonged to VILE and did as she was told.

While she suspected that it wasn’t really love, she didn’t have confirmation of it until she met Carlotta Valdez. She believed that the woman who had captured her father’s heart had to be remarkable and she was right.

Her father gave her mother red roses. Usually a single rose, and sometimes a dozen of them at a time, but Carlotta preferred the single roses. She would tell Carmen how Dexter would break into some poor neighbors’ garden with a pair of shears in his back pocket, and how he would methodically choose the right one.

The neighbors entered their roses into competitions, so they soon learned to get dogs and guns. But Dexter never failed to get a rose. Not only because he was that good, but because he liked to see the look on Carlotta’s face when he presented them to her, and because he knew that no matter how beautiful the rose was, that Carlotta would always be lovelier.

Could Carmen love someone like that? The idea is…well. To be honest, she’s still not sure what love is and what love looks like, but she feels signs of it when she thinks of Player, and Ivy and Zack, and Shadowsan. She feels signs of it when she thinks of Carlotta. She likes to think she could. That she’s capable of it.

Could Carmen love Julia like that?

She would like to try.

Carmen carefully shifts the bouquet in her arms and crosses the street. Julia moved back to Oxford about six months after the raid on VILE headquarters. According to Player, most of VILE were round up by then, and the remaining work that ACME could scrounge up didn’t have anything to do with historical artifacts, so Julia had run out of reasons to stay.

Does Julia still drink tea? Does she still wax poetic about Older Futhark and Coptic?

Is she happy?

The apartment complex is really a collection of handsome brownstones that surround a small courtyard. There’s a barbecue pit set in concrete, and a swingset almost hidden amongst some trees. Two children make a circuit on their bikes, and a woman watches them while she idly pushes a toddler on a swing. Carmen avoids them as best she can and reaches Julia’s door. Music comes from inside; the radio, judging from the overlay of a DJ’s commentary. Carmen reaches up to press the doorbell and hesitates.

Two years and no word. No call, no text. Not even a letter. Two years.

Carmen takes a deep, steadying breath. It is unfortunate, but she had always intended to talk to Julia. Sooner than now, yes, but she did want to talk. She just…lost track of time getting to know her mother. To tell the truth, two years is not enough, but they have the rest of their lives. If Carmen didn’t come to see Julia now, then when would she stop by? In three years? Five?

Yes, it’s been two years, but Carmen is here now. She reaches up and presses the doorbell. There’s a muted chime from within, and a vague shout and footsteps, before the door is pulled open to reveal Julia.

“Hello?” Julia says, her eyes and face bright as if recovering from a bit of laughter, but her smile fades when she sees who it is. Her other hand comes up to cover her mouth.

“Carmen?”

“Hey, Jules,” Carmen says. The both of them stay like that for a moment, letting the music wash around them. The smell of roasted meat wafts around them too, as if Julia were interrupted in the middle of cooking dinner.

Julia’s dark hair is shaggy and ruffled. Carmen doesn’t remember if it’s always been that length, and she just carefully brushed it down for work, or if she’s growing it out. It looks good on her regardless, but then again, Julia could make anything look good.

“Who is it? Is it a package?” An alto voice sounds from within the flat. From the kitchen, wiping their hands on a rag, comes someone wearing an apron over their lean frame. Their dark, medium-length hair is tied back to keep it out of the way. At the sight of Carmen, they go very still, their brown hands still tangled in the kitchen rag.

It’s as if an ice cube has been dropped into Carmen’s stomach.

Julia looks nervously between the two of them. “Mars, this is Carmen, an old friend of mine. Carmen, this is my significant other, Mars Dakila.”

“I know,” Carmen says.

The first time Carmen saw Mars, she was sixteen on VILE Island. Back then, Mars Dakila was Cricket Bat. They arrived at the island and were shut away with the faculty for about an hour before they left with the Cleaners. The students of that year said that Cricket Bat wasn’t a thief at all, and Carmen had wondered why they were affiliated with VILE in the first place if they weren’t a thief.

She got her answer later, after Ivy and Zack had joined her crew. Sharkhead Eddie’s gang had taken over Darryl’s Donut Hole after all, and Carmen meant to break into the vault housed within and burn all of the counterfeit money. When she broke in, however, she found bodies instead. About five men were slaughtered, the dark blood pooling on the white vinyl, and she followed that trail of death to the vault, where Sharkhead Eddie gurgled wetly as he bled out on the floor. Cricket Bat stood over him in their spattered suit, with stained bolo knives in their hands, and dispassionately watched him die.

There was a newspaper article afterwards. The cops said that it was a mob battle, and Carmen supposed that in a way, it was, because the conflicts between VILE and the rest of the East Coast criminal gangs stopped after that.

Now, Cricket Bat, sorry, Mars is a scant seven feet away from Carmen—from Julia—and wiping their hands as if they’ll ever be clean. Julia steps between them, and Carmen blinks. She looks up at Carmen with a half-hard, half-pleading expression and the cold in Carmen’s stomach spreads through the rest of her body.

“We’ve met before,” Carmen says.

“In a different life. Do you want to stay for dinner?” Mars asks. Julia’s eyes widen as she tries to stammer something out.

“I’ll set another plate,” Mars says, and they disappear into the kitchen. Carmen watches them go, and when she’s certain that they’re out of earshot, she leans in towards Julia.

“Jules,” she whispers.

“Yes, I know. But they’ve changed,” Julia whispers back.

Carmen doubts that very much, but Julia continues.

“I swear they’ve changed. If you stay for dinner, you’ll see. Carmen, please.”

“Fine.” Not to see proof of this miraculous turnaround, but to get to the bottom of whatever the hell this is. Something is going on, and Carmen is going to save Julia from it if it’s the last thing she does. She straightens up and takes another deep breath. Julia slumps with relief.

“These are for you.” Carmen holds out the bouquet, and Julia’s eyes flicker with…sadness? Pain? She takes the flowers and cradles them against her chest, then gives Carmen a soft smile.

“Thank you. Would you like to come in?”

Julia moves to let Carmen inside, and goes into the kitchen. Carmen slips her converses off and sets them next to a shoe rack just inside the door. Julia’s heels and flats are there, neatly lined up, but there are also sneakers and brogues that do not belong to Julia. The hooks on the wall above carry two coats and two sets of keys. Carmen ventures in further, her horror growing by the second. Between the front door and the kitchen is enough room for a small dining table, and opposite the table is the living room. In the living room, on the wall above the sofa, is a collection of framed photographs. Carmen recognizes a couple pictures from Julia’s office in Oxford. There are also other people that have Julia’s eyes, or her nose. There is also a picture of Julia and Mars.

It’s a candid shot, judging from the blurriness and the tilt of the camera. Julia’s glasses are askew and she’s laughing. Mars, their face mostly hidden behind Julia’s, presses a kiss to her cheek. Carmen’s stomach lurches dangerously.

CLICK. The music stops as the radio is turned off.

“I’ll just get another bottle from the corner store, Babe,” Mars says as they head towards the door. They pull off the apron and toss it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Julia follows them, carrying a vase with the roses.

“I’m not sure that wine will ease this situation at all,” Julia says.

“We won’t know unless we try.” Mars slips on a pair of trainers, takes one of the sets of keys and turns to give Julia a quick kiss. “Be back soon.”

And with that, Mars leaves, shutting the door behind them. There’s an awful silence. Julia nods her head, like she’s psyching herself up, and turns to face Carmen. Her cheeks are pink.

This cannot be real. This…no. This is a sick joke. A prank. Ha ha. Carmen numbly watches as Julia sets the vase on a deep windowsill next to an old Skyflakes tin with a bunch of succulents planted in it. She beckons to Carmen, then returns to the kitchen. Somehow, Carmen finds the strength to follow her.

The kitchen is an organized mess, as most kitchens are while they’re being used. There is a bowl of mashed potatoes, a tray of roasted broccoli, and rack with two steaks. The sink is piled high with utensils. Julia takes a covered baking pan from the fridge. She uses a pair of tongs to take a steak from it and the places it in a skillet on the stove, where it starts sizzling. Julia puts the pan back in the fridge, sets the tongs off to the side, and looks at Carmen expectantly.

“Is ‘Mars Dakila’ even their real name?” Carmen asks.

“It’s their real name now,” Julia says. She turns the overhead fan on and returns to the skillet. There’s sauce in it too, and she tilts the skillet a little so that it all gathers to one side. Julia takes a spoon and begins scooping the sauce over the steak bit by bit, making sure to baste the entire thing.

“Does Player know?” Carmen asks.

“No,” Julia says.

“Do Ivy and Zack know?”

“No. And they don’t need to know.”

“Listen, Jules. I don’t know what they told you, but I know for a fact that they’re VILE. Faculty sent the Cleaners to clean, but they sent Cricket Bat to make messes. I….” Carmen pulls her hands down her face. “They’re dangerous, Jules!”

“Perhaps that was true two years ago, but they teach escrima at a local gym now. They’re reformed.” Julia picks the tongs back up and flips the steak, then continues scooping sauce. Carmen cannot believe what she is hearing.

“How long have they been conning you?” Carmen asks. Julia gives her a sidelong glance.

“They’re not conning me.”

“How long, Jules?”

Julia sighs through her nose. “We celebrated our one year about two months ago. Does that sound like a con to you?”

“Some cons go on for like seven years.” Carmen fights through a rising tide of guilt and desperation. Oh she is a fool. How could she possibly think she could go to Argentina for two whole years and expect everything to be fine? What an idiot she is! What a moron! And now Julia is completely blind to the danger she is mired in.

“It isn’t a con, Carmen,” Julia insists. She picks the tongs up one last time and uses it to prop the steak up on its side against the pan. She holds it upright and moves it a little every now and then to finish the sear.

Carmen could just…leave with Julia. She could just throw her over her shoulder and take her somewhere safe.

Julia sets the steak on the rack along with the others, then turns off the stove and the fan. She leans against the counter, her head hanging in defeat. “Carmen, why did you come back?” She asks in a hushed voice.

“What?”

“I mean, why now? Just as I was starting to…. I was finally….” Julia raises her head and Carmen doesn’t think she’s ever been the target of such longing. Unbidden, Carmen steps closer, and Julia’s eyebrows scrunch together as she continues to gaze up at her. Julia’s hand comes up as if to touch her arm, but she falters and it drops away.

“Jules,” Carmen breathes.

“You disappeared. I wasn’t surprised because that’s what you do, but then you stayed disappeared and I….” Julia drops her gaze. “You deserved to rest. You deserved to meet your mother in peace.”

She says the last part in near monotone, as if by rote.

“And I wouldn’t have been able to do that if it weren’t for you. I should’ve thanked you when I got that file. I should’ve thanked you sooner,” Carmen says. Julia’s cheeks turn pink.

“That wasn’t me.”

“I know it was you, Jules. Thank you for finding her.”

Julia waves it away, her blush spreading to her ears, but she asks, “is she nice, at least?”

“She’s wonderful.”

A bittersweet smile spreads over Julia’s face. “Good.”

Come with me, Carmen wants to ask. Julia could meet her mother and see for herself. But the front door opens, and Mars returns with a paper bag in hand. They slip their shoes off and put the keys back on the hook. Julia steps away so fast, it’s as if she’s scalded herself. She skirts around Carmen and goes to Mars. Carmen resists the urge to take her arm.

“I know you don’t like super dry wines, so I got a merlot,” Mars says. Their brown eyes light up when Julia comes near, and they hold the paper bag out to her.

Julia takes the bag and rucks it down to read the label on the bottle. “Not bad.”

“See? I know what I’m doing.” Mars kisses her cheek and—to Carmen’s dismay—Julia returns it. She does it absently, out of habit, before she catches herself and freezes. But Mars is already stepping around her and towards the kitchen.

“Was there enough sauce left for a third steak?” They ask.

“I managed it all right,” Julia says.

“Cool.” Mars comes to a stop just out of arm’s reach and tilt their head as they regard Carmen. “Sandiego.”

Carmen’s last name hasn’t been Sandiego in a long time, but she’s not telling them that. “Dakila.”

Behind Mars, Julia shies away as if witnessing an impending car crash.

“Would it be better if I ate with a butter knife instead of a regular steak knife?” Mars asks.

“You could make a plastic knife dangerous, Dakila.”

Julia gasps. “Carmen!”

Mars grins at Julia over their shoulder. “It’s okay, Julia. I’ll eat kamayan style if I have to.”

The name rolls so easily through Mars’ mouth with such familiarity and with such affection that Carmen must resist the urge to tackle them to the floor. Somehow, she unsticks her feet and moves out of the way.

---

The dining table is a small, rustic thing covered in scuffs and dents. To save on space, one end of the rectangle has been pushed against the wall. Julia sits at the remaining short side, and Carmen and Mars sit opposite each other.

While Carmen has never eaten dinner while within three feet of a serial killer, she has had worse evenings before. At least the food is good.

“But because I’m taking more classes than usual, my advisor expects me to graduate in three years, not four,” Julia is in the middle of saying. “I honestly didn’t think that I was taking that heavy a course load.”

“‘Doctor Argent,’” Carmen says, testing out the title. Julia ducks, her face going pink again. “It sounds nice.”

“My students already call me that, even though I tell them not to.”

“You still teach?”

“All phd candidates do. Just the introduction courses though, so it’s just the basics.”

“But you still love it.”

“I do.” Julia beams. “You know, I wouldn’t be able to do all of this in the first place if Mars wasn’t around. They take care of everything.”

“Do they?”

Mars has been mostly quiet all through dinner. They have a knife and fork after all, but they take care to keep their hands above the table, and to move deliberately and slowly. Once in a while, they’ll smile at something Julia says, as if sharing a private joke, or they’ll answer in short sentences, but that’s about it.

“Well, they do most of the cooking and the cleaning because they happen to like cooking and they happen to be rather fastidious,” Julia says.

“It’s the strangest sugaring arrangement I’ve ever been in. I’ve never paid anyone with chores before,” Mars says. Julia gasps and swats their arm, making them squawk.

“You absolute scoundrel! Don’t say that when we both know how whipped you are.”

Mars laughs. They laugh and their eyes light up again. “True! You’re probably the only person on the surface of this planet who could make me do anything.”

Carmen’s insides twist horribly.

After dinner, Carmen helps Julia clear the table and put the leftovers away. Julia ties the garbage bag shut with a double knot and tugs it free of the bin. Mars steps up to the sink and Julia tsks.

“Oh Mars, I’ll take care of those; you did most of the cooking.”

But Mars lathers the sponge and starts washing the dishes anyway. “It’s okay, Babe, I’ve got it.”

“I’ll help them,” Carmen says. Mars glances at her from the corner of their eyes.

“Really? Okay.”

Carmen takes a kitchen towel and stands at the dish rack next to Mars. Julia stares at them.

“You can’t be serious,” Julia half-whispers to herself, then louder, “Behave! Both of you.”

“Of course, Babe,” Mars says.

“I mean it,” Julia says, glaring at them both. “I will not come back to a dead body, understand?”

Mars smiles at her. “Yes, Julia.”

“Sure thing, Jules,” Carmen says.

This seems to mollify her, and she leaves to toss the garbage in the complex dumpster. Mars and Carmen wash and dry the dishes in silence. They pass the pans and the dishes first, and also the cutting board.

“You’re using Jules to escape ACME,” Carmen says. Mars’ eyes flicker, but they continue to wash.

“It certainly started that way, but then they stopped being a threat and I kinda…stuck around. Julia’s a remarkable woman.”

“Does she know how many people you’ve killed?”

“I don’t do that anymore; I promised her I wouldn’t,” Mars says as they place the trays and glasses into the rack.

“Oh, like that’s enough to stop you from killing again.”

“Be as skeptical as you want; I don’t care what you think. What matters is that Julia believes me.”

“What kind of sob story did you tell her to get her to trust you?” Carmen asks.

Mars shakes their head and starts cleaning the utensils. “I can’t believe this,” they mutter under their breath.

“Jules deserves better than to be swindled….”

“No, you know what, Sandiego? You just left her. You left. You wanted a fresh start and you got a fresh start and when you got it, you decided that there was no room in it for Julia. You decided that.”

By miracle, Carmen manages to not drop anything despite the shaking of her hands. Who the hell does Cricket Bat think they are to talk to her like this? As if she doesn’t care about Julia. Like she isn’t terrified that one day, she’s going to find out that Julia’s dead because Mars got tired of her, or didn’t need her anymore.

Because no matter what Mars says, they must be pulling a con. They have to be. They would never admit it, and if they passionately exclaim how much they ‘love’ Julia and it happens to sound genuine, then either they’re a very good actor, or they’re starting to buy their own con.

“How long did you expect Julia to wait around for you? Five years? Ten? Assuming you came back at all,” Mars continues.

“If Jules wants to be with someone else, fine. She deserves to be happy. But not with you. You’re a murderer,” Carmen says.

Mars glances at the vase of roses in the windowsill. “Maybe Julia shouldn’t take advice on her love life from you. Gotta say, green is an awful color on you, Sandiego.”

Carmen’s hands freeze above the utensils drawer. Everything else has been put away except one final steak knife. She holds the handle loosely between three fingers, and with one movement, she could just let go. She could drop the knife into the drawer.

Drop the knife, Carmen. Julia has been gone for several minutes now, so she’ll be back at any moment.

Drop the knife.

Beside her, Mars stands before a bare sink, hands empty except for a dishrag that they wind around their forearm in preparation.

“Mean it when you swing it, Sandiego.”

[myristicisms]

Just a moment of rest, that's all he really needs and he'll be fine and dandy. His assumption that Wutai was a good place to hide in was correct, even better given public security likely thinks they were successful in killing him off for good; They almost were, unfortunately Zack Fair comes from a long line of resilient people and death never took them easily, especially with the chemicals pumped throughout his body now. He doesn't want to burden anyone else more than is necessary but apparently that plan wasn't going the way he was hoping. His wounds are most closed though, just tender and sore, the bleeding has long since stopped but the fabric of his uniform most certainly was stuck to some of the wounded flesh and he dreads the day he has to pull his shirt off. Misery truly isn't something the raven haired man could escape easily, it seems.

He's grateful though that the other doesn't make a remark about how graceless he seems to have become; At one point he had been among the best of the best, highly skilled and coordinated beyond belief and now he's got the balance of a newly born deer just from trying to keep the pain to a minimum. Embarrassing.

Tawny features contort slightly, nose twitching curiously before deciding to keep any comments of the dusty smell to himself. It's not Fair's business and frankly he doesn't want to offend the man that's ever so kindly invited him into his home. He sighs softly, relief crossing his features at finally feeling safe to let his guard down which in theory was completely stupid given he has the traits of someone Wutai did not like in any capacity, again he supposes he's lucky that he'd grown well acquainted with the locals here.

“ Yeah well, being pickled for four years makes retiring hard. ” He remarks, had everything gone according to plan, Zack would be in Gongaga living the good life, maybe visiting Midgar and not risking being gunned down to spend some time with Aerith, unfortunately though nothing ever went well for the former SOLDIER and he'd found himself in quite the sticky situation. “ A bath sounds nice, if it's not too much trouble. I don't think I've felt hot water on my skin since... ” He pauses, visibly shrinks in on himself. ( Since the Inn in Nibelheim... ) There's a shake of his head, grimace turning into a weak smile. “ Not really an excuse, I just know you guys won't turn me in to ShinRa and I needed a spot to recover for a few days before I run off somewhere else. ”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲  𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬  𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬  𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠  𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐬  𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝  as  he  enters  his  family  home  —  like  how  there's  no  one  waiting  inside,  no  food  stocked  and  a  new  layer  of  thick  dust  blanketing  every  surface.  he  manages  to  subside  those  thoughts  for  more  pressing  matters;  it  would  be  best  to  retrieve  some  basic  medical  supplies,  a  change  of  clothes  and  bath  would  do  the  man  staggering  inside  some  good.  that's  all  going  to  be  a  struggle.  the  last  time  sonon  would  have  stocked  their  medicine  cupboard  would  have  been  a  while  ago-  long  enough  he  knows  none  of  the  medicine  would  still  be  edible;  there  should  at  least  be  bandages  and  some  form  of  an  antiseptic  spray.  as  for  clothes,  one  of  his  late  father's  yukatas  should  do  the  trick.  and  a  cold  bath  shouldn't  be  enough  to  kill  a  soldier  first  class,  so  hopefully,  that  won't  become  an  issue.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎to  spare  the  older  some  dignity  as  fair stumbles  behind;  sonon  continues  forward,  removing  his  shoes  as  if  unaware  of  the  struggle.  his  hoarse  voice  only  further  confirms  that  the  kusakabe  household  isn't  equipped  to  help  in  any  medical  sense.  at  any  rate,  sonon  can  only  hope  for  a  cure,  and  some  primary  care  will  hold  the  other  over  until  further  notice. 

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ stepping  onto  the  tatami  mats  of  the  open  front  room,  the  air  carried  a  distinct,  lingering  scent  of  neglect  —  stale  as  if  it  hadn't  been  disturbed  in months  —  a  stark  contrast  to  the  lively  atmosphere  the  home  once  exuded.  walking  ahead,  sonon  opens  the  living  room  doors,  allowing  fresh  air  to  enter  the  house.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ❛❛  it  took  you  long  enough  to  leave  them  since  you're  only  showing  up  now  ❜❜  his  hatred  for  shinra  had  only  grown,  a  far  too  familiar  anger  bubbling  beneath  his  skin  just  from  the  mention  of  the  company.  the  passing  thought  of  leaving  zack  to  fend  for  himself  due  to  his  past  affiliations  swiftly  discarded.  many  questions  linger,  how  a  publicly  known  dead  man  arrived  in  wutai,  being  one  of  them,  how  he  got  all  of  those  injuries  another  —  but  for  all  his  questions,  sonon  knew  the  answer  would  link  back  to  shinra.  biting  back  another  sigh,  the  shinobi  removes  his  bō,  bell  chiming  softly  as  he  leans  it  against  paper  walls.  ❛❛  let's  not  talk  about  me.  i'll  run  you  a  bath;  once  you're  clean  up,  you  can  give  me  an  excuse  for  why  you  came  here.  ❜❜

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: The Dark Knight Trilogy & Its Negative Impact on the Superhero Genre

Superhero movies have come a very long way in the past couple of decades, cementing themselves as a genre unto themselves rather than the odd action movie here or there. Almost every year a few new ones of varying quality pop up that incite equal parts excitement and derision. It’s definitely a genre people feel very strongly about, but even people who tend to not love superhero films will admit that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is fantastic.

From 2005 until 2012, Nolan reinvisioned Batman in a way that grounded the character in reality. There’s no fantastical elements, there’s no insane science, there’s no superpowers… Everything in these films could happen in the real world. In a post-Batman & Robin world, this was seen as a breath of fresh air, and the critics loved it. In particular, The Dark Knight helped to usher in the modern age of superhero films, releasing the same year the MCU kicked off and widely being hailed as one of the greatest films of all time. That’s right, not even superhero films, films period. These films were impressive, groundbreaking, and… they fundamentally ruined superhero movies for quite a while.

Look, I don’t particularly hate these films. I think all of them are pretty good, in their own ways. But they have a lot of glaring issues that really hamper them a fair bit and yet, somehow, they became the blueprint that studios decided to look at for what they thought a successful superhero movie should be. Nolan’s films are serious, brooding, dark, and lack the whimsy and creative insanity that makes comics such a fun and engaging medium, and I think this right here is what has hurt comic book movies the most over the past decade. These are films that feel absolutely ashamed to be comic book movies, and they desperately want to seem like they’re “mature” and for “adults.” And, unfortunately for the rest of us, this shame translated over into a lot of other films, something we’re only just now recovering from.

Looking at the greatest strength of the trilogy shows this issue pretty well, that being the villains. Nolan’s films gave us truly iconic portrayals of characters like Bane, Joker, and Scarecrow, and you’re not gonna hear me say much bad about them. Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Aaron Eckhart, and Heath Ledger all do fantastic jobs as the insidious rogues of Batman. But the issue I have is that by grounding these characters in a realistic setting like this, it kind of misses the point. Joker isn’t using exploding cakes and laughing gas, Ra’s al Ghul isn’t an immortal warrior, Bane isn’t a drugged-up super soldier… They’re all just Guys. They’re Guys With Gimmicks, yes, but at the end of the day they aren’t what should be looked at as the be-all, end-all of the character’s portrayals.

And yet everyone acts like no one should ever play Joker again, because Heath Ledger’s Joker was just so good, guys! And he was good, but I don’t think Ledger’s Joker should be the absolute final Joker ever. Quite frankly, I prefer Phoenix’s Joker, because even if that version is also in a rather grounded film missing the overt weirdness of comics for the most part, he still dresses in a colorful costume, acts weird, tells jokes, and is in general more Jokery. Out of all of these villains, I think Bane and Scarecrow at least come within the ballpark of being close to how they should be, but Scarecrow is horribly underutilized and Bane is given a rather undignified sendoff.

Then there are the bigger issues. Batman himself is really downplayed throughout the trilogy, getting fairly little screentime compared to villains and side characters. This was a huge point of contention when The Dark Knight Rises came out, with most of the film featuring Bruce Wayne, and in hindsight it highlights how unwilling Nolan was to engage with the comic book trappings of what he was adapting. I like Christian Bale a lot, he’s a great actor, but I don’t think he really carries any of the films; in fact, it’s usually the villains carrying the movies. Bale is certainly not as bad as Val Kilmer in the role of Wayne/Batman, but he’s no Keaton, he’s no Clooney, he’s not even an Affleck. A lot of the time, he also just feels like… a Guy. And Batman should not ever, ever just be a Guy.

But perhaps the most egregious fault of the films is what it did to Gotham City itself. In Burton’s films, you really get a feel for the Gothic atmosphere of the city with how it’s designed, and this goes for Batman: The Animated Series too. And even the more cartoonish, colorful Gotham of Schumacher’s films pops and leaves an impact. But Nolan’s Gotham? It’s very much just a City. There is nothing distinct about Nolan’s Gotham, it’s literally just a generic city, and if you even have the faintest knowledge of Batman you will know that Gotham is not just a city. Gotham is pretty much a character itself, a dark, imposing landscape in which Batman does battle with his costumed foes. Every other adaptation I can think of knows to make Gotham feel unique and distinct, but this one just absolutely drops the ball. You might as well just have the city be New York if you’re going to put no effort into giving it personality.

And that all brings me to this: every reviled superhero movie of the past decade, from F4ntastic to The Amazing Spider-Man to Dawn of Justice, all have their genesis in Nolan’s trilogy. He laid the groundwork for these films to exist, and a large majority of the blame needs to be put on Nolan for sapping the fun out of comic book movies. Now, to be totally fair to Nolan, he’s not entirely responsible for what happened to the comic book film landscape; prior to him, the X-Men film series was giving all of the heroes dark costumes and being a bit more serious. But despite those films playing a bit of a part, there’s one major reason I don’t fault them nearly as much: The X-Men films never once felt ashamed to be comic book movies.

You have to understand, people loved grit and edginess in the 90s and had just violently rejected Batman & Robin a few years prior to the original X-Men film, so it’s hard to really fault it for wanting to avoid being too campy. But much like Blade, the films never tried to act like they weren’t still crazy comic book films. Scott still has eye lasers, Mystique is still blue, Nightcrawler looks like a demon, there are Sentinels and Apocalypse and even Dazzler shows up at one point! The X-Men franchise wasn’t always good, but it managed to balance between being silly and taking itself seriously pretty well for the most part. Magneto is still a Holocaust survivor, his relationship with Xavier still has impact, there are still emotional moments here and there, but then you also have Deadpool movies and the multiple comic book style retcons to the timeline that leave the continuity a mess, and something about that just feels right. And all that makes Logan less egregious despite being the sort of brooding, angsty superhero drama Nolan would make, because even if it is those things, it still centers around a dude with metal claws coming out of his hands trying to stop his best friend from wiping out everyone with psychic seizures. Nolan could never make this superhero film.

Nolan’s films, on the other hand, did. These films did not feel like they wanted to be comic book movies, they felt like they wanted to be serious crime films but Nolan was stuck with Batman so he just mashed the two together. And honestly, I’d probably be more forgiving if it weren’t for the hugely negative impact these films and their critical success had on the superhero genre even until this day. The first decade of superhero films as a major contender in cinema were colored by these films. People outright balked at silliness in superhero movies for quite some time, with a lot of criticism levied at the early phases of the MCU for being too goofy; in fact, at times it seemed as if the MCU was going a bit too far in the goofy direction without striking the proper balance, with films like Age of Ultron having most of its tension defused by constant wisecracks. And on the DC side, Nolan’s grounded approach lead to Zack Snyder’s flaccid filmmaking with dark coloration, moody atmosphere, and not a shred of joy to be found. Nolan is essentially the peak of dark, grounded superhero films, and Snyder is the nadir, but Snyder’s awful DC films wouldn’t exist if not for Nolan.

It was a slow crawl getting to what superhero movies should be. Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man were films tossed out only when Marvel was certain they could take risks, because absurd concepts like those would just not have been able to survive if not for years of good will beforehand. That’s not even getting into some of the more bonkers elements of later films, such as Ego the Living Planet and basically everything about Doctor Strange. In fact, Doctor Strange, for all its issues, is still a massive step forward for a genre that outright rejected magic for a long time, instead for a time turning Thor and his costars into a cast of hyper-advanced aliens, with later films having to clarify that there is magic and zombies and so on. The recent WandaVision was able to further clarify this by making Wanda unambiguously magic and not an evil Nazi science experiment.

Superhero animation didn’t suffer quite so much, but that’s mostly because, much like comics, animation is still seen as “kid’s stuff” by way too many people. And even then, they didn’t escape the shadow of Nolan totally unscathed; one need only look into the infamous Bat Embargo, which limited Batman villains so there could only be one given incarnation of said character in media. For instance, the Scarecrow being in Batman Begins meant he could not appear in the animated series The Batman. This lead to such things as no Batman characters appearing in Justice League Unlimited. It was truly a stupidly frustrating time to be a Batman fan when some of his most iconic foes were relegated to only certain appearances because it “might confuse kids.”

Let me again clarify this: I mostly like the Nolan films. I usually like Nolan, though he has become unbearably, obnoxiously pretentious these days. I think a lot of elements of them are great, I feel like they mostly have strong villains, and I don’t disagree that The Dark Knight is a fantastic film. But the thing is these are only good as AU stories, as their own thing; they should not be the template every superhero movie should follow, or any superhero movie for that matter, because they lack the ability to engage with the things that make people love comics in the first place. People love wacky, off-the-wall concepts, superpowered aliens, magic, talking animals, evil living planets, alcoholic ducks, and all that fun stuff.

People desperately want the fun, camp, and wacky stuff back in comic book films, as the success of the goofier DC films like Aquaman, Shazam, and Birds of Prey as well as the success of shows like Doom Patrol in comparison to the critical and audience revulsion of Snyder’s films, with Shazam in particular giving us such bonkers concepts as an entire family of superpowered children and Mr. Mind, the evil alien caterpillar. Thor: Ragnarok and the Guardians of the Galaxy films have become some of the most beloved MCU movies despite being weird, wacky, and wholly embracing the joy of comics to the point the latter films feature Howard the Duck and the aforementioned Ego alongside bizarre characters like Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Taserface. And the thing with all of these films is that they’re able to balance the weirdness and wackiness of comics without losing sight of human emotion, moving storytelling, and drama. They’re both fun and deep, goofy and yet meaningful. This is what comics are, and what they should be, and anyone who thinks comics should be grim and gritty really needs to think about why they think an entire genre needs to be colored in with only the dullest colors.

I think what I’m trying to say here is this: Make a Detective Chimp movie, you cowards.

[altocat]

Throwing another ask your way — I saw that you talked about seph going nonverbal after lab appointments (or when he’s otherwise breaking down a bit), are there any moments where he isn’t able to self isolate and GS or Z notice something is off? I hope ur day has been going well so far btw!

My day's going great! Hope yours is too!

-The only times Sephiroth is thrown for a loop is whenever his lab days are shoved right up on mission days. When this happens, Sephiroth often finds that he doesn't have time to really mentally (or physically) recover from his sessions.

-Angeal, Genesis, and/or Zack will notice of course. Because this is when Sephiroth is completely in mindless drone mode. Not talking. Not sleeping. Not engaging. Barely taking in any form of nutrition or self-care. He only exists to fulfill the objective, killing enemies without expression or even without blinking. It's like a robotic form of catatonia where Seph's brain is a million miles away from where he is/what he's doing. And he can be like this for days.

-Angeal and Gen shift somewhere between giving him plenty of space and slowly trying to snap him out of it. Sephiroth is in a complete zombie state, hyperfocused while also not really functioning in any outside sense. So Angeal and Genesis (mostly Angeal) are left trying to figure out how to maneuver him along and take care of him.

-When he DOES finally come out of it, Sephiroth is very shaky and seems to have borderline regressed. Nothing he says really makes any sense. He keeps relating to offhand names and faces Genesis and Angeal have never met. His sentences sort of run together and he seems extra distrustful and fearful of people touching him. This is typically when they have to ground him back to reality, doing what they can so that they don't embarrass him. Eventually, Seph sort of clicks back into place. And to save him the shame, they don't mention it afterwards.

-Zack has a harder time managing these episodes. Mostly because he hasn't known Sephiroth as long and wants to address the issue directly. Unfortunately, Sephiroth is prone to lashing out whenever someone gets too close. So poor Zack has to come to terms with Sephiroth seemingly hating him when he was only trying to help. Sephiroth, naturally, barely remembers this the next day once he's recovered.

[what-ever-happened-to-chip]

The Adventures of Squall

Squall's observations. Hmm. I don't know what Rinoa wants me to do. I guess I'll ask Eli for his notes and just give them to her. *knock knock* "Cheerio good boy, may  I help you with anything?" "Do you have notes on that thing Christian was talking about?" "Ahh you've came to the right residence, just let me....hold on just a moment..." He began digging through piles of loose paper, flipping through notebooks, all whilst mumbling to himself. "Alas! Here is one of my more rudimentary charts, but it shall accomplish what you're intial questions preface." It was hard to concentrate, he was talking very fast and using a lot of words that I didn't know. Akio says because of my ASD I sometimes get what he calls "verbal dyslexia" and it's hard for me to comprehend what other people are saying, especially if they talk different from me. I'll have to concentrate very hard if I don't want Rinoa mad at me again. "But see this is where it gets confusing, we have many great forces here, coincidence? Doubtfully so, but these overlapping characteristics I believe have come here for a reason. Many of our members, including myself, have had interactions with Christos, Christian you call him, and I can't imagine why he would let so many familar faces corner him in the same scenario, unless of course he had a plan for each individual. See, I believe..." He pulled out a chair for me that I sat in. I took out my notebook so I could remember what to tell Rinoa. "If you look here on this chart.." he pulled out a large beige canvas with several pictures pinned to it, threads of twine connecting different ones. "First you see here that Christos comes to my noble world and plants himself as Cyrus, the destroyer of worlds. He taints Noah and I am his right hand man. He tells me a great many things, we can go into later. Do realize this isn't in chronilogical order, I have no way of telling yet the timeline of all our respective worlds. "Next he plants himself as an alien, "Jenova" he calls it on Gaia and and infects the whole planet. The only one to save it was Aerith who possesses extrodainary spiritual powers. She was the last chance tho and aside from her sacrifice Geostigma went on beyond her time..." "His next target, alas, Thomas. A young, troubled boy whom Christian fictionalized a companion for. An alter ego of sorts and made thomas believe it was himself. I believe he might have been weak and needed a human body to recover on. At some point Christian went to Aiden and found him by the Sanguis River, which is the border between our world and ubi requiescit dolor or "where sorrow rests. I haven't been able to spot where he showed up in Harry's world, but I do know he was there at some point. He likely was only a death eater of no great importance. Same with Roxas, Christian probably took the form of a nobody, which of course begs the question...." It was really hard for me to take notes as fast as he talked. I was really tryign to spell words better to get in the habit of it. Reading was easy for me, but writing made me nervous. I'll just get the names and maybe i'll remember. "can one become a nobody without having a form first? Perhaps that's it. He was a formed human on one planet and when he was almost destroyed at some theroetical part, he latched onto Thomas but only came back as a nobody which of course is an allusion. Details, details, but where were we? Oh yes, next on his infamous walk through time was of course Aangs world where he brought the powers of darkness to a seemingly balanced world, probably dating back to around...." I needed to yawn, but it seemed rude. I wonder how he knew all of this. He seemed confused himself. Maybe I should talk to some other people. Rinoa will be mad if I only talk to him. I should have gotten more information earlier.

“And of course Akio’s unfortunate fate with him, presenting himself as illusions to drive the man mad I’m sure. I do believe he could do that, his evil seems endless.” He paused and looked around at all his charts and papers. this will be a good time to excuse myself. "I have to use the restroom, excuse me" He didn't seem to notice me leave, he kept talking and looking at his papers. While I was walking I saw Harry with a plastic cup pressed up to a door. As I walked closer to him he dropped the cup and ran. I went to the kitchen. "Hey Zack" He was drinking really fast out of a big water bottle. Some of it was spilling on his black shirt. "Heya buddy, I broke 20 in 80, my new personal best. Gotta love the summer time." "What?" "Oh 20 miles in an hour and 20, a 4 minute average." "...." "So do you know anything about why we had to go to Camp A and Camp B?" "Ulquiorra seemed pretty on edge, everyone getting riled up like that. Maybe it's time for the old man to retire!" "What about the dark world place?" "I don't know much about that, but I tell you I sure don't know want to get to know it better if you know what I mean. Anyways bud, lactic acid builds on stiff muscles, gotta do my cool down." He then clapped me a little hard on the back, it was sort of uncomfortable, then left the room. I continued walking around looking for someone else to talk to. Rikku is on the couch watching a cartoon called the Powerpuff Girls. She is flossing on the couch? Why isn't she in the bathroom. I'll wait until she's done. I'll wait around the corner so she doesn't know I saw her doing it. After about 70 second she dropped the floss on the ground. There was a garbage can right on the table, but I guess she didn't see it.

"Hey" "Uhhh hey..." Her eyes never left the screen. "Do you know anything about the dark spirit place Christian was talking about?" "Hmmm, there was this one story Buddy used to tell us to scare us, it seems like the same thing and i don't know with all this world collide bs i wouldn't surprised if it's the same. "Do you know the story?" "I don't know ask Buddy, i'm busy." "..." Okay I wonder where Buddy is. I heard a basketball hit the basket outside. Sometimes we play basketball together. "Yo, yo, yo man 3 on 3, pussy slayers vs bitch playas." "AW SHIT" "wooof woof woof" "Which ones which?" asked Aang. "My brutha you knows yous a slaya!" on that they bumped their fists together. "I guess that means i'm with you guys" Tifa said and smiled. That means I'm on Adam's and Riku's team. I played basketball up to 21 points. My team lost. I'm good at making baskets, but not as much at passing and working with my team. "Aight, aight, how bout a smoke break and then maybe we'll give ya'll a rematch." As they all began to disperse, I walked up to Buddy. "Rikku said you could tell me a story about the dark place." "Rikku tol you that?" "Yes. The one you use to tell her." He looked both ways and then straight at me. "I don know nuthin about no story." "Okay, sorry." I guess I better ask someone else. I was getting tired. I should have done this earlier, but I see  Rinoa tomorrow. I think it would be a good idea to ask Thomas. I'll see if he's in his room. *knock knock* He opened the door slow, but wide and stared at me. "Can you tell me anything about the dark place." He looked surprised and happy. Akio tells me sometimes people's facial expressions don't always show what they mean, but it's a good indicator if I'm confused. I think he wants me to come in. He was sitting in his computer chair and he had clothes folded on his bed so I don't want to sit there and get them dirty. "I find it rather odd you're the one asking me this question. Eli wasn't surprising one bit, but it's not like he'd listen if I did tell him anything." "So you don't know anything?" "Don't know anything? Yeah right. I know everything that I need to. And ultimately however this goes, there's nothing left for me to lose." "...." "I must admit it does get rather boring having to hold back such genius in my mind. Feigning ignorance on all matters that go on here just to be able to thrive. This truly is the best case scenario for me and I know i'm not alone." He was frowning now. I didn't say anything so I know he probably isn't mad at me. I've learned that most people just keep talking if you say nothing. It helps a lot because I usually have nothing to say. "Are you looking for the nitty gritty, the gory details, or simple how're you're involved?" "Rinoa wanted to me to ask people about it. She thinks we're being lied to." "HAH. Just now she thinks she's been lied to?? Foolish girl." "Rinoa is smart." "Perhaps she is, all the same it's all clouded by her ego." "....." "So rinoa wants to know about the dark world they've after all this time brought up. You have to know though, Simon wouldn't have brought it up if there wasn't some gain to him, some strategic reason for his timing. He's a puppet master, he probably knew you would be here talking to me. It's all going just to his plan.....or perhaps he thought I would kick you out and that would keep him advantageous. But he knew that i'd knew that he was planning that." I was getting pretty confused. "Who's Simon?"

He frowned at me. "He's Christian." "Okay." "That's right "Christian" has had many names, many forms. He's wormed his way into many of lives and took everything they had with them. A leech. Of course a leech needs to eat too." I had been in his room almost 15 minutes. It was probably time to talk to someone else. "The dark world, purgatory, the eternal space, the fog, every world has a different name for it. Some are ignorant, but most know that not everyone gets the "good death". It's origin is beyond me, but I know what it is now. And I know he wants to go there. He's looking for something. Or maybe he's helping someone else." "I have to go now." "Then go, i'm not keeping you if that's what you thought" Thomas sneered at me. "..." *door shuts* As I left Thomas's room, Zidane came in really quickly from the front door. He looked really skinny these days. He pulled off his knapsack and begin looking for something deep within it. I don't know why he still uses his old knapsack, a good messenger bag would look a lot nicer and be a lot less stressful on his shoulders. "OKAY DADDY'S HOME, who wants to party???" As people began pouring into the dining room, they gathered around as he poured a large bag of cocaine out onto the clean glass table top. I remembered when I went fishing the other day how when I dropped bread crumbs in little fish would swarm to all try and get the food at once. It reminded me of that. I used to do cocaine sometimes with Irvine and his friends, but Akio says that it might make my OCD and ASD worse. I didn't want to mess with it, I had already had a stressful day. That's good enough for now. I'll just go to bed and maybe in the morning someone will talk about it and I won't have to ask. I did my bedtime rituals in the normal order, brush teeth, clean face, comb hair, change out of all clothes into two pairs of fresh underwear, socks, and pajamas. It was nice tonight I could turn off the air conditioner. I rested my head on the pillow. The cocaine was making everyone rowdy and I could hear it. Great I could hear Aiden yelling from his room that was right next to mine, on the side my bed was pushed against. I've asked Garnet multiple times if he could switch rooms, but she says no one wants his room cause it smells like blood and has a bunch of holes in the walls. And I was definitely not going to switch my room, everyone was right in it, it didn't need to change. I don't want to spy on people, but last time I said I wouldn't do what Rinoa wanted she threatened to not talk to me for a month. Instead, she talked, or more so bitched, the entire month at me, never letting me have some peace and quiet. I don't want that again.

I took out my nightly form to see how I’’m doing and filled it out.

Anxiety: 8/10

Mood: 6/10

Insomnia: 2/10

OCD: 7/10

Triggers: Talking to people, missing lunch because no one would leave the kitchen, having to ask questions, shoe lace breaking and not having a replacement.

Medication issues: None

Overall: 6/10

He kept yelling, but I could hear another voice too. He often talked to himself so at least when someone else was there, it was only half yelling. I really didn’t want to do it, but I felt Rinoa demanding me why I didn’t. I didn’t like lying to her.

   I remembered Harry earlier. I poured my water cup out and pressed my ear against the bottom of it. "Denny if that's the case, what do you have to lose?" "EVERYTHING. DON'T YOU GET IT!!! I've been waiting too long for you to FUCK things up." "Well I do admire your dilligence Denny, you truly never give up." "I will never give up, I will never stop until things are right." "Being when you have Jenn back?" "NO SHIT. All you are is a pawn. There is no other reason you're here." "The life of a king or the life of a pawn, really only is affected by perspective. I take my place with pride and am grateful for whatever else life I get to cherish." "I've waited long enough, i'll wait forever, but I sure as fuck don't want to." "Aside from your said goals, I am curious, did J really return from there?" "Fuck if I know. It has nothing to do with me." "There feels as if there is things you aren't telling me Denny." "WELL HOW THE FUCK DID IT GO LAST TIME I DID." "Please.....I want to help." "As long as Christian holds up his end of the deal, I won't need to use you. And he has the same goal." "I get the feeling you two are not alone in your quest. Are there others?" "Yeah but they're not important really. Just gotta an eye on them." "Even more useless than I?" "No one could be more useless than you." "Ahh how appropriate I and Lana are spending our time in this waiting room together, both readily discardable part of the larger schemes of the world. I've never felt quite so zen  before." "haha maybe they should bring Liza around and see how well you two get along." "I believe they would get along splendidly. they like the same music, both androgenous yet stunningly feminine, thrill seeking." "Ur forgetting one thing, cock makes bitches crazy, look at Jenn and Yuna. They'd be the best friends in the world if Yuna hadn't sucked my dick." "And by Jenn, you mean that girl masaqurading as your girlfriend?" "Watch it fucker." "I'm only stating your sentiment seems strangely misplaced seeing Yuna is in real danger whereas "Jenn" is only what you make her to  be" "I don't think anything has to happen to her, but if it does she knew what she was getting into." "Yes, but that was a long time ago. A long time before now I would have sacrificed myself for your well being, do you think things are the same now?" ".......what do you mean..? but you....just said...WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN??????!!!!!!!" "I was only teasing Denny, of course I'm here at your service, seeing of course you are the sole reason I am here. I don't think it's wise to betray our gods." "Heh yeah right, I'm your fucking god." "Indeed I am in religious awe." "heh yeah sure. So fucker whatchu got in the briefcase." "Zidane went and filled my reservoirs, I'm back in business" "Hook it up bitch." "I wouldn't have it any other way." After that they started talking quieter in a way that didn't bother me, Finally I can go to sleep.

[redemptioninchaos]

Meanwhile, Colette traveled to Philadelphia after Tess recovered her convertible. Her main purpose was to seek a way to reverse the effects of incubus-ness, but all she could find within the society's archives was how to quell an incubus's seduction, how to reverse demonic impregnation, and an incubus's weak points.

All of it was interesting information, but nothing she specifically sought. She closed the tome with a frustrated groan.

She thought about her powerlessness against teleportation spells. She still trusted Anubis, but she also knew how hardheaded he could be. There was no telling that he even read her latest text; underworld signal wasn't the best, after all. Not only that, but if Anubis could use that power with good intentions, Ra could also use it for ill intentions.

She'd dabbled with runework as a hobby in the past, so she cracked open a runic tome while she was there. She found a rune specifically meant to counter teleportation spells. It didn't take her long to replicate the same rune on her own body, a few black, rigid chicken scratches on her upper arm. Since she usually wore a cardigan, it would have been easy to hide, but if anyone asked, she could have just said it was a tattoo.

Confident, she copied the rune further down her arm. Given she was a fire mage, it was unknown how the rune's effects would differ from normal. In a perfect world, she'd never have to find out...

She got a call from Mason. He was surprised to hear she was in Philly, and it made his assignment much easier to fulfill. Apparently a politician was running for governor of Pennsylvania. That itself didn't interest the apolitical chaos goddess, but what did interest her was the politician's name: Zachary Ashwolf.

It was just as she suspected, too; Ashwolf was another werewolf. Not only did he have to deal with opposing forces within the stuffy capitol buildings, but also with werewolf hunters who knew exactly what he was. It was Colette's job to make sure that Zack was safe.

A few wisecracks and dead lycan hunters later, Colette secured the Ashwolf at a rendezvous point where they met with SIN. The contract was complete.

To celebrate, Colette headed to her favorite restaurant ever, Dave's Philly Rotisserie. Dave wasn't in, unfortunately, but she was able to put two full orders of Waiver Wings onto her tab without a problem. The cashier and kitchen staff all let out an excited murmur the moment she walked in, the fat wad of cash she held in her hand being a big reason why.

Colette didn't know how much people got paid at Dave's, but she made sure that everyone got a living wage whenever she stopped by. Everyone who worked there got a generous, tax-free tip, including the back of house. As a result, her order was completed in record time every time.

She was in the middle of devouring her second order of wings, sauce all over her face and hands, when she heard someone walk in.

Like Father, Like Son [Closed RP/Story]

Philly, a wonderful place, cooler then anywhere else right now and they he walked down the streets…a Ashwolf. He dressed in a 3 piece suit and shook hands with people as he walked… He was running for governor! He was making a name for himself and sadly that got him on some lists that already knew of his…secret.

At the same time Jasper had heard of this Ashwolf, another one? One do distant he had never heard of him. Grabbing his pistol and keys he left his home, making the long drive, something compelled him, he didn’t know what…just a bad feeling…right?

@redemptioninchaos

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Grand Slam preview

Originally New Japan Pro Wrestling was going to do two big stadium shows in May. I'm guessing the strategy was to keep fans socially distanced, but book bigger buildings so they could sell more tickets. Unfortunately Japan had another surge in COVID-19 cases, and another state of emergency was declared. New Japan ultimately canceled the Yokohama show and postponed this one, in the Tokyo Dome, to July 25. Unfortunately, with the pandemic going the way it is in Japan, the government has probably limited the number of people who can attend, and New Japan is probably taking a bath on this show no matter what.

But that's not our problem. All you need to know is that you can stream the show live at 3am EDT, Sunday morning, July 25. You can stream it on NJPW World (about $9.05 US per month). Or if you don't want the hassle of subscribing to a Japanese service, you can get the show for $19.99 on Fite.tv. Both services will provide English commentary, and both of them let you watch it later on-demand (in case you don't want to be up all night).

Shingo Takagi vs. Kota Ibushi (maybe) - Shingo is the 3rd IWGP world heavyweight champion, and he's making his first defense of the title. As of this writing Ibushi is still the advertised challenger, despite missing several recent shows due to a case of aspirational pneumonia. Hopefully the time off has allowed him to recover. If he's forced to pull out, I'm beginning to think New Japan will not announce that until the start of the show.

The main event of this show has been cursed for months. Originally, Will Ospreay beat Ibushi for the title and Takagi in his first defense, to set up Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada on May 29 in the Tokyo Dome. Then Ospreay went home with a neck injury, and Okada caught COVID-19, and the show was postponed. So Okada faced Takagi for the vacant title on June 7, and after Takagi won he challenged Ibushi to face him on the "biggest stage" possible. Then the Tokyo Dome show was rescheduled, with the unfortunate main event of "two guys Ospreay just beat." Now Ibushi has pneumonia, and if there's going to be replacement there will be zero time to set it up.

Under normal circumstances, this match headlining a big show would be a real treat. It won't be as fun if I'm worried about Ibushi's cardio. I know the running gag is that everybody thinks Ibushi is superhuman, because he looks ten years younger than he is and he falls on his neck and acts like it's no big deal. But dude. I mean, if he shows up at this show ripped to shreds and ready to go, it'll be great and play into the myth. But I can't imagine he'll be 100%.

At last night's New Japan show, Hiroshi Tanahashi said he's ready to take Ibushi's place if needed. That's as close as anyone has come to being positioned as a replacement. Honestly, that's not a bad consolation prize, and Shingo-Tana even has a ready-made instant storyline. (Tanahashi beat Shingo for the NEVER title a few months ago, so he's a logical challenger for Shingo's world title now.)

A title change would be pretty wild right about now, but I think this new world title has bounced around too much as it is. We need stability, and we need a champion who can weather these difficult times. My man Shingo can do it.

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi - Naito and Sabre won the IWGP heavyweight tag team title from Dangerous Tekkers on July 11, so this is the rematch.

I really don't understand why you'd book the Tekkers to chase Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for six months just to immediately pull the belts back off of them, especially if you're just going to do an immediate rematch. Makes no sense. Whichever team loses here is going to look kind of pathetic, to the point that I'm wondering if you have to start teasing a breakup angle. But it's New Japan, so I don't think they'd jump right into that sort of thing.

My preference is to see one of these two teams defend the title more than once against various teams. I don't care which of them does it, but the other needs to go to the back of the line. That would be pretty disastrous for Dangerous Tekkers, so I guess I'm rooting for them to regain the belts and get back on track.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb - With Will Ospreay out of action, Okada is stuck feuding with one of Ospreay's henchmen in the United Empire. That's not a knock on Cobb, who's strong as hell and super cool. But it's like one of those He-Man episodes where he just fights Mer-Man, because Skeletor is out of town or something. Mer-Man is dope as hell, but nobody thinks he's gonna beat He-Man on Skeletor's day off. With that said, it'd be mighty cool if Cobb scored a huge upset to set him up as a key player in the main event scene.

El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles - Despy had just finished a grueling defense of the IWGP junior heavyweight title against Taiji Ishimori when Eagles announced he was next in line for a title shot.

Eagles, an Australian, has been pretty scarce since the pandemic began. He did compete in December's Best of the Super Jr. tournament, but even so it's a special event to get to see him. Even so, Eagles is not exactly a dominant force in New Japan's junior division, and I'm not expecting him to be a major threat to Desperado here. With Hiromu Takahashi cleared to compete, the money is in setting up Hiromu-Despy for the title. I don't see Eagles figuring into that picture, so he should take the L.

El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero - ELP and Ishimori are defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title. Taguchi is the coach of his not-quite-a-real-thing group, Taguchi Japan, and Romero coaches Roppongi 3K, so together they are the Mega Coaches. I like the Mega Coaches but they're going to lose hard here.

New Japan Ranbo - This is a gauntlet battle royale for possession of Toru Yano's KOPW 2021 trophy. Two wrestlers will start the match and each additional participant will enter at regularly-scheduled intervals. Participants can be eliminated at any time. Once everyone has entered the match, and all but one has been eliminated, the remaining entrant is declared the winner and win the trophy.

Normally in a New Japan Ranbo match, eliminations occur via pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope. But since this is a KOPW match, added stipulations were proposed for the fans to vote on. The winning stipulation is that handcuffs will be placed around the ring, and you can eliminate an opponent by handcuffing him to something. I suspect this rule has not been thought through, and some weird edge cases will come up during the action. In layman's terms, this will be a wacky shit show with crazy shenanigans. I'm looking forward to it.

No participants have been announced except for Yano. I would expect a bunch of the older guys and prelim guys will show up, and maybe some wrestlers we haven't been seeing lately. But this isn't a Royal Rumble, or even a Battle Riot or a Casino Battle Royale, so I wouldn't hold my breath for any earth-shattering surprises. Anyone could win, but at this point Yano is to the KOPW trophy what R-Truth is to the WWE 24/7 title. The winner of this match is either going to be Yano or be losing to Yano very soon.

[slothgiirl]

shadowplay part 14

You’re going to miss LA. You think to yourself as you hoist your bag out the uber, considerably heavier than when you arrived a little under a week ago.

“I’ve got it love,” Alex grins, not waiting for your response, before taking the bag right out of your hands, clad in a jacket like the sun wasn’t shining high in the sky.

“I had it.”

“Yeah well,” he smiles, taking a moment to plant a kiss against your lips, “I’ve got it.”

You roll your eyes, leading the way into the airport, but can’t help the smile that grows on your lips. The warmth in your chest has nothing todo with the california sun, leaving you bubbly as fuck, the same way you’ve felt this whole week with Alex.

Even rock stars have to wait their turn to grab their tickets before having to go through the very unsexy security.  

Standing in line, the airports ac cranked up like crazy, you’re glad to be wearing one of Alex’s jackets. “ feel like a glorified coat hanger,” you tell him, “just here to keep your jacket from being ruined during the flight.”

Alex chuckles, “but you're much better company.”

“True,” you giggle, “can’t say the same for you though. It’s no fun getting tipsy while you're holding your own like a proper james bond.” Thinking back on the many drinking games you'd taken part of during the last week. Zack had been a surprising lightweight.

“Well-,”

Whatever he was about to say is lost. The sound of cameras clicking, a flash temporarily blinding your eyes. As a man urgently says, “Alex is this your new girlfriend!”

A camera clicks again.

“Alex! Look over here,” the man cries out.

You wish you had Alex's sunglass wearing habit, as you blink rapidly, trying to recover from the blinding flashes suddenly assaulting you.

One man becomes two becomes three. All jockeying for his attention. “Alex are you working on the new album!”

“Sweetheart, look over here!”

“Is she your new girlfriend!”

“When's the new album out!”

The people around you, who moments ago hadn't cared, look over, whispering under their breath. You don't know how celebrities like Kim Kardashian can deal with the media circus that surrounds their lives constantly you think as you try and ignore the flashes continuing to go off. Ignoring them like you would the pointed looks of your profs as you struggled to stay awake during seven in the morning lectures.

Alex, sensing your unease, slips his hand into yours, squeezing your hand in his tightly as he pulls you along up to the self check-ins.

It's easier to block them out when you're busy concentrating on printing your tickets.

“I swear my passport was just here,” you mutter. Your purse wasn't even that big. How could it have gotten lost.

Alex smirks, unable to help himself as he teases you, “should've given your passport to me love.”

You snort. “My passport picture should be kept between me and this unfortunate machine.” You had tried to bleach your hair blonde, but had only achieved a horrid orange color that you'd dyed back to black the next day.

You pull out the elusive passport, but Alex nabs it from your hands before you can scan it into the machine.

He looks down with a ridiculously sappy smile, “you look beautiful as ever.”

“Oh you're so full of shit,” you snipe back.

Alex chuckles, the machine finally printing your tickets, before leaning in and kissing you again, taking you bottom lip between his lips, for just a moment too long for such a public place.

You flush crimson, but can't make yourself look away from Alex; the man you've grown so fond of.

He'd never been this open and at ease of PDA back when you had been faking a relationship for his benefit. It makes you really wonder how his friends had bought it.

A crease forms between his brows, “don't mind the paps love. ‘s better if you just ignore ‘em.” There's a certain stiffness to his shoulders that hadn't been there moments ago too.

The paps bother him too. You're surprised he isn't used to it. Then again, he hadn't even spared them so much as a glance.

Understanding dawns on you, he was worried about how you'd react now that you'd both just decided to start dating. Alex doesn't want them to put you off.

You shake your head as you both make your way to TSA, Alex still holding your hand, keeping you close to him. “I was just thinking how I'd be a terrible paparazzi. They'd send me out to chase Britney Spears and I'd be like but what if she doesn't want to be bothered right now.”

He laughs as you step on the escalator up and leave the paps behind.

**

You're in the cab back from the airport as your phone buzzes, finally off from airplane mode. Ten different texts from your mum asking if you landed okay. All the work emails you put off in the states. And Sam sent you a million screenshots of you and Alex in the airport earlier with the text: i'm now celebrity adjacent and i WILL name drop.

You laugh, having expected nothing less from her.

“What,” Alex asks lazily, cigarette in hand, both the cabs windows down.

“Just Sam being Sam.” You reply.

He nods, becoming incredibly serious, too serious to be sincere, “she's your Matthew.”

“Well you're not wrong.” Sam was that close to you. “We're going house hunting tomorrow...later today. I hate jet lag.”

Alex grins. “Why don't you just move in with me,” he says simply, as though it's not a loaded question. As though it's really that easy.

Sending you through eighty five degrees of: you haven't told your parents, they're going to freak, you just started dating, too fast, you're parents were going to absolutely murder him because everyone in your family had been convinced you were going to die an old spinster by now.

“We just started dating,” you say instead.

Alex shoots you a puzzled look. “Technically it's been six months.”

“Stick to being clever in writing Alex,” you reply. “this has been on my to do list for a year now.” You have been saving up money and building credit for ages now.

“Okay so maybe it's been a week,” he shrugs, flicking the cigarette ash into the street, “but it feels like forever.”

You snort, your cheeks heating up all over again. You hadn't felt this happy with a man in ages. “Nice try but the answer’s still no.”

“Can I at least come with,” he pouts.

“No,” you laugh, “Sams going to want all the gossip as soon as I see her. Who else is going to tell her that Breanna really thinks rice crackers and peanut butter are a snack!”

“Don't be so hard on her.”

“You didn't have any either,” you counter. “I can understand someone eating healthy, I dunno if I've ever made a dress larger than a size 6, but I draw the line at trying to pretend kale chips taste good.”

“I hate peanut butter,” he answers, the laugh clear in his voice. “sticks to the roof of my mouth.”

“She also told me about this app that fakes plastic surgery for editing,” you add, “made me feel like an old woman. Only just discovered filters.” You really didn't use instagram for much more than following some writers and designers you admire.

“She hogged you all week,” Alex groans at the memory. Breanna telling you where to squat so her legs would look longer, her camera in your hands.

“It was fun. She's a hell of a hiker,” you admit. She'd been able to walk and talk easily, lugging around her camera with her, while the boys jammed out back at the cabin.

“Miles won't walk more than a block before whining. Ya sure I can’t go with you and Sam? I've gotten very used to having you around all the time”

“You can help me move in,” you tease.

“Oi!”

You lean in close to his ear, “promise I'll make it worth your time,” you practically purr, barely managing to keep from laughing.

Alex's cigarette falls out of his hand.

He turns to you fully, his hand cupping your cheek, a glint in his eye as the sun sets over London, “I'll hold you too it.”

You beat Alex to the bags, having learned by now that he wasn't about to let you pay. Which was for the best. But you could at the very least carry your own bag up the stairs to your flat.

“I've got it,” you shut him down, keeping a hand outstretched, so he doesn't just take the bag from your hand.

“Alright alright,” Alex laughs, following you up to your flat.

You were glad that he was staying. You had also gotten used to waking up to him every morning. To making out in bed first thing. Or lounging around on your phone as Alex tuned his guitar.  

It had been that way for a while if you were being honest with yourself.

Alex had carved out a place in your life long before he'd kissed you and told you he loved you.

Saying you had only been dating for a week meant nothing when you were already sure of the depth of your feelings for him.

“ ‘s it alright if I stay over,” Alex asks softly, leaning against the door while you search for your keys, looking just as hopeful and earnest as he had so long ago when drunk, when he'd tried to kiss you then.

You stick the key in the door, before turning to meet the warmth of his brown eyes, and kissing him for all the times you'd wanted to before: kissing him just because you can. You can't imagine ever being sick of the feel of his lips against yours. “Stay as long as you like.”

The door clicks open.

“All that's good,” Alex smiles, “I already ordered breakfast… ‘fink it's closer to lunch by now.”

“Oh thank god,” you reply, abandoning your bag next to the door and sinking into your sofa, stretching out all the kinks in your neck from having sat on a plane for the last nine hours. “I was just thinking how I was going to have to run to the grocery store.”

“We can go after.” Alex says, kicking off his shoes, and laying down next to you.

You giggle, scooting over as much as you can do there's room. Both of you are slight, so it's not hard to curl up on the sofa without feeling squished together. You relax against Alex, happy to waste your last hours of vacation with him.